Bering's End and the moon Laika
Bering's End (or Bearing's End) is a colony on the remote edge of the Circinus Sector in the Perseus Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. It is the seventh planet of the system 270 232 Circinus. Its primary sun is an F-type star. Bearing's End has a single moon called Laika.
History[]
Bearing's End was colonized accidentally when the survey ship Bering crash-landed on the surface after its Artificial Intelligence malfunctioned and attempted to kill the crew. Bering was surveying the Circinus Sector in the late 49th Solar Century, and was in orbit of the seventh planet in the system 270 332 Circinus, when its Artificial Intelligence malfunctioned and attempted to crash the ship into the planet. The crew managed to avert destruction, but the crash landing left their ship stranded.
By the time a follow-up mission was sent to check on them nearly 100 years later, the crew of 200 had established a small colony on the planet's surface which numbered over 1,000 people. Some migration to the planet continued from the 50th through the 54th Century, but as Bearing's End was remote lacked a colonial sponsor, the colony received no formal support or development assistance and only a few made the long trek to the edge of the quadrant. At the time of the Collapse of the Commonwealth, the planet's population numbered fewer than 25,000.
The colony grew slowly in the centuries that followed. Although the planet's resources were limited, its people managed to coexist peacefully most of the time. One tribe of inhabitants became primitive and savage and this created the planet's only major prolonged conflict. By the time the Explorer Ship Ascension rediscovered the colony in the 72nd Solar Century, the population had grown to nearly 100 Million people.
Society and Culture[]
Bearing's End is a lightly populated world with fewer than 100 million inhabitants, almost all of whom live on the continent of Karelia, which is also the location of the planet's capital and only large city, Karelia City.
The Karelian Federation is the planet's nation-state organization. Executive authority is vested in an Executive Council consisting of nine councilors elected at-large for four year terms, which is led by a popularly-elected Chancellor. It has a combined legislative and administrative organization called 'The Council of Ministers' consisting of 100 ministers elected at large for four year terms.
Although small, the planet enjoys a fairly advanced level of technology. It's technological level was B- at the time of its rediscovery but has advanced to B+ since rediscovery. Its people are known for strength, for brutal honesty, for fatalism, and as epic consumers of alcohol.
Bearing's End is a member of the Free Worlds Affiliation. Small numbers of its people serve on the ships of the Space Exploration Consortium and the Free Worlds Alliance Star Force. It maintains Consulates on Loki, Republic, Bountiful Prime, Denali, Independence, and Wolf's Head.
Because of its remoteness and smallness, it has limited trade and contact with other worlds. However, wood from its rainforests is very valuable to other colonies. The planet's diversity of environments and wealth of natural resources make it an excellent prospect for future growth. The sixth and eighth planets of the system have vast reserves of palladium, scandium, ytterbium, yttrium, and other highly valued elements which the Government is keen to license for exploitation.