LV-426 "ACHERON"
With a rotation period of two hours and a gravity of .86 Earth Standard, the moon called LV-426 is a barren and inhospitable rock in space. Daytime is a perpetual twilight and nighttime is cold and dark. Cataloged by a French deep space probe in the 2040s, the moon remained unexplored for the next century. In 2122, the USCSS Nostromo touched down on LV-426 in response to an unknown distress call, allegedly encountering a hostile alien life form that eventually led to the ship’s destruction at the hands of one of the crew. However, when the moon was extensively surveyed in the 2130s, it was discovered that it had no indigenous life, calling the Nostromo rumors into question.
LV-426 is perhaps best known as the site of the doomed colony Hadley’s Hope. Thirty-five years after the Nostromo incident, Weyland-Yutani and the Colonial Administration set up an atmospheric processor on the swiftly turning moon and began terraforming procedures. The moon was renamed Acheron by its early settlers, and Hadley’s Hope endured there for more than twenty years. The colony stopped transmitting reports in July of 2179, prompting a visit by a contingent of colonial marines. Whatever transpired next led to the nuclear annihilation of the colony and the death of both the colonial marine unit and all 158 colonists. What caused the destruction is uncertain—conflicting reports range from an attack by a rival government or unknown alien species to a simple reactor accident and meltdown. All that remains is a radioactive wasteland stretching over 700 km.
Soon after the incident, both Weyland-Yutani and the Colonial Marines sent search and rescue teams to Acheron in the hopes of finding survivors. While the colony and the atmospheric processor were vaporized, it was theoretically possible that any colonists who made it as far as the Ilium Range would be protected from the blast by the mountains there. The company set up a relief station in orbit, but no survivors were ever found. Called Kathar Station, it is now a minor research platform maintained by a custodial staff.
Type
World
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Related Myths
THE UNITED AMERICAS
Comments