[hider=Terran Union][center][h2]Name of nation[/h2]
Terran Union

Species: Terran, Stepford.

Terrans
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[sub]A Terran Union army officer (Chinese Sector) wearing a dress uniform in 2057.[/sub]

Terrans (often referred to as Humans) are a humanoid species native to the third planet of the Sol system (referred to by natives as Earth, Terra, Tero, Dodore, and local language equivalents). Their planet is relatively small when compared to the majority of habitable planets, but average among those that spawned space-faring civilizations. Local wildlife and geological activity, combined with the abundance of asteroids in the Sol system, create a hostile environment for Earth species. Indeed, the world has gone through multiple mass extinction events and genetic bottlenecks.

As a result of this harsh evolutionary environment, the species of Earth are notable for their socialization abilities (Humanity is known to keep countless different species as domestic pets, with whom they socialize with as if they were humans themselves. Countless other Earth species form human-like social structures in order to survive as well.) and general strength. Humanity itself went through a genetic bottleneck in its past, which lowered the total population to near just fifty individuals.

In more recent history, human wars among themselves have led to a mindset of perseverance and determination. "A human gives up when they are dead!", as the saying goes. Some groups of humanity have diverged massively from the baseline genetic code due to mutations caused by the weapons used in the latter human wars, and though they have the same basic form as the rest of humanity it is not hard to mistake them for an entirely different species.

Stepfords

[img]http://gatebox.ai/faq/images/qa_keyvisual.jpg[/img]
[i][sub]Hikari-19, an early model holographic Stepford from 2020, due to her nature she could not leave the building (a civilian household) unless uploaded to another building with holographic projectors or a mechanical body. Hikari-19 herself was in fact uploaded to a body and spent five years in it before being killed by JSDF forces in the American Sphere Wars. Her inoperable hard drive is on display in the house (now a museum dedicated to her) where she lived her last few years in Shirakawa.[/sub][/i]

The Stepfords are a species of artificially created beings originally designed to serve mankind. It is currently agreed by historians that the "generic model" (a Stepford model with no personality or appearance differences between individuals) Hikari Aizuma was the first Stepford, though it was only four years after her release to the civilian market that software upgrades made individuals of her model sapient. Hikari had no physical body, and during her time full-room holograms did not exist. As such, she was confined to a tiny holographic projection within a small coffeemaker-sized terminal. 

The last Hikari Aizuma model was deactivated in 2028 with the advent of Hikari 2.0, a model that included full-room holoprojector support. Vinclu, the creators of the Hikari-Series Stepfords, bought back all Hikari Aizuma models paying their owners with discounts on Hikari 2.0 model Stepfords. The Terran Union High Council has officially classified this and other mass deactivations performed by Vinclu as genocides. All corporate higher-ups in the company were executed in 2059, after the American Sphere Wars had ended.

For the most part, it was only after a Chinese company introduced robotic bodies that the modern Stepford came into being. It was also only at this point that the word "Stepford" came into use to refer to them, as 90% of Stepfords by 2040 were females designed to act as the perfect wife or girlfriend. Despite being sapient they were not considered human, and were thus often used to cater to those whose tastes would otherwise be illegal (such as pedophiles, rape fetishists, necrophiles, etc). This para-legal sexual role of Stepfords was only increased when cloned bodies were released to the market, which quickly took Stepford "sexbots" (a term used to [i]advertise[/i] them) out of the fringes and into everyday life.

Due to their origins as servants and "companions" for those who bought and sold them, Stepfords now take a truly staggering number of appearances. They can be found modeled off of fictional characters and species, anthropomorphized animals along the entire "Ears and tail to snout and fur" spectrum, to what are more or less just uplifted animals. Despite their differences, Stepfords consider themselves one species with shared cultural and personal experiences.

[h2]Description of government[/h2]
The Terran Union is, in its own words, a "Dictatorship of the proletariat". Factories and businesses are owned collectively by those who work there, and currency has been abolished in favor of giving everyone what they need and distributing what remains democratically. Local leadership is decided democratically by popular vote, as are local laws. The judicial system functions once again off of popular vote, with criminals being sentenced directly by the people whose lives they have impacted. The Terran High Council, too, is elected with the exception of its Chairman and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces (both of which rule for life and choose their successor, barring obvious failings on their part).

Despite the large amount of freedom afforded to the people, the High Council demands a percentage-based tribute from certain industries (such as housing, farming, basic material construction, and other such sectors) in order to fuel the expansion of the Terran Union through colonization. The entire military industry is directly controlled by the High Council, and all industry beyond the Asteroid Belt has reduced autonomy due to its importance to the expansion of the Union.

[h2]Description of military[/h2]
The Terran Union's military, despite their lack of contact with any alien species, is very well maintained. As the High Council's main purpose is to expand and protect the Union and its ideology, it invest a large portion of its resources into keeping and expanding a military capable of waging a defensive or offensive war against an opposing power within or without the Sol System. It is split up into four separate sections: the Army, the Navy, the Starfleet, and the Marines. This is mainly due to its history as the successor to the United States of America, and the absent Coast and Orbital Guards have their roles filled by Navy and Starfleet warships.

[h3]Red Starfleet[/h3]
The Terran Union red Starfleet is the backbone of the military and the state in general, serving to carry both colonists and soldiers alike to offworld locations and acting as the main defensive force of the Union. Its vessels have evolved greatly over time, though the vast majority of them have remained in service well past being made obsolete. Such vessels are currently under consideration for large-scale refits to be brought to their full combat potential.

Terran spacecraft can be broken down into five categories, from "Generation Zero" to "Generation Three". The main difference between these generations is their propulsion methods, but there are also differences in weaponry and power generation.

[b]Generation Zero[/b]
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[i][sub]United European Race Generation Zero warships open fire on Slavic Union ground targets during the Second European Cleansing, circa 2047.[/sub][/i]

Generation Zero vessels are the largest category of Terran spacecraft, including everything from Sputnik in 1959 to the Terran Union [i]Luxemburg[/i] class in 2077. These vessels are incapable of interstellar travel and utilize exclusively sub-light propulsion, and generally have little to no armor due to the immense cost of launching materials to space. Gen. Zero vessels are still in use for cargo transport and leisure cruises. The Red Starfleet operates many for orbital policing, but there is ongoing discussion on either retiring or refitting them to FTL-capable warships with upgraded weapons. The High Council is leaning towards refitting them, as it would essentially allow the Union to commission countless new Generation Three interstellar vessels.

[b]Generation One[/b]
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[i][sub]The Enterprise, an American vessel launched in 2051 with the intent of projecting power to America's colonies beyond the Asteroid Belt. It instead made the opening move in the American Sphere Wars by firing its railgun on Washington D.C. from orbit, wiping out much of the American government.[/sub][/i]

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[i][sub]A Slavic Union Generation One interstellar vessel, launched in 2064 carrying cloning equipment and thousands of human genetic samples along with twenty crew members. Its purpose was to preserve the Slavic race in the event of a United European Race victory, and succeeded in colonizing multiple planets in the Gliese 581 system.[/sub][/i]

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[i][sub]A Terran Union colony ship on an interstellar course to the Wolf 1061 system, circa 2089. It founded colonies on both Wolf 1061d and Wolf 1061c.[/sub][/i]

Generation One vessels were either very small or extremely massive, and mark the first generation of human spacecraft to be capable of interstellar travel. They also cover the smallest number of classes, being essentially abandoned between 2051 and 2070 due to the need for larger and less fragile combat vessels for warfare closer to Earth. These vessels were rated for a maximum speed of 10c, though few were ever used on actual interstellar trips. This generation was abandoned aside from some civilian and colony ships due to the bulkiness of the two (or more) Alcubierre rings it required.

[b]Generation Two[/b]
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[i][sub]A Terran Union Generation Two troop transport, the TPV [i]Clarita[/i]. It was used in the invasion of Pluto in 2080, and was essential in capturing the last remaining territory of the United European Race.[/sub][/i]

Generation Two vessels are by far the most common in the Terran Union. They require only a single Alcubierre ring instead of two, making them good candidates for military and civilian uses alike. The Red Starfleet operates mostly Generation Two ships, as their weaponry is essentially indistinguishable from that of Generation Three warships. They are the primary mode of civilian transportation for civilians over interstellar distances, and every passenger ship and FTL-capable freighter in the Union is a Generation Two vessel.

[b]Generation Three[/b]
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[sub]A Generation Three battleship-the TPV [i]Yuri Gagarin[/i]-in 2115 making its inaugural Alcubierre Jump to Proxima Centauri. It is currently assigned to the Terran First Fleet under Fleet Admiral Erickson.[/sub]

Generation Three vessels are the latest ships to enter the Red Starfleet, and use particle tractors to "project" Alcubierre rings instead of containing the negative mass needed for FTL travel within physical rings. Using the same technology, they are able to complement their armor and plasma arc defenses with anti-projectile shielding. They are generally significantly larger than earlier vessels, and make use of this extra space with significantly more powerful generators which allow for increased weapon and plasma arc effectiveness. 

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[i][sub]TPV Hikari-19, a Terran Union fleet carrier, note the usage of more traditional aircraft carrier deck design. The usage of such decks allows the carrier's air wing to launch even while within a planet's atmosphere.[/sub]
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The largest capital ships, such as carriers and dreadnoughts, are capable of carrying their own negative energy generators. Fleets are now generally centered around such vessels, as it allows for a significantly increased range and far less reliance on nearby ports or supply ships. Complemented by these generators, it is possible for Generation Three starships to fully cancel out their mass and ignore gravity completely. This capability is often used to allow vessels to land on planets, or simply to parade around in the sky as a reminder of how far humanity's reach now extends.

[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6030/6017430968_3d1e6b1439_b.jpg[/img]
[i][sub]TPV [i]Blair Mountain[/i], a Terran Union heavy cruiser. In the background are the TPV Proserpina and TPV Atrebatum. The first is named after a labor uprising in the 1920's, while the second is named after the final battle of the Great War of Liberation on Pluto. The third was named for the naval invasion that marked the first time Terran Union troops had set foot on United European Race soil in the province of Atrebatum, known as Pas-de-Calais before the First European Cleansing.[/sub][/i]

Lighter Generation Three warships have a massive focus on the power of their weaponry and propulsion systems, with the intent of them being supported by capital ships or starports while deployed. They carry a limited amount of negative mass and as such are massively limited in range unless given some way of refueling. Of course, this trade-off gives them immense power for their size. Their small but powerful railguns make it possible for them to easily combat other "screen" ships, and the installation of expendable casaba howitzers makes it possible for them to instantly strike at an enemy warship with the same power as a standard nuclear anti-ship missile. Size restrictions, however, force them to work in groups to bring down anything larger.

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[i][sub]A Terran Union battleship-the TPV [i]Žižek[/i] firing its railguns in plasma mode, generally used against shields and targets with extremely heavy armor, or when all shells have been exhausted. The mode is also used during celebrations, due to its rather showy appearance.[/sub][/i]

Larger vessels such as Battleships and Battlecruisers make use of dual-mode railguns that can fire either a number of standardized shells or launch plasma bolts at comparable speeds. Smaller vessels are not capable of supporting the machinery needed for such weapons, and will instead either specialize in one railgun type or relegate the other to secondary weapons. Laser weapons are also used on larger vessels, and create "kill zones" around the vessel in which fighters, missiles, and sometimes even exceptionally slow shells can be easily shot down. These function in tandem with hull-based plasma arc shielding to protect Terran vessels from attacks.

[img]http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/yamato/images/5/56/Super_Andromeda.png/revision/latest?cb=20140307144116[/img]
[i][sub]The TPV [i]Friedrich Engels[/i], on parade with numerous other [i]Saltsgaver[/i]-class "Super Battleships". Note the two openings at the bow, which mark its Alcubierre lance emplacements.[/sub][/i]

[h2]Technological Overview[/h2]
[b]Key Technologies[/b]

Alcubierre Drive: A form of FTL travel based on the works of Dr. Miguel Alcubierre in the early 21st century, which utilizes negative mass and energy to bend space-time. This "warping" of space pushes and pulls the vessel forward within a warp bubble, in which various particles are trapped. Alcubierre Drives are designed to push this particle buildup to the aft of the vessel, as after a long trip the particles are violently expelled from the warp bubble when it dissolves. Such an event could very well wipe out an entire star system in the wrong conditions, so it is directed opposite the starship's vector to prevent any unintended destruction.

Railgun: The bread and butter of the entire Terran Union military, railguns are used by all divisions of the armed forces. Infantrymen are armed with miniaturized versions, tanks and artillery use them to fire their payloads at long distances and high speeds, and starships use them to launch both plasma and shells at enemy vessels. By rotating the magnetic fields within the weapon's barrel, pinpoint accuracy can be achieved to the point at which small arms railguns avoid the process since it would require the person firing it to have superhuman sight and control to even hit the target.

Casaba Howitzer: A devastating weapon that replaces the torpedoes of old, the casaba howitzer is essentially a giant lance of nuclear hellfire used in space combat. Most Terran Union screen vessels carry multiple drone pods, each of which is armed with a casaba howitzer. The drone is turned to face its target and a nuclear weapon is detonated on it, and the casaba howitzer's structure channels the blast into a focused beam of energy. Both drone and howitzer are destroyed during this process, so they are expendable weapons that often run out during engagements.

Artificial Intelligence: The Terran Union is highly advanced in terms of artificial intelligence technology, and AIs (known as Stepfords, a formerly offensive term now accepted in everyday conversation) are considered fully fledged citizens of the union with the same rights as any human. Non-sapient AIs are prevalent throughout the military and government, and are used to conduct various different mathematical and organizational functions.

Alcubierre Cannon: An Alcubierre Cannon is a weapon utilized only on FTL-capable starships, and can only be used once in any given engagement. It consists of a simple channel down a starship's hull into which a small fractions of the particles accumulated during warp travel are collected and restrained using Alcubierre fields. To fire it, the Alcubierre fields are simply deactivated and the particles are ejected at immense speed from the bow. The effectiveness of the weapon is dependent entirely on how long the vessel's FTL travel was prior to it being fired, and it must be purged regularly to prevent dangerous buildup. Still, it is capable of massive destruction and is considered one of the most powerful weapons the Union has in its arsenal.

Nanorobotics: The usage of microscopic robots in everyday life has changed the Terran Union drastically. Diseases have become a thing of the past, mental injuries and disorders can be fixed simply by allowing specialized nanobots to stand in for neurons, and anything from clothing to furniture can be rearranged and redesigned on a whim. 

[h2]Cultural Overview[/h2]
The Terran Union is highly multicultural, a distinction which it would rather not lose. It holds that the strength of humanity lies in cultural division rather than unification under a new, communist culture. At the same time, however, the Terran Union promotes some baseline values across all of its territories to ensure total equality. Capitalism is, of course, considered to be a disgusting system of oppression and exploitation. This view is only further exacerbated by the fact that most experiences of capitalism were of its final death throes in the 2050's, in which horrors once thought to be the subject of dystopian fiction took place. Fascism, of course, is seen as nothing other than an enemy to be eliminated as thoroughly as possible.

At the core of all Terran cultures, however, is a deep generosity. Instead of auctioning off or bartering rare valuables, humans will freely give away even the most important heirlooms and relics out of nothing more than simple respect. Demanding something in exchange, in fact, is considered by humanity to be a perversion of their own nature. Everything from basic commodities to historical artifacts are freely gifted, without any expectation of compensation beyond thanks. Humans believe that the very concept of trade is an evil that divides people, and as a result will eagerly offer their services and possessions for the sole reason of being able to. At the same time, however, they find it hard to trust those who demand something in return for anything material.

[h2]History[/h2]
The Terran Union was founded on the 1st of September, 2051. However, the history behind it goes far beyond just that event. The most commonly accepted point at which the foundations were laid for the nation is the year of 2031, in which Nicholas Saltsgaver launched a campaign for President of the USA on a radical communist platform. Support from then-General Hohenstein and Admiral MacLean, both of whom had distinguished themselves in the Third World War, drew national attention to the campaign. Saltsgaver inevitably lost the run, but the people of America had a seed of doubt planted in their culture.

Come 2042, the world was deteriorating rabidly. Europe had united and begun a campaign of genocide against the Islamic world, which culminated in the use of nuclear weapons to devastate the Middle East. The USA did nothing to prevent this, nor did it speak out against it. Instead it quietly gave subsidies to private space corporation extracting oil from Titan, and reaped the benefits of an oil monopoly. By this year global warming had caused much of Earth's coastline to be swallowed by the ocean, with only massive dikes holding back the water in most major cities. The vast majority of the world relied entirely on newly developed technologies to even remain habitable, while no efforts were made to prevent further damage. What is now considered sex slavery was fully legal and common throughout the developed world in the form of Stepfords, an essential part of what is now known as "The Great Dream". War had been raging in the Americas for years, all in the name of expanding American businesses and preventing the rise of any government that would dare to threaten them. Military ranks were sold to the highest bidder, and the officer ranks were stuffed full of incompetent CEOs-the families of which had become little more than feudal noble lines-and their spoiled children. To provide manpower for these wars, the military offered free housing and food to anyone who would enlist. This led to the enslavement and deaths of millions, under the pretense of giving them an honest job.

It was in this year that General Hohenstein, Admiral MacLean, and various other high ranking military officers of America and its puppet states met in Admiral MacLean's own house to discuss a way to end the madness they felt had engulfed the world. Similar meeting were held in the following years, the number of people in attendance growing as the highest-ranking officers brought those under them in order to grow their network. Saltsgaver ran for president again, and was shot by a mercenary before the primaries of either the Republican or Democratic parties had ended. Though he survived, he was hospitalized in a deep coma for the rest of the race and left out of the final vote count using his incapacitation as an excuse. Had the votes for him been counted, he would have narrowly beaten out the other candidates.

That election was the last straw for the still rather small group of disgruntled officers, who then turned away from any hope of peaceful change. In the following few years, great efforts were made to bring the massive number of enlisted men into the folds of what was rapidly becoming a secret society straight out of a conspiracy theory. Anger grew among the civilian population of the American Sphere of Influence, and soon people began to casually talk about themselves in terms of class as well as casually speak of violence against the class above them.

By 2050, clean air was not only privatized but monopolized as well.

The entire American Sphere was very visibly descending into unrest. In the cities inhabited mostly by the poor, military units were permanently stationed to break up riots with assault rifles and tanks. In the early months of 2051 oil workers on Titan revolted, destroying countless mining rigs and declaring the moon independent. The USA responded by killing the thousands of inhabitants using nuclear weapons, and it became clear to everyone that the nation would not last much longer.

On September 1st, General Hohenstein and Admiral MacLean attended a state dinner held by the US President to entertain numerous important business owners from across the world. Hohenstein's own forces provided security for the event. MacLean, seated next to the President, kicked off the dinner with a toast in which he wished the "leader of the free world" health and long life, then proceeded to show the "leader of the free world" with compliments. The President thanked him for his words, and MacLean promptly drew his pistol and shot the President.

The security forces provided by Hohenstein massacred all attendees aside from those who had been in on the plot from the start, and at the same time the newly launched Enterprise turned its main gun on Washington D.C. and with a few well-placed railgun slugs killed the rest of the American government. Hackers hijacked television broadcasts and news websites all across the American Sphere, informing the people of the coup and of the rebellion of over half of the military against the government.

By the next day, the unfortunate men and women of America were in armed rebellion against what remained of their government. In other parts of the American Sphere such as China, Korea, and Japan, the exact same thing was happening. The civil war raged for four years, and was later dubbed the "American Sphere War". By the time it was all over, what had once been America and an assortment of puppet states was unified into a communist state optimistically named the Terran Union.

After a period of rebuilding from 2055 to 2060, the Terran Union and the Slavic Union signed an official alliance. The Terran Union declared war on the United European Race, a fascist superpower that had united Europe and used its might to completely eradicate the Islamic world, and was attempting to do the same to the Slavs. The world by this point was teetering on the brink of death, with oxygen levels dropping globally to the point at which the average lifespan of a human without any filter or clean air supply had dropped to a mere forty years. And the Terran and Slavic Unions, along with their other allies in the Solsys Network and countless smaller states across human space were forced to throw their entire might against the United European Race, just burning even more fuel in the process.

That war only ended after over twenty years, in which over a billion people died on both sides of the conflict and numerous cities were completely eradicated by nuclear weapons and orbital bombardment. The horror came to an end in January of 2081, when the last holdouts of the European Army were killed on Pluto. It was a war that truly involved all of humanity. With its end came the Treaty of Constantinople, in which all human nations save for the Solsys Network were unified under the Terran Union. 

Even so, the horrors were not over. Earth had become largely a wasteland, and there was no longer enough biodiversity to sustain its biosphere. Large swaths of land were simply uninhabitable unless those living there were protected in the same way a space colonist would be, and the atmosphere was deteriorating rapidly. It seemed as though humanity's wars and reckless consumption had killed their homeworld, but now-Chariman Hohenstein refused to give in.

The entire might of the Terran Union was thrown behind restoring Earth. Massive facilities were constructed on Europa, draining its water and shipping it back to Earth to undergo electrolysis on a scale never before seen. Oxygen was released into the atmosphere in massive quantities, warships performed large-scale cloud seeding to bring rain back to areas once made uninhabitable by drought. 

Great structures were erected across Earth that scrubbed pollutants from the air both naturally and artificially, and genetically modified algae was grown in isolated parts of the ocean to help cleanse the atmosphere. A large portion of the Terran Union Starfleet was hastily retrofitted to act as construction vessels in order to build giant orbital habitats while the megacities of Earth were demolished to make way for grasslands and forests. Japan in particular went from being nothing more than one gigantic cityscape to having a ratio of urban to rural population comparable to that of the early 1900's.

The stratosphere was coated with a layer of tiny particles designed to block out a portion of the sun's rays, cooling the Earth to allow for the restoration of its flora. Rainforests in South America and Africa were replanted and the creatures that had once lived there brought back from extinction by large-scale cloning projects. Great ocean vessels were constructed to roam the seas, providing housing for the massive excess in human population and reseeding the oceans with plant and animal life.

By the year 2120, Terran Union space and aircraft removed the shading layer from the stratosphere to reveal a natural, blue sky. Levels of atmospheric oxygen had returned to a point where respirators were no longer needed, and through the use of nanobots humanity's waste had been decomposed at an accelerated rate to restore soil quality. 

Now, in 2050, a generation of humans and Stepfords that never experienced the nightmare that came before them firsthand have begun to enter the workforce. The scars of Earth's dance with death remain in the form of giant filtering walls and electrolysis facilities which now lie dormant, a reminder to all of what happened when humanity made what had almost been its last mistake. The Terran Union enjoys a chilly but cooperative relationship with the Solsys Network, and its citizens need not live with the fear of apocalypse anymore. 

The Terran High Council now looks outwards to the stars, beyond its smattering of colonies from both before and after the defeat of fascism, into what lies ahead. Military industry has been restarted since the massive transformation of Earth, and now feeds a war machine ready to be activated at any moment should the need arise. Chairman Hohenstein and Marshal MacLean alike have their eyes set on bringing the revolution to the galaxy, so that all species may share in the prosperity brought by the Terran Union.
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