United Species Coalition

The United Species Coalition, often abbreviated as USC, is an intergovernmental organization of forty-seven nations that aims to both protect sapient species from the Merine Empire, as well as provide assistance to worlds in need. Over three hundred species are represented in the USC. A number of smaller, localized governments exist within the USC, tasked with governance of species homeworlds and locations of cultural importance. The USC capital world is Varmon, located in the Spiral Branch constellation, which was chosen for its centralized location and ease of access.

## History

The USC was first founded in 11250/10 as a stopgap government to broker peace treaties between the Grand Superpowers of Niven-5 and the Obtel Confederacy during the Helium Wars. Its charter was originally signed by five nations, with eleven more eventually signing the charter following prolonged conflict between non-USC nations. The first official meeting of the USC was held on Humi'Alay Del, a neutral planet located outside of both Niven and Obtel space. During that meeting, the first Interstellar Non-Aggression Pact was authored. USC peacekeeper robots were subsequently installed on nine planets that were key battlegrounds to the Helium Wars, putting an end to the conflict for both sides. This peace would hold for another twenty years, during which many more nations joined the USC, allowing a more generalized and formal charter to be drawn that included as many of the known spacefaring nations as possible. In 11273/10, the twenty-six nations assembled to pass a unanimous bill that would begin the Eleventh Era.

### Early Wars and Issues

The beginning of the Eleventh Era saw a number of issues in the USC leadership come to light. Nations were joining the USC in force, with the total list of nations growing to thirty-six in 3/11, followed by forty-one by the end of 10/11. This rapid growth put stress on the USC's ability to govern and keep the peace on every incorporated planet. It wasn't until 17/11, when Dune-King Vel Trebanis declared war on the Azronites, that the weakness in the USC's actual enforcement became clear. Production of peacekeeping robots had slowed due to the extended peacetime, and the units that were produced were too spread out to effectively dissuade the Trebanic Kingdom from attacking and capturing the Azronite capital in 18/11. Popular opinion of the USC began to wane as the Trebanic Kingdom captured several more sparsely populated planets with little resistance despite promises from USC leadership that the worlds were adequately defended.

In 19/11, several nations broke from the USC citing poor leadership and unfulfilled resource requisitions. On top of the desolation from the Azronite War, numerous planets experienced famines due to widespread revolt on the agriworld of Jaspin. The USC had little official backing and could not secure trade routes or resources from other nations to aid displaced civilians. At its lowest point, more than half of the original nations had left the USC, leaving them with only six affiliates. Public opinion continued to fall until Lord Heguswich (the reigning lord of the Gravel States) launched a campaign to back the USC, donating millions of units of food and clothing to affected planets. This, coupled with USC officials convincing both parties to sign the Inkbottle Concordat, turned popular opinion in the USC's favor once more.

Despite widespread approval, the USC was still seen as an ineffective governing body. Throughout the 20/11s, USC summits would pass several bills relating to resource allocation that would go unheeded by local governments. Very few conflicts were observed in this decade, though remaining peacekeeping drones were able to enforce non-aggression pacts and prevent several civil wars. In 31/11, Chancellor Viit Razola was elected to the fifth chair. Razola was a decorated captain that had seen active duty in the Helium Wars, serving as a space pilot in the Obtel armed forces. His presence on the council was seen by many as a troubling amount of bias. Over the next five years, Razola would go on to take a hardline egalitarian stance, which he confessed "erred on the side of paranoia"[1]. Between Razola's notable status and several happenstance windfalls of public support, the USC would go on to find backing from major corporations and several previously unaffiliated nations.

### The Era of Peace

Following the outpouring of official support, the USC had enough funding to secure a robotics contract with the industriworld of Feillen, which supplied them with enough peacekeeping drones to fully secure every member planet of their then fifteen nations. An aggressive propaganda campaign spanning almost ten years across neighboring star systems grew the USC's support base and ultimately recruited the majority of today's members. It was during this time that Chancellor Banlak (442/11 - 462/11) would institute the now-popular Titheless policies. In exchange for the complete removal of all membership dues both monetary and material, affiliated nations would run volunteer network facilities on each planet in USC space that would facilitate fast, accurate deployment of peacekeeping drones to areas in need. This made each individual robot more effective, thus reducing the need of both manpower and transportation per drone. These policies of free membership and interconnected societies are considered pillars of modern USC political decisions today.

## Structure

The United Species Coalition is comprised of forty-seven autonomous nations, and each is represented by two elected officials that meet in annual summits to vote on bills and amend policy. One representative is tasked with collecting intelligence about societal unrest, while the other is focused on agriculture, mining, and other planetary exports from their associated worlds. Each representative serves a two-year term and cannot serve two consecutive terms.

In addition to the 94 representatives, a council of sixteen chancellors preside over the summits and vote on inter-Coalition issues. These chancellors are elected by the national representatives and serve twenty year terms. While most representatives live and work on their homeworlds, chancellors are required to live on Varmon and work on expanding and improving USC policy full-time. They are capable of calling emergency summits in the event of a crisis. When action is needed but representatives are offworld, chancellors can vote on strictly USC related issues, but this is reserved for unusual circumstances.

The general purpose of a USC summit is to assess the well-being of the populace and compare it against the available resources that each nation can produce. While the USC cannot issue mandates to order nations to share resources, plans are drafted to alleviate potential crises that may arise from shortages of food, housing, etc. This is intended to assuage public unrest and cut down on racial, class, and religious discrimination. Additionally, the USC can allocate donations from benefactors to facilitate the redistribution of resources and populations in case of emergencies. Nations that do not comply with the drafted plans cannot officially be met with sanctions, but to date only three nations have rejected their assigned plan after revisions.

### Criticism

Criticism of the USC's structure has varied over the years. The majority of political pundits decry the USC's limited number of representatives given the sizes of the populations they represent. Cylivian the Elder, a prominent Baultelthal official, is known for their consistent calls for increased representation for swarm species like the Baultelthi. The USC has made several provisions over the years to accommodate different forms of life, but most critics agree that there is still work to be done in bridging the gap between medium-sized bipeds and other body layouts.

Criticism is also often pointed at the USC's use of heavily armed peacekeeping drones rather than the local military for enforcement. Fyo-Pran Kom, a notable journalist for the ZLU news network, began a movement attempting to convince national representatives to hire more organic workers rather than create additional peacekeeper drones. Though ongoing, the process of incorporating additional organic security has been sluggish.