Terran Mandate

The Terran Mandate was once the name of Terra's (Earth's) combined Space Navy, but later abandoned that role, due to no longer being needed for this, and instead went on to become the joint government of Terrans (Earth-descendant homo-sapiens) in the Andromeda Galaxy. 
== History ==
The history of the Terran Mandate begins in the year of 2097 when several Terran Nations formed the Mandate and began contributing to Earth's Space Navy. 
The Terran Mandate started out as a military alliance of most of Earth's influential nations, after Earth (or Terra) reached the interstellar space-age. However, after Earth formally unified as the Terran Republic, the Terran Mandate was given a new identity and a new mission, after the Terran Republic was subdued by the Risen Exarchs, a nation of powerful and advanced aliens from the Milky-way, and the Terran Mandate was tasked with leaving the Milkyway with two important missions:
# Colonize as many worlds as possible to ensure the survival of mankind.
# Find technology and allies that will help defeat the Risen Exarchs. 
The Mandate joined forces with the renegade band of exiles, known as Milky-way Coalition, who opposed the ruler-ship of the Risen Exarchs and escaped to the Andromeda Galaxy, and it effectively became a separate government of the Terrans in the Andromeda Galaxy. 
=== Timeline ===
This timeline serves to provide a brief overview of the advancing history of the Terran Mandate. 
2097 - Terran Mandate is proposed and begins forming between, primarily, Western (or Western-Friendly) Nations, in conjunction with the top-secret manufacturing of Terra's first interstellar space-crafts, after the discovery of a crashed and abandoned space-vessel on Mars, under the ice (which would later turn out to have been an Exarch ship). 
2100 - Terran Mandate is made public, as are the Space Ships and the planned first attempt at interstellar travel (though it is not the first attempt, just the first official attempt). Unfortunately, the first official attempt results in a First Contact War with the Xeng'li who mistake the reverse-engineered Terran Mandate ships for Risen Exarch Ships and open fire, seeing as they are at war with the Risen Exarchs. The Terran Mandate suffers a total defeat during its first official space-battle and Terra is invaded by the Xeng'li who force submission through threat of orbital bombardment. 
2103 - Terran Mandate Space Marines (actually, they were most likely just former soldiers who were now acting as resistance members, but were later largely "redacted" to being Terran Mandate Space Marines) steal several Xeng'li warships and fly to the Xeng'li home-world and force a surrender from the Xeng'li after threatening to nuke the Xeng'li breeding grounds. The Xeng'li become vassals of the humans. 
2104 - The Terran Mandate is attacked by the Xanu, who are angered that the Terrans have disrupted the fragile balance of the Milky-way Coalition and weakened it against their common enemy, the Risen Exarchs, and they seek to liberate the Xeng'li, but the Terran Mandate holds them off long enough for the Alamari, the leading member of the coalition, to step in. 
2105 - The Terran Mandate is swayed to join the Milky-way Coalition, but it is too late. The same year, the Risen Exarchs invade the Sol System and make their move against all the coalition worlds, forcing the unconditional surrender of the Coalition. 
2110 - The Terran Mandate consists of a small fleet of dry-docked ships and a few stations in the Sol-System, but beyond a few unarmed shuttles, the Terran Mandate is not permitted to fly anything or explore outside of the Sol System, and similar conditions apply to other defeated Coalition members, but the Alamari reveal their secret plan to use retro-fitted Exarch technology to leave the Milky-way galaxy and seek Exarch technology to use to defeat the Risen Exarch's with, in the Andromeda Galaxy, which was the first galaxy that the Exarchs explored and which the Risen Exarchs are yet to discover a way to reach. 
All coalition members agree and in secrecy, they use Alamary blueprints to produce massive ark-ships and travel to the center of the Milky-way Galaxy from where they use a Jump-Gate to reach the Andromeda Galaxy. The Terran Mandate is tasked with being the Terran Government in the Andromeda Galaxy and they bring almost 2/3 of the human population with them, the majority of which came from developing countries. 
2150 - Terra-Nova, the capital world of the Terran Mandate, is now an established colony and the last cryo-pods on-board the human ark have been emptied and just around 5 billion Terrans now live in the Andromeda Galaxy. 
2200 - The first Pathfinders are sent out to start exploring the Andromeda Galaxy on-board their Rogue-Trader mother-ships, among them, three Pathfinders from the Terran Mandate (which is more than any other faction contributes). 
2342 - The Xanu Cold-War begins - a war that remains shrouded in mystery. Lasting for decades, the war ends when the Xanu eventually seem to break into two factions, the Synnovian-Xanu and the Neo-Xanu. The Neo-Xanu become vassals of the Terran Mandate, needing protection from the vindictive Synnovian Xanu, whom the Terran Mandate finally declare war with in 2367. 
2371 - The Synnovian Xanu retreat far into the unknown areas of the Galaxy.
2500 - Present day. 
== Geography ==
The Terran Mandate consists of Core-Worlds (Colonies with more than 1 million people living on them) and dozens of smaller colonies and frontiers, scattered across the same Sector of Space, and even some outside of it. 
It should be noted that the Terran Mandate regards a Colony as being a world inhabited by Terrans, which is self-sustaining and has at least 100,000 inhabitants. 
A Frontier-World is not self-sustaining, or is, but has less than 100,000 inhabitants or fulfills neither of these criteria, but is never the less inhabited by Terrans and regarded as a Terran Mandate territory, under military rule (even if the people who live there are civilians). 
It should be noted that Worlds extend their demesne to contain the entire solar-system that the planet in question is within, so if there is a world that is technically a Frontier World in a system where there also is a Colony, the Colony becomes the Solar-system capital and the Frontier World becomes part of the Colony, - but this is rarely the case, and when it is, the other world is typically a sparsely populated barely hospitable world or a moon. 
More TBA
== Demographics ==
Various demographics of the Terran Mandate, as represented as an average. 
=== Culture-groups ===
The Terran Mandate has three main-stream cultures:
* The Republicans are modern civilized humans who live according to 21st Century Western ideals of equal opportunity through free choice of education and freedom to seek employment where ever one wishes. The Republicans constitute ~35% of Terrans. 
* The Spirituals who are often guided by religious traditions and beliefs that are outright anti-progressive, causing the Spirituals to live primitive lifestyles compared to their peers, often bound to follow in the footsteps of their parents. The Spirituals constitute ~45% of Terrans, though it is to be understood that only around ~20% of spirituals are considered "hardcore" practitioners of their ways and traditions, where as the rest are fairly similar, in lifestyle, to Colonial republicans or Norsemen. 
* The Norse who are militaristic, independent and conservative frontiersmen who shy away from civilized living and seek out simpler and purer existences in the remoter regions - living free and hard. The Norse constitute around ~20% of Terrans.
=== Religion ===
Almost 90% of the Terran Mandate population follow one of many sub-sets of the Universal Faith, most of which trace direct heritage to one of the many religions that used to exist on Terra. All faiths on Terra mysteriously united under the banner of the Universal Faith, which permits extremely wide and open interpretations of religion, around the year 2187, and it is suspected that it was the Alamari who caused this, as they desired to unify humans and realized that eliminating religion as a hindrance was a necessity. 
=== Races ===
After centuries with access to genetic manipulation and gene-therapy as well as colonizing new worlds, ethnic purity has become extremely rare, but some enclaves of ethnic purists exist among the most hardcore Spirituals and on some remote frontier-worlds where the Norse who settled them simply haven't yet experienced an influx of other settlers since the early times of the Mandate. 
For the most part, the aforementioned Enclaves consist of people with African or Asian heritages. Statistically, most Terrans in the Andromeda Galaxy are permanently tan with regal, but Western features and tend to sport generic brown eyes and dark hair, but this average is not an accurate representation of how Terrans look at all, as the fashion trends for how to "build your baby" change every generation.
The exception does seem to be Frontier Worlds, where the majority population are North-Western Russian-descendants, or Scandinavian descendants, and the aforementioned Enclaves where the ethnicity tend to remain pure. 
== Government ==
The Terran Mandate is a Federation of Republics, with each Core-World being regarded as a Republic in itself, and every colony being regarded as a self-ruling Federal Territory and every Frontier-World being regarded as a territory under Military rule. 
The Mandate follows a simple government model that it hands down to members of the Federation. 
=== Federation Leadership ===
The Federation has multiple levels of leadership. It is important to note, that in situations where an elected official leaves before their fixed term is over, the person who came in second (or the first person down the ladder who will accept the job) will take over the remainder of the term. 
===== The Supreme Commander =====
The Terran Mandate is a Military Federation and is ultimately a Military Mission for mankind's survival and freedom. That means that the leader of the Federation is designated the Supreme Commander of the Terran Mandate. 
The Supreme Commander is elected by the Federal Senate, and he rules until someone calls for an election to depose him and replace him with a new Supreme Commander, which means for the most part that they rule until they decide to quit - or until they turn 55 (which ever comes first). Only one Supreme Commander has ever been deposed after accusations of corruption. There were talks of another Supreme Commander being investigated, but he resigned before any scandal could come of the issue, but holds the record for shortest term. 
===== The Federal Parliament =====
The Federal Parliament consists of a number of Federal Magistrates and ministers. 
Each Magistrate is elected for a term of 10 years and, but the deputy-magistrate is elected every 5 and assumes position of Magistrate once the magistrate leaves office. Magistrates are politicians who are responsible for a macro-area of government interest, referred to as a "Department". This could be the Department of Justice, which holds the ministries of Corrections, of Courts and of Law-Enforcement under them, among others. 
A Minister is not elected but appointed by the Council-Academia, which is a council that consists of the Professors of the various Universities of the Terran Mandate, until a vote, from the Federal Senate, deposes the minister, until the minister quits or until the minister reaches the age of 55 - which ever of those come first. Each minister is responsible for a minister found in the various Departments of the Federation, and works under the responsible magistrate. 
Magistrates and Ministers do not have any voting rights at all - they cannot even vote for other politicians and certainly have no decision making power in the Federal Senate. 
Ministers are actually investigated for objectivity and must continuously prove their objectivity, which is a strange concept, because Ministers cannot say no to their appointments - but they can immediately resign (though no unwilling Minister has ever been appointed). Ministers must hold a doctorate in a degree that the Council-Academia has determined is the most appropriate, upon the initial creation of the Ministry. 
Magistrates, on the other hand, typically represent a political party or movement that also holds positions in the Federal Senate and will typically focus their work in their department towards the politics that accommodate these political parties. 
When a Federal Crisis is called for, the Senate and Congress are both suspended, and the Parliament becomes the only ruling body of the entire Terran Mandate, but either the Federal Senate, the Congress or the Supreme Commander has to declare a state of crisis (it has only happened once - at the beginning of the Xanu-Cold War, and the crisis lasted 4 months - ironically, many said the Mandate ran better as a whole during those 4 months). 
===== The Federal Congress =====
Each Federal Congressman is elected from among the departing Federal Senators, though the Congressman remains a member of the Senate as well. 
Congress has several functions, for instance, Congress can call for a vote to depose any other politician in the system, if the body that elected the politician votes in favor of the suggestion - those bodies can also call for such a vote on their own, but if the vote is called by Congress, then the politician is effectively suspended pending the vote and an investigation must occur, which is not the case if the electing body calls for the vote. 
Congress can also Veto a number of decisions the Supreme Commander makes, but the Supreme Commander does have the power to overrule a veto, though naturally severely risks being deposed if he does so. 
Congress can, if they manage to vote in favor, take any action that normally falls to the Supreme Commander, such as declare war or propose law-changes etc., but again, the Supreme Commander can Veto any decision of such that Congress makes, in which case, Congress must either alter their request and vote again, send the vote to the Federal Senate who can then vote on the issue or ultimately just give up - or of course move to depose the Supreme Commander. 
===== The Federal Senate =====
The Federal Senate consists of four Federal Senators from every Core-World of the Terran Mandate and four Federal Senate Representatives from the various Colonies. Frontier worlds do not get Senatorial representation. 
Every 5 years, the Governor of a Core-World appoints both a male and a female Senator. Both must be residents of the world they seek to represent, fully functional adults, married, have children and be educated (at least the equivalent of a Master's degree) and have served as officers in the military, having received honorable discharges and none can have any economical interests vested in the various companies and corporations scattered among the Republics. They may either be declared to be: atheists, "of no particular religious preference" or of the Universal Faith - no other religious orientations are permitted. 
During the first five years that the Federal Senate existed, there were only two Senators, but every 5 years, two more are appointed, overlapping, by half a term, with those that already sit on the senate. 
It works the same way for Federal Senate Representatives, but they do not have exactly the same voting power as Federal Senators. 
===== Federal House of Representatives =====
The Federal House of Representatives has no particular function, other than that they can accuse other members of not having upheld their duties. Ultimately, the house of representatives exist to police the Federal Senate. 
Federal Representatives (often confused with Senate Representatives) are elected by the people of their Colony or Core-World, rather than appointed by the Governor. Campaigning is completely illegal for Representatives, and a sophisticated electronic system is used, where campaigners browse based on questionnaires created by the Council-Academia each 5 years, and then shown who match their answers. 
The "voting profile" for each candidate is not dissimilar to a 21st Century Social-Media profile, allowing users to post questions and for the candidate to choose which questions to show at the top of the page and answer these questions, as well as display a wealth of information about their political intentions and agendas and inform the public about themselves - though the information that is mandatory on the page is brutally honest and extremely thorough. 
The same requirements and terms apply to Federal Representatives as to Federal Senators, meaning there are always (except during the very first term) 4. The Representatives can veto any vote made by their group of senators, though each representative can only veto ONE vote from ONE senator at each voting session. 
The representatives work with the Senators to attempt to keep the interest of the people in mind, but they cannot speak in the Senate, but sit in on every session. 
=== Colonial Governments ===
Whether they are Colonies or Core-Worlds, any solar system with a planet in it that is populated beyond being considered a frontier are lead by a Governor who is elected by the System Senate. Colonial Governments function exactly like the Federal Government, but just on a slightly smaller scale, meaning there is a System Parliament, a System Congress, a System Senate and a System House of Representatives, with the Governor being the System-equivalent of the Supreme Leader, and the same terms and requirements apply. 
=== Council-Academia ===
The Council-Academia consists of all Professors of all Universities of the Terran Mandate, except if the Council itself chooses to black-list a University from the Council-Academia. 
To become a professor, one must hold a Doctorate and graduate from the self-same university, except through dispensation from the Council itself (applications for these have always been approved, and the council would have a hard time saying no, due to the process involved in doing just that). 
Colleges (institutions of higher learning that do not offer the opportunity to obtain a doctorate) do not contribute their professors to the Council-Academia. 
Once a Professor has applied for a job at a University and been accepted and then submitted for approval to the Council-Academia and approved, the Professor cannot be fired from his position, except if the council-academia decides to fire the Professor, which most frequently happens at the request of the University itself. 
To become a professor, one must fulfill the same requirements as a potential Federal Senator, though including the aforementioned Doctorate in the subject that the Professor is hired to research or teach. 
The Council-Academia determines how many positions any given University may have, though if a University requests more positions and fulfill the basic requirements to request this (showing an increase in students in the subject, have the free space, have the money to allot to the project of expanding the area of study, etc.), the Council cannot decline. 
The Council also cannot decline research positions, but are required to hire observers who assess if actual research is being conducted and review the findings and data produced. 
== Laws, customs and traditions ==
The Terran Mandate has a number of interesting laws, customs and traditions worthy of mention. 
=== Gun Control ===
Gun Control is a concept that clearly never will work on Earth, because there is no incentive to obey the gun control laws. Criminals who desire to arm themselves in order to commit crimes have no reason not to commit further crimes in order to arm themselves. 
There's no reason a criminal would respect laws that limit caliber restrictions, magazine sizes or respect where and when they may carry a gun. 
The story is somewhat different in the 26th Century for the Terran Mandate - Man-kind started over in a new galaxy, and this time they had gun control from the beginning. 
===== Carrying Laws =====
In the Terran Mandate, one must obtain a weapon-safety license to legally own a weapon. These licenses are normally taken in the 26th Century equivalent of Junior High-School at the latest, but many learn earlier from various past-time recreational organizations. 
Having obtained a Safety-License, a person still must be an adult to carry a weapon, unless for hunting when accompanied by an adult. 
Open carry of pistols is legal everywhere in the entire territory of the Terran Mandate, provided the pistol is holstered. There are no caliber restrictions, but due to risks of collateral damage if the firearm was to get out of control, firearms used for carrying may not be fully-automatic. 
Open carry of anything larger than a pistol is strictly illegal inside of city limits, near properties with structures on them (unless abandoned) and near public roads. Pistols used for open-carry are permitted to hold a total of 20 rounds (not counting the one in the chamber), and the carrier may carry up to two spare magazines. 
Concealed-carry firearms may exclusively be pistols, and may hold no more than 10 rounds (again, not counting the one in the chamber). The carrier may only carry one additional magazine. there's no legal problem if a person carrying a concealed pistol legally, decides to reveal the pistol and no longer conceal it - but the reverse is illegal. 
These laws can be circumvented by applying for a carrying license, which requires one of following conditions to be true:
# Is retired from the military (either 5 years as a non-officer or 20 years as an officer - or retired for other reasons)
# Is Honorably discharged from the military, having served active-duty for at least 1 year (not counting conscription). 
# Is currently an Officer in the military reserve. 
# Is Honorably discharged from the military as an Officer. 
# Has obtained a weapon's permit through classes.
# Has worked for the Police, and left in good standing. 
# Has worked for a Private Security Company, and left in good standing. 
# Is retired from any branch of Government work. 
# Works for the Police. 
# Works for a Private Security Company.
# Works for the Government. 
If the carrying license, or weapon's license, is held by the carrier - they may carry as many magazines as they desire, can enjoy using weapons with no capacity requirements and can conceal or openly carry the weapons as they please. 
===== Ownership Laws =====
All civilian owned weapons must feature a number of safeties:
* Thumb-safety (no legal requirements that this safety need ever be engaged - it just has to work, even if only by a margin)
* Mechanical in-built trigger-lock (no legal requirements that this lock need ever be engaged).
* Grip-Safety
* Trigger-safety. 
When the gun is not carried or in use, the gun must be locked inside a secure case and must be left inside a locked vehicle that is completely closed, or inside a building - but while left in this fashion, the owner may not be more than 5 km away, and not for more than 10 hours. 
All guns are sold with a secure case to transport it in, and in order to own a gun, one must provide a proof-of-installation of a gun-safe (or any safe that fulfills the requirements). These are practically standard in both vehicles and houses. 
All guns are registered by license number, but the license number just reveals who produced it and the specific time that the weapon was produced in a series of other weapons sharing the same general license-code, because anything else is essentially subject to change. Most modern weapons are mag-weapons and cannot be traced by ballistics anyway. 
===== Weapon Laws =====
When a weapon is produced in the Terran Mandate, they are typically sold either as decorations, sporting equipment or tools. This means that the owner requires no license for them, but that they cannot be carried openly in public or used for anything other than their intended purpose. 
It doesn't matter if, say, a registered decorative sword actually is a fully functional combat-sword - if it was registered as a decorative weapon upon purchase, it is (until re-registered) just a decoration. If registered as a piece of sporting equipment, it can be used for sport and practice, but cannot be carried around on a daily basis. 
There are no laws forbidding someone from carrying tools however, but the requirements for an item to qualify as a tool are somewhat harsher than normal. Naturally, the weapon producers of the 26th Century have fully adapted to this, and are excellent at ensuring that their products pass these requirements. 
===== Knife Laws =====
There is a specific law that states that any bladed weapon under the length of 30 cm is regarded as a knife. Apart from specific government buildings and other logical exceptions, there is no way a person can be legally disarmed of their knife, provided it legally qualifies as a knife. It is illegal to brandish a knife in public, unless to use it as a tool, but one is always allowed to carry a knife, concealed or openly. 
== Military ==
Military service is mandatory in the Terran Mandate, with very few exceptions. The entire nation started, and technically remains a military operation with colonization as one of two main agendas, the other being research and advancement of the technology available to the Terran people. 
This effectively means that, in order to be a citizen of the Terran Mandate, one must have served a full conscription term (2 years) in some sort of body of the Terran Mandate Armed Forces, but in the spirit of developing the nations ability to research and develop, the individuals who complete their terms are granted free access to certain levels of education and are encouraged to study - on the penalty of being forcibly recalled into the military for an extended conscription if they don't, lasting as long as the education they were deemed most suitable for, would have lasted. 
Failing to complete the mandatory 2 years of military service (and subsequent extended conscription or education) results in not obtaining citizenship. This could theoretically result in exile, but most frequently just results in loss of voting rights. 
This means, that the two primary focuses of the nation are research and advancement of military might, and for the betterment of the mission, these two objectives are specifically made to overlap.
=== Command ===
A number of Command Groups control the combined Armed Forces of the Terran Mandate. 
===== Terran Mandate Armed Forces Command =====
The TMAFC consists of all Admirals and Generals from all branches of the Terran Mandate Military, but in reality, these typically send a lower-ranking Officer to be their spokes-person who actively sits on the Command Council as a proxy, at least this is the case for all but the Chief-Admirals and Generals.
The TMAFC determines how many General-level Billets are available to each and every single body of the Terran Mandate armed forces, but provided a body requests to be granted additional billets, and they fulfill the requirements (there is an actual reasonable department opening that needs an officer of this level to oversee it), they TMAFC cannot deny this application, but every appointment of a General-level Officer must be approved by the TMAFC.
===== Expeditionary Research and Development Group =====
The ruling body of the Terran Mandate Armed Forces, is the Terran Mandate Armed Forces Command ("TMAFC" or "AFC"), but behind the curtains, the Expeditionary Research and Development Group (ERD) calls quite a few shots. The ERD certainly don't command the forces, but by Government Mandate, until the mission changes, they have the right to Veto any decision made by the TMAFC and any request or suggestion they make can only be cancelled or turned down by the Government itself, unless the request was illegal. 
The ERD rarely interferes with the TMAFC in general, at least not on a noticeable level. The most they ever did insert themselves in a major political issue, was during the Xanu Cold-war, which they were rumored to have had a great hand (and interest) in. 
===== Terran Mandate Special Operations Command =====
The units who work under Terran Mandate Special Operations Command ("Spec. Ops." or "SOC") work directly under the leadership of TMAFC, but can also be directly commanded by the government, without the knowledge of the TMAFC. They are universally known as the "Space Rangers" or the "N7". Calling them either is completely normal, and they even refer to themselves as such, but it is a misconception that their formal name is in any way involved with either of these designations or that they can legitimately be called as such. 
All members of SOC, from the lowliest support soldier to the General himself, have completed the Space Ranger Course. The Space Ranger Course itself is just a few months of schooling and is not at all difficult or hard, but in order to qualify, the candidate must qualify for the following sub-courses first: 
# Precision Marksmanship (Sniping) 
# Ranger (reconnaissance - the full course involves mastering small-unit infantry combat in the following terrains: desert, jungle, mountains and arctic) 
# CSAR 
# Sapper 
# Zero-G (astronaut training combined with Airborne training) 
# SWAT 
# Combat Swimmer 
Nx (where "x" is a number) is the designation added after the traditional MOS designation of any soldier who has completed any number of these courses. A soldier who has the MOS "11B" becomes "11B-N1" if he completes any of the above mentioned courses. 
The N7 designation is thus extremely difficult to obtain, but any "N" designation can be worn on the uniform as a badge of pride and anyone who has the N7 designation, regardless of whether they've completed Space Ranger School (the final course, only taught to those who are entering the service of SOC) or not, can call themselves Space Rangers. 
While all members of SOC need to have the N7 Designation, and as such can call themselves "Space Rangers" so can several individuals who are not members of SOC, and further more, only the Operative Members of SOC obtain ranks of the Operator personnel group. 
=== Branches ===
Some of the listed Branches or Bodies exist in multiple versions, with there being a similar, but separate instance of the body in each populated Solar System. A Branch differs from a Department, in that the same department can have representation in multiple branches, but the branches are rather defined by their mission and who controls them. 
===== Defense Forces =====
The Terran Mandate Defense Forces are localized Fighting Forces that, only in extreme emergencies (Federal Crisis) can be mobilized beyond their own solar-system (not even by their own local Government's orders can they legally mobilize for anything else). 
Defense Forces recruit Officers for both full-time and part-time positions from other branches, and then are primarily staffed by soldiers who worked full-time during their training, but then transition to a part-time job with the Defense Force. 
Defense Forces are always 75% Planetary Forces (Army, Navy, Air-Force) aimed at air-space and orbital defense as well as listening posts, radars and basically anti-invasion elements, and then 25% System-Guard (essentially a space-version of a Coast-Guard). 
===== Republican-, Colonial- & Territorial Guards =====
The Guards are small space-navies that are 100% at the disposal of the Republic or Territory that they belong to. The local Government may spend as much as 10% of their GNP on their Guards (few spend more than the minimum 5%), as long as they spend at least 5% of the GNP on their Defense Forces (unless deemed that the expenditure is not required). 
The Guards can, during a Federal Crisis, be mobilized by the Mandate, but otherwise they Guards serve as local military response that can be mobilized for smaller crisis situation, where as the Defense Forces can exclusively be used to defend the solar-system against invasions. 
The Guards are usually entirely consisting of full-time units, unlike the Defense Forces. 
===== Terran Mandate Space Navy =====
The Terran Mandate Space Navy is an expeditionary Space Navy that heeds the command of the Federal Government of the Terran Mandate. Their mission is to fight wars on behalf of the Government and to defend all members of the nation both inside and outside of the Terran Mandate borders. 
=== Departments ===
There are various departments of the Terran Mandate Armed Forces. 
===== Terran Mandate Army =====
Composed of the Brigades made up of the various Defense Forces, the Army is primarily composed of Reserve and part-time forces and are exclusively planetary defense forces, though that doesn't mean that they don't train for actual offensive combat or even for invasions, as they are technically required to defend their entire solar-system. 
The Terran Mandate Space Extra Terrestrial Marine Corps (called "Space Marines") are those who are on permanent detachment to the Space Navy, but who are formally members of another branch, though are on permanent "Detachment" to the Space Navy, and the Space Marines are primarily composed of Army personnel. 
The Terran Mandate Terrestrial Marine Corps, being an extremely small unit of soldiers who accompany the few actual Terrestrial Naval Vessels, also has its people on permanent detachment from the Army, though it is perhaps one of the smallest organized branches of the Armed Forces. 
===== Terran Mandate Air Force =====
Similarly to the Terran Mandate Army, the Air Force consists of various Brigades scattered between the various Defense Forces with majority of the members being reserve or part-time. Anything that relates to Air-Space Defense falls into their jurisdiction, which means most defenses at this point. Because most logistics are airborne in the 26th Century, they also handle many of the Armed Forces logistics, though all of their sites are guarded by the Aero-Corps, which are on permanent detachment from the Army. 
There is a number of Air Force members serving in the Terran Mandate Extra Terrestrial Marine Corps on permanent detachment, as pilots and spacecraft crew as well as spacecraft maintenance crew. The rule of thumb is, if the spacecraft is capable of atmospheric entry and landing on a planet, then the pilot must be trained for in-atmosphere flight and must be from the Air Force, and therefor is a Space Marine on Detachment from the Air Force, but if the ship doesn't have these capabilities (as is the case with most larger ships), then it is a Space Navy vessel, and the Pilot is not a pilot at all, but a Helmsman. 
The Terran Mandate Aero-Corps is an Air-Force equivalent of the Terrestrial Marine Corps, being a detachment that serves to guard and accompany Air-Force units. The Aero-Corps consists of Airborne Combat Units, Guards and even Air-Crew. Any position that doesn't involve sensitive equipment that requires specialized air-force training to work with, is typically handled by members of the Aero-Corps, which means just about half of the actual Air-Force are in reality members of the Army on permanent Detachment. The duties that normally fall to the Aero-Corps is handled by the Space Marines on board Space Navy vessels. 
===== Terran Mandate Terrestrial Navy =====
The name of this Department is almost self-contradicting, but as Terrestrial has gradually started to take on a new meaning, it was determined that it was better to name the actual Maritime/Nautical fighting-force "terrestrial" instead of calling them the "Marine Navy", which would have been easily confusing. 
Not all planets, that are currently hospitable and colonized, even have bodies of water that are large enough to warrant the implementation of an actual Maritime/Nautical combat force, but some are and when that is the case, a traditional Navy is practically a must-have. 
The traditional Navy mainly ferries cargo for civilians to make up for the costs of patrolling the sea, and otherwise function as explorers and platforms to launch deep-sea expeditions to map the crevices of the oceans and massive lakes found on some planets, as actual Naval Combat is a somewhat decaying concept. 
The Navy doesn't even use ships anymore for the most part - at least not in the conventional sense. Rather, the navy uses repulsion-crafts, which can cover a certain distance above the surface below, usually heavy enough to maintain total stability, even if the water below is moving. 
The traditional Navy doesn't lend people on Detachment, and is among the smallest and militarily of least importance, but scientifically of great importance, as the ships are great research platforms and mobile laboratories. Almost everyone who works in the Terrestrial Navy are Specialists or Tech-Officers of some sort, and work full-time. 
===== Terran Mandate Terrestrial Marine Corps =====
The Terran Mandate Terrestrial Marine Corps is a very small unit, that primarily function as Security Guards on board the few existing maritime/nautical ships that the Terran Mandate actually has, and they provide security on Naval bases as well. If the naval vessels include air crafts or the like, the crews of these are also members of the Terrestrial Marine Corps. 
It is quite possibly the smallest sub-branch of the armed forces in the Terran Mandate, and all of the personnel in the corps are on permanent detachment from either the Air-Force or the Army. 
===== Terran Mandate Aero-Corps =====
The Terran Mandate Aero-Corps is the Air-Force equivalent of the Marine Corps, being essentially Army personnel assigned as security or crew details to an Air-Force unit. They make up just about half of the actual Air-Force. 
===== Terran Mandate Space Navy =====
The Terran Mandate Space Navy is the primary active-duty military department of the Terran Mandate and practically synonymous with "the military". The Space Navy employs very few non-technical soldiers among their crews, as these roles are primarily filled by the Space Marines, who are actually Army and Air Force personnel on permanent detachment to the Space Navy. 
The Space Navy consists of a number of Fleets, with each fleet being lead by an Admiral of some sort. Rear Admirals typically are placed in charge of a number of installations (usually outposts) and the ships that patrol between them, where Vice-Admirals lead support fleets and Admirals lead traditional expeditionary fleets. 
The vast majority of Space Navy personnel are former Air Force staff who re-enlist into the Space Navy, as the Air Force tends to handle similar equipment and as a result has become the main recruitment pool for the Space Navy that rarely hires untrained personnel anymore, though some do enter the Space Navy as their first assignment, and there is a specific training fleet with the singular purpose of educating these individuals. 
===== Terran Mandate Extra Terrestrial Marine Corps =====
Contrary to the Terran Mandate Space Navy, the vast minority of the Terran Mandate Extra Terrestrial Marine Corps (called "Space Marines") are technical personnel. Fulfilling the roles as Combat soldiers on the many Space Navy vessels, the Space Marines are both the primary occupational- and expeditionary forces of the Terran Mandate. 
On permanent detachment to the Space Navy, no actual Space Marine is ever factually speaking Space Navy personnel, but merely permanently reassigned from the Army or the Air Force, while still formally belonging to their original Branch, though entirely and permanently integrated into the Space Navy. 
This is just one way the Space Navy saves tons of money from its budget - because the Armies and Air-Forces are bank-rolled by the Terran Mandate colonies (the Defense Forces) and the very same are required to pay for the salary, training and equipment of the Space Marines, where as the Space Navy itself is funded by the Federation itself. 
Because the Colonies are generally small, there is no need for them to reasonably spend the required 5% of GNP on their military expenses, because they don't need that large and powerful a military, so quite a significant portion of that money goes directly into funding the Space Marines. 
===== Terran Mandate System-Guard =====
The System-Guard, also often called "Solar-Guards", Republican-Guards, Colonial-Guards or Territorial-Guard are effectively Space-Navies that are owned and controlled by the various membership-republics, territories and colonies of the Terran Mandate. 
In reality, because the various Colonies have little to no use for such units, but are required to spend 5% of GNP on these Space-Navies, the Terran Mandate dictates that any System-Guard unit must report for duty with the Terran Mandate Armed Forces Command, unless the controlling faction can reasonably show need for reassignment. 
This means the System-Guards effectively are just another set of Flotillas (one per system) that the Terran Mandate fully integrates into its effective Space Navy, with exception of what ever few forces the owning systems reasonably need for patrolling. 
Admittedly, the System-Guard units are typically smaller vessels, ill-suited for proper expeditionary combat and are rather used as patrol-vessels to patrol Terran Mandate space as a whole, but also sent out to patrol and be stationed at Terran Mandate outposts. 
=== Recruitment ===
The Terran Mandate has mandatory military service, but it is a bit more complex than that. Once a Terran graduated Basic School, they are typically 15 years old, and then they are shipped off to a Military Academy. The Military Academy is extremely similar to the actual Military and serves as preparation into the extremely militarized life in the Terran Mandate, but also to ensure that Terrans have the necessary skills to succeed during their Conscription term - which makes sense considering that their citizenship hinges on them succeeding. 
Terrans attend the Military Academy until the age of 20, at which they graduate (hopefully) and their conscription term begins. 
All Terran Mandate Conscripts train at an Armed Forces Conscription Training Base, for 1 year. During this year, they learn basic infantry skills for about 4 months as the last thing, but start out learning the ways of basic military bureaucracy, drill, chain of command and must pass several courses, including: 
* Basic logistics, where they learn packing, plucking and shipping as well as how to actually transport and deliver cargo with various vehicles and under various conditions. 
* Basic Field-Medic, which is the same as Basic Para-Medic training from the civilian world, but with the added element of being shot at. 
* Basic Security, which is a lengthy course that teaches various aspects of security Work. 
* Basic fire-fighting, which is the same as the civilian version. 
* Basic 
===== Choices after Basic Training =====
After the one year has passed, the Conscripts are allowed to choose how they want to continue their service, or default to a ~2 year extension of their conscription, which results in assignment pending needs and estimated talents to an active duty unit. 
Students who achieved good grades from the Military Academy can opt to take their one year of Mandatory Service as Reserve Duty (meaning they work extremely little), and are allowed to enroll in a university. 
Those who do well during their conscription and also did good in the Academy are offered Reserve Officer Training during their time as students, meaning they have no military obligations off campus, but train with a local Corps Cadet unit, to become Officers. 
Those with mediocre ratings from the Academy (or both) are forced to select part-time work in the Defense Forces while studying or choosing active-duty service for one year before they do a full-exit and then pursue their studies or extending their Conscription for another ~2 years and refuse to study. 
Choosing active duty for a single year seems like a bad choice, and it is frequently not permitted unless the Graduate showed promise during their Conscription, but perhaps not during their Academy time. When this is the case, the Graduate is asked to join a unit, in return for being admitted into the Reserve Officer Training Program after their year is up - at which point they've typically spent 6 months of training for their duty-station and occupational specialty and then another 6 months deployed somewhere (often more than that, because their return or deployment might have gotten extended). 
===== Rewards for Conscription =====
The Conscription term, however it it is fulfilled, is rewarded with a free undergraduate's degree (complete with an allowance for food, 3 free meals per day, a private small dormitory apartment and all general expenses paid during educational stay). Completion of the Undergraduate's Degree (2 years of studies in a subject) permits the the former Conscript to Enlist back into the military as a Specialist 1st Class or a as a Junior Petty Officer 3rd Class if their undergraduate's degree doesn't match any current requirements in the military. The military is obligated to allow them back in, provided they were honorably discharged. 
===== Enlistment =====
Those who Enlist, which they cannot do until they have fulfilled their conscription term, do so for 5 years at a time - 2 years in active duty and 3 in some sort of Reserve or Part-time Unit or also in Active Duty if so desired. 
===== Rewards for Enlistment =====
Those who enlist are permitted to go back to school at the end of their Enlistment contract (or when their time in the Reserve Duty or Part-time Duty begins), for free, for another 3 years resulting in a Graduate's Degree (~5 years of studies in a subject, though the last year is an internship, arranged by the school - more often than not, the internship is IN the Military if possible). 
===== Corps Cadet =====
If a person gains access to the Reserve Officer Training Program, they will (simultaneously with their Undergraduate's Degree) train to become Junior Petty Officers (defaults to Army training unless the Cadet is already enrolled with a specific branch or applies for specific area studies). 
Upon completing their Undergraduate's Degree, they are also Commissioned as Junior Petty Officers of the relevant Branch, and this means their contractual obligation to the Military changes from what ever they already had, to a 20-year contract, of which they have to serve at least 5 in active duty, unless they hit the 20-year mark before getting the chance to do so (any years already spent in the military on any kind of contract count towards the 20 years). 
Some people immediately transition into Active Duty upon graduation, either because they did poorly during their time in school and didn't obtain the necessary grades to advance in their studies, or because they choose to do so. Those who make the former of the two choices are, after their 5 years of Service, allowed to go back to their studies regardless of their grades - earning the right to tutoring and other means necessary to get them through. 
Those who have good grades typically choose to serve in a reserve capacity and continue their training in the Corps Cadet and in school, training themselves for higher levels of leadership and administration. 
=== Structure ===
The military operates in two main groups, the Common Group and the Technical Group. The Technical Group usually has educatinal requirements at one level higher than the Common Group, and the pay is also one grade higher than the equivalent Common rank, but ironically, except for the case of Privates where it is reversed, Technical Group members always rank below their equivalent Common counterparts, but do not rank equal to or lower than the previous rank, in the case of a 3rd class level technical soldier. The actual ranks differ in specific names and titles from body to body, but formally follow the below-found designations: 
===== Privates =====
Common Privates are soldiers with no Leadership responsibility. They work on 5 year contracts and cannot re-enlist if they reach their fifth year and remain members of this personnel group at the end of the fifth year, unless they re-enlist after obtaining access to a different personnel group through other means (such as Corps Cadet). All Privates can simply be referred to as "Private". 
* Private 3rd Class (Called a "recruit") - A single downward pointing echelon
* Private 2nd Class - Two downward facing echelons, one below the other
* Private 1st Class - Three downward facing echelons, all three consecutively below each other
* Master Private - Three downward facing echelons, all three consecutively below each other, with a symbol above (the Symbol being the symbol of the branch the Private belongs to). . 
Technical Privates are called Specialists, and work under the same contractual terms as Common Privates. Specialists are paid better than Privates of equivalent Rank, by one full rating, meaning a Master Technical Private makes as much money as a Junior Petty Officer 3rd Class, however, many specialists have degrees and despite this, do not work as officers, even though they are technically qualified. All Technical Privates are always referred to as "Specialist", and optionally their rating. 
* Technical Private 3rd Class - A single straight horizontal line
* Technical Private 2nd Class - Two straight horizontal lines, one below the other. 
* Technical Private 1st Class - Three straight horizontal lines, all three consecutively below each other. 
* Master Technical Private - Three straight horizontal lines, all three consecutively below each other. 
===== Junior Petty Officer =====
Junior Petty Officers are typically those who Graduate from the Corps Cadet or the the Officer's Academy, who hold an Undergraduate's Degree. Junior Petty Officers are theoretically speaking, exactly that - Junior middle-management. In reality, they're actually often Privates with a 20-year contract. 
* Junior Petty Officer 3rd Class - A single upward pointing echelon (in infantry units, referred to as a "lance-corporal", but often otherwise referred to - possibly a bit as a joke, as a "Command-Private")
* Junior Petty Officer 2nd Class - Two upward facing echelons, one above the other (usually referred to as a "corporal")
* Junior Petty Officer 1st Class - Three upward facing echelons, all three consecutively above each other (usually referred to as a "master corporal")
* Chief Junior Petty Officer - Three upward facing echelons, all three consecutively above each other with a symbol below the lowest echelon (usually referred to as a "command corporal"). 
Technical Junior Petty Officers differ from Common Junior Petty Officers in the same way that Specialists differ from Common Privates, by being one rating higher in pay but also by having higher degree-requirements across the board. Unlike Common Junior Petty Officers, the job of being a Technical Junior Petty Officer is definitely a one-way track to leadership positions. 
* Technical Junior Petty Officer 3rd Class - A single upward pointing half-echelon 
* Technical Junior Petty Officer 2nd Class - Two upward facing half-echelons, one above the other
* Technical Junior Petty Officer 1st Class - Three upward facing half-echelons, all three consecutively above each other
* Chief Technical Junior Petty Officer - Three upward facing half-echelons, all three consecutively above each other with a symbol below the lowest half-echelon
===== Senior Petty Officer =====
Senior Petty Officers are the true middle-management of the armed forces, and not just excuses to bind good soldiers contractually to the military for decades. Senior Petty Officers require Graduate's degrees and the majority who reach this personnel group never advance out of it, though it is a marginal majority. 
* Senior Petty Officer 3rd Class - Three upward facing echelons, all three consecutively above each other and one downward facing bow below the lowest echelon (usually called a "Sergeant" or sergeant 3rd class)
* Senior Petty Officer 2nd Class - Three upward facing echelons, all three consecutively above each other and two downward facing bows, consecutively below each other, below the lowest echelon (in infantry units, usually called a "Gunnery Sergeant", and otherwise typically called a "Line Sergeant" or sergeant 2nd class)
* Senior Petty Officer 1st Class - Three upward facing echelons, all three consecutively above each other and three downward facing bows, consecutively below each other, below the lowest echelon (usually called a "Command-Sergeant" or sergeant 1st class)
* Chief Senior Petty Officer - Three upward facing echelons, all three consecutively above each other and three downward facing bows, consecutively below each other, below the lowest echelon and a symbol in the hollow between the highest bow and the lowest echelon (usually called a "Staff-Sergeant").
Technical Senior Petty Officers and Common Senior Petty Officers, once more, follow the exact same pattern of differences as the Technical Privates did from the Common Private, and similarly as with the Common Senior Petty Officers, only a little less than half ever advance out of the Personnel Group. Technical Senior Petty Officers are consecutively referred to as "Technical Sergeants". 
* Technical Senior Petty Officer 3rd Class - Three upward facing half-echelons, all three consecutively above each other and one straight horizontal line, a small distance below the lowest half-echelon.
* Technical Senior Petty Officer 2nd Class - Three upward facing half-echelons, all three consecutively above each other and two straight horizontal lines, consecutively below each other, a small distance below the lowest half-echelon.
* Technical Senior Petty Officer 1st Class - Three upward facing half-echelons, all three consecutively above each other and three straight horizontal lines, consecutively below each other, a small distance below the lowest half-echelon.
* Technical Chief Senior Petty Officer - Three upward facing half-echelons, all three straight horizontal lines, consecutively below each other, a small distance below the lowest half-echelon and a symbol in the hollow between the highest line and the lowest half-echelon.
===== Junior Officers =====
Commonly just referred to as Junior Officers, the requirement to obtain such a rank is a Master's Degree. Junior Officers are typically very high in the chain of command within the sub-units of operational units (Companies or Departments), working directly under the leadership as administrative overseers with their main task being to ensure that the administrative needs of the sub-unit are met at all times, and so in many ways, the Junior Officers work for the Senior Petty Officers, and not the other way around - but the relationship should be seen as that of employer and employee, where the employer provides the tools and means for the employee to be able to do their business, but where the middle-management (the Senior Petty Officers) inform the employer what those needs are, though it is not always so transparent, and a good Junior Officer is required to be deductive in their ability to hunt down these needs (needs can also be punishment, training or replacement of personnel - at least from a military point of view). Junior Officers can safely be addressed as "Lieutenant". 
* Junior Administrative Officer 3rd Class - A single bar (referred to as Command-Cadet - A lieutenant in training, often working under another Lieutenant as an assistant - Sometimes derogatorily called a "Butter Bar"). 
* Junior Administrative Officer 2nd Class - Two bars, side-by-side (referred to as a 2nd Lieutenant - A proper lieutenant) 
* Junior Administrative Officer 1st Class - Three bars, side-by-side (referred to as a 1st Lieutenant, - Typically an assistant to a Master-Chief). 
* Chief Junior Administrative Officer - Three bars, side-by-side with a line drawn through the middle, binding all three bars together as if speared by it (referred to as a "Master-Chief" if not in command of a Vessel, or as a Captain if in Command of a Vessel). 
===== Junior Technical Officer =====
Differing from their administrative counterparts in the same way as previous examples of Technical officers have from their common counterparts, Junior Technical Officer is a personnel group that extremely few advance from (one in ten). Consecutively referred to as "Technical Officers". From this level and above, a Doctorate is required for the Technical Officers, and almost with no exception, Technical Officers of these ranks work in ERD. 
* Junior Technical Officer 3rd Class - A single hollow circle 
* Junior Technical Officer 2nd Class - Two hollow circles, side-by-side 
* Junior Technical Officer 1st Class - Three hollow circles, side-by-side
* Chief Junior Technical Officer - Three hollow circles, side-by-side with a line drawn through the middle, binding all three circles together as if speared by it. 
===== Senior Officers =====
Senior Officers, contrary to what was evident from the previous pattern followed, do not require a doctorate - though if they obtain one and were already Junior Officers, they will likely be ranked as Junior Technical Officer 1st Class, which lands them at the same pay-rate as a Senior Administrative Officer 3rd Class. Senior Administrative Officers are normally promoted based on experience and merit. 
* Senior Administrative Officer 3rd Class - A single diamond (in terrestrial units, referred to as a "Major", but in other units referred to as a Provost otherwise or as Provost-Captain if in command of a vessel, or simply as Captain informally in the same case). 
* Senior Administrative Officer 2nd Class - Two diamonds, side-by-side (referred to as an "Adjutant", or as adjutant-captain if commanding a vessel, or simply Captain informally in the same case). 
* Senior Administrative Officer 1st Class - Three diamonds, side-by-side (referred to as a "Colonel" or "Commodore" if commanding a vessel). 
* Chief Senior Administrative Officer - Three diamonds, side-by-side with a line running through all three diamonds, binding them together, as if speared (referred to as "Brigadier" if a Terrestrial unit commander, or "Flotillier" if Naval)
Senior Technical Officers do not differ from the remainder of their kind purely because Senior Administrative Officers do not require a higher education than Junior Administrative Officers, meaning the same educational requirements are in effect for both Senior and Junior Technical Officers. There are extremely few Senior Technical Officers, and it is impossible to advance out of this personnel group without becoming an Administrative Officer instead, and that has never happened and likely never will. 
* Senior Technical Officer 3rd Class - A single circle with an X in it 
* Senior Technical Officer 2nd Class - Two circles with X symbols in them, side-by-side 
* Senior Technical Officer 1st Class - Three circles with X symbols in them, side-by-side 
* Chief Senior Technical Officer - Three circles with X symbols in them, side-by-side with a line running through all three circles, binding them together, as if speared
====== Flag Officers ======
Flag Officers are Generals and Admirals, marked by Stars as their insignia symbols and coming in three classes, referred to as (respectively), rear-, vice- and Command General or Admiral with the Chief-General/Admiral being the Supreme Commander himself. 
===== Other Ranks =====
Some Ranks exist outside of the common rank-structure, but are typically equivalent to that of Junior Officer and are to be assumed so unless otherwise noted. Special Ranks always outrank those they equal in rank, but do not rank equal or higher than the next level, in case of Chief/Master level. 
* Military Police Officers have three sub-categories of their own, being Petty Military Police Officer (4 ranks, equivalent to Senior Petty Officers), Junior Military Police Officer (4 ranks, equivalent to Junior Administrative Officer) and Senior Military Police Officer (4 ranks, equivalent to Senior Administrative Officer) and then there is the Chief of the Military Police, who is the only General Level Military Police Officer of the 3rd class. 
* Operators, as they're called, rank from Special Warfare Operator 3rd Class to Chief Special Warfare Operator (may be addressed as "Master-Chief") Operator and the ranks are equivalent to those of a Junior Officer. Any Operator, except a Chief Special Warfare Operator, may be referred to simply as Operator.