Shurc System

System Datafile:
System: Shurc
Star: Shu (blue)
Orbital Bodies:
Name            Type                        Moons
Shurc I            searing terrestrial      0
Drof                temperate terrestrial  1
Shurc III         gas giant                    5
Shurc IV         frigid terrestrial          1

Capsule: The Shurc system, along with the Kalpol, Kurk, and Conheav systems, is one of the industrial hubs of the sector. This is largely due to the fact that Drof, the second planet, is so suitable for human habitation, and because Shurc IV has always been incredibly rich in heavy metals. Shurc I is far too close to the hot blue star Shu to be of any use. Shurc III, the sysytem's only gas giant, has no valuable resources, but its moons have been heavily mined in the past. Shurc III is also home to the heaviest security prison in the sector.

Drof
Type: temperate terrestrial
Temperature: temperate
Atmosphere: Type I
Hydrosphere: standard
Gravity: standard
Terrain: plains, hills, forests
Length of day: 29 standard hours
Length of year: 298 local days
Sapient species: Humans, some others
Starport: stellar-class
Population: 850 million
Planet function: industry
Government: Imperial governor
Tech level: space
Major exports: manufactured goods, exotic woods
Major Imports: raw materials, foodstuffs
Capsule: Drof is a heavily industrialized planet, and is home to many different manufacturing concerns. Everything from repulsorlifts to datapads is manufactured here, although there is proportionally much more high tech manufactured on the planet than lower tech items. Drof has some orbital shipyards, but they are not as extensive as those of Kalpol or Conheav Prime. Drof sees a great deal of freighter traffic, both to bring raw materials and foodstuffs to the planet, and also to transport finished goods to markets elsewhere. Most of this freighter traffic is bulk freighters, and there is very little work to be found for the independant operator. An exception to this rule is the fact that light freighter captains can often find work transporting wealthy industrialists from Drof to different planets. This stems from the fact that Drof tends to be less profitable than Kalpol, and less cosmopolitan than Conheav Prime. This has lead to a certain inferiority complex among the owners of the manufacturing concerns on Drof, and they often feel the need to take extravagent vacations, hopping from planet to planet at a moment's notice, in order to compensate. This means that they are often willing to hire a light freighter to serve as a personal transport, since most of them can't really afford private yachts.
    Drof is also home to some beautiful, and quite extensive forests. These forests are made up of trees which are an amazing translucent green in color due to the blue light which falls down upon them from the star Shu. These trees tend to grow very slowly, but their wood is prized throughout the sector. Because of this there is a carefully regulated logging industry on the planet, and small amounts of drofwood are exported each year.

Shurc III
Type: gas giant
Temperature: cool
Atmosphere: Type IV (unbreathable)
Hydrosphere: moist
Gravity: heavy
Terrain: skyscape
Length of day: 84 standard hours
Length of year: 512 local days
Sapient species: Humans
Starport: limited services
Population: 2,100 (2,000 prisoners, 100 guards)
Planet function: prison
Government: Imperial warden
Tech level: space
Major exports: none
Major Imports: prisoners, foodstuffs
Capsule: Shurc III is a largely unremarkable gas giant, except for one fact: it is the home of an incredibly high security prison. This prison, named Deep Cloud Holding Facility, is home to the most dangerous prisoners in the sector, all of whom are slated to be executed. Deep Cloud was designed so that escape attempts would be impossible, and it fulfills that goal admirably. Deep Cloud was built much in the manner of platforms found on other gas giants, such as Cloud City on Bespin, but with a few modifications. Deep Cloud is not entirely stationary, being able to move up from the outer layers of the atmosphere, down almost to the molten core of the gas giant. Deep Cloud can dive far further than any standard starship, and very few special purpose ships can dive as far as Deep Cloud. Deep Cloud normally stays deep enough into the gas giant that any starships attempting to reach it would be crushed by the immense pressure long before they reached the prison. This is to prevent any outside agency from effecting a prison break for anyone held in the facility. This also means that even were the prisoners to overpower the guards, there is nowhere for them to go: even if the facility carried any shuttles they would be unable to escape the extreme depths at which the facility stays. The facility only rises to levels where ships can gain access to it when there are incoming prisoners or supplies. In these cases the prison computer must be notified 1 week in advance of the exact time when the rendevous is to be made. When the time for the rendevous comes around the approaching ship must broadcast a particular code (which changes every month), and another code must be input into the prison computer by the guards, accompanied by a retinal scan of the warden. All of this security means that it is impossible to force the prison to rise from either inside or outside the prison without the cooperation of the prison guards, as well as the corrections officers who are in charge of supplies for the prison. These latter officers are based on Drof. As previously mentioned, all prisoners at the Deep Cloud facility are on death row. The preferred method of execution is to simply toss the prisoner out of the ventral airlock. The unfortunate prisoner implodes in a fraction of a second once exposed to the pressures of the atmosphere.