Failstate

'Lucky enough to survive the end of the Universe - Unlucky enough to end up on Failstate.' - An old citation found in Failstate's archives

Failstate is a Void Island located within the Halcyon Verge Void Archipelago, found in the Voidsea. It is located within the Quiet Expanse Null Zone of the Sky River Gyre. It's Capital City, Virellia, is named after it's first Head of State, known as the Cratermaster, Parkes Virellia. It has one Void Cove, known as Dead End. It is part of the Cosmic Union. It is also home to the Failstate Crater Trenchfolk.

It earned it's unusual name due to the circumstances surrounding it's unique history - Officially designed at Verge Prime until a more permanent name could be decided upon, the world was undergoing terraforming projects towards the end of the Void Age, primarily by the Kin. Due to the Technopocalypse, much of the infrastructure that was engaging in the project was destroyed. Fortunately for the people in the system, the world had already had water, some basic oxygen-producing plankton and marine life, and agricultural biodomes. Failstate was settled, though it was not easy. This hardship, combined with the nature of the failed terraforming project, created a cultural perception of the world as a fundamental failure - And eventually, this translated into the world becoming known to it's inhabitants as Failstate.

Due to being within a Null Zone, the inhabitants did not have access to Taekni, not even knowing that it existed, meaning that they had to establish their world with whatever resources they had to hand, or could gather from the world. The people of this world would go on to develop Traits, though this was not until many generations had already toiled in hardship.

Despite this, Failstate did survive, and even managed to achieve rudimentary Voidsea travel, though it did not make it beyond Dead End, due to both a lack of places to go, and a lack of resources to get to any potential sites. Upon rediscovery by the Cosmic Union, Failstate readily petitioned membership, receiving vital aid. Interestingly, they did not seek to finish the terraforming project - Such a project would likely require what had been constructed to be destroyed, something the inhabitants were not willing to accept.

Failstate Crater Trenchfolk

'Our shovels cut through soil and bone.'

One of the main resources and contributions that Failstate can make to the Cosmic Union is that of it's armed forces, collectively known as the Failstate Crater Trenchfolk. They have their origins in the Crater Wars.

These forces are masters of combat in environments covered in craters, making them useful for deployment either on worlds that have seen heavy shelling, or on the surface of barren worlds. They are specially trained to use these environments to their advantage - How to hold a crater, how to defend one, how to leave one for the enemy in way that inflicts the maximum amount of damage, and unconventional tactics such as underground mining, to tunnel warfare.

Despite their name, the Crater Trenchfolk are renowned as being highly effective at their niche.