System Manual:Pirath System
Located only 180 light-years core-ward of the Minos Cluster, Pirath is an archetype Outer Rim system. The star has only recently entered its red dwarf phase, creating spectacular sunsets for those who can see it from an atmospheric body. Pirath has a rather small compliment of three planets all orbiting in an elliptical fashion. The only habitable bodies in the system are the oceanic planet Hiran and its singular forest-moon of Lien.
While Lien has only developed herbivore mammals and reptilian predators, Hiran is inhabited by a race of humans no different from a Corellian or Alderaanian. Discovered by an exploration vessel just before the Clone Wars, the friendly Hirani welcomed the immigrants from across the galaxy. The industrial race who lived on the archipelagos of large islands that were the only land-masses on the planet readily adapted to Republic technology, and the capital of Kratum City became a bustling port that completely covered the world's largest island. The Republic maintained a garrison and small fleet during the Clone Wars, although all recruits and officers were Hirani. The planet escaped any of the wrath of the wars, and subsequently welcomed Imperial rule. The people are very business-like in their attitude and daily affairs, and wisely chose not to resist the Empire. Their lack of quarrels with the Empire meant that they escaped the horrors many other resistant worlds suffered and developed a tense friendship with the Imperials stationed in their system.
The small Imperial fleet in the Pirath system was called away to Endor late in the Civil War, and was completely destroyed by the Rebel Alliance. The Hirani did not particularly miss the Empire, and still kept the Old Republic ships which they had salvaged from the time before the Emperor. The New Republic donated a Platform to the Hirani and three squadrons of fighters. The Hirani, keeping business in mind, decided it was profitable not to swear allegiance to either the Empire or New Republic, although most strongly favor the Republic. Allegiance though, was forced upon them. The Emperor's Hammer sent a small fleet of Imperial warships to invade the Pirath system. Although fairly well-armed, the inexperienced PDF could not hold back the invaders. Early strikes destroyed the PDF Dreadnaught Resistance and forced the Hirani back to their home world. Amazingly, the Empire decreed that the Hirani Parliament could still govern the system, the only link to the Empire being emplacement of an Imperial Moff and Planetary Governors, standard Imperial taxation and two Imperial garrisons stationed in Kratum City. To prevent an uprising, the Emperor's Hammer left the Smuggler's Guild on PLT Kraken, and constructed an Outpost for the Bounty Hunters on Hiran. Allowing the loyal, native PDF to defend the system against the New Republic and pirates will save valuable resources for the Empire, and the Hirani have now found trading runs into once forbidden Emperor's Hammer space (i.e. Aurora) extremely profitable, increasing their contentment with Imperial rule. This silk-glove approach rather than the old Empire's iron fist shows that to gain support, the Imperials will have to change their attitude. The success of these policies in the Pirath system has proved a bench mark for future conquests. The Hirani Parliament recently allowed a Corporate Division mining corporation to set up an outpost on Cinad, an ore-rich planet, and construction on a Tibanna gas mine in the clouds of the gas-giant Pirath III is nearly complete. But the Pirath system's most interesting aspect is not its business-like people, or its rare Tibanna-rich clouds, but the strange stellar anomaly between the orbits of Hiran and Pirath III, an anomaly which may hold strategic importance for the Empire.....
Cinad is the second-largest planet in the Pirath system, and is the closest to the sun. It holds no atmosphere, and its surface is similar to a Class A moon. Cinad is the youngest of the three planets, being formed from the asteroid belt approximately 3.1 billion years ago. The ore-rich asteroids provide a wealth of minerals deep within Cinad's surface. The heat from the sun has acted as a natural refinery for the ores, cutting down the cost of production after mining. Most of the ore can be found in a liquid state in vast caverns deep below the planet's surface, with groups of minerals are usually isolated in large quantities.
With the Emperor's Hammer recent take-over of the Pirath System, the Hirani have allowed a small mining company, Dirigar Ore Inc. to set up a mining outpost on Cinad. Three groups have made money from the outpost - the Hirani from receiving Imperial mining contract dividends to allow the company to mine in-system, Dirigar from the massive amounts of valuable ores mined, and the EH Smuggler's Guild Platform Paradise, which provides accommodations for the 500 miners who work on Cinad at a price, the planet itself being too hot for to remain for long periods of time. The venture thus far been extremely profitable for all parties involved. Dirigar Ore Inc. Has also maximized their profits through the extremely efficient use of mining and processing droids in their ore lines.
In orbit around Cinad is the PLT Paradise. Owned and protected by the EH Smugglers` Guild, Paradise holds a casino rivaling those on Hiran. The PLT offers ample trading opportunities and welcomes characters from all walks of life. The "No questions asked" policy on-station has made Paradise a haven for criminals, mercenaries, bounty hunters and, of course, smugglers.
During the summer months, Hiran is an oceanic world, the only land-mass being archipelagoes of massive island chains. The world's largest island, Kratum, holds the planetary capital. The 400 square-kilometer island is completely covered by Kratum City, a bustling starport on the equator of the world. However, due to its extreme elliptical orbit, Hiran becomes a frigid wasteland during its winter months. The vast oceans become mostly frozen, requiring transport companies and agencies to convert from large ocean going convoys to smaller, faster "Icesail Barges". These 300 to 500 meter Icesail barges carry the latest environmental, navigation and communication equipment and are equipped for the worst icestorms Hiran offers. These Icestorms often rage for days across the wide open topography of the planet, with no significant mountain ranges of continents, these storms can be deadly to the unprotected.
The inhabitants are a short, stocky breed of humans (Old Republic colonists) who will do nearly anything to make a credit. Although the standard of living on Hiran is one of the highest in the Outer Rim Territories, its prices are equally as extravagant. It is rumored that the docking fee for Kratum Galactic Starport (The largest in the sector) for one night would feed a Tatooine family of four for a month. However, the steep prices do not scare away traders, though, as the variety of exports provides a wide opportunity for profit. Smugglers often deal with the Hirani, but they prefer the PLT Paradise to Hiran's exorbitant prices.
Kratum City also holds the headquarters of the Pirath Defense Force (PDF) and the spectacular Parliament House. In the space above Hiran is the PLT Kraken, the PDF Operations Center and in the interests of money making, The Majesty StarHotel. The Hammer's Fist, the ground forces contingent of the Emperor's Hammer Strike Fleet, has two permanent garrisons stationed in Kratum City. The garrison consists primarily of stormtroopers, with the hustle and bustle of the City being too awkward for AT-ATs so only several AT-STs are stationed in the major population centers. The aquatroopers and snowtroopers garrisoned in Kratum City also find variations between the surrounding oceans and iceseas to be perfect for low-cost training facilities. However, there are also several detachments of Scout Troopers stationed planetside outfitted with their speeder bikes, they more than make up for the lack of larger AT-ATs and AT-STs.
The PLT Paradise is generally condemned by the native Hirani, as it has drawn away many traders, smugglers and tourists. The Hirani would destroy the Platform if it were not owned by the Smuggler's Guild and manned by elements of the Imperial garrison. Protection for the Paradise is provided by rotated squadrons of Imperial Starfighters of the Emperor's Hammer and a company of stormtroopers. Soon after its arrival in-system, the Emperor's Hammer forces destroyed and scuttled the remaining Hirani PDF R-41s, T-Wings, Z-95 Headhunters and Y-Wings, allowing only a modest number of atmospheric fighters and planet-based defense units.
The Paradise is sometimes frequented by three notable craft: The YT-1300 Corellian Queen, Muurian Transport Guild's Glory and the Modified Corvette Last Nova. These craft are used only for private smuggling, with the Corellian Corvette frequents the Core systems while the other two craft make shorter runs. Occasionally, an Imperial Star Destroyer may frequent the Platform, but the Smuggler's Guild has recently requested a permanent ISD to be stationed there and awaits a response from Fleet Command.
Apart from the Hirani, and despite the unusual extremes in climate, there is plenty of life. In the few short weeks of "spring", the planet literally explodes with life almost overnight. Stunted jungle-like vegetation covers any exposed land masses within days. Life in the oceans likewise goes into overtime. During the winter, most aquatic life dives to the great depths of the planetary oceans to escape the extremely cold surface temperatures and freezing oceanic ice caps. These varied and unusually adapted creatures quickly rise to shallow depths to spend the few summer months gorging and feasting on the abundant life widely available.
In the jungles, on the islands, many predators prey on peaceful Pouds, small, quick bipedal herbivores. In the air, giant Aithers swarm in groups. Their size (~10 to 20 meters wingspan) poses a threat to small vessels, and for this reason a sonic agitator has been set up on Kratum to scare away the Aithers. A large variety of fish are present in the oceans, and the equatorial Hirani reefs, which have shown a remarkable resistance to the temperature extremes, are some of the most spectacular in known space. The most deadly creature in the oceans is the Giant Kraken, a massive squid over 150 feet long with deadly, poisoned tentacles capable of easily disabling its intended prey. In early Hirani history, many fishing vessels were destroyed by the Kraken. These giant predators were hunted to the verge of extinction by the Hirani during their Industrial period, and sightings of this monster are now few and far in-between.
The Credit Overload Casino attracts many wealthy gamblers to Hiran, with the casino complex and hotel covering an entire island on one of the more remote, tranquil equatorial archipelagos. The Credit Overload boasts every type of gambling in known space, and the owner has promised to put a blaster to his head if he's missed out just one. Overload seeks to be on par with the great casinos of Rodia, where the best in the galaxy reside, and Overload is apparently even more unfair, with more than one man losing all his money at the tables, although this doesn't scare away potential gamblers. What does the owner have to say about these claims? "There's only one winner at the Overload - the bank!"
Perhaps one of the more mysterious places in the galaxy, Lien is reveled in ancient Hirani religion. Due to its almost perfectly circular orbit of Hiran, Lien has the advantage of receiving great amounts of reflected light/heat energy from its host planet during the cold winter months. This allows Lien to remain relatively humid and warm year-round and support a wide variety of life. Although the most exciting events in Lien's history took place over 8,000 years ago during the early days of the Old Republic and the Sith, the Hirani still hold the moon as a very evil influence in their religion.
The "Scrolls of Licarna" (A Hirani prophet living about 8,000 years ago) speak of the "Sorcerers of Darkness" who "Came from the sky to fall upon the forest-globe". The Scrolls (written by Licarna throughout his life) go on to describe how the Sorcerers occasionally came to Hiran, taking back with them the strongest and most intelligent people that the planet had to offer. The Sorcerers apparently wielded "Blades of Light" and one of them, known as Xuin Carat, could "project the wrath of the gods from his fingertips". Licarna explained that the Sorcerers represented all that was evil within the universe, and to resist them was to resist the darkness within one's soul. The Sorcerers` often violent visits to Hiran ended only a half-century after they had begun. However, these legends live today in the Hirani mythos and such stories are often told to children by their parents to make them behave.
Imperial Geologic Surveys of Lien show only one artificial structure on the planet - a large marble "Cathedral" as the original Old Republic surveyors described it. Old Republic Historians quickly dispelled the myth of the Sorcerers- 8,000 years ago, during the early days of space travel, a group of Dark Jedi led by the exiled Sith Lord Xuin Carat, attempted a takeover of Coruscant. The Dark Jedi coup was quickly defeated and the participants exiled to a distant star - Pirath. The Dark Jedi transport ship crashed on Lien, and that was the last heard from them. It is now plainly obvious that the ruins of the Cathedral of Darkness present on the moon.
