The Kephan Unity

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Dear friends and neighbors,

As our Global Moderator JAFisher44 has requested, I will be posting the history of the Kephan Unity on this thread. Also included will be the statistics and history of the more important worlds within the Unity, as well as the people who shaped her past and guide her future.

I hope it will help stir your imaginations and make you smile. Thank you all in advance for the privilege to do so. 

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GENERAL STRATEGY OF THE STAR NAVY

During the Kephan Unity's early years, when it began to flourish and expand, it's Congress demanded a rapid buildup of the Star Navy. Like the rest of the galaxy, the new nation felt naked before the threat of piracy and foreign intrusion. Unlike the rest of it's neighbors, however, it harbored one long-term goal for the Star Navy - "to liberate Occupied Earth from it's Globalist seducers and enslavers", according to it's Charter. That also meant tackling the Federation and her Star Fleet, who would fight to the bitter end against any such effort.

So while the Kephans built up their defensive strength, they also prepared for the time when war with the Federation began, no matter when it began. Their offensive strength had to be both powerful and victorious. Their intelligence networks had to be both accurate and subtle. Their research facilities had to be both creative and cost-effective. To help achieve these ends, Star Fleet and their Klingon and Orion rivals would be unwitting partners in this endeavor.

Taking a page from the history of Israel's War of Independence and the birth of her Air Force (www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/IAFvolunteers.html), the Unity sent intelligence operatives to set up dummy corporations in both Federation and Klingon space. Their mission was to buy old or damaged starships meant for the scrap heap, then return the parts to Kephan space for rebuilding and refurbishing. Their efforts were made easier after the end of the Four Years War, when both combatants were busy rebuilding and upgrading their fleets. As time went on, however, more Klingon ships than Federation ones came into Kephan hands. This pained the operatives to no end, causing them to scour each stellar junkyard for whatever Star Fleet refuse could be found and restored.

Meanwhile in Orion space, the Star Navy had better success. The various corporations within the Free States received orders to build as many freighters and blockade runners as they could handle. Requests to make copies of whatever Federation and Klingon ships they knew also flew their way, as the Kephans appreciated their abilities to do so. In the Orion's eyes, the Unity was one of their best customers. They became the first in the galaxy to recognize the Unity as a sovereign state and solidified their trading partnership for good.

The Congress and the Star Navy knew, though, that achieving their main goals would be impossible relying on castoffs from their main rivals. A reputation of being a "junk navy" was unacceptable. They would have to build their own ships, superior in quantity and quality to anything the Federation and the Klingons would possess. It would take time, effort and a lot of praying for a boatload of miracles.

None of those prayers would be in vain.

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"JUNK NAVY" ERA -- Assault Ships

Among the many projects the KUSN had to tackle were designing and building their own assault ships. Like so many other tasks they dealt with, the process would be long and slow. In the meantime, their dummy corporations in Klingon and Federation space looked for any of that class of ship destined for the scrap heap.

Their efforts to find them from Star Fleet's ranks were in vain. It seemed that both the Makin and Continent models rarely got trashed.

Their attempts to get Klingon ships of this class were slightly better. They were able to spirit out two T-3 Movers and two T-5A Throne Seekers from Imperial space. One of each model was assigned to their two main fleets. The First Fleet guarded the Federation frontier, while the Second Fleet kept watch over Klingon space.

To their chagrin, they also discovered the Orions never had any need for assault ships, so they never built them. The only consolation in this was the fact that none of their customers in the Triangle asked for them either. Hence, the KUSN couldn't purchase what the Orions didn't have.

To many in the Star Navy's upper echelons, this didn't bode well for the future.

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"JUNK NAVY" ERA -- Freighters And Colony Ships

Unlike their efforts to obtain assault ships from Federation territory, the Kephans had greater success getting to-be-scrapped Star Fleet freighters and colony ships. They were able to net three Liberty MK1s and one Liberty MK3, along with two Aakenn MK2s. Their search for colony ships resulted in getting three Cochrane MK1s and one Cochrane MK2 for the Star Navy.

It was the opposite within Klingon space, as the best they could do was obtaining one G-3A Baka Re' and one G-8 Traders Game class from them.

The Orions, always willing to make a deal, sold the KUSN four Dwarfstar-2 freighters and told them where to find other old freighters cheap within the quadrant.

This advice bore fruit in the purchase of thirty Monarchs, four Argons and even fourteen Chameleon scout-traders. These ships and the rest would serve the Star Navy well in ferrying goods and people between the Unity and the Free States as the years passed.

This harvest of ships gave incentive for the Unity Congress to offer a large prize for the best designed freighter the Star Navy would use. The results of the contest were...unusual, to say the least.

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"JUNK NAVY" ERA -- Shuttles and Other Ships

Starships can't repair themselves when they've been severely damaged in battle. Hence the need for Mobile Repair Facilities (MRF) to heal a ship's battle-wounds wherever they are.

While the Star Navy was busy designing their own MRFs, their operatives in Federation and Klingon space searched for operable repair units available or purchase. They struck gold when a facility and a repair tender came up for sale: one Pearl and it's Cle Dan from the Federation, and an S-8 Murph A and one S-4 Mender A from the Klingons.

When it came to warpshuttles, though, they struck lead instead. Kephan operatives failed to secure any Federation-made craft at all. Things were slightly better in Klingon space, where three each of the Koreba W-2 A and W-2 F models came into their hands along with two Speedstar W-4 A shuttles.

Orion-made ships were much easier to come by, whether original or copies of existing models. Two each of the Wanderer and Lightning-class blockade runners were sent to Kephan space, along with a copy of the infamous Swift Solaria.

A month after the Wanderers arrived, the Anchor Co-operative's board of directors authorized a study on creating a makeshift destroyer from whatever starship parts could be copied or scrounged. The results of that study and it's after effects stunned Kephan and Orion alike.

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"JUNK NAVY" ERA – Scouts, Monitors and Other Ships

The Kephan dummy corporations operating in Klingon and Federation space rescued from the scrap heap an equal amount of scouts and monitors. Most of them were of good quality, needing only some minor refurbishing here and there. Quickly rebuilt when they reached Kephan space, each group was split in two, with one half to the First Fleet poised on the Federation frontier, the other half to the Second Fleet near Klingon space.

On the Federation side, the Nelson-class scouts were easy to come by, with four Mark II and two Mark V models coming into their hands.

On the Klingon side, two K-14 Pathmakers – one each of the A and C models – two K-15 Unseen Creepers – one each of the A and F models – and two K-17 Death Stalker A models filled in the ranks for each Fleet.

For monitors, the respective scrapyards yielded up three K-30 Luckless As from the Klingons and three Fenlon Mark II from the Federation. One of each would be assigned to the three capitol planets of Cephas, Petrus and Kepha.

For smaller ships, as in past efforts, the Kephans had greater success wresting Klingon ships from the scrap pile than Federation ones. Only two Solar Mark I cutters were sent from Federation space. Three each of the four Klingon gunboat classes – the K-3 Kalath B, K-4 Enforcer B, K-5 Watcher C and K-6 Administrator C – were sent without delay.

Tri-Planetary Command (TPC) assigned three Nelsons and one each of the K-14s, K-15s and K-17s to each Fleet. One Solar cutter and one of each Klingon gunboat class were assigned to each Fleet also. The remaining gunboats stayed at the capitol with the monitors.

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"JUNK NAVY" ERA – Escorts, Frigates and Destroyers

In the aftermath of the Four Years War, the Federation and the Klingons were busy upgrading their ships and discarding those too old or unable to do their job anymore. The Kephans, through their dummy corporations in both nations, sifted through the detritus of war to salvage what they could and send it back for rebuilding.

In the area of frigates, the Kephan Unity Star Navy (KUSN) retrieved two Loknar MK Is from the Federation and two L-6G Defenders from the Klingons. One of each were assigned to two main fleets guarding the frontiers.

Regarding destroyers, as in the past, the Kephans has better success in Klingon scrapyards than with Federation ones. Two Saladin MKI and one MK III, one Firestorm MK I and – to their shock and delight – a working Crusader MK VIII came their way. As for Klingon ships bound for the scrapyards, four of the derided D-11B One Wings, one D-16C Swiftwind and one each of the D-18A and B Gull classes got a second chance to live and fight again. One Saladin, two One Wings and a Gull were assigned to each fleet, with the rest placed in the reserves.

No Star Fleet escorts fell into their hands. The KUSN did a little better with the Klingons in the form of two K-23D Little Killers, one each going to the First Fleet on the Federation front and the Second Fleet watching out for the Klingons.

During this time, the Orions sold the Kephans two of the excellent Freelancer-class blockade runners, with one each going to each fleet.

With the influx of these rescued ships as their inspiration, local shipbuilders and engineers competed with each other to create the best indigenous starships the KUSN could need. The results were the best, worst and weirdest the Alpha and Beta Quadrants ever knew.

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“JUNK NAVY” ERA – Heavy Cruisers

In any space fleet, heavy cruisers are the status symbols of their nation. They are the projection of power for those outside their borders and safety for those protected inside them. They are the backbone of any serious incursion into an enemy's territory. Their construction and maintenance are a major investment of any government's budget.

Acquisition of these vessels was top priority with the Kephan dummy corporations operating within Federation and Klingon space. But as was the case in the past, they had greater success with Klingon castoffs than Federation ones.

The best they could do regarding Star Fleet was getting four Thruxton MK IIs and one Anton MK II into their hands.

As for the Klingons, they purchased two D-4A and four D-4E Predators, two D-7A Painbringers, three D-10A and one D-10D Riskadh and one D-20C Death Rite cruisers from the scrapyards.

From the Orions, they bought one spectacular Wander Lust MK I battle cruiser, on the condition they wouldn't make any copies of it in the future. Impressed with the vessel, the KUSN had no problem agreeing to those conditions.

As was now standard procedure, the Star Navy divided their catches equally between the First and Second Fleets. Two Thruxtons, one D-4A, two D-4Es, one D-7A and one D-10A were assigned to each fleet border, with the rest going to the reserves.

Pleased with what they gathered on the sly from their rivals, the KUSN now ordered the dummy corporations to lay low on their activities until further notice. The next phase of their naval construction project, known as the “Homebuilt Navy Era", was about to begin.

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KUSN "Junk Navy" Fleet Composition

First Fleet – Assigned to the Federation frontier

Assault Ships

1xT-3 Mover
1xT-5A Throne Seeker

Shuttles and Blockade Runners

1xKoreba W-2 A
1xKoreba W-2 F
1xSpeedstar W-4 A
1xWanderer
1xLightning
1xFreelancer

Scouts, Cutters and Gunboats

2xNelson MK II
1xNelson MK V
1xPathmaker K-14C
1xUnseen Creeper K-15F
1xDeath Stalker K-17A
1xSolar MK I
1xKalath K-3B
1xEnforcer K-4B
1xWatcher K-5C
1xAdministrator K-6C

Escorts, Frigates and Destroyers

1xLoknar MK I
1xDefender L-6G
1xSaladin MK I
2xOne Wing D-11B
1xGull D-18B
1xLittle Killer K-23D

Heavy Cruisers

2xThruxton MK II
1xPredator D-4A
2xPredator D-4E
1xPainbringer D-7A
1xRiskadh D-10A

Second Fleet – Assigned to the Klingon frontier

Assault Ships

1xT-3 Mover
1xT-5A Throne Seeker

Shuttles and Blockade Runners

1xKoreba W-2 A
1xKoreba W-2 F
1xSpeedstar W-4 A
1xWanderer
1xLightning
1xFreelancer

Scouts, Cutters and Gunboats

2xNelson MK II
1xNelson MK V
1xPathmaker K-14A
1xUnseen Creeper K-15A
1xDeath Stalker K-17A
1xSolar MK I
1xKalath K-3B
1xEnforcer K-4B
1xWatcher K-5C
1xAdministrator K-6C

Escorts, Frigates and Destroyers

1xLoknar MK I
1xDefender L-6G
1xSaladin MK I
2xOne Wing D-11B
1xGull D-18A
1xLittle Killer K-23D

Heavy Cruisers

2xThruxton MK II
1xPredator D-4A
2xPredator D-4E
1xPainbringer D-7A
1xRiskadh D-10A

Reserves

Shuttles and Blockade Runners

1xKoreba W-2A
1xKoreba W-2F
1xSwift Solaria-copy

Escorts, Frigates and Destroyers

1xSaladin MK III
1xFirestorm MK I
1xCrusader MK VIII
1XSwiftwind D-16C

Heavy Cruisers

1xAnton MK II

1xRiskadh D-10A

1xRiskadh D-10D

1xDeath Rite D-20C
1xWander Lust MK I

Survey And Colony Command

3xCochrane MK I
1xCochrane MK III

Commerce Command

3xLiberty MK I
1xLiberty MK III
2xAakenn MK II
1xBaka Re' G-3A
1xTraders Game G-8
4xDwarfstar-2
30xMonarch
4xArgon
14xChameleon

Capital Defense Command

1xPearl + 1xCle Dan
1xMurph S-8A + 1xMender S-4A
3xLuckless K-30A
3xFenlon Mark II
1xKalath K-3B
1xEnforcer K-4B
1xWatcher K-5C
1xAdministrator K-6C

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To everyone on the board:

My apologies to you all for not adding anything on this thread for nearly a year now. I tend to do creative stuff slowly more often than not. That is due a lot to perfectionism generated by the OCPD that I deal with daily.

I'm hoping at least to put up pieces on the main planets of the Unity, specifically:

1) The Triple Capital -- Kepha, Cephas and Petrus

2) Aristungah, the tropical tourist planet

3) Acne, the big mining planet

4) Monavees, the new shipbuilding facility world

Thank you all for your patience with me on this. It is greatly appreciated.

[trynda1701]

brickwall

I wouldn't worry about it. Your additions are always interesting reading to me, and the next addition will arrive when you find the time. As real life always gets in the way of our hobbies, we find the time when we can. My partner always appreciates that I can, as she puts it, "put the toys back in the box"!

Plus, I can't complain. Note the below progression of posting my miniature pics for use in the FASA game...

FEDERATION - July to October 2012 (Yes, I started that far back!)
KLINGON - October to November 2012
ROMULAN - June to July 2013
ORION - August 2013, August 2014, August to September 2015, September 2016!!!
GORN - September 2016
THOLIANS - September 2016

...and I haven't finished posting pics! My favourites, the Orions, were posted over a period of 3 years!!! And excepting the Gorn minis, which were painted just before the pics were taken in 2016, ALL the rest of the minis shown were painted in either the 90s or early 2000s!

But I am planning on posting more in my minis pics thread, it's just a real life situation is curtailing my creative urge at present. But there will be more, just like you will post more about the Kephans. I for one am looking forward to it.

Mark

[rarcher]

Personally i'm just itching to see it canonized in your lore of the great klingon raid that i did

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Folks, below this text is the insignia for the Kephan Unity.

It is a picture of three circles linked together in the middle. In the center of it is a human right hand and wrist, with the index finger pointing skyward.

The circles represent the Triple Capital of the Unity, the three planets of Kepha, Cephas and Petrus. They twirl around each other, balanced as three points in an equilateral triangle, as they also spin around their yellow sun.

The right hand pointing skyward represents both Heaven -- which inspires the Unity's cause and purpose -- and as a reminder to stand as one people in that cause and purpose.

It also bring to their minds a quote from the English author, journalist and mystery writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton, who co-inspired the founding of the Unity and it's philosophies:

“It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands."

The insignia is also in the center of the National Flag, which is a plain white banner.

[Gorn]

For three simple planets, they seem to be incredibly rich in resources, first to pay the Klingons and the Orions, then secondly, to build the fleet. Why do they stay out of the Federation? I get the image that they're a bunch of fanatics, due to a few phrases you mentioned...

I ported over the Venturi from SFA. They discovered ancient ships, and automated them for use with skeleton crews.

[brickwall]

Jun 10, 2017 7:03:08 GMT -7 Gorn said:

For three simple planets, they seem to be incredibly rich in resources, first to pay the Klingons and the Orions, then secondly, to build the fleet. Why do they stay out of the Federation? I get the image that they're a bunch of fanatics, due to a few phrases you mentioned...

I ported over the Venturi from SFA. They discovered ancient ships, and automated them for use with skeleton crews.

The planets of Kepha, Cephas and Petrus are not the only worlds within the Kephan Unity. They just happen to be the center of power within it, the "Triple Capital" as it is more commonly known.

The other major worlds mentioned so far are:

1) Aristungah, the tropical tourist world
2) Acne, the mining world and a rich one at that
3) Monavees, where a new shipbuilding facility just started up

For a comparison, look at the Romulans. According to Trek Canon, their Star Empire is poor in resources, due to it being in a rather poor area of the Milky Way. So it seems the closer to the Galactic Core one is, the more suns and planets there are. Hence the richer in resources one is with the potential to take advantage of them. In future, there will be other Unity worlds mentioned along with their particular quirks.

The main reason they won't join the Federation is mentioned in the second post in this thread:

GENERAL STRATEGY OF THE STAR NAVY

During the Kephan Unity's early years, when it began to flourish and expand, it's Congress demanded a rapid buildup of the Star Navy. Like the rest of the galaxy, the new nation felt naked before the threat of piracy and foreign intrusion. Unlike the rest of it's neighbors, however, it harbored one long-term goal for the Star Navy - "to liberate Occupied Earth from it's Globalist seducers and enslavers", according to it's Charter. That also meant tackling the Federation and her Star Fleet, who would fight to the bitter end against any such effort.

They oppose the very idea of Earth run as a "world state" run by a self-appointed elite. In their eyes, it is "just the Communist Manifesto dominant over the Earth in disguise". They also see the Prime Directive as "inherently immoral". The Federation, of course, strongly disagrees. So there will be no compromise between the two. Neither side will give up or back down. They may not fight each other tomorrow or 10,000 years from now -- now meaning the TOS Era -- but they will fight in the end.

I hope this will clear up any confusion you may have had. Many thanks in advance.

[rarcher]

brickwall would you mind if i posted my playthrough of a large skirmish between the Kephans, Starfleet, and Romulans? I know the rommies arent border wise near the Unity it seems but for the skirmish some rommie showed up in our playthrough. Would you be interested in integrating it maybe into the lore of the Unity?

[brickwall]

Jul 5, 2017 8:46:43 GMT -7 rarcher said:

brickwall would you mind if i posted my playthrough of a large skirmish between the Kephans, Starfleet, and Romulans? I know the rommies aren't border wise near the Unity it seems but for the skirmish some Rommie showed up in our playthrough. Would you be interested in integrating it maybe into the lore of the Unity?

I don't see any problem with that. Though if there are any Kephan ships near the Romulan border, it seems to me they'd either be freighters or the oddball diplomatic ship.

Maybe some diplomatic cruiser coming to open formal relations with any of the states within the Triangle. I'm sure the Big Three wouldn't like that happening.

So let's see what happens.

[rarcher]

Jul 5, 2017 14:08:40 GMT -7 brickwall said:

Jul 5, 2017 8:46:43 GMT -7 rarcher said:

brickwall would you mind if i posted my playthrough of a large skirmish between the Kephans, Starfleet, and Romulans? I know the rommies aren't border wise near the Unity it seems but for the skirmish some Rommie showed up in our playthrough. Would you be interested in integrating it maybe into the lore of the Unity?

I don't see any problem with that. Though if there are any Kephan ships near the Romulan border, it seems to me they'd either be freighters or the oddball diplomatic ship.

Maybe some diplomatic cruiser coming to open formal relations with any of the states within the Triangle. I'm sure the Big Three wouldn't like that happening.

So let's see what happens.

Well the sim i ran was more where the events were on the Federation/Kephen border and a sneaky cloaked Rommie ship shows up anyhow i'll post the recap of it later for your to pursue and if you like feel free to integrate it! It in a way will actually help favor the Kephen!

[brickwall]

Jul 6, 2017 15:50:17 GMT -7 rarcher said:

Jul 5, 2017 14:08:40 GMT -7 brickwall said:

I don't see any problem with that. Though if there are any Kephan ships near the Romulan border, it seems to me they'd either be freighters or the oddball diplomatic ship.

Maybe some diplomatic cruiser coming to open formal relations with any of the states within the Triangle. I'm sure the Big Three wouldn't like that happening.

So let's see what happens.

Well the sim i ran was more where the events were on the Federation/Kephen border and a sneaky cloaked Rommie ship shows up. Anyhow i'll post the recap of it later for your to pursue and if you like feel free to integrate it! It in a way will actually help favor the Kephen!

Sweet! I'll be waiting for it. And please forgive the nitpicking, but Kephan is spelt with an A.

And BTW, your counterpart who did The Rarcher Report is an Andorian. And Andorians, according to the FASA book on the Federation, do have a reputation for being aggressive. So when Adm. Rarcher speaks, TPC and the Star Navy listens!

[Gorn]

How would they deal with the Venturi showing up on their doorstep, begging for massive amounts of aid to revivify an ancient planet - that they refuse to leave - around a dying sun? (Maybe they come from Betelgeuse!)
The Venturi are religious fanatics that have lately been following Alshoff; a leader said to work miracles and able to alter reality to minor extents.

[brickwall]

Jul 7, 2017 3:00:40 GMT -7 Gorn said:

How would they deal with the Venturi showing up on their doorstep, begging for massive amounts of aid to revivify an ancient planet - that they refuse to leave - around a dying sun? (Maybe they come from Betelgeuse!)
The Venturi are religious fanatics that have lately been following Alshoff; a leader said to work miracles and able to alter reality to minor extents.

I don't know since, if I remember what you wrote about the Venturi, they exist somewhere either on or below the Klingon/Romulan borders. Meaning they would have to travel a huge distance from their homeworld just to seek help.

And would they have even heard of the Kephan Unity from that far away? I don't think they would have been told of them from either Klingon or Romulan sources.

Just my initial thinking on this, nothing more.

EDIT: My apologies. I thought the Venturi were somewhere else rather than in Federation space. I was going by my memory of them and it was wrong. So I had to check the thread about them. I made a mistake. Sorry.

[Gorn]

Seeing as they were invented by Interplay for Starfleet Academy, and might even then be "a dream within a dream", it hardly matters! Think I'll post more about that where it belongs...

[cowboy40]

i like what i have read here...

[brickwall]

Just a brief bump here on the thread thanks to a brief reminder from Facebook on how long I've worked on the concept of the Kephan Unity.

Long ago on my FB page, I wrote how I started "writing a fanfiction series set in the Original Series Star Trek timeline. The good guys here are NOT the blasted Federation, but a small star nation vowing to "free the Earth from it's global tyranny". It's hero is a philosophy professor who's been drafted as a starship captain. Sort of a lovable "anti-Kirk". Think of Paul Giamatti in the lead roll."

I wrote that back on August 8, 2009!

Yes, I've been working on this off-and-on for around eight years! That's how bad perfectionism can be when working on things in the creative arts. This has been plaguing me for most of my life.

I'm still working on the writing drip-by-drip. But working on the ships of the Unity and it's major worlds here also helps in the effort. And I'd like to thank you all here on the Forum for whatever help you've given me in bringing all this miasma of a mess to fruition. Heaven willing, I hope it will be an enlivenment and enrichment to the sagas that comprise Trek fiction and gaming.

Again, thank you all for your attention and help. Onward and upward!

[brickwall]

WORLDS OF THE KEPHAN UNITY

World Log: ARISTUNGAH

System Name: Aqua Stella

Number of Class M Present: 1

Planetary Data
    Position in System: VII
    Number of Satellites: 1
    Gravity: .6G
Size
    Diameter: 7800 km
    Equatorial Circumference: 24,000km
    Total Surface Area: 306,000,000 sq. km
    Percent Land Mass: 19%
    Total Land Area: 58,140,000 sq. km
Surface Conditions
    Length of Day: 26 hours
    Atmospheric Density: Thin
    General Climate: Tropical
Mineral Content
    Normal Metals: 16%
    Radioactives: 3%
    Gemstones: 1%
    Industrial Crystals: 2%
    Special Minerals: Trace

NOTEWORTHY FACTS:Aristungah (pronounced ah-REES-toon-GAH) is the second busiest ship-building planet after the Triple Capital of the Unity. Easy access to the minerals of the inner planets make this an attractive area to build and repair starships.

The world's surface is mostly ocean with a string of islands engirdling it's equator. The islands themselves are unique in that each one have beaches with multicolored sand and vibrant coral reefs. The larger islands have environmentally friendly resorts catering to fans of sailing, fly fishing and scuba diving. The only major drawbacks are the low gravity and thin atmosphere that discourages any major increase in the tourist trade beyond a trickle.