Centarion’s only natural satellite, Lunan has held a steady orbit for over four billion years. Throughout all of human civilisation, the moon has been a source of wonder – with people once worshiping her as a divine being, just as they did with the sun.
Lunan now boasts more greenery, open water, and fauna than Centarion, and even from the planet below, one can see evidence of such life on the moon’s surface. As a result of a terraforming initiative during the Second Communion, which is still ongoing today, life was planted on the moon and it has taken a tender foothold.
A surface atmosphere has been growing around the moon for thousands of years, and it has been breathable for longer than the Third Communion. Once the atmosphere was in place, the many craters were flooded with water imported from the icy moons found elsewhere in the solar system. At first, it was a mission to keep the water in place, without the tides from Centarion slinging it into the atmosphere. So, the water cycle was modified, with special chemicals and minerals being seeded in the water to make it denser. This has had an influence on all lifeforms on the moon, with everything being slightly heavier than their counterparts on other worlds. Waste from all over the Communion may find itself melted down and planted deep in the moon’s core in an effort to increase the gravitational field. However, this has had a minimal impact over the years, and corporations from the Tripoli Arm have since established junkyards that far outperform Lunan, rendering this particular aspect of its terraforming redundant.
The main business on the moon is the terraforming itself. The Communion must ensure that people remain living on the moon to work the many sites around the surface, which are still required for the atmosphere’s survival. The moon has not yet reached a self-sustaining level, and some have even suggested that those living on the moon ensure that this will never happen. After all, it is their livelihood. If the moon were able to breathe all by itself, then these people and their descendants would be of no further use. So, there is an extensive education on the moon on all aspects of terraforming, and most of the lunar inhabitants go on to either work on the terraforming of Lunan or that of other worlds. It is not a particularly profitable industry to be in, however. Since no work will ever be completed in anyone’s lifetime, so called ‘generous philanthropists’ are notably less generous when they know that no one will be able to appreciate their contributions.
Perhaps, the biggest contributor to Lunan, is the most esteemed journalist Mister Faust, who has a summer palace built into the moon rock. He has financed entire cities; but all this, he has done for himself and not for anyone else’s benefit. As always, the masses are just an enigma to him, a useful tool for getting his own way. Since the Fourth Schism, and his new clothes as Commander of the Sentienists, he now occupies his summer palace full time – as his personal fortress. From here, he has a fine view of both Centar’don and Centarion, and he can witness humanity unfold in the very sky above.