Takers

Takers is the second planet in the Tithadi star system in the Klingon Neutral Zone in the Beta Quadrant. It was once a class M planet, until its sun cooled into a red dwarf and it became class L.

An Orion colony and pirate base, Takers has been described as filthy, decadent and drunk on its own history, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, not a place for the weak of heart or weak of arms.

Takers was once a minor outpost and emergency way station for civilian and military ships after the Orion War. Its inhabitants tunneled beneath the surface until it became well-honeycombed, with several cities and an entire starport existing entirely underground, with no sign showing on the surface. With a red dwarf star that is hard to spot amidst the bright stars of the Orion Arm, it was a natural choice for a pirate base.

It is not a rich world, however, and, before the Reverse, it may have been completely evacuated of people. But for centuries after, Takers was a pirate starport of mythic proportions, visited by many famous pirates, such as Half-a-Man Sooris (some say he discovered Takers, or that he died or was last seen alive there), Dormanis the One-Handed, Ishar of the Jewel and the Only Froun, who all brought in fabulous treasures now long spent or well-hidden. In sheer volume of traffic, the world is estimated to have been the most active pirate base known to history.

After the Organian Peace Treaty in 2267, Takers was placed in the middle of the Klingon Neutral Zone. Theoretically, this would guaranteed the pirates safety from accidental exposure and a safe-route to the Triangle and to the Orion Neutrality Area. However, purely by chance, Takers was also squarely between the Federation Starbase 12 and the Klingon base at Mastocal, which severely limited pirate movements.

By the late 23rd century, Takers had been greatly diminished. Though still large and home to several dozens of ships, profits were reduced and feuds and struggles for power and privilege occupied the pirates. Stolen goods were still sold in vast auctions, and its old-style slave market was one of the last to deal in non-Orions.

It had a technological/socio-political index of 999974-74 and a planetary trade profile of FDEFBCC/A(C).

Takers has a total surface area of 341,102,800 square kilometers and 100% of that is land mass. About 35% of its makeup is normal metals, 12% is radioactive elements, 9% is gemstones and 3% is industrial crystals, with trace amounts of other special minerals. It has an arctic climate with a thin class L terrestrial atmosphere and a 24 hour day.