The Fray · Gate system
Nobody comes here for the view. They come for hazard pay.
A dangerous energy and fuel production system, governed as much by safety necessity as commerce, through a utilitarian body called the Flare Authority. High turnover; most people come for hazard pay, few stay long-term.
Exports refined fuel and exotic energy cells harvested from the star's flares, plus rare “flare-forged” minerals found nowhere else in the Fray. Imports food, and a constant stream of medical care for radiation-related treatment.
Poor to middling for most workers — hazard pay helps, but the cost of living and medical need eats most of it. The Flare Authority's leadership does considerably better.
Cindergate's fuel is strategically vital, and several systems — including more than a few interests at Kestrel's Reach — quietly jockey for influence over the Flare Authority. Occasionally, flare-thrown debris includes material that doesn't match any known stellar composition: Precursor in origin, maybe, or evidence of something buried deep in the star's own corona.
System chart
Diagram is schematic — orbits are not to scale. See distance and measurement.
Places
A heavily shielded station in stable orbit. Population moderate and transient. Home to the massive flare-collector arrays that make the system's economy possible.
A small, scorched moon with deep, mostly automated mining operations. No permanent population; it supplies the rare flare-forged minerals that make the risk worthwhile.