The small, icy world of Holador II sits near the edge of the system’s habitable zone. An airless rock, fully exposed to the bombardment of meteorites and space debris, the system’s government has long stationed defensive space stations close by to destroy any large objects that may threaten to impact the planet’s surface. This is largely to prevent any unforeseen planetary impact from disrupting the vacations of the hardworking sentients from the system’s economic powerhouse, Holador, who are enjoying their downtime on Holador II. Indeed, the whole planet is devoted to catering to the recreational needs of the vacationing miners, factory workers, service providers, and other critical workers who toil away on Holador for most of the year.

The sealed domed cities house every entertainment a tired worker could want, as long as they pay for it—from gambling houses, fighting arenas, and race courses to holo-tainment theatres, massage parlours, and bordellos, both high-end and decidedly seedy. As Holador’s haunted mines also pose unique challenges to the workers, the number of psychologists, psychiatrists, mediums, and psychics—both real and false—as well as paranormal researchers of all kinds also find a welcome among the tall hab buildings and glowing neon signs. Everything is managed and overseen by the mining corporations that run the operations on the industrial mining world of Holador, which is a direct way for the companies to recoup the salaries paid to their hardworking crews.

Outside the sealed domes, Holador II is a frigid, inhospitable orb or barren rock with dust-filled craters, grime-covered glaciers, and bubbling volcanic mud fields. Workers who ride the numerous trains between the cities often comment on the stark beauty of the landscape, bathed in the rays of the system’s star, but this view belies the danger. With average temperatures of at least seventy degrees below freezing, any unprotected sentient would swiftly freeze to death, even if it were able to somehow breathe the almost non-existent atmosphere. Solar radiation also poses a hazard to those not wearing protective suits or riding in the specially shielded vehicles that ply the inter-city routes, and the government expends significant amounts every year on ensuring the domes, vehicles, and other infrastructure remain in working order at all times.