Belle Terre

The USS Enterprise orbits Belle Terre

Belle Terre is the fourth planet in the Occult system, in Cluster Z-80 of the Saggitarian Stellar Group, six months distant from the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century. Despite many hardships early in the colony's history, Belle Terre became a Federation member in the 24th century. (Star Trek: New Earth; Junction Point; Star Trek: Pendragon)

History

A lush, Class-M world, Belle Terre nonetheless remained uninhabited until the 2270s when some sixty-thousand Federation citizens set out on the Belle Terre Colonial Expedition to settle the planet. (TOS novel: Wagon Train to the Stars)

The planet had two moons, a small one nicknamed "the Needle," and a larger body called the Quake Moon. Three weeks after the colonists arrived at Belle Terre, pressure within the unstable Quake Moon built to the brink of a catastrophic eruption. The planet would have been rendered uninhabitable had the USS Enterprise not intervened, using a tractor beam to crash the Needle into the Quake Moon, alleviating the pressure. Even so, the Quake Moon's eruption bombarded Belle Terre's largest continent with radiation, and released quasar olivium into the atmosphere, causing severe weather conditions across the planet. (TOS novel: Belle Terre, Rough Trails)

By the mid-24th century, Belle Terre's ecosystem was nearly fully-recovered, and the colony had experienced a population boom. In the 2330s, the colony applied for, and was granted, associate member status by the Federation Council. By the 2370s, Belle Terre's population had reached nearly one hundred thousand. (Star Trek: Pendragon)

Daniel Sean Bryce was born in Challenger City on Belle Terre in 2351. (Junction Point)

Culture

The Colonial Expedition was begun by Evan Pardonnet, who petitioned the Federation Council for permission to build a "new Earth" on a planet far beyond the Federation's borders. That same spirit of "pioneer moxie" which brought together the first sixty-thousand colonists has endured in the culture of Belle Terre. The colonists' struggles to survive and create a home after the olivium disasters ingrained in their descendants a fierce sense of self-reliance. In the years following settlement, the colony resembled Earth's ancient West in many ways, and that paradigm endured even after the dust had settled (both figuratively and literally).

In the early 2380s, Belle Terre formed its own baseball league. Two of the first teams were the Belle Terre Challengers, out of Eau Clare, and the Nicksville Marshals. The first exhibition game between the Belle Terre and Cestus Baseball Leagues was held in 2385. (Star Trek: Pendragon)

Geography

Belle Terre has two large continents, and several island chains. The largest continent suffered heavy radiation exposure during the olivium disaster, but after several years, became habitable again.

Locations

• Eau Claire, the colonial capital
  • Eau Claire River, a.k.a. "the Big Muddy"
  • Eau Claire River Valley
• Desert Station, a.k.a "Desperation"
• Llano Verde
• Challenger City
• Evansville
• Kellerton
• Nicksville
• Kirktown
• Bright Angel
• New Cottonwood
• Paradise
• Junction Point
• Spectre Ridge
• Phantom Eagle Ranch
• Greywolf Mountains
• New Willamette Valley
  • Rio Dolorosa
  • Willamette City
  • Willamette Station
• New St. Johns
• Stallion's Gate

Inhabitants

• Nick Keller
• Daniel Sean Bryce

External links

• Belle Terre article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.