Erpao

Erpao was a small planet in the Cynon system with an abundance of volatile naturally-occuring organic compounds such as hexane, benzene and butane. Additionally, graphite cliffs and pipes containing diamonds were scattered throughout, making Erpao a mining opportunity. This oversaturation in natural carbon, however, prevented life from forming naturally, but allowed for limited habitability.

Benzene flowed on the surface as both a liquid and in gelatinous pools where it collected. Occasionally, magma from the planet's core would strike a pool of benzene, igniting it, and blasting away as much as fifty tons of regolith. This created a large "pow" which could be heard from as far as 300 km away from the event. The sound lent to the naming of the planet.

Erpao remained a dangerous planet to the mining guilds that attempted to get close to the mineral deposits. Some brave contractors moved in only to end up standing above a benzene ignition. Those that survived the initial explosion were heavily dosed with carcinogenic particles and did not survive long afterward.