The Planets of Galactic Christendom

Mankind is now a mature inter-stellsr species. Its many nations are spread out across the galaxy, dwelling on many planets, and in populations that make the pre-Apocalypse world before the Azure Flames blanch. Mankind now teems in number, totally into the trillions, with many planets boasting populations well above that of early 21st century Earth. Much of this is due to the influence of the Church, and the advent of Faster Than Light technology, the coupling of which gave great impetus (in addition to a literal Crusade against the Nephalim) to spread far from holy Terra.

The initial settlement waves focused on Earth-like worlds. As terraforming technologies and acumen developed, more worlds saw settlement; the last wave coming with the ability to change the gravitation force of a planet to conform to Earth standard gravity, a power still monopolized by the Church as it required the direct deployment from the City of God. Now only the most inhospitable of planets remain free of Mankind's presence, assuming that it has been found at all.

Planetary settlement starts and ends in orbit. The pattern is summarized thus: build an orbital habitat, which is the top anchor of a space elevator to the surface. The groundside anchor is the first planetside settlement, and others branch out from that one to fulfill specific requirements. Over time, additional elevator nodes are built to allow speedy ground-to-orbit connections across a world. (Earth has one at each LaGrange point.)

Heavy industry is an orbital affair, taking advantage of microgravity conditions to maximize productivity while preserving the planetary environment. Refineries, factories, shipyards, and more such industry is routinely kept in orbit- and also automated heavily. Planetside work is more artisan or agricultural in nature, with automation usually confined to drudgery, in accordance to the Church's push for restoring Mankind to a pro-Civilizational mode of existence post-Apocalypse.

Urban planning and density, to pre-Apocalypse eyes, is pre-Modern in sensibilities; far less steel, iron, and chrome and far more stone, wood, and glass. Older, classical styles turned out to be easier to use in forming and maintaining planetside colonies than the writers and theories of the World Before would think. Commerce tends to be more local, though inter-planetary and inter-stellar trade exists in significant amounts across galactic distances. Aside from the obvious high technology, it's a world a man like Plato or Petrarch would not find too alien - but those just at the cusp of the Apocalypse would in many respects. (Think "Pre-Modern Life with Starships and Mecha", or less Coruscant and more Theed.)

Most people, once more, living in rural communities on more-or-less self-sufficient homesteads centered around the local parish and the local manor. Even the orbital habitats follow this pattern as best they can, recreating the village life in space even if the men of that village work in the habitat's docks or factories. Furthermore, mature planets have scores of orbital habitats clustered about that world's LaGrange points.

The less-developed worlds are marked by a lack of the orbit-to-surface connections, usually meaning more shuttle traffic to and from as well as the presence of more trans-atmospheric starship traffic to compensate for that lack. Garmil's Gate is one such world, and this lacking is why some disdain it.

Next time: The Apocalypse, the Church, and the City of God.