Free Economic Zone

### Location

Corpo Space, five star systems across 20 light-years, exclaves dotted around the Settled Systems

## Historical Information

### Major Conflict(s)

Great Galactic War
Insurrection
Fifth Corporate War

―Motto of the Free Economic Zone

The **Free Economic Zone (FEZ)** is an area of the Settled Systems comprised of five star systems and numerous enclaves that are owned and operated by the Board, a collective of private megacorporations. Motivated by profit and little else, the Free Economic Zone holds private ownership of hundreds of mining, farming and power generation facilities across the Settled Systems. The society of the FEZ consists of a rigid class system where CEOs are treated like kings and queens, while common workers are typically owned and treated as property by their employers. It is one of the three superpowers in the Settled Systems, alongside the United Colonies and the Herschel Nations, while its main rivals are House Izar, former member Sedna and the Workers Union.

## History

### Background

The Free Economic Zone's origins can be traced back to the formation of the first megacorporations in the late 21st century. Crippled by decades of war, climate change and overpopulation, the Earth Directorate was forced to turn to powerful corporations in order to keep the peace; this ultimately resulted in climate engineering on a massive scale as well as huge leaps in aerospace technology, including the sublight engine. Corporations were made state partners in various nations across Earth, granting corporate executives power akin to presidents. This newfound influence allowed several particularly successful companies to grow with little oversight, eventually becoming as powerful, if not more so, than the governments they served; these were the first megacorporations.

The Great Migration and the invention of the roemer drive in the late 22nd century allowed megacorporations to spread across the Settled Systems. While officially under the heel of the Earth government, these megacorporations continued to act like sovereign states, enacting laws and regulations that suited them and heavily restricting the rights of their employees. Further growth was impeded by the Herschel Wars, which bankrupted most of the largest corporations and brought them back under the oversight of the newly-formed United Colonies.

#### Founding

The megacorporations were somewhat tamed until the political, social and economic uproar caused by the Great Galactic War, which erupted in 2435 after the Hanseatic League's brazen attack on Earth and the United Colonies. As the U.C. mobilised for total war the corporations were subjected to increased regulations - higher taxes, withdrawal of trade deals and travel restrictions - all to support the war effort. By 2443, however, as the Hanseatic League seemed close to victory, the six most powerful megacorporations - Anvil Engineering, Axion Energy, Cronos Incorporated, Exo Group, Incyte Biotechnical, and Sedna - declared independence from the United Colonies once their respective CEOs had fled to Anvil's capital Monarch. With the U.C. General Assembly in chaos, the CEOs faced no opposition and formed their own Board to declare the Free Economic Zone, an area of space where the corporations would rule without the impedance of democracy or regulation.

### Superpower

Despite the bleak situation in 2443, the tide of the war changed when the Stellar Alliance achieved victory in the Battle of Earth and eventually pushed the Hanseatic League back into Hanza space, where they were quickly destroyed; the war was over by mid-2445 and had left the Settled Systems in ruin. The Free Economic Zone found itself handling the largest economy in the Settled Systems and offered financial aid to the United Colonies and Herschel Nations in exchange for recognition. The Herschel Nations, with their intense distrust in corporations, refused, while the United Colonies were forced to agree. The Free Economic Zone subsequently worked with the United Colonies during the Insurrection in 2447, which earned them the political influence that the megacorporations once wielded before the Herschel Wars. The F.E.Z. was raised to the position of superpower with the strongest economy in human history.

## Government

The Free Economic Zone is a strict ubercapitalist corporatocracy whose government system is modelled on the corporate heirarchy. Technically semi-presidential, its head-of-state is the "Chairman of the Board" while its head-of-government, or chief executive, is the "CEO of the Board"; the Zone's legislature consists of the Board of Directors, the upper house, and the Office of Free Workers, the lower house. The Board is headquarted in the city of Byzantium on Monarch, one of the largest, most densely-populated cities in the Settled Systems.

### The Board

> *Main Article: The Board*
>
>

The Board consists of the five, formerly six, megacorporations that founded the Free Economic Zone in 2443. The Board is the highest authority in the Zone and implements all laws and policies, regardless of the will of the people.

* Anvil Engineering
* Axion Energy
* Cronos Incorporated
* Exo Group
* Incyte Biotechnical

Sedna Salvage & Shipping was a founding member of the Zone but was expelled during the Fifth Corporate War.

### Society and Rights

Civil liberties are heavily restricted within the Zone. True to the corporate invitations, there are no taxes; instead, citizens subscribe to their daily services, including electricity, water, heat and even health care. Employees are legally owned by their employers and reside in "super slums" that cover all five terrestrial worlds under the Zone's control; these slums are home to hundreds of millions of people, all of whom live in cramped conditions with poor sanitation and air quality. Law enforcement is overseen by the Civilian Response Service, a volunteer militia that operates in each of the super slums; less than 2% of violent crimes are actually solved. Unionization is considered treasonous and is punishable by death.

### Military

The corporate military consists of the various armed subsidiaries owned and operated by the Board.