Photo Credit: Skiwalker79 via Compfight cc
This is the 4th entry in the worldbuilding posts for my Hathor Legacy series. (Check out part 1 and part 2 and part 3.)
For a super quick recap: Hathor (named after the Egyptian goddess) was/will be discovered in the year 2234.
During this time corporations are on the lookout for resources to be used for power sources and a host of other items. They’re also looking for places that are hospitable for farming and agriculture (the kind you grow, not the kind created in a lab).
Two mega-corps involved in this type of research are Terran Terraforming & Mining and Novacorp Gallactic, Inc. They want profits, so the takeover of planets (and systems) are key to their growth.
Similar to corporate takeovers here in the present day, these companies are just as ruthless about claiming planets for their use. (In Hathor Legacy: Burn, I go into more detail about how this affects the settlers who come to Hathor, and other planets under Novacorp control are also mentioned.)
After a disease decimates the settlements and the survivors eventually develop PSI abilities, there’s a huge upheaval of the somewhat planned society. Natives of the planet who have abilities are pitted against later arrivals who knew nothing about the disease until they arrived. This leads to a schism in society between the “original” settlers (AKA the First Families) and those who arrived later on.
People with PSI abilities are often persecuted and killed or are used by more powerful people. Under a corporate “government” it’s more like the survival of those who can create more profits, than any type of republic. Eventually after almost a century of increasing chaos, Joachim emerges as a leader for those with PSI abilities. He’s at odds with TTM, the corporation running Hathor, and they eventually ship him off world.
After his departure, he meets up with reps from Novacorp who would like to take over Hathor. He makes a deal with them to assist their takeover if they will assist his people. Not long after that, a mysterious fire breaks out in Joachim’s home and kills his wife and baby daughter. TTM doesn’t investigate it and it’s assumed they are behind it.
His remaining children, Dakar and Jen – characters who play important roles in Hathor Legacy: Burn, are sent away to what are called the Cold Towns of the North. (Called that because of the colder and harsher weather conditions.)
The Corporate Wars
Ultimately, Novacorp strikes a deal with Joachim, and the war is on. Their troops back him up and he’s able to get the allegiance of his followers to help overthrow TTM’s authority.
After a lot of destruction, TTM pulls out and Novacorp takes over. However, TTM doesn’t provide passage out for all their contractors. And those who either can’t afford to leave, or don’t want to leave, are relegated to the lower rungs of the new corporate hierarchy.
Novacorp draws up a corp charter, giving Joachim’s followers with PSI abilities a place in the company as the Guardians. The city is renamed, Nova City and the company claims all the land in that geographic area.
Novacorp Rule
Though there is still private ownership in the West and North, for the most part, people live on corporate land, in corporate houses and work for the corporation. You’ve heard of company towns? Hathor is a company planet. (Novacorp also takes over the neighboring planet, Astarte and Demeter, the moon where TTM had their mining operations.)
Approx. 50 years later, the Guardians are an established security force, and that brings us up to the time when Nadira and Jonathan Keel meet on Hathor.
I’d planned to add more about the three groups of people with PSI abilities: the Guardians, Kasema and Deshtu. But that will have to wait until the next installment! Their interactions will be featured in the 3rd book of the Hathor Legacy series, Hathor Legacy: Revelations.