Nihil Ultra Background

Nihil Ultra is hospitable to life, with atmosphere composition and biosphere compatibility, but its climate is frigidly cold. The windswept plains of the planet’s surface are extremely hostile to any human expansion, with ice storms and sub-freezing temperatures that sap power quickly. However, thriving communities have formed in the planet’s deep canyons and geothermal vents. These settlements spread out along the canyon floors with infrastructure stretching up the walls. Nihil Ultra is more than self-sufficient in terms of food production thanks to greenhouses and synthetic meat, but the main barrier to population growth is space. There are relatively few “hot-zones” capable of sustaining more than an outpost sized facility.

Trade
When Nihil Ultra was first discovered by scouts it was dismissed as another insignificant snowball world. Since that time it has been observed to have numerous deposits of rare earth metals, in part due to the frequent meteor showers. Mining and ore processing are the largest industries on Nihil Ultra, and there are two primary ways mines are built there. The first is a Face Mine, which digs into exposed deposits from the side of a canyon that shelters them from the worst of the planet’s weather. The second is a Starcatcher Mine. The icy wastelands of the planet’s surface are too cold to support any major mining operation for a long time, so when a meteor shower occurs there is always a mad scramble of temporary mining outfits to extract what resources they can before the meteor is buried under ice and snow. Outside the hot-zones, there is little law and the initial rush to stake claims is akin to a warzone, though once territory has been claimed the fighting typically ceases as the prospectors must also battle the hostile weather.

Culture
Nihil Ultra was settled before the Scream, but only as a mining outpost. When the Scream cut the planet off, it actually fared relatively well as the greenhouses were self-sufficient. With the natural resources that were no longer being siphoned off, the Nihilans were able to expand their cities immensely. When contact was made with scout ships of the Trag Protectorate, Nihil Ultra entered into the alliance with them readily. Their economic and strategic importance granted them significant privileges within the protectorate not granted to lesser worlds. Despite a relative influx of wealth, significant inequality exists in the canyons. As is often the case, the wealth from other worlds primarily flows to the owners of mines and military officials. Overcrowding in the warm population centers has become a major issue. While there was never much sunlight that reached through the clouds to the bottom of the canyons, new construction has turned the floor of the canyon into a network of tunnels. The only direction for new construction is up, and as buildings are crowded in around hot-zones, the lower levels find themselves completely cut off from the sky.

Despite being a relatively wealthy world, Nihil Ultra is still not a particularly nice place to live. Those living near the top of the valleys and canyons must contest with freezing temperatures and ice storms. People living closer to geothermal heat sources benefit from more warmth and energy, but have to deal with overcrowding and ever-diminishing sunlight from new construction. Most of the natives are a hardy, but dreary bunch. Few ever travel far from their homes and most mines and factories have multiple generations of the same family working in them. There is also very limited social mobility. An informal ruling class of career politicians and plutocrats who govern, most of whom have ties to the Protectorate at large. This is not to say the working class are unusually oppressed; the harsh conditions foster a strong sense of community and most enclaves within a hot-zone are largely self governing and democratic.

Ecology:
In hot zones, the ecology resembles terrestrial locations, or it did before the population boom decimated natural resources. A variety of small fish and crustaceans live in the cold streams that flow down from the surface, and plant life grows in abundance near them. Particularly tasty are Sleep Berries (sweet, not actually psychogenic, the name comes from a fairy tale) and Franklin Pine Cones (ground into a savory paste). Several species of rodents, mammals and birds subsist on the flora and fauna of the river, but no mammals larger than a black bear exist in the canyons and none of the native life has ever been domesticated to a large extent. Around the hot-zones themselves lizards and other reptiles can be found, but these have become increasingly rare as the geothermal energy is harnessed by humans. Outside the canyons, signs of life are rare. Occasionally oases form around active geysers that form temporary hot zones. Usually transient, plant life blooms and animals flock to these locations before the ice reclaims them. Most of the animals on the surface are burrowing mammals, the most significant being the Bantoberra, a badger-sized omnivore prized for its thick, soft coat.

Defense: During the Great Silence that followed the Scream, the military of Nihil Ultra was not idle. Rebellious hot zones needed to be kept under control, and when there was no official war to fight in, soldiers easily found work as Starcatchers. With the glut of material wealth, Nihil Ultra was able to invest in several advanced areas of defense. The planet is covered in a network of breaker cannons and anti-orbit batteries, intended primarily to direct asteroids away from hot-zones but doubling as defense emplacements. A fleet of spacecraft was also developed, though the seven gas giants that share the Nihil Ultra system remain very lightly colonized. The final area the military invested were combat mechs. In the ice wastes, it often made more sense to heat and power a single mech than a team of rangers. The most common mech deployed are suit-class mechs, and often deployed in small teams and around Starcatcher Mines. Light mechs are most often seen as long-distance ranging units. Heavy Mechs exist but most have fallen out of favor, with the government opting for cheaper designs as more resources are funneled towards spaceship construction.

Current Events
Nihil Ultra is latin for nothing beyond, as explorers believed they had reached the edge of the stellar cluster. In the year 3200, this has turned out not to be entirely true. The Trag Protectorate’s main rival, the Harmony, recently charted a new spike drill course that allowed them to drop an entire invasion fleet directly into the Nihil Ultra system. The Harmony are pretech cultists and eugenicists, who use gene sculpting technology to horrendous ends. Their attack was a complete surprise, and the protectorate’s forces are stretched thin, battling rebellions and attacks elsewhere. Nihil Ultra’s planetary navy was able to buy time for defenders to prepare at the cost of nearly all their combat vessels. The Protectorate was able to dispatch a small strike team of shock troops and psychic warriors to aid in the defense. Additionally, a battalion of reinforcements from the nearby planet of Andrasta were able to arrive. The Andrastans’ tactics differ significantly from the Nihilans’, but their presence is greatly appreciated by the Nihilan regulars. Lastly, the emptying of government’s coffers were able to secure the services of Osprey Company, an interstellar mercenary group specializing in air superiority and drop troops.