Crusader

Crusader (Stanton II, called "Cl" by the natives) is a low-mass gas giant that has an atmosphere which is breathable at high altitudes. It has a diameter of 14900 km plus 1200 km of atmosphere.^[1]

Taking advantage of this, the planet became home to a military-constructed latticework of inhabitable floating platforms. The platforms proved to be ideal for Crusader Industries, since their large-scale commercial transport ships would otherwise need to be built beyond the atmosphere. Being built in open air allows the cost of these ships to be reduced by almost 40% on the back end, which is often passed along to consumers.

Once Crusader Industries took over, these platforms were expanded upon to suit their production needs. The company also built quality housing for their employees in habitats woven into the latticework itself. The portion of the world available to visitors is considered by many to be the nicest port in the system. The shipyards themselves are eerily beautiful, with huge transport ships suspended in mid-atmosphere surrounded by a lighted webbing of Crusader facilities.^[2]

"I find that living in the heavens suits me."
Kanile Yuder, Former CEO, Crusader Industries^[3]

Jurisdiction

Like all corporation-owned planets in the Stanton system, Crusader has its own jurisdiction and security in the form of Crusader Security.

Atmosphere

Atmospheric Overview ^[4]
Pressure (at 8 km)		1 atm
Height		745,000 m
QT altitude		90,000 m
Temperature (at 80 km)	Max	24 °C
	Min	16 °C

Atmospheric Composition ^[4]
Chemical Formula	Full Name	Amount
N	Nitrogen	78.1%
O₂	Molecular oxygen	20.9%
Ar	Argon	0.93%
CO₂	Carbon dioxide	0.04%

Locations

Major locations

Orison

A city in the clouds, Orison offers a breathtaking view of Crusader's commercial shipbuilding platforms.^[5]

Minor locations

Various floating platform communities spread around Crusader:^[6]

Natural satellites

Crusader's moons are named after the three siblings featured in the 24th century children's morality tale A Gift for Baba.

Cellin : Stanton 2a

	Named after the youngest of the three siblings, this moon features over a hundred currently dormant volcanoes that are said to represent Cellin's simmering anger. Location of Crusader Industries' Security Post Kareah in orbit.	50,863 km Orbital Distance

Daymar : Stanton 2b

	Named after the middle brother of the three siblings, this is the largest of Crusader's moons. Daymar's slightly eccentric orbit is said to represent his ease at getting lost in the story. Former site of Covalex Hub Gundo in orbit, prior to its sabotage.	63,284 km Orbital Distance

Yela : Stanton 2c

	Named after the oldest of the three siblings, this moon has a water-ice crust said to represent Yela's cool and calculating mannerisms. Notably, Yela's asteroid belt is home to the Nine Tails controlled landing zone of GrimHEX.	79,287 km Orbital Distance

Artificial satellites

Seraphim Station

	Seraphim Station features all the modern amenities found at other R&R stations, such as a medical clinic, cargo deck, security deck, and food court.

Comm Array ST2-55

	A communication station is positioned around the area to help provide comm coverage. Its functionality or lack thereof is determined by gameplay. Comm Arrays were originally placed in orbit of the parent planet, but since Alpha 3.9.0, all planets and moons now contain one CommArray in orbit each.

ICC ScanHub Stanton

Part of the Imperial Cartography Center, this research station is categorized as a Deep Space Scanning and AstroGraphical Station, one of the many turn-key facilities the UEE places in systems to casually sweep for jump points. Players likely know it as the workplace of the mission-giver, Junior Cartographer Tessa Bannister. This station along with Bannister and her quest line was removed from the game in Alpha 3.0.0, but the devs have confirmed its eventual return.

Lagrangian points

Crusader has 5 lagrangian points, which contain mostly planetary debris and asteroids. Some contain Rest Stop stations.

Lagrangian point	Station	Additional contents
CRU-L1	CRU-L1 Ambitious Dream Station	Mining claims
CRU-L2		Mining claims
CRU-L3		Mining claims
CRU-L4	CRU-L4 Shallow Fields Station	Unminable debris
CRU-L5	CRU-L5 Beautiful Glen Station	Mining claims

Gallery

Development

Crusader, along with its moons, were implemented with the first launch of the Persistent Universe, Alpha 2.0.0. From that point on, these celestial bodies were only placeholder objects in the Persistent Universe, and were inaccessible to players. It wasn't until version 3.0 when the Planetary Tech was implemented that the moons would be replaced by traversable versions. However, the gas giant Crusader was never replaced and remained inaccessible until Alpha 3.14.0 was released. This patch saw the release of Planetary volumetric clouds, which allowed them to create the 'new' Crusader, and also included the Orison landing zone situated within the clouds. In the succeeding patch of Alpha 3.15.0, Port Olisar also started to orbit the planet, finally unlocking it from its fixed position in the system.

Trivia

The small celestial objects orbiting Crusader follow a discovery date naming convention similar to real life asteroids. Furthermore, the names imply that at least 1603 such objects have been discovered, and that the sale of Stanton II to Crusader Industries by the UEE took place between 2913 and 2921.
The name Crusader Industries actually has two meanings. First, it represents a commitment to stay on the forefront of ship manufacturing ideas. Though the company got its start building reliable planetary shuttles. The teams of engineers constantly looked to push the commercial ship market, whether it was by developing a new feat of engineering or simply looking to fulfill a new area of public demand. Secondly, the name references the company's commitment to vigorously advocate for what is morally right across the Empire. Company founder August Dunlow has made giving back a cornerstone of the company ever since its inception in 2799.^[7]
Compared to real-life planets, Crusader's in-game size is only slightly larger than Earth.
Crusader is also the name of a series of games by Tony Zurovec during his time at Origin Systems.^[8]