Khat United

Khat United, also known as Khatia, is a country located in Central Europe. Being the most technologically advanced out of any faction, Khat United is known for leading in research and development in various fields.

Khatia has luxurious, and quiet cities, which make it a popular destination for travelling. Living standards are exceptionally high, and many opt to constantly move home and experience the diverse landscapes and cities.

It is bordered by Troll Republic, ST Empire and Garb Federation.

Despite having the least territory of any major faction, it handles 70% of all cargo transfer in Europe on its railways and owns the fastest ground-to-air defense system (Shooting Stars).

## Politics

Khat United is a parliamentary monarchy, though the monarch still retains final decision-making powers.

The citizens of Khatia show a very high HDI (Human Development Index) across the board, along with not the highest, but nevertheless large GDP.

Cases of people living below the poverty line are extremely rare.

### Crime and punishment

Unlike other factions, Khatia does not have capital punishment but instead uses outlawing. If a crime is deemed to have done large amounts of harm to either one or multiple individuals or the nation as a whole by the court, the individuals affected can suggest outlawing instead of deportation or imprisonment. If the court agrees to outlawing as punishment, the criminal does not have any protection from the law - many foreign traitors have been brutally beaten to death on the streets.

#### Human rights issues

Due to this tradition of outlawing, many rights groups have condemned the justice system of Khat United.

Activist groups also have organized multiple protests and riots against the outlawing principles, most notably the 1991 Jūrmala and 1999 Kaunas riots, however the leaders of such groups have since faced deportation and removal of citizenship.

## History

Khatia was formed by the current monarch, Gustav II Khat and his supporters during a coup' d'etat of the previous Baltic States, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Greater territories were acquired after pacts with Troll Republic, ST Empire and Garb Federation.

One of the first reforms Gustav II Khat made was with the railway system - almost all outdated infrastructure was torn down and years were spent working underground, setting the foundation of the strongest rail network in Europe and strengthening Khatia's power in logistics with other factions.

The greatest recession in the economy of Khat United happened when all of the nuclear power plants in the territory were torn down at the request of the monarch. This made a huge impact on the power stability, meaning for a long time, until solar infrastructure was brought up, Khatia had to rely on other factions for electricity. However, now Khat United has fully recovered.

*National anthem of Khat United - "Zem Mūsu Kājām"*

## Technology

There are 3 goverment-funded divisions for technology, in order of priority:

1. Division of Logistics and Transportation
2. Division of Territorial Security
3. Division of Spaceflight and Research

These divisions receive ~20% of Khatia's budget anually.

For more complex assembly tasks, Khatia cooperates with ST Empire.

### Energy

Unlike many other factions, Khatia does not export any energy and has no nuclear power plants. This was a controversial choice, especially when Khat United's monarch claimed NPPs were a "ticking time bomb". Instead, it produces all of its energy locally, with solar and wind farms scattered across the country.

### Rail system

It is the most powerful logistics provider, owning high-speed railways both inside and out of its borders. The total length of one line can exceed 10,000 km.

70% of trade and shipments in Europe are handled by the railways of Khat United. Even dangerous cargo can be transported at extremely high speeds on the trains due to excellent stability and few stops thanks to a large amount of lines.

Some lines have various types of checks - if the payload's destination is inside of the borders, or if the cargo is being delivered from sector I to C, it is screened for various potential dangers including contamination.

They are used for public transport, trade and military cargo. These railways can go upwards of 300 km/h and are mostly underground. To achieve such speeds, they use technology that is constantly being developed - lines and stations are heavily guarded to prevent tampering.

## Military

Khatia does not have a massive ground military force such as Garb Federation.

Khat United does not directly participate in much military action besides protecting its own assets. Its ground forces are not powerful and have not been deployed to combat in any meaningful scale.

### Shooting Stars

"Shooting Stars" is the code name for the air defense system of Khat united.

It is the fastest and most accurate ground-to-air system in the world with a 97% success rate in neutralizing an attack. The system covers all of the territory in Khat United, as well as territory in Garb Federation and ST Empire.

Territory in those factions is covered due to the sensor nodes being deployed after Khat United signed defense co-operation contracts with ST Empire and Garb Federation. In exchange for ground support, Khatia provides 24/7 air defense and military cargo transport (Greater International Agreement of Major Military Cooperation)

## Sectors

Khat united is split into three sectors, for safety and logistical reasons.

These are listed in order of size.

1. Sector C, this sector contains inhabited areas, including Riga and the countryside. Due to all industrial work being isolated from this sector, it is an extremely quiet place to live in - even the capital city. Sector C also has the largest sea border of any sector, mostly for civilians to use.
2. Sector I, designated for manufacturing, and heavy logistics (import and export) both through the ports and railways. It has railway links to all of Khatia's borders and to sector C for locally produced goods and transport for workers.
3. Sector M, mainly used for military training. Soldiers from Troll Republic, Garb Federation and ST Empire are often seen here during joint exercises.

Although it is not a sector, the monarch's island is sometimes regarded as one due to it being heavily isolated and far off the mainland. It is a palace for the monarch and his family.

## Relations

As said before, Khatia was and still is the second most popular high quality plasteel trader. Due to this, Khat United is highly respected with good relations with almost every country. It is also respected for providing logistics support and railway access to its bordering countries with almost no strict regulation due to essentially splitting Europe in half.

Khatia's relations are well demonstrated by the Joint Security Agreements, which have been made with Troll Republic, ST Empire and Garb Federation to allow Shooting Star sensors to be deployed in the respective nation's territories inner border with Khat United to improve readiness and response ability to attacks of both participants.

Allies: ST Empire (actively trading, Greater International Agreement of Major Military Cooperation), Troll Republic (seldom trade, Greater International Agreement of Major Military Cooperation), Garb Federation (Greater International Agreement of Major Military Cooperation).

Enemies: SlapeInc, Da Hood