Vostok (planet)
| Vostok shown with one of its moons | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery date | Not specified |
| Story data | |
| Notable features | Earth-like |
| Affiliation |  Cosmonarmada Vostok |
| This article contains extensive backstory designed to make your reading experience more enjoyable. | 
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Vostok is an Earth-like planet, located in an isolated region of the Milky Way galaxy. It is populated chiefly by human colonists, and named after humanity's first manned spacecraft. Its two moons are named after two pioneers of human spaceflight, Wernher Von Braun and Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. It is the home base of, and currently governed by, the Cosmonarmada Vostok.
The Planet
Vostok is the fourth planet out from its star Alberonius, and the third rocky planet. It is stunningly earth-like; it is of a similar size, at a similar distance from its star as the Earth is from the Sun, has a strong magnetic field which allows life to flourish, has a similar tilt of the axis, and has a similar period of rotation. It features a vast variety of landscapes and climates; tropical and sub-tropical near the equator, and temperate and arctic as one moves closer to the poles (Vostok's average temperature is slightly cooler than the Earth's).
Most of the major features on this planet (as well as most features elsewhere in this solar system) are named after historical scientists and pioneers of space exploration, in honor of their legacy which enables humans to travel to this far-flung corner of the galaxy. The two continents are Copernesia and Kepleria. East of Copernesia are a region of islands called the Galilean Islands.
Prior to human arrival, the planet hosts a bewildering number of native flora and fauna species. However, the arrival of Earth (and other planets') species upset the ecology of the planet, to the point that most of the planet's original lifeforms have been driven to extinction. In their place introduced species from Earth are thriving.
Human Settlement
Humans are attracted to Vostok precisely because it is so much like Earth. The first explorers, however, arrived involuntarily - their ships had crashed. They were eventually rescued and brought back amazing tales from a rich planet ideal for settlement, even if the exotic wildlife were a little on the deadly side; they were wiped out by the time the first major colonist fleet arrived. The colonists were a diverse group, consisting of every human ethnic groups and not a few who were not human at all. Many were refugees from the various wars raging throughout the galaxy.
The colonial adventure was chaotic, and sometimes violent. Vostok was a lawless frontier; it was every man for himself. Eventually a sort of Government was formed, but it was initially ineffective at providing any sort of law and order. The Government negotiated with local rulers and warlords to integrate them while still allowing them significant autonomy, with limited success. Someone realized that to be respected, one has to be well-armed, and so she recruited wandering ex-Taillenian troops to fight for the Government. This arrangement between the former Taillenians and the Vostok Government eventually led to the formation Cosmonautic Armada of Vostok, into which both the remnants of the Taillenian Starfleet and the Vostok Government was merged.
The CAV today governs and protects the planet and its communities, though in actuality political power remained highly decentralized, and local rulers have a large degree of autonomy. Recently Vostok has been peaceful, save for the occasional Space Pirates attack. The planet remains relatively isolated from the more heavily-populated areas of the galaxy, though it is a major hub of a modest regional trade network. Further away, though, there are few who can find Vostok on the galactic map. Vostok is not even recognized as an independent state, though this doesn't seem to cause much trouble.
Population Centers
The most heavily-populated regions of the planet are the northern regions of Copernesia and the Galilean Islands. Other regions are sparsely-populated.
Fort Mercury
Fort Mercury is a coastal town on Goddard Island. Originally founded as "Mercury", "Fort" was added to its name after the town had to be fortified after repeated attacks by various warlords in the early days of the Vostok Government.
Although Vostok has no official capital city (an attempt to name one almost sparked a civil war) Fort Mercury is the de facto capital city by virtue of having the Central Command HQ of the Cosmonautic Armada of Vostok located there, or rather just a little to its north.
Port Voskhod
This is Vostok's largest city.
