Heszton

Heszton is the eigth planet in the Szon system. Due to the accessibility of helium-3, Heszton is the most populated planet after Ucharpli in the Szon system. It is the second largest gas giant.

Naming
Heszton is named after the father of pagan god-king Enkladius who was a powerful ruler of the cosmos. When Heszton refused to abdicate the throne, he was assassinated by his son.

Physical characteristics
Heszton is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium and has a rocky core. It contains trace amounts of xenon, argon and neon towards the highest regions of the atmosphere with a layer of supercritical ammonia below. The planet appears a reddish-yellow hue as a result. In comparison to Enkladius, Heszton's atmosphere is far more calm consisting of a straight bands of clouds that get wider at the equator.

The large presence of supercritical ammonia allows for a simple biosphere of gasbag creatures. Most of these gasbags, the main predator being the Helium Octopus, dwell in the mid to upper cloud layers having evolved from ammonia metabolizing microbes. The planet remains a major scientific interest as a gas giant with its own biosphere is beleived to be rare in the universe.

Heszton also has an unusual axial tilt of 45.8°. The planet was most likely struck by a large planet-sized object several million years ago, causing it to rotate at such an odd angle.

Moons
Heszton has a faint ring system with more than thirty moons each of which contain valuable minerals.

Heszton's largest moon is Karthin. Karthin is believed to be a captured body from another solar system due to the unusual crust composition graphic and diamond. The moon was a much larger body at some point, but it had split in two after a meteor impact that sent the other half below the planet's Roche limit. Where this moon came from still remains a mystery, but it is believed to have come from at least one of many nearby systems which have a higher metallicity than Szon.

Colonization
Heszton has floating cities within its atmosphere that sustain levitation by using telekinetic fields. This planet was chosen over Enkladius as the latter has a belt of lethal radiation. Heszton's large cities collect helium-3 and other noble gases which are used to power Maj cells and other Dhragolon electronics. Heszton is the Soul Nebula's largest exporter of helium-3, and even today, remains an important harvesting site for the entire Dhragolon Federal Monarchy.

Many of Heszton's moons have settlements which mine the planet for minerals. Karthin contains vast strip mines which extract the diamond from the moon's thick crust.