The Germinal Gate and The Citadelle

Last, and by many accounts the least of the gates, what was previously called the Napoleon Gate was constructed in 1916, connecting the French Empire to the stars. The gate was anchored above a track of land just outside of Paris, northeast of Saint-Denis. The location was chosen for optimal logistical usage, as placing a Tsiolkovsky ladder in this previously empty tract gave access to river infrastructure to the west, an under-construction airport in the east, and Paris’ impressive rail network to the south. In its seeming mundanity, the Napoleon Gate was the truest to form on what the technology was intended for at its heart; efficient transportation. In the almost half-century since the technology’s discovery many of the other gates suffered from decentralized locations, tumultuous political conflicts, and the lack of foresight on demand. At the very least, the gate could serve as the idyllic textbook example for all 2nd Generation Gate Projects, as the tech in time will become more cost-effective for others.

The gate’s architects experienced numerous headaches during its construction, discovering a key issue unforeseen by the original researchers. All gates undergo a rigorous process of calibration before they can be activated. Any miscalculation can drastically alter the stability of the launch, or potentially send the users into a random location nowhere near the predetermined destination. In the worst case, an accidental intersect trajectory, the entire gate attempting to activate will fry its circuitry, a discovery made that cost the Napoleon Gate several weeks and a small mountain of precious metals to replace the system. The cause was suspected to be the sheer quantity of gates that had been built around Earth, with proximity to the Victoria Gate being the likely culprit for direct interference. The issue was eventually remedied through further R&D, thanks in part to British funding and faculty, who collaborated in exchange for copies of their telemetry data.

The return gate also took an exceptionally long time to build, especially as they were both underfunded and understaffed, as the Emperor ordered the simultaneous construction of a ladder in the new colony. Had the drop point been further out in open aether like some of the other gates, this command would have been impossible, but fortunately for the first teams sent through, they were almost perfectly deposited in orbit. It took eight years to finish construction, but as history of the Great Famine would show, they could not have arrived at a better time.

Given their locations over two of the biggest cities in French territory, both gates have very small populations who live or work on their surface. Since 1930, this population has been bolstered by the presence of the Citadelle de la République, the command center of the modern French armed forces. The structure juts out from the lower surface of the gate, bracketing the ladder with a jagged construct that literally overlooks the capital city. Additional shield generators are housed in this facility, serving as a backup to both the gate and Paris’ network. Since the Revolution of 1938, the facility on the rechristened Germinal Gate is now home to the Commissariat, who set up operations after purging Imperialist forces stationed within.