Herschel Nations

―Motto of the Herschel Nations

The **Herschel Nations (H.N.)** are a confederation of former aresian and spacer colonies, collectively known as the **Free Republics**, that won independence from the Interstellar Collective in the Herschel Wars. The second-largest of the three interstellar superpowers after the United Colonies, the Herschel Nations are united under a treaty of cooperation and mutual defence, although each world is governed autonomously; thus, the Herschel Nations have no central authority aside from the Moot, which meets on the H.N.'s capital Mars, while the planet Harmony serves as a shared territory. As a result, the Herschel Nations are a haven for independent spacers, such as the Spacers Legion, pirates and religious fanatics.

## History

### Foundation

#### Origins

The H.N.s origins lie in the Interstellar Collective, an intergovernmental organization between the Earth Directorate, the world government of planet Earth, and the Confederation of Aresian Republics (C.A.R.) of Mars to promote cooperation in settling extrasolar worlds after the invention of FTL travel. Under the terms of the treaty that bound the Collective together, Earth's colonies and Mars' colonies would operate on a federal system, with the Supreme Council of the Collective working only to settle trade and settlement disputes. As a result, humans became divided into two separate demographics: the terrans, descended from Earth's inhabitants, and the aresians, descended from Mars' colonists.

From the time between 2207, when the *Endeavor II* landed on Centaurus, and the 2230s humanity had settled an area of space approximately 600 light-years outwards from the Sol System; most colonies were settled in targeted star systems known to possess potentially habitable planets. Most of these planets were settled by terran colonists, leaving the aresian colonists with backwater planets possessing hostile atmospheres and dangerous fauna. However, a significant achievement was made by the aresians when they settled TRAPPIST-1e, later renaming it to Harmony; the planet had been a primary target of Earth for settlement. Harmony thus became the core of aresian colonial territory.

### Herschel Wars

#### Schwarzschild Dispute

In the late 2220s, a group of aresian colonists settled the planet Kepler-22b, 600 light-years from Earth, which they officially named Schwarzschild. The planet had been considered of great importance to Earth for both historical and logistical purposes: the planet had been the first extrasolar world confirmed to hold liquid oceans, and sat at a crossroads in the Settled Systems to further potentially habitable systems.

Angered by this perceived slight against Earth, a group of terran colonists declared the aresian colonists illegal settlers and forcibly displaced them with their greater numbers. In response, in 2231, the original aresian colonists, under the command of military theorist and TranStar medic Solomon Jayne, gathered reinforcements from Harmony and took Schwarzschild back by force, killing several terran colonists. The subsequent Battle of Schwarzschild was the first open conflict between the governments of Earth and Mars in over a hundred years and is considered the first conflict of the Herschel Wars.

#### Colony Riots

Inspired by the aresian colonists of Schwarzschild, other aresian and terran colonies, including those on Mars, began to openly rebel against the Collective. Food and resource riots began to break out in several systems, leaving Earth strained in its attempts to keep the peace. The Collective's desperate attempts to maintain order led to outbreaks of violence against protestors and colony representatives. Political division reached an all-time high over mining and farming rights, ultimately resulting in the world of Harmony declaring secession from the Collective, a move the Collective deemed illegal; before the Collective could act, however, other major colonies also declared secession, including Gagarin and, most critically, Mars. Taking advantage of the Collective's disorganization, these secessionist colonies declared themselves "Free Republics" and, during a secret meeting on Harmony, decided to band together to ensure mutual defence, thus birthing the Herschel Nations.

In an address to the Collective, the Herschel Nations demanded peace, trade and fairness between them and the Collective, promising swift vengeance if their demands were not meant. With the Collective in tatters, the colonies still loyal to the Earth government declared themselves nation-colonies of the United Colonies, birthing the first interstellar superpower. In the first meeting of their General Assembly, the United Colonies stated that the Herschel Nations were illegitimate and in open rebellion, and formally declared war. The conflicts that followed were thus named the Herschel Wars.

#### Herschel Wars

The Herschel Wars never descended into a single continous conflict that raged throughout the stars; they were characteristed by sporadic outbreaks of open warfare over areas of space or individual planets, collectively lasting for seven Earth-years from 2235 to 2242. Hundreds of millions perished, and several campaigns became a war of attrition.

The United Colonies possessed a far larger navy and army, but were outmatched by the Herschel Nations' more advanced weapons and faster warships. The U.C. was often stalled by debates and treaties; the Herschel Nations- united in their fight - adopted a doctine of "military first" and scrapped most regulations on weaponry and tactics, allowing them to secure a large area of space that they declared to be sovereign territory.

By 2242, the wars had bankrupted both sides and soldiers were tired of fighting a seemingly endless war. The deciding battle proved to be the Battle of Asgard, a DFFR siege of the U.C.'s "blue jewel" in the Luyten system, during which the DFFR stealth ships crippled the U.C. Navy's planetary defences, leaving Asgard at the mercy of the DFFR's ground invasion. Such an invasion, however, never arrived; having demonstrated that they could attack, as well as defend, the DFFR withdrew their troops and demanded that the U.C. negotiate an armistice. The Union & Democracy Party, which had taken power in the U.C. General Assembly in the snap '42 elections, agreed to hold a peace confederence.

In the subsequent Bidara Conference, the Herschel Nations promised to stop fighting in exchange for U.C. recognition of the Free Republics and their colonies; ultimately, a ceasefire was called which finally resulted in the Trinity Accords: the U.C. would formally recognise the Herschel Nations, while the H.N. would strictly outlaw all further research into WMDs, specifically antimatter weapons. At the end of the wars, the Herschel Nations had emerged as a victorious force united behind their military and began the process of expansion.

### Interwar Period

The next two centuries were a time of growth and development for the Herschel Nations. Emerging victorious but bankrupt from the Herschel Wars, the Free Republics had to rapidly organize in order to preserve the new order. The first official Moot was held on Mars in 2243, a year after the end of the wars, which cemented the authority of the Sky Marshals; they in turn performed an executive action that enshrined both gender/sexual equality for all citizens of the Free Republics and also cemented universal conscription. For the latter, further votes added the benefits of marriage, adoption, welfare, land ownership and even voting/standing in elections to universal conscription, making the Herschel Nations a true "military first" government.

Unlike the United Colonies, which battled rebellious outlying colonies throughout the interwar period, the Herschel Nations maintained a tight grip on its territories and never suffered an insurrection. The ability of aresians to inhabit harsher environments allowed them to colonise a greater number of worlds than the terrans within the United Colonies, including resource-rich desert worlds and volcanic moons that bolstered both the economy and the development of military technology. Meanwhile, general distrust of corporations meant that any supranational companies were tightly restricted and fully at the mercy of the state; as a result, only one megacorporation managed to rise - the state-owned Laran energy company - in stark contrast to the persistant influence of megacorps within the U.C.

#### Caspian War

In the 2340s, the Settled Systems were hit by another energy crisis, one similar in scale to the one that caused the helium war. Antimatter prices had skyrocketed in the 2320s, forcing the factions to rely more on helium-3; by 2342, the H.N.'s helium-3 reserves were almost dry, prompting them to intensify efforts to secure more of this valuable resource. Their eyes were eventually drawn to the Caspian system, a resource-rich planetary system on the edge of settled space, which the Moot voted to annex in 2343 despite the resistance of the local, neutral population of colonists.

## Government & Politics

> *See also: Herschel Nations/Free Republics*
>
>

Unlike the federated United Colonies, the Herschel Nations is a confederation: a political union of individual planets, systems and stations allied by their common beliefs and led by a common figure. The individual members of the Herschel Nations are called the Free Republics; each republic governs its respective colony and the system in which it is located. Each Free Republic is separate and autonomous, bound together by a cooperative treaty that ensures mutual defence. However, the H.N. is far more than a defensive pact: the Free Republics share a military, a special security force, a currency, police force and set of laws.

The Herschel Nations are considered an authoritarian regime where dissent is heavily suppressed; some reports even class it as a military dictatorship thanks to the massive influence of the DFFR. The highest authority is the Moot, a regular meeting of delegates from each Free Republic, which meets on the capital planet Mars to discuss matters of trade and defence. At the head of the Moot sit the nine Sky Marshals, each of whom leads one of the nine government departments. Every five years the Sky Marshals elect one of their number to serve as First Marshal, the commander-in-chief of the DFFR and *de facto* head-of-state.

While the H.N. has no state religion, Scientism is prominent and followed by a vast majority of the population, with a minority following the contrasting religion known as Dolorianism. Mazovism is also popular on some fringe colonies. Equality between men and women is enshrined in the Free Republic Charter and discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation is strictly outlawed.

Unlike the United Colonies, which has a single capital, the Herschel Nations has three: Mars, the legislative capital and seat of the Moot; Harmony, the executive and judicial capital; and Schwarzschild, the military capital.

Mars, the aresian homeworld, is the legislative capital and location of the MootHarmony, a massive trade and population centre, is the executive capitalSchwarzschild is the military capital and headquarters of the DFFR
### Foreign Relations

> *Main Article(s): U.C.—H.N. Relations*
>
>

The Herschel Nations have relations with all the major factions in the Settled Systems and ranks third in number of diplomatic corps. It is a permanent member of the Interstellar Forum of Economic Entities, the political framework established after the breakup of the Stellar Alliance in 2445, though it is notably isolationist when it comes to interacting with the IFEE's other members.

The H.N.'s most critical relations are with its rival superpower, the United Colonies, with whom it has experienced both uneasy peace and open conflict throughout their shared history. Tensions have always existed since their respective formations, primarily due to the terran-aresian cultural conflict but are also attributed to opposing sovereignty laws, disagreements over colonisation rights, weapons research and trade embargoes. Nonetheless, both nations maintain embassies on their respective capital worlds - the H.N. embassy on Asgard, and the U.C. embassy on Harmony - and regularly hold summits to peacefully discuss colonisation rights and trade. The U.C.'s Deputy Secretary-General is *ex officio* the U.C. ambassador to the Herschel Nations, while the Marshal of State Affairs serves as the H.N. ambassador to the U.C.

## Military

―DFFR propaganda

>     *Main Article: Defence Force of the Free Republics*
>
>

The Defence Force of the Free Republics is highly important in H.N. society, in terms of both politics and socioeconomics. While it may be the second-largest military force in the Settled Systems, behind only the U.C. SPACECOM, the DFFR is by far the most advanced military in humanity's history, largely thanks to rapid technological developments made during the Herschel Wars. The DFFR consists of four branches: Mobile Infantry, Free Republic Navy, military intelligence and the Sovereignty Patrol; all have access to incredibly advanced stealth technology; a stockpile of pure fusion weapons; ship-to-pilot "interlink systems"; and the fastest and most agile warships in human history.

The DFFR is central to the civic values of the Herschel Nations. Universal conscription is in place and certain social benefits - including marriage, adoption, welfare, land ownership and even the ability to vote or stand in elections - are only available to those that complete it, although conscription can be completed at any age. The military is also central to the government; bills voted upon by the Moot are ratified by the Sky Marshals, the H.N.'s most senior military leaders, who elect one of their number as First Marshal to serve as head-of-state and commander-in-chief. Maintaining the DFFR is a core ideology of the Herschel Nations as it is seen as their primary instrument in maintaining their independence; the Moot therefore espouses a "military-first" policy when it comes to decision-making and the allocation of resources.

## Society & Culture

### Culture

H.N. culture is utilitarian, reserved, ascetic and minimalist, from its architecture to its clothing designs, to even how people communicate informally.

While they use English as their primary language, the Free Republics also have French, Mandarin and Russian and regional languages. All Free Republics have a fondness for Latin to a limited degree, possibly derived from traditional Latin naming of martian geography (even the H.N.'s motto - *Unitas. Libertas. Victoriam. -* is in Latin, translating as "Unity. Liberty. Victory."). Free Republic citizens have a variety of accents, though the most common are German and Russian, with some American, British and Australian accents on certain worlds. Both civilians and soldiers have an unusual way of talking, often utilising quite formal speech (which can sometimes be unusually verbose) even during casual conversation; for example, rather than simply saying "I agree", they may say "confirmed" or "concurred".

H.N. culture has little in the way of embellishments, decoration or ornamentation, reflecting their utilitarian, functionality-first approach to life. Even their preferred writing font is delivered in a consistently utilitarian style, likely to make it easy to read. However, acronyms of important organisations, such as the H.N. itself or the DFFR, are often shown in a stylised font which is harshly angular and somewhat abstract.

Conscription in the DFFR is widely known as "civic service" and treated as a rite of passage. While it can be completed at any age, it is actively encouraged between the ages of 18 and 25. Completion opens up social benefits such as marriage, childbirth, adoption, welfare, land ownership and even the ability to vote or stand in elections. To control the population, citizens must qualify for a reproductive licence, which is either purchased or granted upon completion of civic service. Impregnation and childbirth without a licence is illegal and can result in "unlicenced" children becoming property of the state.

## Trivia

* The Herschel Nations' name is derived from the Herschel Program, the aresian interstellar settlement effort, and the scientist William Herschel.