Boldly Going:Earth Colony Alpha Five

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Earth Colony Alpha V is one of the oldest colony worlds in the Federation. Fifth to be officially registered with UESPA, in fact, but it was unique among the early major colonial ventures in being exclusively private, not sponsored by any governmental entity, and independent from all of them.

Colony Alpha V is also the smallest of the (still-extant) colony worlds from that time period, with under 1 million people in the 23rd century. Colony Alpha 5's rich soil makes it well-suited for agriculture, and it has plenty of iron deposits to support development of the colony, but none of the rarer and more valuable minerals that would be of value off-world. Colony Alpha 5 is also not near any significant trade routes, so its strategic value is minimal.

People are unlikely to go there unless it's their specific destination, which is rare, but Colony Alpha 5 does have a small tourism industry, mostly catering to "adventure tourists" drawn to the planet's plentiful still-untamed wilderness regions and natural beauty. The colony was founded by Indian-Canadian billionaire Aisha Khan, and about half of the original colonists were from the Indian subcontinent or the Indian diaspora. This has made it recently develop more tourism (not to mention the occasional visiting Bollywood production) from people of Indian descent, as it's an exotic destination but one where you can still get a decent Masala Chai.

The colony never acquired an "official" name. Over the first half-century or so, the planetary government periodically held referenda for the people to choose a name. Various possibilities like New Themyscira, Heinlein, and New Bhārat rose and fell in popularity, but no single choice ever came close to getting a majority of the population's support. (Also, "Planny McPlanetface" garnered a consistent 20%.) Eventually, people just gave up and settled for the original colonial name, colloquially known simply as "Five." For similar reasons, while most lesser settlements on the planet have acquired colorful names, the largest city is still known simply as "Colony Center."

Though originally independent, Five joined the Federation when it was established in the wake of the Romulan War. Backwater or no, it was clear to all that if the Romulans or one of the other hostile forces in an increasingly-smaller galaxy ever did invade, the Planetary Guard would have no chance of resisting alone.

Many consider Colony Alpha 5 to be "behind the times," and they're not entirely wrong. "Fivers" consider it simply being more self-reliant than their "soft" cousins on Earth and the more developed colony worlds.