Coalition of Colonies

The Coalition of Colonies is an independent, space-faring nation formed of once-Solarian colonies residing in the frontier. Population estimates range from 85 to 110 billion, with an accurate census being nearly impossible due to the decentralized government of the Coalition. Founded in a revolt against the governance of the Association of Sovereign Solarian Nations, or the Sol Alliance, it won its independence in the prolonged Interstellar War. It is made up of 357 core member systems with a fluctuating number of loosely-defined associated systems. Previously known as the Frontier Alliance, the Coalition is one of the most diverse entities in known space culturally, socially, and politically.

Government

The overarching government of the Coalition is a confederation held together by the Frontier Alliance Defense Pact, a treaty which ensures that all members will come to the aid of the other in a case of invasion or in more recent times, to defend against piracy. It is headed by the Chief Representative, the representative of whatever planet is voted as the capital of the Coalition. The current Chief Representative is Reilly Sianne of Xanu Prime. The government of each individual entity within the Alliance varies dramatically, from republics to monarchies to communist parties, but the entities all agree to have representatives meet on the capital planet. This bi-annual meeting, known as the Representative Summit, forms the leadership of the Coalition of Colonies. The Representative Summit is a bicameral legislature, made up of by the House of Members and the House of Observers. The House of Members is formed of the core systems of the Coalition, and is where legislation can be proposed. The House of Observers is formed of representatives from affiliated frontier systems. While the House of Members currently has 357 members, because of the state of the wild frontier attendance for the Observer house can range from as few as fifty up to five hundred. Each system receives one representative. There is only one written rule to the Summit - no violence may take place in the chambers. All other rules and regulations are merely agreed upon traditions, solidified over the Coalition's history. The Coalition of Colonies does not care how each system governs themselves, they only ask that each system respect one another and honor the pacts during the time of a crisis.

Notable Systems

Xanu

The Xanu Free League, located in the system of Xanu, is the current capital of the Coalition. Megacities dot the surface of Xanu Prime, with only a small rural population. The League is governed by a president who is elected from among the mayors of the megacities and serves a three year term. In the capital city of Argia sa Mar, many embassies and legations are found in the Foreign Quarter, alongside branch offices of every megacorporation. The low-lying grasslands and beaches outside the towering metropolises are coated in craters, rusting military equipment, and graves from the Siege of Xansan during the Interstellar War, one of the most brutal battles of the conflict. These areas are protected by the government against looting and desecration as a massive memorial covering 93 percent of the planet. The government of the Coalition, the Representative Summit, meets on the artificial island of Greentree, located equidistant from every city on the planet. The Free Assembly, a major political party in the Coalition that believes in individual liberties and free government.

Techno-Conglomerate

The Techno-Conglomerate is the backbone of the Frontier Alliance’s technological research. Instead of being based on planets, the Techno-conglomerate is a large fleet of miscellaneous civilian and military vessels that travels throughout the Frontier. As a moving flotilla of high-tech ships, the Conglomerate look to incorporate technology with humanity. They were driven out of the Sol Alliance for their stance on augmentations shortly before the first Interstellar War. Though the Techno-Conglomerate has never acted in an offensive capacity, their fleet is one of the few centralized combat fleets in the Frontier Alliance. As their nation is based upon their sizable flotilla, they are often unwilling to venture into dangerous space. They are incredibly accepting, trading with nearly all foreign bodies (excluding the Empire of Dominia), especially Eridani, and largely consider synthetic life as equals. Citizens of the Techno-Conglomerate often find work with large megacorporations such as NanoTrasen and Einstein Engines, with many of them finding high positions as engineers and scientists. The Techno-Conglomerate is governed by the captains of the ten largest ships, which includes research and military vessels. The largest, the heavy cruiser T.C.S. Balbo, is captained by High Captain Mark Mareus, the current leader of the council of ten.

Himeo

Himeo (Hephaestus Industries Mineral Extraction Operation) is an economic powerhouse of the Frontier Alliance originally founded as a mineral extraction operation by Hephaestus Industries in the 2200s. The planet openly revolted in the years leading up to the Interstellar War, and joined hands with Xanu in the formation of the original Coalition of Colonies. It has one of the most accurate censuses on the frontier due to its strong government: its 2460 population stands at 1.5 billion citizens on the planet itself with 200 million in orbit. Presently, Himeo serves as a primary source of raw materials for the Coalition due to its location near Xanu and large underground deposits of metals. Himeo is a barren, permafrost world where most of the population lives in four major cities and one large offworld station: Magnitogorsk (the largest settlement on the planet), Highland City (the major spaceport), Cannington (a major industrial center), Kiruna (the center of government), and Danzig Station in orbit.

The surface of Himeo is defined by its large, windswept plains broken up by massive mountain ranges. The average temperature is generally −58.2 °C (−72.8 °F) before factoring in wind chill, so all major settlements are built into the ground - with the largest cities extending kilometers under the ground. Himeo is a direct democracy, with its First Speaker being elected by a pure majority vote every five years. Unlike many planets on the frontier, Himeo operates a small standing fleet of formerly corporate vessels, self-made warships, and Interstellar War prize ships. Megacorporations are banned from operating in Himeo’s space.

Zaurghis

Zaurghis is an unremarkable planet in an equally unremarkable star system roughly five light years from Xanu. The planet itself is small, relatively similar to Earth, and devoid of most materials early colonists sought after. Zaurghis is, however, in an ideal location to exploit a feature unique to the frontier: wormhole travel. Zaurghis’s system is, through sheer luck or unknown forces, home to dozens (if not hundreds) of wormholes: some consistently stable, some changing by the hour. The economy of Zaurghis was, for the better part of its existence, centered around these wormholes: the planet had a booming shipping industry, with most of it concentrated in low-orbit docks. There was, of course, some illegal activity. However, a robust system of enforcement and policing kept the Zaurghis wormholes mostly free of danger.

With the end of Solarian rule during the Interstellar War, there was no real push for government on the planet by the majority of the population, with the small amount of those who did, most of them being the original residents of the planet, exiled to its moon, Visraho. Previously a penal moon known as Correctional Facility 48, now there exists a small pro-corporate society. Over time, an anarchist society developed, lacking official law or representation: a society run purely by the idea of the Non-Aggression Principle, or NAP. Citizenship is automatically granted to all owners of property above one acre in size, and these citizens directly vote for their representation in the Coalition.

However, with the recent proliferation of bluespace technology, Zaurghis’ wormholes have seen less and less use by merchants. Private enterprises have developed the once-prominent business port into one of the largest parts of the Coalition’s shipbuilding sector. Alongside this, however, a new area of commerce has emerged: smugglers, always willing to take risks in order to avoid authorities, have taken to utilizing the wormholes around Zraughis in order to ship product. These smugglers tend to avoid the larger and more well-traveled wormholes, instead risking life and limb on the smaller and less predictable, but less policed, wormholes. With smuggling being fully permitted on the planet, many have come to call this relatively inoffensive planet home.

The Scarabs

The Scarabs are a tightly-knit and primarily nomadic faction which resides upon gargantuan home-fleets akin to that of the Techno-Conglomerate, in a grander scale. Seen as a hardy and self-sufficient people, their primary fleet holds the structure of a uniquely made Khaganate. Led by the young Iraiya, the Queen in Blue is the perpetually mobile fleet. Many Scarabs are seen planet-side in unclaimed territory, making usage of untapped materials or valuable sources of food and water to supply the ever-growing fleet as it moves. The Scarabs meet criticism for what is essentially a conquest through uncharted territory surrounding the space of the Sol Alliance. Though at this point, it's clear they have no reason or will to care. The Scarabs seek to unify Humanity under one banner at any cost, or so Iraiya says. Their intent at the least to absorb all Offworlders into their own home fleets is clear, and they have found little difficulty in convincing many to join them, using safety and plentiful supplies as prime motivators, though some warn their actions will eventually wake the slumbering Sol Alliance…

Other Coalition Systems

The Base Worlds

These heavily militarized worlds provide the cornerstones of defense of the Coalition. Four major base planets and one moon, along with countless smaller outposts, exist on the borders of the Coalition. These planets are wholly dedicated to military production and provide the bases for the Coalition’s small professional army, along with training facilities and whatever permanent military structures are required. Funding for the upkeep and garrisoning of these facilities is raised voluntarily from member systems.

Rendentu: On the western frontier of the Coalition lies Rendentu, nicknamed the Fortress World. The now-legendary Battle of the Maw which took place on the dimly-lit world lasted for over three months as the Solarian Navy fought to claim the planet during the Interstellar War. Rendentu is home to the single largest base in the Coalition, shadowy Fort Lockjaw. Several layers of bluespace interdiction nets surround the system as it stands guard over the nearby stable wormhole.

Wroshalawau: Guarding the south-west border, Wroshalawau is a heavily industrialized world dominated by sprawling factories churning out munitions of every conceivable type. These factories are highly fortified, with large parts of the planet covered in minefields and obstructions.

Irn: The southernmost base of the Coalition, Irn is the only base world to have a large civilian population. Gentle climate is the norm, though the rain on the planet is highly acidic, with fortifications and houses covered in special composites to shield them from dissolving.

Grad: The eastern bastion, this frozen world is the most isolated base of the Coalition. Known for its brutally cold climate with a peak yearly temperature below freezing, permanent winter shrouds the hulking fortifications and facilities built into the mountain ranges crossing the planet. Hidden factories, artillery emplacements, training grounds, and other secret facilities are rumored to hide beneath the permafrost of Grad...

Selene: In orbit of Xanu Prime, this small arid moon holds several orbital artillery facilities that protect the capital of the Coalition. A large Solarian marine base, Fire Base Tango, lies abandoned on the planet, left from the Interstellar War.

Wright’s Berth: Another moon in the orbit of Xanu Prime, this small and airless body holds a significant Xanu Prime Navy base that serves as the planet’s admiralty. Originally established as a Sol Alliance Navy base at roughly the same time Xanu Prime was colonized, the sailors and marines of Wright’s Berth had gone slightly over two years without pay and with irregular supplies due to the Second Great Depression. When ordered to assault Xanu Prime to stop the rebellion of the Coalition of Colonies shortly after the start of the Interstellar War, the demoralized garrison of Wright’s Berth defected to the Coalition.

Society

While every species can be found in the Coalition, it is human dominated due to its origin as part of human colonization efforts, with the exact breakdown of Coalition society is impossible to determine. Social organization can vary wildly from planet to planet with corporate oligarchies, industrial wastes, militarized states, free republics, and everything in between being found in the coalition.

The Silk Road

Criss-crossing the Coalition is the Intra-System Warp Transit Network, or IS-WTN, built under Solarian control in the 23rd century. Known as the Warpway or simply the Way, the Warpway is a transport system across the Coalition used for travel and trade. It consists of straight routes through space, marked by large warp beacons, between which long warp-trains travel. These trains have remained relevant in the bluespace age due to the mysterious nature of warp efficiency, that is, that repeated warp travel along the same route becomes more efficient with time. Built along specially mapped currents through space, these unique vehicles can rival low-speed bluespace in speed, with far simpler technology. The Warpway is the life blood of the Coalition, a silk road bringing quantities of rare materials, goods, and people from every corner for trade.

These warp-trains did not see much use in the core of the Sol Alliance, due to its denser size and gate network. However, across these previously-Solarian holdings, it has been carefully maintained to connect the sprawling Coalition. As certain routes waxed and waned in popularity, entire systems have grown or shrunk, leaving ghost towns in its wake. These abandoned towns are now often home to criminals, either pirates or smugglers, who sometimes even interfere with the warp-trains themselves, attempting to rob them of especially valuable cargo.