Babylon Station

Introduction
Babylon Station, or as it commonly referred to as Babylon, or simply "the Station", is the capital of the Interstellar Coalition.

The station was named in honor of the ancient Akkadian city-state of Mesopotamia, began constructed in 2161 and was completed in 2163.

The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the Interstellar Coalition are abroad the Station, including the Council with the System's Assembly and Members Congress, the offices of the First Councilor, and Supreme Court.

Star Geography
Delta Eridani is a 3.54 magnitude star in the constellation of Eridanus. It is also called Rana, meaning "the frog" in Latin.

Delta Eridani is a sub-giant star that is near the end of its hydrogen-burning cycle and is now consuming helium. This has caused the star to expand and become hotter than a comparable main sequence star. As a sub-giant star it is subject to pulsations in its atmosphere.

The system has two major asteroid belt: the Gudea Belt and Ubaid Belt. Hammurabi Belt, a ice belt that once passed near Nimrod, was redirected using mass effect induced gravity fields, causing it to slowly impact with Ishtar (Delta Eridani VII) in an attempt to increase the planet’s mass for future terraforming.

The Delta Eridani-system contains twelve planets, none of which are habitable. All  landmarks, planets and facilities are named after ancient Mesopotamia geography and history:
 * Delta Eridani I (Marduk)
 * Delta Eridani II (Ebla)
 * Delta Eridani III (Tanakh)
 * Delta Eridani IV (Sargon)
 * Delta Eridani V (Ziggurat)
 * Delta Eridani VI (Hadji)
 * Delta Eridani VII (Ishtar)
 * Delta Eridani VIII (Nimrod)
 * Delta Eridani IX (Dagan)
 * Delta Eridani X (Assur)
 * Delta Eridani XI (Akkad)
 * Delta Eridani XII (Ellil)

Districts
Babylon Station is divided into seven districts, each corresponding to a different module or section of the facility.
 * Shi'Kahr District contained the Coalition Council, its corresponding offices and the embassies of non-Coalition powers. It was named in honor of the destroyed Vulcan capital of Shi'Kahr, in thanks for donations to the station's construction when it began to run over budget.


 * Columbia District contained the Coalition Supreme Courts, the main offices of adminstrative offices for the station and the station command center. It was named in honor of the ICS Columbia, which was destroyed during the Conquest of Penthara II in the Xindi Conflict.


 * Archer District contained  the offices of the Coalition First Councilor and executive branch . It was named after renowned Rear Admiral Jonathan Archer who was killed in the final engagment of the Xindi Conflict, the Battle of the Argolis Cluster.


 * Tiber District contained Babylon Station's primary habitation and medical centers, named after the Tiber Island on Earth, one of the two islands in the Tiber river, which runs through Rome. Being a seat of the ancient temple of Asclepius and later a hospital, the island is associated with medicine and healing.


 * Verrazzano District, which contains the main docking, cargo storage and shipyard. It was also the location of the military CNC headquarters. The district is named after the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor.


 * Shenzhen District, the trade and commerce centers, it was named after China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones.
 * Miracht District, contains the engineering and industrial facilities of Babylon Station. It is off-limits to civilians.

Discussion
During the Xindi Conflict, fleet actions and political meetings generally were undertaken in the city of Singapore on Earth, due to Earth's central location to the other Coalition powers, Singapore's domed and controlled environment (allowing for different atmospheres for visiting aliens) and the Singapore Interplanetary Tether, which allowed for mass transfers of cargo, personnel and ships.

All discussion on establishment of a true capital was tabled however until one year after the legally confirmed end of Xindi Conflict.

Planning
One year after the January 2157 end of the Xindi Conflict, the Capital Act discussion was reopened. While public support for remaining on Earth was high, United Earth Councilor Nikolaj Sandgreen argued that the federal government would need authority over a capital, which would always be superceded by that of a member world's government if located on its homeworld. Secondary to this, the worsening environmental situation on Earth meant new expansoins would be difficult.

In order to bypass establishing a capital on a member world, it was decided to constructed a space-born capital. On 16 January 2160, the Act of Consolidation approved the creation of a capital located in the Delta Eridani-system, a resource rich by largely undeveloped system in the heart of Coalition territory. As permitted by the Coalition Constitution, the Station was under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Interstellar Coalition Council and is therefore not a part of any Coalition member state. The governments of United Earth and the Andorian Empire originally held sovereignty of the system but each donated to form the federally designated solar system, which included the pre-existing stations of Eridu Customs Station and Hen’van Mining Outpost.

Foundation
The exact location was to be selected by First Councilor Soval, who approved the location out of 83 systems proposed. Formed from two space stations donated by the governments of United Earth and Andoria Empire, the initial shape of the federal district was a torus-designed cylinder measuring 38-km long and 4-km wide at its maximum diameter.

The new "federal space station" was began constructed in 2161, in orbit of the northern hemisphere of the super-Jovian world of Nimrod (Delta Eridani VIII), using materials and crews shipped in from Eridu Customs Station also located in the system. Due to the theme of naming landmarks, planets and facilities in the Delta Eridani-system after ancient Mesopotamia geography and history, the new station was christened Babylon by its builders and the name was officially selected as the station's name. The Coalition Council passed the Babylon Act of 2162, which officially organized the Station and placed the entire system under the exclusive control of the federal government.

Armed Forces

 * Babylon Station Security: The system security force, it is charged with both internal policing for the station, and custom enforcement around the solar system.
 * Coalition Fleet: The Coalition military is charged with the immediate defense of Delta Eridani-system, though the bulk of their actions are parade duty, training missions and final shakedown cruises. It is also the standing home port of the Second Fleet.

Society and Culture
A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have govern the Station since its construction; however, the Coalition Coucil maintains supreme authority over the space station and may overturn local laws, which in turn can be reinstated with popular vote. Actions such as these are rare.

Emergency Relocation
Planning of the station was not completely intended to create a new federal capital that no one member nation could lay claim to in case of rebellion or secession, but most importantly would be difficult to capture in case of invasion. The lose of the federal capital was seen as one of the most morally damaging actions that could be inflicted on the Coalition.

As such, Babylon Station was designed with three constingency plans in mind.

Stage One Emergency called for the complete relocation of the station with a series of FTL-generators, some of the largest and most complex ever designed. These were intended to move the station as a whole in case of impending invasion or capture with apporpriate warning, as it took over three-hours to charge the drives and nearly 5-days to cool them down before another use. To offset this incredibly long buildup and shutdown period, the station is capable of jumps over two-thousand light years in length.

Stage Two Emergency was to be enacted if direct attack on the station was already underway without prior warning. As such the station was designed to seperate into six sections, the first three constructed to hold one branch of government that was located in its section, whereas the remain three districts would move the bulk of the stations population and infrastructure. The Miracht District however, due to containing the FTL-generators for the Stage One Emegency, could not accomdate another series of FTL-engines and as such would have to be abandoned, either via self-destruction or being dropped into Nimrod's atmosphere. With their smaller scale the different disctricts could activate their FTL-generators with only 10-minutes warning, but could only jump at a distance of 50-light years.

Stage Three Emergency was to be enacted if the previous two had failed and the complete lose of Babylon Station was assured. As such residents are directed to emergency lifeboats, which unlike traditional space going vessels, are oriented inward, instead of outward. Due to Babylon Station's cylinder-like design and spinning to create gravity, it has a large open air cavity running the length of the facility. As such, lifeboats are launched upward to around 700-meters above ground-level, where they activate onboard FTL-drives and jump inside the structure of the station. This final act however results in sever damage to the internal structure of the station and after completion is theorized to cause many districts to be unsalvage.

Galactic Location
Babylon Station, is located in the Delta Eridani-system, 29-light years from Earth.

Provinces and Cities

 * Archer District : Locaiton of the offices of the Coalition First Councilor and executive branch.
 * Columbia District : Location of the Coalition Supreme Court.
 *  Shi'Kahr District  : Location of the Coalition Council.
 * Tiber District: the primary habitation and medical centers.
 * Verrazzano District: the main docking, cargo storage and shipyard.
 * Shantou District: the trade and commerce centers.
 * Miracht District: the industrial and engineer section of the station, it is off-limits to civilian personnel.

Points of Interest

 * _: