Aver Brand
Mercicle
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To expand on Point Nadir stuff, as always.
Image Credit: Xhttps://aaraujo.deviantart.com/
Canon: /
Links: /
Astronomical Location Name: Cato
Classification: Asteroid field
Location: Above Iego, in the Tion Cluster. [X]
Rotational Period: /
Orbital Period: /
Size: Medium
Affiliation: Corsairs of Cato | Point Nadir | Nadir
Population: Moderately Populated
Demographics: An even mix of humanoids and aliens, no species is present in any majority.
Accessibility: The asteroids are littered with hidden outposts and pirate bases carved into the rocks themselves. As it is a very dense field, few spacers voluntarily elect to travel through it instead of around it. Though it is marked on some astral charts, it’s described as nothing more than an inconvenient hazard in the Tion cluster. It’s one of those Underworld places that you can only really find if you know it’s there.
Description: Cato is a relatively compact asteroid field, owing to its younger age as compared to some of the older specimens out there. It’s thought to be the byproduct of a giant fleeting battle in the distant past – well before the 400 year darkness – which left a smaller planetoid wrecked and drifting across a few kilometers of empty space. Among the asteroids of varying sizes hang also shipwrecks, both old and new. They impart an eerie air to the field, which only further discourages random spacers from venturing deeper.
Every pirate base in Cato has a few laser cannons and defense turrets mounted strategically inside craters and the such, but nothing especially powerful. Mostly they rely on the natural defensibility of the dense asteroid field and their smaller, more agile ships.
The only exception of note are the restored gravity well projectors of the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer stuck inside the field, which can be activated to prevent enemy escape or reversion in case of an attack.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Boneyard
One of the bigger pirate bases in the asteroid field, Boneyard is known for its large harbor and retrofitting docks. This is where most prizes end up, to be stripped for parts or given a new coat of pirate paint and subsumed by one of the Corsair’s fleets.
The Interdictor
The wreck of an old Star Destroyer from the Imperial era floats halfway between the Boneyard and Readding, seemingly dead and abandoned. In reality, many of its internals have been restored to partial functionality, including the gravity well projectors. The central section of the ship, which has managed to avoid the brunt of destruction from scraping against asteroids, has been refurbished, serving as living quarters for many of the Corsairs.
Readding
Though known under the singular name of ‘Readding’, this isn’t in fact a single base, but rather a number of smaller ones packed close together in a ring of nearby asteroids. This is where most of the amenities can be found – from hospitals and agricenters to casinos and brothels, Readding has them all.
Karabrad
Without a doubt the largest base of Cato, Karabrad was built inside a tunnel network carved by an exogorth. It’s where most of the Corsairs reside, lending the outpost a lively spirit. Houses are stacked one upon the other in teetering towers, connected and bolted to the walls to form larger structures. Karabrad exists in layers, housing the poorest at the bottom and the richest at the top.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The birth of the asteroid field itself is shrouded in some mystery, but since their arrival, the Corsairs have managed to garner the gist – two large fleets clashed in the local solar system, destroying a planet in the process. The resulting debris of ship and planetoid alike drifted together to form what they now call Cato, and that’s quite enough historical digging for them.
Much more important is the bit about how the Corsairs found the field.
Not that its existence was some big secret, really, but discovering an asteroid field fit for living is quite another thing to simply knowing it’s there. One of the then-Captains of the Corsairs had been pursuing a rich merchant ship off the Mara Corridor.
Several hyperjumps in, the prize managed to escape him, and the Captain – a givin by the name of Fedor Therek – was left stranded near the asteroid field. With their fuel levels as low as they were, they couldn’t hope to attempt another jump without being torn apart in the process, and so the Captain ordered they venture into the field instead.
Their luck turned for the better as they stumbled across the many shipwrecks littering Cato – scrounging their tanks for leftovers, they eventually managed to recover enough fuel to kick their ship back into gear.
Even so, the field was now marked in Therek’s memory, and soon enough, he returned; this time, with a whole fleet of Corsairs, who immediately set to work. It wasn’t until several years later that Karabrad sprang to life, followed shortly after by Readding.
Boneyard and the Interdictor were constructed long after Therek’s death, but a statue in his honor stands in one of Karabrad’s tunnels to this day.
