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- haven -

a ba nd o n ed o rbi ta l
33 0/94/09 .55 , u pl i ft base
I D B K Q
Exilium

- cred i ts -
f k w b q

Designed and written by Greg Saunders


Cover by Paul Bourne
Graphic Design and Layout by Paul Bourne

Based on the Mini Six system, Mini Six is a trademark of AntiPaladin Games
The Open D6 system and logo are covered by the Open Gaming Licence, a copy of which is at the end of this book

This book, including all art, concepts, characters, text, and intellectual properties (unless otherwise stated)
© 2017 Greg Saunders

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- haven -
a ba nd o n ed o rbi ta l
33 0/94/09 .55 , u pl i ft base
I D B K Q

Location: Void factories in orbit above Steel low or zero-g environment. The factory operated for many
years until quite by accident it was damaged by a collision
with a fragmenting asteroid. Much of the void factory was
Ove rview gutted, the internal structure wrecked. Although a disaster,
Shaped like a long, thin, empty tube, 33/94/09.55 is a lasers had since moved on to the 4th generation weapons
damaged and abandoned void factory which once produced employed today, so the demand for the assemblies was
advanced circuitry for laser weapons has now been taken diminishing. A decision was taken to abandon the factory,
over by a large group of mixed Uplifts, eager to escape with demolition crews contracted to break down the
persecution on some of the Flame Worlds. The orbital has structure. But that never happened.
been renamed ‘Haven’ and has since become hostile to
humanity and a magnet for renegade Uplifts.
Histo ry
Before the wrecking crews could start work, a large group
O rigin of Uplifts led by the charismatic Jakkar warrior named Hast
Orbital 330/94/09.55 was once a typical void factory, seized the factory in an audacious attack. His motley crew
one of the tens of hundreds that orbit the planet Steel of Uplifted deserters, tired of combat on the war-stricken
manufacturing products for the rest of the Flame worlds. world, attacked one of Steel’s main space plane ports and
The orbital had a focus on the manufacture of the seized sufficient vehicles to get into orbit. How the Jakkar
accelerator field assemblies to power 3rd generation laser and his allies knew of the stricken orbital is not known, but
weapons, devices that were easier to manufacture in a they headed straight for the damaged satellite and Hast and

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his gang have been there ever since, renaming the orbital manufacturing that takes place. The naturally inquisitive
‘Haven’ and offering and open invitation to any Uplifts Kyrils are kept at bay by Gorran guards employed by Hast
persecuted in the human-dominated Flame system. Since for that purpose. Far from the central manufactory in the
then the population has swollen with Uplifts from all over outer skin of the cylinder are the accommodation areas for
the Flame worlds, eager to see what an Uplifts-only society the many occupants, usually segregated by Uplift species
looks like. Humans are effectively banned from the majority or gang affiliations. Each Uplift group has modified the
of the station – only some of the more respected Uplifters wrecked internal structure to suit their tastes, creating a
from Sapphire are welcomed by Hast and the factions that myriad patchwork of different habitats and structures
control the orbital. inside the gutted station.

Hast runs the orbital with a fraction group of other factions,


Th e real sto ry mainly composed of different species of Uplifts. These
Hast is an agent of Dragon, corrupted through contact with factions that exist on the station serve their own needs
a Dragon-controlled Smoke agent on Steel. All of Hast’s – many are deserters from Steel, some are vagabonds or
actions are driven by the desires of Dragon, including criminals escaping justice, some are merely curious of what
the formation of Haven. Outwardly the driver for the a ‘human free’ world would look like. Hast ties all these
establishment of Haven was a need to create a place where factions together to make a relatively cohesive whole – a
Uplifts can live free from the persecution of humans. But society that does work, although in a violent and haphazard
in reality that is nothing but a cover story; Hast actually way.
established the base at the unconscious urging of Dragon
to achieve two ends.
Local environs
Firstly, to create a place to experiment in the manufacture Unity has put in place a cordon around the station, and
of a self-replicating Glitter, and secondly as a way of no ships are allowed within 1,000 km of the surface
destabilising the region by creating a powerful Uplift without express permission from the picket. Several other
faction, a move that will be extremely unpopular with some void factories are nearby, but Unity ensures that contact
interest groups within the ruling Fire Council. The rest of between the stations is non-existent.
the Uplifts are unaware of this agenda. The ‘no humans’
policy of the majority of the station is a way of making it
difficult although not impossible for Unity to penetrate the No ta b l e l oc at i o n s
base, and as a way of maintaining the cover story of Haven.
The orbital currently houses some twenty thousand Uplifts.
However, there is room for more and the station is far from
Cu rrent situation crowded. Consequently between the various living areas
The orbital itself has been rebuilt to some extent using of the different Uplift factions there are a lot of empty
the various space planes and transports that brought the regions. The following locations can all be found within the
Uplifts, giving the shattered and broken surface a blistered superstructure.
and organic appearance. The station has regained the spin
that generates the artificial gravity, a result of the hard
work of Oplik and Shalk engineers, so the outer layer of the Po rtsid e
cylinder, some three hundred meters thick, is now under Humans are not welcome in the majority of Haven, except in
gravity and fully usable. one place – portside. The inhabitants of Haven understand
that they can’t be self-sufficient, even with the food grown
In the central hub of the orbital are the manufacturing sites, in the Water farm. So they need to trade with outsiders, the
and between the manufactory and the outer skin is a huge, majority of which are human. This old docking area at the
open space. The manufactory has been rebuilt using the end of the cylinder on the outer surface has become the
Shalk engineers that have flocked to Haven – not to be with de factor trading area of Haven, where Uplifts and human
more of their kind, but for the pleasure of participating in merchants buy and sell their cargoes.
the rebuilding work required.
So potentially lucrative is this trade that merchants from
Only the Shalk engineers are employed in the factory, the the houses of Diamond are regular visitors, accompanied by
work that goes on here is kept secret from the rest of the their own Gorran guards. Portside is a mess of noise, smells
station’s occupants who generally have no interest in the and sights, as all manner of traders intermingle and sell

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their wares. All of the Uplifts are to be found in Portside, Glit te r fac to ry
from intimidating Raksasa to Simials and Shalk. In terms of All of Hast’s attempts to create corrupted Glitter take
population diversity, Portside is perhaps the most extreme place in the manufactory, under zero-g at the centre of
location in the whole of the Flame System. the cylindrical orbital’s spindle. Here Hast uses a select few
Shalk and Oplik technicians to help him in his work trying
to create a self-replicating Glitter. The scientists he works
K yril Hive with are led by the Shalk Tooza Lown – although he and his
All of the Uplift living areas are unique, constructed to staff know that what they do is morally questionable, but
suit the sensibilities of their occupants without the need they are either too in love with the science or too morally
to lease humans as well. Most would seem very alien to ambiguous to care. Hast makes sure that none of the other
humans, should they ever venture into them. One of the Uplifts on the station know about this work – the scientists
most bizarre is the ‘hive’ of the Kyril. It’s called a hive by are all part of the inner circle that live with Hast at the fort.
the other Uplifts, but the Kyril don’t have a hive mentality The results of the experiments to date – partially operative
at all, it’s just a convenient label to use because the Kyril Glitter that has at most run through one replication cycle –
live so close together. The hives is constructed from plastic is also stored at the fort where Hast can keep an eye on it.
and metallic elements taken from the damaged internal The factory is protected by a series of Puppets,
structure, glued together with spit the Kyrils created when commandeered from Steel when the original space planes
they eat. This gives the organic look, albeit dry and sterile. left the surface.
Extremely gregarious and sociable creatures, Kyril spend
all their time in company, chattering and talking in their
rasping, hissing voices. They sleep in pods, roughly spherical Wate r farm
rooms where literally piles of the Uplifts rest in a seemingly As far as the majority of the Uplifts on the Station are
crazy mess. They also eat together, a slightly sickening sight concerned, the water farm is the single most important
of flashing mandibles and clicking mouth blades. None of place in the whole of Haven. Here, all the food for the
the other Uplifts except Hast are allowed in the Kyril hive station is produced, including meat. The water farm is
except for Hast. Despite the fact that Kyrils get on well with run by Oplik and policed by a sizable body of Sapra. The
others, they seem to enjoy the ability to spend time with position of the farm is a concern for Hast – it is pretty much
others of their kind. Hast uses this isolation to his advantage next door to the manufactory. The Opliks insist that zero-g
– the Kyril hive is his bolthole if anything goes bad in the is the best way to grow food, and the results from the
orbital. It’s a good place to hide – given the sometimes hydroponics pods they have created are impressive. Inside
violent nature of Kyril pacts, few outsiders would want to the station food is one of the most prized currencies, and
visit even if invited. meat is even more valued. No one is quite sure how the
Oplik produce the meat, and they are quiet on the subject.
But most on the station don’t really care, those that do pay
Th e Fo rt, aste roid fragm ent the exorbitant fees of the Diamond merchants Portside for
Contained within the empty space between the outer food from Steel.
occupied skin of the orbital and the central manufactory is
a large asteroid fragment, one of the pieces that struck the The Sapra are becoming a problem on the station. Vindictive,
factory. This piece initially collided with a ship outside the mean bullies, the Sapra find guarding the water farm boring
orbital, significantly reducing the velocity of the fragment and have started to look for other entertainment. They
such that when it struck the orbital it was capture inside have already clashed with a group of Xular recently arrived
rather than escaping from the opposite surface as the from Steel, themselves shunned by most other Uplifts as
other fragments did. Since the re-occupation of Haven, the dangerous and unstable. It doesn’t seem like it will be long
asteroid fragment has been extensively mined for minerals before skirmishes break out between the groups.
needed to repair the station’s superstructure. Now, Hast
has claimed the hollowed out asteroid as his personal home
in Haven. Very few of the Uplifts on station get to travel No ta b l e f a c t i o n s
to the asteroid, known as ‘the fort’ by the populace, only
those in Hast’s inner circle. Exactly what else is in the fort There are many factions on Haven – each of the Uplift
is not known, or how many of Hast’s personal retinue live species basically constitutes a faction. Hast plays all the
inside. What no one knows is that Hast has had engines factions off against each other in an outward attempt to
fitted to the fragment, and has stored the majority of the maintain some kind of order. Below are some of the more
Glitter factory’s output at the asteroids core. powerful factions that call Haven home.

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Ve rmillion D evils, a Seirim gang comment on the slow change in character he’s undergone,
Communicative, competitive and constantly on the move, and how he’s starting to show signs of instability.
the fearsome-looking Seirim are one of the most common
Uplifts of the Flame system, and so are found in large The control Dragon has over Hast means he could not
numbers on Haven. All of them belong to a single gang, the become a Shadow.
Vermillion Devils. The Devils run all of the gambling halls,
brothels and drinking houses on Haven, including those
Portside that accept humans. The arrangement works fine, Tooza Lown, Shalk scientist
as the Seirim get on well with pretty much everyone on Lown, the lead Shalk scientist in the manufactory, is under
board. They do have bigger plans however. Their leader Soill no illusions what he’s doing. He knows that Hast seems to
Pex, wants control of the whole station. He has an audacious want to create replicating Glitter, and he knows this is highly
plan to storm the asteroid and kill Hast, and has been busy illegal. But it is also highly interesting, and for Lown, that’s
recruiting Raksasa and Verk support to the cause. Pex knows enough. A dispassionate Shalk to the core, Lown works on
nothing of Hast’s real plans, or anything of the work taking the science for its own sake. But he’s not stupid. Although
place in the manufactory. Hast makes him stay in the fort, Lown makes sure he has
clandestine contacts in the greater orbital, and plots his
Shadows might be found in the Seirim gang. If so, it’s likely escape should things go bad.
that controlling the station could become more of a priority,
most probably at the detriment to all others on board, Lown is typcal of his type, small, childlike with dark facetted
especially Hast. eyes. What marks Lown out at a distance though is the
scarring on the left side of his face, a result of a Glitter batch
that turned into an eater cloud as a result of the experiments
Falk Hast, Jakk ar ove rlo rd Lown was performing. It is possible that Lown could become
The de facto ruler of haven, Falk Hast is a charismatic Jakkar a Shadow – he’s certainly intense enough to become fixated
well-liked by the majority of the population. Outwardly, he on his work.
is reserved and quiet, but exudes an air of calm confidence
and authority. Most of the factions are happy to have Hast
in control – no one wants the job of making sure Haven Oth e r dang e rs
runs properly. That Hast s controlled by Dragon is known Other dangers within the orbital would be the many
to no one, let alone Hast himself. He sees all he does – the other Uplift factions, some like the Sapra and Xular being
leaving Steel, finding the orbital, setting up the manufactory, particularly dangerous. There is also talk of several Bhargor
hollowing out the asteroid – as his own ideas. In the back on the station. Outside, Unity monitors and controls
of his mind he might entertain a niggling feeling that he access rigorously – try and enter or leave Haven without
isn’t in control, but outwardly there is no sign of this inner their consent and you could be terminated with extreme
conflict. Only those who’ve known him for a long time could prejudice.

I D B K Q

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