Commonwealth of Kaprisi

> "Out here there is no law, this is where the sins of humanity run free. Far from the watchful eye of the GTU".- Caravan Leader
>
>

## Society

### Population

40-100 billion

The Commonwealth of Kaprisi is a highly autonomous mercantile client-state under nominal
control of the Greater Terran Union, located in one of the key trading routes between
the Commonwealth of Xana (and by extension, the Bright League) and the Stellar
Axis. Despite its relatively young existence as a star-nation it
quickly grew to become one of the galaxy’s most significant financial and economic
powerhouses, as it hosted two of the strategic (and the only) L-Gates that were formerly
under the control of the Florian Matriarchy, and its already pre-existing lucrative
League-Axis trade routes. Despite this, it is effectively a state governed by some
of the galaxy’s major mega-corporations, and despite boasting one of the highest
per capita incomes in the galaxy, it has the most severe income
inequality.

## History

### Foundation and Early History

By the signing of the Treaty of Kaprisi between the Greater
Terran Union and the Stellar Axis (represented by the Florian Matriarchy), the
Florians were forced to surrender control of Kaprisi, its L-Gates and several
other uninhabited star system occupied by the GTU during the war. In return, by
the urging of Xana, Sophox and the Star Concord, the GTU were prevented from directly
governing the area and instead only allowed it to set up a strictly democratic
client-state in its place to prevent the GTU from gaining a foothold near the
Bright League due to the lingering fear of the GTU’s incursion into that region of
space. The GTU reluctantly agreed to the Treaty’s provision out of pragmatism,
given the fact that the very notion of governing the area itself would've become
an administrative nightmare, especially as it was too
preoccupied with its post-war rebuilding effort.

The idea of a budding democratic nation propped
up by the Star Concord in all but
name didn't escape the attention of many dissidents from the GTU and the
feudalistic Stellar Axis, as many of the human’s republican dissenters and
various Florian reformist clans quickly made the Commonwealth their new home.
However, the Commonwealth soon found itself lacking in funding, as many of the
monetary funding from the GTU was mostly funnelled into their intensive post-war rebuilding
program. The Commonwealth, with tacit blessing from the GTU, quickly opened up
their public funding to private investors, leading to a massive influx of
capital necessary for the rebuilding of the Commonwealth.

### The Umbrella Corporations

However, its aggressive economic plan did brought multiple unsavoury
elements into the fold of the Commonwealth. A great many of the mega-corporate
elements that investing for the development of the Commonwealth were of the one
with less-than-stellar criminal record and has notable corruption scandals in
the past, although it eventually ignored in favour of short-term economic gain.
It is further exarbated by the nature of its government, which is largely
inspired from the Star Concord haphazardly mixed with the extreme laissez-faire
mindset of the old USA.

Things took a turn for the worse, as many of these
mega-corporation such as humans Rim System Inc., Florian’s Golden Flower Guilds
and the Pux’s Anthalsee Corporation either funded or set up powerful political
party to support their agenda, often at the expense of the other pro-republican
parties that had to face an extreme financial disadvantages in the political
stages. With the effective control of the majority of Commonwealth’s
infrastructure is in their hand, these corporation and its respective political
front soon formed a political coalition that won nearly entire of the seat of
the Council in the first and perhaps the only fair election ever held in the
Commonwealth, effectively transforming it from a budding democratic nation into
one that effectively *run* by mega-corporations.

The newly-christened Umbrella Corporations
initially maintain a democratic front in the eyes of the galaxy, while at the
same time using its mounting riches to earn the trust of the GTU, with its
economic contribution constitute more than 15% of the GTU’s income (which is
quite substantial given by the GTU’s vast economy), allowing these
mega-corporations to gain something far more valuable than any money in the
galaxy; their very own sovereignty, unbound from any law from any star nations of the Milky
Way.

### The new Sodom

The planet Kaprisi soon turned from a promising democratic
paradise into a haven of inequality barely disguised as a laissez-faire states complete
with all the worst aspect of capitalism imaginable, much to the shame of the
Star Concord who practically responsible in propping up the foundation of the
Commonwealth in the first place. Because of its far removed location compared to
the rest of the GTU and its vassals, not even the GTU could curb its
increasingly corrupt and disobedient vassal. Here, ordinary citizens could end
up being killed for legal business contracts, and the Commonwealth become a
haven of espionage so much to the point that the GTU’s powerful National Anti-Corruption
Commission and its myriad of intelligence services were effectively powerless
due to the continuous scheming of the mega-corporation.

The resulting cashflow quickly began to enrich the Kaprisi
even further, as many of its far-stretching fields, vast ocean and rolling hills
were opened up for the property markets, often at the expense of the carefully
tended ecosystem and many of its well-guarded local faunas that are once zealously
guarded by the Florian to the point that its image of cities blended with
nature are lost completely. Soon, the Kaprisi effectively become the one of the
galaxy’s largest financial centres as well as one of the most famous resort
world that caters the need of the richest and powerful figures from all known
species, with casinos, markets, resorts, restaurants and bars that gave the
planet an image of uncontrolled vice and worldly pleasures.

However, these riches was built at the expense
of its citizens. Many of the original Florian colonist, as well the Human,
Op-Lek, Xana and Rogethauran citizens quickly found themselves at the bottom
rung of the economic strata. Small landowner-colonist quickly found themselves
having stripped of their land gradually via unequal legal law, and what little
of the land they had left are now under the danger of being taken away from the
ruling mega-corporations. The economic inequality are profoundly evident down
to its crime activity across the Commonwealth, with many of the opulent
districts having near-zero crime level compared to the rest of the nation,
where smuggling, riots, drug abuse and ‘legal’ slavery were rampant in many of
its major industrial heartland and the ordinary residential area.

### Exodus

The resulting First Galactic War soon become the
Commonwealth’s greatest downfall, as the GTU are unable (and completely
unwilling) to reconquer its far-away vassal. With the inclusion of the Algorithm
into the Stellar Axis and the resulting inclusion of its very own L-Gates for
the invasion against the GTU, its value as an GTU’s strategic buffer zone are
lost completely. Its ruling mega-corporations soon found itself lost many of
its power and wealth as they are forced to flee from Kaprisi, unable to reclaim
back their territories despite repeated request toward their GTU overlord to
reclaim their long-lost nation.

Today, the Commonwealth government-in-exiles are
merely shadow of its past. The now-powerless corporations are entirely
dependent on the goodwill of the GTU, and what left of the former Vol territories
‘leased’ by their overlord are merely a small collection of uninhabited planets
and underdeveloped barren worlds, their previous reputation making it harder
for it to garner potential investors to prevent eventual re-annexation by the
GTU long after the war ends.

## Society

### Politics and Diplomacy

The High Council serves as the governing unicameral body of
the Commonwealth, comprising over eleven cabinet member that are presided over
by the Supreme Chairman who are (theoretically) serving as the Commonwealth’s
head of state. However, with the entire electoral process as well the High
Council is controlled by the parties affiliated with the Umbrella Corporations
cartel, all the position in the Council are also doubles as the CEO or lower
high ranking member of the respective mega-corporations that are selected into
the office. However, the ruling cartel is nothing but a collection of a
one-and-a-half dozen of corporate interest that often clashes with one another
and it is not surprising that backstabbing, assassination and scandals to be occurred
within the Council in a regular basis.

Nevertheless, the ruling cartel of mega-corporations are at
least united enough when it comes in preserving their much coveted political
independence in the galactic stage. Behind the closed door, the ruling mega-corporations
had been vigorously playing off the Milky Way’s major power against one
another. Furthermore, the Commonwealth has secretly signed numerous treaty with
the Stellar Axis and the Bright League with the guarantee of independence
should they allow either power to invade the GTU space in the event of war, in
the violation of the Kaprisi Treaty where only the GTU and the Star Concord are
allowed to do so.

Furthermore, the Commonwealth had also been (at a time)
secretly selling the GTU’s military technology to the other great power, and
the Commonwealth continue do so long after these affair are revealed to their
political overlord as a form of blackmail and defiance toward the GTU. The overconfident
High Council even as far in allowing various intelligence body from every major
power to covertly stationed their agent in Kaprisi while simultaneously
undermined the GTU’s counter-intelligence effort in their space. It was these
reason – or at least initially – that many major power (even the Star Concord,
despite the urging of their citizens) often left the Kaprisi to their own
device simply due to their sheer usefulness in the galactic stages.

Ironically, it was this very act that led to the
collapse of the Commonwealth during the War of the Five Front, to the point
that it was the Kaprisi’s very own machination that led into this situation,
allowing the GTU’s wartime enemies to infiltrate their overlord and making it
possible to weaken the GTU during the First War. The overconfidence of their
leadership had also led to the betrayal of various major power as the Commonwealth
of Xana broke their secret treaty and swiftly occupies the whole Kaprisi’s
territory, with the tacit approval of the major galactic federations that
supposedly responsible to keeping the Commonwealth safe.

### Economy

The Commonwealth of Kaprisi is practically an economic major
power; its strategic position effectively made it a neutral ground that allowed
unlimited trade between the GTU, Bright League and the Stellar Axis, and the
monopoly of this three-way trade allowed Kaprisi to exercise soft power
projection well beyond its small territories compared to the three superpower
it had to dealt with. Despite its small size, the Commonwealth’s foreign direct
investment on its neighbouring superpower and overlord allows it to exercise significant
economic presence across the galaxy; It surpassed Star Concord as Xana’s
largest trading partner and hold at least 25% of the export-import and FDI with
the Florian’s recovering economy simultaneously. This unlimited riches in turn
allows the Commonwealth to play the major power against one another. By working
with the Xana and the Florians and secretly act against the GTU, it allows a
delicate balance of power between these competing superpower, thus allows it to
maintain its relative independence.

As the Commonwealth is a client-states under the
overlordship of GTU it is required to pay part of its income as tribute; at its
highest point, the Kaprisi’s tribute alone comprised about 15% of GTU’s annual
income – which accounts the galaxy’s highest, being the largest economy in the
Milky Way – which is far beyond it is required to pay to the GTU and certainly
the highest compared to the GTU’s other vassals (the combined post-Compact
states could barely contribute 5% of GTU’s income). Nevertheless, the GTU –
wary of the economic influence its troublesome vassal – are wise enough not to
rely the Kaprisi as its metaphorical gold mine; by the time GTU’s economy
recovered at its pre-war level, Kaprisi’s contribution are greatly reduced into
5% of GTU’s annual income.

It is noted that apart from the open trade and
tourism as its main income, the Commonwealth are also excelled in various heavy
industries electronics, cyber-technology and shipbuilding due to its (initially)
close relation with the GTU, allowing it to rise as one of the most
technologically-advanced nation on the Milky Way in a short time. However,
rather than keeping said advantage to itself, the Commonwealth intead opted to
sell those restricted technology to the nations hostile toward the Terran
states. This in turn brought a great ire of its overlord toward the
Commonwealth, to the point that the GTU even as far as to deploy its notorious
National Anti-Corruption Commission (which are regarded as *the* most efficient anti-corruption forces in the galaxy) and its
foreign intelligence agency to combat these unrestricted illegal sales of its
hard-earned technologies. Even with an extreme restriction in technological
transfer being placed over the Commonwealth, it still managed to bring out many
restricted technologies out from its overlord due to their efficient espionage
network, although the GTU's rigorous intelligence agencies had greatly reduced the amount of technological apparatus the Commonwealth could smuggled out compared to the previous years.

### Military

Kaprisi held a great importance for the Greater Terran Union
due to its strategic possession of the L-Gates previously held by the Florians.
This in turn allows the Kaprisi Armed Forces to possess some of the Union’s cutting
edge military technology, albeit at a restricted manner as stipulated by the
Treaty of Kaprisi. In turn, the Commonwealth possess a small, but sophisticated
fleet not only to guard its border, but also theoretically capable in defending
itself from external invasion in an even of war. Kaprisi in particular possess
the Shield of Zeus, an orbital planetary defense network developed by the GTU,
as well a series of well-defended garrison fortresses on every star system
fully manned by the GTU’s Kaprisi Garrison Forces.

Nevertheless, the Kaprisi Armed Forces are so
notoriously corrupt and incompetent, to the point that despite the Kaprisi
Garrison Forces greatest effort, the Commonwealth are easily overrun during the
War of the Five Fronts in part of the KAF opted to flee from the Commonwealth
entirely without the fight, leaving behind thousands of human POW to be left
behind to their own devices. This blunder is the major reason (among many
other) that made the GTU even more reluctant to restore the Commonwealth’s
sovereignty, especially after the Terran state secretly agreed to surrender the
former Kaprisi territories to the Xana.

## Addendum

* Kaprisi’s political and economic relationship with the GTU could easily comparable with the Hong Kong’s relation with the People’s Republic of China. Its history however has more in common with the early British colonization of Australia, specifically the early colonization of the New South Wales