Difference between revisions of "Brownsville"
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== Planetary History == | == Planetary History == | ||
=== Early History === | === Early History === | ||
| − | The colonization of Brownsville was a direct result of the formation of the Terran Hegemony. In the early twenty-fourth century [[Terra]] was home to a number of groups drawn along ethnic or nationalist lines who remained loyal to member-states that had existed prior to the [[Terran Alliance]]'s colonization | + | The colonization of Brownsville was a direct result of the formation of the Terran Hegemony. In the early twenty-fourth century [[Terra]] was home to a number of groups drawn along ethnic or nationalist lines who remained loyal to member-states that had existed prior to the [[Terran Alliance]]'s colonization programs. The Hegemony government took steps to both break up those groups and encourage loyalty to the new Hegemony by rewarding them with new worlds to colonize, like Brownsville and [[New Dallas]]. Brownsville hadn't been colonized during the earlier waves of expansion because it wasn't quite habitable for humans; that was a situation that could be quickly rectified thanks to Hegemony terraforming efforts, which took the water-rich world and spent several decades adding oxygen to the atmosphere and creating ecosystems. These terraforming efforts began in [[2315]], and when the first colonists arrived several decades later, Brownsville seemed like an ideal colonization prospect; the climate was temperate, with good rainfall, thriving grasslands and young forests. The colonists seeded fish stocks in the lakes, and used the terraforming techniques developed for [[Venus]] to create artificial soil ideal for the modified crops they brought with them. These early colonists were from North America, and their numbers quickly grew as they were joined by their families and millions of additional people from North America who arrived throughout the 2350s.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
| − | The various continents on Brownsville were named for regions of pre-Hegemony North America, and the continents of Indiana and Iowa attracted the greatest number of settlers, being temperate in climate in comparison to Texas, a dry continent notable for its fjords, and California, a tropical equatorial region. In contrast with many other worlds, the population of Brownsville settled largely in the interior of the continents, avoiding the coastlines, because of the remarkable ugliness of the oceans and beaches. Prior to being terraformed, Brownsville had an anoxic environment, which had led to the oceans and seas being filled with vast quantities of dissolved metals; when first discovered, the oceans had actually been a brilliant green | + | The various continents on Brownsville were named for regions of pre-Hegemony North America, and the continents of Indiana and Iowa attracted the greatest number of settlers, being temperate in climate in comparison to Texas, a dry continent notable for its fjords, and California, a tropical equatorial region. In contrast with many other worlds, the population of Brownsville settled largely in the interior of the continents, avoiding the coastlines, because of the remarkable ugliness of the oceans and beaches. Prior to being terraformed, Brownsville had an anoxic environment, which had led to the oceans and seas being filled with vast quantities of dissolved metals; when first discovered, the oceans had actually been a brilliant green color, as a result of the nickel compounds present in the water. The terraforming of Brownsville turned the oceans an ugly-red brown color, as the adjusted atmosphere began oxidizing iron. Many of the beaches found around Brownsville became dominated by blood-colored mud.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
Brownsville was established as republic, using a conventional Terran Hegemony planetary constitution that set long terms for elected officials, and a highly professional bureaucracy was put in place. Faced with the metal-rich oceans constantly extracting oxygen from the atmosphere, the population settled for establishing the bare minimum of atmospheric processing needed to maintain a stable oxygen level, as the oceans weren't seen as a major problem when the use of filters could satisfy the needs of the population.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | Brownsville was established as republic, using a conventional Terran Hegemony planetary constitution that set long terms for elected officials, and a highly professional bureaucracy was put in place. Faced with the metal-rich oceans constantly extracting oxygen from the atmosphere, the population settled for establishing the bare minimum of atmospheric processing needed to maintain a stable oxygen level, as the oceans weren't seen as a major problem when the use of filters could satisfy the needs of the population.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | ||
=== Age of War === | === Age of War === | ||
| − | Brownsville was largely untouched by the conflicts of the [[Age of War]]; the planet was raided twice during this era, once by the Capellan Confederation and once by the [[Federated Suns]], but neither raid inflicted much damage. More people were killed during clashes between sports fans who battled each other on the streets during the [[twenty-fifth century]] in a period that became known as the "Hooligan Years" than as a result of conflicts during this era. This aggressive attitude towards sports became one of the most notable traits of the Brownsville population; while levels of violent crime on Brownsville were lower than the Hegemony average, the various baseball and hockey teams from Brownsville were infamous for their bad sportsmanship. This was a trait that continued throughout the Age of War and the later [[Star League era]], with acts such as the use of illegal | + | Brownsville was largely untouched by the conflicts of the [[Age of War]]; the planet was raided twice during this era, once by the Capellan Confederation and once by the [[Federated Suns]], but neither raid inflicted much damage. More people were killed during clashes between sports fans who battled each other on the streets during the [[twenty-fifth century]] in a period that became known as the "Hooligan Years" than as a result of conflicts during this era. This aggressive attitude towards sports became one of the most notable traits of the Brownsville population; while levels of violent crime on Brownsville were lower than the Hegemony average, the various baseball and hockey teams from Brownsville were infamous for their bad sportsmanship. This was a trait that continued throughout the Age of War and the later [[Star League era]], with acts such as the use of illegal cybernetics, match-fixing, excessive violence, widespread use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs and even attempts to have to have members of opposing teams assassinated leading to both baseball and hockey teams being banned from Terran Hegemony (and Star League) sports leagues for a grand total of 22 years between [[2371]] and [[2765]].<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
=== Star League Era === | === Star League Era === | ||
| − | Brownsville became a wealthy world, but one lacking in distinction compared to other Hegemony worlds. The inexpensive water filters manufactured on Brownsville as a result of the needs of the local terraforming system were soon key to many other worlds across human space, something that the general population didn't | + | Brownsville became a wealthy world, but one lacking in distinction compared to other Hegemony worlds. The inexpensive water filters manufactured on Brownsville as a result of the needs of the local terraforming system were soon key to many other worlds across human space, something that the general population didn't realize - to the population of Brownsville, water filters were of little consequence to the overall economy.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
| − | Brownsville's banks were intertwined with industries such as tourism that stretched across the Star League, and as a result the economic recession that | + | Brownsville's banks were intertwined with industries such as tourism that stretched across the Star League, and as a result the economic recession that occurred in the mid-[[twenty-eighth century]] hit Brownsville hard. The rise to power of [[Richard Cameron II|Richard Cameron]] as [[First Lord]] caused economic and political chaos across the Star League, and when [[Stefan Amaris]] hinted at the need for a change in ruling dynasties for the Star League, both the leadership and business communities on Brownsville proved to be receptive audiences.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
==== Operation APOTHEOSIS ==== | ==== Operation APOTHEOSIS ==== | ||
| − | The [[Rim Worlds Republic]] troops deployed to Brownsville as part of Amaris' preparations for his coup were generally the descendants of Hegemony citizens, and the Brownsville planetary militia worked under their guidance in laying the groundwork for | + | The [[Rim Worlds Republic]] troops deployed to Brownsville as part of Amaris' preparations for his coup were generally the descendants of Hegemony citizens, and the Brownsville planetary militia worked under their guidance in laying the groundwork for neutralizing the [[Star League Defense Force]] garrison. The launch of [[Operation APOTHEOSIS]] was far less bloody than on other worlds; the militia had changed locks and passwords, and much of the SLDF garrison had been kept occupied by an "Armed Forces Day" hosted by the planetary baseball league. After a day of watching sports fixtures with ample supplies of food and alcohol, many of the SLDF personnel had no idea that a coup was taking place until their chartered transport was diverted to deposit them in prison camps. Over the next month just thirty SLDF personnel would be killed on Brownsville, the majority of them as a result of attempts to escape from the prisons they were trapped in.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
With the SLDF garrison out of the way, a media campaign was rolled out across Brownsville, arguing in favor of Amaris' appointment as Emperor of the [[Amaris Empire]]. This campaign was successful, and the population embraced the Hegemony's new [[Director-General]] amidst a cloud of euphoria at the removal of Richard Cameron, who was regarded as incompetent.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | With the SLDF garrison out of the way, a media campaign was rolled out across Brownsville, arguing in favor of Amaris' appointment as Emperor of the [[Amaris Empire]]. This campaign was successful, and the population embraced the Hegemony's new [[Director-General]] amidst a cloud of euphoria at the removal of Richard Cameron, who was regarded as incompetent.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | ||
| Line 109: | Line 109: | ||
The relative unimportance of Brownsville to both Amaris and Kerensky led to it largely being ignored by both factions in the war, until early [[2775]]. Amaris designated Brownsville as one of the worlds that was to be subject to a scorched earth policy at the hands of the [[AEAF]] garrison, who were then to retreat to more important worlds. While Amaris' intention was to diver resources away from the SLDF offensive by forcing Kerensky to engage in large-scale relief operations,<ref name="H:LOTV2p33"/> Brownsville actually suffered less damage than most of the other worlds targeted by the scorched-earth tactics used. This was down to the fact that the nuclear charges put in place to destroy Brownsville's useful military factories were placed by Brownsville volunteers among the Empire forces, and they arranged to have the installations evacuated beforehand. Amaris' instructions that the SLDF was to find nothing of use on Brownsville was observed<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> - while half of [[LXIV Corps (Star League)|LXIV Corps]] were deployed from the [[18th Army (Star League)|Eighteenth Army]] to relief efforts on Brownsville,<ref name="H:LOTV2p36">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', p. 36, "Task Force Confederation"</ref> they found little war materiel to support the ongoing SLDF campaign.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> Other SLDF forces including [[Admiral]] [[Marina Akkayev-Cameron]]'s [[4th Fleet (SLDF)|Fourth Fleet]] and [[General]] [[Reed Challen]]'s [[24th Army Group (Star League)|Twenty-fourth Army Group]] mustered in the Brownsville system for the assault on [[New Home]], the first planetary assault by the SLDF to be launched in [[2775]] and a key battle in the overall campaign to liberate [[Terra]].<ref name="H:LOTV2p34"/> | The relative unimportance of Brownsville to both Amaris and Kerensky led to it largely being ignored by both factions in the war, until early [[2775]]. Amaris designated Brownsville as one of the worlds that was to be subject to a scorched earth policy at the hands of the [[AEAF]] garrison, who were then to retreat to more important worlds. While Amaris' intention was to diver resources away from the SLDF offensive by forcing Kerensky to engage in large-scale relief operations,<ref name="H:LOTV2p33"/> Brownsville actually suffered less damage than most of the other worlds targeted by the scorched-earth tactics used. This was down to the fact that the nuclear charges put in place to destroy Brownsville's useful military factories were placed by Brownsville volunteers among the Empire forces, and they arranged to have the installations evacuated beforehand. Amaris' instructions that the SLDF was to find nothing of use on Brownsville was observed<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> - while half of [[LXIV Corps (Star League)|LXIV Corps]] were deployed from the [[18th Army (Star League)|Eighteenth Army]] to relief efforts on Brownsville,<ref name="H:LOTV2p36">''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', p. 36, "Task Force Confederation"</ref> they found little war materiel to support the ongoing SLDF campaign.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> Other SLDF forces including [[Admiral]] [[Marina Akkayev-Cameron]]'s [[4th Fleet (SLDF)|Fourth Fleet]] and [[General]] [[Reed Challen]]'s [[24th Army Group (Star League)|Twenty-fourth Army Group]] mustered in the Brownsville system for the assault on [[New Home]], the first planetary assault by the SLDF to be launched in [[2775]] and a key battle in the overall campaign to liberate [[Terra]].<ref name="H:LOTV2p34"/> | ||
| − | While the population of Brownsville didn't suffer the same level of immediate harm and deprivation as the other scorched worlds, Brownsville was still left with substantial problems. All of Brownsville's industrial facilities were co-located with | + | While the population of Brownsville didn't suffer the same level of immediate harm and deprivation as the other scorched worlds, Brownsville was still left with substantial problems. All of Brownsville's industrial facilities were co-located with transportation hubs, a decision that made eminent sense; the destruction of these industrial facilities also destroyed the transportation hubs - causing large-scale transport to immediately come to a halt, planet-wide. The nuclear devices were clean fusion devices, with no fallout and only short-lived neutron-activated isotopes in the ground nearby, but the wrecked industrial facilities released vast quantities of chemicals into the environment, rendering vast tracks of agricultural land useless from the resulting pollution and contamination. The agricultural industry on Indiana produced bumper harvests, but the food couldn't be distributed because of the shattered transport infrastructure.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
| − | Brownsville's government was a product of the Amaris Empire; deeply autocratic, the government had suspended elections to extend the tenure of pro-Amaris officials. With no elections, the government was free to make hardnosed decisions, and it promptly did so. The largest, most easily-aided groups on Brownsville were marked for relief efforts, while other districts were left unaided. The government pressed political dissidents into service as a | + | Brownsville's government was a product of the Amaris Empire; deeply autocratic, the government had suspended elections to extend the tenure of pro-Amaris officials. With no elections, the government was free to make hardnosed decisions, and it promptly did so. The largest, most easily-aided groups on Brownsville were marked for relief efforts, while other districts were left unaided. The government pressed political dissidents into service as a labor force, using them to establish temporary ports on the coasts to allow food to begin moving, with thousands of the workers dying as a result. The government wasn't solely responsible for relief efforts, however; in acts of heroism, hundreds of volunteers installed new equipment for handling cargo and laid stretches of temporary railway lines in blast areas which were still radioactive, helping to create the rudiments of an infrastructure system to replace what had been lost.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
By [[2776]], the supply of food across Brownsville had stabilized, and the government had shifted its focus to rebuilding elements of Brownsville's industrial base needed to support the population, and then to meet their technological requirements. When Amaris' regime fell, Brownsville was one of the few restored Terran Hegemony worlds not to imprison or lynch the authority figures left from the pro-Amaris government, possibly due to the government's brutal effectiveness in rebuilding. Where other worlds ultimately suffered the loss of millions of lives as a result of the war, the death toll on Brownsville ws several hundred thousand - a significant, but demonstrably smaller figure.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | By [[2776]], the supply of food across Brownsville had stabilized, and the government had shifted its focus to rebuilding elements of Brownsville's industrial base needed to support the population, and then to meet their technological requirements. When Amaris' regime fell, Brownsville was one of the few restored Terran Hegemony worlds not to imprison or lynch the authority figures left from the pro-Amaris government, possibly due to the government's brutal effectiveness in rebuilding. Where other worlds ultimately suffered the loss of millions of lives as a result of the war, the death toll on Brownsville ws several hundred thousand - a significant, but demonstrably smaller figure.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | ||
| − | With attention | + | With attention focused inward, the population of Brownsville was caught completely unawares by the [[Operation EXODUS|Exodus]]. The Brownsville government blamed the steady collapse of the Hegemony on Kerensky, and gathered what reserves it had to buy military equipment. The Brownsville militia was already larger than average, as a result of being deployed to put down local insurrection, and the addition of SLDF equipment resulted in a competent defense force capable of rebuffing attempts at predation from other states. The governments of both the Capellan Confederation and [[Free Worlds League]] made approaches to the Brownsville government, only to be rebuffed. The local government was more interested in forming alliances with other Hegemony worlds, but each attempt they made was rebuffed by worlds who distrusted Brownsville both for its population support of Stefan Amaris and for retaining the Empire-era government figures.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
=== First Succession War === | === First Succession War === | ||
| Line 122: | Line 122: | ||
In [[2789]] the Confederation made a second attempt to conquer Brownsville, this time with substantially greater forces and a more obvious attempt at diplomacy. The Capellans offered Brownsville membership of the Confederation on generous terms, as well as an offer of protection against both the [[Federated Suns]] and Free Worlds League. To reinforce the offer, ''[[Soyal]]''-class cruisers from the Capellan Navy used [[mass driver]]s to destroy several moonlets within Brownsville's rings - the targeted moonlets each containing naval weapon batteries from the Star League era. For the next twenty years, Brownsville was able to largely avoid the open conflict of the [[First Succession War]]; the population was kept busy and distracted by a series of four-year reconstruction plans launched by the government, which were generally successful, and while both the Federated Suns and the Free Worlds League launched probing raids on Brownsville, the world seemed a poor prospect for conquest given its largely impoverished state.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | In [[2789]] the Confederation made a second attempt to conquer Brownsville, this time with substantially greater forces and a more obvious attempt at diplomacy. The Capellans offered Brownsville membership of the Confederation on generous terms, as well as an offer of protection against both the [[Federated Suns]] and Free Worlds League. To reinforce the offer, ''[[Soyal]]''-class cruisers from the Capellan Navy used [[mass driver]]s to destroy several moonlets within Brownsville's rings - the targeted moonlets each containing naval weapon batteries from the Star League era. For the next twenty years, Brownsville was able to largely avoid the open conflict of the [[First Succession War]]; the population was kept busy and distracted by a series of four-year reconstruction plans launched by the government, which were generally successful, and while both the Federated Suns and the Free Worlds League launched probing raids on Brownsville, the world seemed a poor prospect for conquest given its largely impoverished state.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> | ||
| − | Ironically, Brownsville's downfall was a result of industries on the planet recovering enough to produce advanced water filtration technology again. The First Succession War had degenerated to the point that water filter factories had become strategic assets in a universe where total war was the default mindset on the part of the [[Successor State]]s. In [[2811]], the [[Free Worlds League]] attempted to conquer Brownsville; the CCAF was largely | + | Ironically, Brownsville's downfall was a result of industries on the planet recovering enough to produce advanced water filtration technology again. The First Succession War had degenerated to the point that water filter factories had become strategic assets in a universe where total war was the default mindset on the part of the [[Successor State]]s. In [[2811]], the [[Free Worlds League]] attempted to conquer Brownsville; the CCAF was largely focused on the Federated Suns, but the Brownsville militia managed to defeat the invading forces. In line with the tactics of the day, the [[Free Worlds League Military]] launched a nuclear bombardment on Brownsville as it retreated to deny the assets it had fought for to anyone else. The attacks were devastating, as the [[FWLM]] dropped nuclear weapons on major cities that had no time to launch any kind of evacuation. The initial nuclear attacks killed both the government and a hundred million people. The loss of life was compounded because of a lack of effective leadership with the planetary rulers dead, and by [[2813]] the death toll had reached a quarter of a billion as a result of starvation, disease, exposure and the effects of radiation fallout. It took another ten years for the nuclear winter caused by the bombardment to pass, by which time many millions more were dead.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
| − | The Confederation had little aid to give to Brownsville in the face of all the setbacks suffered during the First Succession War. The planetary atmosphere processors had been destroyed during the bombardment, and birthrates dropped sharply across the planet as conditions on Brownsville grew steadily worse, with the planetary population dropping steadily. By [[2850]], the oxygen levels in the atmosphere had dropped enough that animal life could barely survive on Brownsville and the | + | The Confederation had little aid to give to Brownsville in the face of all the setbacks suffered during the First Succession War. The planetary atmosphere processors had been destroyed during the bombardment, and birthrates dropped sharply across the planet as conditions on Brownsville grew steadily worse, with the planetary population dropping steadily. By [[2850]], the oxygen levels in the atmosphere had dropped enough that animal life could barely survive on Brownsville and the population was reliant on respirators. As the levels of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere steadily climbed, the average temperature went up, destabilizing planetary weather systems further. Many people attempted to escape to other systems, but [[JumpShip]]s were in short supply; in [[2862]], [[ComStar]] made a show of evacuating the few thousand refugees living near its [[HPG]] station, and declared Brownsville dead, striking it from maps and dismantling the station. The population of Brownsville wasn't truly extinct - estimates at the time suggested there were still a few million survivors living in small enclaves dotted across the planet. Brownsville's atmosphere reverted back to it's original atmosphere, and the human population died off.<ref name="TtS:BVp4"/> |
<!-- Commented out due to lack of information | <!-- Commented out due to lack of information | ||
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--> | --> | ||
== Geography == | == Geography == | ||
| − | Brownsville has seven major continents, which the colonists named California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Texas. In addition to the major continents, there were also | + | Brownsville has seven major continents, which the colonists named California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Texas. In addition to the major continents, there were also substantial islands such as Alcatraz, Rhode Island, San Campella and Santa Amelia. The major seas and oceans were named Ladybarbee, Okeerie, Rathwawa and Tippetahoe, Tohosalton; the Santa Fe Strait separate the continents of California and Florida, while the Wabash Straits divided Illinois from Indiana. Several of the continents had notable bays, including the San Pedro and Santa Monica Bays on California's coast, Chester Bay on Ohio's coast, Baffin and Nueces Bays on the Texas coast and the Pensacola Bay on Iowa's coast. Notable mountain ranges on Brownsville included the Miami Mountains on Florida, and the Yokehandle mountain range that stretched along the northern edge of Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13">Touring the Stars: Brownsville'', p. 13, "Brownsville"</ref> |
== Local Fauna == | == Local Fauna == | ||
| Line 148: | Line 148: | ||
* Dallas: the planetary capital city, located on Texas with a nearby DropPort.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Dallas: the planetary capital city, located on Texas with a nearby DropPort.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
* Dayton: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Ohio.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Dayton: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Ohio.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
| − | * Daytona: a notable city of less than one million | + | * Daytona: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Iowa near the western end of the Yokehandle mountain range.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
* Devonport: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Devonport: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
* Dubuque: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Dubuque: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
| − | * Evansville: a notable city of less than one million | + | * Evansville: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Indiana.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
| − | * Geneva: a notable city of less than one million | + | * Geneva: a notable city of less than one million peoplepoeple, located on Illinois.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
* Indianapolis: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Indiana.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Indianapolis: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Indiana.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
| − | * Pensacola: a notable city of less than one million | + | * Pensacola: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Florida near the Everglades region.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
* Peoria: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Illinois.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Peoria: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Illinois.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
* Rockford: a city of more than 50 million people, located on Illinois and close to Brownsville's primary water filtration center.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Rockford: a city of more than 50 million people, located on Illinois and close to Brownsville's primary water filtration center.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
| − | * San Antonio: a notable city of less than one million | + | * San Antonio: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Texas.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
* San Jose: a notable city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on California.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * San Jose: a notable city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on California.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
| − | * Sarasota: a notable city of less than one million | + | * Sarasota: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
| − | * Tallahassee: a notable city of less than one million | + | * Tallahassee: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Florida near the eastern end of the Yokehandle mountain range.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
* Tampa: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Florida.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | * Tampa: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Florida.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> | ||
| − | * West Palm: a notable city of less than one million | + | * West Palm: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Iowa.<ref name="TtS:BVp13"/> |
}} | }} | ||
<!-- Commented out due to lack of information | <!-- Commented out due to lack of information | ||
Revision as of 21:08, 20 October 2020
Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0)
| Brownsville | |
|---|---|
← 3135 3151 | |
 | |
| System Information | |
| X:Y Coordinates | 6.466 : -29.788[e] |
| Spectral class | K3V[1] |
| Recharge time | 194 hours[1] |
| Recharge station(s) | Zenith Nadir (before 2850)[1] None (after 2850)[1] |
| Planet(s) | 5[1] |
The Brownsville system was home to at least one habitable world or construct and as at 2750 was located in the Terra Firma Province of the Terran Hegemony.[2]
System Description
The Brownsville system is located near the Capolla and Outreach systems.[2]
System History
The Brownsville system was settled in the early twenty-fourth century.[3] The Capellan Confederation annexed Brownsville during the First Succession War, incorporating the system into the Tikonov Commonality,[4] and Brownsville vanished from maps during the Third Succession War,[5][6] indicating that the system had been abandoned or depopulated.
Political Affiliation
- 2271 - No record [7]
- 2366 - Terran Hegemony [8]
- 2571 - Terran Hegemony [4]
- 2596 - Terran Hegemony [9]
- 2750 - Terran Hegemony [2]
- 2764 - Terran Hegemony [10]
- 2765 - Terran Hegemony [11]
- 2767 - Amaris Empire [12]
- 2771 - Amaris Empire [13]
- 2774 - Amaris Empire [13]
- 2775 - Amaris Empire (until February) / Terran Hegemony [14][15]
- 2786 - Terran Hegemony [16]
- 2822 - Capellan Confederation [17][18][19]
- 2864 - Capellan Confederation [5]
- 3025 - No record [6]
- 3030 - No record [20]
- 3040 - No record [21]
- 3050 - No record [22]
- 3052 - No record [23]
- 3057 - No record [24]
- 3058 - No record [25]
- 3063 - No record [26]
- 3067 - No record [27][28]
- 3075 - No record [29]
- 3079 - No record [30]
- 3081 - No record [31]
- 3085 - No record [32]
- 3130 - No record [33]
- 3135 - No record [34]
- 3145 - No record [35][36]
Brownsville II
Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard
Planetary History
Early History
The colonization of Brownsville was a direct result of the formation of the Terran Hegemony. In the early twenty-fourth century Terra was home to a number of groups drawn along ethnic or nationalist lines who remained loyal to member-states that had existed prior to the Terran Alliance's colonization programs. The Hegemony government took steps to both break up those groups and encourage loyalty to the new Hegemony by rewarding them with new worlds to colonize, like Brownsville and New Dallas. Brownsville hadn't been colonized during the earlier waves of expansion because it wasn't quite habitable for humans; that was a situation that could be quickly rectified thanks to Hegemony terraforming efforts, which took the water-rich world and spent several decades adding oxygen to the atmosphere and creating ecosystems. These terraforming efforts began in 2315, and when the first colonists arrived several decades later, Brownsville seemed like an ideal colonization prospect; the climate was temperate, with good rainfall, thriving grasslands and young forests. The colonists seeded fish stocks in the lakes, and used the terraforming techniques developed for Venus to create artificial soil ideal for the modified crops they brought with them. These early colonists were from North America, and their numbers quickly grew as they were joined by their families and millions of additional people from North America who arrived throughout the 2350s.[3]
The various continents on Brownsville were named for regions of pre-Hegemony North America, and the continents of Indiana and Iowa attracted the greatest number of settlers, being temperate in climate in comparison to Texas, a dry continent notable for its fjords, and California, a tropical equatorial region. In contrast with many other worlds, the population of Brownsville settled largely in the interior of the continents, avoiding the coastlines, because of the remarkable ugliness of the oceans and beaches. Prior to being terraformed, Brownsville had an anoxic environment, which had led to the oceans and seas being filled with vast quantities of dissolved metals; when first discovered, the oceans had actually been a brilliant green color, as a result of the nickel compounds present in the water. The terraforming of Brownsville turned the oceans an ugly-red brown color, as the adjusted atmosphere began oxidizing iron. Many of the beaches found around Brownsville became dominated by blood-colored mud.[3]
Brownsville was established as republic, using a conventional Terran Hegemony planetary constitution that set long terms for elected officials, and a highly professional bureaucracy was put in place. Faced with the metal-rich oceans constantly extracting oxygen from the atmosphere, the population settled for establishing the bare minimum of atmospheric processing needed to maintain a stable oxygen level, as the oceans weren't seen as a major problem when the use of filters could satisfy the needs of the population.[3]
Age of War
Brownsville was largely untouched by the conflicts of the Age of War; the planet was raided twice during this era, once by the Capellan Confederation and once by the Federated Suns, but neither raid inflicted much damage. More people were killed during clashes between sports fans who battled each other on the streets during the twenty-fifth century in a period that became known as the "Hooligan Years" than as a result of conflicts during this era. This aggressive attitude towards sports became one of the most notable traits of the Brownsville population; while levels of violent crime on Brownsville were lower than the Hegemony average, the various baseball and hockey teams from Brownsville were infamous for their bad sportsmanship. This was a trait that continued throughout the Age of War and the later Star League era, with acts such as the use of illegal cybernetics, match-fixing, excessive violence, widespread use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs and even attempts to have to have members of opposing teams assassinated leading to both baseball and hockey teams being banned from Terran Hegemony (and Star League) sports leagues for a grand total of 22 years between 2371 and 2765.[3]
Star League Era
Brownsville became a wealthy world, but one lacking in distinction compared to other Hegemony worlds. The inexpensive water filters manufactured on Brownsville as a result of the needs of the local terraforming system were soon key to many other worlds across human space, something that the general population didn't realize - to the population of Brownsville, water filters were of little consequence to the overall economy.[3]
Brownsville's banks were intertwined with industries such as tourism that stretched across the Star League, and as a result the economic recession that occurred in the mid-twenty-eighth century hit Brownsville hard. The rise to power of Richard Cameron as First Lord caused economic and political chaos across the Star League, and when Stefan Amaris hinted at the need for a change in ruling dynasties for the Star League, both the leadership and business communities on Brownsville proved to be receptive audiences.[3]
Operation APOTHEOSIS
The Rim Worlds Republic troops deployed to Brownsville as part of Amaris' preparations for his coup were generally the descendants of Hegemony citizens, and the Brownsville planetary militia worked under their guidance in laying the groundwork for neutralizing the Star League Defense Force garrison. The launch of Operation APOTHEOSIS was far less bloody than on other worlds; the militia had changed locks and passwords, and much of the SLDF garrison had been kept occupied by an "Armed Forces Day" hosted by the planetary baseball league. After a day of watching sports fixtures with ample supplies of food and alcohol, many of the SLDF personnel had no idea that a coup was taking place until their chartered transport was diverted to deposit them in prison camps. Over the next month just thirty SLDF personnel would be killed on Brownsville, the majority of them as a result of attempts to escape from the prisons they were trapped in.[3]
With the SLDF garrison out of the way, a media campaign was rolled out across Brownsville, arguing in favor of Amaris' appointment as Emperor of the Amaris Empire. This campaign was successful, and the population embraced the Hegemony's new Director-General amidst a cloud of euphoria at the removal of Richard Cameron, who was regarded as incompetent.[3]
Star League Civil War
Within a year, the jubilation at Stefan Amaris' ascension to the throne had faded from the minds of the local population, replaced with concern over both the knowledge that none of the Great Houses had acknowledged Amaris as Emperor, and the news that Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky was leading the SLDF in an open rebellion against the Emperor. Reporting appeared suggesting that tactics put in place to punish the Great Houses, such as financial sanctions, were actually only serving to irritate the Houses and harm the Hegemony economy.[3]
Amaris offered contracts to companies on Brownsville to replace those that had been in place with companies within the various Great Houses who had opted to support the SLDF, and this provided a useful stimulus to Brownsville's economy. With the prospect of open warfare within Hegemony space actively looming, Brownsville began to mobilize for war, with military factories contributing directly to the Amaris Empire's war efforts. When the SLDF moved from occupying the Rim Worlds Republic to launch Operation CHIEFTAIN, the Brownsville militia deployed on the front lines against the SLDF, alongside the other Patriot regiments raised by the Amaris Empire.[3]
The relative unimportance of Brownsville to both Amaris and Kerensky led to it largely being ignored by both factions in the war, until early 2775. Amaris designated Brownsville as one of the worlds that was to be subject to a scorched earth policy at the hands of the AEAF garrison, who were then to retreat to more important worlds. While Amaris' intention was to diver resources away from the SLDF offensive by forcing Kerensky to engage in large-scale relief operations,[14] Brownsville actually suffered less damage than most of the other worlds targeted by the scorched-earth tactics used. This was down to the fact that the nuclear charges put in place to destroy Brownsville's useful military factories were placed by Brownsville volunteers among the Empire forces, and they arranged to have the installations evacuated beforehand. Amaris' instructions that the SLDF was to find nothing of use on Brownsville was observed[3] - while half of LXIV Corps were deployed from the Eighteenth Army to relief efforts on Brownsville,[37] they found little war materiel to support the ongoing SLDF campaign.[3] Other SLDF forces including Admiral Marina Akkayev-Cameron's Fourth Fleet and General Reed Challen's Twenty-fourth Army Group mustered in the Brownsville system for the assault on New Home, the first planetary assault by the SLDF to be launched in 2775 and a key battle in the overall campaign to liberate Terra.[15]
While the population of Brownsville didn't suffer the same level of immediate harm and deprivation as the other scorched worlds, Brownsville was still left with substantial problems. All of Brownsville's industrial facilities were co-located with transportation hubs, a decision that made eminent sense; the destruction of these industrial facilities also destroyed the transportation hubs - causing large-scale transport to immediately come to a halt, planet-wide. The nuclear devices were clean fusion devices, with no fallout and only short-lived neutron-activated isotopes in the ground nearby, but the wrecked industrial facilities released vast quantities of chemicals into the environment, rendering vast tracks of agricultural land useless from the resulting pollution and contamination. The agricultural industry on Indiana produced bumper harvests, but the food couldn't be distributed because of the shattered transport infrastructure.[3]
Brownsville's government was a product of the Amaris Empire; deeply autocratic, the government had suspended elections to extend the tenure of pro-Amaris officials. With no elections, the government was free to make hardnosed decisions, and it promptly did so. The largest, most easily-aided groups on Brownsville were marked for relief efforts, while other districts were left unaided. The government pressed political dissidents into service as a labor force, using them to establish temporary ports on the coasts to allow food to begin moving, with thousands of the workers dying as a result. The government wasn't solely responsible for relief efforts, however; in acts of heroism, hundreds of volunteers installed new equipment for handling cargo and laid stretches of temporary railway lines in blast areas which were still radioactive, helping to create the rudiments of an infrastructure system to replace what had been lost.[3]
By 2776, the supply of food across Brownsville had stabilized, and the government had shifted its focus to rebuilding elements of Brownsville's industrial base needed to support the population, and then to meet their technological requirements. When Amaris' regime fell, Brownsville was one of the few restored Terran Hegemony worlds not to imprison or lynch the authority figures left from the pro-Amaris government, possibly due to the government's brutal effectiveness in rebuilding. Where other worlds ultimately suffered the loss of millions of lives as a result of the war, the death toll on Brownsville ws several hundred thousand - a significant, but demonstrably smaller figure.[3]
With attention focused inward, the population of Brownsville was caught completely unawares by the Exodus. The Brownsville government blamed the steady collapse of the Hegemony on Kerensky, and gathered what reserves it had to buy military equipment. The Brownsville militia was already larger than average, as a result of being deployed to put down local insurrection, and the addition of SLDF equipment resulted in a competent defense force capable of rebuffing attempts at predation from other states. The governments of both the Capellan Confederation and Free Worlds League made approaches to the Brownsville government, only to be rebuffed. The local government was more interested in forming alliances with other Hegemony worlds, but each attempt they made was rebuffed by worlds who distrusted Brownsville both for its population support of Stefan Amaris and for retaining the Empire-era government figures.[3]
First Succession War
The first attempt to annex Brownsville by force came at the hands of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces; the CCAF declared that it had landed in support of a small group of rebels who represented the "legitimate interests" of the population, and were swiftly routed by the much more experienced militia troops. The Brownsville government arranged for the heads of the pro-Capellan rebel leaders to be sent to the CCAF forces, carefully packed in boxes of salt, at which point the CCAF troops withdrew from Brownsville, at least temporarily.[3]
In 2789 the Confederation made a second attempt to conquer Brownsville, this time with substantially greater forces and a more obvious attempt at diplomacy. The Capellans offered Brownsville membership of the Confederation on generous terms, as well as an offer of protection against both the Federated Suns and Free Worlds League. To reinforce the offer, Soyal-class cruisers from the Capellan Navy used mass drivers to destroy several moonlets within Brownsville's rings - the targeted moonlets each containing naval weapon batteries from the Star League era. For the next twenty years, Brownsville was able to largely avoid the open conflict of the First Succession War; the population was kept busy and distracted by a series of four-year reconstruction plans launched by the government, which were generally successful, and while both the Federated Suns and the Free Worlds League launched probing raids on Brownsville, the world seemed a poor prospect for conquest given its largely impoverished state.[3]
Ironically, Brownsville's downfall was a result of industries on the planet recovering enough to produce advanced water filtration technology again. The First Succession War had degenerated to the point that water filter factories had become strategic assets in a universe where total war was the default mindset on the part of the Successor States. In 2811, the Free Worlds League attempted to conquer Brownsville; the CCAF was largely focused on the Federated Suns, but the Brownsville militia managed to defeat the invading forces. In line with the tactics of the day, the Free Worlds League Military launched a nuclear bombardment on Brownsville as it retreated to deny the assets it had fought for to anyone else. The attacks were devastating, as the FWLM dropped nuclear weapons on major cities that had no time to launch any kind of evacuation. The initial nuclear attacks killed both the government and a hundred million people. The loss of life was compounded because of a lack of effective leadership with the planetary rulers dead, and by 2813 the death toll had reached a quarter of a billion as a result of starvation, disease, exposure and the effects of radiation fallout. It took another ten years for the nuclear winter caused by the bombardment to pass, by which time many millions more were dead.[3]
The Confederation had little aid to give to Brownsville in the face of all the setbacks suffered during the First Succession War. The planetary atmosphere processors had been destroyed during the bombardment, and birthrates dropped sharply across the planet as conditions on Brownsville grew steadily worse, with the planetary population dropping steadily. By 2850, the oxygen levels in the atmosphere had dropped enough that animal life could barely survive on Brownsville and the population was reliant on respirators. As the levels of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere steadily climbed, the average temperature went up, destabilizing planetary weather systems further. Many people attempted to escape to other systems, but JumpShips were in short supply; in 2862, ComStar made a show of evacuating the few thousand refugees living near its HPG station, and declared Brownsville dead, striking it from maps and dismantling the station. The population of Brownsville wasn't truly extinct - estimates at the time suggested there were still a few million survivors living in small enclaves dotted across the planet. Brownsville's atmosphere reverted back to it's original atmosphere, and the human population died off.[3]
Geography
Brownsville has seven major continents, which the colonists named California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Texas. In addition to the major continents, there were also substantial islands such as Alcatraz, Rhode Island, San Campella and Santa Amelia. The major seas and oceans were named Ladybarbee, Okeerie, Rathwawa and Tippetahoe, Tohosalton; the Santa Fe Strait separate the continents of California and Florida, while the Wabash Straits divided Illinois from Indiana. Several of the continents had notable bays, including the San Pedro and Santa Monica Bays on California's coast, Chester Bay on Ohio's coast, Baffin and Nueces Bays on the Texas coast and the Pensacola Bay on Iowa's coast. Notable mountain ranges on Brownsville included the Miami Mountains on Florida, and the Yokehandle mountain range that stretched along the northern edge of Iowa.[38]
Local Fauna
Planetary Locations
- Amarillo: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Texas.[38]
- Bakersfield: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on California.[38]
- Berkeley: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on California.[38]
- Bucyrus: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Ohio.[38]
- Cleveland: a notable city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Ohio.[38]
- Dallas: the planetary capital city, located on Texas with a nearby DropPort.[38]
- Dayton: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Ohio.[38]
- Daytona: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Iowa near the western end of the Yokehandle mountain range.[38]
- Devonport: a notable city of more than 50 million people, located on Iowa.[38]
- Dubuque: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Iowa.[38]
- Evansville: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Indiana.[38]
- Geneva: a notable city of less than one million peoplepoeple, located on Illinois.[38]
- Indianapolis: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Indiana.[38]
- Pensacola: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Florida near the Everglades region.[38]
- Peoria: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Illinois.[38]
- Rockford: a city of more than 50 million people, located on Illinois and close to Brownsville's primary water filtration center.[38]
- San Antonio: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Texas.[38]
- San Jose: a notable city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on California.[38]
- Sarasota: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Iowa.[38]
- Tallahassee: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Florida near the eastern end of the Yokehandle mountain range.[38]
- Tampa: a city of more than 50 million people with a nearby DropPort, located on Florida.[38]
- West Palm: a notable city of less than one million people, located on Iowa.[38]
Image gallery
- Brownsville flag.jpg
Brownsville flag
- Brownsville Planetary Map.JPG
Planetary map of Brownsville
Nearby Systems
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Touring the Stars: Brownsville, p. 4, "Atlas - Brownsville"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - 2750"
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Touring the Stars: Brownsville, p. 4-7, "Brownsville"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Handbook: House Liao, p. 25, "Capellan Confederation after Age of War [2571]"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Handbook: House Liao, p. 39, "Capellan Confederation after Second Succession War [2864]"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Handbook: House Liao, p. 40, "Capellan Confederation after Third Succession War [3025]"
- ↑ Handbook: House Marik, p. 16, "Free Worlds League Founding [2271]"
- ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 17, "Capellan Confederation Founding, 2366"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 159, "Inner Sphere - 2596"
- ↑ Field Manual: SLDF, "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - 2765"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 104, "Rim Worlds Republic - [2767] Map"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 138, "Operation LIBERATION Wave 1 [July 2772 - December 2774]"
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 33, "Planets on Fire"
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 34-35, "Get The Show On The Road"
- ↑ First Succession War (Source Book), pp. 24-25, "Inner Sphere - [2786] Map"
- ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 31, "Capellan Confederation after First Succession War [2822]"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 122-123, "Inner Sphere - 2822"
- ↑ First Succession War (Source Book), pp. 112-113, "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
- ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 49, "Capellan Confederation after Fourth Succession War [3030]"
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 133, "Inner Sphere - 3040"
- ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - 3050"
- ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 23, "Inner Sphere - 3052"
- ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - 3057"
- ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 60, "Capellan Confederation after Operation Guerrero [3058]"
- ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 29, "Inner Sphere - 3063"
- ↑ Handbook: House Liao, p. 68, "Capellan Confederation after FedCom Civil War [3067]"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 43, "Inner Sphere Map - [October 3067]"
- ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65, "Inner Sphere [3075]"
- ↑ Field Report: CCAF, p. 21, "Deployment Map - August 3079"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63, "Inner Sphere Map - [March 3081]"
- ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. 126, "Inner Sphere Map - [October 3085]"
- ↑ Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 10, "Inner Sphere Map - [3135]"
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 38, "Inner Sphere Map - [3145]"
- ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. VI, "Inner Sphere - 3145"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 36, "Task Force Confederation"
- ↑ 38.00 38.01 38.02 38.03 38.04 38.05 38.06 38.07 38.08 38.09 38.10 38.11 38.12 38.13 38.14 38.15 38.16 38.17 38.18 38.19 38.20 38.21 38.22 Touring the Stars: Brownsville, p. 13, "Brownsville"
- ↑ Touring the Stars: Brownsville, p. 12, "Ironfin Tuna"
Bibliography
- Era Report: 2750
- Era Report: 3052
- Era Report: 3062
- Era Report: 3145
- Field Manual: 3085
- Field Manual: 3145
- Field Manual: SLDF
- Field Report: CCAF
- First Succession War
- Handbook: House Liao
- Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
- Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2
- Historical: Reunification War
- Historical: War of 3039
- Jihad: Final Reckoning
- Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
- Map of the Inner Sphere 3130
- Touring the Stars: Brownsville