TrijentDam

Trijent Corporation Hydroelectric Dam

Colony Name: Oxley’s Butte (オクスリーのビュート)
Classification: Lithium Mining Operation
Planet name: Raijin (Formerly LV-670)
Parent star: MSS(G)-422 - Main Sequence Star (G-Class)
Sector: Neroid
Diameter: 7,452km
Orbital period: 412 (Earth) days
Rotation period: 38 (Earth) hours
Axial tilt: 15.7 degrees

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Planetary Temperature:

    min:                216.45K
    mean:               303.25K
    max:                352.35K

Atmospheric pressure: 1.52atm (154kpa)
Atmospheric composition:

    Nitrogen:            731,227ppm (77.8%)
    Oxygen:              201,771ppm (21.4%)
    Argon:               5,112ppm (0.5%)
    Carbon dioxide:      1,342ppm (0.14%)

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History

Discovery

Initially discovered in 2096 by the TWE Orbital telescope OPST-5 ‘Flamsteed’, LV-670, one of 4 planets orbiting the star MSS(G)-422, was originally catalogued as NCEP (Non-Consequential Exo-Planet) by the RAO (Royal Astronomical Observatory). However, 19 years later the planet was re-visited, this time by the crew of the EXCOM research vessel ‘Armagh’. Positioned near the Oort cloud, and using the vessel’s powerful astronomical sensor suites, the crew was able to use spectroscopy to obtain information that led to information that showed the planet may be rich in lithium. The crew's report was submitted to the RAO and the planet was flagged for future exploration.

In 2120, having been given access to a variety of stellar catalogues by the RAO a decade earlier, Weyland-Yutani dispatched a geographic probe to LV-670 to follow up on EXCOM’s findings 5 years prior. A year later, the planet was confirmed to be abundant in lithium, specifically 6LI, making it an extraordinary find.

Colonisation Effort

Landfall was made in 2129 in a joint venture by The Trijent Corporation (A subsidiary of Weyland-Yutani, focusing on colonial development) and EXCOM. In an agreement between Trijent and the RAO, EXCOM was given the naming rights to the planet. The captain of the exploration vessel REV Tenjiku, Kiyotsuto Urata, a stout worshipper of reformed shintoism, named the body Raijin, referencing the ancient Japanese thunder god. Three months after landfall, the first settlement was established, Oxley’s Butte. Situated at the fork on a river in the planet’s northern hemisphere.

Of the nearby lithium reserves, the southern deposit, located approx. 4km below a basin, was chosen and plans were developed to begin mining operations in the next 15-20 years. To power the colony, The Trijent Corporation subcontracted the Cebrini group to build and maintain a 15,000/Mwh hydroelectric dam, powered by a trio of the group’s CGM-5HET hydroelectric turbines. The agreed upon completion date of the project was 2148.

150 colonists, consisting mainly of Cebrini employees and a number of Trijent specialists, arrived in 2132 to begin constructing the dam and other needed infrastructure. By 2150, construction of the newly christened Trijent dam had been completed, providing power to the colony's operations. Full-scale colonization had been completed by 2161. The population of Oxley’s Butte consisted mostly of Trijent and Cebrini employees however, a contingent of independent contractors had been mixed in to provide ancillary services, filling in logistical, catering, and hospitality jobs Trijent chose not to hire directly.

The colony drew from the Neroid Sector Policing Authority (NSPA), a regional police force operated by the TWE government for security related duties. However, WY’s internal security division, staffed in this case by members of their Sol offices, were brought in on assignment to Trijent. As with some other WY operations, their mission goals were varied, colourful, and abstract, such as ‘Administering resolutions on internal challenges requiring an immediate response to the benefit of the corporation, it’s subsidiaries, any and all employees, and stakeholders’. The NSPA, being no stranger to working alongside WY, knew that in their position they could enforce the majority of crimes in the crown and regional criminal codes, but it meant they would be sidelined if any allegations of any criminality were made against the company or any of its employees while on duty.

Lithium Mining Operation

For almost two decades, the colony extracted and shipped lithium off world, selling it to an endless list of refiners who hastily queued up to purchase the rare isotope to breed the even rarer isotope, tritium. Rapidly, Trijent (and subsequently WY) came to corner the market in tritium production and sales, giving rise to more affordable fuel for humanity’s innumerable fusion reactors.

With the market so heavily reliant on the operations coming out of Raijin, it was no surprise that journalists picked up and reported on a number of frenzied cables coming out of Oxley’s Butte In 2175. A request for specialists in Xenoarchaeology and Xenofauna had been submitted to Trijent’s home offices in Sol. When pressed for clarification on the matter, media reps for the corporation cited numerous erroneous reports of discoveries on Raijin that were quickly determined to be frivilous. Fringe critics and skeptics continue to note that there were a number of high profile political scandals within the imperial parliament that happened to coincide and ultimately overshadow this event.

Raijin (LV-670)

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Located 0.92 AU from its star, LV-670 (Now Raijin) is one of 4 planets orbiting MSS(G)-422, a G-type main-sequence star. 7,452km in diameter, a rotational period of 38 hours, and an orbital one of 412 days, Raijin is an Earth analogue, though smaller and much less hospitable. The planet has two moons, formally LV-670(a) and LV670(b), but now named Fujin and Raitaro respectively. Both are hot, barren, inhospitable wastelands that are tidally locked to it’s parent.

The equator of Raijin is a burning hellscape, barren of life. The northern and southern are far more hospitable, providing a myriad of the necessities for life. Three continents (minus the two glacial poles) make up the majority of the land, with two great ocean’s covering the northern and southern latitudes of the planet. Each of the three continents are separated by oceanic canals. Of the continents, the great eastern and western ones dominate the surface area on the planet and stretch north and south, while a third smaller one exists solely in the southern hemisphere.

A great desert runs along the entirety of the equator, and no surface water, minus the oceanic canals, can be found within its boundary. Temperate and tundra biomes make up the majority of the northern and southern hemispheres, along with a littering of near desert-like steppe closer to the equatorial boundary.

Mountain ranges run across the two great eastern and western continents. Many glaciers exist within these ranges, providing sources of fresh water to the planet. Aquifers have been discovered on all of the continents but the extent to which they are present is unknown at this time.

Vast amounts of Lithium, specifically 6Li, have been found underground across the planet. Being the already rare element that it is, researchers have been striving to discover what processes gave way for such a configuration. Some of the deposits exist in the form of brine pools, much like the one the inhabitants of Oxley’s Butte exploit.