Luna is the official name of Earth's moon to distinguish it from the moons of other planets that have been colonized by Gold. It is the seat of House Lune as well as the capital of both The Society and The Solar Republic.
Description[]
Luna was heavily terraformed during the years immediately before and after The Conquering, giving the moon a breathable atmosphere while enabling the early colonists to seed the surface with vegetation and fill its impact craters with seawater. The resulting seas and mountains take up a majority of the moon's northern hemisphere, while the equator and the southern hemisphere are dominated by several large cities.[1][2] As a result, the northern hemisphere of the moon is sparsely populated,[1] with the only known population center north of the equator being the capital city of Hyperion, located on the southern coast of the Sea of Serenity,[3][4] 500 kilometers south of the Atlas Mountains.[1]
Because Luna's gravity is only 1/6 of Earth's, urban development on the moon was able to expand upwards at well as outward, with most cities consisting of multiple layers and new buildings being built on top of old ones, while skyscrapers are able to be constructed that reach several kilometers tall.[5] This results in significant disparities in wealth and quality of life between the upper and lower levels, with conditions worsening and crime increasing the closer to the surface one goes.[6]
This heavy urbanization over the centuries has resulted in air quality declining over the course of the Post-Conquering Era, with it being described in 741 PCE as stuffy, cloying, and sticking to the lungs.[7] Additionally, the industrialization of the moon made Luna dependent on Earth and other spheres in the solar system for food, as it lacks sufficient usable land to be able to grow enough crops to feed its population.[8]
In orbit, two public flight lanes are used to keep order for incoming and outgoing civilian ship traffic, with the Via Appia over the northern hemisphere being dedicated to commercial trading vessels, while the Via Flaminia is used to funnel personal craft into the Flaminius astroDock for inspection before descending from the moon to Earth's atmosphere.[9]
As an early warning system against invasion, a sphere of transponders known as the Rubicon Beacons, each as large as two Obsidians, floats one million kilometers beyond Earth's core.[9]
Due to the moon's orbit of Earth, each side of Luna alternates between two weeks of continuous sunlight and two weeks of continuous darkness.[7][10]
The moon is home to at least two Gardens for the training of Pinks, the Dryope Garden and the Hypseria Garden.
Government[]
Unlike other planets and moons in the solar system, Luna is governed directly by the Senate and the Sovereign Consul, rather than an archGovernor.
History[]
Pre-Saga[]
After mankind expanded from Earth to Luna, Luna became the port through which it colonized the other planets and moons in the solar system. This was made possible by Luna's low gravity and lack of an atmosphere, which made it easy to launch spacecraft. Due to Luna's small size and the difficulty of colonizing a new planet, order and efficiency became the chief concern. This led to the first Colors being created,[11] with each resident of Luna wearing a colored uniform corresponding to their caste[12] before subsequent genetic engineering and eugenics programs made the colors genetically distinct from Homo Sapiens.
When the wealthy inhabitants of Luna realized that Earth was entirely dependent on them, and only drained their profits, the moon's ruling Golds rebelled in a brutal war known as the Conquering that resulted in the subjugation of Earth and the founding of The Society.
The 2nd Century PCE marked the last time that a foreign fleet would sail beyond the Rubicon Beacons until the arrival of the Rising navy in November 743 PCE.[9]
Golden Son[]
Morning Star[]
Over the course of mid-743 PCE, Martian archGovernor Adrius au Augustus smuggled several hundred nuclear warheads to Luna from Octavia's secret stockpile in the asteroid belt and used his contacts in The Syndicate to install them across the moon. He then used them to blackmail Octavia into appointing him as Sovereign after The Rising was defeated. In November 743, Luna was invaded by the Red Armada and subsequently captured by the Sons of Ares after the death of Octavia and the ascension of Virginia au Augustus as the new Sovereign. In the process, Adrius detonated over twelve bombs across the moon, including on the south Mare Serenitatis and Mare Anguis, killing millions of people in the process.[3][13]
Solar War[]
After The Fall, Luna became the capital of the new Solar Republic. It was subjected to a three-year siege from January 744 to late 746 as the Society Remnant launched an attack on the moon in an effort to retake control of the moon.[14] Between the the Jackal's bombing in November 743 and the bombardments carries out by Apollonius au Valii-Rath during the Battle of Luna prior to his capture in 747, most of the cities in Luna's southern hemisphere were destroyed in the first few years of the Solar War and spent years rebuilding.[2]
The ground fighting during the Battle of Luna was particularly intense, coming to be referred to as the Block Wars, and resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties, with whole city blocks leveled by the munitions of both sides.[15] Many Obsidian war bands also sacked and looted whatever they could find in Society-held territory, resulting in even further civilian casualties.[16]
Iron Gold[]
Dark Age[]
Light Bringer[]
After the Society Remnant captured Earth in March 754, Luna was placed under siege as the Society forces to deprive the moon of food and outside resources.
Notable Locations[]
- Sea of Serenity - a sea located in the eastern hemisphere, north of the equator, in the Mare Serenitatis basin for which it was named.[4]
- Hyperion - Capital city of Luna, former capital of The Society, and capital of the Solar Republic from 743 to 754 PCE. Located on the southern shores of the Sea of Sirenity.[3][5][14]
- Atlas Mountains - A mountain range in the northern hemisphere, 500 kilometers north of Hyperion. Home to Lake Silene and Silene Manor, the personal countryside retreat of House Lune, as well as the ruins of the USS Davy Crockett, flagship of the pre-Conquering American general John Merrywater.[1]
- Mare Vaporum - Presumably a sea within the namesake basin southwest of the Sea of Sirenity. Home to vacation resorts.[2][17]
- Imbrium City - one of the major cities of Luna, presumably located in the western hemisphere, north of the equator, near its namesake Mare Imbrium basin.[18]
- Atlas Interplanetary Docks - Luna's primary spaceport for commercial inter-planetary travel, located 160 kilometers south of Hyperion's city center. Colloquially known as The Mass due to its constant growth over the centuries, it consists of seven gargantuan towers filled with docking stations, bars, restaurants, casinos, hotels, and brothels, and sees one billion travellers pass through annually.[19]
- Endymion - A major city on the far side of Luna that serves as a hub for manufacturing and interplanetary shipping.
- Mare Anguis - Presumably a sea within the namesake basin south of the Sea of Sirenity.[9][20]
- Dryope Gardens - One of the moon's most famous Pink breeding facilities.
- Eridan Interplanertary Docks - A spaceport for interplanetary non-commercial travel located on the far side of Luna.[21]
- Tycho City - A city known for ripRacing and scrap garages.[22] Presumably located on the near side of Luna in the southern hemisphere.[23]
Notable Lunese[]
- Silenius au Lune
- Ovidius au Lune
- Octavia au Lune
- Lysander au Lune
- Ephraim ti Horn
- Rhone ti Flavinius
- Drusilla ti Pistriss
- Kyber ti Umbra
- Markus ti Lacrima
- Demetrius ti Interimo
- Vebonna
- Cyther
- Kobachi
- Xenophon
- Oslo
- Theodora
- The Duke of Hands
- Xan
- Publius cu Caraval
Notes & References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Iron Gold, chapter 02
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Iron Gold, Chapter 16
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Morning Star, Chapter 63
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mare Serenitatis
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Iron Gold, Chapter 06
- ↑ Golden Son, Chapter 07
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Golden Son, Chapter 06
- ↑ Light Bringer, Chapter 15
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Morning Star, Chapter 57
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 29
- ↑ Red Rising, Chapter 09
- ↑ Golden Son, Chapter 46
- ↑ Morning Star, Chapter 64
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Iron Gold, Chapter 31
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 51
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 08
- ↑ Mare Vaporum
- ↑ Mare Imbrium
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 14
- ↑ Mare Anguis
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 19
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 21
- ↑ Tycho (Lunar Crater)