Living In The Stars

While the galaxy is full of habitable planets and moons, some people just can't be satisfied with terrestrial life. Luckily for these people, there are many artificial ways to survive out in the big black that don't involve living out of the back of a spaceship like the many nomadic crews that travel the galaxy. 

Back in the bad old days of space exploration, when Humanity was still working out the finer points of gunpowder, there was a great deal of worry over how to power the ever expanding industries, colonies, and galactic trade that made the interstellar community possible. One of the earliest solutions to this was something, in human terms, called a Dyson Sphere. Very simply, it involved enclosing a star in an artificial shell. This shell would then absorb the nuclear energy of the star to create energy cells that would power the galactic economy. In order to facilitate the creation of these cells, housing had to be created on the very surface of the Dyson Spheres. The problem is that Dyson Spheres were both dangerous to build and would massively increase a star's rate of decay, leading them to burn out. Thankfully, guardrails were put in place that only allowed Dyson Spheres to be built around stars that did not have live planets depending on them. Today, when other methods of power generation have overtaken the spheres, a great deal of them lie destitute around now dead stars. The old workers and their descendents have clung to the surface of the spheres in shanty towns and techno-ghettos. With the power plants shut down and industry drying up, many of the residents have turned to scrapping, piracy, and many other unsavory practices. However, since the Alliance are not willing to invest in relocating the populace or dismantling the Dyson Spheres, the poulation live largely under their own rule which attracts those who might want to subvert the law.

However, Dyson Spheres are not the only large scale artificial residences in the galaxy. Most people who want to have a permanent residence but for one reason or another can't or won't live directly on a planet can be found on space stations. These are large platforms that orbit planets, some of which are habitable but need the extra space to house its population or exist as a relic of when the population first colonised the planet. Sometimes space stations have evolved out of continous spaceport use or long-term docked ships but a number of them were originally created to allow for scientific research or undertake mining operations. Some of these stations are still at work on their original mission, but a good number of them have been converted from their original purposes and become long term living and working spaces. On any station you care to dock at, you'll usually find a huge melting pot of different cultures and species, all carving out little spaces on the station to call their own. All sorts of folks come from space stations and are often referred to as "spacers". They're not so much a culture as a common background. 

Finally, there is one last way that life can be enjoyed beyond the terrestrial. For the rich and powerful, Rings exist. "Rings" is the colloquial name given to colossal orbital bands of artifical ground that encircle a planet. They are named "Rings" because they are comprised of an extremely long but comparitvely thin strip of habitable land that loops around a planet, rotating to provide its own gravity. These mega-structures are so ruinously expensive that they are exclusively the domain of the wealthy. Most Rings tend to be situated around visually beautiful but utterly hostile planets in order to provide a striking view for its inhabitants. There are indeed almost no Rings around inhabited worlds, space stations being the go-to for satellite populations.The only exceptions to the idea of Rings being situated around inhospitable planets are the Band of Kings around the galactic capital of Chala, a Ring dedicated to housing the upper crust of galactic government, and the permanent observation Ring around the forest planet of Decidua. However, with Decidua having a permanent blockade preventing unauthorised access, this definition might be stretched a little. 

All these methods of extra-terrestrial habitation will come in handy when the Old Earth Restoration Movement (OERM) start really cleaning up the planet. You can't house workers in toxic smog clouds under lethal UV rays after all. Space OSHA would have a field day...