SolarisRidge

Solaris Ridge

Classification: Weyland Yutani Biological Storage Depot

Location: LV-1413 (Routerra I)

Population: ~120

A boxy and familiar place

History

Solaris Ridge (also known as Big Red) was a human settlement and former terraforming project. While originally an independent operation on the planet LV-1413, after funds dried up and the terraforming lichen failed to take, colonization rights were quietly sold to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation by at the time colonial director B. Dryers.

While Routerra I was part of the initial Kepler survey batch from NASA in 2026, the light-year difference and the planet's placement within the Neroid sector made early colonization all but impossible. Terraforming and subsequent colonization eventually began in 2125 and ended in 2145.

Lichen-based terraforming markets itself as a cheaper alternative to standard atmospheric processing, however the technology remains unproven. The initial two batches that were seeded at the then-fledgling Solaris Ridge site managed to establish themselves; but subsequent batches that were grown in the local Eta labs, as opposed to being imported, failed to meet expected growth projections. Recurring dust storms and an ever increasing maintenance bill forced colonial management to divert more of the budget than initially anticipated towards repair. By 2144, funds for the entire project had dried up. Ownership was sold to Weyland-Yutani in 2145, and the two lichen labs, Eta and Lambda, were converted for use as extended storage and study units for biological samples.

Currently, Solaris Ridge houses a meager 120 colonists and is considered a dead end for most enterprising off-worlders. It operates under the Weyland-Yutani brand as a biological storage facility and virology research lab, though rumor has it that those facilities have also been decommissioned. All of its colonists are presently employed by the Company, willingly or not. Additional funds to expand the project have yet to be allocated. Only the upkeep cost is maintained.

LV-1413

Routerra I

LV-1413 is a terrestrial world with no orbiting moons, located in the Routerra system. Nestled at the far end of the Neroid sector, LV-1413 is the very definition of a backwater rim world.

The Routerra system is composed of Routerra I (LV-1413), Routerra II (a barren ice planet in an elliptical orbit at the edge of the system bounds), and 'Routerra' itself, a K5 IV Orange Supergiant 67% brighter than Sol and nearing the end of its life cycle.

Discovered initially during the private Kepler missions in 2026, Routerra I was incredibly low-priority on the colonization timeline due to its location. The rights to the planet's surface were purchased at a bargain bin price by a private entity in 2135.

Trivia

• Solaris Ridge has gone through 3 remaps. It was the second original map to be added to CMSS13
• Solaris Ridge is most commonly known by its nickname of “Big Red”.
• Solaris Ridge previously featured dust storms that required Marine players to wear internals to survive, or shelter inside one of the many structures. The only part of this feature left in the game are the storm shutter buttons inside the bar and general store.
• Medbay, Security, and parts of Lambda lab were cannibalized from BoxStation in their entirety with no remapping or editing done.
• Solaris Ridge is the most edited map in Colonial Marines, by both developers and contributors. The closest runner up is Trijent Dam.