Settlement
Even without the inevitable Human intrusion, Stanton would have been an anomaly. Boasting a wide green zone and four especially large Human-suitable biospheres requiring limited terraforming, the system is, from a cosmological perspective, unusual. Star systems as purely inhabitable as Stanton are extremely rare. Meanwhile, the divergent ecologies on Stanton’s four worlds are of significant interest to scientists of all stripes.
No one is sure exactly who first settled the Stanton system. All indications are that it was discovered by a free agent trader and that word of the location and its potential riches spread; settlers quickly moved in. When the UEE noticed the system’s existence, the Empire declared Stanton to be a case of eminent domain, citing a need to protect and extend nearby jump lanes. Without formal colonization papers on file, the existing inhabitants had little choice but to abandon their homesteads: prospectors, survivalists and other squatters have little means to protect themselves from the might of a Bengal-class carrier.
The Empire was then stymied. As is often the case, wanting was a great deal more interesting than having. With a down economy in the midst of a hundred-year colonization drought, the UEE had few options for actually exploiting Stanton. After UEE naval engineers conducted the small amount of required terraforming, a series of underfunded military outposts were established and then Stanton sat untouched until the decision was ultimately made to sell the system piecemeal to the highest bidders. Megacorporations were quietly contacted and asked to bid for their own planets. The winners are believed to have flushed trillions into the UEE economy: Hurston Dynamics, Crusader Industries, ArcCorp and microTech. In a remarkable lack of originality, the four worlds are now named Hurston, Crusader, ArcCorp and microTech.
The megacorporations moved in slowly but surely, and the system become fully industrialized. The four worlds are now dotted with factories, corporate headquarters, testing ranges, mines and other company facilities. Only those working for the corporations (or anyone leasing their space) come to live in the Stanton system, inhabiting company towns.
Today, Stanton is a great place to travel if you’re interested in the materials produced by several of the galaxy’s most successful corporations … or if you think you can make a profit shipping these companies the goods they need to keep working.
