Government

The Convention

Founded 1124BCE, by Gregorian reckoning in the aftermath of the Seleema-Ansakazi War. Its design was to initiate a political body that would help to dissuade further conflict from happening. However, it had no such mandate within its charters. In essence it was a loose association of interstellar governments to officiate trade and diplomacy. As time passed, the Galaxy saw a surge in sapient species rising to the interstellar age. Soon the Convention was a booming alliance of hundreds of nations and dozens of species. 

To ease the democratic process inherent in their structure, the Convention created two levels of membership. Standing Members: those deemed unable to contribute to the Convention’s massive budget and military power. Overnight many races found themselves relegated to obscurity. The Seated Members, on the other hand had the ability to participate in the making of decisions for the entire Convention. 

The Seated Members would not change for nearly seven centuries until Empress Nina Campbell turned back the tide of the GLA wars, led by the Lekthermans. The Convention was forced to accept the Earth Empire as the first Seated Member since the inception of the policy. After losing the Earth Empire in the Pan-Galactic War, the Convention began its slow decline until it was dissolved at the end of the Four Century War nearly a thousand years later. 

  • Ankasi Republic
  • Seleema Imperium
  • Lektherman Plutarchy
  • Earth Empire (until the Pan-Galatic War)

Twin Crown Alliance

Founded in 4107 during the Third Goration war, the Twin Crown Alliance began when the Earth Empire joined with the Geksheeshan Imperium – the ancestral enemy of the Convention – to defeat the Goration Empire. The act triggered the Pan-Galactic War which would reshape Galactic politics. In its shadow, the Twin Crown Alliance became a Galactic political body intent on the defense and economic protection of its members. 

Being more open and more appealing to many governments that had spent millennia under the thumb of Convention political power, the Alliance grew quickly. As the Alliance gained power the Convention declined. A conflict was imminent, and as the Golden Age came to a close the Four Century War began. The two giants clashed in a blazing war of such scale that it set the scale against which all following wars were weighed. 

The Alliance won the war, but the cost was high. Four centuries after the Alliance struggled to stay afloat, as rebellions raged, and politics plundered the superpower. Eventually the internal chaos of the Alliance gave rise to the Valkyron Union and Coalition, who would form the Joint Defense Pact. The Alliance would slowly decline as had the Convention, but it is still a force to be reckoned with even to this day. 

Earth Empire

    • Nation: The Earth Empire
    • Capital: Earth (The Glass Capital)
    • Planets: 350 million
    • Economy: Strong
    • Quality of Life: Generally Good
    • Civil Rights: None

History: Founded in the early 31st Century on the Gregorian Calendar, the Empire united humanity under a single banner. Following the unification war, the Empire rose to prominence amongst the Interstellar Convention–though humanity was neither respected nor loved by the galactic community; they were feared from the beginning. By the early 32nd century, humanity won its place as a standing member of the Convention in record time, defeating the Geksheeshans in a brutal war–a war the Convention was sure they would lose until humanity stepped in. By the 41st century the Empire was the largest of Convention powers, dominating and setting Galactic law, much to the dismay of most of the galaxy. Even after Zerus shattered the Empire in her rebellion, the Glass Capital remained the Imperial Capital for centuries longer.

Politics: The Campbell family, or derivatives thereof, has sat upon the Imperial throne for nearly three thousand years. It is not, however, the dystopia many depict. They limit the Imperial oligarchy to the lords, appointed by the Emperor himself–after them, the Empire is equal, without reservation. Housing, food, water and even some pleasures are gifted to the citizens of the Empire, they want for nothing–for the Empire was founded to serve Humanity. Even as it expanded, and Aliens became members of Terra’s vast reach, these truths remained. There are no homeless, nor are there useless individuals, all are cared for under the Imperials watchful gaze. If one speaks the right truths and thinks as they are told, comfort will be theirs.

Society: It is hard to explain over a million world’s worth of cultures in a single lifetime, much less a paragraph. To put it simply, the Empire is built around the value of oneself over the value of money. The Government is as much a deity, to the average Imperial, as any god they worship, the Campbell Family is often viewed as a messiah and their taxes tithes (especially in the later years of the Empire). For thousands of years the Empire has proven its way of life is effective, and even in the face of the Democracy’s and Republics that have blossomed around them, they refuse to give in; for the Demagogue destroyed their beautiful blue marble twice, and it shall never do so again–as long as the Empire exists it shall protect, and in turn you shall protect it.

Geksheeshan Empire

    • Nation: The Geksheeshan Empire
    • Capital: Xua’Katan
    • Planets: 600 million
    • Economy: All-Consuming
    • Quality of Life: Low
    • Civil Rights: Non-existent

History: In the early 1400s by Gregorian reckoning the Geksheeshan Empire was founded, though the records of how are lost to endless wars that plagued their early spacefaring history. The Empress, as there always is an Empress, used cunning politics and backstabbing policies to command her people through fear and respect. Civil Wars plagued the Empire, overturning regime after regime, for centuries. Then in 1863 Gregorian, the Empire contacted the convention, and immediately sought conquest. Though the Convention was powerful, the Geksheeshan’s were ruthless. Every conflict against them was lost – only when their own internal politics turn against the Empire did the invasions stop. In the year 3120 the Geksheeshan mysteriously stopped their imperial onslaughts and went Dormant for five hundred years. During this time they fought a series of civil wars. Finally, in the 3600s they came back to the Galaxy proper – and the first Contact with the Earth Empire was made – afterword Galactic history would change. 

Politics: A feudal empire ruled by wealth, power and fear. Politics is for the nobility to engage in. All land is passed down through the female of the species, ensuring that only women hold power. The Imperial Court, a massive conglomeration of powerful Geksheeshan nobles, rules the empire with an iron fist. Upheavels are accomplished through underhand politics, and backstabbing (often literally). It is often said that you are more likely to die in a Geksheeshan ball then a battlefield. 

Society: Matriarchal in nature, women hold all the social, financial and political power. They are worshipped by men as goddesses. The female of the Geksheeshan species is also more powerful physically (and many assume mentally) then their male counter parts. This leads to men living subservient lives as monks, or husbands who care for their wives’ house and demands in servitude. Though, Geksheeshan males have made massive strides socially since the Four Century War. However, the cultures dedication to art, science and innovation is displayed on every street corner. Their cities are masterpieces to behold, looking as if they were sculpted instead of constructed. For nobility, the chasing of status is essential and unending. Every action is taken to raise the family to a higher standard – and it is not uncommon for any house matriarch to resign should she cost her family status in society. 

    • Grand Dominion
    • Allied Republic

Joint Defense Pact

With the budding Democracies struggling to prop themselves up in a galaxy still ravaged by the Four Century War, they united out of desperation. Together the two powers sighed the Joint Defense Pact – a temporary association of desperation in the shadow of the Twin Crown Alliance. However, after the Great War thrashed the Coalition, it became clear the Pact needed to formally set itself in stone. The Coalition and Union reforged the Pact as a permeant political body to combat the threat of their galactic neighbors. 

As time passed the democracies grew, and the Pact grew with them. Once a fledgling nation, the Coalition and Union became superpowers and the Alliance, much like the Convention, found itself facing an opponent of near equal strength. A new cold war began, and battle lines were drawn. Through diplomacy peace won out. 

For now. 

Coalition

    • Nation: The Coalition
    • Capital: Osiris
    • Planets: 300 million
    • Economy: Strong
    • Quality of Life: Average
    • Civil Rights: Ample

History: As the second Imperial Dynasty ended, a series of riots led by Aela Zerus sparked a massive uprising in the Empire. A civil war of colossal proportions broke out across the Earth Empire. After Zerus’s betrayal by her husband, and her murder at the hands of the Empire, vast swaths of the Galaxy were left in the dark, after the conflict cut supply lines. From the ashes of that rebellion rose the Coalition. A former Imperial general by the name of Keyan Araknas organized a council of worlds to establish basic food and humanitarian needs for the fallen Imperial sectors in the Northern Outer Arm. From this council rose a United Coalition of Free Worlds. The dream they sought became a reality as democracy bloomed for the first time in nearly three millennia. In 205NGC the Coalition was recognized by the Convention as a sovereign State.

Politics: The Coalition is burdensomely slow, as it is a deca-million-system democracy, with a senate room large enough to house a minor city, and a council of elected officials serving as a check and balance to the Senate. The Judicial branch is fully autonomous, interpreting the Constitution and delivering amendments to the bill of rights as needed. The Director of the Coalition is the executive branch, elected once every decade. These three bodies counterbalance each other to create a stable power system that governs the people of the Coalition fairly. Politically there are five major political parties within the Coalition: The Grand Nationalists, The Ashen Guard, The Quorum, The Anti-Imperialist, and National Socialist Workers Party are the primary political powers within the Coalition. The Coalition is a well-fare government that is criticized for its punishment of the wealthy, and its nationalist attitude that censors free speech when it is deemed ‘unsafe’ for public spaces. Though its red tape is thick and plentiful, it has the benefit of being well loved by its populace.

Society: Service Before Self is a motto written on the Coalition walls. Its society is highly isolationist, making diplomatic relations with them rather tedious. Of the four major Galactic Powers, they are the only one that has managed any form of true democracy well. Rigid social rules guide the everyday affairs of its citizens. Silence prevails in the subways and peace and courtesy rain in the streets. Elections are a mandate to be followed, and the media is unbiased: unless the government themselves wishes to censor stories. Mostly, the media can report as they wish unless their facts turn out false or misleading. The people are rather hostile to newcomers, seeing Imperials in particular, as dangerous to their society. While far from perfect, the Coalition is one of the few bastions of freedom in the Galaxy.

Valkyron Union

    • Nation: The Valkyron Union
    • Capital: Amun-Ra
    • Planets: 400 million
    • Economy: All-Consuming
    • Quality of Life: Average
    • Civil Rights: Reasonable

History: Built on the ideas of Marcus Campbells famous book Grand Republic, The Valkyron Union is the reflection of Aela Zerus grand revolution. As the Four Century War raged across the Galaxy, an order of Nightfall ‘The Eyes of Valkyr’ set out to carve out a piece of space in the corporate sector of the Earth Empire. They sought the foundation of a Republic. Ultimately, at Solomon Victus betrayal, the revolution failed. In its wake the corporate sector closed, turning that area of space into industrial super giant run on slave labor. But on a sandy world deep in the chaotic Bad Lands, hope rose again. The Valkyron Revolt against the Corporations led by the Heir of Zerus saw the dream of that republic return. In 117 on the New Galactic Calendar the Union was officially recognized by the Twin Crown Alliance as a sovereign nation. 

Politics: The Valkyron Union is a decentralized Republic, democratic in nature. The Union is broken down into sectors: each sector is made up of system states and each system state has a series of local governments right down to the county level. The people have full control over who they elect at the local level. Those elected individuals then elect a representative for the planet. That body of officials elects a representative for the system state and so on and so forth. The only other election that matters to the average citizen is the election of the Praetor, who leads the executive branch of the government. There are tens of millions of political parties across the Union, but there are three primary parties. The Unionists, the conservative party [and most powerful party in the union] who are proponents of the decentralized government, and individual rights. The People’s Republic party, the more liberal party [and second strongest of the big three] who push for the centralization of authority in the union to allow for the expansion of social programs. And the Primus Party, an ultranationalist party that sees outreach programs as a waste of capital, and also push for the centralization of authority to allow for social enforcement policies. The union also holds the Qurum, a series of officials who interpret the nations constitution – and leads the legal branch of government.

Society: While culture varies from place region to region, there are a few consistencies. Individualism is a key component of union culture. Once slaves, it is engrained in their society to leave the individual free of such shackles. The second key component to Union culture is their liberal approach to life. Everything from extravagant parades to more personal entertainment is commonplace and easily accessible. Of the B4, the Union is the most socially progressive: being an all-minority nation, whose traditions lay in diversity.

Consortium of Independent Corporations

  • Astra Combine
  • Sunseed Corps. 
  • Rising Iron
  • Cyber-Insights
  • Bracket Industries

The Badlands