ARABELLUM

arabellum-force-works-seethingarabellum-force-works-main


Classification: Planet (destroyed);
    unidentified star system (see comments), Milky Way galaxy

Creator: Unrevealed (likely inapplicable)

Possessors: None; its energies and resources were stripped by Broker

First Appearance: Force Works I#14 (August, 1995)

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Arabellum was a gas giant planet (like Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune). 

    It currently exists only as space rubble.

arabellum-force-works-shock-halo

History:
(Force Works I#14 / Force Works#15 (fb) - BTS) - Eight parsecs from Earth, the great ship of the interstellar merchant and pirate the Broker hung heavy in the gravity well of the gas giant Arabellum. Probing ribbons of coherent energy lashed down through the cloud cover, sucking super-heavy elements from the planetary core. arabellum-force-works-rubble

    Arabellum shuddered as its life-blood was leeched away for fuel. The atmosphere boiled, and apocalyptic storm-cancers flared and seethed. 

    After the great ship pulled in its fueling-beams and swung around out of orbit, the plundered world convulsed and spit out a shock-halo of expanding gas and meteoric rubble.

    As the ship exited through an opening warp-gate, nothing remained of Arabellum but dissipating clouds of dust.

Comments: Created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Dave Ross, and Mark McKenna.

    In the Broker's profile, Arabellum is identified as being in the Coda star system. However, this comes from a one page epilogue that starts with "Coda..." I suspect that rather than defining the location as Coda, they were using "coda" in its definition: A concluding event, remark, or section. I don't think it's 100% clear, but that was my take. As further support, in the Italian version, instead of Coda, it says "Finale."

    Since Arabellum is eight parsces from Earth, that makes it like 26 light years from Earth. Since the Milky Way galaxy is estimated at 31,000-55,000 parsecs (or 100,000 to 180,000 light years) in diameter, that puts Arabellum within the Milky Way, at least. I'm no expert in astronomy, but doing a search for stars around 8 parsecs from Earth (including only those 25-27 light years away; obviously there's more when you expand the radius of your search) gave me the stars Vega (25 light years), Fomalhaut (25.1 light years), Gliese 673 (25.1 light years), P Erdani (25.5 light years), Pi Orionis (26.3 light years), Chi Draconis (26.3 light years), and Gliese 884 (26.6 light years). Obviously Vega and Fomalhaut, at least, are already taken, but that doesn't mean those stars couldn't have a gas giant beyond the planet(s) we already know.
    You can Google lists of nearest bright stars for a lot more information.

    This profile was completed 5/28/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Arabellum should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads):
Force Works I#14, last page, panel 1-4 (Broker's ship draining; seething; shock-halo; rubble)

Appearances:
Force Works I#14 (August, 1995) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Dave Ross (penciler), Mark McKenna (inker), Nel Yomtov (editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First posted: 09/09/2021
Last updated: 09/07/2021

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