View source for Comm-Link:Galactic Guide - Kellog System

The [[Kellog System]] is known throughout the [[UEE]] as the home to both innocence and immorality. Centered around a G-type main sequence yellow dwarf, the system’s two inhabited planets stand in stark contrast to each other: Kellog II, [[Xis]], is heavily guarded to protect the new species developing there, while Kellog VI, [[QuarterDeck]], is heavily guarded to ensure the hardened criminals imprisoned there can’t escape.

Credit for Kellog’s discovery goes to [[NavJumper|navjumper]] [[Patek Coen]], who uncovered the system in 2811. Unfortunately, Coen’s dream of living in a system he discovered never came to pass once initial surveys revealed that Kellog II was brimming with sapient life. Kellog quickly received protection under the [[Fair Chance Act]] and seemed destined to be a haven for researchers and scientists from throughout the Empire. However, that wound up not being the case; in less than five years, two jumps into [[Vanduul]] space were found.

The UEE knew Kellog needed an alert system to warn of Vanduul incursions. Increases in [[Navy]] personnel and standard proximity sensors were considered until Senator [[Daniela Agren]] ([[Universalist|U]]-[[Idris System|Idris]]) suggested another unusual option: converting Kellog VI into a prison planet. Senator Agren argued that such a facility would not only solve security concerns, but would do so for fewer credits and have many other additional benefits. With the heavy guard presence such an outpost would need, the prison could serve as a tripwire against Vanduul attacks while also isolating the Empire’s worst criminals. Still, Agren’s masterstroke in the plans for QuarterDeck was including a revenue-generating antimatter facility to be staffed by prisoners.

The Senate approved Agren’s plan, which has turned Kellog into the busiest Fair Chance Act system. Today, [[Army]] spacecraft patrol Xis, while antimatter haulers and bounty hunters frequently visit QuarterDeck. All this activity has converted the system from an isolated frontier to an integral part of the UEE.

The Kellog System is located just a jump away from what is generally considered Vanduul territory. Although the organization of Vanduul clans is still not well understood, it seems that none have tried to claim Kellog as their own … yet. Though few enemy raiders have been spotted in-system, travelers are advised to take extreme precaution while in Kellog.

[[Kellog I]] is a terrestrial planet located so close to the system’s sun that its surface is lava. If there’s anything of value underneath the molten rocks, Humanity has not yet found a way to reach it.

[[Xis]] is the system’s picturesque protected planet. Dotted with deep, multi-canopied jungles and a biodiversity that rivals any other part of the discovered galaxy, Xis is the reason the Kellog System achieved recognition under the Fair Chance Act. Its warm seas are home to a wide variety of creatures, while its dense rainforests play host to millions of insects, primates and most famously, [[Flo-Pets]].

Few can forget the Flo-Pet craze of the early 30th century that saw the rich and powerful desperate to collect and breed the unusual creatures. Since the first few were captured by an intrepid smuggler who thought they might be an easily bred, compact protein source (further study has succinctly established that Flo-Pets are not edible), there was initially a move by the government to outlaw ownership of the creatures. Many, worried that their pet would get them in trouble with the law, set their Flo-Pet free, which has resulted in significant populations of feral Flo-Pets on many worlds. In the end however, the creature’s popularity was such that any attempt at a ban proved all but impossible.

Since the Flo-Pet debacle, the UEE has remained vigilant about protecting Xis from unwanted visitors, particularly protecting a primitive hominid-like species known as the [[Orms]]. Populating the planet’s northern polar region, the Orms have, in the past hundred years, begun to develop more complex social interaction schema and extremely primitive tool use.