Iskander

Role: Breadbasket for several colonies

Circumference: 29,600 miles

Population: 2,125,000

Orbital Path: Third

Rotational Period (days): 1.53

Orbital Period (days): 370

Primary Function: Agriculture, colony world

Retention Index: 3

Culture

The people of Iskander are, for the most part, a relaxed and comfortable population. Life on Iskander moves at a slower pace than it does in the rest of the Federation (except possibly Shoreridge III). Due to the vast amount of arable land on the surface, there are few concentrations of population and most people on Iskander enjoy a simple, rural life.

Iskanders are characterised by a soft-spoken but stubborn demeanor. They are a tremendously patient people who rarely show any strong emotion. However, once they are roused, they can be an implacable and surprisingly dangerous enemy due to their strength (a result of living on a planet with a gravitational field approximately 20% stronger than Earth’s). This quality makes Iskanders valuable recruits for Federal Service, particularly the Mobile Infantry.

The population of Iskander is about 80 percent citizen, the highest percentage of citizens in any population in the Federation. Attracted by Iskander’s relaxed and comfortable lifestyle, many citizens come to Iskander after retiring from Federal Service, seeking a new adventure without the danger of serving in the military.

Chilly relations between the citizens and civilians of Iskander have been a recurrent theme on the planet throughout its history. Most often, this is instigated by the civilians, who object to what they perceive as favouritism toward the citizens of the planet on the part of the governor or even the UCF itself, in awarding everything from labour contracts to land allocations. Usually, these misunderstandings are quickly resolved.

Laws and Government

Often, stellar colonies of the Federation are somewhat more lax in adherence to the law than Earth and the colonies of the Sol system. Not so with Iskander. By some quirk of fate or politics, fully half of the governors of the Proxima system have come from a background in the Mobile Infantry, particularly from its ranks of drill sergeants and junior officers. The governors have insisted on and received the highest level of performance from their peace officers. Even with the colony’s enormous population, second only to Karrus in size, Iskander consistently has the lowest crime rates of any stellar colony.

Part of that is due, no doubt, to the fact that the colony is entirely agricultural. Unlike mining colonies, or concentrations of vast personal wealth like Zegama Beach, there is little to steal or smuggle aside from crops and livestock, two things that, however valuable, are not easily or discreetly transported. Part of it is also certainly due to the size of Iskander’s police force – nearly 5,000 citizens stationed in towns and villages across the planet’s surface. Only Zegama Beach has a larger police force.

The seat of government on Iskander is Virgil’s Point. Most planetary matters are decided by a council of nine citizens elected to five-year terms of service. By tradition, the governor of the system does not involve himself in the deliberations of the council unless requested to.

Economy

The economy of Iskander is almost totally dependent upon agriculture. The planet produces a vast amount of food, far more than its population can consume and the remainder is used to feed stellar colonies as far away as Cassandra.

There are literally billions of acres of arable land on the surface of Iskander, about 70% of which is in the hands of various citizen and civilian corporations which grow the vast bulk of the planet’s exportable foodstuffs. The remaining 30% of Iskander’s usable land is owned either by SICON (landing and refueling stations) or by private citizens and civilians.

Iskander’s nature preserves, large tracts of land unsuitable to farming, hold the remnants of the planet’s natural ecosystem. These generate a small amount of tourism business but the lion’s share of the tourists are simply Iskanders that come from another part of the planet. Actual tourists coming to Iskander from other parts of the Federation are rare.

Lastly, Iskander receives a substantial infusion of wealth from the constant flow of military and civilian cargo ships arriving and departing from Virgil’s Point.

Points of Interest

The largest population on all of Iskander is concentrated in Virgil’s Point, a sprawling city that takes full advantage of the wealth of land Iskander has to offer. With a population of a quarter million people, it is one of the largest cities anywhere outside the Sol system and, considering the frequency of visitors coming to the city on business, is every bit as cosmopolitan as Earth cities like Buenos Aires (before the Arachnids destroyed it) or Paris.

Aside from Virgil’s Point, there is little excitement to be had on Iskander; most towns and villages offer little more to a traveler than a night drinking in the local pub and a stay in the rooms above it. The Proxima Quarantine, the largest nature preserve of the planet’s native ecosystem, is a fascinating look at an alien world but as it is located almost on the other side of the planet from Virgil’s Point, it is rarely visited by people from outside the colony.

FedNet Excerpt

"It is an unfortunate fact that despite the many freedoms and luxuries granted to every man, woman and child of the Federation, there are always those who feel they deserve more than they have. Even on a world as idyllic as Iskander, where the soil is rich and thick, where crops grow with ease and everyone is well-fed and almost everyone is content, there are those who desire more, not for their friends and neighbours but for themselves alone. Eager to mangle the truth, twisting it into an entirely new shape to justify their desires, these malcontents seek to stir up trouble where none exists. Consider, citizen, this text from an insurgent tract printed and distributed on Iskander:"

BE CAREFUL!

The dream of organisation is not dead, no matter what the Federation might say! No matter what SICON might say! No matter what your neighbours might say! We know the rightness of our cause, we know we will be victorious! Together, we have power and together, we will make our voices heard!...