PENTHARA IV
M-CLASS TERRESTRIAL PLANET
Federation Member World (formerly Federation Colony), Dubhe Sector
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POPULATION
34.4 million (as of 2418 Census)
CLIMATE
Temperate, Polar
MAJOR INDUSTRIES
Manufacturing, Climate and Geoengineering Research, Mining, Agriculture
Demographics
Human - 79.1%
Vulcan - 9.1%
Tellarite - 3.7%
Andorian - 3.2%
Trill - 2.5%
Other - 2.4%
Other: Bajoran, Betazoid, Bolian, Cardassian, Ennis*, Gorn, Karemman*, Rigellian, Wadi*.
(* - resettled during Hur'q Crisis in 2417)
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SYSTEMWIDE SPACE ASSETS
- 3 Orbital Stations (2 Starfleet, 1 Pentharan System Patrol)
- ~37 Satellites (12 communications, 15 weather/climate monitoring, 8 defense, 2 research)
- 4 planetary bases (Penthara II, Penthara V c, d, Penthara VII)
- 12 interplanetary craft (1 frigate, 6 corvettes - Pentharan System Patrol; 3 cargo transports, 2 personnel transports)
MAJOR SETTLEMENTS
- New Seattle - Planetary Capital
- Alpine City
- Dyson Harbour
- Torvestown
- East Gorston
GOVERNMENT
Penthara IV is governed by a represenative democracy, with Colony Councils elected by local citizens and headed by a Governor. Planetary government is through the Planetary Council and People's Assembly, with a Planetary Governor serving as the world's head-of-state. Elections are held every five years. The current planetary governor is Levar Stewart, human male, age 58, who has held the post since the death of Governor zh'Tharas (Andorian zhen, age 46) during the Iconian attack on the planet in 2414.
Since the Enterprise incident of 2368, a major priority of the Pentharan government has been maintaining the planet's ecology and climate, and preventing another asteroid strike. To that end, climate and geoengineering research as well as the Pentharan System Patrol (founded 2381) take a signfiicant part of the planet's budget. The government-run Moseley Geoengineering Institute is considered the most advanced climate, geoengineering, and terraforming research institute in Dubhe Sector, and among the top twenty such institutes in the Federation.
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HISTORY
First Settled in 2263, Penthara IV started out as a basic mining and agricultural colony, gradually expanding into a minor industrial center by the mid-24th Century. Penthara IV's early history has been largely uneventful, until a Class-C asteroid impacted an uninhabited continent in 2368. The U.S.S. Enterprise, under command of CAPT Jean-Luc Picard, was pivotal in rescuing the colony and restoring its climate. May 8, 2368 has since become a planetary holiday (Enterprise Day).
While not attacked directly, Penthara IV's connection to the Federation was severely shaken during the Dominion's advance into Federation territory during the Dominion War. When the Federation and its allies began their counteroffensive, Penthara IV became a link in the supply lines to the front, and remained so until the war's end in 2375. The planet would enjoy another twenty years of relative peace until formal hostilities with the Klingon Empire broke out in 2405, although no Klingon forces reached Penthara during the entire length of the war.
War ravaged the planet in 2414, when the Iconians, as part of their campaign to subjugate the galaxy, launched what they would consider a "minor raid", consisting of three cruisers and nine frigates. Starfleet and Pentharan forces were barely able to repulse them, but not before some of the vessels were able to bombard several settlements. 2.2 million people were killed, and large parts of New Seattle and six other settlements were devastated, and two settlements were destroyed entirely. The Planetary Governor Chela zh'Tharas was killed in the assault, and Assistant Governor Levar Stewart was sworn in as her replacement.
The planet has since been rebuilding from the Iconian conflict, with a corresponding hit to living standards and economic prosperity. These were complicated in 2417 when neighboring Bajor was at risk of being overwhelmed by refugees from the Gamma Quadrant. Governor Stewart issued his Open Planet policy, offering homes to close to two hundred thousand refugees. While many consider the act a noble one and befitting Federation values, there is an undercurrent of discontent, which certain powerful individuals have recently begun to tap.
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Format borrowed and modified from Katriel's New Circini entry. Basic facts from Memory Alpha - the rest is my own invention, as are all errors.