Description
Titanic in size, Sol System’s jump gate rotates against the backdrop of space. Dozens of ships line up in an orderly queue near the gate to wait for their turn to jump to a different star system. Every few segments, one of the starships slowly approaches the wormhole field inside the giant metal ring and disappears in a brilliant flash of light. A small fleet of Consortium and Gaule warships guard the jump gate from a distance.
Chronicle Text
Punctuated by flashes of light that signify another ship traveling through the titanic wormhole outside, Sol Jump Gate is the last port of call out of the Sol System (or the first port of call into it). Here, travelers from the system mingle with those from the far corners of the galaxy. Lives, agendas, secrets, and stories flash like the light outside, blinking and then gone forever. Journeys evolve into odysseys here, the familiar into the unknown. Sol Jump gate, patron station of thresholds, of the leap of faith.
Arrival Text
Welcome to the Sol jump gate, weary traveller! Enjoy your transit through the cradle of mankind!
Statistics
System: Sol
Affiliation: Consortium
Level: 6
Legal: 10 (Strong)
Orwellian: 10 (High)
Areas
Bank (Tau-la Credit Terminal)
Located in a small side room near the port, the bank is fully automated and has no live teller. Computer terminals allow the efficient withdrawal and deposit of funds. Despite the automation, a terminal technician hangs around as peers from screen-to-screen before watching the entrance.
Mere feet away from the port’s exit, the station’s bank looks like a repurposed storage closet. Other than a simple bank sign near the entrance, the rest of the tiny room is free from adornment. All of the wall space is taken up by the financial terminals, and their glowing screens cast a pale glow throughout the room.
NPCs
Brig (SJG Detention Center)
Impatient prisoners sit in small, unfurnished cells. Digital timers on the cell doors count down the segments until each inmate’s release.
Little more than a short corridor, Sol Jump Gate’s Detention Center contains only a dozen detention cells which are so narrow a prisoner could extend their arms and touch each wall. Gleaming and sterile, the walls and corridors are chrome colored, giving the area a cold and heartless ambiance. Various inmates sit on the cold floor with looks of resigned annoyance and glare at the guards who take turns walking up and down the row.
NPCs
Employment (SJG Employment Center)
Hopeful citizens cram into a small room filled with job postings and "Assistance Requested" scrolls. Most are small tasks with small credit rewards. A few of the scrolls have been posted by passengers looking for cheap passage off station or through the jump gate.
The dull drone of artificial lighting hums gently behind the chatter of the people looking for work. One board near the entrance is lined with handmade postings written on random scraps of scraped scrolls. While they all use different words, most of the posts say some variation of the same thing: "Ran out of credits. Looking for a ship. Don't eat much. Willing to work for passage." A few ship captains skim through these notices, smiling quietly at some of the odder ones.
Side Jobs
This is the right place if you are looking for quick and easy jobs.
| Name | Description | Credits | Statistic |
| Cargo Crew | Daily shifts available. Visit the Shipping Bay for round-the-clock cargo work opportunities! | 25 | 4x Strength |
| Conduct Surveys | An exciting opportunity to meet people from all over the galaxy! Come process surveys at the port! | 23.5 | 3x Social |
| Detention Custodian | Help wanted: Clean prison cells in Detention and earn some credits! | 25.5 | 5x Stamina |
| Security Runner | Support your noble protectors in their efforts to guard the station! Deliver crucial "security supplies" to thirsty officers. The ideal candidate for this role will be quick, and passionate about hot beverage delivery. | 25 | 3x Agility |
| Ship Scanning | Contraband! Pirates! Spies! Help us keep Sol System safe by working with security to scan inbound ships. We pay credits for your service. | 25 | 5x Intelligence |
Government Center (SJG Authority Center)
The command and administrative center of the jump gate. The Authority Center is staffed by both Consortium and Gaule officials as required by the Nouveau Limoges Accords.
A utilitarian building, military-looking, with chrome walls, harsh lighting, and symmetrically tiled floors, the Authority Center squashes any creative process one might entertain before entering. Though ostensibly a Consortium center, it also accommodates a Gaule detachment of advisers and administrators. It's heavily guarded by both Gaule and Consortium marines.
Info Hub
Holo screens illuminate the area as news sources flow like a river of data from one terminal to the next. Occasionally, some government drone will adjust a particular metric or record another before buzzing about their duties.
Syndicate Services
A number of recruiters, both in physical as well as hologrammatic form, interact with would-be members or peruse applications on the wall of terminals that lines this room.
VIP Lounge
Soft music and soothing lights drift through the atmosphere in the lounge. Robotic waiters clad in shiny (but not too shiny) chrome wheel between Citizens, dispensing smooth looking beverages.
Inn (The Star Hopper Inn)
This multi-level Inn welcomes those facing, or already fatigued by, journeys of all types. In the lobby, Ice brokers from Botswana mingle with Gaule delegates from Paris Spatiale. There's a Bar, a Hotel and a Lounge on offer for those wanting respite from the boredom and discomfort of space travel.
The Star Hopper Inn has been voted as the Consortium's most appealing Jump Gate Inn by travelers; an accolade of which they are mightily proud here. In the lobby, a large plaque proclaims "Best Jump Gate Cycle 195-199".
Bar (The Thirsty Traveler)
The Thirsty Traveler is a welcoming spot to prepare for, or wind down after, an interstellar voyage. Many a passenger will pop in for a quick drink before connecting to a local shuttle for Taungoo, Daedalus, or any other of Sol systems' stations. It's a good place to pick up gossip from far and wide.
A small but cozy single-room Bar, themed around the Jump Gate's various wormhole connections. On the walls there are artistic spray-painted depictions Nikola Tesla Passage and Gate 420.C.
The Bar counter is made from a salvaged shuttle hull panel. Legend has it that it was donated by an indebted pilot whose drinks tab spiraled out of control, although there's little evidence to prove it.
Menu
Hotel Rooms (Quick Stop Dorms)
Quick Stop Dorms is little more than a narrow corridor lined on both sides by doors with automated check-in and payment terminals. An advert in the lobby proclaims "Bookings include 1 FREE shower water ration!" Inside, the rooms are clean but unfanciful.
Those wanting a room here usually stay for a single night before onward journeys take them elsewhere. As such, Sol Jump Gate's accommodation is provided by a dependable but slightly dull branch of the Quick Stop Dorms hotel chain.
Prices
- 1 day: 50.60 cr
- 5 days: 202.40 cr
- 10 days: 354.20 cr
- 30 days: 910.80 cr
Lounge (The Chit-Chat Lounge)
An unpretentious and convivial social space, the Chit-Chat Lounge plays host to lively exchanges throughout the day. Foam bean-bags, placed close together, encourage visitors to relax into conversation with their neighbors.
For those wanting to socialize, there's no better place than the Chit-Chat Lounge. Some of the station's elderly residents meet here on a daily basis, spending a segment or two exchanging reminiscences of cycles gone by. No music is played here, but the murmur of mingling voices is an ever-present feature.
The Chit-Chat Lounge also promises romance. More than a few of the station's marriages began with a friendly chat in this small but welcoming space. Some couples even return to it on the occasion of their anniversaries. Despite its simple features, the Lounge means a lot to many of the locals.
Port (SJG Authority Port)
The port’s berths are filled with private spacecraft just arriving from other star systems or preparing to make a jump of their own.
The port is crowded with travellers transferring between various transports or making a stop at the station before embarking on the next leg of their trip. Every few segments the jump gate activates with a low, throbbing hum, filling the many viewing ports with bright, almost blinding light. Everything grinds to a halt as people stop to watch the spectacle. Port employees attempting to move cargo and repair ships struggle to make their way through the gawking crowd, now desensitized to the miracle of an Einstein-Rosen bridge just outside the window.
NPCs
Arrivals
A bustling river of humanity with endlessly branching tributaries flows from the shuttles arriving here, through the processing gates, to crash onto the banks of eagerly awaiting locals receiving visitors from near or far flung parts of the galaxy. A number of travelers post the usual glazed looks of those recently harangued by any type of transportation system created and run by the human species. They drift with a mixture of existential confusion and relief through to the station beyond. Always, they are scrutinized by security or some type of subspecies therein.
Shipping Bay
Parcels and packages are sorted in this area by various robotic personnel.
The multi-limbed sorting robots of Sol Jump Gate's shipping bay are the finest in the system. A plaque on the wall transmits a holographic message that informs everyone that the robots are a donation from Benevolent Dynamics.
NPCs
Docks
All manner of vessels are docked here with passengers and crew coming and going, performing various pre and post flight checks as well as loading passengers and cargo.
The fey light from the jump gate filters through the translucent ceiling above and casts an eerie glow around the entire area. This may influence the hushed tones most people seem to be speaking in as they conduct their business in contrast to the loud hustle and bustle of the port. A tinny smell permeates the air in the area as a number of ship engineers let off small bursts of plasma while venting heat or running pre-flight diagnostics.
A fiery red-headed captain bearing the markings of a Consortium security officer oversees the loading of various crates of official looking merchandise onto her sleek looking vessel.
NPCs
Interstellar Shuttles
The massive jump gates give off a strange hum, unlike anything you have heard before.
Destinations
| Destination | Distance | Ticket Price |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha Centauri | 4.4 LY. | 1,580.10 cr |
| Barnard's Star | 5.94 LY. | 3,317.09 cr |
| Sirius | 8.6 LY. | No public shuttles available |
| L 726-8 | 8.73 LY. | 4,029.10 cr |
| Ross 154 | collapsed | |
| Ross 248 | collapsed | |
| L 789-6 | collapsed | |
| Procyon | collapsed | |
NPCs
Local Shuttles
From here you can travel locally with our public shuttles.
Ruins
Also known as "shanties," a word whose origin is lost, many people live in makeshift homes of scavenged and reclaimed items. The great stations used to house millions, but their numbers are now in the thousands, leaving large, unexplored areas. It's not safe or comfortable, but it's free.
The Ruins serves up danger in all sorts of flavors. Scavengers pick through The Wrecks, fighting savagely for overlooked prizes among the debris. Syndicates, under license from station authorities, renew buildings and facilities within the Syndicate Districts. And The Wilds are nothing short of a warzone, where the toughest Syndicate militia battle hardened criminals in an endless struggle for spoils and turf.
Security (SJG Security Department)
The joint Consortium - Gaule security department shares quarters with several of the station’s other administrative offices as well as the offices of the private bodyguard services available on the station. It’s rare to see more than a handful of SJG guards on duty.
The official security station’s lobby connects to a larger area that serves as a combination of a locker room and an office space and then branches further into the small offices of the privatized bodyguard services. A set of thick vinyl curtains splits it into awkward halves. Guards in both Gaule and Consortium uniforms sit at desks on one side of the curtains, filling out forms and looking over data on slates and desktop displays. On the other side, officers can be heard conversing loudly as they change into and out of their work gear. At the back of the room is a door that looks like it should lead to a broom closet but which is labeled, “Armory.”
The Gaule, Consortium and private guards are allowed access to the armory, but under a tightly regulated check-in, check-out system for weapons and gear.
NPCs
Sick Bay (Medical One)
The medical facility’s rooms are small and utilitarian. The staff fold the beds, counters, computers, and other equipment into the walls when not in use.
With little space to spare, the sick bay is designed for maximum efficiency. If the compact design is uncomfortable for the patients, the staff at least seems to be used to its restrictions. They move through the corridors with ease and don’t have any trouble finding what they need or working with the space-saving equipment.
NPCs
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