Setting¶
The Veridion System¶
A mid-range stellar system on the outer edge of inhabited space. Three inhabited zones, each controlled by a different faction. Deep-space assets are administered by megacorporational contract, not sovereign authority.
Standard Date at story start: 2847.211.
The Dead Ice Planet¶
Unnamed in the game. Located at the gravitational shadow edge of the Veridion system. No atmosphere. No rotation. No registered name on Apex or Praxis charts — it predates charting.
Its magnetosphere is anomalous. The electromagnetic signature that the Hephaistos-9 scientists called the Flicker originates here, or passes through here, or has been here long enough that the distinction no longer matters.
The planet is dead in the geological sense. Something else may not be.
Hephaistos-9 Research Station¶
Operator: Praxis Biomechanica
Classification: Deep-orbit installation, Category IV restricted
Location: Gravitational shadow of the dead ice planet, Veridion system
Status (story start): Total shutdown — sensors dark, comms dark,
defences dark
Physical Layout¶
- No rotation. No artificial gravity. Everything floats.
- Emergency battery power only: strip-lights (red), manual releases.
- Standard Praxis modular construction: interlocking hexagonal sections.
Known Sections¶
| Section | Notes |
|---|---|
| Maintenance Shaft Section 4 | Story start. North hatch leads to occupied corridor. South hatch leads to pod bay. Reinforced viewport into docking bay. |
| Waste Disposal Pod Bay | Single waste ejection capsule on rail. Manual controls only. No authentication required. |
| Primary Docking Bay | The black ship is attached here. Two tactical EVA figures visible through viewport. |
| Upper Decks | Location of screaming at story start. Not accessible. |
Why It Was Here¶
Praxis Biomechanica established Hephaistos-9 specifically to study the Flicker phenomenon at close range, in the EM shadow of the ice planet. The research team — size and composition unknown — had been operating for an undetermined period before the events of Echos in the Cold.
Their findings were encoded in optical lattice crystal: Project Flicker, Archive Core 01.
Someone sent a kill team to ensure those findings stayed encoded.
Relay Station Cinder-7¶
Located in the Outer Ring, four years before story events (c. 2843).
The Vanguard Corps officially classified its operation there as a routine decommissioning operation. Personnel who were present have agreed, without discussion, to call it something else.
Janus was there. The green emergency lighting — 520 nanometres, functional and not pleasant — is the same as Hephaistos-9's. This is not a coincidence that his nervous system has processed.
What happened at Cinder-7 is not stated in canon. It left Janus with a triggered trauma response and a professional understanding of how people move when they are paid to kill.
The Outer Ring¶
The inhabited periphery of the Veridion system. Heavy isotope mining territory. Rust Alliance labour. Apex Industrial infrastructure. Vanguard Orbital contract security.
Life expectancy correlates inversely with proximity to Apex debt contracts.
Salvage Lanes¶
The Rust Alliance runs salvage operations through the outer lanes — below the official transit corridors, not on Praxis or Vanguard charts. They do not ask many questions.
The ejection capsule from Hephaistos-9 is ballistic toward this region. This is either a plan or a direction.
See also: The Flicker | Factions | Locations