Kellinan Reach

The Kellinan Reach was a region of space located somewhere in the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrants.

History and specifics

Located "above" the rimward portion of Federation space (or, in more scientific terms, along the positive Z axis as one normally views Federation space) existed a large area of unclaimed space. According to reports received by the Federation, located on the other side of this area lied a powerful interstellar civilization called the Kellinan; therfore Starfleet stellar cartographers dubbed the area the "Kellinan Reach." As of 2375 no contact had been made with the Kellinan, but the Kellinan Reach was one of the least tamed of the Federation frontiers.

By most estimates, the Kellinan Reach was at least 165 light-years wide, and may have been larger. AS of 2375, Federation vessels had penetrated only about ten light-years into the region. A few small Federation colonies had been established in the star systems closest to the defined Federation border. Starfleet had made contact with several spacefaring species living in the Reach, and its Diplomatic Corps had begun the process of opening relations with them.

The Federation mainly interacted with these species through trade. Federation economists (to say nothing of the Ferengi) viewed trade with the Reach as an enormous opportunity. Most of the trading occurred at a facility known as "Bridgetown."

Bridgetown

The origins of Bridgetown, a mining facility built onto one side of a large asteroid, were not precisely known. One part of the complex took the form of a large arch which "bridges," a chasm on the asteroid where most of the mining took place--hence the nickname "Bridgetown" when it was first discovered by Evets Gnol, well known in the Federation as a crafty, egotistical pirate and scalawag. To Evets it seemed like the perfect hideout, since it was outside Federation jurisdiction. However, as word of his discovery leaked out, others came to the same conclusion. Soon he was only one of many outlaws hiding there. Eventually more legitimate citizens -- traders, prospectors, salvagers, and the like -- came to live and work there.

Neither Evets nor anyone else who had examined the facility knew what species or person built it. Its style, and the writing on its equipment, matched nothing known to the Federation. It may have been Kellinan.

Bridgetown served as an important, if somewhat dangerous, trading outpost. It had no formal government; Evets served as a sort of "prince of thieves," but generally anyone living there had to fend for himself. Some of the other powers in town included a feared Orion Syndicate leader name Krist Mor (who was accompanied everywhere by his ruthless bodyguards, Arzix and Cahill), and a notorious scholar-mercenary who went by the name K'hite.

Some of the "citizens" of Bridgetown, who liked their wild-and-woolly home just as it was, feared the Federation would move to establish a formal presence on the asteroid and "clean it up." No one could deny that its importance as a trading post with the species of the Kellinan Reach was increasing. Many inhabitants spent a lot of time speculating about what the Federation would do, and tried to figure out ways to keep their normal businesses going under its nose when it arrived. Federation officers posted to Bridgetown had to exercise great caution, and even bend regulations to get things done. (Last Unicorn RPG: Deep Space Nine Core Game Book)

The Yoshitoni Institute

The Yoshitoni Institute, a highly secret installation run by the Orion Syndicate was located on an obscure asteroid in the Kellinan Reach. It was jokingly named after a notorious killer and saboteur famous for his brutal role in the formation of the Syndicate. It offered individually tailored training programs for aspiring mercenaries, assassins, insurgents, torturers, and bounty hunters. In 2375 its dean was a green-skinned Orion named Ellefrin Vrax who ran Yoshitoni as a winking parody of legitimate educational institutions, complete with a cap-and-gown graduation ceremony. His perverse sense of humor aside, Vrax offered a rigorous and complete training program, exposing students to the most advanced tactics and the newest equipment and weaponry. (Last Unicorn RPG module: Raiders, Renegades & Rogues)