IS Atlas / System / Detail

Description:

Styx was aptly named by the first settlers to set up colonies on its storm-ravaged surface. Large oceans and the gravitational effects of its three moons are blamed for the violent storms that rage across the Stygian surface, often causing damage from flash floods and mudslides during the planet's rainy seasons. The first colonists, as a result, settled in the open plains of the interior regions of Epimethius, the primary continent, where the storms were least volatile.

A few short years after the first towns were established, geologists discovered high quantities of metal and radioactive minerals in the mountain ranges of Epimethius and the smaller, neighboring continent of Perdition. These deposits lured in mining firms, the largest of which was the Styx Mining Company, an interstellar corporation that specialized in mining difficult veins of valuable metals and quality refining processes. Styx came under the sway of the Terran Hegemony more than a century before the birth of the Star League, and its mineral wealth helped bolster the Hegemony's economy and military. Perhaps for this reason, the Draconis Combine came to covet Styx, culminating in the first true battle to use the BattleMech.

In 2443, a Combine armored company raided Styx, intending to seize and plunder several metal refineries on Perdition while testing the resolve of the Hegemony. The rain-slicked plains slowed the Kuritan tanks, which gave the Hegemony troops plenty of time to ready their new war machines. On the muddy plains outside the city of Barbados, the two forces clashed: a lance of Hegemony 'Mechs from the 801st Heavy Armored Regiment faced off against a full company of Combine tanks and infantry support. The results were so lopsided that few could argue the Hegemony's new BattleMech would not be the future king of the battlefield. The four 'Mechs easily trampled the entire Kuritan force, leaving only a single tank and some of its supporting infantry to scurry back to their DropShip.

Styx's mineral wealth attracted many raiders over the centuries, including a major engagement between Kurita and Davion forces over the Styx Mining Company's Beta facility near the city of Lake Wio. Despite this, Styx remains a major exporter of metals and radioactive minerals today. The Styx Mining Corporation's headquarters are in Memphis, on Epimethius. The planetary capital, Sunder Falls, is located 120 kilometers northwest of Memphis. Aside from Epimethius and Perdition, Styx's third large landmass is the island continent of Gehenna. Far less populous than the other two regions, Gehenna is home to a large spaceport city, Lindon's Folly, which is also home to one of the Styx Mining Company's large refineries.