Cortha

A super-jovian planet orbiting at eight times the distance from Oräa as its neighbor, Vex, Cortha is the source of the system's hydrogen fuel.

Description
A super-massive Jovian world, Cortha is almost large enough to be considered a brown dwarf. Thought to fuse small amounts of deuterium in its core, the planet is a hot gas giant with winds capable of gusting up to 1,800kph within its lower atmosphere (500km to 1,500km from “crush depth”) as well as producing temperatures nearing 1,000°K within its clouds. Minor flares of plasma and gusting winds make inhabiting its moons and ring systems extremely dangerous.



While there are very small clusters of underground colonies along the poles of its moon Arlëan which house a total of just fewer than two million civilians and scientists, the only real purpose in a permanent population is the moon’s multiple hydrogen refineries and an expansive four hundred kilometer-long, underground collider used to produce, refine, and contain anti-hydrogen electrons which are later exported throughout the Empire and the rest of the Galaxy as solid hydrogen fuel rods that are used in anti-fusion reactors.

Hydrogen Mining
Hydrogen mining, or as it is typically called, Hydrogen Containment, is the sole profit-making industry of Cortha. Producing 32% of the entire Empire’s hydrogen and 13% of the Galaxy’s, Corthan containment refineries are some of the most successful in existence. The fourth largest collider in the galaxy exists under the crust of Arlëan’s northern pole and is capable of producing up to 8kg of anti-hydrogen every day (3,200kg/GSY) which is enough to power the entire Citinian naval fleet for an entire year. Actual hydrogen production is even higher, nearing 10kg per day on average. Though it is a massively invaluable planet to the galaxy and Empire as a whole, its defenses are minimal, consisting of a small garrison of Marines on Arlëan as well as a rotated posting of Reserve Duty ships.

