Orbiting the system’s star at a distance of one hundred thirty million kilometres, Holador I bakes in the lights of the sun. Temperatures on the equator hover a mere ten standard degrees below the boiling point of water, and the relatively low atmospheric pressure ensures that any surface water evaporates within minutes. The combination of extreme heat and low pressure meant that there was no water on the planet’s surface even before it was tiled and duracreted over by the numerous mining corporations that arrived swiftly after the system’s discovery approximately four millennia ago. Holador’s mineral wealth has been a source of contention since the early days of the planet’s exploration, which originated from the crash of a Squib colony ship. Historically, the two biggest rivals—the Muunilinst-backed Andover Material Resources and the Hutt-backed Holodar Mining Corporation—fought a brutal underground war in the mining tunnels and pits that resulted in the deaths of almost a million sentients over several hundred years. The bodies of the dead mine workers, hired thugs, and innocents caught in the middle were buried in the mines themselves, as disposal above ground or in an open manner would have invited too many questions from the corrupt authorities. Several centuries after both corporations left Holador, their legacy includes some of the most haunted sites to be found anywhere in the galaxy, as well as a number of churches, temples, and other houses of worship greater than almost any other world outside theocratically governed planets.

In the present, Holador remains a thriving mining-driven economy. New mines are driven deeper and deeper into the planet’s rocky crust, with the deepest mines plumbing depths of forty kilometres or more from the heat-blasted surface. At these depths, the temperatures are a hellish three hundred standard degrees, and much of the mining is conducted by droids, remotely operated vehicles, or, more rarely, miners in specially designed protective suits. The mining continues even now as new deposits of raw materials are continuously found, even after four millennia of exploitation, and the planet’s remarkably stable crust and lack of significant seismic activity mean mines can be bored much deeper than on almost any other planet. Holador’s surface is covered with buildings and facilities designed to process, package, and transport the planet’s riches off-world, as well as house the billions of workers for the factories, smelters, refineries, warehouses, starports, fuel depots, and service centres. Day and night mean little on Holador, with activity continuing all throughout the forty-two standard hours of the day. Holador I is the system’s economic powerhouse, and the present government has implemented a highly efficient way of exploiting the planet’s resources while maintaining at least a minimally acceptable comfort level for the billions of sentients under their care.