Charon System Information – Star Citizen

An ongoing civil war, centuries of strife and the fact that they are the only system to have ever renounced their recognition in the UEE Senate are all reason enough to give most travelers pause before visiting Charon. Situated on the frontier, Charon may be connected to four other systems, but it still harbors a deep sense of isolation from the rest of the Empire. This mentality, fueled by the UEE’s regrettable actions in the system during the Messer era, has birthed a fiery and fiercely independent spirit that defines Charon to this day, a spirit that might have made the system all but impossible to govern. Most accounts claim the discovery of this five-planet system swirling around a K-type main sequence star was an accident. In 2538, Max Keaton was a novice merchant marine pilot on his first supply run in Helios when the system’s intense solar winds disabled his ship’s sensors. Nervous about falling behind schedule, Keaton flew on, only to realize when the sensors rebooted that his bearing was wrong and he was well off course. Determined not to make another mistake, Keaton quickly tested all his systems. That’s when he noticed an anomalous reading on his scanners. In a surprising show of self-restraint, Keaton saved the coordinates, completed his run and then returned the first chance he could. What he eventually discovered was the jump that would lead to the Charon System.

The UPE claimed the system and deployed a scan team from the Government Cartography Agency (the era’s ICC). Terraformation of Charon III began almost immediately, but once complete, the system’s remoteness never allowed it to develop as a hub for traffic and trade. Those who would eventually seek to settle the system were typically interested in living a simple life and saw Charon’s isolation as a benefit. The Messers, however, had another use for the system’s isolation. Throughout the generations, the Messers and their policies created a vast number of enemies, dissidents, activists and revolutionaries. They found that mixing these political prisoners into the usual criminal penal systems only radicalized the criminals and gave the dissidents access to criminal training. So, the Messers decided to build a vast prison network across Charon III, with many of them in the state of Dellin, and hired loyal government employees to staff it. Horror stories about the prisons swirled among residents, though they quickly learned not to press the issue publicly. Local officials that investigated the matter were silenced or suddenly charged with crimes that landed them in those very prisons. When the Messers fell from power in 2792, people across the planet celebrated, and the local population forced their way into the prisons. What they found and documented horrified everyone and became an integral argument of 2806’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report that exposed the horrors of the Messer regime. Local officials also discovered during their investigations that their Senators not only knew about the atrocities, but had been profiting off them. The Messer regime had funneled extra resources to Dellin, where most of the prisons were located, and even influenced elections involving corrupt Senate candidates they favored. Senator Constance Winterfield was indicted on corruption charges and removed from power. The Governor’s Council was supposed to name a temporary replacement, but vicious in-fighting and political maneuvering stalled any decision. Charon III’s Senate seat stayed vacant for years until Constance Winterfield’s term expired. By that point, many residents had concluded that Charon III was better off than it had been with a Senator and the UEE imposing their will on the planet.

In 2795, Charon III voted to renounce their recognition in the Senate, making them the only planet to ever do so. Without an advocate on Earth, government credits to the system slowed to a trickle as the UEE political elite were intent to show that renouncing Senate recognition would come at a cost. As government funds evaporated at high cost to local economies, particularly in Dellin, the fierce independent spirit that inspired people to stand up to the UEE now turned them on each other. Constant strife between political factions only hardened over time, and governance of the planet became practically impossible. Any attempts at reforming the Governor’s Council and resubmitting for recognition have thus far failed. Today, the system is primarily defined by the bloody and devastating civil war raging on Charon III between the states of Dellin and its neighbor Acheron. Regular commercial traffic in the system is minimal and may come under fire if entering Charon III’s atmosphere. Due to this unfortunate situation, and a lack of other habitable locations within the system, the Galactic Guide advises travelers to avoid the Charon System unless absolutely necessary.