Republic of Biesel
In the core worlds of Humanity’s power and built upon the center of the largest phoron deposits in the known galaxy, the Republic of Biesel is an independent state wholly surrounded by Sol Alliance space. The very young Republic as it is known today came to be in 2452, and since its populace has flourished as NanoTrasen has tightened a vice grip over its government structure. Present at every level of government and carrying its economy into a new age, Nanotrasen Corporation is unofficially the most influential force in the system in which the Republic resides, Tau Ceti. The extent of the official power of the Republic of Biesel extends to the gravity well of the Tau Ceti star and some of its immediate surroundings. It is one of the most populated systems in Human space, and easily the richest in the galaxy thanks to NanoTrasen.
Overview
The Republic of Biesel is the foundation of the galactic economy, with NanoTrasen controlling the trickle of phoron that it exports to virtually all Human - and often other species’ - settlements. For this reason, it has long since been considered the “galactic center,” overtaking the Jewel Worlds in the early 2400’s. This, alongside its progressive legislation has made it a prime destination for immigration from all walks of life.
As the Republic of Biesel holds sovereignty over the Tau Ceti system, planets under its control include New Gibson, Luthien, Caprice, Reade and its namesake, Biesel. The majority of the Republic’s phoron supply comes from the Romanovich Cloud, a very distant cluster of icy and metallic bodies that encompass the system. NanoTrasen has established control of virtually every source of phoron found here.
Tau Ceti’s population has for the better part of the century stood against Alliance control, but it took until 2452 for progress in this to be made in the form of their declaration of independence. Since then, it has butted heads with Sol, having even been the victim of a full militarized invasion by the rogue Admiral Frost in 2458.
General
Official Title(s): "The Federal Republic of Biesel and the Tau Ceti System" (SC)
Capital: Mendell City, Biesel
Demonym: Bieselitte, Cetian, Gibsonian
Official Language(s): Sol Common, Tau Ceti Basic, 24 additional Recognized Languages.
Population: 2460 Est.: 11,632,576,000
Economics
Biesel maintains the Credit as its official currency.
NanoTrasen is an unquestionable monopoly within Tau Ceti. The Free Trade Zone established shortly after independence in 2452 served to only reinforce their foothold. Almost the entirety of business in the system are either owned directly or a branch of Nanotrasen. Business that does not affiliate with the megacorporations can not be founded legally, and thus all independent businesses found in the Republic are either external to Tau Ceti or have existed for longer than NanoTrasen, and simply have not offered enough to warrant being bought out.
Megacorporate presence outside of NanoTrasen exists in Tau Ceti, such as Hephaestus super-stations and some properties in orbit - but most date back to well over sixty years ago, before the monopoly was formed.
Societal
Being one of the early colonized systems, Tau Ceti remains diverse. People from all walks of life exist in the Republic, and the meshing of cultures extends to even the growing minority of alien species that find their home in the small Republic. There are tensions between the natives and the influx of alien immigrants, and the integration of IPC's into society remains an extremely hot topic.
Languages
Tau Ceti Basic is the dominant language in the Republic of Biesel, spoken by nearly all its inhabitants except some small groups of immigrants. Due to the diverse nature of the Republic, every language across populated space can be found here. Sol Common is viewed with some hostility by natives of the Republic, especially after the Frost Invasion, and is mostly spoken in pro-Sol areas of the Republic. Tradeband and Freespeak are commonly spoken amongst the resident and immigrant populations, with many coming from across the human frontier to pursue a better life in Tau Ceti.
Culture
As endlessly varied as its populace, the culture of the Republic is impossible to define. However, definitive enclaves have coalesced over time, not to mention the divide between the unique districts of its capital, Mendell City. Among these are the Tajaran-dominated Little Adhomai, or District 14 - for synthetics, IPCs, or even District 9 - for Vaurca respectively.
Life in Tau Ceti
The standard of living in Tau Ceti is rather high due to the prospering nature of the system. Most of the lower class consists of immigrants and new settlers, though wealth tends to be easy to build especially when cooperating with NanoTrasen. The “Republic Ideal,” as it is stated in NT-sanctioned media, leans on one person being able to sustain a family’s worth of others with hard work.
Life as it stands in Tau Ceti can be considered a mixed basket. As virtually every form of media and entertainment is covered - and arguably controlled by NanoTrasen, “official” and outstanding means of entertainment are often dreary and corporate in concept. People, especially the lower class, make do with their own attempts to curtail the dull blanket over the social world. This, in day-to-day life, includes closed extracorporate relays, exercises of public freedom or otherwise. An obvious side-effect of this is strengthened traditions and isolation of oneself to protect that which they feel passionate for.
It can be said with certainty due to all this that close bonds - namely family and the sense of community, are strengthened heavily in the system. Local festivities such as annual holidays are adored and can vary completely based off of the location they are in. Whether intentional or not, NanoTrasen’s presence in the system has ended up uniting the Republic into a singular tightly-knit body. In the middle and upper class, things get more chaotic. People here can bring themselves to afford the “standard of living” that is expected of all the Republic’s citizens, and either use this to consume NanoTrasen’s corporate media or dive into their own divided and rich cultures.
A good example of the divides between NanoTrasen media and Republic tradition is the annual system-wide and crowd-funded Xavier’s Gala on May 5th, ironically named after Xavier Trasen. This is a holiday where megacorporate presence is totally rejected - no businesses can be found partaking in any practice here, outside of the unofficial organization which assembles it. In this, people tend to gather in carnival-like fairs that celebrate the independence of the system and the freedoms granted to them by the events of the last sixty years.
Immigrants find difficulty integrating into Tau Ceti’s varied cultures, to such an extent that they are often warned against entering alone without family or friends. Basic necessities are easy to get, as the nature of the Republic promotes all manner of immigration from anywhere, but finding your own place amidst the confusion can be an overwhelming task to most. Social standing is hard to come by as a newcomer, forcing immigrants to lean into NanoTrasen to develop any sort of positive track record in the system.
Government
Biesel remains a Federal Democracy as enshrined in the Tau Ceti Constitution. It has an elected president, a congress, and a supreme court. In the executive branch, President Joseph Dorn was sworn into office for his first term as president in 2454. He faced reelection in 2458 and won in a landslide, yet contested victory.
Military
Being surrounded entirely by the juggernaut of the Sol Alliance and situated near the core systems of humanity, Tau Ceti is isolated from the major dangers and players on the galactic stage save for an increasingly hostile Sol Alliance.
With the most common threats being incursions by raiders and pirates, Tau Ceti maintains a small military dedicated to self-defense. NanoTrasen and its dedicated private military companies take up the bulk of actual security duties. A complex and intricate series of security and engineering contracts has corralled the young Republic to be obligated to get weapons and equipment exclusively through the mega-corporation, such as weapons and tactical armor. Despite patronizing attitudes from NanoTrasen towards the Tau Ceti's military, the mega-corporations extensive involvement allows the young republic to only dedicate .98% of its budget towards the military.
Tau Ceti Foreign Legion
The Tau Ceti Foreign Legion is the primary military of the Republic of Biesel. This is an extension of the government which consists primarily of temporarily assigned, contracted or most importantly volunteer citizens. As well, non-citizens seeking citizenship in Tau Ceti can acquire it through varying degrees of service to the Legion, which changes depending on rank, age, government records, etcetera.
Legion operations extend as far as the orbit of Reade, and generally drop off from there. The organization is led by the Foreign Legion Stellar Command, who operate from bases in the core of the system and very near to the NTCC Odin.
The Foreign Legion Fleet operates 332 official government vessels, several thousand shuttlecraft and consists entirely of donations from the Trasen Family.
History
Being one of the closest systems to Earth, Tau Ceti was one of the first explored by early interstellar travelers. When Biesel was discovered to possess an Earth-like atmosphere, complete with full-fledged biospheres, the system was flooded with settlers. As Biesel flourished and towns grew into cities, explorers began to survey the nearby planet of New Gibson, and found it metal-rich. Corporations and individuals alike established mining colonies which have grown over the centuries into massive domed cities and industrial parks, mining raw materials and turning them into all manner of goods, then shipping them off to Biesel or outside the system. Biesel, with it's Earth-like atmosphere, became the financial and agricultural heart of the system while New Gibson was the industrial powerhouse. Around 100 years after it's first settlers made planet-fall, the Republic of Biesel was formally established as one of the first semi-autonomous states within the Sol Alliance.
Following the discovery of phoron in the sparsely explored Romanovich Cloud at the edge of the system, NanoTrasen began to move it's corporate assets and bureaucracy onto Biesel. As NanoTrasen became fabulously wealthy, the money trickled down to the Tau Ceti System's upper class. However, the economic catastrophe of the Second Great Depression threatened to wipe out the entire economy of the Sol Alliance. With the Sol Alliance teetering on absolute bankruptcy and consequential tax hikes for systems, the unemployment rate in Tau Ceti exploded to 20% by 2450. Within the next two years, Nanotrasen became one of the only still functioning corporations within Tau Ceti, making it extremely popular with both politicians and the population at large, as it offered jobs and services unavailable anywhere else.
Politicians pushed for closer ties with the mega-corporation, and eased anti-monopoly laws for NanoTrasen. In 2452, The Republic of Biesel and NanoTrasen formed the "Tau Ceti Free Trade Zone", which gave NanoTrasen control of vast swathes of the Romanovich Cloud and at the same time presented an ultimate to the Sol Alliance government to give Tau Ceti independence or face a total loss of Nanotrasen investment. The announcement was met with both praise and outrage: Some welcomed the money that would flow into the system with NanoTrasen able to more effectively mine and distribute phoron, while others claimed that NanoTrasen had 'bought' the government of Biesel and that an Orwellian future was just around the corner. Desperate and unable to enforce their refusal without a total collapse of their economy, the Sol Alliance caved and allowed Tau Ceti to become independent in 2452.
A side effect of NanoTrasen's increased operations in the sector are that employees from outside the system are often 'bussed' in through the system's Warp Gate. Many have chosen to settle in the system and are provided corporate housing in numerous 'Corporate Enclaves' that have sprung up across New Gibson and Biesel. The system's population is estimated to be one of the most diverse in Human Space.
The Frost Invasion: 2458 - 2459
In October of 2458 the Sol Alliance had ended anti-piracy patrols around Tau Ceti by its 33rd Fleet as part of a diplomatic campaign to put pressure on the small system over various long-standing disputes. This caused a massive spike in piracy and raider attacks against Tau Ceti, which Biesel's small, part-time military had no ability to deal with effectively. Biesel maintained contracts with NanoTrasen's Emergency Response Team but the mega-corporation was cool to the idea of increasing investment without re-negotiating the terms of the contracts. The result of negotiations with NanoTrasen ended with an announcement on the 20th of October where Biesel would sponsor NanoTrasen to build thousands of combat drones that can operate near-autonomously in the vacuum of space. This was a disaster for the Alliance, who's plan to pressure Tau Ceti to reduce its proliferation of synthetic life had just backfired spectacularly.
This development also angered and worried many Skrell both within Tau Ceti and as far as the Jargon Federation. The Federation persuaded the Sol Alliance to enact an 'economic embargo' against the Tau Ceti system, to be enforced by the 33rd fleet commanded by Admiral Frost. Prices for basic goods skyrocketed across Tau Ceti as imports hit a bottleneck after the bluespace gate leading to the system was shut down. Tensions between Synthetics and Organics as well as general xenophobia grew across Tau Ceti.
On December 1st crisis talks between the Sol Alliance, Jargon Federation, and the Republic of Biesel that had been attempted to resolve the crisis had come to an end. The Alliance's demands had grown from not Biesel cancelling its combat drone program, but also creating strict regulations and controls on its synthetic population, and finally that Biesel would allow Alliance and Jargon authorities to assume leadership in federal and state law enforcement agencies. Biesel agreed to all but the last demand, saying it would be surrendering its autonomy. The crisis also revealed a divide between the Federation and the Alliance: The Federation was trying to focus specifically on Tau Ceti's synthetic proliferation, but had been caught up in the Alliances' attempt to re-assert itself over its former break-away province. At the end of these talks both sides walked out and negotiations broke down, and with it the hopes of resolving the crisis peacefully.
On December 26th 2458 Biesel announced it had formed an economic partnership with the Republic of Elyra and NanoTrasen called the Association for Market Stability. This economic alliance created a union between the only two galactic nations with control over large phoron deposits. Overnight the entire balance of power shifted as Biesel now had a serious bargaining chip to use against the Alliance: potentially slashing phoron exports and tanking the Alliance economy. This further sunk relations between Tau Ceti and the Alliance, and many within the Alliance began to consider Biesel a serious risk to its security.
On February 26th, 2459, with no end of the embargo in sight, Biesel expelled the Alliance's diplomats in its system and ordered the closure of the Alliances' embassy. It accused the Alliance diplomats of intimidation and abuse towards Biesel authorities. Diplomatic ties between the two nations were now completely severed. The first warning signs from Admiral Frost surfaced here, with the admiral warning Biesel that there would be retaliation.
On February 27th 2459, Biesel's Congress voted to trigger a constitutional convention that would allow them to re-write the Constitution of the republic. The purpose of the convention was clear: pro-synthetic factions had finally gathered enough influence, and full emancipation of synthetics was soon to be a reality. The proposed amendments would also see a streamlined legal framework in regards to synthetic ownership, employment of synthetics, and the legality of their treatment.
Only three days after the announcement of the convention, Admiral Frost suddenly invaded Tau Ceti with the 33rd fleet. He was acting autonomously and without orders from the civilian government. His fleet's overwhelming firepower and rapid speed overwhelmed Tau Ceti's tiny defense network. Within 5 hours the Republic of Biesel capitulated to Admiral Frost, who had seized an entire star system in a near-bloodless invasion. President Dorn, who had been captured by a 33rd commando raid, broadcasted a televised speech announcing his unconditional surrender. Frost seized control of Biesel as its dictator, and began his campaign of terror, who's goals can be best described by the man himself.
"This colony of the Alliance has been proliferating synthetics as potential weapons of mass destruction. There have already been numerous incidents where synthetic infiltrators have murdered people in cold blood to progress their agenda. Synthetic proliferation is an existential threat to all mankind. Like a weed, synthetics take root among us and spread until they are able to strangle us all. They can look like us, they feel no pain, and are incapable of understanding mercy. To allow the Tau Ceti government to build an army of combat synthetics, despite the abhorrent lessons of history, is unthinkable. The 33rd, along with assistance from federal, state, and NanoTrasen authorities, will be working over the next month to completely cripple the power of synthetics in this system. They will be dismantled. They will be re-purposed. They will be returned to their status as tools and stripped of all notions of independence or emancipation. Synthetics are tools, and made to serve mankind. But they are dangerous to leave unchecked. This colony's administration was incapable of handling or even understanding the Pandora's box they were opening. Hail Sol, and God bless the Alliance."
During the occupation Frost used his totalitarian authority with vigor. Many free IPCs were sold into slavery or scrapped, robotics labs were shut down and demolished, and 33rd Officers even took over Captainship of NanoTrasen stations in Tau Ceti like the NSS Aurora. Many in Tau Ceti resisted the occupation, with protests gripping the streets of every major city.
Eventually, the Sol Alliance 25th fleet arrived to Tau Ceti and fought the 33rd in a surprise attack, chasing it from the system. Admiral Frost and a small retinue of loyalists were chased to the NSS Aurora where he managed to evade capture from its security force and 25th Marines on his tail, and he escaped to the frontier.
The 25th Fleet left Tau Ceti after chasing off the 33rd, and a humiliated Alliance, who's rogue Admiralty was now public knowledge, ended the embargo.
The invasion and occupation by Admiral Frost forever altered politics and lifestyles in Tau Ceti. Before the invasion, patriotism was uncommon and viewed as strange. But the invasion created a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism within its diverse population. President Dorn returned to his office of the presidency amid soaring approval ratings, and declared that a new era had begun for the small Republic. Snap elections flooded Congress with New Republicans, a radical Universalist party that Dorn himself defected to at the expense of his former, moderate Republican Party.
Despite being plagued by corruption scandals and growing tension domestically and abroad, President Dorn continued to ride on his popularity as a war time President to push through key New Republican reforms that see synthetics and non-humans in Tau Ceti granted greater freedoms and rights, while at the same time loosening already timid regulations on NanoTrasen.
SLF Incursion: 2461
The Synthetic Liberation Front, after several years of inactivity, appeared once more in the Republic in 2461. In a do-or-die final throw for life, they attempted to set up a safe route for disadvantaged synthetics to enter the Republic through on the NSS Aurora. This resulted in a miserable failure on all sides, with the SLF brought to its end and various anti-synthetic groups failing to apprehend the main perpetrators of the incursion.
The events of the SLF Incursion Arc can be found in detail here.