Dekha (world)
| Dekha/Vincennes (Deneb 1128) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classic Era (1116) | C100A9A-F
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| New Era (1200) | A100A9A-F
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| See also | UWP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary | F3 V M6 V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Planetoid Belts | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gas Giants | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dekha is a high-population, non-agricultural and industrial vacuum world, with a billion or more sophonts in population size, warranting hazardous environment precautions.
- As an industrial world, this planet has well-developed manufacturing and processing industries. Manufactured goods are a major export item.
- It is unable to produce quality foodstuffs and must import them.
- It is a member of the Third Imperium in the Vincennes Subsector of Deneb Sector in the Domain of Deneb.
- This world contains an Imperial Scout Base, capable of handling IISS starships and personnel.
Description (Planetology)
No information yet available.
Binary Solar System
Dekha Binary Star System Star Name Hierarchy Category Mass (Sol) Temp (K) Luminosity (Sol) Dekha F3 V
Primary Main Sequence 1.44 6670 - 6750 3.58318 Unit Diameter Min Distance Hab Zone Jump Shadow M-Drive Limit AU 0.0073 0.157 1.7 - 2.94 0.73 7.3 Orbit # * 0 5 2 6 Star Name Hierarchy Category Mass (Sol) Temp (K) Luminosity (Sol) Dekha M6 V
Secondary Main Sequence 0.102 2740 - 2810 0.00034 Unit Diameter Min Distance Hab Zone Jump Shadow M-Drive Limit AU 0.0006 0.0015 0.02 - 0.04 0.06 0.6 Orbit # * * * * 2
Point of Interest: Planet or Asteroid?
Non-canon: Unless you visit Dekha system, you may be unaware that it is believed that Dekha is not really a "planet" at all. Traders who visit the system for the first time are usually quite taken aback upon discovering this. It's the system's most well-guarded secret. In fact, few citizens of Dekha will even admit that it might be true. Even mentioning the idea will most likely be met with scoffs and derision: "Who told you that? Heh heh! Of course Dekha's a planet! What do you think it is, an asteroid?"
In actuality, Dekha is thought by most authorities to be the largest (by far) planetoid in the Naglee Belt. The Naglee Belt is in close orbit of Naglee, the Dekha system's companion star, which is located in the habitable orbit of Azurite, the system's primary star. Dekha's surface is virtually covered with impact craters, the result of its extreme orbital eccentricity. As Dekha has trudged along on its orbit for the past several billion years, it has collided with millions of smaller planetoids in the belt. It has been theorized that Dekha was stricken by a rather large asteroid, approximately 8 km in diameter, about 50 million years ago, knocking it into its elliptical orbit. Dekha's extreme orbit carries the planet to almost the midpoint of the predominate asteroid belt at its orbital perigee and at its apogee to the inner extremes of Azurite's habitable zone.
The opposition to the "Collisionists" believes that Dekha is a captured planet. Its extreme elliptical orbit lends itself to this theory, but Collisionists believe that if Dekha had been captured, it would have been by the larger, denser system primary, Azurite. They argue that Naglee could not possibly have acquired Dekha since Azurite is within 3 AU.
History & Background (Dossier)
Dekha is a high-population, heavily industrialized Imperial vacuum world located in Vincennes Subsector of Deneb Sector. Dekha is considered an economic powerhouse and projects power into five neighboring subsectors on behalf of the Duchy of Vincennes. The system contains a Scout Base. Lurent planetoid ships may be found in the system’s Oort clouds.
Neriki Irk, a detached duty Scout, made a fortune in mining the Dekha asteroid belt in the early 300s but in 340 Sternmetal Horizons began a concerted effort to push independent prospectors out of the system.
Urban Landscape
Non-canon: Dekha's scarred surface is about 90 percent covered by man made constructions, concealing almost all of its cratered surface from the view of visiting starships. Some of the larger craters have been covered in sealed environments and terraformed into lush valleys and park lands for recreational use by the planet's inhabitants.
The planet features some 316 arcologies, which house an average of 150 million people each. The remaining inhabitants of the system live either in Naglee Belt facilities or in one of the two dozen Dekhan orbital facilities. A small number of people live on Journey, the system's only outer-zone planet, but nearly all are members of the RISS or RQS and none are permanent residents of the system. Considering the frequency with which rogue planetoids approach Dekha, one might think living there would be a risky proposition at best. However, Dekha's extensive COACC Sensor System does an excellent job of ferreting out threats of imminent planetoid collisions and pinpointing their location for the hundreds of laser, particle accelerator and meson batteries to promptly dispatch the objects before they can cause any damage.
At Dekha's closest approach to Azurite, massive solar collectors are deployed from dedicated facilities on the planet's surface to extract as much stellar energy from the star as possible. Because of Dekha's particularly inhospitable environment, Dekhans must take every opportunity they can to acquire and conserve energy and other valuable resources. This is just one of many ways it is done.
History
Non-canon: The system was settled in the late 280s predominantly by belters who wanted to exploit the mineral resources of the Naglee Belt. Mostly late arrivals to the frontier, many of these belters were unable to get adequate prospecting rights in the richer Liran, Starn and Deneb belts.
The system didn't really enjoy much of a population boom until 688, when GsbAG set up its first shipyard in the system, primarily for use by the IISS to construct scout/couriers and survey ships. By the early 700s, the shipyards had become Dekha's largest economic power, having broken into the trader and freighter market. GsbAG continuously funneled resources into the Dekha yards until it was the largest and most prosperous yard between Deneb and Mora.
In 722, it was discovered that Dekha itself was a rich source of radioactives and crystals. As the riches available in the Naglee Belt began to deplete, the surface of Dekha provided new opportunities for belters, miners and their families.
The population of the planet swelled to over 8 billion within the next two decades as Dekha's immense shipyards and mining industries enjoyed the largest economic boom in their history. It was during this era that Dekha's current government took shape.
Government
Non-canon: Dekha is governed by an elite core of political councils. While technically a two-party system, the ruling party of Dekha has been the Orbital Party for the past three centuries. The Orbital Party got its name from the fact that most of its officers were drawn from the ranks of corporations that operated self-sufficient orbital complexes, many of whom never set foot on Dekhan terra firma in their entire lives. The Orbitals had a great deal more experience interfacing with the interstellar community since Dekha itself has never presented much of an appeal to tourists or traders. The successful economic track records of the Orbitals and the perception that they were more cosmopolitan appealed to the masses on Dekha, whose lives had too long been subjected to Dekha's topsy-turvy boom/depression economic cycles.
The minority party is the New Party, formed predominantly of old-money Dekhan families whose estates lay on the vacuum wastelands of the planet. The New Party has traditionally drawn its constituents from the rather large working class of the planet, but has fallen on lean times after losing touch with its supporters.
Economy
Non-canon: Dekha's prosperous shipbuilding industry makes it a power to be reckoned with in Regency affairs. Specializing in specific military (RISS, RQS) and commercial (traders and freighters) designs, Dekha maintains a breakneck industrial pace, the envy of many competitors Regency wide. The Industrial Affairs Council, chaired by the Minister of Industry, is the planet's most powerful political force. The chairman is often the invited guest of the First Regent himself to meetings of industrial portent. The current chairman is Laslo Ptolemy, former GsbAG Deneb Sector Division chief executive officer. Ptolemy's modus operandi of late has been to acquire research and development funding for Dekha's faltering computer industry.
GsbAG's success in the system has spawned thousands of smaller entrepreneurial shipyards which specialize in hitting the niche markets. Currently, several such yards have been in the business of constructing mercenary ships. As the opening of the frontier approaches, the need for professional soldiers has increased. Enterprising Dekha does not intend to watch such an opportunity go by.
While the resources of Dekha and the Naglee Belt have not yet been depleted, they are limited and beltstrikes occur on a rather unpredictable basis. As a result, the economy of the system has by necessity become heavily dependent on trade. The system's immense manufacturing industries draw upon the resources of several neighboring star systems.
The People
Non-canon: The Dekhan people consist more or less of two divergent groups: obscenely rich and borderline impoverished. The rich control the orbital starports and manufacturing facilities as well as the largest ground- and belt-based mines and industrial centers. The majority of the population works in these facilities, living rather dismal, uninspired lives. Dekhans are rather astrographically isolated due to their economic limitations. For the most part, the average Dekhan citizen doesn't see himself as a member of an interstellar community. Most are slaves to the system, bound to the planet by an industrial aristocracy that calls all the shots.
Most Dekhans partake in some form of sport or other entertainment in the planet's subterranean metropolises and terraformed park reserves. All forms of entertainment are available as an opiate for people who are otherwise preoccupied with the daily routine of laboring away in a factory or mine. The government allows its citizens to roam freely and generally play as they will, but infractions of the planet's criminal laws is a definite taboo. Punishment for committing such crimes is extreme and quick. Dekha's police force is borderline paramilitary and has a fair amount of autonomy in enforcing the law. Travellers beware, visitors to Dekha are subjected to the same laws as Dekhan citizens. The police forces of the planet are slightly above average in quality when compared to those of other Regency worlds, though recently several corruption scandals have been uncovered by the media.
Because Dekha is such a small world, and it is literally covered with man made constructions, the planet resembles a single urban sprawl more than a collection of cities. As such, Dekhans have come to recognize certain "turfs," "regions" or "territories" rather than cities, per se. One of the better known turfs is Be-Esdee, a phonetic spelling of the acronym, BSD, which stands for "bonded super-dense." Citizens of this region are, of course, employed in the manufacture of BSD metals, predominantly used for starships, small craft and military vehicles and armor. Crunchtown, located in Dekha's northern hemisphere, services the largest core of mining industries on the planet. Lanthopolis Down, counterpart of Lanthopolis Orbital, is the planet's most massive groundside shipbuilding center.
The citizens of each territory have developed diverse personalities and cultures. Many groups are dominated by Regency religions. The "Willie Belt," which overlaps several Dekhan territories, the home of some 18 billion people, is a haven for members of Deneb's "To Will One Thing" church. The Church of the Stellar Divinity, whose members worship their system stars as deities, has pockets of followers spread throughout the planet as well. A schism has occurred between those who worship Naglee and those who worship Azurite as their primary deity.
Dekhan territories generally range from rough and tumble to downright dangerous. Most of the "nice neighborhoods" are in orbit of the planet itself, though a few Dekhan aristocrats (most of whom are entrenched New Party politicos) are daring enough to have established estates on the ground.
Dekha's identity is established more on what it does than what it is. The system and its people are for the most part cogs in an impersonal industrial machine. While wealthy Dekhans are prideful of their accomplishments, even they cannot deny that life for the common man on Dekha leaves something to be desired...though few would venture to admit it in public.
References & Contributors (Sources)
- TNE The Regency Sourcebook (UWP only)
- Mongoose Traveller: Deneb Sector
- External Link: The Zhodani Base
- Peter Gray - Traveller TNE Mailing List High Population Worlds of Deneb Sector Part 3 published 9 October 2001
- ↑ "Jump Map API" and map location from Travellermap.com
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