Leviathan (Gliese 1214 c)

Leviathan, officially known as Gliese 1214 c, is a "super-Earth" planet in the Gliese 1214 system; the second of two planets in the system. While the existence of Gliese 1214 b—the inner planet of the system—was confirmed in the early 21st century, transit time variation measurements around the same time were unable to confirm the existence of Gliese 1214 c, its discovery not happening until many decades later. At the time, the world was believed to be very similar to the other world in the system, with its density between that of a rocky planet and a gas giant matching with a significant portion of the mass coming from water surrounding a deep rocky crust and molten core. Despite this, it is notable as further observations showed inconsistent results for atmospheric measurements, indicating very little water vapor relative to the suspected composition of the world.
These seemingly inconsistent results spurred the scientific community to choose the Gliese 1214 as an early candidate for colonization upon the discovery of slipspace drives, despite its distance from Earth. The first ships were only intended for survey and served to confirm that the world was largely composed of deep oceans of liquid water, with a relatively light greenhouse effect in the atmosphere, only slightly above Earth's own. Despite this, further colonization efforts for further study repeatedly failed with all contact lost. It wasn't until the years following the conclusion of the Human-Covenant war that technology had advanced far enough to safely land on the world, as the earlier lost colonies had been spurred by a local planetwide Forerunner defense installation that the newest UNSC ships could survive contact with and, eventually, avoid the targetting of.
== Etymology ==
A sea serpent from theology and mythology, Leviathan is often viewed as an embodiment of chaos and destruction. Though originally religious in nature, the word grew to refer to any sea monster. With these attributions of chaos, destruction, and the sea, it became a perfect name for Gliese 1214 c following the unexplained, violent losses of ships originally sent to investigate. Some people still holding to religious beliefs in which the Leviathan is eventually said to be defeated even see the name as a symbolic gesture of hope, that humanity will eventually be able to "defeat" the planet and whatever was keeping it locked down, a stance that exploded in popularity once the planet was eventually opened to UNSC and SOS forces following the Human-Covenant War.
== History ==
=== The Forerunners and Seed Populations ===
=== Discovery and Scientific Anomaly ===
=== Original Surveys ===
=== Continued UEG Efforts ===
=== Post-War Colonization ===
=== Created Crisis Stronghold ===
== Physical Structure ==
Orbiting extremely close to a red dwarf star with relatively high eccentricity, Leviathan remains tidally locked, though with its rotation in a 2:1 resonance with its orbital period, rather than synchronous. The relatively short orbital period and its relatively thick, reflective atmosphere serve to both reject a large portion of the stellar flux and transport what heat does arrive on the surface, the latter aided by the deep oceans. This combination allows for near completely even heating of the world, making up for the variation in stellar flux as its orbital distance shifts dramatically over the course of a single period. Additionally, the planet's minimal orbital tilt leads to an effective absence of seasonal hemispherical variances.
As a water world, the oceans themselves contribute approximately 25% of Leviathan's mass (around 65% of its volume), with the rest coming from the rocky crust beneath and the semi-molten mantle and cores further to the center of the planet. Amidst these features, however, are several signs of artificial modification of the world.
The most immediately notable of these would be the nearly 10% land surface area on the world. While the oceans stretch deep enough to average around 30% of the radius of Leviathan, several clusters of land stretch this distance up from the crust to break the surface. This feature would have no natural mechanism to explain its existence, with the artificial nature hinted at by the lack of large continents or tectonic activities, the land coverage consisting instead of scattered islands. Furthermore, structures adorned the landmasses: a planet-wide Forerunner defense network. This network is composed of several ground-based anti-ship weapons platforms, spread out so as to cover the entire atmosphere of the planet.
Less noticeable signs of an artificially modified nature to the planet come from the atmospheric composition. Despite the proximity to the star and extreme concentrations of volatiles on the surface, the water content of Leviathan is largely liquid, with some presence of ice on the dark side, and relatively little water vapor. While cloud coverage is significant, the average atmospheric concentration of water vapor is only about twice that of Earth's, and the greenhouse effect is similarly dampened from expected, natural values. This allows the world to enjoy average temperatures slightly below the boiling point of liquid water. Though the equatorial surface regions can see this raising nearly 50 degrees above the boiling point of water, there are also several cooler areas even reaching temperatures at which humans could safely and even comfortably live. Furthermore, the polar regions often reach temperatures below the freezing point of water, with approximately 10% of the water's surface area being sea ice, and the deeper regions experience cool enough temperatures at high pressures to consist of several of the more exotic forms of ice that thrive in these conditions (such as Ice VII). The artificial nature of this relatively temperate, low-greenhouse climate was further confirmed by the discovery of a climate control network spread across the planet and stretching deep towards the core. These facilities, much like the weapons stations, originated from the Forerunners and have since begun to degrade.
Less well-preserved structures—these of an unknown purpose and significantly different design—also dot the landmasses and shallow waters around them stretching out to the edge of the deep drop-off of the world's natural oceans. Unlike the Forerunner climate control and landmass superstructures, these don't show signs of being integral to the stability of the world. The best theories available to modern scholars thus hold that a second species of advanced lifeforms populated the world, likely seeded by the Forerunners who established it as a habitable planet.
=== Ecology ===
== Gallery ==
== List of Appearances ==