World with indigenous life and oxygen atmosphere. Canonical name: Liaququ 3 IAO official name: * Nickname: New California Mass: 1.62 Earth masses Diameter: 12,500 km Major starports: New Nakasone, Bell Base, Fort Cousens Surface temperature: 314 K Orbital period: 2.4 years Orbital radius: 2.204 AUs Orbital eccentricity and inclination: 0.000, 6.9° Axial tilt: 0.8° Landmass: 15.9% Biomass: 22,500 Gt

 The jewel of the Liaququ system, Liaququ 3, also known as New California. This is a large terrestrial planet, roughly the same size as Earth but with a larger mass due to its higher concentration of heavy metals. The surface g value is proportionally higher (1.65 g's). The planet posesses high volcanism and seismic activity. A large orbital station, the Jennings Relay, revolves around the planet and serves those that cannot function properly in the high-g environment of the planetary surface.
 Altough listed as "world with indigenous life", the current ecosystem on New California is Earth-based. This is because the initial ecosystem consisted mainly of primitive moss and algae and some very primitive invertebrates. The colonists found it improper to sustain human civilisation. A decision was made to replace it with an Earth-like one. However, a major problem arose: the high radiation levels from the Eye. Indigenous lifeforms might be able to withstand the gamma rays, but the import ones (including humans) surely would not. A daring solution was used. First, after preserving individuals of each native species for posteriy a virus was developed that in 5 years wiped out all life on the face of the planet. The ecology crumbled and the planet became inhospitable to all but the hardiest of lifeforms. Many tought the ecological engineers had gone too far and had irreversibly destroyed any chance of humanity ever settling on Liaququ 3. However... 3 years after all life had been extinguished, a project was started to inseminate New California's oceans with a new type of genetically engineered fast breeding algae that not only would restore the planets atmosphere to optimal Earth composition, but would also add an exotic gaseous component to absorb or diffract damaging radiation from the Eye. 3 more years had to pass, in which time the new algae covered the planet's oceans with a thick red crust, before New California would be declared ready for biot introduction. For the next 20 years, massive efforts saw the cration of a viable ecosystem on New California, mostly marine.
  The planet's geography is mainly comprised of two large polar oceans with chains of islands (over 2,929,233 islands) and one continent encircling the equator. The vast majority of the landmass is volcanic in origin, the short timespan between the re-terraformation of the planet and present day being insufficient for coraligen atolls to form.
 The climate is influenced by the large water-covered surface, the bright central star and the planet's negligible axial tilt and can be described as hot and humid with almost no seasonal varations. The lowest temperatures recorded here at the poles are well above the freezing point of water resulting in no icecaps, while the highest teperatures, recorded at the equator, are low enough to be confortable to most humans, a tribute to the regulatory effects of the two large oceans.
 Given these conditions, it is no wonder that the tropical ecosystem chosen to inhabit New California thrives. 75% of the landmass is covered by humid rainforests while the rest (mostly the Northern and Southern plains of the main continent) is used as arable land, for agriculture. Land animal species are relatively scarce, consisting mostly of insects, small rodents, and small predators. The avian kingdom is much better represented, a bewildering array of flying beasts, not all native to Earth are inhabiting the skies of New California. The oceans however, contain the most of the biomass and fish, cetaceeans and invertebrates native to a dozen worlds are thriving in the warm waters of the Inner Sea, the Gulf of California and the two oceans.
 Humans are present in relatively small numbers: a little over 9 million Liaququans inhabit the surface, but with twice as many tourists flocking in the main inhabitations. The three starports are also the three biggest cities on the planet: New Nakasone (1,200,000), Bell Base (900,000) and Fort Cousens (350,000), the rest of the communities spread across the planet never reaching over 75,000.
 All life on Liaququ 3 is influenced by the high surface G: human populations are shorter and stubbier than the galactic average, the land animals are tougher and heavier built than their ancestors, birds are larger due to the need of developing increased lift, while trees are reaching lower heights than their counterparts on lower G worlds.
 New California is a planet of extraordinary natural beauty with heaven-like climate, one of the few places in the Core where you can still enjoy the true outdoors.

 This is a Mercator map of New California, showing the main geographical features:

 Note: most islands are too small to be adequately represented here.