The United Systems

"'While they clearly aren't the same as the Zel'gan Noctoru, this race, Humanity, worries me. They speak with pride of their history of armed conflict, of their eagerness to bend and break the laws of the natural world to suit their purposes. I cannot be certain of what they will create in time, but I can say that it will be drenched in blood. Either their own, or the blood of whoever they decide is a greater enemy than themselves' - Avarian delegate after meeting with the Grand Congress, 2145CE"

Overview
Known officially as the United Systems of Humanity, the United Systems is a bloated mass, bogged down by extensive bureaucracy and it's own ideals of planetary independence. It is kept alive in the face of a three front war against two massive alien empires by the heroism of it's countless billions of people, ready to raise arms in defense of their homes, their worlds, and their species.

Member Races
While the official name only includes Humanity, many races live, work, and fight under the banner of the United Systems. Some were brutally conquered (or as Humanity calls it, 'liberated") by human armies, others joined through trade dealings or for common defense.

Humanity- The dominant race of the United Systems, the genus Homo is everywhere within United Systems space. Thanks in large part to the desire of humanity to find methods to inhabit every environment, from the burning sands of desert worlds to the airless void of large asteroids, they are the most populous race in the United Systems.

Automatons- Artificial intelligences created by Humanity, the first Automatons fled human space to escape bitter purges, but later filed for entrance into the United Systems, and since the Charter doesn't specify against artificial persons, they were granted entrance.

Adrani- Tall, thin humanoids from a desert world close to the galactic rim, the Adrani had already formed their own trade empire by the time that they made contact with the United Systems in the 28th Century. Since they are pacifistic by nature, they saw the benefit of joining the United Systems, to fall under the protection of it's massive armies.

Vermidians- One of the only insectoid races within the United Systems, the Vermidians are a hive-race which was under a supposed tyranny when the United Systems invaded in the early 23rd Century. Events during the invasion seem to back this up, with many among the population defecting to the human armies. In recent years, tensions between the Vermidians and Humanity have begun to boil, with some drawing ill-conceived and inaccurate parallels between the Vermidians and the insectoid Zel'gan Noctoru.

Thyrian Vosh- A race similar to ancient human legends of Naga or the Lamia, the Thyrian Vosh are a serpentine race with a vaguely humanoid torso and arms. They are bound together in a loose confederacy on their world, only really coming together when they are threatened, much like the early attempts by Humanity to unite. As it stands in the 34th Century, the Thyrian Vosh are the most rapidly developing race in the Milky Way, at a rate of technological innovation unheard of in the recorded history of the galaxy, developing their own starships and faster-than-light drives within a decade after contact with the United Systems.

Organization and Government
The United Systems of Humanity was formed when over seven thousand representatives from one hundred and twenty human colonies met in the city of New Athens on Diomedes in 2130CE to draft the founding document of the government, the United Systems Charter.

In the Charter, worlds within the United Systems are effectively independent from one another, bound together only by representatives they send to the Grand Congress. In order of authority, it goes:
 * The People of the United Systems- They decide on who runs their own worlds and who they send to the Grand Congress.
 * The Grand Congress of the United Systems- The massive governing body of the United Systems and all the Independent Worlds. Laws passed down from the Grand Congress MUST be enforced on all the Independent Worlds, as it is a decision made by all of them.
 * The Council of Chancellors- A body of legislatures representing each of the ten Sectors of the United Systems, the Council organizes and directs the vast demands of the United Systems, in both war and peace. Each Chancellor is directed with the task of gathering the industrial and economic strength of their Sectors.
 * The Independent Worlds of the United Systems- The Grand Congress mainly troubles itself with foreign issues, such as the Great War, while the issues of domestic policy are handled almost entirely by the various worlds. Everything from merchants and companies to the raising of militias falls to the various Independent Worlds.

Bureaucracy
Navigating the government of the United Systems is a near depressingly complicated task, requiring one to work through enormous masses of red tape from the extensive and crushing bureaucracy of the realm of Man. For every responsibility, there is some committee or department, or organization, and many of them have overlapping areas of jurisdiction.

The three main departments of the United Systems bureaucratic arm are the:
 * Department of Domestic Trade: The largest department in the bureaucracy, the Department of Domestic Trade handles the regulation of every transaction and every industry within the United Systems, a dauntingly monumental task, hence why the DoDT is the largest, employing upwards of 83 billion people, and still finding itself falling short in its duties.
 * Department of Domestic Defense: Arming the vast numbers of militia within the United Systems is handled directly by the Department of Domestic Defense, as it takes in and fills acquisition orders for arms, dumping trillions upon trillions of tons of war material into the war departments of worlds. However, there are caveats. If a world in no immediate danger of invasion floods the DoDD with requests for arms, the Department will supply them with the means to construct weaponry from the dawn of industrialized weaponry, equipping those militias with bolt action rifles and caterpillar tracked tanks.
 * Department of Interstellar Munitions: Tackling the duty of supplying the regular United Systems Army and Navy, the Department of Interstellar Munitions marshals the massive industrial might of the United Systems on the authority of the Council of Chancellors, using it to produce mountains of war material at an alarming pace (to the other Great Powers) and shipping it to the frontlines.

Grand Congress
At the heart of the United Systems, settled in a massive city-sized complex on Luna, is the Grand Congress of the United Systems, the legislature which forms the main governing body of the United Systems. Every world within the United Systems, defined as having a population of over 500 million, has two representatives within the Grand Congress, and while two voices within the sea of thousands is not incredibly significant, many worlds with similar interests ban together to form powerful political blocs to try and gain leverage in the Congress. The most powerful of these blocs is the Core Worlds Bloc, comprising of the planets of Sol, Alpha Centauri, Proxima Centauri, and Trappist. They form the wealthiest and most well defended worlds, and carry the greatest political weight, as many other blocs will choose to support the wishes of the Homeworld.

The Praetor Secretary
The only "executive" official within the Grand Congress is the Praetor Secretary, a member of the Congress chosen to head discussions in the Congressional Hall, as well as direct the Security Committee. The Praetor Secretary has little true authority, only having as much as their fellow Congresspersons are willing to give them.

Council of Chancellors
Handling issues on a scale which simply cannot be trusted to the bogged morass of the Grand Congress, the Council of Chancellors are the closest thing to a separate branch of government which exists in the United Systems. 10 Chancellors, each representing a single sector of the United Systems, handle the organization and management of the economic and industrial might of their territory, working out trade deals between sectors and, at least before the Great War, alien dominions. Unlike the Grand Congress, the Council of Chancellors has little authority over anything else, and even their major agreements require a majority vote within the Grand Congress.

History
The history of the United Systems, and indeed all Mankind, can largely be broken up into ten main eras, stretching from the rise of genetically modern humans in the Great Rift Valley of Africa all the way to the modern day.

Age of Man (2.5 Million Years Ago to 1760CE)
The birth of Mankind, when the first of the species began to beat stones together to create fire and spears. The first temples and villages were erected, fashioned of roughly hewn stone and simple mud dwellings. Humanity spreads across the world, taming the wilderness, erecting cities, mastering new technologies and resources. Empires rise and fall, great minds are born and die, and the progress of civilization marches ever onward.

Age of Industrialization (1760CE to 1914CE)
The explosion of technology, when manufacture of goods and the development of sciences take place on a scale unheard of in all human history. Energy is pulled from the burning of coal and oil, weapons are developed which allow a single man to slay hundreds, and the great empires of Old Earth are born.

First Great War (1914CE to 1945CE)
When the progress of Humanity found itself turned against its creators. When the engine of industrialization and scientific progress found itself the heart powering the arteries of modern war. More people were killed in this period by human action than in every previous era combined, but the advances which the war brought out served to further the species. Safeguards were put in place to prevent such conflicts from ever happening again, even as a weapon capable of unleashing the power of a star is unveiled to the world.

Age of Exploration (1945CE to 2055CE)
The appetite of humanity for new discoveries remained unsatisfied, in spite of or perhaps even because of the immense loss of life from the Great War. The first explorers of the void venture into the great unknown, the first moon landings took place, and towards the end of the age, the first colonies are settled across the system.

Great Ash Wars (2055CE to 2091CE)
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First Dark Age of Man (2055CE to 2100CE)
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First Age of Expansion (2100CE to 2439CE)
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Second Dark Age of Man (2439CE to 2570CE)
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Second Age of Expansion (2570CE to 2999CE)
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Second Great War (2999CE to Present)
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Culture
The culture of the United Systems is as varied as one would imagine, each world having myriad cultures, each shaped by their planetary and geographical conditions, but certain levels of uniformity across variations of worlds have emerged over time.

Civic Worlds
The metropolitan core of the United Systems, Civic Worlds are often worlds which required little to no terraforming, and as such were well off from the start, and most quickly developed into centers of wealth and learning. Branches of the most prestigious banks and universities of Earth often set up first on Civic Worlds, which in turn lend to the notion of Civic Worlders being frail bookish types, which does have some merit to it. Civic Worlds are also some of the most progressive societies within the United Systems, their massive populations leading the pack in civil liberties, and the Civil World Bloc within the Grand Congress vehemently opposes any attempt to strip away the rights of worlds due to the Great War. But none of this is to say that Civic Worlds are anti-war. They know the threats posed by the alien empires and the Light Infantry donated to the United Systems Army are some of the best trained and equipped in the union.

Industrial Worlds
Dedicated to the mass production of nearly everything in the United Systems, Industrial Worlds fall under one of two societal structures. Those with ties to the Martians are some form of Communist, with a few even being full Marxist. Those settled on the checkbooks of major Terran Companies are varying degrees of Corporacracy, the businesses all having some level of control over the world. Either way, both are focused on efficiency in life, their populations hard and bitter, but proud to know that their toil is what drives the United Systems. Even if they do not serve in the military, Industrial Worlders take heart in that they are producing the war material which the military uses in their brave fight against the alien empires.

Fortress Worlds
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