Void Reef

Void Reef
Type: V-Type Asteroid
Primary Star: M8V (Red Dwarf)
Gravity: .03 g
Diameter: 530 km
Atmospheric Pressure: N/A
Atmospheric Composition: N/A
Surface Temperature (Mean): -50 C
Day Length: N/A
Orbital Period: 368 Days
Gate Access: Discord Gate, Tempest Gate
Notes: Alien Traces, Resources Available, Exhuman Settlement
Visibly, Void Reef is a striking Gate locale. It is named because the gate is settled into a family of V-Type asteroids which exist in a relatively small population system, with a couple of uninhabitable mercurian terrestrials in the inner system, and a large out system gas giant with a few moons which has mostly swept the area clear. Thus, the local region somewhat resembles a rocky shoal or reef - exemplified by the presence of some minor nebular gases which lend a slight violet tinge to the region. Go-Nin is deeply interested in this area for many reasons - rare V-Type asteroids are loaded with resources as they are stratified, often thought to be a destroyed planetoid. Also, the Factors have expressed an interest in V-Type asteroids, and Go-Nin hopes to parlay some of their research to them for technological favors, perhaps not counting on the Factor's reluctance to deal with Pandora Gates. Additionally, there are signs on Reef-1 (the primary asteroid which is the gate location) and the closest visible asteroids that other Gate travellers may have visited and the past, doing their own surveying and sampling.  Go-Nin's eagerness got even stronger when they encountered another unusual factor - that Reef-1 appears to have a fossil record, small coral like creatures and other forms are buried in the strata of the asteroid, along with signs of decayed organics and small macrofauna exoskeletons. Was the original planet destroyed by some force after it had evolved life? It is a great mystery Go-Nin is eager to turn a profit on.
Unfortunately for them, their efforts to categorize the entire Void Reef formation have hit a major stumbling block. There is a group of Exhumans here, believed to be allied with the Rortians, who call the Void Reef their "Shattered Nest" and lurk in some of the more far-flung asteroids, and have begun preying on explorers who move through those areas. They appear to be a clade of Adaptives and Soul-Eaters, who use hive-minded technology similar to Rortian dreadnoughts to share processing among several morphs in packs - which resemble insectoid bodies and are vacuum adapted, and may utilize Long-Term Life Support. This makes them very cunning and dangerous in large packs, and they are clearly more familiar with the terrain. Intelligence suggests they are taking some of the researchers and workers hostage to peel their Egos and gain new skills and information, possibly engaging in ascendant forking. This has in turn caused a large number of Ultimate "Purifiers" to move in and begin conducting patrols and raids in the area. All while Go-Nin keeps shipping in miners, surveyors and scientists to keep research and production moving forward as their expected pace.
This has turned Void Reef into an exotic frontier locale, with Ultimate Mercenaries and Raiders striking at Exhuman settlements, Exhuman pirates and soul thieves jumping workers who stray too far, and humble workers and scientists just trying to get their job done caught in between. All while several mysteries about the Reef itself persist.