Centrum Assembly

## Flag

The Sapphire Flag of the Centrum Assembly

The **Centrum Assembly** (**C.A.** or **CA**) is a democratic parliamentary republic, formed from several formerly-independent nation-states on the planet of Centrum, that spans across the expanse of the Tantalus Cluster. Founded after the discovery of Drift, the Assembly governed the expansion of colonies within the Centrum System and humanity's colonisation of other star systems in the Tantalus Cluster.

The Centrum Assembly represented civilisation in Tantalus for nearly three hundred years before four star systems declared independence in 0290 PCU and formed the Frontier Union in reaction to the developing Great Famine. In the ensuing Frontier War, the Centrum Assembly was victorious over the Frontier Union, but the conflict drastically exacerbated the Tantalus Cluster's resource crisis. This has forced the Centrum Assembly, the Frontier Union, and the Merician Freehold to pool their resources to create the Avalon Exploratory Initiative, an expedition to the distant nebula CDC-41-Gamma in the hope of finding new resources for humanity.

The Assembly is seated on humanity's homeworld, Centrum, where the government organs and the military headquarters are situated.

## History

### Establishment

The discovery of Drift, a material with unique gravitoelectromagnetic properties on the Centran moon of Lysara, opened an entirely new area of scientific and technological research, permitting the development of the Drift Drive and enabling the rapid exploration of the Centrum System. Within three years of the discovery of Drift, the nation-states of Centrum were unified under the banner of the Centrum Assembly, and the year of Centrum unification is the epoch of the Tantalus Cluster calendar.

Within two years of unification, the first Drift-powered spacecraft began to chart and settle the worlds of the Centrum System, permitting the colonisation of Centrum's moons, the nearby planet of Destrum, and the gas giant Arasin Maxima. Early conflicts over rights to mineral resources, such as the Arasinian Commerce War, led to the formation of the Centran Defence Force.

### Expansion

In 0010 PCU, the first Drift Gate, designed to enable travel to another star system, began construction at the Hadimus Gateforge, and in 0017 PCU, the Centrum-Pioneer Drift Gate allowed for the establishment of the first human settlement outside the Centrum System on the planet of Storm in the Pioneer System.

Over the next few decades, the Assembly would settle the Rialtis and Axius Systems. In 0053 PCU, a colony expedition sent out from the Keeper's Dance System was lost. This would later become known as the Great Merician Exile, and the survivors would establish a new state known as the Merician Freehold. Nevertheless, the Assembly would not learn that the expedition had survived for 157 years.

In the 0170s PCU, the Centrum Assembly fought Halpern's War. This would be the last time the Centrum Defence Force experienced heavy fighting until the outbreak of the Frontier War over a century later.

### Settling the Frontier

In 0210 PCU, the Merician Freehold reestablished contact with the Centrum Assembly. The decade of the 0210s PCU was marked by the colonisation of four systems in the southeastern reaches of the Tantalus Cluster, Atamara Crossroads, Teldrin, Maiala's Rest, and Dalstaff. These systems' planets were barely-habitable to humans and were initially settled as part of a test of human adaptability on near-uninhabitable worlds, making use of new survival techniques and settlement designs. Heavily dependent on food and resources imported from the rest of the Assembly, these systems suffered repeated shortages and growing poverty as a combination of government incompetence, corruption, and piracy delayed shipments to the systems.

In an effort to redress this, the four systems' representatives in the Centrum Parliament formed a political party called the Frontier Union, aiming to bring the frontier worlds' difficulties to the Centran government's attention. However, the response from the government was unsympathetic, and the Assembly showed more interest in the colonisation of the Firewatch System. Settled by the *Wanderer* colonisation platform over a period of nine years from 0239-0248 PCU, the Firewatch System received vast sums of money to support the new colony on Firewatch II and the exploitation of the system's rich mineral resources. The apparent favouritism shown to Firewatch at the expense of the Frontier worlds, and the indifference of the Centrum Parliament to their plight, provoked intense resentment.

### Rising tensions

In 0270 PCU, the Assembly entered a resource crisis known as the Great Famine. Provoked by a combination of overpopulation, the natural stellar aridity of the Tantalus Cluster, and the difficulties of large-scale interstellar transport, the Famine is an advanced state of resource depletion that affects everything from the supply of Drift to basic foods. Conditions were the worst in the four Frontier systems. Ultranationalist groups, embittered by the lack of activity in Parliament, resorted to terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the *Wanderer* in the Firewatch System in 0277 PCU.

### The Frontier War

In 0290 PCU, an ultranationalist group in the Frontier systems launch a coup, massacring the systems' MPs and declaring the independence of the four systems as the Frontier Union. The Frontier Union Militia then attacked the rest of the Assembly, beginning the ten-year Frontier War. Having not fought a major war for over a century, the Centrum Defence Force proved unable to resist the Union's Tandil Rush offensive, and the Assembly swiftly lost control of the Seravis Major and Cardeus Brink Systems before the Union's advance was halted in the Valeria Sibus System. The Union was unable to take the Axius System however, and the conflict developed into a war of attrition where the Assembly's greater population and superior industrial base worked to its advantage.

After the Union again failed to take the Axius System in the Fourth Battle of Axius, the Frontier War seemed certain to end in an Assembly victory and the Union Council began surrender negotiations. However, irreconcilable elements of the Frontier Union Militia attempted to seize a Drift Gate in the Atamara Crossroads System, which they planned to re-orient and use to accelerate a captured asteroid into Centrum to cause an extinction-level event. This was thwarted by the Centran Defence Force at the Battle of the Atamara Crossroads. While the battle ended in a Centran victory, the exceedingly-bloody engagement was nevertheless remembered as "the blackest day in Centran history." The Frontier War ended shortly afterwards with an unconditional Union surrender.

## Government and politics

The Centrum Assembly is governed as a parliamentary democracy. Representatives are elected to the Parliament, which in turn appoints the Cabinet and Prime Minister. Parliament is currently dominated by two political parties, the tradition-minded Civic Formalist Party, and the more progressive and individualist People's Modernist Party.

## Foreign relations and military

The Assembly's first foreign relations were with the Merician Freehold, with whom it re-established contact in 0210 PCU. During the Frontier War, the Assembly nevertheless retained a degree of diplomatic relations with the Frontier Union, agreeing to the Treaty of Mizudori, which guaranteed the neutrality of the Merician Freehold during the war. An important element of the Assembly's foreign policy is the Carida Concordance, which governs the safe use of Drift Gates. With the conclusion of the Frontier War, the Assembly has agreed to establish the Avalon Exploratory Initiative as a joint effort with the Frontier Union and the Merician Freehold, in the hope that the expedition to CDC-41-Gamma will return with new resources to resolve the Great Famine.

The Centran Defence Force is the Assembly's armed forces. The CDF's customs reflect Centrum's long maritime tradition, and the unified armed forces are built around fleets of combat vessels like the *Tripathia*- and *Tetrarch*-class ships of the line. The Centran Marine Corps provides onboard security, boarding parties, and landing parties, while the Centran Provost Corps serves as a military police and surface garrison force.

Following Halpern's War in the 0170s PCU, the CDF was reduced in role to more of a police service than an offensive military, and entered the Frontier War unprepared for heavy combat. Ultimately, the Centrum Assembly's economic and industrial strength meant that the CDF was able to fight the Frontier War to a Centran victory in 0300 PCU.

## Economy and society

The Centrum Assembly's currency is the clarion. The geography of the planet Centrum means that the Assembly's culture has heavy nautical influences, and the trappings of oceangoing life (such as the good-luck expression "Fair Winds") have found their way into every aspect of society, from education and literature to song and music. For centuries these values have led Centran society to emphasise discipline and tradition, though this has changed in the generations following humanity's expansion into space, which has created a trend towards innovation and individualism among the younger generations. This has been met with some distaste by many older and more traditionalist Centran families.

The Assembly's culture has been influenced by its colonisation of other star systems, with stonewine from Rialtis IV and whiskey from Firewatch II becoming renowned across the Cluster. Firewatch is also known for its unconventional artworks, while the university planet of Axius is known as the centre of academia in the Tantalus Cluster.

The system of Keeper's Dance is the Assembly's industrial heart, and is home to Keeper's Dance Fleet Yards, the wealthiest and largest shipbuilding concern in the Tantalus Cluster. With the onset of the Great Famine, much of the Assembly's cultural traditions have fallen into decay: Hardtack and Protein Bricks are now common elements of people's diets, and traditional food and drink is regarded as a valuable commodity.

## Territory

The Centrum Assembly is the largest nation in Tantalus, controlling ten star systems, and quite likely has the highest population in the Cluster. The lynchpin of its territory is the Centrum System itself, and all Drift Lanes in Assembly territory pass through the system.

The Assembly controls the following systems:

* Centrum System
* Pioneer System
* Axius System
* Keeper's Dance System
* Rialtis System
* Firewatch System
* Valeria Sibus System
* Vidara System
* Seravis Major System
* Cardeus Brink System

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 *The Sojourn Visual Dictionary - Edition One*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 The Sojourn: Worlds of Tantalus: The Centrum Assembly
3. ↑ Gabriel Fonseca, *The Science of Drift*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Sojourn: Drift and Drift Gates - Avalon Archives
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Sojourn: Tripathia Class Ship of the Line | Ship Breakdown
6. ↑ The Sojourn: Florencia Class Outrider | Official Ship Breakdown

 Systems

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