Kaldir, a moon of the gas giant Midr IV, ranks among the coldest terrestrial locations in the Koprulu sector. Its upper atmosphere repels heat and blocks out most sunlight that might reach the surface. As a result, only two indigenous life-forms of significance have been discovered on Kaldir to date. One, a species of extremophilic bacteria, serves as an energy source for the other: a grouping of vicious Ursadon.
Kaldir’s gaseous upper atmosphere also produces a planet-wide effect that’s made it a colonization nightmare: flash-freezes that occur with barely a moment’s warning, and coincide with immense temperature drops which can kill just as quickly. These natural factors, so antithetical to off-planet life, belie a surprisingly attractive location for exploration.
To advanced civilizations, Kaldir represents an opportunity to investigate uniquely resilient organisms and perform environmental testing in an extremely low-density ecology. For an evolving zerg swarm, Kaldir is a chance for the consumption of unique biomass. Any life that might thrive here can only better the swarm with its capacity to adapt to the most hostile environments in the sector.
Would-be explorers of Kaldir need not just concern themselves with moving carefully during the moon’s ongoing flash-freezes – they must also be prepared to deal with beings technologically or biologically advanced enough to survive the moon’s impossible temperatures.
