Planets
The original survey designations for the planets in this solar system (long alphanumeric strings from whatever distant catalog first recorded these bodies) were shortened, mispronounced, and eventually replaced by whatever stuck in common usage.
It was not the only one colonized. There are references to others in old records and occasional news items, but it is the only one that matters for this story. The others are not detailed here.
Hope (formerly OP 220144 b)
The capital world, where the game takes place. Coruscant-dense, fully urbanized, population in the billions. Originally shortened from its catalog designation to simply “OP,” then renamed “Hope” by early colonists in a moment of genuine, unironic optimism.
The irony was not designed into the name. It was discovered by the people living under it. As density grew and conditions worsened, “Hope” curdled into a name everyone uses with a straight face and a half-smile.
Hope initially was built with parts of the ship that crash landed on the planet’s surface, then with the planet’s resources. But when the surface was fully covered with buildings, they had to find other sources of metal, and they found one, in their very solar system.
Hell (formerly HE 217428 l, “HE”)
Our Mercury is what approaches the most to what “Hell” is. Same aridity, same unbreathable atmosphere. The “inhabitants” got prefabricated constructions in order to settle there and start extracting resources, but the reality is that the erosion due to constant sand storms destroys everything getting out from the ground. So they dug tunnels to go around important buildings, which are more resistant than where they live and sleep.
The extracted ressources are rich in iron, which is then sent back to Hope (~ 2 weeks trip), where it’s treated into something that a skycrapper can be built with.
It’s an open secret, but people being sent there are there against their will, mainly to purge a sentence they got on Hope.
Gaspra (formerly BD-66 127 c)
This is a emerald green gas planet, located further away from the local sun than Hope is. Visible by night, it rapidly got determined that the gas covering this planet could be used as fuel, so the government rapidly set things in motion in order to create an automated base on one of its moon.
A part of the base has the task of going near Gaspra’s atmosphere and collect its gas. Then it gets back to the moon, empties its tanks, then goes back to collect more. The base handles the task of purifying, liquifying and compress it so it takes the least possible space. Then, an automated spaceship will load the tanks, and travel to Hope in order to deliver this fuel. The Government managed to have a chain supply so dense that 2 of those ships land on Hope every day, while the travel takes 3 weeks due to impressive science progress in space related technologies.
C894 QN (informally: “Pluto”)
It is said (without much proof) that Pluto holds lots of rare and useful resources on this planet, the problem is that with the current technology, a single trip would take up to 8 years for one go, and nobody wants to take the risk.
The surface is bare and covered in ice. The current government’s reelection platform leans heavily on promises to finally fund access to it. Citizens have heard this before. The news occasionally makes huge headlines such as “The president announced yesterday that funding for C894 QN exploration is nearly complete.” It is always nearly complete, but it never budges.