Vauclain/Ozawa

System Data
F2V
0 YS00000-0
1 Y540000-0
2 Y7A0000-0 – 3 Satellites
3 YS00000-0
-------------------------------- stellar 100d limit -------------
4 Y200000-0
5* Large GG - Fortin
   7 E455586-5 Ag Ni Vauclain
   8 Y300000-0 Ba Fortin II
   10 Y400000-0 Ba Fortin III
   12 C484413-A Ni Lo Ozawa
   45 Y110000-0 Ba Fortin V
   50 Y210000-0 Ba Fortin VI
5.4* Y583000-0 Ba LaSalle
6 Small GG – Patrone – five satellites
13 DM

* = habitable orbit

Travel distance from Fortin’s 100d limit to the gas giant itself is 0.05 AU (7.5 mkm), or 15.21 hours at one G.  Travel time is 10.76 hours at 2G. Travel time is 8.78 hours at 3G and 7.61 hours at 4G.

Fortin requires three years and 301 days to complete one orbit.  Vauclain orbits Fortin once every 2.93 days.  Ozawa orbits Fortin once every 3.82 days.

Census Data
Total Population (Vauclain): 421,000 (001/5743 = 429,000)
Growth Rate: 2.0%

Total Population (Ozawa): 21,000 (001/5743 = 22,100)
Growth Rate: 5.0%

World Data

Vauclain is a small, slightly larger than Mars sized moon circling a large, 75,000km diameter gas giant, well outside the jump shadow of a single, F series star.  The moon Vauclain is tidelocked in tight orbit around the violent gas giant Fortin.  Radiation and reflected light from the gas giant renders Vauclain’s inner face problematic for settlement.  Vauclain’s thin atmosphere is a further impediment.  Weather tends to be hot during the day, but frigid at night.  There is no axial tilt and virtually no seasons.  Most of the populace lives on the outer face, shielded from Fortin by the moon’s mass.  Gravity is 0.55G and atmospheric pressure 0.61 bar.  There are few mountains, but the face of Vauclain is cracked and broken as the result of tectonic stresses induced by the nearby gas giant.  The planet is suitable for hardscrabble agriculture only and had little in the way of natural resource, until a few years ago when reports surfaced indicating numerous large Rare Earth Element deposits.

Ozawa, or Fortin IV as it was previously called, is also a Mars sized world.  Like its inner sister, Ozawa is also tidelocked, although the radiation and tectonic stresses aren’t as severe here.  Ozawa’s atmosphere is quite dense for a planet its size, a byproduct of cross-gassing when Fortin and its moons were forming.  Unlike Vauclain, which has a fair amount of liquid water in its shadow zones, most water on Ozawa is trapped in ice particles in high latitudes on Ozawa’s outer face.  As a result, Ozawa is unusually arid for a planet of its hydrographic rating.  Gravity here is 0.51G and atmospheric pressure 1.33 bar.  Agriculture here can only be done with extensive use of irrigation and imported fertilizers, and is thus very input intensive.  Mineral deposits are modest at best.

Although LaSalle, a captured planet at the edge of the system’s habitability zone looks ripe for colonization on paper, the planet’s elliptical orbit would doom any colony to decades of ice-bound frigidity followed by decades of boiling heat with only a handful of years of moderate temperatures between.

Politics

Vauclain’s numerous physical drawbacks did not stop a small group of Luddite settlers from colonizing the world in the century preceding the Plague.  In fact, they were attracted to its inhospitable nature, while still able to support life at a village level of industrialization.  The Luddites ranks were swelled during the Plague by refugees who turned their back on advanced society.  For several generations, only very limited trade was conducted under a repressive regime that controlled all aspects of Vauclain’s society.  When some easily recoverable mineral deposits were found in remote areas, the Halowon Empire agreed to secretly swap medical technology to lengthen the lives of Vauclain’s leadership in return for the right to strip mine some remote locations.  When Vauclain’s citizens learned their leaders were using medical and luxury technologies while the bulk of the populace lived in poverty, they revolted.  The Halowon Empire supported the government in suppressing the rebellion, in exchange for more mining concessions and a monopoly on offworld trade.  The Free Republic, in turn, backed the rebellion.  The proxy war led to the Halowon and Free Republic navies fighting a battle over the planet in 5730.  The Free Republic Navy won, but at the loss of two cruisers.  Free Republic and Halowon ground forces, mostly special forces, strikers, and Marines, also fought several skirmishes against each other.  The rebels eventually toppled the planetary government, replacing the oppressive regime with a system of local councils.

Ozawa is technically leased from the government of Vauclain by Ozawa Lines.  Ozawa Lines administers the colony as the defacto planetary government.  Ozawa Lines shows little interest in governance outside of keeping the peace and ensuring the smooth flow of trade.  Ozawa is very lightly populated, having but one small town and a handful of outlying hamlets.  Morgan Ozawa downport is the largest employer on the moon and a large percentage of the population is employed in supporting the company’s vision of Ozawa as a transshipment hub between the three major powers.  Construction is another active segment of the economy and the moon has a “boomtown” feel.

Culture

The revolution on Vauclain was a dramatic generational event for the people there.  Society is still grappling with the implications of the revolution and its impact on the world’s identity.  After over a century of isolation, the Vauclain Communes remain very xenophobic and are making only halting, tentative steps towards interstellar trade.  The local, community councils have been able to sidestep many issues regarding the role of technology in society since the revolution, but considerable division exists and pro and anti-tech friction could boil over into open strife at any time.

Culturally, Ozawa is a mixed-mutt of various planets and polities of origin.  Still, the planet is small enough that most people know each other by face or reputation and the company has done an admirable job of getting different cultures to work together.  Since the planet is run as a corporate enclave, unemployment results in deportation.  This gives most employees powerful incentives not to cause trouble, though it gives companies undue power over their employees and allegations of abuse have led to some disgruntlement.

Colonization

Ozawa Lines is using its near monopoly on several profitable trade routes to underwrite the colonization of Ozawa.  About seven hundred colonists arrive on Ozawa annually from various planets.

Economics

Vauclain’s economy is geared towards self-sufficiency at the subsistence level.  Agriculture is the dominant sector in terms of percentage of population employed.  Mass production is accepted only in some limited cases as the local culture reveres craftsmanship.  Interstellar trade contributes virtually nothing to Vauclain’s WDP.

Ozawa has become critical to Ozawa Lines business model.  The company has a view of leveraging the location of the Vauclain system to build a transshipment and interface point between the Free Republic, Svetlana, and Halowon, similar to the role played by Singapore on ancient Terra.

Industries

Dupont Bank – Has a branch office on Ozawa.

Gateway Multimedia – Has a branch office on Ozawa.

Ozawa Lines – Has its headquarters and primary operating base on Ozawa.

Shipyards

None.  The downport on Ozawa can effect minor repairs to ships.

Military

Ozawa Lines maintains four 100ton Shuriken SDBs to defend the approaches to Ozawa.  The company has no army, but does have a few hundred corporate security guards.

Vauclain has a citizen’s militia force, but is poorly trained and seriously deficient in communications, logistics, transportation, heavy equipment, and several other areas.

Officially, the Free Republic Navy patrols the system regularly.  Unofficially, the FRN maintains a constant overwatch of Vauclain to deter Halowon adventurism in the system.