Freyja (The Expanse)

Freyja, also known as Tau Ceti III or Tau Ceti e, is the third planet in the Tau Ceti system. It was the first exoplanet that humanity colonized that had native life and it was the first place where humanity discovered extraterrestrial macroscopic life.

Physical Characteristics
The planet orbits at a distance of 0.552 AU (about 82.6 million kilometers). Its year is 168 Terran days long. Whilst its day is 21 hours 37 minutes and 12 seconds long. The planet has a mass of just over 4 earth masses. The planet has a much thinner atmosphere than Terra, making it a lot colder than what would be expected. It has a very strong magnetic field that protects the planet. Freyja is still warmer than earth. The planet also has 1 small moon, Freyr, that orbits at a distance of 240,000 km. The tidal forces exerted by this moon are negligible.

Geography
The majority of the planet (around 75%) of the planet’s surface is covered in shallow oceans. The deepest point (known as Point Njord) is only 3 km deep, though the vast majority of the ocean is only around 500 meters deep. The planet has 3 large continents: Magni, Thrud and Modi, allong with an abundance of islands. Despite being slightly warmer than Terra, the planet has significant polar regions which are covered with a seasonal sheet of ice. It is almost impossible to differentiate the oceans from the landmasses from orbit, but this is not a geographical feature, instead it is caused by the carpets.

Carpets
The planet has many ecosystems, including mangrove-like and prairie-like ecosystems. The strangest ecosystem however are the so-called carpets, these are made up of several plant species which float on the water (members of the Tapetes genus) or anchor themselves in the ocean floor (members of the Anchorae genus). Over time the leaves and vines of these plants compact and when they decompose, form a base-layer for other plant species. These plant species also eventually die and thicken the layer even further. Eventually the base-layer and plants make the carpet thick enough for larger creatures to walk on them. The plants are eaten by insects and larger creatures, but also by several types of fish. These carpets originally covered nearly 75% of the oceans, but this number has decreased to just 40% since human habitation. These carpets continue to exist because of the shallowness of the ocean and the relative lack of tidal forces on the planet.

Fauna
Here is a short list of some of the fauna that lives on Freyja.

Swamp bicorns
The swamp bicorn (Jumentum bicornus) is a common animal, about the same size as a cat, that lives in the swamps of Freyja. They have green skin with orange spots, a short tail and four legs. They have 2 blue horns (hence the name), one is much shorter than the other. The larger one is used to carve into tree-like plants and extract the nutrient-rich sap. The smaller horn is a remnant of a second horn. The short horn is usually longer in males and seems to be used to attract a mate. The creatures live in small groups of up to 8 members.

Freyjan Flea
The Freyjan flea (Ferumala quattuor) is a type of insect, about 2 cm long, that lives in the carpets on Freyja. The insect hatches from a small egg as a tiny worm that gradually gets bigger and grows 4 arms. Eventually it is big enough to crawl through the plants and eventually attaches itself to a large creature, it begins drinking its blood and eventually dislodges itself, after which it mates and lays its eggs. It then does this 2 to 3 more times before it dies. The bugs are considered very annoying by inhabitants and insecticides against them are commonly used to protect animals from the diseases they cary like Visceris confectus and Visceris consumptus.

North-Freyjan Crocodile
the north-freyjan crocodile (Magnabucca princeps) is a amphibian-like creature that lives on the northern carpets. It and its southern cousin are the apex predators of the carpets. The creatures have a strong tail that they can use to swim at speeds up to 45 kph. Their hind legs have evolved to become more like flippers, which aides them in swimming. Its front legs have shrunk and are almost entirely fused to the underside of the creature. It hunts by swimming under the carpet and detecting vibrations in the water caused by creatures stepping on it, when it finds one it swims to it and bites through the carpet into the prey’s head, dragging it down and drowning it. The South-Freyjan crocodile hunts in the same way.

Early Colonization
The colonization of Freyja started around 2937, together with the rest of the Tau Ceti system. The very first colony on Freyja was Seiðr (often written as Seidr). This colony was just a dome with a small launch platform for cargo ships. The colony slowly expanded, adding more and more buildings until the second colony, Brísingamen, was founded. Multiple other colonies were founded, but none of them became as big as the first two. Seidr and Brísingamen competed over control of Freyja for decades, swaying colonies to their side and even some small battles. Eventually in 2951 the Freyjan War broke out between these two colonies, this war caused devastation and seriously damaged the Freyjan ecosystem. The war eventually ended with a Brísingamen victory and the near complete destruction of Seidr.

Space
The planet is orbited by thousands of space stations and satellites. These vary in size from a little larger than a car to bigger than a city. These also have various purposes, from sending communications to spying on enemy planets. The planet also has 2 defensive stations within Lagrange points 1 and 2.

The easiest way to get on of off the planet is by either using one of the magnetic launch loops or to use the Freyjan Space Elevator. Several politicians and companies have proposed the creation of an orbital ring, which would make leaving the planet way cheaper. It’s unlikely however as most colonies can’t create an agreement to begin building and the sheer costs of such a massive operation could render the colonies nearly bankrupt.

Surface
The planets surface is dotted with several dozen colonies and cities. Brísingamen is the biggest city and the de facto capital of the planet. Several other cities also exist like Völva and Hildisvíni. The total population of the planet is just around 1.1 billion. The colonization of the planet has lead to a severe reduction in the size of the carpets and the extinction of several species, like the Mountain Bicorn. Two hyperloop network named The Hnoss Network and The Gersemi Network are used to travel between cities and smaller colonies. Carpet colonies are special colonies that float on the water or stand on the carpets (or more often on the ocean floor).