In accepting the governance of the Citadel Council there came the promise of lucrative opportunities,
economic stability, and a voice in the chorus that shapes the galaxy.
But with these benefits, was the explicit responsibility to abide by the accords of
the Citadel Conventions, and operatie within the confines of galactic law.
When faced with the security of operating within Citadel Space or the freedom and independence of
existing beyond it, most nations, corporations or individuals choose one or the other.
But there were some who walked the line,
conducting forbidden research or development within independent systems,
only to sell the benefits of such efforts across wider citadel space. These were the grey worlds of
the galaxy, and there were few as profitable, controversial, and mysterious as Noveria.
A small, frozen, rocky world, Noveria was the second of four planets orbiting within the Pax
System. It was considered barely habitable by most conventional definitions, making it
a poor candidate for large scale settlement. The majority of its hydrosphere was locked within
massive glaciers, with only a scarce few sources of liquid water located around the equator.
Enormous mountain chains and craters crisscrossed the planet’s surface,
further limiting the potential for colonization.
The low desirability of the planet by interstellar governments however,
made it attractive to private investment. In the 2160s, roughly two dozen high-tech companies
created the Noveria Development Corporation, a joint-venture intended to claim Noveria and
administer the planet under a private charter. Without any investment by a Citadel aligned
government, the colony was technically outside of Citadel Space and beyond its jurisdiction.
The Noveria Development Corporation took advantage of its unique legal status by giving free reign
to the members of the joint-venture to pursue whatever research they wished. Additionally,
it began leasing out laboratories and other facilities to outside parties, which similarly
intended to conduct experiments too dangerous or controversial to be performed elsewhere.
The value of a scientific exclave existing outside of Citadel Laws, helped fund significant
infrastructure, most notably, Port Hanshan, the planet’s capital and largest settlement.
Carved deep into the peaks of towering mountains, Port Hanshan maintains all the amenities typical
of any city within Citadel Space, albeit with much stricter security measures.
Chief among the Joint Venture’s concerns, is the threat that dissent, espionage or outside
interference might make Noveria’s situation untenable. The settlement is officially closed to
the public, with only specially permitted visitors given clearance to even land on the planet.
It is only through special arrangement that agents of the Citadel’s Special Tactics and
Reconnaissance organization are allowed to sidestep many of these restrictions.
This is one of the few concessions the Joint Partners have made to the Citadel, and to give
at least the appearance of responsible oversight.
In addition to Port Hanshan, a network of remote research stations are located throughout the
neighboring mountains. Designated Peaks 1 through 15, these laboratories are purposely isolated
from both Port Hanshan and one another, in the event of any disaster or containment failure.
Fully equipped and well beyond even the standards set by the Citadel, the Peaks can be rented by any
of the Joint Partners or outside interests, provided the raw capital is there. Extensive
weapon emplacements exist on the periphery of each peak, these however, face towards the facilities,
and intended as another method of containing the leak of information or containing any
type of catastrophic failure. Should even these measures fail, orbiting satellites can deploy
antimatter warheads on any of these Peak Research facilities, annihilating them entirely.
Incursions by the synthetic race known as the Geth and the human supremacist organization
called Cerberus have shown that even Noveria is not beyond the reach of outside powers.
In the wake of the Reaper War, precious little information has come to light
as to the fate of the galaxy and regardless of the outcome, it is likely that an easily overlooked
world like Noveria was quickly forgotten. Perhaps in the ruins of its laboratories,
countless skeletons clutch at frozen computers, once brimming with forbidden knowledge.
Or perhaps beneath the peaks of Noveria’s mountains,
the extinction of galactic civilization was but a minor setback, and the research… continues.