Almost the exact opposite of Alzoc I, Alzoc II is a frigid, desolate world with no atmosphere to speak of. Its orbital plane around the star is elliptical, resulting in massive extremes in temperature through its year, varying from over 2,000 degrees Celsius at its closest point to the star, to below -250 degrees Celsius at its furthest point. Its sidereal orbital period is around three hundred and eighty-seven days in length, while its day is only fourteen hours long. There are no native life forms at all, even below the surface where the core is still fairly warm all year round. Parts of the planet’s crust has been broken open, giving rise to hot, sulfurous volcanoes that leak noxious fumes into the vacuum of space, though the heat from these simply isn’t enough to raise the surface temperature more than a few degrees around the volcanoes themselves, at least until the planet enters its “summer”.

According to the Imperial survey team who were sent to study the planet, it once possessed an atmosphere and ecology along the same lines as Alzoc III. They have found fossilized traces of basic life forms such as amoebas and some slightly more advanced four-legged creatures, as well as numerous different plants and the evolutionary equivalent of trees. They were unable to discover precisely how or why the planet changed so drastically, but it is thought that at one time in its past something unsettled its orbit and it passed too close to the sun, burning away the atmosphere and all life on its surface. Eventually, its orbital pattern settled again into an elliptical shape, although it maintains extreme variations in temperature throughout its sidereal orbital period around the star.

The Empire permitted several small mining companies to survey the planet and set up operations to extract any raw materials they discovered. The survey team found that the planet’s crust was rich in heavy metals, including Ardanium and Lommite, which are vital components in the construction of starships. The mining groups set up deep core drillers to extract the metals and refined them in processing plants, before shipping them off in large cargo freighters to various Imperial-held shipyards. Although the temperatures on the planet are extreme, the miners solved this by creating a large, heat reflective dome over the base, strong enough to shield the base camp from even the strongest radiation and heat emissions from the star around which Alzoc II orbits. Its cooling systems are maintained constantly, though the domes are only in use for half the year, as the planet is bathed in a frigid gloom for the other half.

The mining operations were abandoned after the Empire was forced to relinquish their control over the system, with the Imperials destroying the heat domes and base camps to prevent their use by anyone after they had left, though, with the Falleen Federation’s arrival, it seems likely that new mining groups will try their luck on Alzoc II.