"Nothing more than a giant pebble. Perfect for those avoiding unwanted attention."
SECOND PLANET FROM PERILLIS
Size and Orbit
Derlop is a terrestial planet about 8000 kilometers in diameter making it the second smallest planet in the system. It orbits 58000000 kilometers from Perilis, taking 151 days for a complete orbit. Derlops rotation axis is tilted so that seasons are exaggerated by the prolonged duration of sunlight based on Derlop's position in orbit.
Maua occasionally approaches Derlop close enough that Maua's orbit is affected, usually shifting its orbital elipse about 30 degrees.
Composition
Scans of Derlop indicate a high probability of having an iron-nickel core around 4000 kilometers in diameter. The core appears to be mostly inactive, as Derlop's magnetic field is extremely weak. The surface of the planet is rich in silicon, oxygen, and iron, the iron being of interest to metal-working companies. Most the iron, however, is buried nearly a kilometer into the crust of the planet, making extraction difficult and costly.
Surface Features
There is a large amount of seismic activity on Derlop's surface, something researchers have yet to understand. Derlop suffers between 300 to 400 earthquakes daily, around 15 of which are significantly destructive. It is extremely difficult to navigate the planet due to highly active tectonic plates which are constently changing the predominant terrain features of the planet. Without a dedicated satellite-mapping net Derlop is nearly impossible to develop infrastructure on for any operation.
The Derlop Wormhole
Derlop has very little use beyond material harvesting resulting in very few eyes being on the planet. As such, criminals began to use the planet for staches and to hide people who were in serious danger from the police or otherwise. Because of the planets rapidly changing surface and the lack of navigational updates for ship nav-systems, it is nearly impossible to find something under the surface without it having a beacon of some kind. The "Derlop Wormhole"
was the nickname given to an illegal smuggling operation run by the
Syndicate during the early 2320's. After the operation was eventually busted by the
PRF, the nickname stuck and became a code to indicate you needed something, or someone, to disappear.
All content is original and was created by Harry Hartzog (ZogMadDog) unless stated otherwise.
Really interesting planet - I like the idea of things being hard to find there due to the shifting surface.