United Colonies

―Motto of the United Colonies

The **United Colonies (U.C.)** is a supranational interstellar republic with numerous member colonies across multiple star systems, founded on the principles of liberty, equality, peace, justice, and progress, that claims to be the representive government of all terrans throughout the Settled Systems. The largest nation in the Settled Systems, the U.C. was founded following the collapse of the Interstellar Collective and the establishment of the Herschel Nations, a rival superpower, and has since grown to encompass more than three hundred star systems.

The United Colonies is a federation with three separate branches of government, including a bicameral legislature. It is a liberal democracy with the largest economy and military force in humanity's history, but struggles with income inequality and corruption arising from the influence of megacorporations. It has been locked in a Cold War-like détente with the Herschel Nations for centuries due to the prolonged terran-aresian conflict, antimatter weapons research and territorial disputes.

## History

### Origins

The U.C.'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, the separatist government of Mars, to promote cooperation in settling the outer Sol System and 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.

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, while closer, more hostile systems were overlooked or avoided. 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.

#### 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 was of great importance to Earth, both for 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 more potentially habitable systems called Kepler Space.

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, taking advantage of a legal battle between Earth and Mars, 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 Earth and Mars' respective governments 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, Schwarzschild and, eventually, 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 parliment, 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 15 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 factions, and soldiers were tired of fighting a seemingly endless war. The H.N. promised to stop fighting in exchange for U.C. recognition of the Free Republics of the Herschel Nations; ultimately, a ceasefire was called which finally resulted in a peace treaty: 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 United Colonies had emerged as the galaxy's sole superpower with unprecedented influence throughout the Settled Systems.

## Government & Politics

The United Colonies is a federal republic of several hundred colonies, a federal planet and thousands of space stations. It is a representative liberal democracy organised as a federal, semi-presidential republic.

In the U.C.'s federal system, sovereignty is shared between two levels of government: federal and state. Citizens of the colonies are also governed by local governments, which are administrative divisions of the colonies. The U.C. Constitution serves as the country's supreme legal document and establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual colonies. All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review, and any law can be voided if the courts determine that it violates the Constitution.

The United Colonies has operated under a three-party system for most of its history, although what the three parties are has changed over time; in the current political culture, the parties are the Moralist Union & Democracy Party, the right-wing populist Scientism Party and the far-right Constellation Party.

### Federal Government

The federal government comprises three branches, each with their own headquarters, and is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution:

* Legislative: The bicameral General Assembly, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the federal government
* Executive: The United Colonies is a semi-presidential republic with a dual executive government
	+ The Secretary-General is head-of-state, commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law and serves as the U.C.'s chief representative and diplomat
	+ The Chancellor is the head-of-government and appoints the cabinet, determines public policy and oversees the civil service, with an emphasis on domestic matters
* Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Secretary-General with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional

### Political subdivisions

Each of the colonies holds jurisdiction over its home planet, where it shares sovereignty with the federal government. Each planetary system is governed by the most populous world within that system; more isolated worlds can hold sway over large expanses of space.

Each world is subdivided into countries and further divided into provinces and municipalities; all except the minor colonies possess their own planetary government that is headed by a Governor-General, while the legislatures are called "Assemblies". Every colony in the U.C. directly elects their representatives and senators to the General Assembly, though some senators are appointed by a Governor-General.

Earth is the *de jure* capital of the United Colonies, though its influence was significantly reduced after the Lesson and Luna's destructionAsgard currently serves as the U.C.'s *de facto* capital after the General Assembly relocated in 2435The U.C. Capitol on Asgard is the current seat of the General AssemblyAsgard is a federal planet that contains the capital of the United Colonies, the city of Arcadia. It took over this role from Lovell City, Luna, after its destruction in the Lesson.

### Foreign Relations

> *Main Article(s): U.C.—H.N. Relations, U.C.—F.E.Z. Relations*
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The United Colonies has relations with all the major factions in the Settled Systems and ranks second 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, through which it communicates with various corporations and spacer clans within its territory. The United Colonies maintains relations with the Station State of *Event Horizon* despite it welcoming factions that are openly hostile to the U.C., such as Twin Moon.

The U.C.'s most critical relations are with its rival superpower, the Herschel Nations, 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 H.N. Moot selects a sitting Sky Marshal as their ambassador to the U.C.

### Military

>     *Main Article: United Colonies Space Command*
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The United Colonies Space Command is the U.C.'s military, exploratory, and scientific arm. SPACECOM's objective is to protect colonists and colony worlds from attack by pirates, zealots and other threats, such as rival superpowers. It includes various special forces and militia organizations but is composed primarily of five branches: the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Army, the Air Force and the Office of Naval Intelligence. SPACECOM also maintains a number of scientific organizations, among them SPACECOM Astrophysics, while the Engineering Corps is devoted to surveying viable planets for colonization or terraforming. During the Herschel Wars and for a majority of the Great Galactic War, SPACECOM was given operational autonomy under martial law.

The U.C. member colonies maintain their own standing militaries, and also employ their own naval forces for policing.

## Economy

The United Colonies is at or near the forefront of technological advancement and innovation in many economic fields, especially in artificial intelligence; computers; pharmaceuticals; and medical, aerospace and military equipment. The U.C. economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the second-highest total-estimated value of natural resources, and the highest average household and employee income in the Settled Systems.

The U.C. credit is the currency most used in interstellar transactions and is the galaxy's foremost reserve currency, backed by the U.C.'s dominant economy, its military, the petrocredit system, and its treasuries market. The credit is also the currency of the Free Economic Zone and is used widely in the Herschel Nations.

### Science, technology, and energy

The United Colonies has been a leader in technological innovation and scientific research since the Herschel Wars, largely thanks to corporations working in tandem with the federal government. The private sector generates the majority of the U.C.'s funding, giving the corporations significant influence in politics and society.

The U.C. carried over the Collective's policy of aerospace manufacturing and space infrastructure; the U.C. was the first to develop megastructures and build space stations capable of assembling spacecraft in outer space.

Despite all these factors, the U.C. remains behind the Herschel Nations in the rate of technological advancement, especially in regards to the military.