Pallas
The primary moon of Athena. A significant presence in the planet's sky. When the cracking begins — visible from orbit — everything changes.
Physical Profile
Primary moon of Athena. Significant gravitational presence — visible and prominent in the planet's sky. Standard geological body by pre-2327 survey data. No colony. No prior anomalies on record.
The full designation of the goddess — Pallas Athena — is distributed between the planet and its moon. This naming originated with the Athena Corporation colony charter.
Anomalous Events — 2327
Within days of the USPN Caldera achieving orbital position, Caldera instruments detected elevated heat signatures originating from inside the moon — signatures inconsistent with standard geological activity and outside all prior survey parameters.
Shortly after: surface fracturing became visible from orbit. Fissures of increasing scale appeared across Pallas's surface. Heat and light are bleeding through the fracture lines. The fissures are glowing.
What is occurring inside Pallas:
Effect on Planet Athena
The tidal relationship between Pallas and Athena is significant. As the moon's structural integrity degrades, the following surface effects have been confirmed:
- Tidal cycle destabilisation — ongoing
- Seismic activity — escalating in frequency and magnitude
- Surface fires — ground fracturing igniting subsurface gas deposits
- Colony infrastructure damage — ongoing
A colony that was functioning at the time of USP arrival is now fighting for survival.
Assessment
What is occurring inside Pallas is not known. Why it is occurring at this time — coincident with USP arrival, with the escalation of surface conflict, and with observed changes in crystal behaviour in the mine — is not known.
These are the questions at the centre of everything.
// Viewer Access +
The fracturing of Pallas began before the Caldera achieved orbital insertion — not after. The instruments that recorded the first heat signature did so while the ship was still on approach. This detail is in the sensor log. It has not been included in the summary report that was distributed at command level. What it means — that whatever is happening inside Pallas was already in motion before USP arrival — is a different question from the one anyone is currently asking.