Alzoc III
| Alzoc III | |
| Location | |
| System | Alzoc |
| Sector | Dufilvian |
| Galactic Coordinates | (251, -189) |
| System Coordinates | (15, 13) |
| Astrographic Entry | |
| Statistics | |
| Type | cold/breathable |
| Primary Terrain: | glacier, forest, mountain |
| Rotational Period | |
| Orbital Period | |
| Population | 4,861,974 inhabitants |
| Control | |
| Controlled By | Total Outer Rim |
| Governor | Rogue Squadron |
| Magistrate | None |
| Sentient Races | Talz |
Description
This planet is the only truly habitable world in the Alzoc system, and yet thanks to its axial inclination of 23 degrees, it is largely covered with frozen plains, broken up only by the occasional volcanoes and icy seas. Alzoc III’s sidereal orbital period is over five hundred and twenty two days long, with a day last nearly seventy three hours. The temperate rarely rises above five degrees Celsius, though at the equator it can sometimes rise as high as twenty Celsius, though the weather is surprisingly calm for a world of its type. The atmosphere is comprised of fairly typical gases, most notably nitrogen and oxygen, though there has been a gradual build up of carbon dioxide due to the industrial pollution created by the Empire’s unrestricted mining enterprises on the planet.
The planet has a variety of native life forms, including the beautiful ocean-dwelling swanfish, the viciously predatory Yevii and the placid, herbivorous Tuln, though it is most notable for being the homeworld of the Talz species and the Alzoc Pearl, which is highly prized by jewellers for its purity and malleable nature.
The swanfish is a strange quirk of evolution, as it is by all definitions a fish, yet it is covered in thick, bushy feathers that are white in colour. Also the colouring of the feathers around the fish’s head is a dark grey. Almost a metre in length, the fish has a long, strangely extended neck, and is also quite large by Alzoc standards and it has no known natural enemies aside from the Talz fishermen, living solely on plankton and Alzoc’s equivalent of seaweed.
The predatory Yevii live on land and are often seen hunting in packs of up to twenty. They are gregarious by nature, rarely living in any groups of less than five, with an alpha male leading the pack. The Yevii are very much like large cats, being over two metres in length and standing a meter from the ground on all fours. Their thick, shaggy coats are mostly white in colour so as to camouflage themselves with their icy surroundings, enabling them to launch surprise attacks on their prey. They possess a fierce, cunning intelligence, though they are not really sentient. They have been known to attack Talz and humans alike, though these incidents are rare.
The Tuln are herbivorous, grazing in large herds across the frozen tundra and mild, grassy plains of the equatorial regions. They stand about a meter and a half from the ground and roughly two and a half meters in length, with a greyish, coarse hide protecting them from the harsh elements. The Talz often hunt them for food, providing them with skins, animal milk and fresh meat.
The first the Talz knew of the arrival of the Empire was the rolling thunder and flash of lightning as the clouds broke were torn apart, and large grey rocks began falling from the sky. Instead of crashing, these rocks landed smoothly with a strange growling noise, and parts of them released white demons holding black sticks that spat fire at everything they saw. Many Talz died, despite the fact that they are a gentle, peaceful species, with the Imperials killing all those around the landing field before fanning out to secure the drop zone for the construction teams. An Imperial Army garrison was built, along with a prefabricated town for the Imperial workers who helped oversee the slave labour force in the mines.
The system was stricken from the Galactic Register of planets shortly after the Galactic Empire took control of the planet, in order to use the hard working, peaceful Talz as slave labor for the many industrial plants and mines that litter the surface. Due to the timing of the world's discovery, the Empire did not log the existence of the Talz or the location of its home system, not wanting to be burdened by the Senate regulations relating to the treatment and handling of primitive sentients. Even after the Empire had firmly entrenched itself, they kept the mines on Alzoc III and the enslaved Talz a closely guarded secret. As a result, Talz are rarely ever encountered off their homeworld and those that do make it offworld are often captured, only to be sent back.
The Talz miners were poorly fed and mistreated, with the local Imperial commanders not caring how many died so long as the mineral quotas from the mines were fulfilled in time for the bulk freighters that arrived monthly, loading the refined materials onboard to take them to the factories and shipyards of the more industrialized Core Worlds.
Eventually, due to circumstances beyond the Empire’s control, they were forced to relinquish control of the planet and left, leaving the Talz to their own devices, until Falleen Federation explorers entered the system on a routine mapping expedition and added the system back onto the Galactic Register. Nowadays the Falleen Federation maintains a military outpost on the surface, but leaves the Talz to attend to their own affairs.
