Venom

CLASSIFICATION Planet

INTEL The outermost planet in the Lylat System, Venom is a barren frontier that has been largely disregarded by the civilized worlds.

Venom's thin atmosphere and desolate landscape have left it devoid of plant life. Its dramatic, rocky terrain is marked by steep cliffs and deep chasms that make surface travel practically impossible. For these reasons, the planet has long been considered ill-suited for exploration and colonization.

But new information about Venom has emerged following the exile of Dr. Andross to the planet and his subsequent attack on Corneria.

Corneria Strategic Intelligence has determined that Venom's crust is rich in unidentified minerals that deflect and obscure scans. This lack of subsurface mapping has allowed an extensive warren of subterranean tunnels to remain hidden. Intelligence analysts believe Andross used these tunnels to evade detection while continuing his forbidden experiments, constructing weapons of war, and gathering an army of sympathetic followers.

Another newly understood fact about Venom is that its atmosphere exhibits elevated levels of toxic markers, making the planet now entirely inhospitable to organic life. Whether this toxicity is the result of natural geological upheaval or the byproduct of Andross's unregulated experiments remains unknown.

ASSESSMENT Despite everything, Dr. Andross—renowned for his intellect and his ambition—has not just survived on Venom...he's thrived there. This planet is now the seat of his power and home base to his army. While the exact location of Andross's headquarters remains unknown, the little intel we do have indicates that he is capable of deploying a robust array of defensive forces almost anywhere on the planet. This information has so far deterred a direct attack by the Corneria Defense Force.