Coridan
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A world close to several core Federation worlds, but late to actually be accepted for Federation membership, Coridan was the seat of intrigue, military activity, covert intelligence, illegal mining and smuggling and civil war for generations.
Coridan, close to Earth, is a hotbed of contention even early in the 22nd century. Coridan was strategically important to both the Vulcans and the Andorians in their cold war — Coridan’s dilithium was extremely important to their conflict. Coridan was also a source of high-energy warp technology for the time — with rumors of Warp 7 capable ships of Coridan registry. The Vulcans had invested in the (possibly corrupt) Coridan government and a mining agreement with them. The Andorians had sided with a rebellious faction that sought to overthrow that government. By the 23rd century, Coridan had settled down, though factionalism weakened it enough that the Orion Syndicate had entered into several illegal mining operations on its surface. This made the question of their entry into the Federation somewhat questionable, to the point that a full Babel conference was called to consider the issue. Several Federation worlds had conflicting vested interests in Coridan, keeping the issue of their Federation membership a hot one. By the 24th century, having been a Federation world for nearly a century, Coridan is well established, with dilithium mining and trade making them a vital partner in starship design and construction. The Dominion War found Coridan an obvious target for Jem'Hadar, Cardassian or Breen attack ships. While there is little chance so central a world to the Federation’s core could be taken and held, damage to Coridan’s industrial infrastructure would severely hamper the Federation war effort.
Coridan is the fifth world of twelve orbiting a small yellow sun. It is close to several core Federation worlds, including Earth, Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar. As a dilithium rich world, Coridan became an important strategic resource, particularly during the extended conflict and cold war between the Vulcans and the Andorians. The Orions — operating from their Rigellian bases — were close enough to set up, fund and operate several illegal mining concerns even after the Federation was founded, and Coridan’s resources and proximity to the shipping lanes meant that even after the Federation was well established many worlds profited greatly from the planet’s resources and lack of allies or strong offworld infrastructure.
Climate
As a large world orbiting a rather dim sun in the outer edges of the habitable zone, Coridan is a cold world. Most of its cities are found along its equator. While colder than standard, the equatorial regions have enough temperate zones for significant agriculture in the summer months, and Coridan supports a population of more than three billion. It has a relatively standard atmosphere, even given the high density of the planet, which contributes to Coridan’s growth.
Geography
Coridan is known for its extensive mountain ranges, most particularly the Bendacons found on the western edge of its largest inhabited continent. The pressure of two colliding continental plates formed the Bendacon mountains, which were further shaped by the relatively common (in geological terms) ice ages on Coridan. The Bendacons were also the first mountains where dilithium was found and mined, though the valuable crystals can be found almost everywhere there are mountains on Coridan.
The three habitable continents (all equatorial) are large — easily capable of supporting the rather underpopulated inhabitants on Coridan. The rich mineral deposits — including duriliam, deuterium, titanium, cobalt and dicobalt — on Coridan have also promoted a strong tradition of engineering — the first starship to reach Warp 6.85 was a Coridan test ship. Coridan cities are circular, with higher class and commercial buildings near the hub of the wheels, and less affluent and dirty industrial concerns radiating out to the spokes. During much of Coridan’s history, the downtrodden and underclass of Coridan lived in the outlying areas.
There is a truly beautiful canyon called the Jorinal, found along the southern edge of the Tessen continent. It’s far enough south that ice covers the canyon, and glistening rock formations and spires make the canyon seem like a palace of light, when direct sunlight strikes them. It is considered the most romantic place on Coridan.
Civilization
The circular cities of Coridan follow the equator, where a temperate zone exists year round. In the early days, the closer to the city center one gets, the better the standard of living gets, but even in the outlying fringes the people of Coridan are educated. As Coridan matured, so too did its society, until the standard of living was raised for all.
The cities are each run by governors, who in turn form the Council of Governors. They in turn elect a Chancellor, who acts as the Chief Executive of Coridan. Coridan is essentially an industrial world, with the still rich minerals and dilithium deposits being mined, refined, used and shipped throughout the Federation. While the long delay before Coridan joined the Federation meant their early lead in engineering and ship design was eventually surpassed, Coridan remains one of the finest shipyards in the Federation, with the ready availability of raw materials gives Coridan a leg up on production. Because of that, Coridan has one of the highest number of industrial replicators per capita of any Federation planet.
The people of Coridan have assimilated fully into the Federation by the 24th century. Coridan natives join Starfleet, ply the trade lanes and in all ways participate in the Galactic civilization. There is still a certain rogue presence here, however. While Starfleet has made great strides, there are still Orion syndicate interests to be found in some cities, and it’s well known that Coridan is the best place among the core worlds to find illicit materials or make contacts with the underworld. Purely by coincidence, the Ferengi have been trading with Coridan in increasing numbers.
History
The resources on Coridan, and the reactions of different galactic powers to them, have influenced the development of Coridan’s society for centuries. Long before Vulcan made first contact with Earth, they were helping Coridan develop a stable world government. This was logical for the Vulcans — Coridan’s resources would benefit Vulcan, and stable government would facilitate a mining agreement. It is worth noting that Vulcan as a policy did not interfere with developing societies. However, the significant economic and material advantages of dealing with Coridan — as well as the tensions with Andoria — led them to make an exception to this policy. This would cause Coridan long-term problems.
For many years, the Vulcans kept close economic and political ties to this central government, even as different factions agitated for change. When rebel factions in the fringes of Coridan’s cities began to directly oppose the government, the Vulcans continued to suppress them. This led to Andoria supporting the rebel factions, and civil war began to brew on Coridan. NX-01 Enterprise — from the days when Starfleet was specifically Earth’s ships — was caught in the middle of this, when rebels kidnapped the captain and science officer of the Enterprise. Andorians assisted the Enterprise crew in retrieving the victims, while a Vulcan strike team attempted a surgical strike to wipe out the rebel cell.
With the founding of the Federation, both Andoria and Vulcan, now bound by Federation law and the Prime Directive, stopped their direct influence on Coridan’s government. They did continue trading with Coridan, as did Tellar and several other Federation worlds, but without alien support propping Coridan up, it descended into chaos and civil war. This in turn gave the Orion Syndicate the opportunity it needed to get its hooks into Coridan. By the time the world had stabilized, illegal mining operations and unfair trade alliances were rife on Coridan, and gained the status of business as usual.
By the time Coridan had evolved into a mature society, several Federation worlds had entered into advantageous trade agreements with it. When Coridan applied for Federation Membership in 2268, enough member worlds had agendas of their own that a full conference was called to discuss the issue. En route to the conference, aboard the original U.S.S. Enterprise, the Orion Syndicate staged an attack, using a disguised Andorian as an inside agent who assassinated the Tellarite delegate in an effort to frame Ambassador Sarek, the Vulcan delegate and a strong proponent of Coridan membership. The plot — and an assault on the Enterprise by an Orion suicide ship — were foiled, and Ambassador Sarek was credited with Coridan’s admission to the Federation.
Places of Interest
One of the most interesting places on Coridan is the United Federation of Planets Starcraft and Warp Museum, preserving exhibits from both Coridan’s entry into space and the Federation’s general progress in interplanetary travel. Among the exhibits is the grounded Fencurlik. The Fencurlik was the test ship for the first known starship to carry a warp drive rated for Warp Factor 7, from 2146. The Fencurlik and the few ships that followed her before the civil war actually never exceeded Warp 6.85, but she still represents a brief period of time when Coridan had the most advanced starships in known space.
Reference(s)
- Burns, Eric, Kenneth A. Hite & Doug Sun. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 7: Worlds, Decipher, 2005. ISBN: 1582369097.