Star Type: F6V
Position in System: 2 (of 5)
Number of Moons: 3 (Tadzio, Urian,
Wilmot)
Days to Jump Point: 14
Surface Water: 77%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Breathable)
Surface Gravity: 1.08
Equatorial Temp: 50� C
Highest Native Life: Bird
Population: 2,671,000,000
Governor: Hasani Saadiq
Planetary Legate: Yegor Welvel
Unfortunately, Skondia had long since become part of the rising dragon, having been claimed by the Draconis Combine in one of its earliest conquests. Over the centuries following the Federation�s transformation into the Lyran Commonwealth, Houses Kurita and Steiner warred over control of this valuable resource world, with Steiner claiming it during the Age of War and through the Star League era. After the fall of the League, the Combine moved to reclaim Skondia in 2786, with a brutal assault campaign directed first against the civilian populace, and then against the planet�s industries when the slow-moving Lyrans tried to intercede. The results of an easy conquest convinced then-Coordinator Minoru Kurita that House Steiner was too weak to present a worthy challenge to his Draconis Combine, and ironically turned the might of the Dragon away more effectively than a spirited defense might have. Over the following centuries of the Succession Wars, Skondia would be assaulted and raided many more times, but the world remained in the hands of the Draconis Combine right up until the Word of Blake Jihad.
Targeted for its industrial and mineral wealth, Skondia suffered the onslaught of the Blakists in the form of several devastating raids by mercenaries who destroyed dozens of mining and manufacturing plants and ravaged the local defense forces, all of these actions designed to keep coalition forces off balance. Amazingly enough, despite their predilection for weapons of mass destruction earlier in the war, the Blakists balked at using nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons when they hit Skondia. This fact spared the planet the lasting effects of such devastation, though it would still be decades before the local industries and economy recovered from the war. In the wake of the Jihad, Coordinator Hohiro Kurita ceded Skondia to Devlin Stone�s new Republic despite the protests of his generals and advisors. In a small concession to this �loyal opposition,� however, he demanded and won exclusive trade rights for a portion of the planet�s annual output.
The capital of Skondia, Platinum City, is located on the southeastern continent of Steen. While this city boasts an impressive spaceport less than five kilometers to its north, most shipping traffic is routed through Passageway, a sprawling megalopolis on the northern continent of Edel.