The colonization of the Outer Rim was one of the most enduring tasks of the Greater
Terran Union.
Over the course of two centuries, the wild and remote frontiers of human space were systematically
transformed and integrated, their colonies growing to become cities the equal of any
in the Union.
Today the Outer Rim, once widely seen as a distant wilderness, forms a core part of the
Greater Terran Union.
Hundreds of thousands of bulk carriers, cargo liners, container ships and long haul transports
depart for the region every day and the cosmopolitan nature of its citizens have led to what some
have labeled a “cultural renaissance” across the entirety of the Union.
There is perhaps no greater symbol for humanity's mastery over the Outer Rim than the Rodina
system.
Originally designated Scorpio-UTX2372 when it was first discovered in 2023, the system
was of intermittent interest for the next century and one of several dozen sites selected
as a destination for the Al Idrisi Probes launched in 2071 by the European Federation.
Following the declaration of the Greater Terran Union and the establishment of the first extra-solar
colonies, the Scorpio star system was again the subject of rising interest.
Automated drones and later manned research vessels surveyed the Scorpio system throughout
the first few decades of the 23rd century, but its planets were not suited for large
scale colonization.
Instead, humanity’s presence in the system was limited to various mining and research
stations.
The largest permanent settlement was the Arctic Warfare Training Center established in 2271
and located on Scorpio 3.
By the mid 2300s, various geoengineering technologies had made planetwide terraforming economically
viable.
Eager to strengthen its position in the Outer Rim against its rivals in the Algan Republic
and Peronisti Union, the Greater Terran Union embarked on an enormous colonization campaign
across the whole of the sector.
Terraforming the arctic deserts of Scorpio 3 would require a higher initial investment
than other candidates across the Outer Rim, but the tremendous potential of the world
could not be ignored.
In 2343 the terraforming process began.
Within a decade, the planet had been transformed into a world of enormous, sprawling grasslands,
great oceans and majestic glaciers.
Roughly one and a half times the size of Earth, it would take another decade for the planet’s
climate, tectonics and magnetosphere to be fully assessed, but the world was eventually
approved for colonization.
The Eurasian Commissariat had won the bid to colonize the world during the intervening
years and shortly after the planet had been approved, the first pioneers and basic infrastructure
had been put into place.
The first civilian colony ships carrying roughly 100,000 people arrived just 8 months later.
High Marshall Qing Huang herself was present at the colony’s dedication, signing the
orders which renamed the world of Scorpio III to Volga, and the system, Rodina.
That same year, it was named the capital of the newly established Aurora Commissariat.
What was once considered a backwater territory was now a core region of the Greater Terran
Union.
The ongoing wars against the Algan Republic and its allies in the Compact brought about
enormous investments to the system.
By the start of the 25th century, Volga was one of the most heavily populated planets
in the entire nation.
It attracted tens of millions of immigrants from across the Greater Terran Union, and
eventually major state corporations.
The invasion of the Greater Terran Union by the Florian Matriarchy in 2521 put considerable
demands on the Rodina system and it was quickly flooded with refugees who had managed to escape
the besieged worlds of the Outer Rim.
Volga greatly expanded its terrestrial mining operations to help meet the demands of the
war, and the establishment of Fleet Station Tadeusz Kościuszko in the neighboring Vistula
System during the conflict has made heavy industry a key part of Volga’s economy ever
since.
The Prokopyev Machine Building Plant in particular has become one of the largest producers of
military equipment in the Greater Terran Union, periodically eclipsing even Sirius Arms as
the single biggest producer of main battle tanks and naval artillery.
Today, Rodina is widely known as the jewel of the Outer Rim, a center of industry, finance,
research, and culture.
Food grown in the system is exported to a dozen other colonies in the region, alongside
various chemical exports, industrial machinery, electronics, and hundreds of classes of civilian
starships produced in its shipyards.
The majority of the system’s 34 billion people resides on Volga, and the enormous
skyscrapers of Novaya Moskva, its capital city, have become an iconic image across the
entire Union.
Universities both in Novaya Moskva and other major cities across the planet have developed
an impressive reputation, while its local cuisine, especially Volga grown beef, has
been prized and imitated even on Earth itself.
There is seemingly no industry or field where Volga and the Rodina System do not excel.
But the immense wealth of Rodina has brought with it a sophisticated criminal element.
Corruption uncovered within the system’s raw material industries, while subsequently
eliminated, remains a notable blight on the system’s reputation.
Dozens of illegal settlements and anchorages are uncovered within Rodina each year, particularly
around the system's outer planets and moons.
Many of these were constructed by various criminal syndicates and piracy groups and
there is little doubt that many more, perhaps hundreds, lay undiscovered and still operating
across the system.
Despite such difficulties, the Rodina system remains, above all, an enduring symbol of
Terran resilience and power.
It is proof that even a frigid wasteland, when confronted with the determination of
humanity, can be transformed into a verdant paradise, a world worthy of the Greater Terran
Union.
In Atlas, the Templin Institute investigates the most storied places from alternate worlds,
but this time we’ve selected one of our own.
If you’re not familiar with our Stellaris Invicta series, check out the episodes we’ve
released so far and join us on Twitch for our ongoing live-stream series one hour after
this episode goes live.
If you’d like to see more bonus episodes covering various aspects of Stellaris Invicta
please let us know in the comments.