Anchorage

Mirror Universe Portal

Anchorage
355px
Moons	95px * Dyea 95px * Skagaway
Location	New Alaska (System), Yukon Sector, Beta Quadrant
Affiliation	Imperial Union of Planets
Capital	Carmona
Classification	Class M-B "MArginal"
Gravity	1.3 G
Population	Approx: 74.6 Billion
Demonym

History

KCA Mining Colony

Anchorage was originally a mining colony established by the KCA to provide raw materials to neighboring manufacturing systems. Through automation the population could be rather small and was managed by a provisional military tribunal. according to records recovered, most of the extraction was done through monitored automation and the rates of extraction were rather high despite poor working conditions, low pay, and small population. A decade after the colony was established, riots due to the poor working conditions spread across the few cities throwing the colony into chaos. Sensing a possible loss of a source of raw materials within the same system as a major agricultural producer and fearing the rebellious attitude would spread through to other locations, the KCA sent a major force to control the planet. The resulting martial law was enforced by 15 generals responsible for 15 sectors. Their iron rule maintained the productivity and diffused the crisis through fear more than anything.

Refugee Crisis

The War that caused the death of the KCA also caused the displacement of hundreds of billions that needed refuge. Anchorage being an open colony, they had no choice but to accept massive amounts of refugees despite lacking the infrastructure or space to support populations over 10 billion. The mass influx of persons caused a major shortage of both space and food, sparking riots and harsher crackdowns on legal violations. The attempt to quell the civil unrest, the government recruited from the populace and swelled the numbers of soldiers but even then, the sheer mass of people arriving on Anchorage further exacerbated the issue. The planet was just not prepared for the crisis and massive loss of life occurred as food shortages and open rebellion became rampant.

IUoP Takeover

The IUoP takeover of the system was like a breath of relief for both the rebels and the generals in charge of the government. Since the IUoP forces where focused on peace keeping an establishing a stable system of rule on Anchorage and neighboring Sitka, the Generals expected to have support from the military while the rebels where hoping the government would be ousted. Due to the focus on the more important farming world of Sitka, the situation on Anchorage continued to stagnate. A beacon of hope was felt when Daniel Mountain became the Honorable Lord Sitka, but once again the hopes of both the generals and the populace where dashed when he spent several months focusing on Sitka and Anchorage was not included in the Barony. Then news arrived of a Baroness that would be coming to Anchorage. Representatives of both the rebels and the Generals scrambled to garner favor with the the Lady Anchorage, but what none expected is that she would institute martial law to forcibly remove both the rebels and the Generals. Putting up only token resistance, within a month IUoP Defense forces bolstered by Intec Securities Mercenary brigades had removed any resistance and begun removing the poor infrastructure on the planet. As the battered cities were demolished the Lady Anchorage brought in architects, designers, artisans, and construction firms to rebuild. The Baroness focused on comfortable living and working conditions and taking the cities vertical to maximize the space available, She enforced a rule of 2/3 of the available land for living and working and 1/3 for recreation and natural sanctuaries. While rebuilding Anchorage from the ground up, the Baroness also implemented a system of education and health care available to all citizens. Once the populace realized what was going on they began helping with the reconstruction and within 3 years not only was nearly all construction projects completed but also the martial law had been lifted and a government very similar to the greater Imperial Union was implemented. Overall happiness and satisfaction with the rulers skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, exponentially increasing the Baroness' popularity with the general populace.

Geography

Moons and Environment

The geography of Anchorage is vast and varied though at the same time its less unique than its neighbor, Sitka. Most of the planet is mountainous with alpine plains and deserts with little water on the surface. While most of the water is underground what little surface water there is can be found in the three major oceans. In the more barren locations clear scaring of the mining can be seen. Though never addressed till IUoP takeover, the planets status caused the KCA government to completely ignore environmental concerns. Under the first Lady Anchorage, one of the major focuses for the mining and manufacturing economy is limited to no pollution in order to preserve the environment. The planet is a long way till full recovery, but the third of the surface dedicated to preservation of the natural environment is becoming as pristine as it was before the KCA colony was established. Anchorage does have two moons that are both colonized. The previous government had begun terraforming one, Dyea, using its thin breathable atmosphere as a starting spot. Its other moon, Skagway, is barren and most of its populace is housed within sealed caves and bunkers.

Fauna and Flora

Though the planet has few animals, plant life is abundant. Most of the plant life is large and in places dense alpine forests and in lowlands and near the oceans tropical jungles. The Baroness’ regime made sure to set aside a third of the livable space to nature, preserving it an massive national parks. Where animal life aside form pollinators is sparse on ground, the oceans are teeming with life. Coral reefs are abundant in both shallow and deep water environments and the sheer variance of fish and sea mammals has astounded biologists, especially considering the class of Planet. Subsequently all oceans have received a protected status. Dyea has even less plant and animal life, the terraformed regions dedicated to farming while the non-terraformed regions are sparse with few plants and even fewer animals. Though the terraforming process on Skagway has begun, very little can be shown for it yet with just a few sparse plants here and there.

Climate

The climate of Anchorage is warm and balmy. Due to its limited surface water, it is not very humid away from the oceans. The high heat of the equatorial zones has led to a concentration of desert like conditions with roving dune mountain ranges and few oases. Further from the equator the climate becomes warmer temperate, tropical near the oceans, and more livable. Most of the forests are clustered in this region. The polar regions are cold and frozen but they are small and tend to melt during the summer months. most of the third set aside for nature reserves is in the forested non-equatorial regions while many of the large cities are clustered within the desert areas.

Politics

Government

Anchorage uses a parliamentary government with the nobility and common citizens represented in different houses. Parliament is divided into the House of Lords and the Senate, with representatives for the House being selected from among the nobility and remain till retirement, death, or removal by executive branch with support of the courts. The nobility that the House of Lords draws from are friends and associates of Cooke, including not a few from her days in the United Federation of Planets Starfleet and IUoP nobility. The Senate is composed of representatives elected by the people for a 2 year term. The executive branch is the Office of the Baroness, acting as both president and monarch. Cooke holds this position but her inner circle, the Council of Ministers, has been given the right to operate on her behalf for most issues. The Courts are set up through a system of judges that preside over civil and criminal cases, with a Supreme Court, only answerable to the IUoP Sector Court, to define the laws that are enacted by Parliament and determine if they are legal. The judges that sit on the supreme court are appointed by the Baroness and vetted twice, once by each house of Parliament. The planet has been divided into 22 provinces and provincial governments have a similar makeup to the main government; Provincial governors that report to the Council of Ministers, a parliament that represents both the nobility and the populace, and a courts system.

While the government is not bipartisan, having many different parties, voters gravitate to either conservative or liberal. The influence from the news media has polarized the voting populace even more. While it avoids race issues and attacking of minorities, the media does throw out many conservative and liberal economical and science viewpoints. The clashing news outlets can be traced back, through shell companies, to the government. The polarization of the populace has ensured the ineffectiveness of the Senate allowing the House and Baroness almost complete free reign.

Law and Criminal Justice

Law enforcement is mainly provided by local police agencies supplemented by provincial police forces. The local police enforce the cities and towns through patrols of streets, maglev, and parkways providing a sense of safety. Provincial forces are responsible for monitoring the highway and maglev connections that span the distance between major transportation hubs. All police forces are trained to be politically neutral and to place respect and safety of the citizen first. Oversight is provided by personal cameras that are monitored by the headquarters and a government oversight committee, which in turn is monitored by the Council of Ministers and Parliament. Along with city and provincial police levels, global investigative agencies exist as well, providing dedicated investigation and prosecution teams. Full oversight of all law enforcement, however, is through the Secret Police. This force is trained and staffed by Intec personal and answers only to the Baroness. Though not officially a policing unit, it has the jurisdiction to perform arrests of any citizen under investigation. Further security is provided by a massive network of cameras that continuously monitor the populace.

Citizens that find themselves under arrest are considered innocent until proven guilty. As such the holding facilities at police stations are finished and, though not a hotel, are comfortable. Once convicted however, the convict is transported to penal mines on the planet’s surface, off world penal colonies, or killed depending on the severity of the punishment. When a citizen is arrested they have a court hearing scheduled to decide their innocence. They are tried by a jury composed of equal parts their peers and members of the victims class. An example is if a noble robbed a commoner, then the noble is tried by a jury composed of both nobles and commoners in equal measure, with oversight by law enforcement to ensure that no corruption affects the trial. if a commoner steals form a commoner, then they are tried by a jury of commoners, and same if a commoner stole from noble or if a noble stole from a noble. the persecuting lawyer will present a case against the defendant to the jury while the defendant’s lawyer will try to defend, with the Judge presiding over the case. Convicts are allowed to request a retrial in a higher court. Once the supreme court comes to a decision, it cannot be revoked and the defendant must accept their fate. In special cases, the defendant can request their trial be handled by Imperial Court, and the Baroness then can sign off on the request, allowing the defendant to be tried in IUoP courts rather than Anchorage courts.

Off World Relations

Anchorage is a member of the Imperial Union of Planets. As such the world holds to IUoP law despite having a slightly different court system and Parliament. The Economy of Anchorage is very much a part of the IUoP global economy and the Baroness has been working hard to ensure that Anchorage has a lasting place within the IUoP itself. Anchorage also relies on the IUoP for general protection and has submitted itself to the authority of the IUoP Congress, the Office of the President, and the Empress herself.

Anchorage has strong ties to its sister, Sitka, for several reasons. Most of its agriculture has been moved off world, ending up on Dyea. However, Dyea does not have the capacity to provide for the massive population and Skagway is not yet ready to take over the burden. There for the government has become reliant on supplies form the IUoP and a healthy trade with Sitka, an agrarian world. In return Anchorage has provided open usage of its many orbiting ports to Sitka to ensure that its goods can get out of system and into the greater IUoP.

the Defense of the system is provided by Starbase Taipan and the Malcesine Military Complex, housing IDF and I-MDF divisions. Starbase Taipan is a pure combat starbase, housing fighters and weapons enough to defend the entire system. External docking booms allow larger warships to dock with the Taipan and several are housed within adjacent drydocks. Intec Securities has also built its own headquarters in orbit alongside one of the major ports to house its small fleet of surplus escorts and battlecruisers. A state of the art training facility is located in an undisclosed location for training of new personnel. Most of the law enforcement on Anchorage train with the IUoP Defense force and as such Anchorage as few if any training facilities. The Malcesine Military Complex is solely a proving ground for experimental and theoretical technologies with military application. Any of the populace that desires recruitment into Starfleet or the Defense Forces go to the Japonski Recruiting Station on Sitka, the main recruitment hub for the system.

Cryptography HQ

A major influence on the politics of Anchorage, especially in the Senate, has been the establishment of a minor Panopticon HQ on the planet. Although few if any know that this HQ is the main headquarters for the Cryptography Department, it is known that the Panopticon have a presence in 5 major cities on the surface. The presence of the Panopticon and its clear connections with the Office of the Baroness have caused a common theme among lawmaking in the Senate, which pushes for more government openness and less population monitoring. Most if not all of the bills that do get pushed through on this topic fail in the House of Lords, but the distraction of the freedoms of information that the average citizen may or may not have has been abused more than once by the other branches of government

Economy

Industry

The Economy is based on three major factors. The mining of raw materials, the refining and manufacturing of collected and imported raw materials, and finally the presence of corporate headquarters for multi-billon brick GPL companies. The zoning and infrastructure is heavily based on these three factors. Most of the mining is fully autonomous with exception of a few penal mines, as is the manufacturing centers as well. The factories and mining have extensive requirements for environmental safety and for worker safety for the few that do work in the factories and mines. After FSC Co. and Intec moved their headquarters to Anchorage, many corporations began moving as well. To increase the desirability, the baroness placed streamlined regulations and targeted taxes to expedite the movement. Anchorage being a major transportation hub and a high tech developing planet with a peaceful culture certainly helped its desirability. Within three years from the IUoP takeover the economy is flourishing, exports of raw materials and manufactured goods is at an all-time high and hundreds of extremely successful companies, including many Alte and Prima Universe Fortune-500 companies have moved their headquarters to Anchorage. Total GDP has skyrocketed in response which has exponentially elevated the mean base income and the standard of living.

Infrastructure

A major factor in the renewal of Anchorage has been its infrastructure. A priority has been public transportation, resulting in massive state of the art maglevs that crisscross the planet between major cities alongside a well designed and complex system of roads and maglevs focused on public rather than private transportation. Residential housing is placed within massive state of the art superstructures reaching miles into the atmosphere, each with connections between neighboring structures and their own parks, malls, sanitation, police, and occupational facilities. Corporate, Commercial, and recreational sections jut off in the form of massive towers and wings from these superstructures. The concentration of residential and commercial zoning in the vertical has allowed a third of the planet’s surface to be dedicated to industry. The removal of energy collection to the gravity well has also aided in the freeing of space on the surface of the planet. In orbit of Anchorage are many solar energy collection and refining stations that send power back to the surface. Several matter/antimatter reactors taken from derelict ships, located in high orbit on the edge of the magnetic field, collect the solar wind from the binary stars and use the fuel to help power the planet itself. The major cities are each connected via space elevator and industrial teleporter to one of 11 major ports in orbit. Most of the goods and raw materials storage is on the planet surface and as soon as its ready for export its moved to the starports to be loaded onto freighters and trade vessels for shipping out of system. The disc shaped starports also have docks for civilian ships that offer sweeping views of the planet itself and separate transport to customs.

Sci & Tech

Apart from the massive requirements of the super structures, the government has made a huge push for nature preservation and green industry. A sacrifice that has been made, causing slower industrial growth compared to the commercial growth, has been to extremely strict regulations on manufacturing and mining processes. In the long term however, using advanced techniques pioneered in Sitka, the greater IUoP, and tech that Cooke witnessed in the United Federation of Planets of the Mirror Universe, Anchorage has massive manufacturing and mining output with little to no effect on the environment at all.

The huge push in education and research has sparked a Renaissance in the fields of theoretical sciences. This push has caused a drive for applicable programs within the Universities in the major cities, each growing in their research departments and field sponsorship. The Renaissance has made Anchorage an important destination for professors, researchers, and scientists. Combined with Sitka's considerable applied sciences research facilities and colleges, the New Alaska system is the premier research system in the greater IUoP.

Culture

Demographics

Originally an open colony, Anchorage was a major refuge for those fleeing the violence across the quadrant. Due to this, the population displays a vast diversity of races. A huge focus for both the industry and the construction of the infrastructure has been to ensure that the needs of all races have been accounted for. Mass installation of universal translators, variable atmospheric control, detailed and strict regulation on employment and wage equality.

Education

The Education reforms started as the populace was having their first election. Unlike other rulers, Cooke wanted her people to have access to the highest forms of education available, especially the arts. With funding from the Office of the Baroness, primary, secondary, and post-secondary education payed for by the government budget was established. To assist with lowering the massive draw education takes on the budget, Cooke began a tradition of patronage, financially supporting both schools that had a liberal arts program and individual creators as well. Following the Baroness’ example, the nobility on Anchorage began investing large amounts of capital into schools, especially arts and sciences. The easy access to higher education and the elaborate liberal arts schools, combined with the patronage tradition among the nobles jump started an artistic and scientific renaissance on Anchorage. Film, literature, painting, photography, philosophy, design, theoretical sciences became staples of the Education system on Anchorage. Because of the push of theoretical sciences, Sitka easily overshadowed Anchorage for overall scientific impact due to its development of applied sciences. However, Anchorage maintained a huge cultural draw due to the artistic golden age and as such became very well known among the Imperial Union of Planets.

Health

Another major focus for Cooke when she took over was the healthcare on Anchorage. Before anyone could have a say on healthcare, Cooke established a socialized health care system payed for by the governments budget. Under the system all preexisting conditions are covered, no limits on the meds or service due to age or wealth, affordable copays and deductibles, etcetera. To give the best medical care on the planet Cooke bribed and poached as many high end doctors, health specialists, nurses, and physicians as possible to give the best health care to her people. culture

Architecture

The architecture of Anchorage is almost completely post-modern and neo-historism. Featuring complexity and contradiction in the design, fragmentation, and heavy use of asymmetry, the general aesthetic is almost like many post-modern artist and architects were competing to see who could make the most complex and giant superstructure. The buildings feature sweeping views, arches, cliff like wings and balconies, towers, huge amounts of glass, all combining elements of historic designs with a high-tech look. The Baroness hand selected the architects and artist out of all the foreign and domestic applicants for the construction in order to universalize the look across the planet yet also have enough variance that it would not look exactly the same.

Visual Arts

One of the Baroness’ main priorities was to education, especially the arts. in the three years after her take over of the government, she implemented a program where the office of the Baroness founded as many acting, music, literature, and fine art schools and studios as possible. She set an example of patronage for the wealthy elite to found schools and education centers all over Anchorage which sparked a golden age in visual arts on Anchorage by the year 2417

Timeline

Pre-2373

• 2357 Small mining colony established on surface of Omega Penthe 1.

• 2368 15 Generals establish their rule on the planet.

Current Era

• 2373 Memory Omega Annexes the system from the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance (to effectively no resistance due to multiple factors). Renames system to "New Alaska"..

• 2400 Refugee crises begins causing overpopulation problems on surface of Anchorage

• Late 2375 Memory Omega Transfers ownership of the New Alaska system to the Imperial Union of Planets. As the IUoP sees success in ensuring Sitka is self sufficent, Anchorage lags behind due to the stagnation f the curent political system.

• June 10th, 2410 Commissar of Strategic Operations Daniel Scott Mountain is named Baron of Sitka. Hopes of the people of Anchorage dashed when he focuses on his Barony

• January 2411 High Lady of New Terra Kaylin Cooke awarded the Barony of Anchorage, inspects the world and has the current government and its dissidents forcibly removed

• July 2411 The Lady Anchorage has her contractors demolish and reconstruct the infrastructure and rebuilds the political system, allowing the general populace more freedoms then they previously experienced.

• September 2414 Reconstruction on Anchorage Complete. The Lady Anchorage establishes her permanent residence on the planet. Construction of starbase

• November 2414 Fist general elections. populace happiness and satisfaction with government at all time high. productivity at record levels, and hundreds of corporate businesses establish their HQ on the planet.

• July 2417 Baroness Kaylin Cooke Killed in Action during Khepera. Cooke's adpoted daughter, Grace Cooke-Dosh inherits the Barony of Anchorage and begins House Cooke-Dosh.

Major Exports

• Commodities

• Raw Materials

• Manufactured products

• Fine Art (including literature, painting, sculpture, film)

Major Cities (5 billion plus population)

• Carmona (Capitol)

• Priego

• Malcesine

• Aviero

• Evora

• San Leo

Major Facilities

• Starbase Taipan

• Carmona Spaceport

• Alexandra Cooke University of Fine Arts (Carmona)

• Cooke-Dubois National University (Carmona)

• Priego Spaceport

• Priego Industrial Complex

• San Leo Spaceport

• San Leo Industrial Complex

• Malcesine Spaceport

• Malcesine Military Complex

• Manarola Spaceport

• Deia Spaceport

• Deia Agrarian Complex (located on Dyea)

• Nerja Spaceport

• Nerja Research Center (located on Skagaway, responsible for terraforming the moon)

• Ainsa Spaceport

• Ainsa Industrial Complex

• Aviero spaceport

• Aviero University

• Evora spaceport

• Sintra spaceport