Genmetics

Genmetics is the medical practice of genetic cosmetics and they are one of the few regulated and legal forms of genetic manipulation in the galaxy. Seen as the holy grail of cosmetic alteration, genmetics has replaced traditional cosmetic surgery in all but the poorest regions of the galaxy, and is seen as a much safer alternative. Depending on what outcome is required, some changes are permanent while others are temporary to spur the required change, and are then restored to the patients original coding once the desired change has occurred.

The changes that can be made using legal genmetics are limited to those physical characteristics of the species; i.e. it is not possible for a Human to change their hair pink and grow the antennae of an Antaran. The most common practices throughout the galaxy revolve around those practices, surgical or otherwise, carried out by many species to change their appearance.

As with most things which grated against the status-quo, genmetics was not without controversy. Whilst procedures do not require the manual cutting and manipulation of a patient’s body, changing of their genetic makeup, even on a temporary basis, can be problematic. Today, the risk is negligible and issues only tend to arise when patients do not heed their doctor’s warnings to rectify any issues. This is not to say that genmetics has not had headline grabbing incidents. One such incident occurred during the early days when only the Anderson Institute, based in Los Angeles, Earth, offered the treatment. Ms. Ivona Sykora was obsessed with cosmetic surgery and had had undergone surgery on more than 100 occasions. As one of the earliest to undergo the treatment she refused to heed the advice of her doctor to have her genes restored. A medical order was finally issued and she spent the rest of her life in a bizarre state of ecstasy with breasts the size of small bungalows, lips the size of tractor tyres, and a backside larger than a double-decker bus.

Colony Ships

Built at the turn of the twenty-first century, by Earth reckoning, the colony ships were deep-space vessels designed and built with long-term exploration in mind. Assembled in orbit, more like cities than ships, the intention was to send humans out towards the Andromeda Galaxy and towards the centre of the Milky Way. The ships were entire colonies, with a biosphere supplying food and oxygen. Below the main working decks are the living quarters aligned like streets, with parks, and crossings everything you’d expect in a small town or city. The ships sum up the whole of human curiosity and the species resolve to explore space even at speeds that would involve the voyages taking millennia.

The original ships were called Pilgrim One and Two, each of which started off with over six thousand willing volunteers, most of which were young married couples who would give birth to the next generation and train them to crew the ships. They were presumed lost because once faster than light drives were developed, and subsequently slipstream, scout vessels could not find sight or sound of either vessel.

ADDENDUM:
Recent reports suggest that one of the vessels returned to the Sol system a short time after the Human Extinction Event; however due to the on-going galactic turmoil, the Space Corps has been unable to assign a scout to investigate the rumour.

Terran Alliance

After the development of faster-than-light travel, the Terran Alliance was formed from the predominant nation states of Earth for the purpose galactic exploration, trade, and security. The original members were the United States of America, the European Union, and the Oceanic Union. United Africa, the Russian Federation and the New Republic of China eventually joined a number of years later, along with a number of independent nations.

In the days of the GTU and the dawn of the GSF, the Terran Alliance represented the united people of Earth and her outlying colonies, amongst the galactic community.

Galactic Trade Union (GTU)

The pre-cursor to the Galactic Systems Federation (GSF) was the Galactic Trade Union (GTU), a coalition of the Terran Alliance, the Antaran Federation, the Tewomian Federation and the Qaran Collective. Shortly after the Pratarian Pride, Oretan Troop, Ruzzoin Flock and the Antatian Alliance joined and the seeds for the GSF were sown.

The union started out as an attempt to improve trade and relations between the predominant governing bodies at the time. As more governments were interested in joining the union, its influence grew and eventually led to the formation of the GSF.

Antatia

The planet Antatia is an orange-brown hydrogen-helium gas giant in the Occundi star system which is in one the most populated sectors of the α-quadrant, and the galaxy as a whole.

It has two moons, Antatia Prime and Secundus. Antatia Prime is a warm and pleasant world inhabited by a cold-blooded, lizard-descended humanoid species. Its sister, however, is drastically different, covered by a thick hydrocarbon atmosphere and a surface ravaged by ion storms that ignite the atmosphere in a spectacular display.

What makes these moons interesting is the rare nature of their orbits. Each moon resides at opposite sides of Antatia mirroring each other, and they exist in a rare type of synchronous orbit. It is well documented that many moons in the galaxy orbit their planets in a synchronous orbit so that the same "side" of the moon always faces the planet. However the Antatia moons rotation periods have no relation to their orbit around the planet. Both orbit relative to the planets own orbit around Occundi. The moons orbit the planet so that they appear to be in the same position relative to the star; one orbit around Antatia for the moons is equivalent to one planetary orbit around Occundi. This leaves Antatia Prime closer to and always facing the sun which results in its constant temperate climate.

Triton Spaceport

The spaceport on Triton is considered by many as the gateway to the galaxy, the last stop out of the Sol System. These people are idiots; obviously the last stop out of the Sol System depends on which direction you're heading, and where the planets are in their orbits.

The port is one of many recruitment centres for the galaxies mercenary bands. The Crimson Suns are the single highest employer of rebelious human teenagers in the galaxy and have their main recruitment centre at Triton Spaceport.

ADDENDUM: Triton Spaceport has been confirmed as a casualty of the Human Extinction Event.

Pluto Station

The spaceport on Pluto is considered by many as the gateway to the galaxy, the last stop out of the Sol System. These people are even more stupid than the fans of the ports on Triton and Ganymede; the last stop out of the Sol System depends entirely on which direction you're heading, and where the planets are in their orbits. It also doesn't help that Pluto has a rather eccentric orbit that on occasion brings it closer to Sol than Neptune, and therefore Triton, making it even less likely to be the last stop out of the system.

No one has ever referred to Eris Station as the gateway to the galaxy, though many have compared it to the gateway to hell.

ADDENDUM: Pluto Station has been confirmed as a casualty of the Human Extinction Event.

Denny's Doughnut Diner

Denny Desin is the most popular purveyor of doughnuts in the known galaxy. His establishments can be found in almost every star system, be they mere handcarts, or his more famous diners.

The Balance Point Café

The Balance Point Café was opened at the first balance point discovered in a remote sector of the galaxy; it has been open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year since its airlocks were first pressurised

The café is retro-styled in the mould of a 20^th century Earth-American diner and a 26^th century Ioni-Charan (circa 21^st century Earth) street café, with a menu to match both styles and eras.

The café boasts the only 100% robotic waitress service, with impeccable service manner delivered from a selection of styles, one of which is chosen based on customer compatibility. This system is not without its flaws, and a number of the waitresses have had to be sold off to more local establishments due to bugs appearing in the serving software. On more than one occasion a waitress has been serving a number of tables using multiple serving protocols, only for a glitch to develop in the software. For example, one waitress threw a bowl of bolognaise at a female Ionian and screamed “There’s your meal you great hairy pig!” in Gregoran. The table of Gregorans next door were subsequently disappointed when the waitress performed a brief ceremony, as is Ionian custom, with a gentle whistle in her accent.

Balance Point

A balance point is a position in space where the gravitational fields of any number of bodies cancel each other out entirely. Due to the staggering number of objects in the galaxy, the time and resources required to locate such a phenomenon, and the difficulty in actually measuring the minute variations in gravitational fields so far from their parent bodies, there are very few known balance points.

The first balance point was found by an exploration team from the Alexan Science Foundation during the early days of the Galactic Trade Union (GTU), and it is in a relatively unremarkable sector of the α-quadrant, hundreds of light-years from any populated system. Regardless of the relative remoteness, a café was established within months of the discovery having been declared to the scientific community. The Balance Point Café has been open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year since the airlocks first pressurised.

Raum-Wal

Almost everything that is "known" about the Raum-Wal is rumour and conjecture. There are so few credible sources of information that the evidence is inadmissible, and the Raum-Wal is believed to be an old spacers' tale.

Although no one has formally documented a Raum-Wal, many have claimed to have seen them. The famous spacer, Arn Fuss-Duo, is said to have escaped being eaten alive by a Raum-Wal, but as with all spacer stories, this should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The minimal evidence that is available suggests that the Raum-Wal is a giant whale-like creature, possibly the largest space-dwelling creature in existence, which is primarily found in asteroid fields and belts, and occasionally within planetary rings. How such a creature survives in the vacuum of space is another of the great mysteries. One theory suggests that the creature consumes the rock and ice of its habitat, thus providing essential minerals, which are broken down in a complex digestive system, and oxygen extracted from the water. On this basis, it has been suggested that a Raum-Wal is an inorganic life-form and is attracted to the metal content of wayward vessels, believing them to be rich sources of food. Other theories suggest that a Raum-Wal leaves its mouth gaping to act as a giant ram scoop, and that they may be anaerobic life-forms.

The Galactic Society of Cryptozoology currently ranks the Raum-Wal as the third most sought after cryptid after the Will-O'-the-Wisp, and the Nebelfleck Worm.

Fuss-Duo, Arn

A Gregoran spacer that, legend would have it, escaped being eaten alive by a Raum-Wal (see The Ballad of Arn Fuss-Duo).

Fuss-Duo's other claims include surfing the tail of a comet in his ship, the Astral Princess; accidently flying too close to a supernova; single-handedly preventing the breakout of war between the Y'Kalians and the Partheans, and making his way through the Bryson Singularity Cluster with an out-of-date NaviCom.

The last anyone heard of Fuss-Duo was just before he flew back into the space where he first encountered the Raum-Wal. There are two widely accepted versions of the legend from this point in the story of Arn Fuss-Duo. The first says that he found out he was dying of an incurable disease and that he wanted to make peace with the beast before the end. The other version says that he was so furious on finding out he had the disease, he set his ship to self-destruct and flew into the gaping mouth of the Raum-Wal quoting Ahab as he straddled the anti-matter core.

Spacers

Spacers cruise around the galaxy fuelled on nothing but the cheapest Mangorian Whisky and are famous for telling tall tales to the very naive and/or stupid. It should not be taken that all stories told by spacers are entirely fictitious because spacers have been places and seen things that most galactic citizens can’t even imagine; this is generally due to the fact that spacers spend more credits on booze than they do on ship repairs and keeping the ship moving is more important than having a working NaviCom.

Over the centuries of space travel, spacers have been greatly romanticised; films have been made, novels written, and ballads sung of the tales of many a spacer and their wandering ways. It’s such a shame that so few of the authors bothered to research their subject in person because if they had they would have been severely disappointed; most spacers are as romantic as a whiskey-flavoured belch.

Many a bar throughout the galaxy will have a resident spacer; this spacer may go away for a time to travel the galaxy, but they will always return to that same bar, to that same stool that no one else dare use, and there will always be a drink waiting.

There have, of course, been famous spacers, the most notable being the Gregoran, Arn Fuss-Duo. One of Fuss-Duo’s wildest claims was to have landed in the gaping mouth of a Raum-Wal, believing it to be a cave in an asteroid that he could use to shelter from pirates, and escaped to tell the tale.