Lave

Lave
Summary
Controlling Faction	Lave Radio Network
Government	Corporate
Allegiance	Independent
Population	25,000,000,000
Security	Medium
Economy	Agriculture
Powerplay
Power	Edmund Mahon
Type	Exploited system

Lave is famous for its vast rain forests and the now extinct Lavian tree grub.

— In-Game Description

Lave, originally designated L-453, is an Independent system within the Core Systems of the Inner Orion Spur and one of the Old Worlds. Centuries ago, Lave was a founding member of the Galactic Cooperative and served as its capital. In recent years, control of Lave has oscillated between the Alliance and Independent minor factions. During those periods when Lave is a member of the Alliance, its formidable navy becomes part of the Alliance Defence Force and holds one of the six seats on the Council of Admirals. Since 3304, Lave has been an Independent system controlled by Lave Radio Network. It is the most populous Independent system, as well as the third most populous system overall.

Lave is the exclusive purveyor of the Rare Commodity Lavian Brandy, which can be bought at Lave Station.

History

One of the oldest colonies of the sector, Colonial Deep Space Cruisers Herschel and Oberon reached the system then designated L-453 in 2412. Lave has been a Dictatorship from before the fall of the Galactic Cooperative. In 3174, Dr. Hans Walden came to power.

Dr. Walden established an authoritarian Dictatorship. The previous economic hardships brought about by the fall of the Galactic Cooperative were still remembered. Under Walden there was stability, just not prosperity.

Walden's dictatorship in the post-GalCop decades was a study in the use of propaganda to further the illusion of contentment. The public face of Lave was a progressive culture with an enlightened leadership that was remodeling itself as an independent power in the wake of a corrupt and self-serving organisation that had based itself there. Slowly, though, the populace saw where Walden's policies were leading and began to speak up, only to be quietly dealt with.

Walden's rule was very long and rumoured to involve genetic manipulation as he greatly extended his own life, with his eventual death at the hands of an assassin triggering a revolution. The revolution of 3265 finally saw the end of Walden's reign of terror but saw Lave relegated to a backwater world too wrapped up in its own troubles to amount to anything on the galactic stage. It's importance meant that Lave has become a key tourist venue, with numerous tributes to the GalCop era in terms of museums and artifacts.

Much of the rain forest has now been cut down by irresponsible locals, wishing to raise cattle, and the famous tree grub is now extinct. Unfortunately it was very sensitive to its environment, and all attempts to breed them in captivity failed.

The ecological demonstrations (made up almost entirely by off-worlders) prior to the grubs extinction were almost continuous; so much so that many travelled to Lave regularly on their vacations in order to protest. Indeed, ironically the dictator Dr. Walden once referred to the protesters on a vid interview as "Our thriving tourist industry" and also said "The system's economy depends on them so much so that we cannot afford to stop cutting down the forests!".

Lave's navy is large enough that it was directly represented on the Alliance's Council of Admirals, which commands the Alliance Defence Force. Fleet Admiral Tulimaq Buchanan represented Lave on the Council until his assassination on May 16, 3304 by the League of Reparation. On May 24, Buchanan's vacant seat was filled by the newly-promoted Rear Admiral Riri McAllister, who was given command of Lave's navy. McAllister was later removed from the post and arrested for her crimes as Nexus, the leader of the League of Reparation. Afterwards, the independent minor faction Lave Radio took control of the system and it left the Alliance; Lave's seat on the Council of Admirals was replaced by Zaonce.

In July 3305, the Alliance chose Lave to host the opening week of the Alliance Festival of Culture. This was met with mixed reactions, as Lave was still under the control of Lave Radio at the time and thus was no longer an Alliance member, but Lave Radio spokesperson Dr. Allen Stroud pointed out that there was still much to celebrate about the Alliance whether Lave was a current or former member.

The starport Lave Station was bombed by the Neo-Marlinist Liberation Army on March 11, 3307, along with starports in eight other major systems. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the Nine Martyrs attack, and many more were injured. The coordinated attacks occurred during the Galactic Summit in Sirius, and caused the conference to be cancelled.

System Layout

• Lave (Class K star)
  • Planet Lave (Earth-like world)
    • Lave Station (Coriolis)
  • Warinus (Asteroid Base)
  • Castellan Belt (Asteroid belt, metal rich)
  • Lave 2 (High metal content world)
    • Castellan Station (Outpost)

Minor Factions

• Workers of Lave Liberals (Alliance, Democracy)
• Lave Incorporated (Alliance, Corporate)
• Lave Jet Family (Independent, Anarchy)
• Social Tionisla Labour (Independent, Democracy)
• Lave Fortune Organisation (Alliance, Corporate)
• Defence Party of Lave (Independent, Dictatorship)

Notes

• Lave was the starting system for the original Elite game and as such is a popular destination for some pilots in Elite Dangerous.
• Lave 2 has a permit lock in place as per the request of the author of Elite: Lave Revolution, which as yet cannot be acquired. The piece of local news in 3301-08-11 from The Lave Herald titled "Lave II Celebrates Tenth Anniversary" mentions "claims on finding of an abandoned micro colony on Lave II have never been acknowledged by the government, although long-range photographs, released to the Lavian Herald in 3292, did appear to show man-made structures on the surface". Also mentioned in "Lave 2 Expedition Controversy" from 3301-09-21.

Videos

Elite Dangerous - "Inhabited space" - Elite Dangerous Short cinematic video

Gallery

Planet Lave and Lave station

Lave in December 3302, before the implementation of Asteroid Bases