The Gate

Began long ago as a means of bridging the impossible distances between Sol and Alpha Centarui the Gate was another of the Old Ones great endeavours. With construction complete and that of its twin in that far off system a means of faster than light travel would have been unlocked, ushering in a new epoch. It would have connected the far flung dominions of humanity, allowing trade and travel on a scale unprecedented.

Alas it was not to be. When the Cataclysm came and devastated the Empire of the Old Ones the Gate was one of many megaprojects left unfinished. It was only around sixty percent complete at the time of the Cataclysm and only the Old Ones possessed the technological knowledge to comprehend its workings. So it was left incomplete, populated by the robots programmed to maintain it. Over many centuries looters and scrappers have scavanged materials and components from the immense structure, whittling it down slowly but surely. The robots have long begun to malfunction and are stuck in loops, performing the same tasks over and over or being incredibly hostile to transgressors. Those caught by such machines are invariably dissected and their remains used to "repair" the station, creating rather grisly areas for those who follow in their footsteps.

None of the warring factions of Sol claim the Gate as their own. Most see it as utterly worthless; a relic too grand and complex and complicated to be worth anything to anyone. It was rumoured prior to their own collapse into civil war that the Ascendants had plans to resume work upon the Gate. That, like their lofty ambitions of peace and unity, came to naught.

The Gate is found close to Pluto before one reaches the Kuiper Belt. In appearance the Gate is a tube six miles in diameter and nearly ten miles long. Like much the Old Ones built it was once a grand and baroque construction for that people delighted in their creations to be both artistic and functional. Inside it is a labarinth of corridors and halls and vaults for it was intended to be a place of great importance, one where travellers from far flung systems could come to trade and share knowledge.

Various outcasts from across Sol have claimed some small part of the Gate as their own, creating hydroponic gardens and ice harvesters and venturing out for salvage and risking the wrath of the many still functioning but quite mad robotic servitors.