Argano

The ringworld of Argano is a major world of Marakat, though to call it merely "major" does the structure a disservice. Argano took the better part of a millennium to construct, making it technically older than the nation that built it. Construction began as Marakat initiated its aggressive push toward unification of the Poreltids. Argano served as a base of power and industry far from Artaclate's rivals back home in the Fraelee System. Furthermore, it gave them crucial leverage over Diora. The founding of the MIU and conclusion of their nation-building project saw further resources put toward the structure.

Argano weighs over 1200 gigatonnes, with its large oceans accounting for nearly ten percent of that mass. It has enough room to comfortably house a further 1.5 trillion individuals, though its population has never reached such heights. Most of the citizenry live in quite dense multi-level accommodations, including many skyscrapers stretching deep into space beyond Argano's atmosphere. Argano's surface area is comparable to a conventional city planet, such as Artaclate. In recent times, its population has surpassed that of the homeworld, leading to an upset in the balance of power in the nation.

Government

Argano is directly governed by the local government of the Argano Directorate. The populace of the megastructure is given a greater voice in government by way of the Argano People's Council, a committee based in the city of Forzak near the offices of local government. The Argano People's Council consists of randomly chosen people interested in helping govern the megastructure and helping it become more prosperous, and it is given an advisory position in the local government.

Notable Locations

Argano, due to its huge size, has a likewise large population. As populations do, they concentrate around certain areas, creating various points of interest along the ring.

Forzak

Forzak is the largest city on the ring of Argano and home to the offices of the governance of the Argano Directorate. It is also the capital city of the megastructure, and has a population of over forty billion individuals. The city of Forzak is primarily populated by Poreltids, although there is a small minority of Elkeres and Deviri.

Forzak is also home to the offices of the Argano People's Council as well as the largest spaceport on the megastructure. The city is large enough to be governed separately from the rest of the ring of Argano, a unique position. Also located in Forzak is quite possibly the largest museum in the entire MIU, a common tourist attraction from across the galaxy.

Nurassa

Nurassa is the second largest city of the ring of Argano, and is constructed in a rather unorthodox way. Positioned against the north rimwall of Argano, roughly 1/8 of Nurassa's structure is beneath the water and is home to the largest population of Salakela in the region. Nurassa is actually built rather vertically, as it is filled with structures bolted to the rimwall, climbing all the way to the top to the vacuum of space. As such, Nurassa is home to the second largest spaceport of the Ring.

Population

The population of the Ring of Argano is upwards of 1.5 trillion people. However, up to a sixth of that number can be found in various habitats that are holding position near the Ring. Roughly 2/3 of the population of Argano consists of Poreltids, Elkeres, and Deviri, and half of the rest is of the Erkamar species, although they mostly keep to themselves on the far side of the ring from the two main cities. The remaining sixth of the population consists of the Salakela and other species from across the galaxy.

History

Initial Assembly & Colonization

Artaclate was falling behind its rivals—namely Carlea and Darvikus. Their political union in 9409 made them into an unstoppable power in the local region, and Artaclate shared a star system with them. The Frealee System, one of the most developed systems in the galaxy, has been crowded for a thousand years. Every rock has some kind of settlement in a complicated dance of shifting alliances. However, the writing on the wall was clear. The various asteroid settlements and minor moons were falling toward Carlea and Darvikus. That was, except for the majority Poreltid settlements. This was the origin of the idea of uniting the Poreltids the universe over.

Artaclate began its moves into the nearby Diora system, earning international criticism but not war. Rather than conquer the system and its large Poreltid population, they pushed forward a plan to build the most ambition megastructure since Lamento, a ring-world of their own. The price tag, however, was prohibitively expensive. It would take centuries to built it, but so would standardizing language and education amongst the Poreltids. Artaclate approved the project in 9413 CE. It immediately became the largest employer in Diora, which solidified Artaclate's grasp on the system. They had hardly put up its skeleton when war began.

War of Saiheran Succession

At the beginning of the War of Saihrean Succession, Artaclate, now proudly flying the flag of the Marakat Interstellar Union, opted to remain neutral. Construction stalled due to economic strain, but all Poreltids fleeing the conflict were given free access to Diora and Artaclate, especially if they were willing to work on the project. While the influx of cheap labor, offering room and board rather than wages, put a strain on Marakat's politics, much of the megastructure was completed during the war. This was only the prelude to the conditions yet to come, however.

Marakat Civil War

Although the galaxy was at peace after the end of the war, for Argano, this peace was not to last. A radical minority party known as the Arganan Liberation Front gained power in the rings's legislature via heavy gerrymandering and passed a law which made the entire megastructure independent. This law was vetoed by then-governor of the Directorate Tharo Everas, a member of the Centrist party who opposed any such ludicrous measures. In truth, Arctaclate was not in the best position. Many of its admirals defected during the war to fight, taking large swathes of its fleet with it. These admirals, rewarded with everything from noble titles to shares in companies, and their subordinates never looked back.

The ALF acted on behalf of yet another dissonant admiral, Hara Lokhana, that had been planning this since the war began. Using control of various news outlets and the wealth of a wide-spanning coalition of wealthy patrons, they rapidly drummed up support for their endeavor. As much as 70 percent of the population in extremely rural areas and space habitats rose up in support of the independence of the megastructure, completely ignoring the fact that the more urban citizens vehemently opposed. Violence against non-Poreltids increased precipitously during this time. The ALF took Artaclate's nation-building playbook to its logical conclusion.

Everas had just enough time to call in support from the rest of the Marakat military before his room was flooded with fluorine gas, giving him an agonizing death. Thus, the coup was complete. The ALF leadership took control of the military, though Lokhana liked to believe he was the one in control. From the beginning, who exactly was in charge was unclear.

On Artaclate, the situation became hectic. Numerous presidents stepped down within the week as what was left of the military scrambled to assemble a force. Marakat, however, was a member of the United Nations of Florathel. The young interstellar alliance was made with this kind of conflict in mind. It dispatched peacekeeping forces in orbit of both Artaclate and Argano—though this only fueled ALF support on Argano. Numerous reports of atrocities, carried out by civilian militias, captains, and counter-militias, began coming out of the ring-world. This is when the joint UNF and Marakat fleet cut off Argano and landed marines on its surface. Argano's independence movement, so disjointed as it was, fell apart. UNF marines, boasting the most advanced power armor in the universe, acted more as police than soldiers. They captured Lokhana and the coup ended in 9568.

Numerous nations eager to join the UNF, such as Sagittarium and Aakaash, withdrew their applications in response. Though it was a legal operation, many across the galaxy, as well in Marakat, realized that the UNF was a lot more sovereign than it let on. In response to this conflict, most military craft in Florathel were ordered to carry along UNF political officers to maintain peace. Argano was returned to Marakat after a referendum showed that the majority of the populous wanted to remain. Disgruntled revolutionaries left the ring in large numbers, but needless to say, they were not missed.

In the modern day, the Ring of Argano has become incredibly prosperous. Today, Argano is among the most high-quality living spaces in the nation. The ALF is gone, but not forgotten, and the inhabitants of the ring remain vigilant against the specter of fascism.