Skondia

Skondia
← 3135 3151
Skondia nearby systems (Map Legend)
System Information
X:Y Coordinates	-31.803 : 55.527
Spectral class	F6V
Recharge station(s)	Zenith (2785)
Planet(s)	5

Political Affiliation

• 2271 - Inhabited world
• 2319 - Federation of Skye
• 2340 - Federation of Skye
• 2341 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2462 - Draconis Combine
• 2463 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2571 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2596 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2750 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2764 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2765 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2786 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2787 - Draconis Combine (from mid-2787)
• 2822 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2864 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 2884 - Draconis Combine
• 2993 - Draconis Combine
• 3025 - Lyran Commonwealth
• 3030 - Draconis Combine
• 3040 - Draconis Combine
• 3050 - Draconis Combine
• 3052 - Draconis Combine
• 3057 - Draconis Combine
• 3063 - Draconis Combine
• 3067 - Draconis Combine
• 3072 - Word of Blake Protectorate
• 3075 - Word of Blake Protectorate
• 3079 - Word of Blake Protectorate
• 3081 - Republic of the Sphere
• 3085 - Republic of the Sphere
• 3135 - Independent world
• 3145 - Clan Jade Falcon
• 3151 - Clan Jade Falcon

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Skondia II

Skondia II
Astrophysical
System position	Second
Jump Point distance	14 days
Moons	Three (Tadzio, Urian, Wilmot)
Geophysical
Surface gravity	1.08
Atmospheric pressure	Standard (Breathable)
Equatorial temperature	50°C
Surface water	77%
Highest native life	Birds
History and Culture
Population	2,671,000,000 (3130)
Government and Infrastructure
Political Leader	Planetary Governor
Military Commander	Yegor Welvel, Legate (3130)
Capital	Platinum City

Planetary History

Early History

Skondia was settled for its abundant deposits of rare metals and minerals. Within a decade of the first colonists' arrival, the first cities on Skondia were producing nickel-alloy metals, titanium, and steel, used in everything from silverware to fusion reactors.

Despite Skondia attracting the attention of the Federation of Skye, the Draconis Combine got to Skondia first, quickly conquering it in one of the first campaigns of conquest launched by the Dragon. After the rise of the Lyran Commonwealth, both the Commonwealth and the Combine would fight over control of Skondia repeatedly across the centuries. The Commonwealth managed to seize control of Skondia during the Age of War and kept control of the planet throughout the Star League era.

Skondia was one of the targets of the Long March Offensive conducted by the Lyran Commonwealth and was invaded in the first three years of the campaign. The first prime objective of the Long March, Skondia, was lightly defended when the Lyrans arrived, a result of the Lyran feint towards St. John drawing defending DCMS forces away. The conquest of Skondia was next followed by a Lyran attack on Nox.

First Succession War

In June of 2786, an unmarked freighter entered the Skondia system and passed through the Lyran picket lines unchallenged. Several DropShips then detached from this vessel and began a high-g burn toward the planet. Once the ships were in orbit, a regiment of Draconis Combine BattleMechs attacked the planet catching the defenders by surprise. The Commonwealth ground forces focused their might on defending the major industrial centers waiting for an attack. However, the Combine troops began attacking civilians and population centers instead. When the Lyran troops moved to stop these attacks, the quicker Combine forces flanked their opponents, as well as dropping additional BattleMech forces from the still unchallenged DropShips, seized the now undefended factories, and destroyed them. The Kuritan troops were then able to withdraw. This defeat was a major embarrassment to the Commonwealth High Command. However, the defeat led to many reforms regarding system security and planetary defense. The quick victory also convinced then-Coordinator Minoru Kurita to focus his efforts against the Federated Suns, as it was now seen as more dangerous than the Lyran Commonwealth. For the Ninth Benjamin Regulars, the DCMS unit responsible for the attack, the raid was a great success; having dropped near the cities of Passageway and Wurston on the Edel continent, the Ninth then began attacking the cities when the defending Ninth Arcturan Guards scrambled to protect their primary assignment, the major factories on the planet. The Arcturan Guards responded to the reports of wide-scale slaughter in the two cities by leaving the factories to attack the battalion the Benjamin Regulars had deployed, only for a second wave of troops from the Ninth Benjamin Regulars to land on the factories dozens of kilometers away from where the Arcturan Guards were fighting. The Arcturan Guards contingents on the other continents scrambled to redeploy from their current locations to assist the beleaguered forces on Edel, by which time the Benjamin Regulars had already had two days to wreak havoc; as the Benjamin Regulars withdrew to meet their DropShips in the foothills of the Lafferty mountain range, they added insult to injury by destroying three of the largest factory complexes, located at Passageway, Vorenstag, and Wursten. The DropShips then rendezvoused with their JumpShip near the orbit of Skondia III and jumped out, well ahead of pursuing Lyran WarShip forces.

In early 2787, the Draconis Combine returned to attack Skondia. This time they brought a major armada with them. After the humiliation of the previous attack, the Lyran Commonwealth had heavily reinforced the Skondia system. This resulted in one of the largest ship-to-ship engagements of the Succession Wars. The Kuritan fleet was able to penetrate the planetary defenses, offload their ground forces, and then reengage the Lyran fleet. Of the nearly 300 ships and fighters that took part on the Lyran side of the battle, only about a 100 remained after the fighting. On the ground, Steiner forces performed well, but were unable to halt the Combine invasion. After four months of fighting, the system was securely in Combine control.

Second Succession War

During the darkest days of the Second Succession War, the Lyran Commonwealth was losing worlds steadily to both the Draconis Combine and the Free Worlds League and the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces neared the point of collapse, particularly in the 2860s and 2870s. As the 2870s drew to a close, the LCAF regained some of its confidence and launched a number of attempts to recapture some of the worlds that had been lost to the Commonwealth's neighbors, but still couldn't keep pace with the rate at which worlds were being captured. The Combine continued to push towards the important world of Skye and by 2884, Skondia had been recaptured by the Combine forces, who had also seized the worlds of Balkan, Kessel, Port Moseby, Ryde, and Vega, and the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery was on the verge of being able to threaten Skye directly.

Third Succession War

Skondia was one of the four worlds targeted for liberation by the Lyran Commonwealth in Operation FREEDOM, which began in February 2913. Though the fighting was long, Skondia was successfully retaken from the Draconis Combine.

Fourth Succession War

Skondia was invaded by the Draconis Combine's Fourteenth Legion of Vega in 3029. This was part of Theodore Kurita's counterassault named Operation Contagion, during the last year of the Fourth Succession War. At the time, the planet was lightly defended with only five militia infantry regiments and two battalions of militia BattleMechs made up mostly of Chameleon training 'Mechs with weapon refits. Most of the Lyran MechWarriors were either retirees or young trainees. For their first engagement, the Fourteenth Legion landed on top of an outpost named Fort Eagle, which was defended by two infantry regiments. While fighting bravely, the defending units were no match for their opponents and were nearly wiped out. The Legion then hopped from city to city inflicting a considerable amount of damage while they crushed all resistance. Five weeks into the Legion's campaign, the LCAF's acting commanding officer, Colonel Mitch Freeman, ordered his ill armed and inexperienced BattleMech battalions to engage the Vegans near the town of Robes. Outnumbered and outgunned, The First and Second Battalions of the Skondia 'Mech Militia charged the Kuritan forces. The surprise attack inflicted heavy damage to two companies of the Vegans' BattleMechs. However, the Vegans quickly recovered, counterattacked and wiped out the two Skondian units to the last 'Mech. With all organized resistance eliminated, the planet was once again taken over by the Draconis Combine.

Jihad

During the Jihad, the Word of Blake captured the world and integrated it into the Word of Blake Protectorate. Eventually, Clan Ghost Bear and Clan Snow Raven forces led by the Ghost Bears' Delta Galaxy, liberated the planet from the Blakists' in September 3076. Though the Blakists' had little hesitation in using weapons of mass destruction to destroy their enemies, for some reason they didn't employ them on Skondia.

The Dark Age

In the years after the Jihad, Chancellor Hohiro Kurita chose to cede Skondia to the expanding Republic of the Sphere, despite the protests of a number of his advisors and generals; to reduce the impact of ceding Skondia, the Chancellor extracted a concession from the Republic in the form of exclusive trade rights for a share of the planetary production.

Military Deployment

2786

• Sixth Lyran Guards

2821

• Sixth Lyran Guards
• Twenty-first Skye Rangers

3025

• Barrett's Fusiliers

3028

• Barrett's Fusiliers

3029

• Skondia Militia

3050

• Tenth Lyran Guards RCT

3067

• Sixth Arkab Legion

Geography

The southeastern continent of Steen is the site of both the planetary capital, Platinum City, and an impressive spaceport less than five kilometers north of the capital. The most active shipping hub on Skondia is Passageway, a sprawling megalopolis located on Edel, the northern continent. Other notable sites on Edel include the cities of Wursten and Vorenstag; Passageway and Wursten were both attacked during the First Succession War, whilst the factory complexes at Passageway, Vorenstag and Wursten were among the largest on the planet, and were all razed in 2785.

Nearby Systems

Closest 68 systems (66 within 60 light-years) Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Alkalurops	11.1	Nusakan	12.6	Dromini	15.2	Atria	16.2
Alphecca	16.3	La Blon	17.3	Ko	18.0	Lyons	19.0
Sabik	19.2	Unukalhai	20.3	Zebebelgenubi	21.9	Skye	25.5
Lone Star	27.6	Alrakis	28.9	Balkan	29.5	Galatea	30.7
Syrma	30.8	Summer	32.1	Menkent	33.2	Kessel	33.8
Rocky	34.3	Zollikofen	36.3	Komephoros	36.5	Imbros	36.7
Kochab	37.1	Nai-Stohl	37.3	Moore	38.4	Ryde	38.6
Dyev	40.3	Muphrid	40.6	Carnwath	41.2	Mizar	41.7
Yorii	41.8	Konstance	42.5	Marfik	43.0	Haddings	43.4
Kimball	44.4	Lambrecht	45.3	Kaus Media	46.6	Kaus Australis	46.7
Asta	46.8	Thorin	48.3	Lipton	49.2	Chara	49.2
Alioth	49.7	Glengarry	49.8	Chaville	49.9	Killbourn	50.1
Cor Caroli	50.4	Izar	50.5	Alcor	50.5	Seginus	51.1
Eltanin	53.0	Pike	54.4	Athenry	55.1	Zavijava	55.8
Kuzuu	55.9	Tau Ceti	55.9	Ascella	56.0	Baxter	57.1
Denebola	57.5	Zebeneschamali	57.6	Altair	58.3	Vega	58.3
Kaus Borealis	59.4	Dieron	59.9	Rigil Kentarus	60.4	Xi Ursae Majoris	60.7

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere
• Dark Age: Republic Worlds (3130)
• Era Report: 2750
• Era Report: 3052
• Era Report: 3062
• Era Report: 3145
• Field Manual: 3085
• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Manual: SLDF
• Field Manual: Updates
• Field Report: Clans
• Field Report: DCMS
• Field Report: LAAF
• First Succession War
• Handbook: House Kurita
• Handbook: House Marik
• Handbook: House Steiner
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2
• Historical: Reunification War
• Historical: War of 3039
• House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)
• House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)
• Jihad: Final Reckoning
• Jihad Hot Spots: 3076
• Jihad Hot Spots: Terra
• Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
• NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1
• NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2
• Shattered Fortress
• Starterbook: Wolf and Blake