Brevis System

Template:!Star ClusterThe Brevis System, when it was originally catalogued, was a normal binary system of two roughly equal-mass stars around 500 AU apart. It was located near the Garanka System, and was just beginning to be colonized by Marakat. The planet of Tarwin had recently begun the terraforming process, when something happened that no one could have prepared for.

The system seemingly vanished from existence in 88,430 CE. Contact was lost with the colonies at Tarwin and Sheyas at this time, although ships traveling through the area sometimes detect "ghost transmissions" emanating from their original locations as well as the locations of other habitable zone planets which were uncolonized at the time of the Vanishing.

Scientists have no idea how this occurred, although some as-yet unproven hypotheses have been put forward. The most popular of these is the Alternate Plane hypothesis, which postulates that the system was somehow shunted into an alternate plane, causing the Vanishing.

Properties

The Brevis System originally had two roughly equal-mass orange dwarfs in a fairly elliptical 500-AU orbit around each other. Each star possessed a system of planets, with Telkron having seven and Weir having three.

There was a region surrounding the exact barycenter of the system with a radius of roughly 400,000 kilometers beyond which any craft was ripped apart by phantom forces. No one has any idea why this occurred, but telescopes aimed at the center of this region detected some sort of space station.

At the time of the vanishing, only two planets in the system were fully colonized and self-sufficient. Tarwin and Sheyas were located in orbit around the primary star, Telkron, before the Vanishing and were considered to be more prosperous then the other colonies on the more barren worlds due to their existence in the habitable zone.

Possible Explanations for the Vanishing

Due to the bizarre and anomalous nature of this event, scientists have put forward many hypotheses to explain the disappearance. None of these have been proven, however.

Alternate Plane

This hypothesis has the most (albeit circumstantial) evidence behind it. It still sounds quite far-fetched to most, as it postulates that the station sighted in the aforementioned zone of avoidance somehow shunted the entire star cluster into an alternate plane loosely connected to the main plane of Cosmoria.

This would also explain the ghost transmissions detected by spacecraft passing through the region, as modern models of physics postulate that certain wavelengths of light can pass through the barriers that exist between the planes.

Colonies & Areas of Interest

Before its vanishing, there were several key locations within the Brevis Cluster.

Tarwin, Sheyas, and Surrounding Colonies

At the time of the Vanishing, there were roughly 20 fledgeling colonies spread throughout the system. Two of these, Tarwin and Sheyas, were developed enough to become fully self-sufficient if the need arised. The need would arise much quicker than the inhabitants of the two planets expected, as the cluster was completely cut off from the wider universe soon after they completed colonization.

They probably quickly began helping the other worlds of the Brevis System become self-sufficient as well, but thousands would have starved before they finished this project. Presumably, barring unforseen catastrophe, the colonies have probably united into a nation and conquered most of the system by the present day.

Zone of Avoidance

The Zone of Avoidance is a region of space surrounding the barycenter of the system around 400,000 km in radius. Positioned at the dead center of the Zone is a large station with an unknown mechanism making up most of its structure. Hypotheses abound about what this station was, but it was there in the days of Yanaris and wasn't there in the previous unification period and was probably constructed during the Years of Fire. Perhaps the station was designed to protect a state that took control of the system from the violent chaos of the time by offsetting it from Cosmoria if it was in danger?

It was not possible to enter the Zone of Avoidance, as any spacecraft entering it was ripped to pieces by phantom forces. These forces were probably generated by the station, as after the vanishing of the system and thus the station, it became possible to enter the zone.

Weir System

The Weir System was the site of a small K1.5 civilization which the colony at Tarwin made contact with shortly before the vanishing. On the innermost planet of the star, Inkala, there was a powerful species which ruled the majority of their star system. Inkala was heavily populated and appeared to have the beginnings of a K2 and beyond.

However, after the Vanishing, no one has any idea what happened to the Inkalan civilization. Most believe that it eventually unified with the colonies at Tarwin and Sheyas or founded its own independent nation.