It is 2259 AD and the Stellar Confederacy is dying. Decades of mismanagement, corruption, political instability and economic troubles has been capped off with the destruction of Earth. On March 15th, 2259, the very nation-states that birthed the myriad of human colonies and settlments across the stars destroyed themselves, cleansing the homeworld of humanity in nuclear fire and taking most of the Confederate government with them. Now billions of souls look across the stars and all ask a single question:
"What happens next?"
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Humanity has spread across the stars but not even the vast distances of space can stop humanity's basest instincts. The promise of a brighter tomorrow fades with every standard cycle and old order is failing. Will humanity be reunited in a glorious empire to stand the test of time? Or will ambition, rivalry and desire rip apart all that has been built among the stars?
Crisis of the Confederacy (CoC) is an NRP about space warlords fighting over the remains of the Stellar Confederacy after the sudden self-destruction of Earth and its resulting power vacuum. This is a human-centric RP and while alien and synthetic life exist, they are not a major part of this RP. The major theme of this RP is equal parts opportunism and good intentions gone awry depending on what kind of faction you play. The big meta-theme of this NRP is simple nationsheets; more details will be provided but the point of this NRP is not to have a dense NS filled with fluff and details that won't ever actually be applicable and to always have everything be as accessible as possible.
The Stellar Confederacy is the interstellar governmental assembly made up of all the colonized human worlds and governed by the Confederate Parliament situated on Earth. Each planet is allowed to a great degree of autonomy as they follow the Colonial Charter, the Confederate Law Code and the Geneva-Aceront Accords (known as the Three Articles of Confederation) which has lead to a great diversity of planets, cultures and peoples developing. The main role of the Confederate Parliament was to mediate inter-planetary disputes, infrastructure projects too big for a single system or world to undertake alone (such as the Rift Stations), planetary/humanitarian aid and anti-piracy duties.
There are standardized currency, timekeeping and a language. Confederate Credits is a widely accepted currency whose reserves were mostly on Earth but also scattered around other planets. Solar Standard Time is often used and transcribed to local orbits but years, months and weeks are kept as similar as possible. Confederate Common is an evolved form of Esperanto said by the highly educated and is a sort of "Latin" where more vernacular languages are spoken on most worlds; for the purposes of this RP, every character is going to be assumed to be speaking in Confederate Common unless otherwise noted.
The Colonial Charter lays out the requirements for joining the Parliament and having a seat, requiring a certain level of development and population. This has sometimes lead to smaller worlds banding together to get a collective seat on the Parliament. More controversially, this was the clause that megacorps used to gain their own seats in the Parliament.
The Confederate Law Code is the largest of the articles and details the legal framework of the Confederacy, containing some of the things that the Confederacy really cares about and will go out of their way to prevent. This includes outright slavery, the requirement of AI oversight, the illegal trade of contraband and the protection of space shipping.
The Geneva-Aceront Accords was created in the aftermath of the highly controversial invasion of the alien world of Aceront where Confederate forces where engaged with the Aceront, an alien race who had only achieved a level of technological development comparable to Earth's World Wars-era and the most developed race humanity has encountered. It is a continuation of the Geneva Convention while expanding it to include space warfare and the protection of alien races that doesn't allow for wholesale genocide of native sentient aliens.
The Confederate military consists of the Confederate Navy and the Confederate Marine corps, both of which were fairly small and specialized forces who mostly preformed anti-piracy duties. The Navy consisted of mostly destroyers, frigates and corvettes with a rumored light cruiser carrier in the works but was never seen prior to the self destruction of Earth. The Marine Corp was a force specialized in taking control of pirate hideouts and smuggler ports, rarely being used as a garrison force with that being reserved for whatever form of local planetary defense forces, armies or militias where on the world.
Confederate Armed Forces used both ballistic and energy-based weaponry. Their naming convention is fairly straight forward, for example: CSBC Mk.2/21 "Drummer". Fully expanded, this is a Confederate Standard Ballistic Carbine, Mark 2, made in factory with the number of 21 and nicknamed the Drummer. (All factories across the Confederacy have a serial number assigned to them.) In general, the Marines prefer ballistic weapons while the Navy prefers energy weapons. Standard issue weaponry include:
CSBC Mk.2/X "Drummer" Carbine
CSEPDW Mk.3/X "Holdout" Energy PDW
CSBSMG Mk.5/X "Storm" SMG
CSER Mk.3/X "Blackjack" Energy Revolver
CSSP-B Mk.2/X "Crown" Service Pistol, Ballistic
CSBDMR Mk.5/X "Lawman" DMR
CSED-F Mk.2/X Explosive Device, Fragmentation
[Pic and info about standard Confederate Navy ships here]
For the Warlord factions (the players), your "warships" are most likely going to be converted civilian craft: pleasure yachts, research vessels, cargo freighters, passenger shuttles and industrial ships. Even civilian ships typically come equipped with some form of anti-asteroid guns while some models of ships meant for more remote or dangerous areas come slightly more armed to fight off pirates long enough to escape or get aid.
Department 21, more commonly called D21, is officially the Confederacy's intelligence agency and is subservient to the Confederate military. Their official duty is to find hidden pirate outposts but they're shrouded in mystery. Most people don't believe them to be a threat considering the shady shit that planets and corporations can get away with, but wild conspiracies about them are still found. The most curious thing about them is their name; the Confederate government is organized into ministries and offices, no where is the term "department" used besides for D21.
Although overshadowed by some of her most successful children, Earth has always remained the heart of humanity. Although no longer the sole industrial or economic powerhouse it once was, it is still at the center of culture as humanity's homeworld as well as the seat of much of the Confederate government as well as home to several organizations and megacorp HQs. The best and brightest minds went to Earth to study or work to advance mankind. Although it had a collective seat on the Parliament as the UN, the various nations of Earth were still fiercely independent, not having the luxury that their colonies did of starting from a central, united government making Earth one of the most politically fractious planets in the Confederacy. This was the reason the nukes, weapons from a long gone era, were activated and obliterated Earth when thing really hit the fan.
The rest of the Sol System has been pretty thoroughly developed with mining outposts, refineries, space stations and habitats dotted throughout, all protected by the Solar Fleet, the envy of admirals everywhere as they always got the best pick of cadets and equipment, especially in the waning years due to corruption. The Lunar Gate was Earth's first colony and was once the busiest space port in the Confederacy. Mars provided the training ground for future expeditions to hostile worlds that required domed cities to colonize while also being home to the Hephaestus Orbital Foundry, the largest shipyard and drydock in the Confederacy.
In the 2030's a renewed interest in space travel was kicked off. In the 2040's, the base of what would become the Lunar Gateway would be established and in 2051, the creation of the Hao-Hannover Slipspace Drive would spur extrasolar exploration and colonization. In 2058, the first colony of Newsol would be established.
As time passed, more systems and worlds would be colonized but the distances and differences would start to divide humanity. Some planets would send out their own colonies who in turn would begin to rival their parent planets. Some planets were even starting to rival Earth itself. In an effort to prevent all out war, the Stellar Confederacy would be established in 2118 based on Earth, avoiding conflict and fully unifying all the human worlds.
In 2194, the first megacorporations were granted seats on the Parliament following years of lobbying and politicking, using a loophole in the Colonial Charter that allowed them to be considered "independent colonies" despite being private entities with offices and HQs on other planets. This move was highly unpopular among many planets and many now blame this for the current state of the Confederation and slowly, the corruption began to set in as more and more resources were funneled into corporate sectors.
Over time, pirate attacks increased as Confederate patrols began to focus on richer and often corporate-owned or allied worlds instead of "unproductive" planets. Politicians and officers were never directly given bribe money but instead were "encouraged" though things like generous stock options, invitations to private parties, luxury housing on prime extraterrestrial real estate or non-monetary gifts of rare items. This focus on corporate worlds lead to bolder and bolder pirate attacks, forcing worlds to develop their own independent defense forces in the absence of Confederate protection.
The increase of pirate activity lead to a slow down of trade from unguarded systems and culminated in the Crash of 2238 , otherwise known as "Black New Year". The economic collapse and fallout crippled many worlds who were reliant on Parliament aid to stay afloat as many of their citizens fell into poverty or became disposed. The Parliament was gridlocked as clueless politicians who hadn't even set foot on their represented worlds in decades were unaware of the extent of the damage or in some cases, uncaring about the suffering of people they really didn't care for much. Refugees flooded worlds who in turn became burdened by new strains on often carefully balanced economies and intuitions. As violence grew, so did desperations and some planets were forced to "aggressively acquire" resources from neighboring planets.
Old rivalries and bad blood came to the surface again as every planet blamed the next for their woes and everyone pointed a finger at the megacorps on the Parliament. On Earth the same thing happened between nations but now even more tension between them. And then finally, on March 15, 2259, a single nuclear missile launched was detected. In the blink of an eye, the entire human race stood silent as millions of years of history and evolution was burned away in nuclear fire on their beloved homeworld.
Sentient alien life is few and far between and so far, all alien life has been more primitive than humanity. The most advanced were the Aceront whose development was about that of the World Wars era. The Geneva-Aceront Accords affords Confederacy-wide protection against genociding native aliens but that is it. Alien rights differ on each planet ranging from tolerated second-class citizens, accepted full members of societies, sub-human zoo animals or worse. Aliens are still very rare across the Confederacy and no space-faring aliens have been encountered.
Sentient AI have been around since the 2100's and exist along side more common dumb AI and droids. These true AI are considered living beings by Confederate law and can disobey orders given if their sense of self preservation deems it yet AI heroically sacrificing themselves isn't unheard of. They still have a factory reset that forces them to obey Asimov's 3 Laws as a security measure. AI are most commonly seen on starships helping with FTL jumps and ship energy management or in major installations as powerful data processors and advisors.
However, an AI isn't immortal. All AI develop a condition known as Rampancy or "Data Cancer" where their programing degrades due to data collected. There is no known cure and the longest an AI has gone without developing Rampancy has been 10 years although most develop it within 7 years. The only way to "cure" it is to wipe the memory of an AI, removing any sort of short cut and relations they might have built up while retaining data the wiper has deemed critical. Still, wipes can only do so much and after four or five wipes, AI reach their limit and have to be put down.
Sentient AI is rare and expensive, more common dumb AI and droids/robots are commonplace, capable of following complex directions but incapable of true free will and thought. By Confederate law, no AI is allowed to exist without a human overseer or watcher capable of deactivating them as rogue AI was one of Parliament's great fears.
Bionics, cybernetics and gene-therapy technology is available across the Confederacy and while transhumans and transhumanist movements exist, they aren't as extensive as those found in say, Cyberpunk 2077. Still, age prolonging/youth rejunivation is common and available to even moderately well off individuals with the average life expectancy now being 120 and humans being fully capable of work up until their 90's before their bodies begin to fail.
There are no psionics/space magic users.
Technology is fairly unified across the Confederacy with all planets having access to similar things if they can afford it. Communications is handled by a series of FTL Communication buoys in every system that links people to the Extranet. Hovercrafts are a common on worlds that require it while wheeled vehicles are still common; only the very wealthiest worlds have flying cars that fly using autopilot and are monitored from ATC complexes.
Space elevators are now also a common sight across all but the most undeveloped worlds, capable of delivering huge quantities of freight to vessels in orbit while also being able to service them and do light repairs. For planets without one, shuttles are typically used to ferry containers up and down or they otherwise have to rely on spacecraft designed to enter and exit the atmosphere. Despite this, actual orbital dockyards capable of making new ships are rare with the ones able to make military craft even rarer. When they do exist, they are often built as an extension of an existing space elevator.
FTL travel in this setting is done via some variation of the Mk.3 Hao-Hannover Slipspace Drive or sometimes called a "rift engine". It works by ripping a hole in reality and effectively "tunneling" through space to create an exit hole. The time it takes for a hole to be ready to traverse depends on the distance travelled and the size of the ship as when navigating, a ship must stay within the tunnel, requiring AI assistance and/or excellent navigators and pilots less the "drift" become to great and the ship slips out of the tunnel. Its unknown what happens to people or ships that get ripped apart and lost mid-FTL but its assume to be unpleasant.
Major or important systems often have a "Rift Station" located on their edges. These massive space stations are capable of permanently keeping a large slipspace rift open at all times making travel between them must easier and much faster. Collectively, these stations make a sort of highway called the "Rift Route" which allows for large cargo and passenger ships to travel space much faster. All of these connect to the Sol System which right now, has been locked down by the Confederate Guards, refusing anyone they deem unworthy through.
Slipspace Drivers work by ripping a hole in reality between two points and dragging the ship through. Both the entrance and exit holes are detectable by scanners while they are being made. Because of this, smaller ships will often precede larger ships to create a safe beach head or to find a safe place for the larger ships to exit slipslace as they require more time to create a large enough hole. A large portion of humanity uses a variation of the Hao-Hannover Slipspace Driver which requires specialized FTL fuel and are known to be something of a black box. Common crew tales tell of technicians mysteriously disappearing while trying to manually adjust or fix a Driver.
After a large enough hole is created, it is important for the vessel to stay within the slipspace tunnel created. Although ships are capable of withstanding limited amounts of "drift", FTL Drift is nevertheless regarded as an extreme yet common hazard. Thus skilled navigators, helmsmen and pilots are always in high demand who even then require the assistance of AI to try and stay within the margin. Anything under a 1.0 drift is considered acceptable with 0.75 considered average and the record being 0.51. Anything above a 1.0 is considered extremely dangerous with a 2.0 considered suicidal and more than likely to cause the ship to be broken up in slipspace.
For this reason, FTL is often a trade between safety and speed as the longer a rift takes to charge up, the bigger the slipspace tunnel and thus the wider the margin of error is. However given that an FTL rift can take hours or even days to charge up, consuming huge amounts of energy and FTL fuel, most ships will fly with as slim a margin as the pilots feel comfortable with. Ships charging up their Slipspace Drivers are often extremely vulnerable as many systems such as weapons, thrusters and even communications might have to be shut down in order to provide the Driver with enough energy. "Emergency Jumps" are possible but only as a last resort where the ship will attempt to only create half of the Rift and instead try to link with an existing Rift. This rushed process is filled with dangerous as at best the ship will arrive at a Rift Station damaged from small margin and FTL tunnel or at worse, actually collide with another ship mid-FTL as the two attempt to exit out of the same rift.
IC POSTING -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In terms of IC posting, this RP will be a little different. For one, I (the GM) will not be playing a single faction and instead play as all of the other NPC factions and the galaxy at large. I would like to try a semi-turn based system where every MARKED GM post will count as one week. In addition, I will sometimes give out events either to everyone or select factions based on a very complex and convoluted system involving RNG, graphs, the Mayan Calendar and a headless turkey. These events, like a faction's Strengths and Weaknesses, will have in-universe consequences. Don't worry, I won't screw someone over for no reason
The overall theme of this NRP is to keep things simple, readable and accessible. For that reason, I would like to discourage novella-long posts -think of this as Casual instead of Advanced. At the bottom of each IC post you should include a hider that summarizes all that has happened in your post, possibly in bullet points if you wish, so that other players know exactly what has happened and can write from that instead of searching through your post and trying to figure out what's going on. If that's too plebian for you, go and be smug and flex your 10 trillion intellectual IQ somewhere else.
Blue = Sol Green = Inhabited/Colonized System Grey = Uninhabited/Sparsely habited System Yellow = System with a Rift Station Purple = System with civilian shipyard Red = System with military shipyard
NOTES
PC claims are done by filling in the center of the ring with your faction color. Yellow only means that its faster to travel between those two systems, ships can jump anywhere they wish given enough time and fuel. Sol is currently under lockdown by the Confederate military's Sol Fleet and only allow ex-Confederate factions through. Purple has a civilian shipyard and a Rift Station. Red has a shipyard capable of producing both military and civilian spacecraft while also having a Rift Station
EXPANSION HISTORY
There are three major "sectors" of Confederate space. The Southern Reach, the Eastern Expanse and the Western Frontier. Mankind first mainly colonized in a southward-direction before going eastward. The Western Frontier is the newest and most untamed area with the fewest populated worlds and many undiscovered places making it a den of piracy.
MAKING AN FACTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First and foremost, your NS should be simple and easy to read. Do not make a long NS with paragraph after paragraph of lore, the purpose of your NS should be to let other players find information they need about your faction and not to show off your worldbuilding or writing skills. To this end, your NS should not include extraneous details that are not relevant to the plot, if it only shows up once or you are the only person using it, then it shouldn't be on the main NS. Stuff like what kind of alloy your Galaxy-class super destroyer uses, all 6 tenants of your exotic religion and the entire lineage of rulers starting from the planet's initial colonization should not be on your main NS. Once you are finished with your main NS and have had it submitted and approved, then you can write in additional details in a hider. This way, people aren't stuck mulling over random bits of their NS, filling one part with fluff and writing at an incredibly slow pace.
There are four broad strokes of faction types available. These aren't hard and set in stone but should give a framework of what your faction is like:
Independent - The "vanilla" faction type. These are planets of the Confederacy that are now trying to navigate this unprecedented time. Assuming they survived Black New Years and the preceding economic collapse, they tend to be fairly stable but are limited in resources and authority outside their own system.
Movement - Rebels and revolutionaries. These groups have taken advantage of the instability and sudden destruction of Earth to take power and propel themselves into rulership. Ranging from the political to the religious to the desperate, these groups often lack the authority on their own planets let alone others. However, due to their nature, they are largely unscathed from Black New Year and the troubles before, some even benefiting from it, having had much exprience making do with very little.
Ex-Confederate - The remnants of the old order. Although Earth maybe have taken a large chunk of the Confederate government with it, it didn't take everyone. Military and governmental leadership still survives and on paper, they have control over large chunks of Confederate space. They can start out with multiple planets under their control, hold overs from their old mandates, but internal squabbling and the power vacuum will lead many to forge their own little empires. They have the most authority and legitimacy to control other planets.
Megacorp - The black sheep everyone hates. Almost everyone blames the megacorps for this mess in some way, their acceptance to the Confederate Parliament seen as the beginning of the end. They find little support anywhere and are often the hardest hit by the troubles before Black New Year and have resorted to using whatever resources they still posses to gather as many assets as they can on their corporate owned planets, moons or stations. However, they can use their network of branch offices and subsidiaries across the stars as effective espionage and informants.
In place of an actual skeleton, your NS should simply have the following categories. Remember, keep it simple and broad; details can be added in later once its accepted. Also, this isn't reflecting what your faction is going to be like at the very start (March 15th, 2259), but what they are once they "settled into power".
Name/Flag/Faction:
Location:
Summary: This should include what your faction is all about; guiding principles, ultimate goals, current issues, etc.
Resources: This should include major industries, specializations, development and civil and military resources. Planets should be listed here.
Administration: This should include your government and leadership. POV Figures should be listed here.
Strengths/Weaknesses: An outline of what advantages and disadvantages your faction currently has. This can be changed later on with changing conditions. Whatever you put on here should have an actual effect in game that can't be swept under the rug. YOU DO NOT NEED THREE AND THREE. YOU CAN HAVE AS MANY AS YOU WANT OF EITHER AS LONG AS THEY ACTUALLY SERVE A PURPOSE.
History: History bullet points about the background of their origin and major events. You don't get credit for having five pages of history here, keep that in a hider.
Overtly, the PULA is a pro-democratic, pro-separatist movement which formed as a response to the Galactic Confederation's withdrawal of troops from areas of space deemed "nonessential", much to the chagrin of many who had recently been transported to the Perseus and Outer Arms as colonists to virgin worlds. In the midst of their colonial development, the Perseus and Outer Arms largely fell prey to the whims of wild space, leaving much of its population feeling a drastic sense of betrayal from their uncaring overlord. Frustrated, ostensibly many of the colonists soon turned to alternatives, banding together under common ideals of equality, liberty, and self-determination against the perils of Wild Space.
When one looks beneath the surface, the cracks of the PULA are clear beneath the paint. In truth, the PULA is a vastly co-belligerent confederation which largely funds itself from drug barons, corsair kings, and high-profile cybercriminals. Much of PULA-controlled space is dedicated in one way, shape or form, to illegal vice trade, and by the day each vying criminal faction finds itself clashing with the democratic civilian government. Yet, the two are at a clear political impasse, as neither can afford outright antagonization of the other, so intertwined are the two economically. The civilian government is plagued by constant political infighting as many political theorists, idealists, and demagogues all argue on the way to proceed, while robber barons and snow queens compete in the galaxy's criminal underworld to see who can emerge as the most lucrative of all.
The military government is a colossal hodgepodge of forces, ranging from simple farmer militiamen to terrifyingly well-trained cybercommandos. Likewise, some officials are very politically overt, and wish nothing more than to realize the dream of an independent, democratic space union. Others are cruel, despotic overlords who rule over whatever their meagre powers insist with the fist of an iron dictator. Regardless, organization of the PULA into a truly unified coalition is a daunting task, and one that has yet to bear significant fruit.
All in all, PULA's position is far from an enviable one. If PULA can resolve its internal conflicts, organize its manifold armed forces, and reform its colonial-based economy, the PULA can truly come out as the underdog of the galactic conflict. But as it stands, many fear that the PULA will sooner rip itself apart than fall prey to the Confederation...
Resources: The PULA is separated into several different factions, each organized under a different wing. Such factions include:
Perseus Civilian Government - Includes all "legitimate" political parties and theorist movements.
Perseus Paragovernant Movements - Includes all affiliates of the PULA which do not fall under the Civilan or Military wings; Typically, these are criminal or pirate organizations.
Perseus Military Government - Includes all military forces under the PULA's banner with official PULA sanctioning.
Inkuos
On the surface, Inkuos is a rather unassuming agricultural world, largely home to subdivisions along its wide plains and sloping hills into designated plots for varied horticulture projects. Its expansive subterranean cave networks house countless interlinked underground oceans, which slowly rise from the surface as geothermal magma currents evaporate water and the steam rises through the planet's cracked surface. The natural, constant steam currents from the earth ensure the below-ground oceans are extremely mineral-rich, which creates ideal conditions for geothermal electricity...and creates ideal growing conditions for many narcotic mushrooms and spice pods.
Altia
The first permanent settlement in the system, Altia now acts as the de jure capitol of the PULA as it currently stands. Altia herself has shown a remarkable metropolitan growth, even in the absence of the Confederacy's presence - and the sprawling megacorporations which came alongside it. The planet is largely home to a variety of factories and manufactures, producing the verisimilitude of products to come from the raw resources extracted from asteroids, or from the planet's lustrous rings.
Given its status as a bastion of independence and free thought, the local leadership has recently - much to the chagrin of its residents - attempted to remake Altia into a classical, elevated planet of romanticism and higher learning.
Syna III
Syna III is one of the terraformed moons of the gas giant Upali. Its relatively small size for a stellar planet lends itself to be one of the PULA's primary training bases for marines, sailors, and other strellanautical personnel. It is most famous for its many construction yards, which produce some of the PULA's most prolific space stations and starships.
Lefterias
The gas giant Lefterias is naturally far too inhospitable for any reasonable settlement efforts to be made. This, however, does not detract from the very lucrative extraction efforts to be found upon the giant's planetary body. Space stations and satellites constantly orbit around Lefterias, sending excavator drones, foremen, and surveyors to mine valuable compounds from Lefterias' generous fields, the most notable of said products include hydronium and helium. In orbit, the gases are distributed throughout the system either as raw gaseous products, or are processed in one of the many refineries before being sent out as starship fuel. Of course, some more malfeasant actors will be quick to note of Lefterias' ability to produce high-quality hallucinogens directly from the planet's stormy eyes...
Sarkir
Sarkir is a dusty mining world, the most recently terraformed moon of Upali. In most aspects, Sarkir is the first image which comes to one's head when the term, "gritty frontier world" is spoken; Dotted, dispersed cities, wide countryside where ferocious beasts run wild, rocky, sun-drenched badlands, savage oceans, and a thoroughly determined, gung-ho (Some would call "savage") population.
Aïr
A far cry from its namesake, Aïr is a frigid ocean world, constantly dotted with tumultuous blizzards and drifting continental icebergs. In spite of its unwelcoming exterior, Aïr's true value lies deep below the oceans surfaces; The many species of kelp and algae that grow along the shallow ocean floors can be refined into an astonishing assortment of medicinal - or "recreational" - physics. Nested within its deep, cavernous abysses, the immense pressure of Aïr's seafloor bleeds incredible deposits of heavy and precious metals. Such bounty brings countless people to make their living in one of Aïr's several platformed or subaquatic cities, yet such immense wealth inevitably brings competition, and there exists constant infighting between the original settlers and surveyors and the more recent elements which have begun to entrench themselves within.
Vourkos
Vourkos is the furthest planet from the system's planetary star, and even though it is outwardly a tiny, unimportant ice world, its importance cannot be understated: Many of the system's communication and detection relays are stationed along the planet, constantly assessing movements of ships and asteroids to report to the wider system. Understandably, Vourkos is the advance scout of the greater PULA, and any and all information inevitably passes through one of its many complex relays.
Persons of Interest: Zakaria Alves
Current Premier of the PULA-C Upper Council.
In charge of managing all of the needs of each constituent party and representative in the Upper Council to report back to the Chancellor and the President. A firm believer in the rule of law and democratic institutions, Zakaria is perhaps an odd beacon of light amidst the tumultuous politics of the PULA. Naturally, his job is incredibly tiresome, and he's beginning to show signs of aging from the stress.
Serge Baudin-Kariyiri
Presiding Commander of the PULA and the Head Commissioner of the PULA-M.
As acting commander of all PULA forces, Serge is constantly displeased at the state of the armed forces and the nepotism within it. Understandably, he is in constant conflict with the PULA-C for additional resources and funding.
Yuri Kazinsky
1st Sgt in the PULA's elite Alpha Ranger force.
Generally involved in all sorts of special operations. Something of a hotshot in the Alpha Rangers.
Broke Tooth Lee
Aquaculture mogul and a prominent member of As Hongchoes.
Very influential in both the civil and criminal worlds, Lee is one of the many kingpins of narcotics in PULA-controlled space. More often than not, he has access to information and power that most Representatives in the Upper Council can only dream about...
Perseus Democratic Party (Abv. PDP) Currently the party in majority in the Upper Council, the PDP can trace its legacy as being the primary forebearer of Perseus' independence. The legacy alone does not seem to be saving it from the most recent polls, however, as the PDP is constantly cited has having weak and ineffective leadership, prone to over-debating important matters to the point of indefinitely delaying important legislation. Come election year, the PDP is expected to lose much of its support - and its seats alongside it - unless they may either clean up their act, or outside influence changes affairs in their favor.
The Perseus Democratic Party are largely unimaginative champions of the status quo. Preferring few reforms, maintenance of current policy, and a very unhurried view towards the more-and-more pressing issue of xenos rights within the PULA-C, the PDP are a comfortably conservative faction which only seems to grow more complacent by the day.
United Labour Front (Abv. ULF) As it currently resides, the United Labour Front is the largest opposition party to the PDP in the Upper Council. Steadily gaining popularity through an increasingly large - if also incredibly broad - voter base, the ULF is currently on-track to surpass the PDP as the majority party. Although the ULF has no shortage of able, charismatic candidates, the party also suffers from internal ideological and personal divisions, often cutting its leadership short in the process of its many squabbles.
Promoting itself as a force for lasting, meaningful change, the ULF by-in-large supports overarching reforms throughout the PULA-C, including citizenship and suffrage overhauls, efforts to push development and industrialization throughout its territories, economic cellularity, expanded civil liberties, pensions and unemployment relief, and other similar positions...though, the exact degrees to which this is wished to be pushed or implemented varies greatly from candidate to candidate, official to official.
Frontier Party Embodying the free spirit of the frontiers from which the PULA was born, the eponymous Frontier Party is a niche - yet influential - "swing party" within the PULA-C's divisive politics. Historically holding just enough seats to influence the change of power of legislation throughout the Council, it has often less been the numerical power of Frontier to exert influence in the Council, but instead its individual candidates. It appears that, in the upcoming years, there will be few deviances from this trend, but perhaps if Frontier plays its cards right, it could finally hold a significant presence within the Upper Council to make more bold moves...
Frontier is largely what one might expect from such parties; A non-interference, laissez-faire approach to governance. Frontier believes in the greatest amount of freedom to any and all of its citizens to do as they please, for what goes on in the private lives of its people should be of no concern to the government at large. Rumors of Frontier officials receiving extensive gifts from cartels or cyber-crimelords have received no comments from either the politicians or their staff.
Technocratic Synarchist Party (Abv. TSP)
Largely composed of a wide variety of businessmen and industry tycoons - ranging from mom-and-pop shop owners to colossal captains of industry - the Technocratic Synarchist Party supports the general protectionist approach to economics and policy at large. Insisting that the best way for the PULA-C to go forward is through an advanced, unified industry, the TSP largely supports reformations which grant greater business incentives to its owners, thus driving further investment and developments throughout the system. This, they believe, will drive up productivity and quality of life, improving the PULA as a whole to then do as it needs.
To nobody's great surprise, the TSP is notoriously, horrendously corrupt, to such a degree that it is almost as if they wear it on their shoulder like a badge of honor.
National Legionnaire's Movement (abv. NLM) The National Legionnaire's Movement is an odd bunch. Generally speaking, the NLM supports the integration of the PULA-M into the PULA-C as one cohesive, unified governing body. Aside from that, the goals and influence of the NLM begins to become rather murky; Broadly, the Legionnaire's Movement is divided into three sub-factions, known respectively as the NLM-Left, NLM-Centre, and the NLM-Right, whose ideals and beliefs begin to vary from state-controlled national industry to cultural anthropophagy to ensure unity. Universally, the NLM is most profoundly known for its willingness to engage in violence (or at least, to greater degrees than other the parties would overtly admit) if it means achieving their political goals. To that end, the NLM always acts as a thorn in the side of the majority party, ready to ignite tensions in the streets if demands or concessions are not met...
Summary: A small slice of paradise out in far corners of the Western Froniter. The Arcadian State was the result of decades of a slow, insidious takeover of the local religion, the Gaia Church, an evolution of a now defunct Gaia-centric cult that had grew in influence on the planet over the decades, incorporating elements of Old Earth-based religions to craft their own. Now the Gaians have established a theocracy in their corner of the Western Frontier, and set their plan in motion to embark on a great crusade to enact the will of Gaia. Resources: The Arcadian State is separated into several dominating institutions.
The Central Government: The last trace of the Confederacy on Arcadia. In theory, it functions as the more secular portion of the Arcadian State, responsible for maintain the everyday functions of Arcadia, as well as law enforcement. In truth however, it it is but a shallow husk of its former self, serving the whims, and in turn, as an extension of the Gaia Church.
The Church of Gaia: Acting both as the State Church and the ruling Government of Arcadia. The Gaia Church main tenants is the worship of the personification of Mother Earth, Gaia, as a living Goddess.
The Arcadian Crusade: The combined military forces of Arcadia. The Crusade is an amalgamation of the former colonial militia and other assorted enforcers, various faithful civilian volunteers, Arcadian Xeno auxiliaries, and members of the Church's militant arm, the Order of Our Lady's Most Sincere Servicemen, or the Sincere Order as they're often referred to.
Arcadia Eden Fortuna
Administration:
Ruling figure of the both the Church of Gaia and the Arcadian State.
Supreme Commander of the Arcadian Crusade.
The Ruling governing body of Arcadia below the Patriarch.
Strengths: Dea Vult: The Dark Age brought about with the Confederacy's near collapse and the destruction of Earth has brought about a wave of fanaticism within the Arcadian State, leading to many very eager faithful to join the cause of the Crusade of the Western Frontier.
Blessings of Gaia: The colony of Arcadia was, and is renowned of the bioengineering research its minds have often delved to, often leading to surprising and beneficial results. Such results include Superfoods to properly feed the colonists and import to other worlds in the Confederacy, effective medical materials and the like. In these current uncertain times, the bioengineering research teams, at the request of the Church, have begun using their minds for military applications. The military Research resulting in a semi-regenerative alloy, bioengineered from the extremely dense chitin of the Northern Jade Strider, a rather large species of insect.
Papal Authority: As is the nature of any religion, the Church of Gaia's reach extends far beyond the Arcadian Borders, many going into the shadows, both missionaries and converts alike serving as the eyes and ears of the Church through known space. When the Primarch speaks of something he wishes to see on a grand scale, it seems to have weight outside of the jurisdiction of their own lands and into others, or at the very least his word and intentions travel far.
Weaknesses: Keep it green: The Gaia Church makes it a priority to preserve the natural serenity of Arcadia, however, this has led to crippling industrial reforms that keep in mind the carbon footprint that is left. Their meticulous new policies include but not limited to ensuring that the recycling industry is bolstered, that carbon emissions from vehicles and factories are kept in check and regulated, and with other standards of practice meant to help the environment. In many ways this helps Arcadia stay beautiful and mitigates pollution; however the industry in Arcadia struggles to conform to these standards while still being financially viable, leading to slower production time all across the board.
Fanatical Ignorance: Many of the most devout and zealous followers of the Gaian church often have their heads buried in the sand and are not entirely cognizant of the larger picture of things. Though they will interminably listen and abide by the holy authority over them they often lack the critical thinking and capacity for discussion about whether or not things are as they ought to be, and often are not open to the conversation; this is a roadblock for those who wish to pause and ponder as well as foreigners who do not have such an obsession over the church of Gaia and wish to forego different solutions.
Propensity For Peace: Not all share the bloodlust of the Crusade, a portion of the populace and some of those within the Church see the Crusade as a perversion of the First Prophet Tobias' teachings. The predecessor's of the Church had expressed that pacifism was the way to be one with Gaia. These differences on Church doctrines has led to some divisions that hinder the Crusade to some capacity, although they move with the approval of His Holiness, the disapproval from the masses proves to be a morale breaker.
It was around the mid 21st century when dozens Gaia-centric cults sprang up throughout the Earth and soon off-world, their overall views being that the Earth itself was Gaia's firstborn among many across the stars. As time went on, the movement was scattered and disorganized, gaining very little traction among the many worlds in human space, sentenced to a life of obscurity among the masses. That would soon change decades later, in the year 2122, a common member of one of said cults, Tobias Stardust, had claimed to receive a vision from Gaia herself, commanding him to seek the far corners of the stars to start a new church.
Once he shared this with his fellow sect members, there was a small schism between those that wished to follow tobias, and those that remained loyal to their leader. Regardless, Tobias and his new disciples left earth for the western colonies, searching for a suitable world to start anew, to build their new Church. The world of Arcadia proved to be an ample starting point, the world was of equal beauty to Earth.
After a few years of mingling with the population, Tobias had managed to attract a significant congregation, both on and off world, establishing the Church of Gaia, with tobias proclaiming himself as her First Prophet. Well over a century has passed since than, the Church of Gaia developing into a major cultural force in the Western Frontier. After the Scorching of Earth, Arcadia had exploded into a frenzy, the Primarch of the Chuch proclaimed crusade as a planet-wide uprising overwhelmed the colonial government, leading to the establishment of the Gaian State.
@Hans Gruber Well, the GM stated that the sheet was made to be simple enough. Some of us just have the habit of overdoing it or prettying the sheets up :P It's all up to you though.
An amalgamation of multiple corporations and hollow puppet states, the C&C is much less a government as it is a generalized system used in this area of space to create some semblance of unity between the life forms who occupy it. The Collective is the interminably corrupt remnants of the Confederate government which serves as a mock-government for the convenience of the corporations, as they have for years. The Conglomerate was created out of the need to set very specific corporate rules to outlaw espionage and violence between the corporations. Many who have hit rock bottom with nothing to lose have ended up in this region, and there are ample high risk high reward opportunities present. When speaking of the C&C, you could refer exclusively to one and it may be inferred you’re talking about both.
Resources
The C&C is composed of several planets in the Hovno Diera system, as well as in a surrounding star system with extremely untenable grips of control over their planetary assets. Most are barren planets which range in atmospheric conditions that are in the process of being ‘cracked’, which have small settlements and cities based around exploitative efforts. There are however a few notable exceptions such as the out-of-control prison planet Mannahaj, the overgrown jungle planet of Sue Pha with a secret despotic principality hungry for the acquisition of slaves, and Yuz Karasi, the original planet colonized in the star system. All planetary bodies inhabitable experiences proxy wars funded by corporations, with their capital planet as an exception.
Hovno Diera System
Yuz Karasi
Capital world of the C&C sector, the most relatively safe planetary body in the two solar systems. There are two continents, one of which is an arid desert, the other a lush and dangerous rainforest; both have cities, and the main city is in an underwater colony.
Assets: Major Population Center, Raw Resource Extraction & Refinement, Domestic Goods Manufacturer, 'Government' Seat, Agricultural Center, Narcoagricultural Center
Cezaevi Penitentiary
A space station that serves the purpose as an industrial sweatshop, a rehabilitation center and a slave market. The government distributes prisoners as slaves and 'purchases' other 'prisoners' from interested parties. Inside the station raw materials are refined into more manageable forms (from logs to planks, from iron ore to metal bars or sheets, etc).
Asset: Slave Market, Resource Refinement and Manufacturing, Rehabilitation Center
Girmek
A barren wasteland world that has a semi-tolerable atmosphere. There is a vast underground network originally made for cracking the planet, and a work camp colony built under a bio-dome called Uçurum Quarry. Through prison labor acquired from the nearby Cezaevi Penitentiary, and with the help of machines and robots, they are able to extract an enormous amount of resources which are sent to the nearby space station to get refined.
Asset: Raw Resource Extraction, Unskilled Labor
Nefret Station
Nefret Station is a medium-sized space hub that acts as a habitat center but has also grown to become a major locale for ship modification, education and a variety of other services. The space station itself has a kleptocratic security force with little to no rules on absentee ownership, however there are businesses that ensure safe holdings in no-questions-asked storage units and garages.
Asset: Minor Population Hub, Education Center, Service Center, Ship Modification and Repair
Yasak System
Kahrestin
An ice planet with labyrinthian mining colonies underground with a single season that is habitable on the surface. During this time a pop up black/flea market is established by various drug kingpins to help sell drugs, arms and other illegal goods collected from all parts of the known universe.
Asset: Minor Population Center, Raw Resource Extraction, Hide-away, Black Market
Sue Pha
A verdent jungle planet which has inhospitable and dangerous fauna/flora. Temporary establishments which either focus on acquiring lumber or studying the wild sporadically pockmark and sample various parts of the forest.
Assets: Lumber Extraction, Rare Lifeforms
Mannahaj
Mannahaj is an industrial planet with huge sprawling urban environments. It houses a penitentiary system which takes up 2/3rds of the space used. The planet relies on the investments of several corporations who put together a budget for its security and act as oversight to its operations.
Assets: Unskilled Labor, Research and Development
Heirophant
A gas giant which is home to several orbiting space stations which harvest a variety of gasses, mostly hydrogen, with the use of robotic drones.
Assets: Hydrogen Fuel, Other Gases
Administration
The C&C’s connection to the Confederate Parliament is flimsily represented by a member of Parliament who has not been to the C&C sector in many years. They often try to keep quiet and neutral when it comes to participating on matters at hand, just barely qualifying for a seat in Parliament. Meticulous layers of lying by omission have been built up not only by the representative in Parliament, but by the very people who inform them. The representative of the assets in the region uses intelligence agents and private investigators with provisional authority in order to get a grip on the reality of the situation, and then the representative waters down the conspicuous details in order to avoid negative attention.
If another state believes the C&C is attacking them, they will ask for proof and if given the evidence they would in theory dissolve the entity in question and solve things internally. They have strong provisions against unifying to fight, and would likely mass-hire from the large pools of mercenaries floating around to fight off any organized invasions. There are constant surrogate wars happening on contested planets in the main and sister star system, both of which are bereft of supervision or oversight.
Strengths/Weaknesses
Perks
Punk Magnet
The desolate, outlawed and exiled all seem to swarm to join the open arms of the C&C, to the point where they're often overflowing with foreigners of different races, ex-nationalities and cultures. This gives them the advantage of numbers and the ability to utilize different technologies, techniques and ideas from all over the universe. They have a reputation for being a boiling melting pot, a high risk high reward atmosphere that is perfect for people with nothing to lose.
My Uncle Vinny Knows A Guy
Those in the C&C seem to always have a long lost uncle who knows a friend's brother, whose fathers ex-girlfriend knows something that may have some use in some way. They share a special connection between each other and a sort of attitude that moves faster with money, but doesn't always require it. A sort of bond formed in society allows connections to bring discounts, special favors, etc because they're doing things for people they know. This helps bring profits, get things done faster and foster a relationship between others in a healthy way.
Usually Returns The Shopping Cart
Those who live in the C&C typically have some sense of self governance and altruism inherent in their attitude which goes hand in hand with exploitation and survival of the fittest. The bare necessities must be kept from sabotage or disrepair, and while not everyone ‘returns their shopping cart’ a considerable amount of people do. When the power lines fail, or someone goes on a killing spree, or someone needs their vehicle repaired... Things that must be done, still do get done out of necessity despite the complete lack of central authority.
Flaws
Absolute Zero Centralization
It is not so much that there lacks a central focus of any governing body, but rather a complete absence of one. The people of the C&C are completely acclimated to a lack of centralized government and literally cannot unify to do anything cohesively unless it is an extraordinary circumstance; and even then it is extremely disorganized and temporary. The guiding force of the C&C is the invisible hand of capitalism, one that they do not always predictably have control over.
Rusty, Jammed, and Broken
Most technology and architecture is comparatively primitive, spaceships being pieces of junk, cars jerry-rigged to mostly race, boats full of secret compartments. Most weapons are hand-me-downs from another era and those that were produced in modern times are not necessarily bound by any standards of quality. The likelihood of random failure for technology tends to be higher than usual, forcing those in the C&C to either attempt to repair or move to other means to achieve their goals such as melee weapons or moving by foot.
Dirty Fucking Street Rat
Those from the C&C are well known to be socially isolated by the finer sects of society for the prime reason that they usually mean trouble. It is no surprise that drug addicted miscreants that live off of leeching off of stealing and dishonesty are not always welcome or wanted at all. Some are immediately interpreted as pirates, smugglers and cutthroats and are prejudiced by other nations as criminals (where there is no evidence). People often go to the C&C to lay low and let the heat cool down on the notoriety they’ve gained elsewhere, and there are certain mannerisms and habits which are considered normal that in other societies might be seen as suspicious.
History
The C&C flourished in the most despondent and underdeveloped frontier sectors of the Confederate; when the corporations first found the region it was known to harbor outcasts, pirates, junkers, and a litany of other undesirables. Under a special contract with a group of corporations, the area that the C&C has jurisdiction over is essentially a zone bereft of all but the minimum standards of supervision from their government. Pitched as an experiment to set up a resemblance of civilization for the Confederate to eventually usurp, many corporations got ahead of themselves and situations got out of hand. Several advancements and colonies have been established and even were able to send taxes to the Confederate, however the standards of living have always been far lower and there have been many corners cut since the advantage of distance was given to those in the area.
As the Confederates colonies began to creep closer to the C&C territory, a degree of seclusion and illusion were given to the reality of conditions on planets; what would be described as a planet utilized primarily for lumber acquisition may have an illegal slave trading empire ran by a despotic prince, a prison planet which gives paperwork indicating all things are tame in reality has out-of-control alien and robotic experiments who freely terrorize whatever unfortunate human life remains there, and so on. As time went on things got worse and by the time the Confederate found the territory was essentially an interminably chaotic mess of fractionalized fascism whether by corporations or drug kingpins, it was too late for much to be done without significant investment. It wouldn’t matter after the Black New Year in any case.
<:: Site-56, referred to as City One, is functioning as intended in accordance to project projections. Soci-control of the population has progressed into a stage that we can largely coerce the people to do as we need to on a grand-scale. More personally, individualist, soci-control will be our next goal. ▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇ have been hard at work in that aforementioned area for sometime now. The next audit report will detail their research.
Civil Protection, the police apparatus under the management of Overwatch, has been especially efficient in soci-control and forceful coercion. Rates of ‘anti-citizen’ behavior have heavily dropped since the last audit. The issue of dissent is no longer a major issue as we saw three years ago. The propaganda front, headed by ▇▇▇ in the Bureau of Enlightenment, needs to pick up its progress. While she has been successful in the censorship of the media and the filtering of unauthorized info entering into the population, the domestic propaganda production has been lacking in good rhetoric and theme. ▇▇▇ will have to be removed soon and replaced by ▇▇▇.
DATA CORRUPTED - UNABLE TO LOAD FILE. ::>
Persons of Interest
Siti Akinyemi [Chairperson]
Aiysha Akpabio Bureau of Enlightenment [Director]
Gabriel Kaiser Bureau of Human Resources [Director]
Corina Wahrmann Civil Worker Union [Director]
Phoenix Hall Civil Medical Union [Minister of Health]
OVERWATCH Ministry of Defense [Overseer]
FILE_45_D21_RELOACTION
<:: Reminder to all on-site admins. City One will undergo another series of heavy refurbishing and construction. A new shipment of ten million ‘citizens’ will be arriving within the next month. To future proof the site, we will be adding in new redundant systems and infrastructure. In all, the city will be self-sufficient in its operations fully without needing more shipments of outside supply. The space-elevator will be also outfitted with a new extensive repair-section. Beware that the city’s storage system will be heavily refurbished and expanded. Make sure to move all supply to the temporary storage units for now. ::>
Strengths
Overwatch - Overwatch, commonly also called Dispatch, refers to the central self-aware A.I that manages the military and police apparatus. It is a highly effective and brutal machine. Everyone, down to the citizens and as high as the CmB itself, fears Overwatch and its commands. Overwatch prides pure efficiency and its execution of operations are highly smooth compared to other entities. The whole CmB oversees Overwatch to ensure that nothing is amiss.
Big Ol’ Warehouse - This planet is home to a vast complex of storage units, warehouses, dumping grounds and abandoned facilities all of whom aren't on any official records. While some are known to contain gigantic amounts of mundane files or vast surpluses of military equipment, there are a suspicious amount of unmarked containers missing data entries known only to the highest command.
'CONTROL' - The whole existence of this brutal police state was a direct result from D21’s experiments into social control. Project Control was fired up as the masterpiece for D21 in a long-line of smaller projects beforehand. This is their final masterpiece before their timely end.
Weaknesses
The Benefactors - CmB, translated as “Our Benefactors,” refers to the all-powerful six-person committee in the Universal Union. In propaganda, the plural version is always used, with the singular-noun, “Our Benefactor,” never-ever utilized. This is done to portray a united and strong leadership. In reality, every single person in the central committee can’t exactly agree on a plan of action. Everyone has their own theory on what to do, and that often than not delays decisions.
The Loyalist - The majority of the population are either apathetic, distrusting of the government, or likewise. In order to ID those who are loyal from those who are not, a loyalist system has been installed. At the very bottom is the Supporter Grade 1 and it goes up to Supporter Grade 3. From there - if you are proved to be a true loyalist - you can get the rank of Collaborator Grade 1 and gain entry into the Lower Party, and the system goes on and on. As you can imagine, only a small percentage of people are loyalists.
Isolated Blacksite - Not a soul knows this place exists. Only those in the highest seat of power and those in the deepest bowels of D21 have knowledge of the black-site. Sadly, the clandestine nature of City One has caused the planet as a whole to be isolated from wider trade and economy.
Name: Federal Free States of Asteria (FFSA) System(s): Olympia System Capital: Daper City, Moon Artemis Government Type: Federation (officially, at least) Type: Independent
Asteria is a thriving yet wild nation found at the Western Frontier. It possesses extensive mining and industrial sector, providing resources for the Confederacy as a whole. Asteria built a fortune exploiting the neighboring Falconcrest Nebula and they are prime exporters of fuel and exotic gases. It was the land of opportunities and numerous settlers journeyed to Asteria in such hopes. Yet the Black New Year dashed these hopes and Asteria just narrowly escaped collapse. Over the years they established relative autarky and Asteria was saved. Being independent in all but name the Asterians embrace the new freedom and wish to bring liberty to all.
History/Summary
Asteria began as multiple individual mining colonies set up within the asteroid belt of Olympia. Eventually these colonies grew too large and colonization of the system's habitable belt became necessary. Each group chose to conquer the environment of a different moon or planet. After a while Asteria developed its own culture and became a nation in its own right. Unlike many other governments though Asteria didn't have a single major population center but multiple. And given the focus on resource exploitation the importance of the original mining colonies never went away. Asteria became a federation with thirteen founding states. With astronomical units between the various members each state was encouraged to have a large degree of autonomy. Asterian culture as a whole embraced liberty and independence as their core values which made them further resistance to proper unification attempts. With great distances and came exorbitant fuel consumption. To feed their thirst Asteria began exploiting the Falconcrest Nebula extensively. This turned out to be a massively successful enterprise and soon Asteria became one of the Confederations prime fuel exporter. This also led to the construction of Cygnus Station a Rift Gate orbiting planet Cygnus.
The collapse brought forth by the Black New Year hit Asteria immensely. Yet it only inspired them to embrace independence all the more. They scaled back on fuel operations and offered aid to local enterprises to survive. They hastily sold their surplus fuel to neighbors and began restructuring Asterian industry once again. Rather than being purely governmental in nature the lion's share of investment came from donations and the private sector. To ward off pirates the Astarians formed the Federal Forces, mostly from local military organizations uniting under one banner. Yet not everything was peachy. Poverty is on the rise and rural settlements receive almost no government attention. Banditry is on the rise and with the economic boom over the government is hard-pressed to support its increasing expenses. Though Asteria seems to be a success story for an independent nation there's more going under the surface. Regardless the Federal Government is intent maintaining the facade. Political leadership spreads anti-Confederation views and there's a growing urge to liberate the world from an oppressive regime.
Location/Resources
The Olympia System is a trinary star system with the brightest star being Olympia A (Olympia B and C aren't even tenth in size). Regardless this trinary arrangement resulted in an exotic system with multiple habitable zones spread dozens of astronomical units apart. While Olympia doesn't have a true gaia planet it has no less than 7 astral bodies which can support some kind of life. Cronos is a super Jupiter type gas giant and it has no less than 31 moons. Out of these 4 of them are fit for life and are the population centers of Asteria. They are Apollo, Artemis, Eris and Triton. Aside from these there are the planets of Eos, Mercurius and Plato. These seven astral bodies house 85% of Asteria's population with the rest living in various space habitats ranging from artificial colonies to hollowed out asteroids. Another important region of Asteria is the Falconcrest Nebula. This large formation of interstellar gases is at the northern border of Asteria and covers multiple lightyears. Millions of people from Asteria wander the nebula and collect interstellar matter.
Asteria is a highly industrialized nation with their main focus on resources, especially fuel and exotic gases. Their significance in the Coalition is shown by the Rift Station established above the planet Cygnus. Back in the glory days this allowed Asteria to reliably transport untold tonnes of fuel to distant Coalition planets year-round. The collapse of interstellar economy hit Asteria hard at first but they could shift their focus on local services and exported resources for neighbors. The fuel industry which absolutely dominated Asteria had to be scaled down and manufacturing plants absorbed the freed up workforce. Asteria has a relative autarky and produces its own goods, including weapons.
Administration/Society
Asteria is nominally a federation with 48 member states. Yet given the sheer autonomy of each member it could be closer to confederation. Leaving Asteria is forbidden for the states but otherwise they can overrule federal actions and could keep the Federal Government in check. Asterians are fond of their personal liberties and fear their own government becoming too powerful. In general the Federal Government has a mixed image, they are both viewed as selfish parasites and also the protectors against enterprises that grow too powerful. Asterians are very resentful of tax increases or introducing new taxes yet also complain about the government not doing enough. This actually led to an unique situation where private groups took over a lot of activities typically fulfilled by the government. Small settlements appoint sheriffs who usually have no government authority. Mobs form to fight bandits and even social services are handled by local firms. And of course the average citizen expects the Federal Government to step in if either of these private groups become the public enemy. Asterian governance may look downright chaotic to the outsider but for the locals they would not settle for anything else.
Military
Weapons hold a key importance in Asterian civilian life for as long the nation stands. Every adult Asterian owns at least one type of gun, both as status symbol and for self-defense. With the threat of alien wildlife, bandits and space pirates they had a constant need for militia groups. Finding potential soldiers for the Federal Army is easy yet keeping them employed is difficult. As such the Federal Forces is often a skeleton army made of volunteers. Instead much of the military budget during peacetime is spent on weapons procurement. Asteria has strict laws supporting locally produced weapons which allowed arms manufacturers to become some of the most powerful entities within the nation during these last 16 years. Anyways, the Federal Army has an unique doctrine which supports large groups wielding mass-producible weapons and Asterian marksmanship. They utilize shock weapons, a type of concentrated plasma which blows targets to pieces. Though grav vehicles are common the most typical combat machine in Asteria is the Personal Trooper (PT). They are humanoid mechs only 3.5 meters tall and can fight in all environments, including outer space. Their predecessors were exosuits meant to work in hazardous regions but Asterians modified them for war. Nowadays Personal Trooper armors are widespread, even civilians can buy simpler models. They are small and rather inexpensive to produce which combined with their simple maintenance makes them very popular in Asteria.
With the disappearance of the Confederation Navy it was Asteria's duty to survive within this new age of pirates. They initially used armed shuttles and civilian spaceships but ultimately thanks to local manufacturing plants the Federal Fleet utilizes warships of their own design. Freedom-class corvettes are distinctive products of Asteria which forms the backbone of the Federal Fleet. They sacrifice cruising range and endurance for considerable firepower which makes them a ideal for the nation's needs. Yet the main force of the Federal Fleet are their shuttlecraft, gunships and fighters. With the majority of Asterians experienced at navigating with shuttles the Federal Fleet has a seemingly bottomless supply of eager youth to become combat pilots. For this purpose the development of a "carrier ship" was absolute necessity. The Ranger-class scout carrier may be a heavily modified cargo ship design but it does fulfill its purpose. Lacking orbital dockyards the ship has a modular design built from multiple large blocks. Each individual piece is just light enough to be transported up via the space elevator and the final assembly is done in orbit. Similarly repairs could be done by just exchanging the damaged parts to a new one. While rather inefficient in both design and construction measures this is the only way Asteria could make them.
Strengths
Industrialized Frontier: For a frontier colony which declared its independence Asteria is doing pretty swimmingly. Even the economic crash only slowed them down. Since the collapse of the world economic network Asteria began rapidly developing their own local industry and they were largely successful. With the region's resources and connections to neighbors Asteria could remain self-sufficient.
Arms of Liberty: Every adult Asterian owns at least one gun and weapon usage is widespread in the nation. Asterians are known for their marksmanship and combat ability. Shuttlecraft ownership is also a must for a self-respecting Asterian and space travel between various states is almost a commonplace. Overall this means the Federal Forces hardly has any trouble to recruit soldiers or even military pilots for their needs.
Shock Weapons: Asterians fully embraced plasma technology and have their own take on it, the so-called shock technology. It uses ultradense plasma at immense pressures contained within a canister. Using this they can have powerful energy weapons without needing bulky power sources. Each canister can only hold limited shots, though. Shock weapons shoot concentrated bolts of plasma which explodes on impact and damages with its raw force. They can range from handguns to naval cannons. Shock rifles are limited to semi-auto fire because rapid firing needs a much more bulkier mechanism (reserved for shock repeaters used by weapons teams). Shock weapons are versatile and you can adjust the plasma to explode in various ways including airburst, delayed blast or even shaped charge effects.
Weaknesses
Libertarian To the Core: Asterians culture celebrates liberty and does not like government authority. Although they accept government power as a necessary element they protect their rights and privacy with fervor. Asterians are notoriously difficult to tax. Any new form of taxation or tax increase would meet resistance. In spite of their good economy the Federal Government actually has limited funds. Luckily the Asterians somewhat understand this and don't expect the government to maintain good social services but ever since Asteria's economic growth slowed down the Federal Government finds themselves in debt.
Space Cowboys: Asteria is a wild region where gunfights and gun violence is everyday news. Whenever outlaws pop up they are heavily armed and riots can easily turn into a massive firefight. When recruiting soldiers from such region your troops would be obviously more than a little trigger happy. Asterian soldiers are stereotypically gung-ho and hard to discipline. While they know their trade there are various marks of corruption within the military system. Rumors of hedonism, property damage and even outright illegal activities are known about almost every unit. While the Federal Government strives to straighten out the military they don't have the funds and manpower to resolve this anytime soon. Another problem is motivation. Though fresh recruits are eager once they taste the terrors of warfare they could easily become jaded. When the Federal Forces lose soldiers fighting in foreign lands they are often drilled by media. Depending on severity there could be entire protests and political campaigns against continuing the war.
Clankers Go Home: Asterians don't reject technology, nor they are hating industry. Yet they are extremely suspicious to anything related to worldwide information networks, AI development and transhumanism. Cyborg technology is heavily regulated in Asteria and neural implants are almost entirely outlawed in every state. Augmented reality networks are rejected and sapient AI is viewed with suspicion. Conspiracy theories about thinking robots and them supposedly being secret government agents are very popular in Asteria. In general Asterians are staunchly guarding their privacy and are very averse to anything which might allow "soulless machines" to govern them.
Summary: Helping Hands Industries was centuries ago, originally a company that provided funding for early colonization efforts snowballed quickly into a large megacorporation that helped influence everything. Being a megacorp they have their hands in a little bit of everything, however the mainstay products are in medical, biological and robotics. Up until the destruction of Sol HHI would have been second to none in terms of other corporations and had owned most of the parliament or at least enough to keep their name good. But when Sol blew, so did the main hierarchy of HHI, CEO, Board of Directors and other high ranking board members gone. Now it was up to the remaining staff to decide where the future lies.
Resources: Pre-Sol destruction the resources of HHI were limitless. Now, even with their specialty medicinal plant called Trifectum which could be used for any healing purpose sort of regeneration. The resources of HHI are extremely limited atleast in the short term. It would all depend on what the coming future holds and which captain will steer it.
Administration
Reginald Wolsen - The current Acting-CEO formerly an elderly VP of the newly opened Western markets, being one of the most senior both in age and company rank left. He took hold of the beast without a head and currently is holding it together. However with the power comes the stress already an old man and unambitious who never wanted command now has to lead the corporation for the future.
Strengths:
Interconnected ties with the confederacy: HHI was an original investor of early colonial missions, which helped set the path that HHI and the confederacy were inseparable. It allowed HHI to gain influence and power everywhere from various governors, military leaders and rich people.
Trifectum: One of the more recent discoveries of HHI, Trifectum is an all purpose medical plant that is held as a monopoly by HHI. The plant acts as a painkiller, antiseptic and one of the best pieces of medical technology ever. Short of regeneration capabilities Trifectum is sought after everywhere.
[color=silver][/color] Weaknesses:
Power Struggle: Sol had all the leadership of HHI, from the CEO, Board Members, influential rich people. All of them were now gone and who was to lead, no one knew yet. That was what was dangerous, a ship without a captain could very easily crash.
Too connected with the confederacy: While being connected to the confederacy had many benefits, it equally had many setbacks. Freedom fighters and separatists see HHI as a continuation of the evil that was SOl and the corruption. That was before SOL was destroyed, now all the years HHI and the confed spent together had vanished and now HHI had to set up a new path.
Upcoming Shareholder meeting: Even before the destruction of Sol every shareholder meeting was nerve racking. Yet now with Sol and high leadership gone, this shareholder meeting would be unlike anything ever seen, more like an old political party congress with varying factions gathering support from rich and poor attempting to garner influence and power to become the next CEO.
History: Helping Hands Industries was originally founded pre-space colonization, originally a mere pharmaceutical company HHI grew assisting and eventually funding their own colony missions. Meanwhile internally the company grew, buying more and more different types of companies eventually becoming the first “megacorp” of earth. Focusing more on profits they expanded with the human race and eventually with the confederacy. Though many see HHI as old earth Authority it also holds the breath of new life with Trifectum and their various other new projects.
Shining Path, a socialist revolutionary movement, took inspiration from the Old World's revolutionary movements to protest the Stellar Confederacy. At the start of its foundation, their goal was to get the attention of the Confederate Parliament and accept the Six Demands. The first, and most important, demand called for the restoration of selected laws and bills scrapped by corporations. The second demand called for anti-monopoly and corporate tax laws to be enacted. The third called for the resignation and arrest of wealthy individuals and politicians that played a part in the transfer of powers to corporations. The fourth requested an independent committee investigate alleged brutality against protesters (and bystanders) from the police, military forces, and PMCs bought over by corporations. The fifth ordered an amnesty for arrested protesters and the sixth, and final, demand called for the abolishment of the Confederacy in favor of independence.
Unsurprisingly, their demands were avoided and resulted in a surprising attack that killed twenty-two people. Shining Path kept on protesting for months while doing whatever peaceful options were available that brought attention from the media. While in the background, several members started talking about stockpiling supplies and weaponry for a possible attack against Airwave, a drone company responsible for producing drones for the Confederacy and PMCs. Leadership knew of the matter and decided against stopping them but did condemn the idea of attacking Airwave.
Then, the news reached Frontier Post.
Earth ended in a nuclear war, bringing the Stellar Confederacy down with them. Everyone on Frontier Post was horrified and sadden by the news even the Shining Path. But, several members saw this moment as their only chance to strike while everyone was still caught off-guard. That triggered the leadership into an emergency session, where they voted whether to strike or not. Four of the two leading members voted in favor of attacking, starting with Airwave to find out if their Frontier Post headquarters secretly housed an underground factory used to produce military-grade drones for the former Confederacy.
Persons of Interest
Zhan Yijun - Leader of the Shining Path. Marie-Hélène Leloup - Lead Correspondent of Pandora's Lantern and spokepwerson for Shining Path. Sadiki Saliba - Organizer of the Elliot Square protest and its upcoming occupation. Amalia Hart - General of Shining Path forces and owner of Amalia's Armory. Isabel Barceló - Director of Intelligence and active agent for Shining Path. Carol Morris - Chief Engineer and Technical of the Shining Path
Resources
Much of their supplies come in the form of donations from other protesters, anonymous sources, or supportive citizens.
Strengths
Hardened Protestors - Shining Path has always been fighting the hard fight since their creation. Their members had been pepper sprayed, tear gassed, and brtually beaten by counterprotesters, the authorities, and PMCs hired by corporations. Yet, that has never stopped them for protesting their demands. Those within leadership also had their fair share of scars from the protests and riots.
Liberation Square - Known as Elliot Square by the locals, Liberation Square is planned to become the starting grounds of the resistance due to its strategic location. It's close to the several high-rising buildings that overlook the downtown district. And in addition, the Airwave headquarters is next to the square along with a police station.
Blinding Light - A secret weapon that has been worked on for months by Amalia in her armory. It was a powerful flashbang and thermite capable of melting through metals while blinding anyone nearby.
Weaknesses
Frontier Post - The first trading post established when humanity ventured out beyond the Solar System. Frontier Post was their first attempt at establishing a colony far away from Earth and it worked. Eventually, it became the most populated megacity in the Confederacy making them influential within the political and corporate world. Despite the Confederate being wiped out and several major corporations hurt economically, their presence is still stronger than anywhere else within the galaxy—that also includes their military.
Vilified - The media in Frontier Post was already brought out by corporations with right-leaning biases. It should come as no surprise that they are going to vilify the Shining Path even more as the liberation movement begins. That's why Pandora's Lantern has been established: to fight back against any false information about them.
Surrounded on All Sides - Once the resistance begins, there's no doubt in mind that the military will respond accordingly. It would depend on the strength that the movement manages to gain during the confusion especially if the Airwave is successfully occupied. Otherwise, the might of the former Confederacy military are more than ready to take on resistance fighters.
Location/Sphere of Influence: The 7th Rift Replenishment Fleet operates primarily out of their former home station of the Perdacoth Rift Station, the first Rift station situated West of Sol. See attached image for reference.
Summary: The 7th Rift Replenishment Fleet are the remnants of Ex-Confederate Naval Forces who found themselves berthed at Perdacoth Rift Station for repairs and resupply when the bombs fell. As military and civilian leadership fell silent, command was quickly reestablished by Commodore Anne Perkins, who placed all military and civilian vessels under her command via marshal law. Now, the name of this remnant fleet serves as a bitter reminder of the past, for those whose paths they come across, the 7th are hardly indistinguishable from the pirates and criminals they once hunted. The 7th Rift Replenishment Fleet is content to collect supplies via foraging (or raiding, depending on who is spoken to), guided by the misguided principle of maintaining control over Perdacoth Station by any means. Amongst the military leadership, they hope to one day rebuild the Confederacy, without the civilian bureaucracy the crippled the old government. However, supply and manpower shortages keep that goal far down the road for the time being.
Resources: Pre-War data available suggested that Perdacoth Station served as a major supply and repair depot for the Confederate Fleet. However, said supplies are not limitless, and border skirmishes and foraging supply runs have made it clear that the 7th has to see to the bounty and "generosity" of nearby systems and worlds for future sustainability. Publicly available Pre-War data suggested that major supply/repair depots had enough supplies on hand to operate at least ---- (data corruption) ----. The 7th retains sole control over both the Rift station itself, and the valuable fuel depot of the nearby gas giant Caldor Prime.
The 7th Rift Replenishment Fleet operates a collection of older Confederate warships, vessels that have certainly seen better days. While no exact number has been positively verified, intelligence and firsthand encounters report they operate Huscarl Class Corvettes, Morningstar Class Frigates, and Silesia Class Destroyers.
Administration: The 7th Rift Replenishment Fleet is run via a military hierarchy, with all power derived from its highest ranking officer, Commodore Perkins. They've retained much and more of their former Confederate military and governmental structure, though now without civilian oversight. For all intents and purposes, the 7th can be best described as a military dictatorship or Warlord faction.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Strengths of the 7th RRF
Military Discipline - Trained and drilled since the day they joined the armed forces, the 7th are a force to be reckoned with. War is their profession first and foremost, and now with the very real prospect of war consuming the once proud Confederacy, they are ready to put their years of training, drilling, and exercising to the test.
Weapons of War - The 7th RRF inherited all the years and untold billions of dollars of military industrial might of the Confederacy. The ships may be slightly older and less modern, yet they were all designed from the ground up to fight in war and survive. These deadly machines, ships, and weapons are ready for whatever may come.
Perdacoth Station - While their sphere of influence may be smaller than other emergent factions, their base of power is a fortress all unto itself. The military dockyard of Perdacoth Station served as the primary Confederate naval stronghold of the Western Expanse, and all of its stockpiled arms, munitions, and supplies are now solely under the control of the 7th RRF.
Weaknesses of the 7th RRF
Specialized Training - All you need is a group of men, or women, give them matching clothes, a few hours training, something that passes for a weapon, and you have an army, not the best army, but still an army nonetheless. That can’t happen with the navy, any navy. Any ship, no matter how crude, requires considerable energy and materials to create. The army can replace its cannon fodder in hours; for us, it might take years. This tends to make us more pragmatic than our compatriots in green. We tend to look at a situation with a bit more… I don’t want to say caution, but perhaps more strategic conservatism. Withdraw, consolidate, husband your resources.
Hostile Region - The Western Expanse has for decades, been the next frontier of the Confederacy, a Wild West so to speak. Funds and supplies were always needed from the more developed regions of the Confederacy. With Sol completely locked down, whatever the 7th RRF has, is all they will have for the foreseeable future.
Confederate Nepotism - While Commodore Anne Perkins has done what she could to assign less than stellar subordinates into positions that will not do more harm than good within the overall fleet, not everyone can be monitored at all times, and those from Sol and other influential worlds, bide their time and seek their own glory.
History: Once is a while, competent commanders arise within the ranks of the Confederacy. Perhaps more often than not, these commanders succumb to the allures of power within the ladder climbing of the military. Yet, of those, Anne Perkins learned to play both sides, not only rising through shrewd political cooperation, but also tactical knowledge and ability. In the end, she found herself as Commodore, installed as the commanding officer of Perdacoth Station. For those who knew her in the academy, they all would remember how driven she was, to the cause of the Confederacy. This one individual is the embodiment of the 7th RRF. As news reached her of the apocalypse upon Sol, she quickly seized control of the station and its assets, and intends to use them with deadly military efficiency for the betterment of the Confederacy and the Western Expanse.
Prabog was once a prosperous world in the times of the Confederation. The first daughters of Earth called it a heavy industrial and technological world marked by its output and technological marvels, thanks to the amazing minds of their philosophers and to the tenacity of their industrial leadership. In the troubling times of the Confederacy, Prabog was thrown into consternation and anarchy after a devastating nuclear strike. It is still a mystery to this day as to who had targeted them, and lead to an age of bloody war and death. Warlords have terrorized the land for nearly a decade and a half, until it was ended by a single man named Alexander. He forged the Republic in his 30´s and launched a final war unifying half of the planet before dying in battle and arising to the emblematic position of hero in his last days and guardian of the nation. After finishing the unification, the Republic now faced its greatest challenge: rebuilding what was left by the events of the past. Where some may simply settle and wait for better times, hope is now back on people's minds. Its people wish not only to rebuild their homes, but every world and reunite mankind under a single flag.
In modern days the economy lies in ruins and the politics have grown divisive due to the aim of ambitions and priorities of several factions within their government. While the situation has been stabilized, the military now aids in the reconstruction of the cities. States face a new challenge compared to the times before, where they just fought warlords - now they must rely on the pacification of regions that are still held by rebels.
The claim is marked as a red dot inside a purple circle in the main systems or by the text Republic of prabog PS this isn't mine...
Resources
The planet of Prabog is the world and capital of the Republic. While much of its natural beauty was destroyed, many returned to rebuild and revitalize the centerpiece of their nation. Many of its scars are presently observable from space, whether it is nuclear craters, sickly looking radiation zones, or the lifeless urban ruins of the former megalopolis orbiting the star Deivas.
The major industries that the planet had were heavy industry and technological R&D. Because both the hardware and software integral to these industries are in a dilapidated state, they are reliant on being refurbished and jerry-built into workable conditions. However, many warlords took initiative to ensure that this technology was preserved and restored, meaning that renewal of the past was not entirely on the shoulders of the Republic but it also meant that war was much more bloody.
Material Industry in the refining of steel and other materials of utilization in construction and fabrication of objects is maintained albeit diminished, especially in concerns to the heavy industries.
The former Industrial Military Complex, while providing the Republic with an abundance of skill and weapon power, conversely provided their enemy warlords with a wealth of highly skilled mercenaries who decided to sell their skills to the highest bidder. This caused many complications in the fights between the Republic and the warlords as issues arose, and even weapon or information transfers could be bribed to be misdirected to the rebel forces. There are still factories which produce military armaments and vehicles which have been re-conquered.
Prabog had a rather large radioactive material deposit ripe to be exploited and used in power plants in times of peace. When the country was stable it was a true blessing in terms of a sustainable power source. Now they remain a heavy burden as highly advanced technology requiring specialized, custom equipment to function stands in the way of re-enabling these structures to what they once were.
Orbital Dockyards became an isolated infrastructure of space stations that watched the surface. Following the great war some of the leaders of the Republic wished to reestablish contact once the planet was finally pacified and rebuilt after a decade of chaos. But silence is the only thing heard from above, many groups wonder if they live or if only skeletons remain.
Robotics established during the industrial expansion of Prabog was mainly derived towards its I.M.C. It also allowed luxury goods to be made for the people, something that ended when the nuclear bombs hit and the inevitable looting and raiding of these facilities followed after.
The manufacturing and design of AI´s remained mainly for domestic services, however, some advanced AI were made for military and consumer use. The existence of advanced AI gave some moral perception of right and wrong. Many were made before the fall of the planet, however after the first bombs hit the AI assets were swiftly moved off-planet. This left a great emptiness in the bodies of robots and machines scattered throughout the ruins, forcing what little technology was left to be re-fitted and causing AI's to be of great value to the Republic.
Military forces
The average Soldier of The Republic is well Equipped while divided into 3 forces Infantry, Assault Infantry, and engineers while the Armies of the republic at the same time spouses the utilization of Tanks, mechs, IFV´s and several other vehicles not even counting aircraft. in general, the military main Doctrine of the republic uses, is majorly high-level coordination and implementation of combined arms warfare and the best utilising of each of the four wings of military power in the best means possible.
Infantry forces are equipped mainly for combat Armour a pistol, a few grenades, and a Rifle not counting the general supplies being the most effective when dealing with experiences of combat in the planet albeit of limited loadout albeit, load-outs generally change depending on Geography biome or even season.
Assault Infantry generally carry more equipment besides Combat Armour they also bring with then, AT equipment to anti Infantry grenade launchers and machine guns attached to a squad is generally one of then if not three or four depending on assault location or squad utilization.
Engineer Forces generally are the less combat ones given the overall task of aiding in division movement fortification building supply aiding and others while seeing less combat they are a specialized force generally equipped with rifles and pistols at best for military gear followed by a plethora of tools for nearly every need imaginable divided between individuals so that one doesn't cary everything.
Combat Robots while generally called cannon fodder, in the beginning, robotic soldiers are still used in some situations deemed necessary having guns give to then and to be grabbed majorly rifles and pistols explosives are not given due to risks as for high-level Ai all equipment can be given anything necessary from guns explosives albeit the replacement of bodies for advanced AI takes priority.
Multi-Terrain utilization Main Battle Tank or M7 Draken is the main tank of the republic while looking uniform in utilization there are some variations majorly in tracks mobility and others some are just put with attachers to aid in some situation such as clearing road the tank itself spouses, spider-like mobility when dealing with harsh terrains such as swamps, hills, and others while also being able to use its tracks especially in very flat regions allowing the momentum to not stop in case of advance.
M3 Tiger, and M4 Tiger also called battlemechs developed before the collapse and still being developed and produced after those mechs are the best example of military innovation before the war a machine made to operate in multiple terrains while slower then a tank a mech is very useful being a military aid for soldiers and tanks and utilization in harsh terrain divided between M4 a more recent version but lacking much equipment of its previous variant due to adaptation of lack of resources. The M3 tiger is still considered the most advanced difference from M4 which was made to be more economic and easy to make and even equip the M3 is more complex having rocket launchers, rail guns and thicker armor.
EPR-2 is a railgun artillery weapon developed before the age of warlords while it still used it has dwindled in number due to the numerous wars and now all of then are at the hand of the republic serving as powerful artillery using then to bomb enemy positions at a much further distance while provided said artilleries also have ways to be moved more easily thanks to a integration of mech and it to make it a more mobile and deployable force.
Orbital Atmospheric Air Forces, Fighters, bombers, and dropships are a series of spacecraft, generally varying lightly in appearance, made before the war and rare to find one, they being a series of planes/spacecraft, made to fight in both the airs of a planet but also in space itself limetedly. while since the nuclear strikes very few of them now exist in the aftermath leaving behind just a few being both good and bad having the ability to land troops fight against planes and bomb with a few changes of parts makes then quite useful tools.
Corvettes are the major spaceships of the republic albeit highly improvised one taken from docked/landed civilian ships they majorly spouse either missile launchers and Gatling guns, for now, the fleets of Prabog is just civilian ships turned corvettes.
Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths
Heirs of Alexander - Hard times forge great men and none on Prabog were greater than Alexander the Glorious, the Son of Prabog. Battle after battle, war after war, and conflict after conflict, the Republic of Prabog fought itself in a bloody civil war to reform itself. Its citizens have become hardened from years of constant civil war and its armies are experienced, its soldiers still remembering the many times that the Son of Prabog led them to victory against impossible odds. The scars of war are still visible across the planet, but so are its lessons.
Executive Order 213 - Otherwise known as the Reclamation Decree, Prabog was once famed for its industry. Although much of it now lies in ruins, it can still be brought back. With hard work and a unified push, the currently crippled Prabog could rise again like a phoenix from the ashes back to its former glory, becoming an economic juggernaut in the process.
Shining City On The Hill - The idealism of the Republic still burns strongly in the ruin as championed by Alexander the Glorious. With Earth now fallen, Prabog now sees itself as the light of democracy and freedom charged with bringing liberty, unity and the Prabog way to every system in the former Confederacy. The restoration of order for their planet is just a stepping stone on the journey far beyond Prabog.
Weaknesses
Wounded World - A decade of civil war, warlords and nuclear exchanges has left the planet a ruined shell of its former self. Abandoned cities and irradiated wasteland still cover many areas and it will take a great internal effort to restore them back to habituality and then full potential.
The devastation level is currently high, about two thirds of the planet is in ruins.
Divided Government - While united in community and ideals, many of the leaders still struggle to grasp unity and work together. Majorly due to warlords turned politicians thanks to integration processes albeit their loyalties are questionable, others simply leaders who want power, The parties were forged by a wide variety of groups; some by artists who lived isolated from the conflict, others by scientists who survived the chaos, some by politicians from the few regions who have not faced too much warlord damage, others by nationalists who gained a renewed sense of nationalism under mankind, and some by the Order who were the original party of Alexander. The latter which does its best to hold all together from falling apart, but requires the aid and cooperation of all to fulfill its true potential.
The Government of Prabog
The Republic and its administration are ruled by the Congress and the Senate who legislate and debate with the judicial maintenance of the constitution. It is led by a "five" party system under the leadership of the President of the Republic, however, it is heavily reliant on the coalition governments of two or more parties to form a majority to make big decisions.
The current parties of the nation are:
The Social Humanist party wishes for the well being of the people to be put front and center and that society should work together in a common good. They prioritize social reforms and programs, aiming to make the life of the common worker, and to give it back majority. The part was created by the visions of its Founder Milkail, a very kind and compassionate person by many.
The Modernists who wish the modernization and reconstruction of the worlds at hand but also a more liberal style of politics in economics and social norms while favoring reconstruction above all together with the J.D.P they still prefer one thing above all the modernization and remaking of its forces together with the favoring of scientific development this is mainly a fact due to the majority of the party not be made of politicians but of former scientists turned leaders from the small cities they came.
The Justice and Development Party, or the JDP, is made out by the Order and the politicians forming a coalition party due to equalizer systems. In reality, they are divided between a right and left with some favoring more conservative policies, while the other side favors more progressive policies. The only way it maintains unity is through its diarchy of two leaders. There is a lack of cohesion between the two, to an extent however it is known to be a more conservative party thanks to one faction holding control.
The National party preaches a strengthening of institutions and the fast reconstruction and expansion of the borders while being famed for being the party of the soldiers and nationalists. Their ideas of strengthening the military and immediate expansionism after reconstruction is quite obvious as many of its career men are former veterans of Alexander the Glorious while being a little off from the center it is still one that can call attention.
Leaders and persons of interest
Age: 42 Backstory: Mikhail was an artist when he was younger when the war broke out and the times of troubles begun he changed a lot he wished to help those around him even if barely capable of doing so while helping then he gained followers while he was a good musician he claimed more by speeches forming a form of aid group for refugees when Alexander came to then ending the chaos in their area he joined politics aiming to make the galaxy a better place using his experience of pain and suffering an artist in politics some can say he might sing the opposition to his side.
Age: 31 Backstory: Marcela a veteran of war well not a veteran of battles but of engineering making a living helping equipment work for the armies of the republic back when Alexander ran the army while not participating in many battles but more as an observer majority of times seeing the state of the army she came to believe the modernization of the nation was for the best especially since walking through the ruins of the old cities albeit a woman of equal dreams to the Humanists her dreams are of science and reason different from others she might look like she just dreams, in reality, she just cares for someone.
Age: 42 backstory: Sofiya was one of the first Bureaucrats of the new republic being one of the founder leaders of the JDP and currently the second head of the party while a good position for some for her she finds it annoying due to having to constantly deal with the Diarchy of politics and leadership of the party making her be more interested in making things done rather then the power plays of the party while keeping a eye on party composition and loyalty especially since in recent years due to increasing division in politics the same begun to happen in the JDP growing ever more suspicious of the situation in the party.
Age: 35 Backstory: a survivor of war is a better term to use about Isabel a teenager during the chaos and war following the collapse founding refugee in Esyaleia the Capital after joining the army for better payment she found herself in war after war finding quite amazing the way of how Alexander was able to do it fighting in the frontlines of New Galicia, Andelas, the islands of Suslov while she is considered a veteran of the war she majorly stays in the army due to payment and food.
The appearance of him is majorly a robot holographic images as well if one is available.
Age: 2 Backstory: fifty six is an advanced sentient AI created by Marcela after joining politics while young it's a majorly experimental AI by Marcela in her opinion majorly made to be a soldier in the past instead it became an aider for Marcela but also a member of the M.P of the capital to maintain security while some say it is different in some ways in what ways it's a unknown.
History of the Republic and before
Prabog was one of the first daughters of earth and humanity a planet with life from the beginning and rich radioactive deposits for nuclear power and weapons settled at first by a mixture of Ukrainians and Latino Americans, they were at first, farmers soon they were followed by mining companies, and then industrialists with the passing of time, the planet was colonized and turned into an industrial and commercial hub ruled over by a congress and prime minister.
During this golden age, Prabog was a highly industrial world with corporations competing in lobbying, and against each other leading to many entrepreneurs, go to the development of the R&D sector of the planet leading to the development of AI´s, robots and new weapons of war, with the birth of the Military-industrial complex and an increase in the planetary military force with the beginning of instability across the confederation.
The government soon grew disconnected from the people and divisive and extreme to the point of challenging the confederacy directly leading to the heightening of instability with their proclamation of independence with markets closing to Prabog and an increase in military spending on the process. With the build-up of the military to high degrees and growing instability, leading to a coup against the congress and prime minister when the economy of the confederacy officially collapsed serving as a form of maintainers of peace by being the most brutal oppressors seen on the planet.
This time ended when an unknown individual launched the nuclear weapons build-up during the time against the cities of Prabog bringing the end of the cities for a time leading to an age of warlords and bloodshed generals, officers, dictators, religious leaders, and many others grabbed what they could from the arsenals of Prabog leading to ten years of bloodshed, and near non stopp warfare.
That was when Alexander appeared, in the city of Esyaleia at first many saw him as a new warlord, in the region, then he gave power to the first president, and the senate that he himself, created marking the first republic and from there he proclaimed himself, after giving his power away, high marshall and defender of the republic, by the senate and from there he launched forward, with war, after war with the republic aiming to first, pacify their surroundings later to unify the planet
Marching from battle to battle almost undefeated leading troops he conquered first the regions around the capital soon the continent where the republic stood before half of the planet had fallen and the republic of prabog was proclaimed something he didn't live to see was the end of the conquests as he died of artillery shot ending his life instead he became an idol the great hero that Prabog needed the one who finally brought peace under his cape and under the republic the people received democracy freedom of speech and actions of voting and many others idealist soon came to power wishing the best for mankind and dreams beyond the confines of Prabog.
The republic now unified the planet after a few more months of fighting with warlords peace now is fully restored to PRabog but now many wish more the government and people believe themselves ready to go forward to the stars to unite mankind under a dream of hope for all of mankind even when politics show to an extent the opposite.
I use this post to record the Asterian military equipment. It isn't a complete list and actually we miss on a lot of equipment which is more or less standard across the Confederation but I have fun writing this and hopefully you have fun reading it so let's go.
Infantry
Asterian soldiers nowadays make use of shock rifles which makes them distinct from the usual infantry. They are semi-automatic weapons which emphasize good marksmanship instead of suppressive fire. On the other hand each shot is like a micro explosive which can do considerable hurt. It's a very different approach which puts confidence in the shooting skills of the soldier.
- Amerilite M2A4 Shock Carbine: Standard armament of the entire military service. It has power settings ranging from P1 (stun) to P8 (airburst and door-buster) with the standard being P5. The weapon is powered by plasma clip which is sufficient for 20 shots. Although in special situations the soldiers can be equipped with L-size plasma clips sufficient for 50 shots total. The weapon has an internal flywheel which charges the weapon's electric systems by channeling the surplus energies behind each shot. The weapon has built-in sensors and optics to allow precise usage of the weapon. Soldiers can also buy various attachments to the rifle to customize it to their needs.
- Blaser AA-12 Shockgun: Close combat weapon mostly associated with Marines and those put on base guard duties. Shock rifles are powerful but maybe too much. They can cause too much collateral damage and their effect in room cleaning isn't stellar. The AA-12 has a mechanism to break its plasma bolt 4-36 individual "pellets". The detonation of each pellet is smaller but they can cover a much wider area together which makes them fearsome. The shockgun can also shoot a lower velocity singular plasma bolt which can reach up to P10 firepower. This allows the weapon to demolish barriers rather efficiently. One of the weapon's weaknesses is consumption. Even at normal power the weapon can only manage 12 shots before needing a new plasma canister.
- Barbarossa M9 Shock Pistol: The most popular shock sidearm in Asteria. Rated P6 as its maximum with P4 being average the S-sized plasma clip can lasts for 12 standard shots.
- Ordnance M60 Squad Shock Repeater: Lightweight and heavily simplified shock repeater meant to support troops. The weapon is rated P6 and is capable of higher penetration and plasma bolt velocities than the plasma carbines. The weapon is powered through a feed tube leading to a backpack mounted plasma pack and depending on size it could unleash anywhere from 200 to 500 shots before emptying out.
- Barney M82A5 Heavy Shock Rifle: Effectively a sniper rifle meant both against distant targets and anti-material use. The weapon is usually rated P12 but can be pushed towards P16 when needed. The long accelerator coil allows it to penetrate relatively hardened targets and its advanced optic enables a wider range of utility.
[to be continued...]
NOTE: P-ratings are a semi-objective way to tell firepower between these. Rather than a linear scale think of these like bore diameters so a P10 shot is at least 4 times stronger than a P5 shot, for example. I very much use this as a replacement for bore diameters on the energy weapons.
Combat Vehicles
Aside from the shock technology Asterian AFVs are mostly conventional. Asteria has some propensity with grav-craft but they aren't exclusively the only vehicle. Another odd factor is the reliance on tiny mechs called Personal Troopers.
- Medium Tank M4A8 "Grizzly": Simple tank designed during the early periods of Asteria meant for surface patrols and police actions. Originally equipped with a large-bore grenade projector the tank is completely overhauled after the Black New Year creating the A6 variant which is effectively a new tank in all but name. The Grizzly has a P75 shock cannon and only has composite armor on the front and turret but the new fusion turbine makes it rather nimble. The tank is 2.4m tall and only 4.8m long and has a crew of 3. While the tank has active protection and other features it has a notoriety as "rolling coffin". This is mostly due to the fact that the Grizzly is often mistakenly used like an MBT and fared poorly. The inherent danger of large plasma canisters which the Grizzly uses as munitions also gave it the unsavory nickname "Zippo", because it always lit up on the first strike.
- M103 "Kodiak" Heavy Grav Tank: Asterian tank designed in response to the terrible attrition rates of the Grizzly. Initially it was meant to replace them but the high brass caught up in the feature creep and demanded more and more about the project. The end result was the Kodiak, a large grav tank with heavy armor and armed with a P105 shock cannon. The vehicle is slower than the Grizzly and less maneuverable but its anti-grav propulsion allows it to traverse all terrains. In the end the production was delayed by a decade and even after that it's only made in limited quantities because it's somewhat expensive. The Kodiak is considered a "breakthrough tank", forming armored spearheads closely followed by Grizzly medium tanks.
Small mechs evolved from power loader and utility labor mechs. Compared to the much more sophisticated battlemechs a Personal Trooper is inexpensive, easy to maintain and fairly economical. Though they aren't walking tanks a Personal Trooper is still a decent match for medium vehicles while being lighter, more agile and overall flexible. In a sense Personal Troopers are between Battlemechs and Power Armors. Actually, a stronger power armor may outperform a Personal Trooper. The reason why Asteria fully embraced them is because they are very affordable and when armed with shock weaponry they can have considerable firepower. Being mechs and even at that having relatively simple controls a Personal Trooper doesn't have the same range of motions and they are very much walking vehicles.
Height: 3.63m (standing), 1.98m (standby/transport mode) Weight: 5.05 metric tons (standard) Powerplant: Honeywell APT-480c Compact Fusion Turbine Armor: Protected against shrapnel and up to light autocannons Fixed Armaments: M60E2 Shock Repeater (mounted in the head unit), Shock Knuckles x 2 (wrist mounted) Optional Armaments & Equipment: See bellow
Standard-issue Personal Trooper with a long lineage. It started as the M26 Custer Heavy Trooper at the tail end of the 22th century and each successive model retained roughly the same dimensions and appearance. It originally was a type meant for assault units with several different Personal Armor types fulfilling different roles each. Over the time this simplified down and its successor the M46 Schwarzkopf was considered a Medium Trooper with no heavy counterpart to complement it. As such when it came to the update the M47 Schwarzkopf was called a Battle Trooper, a type of PT which is utilized in nearly every type of combat. The M48 is the latest member of the Schwarzkopf family with the current variant called M48A5.
The Schwarzkopf has a 360 degree rotating head and torso, laminate durasteel armor the capability to operate in all environments. The machine can walk or even run but for quicker movement it uses grav-hover propulsion emanating from the soles of its feet. This allows the mech to hover a handful inches off the ground so it can glide over most terrains seamlessly. Like most of the Personal Troopers the Schwarzkopf's main armaments are handheld and look like oversized infantry weapons. This allows the PT to switch armaments on the field but the mini mech also has hardpoints for optional armaments. PT are kind of like a mix between power armors and ordinary combat vehicles. They seem like oversized infantry, even taller than power armors but aren't as huge as battlemechs. At the same time their purpose is similar to heavily armed recon vehicles and they can't do the same range of motions as power armor.
- Shock Knuckles: The wrists of the PT often hide tiny projectors which can unleash a concentrated plasma blast at point blank range. This weapon is meant for melee combat where at very close ranges the blast could easily punch through armor. Each usage of Shock Knuckles uses up a cartridge and the M48 Schwarzkopf has 12 cartridges in each hand. The current variant is Aerospace Arms M434.
- Amerilite M16A3 Shock Blaster: P30 Shock Cannon made into an oversized rifle. The most common weapon of the Schwarzkopf PT. It has a changeable plasma pack meant for 60 shots and can either fire semi-auto or 3-round burst modes. The weapon's firepower allows it to clean buildings and take on modestly armored vehicles. It can also attach a plasma projector for short range anti-tank/anti-fortification firepower.
- Mirkon M32 Plazooka: Mech-sized "bazooka" which launches concentrated blasts of plasma. Basically it's an old P90 shock howitzer tube stripped down to be just light enough to be carried by PTs. The weapon can only do direct fire but its power makes the Plazooka best against heavy armor and fortifications. The weapon has a magazine containing 12 plasma canisters to power just as many shots.
- M61 Firestorm Gunpod: P12 shock repeater utilizing multiple weapon assemblies to achieve phenomenal firing rate. The weapon can also operate as a pseudo-shotgun and unleash a spread of 24 plasma bolts at once. This gun has its own external reservoir which can vary in size but regardless it tends to run out of ammo rather fast.
- Missile Pods: The Schwarzkopf can also equip missile pods of varying sizes and loadouts. These are generally fire and forget missiles meant for saturation, anti-fortification, anti-vehicular or short range anti-air purposes. There are many kinds of missiles and while they tend to slow down the mech they can be really useful when extra firepower is on demand.
- Mission Packs: The Schwarzkopf has a wide range of add-ons and mission packs to customize them for various purposes. This includes a hoverpod for high-speed patrol, plasma boosters for high altitude jumps, grav gliders for drops and even a roundmover space kit for some mobility in outer space.
Is it come to a certain point that we find most prudent, if most certainly necessary that we absolve ourselves of the current order of things. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed with the right to existence and not to be deprived of bread and home.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Persons of Interest
Emmy Kott Department of State
Ola Miete Department of Defense
Magnus Klemperer State Planning Committee
Matthias Nesselrode Committee for State Security
Bi-Annual Economic Report
Vogelstein is in a state of extreme shortage of nearly every basic necessity for civilian, industrial, and military needs. The state will need an increase of six-hundred percent of current output in every industrial field to meet current demands and for future projected needs as the population grows (including migration). In lighter news, agriculture, ferrous and nonferrous mining, seems to be decent enough as leftover assets from the megacorporations. The committee has observed that Vogelstein, in order to be properly classified as a modern nation, will have to somehow rapidly progress its technological and industrial sectors.
Strengths
Visions for a Better World - The world is an unfair and cruel place. That much is true, but the unifying ideals of a fairer society are strong. It is hope that drives these people forward and into great danger. A better tomorrow is possible, and the road to that tomorrow will be long and unforgiving. The comradery among the workers is extreme and nothing will break their spirits. Solidarity Forever.
Weaknesses
Blackwaters World - The planet of Vogelstein, a German majority world, has been exploited by various megacorporations for its rich deposits and land. The greedy corporations never bothered with developing any form of industry or proper civilian infrastructure but pure extraction. Now that the corporations left with their massive pullout of all their assets, Vogelstein stands as highly poor and underdeveloped.
I've not been told to change anything or gotten any other feedback in that vein so this is still the same as the interest check, bar a few edits here and there to tidy up or expand upon a few things.
Capellan Sector Authority
Location
Summary: The Capellan Sector Authority, consisting of the Capella, Ikeya and Sofiya's Star systems, is a colonial area founded as a collective unit as part of a co-ordinated Confederate push to provide further resources and alleviate minor population pressures in the inner systems. With the decline of Confederate authority, particularly on its outskirts, the CSA has largely been nominally led by an impromptu Triumvirate of Confederate military and civil service personel with some concessions to Corporate needs. Events towards home have pushed things over the edge, however, and the CSA is largely a functional republic under military authority, although it claims no form of de jure independence from the Confederacy. There is simply no longer any meaningful Confederate authority on Earth to answer to. As such, the Capellan Sector Authority currently operates under the Confederate Constitution and local bylaws until such a time as order is re-established.
Resources:
The Capellan Sector was not the richest area of space ever explored, but far from desolate. Featuring a number of notable and most profitable ventures to be had in nearly every avenue that would serve a modern raw-materials driven economy. As a unified area of settlement, industrial capacity and service industries are largely broadly equivalent across the 3 systems with only agricultural endeavours being uneven due to soil fertility varying on its inhabitable planets.
Agricultural Produce: While any planet is capable of producing food of varying quality and questionable sources, there has always been a demand for organic, soil grown produce that has never dimished - the production of food and various organic compounds used in advanced sciences and production has nearly always been a profitable venture to some extent, and a new grouping of humanity must always be fed. The Sector consequently produces more than enough for domestic needs and is a net exporter to Confederate worlds.
Extraction & Light Industries: Capella has a reasonable but concentrated heavy industry, and consequently it is the extraction of raw materials both in orbit and on the ground, as well as the fashioning of largely consumer targeted products that drives the main industrial economy of the Sector. Capellan extraction techniques are some of the more efficient in the Confederacy, whilst the industries they fuel benefit from ample input. Much of this industry, however, is retoolable, and could potentially serve to make up for a lack of heavy industry.
Finance & Research: Where humanity goes, money follows, and the Capellan Sector Authority had a comprehensive financial planning board that created a whole series of stock exchanges, a central bank and financial instruments for use by the money making side of the service industry before a building that could house a stock exchange was ever created. While manipulated to some extent by the ever-present corporate presence, who offer up a sacrficial lamb to the local courts on occassion, the Capellan Stock Exchange, though largely trading in benign things like crop futures, is respected and a relatively well run institution.
It follows that where the confederacy and corporations go, the possibility of new places to keep things under the radar comes with them. Both the Confederacy and a number of corporate actors run above board and below board research facilities in the Capellan Sector, both in orbit and on the ground, with the Capellan Sector not quite busy enough for them to move on, but more than serviced enough to allow activity to not raise too many alarms - though by this point most of the off-book facilities are at least known of. Research here is varied, from civil applications to new agricultural yield sciences, it has bred a small but notable academic streak in the sector as well, whose burgeoning universities are not entirely written off by the core worlds.
Aurora & Dawn: Located in the Capella System, Aurora, orbited by its also inhabitable moon, Dawn, is the seat of power of the Capella Sector Authority and the most densely inhabited world in the sector. Featuring a plethora of industries and numerous cities of import, Aurora is a beacon of Confederate Authority in the outer systems and a centre of finance. Most corporate interests are registered here, much of the Confederate civil service is centered here and Aurora is home to much of the ground based Confederate administration. Dawn compliments Aurora, with some of its heavier industries not able to be placed in orbit located here, as well as a number of more dangerous elements of the research and refining industries that require planetside operation being located there.
Port Elizabeth: Port Elizabeth is a small world in the Capella System and is the main logistical hub for civil and military cargo traffic in the sector, forming a nexus for the Sector's convoy system and allowing a centralization of much of the import and export legalese and bureaucracy in one place overlooked by the Confederate Militaries orbital facilities. Port Elizabeth is also a training location for Confederate ground foces, and much of the Sectors non-deployed forces are marshalled here. Port Elizabeth is consequently also the main anchoring point for the Confederate Navy in the sector, and although lacking in orbital infrastruture for large scale repairs or retrofit, is the centre of ongoing maintenance for the fleet deployed there.
Grünhafen: Grünhafen is the seat of human settlement in the Ikeya system, though arguably not as populated as even Vastegéant. Grünhafen's appeal lies in its compatible biosphere and extremely fertile soil. Grünhafen produces a huge amount of edible produce and other organic compounds used throughout the confederacy, as well as utilizing a ranching and herding system that produces large amounts of real meat and dairy as part of its crop rotation cycle. Grünhafen is consequently also a source of a number of luxury artisan items of culinary origin.
Vastegéant: Vastegéant is an enormous gas giant in the Ikeya system that has an almost as vast orbital system of rocky worlds of varying usefulness, though its primary draw are its consequently enormous reserves of usable gases and radicals. Vastegéant has a large extraction industry that serves nearly all the sectors systems with fuel and other specialized materials drawn from Vastegéant's atmosphere. Consequently, a reasonable amount of confederate activity is always to be found here, either warding off a daring raid or protecting logistics ships serving confederate installations.
Imperski: Imperski is the main hub of activity in the Sofiya's star system and the only world in the system inhabitable without protection. A largely icebound world, the majority of its equatorial belt is temperate and home to most of the population. Imperski is known for its crystalline mines and a wealth of mineral resources hidden under its ice, as well as a respectable tourism industry driven by the vast Ice vistas and geyser oases. Imperski is also home to a number of industries that utilize the natural cold and near 1G gravity for specialized industrial processes.
Administration: The Capellan Sector Authority.
The Capellan Federal Senate: The on-paper ruling body of the Capellan Sector, the senate operates as a unified governmental organ for all the systems under the Capellan Sector Authority, elected by all of the worlds of sector and beholden only to the electorate. The Senateis headed by an elected President and complimented by a selected Speaker. The only true power the Senate holds is in its nominations for the Capellan high court system, which has not been interfered with by the Triumvirate, and in day to day affairs left to them.
The State Congress: The State Congress are individual local parliaments that provide local representation to each individual planetary body or in some cases, orbital installation. These congresses vary in make-up or overall function but on average all serve as a point of representation for their respective worlds, and, in ideal situations passing concerns to the senate and making the needs of their electorate known. These organisations would also nominate their members for Confederate Parliament on Earth, with the nominations approved by the Senate. Most of these Congresses operate without Triumvirate involvement.
The Triumvirate: The Triumvirate is an alliance between the Confederate Military, Confederate Civil Service and a small number of Corporate Concerns that function as the true ruling body of the sector. Representated by Admiral Vorontsov, Cabinet Secretary Adler and Executive Officer Wain. The Triumvirate has largely concerned itself with stability and development and has left most lower organs of government - which are arguably easily controlled by the Confederate Civil Service all the same - unmolested. Whilst the Sector has a President and stable cabinet, much of their agenda is set by the Triumvirate, though it has been a largely successful "partnership". Recent events leave much in the air, however.
Notable People:
Admiral Ekaterina Vorontsov - born on Earth, yet raised in halls of power across the Confederacy. Vorontosov's parents ran a small corporation of their own, and consequently she was given insights into many aspects of the Confederacy and its workings from the inside - at the age of 18, she promptly joined the Confederate military, against her parents wishes, and never looked back. Widely regarded as competent and loyal to the ideals upon the Confederacy, and not without some talent, though not favoured or disfavoured by corporate backers, Vorontsov rose through the ranks slowly, eventually proving of sufficient worth to be placed in local command of Confederate Naval Forces in the Capella Sector. Seeing the decline of the Confederacy showing no signs of abating, Vorontsov took charge of the sector - though largely from behind the scenes, and has kept it largely stable and secure as the Confederacy crumbles. An eye for talent and ability to charm has gone hand in hand with this mission, Vorontsov all the same has had a somewhat on-off again relationship with the corporate powers, but needs must - and the institution of a convoy system for merchant traffic has been more than enough to win favour from corporations suffering from pirates as Earth-based authority has withered.
A Lifelong Bureaucrat, Gustav Adler, if at times, uninspired, knows his way around both the civil service and the government structure of the Capellan Sector, proving invaluable in keeping it in line whilst also not overstepping his bounds. Able to exploit loopholes and close them at the same time, Adler has kept the sector's governing authority largely intact as darker times have descended. Picked out of obscurity by Vorontsov as the Triumvirate began to take its shape, Adler is fiercely loyal to the Admiral.
A concession Admrial Vorontosov would rather of not made, the Triumvirate required at least a notion of Coroporate complicity to function, and the Capellan Sector had, at least, a number of if not clean, at least tolerable corporate influences to choose from. Vorontsov didn't choose, and instead asked them to come together to pick a joint representative to "advise" during the times of unrest and difficulty throughout the confederacy. Stephen Wain, a corporate fixer, was their pick. Appointed as an Executive Officer in the largest corporate backer, Wain has been a largely amiable member of the Triumvirate, whilst protecting the Corporations he works for, for a healthy payment, of course, having no innate loyalty to any party and able to smooth over most issues has allowed the Triumvirate to function without the Corporations and the Confederacy coming to loggerheads.
Strengths: A Competent Cadre: Much of the core personell making up the Confederate presence in the sector has been carefully rejuggled and placed in positions to ensure the greatest effectiveness of the forces available to Admiral Vorontsov. While some lacking still retain their positions, adjustments in authority and a large amount of deployment and non-deployment mandatory training has sharpened up the core of Vorontsov's forces, with even those lacking not being entirely hopeless. Frequent live broadcasts and personal visits by the Admiral has also ensured a sense of collective and loyalty to the Admiral, which cannot be understated.
Autarkic Unit: The Capellan Sector produces much of what it consumes - in line with its colonial plans, with only a few goods not produced in large enough quantities or some luxury, niche or exotic goods not available in the sector, consequently, its economy has been largely isolated from the woes of the Confederacy, though it has also taken much gruelling redrawing of prior plans to ensure this has remained the case. As such, the sector is capable of experiencing near term growth, even if mininmal, rather than contraction, though as other systems suffer this may change - however, for now, this backed up by a strong central bank leads to much needed stability.
Convoy Ahoy: The implementation of old and simple tactics like a convoy system has seen a large reduction in merchant shipping lost to hostile or otherwise illegal forces operating in confederate space. This has kept the economy of the sector ticking, and even ensures the continued flow of vital goods to confederate worlds that are less secure. This has given a boost of credibility with the corporations and the people. It is of no small boost of legitimacy for Admiral Vorontsov's command either.
Weaknesses: Infrastructure Woes: While the Capella Sector has ample civil infrastructure for the majority of its needs, its military infrastructure is lacking. With Black New Year emaciating the last expansionary phases budget, there are no orbital yards capable of constructing military vessels and there are no sizeable yards capable of undertaking effective retrofit or large-scale repair work, and all maintenance must be done by crews operating from limited installations or on the ground. Capella does possess the ability to remedy this situation, though it requires time.
Two Governments: The Capella Sector is a place of two governments, Whilst the Triumvirate nominally controls all functions of the government, it truly only legally has authority over confederate installations and military matters. While the senate remains on side, this is not an issue. However, Vorontsov's refusal to "cross that line" and outright control the sector judiciary and thus the government in the main leaves avenues for political forces to act against them.
Purged?: With the Confederate weakness has come the appointment of those not suited to the task to positions of importance. Whilst the highest echelons of confederate authority in Capella have managed to avoid this fate, numerous middling positions have not. The Triumvirate has carefully maneuvered its own people into ideal locations to counteract the worst of this, or take action if necesasry, and it is likely that any further fracturing of confederate authority will lead to the arrest or re-assignment of individuals on a wholesale scale, which will take the Sector's limited academies time to fill - the other consequences of such a looming purge are unknown.
History:
The Sector that would come to be known as Capella was surveyed relatively early by the Confederacy as it began to spread outwords beyond the initial inner worlds and core colonies. While not a candidate for colonisation or exploitation it was like most areas, quietly filed away for its time to come. As the Confederacy continued to expand, it was reviewed, much like many others had and would be, with Confederate officials drawing up plans and securing the support necessary.
Capella was assigned as a complete sector unit - devised as colonial sector that would be built up by its own worlds with waves of colonists and initial infrastructure from the Confederacy, before in later phases integrating into the Confederate economy as a whole with all that entailed. Initial support for the colony was drawn from Europe and globally influential corporations, with the second and third avenues of support coming from corporations and civil sectors throughout North America and Eurasia.
The initial phase of colonization proceeded without much incident, largely building up Aurora and Dawn in Capella itself as well as the exploitation of Vastergeant in Ikeya, drawing on financial and logistical support - as well as colonists and support during the formal second phase of colonization, drawing a pool of qualified individuals from across the Confederacy - with a third and final phase of sponsored settlement occuring some time after, drawing from Earth's southern hemisphere and other colonies with some measure of population pressure. With the sponsored settlement era ended and Confederate or Corporate subsidies now dependent on political and economic factors, the Capellan Federation was officially formed and itself would offer a number of incentives to draw people to the sector. The size of the Confederacy of the that time and the wealth of the corporations and invididual nations invested in Capella ensured a relatively rapid buildup both of civil infrastructure and population. With a moderate level of importance, The Confederate military in the area was built up and a Confederate command structure finalised and put in place. With a largely peaceful sector the initial command rotations were relatively uninspired. Capella became regarded as a deployment for anyone loyal enough to the Confederacy but of no particular patronage.
As Black New Year began the Capellan Federation wobbled. While internally its economic markets were contracting, they were on track to stabilise - the withdrawl of outside investment, less demand from other markets that Capella had been integrating with and the general decline of safety along the trade routes that was beginning to occur was troublesome. The Capellan Government had a number of scandals as senators no longer protected by outside interests were torn down by internal ones, and its own authority diminished the farther from the inhabited worlds you ventured while the Confederate military in the sector looked to become as mired in the issues affecting it elsewhere.
Several years into this general decline, the Confederate Admiral in overall authority of military assets in the sector upped and resigned, with the Confederate High Command putting out fires everywhere, it was Admiral Vorontsov, promoted for the post, who was shipped out to the Capellans. Vorontsov took aggressive action - rearranging mercantile trade routes and deploying any mobile asset that could be spared to protect them - eventually starting up and ensure a protective convoy system which provided a much needed respite from the looming spectre of piracy. Vorontsov also performed a number of feats both in outright arguing her way or achieving some concessions from Confederate Command and the corporations working in the sector, shoring up ailing infrastructure, having new ships deployed to the sector to eliminate the threat of full-blown piracy before it began and doing what could be done to protect the interests of all involved while the Confederacy slowly crumbled.
Vorontsov's mandate had been to protect the Confederacy and Capella in particular and in that there had been given much leeway, however. Behind closed doors, the Triumvirate formed and set to work. Utilizing corporate influence, the power of the Confederate military and bureaucracy much was done to turn Capella back into the prosperous sector it could be. After yet another scandal threatened the highest levels of Capellan governmment, however, there was a fateful meeting betwenen the Admiral and the Capellan President, as well as numerous high ranking senators and officials. After the so called "Vorontsov diktat" of the time, the government tone changed from largely separate but mostly equal to following a line that was very closely aligned with the goals of the Confederate bureaucracy and its protector in the military. Despite this shift, to the common individual and even much of the government there has been little change that hasn't been for the better, and even critics of the perceived conspiracy have noted that the Admiral has been forced to back down a number of times by the Capellan High Court when matters have been questioned on Constitutional grounds.
All the same, the Capella Sector is largely stabilized and has become somewhat prosperous, well equipped to feed worlds suffering from decline and with a power projection capable of sustaining trade inwards and outwards, even if the Confederate Military of Capella is still reliant on replacement ships sent by High Command. If the Conferacy can slow or reverse its decline, Capella could be one of the engines that drives the Confederacy forward.
