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NAME: Union of Carpathian Nations, Carpathian Union (Unio Carpates)
GOVERNMENT: Supernational Confederation of States
TOTAL POPULATION: est. 4,471,680,000

The Carpathian Union is a the supernational organization formed to facilitate peace and prosperity in the otherwise divided countries of the Carpathian System. Thanks to the shared history and interconnected economy the Carpathian Union may seem to be a singular nation, and indeed more and more people call themselves Carpathian, yet in practice they are far from such. Carpathian states are spread across the system and somewhat even beyond. Space exploitation is the main industry of the system and owning a spacecraft is almost synonymous in Carpathia with owning a car. Corporations rose to power and sometimes industrial magnates have more power than the respective heads of the state. Carpathia is a relatively lawless realm with wild untamed lands surrounding the numerous metropolitan centers. Carpathians are highly protective of their freedom and rights which often puts the average person at odds with the Union.

HISTORY

The INS Leithania was one of the numerous vessels sent to colonize deep space through the gateways. As often happened the passengers for the ship were picked from the same geographical region. The Leithania was filled with colonists from Central- and East Europe. Dozens of countries, untold years of hatreds and rivalry. Making planetfall the colonists named the planet Pannonia and began to work tirelessly. After cycling through several names the system was began to known as Carpathia. They also established the Carpathian Calendar (CC) with their arrival as year zero. Yet old hatreds die hard so after a few decades of begrudging peace the colonists chose to split and form their own countries mostly based off old the national lines. To their luck the Carpathia System had multiple habitable moons and so this heralded the first split. Over the time as space exploitation became the norm so did space habitats which lead to another split and population explosion. Carpathia became a powder keg with many conflicting ideals and old wounds which never healed. Wars were a constant occurrence for decades. This went on for over a century until a new threat appeared.

The Carpathians made a bizarre discovery early on. They found old ruins, temples and other traces of a foreign civilization within the system. Excavations also found ancient tombs and burial grounds. Obviously the scientific crowd was astonished. Yet little did they know that the aliens who built these monuments were very much still roaming the galaxy. As investigations later found out a certain illegal mining company encountered a strange object in space. When said object discharged weapons at their vessels they fired back, leading to its destruction. Investigation of the scene eventually confirmed the wreckage to be a small Khryshi spaceship. Unknown to the Carpathians at large this heralded the beginning of a United Tribes to declare holy war upon them. Yet limited to sublight speeds it took several decades until the Carpathians realized their mistake.

The year CC120 heralded the beginning of the Third Panslav War. Yet unlike the other three this one had to end abruptly with the mass invasion of aliens. They were the Khlax'ons, an alien race of space nomads living in tribal units yet united through their sophisticated Crystal Network. Initially doubtful the Carpathians blamed each other on the raids and it took several pieces of evidence to acknowledge they were dealing with a new external threat. Most historians attribute CC122 as the beginning of the First Khryshin War. The alien technology gave the comparatively small invasion force an edge in space combat yet they lacked the means to properly invade inhabited planets. The Khryshins remained a menace of colonies for over a decade until they were warded off. The aliens were defeated yet the threat still lingered on. Many attribute the First Khryshin War as the prime motive force to establish the Union.

The United Nations of Carpathia was established in CC134 and is generally considered a precursor to the Carpathian Union. It was nothing but an alliance system with limited council to allow fair negotiations between member countries. Their purpose was to mend division between various Carpathian nations so they could stand united against a second Khryshi invasion. This of course happened only 30 years later. Compared to last time the Khryshi mobilized an entire armada of vessels and millions of warriors. The Second Khryshin War was gruesome and claimed almost a hundred million lives. Yet after 5 years of struggle the Carpathians won and the Khryshi retreated back into deep space once again.

Many Carpathians viewed the war only as a pyrrhic victory. Though they succeeded to rebuke the United Tribes of Khryshi they paid a terrible price and there was no telling when the invaders might return. This propelled discussions about a possible merge of countries to form a single unified government. Proposals eventually turned into demands and between CC188-190 the so-called Unification War raged across the system. Eventually the Pannon Republic and its supporters failed yet it was obvious that something more effective than the loose alliance system of the UN was required. In CC193 they announce the Carpathian Union alongside with the document of the Union Charter. Though met with mixed reaction the Union's efforts lead to stability, peace and economic upswing in Carpathia. Many cite this moment as the beginning of modern Carpathian culture.

Then CC232 saw the Third Khryshin War, the largest war known to Carpathia. By this point the Carpathian military technology surpassed the Khryshi weaponry and they avoided a repeat of the Second War in civilian cost. Around the same time extreme effort was spent to under stand the Khryshi crystal network. Though replicating the technology was impossible the Carpathians found a way to sabotage the system and disable interstellar communication to the United Tribes. This threw them into a disarray and to Carpathian knowledge they never recovered. Since then there have been an ongoing effort to make contact with small Khryshin groups and integrate them. Though a rare sight a number of Khryshi became citizens to Carpathia, even if tiny in terms of percentages. Since their victory the Carpathian System prospers yet there is a smell of slow decay. Carpathians thrive upon space exploitation yet they began to approach their limit. Once the wheels grind to a halt the economy would suffer. Thankfully the gate system came back to life and now Carpathia faces the unknown.

GOVERNMENT & SOCEITY

The Carpathian Union is a supernational body representing dozens of independent states. Depending on your definition Carpathia has 32 to 40 semi-independent member states spread across the system and somewhat even beyond. These states often have their own official language like Panonia, Neoczheck, Daxian, Svabian and so forth. This would normally render any form of communication complete chaos but realtime translator devices are fairly sophisticated in Carpathia. When it comes to the Union's official language they chose Latin, ironically something none of the member states even speak. The Union's capital is in Leitha, an artificial moon orbiting Pannonia. Yet the city state is considered a neutral country officially free fom any influence. Each member state have their own laws, customs and overall large degree of autonomy. Aside from the select few Union Laws these nations can seemingly do whatever they want.

In spite of their turbulent history Carpathia has the combined population approaching 5 billion. Unlike many worlds they didn't develop a large following for posthumaniam, weren't exposed to mutagenic effects and just barely mix with aliens. Yet they perceive themselves a melting pot of diverse cultures. While national governments do exist and some states got heavy restrictions on imigrants the majority of them embrace thir multi-national identity and forge their own culture as a state. Being alone for centuries the term Carpathian was rarely used and when it did it bore a strong Union favoeitist tone. Yet as the gate network revitalized the inhabitants began to owe up to the name immediately. Just a few months after the first contact the people would proudly proclaim themselves Carpathians as a distinction from humans of other colonies.

The stereotypical Carpathian is patriotic and proud of their nationality and believe in their personal freedom. They embrace capitalism and most of the Union's most famous people are rich enterpreteurs who are often viewed as role models. They are especially enamored by the myth of the "self-made man", people who rose from rags to riches through honest work. At the same time many Carpathians are distrustful of the Union or at times even thir own government. They seem to prefer control by private enterprises over the government and feel taxes are wasted by buerocrats. Carpathians have an odd relationship with consumerism. At one hand they are big spenders and always love to own new shiny toys. At the same time Carpathians especially in the rural regions want to be as independent from big companies as possible. Self-sufficiency is a popular fad among the folks... and sometimes a neccessity. Space exploitation is still the most booming industry in Carpathia which means people often spend weeks or sometimes months traveling in space. Even for those who aren't hauling goods across space they often commute to another moon or planet to work. To an average Carpathian family owning a space shuttle or three is the notm, almost akin to owning a car. Another odd element of Carpathians is their militia culture. They love guns and majority of them are fervently protecting their right to own them. Some claim it is for their rightful insurance against government overreach but most just want it for personal defense and recreational purposes. Personal arms are commonly used in crimes in Carpathia, same for gun related accidents.

TECHNOLOGY

Carpathian technology is simple in concept yet can be fairly sophisticated on the execution. Plasma, electromagnetics and fusion power are the three pillars of Carpathian designs. Helium-3 is the essential fuel which drives their powerplants be it energy production or even their cars. For utilities which doesn't require full-on nuclear plants they use plasma induction engines. Wheels were largely replaced by various hover propulsions, although flying cars are still niche. Aerospace propulsion is largely accomplished through impulse engines which can be extremely powerful for their size but also relative fuel guzzlers. Weapons technology largely adopted various plasma arms with firearms or even railgun mechanisms being considered niche or outright antiques. Industrially the Carpathians are very proficient asteroid, gas giant and nebula miners. Some may call their extraction methods wasteful or even reckless but they certainly work fast! Carpathians are also quick to establish new habitats for miners and expand. Race to acquire mining rights before the competition ensured this. Production wise the Carpathians pioneered the "nanosintering" technology which allows producing elaborate devices with relatively little industrial investment and it can even supplemement large scale production provided you don't mind the electricity bill. Metamaterials is a fairly developed field in Carpathia to the extent they can outright engineer new atoms for various purposes. In comparison A.I. development is in a very odd state. While automatized factories and systems gotten far the Carpathians didn't develop sapient robots. The furthest they got are machines mimicking animals, pet robo dogs and chimpanzees are all the rage in certain states. A.I. in general has very limited influence in decision making.

MILITARY

Carpathia has three levels of military. The highest being the Union Armed Forces, the official joint military force of the Carpathian Union. Below that are each state's Home Guard, their own military force mostly reserved for defense and handling local crisis situations. Lastly there's the Peacekeeper Corps lead by the Sheriffs of each dependency. Peacekeepers are heavily armed policemen meant to fight local bandit gangs and crack down on dens of crime. Peacekeepers in an unique position where they are reporting to both the state and the Union. Unlike actual police the Peacekeepers often use military grade equipment. With this out of the way it can be said that for decades the Carpathian military is relatively low. Carpathians haven't fought a war for a long while. With funding for the Union projects ever so tight the Union Armed Forces are borderline undermanned in the presence. Joining the military is generally viewed as a bottom end job chosen by people who have nowhere else to go. That being said soldiers are still respected and there's a strong culture for war veterans. There's also the myth of the "Carpathian Scout", a brave adventuring soldier with survival skills and peerless marksmanship. Indeed, as underfunded they are the Carpathian troops have remarkable shooting skills but this is also paired with poor discipline in the corps. There are numerous tales about the so-called "bored soldier" doing stupid stunts.

Doctrine-wise the Carpathians follow the usual trends in combined arms. Their typical armaments are plasma-based and rather than changing ammo these can allow adjusting functions to achieve varying effects. Carpathian ground vehicles use hover propulsion which makes them more nimble on the battlefield. A curious vehicle are their Personal Armors, small&cheap humanoid mechs. They can fight like oversized soldiers and they are popular both in military and in militia use.

In space Carpathia has a fair few curiosities. First off Carpathia has no shortage of skilled spacecraft pilots and as such they are especially proud of their starfighters. Many historical heroes were pilots and this veneration of mavericks in space continues to this day. Another is their approach to space combat which curiously draws parallels to naval engagements of the 20th century. There are escorts providing screening and deploy torpedoes. There are cruisers providing the backbone of the fleet and there are also battleships and carriers. Engagements are fought from usually great ranges and since Starlance strength drops with distance there are various zones of immunity for vessels depending on their armor and "caliber" of weapon they face. Of course there are also carriers and smallcraft which often can be a decisive factor. It should be also noted that Carpathians mostly fought pirates in the last few decades.