Nadezhda Colony

Nadezhda colony

Nadezhda colony, home to the factions and colonists that not too long ago fled from SolFed. Through great effort a fleet of ships fleeing a galaxy spanning federation were converted into a fortified city under the ground in which even in the face of planet wide glassing, the colony would continue to survive. In exchange nearly everyone has forgotten what it means to live a normal life in the sunlight on this anomalous alien world they now call home.

Starting from the surface, one's first sign of inhabitation would be surface colony. A small outpost of Nadezhda built far above the colony propper, settled tightly into the foot of a mountain. Here the workers of the “Upper colony” work. While seeking permanent residence in the lowers, few are brave, mad, or outright insane enough to take the elevator up to this dangerous world's surface. Those that do work the shifts are granted a large degree of freedom and autonomy with their own low council in return for the service they provide, keeping a bare modicum of contact and interaction with the outside world for the colony.

Continuing on our journey our next stop is the elevators, A pair of high speed electromotive elevators that skyrocket colonists to and from the colony proper down below. To achieve these speeds, these elevators are notoriously cramped, barely able to fit one person at a time. The claustrophobic often prefer the network of tubed cryopod delivery systems. While slower than the elevators, they offer the bliss of simply entering cryo in lower, and awakening in upper, after the transit is done evading the issue of the elevators completely. Nonetheless the elevators are the de-facto means of transit for a vast majority of those that travel to the upper colony, for their punctual speed.

As we descend the elevators we reach the colony propper, the true city of Nadezhda. In our descent during the last few moments we will breach the roof of a long dormant volcanic chamber. Through clever planning the colony itself was built in a laccolith rock formation. The large volcanic chamber being composed of extremely thick and perfectly dome shaped igneous rock making for a natural bunker merely needing excavation. Over the months and years this large formation has been carved out into a city in the dark of which no normal means of bombardment could harm.

District One

Landing at the bottom of the elevator shaft we enter the first of the colonies seven districts. Here in district one stands the tall “Spire” right at the core of Nadezhda. The spire is the connection between lower and upper. Through it all elevators, small shuttle ducts, maintenance access shafts, cryopod management tubes, communication and power trunks flow to the surface. It makes quite a fine centerpiece to the city. Surrounding it in district one lies the heart of the administrative powers of Nadezhda. Small skyscraper buildings of office workers and clerks, handling the daily logs of the council's work, meetings, production quotas, transport logs, accounting, banking, and anything that falls free of the realm of being faction specific.

Here in district one lies the heart of the Nadezhda Marshals, one of the few entities operating within the colony that can call itself unbiased. The primary Marshals headquarters and Academy lies here, and while other districts may have their local precinct headquarters, and training complexes, none of them compare to the expense paid in district one.

As we reach the border of District one's circular area the landscape notably changes, small concrete block houses and deep bunker networks form a loose defensive line around District one. The council routinely uses these bunkers and blockhouses as temporary housing for people displaced from their homes while new housing is sorted. But in true emergency this final line of defense would be the colonies last stand. Bunkers to house as many as possible from whatever assault may come to the lowers, and the Blockhouses to secure the borders in case of any deep mining operations to invade the city. Many doubt there is anywhere near enough room for everyone in these defenses and bunkers.

District Layout

Before we continue to the other districts, we must first understand how they are structured. With each district containing nearly seven thousand to ten thousand inhabitants each one itself must be capable of providing all its people need. Nearest to the district one border each individual district will usually find its “high life” sector for the wealthy or just well off in life. High quality apartments and penthouses dotted with gourmet restaurants and entertainment services permeate this area, making it a luxurious life within short travel distance to many of its inhabitant's district one working offices.

Getting further from the center of the city we reach the common housing sector. High rises of apartments provide ample housing for the district, with large shopping complexes providing centralized points to distribute goods to those living in the district. Bars and cantinas find themselves at home here providing the common workers with places to get a drink after a hard day of work. And lastly, we reach the outskirts of the district, the industrial zone, large foundries mining structures, scrap and garbage disposal, and manufacturing plants. Through intense guild regulation these buildings are restricted on aerial pollution production. Requiring expensive filters and machines to keep pollutants from the air of the underground city. Wages for work here are low as a result, so low the alarming existence of slums can be found in many districts, weaving their way through the back alleys between production plants.

District Two

District two, the engineering district, here in the headquarters of the artificers guild is located. All buildings are constructed to rigorous and somewhat comical standards at times. Housing in this district is largely designed through a utilitarian lens, every area of an apartment must serve a known purpose. As such standardized apartments are the norm, one could be moved from one building to the next and notice zero differences in the room layout. Drinking runs rampant in this district to a worrying level for its local precinct of marshals who are on holidays overwhelmed with calls of bar brawls. The common people of this district see it as good fun though, and just a way of life and relaxing.

Entering the industrial zone we find large production plants with minimal output, and massive turbine and generator halls, powering this neon city in the dark. The guilds focus on perfection means most buildings work slowly but only turn out the highest quality of goods, quickly exported to other districts to be sold. Other extreme jobs exist in this district such as the workshop of the Nadezhda Laccolith Commision. Whose sole job is the maintenance and routine inspection of the entire dome the city is built in. Done with scanners and by hand, crews of a few at a time ascend on grappling hooks and rock-climbing gear to operate on the rocky roof above the city. Constantly ensuring its stability and ability to resist damage. In places where it is weak doing the difficult task of hand installing large reinforcement beams into the rocks to stabilize them.

District Three

District three, the housing district, in the colonies opening days great thousands of ship crew and cryo stasis passengers needed to be unloaded into the safety of the newly forming colony. District three was the immediate answer. The entire district start to finish is designed with housing in mind, how we pack the most people into the smallest area. High quality housing in this district is distinctly smaller than the others, but also cheaper. Mid class housing leaves much to be desired with singular rooms being sold as studio apartments.

And even the slums find small pod unit housing constructed for them, offering only a bed and places for small effects. The only work in the industrial sector of this district pertains to cryostasis storage meaning most must take long work transits to other districts for wages. Large warehouse structures are packed to the brim with stored passengers and colonists. Some who have not been awake since the founding of the colony itself. The few lucky enough to work this close to home make rent handling the movement of pods to be awoken to the transit system, and the maintenance and sustenance of those still in storage.

District Four

District four, the garden district, to many who long for the memories of a normal life, district four is their reprieve, continually stylized start to finish for an ecologist's dream, the high rises of the wealthy are adorned in hanging hydroponic trays and lush greenery. Expertly picked plants bloom in this dark and unforgiving environment. The gem of this district is its high-class park, tirelessly maintained by diligent gardeners and foresters who keep one of the few reminders of life on the surface well maintained and flourishing.

Entering the common class districts, rent is paid not through just fees but through labor. The large hydroponic towers soar into the sky, providing ample farming plots. Each apartment is assigned a segment of the hydroponic fields outside of them, through production of grown food and care for the fields do most of the district's colonists earn their rent. In the industrial zone lies the part of this district few like to talk about. The animal barns and slaughterhouses. This segment of the district is purposely kept darker than the rest of the district in the hopeful dream people will not have to think about it as much. The slums here in return are some of the best of the low class housing. Small flats provide some of the true comforts of a home to those that must work this district. Animals are raised in mass, in a true production line style of life. They are born, and kept in cages and contaminants barely large enough to let them grow. Fed a charged diet to accelerate the process of growth, the animals are housed one on top of another as if stored in a warehouse. And when the time comes they are moved to the slaughterhouses that constantly drain blood and spit out fresh meat for the consumption of the masses.

District Five

District five, the production district, the beating heart of the Lonestar Shipping hub on Nadezhda. The vibrant flashing lights, and constant advertising make this district a hellhole to some, and a heaven for others. The highest of high quality housing exists here, for the right price, large hotels and complex penthouses and suites. Extravagant party grounds and clubs, members only bars and gambling make the high-class area of this district a “vacation” destination for those who have built up the money to afford it.

Meanwhile the common sector sees far less of this extravagance, mega complexes and small form factor apartments pack tireless workers in who if they are lucky get to work in the high-class entertainment sector and experience its glamor on the daily, or as most of the common class do in this district, move to the industrial sector for a life of grime and tiring work. In the industrial district exists the “Pit”, a large gaping hole down the volcanic dike that once formed this entire laccolith. Down it and into its void descend grime covered workers packed into industrial sized elevators, to labor away in the deep mines under Nadezhda. The scorching hot tunnels dimly lit while the miners labor away to bring ore up with them and earn their keep. In doing so they ascend the pit only to hand off work to the equally tired forge workers. Taking the raw stone and ores and melting them down in mass into the steel sheets and materials that keep other production centers running.

District Six

District six, the religious district, home of the absolutists, this district is much less industrialized than the others. All structures here are smaller and quainter than others, as such this district takes a hit to its total capacity which leaves absolutists forced to live in other districts even if they desire to live here. The boundaries of quality sectors are lessened here though still existent, both the high quality and common areas of this district simply contain true houses. Structures made for one family each, along the streets, with occasional chapels and places of worship, and a few small gardens.

The industrial sector of this district still is distinct though, save for its nearly nonexistent slums, instead replaced with homeless shelters complexes. The buildings of the industrial sector vary heavily here, from schools for the young and uneducated to scholar buildings for the numericals. Divisor equipment manufacturing facilities, and factorial production lines of branded goods. To those looking to start their low-level education from nothing, or the young, there are no other schools than those of the religious district.

District Seven

District seven, the research district, progress no matter the cost, the seat of Soteria and the home of its advanced research facilities. Housing here is drab and minimalist. The high-quality sector is home to large universities, research facilities and high-quality hospitals. Many seeking medical and research knowledge or just a high level of education turn to these facilities to teach them, however only those with the basics can enter keeping the bar closed to the uneducated that do not deserve the school's time.

The common sector is loaded with housing for the lab techs and assistants, living in smaller housing than their true research professors and doctors. They are still an important asset of the process and receive fair housing in return. The facilities scattered throughout this sector are mostly laboratories for high level chemical prep, while not as industrially dedicated to high quantity chemical production, these labs prepare complex chemicals for later use. Usually operated by hand by the assistants and technicians. The industrial sector is far more rigorous. The slums in this district are some of the most notorious of them all, the large pipelines pumping chemical precursors and products around, darting through these alleys. The common small leaks and rare large bursts cause these dangerous chemicals to be exposed to those living in these alleys resulting in many deaths.

Nevertheless, the large low labor facilities mix chemicals in large tanks, producing great reactions and preparing the base elements for further refinement, pumped and stored all around this pipe dream of a sector each pipe contains some form of dangerous hazard of simple wastewater. The most important of these facilities is the massive air conditioning and management complex. Regulating the quality of the very air in the depths of this city. Ensuring pollutants are filtered out and fresh air is pumped in through the large use of genetically modified algae, as well as large refrigerant plants to keep the city air cool, by pumping the heat down into the planet itself.