Maleiva III

**Maleiva III**, informally known as *Deepsix*, was the third of twelve planets located in the Maleiva system. It was first visited by a team of scientists under the leadership of Randall Nightingale in 2204, and again in 2223 by various others before and during its destruction by Morgan's World.

## History

In the 1st millnium B.C., the Maleiva system had entered the Quiveras dust cloud. The dust in the system had presented enough of an obstacle to the star's light to cause an ice age on Maleiva III, which by 2223 had lasted for 3,000 years.

### Discovery and first expedition

The Maleiva system and with it Maleiva III was discovered around 2202 by an expedition on board the NCA James P. Taliaferro and named after the daughter of the senator who had been chair of the science funding committee at the time. In 2204, an expedition led by Randall Nightingale and piloted by Biney Coldfield landed to survey the planet. Shortly after their arrival, Capanelli, Al White, and a third crew member violated Nightingale's rules and explored a nearby forest, where they were killed by carnivorous birds. The AI of one of the landers, Tess, recorded their screams and alerted the rest of the crew.

In order to save or retrieve their missing comrades, the team followed them into the forest. After locating their bodies, they began transporting them towards the lander, when they too were ambushed by the predators, suffering three more casualties. With six people dead, the Academy opted to abort the mission. No second mission was sent to Maleiva III and most of the blame was put on Nightingale, who subsequently disappeared from the public eye for the next two decades.

### Second expedition and destruction

In 2203, the NCA Wendy Jay arrived at Maleiva to observe the destruction of the planet during its collision with the gas giant Morgan's World, as predicted by Jeremy Morgan. While surveying the planet from orbit, the crew, led by Gunther Beekman and pilot Marcel Clairveau, discovered remains of intelligent life on the surface. With the *Wendy* carrying neither lander nor archaeologists, and no other ship in range, the NCA Harold Wildside under Priscilla Hutchins was redirected from Pinnacle to examine the ruins on the surface in what little time remained. Among her passengers was Randy Nightingale, who had led the first expedition.

At the same time, the luxury cruiser Evening Star under the command of Erik Nicholson was en route to the Maleiva system to allow its wealthy passengers to witness the event from the comfort of the ship, and the Edward J. Zwick was carrying two journalists, August Canyon and Emma Constantine from Universal News to report on Maleiva III's demise.

One of the passengers of the *Star*, publicist Gregory MacAllister, agreed to let journalist Casey Hayes interview him on the surface of the planet, after bribing Captain Nicholson with the promise of fame and glory, were he to bring back relicts from Deepsix to exhibit on the ship. While there, an earthquake destroyed the *Star* lander and killed its pilot, Cole Wetheral, while MacAllister and Hayes' attempt to escape using the *Wildside* lander resulted in a crash landing and destruction of the second lander, as well as Hayes' death. A rescue attempt using the lander of a nearby ship was sabotaged by Kosmik Inc.'s Ian Helm and the two teams were stranded.

Meanwhile, the crew on the *Wendy* had spotted and examined the remaints of an ancient space elevator, at odds with the impression that the reisdents of Maleiva III had been a preindustrial civilisation. The marooned team on the surface ventured towards Tess, the lander left behind by the Nightingale mission, losing crew member Chiang Harmon, only to find it in a state that would not allow them to return to orbit. Beekman and Clairveau began to manufacture from the destroyed elevator a device that would allow them to pick up the craft from a high altitude within Deepsix' atmosphere.

Despite numerous drawbacks, the crew were successfully rescued, bringing with them extensive photographic evidence of the evacuation of Maleiva III's natives at the hands of a technologically sophisticated, bird-like species 3,000 years prior, when the planet had entered the Quiveras dust cloud and fallen into an ice age. During the final stages of the extraction, Maleiva III began to collapse, as Morgan's World approached and its gravitational influence began tearing apart the crust and disturbing the oceans.

## Geography

Maleiva III was a very Earth-like world, with the most prominent difference being its temporary ice age. In 2223, most of its geography was named by a group of scientists around Chiang Harmon on the *Wendy Jay*.

Maleiva III's continents were named *Transitoria* (a roughly triangular continent), *Endtime*, *Gloriamundi*, and *Northern* and *Southern Tempus*. It's northern great ocean was named the *Coraggio*, the others were named the *Nirvana*, the *Majestic*, and the *Arcane*. The sea that separated the two *Tempi* (who were only connected by a narrow neck of land) was named the *Misty Sea*.

Named landmarks included:

* Cape Farewell
* Bad News Bay (NW Transitoria)
* Lookout Rock
* Black Coast
* Mournful Mountains
* Port Umbgage (tip of Gloriamundi)
* Irresolute Canal (Tempi)
* Cape Chagrin (Tempi)
* Freezeover (island)