Olympus System

Baruch: Planetary Ghost

Baruch was originally found due to fluctuations measured in the star's light observed from a scanner a few dozen systems away, once explored by the USCM 501st Regiment, the planet was deemed worthless, but the primitive scanning the group possessed was the cause of the oversight. It has no atmosphere, is tidally locked, and has a massive crater on the dark side. The crater contains high concentrations of transition metals, a gift from a stellar body that struck it billions of years ago. One side of the planet is scorching hot while the other is freezing cold, due to its lack of atmosphere and tidal locking. Navigating the surface is dangerous due to the radiation emitted by the sun and the effects it and other interference can have on technology. Robotics are to be kept to a minimum and the most accepted form of mining is blast mining

Seraph

Seraph is a few hundred kilometers in diameter, comprised of a mixture of high-iron rock and silicate materials from the old stellar body that struck Baruch.

Iona: Iodine Venus

Iona is a world the Humans that live in the system would call Venusian. It’s hot, it’s toxic, and it’s valuable. The world has not been touched to an extent by anything other than Atlas probes both from Federation and Empire days but the world is well understood. The anomaly with this planet is that the atmosphere contains a high percentage of Hydrogen Iodide, which combined with a low percentage of local oxygen to provide Iodine gas(4HI + O₂ → 2I₂ + 2H₂O). The ramifications of this are high surface temperature, as the gas is dark in color and the surface rock is composed of a dark silicate, absorbing light and heat. The gas works as an insulator, keeping that heat in and the cycle of greenhouse gasses begins. It is unknown how Human intervention will change this ecosystem but some theorize it is possible to harvest chemicals in the atmosphere, though the extreme heat will prove challenging. The surface, when viewed from probe is jagged, with sharp cliffs and dark rocks. The atmosphere, if it could be experienced without protection, would feel humid, almost steamy and oily. Life is considered to be impossible on the planet, due both to the chemistry and the temperature of the world.

Olympus

Olympus is the crown jewel of the system, a rare Gaia world which dwarfs all other planets in the system according to value. The planet has developed natural DNA-based water life and chlorophyll-utilizing plants. This has been complemented with the introduction of Human terraforming flora, which has intermingled with the native life creating a familiar-yet-alien feeling landscape. The world has a slight axial tilt permitting seasons because of its two minor moons, they are theorized to likely be captured comets and asteroids gained billions of years before humans existed, which became large enough to obtain hydrostatic equilibrium. The planet itself has a 14.3-degree axial tilt, allowing Humans to survive in it, though making it a bit colder than Earth. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The planet itself has one main continental body and a few polar ice regions. There are a number of insignificant islands in warmer areas but go vastly unnoticed. The continent, though, contains anything from beaches to mountains. There was no form of advanced life before the introduction of Humans to the world, so there are no ruins of any kind. Built already on this planet is a massive city, constructed by the USCM's 501st Regiment and later the first generation of Atlas, Olympus stands as the sole megacity on the world, united under the government of Atlas. Since the Federation’s control over the city dissipated, it has fallen into anarchy and disrepair.

Matthew

The larger of the twin moons of Olympus, Matthew is a standard lunar body of a blue-ish color and a deeply cratered surface.

Bianca

The smaller of the twin moons of Olympus, Bianca is a purple-ish tinged moon and features a wavy, venusian-like surface which can, at one point, be surmised to have had volcanic activity.

Sylvanis: Forgotten Plains

Sylvanis is an arid ‘savannah-world’ that has strikingly-similar flora to Olympus, it is believed that this world is a product of the panspermia theory. The atmosphere of the world is thin, so most life only occurs in lower altitudes such as plains and valleys. The surface of the world is rocky, with sandy dirt where most life occurs. As one increases in altitude, the soil gives way to rock, samples of which suggest a lithosphere and asthenosphere, much like earth. Special gear must be equipped to travel upward by any significant margin. The world has sparse rain, and as such plants, which may be traced back to early ancestors present on Olympus, have evolved to survive in dry conditions. Given the lack of a surface ocean (there are rarely lakes), it is theorized that the majority of the water from this world comes from a series of aquifers or an underground ocean entirely. The only structures on the planet are those left by the Atlas Federation, namely a small listening facility and training camp that served as a base for military personnel. The planet possesses small satellites that are not large enough to be considered moons, much like Mars’ Deimos. These could be left over from the part of Olympus that initiated the panspermia process to Sylvanis.

Chloris: A Frozen Saturn

Chloris is an ice giant lying far beyond the frost point of the star, its diameter is many times of earth and its is a moderate in terms of ice giant composition. Ice giant refers to a ‘Neptunian’ planet, in which the planet is similar to Jovian gas giants such as Jupiter or Saturn but composed of heavier gasses like Methane, Nitrogen or Sulfur. Chloris is a pale yellow ice giant, composed mainly of Nitrogen and ammonia. It has a comparatively high concentration of Chlorine. The wind speed of the planet is faster than the settled gas-world Lapetus and by no small margin. Wind speeds can reach an excess of 800 miles per hour, Atlas scientists theorize that if they were to attempt colonization on the planet, the revolutionary technology that made Lapetus habitable would have to be adapted greatly. Models simulated show significant water ice growth in the inverse direction of the wind due to the forced inclusion of this gas for human suitability. The first generation of settlers would have to use suits to survive strong gas exposure as well as the temperature differential.

Hesper: Fire and Brimstone

Hesper is a moon of Chloris, much like the Galilean moons of Jupiter, it is one of the few major bodies surrounding the planet, and as it is surrounded by many minor moons, recently on a geologic timespan, a collision occurs, causing molten rock and metal to flow on the surface of the world, much like Vulcan. Of course, this collision was millions of years ago, but the high level of carbon dioxide gas allows the temperature to be high and stay high. The planet is composed of a thin lithosphere, where the crust is easily broken and separated regularly exposing a rather low-viscosity asthenosphere, where this can be exploited, equal are the dangers of doing so. It is common for high impact surface separation jobs to flood areas with molten material.

Moris: Umbral Mystery

Moris is an elusive midnight planet. There have been no attempts to settle, contact or map this moon. It is blanketed in a dangerous layer of ultraviolet radiation.

Augustine

Augustine is a mini-neptune class planet, comprised of hydrogen and helium. It is beautifully adorned with blue and golden-brown sweeping bands but is overall worthless in terms of gas-content.

Achlys: Hell

A world tinged red from its frightfully-brominated atmosphere. All mission ideas to this planet have been scrapped as the Empire does not possess the technology to settle this world. It is surmised to have a molten core and eccentric orbit.