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Outer System Fringe

Posted by: Jarvis Tryscuz, Firewall Sentinel

For most of transhumanity, the fringe is shorthand for "shit you wouldn't want your mother to know about." That's partially true. There's plenty of criminal or amoral shit going down in those big open spaces between pockets of civilization. There's also plenty of communities of hard-working folks who just want to be left the hell alone.

Everything interesting happens in the dark. And it's very dark out there.

There are no cities here. There are no luxury hotels, no gourmet restaurants, and no Consortium cops. From here, Uranus looks downright cosmopolitan. If you're this far out, you're either looking for privacy, doing research, trying your hand at prospecting, or up to no good. When brinkers in the fringe meet hypercorps representatives, they suspect something untoward is going on. Watch your step out here.

Communities this far out are very closely knit, and any outsiders are threats. The distances between outer-fringe settlements are hard to grasp, especially for inner-system inhabitants used to shuttling around the Consortium. Getting from Neptune to Pluto is a logistical (and economic) nightmare if you aren't egocasting in.

The Dogs​

  • Habitat Type: Beehive
  • Allegiance: Brinker/Unknown

This small cluster of tiny centaur asteroids are each in the process of being transformed into weapons platforms by automated bots and swarms. The entity behind this project is known only as the Artifex. Their intentions remain unclear. It is yet to be ascertained if this is an art project, a proof of concept, or something more sinister.

Mortusae​

  • Habitat Type: Beehive
  • Allegiance: Exhuman

Saturn lacks Trojan asteroids due to the influence of Jupiter, which disrupts the long-term stability of the Lagrange points. A small asteroid temporarily orbiting at the Sol-Saturn L4 has been occupied by an exhuman group identified as the Empusae. Composed of both sublime and predator exhumans (and possibly others), they have an avowed goal of enslaving transhumanity. This particular nest seems to have hostile intentions for Saturnian habitats.

New Sarpalius​

  • Habitat Type: Beehive
  • Allegiance: Planetary Consortium (disputed)

This 65-kilometer centaur asteroid was home to a pre-Fall mining operation. When the company leadership was destroyed during the Fall, the Algerian workers launched a strike against local management that turned into a full revolt. For years the habitat ran along anarchist lines under the name Sanctuary. Just a few months ago, however, a Consortium-backed coup seized control. Autonomists are divided on how to respond, as the coup seems to have strong local support, though some residents claim there was a Consortium conspiracy to slowly seed the colony with supporters over a course of years.