Praxis

Praxis from above

**Praxis** is the second and smallest planet in the Verda System, as well as being the most dense. Praxis is virtually useless from a habitation standpoint, and is in the process of being disassembled for the use of its huge density of valuable heavy metals. As such, it is rarely visited by civilians and has the lowest population of the inner system of Verda.

## Physical Characteristics

Praxis is the smallest planet orbiting Verda, as well as the densest. Praxis is made of almost solid metal aside from miscellaneous meteorite impacts, due to a past impact which stripped the planet of its silicate crust and mantle. Because of this, Praxis hosts the largest concentration of easily accessible heavy metals in the region, making it a very popular mining site.

Praxis's surface is pitted and mottled with crater-like landforms and large hills. Due to Iron's higher tensile strength, any impacts do not create craters like the ones found on Moa or one of the moons of the outer planets. They simply create shallow pits with small deposits of silicates lining them. These pits are often used to build things in due to extra protection from the harsh glare of Verda only 0.3 AU away.

## Exosphere

Praxis is far too small and hot to retain any significant atmosphere over geological timescales. However, like most airless planets it possesses a tenuous exosphere containing such elements as hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium, potassium, and other trace elements at a surface pressure of roughly half a nanobar. This exosphere is not truly stable, as atoms are continuously lost and replenished through various means.

## Orbit & Rotation

Praxis orbits Verda ~0.3 AU away on average, although its orbit is highly eccentric, ranging from 0.18 to 0.42 AU away from its star. It is also highly inclined relative to the plane of the system, with its orbit tilted 5 degrees off the ecliptic.

Praxis is in a form of tidal lock common to eccentric orbits. It rotates three times for every two orbits about Verda, and has virtually no inclination. Because of this, there are small pockets of ice found in the permanently shadowed pits of the polar regions.

## History & Colonization

Praxis was formed ~1.8 billion years ago in the circumstellar disk of Verda, as a fairly normally sized planet roughly twice its current size. However, the planet suffered a huge impact in its early history, blasting off the entirety of its silicate crust and mantle and transforming it into what is known as an ironworld. Absolutely nothing of note happened to it except the usual list of small meteorite impacts until the evolution of the Terallans on the neighboring world of Teralla.

Praxis was initially mapped by repeated flybys from the *Vico* probe, which was able to map 88% of the surface due to the planet's lack of a tidal lock. The follow-up *Sakas* multiprobe mission dropped a planetary lander and small relay probe in orbit before going onwards to Moa, which helped reveal the presence of several silicate lodes left over from the planet's former crust.

Praxis' abundance of easily accessible resources made it a key colonization target as the interplanetary civilization developed beyond Teralla. Its surface was colonized with several remotely piloted mining vehicles stripmining the surface, controlled from several mirrored "mushroom habitats" designed to shield a surface habitat from the sun as well as similarly shielded orbital habitation drums.

During the Tyran War, Praxis' high temperature was used to shield several secret installations from enemy infrared scans, which researched possible methods to break the Tyran group consciousness. Unfortunately, just after their research was complete, an enemy fleet appeared over Praxis and detonated several powerful bombs above the sites, destabilizing the surface, crushing them under miles of solid iron, and killing everyone in the installation with barely enough time to transmit the data to the remaining resistance.

## Population

Praxis' location and composition means that it serves little purpose for living beings except as a gravitational anchor to place habitats around. Its hill sphere plays host to several orbital families of habitats, with a total population of roughly 4.5 billion. There are several other such families to be found at the two stable Verda-Praxis lagrangian points.