Aia and Aurq

Aia and Aurq are binary desert planets roughly the size of Earth in the far outer rim of the Milky Way. Their orbit is much closer to their sun, so they endure high levels of solar radiation and surface temperatures that range from 200-300 C. There is no native life, and the little life that has been transplanted to Aia and Aurq (most of it from Malacutia) is extremely specialized. Aurq is largely a dust and sand desert, more similar to Malacutia, and has trace amounts of water in its deeper layers of sand. Aia is dominated by rock formations resulting from volcanic activity and extreme winds; in its near-tropical latitudes, Aia boasts spectacular palace-like spires of rock that Quantis has hollowed out into his secret research facilities.

Their solar system is also home to similar rocky planets collectively known as "AAA" or the "third A's", since Aia and Aurq are the "first two" planets in the system. These AAA planets have no water whatsoever, little carbon or oxygen in the atmosphere, and few useful minerals or metals, so once mining teams have harvested anything worth lifting off, they make excellent testing grounds for rather permanently-destructive weapons of mass destruction. Since these are used by the SuperNaturals and Galactic Armada, they make Quantis very nervous since his secret research base on Aia is too sensitive to move and too secret to sufficiently protect.