Regina Prime, main orbital:
Regina Prime is a large and very busy orbiting space station. With a permanent population of 1.2 million, it averages 3 million people passing through on any given day. The station can easily accommodate 24 million, not counting passengers already boarded on spaceships. Appearing as six large spoked wheels connected with a long center shaft, the station is visible to the naked eye from the planet below. It handles an average of 1500 spaceships a day with a total of 2400 docks.
Regina Prime, by all accounts, is a true city. It has every service available that one could expect on a spacestation and more. Each of the six wheels focus mainly on services directly related to the ships and boarding of passengers. Food, small boutiques, light entertainment and hotels are found there. The main shaft, called 'The Spindle', is where the bulk of the city districts are found. Permanent residences, mega shopping complexes and large entertainment venues such as concert halls, sports stadiums and recreation parks are all found there. Just about all the elements of traditional planetside starport communities are found on Regina Prime.
ROCK is scheduled to dock on Wheel 4, Spoke 15, Dock 21. This particular spoke of Wheel 4 is geared towards smaller, private vessels. The only lodging at Spoke 15 is Shindaran Suites, an Imperial-wide hotel that is fairly well-respected and known for their good accommodations. Currently, they are showing plenty of available rooms since it is not peak traveling season. Pushing on further to the spindle offers a myriad of choices in terms of quality and cost for lodging. Transport from the spoke to the spindle only takes 10-15 minutes, adjusted by congestion. Shuttle service to the planet departs from either end of the spindle.
Cape Goliath, Regina
Cape Goliath is the primary starport and gem of Regina. Build on a small headland of only 600 square kilometers, it is densely packed with a population of 90 million residents. The city does overflow to the rugged Goliath mountains behind the cape but it is reserved for the most wealthy of Reginans. The city was the first thriving community on Regina some 1000 years ago and has retained its lead on other major cities due to his abundance of mineral wealth, still produced from the mountain range cutting it off from the rest of its continent.
The city is a technological marvel compared to most in the frontier planets. The buildings rise over 2400 meters above the sea, dwarfed only by the nearby Goliath mountains. An intricate web of tunnels and skywalks connect the city allowing most residents to venture outdoors only when it suits them. Public transportation is excellent and efficient though many opt for skycars.
The climate is cool and rainy with the current average daytime temperature at 15 degrees Celsius. What little vegetation there is in the city is green and vibrant. The mountain range is also lush filled with very tall conifer trees and ferns. The view of the surrounding mountains is often shrouded in clouds with a thick fog hanging around the lower levels of the city. The air is crisp and clean with advancements in technology keeping pollution out of the surrounding areas.
Lodging in the city is widely available in all price ranges, quality and length of stay. For those willing to risk the dangers of the lowest levels of the city can find vacant buildings at no cost. While not officially legal those familiar with the streets of Cape Goliath know the law does not maintain much of a presence down there.
Businesses of all kinds can be found in Cape Goliath with heavy representation from all business sectors. The starport district dominates the city and its culture though mining in the Goliath mountains is a distant second. Most all Imperial corporations have large offices in Cape Goliath.
Regina
The rest of Regina is much like Cape Goliath in climate. The planet is 82% covered by water and in general has a rainy and cool climate. Other primary cities on the planet are Princeps, Regni, Kingsbury and Corona. The world population is roughly 725 million with 90% of them found in the primary cities. The planet has seven continents that are all fairly young, geologically speaking. There are also seven major islands and archipelagos in addition. All of the land masses are dominated by rugged mountains interspersed with lush valleys, ideal for farming. Though farmland is rare due to the landscape it is very fertile. The one thing that Regina lacks is plenty of sunlight. The skies are typically overcast keeping the average days of sun down to 100 per year.
Cape Goliath Levels
Cape Goliath is generally separated into 5 distinct elevations in the city.
The Spires
The uppermost level is called The Spires. It is for the rich and powerful elite. It can only be accessed by aircar or by internal transportation in the various towers. CART does not have service to this part of the city. The starport maintains half of The Spires level towers, which caters mainly to private starport traffic. There is a restriction within the city that all spacebound traffic must be handled through the spaceport. It would be illegal to have private spacecraft land elsewhere in the city. This, of course, does not apply to the government.
Upper City
Just below The Spires, Upper City is where most the wealthy and large corporations are found. The majority of it is accessed by aircar with occasional CART hubs. Ground transportation is very rare at this elevation but does exist in a few parts of the city. Most of the structures in this elevation are tall buildings rising from the levels below. These buildings have access points, aircar garages and skywalks that connect them all together.
Sky routes are firmly established keeping aircars to defined pathways. It is illegal to fly freely over the city. Once you get within a short distance of a building you can deviate from a sky route though.
Mid City
In the middle of the city is Mid City. It is where most of the middle class live. Ground transportation is common here and most of the city is still open to the sky above. CART is the most popular form of transportation on this level. Many working people do not own their own vehicles and rely on public transportation. In the areas where the Lower City is visible, the streets become wide spanning bridges that connect major buildings. Aircar traffic is quite common on this level with several sky routes connecting the middle elevation to the higher parts of the city.
Lower City
Beneath Mid City, is the Lower City where the working class and poor live. CART remains very popular here with ground transportation following a close second. Very few sky routes exist in the Lower City and aircars are not restricted as they are above. However, much of the Lower City is not open to the sky above limiting aircars far more than the sky routes do. Crime is more common on this level with gangs and drug houses not uncommon in some parts of the city. The police presence is weaker than in the upper levels.
Under City
Underneath it all is Under City. It is almost all underground with an ancient subway system still active. CART does not connect to this level leaving the subway and ground transportation as the only viable methods of getting around. Much of the Under City is separate from the rest of the city. Police do not operate down here and each neighborhood has its own laws and enforcement. Gangs and organized crime have as much power if not more than the neighborhoods. It is widely known that anything goes at this level and the Imperium simply looks away, happy to contain it beneath the surface of the city. |