Fig. 1.1: Orbital view of Galtrone I
Galtrone I is a large, aquatic world located approximately 2 light-years from Horovine. It is notable in that it is the largest V.R.A. penal colony in existence, and houses approximately 50 million support staff, guards, criminals, rebels, and prisoners of war.
| System: | Galtrone |
| Diameter: | 38274 kilometers |
| Satellites: | None |
| Climate: | Very rainy, frequent hurricanes |
| Planetary Classification: | Oceanic (Island) |
| Distance To Star: | 1.8 AU |
| Affiliation: | V.R.A. |
| Population: | 50 million, later abandoned |
| Discovered: | 13400 HSY |
| Founded/Colonized: | 13440 HST |
| Role: | Penal Colony |
| Status: | Abandoned |
History[]
Pre-Sigma[]
Galtrone I was colonized only a few years before the events of Sigma, in 13440 HSY. It was decided in V.R.A. command that the planet should be a penal colony, due to its deep oceans and constant inclement weather. Since that time, it has grown to house almost all of the V.R.A.'s criminals, rebels, and prisoners of war, and is the single largest prison in existence.
Horovine-Jevoron Conflict[]
Using Jevorons as experimental stock, Project Aabtani was begun in the depths of the planet's ocean trenches. Later, this project would be augmented with supplies of prisoners from the other alien races, from the wars all over the Sintar Cluster. A large facility was constructed, several kilometers under the surface and burrowed into the walls of the trench, to house the project. Norin was conceived here, but was shipped back to the Jevoron Homeworld for presentation to the team's Jevoron members.
First Zevestivan War[]
During the First Zevestivan War, Zevestivan PoWs of all descriptions filled many of the cells on Galtrone I. Many were brutally tortured for information regarding troop movements, force concentrations, etc., but few actually revealed anything, the result of extensive psychological conditioning. Matriarch Kydora was taken to the Galtrone I prison facility after her capture near the end of the war.
Climate[]
The climate on the planet is not pleasant by any means. The surface temperature, while almost constant throughout the year, hovers around 0 degrees Celsius for most of the year. For this reason, the water is always very cold, although it never freezes. Large hurricanes, thousands of kilometers across, rage across the surface for months at a time, making landing a ship a daunting prospect at best. There are no polar ice caps, although wandering icebergs the size of cities are common. The ocean is full of dangerous currents and eddies, and travel anywhere is a dangerous affair. Besides this fact, there is a large animal, on the order of several hundred meters long, which seems to enjoy making snacks of uncautious ships and submarines. Many vehicles have been lost to these creatures, which retreat to the deeper trenches when not hunting.
Geology[]
The planet is still very active geologically, with active volcanoes all over the ocean floor, frequent earthquakes, and huge tectonic shifts that can open massive trenches, thousands of kilometers long, in instants, or close them again as if they never existed. Many of the original colony buildings have been lost to the tectonic shifts, as they were buried, with all their occupants inside them, under millions of tons of rock.
Geography[]
Apart from a few small island chains, the entirety of the planet is underwater. The ocean floor is covered in massive trenches, huge craters, and tall volcanoes. The largest of the volcanoes, Tetarch IV, towers more than 5 kilometers above the ocean floor, and is surrounded by a series of smaller volcanoes. There are no continents, although massive trenches, thousands of kilometers long and dozens wide, roughly subdivide the ocean floor into landmasses. Project Aabtani was sited in the most stable of the trenches, and the entire 50-million-person prison complex was built atop it, spilling over the sides of the trench as well as traveling along it for many kilometers.