Quest for Knowledge

Halcyon System

The Halcyon solar system orbits a normal yellow G2 class star, nearly identical to Earth’s sun.

There is a small, rocky planet that orbits close to the sun. The surface temperature is hot enough to melt probes attempting to land.

The second planet, Bliss, is a desert world, with fierce sandstorms. Captain Van Maanen was the first from Halcyon to set foot on Bliss, becoming the first person to set foot on another planet. There is evidence that life existed on Bliss at one time, although this is fiercely debated in academia. There is a small Federated Bloc base there, to study the question.

The third planet is Halcyon. It has three large, airless moons: Tranquility, Equanimity and Serenity. The Federated Bloc landed first, on Tranquility. They have a significant base and a radio telescope on that moon. The Aquila Archipelago and a consortium of smaller nations landed second, on Equanimity. The first attempt at setting up a base failed. Construction of a second base is underway. After a disastrous launch accident, the Virtuous Velan States landed last, on Serenity, and eventually set up a large base there.

Dorado’s Chunk is a small asteroid that was moved into orbit around Halcyon, so that it could be mined for its rare earth elements. It became the fourth moon of Halcyon.

The fourth planet is a rocky ice world, much larger than Halcyon.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh planets are large gas giants.

The New Star stopped halfway between the fourth and fifth planets, roughly 750,000,000 kilometers from the sun. It takes almost 42 minutes for a signal to get from Halcyon to the New Star. It took nearly a year for the Quest for Knowledge to reach the New Star.