The Bechtel Marches

System: Brigium
Hex Location: 0326
Star Type:  Single White dwarf A4 VII
Number of Worlds: 11
Gas Giants: N
Planetoid Belt: N

Starport Type: E Frontier Star Port
World Size: Larger than Earth
Atmosphere Type: Dangerous; completely unbreathable and corrosive
Surface Water: 63%
Population: Medium, c. 500 million
Political Affiliation: Bernese Monarchy, Bechtel Marches
Tags: Xenophobia, Forgotten, Oppressed natives
Notes: While I tend to see the Bernese as a "protagonist" nation, the way the system rolled up made this one where the Bernese simply had to be the oppressors.  Sometimes people leave their own nation because they cannot stand the social mores and morality of their own people and want to live according to their own ideas, which are not tolerated.  And rightly so; in the case of Brigium, the Bernese settlers found a world which had been forgotten during the Dark Ages after the fall of the Marian Empire.  The natives, once human, had undergone rather radical genetic surgery to make themselves able to live on the harsh world; high gravity and with an unbreathable, corrosive atmosphere.  The bulky transhumans who are the natives have incredibly thick dermal layers, and even transparent bone structures that cover the sensitive tissues of their eyes, and have developed filtering membranes over their noses.  They now see themselves as the pinnacles of evolution, although they had lost not only the technology to leave their world or to undergo further genetic refinement; luckily the changes carried down to future generations since they are now present in their genetic code.

The Bernese who found this world were little more than pirates with delusions of grandeur, and they set up a state where they were the undisputed rulers of this planet, using their modern military technology and warlock magic to enforce their rule.  Luckily for the natives, the Bernese were more interested in exploiting the natural resources of Brigium rather than the transhuman resources.  The acid vapor that makes the atmosphere so corrosive also covers portions of the surface in lakes and ponds and bubbling springs, and has incredible industrial flexibility.  It is most often used in small, portable yet powerful antimatter batteries, and the Bernese have a thriving industry devoted to antimatter battery acid processing from Brigian acid.

The vast majority of the population are technically Bernese citizens, although few have much knowledge of what's going on off-world or even ever see anyone who's not a native, and the actual Bernese people are a small, elite minority that maintain themselves apart from the natives in gravity-magicked fortified outposts.  They have a strange melancholy, feeling trapped in their fortress-cities, and awaiting the inevitable extinction of their caste; their numbers have declined for generations due to various insurrections, wars, succumbing to depression and the harsh environmental conditions, and simply failure to procreate; they now number less than a million.

System: Vetius
Hex Location: 0425 
Star Type:  Single A7 VI
Number of Worlds: 10
Gas Giants: N
Planetoid Belt: Kuiper and asteroid belt

Starport Type: A High Class
World Size: Earth-sized
Atmosphere Type: Thin
Surface Water: 27%
Population: Small 750,000
Political Affiliation: Bernese Monarchy, Bechtel Marches
Tags: Xenophilia, Industrial World, Civil War
Notes: Vetius was settled by Bernese that did not have the same pirate background as the settlers of nearby Brigium, but in spite of that, the two planets were part of a single political alliance going back to before the official formation of the Bechtel Marches colony of the Monarchy.  They have also had a tough go at it in many respects, their mostly industrialized world provides a number of goods, and ships, to the entire region, but political infighting between the various merchant houses has kept the planet from prospering as it should.  Currently the Bertio and Arold houses are in open conflict with each other over who will be appointed Prime Minister, and it has come to warfare; armed troops have ambushed and fought each other, although the war is somewhat more "cold" than "hot" at the moment, as they are trying to keep from attracting unwanted attention from the Margrave assigned by the Monarchy to administer the colony.

Many of the most important members of Vetian society are married to Altairans.  All across the Bechtel Marches there is wide sympathy towards the Altairan Ascendancy and antipathy towards Outremer and the Heathens in general, but the Vetians take this sympathy to the next level and practically fawn over Altairans.  Some few scions of Altairan merchant families have looked to renew flagging fortunes with Vetian husbands by making alliances via marriage with their daughters, but the low population on Vetius has kept this from becoming a major rage, and only the richest Vetians can attract them; the Altairans are hyper aware of maintaining their civilizational integrity in the face of Saraean aggression, so sending daughters off to marry Bernese is a painful blow to some.

And, in spite of the generally industrial nature of Vetius, the elite do manage to live in pristine palaces of exceptional beauty.

System: Nemaia
Hex Location: 0426
Star Type:  Triple G1 V, M2 VI, M3 Ia (the first two are close.)
Number of Worlds: 12, 13
Gas Giants: 7, 4—Hot Jupiter on the supergiant star
Planetoid Belt: 2 Kuiper belts, 4 asteroid belts

Starport Type: C Routine
World Size: Mars-sized
Atmosphere Type: Earth-like
Surface Water: 4%
Population: Large 4 billion
Political Affiliation: Bernese Monarchy, Bechtel Marches
Tags: Mining World, Regional Dominance, Eugenic Mania
Notes: Nemaia is the capital of the Bechtel Marches, and is a highly diverse system.  The data sheet describes the main planet where over 90% of the population lives, but given that it's a triple system (two stars are close enough to act as a single center of gravity for an entire system, but the supergiant outlier has its own system of planets as well) but the fact that there are so many planets here and so many resources to be extracted means that there are corporate and colonial government interests at stake throughout the entire system.

The population is heavily Bernese, although like most colonial worlds, there is a sprinkling of others.  This population of others has spiked in recent years as refugees from the Altairan worlds conquered by the Civitas Ordenis Umbraci have come to the system.  More of them fled to other Altairan worlds, of course, but enough have made their way here that they are now a significant minority in the streets.  The Bechtelians have always been friendly with their neighbors from the Altairan Ascendancy, but following the disaster of the Saraean conquest, their friendship has been strengthened.  Many interests support a strong stance against the Saraeans, although only the most radical actually propose open warfare.  However, many privateers of Bechtelian origin now have letters of marque from the northern Altairan Ascendancy to prey on Saraean ships in the broader region.

Otherwise, in many respects, Nemaia is the model for what a Bernese colony system should look like.  Heavily Bernese in population and culture, albeit more independent minded like Colonials everywhere who are separated from their host nation, fairly peaceful and prosperous, enough so that the population has grown to nearly Core world size, industrious, and an economic and political benefit to the Monarchy overall.  Miners work the dry, often crystaline surface of the planet and various space-faring "ice truckers" to the icy planetoid belts make a prosperous (if somewhat lonely) living in the system as well.  There is a growing entrepreneurial spirit in the system too, as various people have tried to come up with new methods of farming, ranching, mining, or services.  Nemaia is vibrant and exciting for those who live there.

One such new enterprise that has led to a somewhat strange development is very radical (although only cosmetic) gene splicing that has created some very bizarre looking individuals among those who are wealthy enough to indulge in this weird mania.  Of course, this means that Nemaia has been prosperous for long enough that there is an entire caste of people who are indulgent and indolent second (or more) generation wealthy, and don't otherwise know what to do with their time or money.  This stratification and the cosmetic excess of the wealthiest class on Nemaia certainly is off-putting to the more pragmatic, salt of the earth types who otherwise make up the backbone of the Bernese Colonial worlds, but it is also seen as a strange affectation of only the most indolent of wealthy Nemaians.