Mega Star Grid Overview
Mega Star Grid is a network of established and mapped solar systems known as sectors. It is the meta setting where multiple sub-settings take place in. Whether they happen on satellite city states, or colonies on smaller planets, life is happening somewhere across Mega Star Grid. Planet-side living is mostly reserved for the opulent and those in their service. The less fortunate wishing to live beneath an atmosphere resort to surviving on backwater planets. The majority of the population has chosen to adapt to living in satellite cities situated on colossal-class space ports or titan-class starships. The remaining population who does not wish to face hardship and remain under near-guaranteed safety within old fashioned structured societies choose to live in super faction government-owned colonies. The catch is that they trade their independence for total allegiance.
The setting itself is split into two large clusters. Mega Star Grid East is in a constant power war between several super factions (currently not developed) which act as large scale governments. Earth lies within the last independent sector in Mega Star Grid East, and is on the verge of being declared a wasteland. Mega Star Grid West is a completely independent cluster of sectors. It is free of super faction and corporate influence at the cost of relying on mercenary companies to provide a semblance of law and order, or employing their own home grown militia. Mega Star Grid North and South are dotted with sectors affiliated with smaller governments, corporations, and independent factions. Corporations tend to wage resource wars in these sectors.
Beyond Mega Star Grid lies uncharted or unincorporated sectors filled with unknown dangers, or simply uninhabitable sectors. Strange species of life forms or minimally documented organisms and matter often come from beyond these boundaries, despite Mega Star Grid itself containing just as strange artifacts within (in the context of not being native to what originates from Earth). In turn, sectors of Mega Star Grid, ominously known as Red Zones, remain in perpetual lockdown. Whether because of unfamiliarity with what exist within their boundaries, or due to a disaster caused by the hubris of intelligent life forms, they are seen as desolate pockets of space. Completely abandoned planets, or anomalies can be found here. Despite this fact, adventurous individuals are drawn to Red Zones to scavenge for valuable resources or conduct questionable activities. A Red Zone is distinguished by towering concrete pillars bordering these areas, and beams of red light that mark the pillars. While the pillars were not explicitly designed to prevent access, they simply serve as deterrents or warnings to anyone approaching the location.
Despite technology being advanced enough that space travel itself is as accessible as a typical city's transit system, a significant portion of Mega Star Grid's population has become reliant on technologies once considered obsolete. This is particularly common in sectors outside of Mega Star Grid East, where life on the frontiers of space happens on resource-challenged areas, or due to environmental interference that renders modern technology suboptimal. Fusion reactors may be common, and can be used to put a new settlement on almost any planet on the fast track, but will quickly become a resource drain if the right materials are not accessible to maintain it. Certain societies who make a living on rough planets must rely on rudimentary forms of energy such as steam-powered generators, or even just fire itself. Mega Star Grid East, and several of the resource-rich sectors, experience luxuries such as holographic displays, but struggling colonies get their information and entertainment from printed words and pictures, or hand painted signs. Energy weapons have certainly become a reality, but despite their wide distribution, a conventional firearm or even a classically forged sword will yield better results in different environments. The vast array of technology in use across Mega Star Grid will often clash with each other or set the course for new implementations.