abstract
| - A K-type main sequence star located at the outer reaches of Sharon’s Nebula, Bremen was first visited by legendary for profit explorer Bao Yun in 2441. Yun’s crew charted the star’s four worlds, identified the only green band terraforming candidate as “unremarkable” and promptly sold his spotter’s rights to the United Nations of Earth. The UNE expansion council marked Bremen for development and standard terraforming of Rytif soon followed. Within two decades, the system was ready for a slow influx of Human settlers. While most homesteaders were attracted to risky, resource rich systems, Bremen was seen as a “safe” alternative by some. Then, at the dawn of the 27th century, man found himself again making war on aliens. With the Second Tevarin War in full swing, the burgeoning United Empire of Earth was in great need of dependable resources to support the conflict against Corath’Thal’s armadas. With the core worlds focused on producing ships and weapons, the UEE reached out to its more distant colonies. Aiming to both incorporate these worlds in the war effort and to take some of the burden off the over taxed planets closer to home, planners were surprised to discover that Bremen II’s ecosystem was uniquely capable of growing low perishable foodstuffs. In a matter of months, Bremen was outputting the majority of food provided to UEE military units on the front. The population skyrocketed as speculators arrived to purchase farmland, and many of the ‘timid’ original colonists found themselves millionaires several times over (including, notably, homesteader Arcturus Koerner, the planet’s de facto Governor). For seven years of war and an ensuing two decades of peace, Bremen’s farms, packagers and shipping facilities were an economic powerhouse like nowhere else in the industry. By 2640, however, the system’s population had again begun to dwindle. Humanity’s fortune was on the rise, and the newly fortified Empire now craved more variety than Bremen’s simple sustenance could offer. The planet seemed to be resigned to the dustbin of history, its part in a popular war nothing more than a footnote. Ultimately, it was exactly Bremen’s return to its prior, unassuming status that led to its most important role yet. In 2792, anti-Messer activists began using Bremen as an operation hub to organize the overthrow of the regime. Revolutionary minded expats who had previously escaped to the Xi'An Empire were smuggled back to launch their conspiracy from Bremen. The extent of Bremen’s role in the overthrow of the Messer government remained a secret to the general populace until the Senate released declassified communications between Resistance members within the government and the revolutionaries on the planet. It was this evidence that directly led to the planet’s official recognition just five years ago (although some speculate that the discovery of previously unidentified valuable ores beneath the surface a year ago might have been the real or contributing reason). Today, Bremen is home to a growing aerospace industry instigated by Silas Koerner — a descendant of the system’s most wealthy original homesteader — and his Consolidated Outland group. Bremen has become the first ‘outer world’ to produce a complete spacecraft, with thousands of Mustangs flying off the assembly lines every day. With a rich history and a variety of natural resources at hand, Bremen seems set to remain something of a unexpected powerhouse in the modern, post-Messer Empire.
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