World Names: Mica II, V, VII
Star Type: K3V
Positions in System: 2, 5, 7
Times to Jump Point: 4.3 days, 4.6 days, 5.1
days
Recharging Station: Zenith
Political Ruler: Various Dome Directors
ComStar Facility Class: B
ComStar Representative: Precentor Hurlock Jamis
Population: Mica II, 45,000; Mica V, 255,000;
Mica VII, 38,000
Percentage and Level of Native Life: 10%, Mammal
Descriptions:
The worlds of the Micanos star system are drab and barren
wastelands perpetually covered with ice and snow and ravaged by
fierce solar winds and occasional meteor showers. In such
conditions, life is possible only under pressurized domes, which
dot the mineral-rich Micanite worlds. These domes, varying from
eight to twenty per planet, are a legacy of the Star League at
its technological finest. The first Micanite settlers were
involuntary laborers forcibly transferred there for their
political opposition to the Kurita regime. Many did not even have
the most elementary knowledge of geology or mining techniques,
and most died within the first decade.
The Mica Majority consists of three mineral-rich worlds
located near the Delos IV star system between the Federated Suns
and the Outworlds Alliance. Known for their extensive deposits of
gold, uranium, and other precious minerals, Mica II, V, and VII
each have a harsh arctic climate that makes mining operations
costly. With only the thinnest of atmospheres, the Micanites must
live in pressurized dome-towns, similar to the raucous
Yukon-Klondike towns of Terran North America. Miners, drifters,
bartenders, and assorted ne'er-do-wells vie with one another to
cash in on newfound wealth (or at least live long enough to spend
some of it).
Ore from the mining fields is collected at central
distribution points and shipped out to the system's Jump Point
every summer when scores of merchants from the Federated Suns and
the Outworlds Alliance arrive to trade with the Micanites. For
several weeks and even months, thousands of miners compete
against, barter with, steal from, drink with, lie to, wench with,
gamble with, win from, and lose to merchants and other miners
aboard the Micanite Space Center (built in the waning days of the
Star League). Thus do the neighboring systems of the Federated
Suns and the Outworlds Alliance gain badly needed resources at
one tenth the price asked by Inner Sphere mining concerns. For
their part, the miners receive machinery and modern conveniences,
clothing and chemicals, brandies and brides, all of which they
need to continue their precarious existence. Given time, a more
stabilized form of economic exchange may develop. For the time
being, however, both sides are satisfied with the present
arrangement.
Located near the system's zenith jump point is a huge orbital
complex constructed in the late 2600s when the vast resources of
the system became known. With only brief interruptions during the
Succession Wars, large-scale barter and trade between the
descendants of the original Micanite laborers and the Inner
Sphere have remained intact.
For most of its history, the Mica Majority has remained free
of any foreign influence, mainly because the Mican worlds provide
little incentive for any potential invader. The main Mican ore
deposits were already depleted when the Kurita government
abandoned its claim to the worlds, and the punishing climates of
the Mican worlds prevented the formation of any major cities in
the system. Though the life-support domes on Mica II, V, and VII
were quite impressive engineering feats when they were first
constructed, they remain mere curiosities today.
The only recorded invasion of the Mica Majority occurred in
3035, when a Tortuga pirate force commanded by Paula "Lady
Death" Trevaline entered the system. Within days the pirates
realized that the Mican domes contained only a fraction of the
wealth they had expected to find. Frustrated by the lack of
plunder and unaccustomed to the frigid temperatures of the polar
worlds, the pirate force abandoned the Mica Majority after a few
weeks.
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld Larsen's Loners Regular 0.22 Mica Majority (CO: Major Jesse Larsen)
Today, the Mican worlds are home to a small number of
self-sufficient miners. The total population of all three worlds
is less than half a million. Most of their food is grown within
the life-support domes of the Mican worlds, and other goods are
supplied by small trading vessels en route to other, larger
Periphery realms. The Mican government exerts very little
authority over the Majority residents, who enforce their own
brand of frontier justice.
In recent years, the Mican worlds have also become a
destination for small numbers of wealthy, thrill-seeking Inner
Sphere eccentrics who wish to temporarily substitute the
hardships of the Mican mining life for the luxuries of
civilization. A tiny industry has sprung up to arrange lodging,
supplies, and any other assistance required for these tourists to
enjoy (and survive) their stay in the Mica Majority.
The Mican military consists of a small mercenary unit,
Larsen's Loners, which once formed part of Bullard's Armored
Cavalry. Though all Mican citizens contribute a token tax to pay
the mercenary unit, the Majority's tour operators contribute most
of the unit's pay. The small unit primarily serves to deter
pirate attacks against the Mican planets, and it rotates between
garrison facilities located on each of the major Mican worlds.
(Deployment as of 3058)
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld Larsen's Loners Regular 0.22 Mica Majority (CO: Major Jesse Larsen)
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