Epsilon Eridani SystemIndex | Penumbral Shadows | Background | Epsilon Eridani System  Epsilon Eridani 259 Star Name: Epsilon Eridani 259 ContentsIntroductionThe Epsilon Eridani system (sometimes rendered ε Eridani) is a planetary system situated 10.5 light-years from Earth. It is one of the closest neighbors of humanity's homeworld, and until the Pandora gates were discovered, was thought to have only one- perhaps two bodies, and neither of them terrestrial. Explorations through the gate were surprised to find 6 planets in addition to 4 proto-planets hidden within the system. HistoryAlmost 200 years before the fall, humanity discovered the first Pandora gate in the Sol System. Named after the moon of Saturn where it was discovered, it was a watershed moment in the history of Transhumanity, The prospects this raised were simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. As the discovery was in unclaimed space, for the first time in a very long time, cracking the secrets of the Pandora gate was a true joint effort of varied scientific communities, backed by private sector funds. Since the discovery was made by a privately funded scientific team that believed in the open nature of information, it was agreed early on that governments would be kept out of the project. The scientists were not so naive as to believe the private funds didn't have strings attached to them, but those strings were better than the outright usurping of the project by the government. This think tank unlocked the code of the Pandora Gate in just under five years. They knew at that point they'd only scratched the surface of what it could do- it seemed a link to a distant star system. As the discovery was made known within the scientific group, Doug Dyment, famous philanthropist, physicist, and entrepreneur revealed himself to be the primary stake in the funds used for the research. He made a pressing case for why they needed to sieze conservatorship, and together with the leads of the teams that had worked so long - Corey Muirhead, Charlie Bruce, Davida Gaudens, and Grigori Mikhailovich- they formed the Emporia Corporation. Sending probes through the gate, they found out that it provided almost instantaneous transport to the Epsilon Eridani system, 10.5 light years from Sol. Though much was known of our closest neighbor, the probes revealed that most of it was wrong. Instead of 3 planets, there were 10, some hidden in the dust disks we knew existed, and others by their orbit. The gate came out in orbit of AEgir- the planet astrophysicists had discovered before the era of the gate. Though Emporia did set up shop on AEgir and created a station in orbit of the gate, they very soon colonized a planet a little further out from the star and named it after the company. This migration was relatively quick for two reasons - first, AEgir was smaller than Emporia, and second, Emporia was in the biozone of the star- while it wasn't terrestrial, it was closer than Mars had been when transhumanity settled that planet. Sol governments did not idly take the idea of a corporation leaving them out of the gold rush for the new planets- after all, to be a corporation, Emporia had to be recognized by a legitimate government. And even with the resources in the company, the outlay for their research, colonizations, and expeditions were outrageous. They needed a partner, for logistical needs and legitimacy. In exchange for recognition of Terran rule, cooperation on the research done on the gates and on the sites discovered in the new system, the Terran government would be recognize the local government and corporation, and would help supply the fledgling colonies. After a slow start, the incomes from Emporia's new discoveries began to pour in, and they were able to start supplying themselves. Though they were still dependent on Earth for some supplies, Eridani was largely self-sustaining. It was also becoming a leader in environmental science and research as well as the design and manufacture of a new generation of nanofab. As Terra joined the Planetary Consortium (and by default their colonies in Eridani did also) they tried to assert control and reign Eridani in, but this was more difficult than they counted on. Secessionists pressed their government to take action, and the Consortium threatened firmer action. Though Eridani was far away, their gate on Saturn was within reach. The situation threatened to escalate twice - once when a group of secessionists published a manifesto, and some more junior members of the Eridani government made noises of acting on it. The Consortium invoked the Terran 'breakaway province' rule, and launched ships towards the gate. Before the ships made it to the gate, cooler heads prevailed and negotiated behind the scenes. The second major incident involved the use of nanofab. With the new fabbers coming online from Eridani and new blueprints along with them, they expected the proceeds to help with life in Eridani. Pirates cracked the DRM, spreading the new tech for free, and Eridani found out that the pirates had ties to the Consortium. Though they made noises of respecting the rights of Eridani, it chafed them to pay so much for the new technologies 'to their own colonies'. Rumors of war became actual brushfire conflicts, some of the newer colonies in the system began to talk of breaking away on their own. No one knows where this would have gone, because a breakthrough in one of the Eridani labs discovered that the Ego could be transmitted over distance using tech that was scavenged from a new cache. Using this new technology as leverage, Emporia reached out to the Consortium, and negotiated rights for the new Ego Casting as cost for being recognized as their own entity, equal to the others in the Consortium. After being granted the right to rule itself, the other colonies were wary of giving Emporia too much power- the planets in Eridani formed into the Eridani Protectorate, and Emporia as a company was dissolved. Politics
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