Solar Coalition Government

Solar Coalition Government:
Government Type: Plutocracy
Current Ruler: Noblesse Council
History:
Founding: During the age of cataclysm that would eventually lead to the Great Diaspora the nations of the Solar System having determined that the threat far exceeded the ability of any one nation to cope with on its own formed the Emergency Coalition Government. The original mandate of the ECG was to reestablish order in the system and begin working to assemble the necessary resources to construct the fleet of seed ships that would hopefully save the human race. When the Salvation wormhole was discovered in the outer system during the last years of the age of cataclysm it was the ECG that first seized upon the opportunity this represented for the human race. In a move beyond their original mandate the ECG decided that the Seed fleet would take too long to construct in full and instead seized dozens of asteroid communities and outposts wholesale, conscripting (or in several controversial cases eradicating) the population to serve as a labor force and body of colonists for their new endeavor. Within two years of the wormhole being discovered the ECG had amassed dozens of Arks from the original seed fleet plan but had also converted entire asteroid habitats into massive seed ships that dwarfed the original arks by several orders of magnitude.

The ECG council, fully realizing they had over reached and were on the verge of losing control made the monumental decision to send the entire colony fleet along with its fifteen million passengers through the Salvation wormhole in a final gambit to save the human race despite itself. Thankfully for the human race this gamble paid off and the Salvation wormhole led to the Auriga sector which would be the seat of future human power for centuries to come.

New Eden and Sanctuary: For reasons modern scientists still do not fully understand the Salvation wormhole collapsed mere months after the colony fleet had made the transition to the Auriga sector. While many scientists believe it was the mass of the fleet travelling all at the same time that caused the collapse others cite the fact that to date all naturally occurring wormholes collapse within a few years; whatever the cause of the collapse the result was that the colony fleet and its passengers found themselves cut off and alone, far away from the home system. While most of the colony fleet chose to stay together and search for a new home as a united people many other ships chose to leave for a myriad of reasons ranging from cultural to religious. Those that chose to stay with the fleet became known as “Solars” because of their belief that they were united as citizens of the home system while those who chose to separate became known as the “Colonials” for their desire to establish their own culturally separate colonies. It took the Solars sixty years to locate and then travel to the nearest M class world which they christened Sanctuary. During the long journey to Sanctuary the Solar fleet slowly formed a new governing body consisting of the Ark captains and the governors of those asteroid habitats that had been turned into mega-arks. Upon establishing the Sanctuary colony and the orbital habitats throughout the new system this government transitioned from an unofficial but necessary body into a full blown government. Less than three years after the founding of Sanctuary and the orbital habitats throughout the New Eden system the Solar Coalition Government was officially formed as the “Unifying and Governing body of mankind”.

Hyperspace:

For decades the SCG remained largely trapped in the New Eden star system save for a handful of “New Arks” that were created from a few choice asteroids in the New Eden system and sent out towards other distant stars to spread humanity still further. Fatefully it was during an excavation for just such a New Ark when a massive deposit of the element later named Quanzium 39 was discovered. This new element acted as a superconductor beyond the wildest dreams of mankind’s ancestors allowing for perfect transfer of energy at room temperature while only dropping marginally in efficiency at higher temperatures. This material proved instrumental in aiding research teams working on artificial wormhole technology allowing them to use the primitive Fusion reactors of the time to actually create stable wormholes whereas before the discovery of Quanzium 39 there was too much energy loss. Thirty years after the discovery of Quanzium 39 the SCG Council used its vast wealth and unchallenged power to fund the creation of the first Hyperspace Gate and the first “gateship” the SCS Valiant which would act as a combination gate building ship and colony vessel. The Valiant would jump to the system now known as the Orion system and construct a second gate as well as establishing the colony of Hope. With this first step a second Diaspora had begun.

First Contact: For nearly two hundred years the SCG established colony after colony in the Auriga sector increasing its scientific knowledge while its leadership grew wealthier and ever more powerful. More deposits of Quanzium 39 had been discovered driving the colonial expansion as well as allowing for the safe creation of new gates. It was in the year 502 PD the SCS Bona Ventura jumped into the New Caledonia system and was met with a startling discovery. A human population was not only firmly established it was thriving. It would soon be discovered that the New Caledonians were descendants from one of the great seed ships that had separated from the original colony fleet centuries before. Peaceful contact was established and a new gate was built, connecting New Caledonia to the rest of the human galaxy. In the twenty years that followed several other human colonies were discovered by the SCG and while all were eager for the new gates to be built many were none too eager to actually bow to the will of the SCG council, only doing so because the SCG controlled all existing hyperspace gates and more importantly controlled the only knowledge on how to create the gates.
Hegemony: From the years 502-834 PD it can be argued that the SCG was truly the only human polity that mattered. While many systems claimed “independence” and some even went so far as to establish their own colony systems all paid heed to the SCG council realizing they couldn’t defy the people that literally controlled their only means to travel the galaxy. While the SCG considers this the “Golden Age” other systems and peoples consider this a time of oppression and shame where their ancestors were cowed under the heel of the SCG’s wealthy ruling class and their will. At this point the SCG controlled all known human worlds either directly as members or indirectly as what amounted to Vassal states bound to the will of the SCG ruling class. In the year 834 three things happened that would not only end the Hegemony but shatter the SCG as a single unified body for all time.

The Year of Change:
Valhalla: On the research outpost of Valhalla an SCG research team working in top secret had created the artificial element Quanzium 40. An exotic matter capable of energetic releases beyond even the most efficient anti-matter reactors humanity had ever produced. In the year 834 the team used this element in conjunction with Quanzium 39 in the creation of a new ultra-efficient hyperspace generator which could be mounted on a ship the size of a frigate. Using their own supply vessel as a test bed for the new generator the lead researcher made the first successful hyperspace “jump” in history; changing everything. Realizing what this meant for humanity –and that his superiors would either cover up the discovery or somehow attempt to control it- the lead researcher as well as several members of his team made the decision to upload the data on the creation of Quanzium 40 and the “jump drive” to every major data source throughout the Auriga sector.
The Democratic Movement: As the Hegemony drew on people throughout the SCG “out worlds” (those colonies established within the last two or three generations) began to grow more and more unhappy with the Plutocracy that obviously controlled the SCG. For nearly twenty years peaceful protests and attempts at reform had been met with often brutal reprisals up to and including severing entire systems from the Gate Network for months on end to punish them economically for speaking out. With the data uploaded after the “Valhalla Incident” the dynamic found itself changing dramatically as worlds now found themselves with the prospect of no longer being bound to the economic punishments of the SCG and its monopoly on hyperspace travel.
Militarization: Quickly realizing the implications of the new Jump drive technology the SCG began planning for the construction of a powerful new fleet of jump ships that would be capable of imposing the will of the SCG with or without gate travel. They were not alone in this however as many of the outlying governments too began creating in secret or openly their own jump capable navies to assert their independence from the SCG.
Collapse of the Hegemony: From the years 835-862 whole clusters of systems began breaking away from the SCG, many as alliances or nations bound together by common ethnicity or culture others bound together simply by the desire to remove themselves from under the chafing collar of the SCG. One such government was the Democratic Solar Confederation which was formed from a league of systems seeking to bring the democratic process to the SCG and instead sparking a brutal civil war that would last for nearly twenty years and see the creation of the far worse True Solar Front and its followers.
Present Day 863: While it is true that the SCG has greatly diminished in power and influence it is also true that it remains one of the most advanced and powerful nations in the galaxy today. Their leadership has been wise enough to normalize relations with most nations in the galaxy including cold but overall peaceful relations with both the DSC and the TSF despite often coming into border skirmishes with TSF forces.


Culture: The SCG is a heavily stratified society wherein the class of a citizen is determined before they are even born and passed on for generations with little room to change and advance. There are three broad categories of citizen within the SCG.

Noblesse: The ruling plutocratic class that controls 99% of the material and financial wealth of the SCG while making up less than 1% of the population. These individuals make up the planetary governors, rulers of systems as well as running the corporations and trade organizations of the SCG. They are considered legally above the other classes of citizens complete with their own entirely separate legal system and representation. (They are the only citizens entitled to trial by a jury of peers)

Debtless: The debtless are the “middle-classes” of citizens which are fortunate enough to be born into the classes of citizens that do not have a “life debt” at birth. In the civilian sector the debtless often make up the bulk of local politicians, merchants, teachers, scientists, etc. In the military the debtless make up over ninety percent of the officer corps and ensure that the rank and file stays loyal to the regime lest their own places in society be risked. The debtless are entitled to state education and healthcare as well as trial by jury.

Debtors: Making up the vast bulk of the SCG population the debtors are the working class and poor of the Coalition. In the civilian sector they make up the vast bulk of low education and menial labor work forces with only the very top tiers of debtor class citizens serving in technical fields. The debtor class also makes up the vast bulk of the military ranks with roughly half being “debt bound” to service and others signing their lives away in the hope of improving the station of their children or grandchildren. Debtors are not entitled to education and must add to their life debt to go to school, likewise with healthcare. They are not entitled to trial by jury and can face summary judgment by a Debtless judge or even a Noblesse citizen if they have somehow wronged the Noblesse.


Military: The SCG military is divided into two branches:

Solar Spacy: The Spacy is the space based armed forces of the Coalition and is one of the most powerful space forces in the galaxy. Although dramatically diminished in size and strength since the collapse of the Hegemony the Spacy still enjoys a near endless supply of recruits as well as excellent funding. Doctrine: The Spacy is a force built around the philosophy of “regional response” meaning on average their warships have shorter range than those of other nations as well as being strategically slower. This idea was created after the collapse of the hegemony and arose from the combination of loss of territory as well as how many Spacy units deserted and left loyalist space directly for DSC or TSF territory. With modern SCG territory their ships would not be able to jump away as easily without potentially being intercepted at a stop over meaning disloyal crews now understand their likelihood of escape is practically nil.
A key part of this “regional response” doctrine is the idea of local fire superiority being essential. This has led to the creation of the President Class battleship which is without a doubt the single most powerful (and expensive) capital ship in the galaxy. The best example of this is when thanks to a mix of bad intelligence and poor decision making the SCS Lenin was alone and ambushed by a rebel fleet of twenty cruisers and not only survived but emerged victorious (albeit badly damaged) single handedly crushing a local rebellion.

Solar Marine Corps: Descended from the “Marine Corps’ that provided the original ground forces for the Diaspora fleet the Solar Marines make up the professional ground assault force of the Coalition. Since the collapse of the Hegemony the Solar Marines just as their Spacy counterparts have faced dramatic changes in structural doctrine. Gone are the Marine divisions of the past, replaced instead with Rapid Response Brigades that no longer contain their own organic armor or air support elements. Training for the SMC has also shifted towards individual troopers being drilled with near fanatical loyalty and unquestioning obedience to orders whereas in the past they were trained for a measure of independence and creativity on the battlefield.