Sunset over the salt flats of HKC 2901 c coinciding with the rise of its sister planet over the southern mountain ranges. Much of the land is barren on 2901c, sparsely broken by jagged peaks and scrub lands, but the desolation belies a bounty of natural resources. Here, a cargo maglev races across the mirror-like surface, chasing the last glimmer of light.
Both warning and shelter at once, this fortress is one of several way stations for island hoppers navigating the icy southern archipelagos of 1c. The surrounding region is often covered in a dense fog and low-lying clouds thanks to lava-driven upwellings, and the occasional eruption can cause severe, localized storms, making the region one of the most perilous to traverse. Like most structures on 1c, it has a deep underground network for harnessing geothermal energy and a small cache of resources in the event that a visitor requires shelter from a storm.
These small, gull-winged craft, once designated as strike bombers, found new life as exploration and research vehicles in the wilderness of 234.4a.c. Their extensible payload capacities–owing to the large available volume under their wings–were ideal for long expeditions where pilots often had to be largely self-sufficient in remote regions. This particular craft sports the matte green and yellow livery and insignia of the Concord Corps of Exploration.
Despite pouring countless hours over every photo, drawing, and recounting of the ancient structure, even the most accurate of those facsimiles paled in comparison to the real thing when Dr. Tareste first laid eyes upon it: a moon-blue dagger of a tower rising out of the undergrowth, flanked by a pair of eroded statues, almost luminescent in what watery light filtered through the verdant canopy.
The better part of xir academic career had been dedicated to the study of these sites–the remnants of an obscure culture, the bones of another people, of xir people–and now xe stood within hiking distance of this one. All those dreams of reaching out and touching the same walls that xir ancestors might have once touched, standing where they might have once stood… The thought inspired a burst of energy, and the doctor walked on with renewed determination.
Above: the beginnings of a village established on KHEPRI-1c. Though most of the planet’s population were transient researchers, some found their calling among the icy peaks and igneous valleys and sought to become permanent residents. Powered by geothermal activity beneath the crust, their massive radar tower was the main source of communication with the outside world, and it expanded into one of the biggest outposts on the planet. However, less than a decade later, misfortune struck: a major earthquake followed by a particularly harsh storm wiped out most of its population, and the remaining survivors elected to abandon the crumbling town to the mercies of 1c’s eternal winter.
