ATENALP
M-CLASS TERRESTRIAL PLANET
Yuhop Homeworld
POPULATION
~8.1 billion
CLIMATE
Temperate, Regionally varied
MAJOR EXPORTS
none
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ASTRONAUTICAL ASSETS
- 2 ground-based space launch complexes
- 1 orbital space station, ~6 crew
- 6 interplanetary spaceships, 2-8 crew
- 10+ orbital spaceships, 1-3 crew
GOVERNMENT
Atenalp is governed by the Yuhop Corporatocracy. The ruling council, known as the Chief Executive Panel, is a body of officials comprised of one representative from each of the five wealthiest corporations on the planet. At the beginning of each Atenalp year, an evaluation of the the net worth of all registered corporations is performed, and the Panel is refreshed with the new 'top 5'.
The Corporatocracy is responsible for all aspects of government, laying out an annual strategy, and creating work contracts for services, tasks, and objectives in virtually every planetary industry. Contracts are assigned based on the suitability and reputation of each corporation. Individual Yuhop are employed by a corporation from birth, but are free to switch corporations or change their field of employment at any time.
GEOGRAPHY
Atenalp has a roughly equal distribution of surface liquid water and solid land, with a largely temperate climate, reaching extremes at the polar ice caps and scattered pockets of desert. Most vegetation on the planet has developed to be small and low to the ground; only a very small percentage is covered by tree-like or wooded vegetation. For its size, Atenalp has a wide variation in elevation, with several large mountain ranges, exceeding 6 kilometers in height, contrasted by deep below-sea-level valleys. These extremes were likely caused by one or more violent meteor collisions.
While the Yuhop are the dominant form of life, possessing comparatively advanced technology and inhabiting most of the globe, they remain relatively low on the planet's natural food chain, resulting in their habitation largely in vast underground cities. The surface, on the other hand, is dominated by large winged-reptiles, known as Nogards.
FIRST CONTACT
First contact with the Federation came in mid-2409, when the Federation Starship Nautilus accidentally encountered a Yuhop space vessel in the Betazed Sector. Despite being a simple rocket-powered craft, the vessel was inexplicably traveling at just above warp velocity when it very nearly collided with the Nautilus. As a result of the difficulty in translating the Yuhop language, it was not discovered until
after the Nautilus returned the wayward vessel to its homeworld of Atenalp, that the Yuhop are not a warp-capable society. The question of how a sub-orbital rocket managed to travel over 30 lightyears would remain unanswered for the better part of the next decade.
WORMHOLE DISCOVERY & ONGOING RELATIONS
2416 saw the accidental discovery of the Yuhop Wormhole in orbit of Atenalp, answering the years-old question of how Yuhop rockets were finding their way lightyears from home. With similarities to the Bajoran and Barzan wormholes, the Yuhop Wormhole is partially stable, with one terminus in apparent permanent high-orbit above Atenalp. The opposite endpoint is in a nearly constant state of flux, jumping from point to point in the nearby sectors. While not as conventionally useful as the long-range reliability provided by the Bajoran wormhole, the Yuhop wormhole is nevertheless an extremely valuable strategic resource.
With the goal of making the best scientific and strategic use of the wormhole, the Federation and Yuhop Corporatocracy signed the Doza-1 Land Lease Agreement. This treaty provided for the establishment of a Federation Outpost to be located on an uninhabited Atenalp island, as well as for exclusive Federation jurisdiction over the wormhole itself. In exchange, the Corporatocracy gained a guarantee of independence and noninterference from the Federation, as well as structured access to a number of scientific Federation scientific forums.
Once established, the outpost was christened
Talos Junction, and currently functions as both a listening post, scientific research station, and logistics stop. Full mapping of the Yuhop Wormhole was completed in 2417. In addition to the stable end, six distinct endpoints were identified. Each endpoint opens naturally for only a few moments once every three days, but utilization of a magneton pulse allows access to each endpoint for nearly a full 12 hour period, on a 'counter-clockwise' 72-hour rotation cycle.
