History of Adrasteia

Adrasteia was one of the first human colonies beyond the solar system, located on the planet Adrasteia in the Alpha Centuri system. The planet, which was discovered in 2085, had eluded astronomers due to its small size. With a gravity around 60% of that of Earth’s, and steep mountain ranges that cover most of the surface, air travel is the most efficient form of travel on Adrasteia. (Strangely, Adrasteia has an unusually high level of geological activity for a planet of its size. It also boasts a weak magnetosphere; the explanation for this is unknown.) Because of the high land to water ratio, the oceans are super saline; all drinkable water has to either be collected from the mountains or distilled from seawater.

On 2216, after nearly a hundred years of travel, the colony ship Mayflower arrived on Adrasteia. Over the next few hundred years, more colony ships would arrive, allowing humans to eventually colonize most of Adrasteia's main supercontinent. Over time, Adrasteia gained a crucial role in the Earth Empire as a strategic port for further colonization, and acting as an important trade partner for terran technologies. (In fact, its so important that Earth Command had authorized and funded the construction of a space artillery on Adrasteia.)

One of the main technologies Adrasteia trades with Earth is electromagnetic levitation. While this hover technology is horrendously inefficient on Earth, this is not the case in Adrasteia’s low gravity and thin atmosphere. As a result, skyships are very prevalent on Adrasteia, being utilized for all sorts of purposes.