Cycle

While not invariable, the Federation (and the Federal Fleet after it) observed that most human interstellar resettlements follow a similar cycle of growth or decline:

**Unexplored**: the planetary system's mineral and biological assets have not been catalogued.

**Outland**: the planetary system is claimed by a non-human sentient species. The system falls under Fleet authority and is not eligible for colonization.

**Frontier**: the planetary system's mineral assets are under exploitation, or its natural or artificial habitable spaces are being used, but the humans living in the system are not able or willing to claim it.

**Colony**: one or more of the planets, planetoids, or asteroid belts in the system has been permanently settled for exploitation. The system may have been claimed by a party, or they may be operating in an unclaimed system under the protection of a corporation or an armed group, such as mercenaries or pirates. During this phase, all activity is focused on the creation and export of economic value, and the growth of human settlement is limited except for terraforming efforts where applicable. Colonies represent a sub-cycle with the overall pattern:

* **Resource Exploitation**: personnel, food, and equipment are shipped in, resources are shipped out or stockpiled for future use by the colony. High levels of automation are required to make the investment viable.
* **Manufacture**: heavy exportable goods, especially those using materials gathered in space, are usually assembled in orbital manufactories. When the majority of the materials are gathered on a planet, it’s more efficient to process them on planet and then export the lighter finished or semi-finished goods, and to become self-sustainable as soon as possible. A heavy influx of skilled labor is required to sustain this phase.
* **Service**: a colony that has developed enough of an economy to support proper living conditions and higher education becomes an ideal pool of low-cost white-collar labor. This stage is characterized by rapid expansion of financial services, settlement, and the beginnings of planetary government.

**Planetary government**: at this level, a planet is under unified rule and cultural norms are solidifying. It is normal and to be expected that a planet would seek to reduce its dependence on its sponsor and increase its self-sovereignty. This is often a peaceful process established as part of the Colony’s initial charter and driven by the key corporations or families involved. Federal offices expand from fold point stations to the capital cities and assist or guide development. Concessions are negotiated with outside parties in order to bring the system’s resources under control. In a system with multiple habitable planets and no strong system or multi-system government, the odds of intra-system conflict are high. If the planet is wealthy or situated at a fold point nexus, the odds of a corporate war are high.

**System and multi-system government**: once the planet(s) of a system have expanded to the limits of their system(s), they generally reach a tipping point where their developmental capacity doubles or triples. The wealth gap between extra-planetary and planetary entities increases even faster. After the Second Interstellar War, the Immortals and their AIs determined that schism, under these circumstances, is not only sometimes inevitable, but that avoiding or delaying it only increases the scale of the conflict.

**Core World**: once a world has stabilized, rejoined the Federation, and reached a stable level of interaction with the rest of the galaxy, it is known as a Core World. Pre-IWII, Core Worlds had a participatory vote on Federal matters which is proportional to their population, proximity, and interstellar domestic product. Military actions were still conducted to settle disputes, annex worlds, eradicate pirates, and deter other core worlds. Aside from the initial members before the great schism of the third millennium, the only a dozen systems among thousands had transitioned from system government to core worlds.

Worlds can sometimes enter regressive states:

**Stagnant**: some settlements never cross the gap between a Colony and a Planetary Government. Whether due to a lack of resources, hazardous environments, disconnection from the fold corridor network, the lack of reliable trading partners, or local legal or military conflicts, they will slowly revert to frontier status unless a fundamental change in structure is enacted.

**Blockaded/Restricted**: the Fleet has the firepower to wipe entire worlds clean, but life is not so plentiful in the universe that viable ecosystems can be allowed to go to waste. When a human or non-human system crosses the line--such as violating the Tier System or attacking Fleet assets--punitive isolation can be preferable to annihilation. Blockaded worlds are cut off from the fold corridor network, whereas inhabitants of restricted worlds can be confined to their habitat for decades or centuries after being reduced to pre-spacefaring capabilities.

**Schism**: a schism is a period of (sometimes violent) uprising during which a system or multi-system government or its people reject federal oversight, (interstellar) corporate control, and generally “act out,” if a group of several billion people can be said to be acting out. They may even seize control of fold points as long as they don’t interfere with gate operation or prevent transit through their system without cause. The period during which the society’s consumption grows to match its new production often defines its character in the period that follows it. Periods of intense conflict and developmental regression can occur, sometimes lasting centuries. The Federal Fleet allows this to happen, and often encourages it.