System: Vega

Had this world formed around a different star, experts believed that Vega VII could have been a paradise. When first discovered in the earlier days of mankind's exploration of the stars, Vega was something of a surprise, sporting vast mineral and metallic resources as well as an ocean of drinkable water, habitable temperate and polar zones, and an atmosphere that could be readily terraformed. Within fifty years after its discovery and the arrival of the first settlers - mostly from mining corporations and other industrial enterprises - Vega was a living, breathing world, albeit a warm and dry one.

By the time of the Draconis Combine's ascendance, Vega was home to a variety of light and medium industries, producing everything from personal computers to armored vehicle components and advanced medical equipment. Strict adherence to local pollution laws allowed the industries to thrive without damaging the terraforming efforts to clean up the native atmosphere, which allowed for the importing of off-world life-forms such as Terran horses and camels, favored modes of transportation among the Vegans. Because of its industrial importance, House Kurita established Vega as a regional capital world, and it served as a military base many times during various wars over the years.

Unfortunately, this distinction led to several raids by forces from the nearby Lyran Commonwealth, and even today the Vegan landscape is dotted with bombed-out cities and factories from bygone eras. Vega's single, shallow ocean, Nilos, appears from orbit as little more than a crisscrossing of extremely large rivers that divide the planet's surface into three giant landmasses. The largest continent, South Nanturo, is located completely in the southern hemisphere, while North Nanturo and Forsair share the northern hemisphere, extending into the equatorial zones.

The planetary capital city of Neucason is located on North Nanturo, and is connected by monorail line to the large industrial spaceport city of Nasew on the opposite side of the continent. Neucason is proudly regarded by many of the locals as the birthplace of the original Star League, as the site of the historic signing of the Treaty of Vega in 2569 by Hehiro Kurita, then Coordinator of the Combine, and Ian Cameron, Director-General of the Terran Hegemony. Nasew is home to Cosby Myomer Research, a myomer testing and manufacturing firm and one-time BattleMech producer known in the past for Machiavellian business practices.

Vega's biggest tourist attraction by far, even over the site of the Treaty of Vega signing, is the so-called Pyramids of New Egypt, located on the rocky, arid plains of Forsair. Built during the Star League era, the five pyramids were the whim of an eccentric megabillionaire, who believed in the pantheistic religion of Terra's ancient Egyptian civilization; the pyramids were built as a sign of his devotion. Since then, there have been many attempts to burrow into or under the pyramids in search of treasure, but nothing has ever been found. The Pyramids remain the biggest draw for off-worlders and treasure seekers on Vega. Over the centuries, the influx of tourists became so heavy that a commercial port city dubbed New Egypt has indeed grown around the Pyramids.