Vareen I

Vareen I is a metal-rich planet with a thin, volatile atmosphere located within the Shackleton Expanse. Its surface is characterized by a visually stunning, yet dangerous landscape that alternates between molten plains, jagged ridges, and solid crust regions.

Though technically habitable with specialised equipment, the planet’s past as a resource hub ended in failure when a catastrophic event destroyed all colonisation efforts.

Overview

Vareen I is in close proximity to Vareen Prime, an F-type main-sequence star brighter and hotter than Sol. The intense sunlight causes exceedingly high daytime temperatures, while the thin atmosphere allows heat to escape quickly at night, resulting in a sharp diurnal contrast.

Humanoid life is hypothetically possible, but requiring heat- and radiation resistant suits.

History

Vareen I was considered a point of scientific and strategic value. As the system’s key source of rare metals, it was used as a resource hub by both the Nymvok and the Sirelians, native to Vareen IV and Vareen VIII, respectively.

Extremes of heat and radiation encouraged research into survival, metallurgy, and adaptive robotics, specifically, and accommodated several environmental labs spread throughout key locations.

One of these areas of research was environmentally adapted exosuits, designed to allow survival of extreme planetary conditions for a prolonged period of time. As such, they employed an experimental autonomous regenerative system able to recycle bodily waste, exhaled carbon dioxide, and damaged tissue into nutrients, oxygen, and energy. The idea was to create a self-sustained symbiosis between organic and synthetic systems.

In 2384, a combination of resource mismanagement and technological failures caused a chain reaction that resulted in the total loss of colonists and forced Vareen I to be abandoned. Detailed records were lost, and the event remains largely enigmatic in contemporary accounts.

Both the Nymvok and the Sirelian population blame each other for the incident, and diplomatic relations have remained tense ever since.

Encounters

These encounters are a scenario and inherent to the AOR.

After the Shroud falls, the Nymvok and the Sirelian resume negotiating joint operations, but find themselves circling back to the incident on Vareen I. As an independent third party, Starfleet is asked to lend its aid in reconstructing what happened.

In orbit of Vareen I, sensors pick up faint signs of life and activity from the planet’s surface. Initial scans suggest the presence of humanoid colonists, still working on the surface, but any attempts on contacting them remain unsuccessful.

As an away team beams onto the planet's surface, attempts to communicate with the colonists fail. Medical scans reveal that the central nervous system is intact, suggesting retained consciousness, but that little to no other biological tissue remains. Further analysis shows that the experimental environmental suits have fused with the host and are now operating under independent protocols, sustaining themselves at the expense of the biological matter.

Back on Vareen IV, Starfleet tracks down a surviving scientist involved in the development of the suits. They explain that the development itself was a joint endeavour between Sirelians and Nymvok, headed by the latter, which collapsed amid an ethical debate over the extent of the self-sustaining mechanism. During the argument, a Sirelian member attempted to destroy the research data and blueprints, but inadvertently set off a chain reaction that caused the 2384 incident.

Starfleet must now decide how to handle the remaining colonists, as well as what information they want to disclose to Nymvok and Sirelians.

In Play

Visiting Vareen I requires away teams to wear specialized environmental suits. Exploration is arduous and requires sufficient preparation.

Heat-induced vibrations produce eerie tones, audible even through suits. Occasional electromagnetic storms disrupt communications to orbiting vessels.

The colonists are non-reactive to attempts on communication and interaction, and will not act hostile even when removed from the planet’s surface. The suits are not able to assimilate others, and self-sustainment ends when all biological matter has been consumed.