Heartland was a class M planet, the second planet of the NC513 system, located within Federation space in the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrants. It was the homeworld of the once advanced Danon civilization.
History and specifics[]
The paradise-like world supported a variety of life, including fur-producing animals and fish. Forests grew ripe fruits all year long. Surface features included continents, large oceans, and lakes. Its atmosphere was 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. It orbited a single star.
Eons ago, the space-faring Danon culture had expanded perhaps as far as half the galaxy, but after several thousand years of war with the Torga, around 10,000 years ago the conflict reached Heartland. To make a last stand, the Danons placed their accumulated knowledge and identities into a massive machine intelligence that may have expanded into the planet's core. They won, but it left the Danons hopelessly subservient to their machine.
In the early 2220s decade, a Klingon starship discovered Heartland. Its crew were enticed by a type of immortality offered by the machine, but were unable to adjust mentally to it, and went insane.
Danon village.
Five years later, Danons permitted 100 Federation colonists to settle on the surface. They experienced tough climate conditions and broadcast a distress signal less that a year later. A rescue ship from Starbase 13 arrived to find all but one had gone insane. The Federation quarantined Heartland, placing it under Prime Directive protection. At the time, 457 Danons resided in one Danon village near the equator.
In the 2260s, senso-artist Gilla Dupree's father Jacob Kell discovered records of the Klingon incident, met two of the survivors, and chose to retire to Heartland.
In 2269, the Federation starship USS Enterprise visited the planet in hopes of recovering Kell. The Danon population was now just over 100, suggesting an imminent extinction. During the mission, Dupree remained behind and Crewman Doyle was rendered permanently psychotic. (TOS novel: Devil World)
Lifeforms[]
- piker
Notable residents[]
- Reni Bates
- Dazi
- Jacob Kell