Alsius

Alsius is the fifth planet from Amplus Nova, and is the coldest and generally considered the most inhospitable planet in the Venezia System. Alsius takes 1476 standard days to orbit around Amplus Nova, and is the farthest planet from Amplus. Alsius has 3 natural satellites, the moons Charon, Hydra, and Amdor, all with separate orbital periods in relation to Alsius. Due to its distance to Amplus Nova, the temperature of Alsius is extremely low; the warmest areas of the planet’s surface average to -13º celsius; the coldest areas in the poles plunge far below that, where the temperature plummets below -80ºC on average and becomes cold enough to freeze the carbon out of the air.

Alsius, despite its extremely cold environment, does harbor a myriad of subterranean life; due to the rather large collection of subterranean volcanic activity that keeps underground pockets of air and lakes warm and hospitable. The terrain and geography of Alsius is, otherwise, extremely mountainous and treacherous to pass. Large ranges of mountains and glaciers dominate the landscape and keep Alsius’ landscape impassable and dangerous. Cliffsides can range from being close to 1,200 meters in height, to being several miles in height, with mountains commonly being able to pierce the cloud layer of Alsius and dwarf the landscape. Little is known about Alsius’ landscape aside from these facts, as the cold and the unforgiving geography makes ground surveys difficult and costly, with little information gleaned from these exploration efforts.

The traces of civilization on Alsius are entirely military in nature. The only publicly known presence Venezia has on Alsius is the station called Fort Cryo; which stations disobedient and/or useless Venezian personnel there for defense, in hopes that these soldiers will improve themselves to escape the cold and dreary (and boring) post before being reassigned to other areas. The other notable presence (albeit, a classified and closely guarded presence) on Alsius would be the presence of the Vanguard elite division that occupy and maintain a base in the warmer areas of Alsius, and make full and consistent use of the cold and the extreme terrain for the training and the constant honing of its members.