Civilisation on Illarreen III is a new thing. Discovered along with its sister planets only a half century before the Clone Wars, the original surveyors found a small, volcanically active, rocky world pock-marked with craters from meteorite impacts. Orbiting close enough to the system’s star that the sun’s gravity had stripped away any atmosphere that the world may have developed, daily temperatures average a blistering one hundred standard degrees above the boiling point of water. Needless to say, no surface water exists on this world of stone, dust and fire. Major earthquakes frequently crack the planet’s crust, spewing molten lava that can cover thousands of square kilometres. The planet’s seismic activeness, coupled with a somewhat erratic orbit around the sun mean that any habitation on the planet has to be built either with repulsorlift technology or with flexible foundations.

With such challenges, it would be expected that there would be very little in the way of permanent artificial structures on Illarreen III. In actual fact, the opposite is true. Due to its isolation and hostile climate, the planet finds itself playing host to all kinds of experimental installation. Several different prototype thermal energy generation projects – some more successful than others - have been constructed over the past four decades by the researchers and engineers of the Illareen System University of Engineering and its rival, the Imperial College of Technology. Deep bore holes rigged with energy collectors and kilometres wide fields of experimental solar panels cover wide swathes of the planet’s surface. The efficacy of these energy harvesters is monitored from the small number of permanent research stations around the planet. As yet, these prototype harvesters have not achieved any results that are better than standard power generators, but the engineers and academics are all confident that a breakthrough is just around the corner.

Illarreen III’s other claim to local fame is the Sunrise Five Hundred, a five hundred kilometre race using solar-wind powered racers, in which the racers, clad in sealed environmental suit with just enough breathable air to complete the race and mounted on small racing platforms suspended below vast solar sails compete for a prize of a million credits. This race, held every two years, attracts risk takers and adventurers from all across the Outer Rim, as well as the associated plethora of gamblers and con-men.