The Augustus System is the resource extraction hub of the Empire Cluster, controlled by Aetherial Limited. While other systems handle finance, shipping, or manufacturing, Augustus provides the raw materials that make everything else possible.
Augustus is a system rich in natural resources—asteroid belts heavy with metals, gas giants for fuel harvesting, and a primary world with extensive mineral deposits. Aetherial Limited has spent centuries extracting this wealth, and they've built an industrial empire on the proceeds.
The corporation's mining operations are vast. Automated extractors work the asteroid belts. Orbital refineries process ore around the clock. Transport convoys flow constantly toward Trajan and Constantine, feeding the Cluster's appetite for raw materials.
The system's primary world, Augustus hosts Aetherial Limited's corporate headquarters along with significant surface mining operations. The planet is scarred by centuries of extraction—open pit mines, processing facilities, and the infrastructure needed to move millions of tons of material annually.
Unlike purely industrial worlds, Augustus maintains pockets of genuine luxury. The corporation's executives live well, with estates and amenities that rival anything on Nerva. Aetherial Limited believes in demonstrating success.
"The Pits" is the colloquial name for Augustus's extensive asteroid mining operations—a region of the inner system where Aetherial Limited operates hundreds of automated extractors, crewed mining platforms, and processing stations.
Working the Pits is hard, dangerous, and well-compensated. Miners rotate through on contract, spending months in the belt before returning to civilization. The work attracts a certain type: those willing to trade comfort for credits.
Prima Refinery is the system's largest orbital processing facility, handling ore from across the system before it's shipped to manufacturing centers elsewhere in the Cluster. The station operates continuously, converting raw rock into refined metals, processed minerals, and industrial feedstocks.
Aetherial Limited is one of the Empire Cluster's founding corporations, built on resource extraction and the principle that everything has a price—including the ground beneath your feet.
The corporation's reach extends beyond Augustus. They hold mining rights in systems across Freelance space, operate refineries on a dozen worlds, and maintain long-term supply contracts with manufacturers throughout the region. When Constantine builds ships, the metal often comes from Aetherial operations.