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Database
Jaeter

Cquote1 Jaeter, also called Creogli's Landing, is a rare human Outer colony that survived the Covenant War, located deep in the new Joint-Occupation Zone between human and Sangheili territories. Jaeter serves as a important waystation for organized recolonization efforts attracting all manner of people, including aliens, to its surface and moons in search of adventure and opportunity.

Starship wrecks, Forerunner crypts, and frontier justice cultivate a near-lawless but forward-thinking culture ever-ready to help their neighbors. Alien residents are welcome and appreciated on Jaeter, and reciprocated towards humanity. If reconciliation between humans and former Covenant is possible, the promise begins with Jaeter.
Cquote2


Jaeter flag

Jaeter Holographic Display
Jaeter
Astrographical
Region
Joint-Occupation Zone,
Colonial Section 1: Orion-Eridanus Quadrant
(Rimward Glasslands)
System
Creogli
Suns
Creogli
Moons
Harvester's Moon, Scion, Akara
Rotation period
24.6 hours
Orbital period
302 local days
Physical
Diameter
15,875 km
(9,864 mi)
Climate
Earth analog
Gravity
1.13 G
Societal
Native species
-
Immigrated species
Human, Sangheili, Others
Official language
UEG English, Sangheili
Population
910,000
Major cities
Seyerton, Vlosa
Affiliation
Unaligned
  [Source]
"Jaeter. The place for the haunted, the hunted, and the lost."
Sylvia "Poet" Farkas

Jaeter, sometimes called Creogli's Landing, is an independent colony world located among the former Human territories known as the Outer Colonies. Established at the edge of colonized space and just before the Human-Covenant War, Jaeter managed to avoid the interest of the Covenant Empire for over twenty-two years. It wasn't until 2548 that a Covenant battlegroup stumbled across Jaeter, looking for artifacts belonging to the ancient Forerunner Ecumene.

Avoiding total destruction, Jaeter has since become a waystation for those few colonists desperate to return to their old homes and begin anew. With many Outer Colonies completely glassed, most of these desperate pilgrims return to Jaeter and settle down. Even former Covenant species, primarily the Sangheili have come to Jaeter looking to expand their clans and to find new purpose with the Covenant. Stuck between the Unified Earth Government and the newly-established Sangheili nation, the Swords of Sanghelios, Jaeter and several other key worlds have become flashpoints of tension tied to complex interspecies politics.

This region of space, referred to as the Joint-Occupation Zone, is teeming with pirates, criminals, and Covenant remnants. While not officially affiliated with Jaeter, it is because of these potential dangers that the UNSC Navy has established a presence on Jaeter and led to the birth of the Jaeteran Defense Forces, the colony's own militia. Just before the Created Crisis, the colony has been making significant successes in building a more stable society for themselves, however, has brought about unwanted attention to itself as well as produced a sizable military force that has greater forces in the area concerned.

UEG Colony Record[]

Database
"There were once nearly a thousand permanent human outposts in the Orion Arm, ranging from resource factories buried in rich asteroids to terraformed worlds with populations in the billions. The Covenant burned most to glass and rubble."
―UEG Ministry of Information[1]

Jaeter: Description

Jaeter Colony
"If there is a place in the universe where aliens and humans get along, Jaeter might be proof of its existence."
―UEG Ministry of Information
SYSTEM: Creogli
SATELLITES: Akara, Harvester's Moon, Scion
POPULATION: 910,000 (2556)

"BXR Mining Corporation terraformed Jaeter a few decades before the Human-Covenant War but was unable to sell to investors leaving the colony irrelevant until the 2548 Covenant occupation. After the Covenant War, Jaeter became a host to stranded aliens and an early attempt at alien-human integration as Earth and Sanghelios marked the colony as part of the new Joint-Occupation Zone. Jaeter is especially notable for its unusually plentiful Forerunner ruins and a powerful post-war militia.

Notable Residents

  • Andromeda 'Vadum: Sangheili supreme commander of the Sangheili Alliance faction and a brother of Rtas 'Vadum, established the Jaeter-Sangheili Treaty.
  • Edmond Dahm: Drifting UNSC Marine and police investigator who helped train the JDF militia, his good will earned him a prototype corvette fresh off Jaeter production lines.
  • Greta 'Kovum: UNSC Marine from Harvest who fought at the Ark. Major General of the JDF militia and Jaeter Minister of Defense, married to Sangheili warrior Rtoka 'Kovum.
  • Nathan Carter Larose: Prodigal UNSC Navy commander notable for his active and diplomatic role in maintaining the UNSC relationship with Jaeter. Retreated to Jaeter following the Created occupation of Earth.
  • Rtoka 'Kovum: Special Operations commander of the JDF militia and retired Covenant Spec Ops officer who defended Jaeter, and participated in the Battles of Earth and the Ark. Married to the human Greta 'Kovum.
  • Sylvia Farkas: A retired UNSC and ONI naval aviator who retired to Jaeter becoming the commander of the Jaeter Defense Forces Air Wing and a locally-renown defense technologies entrepreneur.

Colonial History[]

"This is home."
― McKenzie Seyer

First Colonists[]

Discovered late in Mankind's search for habitable worlds and well into the era of rapid colonization, known as the Domus Diaspora, the planetary system that included Jaeter and its three moons was the find of a lifetime. A small-survey corporation, Jaeten Survey Company, responsible for the find was unwilling to relinquish the unique discovery on their hands — a colonial find of unknown proportions.

Besides Jaeter, which already came with an existing biosphere and a breathable atmosphere, Jaeter's largest moon, named Harvester's Moon, also came with a breathable atmosphere and dense jungles. It was the find of a century and unwilling to let other colonization corporations, already established in the colonization market, to take the advantage away from them — the company sold fast and charged high for the opportunity to call this new star system home. The major costs were handled up front by BXR Mining Corporation who had a primary interest in the worlds economically. The deed went out in 2515 and a small population spread itself across Jaeter, sporadic communities that brought the planet's population up to a minimal three thousand residents. Even with the prime real estate, Jaeter was the definition of a colonial backwater, unknown and forgotten.

Jaeter Colony

An artist's impression of Jaeter from orbit.

The first colonists were led by a simple man, named McKenzie Seyer from Germany. In Jaeter's colonial history, he is remembered as the colony's founder - Jaeter's capital city, Seyerton, is named after him.

Jaeter was colonized just years before the Human-Covenant War when the United Nations Space Command was still knee-deep in fighting the Insurrection, an undeclared civil war between the Unified Earth Government and their UNSC military forces against this multi-front insurgency. Jaeter was colonized during this war period and prospered shortly after with little fanfare. On Jaeter, many colonists were apolitical about the Insurrections, Jaeter was just too young to develop a unique communal culture of its own, therefore, the planet avoided becoming a front in the greater conflict. Jaeter was sparsely populated and received little interstellar traffic from the rest of Humanity's interstellar empire. When the Human-Covenant War broke out following the destruction of the agrarian colony world of Harvest — coincidently sharing the same name as Jaeter's largest moon — in 2525, the remoteness of Jaeter meant that it was overlooked by both the Covenant and the rest of Humanity for the majority of the conflict. Cutoff and isolated, the colonists of Jaeter made do on their own — developing their own indigenous industries and establishing their own indigenous government.

For twenty-two years, this fragile peace remained. Separation from the Unified Earth Government promoted self-reliance among the colonists, even developing into a short-term colonial independence movement. The communal success of Jaeter was halted in 2548 with the arrival of a Covenant battlegroup. Deployed by a Minor Prophet, the Covenant forces glassed one of the minor communities on Jaeter before they began surveying the neighboring worlds in the Creogli star system. Due to the sporadic and remote placement of Human settlements on Jaeter, conflict with the Covenant forces was mostly avoided. Eventually, the Covenant broke off and retreated as their Empire collapsed from within due to infighting and the Great Schism. While some Covenant forces were stranded on Jaeter, the star system quickly fell back under Human control. The leftovers of the Covenant forces either found ways off-world in the months that followed the end of the Human-Covenant War, while others deciding to settle into society opposite of Jaeter's original colonists. The Great War's end was the beginning for a decade of uncertainty and new introductions as former Covenant species and Humanity attempted to rethink their relationships from enemies to trading partners all across colonized space, Jaeter among them.

Population Explosion[]

The Covenant forces that came to Jaeter during the Human-Covenant War, known to the colonists as "The Prophet's Will," were the first but not the last aliens to come to Jaeter. It was eventually found out that Jaeter and its orbiting moons were a treasure trove for Forerunner artifacts. The Covenant were led there at the request of a Minor Prophet and guided by a reverse-engineered Luminary to Jaeter without ever realizing that Jaeter was a human colony world. This revelation was earth-shattering and would change the social landscape of Jaeter forever.

Jaeter

Geographical sketch of Jaeter by Greta 'Kovum.

The revelation that Jaeter was the host of an intact installation constructed by the Forerunners, an extinct space-faring species that once held domain over the Milky Way Galaxy, the discovery systematically changed the significance of Jaeter in galactic politics overnight. Jaeter populace's attempted to keep the truth under wraps, however, it wasn't long till both the newly formed Swords of Sanghelios and the Unified Earth Government caught wind of the discovery. With both Sanghelios and Earth now fully interested in the artifacts hidden on Jaeter and its moons, many Human and former Covenant factions were suddenly traveling to Jaeter motivated by dreams of fame and fortune. Boomtowns rose out of the unexplored wilderness in a matter of months and a population explosion quickly followed as thousands flocked to Jaeter, bringing with them the best and worst society had to offer. Interspecies racism. Bad blood from the still-smoldering grudges of the Human-Covenant War. Significant increases in criminal activities especially organized crime. Jaeter's average standard-of-living even reached a historic low due to the sudden population influx. Among the worst criminal elements to arrive on Jaeter were LEGION and the Cortez Cartel; they even paved the way for the larger Iskander Syndicate down the line. Even groups like the Covenant Remnants and Sapien Sunrise had local chapters on Jaeter or maintained local presences.

Since the Great War, Jaeter has become a part of the region of space located Swords of Sanghelios and the Unified Earth Government known as the Joint-Occupation Zone. Unlike the rest of Human space, the Joint-Occupation Zone is known for its multi-species populations and heavy militarization by both Sangheili factions and Human factions along this shared border-region. As of 2555, Jaeter hosts a population nearing a million intelligent lifeforms, at about 910,000 recognized individuals. The percentage split is defined by a Human majority of about 400 to 500 thousand people, making up about fifty percent of the colony's populace. The largest minority is the Sangheili community, making up about thirty-five percent. Other species make up for a collective fifteen percent. Most of these other species include Unggoy and Kig-Yar, other species that once took part in the Covenant mega-theocracy. Jaeter's culture and government are still very Human-centric which has created something of a divide in the population, culture-wise. The Sangheili are among the most vocal — wishing that Jaeter's society adopt a system of government and society similar to that of the Keep system, similar to Sanghelios and many other Sangheili worlds. There is a smaller but equally expressive minority among the Sangheili that wish to adopt a caste system on Jaeter — similar to the dissolved Covenant Empire. While this belief is not unique to the Sangheili — it is not as popular with Humans or Unggoy. The Kig-Yar are generally split on the issue. Even as the population and culture trends begin to shift and Jaeter's overall political nature begins to meddle between Covenant and Human practices, the future of Jaeter's society is still an unknown. The current system remains a rudimentary form of Representative Democarcy built around a colonial council. These Councillors then pick a head-of-state, referred to as a "Lord Marshal," a sort of middle-ground between Sangheili-cultural titles and Human leadership positions.

The economy and social structure on Jaeter is greatly diversified by legacy systems from both the original Jaeter colonists and the former Covenant species. Due to Jaeter's current political landscape — the government has little to no power to regulate the economy and has become a haven for runaway capitalism and free-market theory. Vendors and traders are free to sell and buy at whatever price they deem appropriate. This lack of regulation has even led to the colonial government to become its own business and service center. Jaeter's government does tax its citizens, even though population data remains questionable at best. Legitimate taxes on Jaeter are primarily on alcohol, land occupation and use, a domestic vehicle tax, a firearms tax, civilian tax based on population and basic needs, and a corporate tax on businesses. Due to the fragile state of the government, Jaeter's population is taxed fairly little to avoid upsetting the population. Due to the small size of Jaeter's government — some communities have developed a counter-industry based on tax evasion. The colonial government has been attempting to shut it down, however, their small size and their fragile state have prevented them from taking much action.

Jaeter Flag

The Post-Covenant War Flag of Jaeter. Circa. 2553.

The colonial government makes up for the low tax rate by becoming its own business — buying up some companies and developing monopolies in several local industries. Jaeter's government is only legitimized by the colony's original charter, age, and the lack of any major counter-government factions to challenge them. On Jaeter, money, and violence still has more power than words and policy. This lack of regulation allows groups like the Cortez Cartel to overwhelm local gangs, beginning a social and economic campaign to delegitimize the current colonial administration. The lack of regulations also allows some smaller alien communities to practice the Covenant caste system within their own streets and neighborhoods. While all these issues are social issues, the status quo for the last few years has yet to show any cracks and it seems most factions on Jaeter — with exception to some external groups and anarchic organizations that wish to see society flipped and changed. Such processes like societal reform or political reform are mostly invisible at this point or too slow to be noticed. For most, the system they currently have now is relatively fair, as long as there aren't any major conflicts of interest. Peace through ignorance and contentment defines the political and social nature of Jaeter's populace.

Even as the United Nations Space Command established a base and active presence on Jaeter, the majority of Jaeter would prefer to remain the way they are — free, unregulated, and undisturbed. A practice that has kept Jaeter's population alive and thriving for almost thirty or forty years.

The Militia's Rebirth[]

Conflict with the Covenant splinter group, the Prophet's Will, did not go well for the local militia in the final years of the Human-Covenant War. While combat was infrequent, the ability of the Militia to fight back was limited by their numbers and a lack of training and technology. When the Prophet's Will glassed part of Jaeter, there was little the militia could do to respond. By the time 2553 rolled around, the Prophet's Will was mostly minding their own business and anyone left from the Jaeteran militia was either dead, had given up, or lacked the means to continue armed resistance.

After the fighting reached a point of notable docility, it was around this lull that the Unified Earth Government and the Swords of Sanghelios made their presence known to Jater, rediscovering the planet and reconnecting it to the galaxy outside the isolated star system. With the arrival of the allied groups, the Prophet's Will went underground, seeking to avoid a confrontation with the combined alien-Human forces for as long as possible and exiled themselves to the far side of the planet and left to their own devices. Many of those that volunteered to assist in the rebuilding efforts of Jaeter ended up staying. Among the first post-Covenant War colonists to arrive were the 'Kovum line of Sangheili refugees, accompanied by a woman named Greta Singer who'd taken the alien surname as her own upon joining the family in a marriage-like union. A former UNSC Marine, Greta took a liking to the world along with her Sangheili family and decided to stay after seeing that the local militia needed any military assistance and expertise that could be mustered. Greta would go on to become the first militia commander in a long time and her companion, Rtoka 'Kovum became their first alien combatant and their special operations commander. Since then, the pair has been running the Jaeter Defense Forces, leading them into a new but brief age of prosperity as once again the known galaxy became embattled by a massive, unknown threat in the form of the Created.

Order of Major Events[]

Event Name Description
"Reconstruction" The year is 2555. Two years since the Great War and Humanity is recovering. On the border of Human and alien space is a planet called Jaeter. Jaeter is a small human colony that escaped getting glassed. Escaping severe damage, former UNSC personnel and former Covenant refugees helped rebuild. Some of these individuals took an interest in the planet and stayed. A former UNSC Marine, Greta 'Kovum, became the militia's commander while her Sangheili significant other, Rtoka 'Kovum, became its first alien combatant and Special Forces commander. The militia is equipped with mostly pre-Covenant War equipment. Without the advanced technologies and weapons of the UNSC, the colony just has to hope its enough to chase off any would-be intruders from threatening their way of life.

Given Jaeter's location, its possible the planet will become ripe with conflict as both Humans and former Covenant races move in. Everyone seems to be getting along but apprehension and suspicion are rampant. This does not stop some groups from openly expressing their pessimism as tensions from the Covenant War remain. The lack of assistance from the UNSC and the Unified Earth Government has left a sour taste among the local populace.
"New Threats" After a few months of accelerated recruitment, the Militia went through some severe shakeups, gaining new blood while losing some of their finest. The lead training instructor was murdered after undergoing torture by the Prophet's Will. Militia commander Greta 'Kovum was captured and nearly killed before being rescued by friendly forces. While Forerunner artifacts were uncovered, a harsh Winter brought with it depleted resources and a sick civilian population. Add on the arrival of off-world criminal elements such as LEGION and the Cortez Cartel and the Jaeter populace seemed to be buckling under the pressure of outside threats.

When Winter finally came to a close, spirits were up as the JDF recovered and repaired a downed Covenant heavy destroyer. With a new warship and higher spirits, Jaeter's populace became open to the idea of a second major settlement named Vlosa.
"Jaeter's Redemption" Minor assistance was provided to Jaeter in building their second city from the Unified Earth Government. Even with their new Covenant destroyer, the Jaeter's Redemption, the JDF did not wish to act against LEGION who had gone underground but taken deep roots in the local communities of Jaeter for fear of communal repercussions and the end of support from the UEG over the use of their new warship. The Militia was now locked in a new cold war with the criminal empire as more and more organizations like Insurrectionists and pirates began to crop up.
"Colonial Growth" April 2556: Jaeter has avoided a political crisis with the UNSC and survived two space battles with the Covenant Remnant. Jaeter is now manufacturing its own weapons along with its first experimental warship. Companies are popping up in Seyerton and Vlosa as subsidized by the local government in hopes of localizing large businesses before outside companies start to invest heavily on Jaeter as seen on other colonies. With the expansion of Vlosa going well, the Militia continues to expand to compensate for the need for more security leading to the introduction of more aliens and outside mercenaries into their ranks. The militia finally adopts the name Jaeter Defense Forces in an official capacity.

Also in 2556, Jaeter annexes a neighboring colony, Havannah, in an unorthodox move that goes mostly unnoticed by the rest of the outside galaxy but is nearly unprecedented. The first domestically-created warship of Jaeter, the JDSS Seyer enters sea trials. The Flame mercenary group makes a visit while Greta is once again captured by an enemy faction, this time LEGION as part of an attempted ceasefire.
"Protect Thy Self" Jaeter's government is now lead by Lord Marshall Ryto 'Tungam. The JDF General is now Greta 'Kovum who is now the Minister of Defense. Hayden O'Connor is the defense fleet's top Admiral. Jaeter has entered stable relations with Sangheilios while relationships with the UEG have soured over time.

From December 2556 to March 2557, changes have been in order. The Swords of Sangheilios have been staying out of conflicts of Jaeter but many volunteers from their ranks have traveled to Jaeter to participate. One lone UNSC ship, the Call to Valor, and it's captain, Captain Larose, has stayed on Jaeter to analyze the colony's growth and assist in local defense matters. The JDF encountered and fought four small brushfire wars against Covenant splinter groups over the year. With threats still active, Jaeter made a greater push to seek out non-traditional allies leading to the need for an alliance known as the Outer Planets Alliance, created with other Joint-Occupation Zone worlds. Together, they patrol and protect one another's territories.

Planetary System[]

Jaeter's Geography[]

Jaeter Spinning Globe Display

The planet of Jaeter with its continents.

"One thing you'll immediately notice while on walkabout, mate, is the lawlessness of those southern highlands. We can't root those outlaws out, not completely, but the universal plains mean that we'll always know when they've popped their bloody heads out. When you're in the bushland, keep away from the trees unless you can see someone's in trouble — we get enough incidents with the wildlife as it is."
Edmond Dahm, briefly describing the dangers of Jaeter to a class of new recruits.

Characterised by its single super-continental landmass flanked by three smaller landmasses, on a whole Jaeter is rather hilly with a lush level of vegetation. All of the major mainlands are typically dominated by some type of woodland biome, although currently, the southwest continent, Kurthra, is an exception having been partially glassed by the Covenant. Despite this, each has their own unique quirks, depending on the location, height, and climate of where they are found. Polar ice caps stretch across the northern and southern seas, connecting hemispheres together. The ice sheets of Jaeter are far more expansive and thick than those on Earth.

Easily the most varied is the super-continent of Auvix, thanks to its drastic differences in height and its sheer size. The south-east portion of the landmass is a large series of mountain ranges which spread all the way from the city of Vlosa to beyond Bartolomejev Kanal in the south. While typically barren, lower regions are home to pockets of semi-dry alpine forests, becoming denser as it reaches the slopes until they merge with scrub bushland at the base. Because of its difficulty to traverse, the Militia's inability to keep regular patrols into the region and the dangers presented by the native wildlife, this has become a haven for small-time bandits and pirates. In the north-east around Seyer's Bay, the heat brought by deep ocean currents and regular rainfall ensures that humid coastal forests are able to flourish, with the gentle slopes ensuring the rich building resources can be reached with ease. Unfortunately, these are in a state of decline thanks to uneven development centered around the planet's two major cities, as large regions are being cleared to support Jaeter's industrial expansion. Within the west, two semi-volcanic mountain ranges exist beside a deep ocean trench right on the coastline. These only block a small portion of moisture from breaching the interior, so massive rocky rainforests are able to establish themselves across large expanses.

Zalcronian Desert

The Auvix Expanse as seen from the edge of an oasis. Beyond the hill are miles of sand and dust.

At the center of Auvix, the continent has a flat, expansive desert known as the Auvix Expanse. Characterized by semi-seasonal sandstorms and hot, dry summers. Nights are typically freezing cold but not unliveable. The Office of Naval Intelligence has catalogued hundreds of reports of unusual events occurring across the sandy waves of the desert. The possibility of Forerunner activities under or around the desert is immediately suspect, however, all options are open for consideration on this mystery and of the other strange occurrences across the Jaeter planetary network.

The continent to the southwest of Auvix is Kurthra, a smallish tropical continent. The Tri-Islands, a large archipelago situated on a submerged tectonic plate split from Kurthra and continues to drift by inches every year to this day, the tectonic separation has been occurring for an estimated forty thousand years. Kurthra was once used by the terraforming corporation that first discovered Jaeter and settled the planet as a mega-farm run by mass automation and technical systems on several facilities that spanned miles. Jaeter's early production yield of crops was quite substantial, although it lagged far behind better-established colonies such as Harvest. These farmlands were however glassed upon the arrival of the Covenant and remain mostly unpopulated to this day.

Eibesh in the northern hemisphere, a colder continent, it has one of the smallest population sizes of all the continents on Jaeter. A Covenant remnant force, the Prophet's Will, once occupied the territory, a group stranded on Jaeter during the initial arrival of the Covenant expeditionary forces in 2548. Due to the Great Schism, these forces were left stranded on Jaeter and decided to take up residence on the opposite side of the planet of the Humans. Due to the successful theft of the Covenant's Sinaris-pattern Destroyer, renamed the Jaeter's Redemption, the Covenant faction was quickly routed. Following a series of heavy engagements with the Militia, the Covenant forces were finally defeated. Most of the Covenant remnant either were killed during the fighting or were exiled from Jaeter for the inky black and unknown of space. To this day, Eibesh remains underdeveloped and scarcely populated. The Covenant structures still remain scattered across Eibesh — the continent is treated as a sort of memorial park to remember the costs of the Great War and their struggle to establish themselves, for themselves in an ever-hostile galaxy.

Roleath Glassed

Kurthra's glasslands.

The final continent to the southeast is Edruth, it is sparsely populated and known for having inhospitable weather. Large storm plains and mountain ranges stretch across the land. Due to its long geographical appearance, it is considered the origins of much of the dangerous weather that has been known to approach Auvix from the south only to dissipate before it can make landfall. Winter storms and hurricanes, all failing to touch. It is believed of all the places on Jaeter, Edruth has the highest concentration of Forerunner sites, however, the weather, again, has prevented determined explorers from pushing forward and mapping the land. The longish continent remains a mystery to most of Jaeter's population to this day.

Jaeter's Climate[]

The climate of Jaeter is inherently complex and not quite understood. Weather patterns follow irregular cycles that contradict any traditional understanding of meteorology that has come to pass in Humanity's experience with weather on both Earth and many other colonies visited or occupied by Mankind. The presence of four planetoids in the same planetary network around a single star, the Jaeter planetary network, however, is just as unheard of in terms of gravitational stability. Based on recent findings pertaining to the ancient Forerunners and other extinct civilizations that inhabited the Milky Way Galaxy, it has become clear through the study of xeno-archeology that there is a good chance that Forerunner technology is the culprit for these unusual events and patterns among the star system and Jaeter's network. However, while the working knowledge and the extent at which the Forerunners have influenced Jaeter's development — few know more than the Office of Naval Intelligence, however, they have proven unwilling to share their findings with the locals due to continued hostilities between the UNSC and the new Jaeter buffer-state.

Due to the proximity of multiple planetoids in the forms of Akara, Harvester's Moon, and Scion — of which Harvester's Moon is actually a planet behaving like a moon due to artificial means — these planetoids create extreme gravity wells that drag on each other in irregular ways. While under natural circumstances, these planets should destroy each other, they maintain a binary-planet system with two moons that orbit the two worlds. The presence of the star, Cregoli, is also supposed to create further gravitational pressure on Jaeter and its weather patterns. The greater gravitational effects have led to some places on Jaeter receiving higher or lower presences of gravity, however, these effects are minuscule at best and go unnoticed by the planet's biosphere and inhabitants.

Water still follows natural laws of gravity creating extreme tidal patterns on Jaeter's coastlines. Rogue waves are especially common on Jaeter's seas. The weather patterns on Jaeter are unusually tame given the presence of the odd gravity distortions and the way that Jaeter's terrain is warped. ONI research and some research by Jaeter's Militia has discovered that much of the tame weather on Jaeter — comparable to Earth weather cycles with hurricanes and tornadoes — are managed and placated by advanced Forerunner terraforming technology and techniques. Jaeter has thirty-known Weathermen Towers, Forerunner weather towers that manage and pacify the weather cycles on Jaeter and prevent the storms from getting out of hand. Climate-wise, Jaeter is relatively stable and comfortable for Humans primarily. Temperatures rarely fall below zero except near the poles. Much of the weather and atmosphere is typical of a Human colony world, even if it was found the way it was, rather than terraformed to Human parameters.

Orbital Anomalies[]

Jaeter and its binary companion, Harvester's Moon, both exceed the relative masses to retain a stable binary system whilst harboring a habitable surface environment. Not even accounting for the two smaller moons in tidal lock. Based on the highly improbable nature of Jaeter's habitability and structural integrity compared to later findings, some researchers have concluded Jaeter and its companion bodies are either synthetic or part of a highly manipulated-and-controlled planetary system. If not for Akara and Scion enacting some level of assumed-geomagnetic influence over the LaGrange Point between Jaeter and Harvester's Moon, the system would have hypothetically collapsed into itself. While gravity-manipulating structures created by the Forerunners have been witnessed, it remains both mystifying and worrying that the scale of the technology being implemented on the Jaeter system exists and how it's being operated as the installations for this technology has yet to be uncovered.

Harvester's Moon[]

Harvest Moon

The surface of "Harvester's Moon."

Jaeter's first moon is not actually a moon, but rather, a smaller planet caught up in Jaeter's gravity well — unable to escape. About two-thirds as massive as that of Jaeter, Harvester's Moon retains a lighter gravity than its more populated brother across space between worlds. Harvester's Moon is named for the once fertile colony world of Harvest which became the first casualty in the Human-Covenant War. Ironically, Harvester's Moon does not feature arable land like its namesake and is besieged by unpredictable weather and geological activity. This includes extreme thunder and rain storms along with constant earthquakes and magma ruptures from beneath the planet's surface with many shield volcanoes. Harvester's Moon is extremely humid compared to Jaeter and features dense jungles across its surface. There are few residents of Harvester's Moon and no known towns or cities on the planet. The only known organization to take refuge on the planet is a cult-like military organization that doubles as a private military corporation that travels around on a decommissioned fuel ship. Not much information is known about this organization.

Scion[]

Jaeter Colony

Jaeter and Akara visible from the Harvester's Moon.

Named by former Covenant species, not much is known about this moon since it seems to be in a constant storm. Large gas clouds obscure its surface and constant lightning threatens to destroy dangerously-close starships that approach near Scion. In reality, it is the portal entrance for a minor Dyson sphere world similar to many Forerunner shield installations. The inner world is extensive and as diverse and populated as that of Jaeter's wildlife and biosphere. There is no intelligent life within as far that is known and is maintained by Forerunner sentinels. The Forerunner facilities and networks across Jaeter and its moons are all controlled from a control room deep within Scion. The station's monitor is 907 Obfuscating Luminescence.

Akara[]

Named by both Humans and other Species, it is a dusty red moon with a very thin atmosphere. There is nothing quite attractive about the world and it is the smallest planetoid among the four worlds of the Jaeter planetary system. Jaeter's Militia maintains satellites around the moon as part of their surveillance and early warning systems. The strategic placement of these installations around Akara allows Jaeter's militia to have a better eye into their solar system and provide them the means to detect newcomers approaching the popular destination for scavengers, pirates, and organized crime groups.

Society[]

Communities[]

IMG 1006

A sketched map of Jaeter's significant locations.

The two major cities on Jaeter is Vlosa and Seyerton. Seyerton is Jaeter's capital and home to about half-a-million people. It was named for McKenzie Seyer, the first mayor of Seyerton and the historically-recognized founder of Jaeter. While still not economically viable currently, government policy has established that there will be no significant orbital installation-construction in the presence of Seyerton or any other city on Jaeter due to the suspected dangers presented by space debris and the fears of a falling space elevator which occurred many times across Human space during the Human-Covenant War. Plans for a future space elevator referred to as the Seyer Space Tether would be expected to be built near the sea and away from any settlements on Jaeter.

The current method of traveling between space and Jaeter's surface is a fleet of reusable corporate and private starships, paid for by a small fortune provided by Jaeter's colonial government as a public service that includes a set toll price. Jaeter also includes a few decades-old satellites that have been repurposed as orbital habitats and waystations.

Seyerton, as a city, has a mix of urban sprawl and rural farmland. Sections of the city maintain travel advisories for different species due to the dangers of inter-species racism and crime. While the central sections of Seyerton are very cosmopolitan and occupied by species of all type. The edges of the city, mostly farms and smaller urban communities, are less diverse and segregated by species - mostly Humans and Sangheili territories. Aliens are historically more welcome in the Sangheili territories due to grudges still present from the Great War, however, humans are considered an exception in these no-travel zones occupied by a Sangheili majority. The opposite applies to the rural human communities of Jaeter.

Vlosa, Jaeter's second metropolis, is a major town still under construction and bankrolled by select groups from the Unified Earth Government with some input from former Covenant species. The city features a mix of human and Covenant species architecture. While expected to become the major economic power on Jaeter — Vlosa is still very much deserted in terms of population, around 40,000 people. The streets are empty most of the time, even more so in the dead of night. Entire housing districts are empty and some of the earliest facilities have already begun to be overwhelmed by nature once again due to the inability of the city to attract new residents. While Vlosa is populated and a relatively thriving community, this lack of new residents is economically and politically concerning for many economic backers and Jaeter's colonial government. The crime rates in Vlosa are substantially lower than that of Seyerton, however, and lacks the species-divide that Seyerton suffers from.

Based on ideological divides, Vlosa is far more pro-UNSC than Seyerton is. Seyerton's melting pot of species and the plethora of social issues — it's hard to place down what kind of political ideology and culture that Seyerton produces overall. It's as the residents say, a "clusterfuck."

Government[]

Jaeter's colonial government is a self-constructed, rudimentary representative democracy where the leaders are voted in by the People. So far, any adult is capable of being voted into office — Jaeter has no prerequisite or bureaucratic examination process to limit potential leaders. Until the population of the planet grows a few more generations, it has been determined that Jaeter will not implement any further restrictions.

Everyone is free to vote, even youths. The limitations on Jaeter, however, is the management of voting. Jaeter uses paper-based voting systems, however, due to the lack of proper population data. Voting booths can only be handled with Vlosa and Seyerton and thus, only about half of Jaeter's population can actually vote with some unique exception to those who are able to travel a long distance from smaller communities to make it to the cities. Due to this, vetting can only really apply to city folk and individuals who have voted in the past. The colonial government is still trying to develop a workaround in the meantime.

The head of state for the Jaeter colonial government is decided by a council of publically-elected officials, the State Council, made up by a column of nine individuals. The head of state, known as the Lord Marshal, is the head of affairs on Jaeter. The role of Lord Marshal is to execute the law when necessary. The Council serves as advisors and decision makers on major policy decisions — the Lord Marshal executes these laws. In this way, the Council serves as the legislative body while Lord Marshal is the executive. There is also a series of local judicial courts that serve as decision-making bodies for issues of the personal nature. As part of the Executive, and beyond the role of the Council, the Lord Marshal has the opportunity to establish themselves a cabinet of advisors, each serving as director of a department of government. Due to the lack of development on Jaeter, there only exists four departments on Jaeter: the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Public Services, and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The current Lord Marshal is the Sangheili warrior-turned-politician, Ryto 'Tungam. Under his recent tenure, Jaeter's government has focused on increasing the security apparatus of the colony, establishing multiple local police forces and a Colonial Civil Police that serves as a reserve and support element to the existing Jaeter Militia, the Jaeter Defense Forces, led by Major General Greta 'Kovum, Ryto's military advisor — the Minister of Defense.

While there is a mutual trust between the Militia and the Police Forces, there is also an inherent organizational rivalry for funding and performance. While the Militia has traditionally been looked upon as a gung-ho, however, positive presence in the Jaeter community, the same cannot be said about the Police. Seyerton's twelve precincts are considered the worst on Jaeter — underequipped, understaffed, and sullied by bad press, reputation, and an underlying racism between species. The Seyerton Police Department, spread out over twelve precincts is commonly recognized by its acronym, (SPD). The Vlosa Police Department with its own three precincts can be recognized by its acronym, (VPD).

Jaeter's attitude towards foreign relations is not completely isolationist. Politicians realize the need for trade with bigger factions and other outside factions. While sending volunteers to help out others in need to improve standing. Jaeter tried to keep itself close to the Swords of Sangheilios. Mostly by helping the Sangheili Alliance when ever it can. Jaeter tried to be secretive as possible with UEG and the UNSC. Not too secretive that could make them take action. The other former Covenant species are a give or take with Jaeter. Jaeter has an easier time with the Unggoy compared to the Kig Yar. Although Jaeter has been able to keep the peace between them and the Kig-Yar. Brutes, on the other hand, Jaeter does not try to contact since they know diplomatic relations will be hard to do and near impossible for the time being.

Companies[]

With the influx of people in the post-Great War era and the local economy increasing expanding at an exponential rate, the government has made it a habit of acquiring federal companies to control local industries — establishing local monopolies. Some companies are bought out by the government while some others are government contractors. A few notable corporations associated with the colonial government include Jaeter Defense Munitions, Tammy's Orbital Fabrication Corporation, Vlosa Motor Productions, and Grassner Tailoring Services. Their government has also shown interest in acquiring or building unique contracts with other defense contractors — primarily for the development of capabilities involving atmospheric craft, watercraft, and spacefaring technology. Besides these organizations, Jaeter is home to another nineteen notable businesses and trades with another hundred or so from off world.

Jaeteran Defense Force[]

Poster 000

An early recruiting poster for the post-War Jaeteran Militia movement.

The Jaeter Defense Forces are the security wing of the colonial government on Jaeter, established under the original colonists for local policing and security purposes, the organization was undermanned and underequipped even into the Human-Covenant War. Many members of the Defense Forces, previously known as the Jaeter Militia were killed during excursions with the Covenant forces on Jaeter from 2548 till 2552. At that time, the security forces were exclusively human. Following the Great War, however, with the population explosion of refugees and aliens alike — the organization became more diverse and reflected the new population that had come to call the planet home.

The organization around the time of 2554 came under the command of Major General Greta 'Kovum, previously known as Greta Singer, an off-worlder. Previously served in the UNSC Marine Corps and even took part in the Battle of the Ark, Greta is a well-rounded veteran with expertise in modernizing the Militia into a decent fighting machine. It was under her leadership that the Militia grew to over ten thousand personnel and equipped themselves with surplus gear recovered from military wreckage or off of UNSC stockpiles. These include aircraft, tanks, jeeps, trucks, and all manners of combat platforms. Jaeter's weapon inventory is also quite diversified — if more Human rather than alien. Plasma weaponry comes in a limited form for the Militia due to the complexity of building an industry to support such weaponry. Over time, they have made progress in building up domestic industries to support such activities and much of Jaeter's Militia is self-supplied and equipped by the government's own defense contractor, Jaeter Defense Munitions. At the current time, the Jaeter has tangled with a number of different adversaries — remnants of the Covenant Empire, Human supremacists, interstellar crime lords, and even a few Forerunner automatons.

Jaeter Emblem

An official symbol for the Jaeter Militia.

The Jaeter Defense Forces are known to operate a Covenant CPV-class heavy destroyer known as the Jaeter's Redemption. The Militia is characteristically trigger-happy and very loose on protocol given a history of officers and individual members taking actions into their own hands or as its been described by UNSC forces, "trigger-happy vigilantes who might light you up with a rocket for looking at them the wrong way." Jaeter's Militia is also cautious toward foreigners — primarily the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence due to the organization's shady and sinister reputation. That said, it is somewhat of an open secret among higher-ups that there are active or retired members of the UNSC, even ONI, operating among their ranks. The ONI operative, Sylvia Farkas, commander of the Militia's Air Wing contingent is a prime example.

Every species has been able to fight in the Militia to defend their new home. A lot of the members are former military from the Covenant and UNSC, but there have been fresh recruits with no prior fighting experience to take up arms and help protect their planet. The Militia goes by both the nickname "The Militia" and Jaeter Defense Forces.

Circulating Rumors[]

Myrcan Islanders' War[]

Located in a remote archipelago south of Jaeter's Howling Ocean, the people that occupy the Myrca Islands are the last remaining remnants of another colony's population. Isolated from the rest of the planet, the people here had established a series of shanty towns constructed from recycled materials and metallic waste. Their suspected standard of living is significantly lower than anywhere else on the world. Due to unknown circumstances, believed primarily to do with lacking funds and poor morale, the population of some few thousand have apparently descended into a civil war. Such reports have not as of yet been followed up - due to the remoteness and the abandonment of long-distance communications technologies on the islands, information has been difficult to relay back to Seyerton or any other major settlement on Jaeter. Most information about the current circumstances can be traced back to raging-alcoholic sailors regulated to pubs drinking late into the night, not unlike the rumors spread by drunken seafarers throughout human history. It is thanks to this lack of confirmable information that the current circumstances of the Mycra have been simply written off as "legends, rumors, and myth."

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Myrca Islands. Formerly considered prime real estate on Jaeter.

Due to the remoteness of the archipelago, among other reasons, Jaeteran officials have been slow to survey the islands. While the JDF certainly have the capabilities to investigate the rumors, without the permission of the local government and a mutual distrust between the Mycrians and the original Jaeter residents, the two factions have remained blissfully ignorant of each other's state of affairs. The UNSC strike group on Jaeter maintains a similar policy on the Mycra Islands. While continuously surveying Jaeter in the interest of national security, the UNSC Navy has so far been unable to report any evidence of a civil conflict erupting on the islands for reasons that remain unknown. For now, the Mycran Islanders' War is nothing more than myths and legends, like everything else surrounding the region.

Jaeter's Forerunner Origins[]

Following Covenant excavation-activities on Jaeter beginning in 2548 and ending in 2552, rumors of a historical Forerunner presence on Jaeter has systematically increased. To a privy few, such rumors have been totally confirmed. According to local xenoarchaeologists allied with Jaeter's colonial government, the Forerunner presence on Jaeter and it's moons are so substantial that it's irrefutable to claim that the Forerunners did not have a significant interest in the system. Not much is known about why this is so, and it is unlikely to be answered so long as the colony's research efforts towards this remains at low priority. Regardless, as the Jaeteran planetary system has not been thoroughly explored there remains a credible argument that this prognosis is too early to confirm.

Several recovered Forerunner sites suggest that Jaeter may have at one point been used as a way station, a staging point, or a storage facility. This is warranted following the discovery of storage-like hangar facilities located near the Deugert Island Chain in subterranean caverns. The main facility is massive in size - it is so large that it is capable of holding several human military-capital ships in its maw. It has been structurally reinforced with the same alloy used on the oldest discovered Forerunner starships, which has prevented its collapse over more than a hundred millennia. Because it is not confirmed whenever the entire site has been fully explored and catalogued, the exact island it is located on a is known to only a few key personnel among Jaeter's Defense Forces. While the structure is considered a depot-turned-refuge for the Militia - a place to hide should the worst befall on their homeworld - its secrecy and use as a contingency site serves as a place to store the military force's growing space fleet of starships, vehicles, and freighters. The Forerunner artifact which allowed the organization into the facility's halls has yet to yield further uses.

Overall, it was previously considered that some greater space-faring civilization had tampered with the orbital system of Jaeter and its moons as it seems they have been positioned in such a way that it made them habitable. Under most circumstances, Jaeter and its moons should have shaken each other to pieces and would be impossible to house life - and yet, they have managed to remain stable. The Forerunner presence only strengthens this theory of alien intervention. Researchers and investigators have proposed the Jaeter's planetary system may have been a staging ground for biological experiments, evolutionary studies, terraforming methods (including weather and climate control), and even an actual colony at some point. At this point, these theories and speculations remain shots in the dark with Jaeter remaining an alluring jewel.

Forerunner Teleportation Grid[]

Similarly to many other Forerunner installations known to the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Jaeter planetary system seems to feature a teleportation network allowing for near-instantaneous translocation capabilities between many locations throughout the planetary system. Interestingly, the Central Control Facility for the network exists on Scion rather than the systems largest body, Jaeter. The portal system is believed to be accessible below Jaeter and Harvester's Moons' surfaces within cavernous chambers and a few surface installations dotting the planetoids. Sentinel drones in Security and Custodian formats have been identified operating in many of the lesser-populated regions across Jaeter, however, they have yet to show any interest in survey teams that approach the Forerunner installations they guard.

Interestingly, Jaeter is also said to feature time-dilation Fields within its underground chambers similar to the Forerunner shield world known as the Sarcophagus. A prime relay station below Jaeter's surface teleported Militia investigation teams beneath the surface of Scion, thus, planting them within a dyson sphere. The teams were within walking distance of a Forerunner Cartographer, a type of Map or directory room. Here, the teams discovered an active network of teleportation relay points across Jaeter and across the planetary system. It was from this discovery on Scion that the Militia was able to locate a large Forerunner hangar and access it using an ill-understood Forerunner access key. There is some evidence, that before it was repurposed by the Militia, the hangar and depot was being built as a refuge of some kind. From what and for what reason remains a mystery.

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • While work on the Jaeter article was completed in a big way by Marv242, Sev40, Distant Tide, and Michael.Dreams, the article could not have been completed without input from the entire Halo Fanon and Jaeter's Protectors communities. During the reworking of Jaeter's Halo Fanon article, a Lore Team had to be established to try and identify what was considered canonical and to make sure that the world fits with that of Halo Canon. Considering the work finally completed for the article, the team and the members of the Jaeter RP cannot be prouder.
  • The three moons added to Jaeter's planetary system originally served as a joke saying people partaking in the roleplay had to pay Marv242 $5 USD on his PayPal to participate in the three-moons expansion. Of course, this was a joke directed at recent expansion practices in the gaming industry today.

References[]

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