Helldrone

The planet of Helldrone can be found in the double star system of Darquin not far from ByRoute 45. Helldrone is a little larger than Earth and orbits within the habitable zone of Darquin alpha which is a yellow main sequence star with spectral characteristics similar to that of Earth's sun. Darquin beta is a red dwarf travelling in a much more distant orbit around the primary star and bright enough to make a noticable difference to the pattern of daylight when it is above the horizon, whilst being distant enough even at closest approach to cause only minor temperature variations on Helldrone. The "yellow" day on Helldrone is determined by the planet's rotation and is a little less than twenty hours long. The "red" day is governed by the rising and setting of Darquin beta. Both stars may be visible at once, or only one or neither, leading to a complex interplay of light and colour. At the time of the Bubble Helldrone hosted a moderately sized human colony which was part of the Solar Group. In earlier years it was known to have once been the home for a group of exiles from The Tetratic Empire who had passed on some even older Amnyine relics later found by the human colonists.

Geography

The geology of Helldrone is driven by type ‘A’ plate tectonics. There are five major plates, each hosting a continental landmass. Three in the northern hemisphere are called Klanton, Jerraki and Wull. The southern hemisphere continents are called Ucyn and Tycin. Ucyn just crosses the equator in the north and is the larger of the two, whilst Tycin is a less compact land mass, stretching from the mid lattitudes to the south pole. The northern tip of Tycin runs along a fault line between plates and there is a region populated by many active volcanoes. It is also a region with a temperate climate and fertile soil and is a significant area of settlement for humanity with much agricultural activity, even on the slopes of the volcanoes. In this image, two hikers stand on the rim of "Old Grumbler" in the northern volcanic region of Tycin, looking north and west towards the equator where Darquin beta is setting.

Helldrone : North Tycin Volcanic Region by DMFW

History

The history of Helldrone is obscure and poorly documented. Before the humans colonised the system we know that it was settled by some schism of the Tetratic Empire who abandoned it after three thousand years. Long before the Tetratic exiles first arrived, the Querequian cultures had ceded space to an Amnyine enclave, which seems to have been locally important in that age. Even earlier, there are some archival records suggesting that the Grumm maintained a base in the system and before that there may have been a Cata-Zin presence on the planet, but the evidence for these ancient occupations is increasingly thin.