Tarkus is an unusual case because it's a planet made of two other planets welded together by a fairly tenuous cord. It takes a relatively small bomb to break the cord and destroy the planet.
This actually raises a question... Gravity?
Tarkus is an unusual case because it's a planet made of two other planets welded together by a fairly tenuous cord. It takes a relatively small bomb to break the cord and destroy the planet.
This actually raises a question... Gravity?
Gravity is mass attraction. It's two halves, aka one whole. Gravity still exists. Hell, your computer is exacting gravity on you, it's just REALLY SMALL. Spin, internal thermodynamics, geomagnetism, and whatever don't contribute to gravity at all. Only the amount of mass of a body determines gravitational effects.
If you mean gravity at the center of the "planet"? That's already explained, weightlessness. In game you need grav/mag-boots to walk, otherwise you'd need to propel yourself.
Em... The gravity in the planetary core is absent, because you are in gravity center, it's all working as it should. But why do you need a cord to hold planet together? What force is pulling it's apart strong enough to overcome gravity?
I would assume something like the gravitational pull of the system's sun. Since the two halves wouldn't be connected otherwise, I don't think they'd orbit properly. They'd slam into each other and wobble and probably just eventually drift apart.
Spin and orbital divergence. Have you played or seen anything of Kerbal Space Program? While a basic simulation of orbital mechanics it still represents it well, when two objects separate and there's some force that propels them apart (spinning your craft can work) will set both objects on different orbits, albeit minor. They will only converge on two points of their respective orbits, where they separated and the opposite side of the star. Add in N-body physics and then you have other bodies pulling the two halves differently at different times, thus their orbits then won't coincide ever again. The tether is there to counter the N-body pulls because two halves of a planet means more gravity to keep atmosphere around the planet. Atmosphere is good for breathing.
There are just one problem. Mass. They are massive enough to hold atmosphere, they are together long enough for any possible differences in kinetic energy to be equalized. No force strong enough to pull them apart would be held by something like cord, doesn't matter how strong is it.
unlike two bodies colliding at orbital speeds (like a moon falling on a planet) there wouldn't be any fusing of the bodies since there's not enough energy to melt the bodies
I did mention gravity, right? It means immense pressure of upper layers of planet to lower ones.
And gravity of OTHER BODIES could pull them apart, not opposite themselves, but slipping. Add in the spin of the planet, that's kinetic energy pulling the two apart as well. There's other things than the two bodies pulling themselves together than are contributing. And while this is just an educated guess two equal masses pulling themselves together would be quite easy to pull apart compared to unequal bodies. The reason the Moon doesn't pull humans off the Earth is because the earth pulls more on us than we on it. Water, however, changes shape and makes tides because, as a whole, it's a MUCH larger body than any living or loose thing on Earth.
They ARE two parts tied together into one planet. Assuming the two-in-one planet still has a spin for day-night cycles (unless the gabilani screwed up that big) equates to centripetal force on the two halves.
They can slip because the two halves aren't actually in direct contact, there is a divide between the two halves and thus the cord/ tether is needed. As for the strength of the tether this is a smutty scifi game. It mostly runs on porn logic and is most definitely on the softer end on the scale of scientific hardness. There is a strong enough material for such a tether because the writters say there is. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness
If you blew all the money you've got from retrieving M'hengan probe on space drugs and alien hookers, it's your problem. Steele Jr. doesn't really need extra money for anything besides vanity items. So if they aren't generous right now, they'll never be.
By the time you're done on Tarkus you'll have faced off against giant robots, a giant goo, rocket turrets, someone wielding a gun the size of her body one-handed, and a bloody mech suit. Meanwhile, the best you possibly have is some junk armor or smart clothes, and some kind of standard rifle. Steele Jr. will be back with her generosity once momma finds herself some decent toys.
someone wielding a gun the size of her body one-handed
By the time you get into Stellar Tether, you can have Goo Armour, Premium Joyco Shield generator, Nova Rifle and Pistol, ZK Rifle, Energy Blade. All purely from quests.
To be fair, there isn't any gravity down there.
I very much doubt Fen gave any scientific thought to how or if Tarkus would work. Certainly I didn't give much to the whole Daerinoys thing.
Someone should ask the XKCD guy if he'd do one of his "What Ifs" on what would happen if you smashed Mars into Earth and then tied the two together
unless the split just happened to break off along a perfect contineintal divide
Not a "split" but a smashing of two planets that obliterated half of each, so you've got ridges around the rift