The Confederation of Systems and Stellar Objects

The Confederation of Systems and Stellar Objects was established 492 years ago, bringing together several previously unknown inhabited systems and planets. This union was formed as a result of numerous conflicts between the systems and planets, which were accelerated by warfare, leading to a peace treaty signed by four factions: Carrasco Free Sectors, Belter Liberation Front, Pax Terra, and the Trade Guild of Usep (later renamed the Guild of Intergalactic Commerce).

The Carrasco Free Sectors (CFS) was a coalition formed between the Republic of Behram, the Free States of Zuhur, the Trade Guild of Usep, and the Free People of the Sun (FPS). This coalition was formed after a 30-year long and costly war between the Republic and the Free States. The FPS rebellion ultimately led to a military watch on everyone, causing economic collapse and inflation. The Trade Guild called for a summit on the neutral moon of Carrasco, a satellite of Uran, which was the headquarters planet of the Trade Guild.

The Belter Liberation Front and Pax Terra grew in numbers as people fled the warring factions in search of peaceful homes. Stratos was heavily investing in astromining and the Palas System, hauling workers to the outer reaches of the Sol System and to Palas to mine precious metals and minerals for the factions' military equipment. Meanwhile, smaller corporations such as Mortis Medical, Clinton and Hillman, among others, supplied weapons and equipment for the war.

The Trade Guild worked in the shadows to gain more influence in the newly-formed government, using lobbying and shady transactions. Eventually, they controlled every level of the government and helped secure the debts of the late warring factions, which led to their status in society being strengthened. Five years after the war, the corporations involved announced they would forgive all remaining debts, which was seen as a gesture of good will by the people. The CFS soon passed laws allowing free travel across the system at reasonable prices and managed to balance their economy, harvest valuable minerals, grow crops, and make advancements in science and technology.

The Belter Liberation Front was originally a small group of revolutionaries seeking independence from the Stratos Lode corporation in the Palas System. The Trade Guild pressured the CFS to stabilize the region, but the Belt maintained their freedom. However, 25 years after the formation of the CFS, a trade embargo led to chaos in the Belt, resulting in the formation of the first Belter Raider groups, which later became the Royal Belt, a crime organization still in operation today.

Pax Terra was formed in the third inhabited system of Medel by settlers searching for a peaceful planet. They formed a defensive alliance and remained untouched during the big wars, acting as an unbiased party in the early Galactic Committee. However, the CFS struggled in The War For The Belt against the Belters' guerrilla tactics and sabotage. When the Trade Guild announced another summit, the Belters had already captured ships, intercepted transports, and sold valuable metals and minerals to Pax Terra, causing economic damage to the corporations. The Belter Liberation Front had established a loose government based on a board to attend to all Belter matters. Pax Terra opened the negotiations by insisting on finding a solution accepted by all parties before the summit ended.

The Pax Terra delegation opened the negotiations at the Summit with a statement insisting that a solution to the situation must be found and accepted by all parties before the Summit could be considered concluded. The exact events of the Summit are subject to differing accounts, with some portraying Pax Terra as a pseudo-pacifist regime that made threats in their opening statement, while no official documents of the Summit have been made public except for the decisions and legislation that was passed.

The Trade Guild, as the initiator of peace negotiations, held significant influence in ensuring peace, and was able to pass legislation granting technical immunity to corporations and large businesses, under the guise of maintaining the flow of food and resources. This immunity meant that government officials could not intervene in their business operations unless there was strong evidence of harm to people or The Confederation. Additionally, a flat tax rate of 10% on all goods was imposed, with the Trade Guild agreeing to these terms while also slipping in a loophole allowing tax reliefs for businesses whose primary purpose was providing goods and services to the public at reasonable rates. This allowed corporations to evade taxes by dedicating one sector to creating tax reliefs.

When the newly formed Confederation was tasked with governing a rapidly expanding inhabited world, they were unable to oversee the corporations and trusted that they would follow the laws and guidelines. Over the following four decades, corporations grew at an astonishing rate. During this time, The Confederation was in disarray, with few officials transferring from the old factions and multiple users occupying every seat on the board of directors. It took five years before the first taxes were collected, causing a scandal when The Confederation sent out tax bills for the previous five years. Despite some improvements, 130 years later and with the support of new technology, The Confederation retroactively billed taxes from corporations, only to realize the terms of their agreement. Unfortunately, by this time, Stratos, Denwa, and other early corporations had already established their technology across the critical infrastructure on the planets, making pulling out not an option due to the detrimental impact it would have on society. As a result, The Confederation had no choice but to leave the legislation unchanged and it remains in place to this day

Less than two centuries after the establishment of The Confederation, mankind had spread across the entire galaxy, inhabiting hundreds of star systems. During its hundredth year, The Confederation announced the discovery of a possible wormhole in interstellar space. Soon after, many more wormholes were found and scientists began to study these stellar anomalies.

As the megacorporations that provided goods and services to the population continued to grow and consume vast amounts of credits in the pursuit of new technologies, trade routes were formed and the limits of business opportunities appeared boundless. The Confederation solidified its position as the governing body of the universe, providing system and security to the galaxies while maintaining a neutral political stance.

As more and more galaxies welcomed their first humans, the Confederation had to reorganize its government, moving from a single governing body to galactic autonomy. Under this system, the Confederational Senate dealt only with matters that affected society on a large scale, while the autonomic galaxies and systems had their own sub-legislation and procedures that better fit their respective territories. Despite this autonomy, all galaxies and systems belonged to The Confederation and followed the Guidelines for Running and Managing the Autonomical Free States of the Confederation (GRAMAS), a comprehensive collection of 19 parts, over 3000 pages of instructions each, covering all aspects of government, accessible only to employees with a need to access it in their line of work.

After nearly 500 years of expansion, the population had reached size incomprehensible for anyone. The Confederation reworked their demographics system and started using a scale of billion people per million planets. They ended up with a disclosed amount exceeding 10 billion people per million planets. Over 91% of the inhabited universe was governed by the Confederation, 2% were rebelling systems and galaxies, and the final 7% were technically governed by puppet states oppressed by criminal organizations. The rate of expansion had slowed in recent times, with corporations shifting their focus from rapid expansion to the survey and research of already known systems and objects.

The last 100 years of The Confederation have been filled with challenges and obstacles. Despite the advances made in governing the vast expanse of the universe, the bureaucratic processes have become cumbersome, slowing down the progress of the Confederation.