A/N before we begin, Remember, If you recognise it, I probably don't own it. Mass effect belongs to BioWare and Microsoft.
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The Current State of the Sol system
The Sol system, is the home system of the Humanity and the Capital of Sol Confederation. It has a very high average standard of living and is an economic juggernaut of the galaxy.
It's quite unique as almost every planet is inhabited and the presence of extensive infrastructure all across it. The Sol Defence Fleet is one of if not The strongest fleet in the galaxy. It is also very heavily fortified and widely considered impenetrable. This is mostly attributed to Human paranoia.
To regulate space traffic, they use "Relays" which are large orbital space stations that act as checkpoints which allow or deny access to each region of the system. They are also the primary docking stations for large ships.
Sol
Sol has a Dyson Swarm and a stellar lifter built around it. This is the primary source of energy for the whole system. Sol also has a stellar lifter station that uses Planium based Anti-Grav beams to pull out and harvest heavy stellar matter to be synthesized into useful materials.
Fortress Apollo
Station Apollo is the 120 km in diameter space station or rather Star Fortress that stands vigil over the entire Sol system. It is simultaneously a space habitat and a defence station due to it's massive size and absurd levels of weapons on it's surface. Though incapable of FTL travel (yet), it is very capable of moving around within the star system itself though slow and cumbersome. But still it is a very effective deterrent, as with it's nigh impenetrable shields, numerous hangars to launch Starfighters and frankly absurd number of guns, it can erase entire fleets by itself, without issue.
When it's not being used as a fleet killer it acts as the primary docking station for the Sol Defence Fleet and the headquarters of the entire SoCon Navy.
Mercury
Mercury is home to the largest source of silicates and the second largest source of metals in the Sol system. It is home to some of the largest mines and refineries in the entire system. There is no permanent habitation bar the orbital relay station.
Venus
Venus is home to the famous Venusian Cloud Cities that float above the clouds. It is a very popular holiday destination. It is also a minor source of nitrogen and CO2 harvested from the atmosphere.
Earth
Earth or Terra, is the capital and crown jewel of Humanity. Cities have been scaled back dramatically, with a focus on very compact, vertical structures with a low ecological impact; giant arcologies with entire metropolises living inside them, with ample room for farms, factories, and forests inside them as an alternative to cities. There are nomadic floating cities in the oceans and colonies in the arctic. There are colonies kilometers under the sea and deep within mountains.
This has allowed for the massive ecological damage caused by the industrial revolution to be reversed, thus leading to vast swathes of nature preserves.
Earth also has the most extensive orbital infrastructure. With an orbital ring, multiple space elevators, orbital hooks, and numerous orbital habitats and relays. The Earth Anchorage, built at the Earth-Mool Lagrange point is the Primary headquarters for the Sol Defence Fleet, and as such the planet is defended by a network of defence satellites which use both MACs, ion cannons and composite beam superlaser systems.
The planet also has a dedicated water navy, and atmospheric Airforce for defence alongside it's PDF army..
Luna
Luna is home to some of the largest refineries for titanium and Helium 3, alongside being home to multiple megacities, whole lights can be seen from earth at night.
Mars
Mars is the heavy industrial hub of the entire Sol system, and produces everything from everyday cars to guns, missiles and tanks. Most of these industrial sectors are located near the Valles Marineris, which is the location of the first and largest city. It is currently being Terraformed to be made completely habitable, with an expected finishing date, sometime in the next century.
Due to the incomplete state of martian terraforming, only the very upper parts of the northern hemisphere are habitable. Naturally it is home to some of the largest colonies. On the rest of the planet colonies are located inside lava tubes & natural caves with the largest ones near Arsia Mons, at the summit of Pavonis Mons, at Hellas Planitia, and at Valles Marineris. Human colonists live in chasms with domed habitats over them. The inside of these domed settlements are pressurized and terraformed with a breathable atmosphere, lakes, and plants. In the southern hemisphere people live in underground cities within caves and lava tubes which are artificially lit.
Mars is also the current training ground for the infantry of the Sol Defence Fleet, as the equatorial regions have some of the harshest environment conditions imaginable due to the ongoing terraforming of the planet.
Mars also has extensive orbital infrastructure, with space elevators and orbital rings, and numerous orbital habitats.
Phobos & Deimos
On Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos, there is minimal habitation and people live in pressurized dome habitats built in large craters on the moons. A space station was also built on Phobos prior to colonization, to which equipment from Earth and raw materials from the asteroid belt were shipped to aid in Mars colonization efforts.
Asteroid Belt
The Main Asteroid Belt is mostly used for mining resources. C-Type (carbon) asteroids, which make up about 70% of the asteroid belt, contain huge amounts of water, which is a valuable resource in space, as well as key plant fertilizers such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. S-Type (silicon) asteroids are small, but mineral-rich. M-Type (metallic) asteroids are mostly made up of metals such as iron, nickel, and cobalt, which are hardly valuable but are still important for construction, and also small amounts of precious metals such as platinum, gold, iridium, palladium, osmium, ruthenium and rhodium In much higher concentrations than on Earth, are exported. While the other metals like the vast amounts of iron are sent off to the Saturnine shipyards to be turned to ships. The precious metals mined from the asteroid are used to pay for more complex goods you can't make on sight, and the other materials are used to expand the settlements.
Though population per individual colony is sparse and in the range of a few thousand in the largest ones, and a few dozen in the smallest, combined the asteroid belt has a quite large population. Notable colonies are on 1 Ceres, 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas, 10 Hygiea, 704 Interamnia, 52 Europa, 511 Davida, 87 Sylvia, 65 Cybele, 15 Eunomia, 3 Juno, 624 Hektor, 31 Euphrosyne, 88 Thisbe, and 324 Bamberga, with thousands of other, smaller bases across the belt. Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt, and is the only object in the asteroid belt large enough to be classified as a dwarf planet, comprising about one third the mass of the whole belt and being the sixth largest body in the inner solar system by mass and volume. Being the largest object in the main asteroid belt, Ceres is the main base and transport hub for asteroid mining infrastructure, allowing mineral resources to be transported for usage and export.
Jupiter
Jupiter is home to the largest gas refineries in the sector and is the primary source of Hydrogen for all of SoCon. It is also a massive source of helium.
The moons of Jupiter, especially Europa and Callisto are some of the largest hubs of civilization in the outer solar system. With Europa also being a large source of water.
Saturn
Saturn is home to the famous and Massive Saturnine shipyards, which are the largest shipyards in the galaxy. They are the cradle and the anvil in which the Vaunted Sol Defence Fleet was constructed. They are also responsible for the vast majority of all starships in the SoCon. And hence are very heavily defended, with numerous weapon emplacements in the rings of Saturn, a defence satellite network and a fleet of ships purely dedicated to their protection.
Though large parts of the shipyards are government owned, most of the shipyards are usually leased out to private shipbuilding companies to save costs and ensure efficiency.
Titan
Titan is the largest hub of civilization in the outer Sol system, and is home to a massive Ecumenopolis. It is also the location of most of the offices of shipbuilding companies that work in the Saturnine shipyards.
It has a space elevator and an under- construction orbital ring.
Uranus
For Uranus, where the gravity well is less extreme, there are permanent automated mining stations which float in the cloud tops, harvesting raw materials for return back to space.
Neptune
Neptune is home to one of the single largest megastructures in Sol, and arguably the most famous - it's series of orbital rings, a construct which allows the easy mining of He3 from Neptune, which allowed the Solar economy to skyrocket. The rings resemble a chainsaw, with ramscoops dangling from space tethers attached to the rings in order to collect gases. The orbital rings have an elliptical orbit that goes around Neptune several times, which drops into the atmosphere of the Ice-world, scoops up buckets of He3, and shunts it down the rings until it reaches tanker stations, refined as it goes. Cargo ships then come and collect the He3, and haul it to nearby trade centers. There are also plenty of small, domed stations along the rings which ensure that they are maintained, and process the He3 when it reaches them.
Neptune is also home to the famous Chandelier Cities - huge cities that hang downwards from space tethers attached to the orbital rings. Many of these Chandelier Cities are constructed from the diamonds mined on the lower levels of Neptune. Chandelier cities are also used on places like Europa to colonize their subsurface oceans.
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A/N
Well well well, I'm back again. Looks Like I got carried away...