Judice - SM1337 - District 268

Judice        1337 E9B2000-8    Lo Ni Fl Ba        321

UWP:	E9B2000-8	Location:	Spinward Marches/1337	System:	Judice
Starport:	E	Frontier, no fuel, no repair
Planetary Size:	9	Medium 14,400 km
Atmosphere:	B	Corrosive Requires Vacc Suit
Hydrosphere:	2	20 percent surface area covered by (fluid, non-water) oceans
Population:	0	3 research scientists
Government:	0	None
Law Level:	0	No Restrictions
Tech Level:	8	Pre-Stellar (superconductors)
Base(s):		Research Station
Zone:		Green: Unrestricted
# of Planetoid Belts:	2		# of Gas Giants:	1

Judice is a pretty bleak, barren world.  The corrosive atmosphere, heavy gravity (1.25g) and lack of water in the fluid oceans mean that there will never be a sizable lure to population development on the surface of the world, without extensive protective environment construction.  One of the curious surface anomalies of Judice are the formations of large "mushroom-buttes" as they have been nicknamed by the scientists working at the research station.

Artwork by Jorge Jacinto at http://jjcanvas.deviantart.com/

Currently, the only "permanent" inhabitants of the planet are three members of a research team, working a heavily robot-augmented research laboratory located at the edge of one of the "seas" of the planet.  The researchers are employees of one of the many bio-chemical divisions of Schunamann und Sohn, AG LIC (SuSAG LIC). They are operating "Research Station Aleph-9" under a contract to the Imperial Navy Research Institute.  The research center is heavily augmented by robots, both SuSAG and Makidkharun manufactured.

Heavily automated, robotic Chemical Lab at Research Station Aleph-9

The corrosive atmosphere is a Nitride mix with significant amounts of Nitric Acid vapor in it.  This leads to the seas being mostly Nitric Acid.  The chief reason for the research station being located here is that it is investigating the development of a life form showing definite early signs of sentiency.  This "amphibious" species have been nicknamed Judice-Men, or the Judicks.

Adult Judick, posing for the camera

The Judicks spend much of their life under the surface, and rely for building material on the production of a sort of resin as a by product of their processing breathable gas out of the nitric acid seas.  This they use to build amphibious hive like structures, that have complex underground components, leading to deep, protected nesting areas, and then raising up out of the water to provide a sort of communal hive "town".

Judick Hive Town, Nom Perg (Perg is the Judick thought-sound for "home")

The Judicks are not counted in the planetary population, because of some scruples about their sentience status with the Imperial Scouts and the Imperial Navy taking, curiously, different views on the matter.  The researchers have built robots that imitate Judicks, and they have made contact, and carry out a sort of trade (the Judicks produce tools and devices out of their gil-resin, and each clan specializes in a certain tool - these they trade with other clans) with the robotic Judicks.  The Imperial Navy Research scientists see no problem with this, but the Imperial Scout Service believes it can be highly damaging to a developing species if they realize that they have been dealing with "artificial" beings.  So the two branches declare the "sentient" question differently.  Luckily, as Judice is not an Imperial world, the question can remain unanswered.

The main Judick hive town that the researchers have dealt with is at Nom Perg (pictured above).  The two external platforms were built by the Imperial Robotic Judicks, and serve as docks for their special purpose hardened skiffs.  

The station personnel are:
 Dr. Zendiyya ("Zen") Armis (human female Xeno-Biologist, team lead)
 Dr. Harlan Padwell (human male Bio-chemist)
 Honored Scholar Garn Pharuun (virushi male Robotics expert)

Honored Scholar Garn Pharuun (art by Brian Gibson and Rob Caswell http://arcas-art.deviantart.com/)

System Details
Primary: Vijf/Yedi 1337
Addis - Orbit One - Inner Zone - Storm World (size 5)
Basile - Orbit Two - Inner Zone - Radiation World (size 4) - one moon (Kenner, size 3)
Xevious - Orbit Three - Inner Zone - Worldlet (size 3) - no moons
Colfax Spill - Orbit Four - Inner Zone - Planetoid Belt
Judice - Orbit Five - Habitable Zone - Size 9 - two moons (Hornbeck size 3; Combe size 2)
Darrow Belt - Orbit Six - Outer Zone - Planetoid Belt
Gretna - Orbit Seven - Outer Zone - Gas Giant - three moons (Minden size 7; Natchez size 5; Parks size 3)
Elton - Orbit Eight - Outer Zone - Ice World (size 7) - no moons
Fordoche - Orbit Nine - Outer Zone - Worldlet (size 2) - no moons

Judice System