STELLAR DATA
Catalog #NSC D 4-983-873
Approach to Wheel: Suspended at the JumpPoint over half a billion kilometers from the local sun, Wheel is the government and administration center for this important mining center. At far left in the distance is the station's solar sail. Living and work areas are located in Wheel's rim. DropShip docking facilities are located along the spine to the right.
Star: Valdis
Type: KO;
Mass: .78 Sol;
Luminosity: .40 Sol;
Radius:.85 Sol
SYSTEM DATA
Planetary System: 2 major bodies, 3 asteroid belts
PLANETARY DATA
Planet 1: NSC D 4-983-873-1; Valdis I
Common Name: Rock
Mean Orbital Radius:.45 a.u.
Orbital Eccentricity: .009
Period: 124 d 18 h 9.54 s
Mass:.571 Earth
Equatorial Diameter 9694.56 km. (.76 Earth)
Radius: 4847.28 km
Mean Planetary Density: 7.1721 g/CM3 (1.3 Earth)
Mean Surface Gravity:.988 G
Escape Velocity: 10.98 kps
Rotational period: 30 h 15 m 25.4 s
Axial Inclination: 1 deg. 12 min. 4 sec
Atmosphere: Slight traces of inert gases: Neon, Argon, others.
Temperature Range: 1500 C (equator, midafternoon) to -500 C (midnight)
Mean Distance to JumpPoint: 3.5 a. u.
Planet II: NSC D 4-983-873-11; Valdis II
Common Name: Giant, Hard Place
Mean Orbital Radius: 5.3 a.u.
Orbital Eccentricity: .0 19
Period. 13.8 years
Mean Distance to JumpPoint: 6.4 a. u.
Other Bodies:
Asteroid Valdis 2392-11873-33 Prime
Common name: Rikerstrike
Mean Orbital Radius: 2.1 a.u.
Orbital Eccentricity: 0.24
Period: 3.45 year
Mean Distance to JumpPoint: 4.1 a.u.
Principal Facilities Valdis I:
Subsurface mining, port, and local administrative center at Port Red. Titanium processing and storage facilities at Metals of the Earth Station Red Alpha and Red Beta._ Rikerstrike (Largest asteroid of Mid Belt). Mining center, port facilities, stores depot, and miners' recreational facilities at Joyport and Rikerstown.
Valdis II (orbital facility):
Gas mining operation, ice mines, water processing and hydrocarbon extraction plants at Valdis II Orbital.
Zenith JumpPoint: JumpPoint recharging station, trade center, recreational facilities, system administrative complex, corporate headquarters, ComStar Class B facility: Wheel
PEOPLE:
Population: 2,400; Ethnic Groups: Diverse-, Languages: League Anglic (80%), Japanese (60%); Religions: Buddhist: (15%), Neo-Buddhist (24%); Protestant Christian Sects (25%); Universal Catholic Church (16%); Church of Blake (15%); Suk Requiem Belief (5%)
GOVERNMENT:
Allegiance: Fief of the Draconis Combine; Government: Representative council under Draconis Governor; Head of Government: Colonel Isoru Yamashita, Administrative Governor.
ECONOMY:
Natural Resources: Ores: Especially: nickle, iron, chromium, iridium, titanium, various radioactives; Processed/Manuf actu red Goods: None; Arable Land: None; Labor Force: Resource Extraction: 89.99%) Service: 9.2%, Administration: 1.8%
Merchant Fleet: JumpShips: None; Freighters: 4 (Highline Startransport), Shuttles: numerous; System Jump Point: Distance: 5.23E8 krn (from Valdis), 6.13E8 km from Rikerstrike; Travel Time (typical, from Wheel): 3 - 4 days.
ARMED FORCES:
Aerospace Forces: Orbital Facilities: 1 (Valdis II Orbital); Deep Space Facilities: 1 (Wheel); JumpShips: 0, DropShips: 6, AeroSpace Fighters: 12, Heavy Warships: 0. Ground Forces: Wheel Guard: Battalion-sized paramilitary militia. Various branches include Defense Militia, Mine Security, Police, and Belt Patrol. Warrior Training Facilities: None; Hiring Data: C/O/V
THE SYSTEM
The Valdis System lies in the Rasalhague Military District close to the Draconis Combine's border with the Lyran Commonwealth. Near neighbors include Hyperion, Skandia, the Steiner worlds of Suk II and Rastaban, and the bitterly contested Shaula System.
BattleMechs on Rock: Combat in this airless, hostile environment presents raiders and defenders alike with unique problems.
Early records concerning the Valdis System are fragmentary. It is believed that independent asteroid miners first began exploitation of the Valdis Belts prior to the 24th Century. Certainly, there was a permanently manned base on the large asteroid known locally as Rikerstrike by 2403, and a consortium of Terran-based deep-space exploration and development corporations had begun construction of a zenith point recharging station by 2450.
Today, the Valdis System continues to be an important mining center and is owned outright-at least on paper-by the well known mining corporation Metals of the Earth. Actual control is vested with the military, however, both because of the system's vulnerability to Lyran sneak raids and because of the strategic importance of the ores found there.
PLANETOLOGY:
The Valdis System consists of two major bodies, plus multiple asteroid belts. The inner world, officially Valdis I but known locally simply as "Rock," is a barren, airless, waterless world where temperatures vary between 150' C. in the afternoon to -500 C. at night.
Red Beta Mining: Facilities on Rock. In the photo at right, a Kurita Shadow Hawk patrols the perimeter of the Metals of the Earth mining base known as Red Beta. The mine heads and ore storage areas have been the scenes of numerous raids and sharp BattleMech skirmishes. Some of the facility's bauxite storage domes can be seen in the distance.
Valdis II, known locally as "Giant" or, humorously, "The Hard Place," is a superjovian gas giant with a diameter some five times that of Sol V (Jupiter). Valdis II is credited by planetologists with the current form of the Valdis System. Its massive gravitational field disrupted early planetary formation, a disruption which prevented the creation of man-habitable worlds but left the Valdis Belts instead.
The Valdis Belts are the source of most of the system's riches. Iron and nickle are the principal products, of course, but large quantities of chromium, cobalt, magnesium, gold, platinum, iridium, silver, tin, tungsten, and copper are also mined here. Rikerstrike, the largest of the Valdean Beltworlds, is located in the Mid-Belt and is still the site of the system's principal settlement outside of Wheel itself.
Valdis I--Rock--is the site of an important mining facility. Titanium and silicon are the principal resources taken here. Port Red is the base-largely underground where the titanium is processed and refined by day under large solar mirrors, then stockpiled for shipment to Wheel.
Other important resource points in the system are Giant's moons, rings, and trojan points. Giant's moons and rings are the principal sources of water for the various human settlements and facilities, as well as the chief source of hydrogen for Wheel's station-keeping thrusters.
Back to BattleTechnology 3 Table of Contents
Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com