975-452 (world)

975-452/Five Sisters (Spinward Marches 0840)
Classic Era (1116)	E100316-9 Starport E Frontier - no facilities Size 1 Small (1,600 km, 0.05g - 0.09g) Atmosphere 0 Vacuum Hydrographics 0 Desert World 0% Population 3 Low (8 thousand) Government 1 Company/Corporation Law 6 Moderate Law (no firearms except shotguns) Tech Level 9 Early Stellar (fusion)
See also	UWP
System Details
Primary	M0 V
Planetoid Belts	2
Gas Giants	1

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Jump map from Travellermap.com

975-452 is a low-population vacuum world, with a population of less than 10,000 sophonts, warranting hazardous environment precautions.

• Life in a vacuum requires great discipline. After all, it only takes one forgotten seal on a vacuum suit to spell death. Those who survive tend to be very methodically-minded and attentive to small detail.
• It is a Non-Aligned world dominated by human sophonts located in the Five Sisters Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector.

Description (Astrography & Planetology)

Stellar Data

975-452 has a solitary primary star.

• It is a red main sequence.

975-452 has a solitary primary star.

Primary
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	M0 V	Main Sequence (Dwarf)		0.57	3770 - 3850	0.13982
	Unit	Diameter	Safe Distance	Habitable Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0055	0.031	0.39 - 0.74	0.55	5.5
	Orbit #	*	*	2	1	6
	Remarks

System Data

The worlds of the system have been surveyed. They consist of:

• The mainworld.
• x6 secondary rocky worlds.
• x2 planetoid belts.
• x1 gas giant.

Mainworld Data

Mainworld Size (S)

975-452 is a Small World between 900km and 2,400km in diameter. The world has very low gravity between 0.05G and 0.09G. The horizon will appear about 2km away.

Mainworld Atmosphere (A)

975-452 has a pressure of less than 0.001 atmospheres which requires the use of a Vacc Suit. TL–8 or more advanced survival gear is required to settle this world.

Mainworld Hydrosphere (H)

975-452 has no free-standing water or ice on the surface. Wilderness refueling isn't possible on this world. Water for the inhabitants needs to be imported and extensively recycled. These worlds are classified Desert World or a Hell World depending on their atmosphere.

Mainworld Geography and Topography

No centrally held map of the world exists within AAB Library Data records.

(Blank map, vacuum world.)

History & Background (Dossier)

World Starport (St)

975-452 has a Class E Starport, a frontier quality installation with few expected amenities. There is unrefined fuel for starships and a limited variety of ship provisions. There is no shipyard of any kind, but there may be parts and technical support for doing minor services and repair. Ports of this classification generally consist of a downport.

World Population (P)

975-452 has a population of 8,000 sophonts (thousands).

• This is a Low Population World and the population would be too low to sustain itself without a little outside assistance. This may represent the home base of a sizable but mostly transient population such as the base of a major starship expedition, the last generation of a dying colony, the first generation of a new colony, or a large outpost that will probably evolve into a colony if not stopped.

Linguistic Topography

The following languages are most commonly heard:

• Anglic, one of the two official languages of the Imperium.
• Vilani, one of the two official languages of the Imperium.

World Technology Level (T)

975-452 possesses a Technology Level of TL–9.

• Common Communication technologies for this TL include: Fiber optics and satellite communication and data networks.
• Common Power Generation technologies for this TL include: Early fusion power.
• Common Transportation technologies for this TL include:
  • Land: Ultra high-speed trains and early grav vehicles.
  • Water: High efficiency sailcraft, multihulled seacraft, improved artificial gills.
  • Air: Tiltrotorcraft, exotic VTOL's, PARWIG, and rocket-assisted suborbitals.
  • Space: SSTO spacecraft, early military spacecraft (System Craft), and interstellar STL starships
  • FTL: Prototype Jump Drive-1.

World Government (G)

975-452 is governed by a Corporate Polity, having a single corporation with a typical corporate structure as a government. Essentially, this is a "company town" (or world). The typical corporate-run world usually has a single purpose. Examples include mining, agriculture, or other kinds of resource extraction. But rather than a simple base of operations, there are facilities for housing workers and their families, including hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure. How, or if, the children of the workers are incorporated into the workforce varies with companies. The corporation running the world may be a subsidiary of a larger interstellar corporation.

World Law (L)

975-452 has a moderate level with laws covering many areas of government and interaction. These laws are simple enough that most people can act as their own advocate, though for serious issues a professional is recommended. Law enforcement officials will be present, but not in great numbers. All firearms except shotguns, and anything more destructive, are typically regulated or prohibited.

Trade Data

• Importance: -2 (very unimportant)

World Economy

• Resources: 8 (moderate)
• Labor: 2 (hundreds)
• Infrastructure: 0 (non-existent)
• Efficiency: -3 (poor)

World Culture

• Heterogenity: 2 (monolithic)
• Acceptance: 1 (extremely xenophobic)
• Strangeness: 4 (somewhat distinct)
• Symbols: 8 (somewhat abstract)

World Timeline

Major events that have affected this world and the wider region that it lies within:

• The Year 0: the Third Imperium is founded.
• 300-420: the Imperial First Survey charts the system.
• 589-604: First Frontier War.
• 604-622: the Civil War.
• 615-620: Second Frontier War.
• 624: the Express Boat Network is established.
• 979-986: Third Frontier War.
• 995-1065: the Imperial Second Survey charts the system.
• 1065: the Second Survey is published. Information about the system becomes widely available.
• 1082-1084: Fourth Frontier War, also known as the False War.
• 1107-1110: Fifth Frontier War.

Later Historical Eras

Milieu: New Era

Retief, formerly 975-452, was settled by the former Imperial Megacorp, Hortalez et Cie, in the last few years before the Civil War. The company surreptitiously constructed a large facility, and maintained a low profile colony on the world. Its reason for doing so is still largely unclear, but it is widely believed that it used the world as an "offshore" banking center, as well as a contact nexus for the company's intended expansion into the Spinward Hinters.

Despite its poor starport, or perhaps because of the low profile its mediocrity afforded it, the company built an extensive complex of support, recreation, conference and supply facilities to house and maintain staff and workers. While not exactly luxurious, the base was more than comfortable enough that it became a rest and recreation facility for its personnel, particularly in the contact and intelligence offices.

Hortalez compensated for the lack of starship maintenance facilities by stationing a tender on a periodic basis in orbit, disguised as a company bulk carrier. Bankrupted and destroyed by the Collapse, Hortalez was liquidated in the Great 1132 Fire Sale, and most of its former managers seized or absconded with many of the company's extra-Imperial holdings for their own personal profit. 975-452 was the most extreme example of this piracy. Local company personnel simply declared "independence" from Hortalez as a real sovereign world, and the world's facilities were spared a trip to the auction block. The new managers encouraged immigration, constructing schools and medical clinics and other amenities required to attract and hold new arrivals and their families.

Now bereft of its mother company's money and support, the new government transformed the world into an outside contact and commercial center (...and black market nexus) between the Regency and its neighbors in the Hinters. The world sustains itself as a middleman, deal maker and diplomat, and it makes a good profit and reputation for itself as a side benefit. A number of small shops and factories have sprung up in the last couple of decades, primarily to produce spare parts for systems that are outdated or out-of-production since the Collapse.

The world has few distinguishing features in of itself. And the colony, now open to every and all visitors, seems to be rather ordinary. Yet that ordinariness, a visitor quickly realizes, is just an outgrowth of the facade that Hortalez maintained for itself. There is a lot going on behind the scenes here, and the unwary visitor quickly learns to become circumspect with the locals, whether they have important information or not.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), 10-11.
• Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches Campaign (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 18-19.
• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 94-100. (UWP only)
• Rob Caswell. "Domain of Deneb: Sector Data." MegaTraveller Journal 3 (1992): 47-58. (UWP only)
• Dave Nilsen. The Regency Sourcebook (Game Designers Workshop, 1995), 48. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty, Neil Frier. Behind the Claw (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 56.
• Mike West. The Spinward States (Avenger Enterprises, 2008), 109. (UWP only)
• Martin Dougherty. The Spinward Marches (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
• Martin Dougherty. Behind the Claw (Mongoose Publishing, 2019), 98-102. (UWP only)
• Peter Gray - BARD OPAL 9507
• Peter Gray - BARD OPAL 19537