Outer Planets Alliance

The **Outer Planets Alliance (OPA)** is a loosely affiliated network borrowing or associating under a core common ideology that started its life as a labour union or advocacy group, fighting for the interests of inhabitants of the Belt, often in direct conflict with the UN and other inner planet corporations. The OPA is described as either a socio-political movement, according to people sympathising with Belters, or a terrorist network, according to the UN. Because of its decentralised structure and the range of activities performed by groups claiming affiliation, both descriptions have more than a little basis in fact.

When it began, the OPA was little more than a small group that sought increased influence across the Belt by allying itself with many of the gangs and other factions that hold sway there. This movement grew rapidly, since Belters harboured many grudges spanning back decades towards the UN, whom they view as oppressors. Although recognised by the general populace and media of Earth and Mars as a cohesive group, the OPA contains many groups and splinter factions, all on varying points of the political spectrum. The core of the OPA, which grew from that initial group, remains strictly a political association that is fighting legally to assert rights for Belters, but due to the haziness of the hierarchy and structure of the alliance, the actions of more radical members (such as Black Sky or Maelstrom) are often lumped in together with the rest, undermining these efforts. In truth, there is no one OPA, and all the major players have entirely different opinions on how to go about establishing a free Belter nation: whether it’s through the careful management of resources and political relations, or through brute force.

In time, the OPA's real goal is to break away from the United Nations and assert Belter independence from interference and taxation by Earth, but to do so requires considerable means, not least of which being finding a way to defeat the UNN or at least hold them to a stalemate. Until then, the OPA as a whole remains little more than a rebel group lighting the sparks of revolution in the big empty.

## History

By the end of the 21st century, humanity had finally started reaching out into space. Permanent settlements were established on Mars and Luna, as well as the Belt. At the time, Belters were a scattered people congregating in small communities and mining stations around the outer system. Many lived in communal ships and simple travelled the void from rock to rock, mining and hauling back anything they could find for trade and barter with other ships.

With the construction of major stations such as Medea or the stations on the moons of Jupiter, Belters finally had true homes out in the void, and population levels increased dramatically. With population came politics, and the faster moving gangs of the inner planets quickly established footholds in this often lawless new frontier. These gangs would naturally quickly come to blows, contesting territory and resources, and often coming into conflict with the more legal corporations that were attempting to wrest control of the same.

In 2287, a small group of Belter born students began the first sparks of the political movement that would grow into the OPA. Working on the more legal side of things, they managed to slowly but surely bring together various groups in the Belt to organise a worker's union of sorts that fought (generally legally) against the many injustices Belters faced, taking the fight to the UN in their own legal playground. This movement quickly grew, and with sufficient clout was even able to recruit the substantial muscle and influence of major gangs, especially ones that were widespread across the entire Belt. Now an alliance of many different and often unruly factions, the OPA continues to plod its way towards Belter independence, one step at a time.

## Organisation

### Leadership

Leadership in the OPA works as a council of sorts between leaders of the various factions involved, and other important figures to the movement. No one person leads the OPA, despite many attempts to consolidate the factions into one union. The current direction of this council tends to vary based on which faction is strongest at the time, although even then decisions are rarely unanimous and even more rarely followed by everyone even when a decision is made.

Notable leading figures include:

* Caliban Graves, leader of the Core OPA
* Samira Nazari, head of the OPA dock union of Medea Station
* Sebastian Ibarra, head of the Valentinos
* Nolan Frakes, de facto head of the Red Chrome Anarchs
* Siobhan O'Donnell, main matron of the Sinner Saints
* Simon Randall, current head of Maelstrom
* Matilda Rose, head of the Loca Griegas
* Kylan Nikil, head of the dominant Black Sky faction
* Eran Malour, a famous ex-pirate and founder of Malorian Arms
* Paolo Gutierrez, head of the OPA movement at Pallas Station
* Evita Alexopoulos, head of the OPA movement at Vesta Station

### Structure

The main factions of the OPA are the powerful gangs that rule large parts of the Belt and outer planets. They are held together, after a fashion, by the Core OPA, the derivation of the initial group that began the movement and started bringing the factions together. From the initial good will garnered from other factions, the Core OPA have established considerable influence by absorbing many different smaller cells and groups into their ranks. This in turn has let them stand a chance at the table alongside the big fish, like the Valentinos or the Yakuza. They offer a more legitimate face to the movement and strive constantly for the OPA as a whole to become more than the sum of its parts.

The other (notable) members of the OPA are:

* Valentinos
* Yakuza (unofficial member)
* Red Chrome Anarchs
* Maelstrom
* Loca Griegas
* Sinner Saints
* Black Sky

### Military Strength

The OPA's organised military strength is very limited. Most of the member factions have their own troops and ships available: a haphazard collection of pirate vessels and gang members with assorted weaponry, but aside from the occasional collaborative efforts nobody has managed to unite all these factions into one and assert control, never mind even begin to think of founding a real OPA Navy.