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Description

Located in the Altair system and initially claimed and colonized by the Extrasolar Crescent Forum in 2062, the world of Babylon has grown to become a cornerstone in human interstellar politics, and one of the undisputed leaders in mechanic technologies and medicine. A superhabitable world with a radii of 1.34 Earth Radii, 1.9 Earth Masses, and 1.9 Earth Atmospheres, Babylon has a remarkably high biodiversity and exceedingly complex ecosystems. With flora using various forms of retinaldehyde for photosynthesis instead of chlorophyll, every biome sparks a wide array of colors ranging from yellow to violet, with hues between blue along the cooper-silicate deserts and magenta among the grasslands and jungles being the most common. Relatively early in it's development of life, this vibrant world has yet to see any lifeforms capable of abstraction and vertebrate-analogues have yet to arise, however some terrestrial arthropod-analogues sport a 'proto-spine' derived from carapace that some scientists speculate might represent a transitional stage. The dominant lifeforms in the vast, shallow oceans are various medusozoids, ranging all the way from microscopic plankton to the massive filter-feeders that feast upon them; a significant difference towards the Medusozoa on earth being that these aquatic critters have developed far more complex nervous systems, thicker and sturdier membranes, and dedicated muscle tissues. The largest animaliform organisms on Babylon are some of these jellyfish-like filter feeders which can reach over 200 metres across and with a dry weight of nearly 300 tons. Furthermore, the geological properties of Babylon's crust, mantle, and core are highly irregular for a planet of it's size and mass, and have lead to a multitude of engineering and physics insights and could yield far more in year to come, as well as a collection of trailing asteroids stacked with exotic materials and Kariro-derivatives. However, despite all these scientific anomalies the main driving force behind the colonization and rapid military presence on Babylon was a series of dozen-kilometer-wide metallic structures believed to be of Ancient make identified in the initial 2058 survey. After the discovery of the Callisto Anomaly and subsequent reverse-engineering of the Jump Drive two decades prior, humanity was under the impression that equivalent discoveries would be the norm rather than the exception, and by 2090 the total population was nearly 35 million; the majority being scientists, research support crews, students, and engineers. After half a century of attempted excavations with little-to-no success, answers were finally found in 2129 when the formation was found to be natural in origin; a unique geological formation, but hardly worth the rush and expense that the ECF had invested. However, as Babylon was the ECF's most prosperous and well-developed colony, economic, industrial, and population expansion programs continued for decades more despite the lingering threat of separatist-sympathetic insurgents and political activists, until provisional self-governance was established under the Babylon Colonial Authority at the end of the Third Colonial War in 2183; an organisation which rapidly dissolved into a long chain of unstable transitional governments into the fully-democratic Babylon Logocracy and calls for full independence in 2305 when contact and technology exchange with the myriad species of the galactic community had emboldened insurgent colonies. A testament to the long and ferocious struggle colonies such as Babylon went through to secure their freedom and democracy is the Rook-valley, a canyon named after the ECF battlecarrier Rook which was downed there in 2142 and marred a unique diagonal gash over the formation when the drive-coils hit the ground at full spinup.
Although the Babylonian government and people strive to maintain cordial relations with foreign powers whenever possible, when conflict is unavoidable they fight no-holds-barred, and their military is fully mechanized all the way from exoskeletons and warmechs to fusion-powered battletanks and mobile ground-to-space artillery, the size of any other heavyweight human military, in addition to maintaining a large number of relativistic kill vehicles and gravitic-assist thermonuclear devices.
Today, however, what Babylon is most well-known for is their economic reach, cutting-edge robotics technologies, and state-of-the-art colleges and universities, with such names as University of Euphrates, Murat Engineering University, and Tigris Institute of Technology being well known across the entire galaxy.
Babylon is a Projector (client state with diplomatic and economic independence) under the EUN; known as Babylon Colony.
Orbits: Altair-4, 1.2 AU.
mean temperature: 21 Celsius.
surface gravity: 1.32 G.
atmosphere: 1.9 bar, 17% oxygen.
mean elevation: 1 420 metres ASL.
day/night cycle: 64.2 hours.
Capital: Tigris City (legislation), Port Phyris (justice).
Population: 6.3 billion.
GNP: 27.8 trillion credits.
Natural satellites: Kish: 30 million population, major military shipyards.
Military: Babylonian Armed Forces, Ground Command: 8.8 million combatants, 5.9 million autonomous combat units. Air Command: 2 350 air-to-space crafts, 54 000 combatants. Space Command: 11 battleships, 86 Assault Cruisers, 25 carriers, 176 cruisers, 593 frigates. EUN Peacekeeping Element: Battlecarrier Manticore, 15 frigates.
Colony founded: 2062.

WARNING: The TRiGOS stations surrounding the Babylon-Kish system are manned and operated by the Babylonian Armed Forces Space Command for fleet rearm-and-repair and fuel production purposes. Each is the homebase of a battlegroup. All civilian traffic is prohibited within 250 kilometers of the platforms and will be enforced by military elements. Offenders can face upwards of 50 years of prison time.
INFORMATION BULLETIN 2440-01-04 to present: Due to the rising tensions between Earth and separatist colonies, an additional 15 TRiGOS platforms are currently under construction. Civilian traffic prohibited within 500 kilometers; anti-debris laser grids will target any unidentified object. ALERT: Due to rising tensions between the UN and the democratic colonies all TRiGOS stations have been set to an "assume hostility" stance: any ships approaching within 2500 kilometers without proper authentication will be targeted by stationary defenses and resident battlegroups.

Description

Located in the Altair system and initially claimed and colonized by the Extrasolar Crescent Forum in 2062, the world of Babylon has grown to become a cornerstone in human interstellar politics, and one of the undisputed leaders in mechanic technologies and medicine. A superhabitable world with a radii of 1.34 Earth Radii, 1.9 Earth Masses, and 1.9 Earth Atmospheres, Babylon has a remarkably high biodiversity and exceedingly complex ecosystems. With flora using various forms of retinaldehyde for photosynthesis instead of chlorophyll, every biome sparks a wide array of colors ranging from yellow to violet, with hues between blue along the cooper-silicate deserts and magenta among the grasslands and jungles being the most common. Relatively early in it's development of life, this vibrant world has yet to see any lifeforms capable of abstraction and vertebrate-analogues have yet to arise, however some terrestrial arthropod-analogues sport a 'proto-spine' derived from carapace that some scientists speculate might represent a transitional stage. The dominant lifeforms in the vast, shallow oceans are various medusozoids, ranging all the way from microscopic plankton to the massive filter-feeders that feast upon them; a significant difference towards the Medusozoa on earth being that these aquatic critters have developed far more complex nervous systems, thicker and sturdier membranes, and dedicated muscle tissues. The largest animaliform organisms on Babylon are some of these jellyfish-like filter feeders which can reach over 200 metres across and with a dry weight of nearly 300 tons. Furthermore, the geological properties of Babylon's crust, mantle, and core are highly irregular for a planet of it's size and mass, and have lead to a multitude of engineering and physics insights and could yield far more in year to come, as well as a collection of trailing asteroids stacked with exotic materials and Kariro-derivatives. However, despite all these scientific anomalies the main driving force behind the colonization and rapid military presence on Babylon was a series of dozen-kilometer-wide metallic structures believed to be of Ancient make identified in the initial 2058 survey. After the discovery of the Callisto Anomaly and subsequent reverse-engineering of the Jump Drive two decades prior, humanity was under the impression that equivalent discoveries would be the norm rather than the exception, and by 2090 the total population was nearly 35 million; the majority being scientists, research support crews, students, and engineers. After half a century of attempted excavations with little-to-no success, answers were finally found in 2129 when the formation was found to be natural in origin; a unique geological formation, but hardly worth the rush and expense that the ECF had invested. However, as Babylon was the ECF's most prosperous and well-developed colony, economic, industrial, and population expansion programs continued for decades more despite the lingering threat of separatist-sympathetic insurgents and political activists, until provisional self-governance was established under the Babylon Colonial Authority at the end of the Third Colonial War in 2183; an organisation which rapidly dissolved into a long chain of unstable transitional governments into the fully-democratic Babylon Logocracy and calls for full independence in 2305 when contact and technology exchange with the myriad species of the galactic community had emboldened insurgent colonies. A testament to the long and ferocious struggle colonies such as Babylon went through to secure their freedom and democracy is the Rook-valley, a canyon named after the ECF battlecarrier Rook which was downed there in 2142 and marred a unique diagonal gash over the formation when the drive-coils hit the ground at full spinup.
Although the Babylonian government and people strive to maintain cordial relations with foreign powers whenever possible, when conflict is unavoidable they fight no-holds-barred, and their military is fully mechanized all the way from exoskeletons and warmechs to fusion-powered battletanks and mobile ground-to-space artillery, the size of any other heavyweight human military, in addition to maintaining a large number of relativistic kill vehicles and gravitic-assist thermonuclear devices.
Today, however, what Babylon is most well-known for is their economic reach, cutting-edge robotics technologies, and state-of-the-art colleges and universities, with such names as University of Euphrates, Murat Engineering University, and Tigris Institute of Technology being well known across the entire galaxy.
Babylon is a Projector (client state with diplomatic and economic independence) under the EUN; known as Babylon Colony.
Orbits: Altair-4, 1.2 AU.
mean temperature: 21 Celsius.
surface gravity: 1.32 G.
atmosphere: 1.9 bar, 17% oxygen.
mean elevation: 1 420 metres ASL.
day/night cycle: 64.2 hours.
Capital: Tigris City (legislation), Port Phyris (justice).
Population: 6.3 billion.
GNP: 27.8 trillion credits.
Natural satellites: Kish: 30 million population, major military shipyards.
Military: Babylonian Armed Forces, Ground Command: 8.8 million combatants, 5.9 million autonomous combat units. Air Command: 2 350 air-to-space crafts, 54 000 combatants. Space Command: 11 battleships, 86 Assault Cruisers, 25 carriers, 176 cruisers, 593 frigates. EUN Peacekeeping Element: Battlecarrier Manticore, 15 frigates.
Colony founded: 2062.

WARNING: The TRiGOS stations surrounding the Babylon-Kish system are manned and operated by the Babylonian Armed Forces Space Command for fleet rearm-and-repair and fuel production purposes. Each is the homebase of a battlegroup. All civilian traffic is prohibited within 250 kilometers of the platforms and will be enforced by military elements. Offenders can face upwards of 50 years of prison time.
INFORMATION BULLETIN 2440-01-04 to present: Due to the rising tensions between Earth and separatist colonies, an additional 15 TRiGOS platforms are currently under construction. Civilian traffic prohibited within 500 kilometers; anti-debris laser grids will target any unidentified object. ALERT: Due to rising tensions between the UN and the democratic colonies all TRiGOS stations have been set to an "assume hostility" stance: any ships approaching within 2500 kilometers without proper authentication will be targeted by stationary defenses and resident battlegroups.