[hider=wip]
[h2]THE UNITED TERRAN FEDERATION OF COPERNICUS[/h2][i]Commonly referred to as either the U.T.F.C, the Terran Federation or the Copernican Federation[/i]


[img]http://i.imgur.com/mp0qaTv.png[/img]
[h3]“Per Aspera Ad Astra”[/h3]
[b]Capital System:[/b] Copernicus System, Perseus Arm (The Terran Federation does not actually own Earth)
[b]Head of State:[/b] Secretary-General, Hadrian Sirius Eridani (Homeland Party)
[b]-Head of Government:[/b] Deputy Secretary-General, Kagiso Nwosu (Homeland Party)

[b]Government:[/b] The UTFC is a democracy born out of the ashes of the Terran Empire. The numerous warring factions that eventually formed the UTFC modelled itself after the pre-Terran United Nations of Earth and the early frontier days of humanity, fused with elements from the Terran Empire as well as its own militant and strife-ridden birth during the Terran Empire’s collapse. 

The Executive branch is comprised of the Secretariat (cabinet) and the Secretary-General. The legislative branch is made up of the General Assembly. The UTFC holds elements of representative as well as direct democratic systems, the latter seen with the UTFC’s common legislative referendums. Despite being a democracy, the UTFC has numerous vestige influences of the fallen Terran Empire, this including the continued presence of aristocrats, general human supremacist ideology and laws, as well as the continuation of using modified subhuman (reverse transhuman) slave-races, though this has become increasingly unpopular. The Terran Federation is a major human power and thus proclaims itself the (one of many of) Terran Empire’s successor state.

Besides the vestiges of the Terran Imperial era, the majority political ideology of the UTFC is a very militant, xenophobic form of democratic thought. Voting is only allowed for humans and the popular referendums regularly demand military intervention. The xenophobia and militarism only grows stronger, particularly as the near endless flow of Terran refugees fleeing alien invasions and ethnic cleansing further radicalise the UTFC’s voting results. Aliens within the UTFC live under apartheid conditions or are simply pushed off world all together. Another note is that civilians and citizens have a distinct difference, with citizens being politically enabled and socially protected while civilians are only socially protected. Citizenship requires military service.

[hider=Political Parties of the Terran Federation]
[i]While the Terran Federations political system uses a large amount of direct democracy in terms of referendums, political parties are still necessary for the governing of the country as well as pushing forward which referendums are offered for the citizens to vote on. [/i]

[b]Justice Party[/b] (Terran Supremacy, Reactionary Modernism, Fascism, Irredentism)
[i]-Considered the 'far-right wing' part of the Terran Federation, the Justice Party is a new addition that has only been formed a few elections ago. It begun as a political break-away faction of the Restoration Party, backed by Terran refugees disillusioned with the party due to its focus on reclaiming core Terran worlds rather than liberating their homelands from the xeno invaders. The party believes that the Apartheid policies of the Restoration and Homeland parties are insufficient to deal with the Xeno threat, and the Xenos must be removed by any means necessary. A growing further radical wing in the party led by Professor Moloch Drysdale is pushing forward an ideological agenda that can be summarised as humanity becoming a galactic 'superpredator' with the ultimate mission of exterminating all other intelligent life in the galaxy. The Justice Party is gradually gaining popularity in the Terran Federation and may eventually replace the Restoration Party as the primary right-wing party. Despite being far-right, the Justice Party is significantly less concerned with tradition, and couldn't care less about aristocrats or the old ways of a failed system. They also surprisingly believe Subterran slavery is wrong, seeing them as members of the human race.[/i]

[b]Restoration Party [/b](Terran Imperialism, Federation Ethnic Nationalism, Reactionary, Irredentism, Apartheid)
[i]-Considered the main 'right-wing' party of the Terran Federation, the Restoration Party believes in the reformation of the Terran Empire through the expansion of the Terran Federation. They are mostly focused on reclaiming the former imperial core-worlds of the Terran Empire, including Earth. They are also pro-aristocracy and believe heavily in the old cultural traditions of the empire. They see xenos as inherently inferior and publicly support the continued use of subterran slaves. They are beginning to become more sceptical of allowing in more refugees, even though they are humans and culturally Terran as they are starting to realise these refugees are creating a larger and larger voting base for their right-wing rival, the Justice Party.[/i]

[b]Homeland Party[/b] (Federation Civic Nationalism, Democracy, Irredentism, Hegemony, Soft Slavery Abolitionism)
[i]-Considered the main 'left-wing' party of the Terran Federation, despite being what could be considered a right-wing party in other democracies. The Homeland party is highly nationalistic and military-orientated, and still advocates for the recapture of lost territory, however Homeland administrations usually advocate more peaceful means, including annexations or gun-boat diplomacy, though military invasion is not off the table. Genuine believers in democratic principles, the Homeland party is less concerned with Terran traditions that go against their political values, mostly continuing them for the sake of Terran unity. They believe in gradual reforms of the Terran Federation, including the phasing out of Subterran slavery. They maintain the apartheid system due to the majority of Terran voters supporting its continuation, however they are trying to find ways of reducing the xenos reasons for endlessly revolting against Terran rule. The Homeland Party is currently in power.[/i]

[b]Suffrage Party[/b] (Civic Nationalism, Slavery Abolitionism, Liberal Democracy, Civil Rights, Reformism)
[i]Considered the 'far-left' due to the political norms of the Terran Federation, the Suffrage Party believes in reform of the Terran Federation along the lines of the more pro-alien Terran successor states. They believe in extending human rights to include Subterrans and aliens, abolishing slavery and the creation of a liberal democratic state. The Suffrage party usually allies with the Homeland Party despite having significant differences in ideology, mostly because it knows there is no realistic way for it to win elections or push forward any of its referendums.[/i]

[b]Ques'tchaan[/b] (Banned/Illegal party, Pro-Xeno, Anti-Terran, Separatist, Xeno-Nationalism, Railroad)
[i]Ques'tchaan was the first and last attempt by xenos to form their own political party. Created in the beginning years of the Terran Federation some 150 years ago, the xenos requested citizenship and equal political rights, now that the Terran Empire was no more. Their request was denied, and since they did not possess citizenship, they may not vote. Ques'tchaan was formed anyway, however it has no legitimacy and no official power within the Federation. Its days of simple alien advocacy and civil rights has ended and now has become a full on national-separatist party deemed a terrorist organisation by the Federation. Its activities are mostly subversive in nature, including freeing slaves, smuggling aliens out of the country, destroying property, aiding spies of foreign countries and occasional acts of actual violent terrorism. That said, one of the reasons this organisation has yet to become a major threat to the Federation is its constant infighting, as the pan-alien nature of the organisation creates a lot of issues concerning what the organisation actually wants, particularly as some of the organisations sub-groups are far more violent than others while others are genuine pacifists[/i]
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[b]Demographics:[/b]
[i]-Terran (Roughly equivalent to "CUHs"); 58%
-Transterran (Roughly equivalent to "Pure Human"): 16 %
-Subterran (Roughly equivalent to "Modified Humans"): 15 %
-Xeno: 11 %[/i]

[hider=Xeno species]
The Terran Federation has a significant minority of xeno species within its borders despite its blatant xenophobia and apartheid policies, though this category of 'xenos" actually includes several dozen different species. Most of the xeno species in the Terran Federation were slave peoples of the Terran Empire transported from other distant worlds to new ones in this region of space. Only a few species native to this region remain, most others having been mass enslaved and relocated to make way for the Terran Empires high-density human worlds which the Terran Federation now makes up part of it, or otherwise simply 'removed'. On the bright side, while living under brutal conditions and holding no citizenship, Xeno slavery has dropped by quite a large degree, mostly because the Federate Terrans would rather the xenos out of sight rather than the Imperial notion of 'under boot'.

Listed below are notable local xeno species. The rest are mostly foreign xeno species brought in from across the galaxy (including species from other players nationsheets)

[url=http://i.imgur.com/qfRD0IX.jpg]-The Ittikani:[/url] Considered one of the most mysterious of the xenos within the Federation, considering they seem to have no recorded history going back past 2000 years, their interstellar xeno neighbours state in their history that they 'just showed up' in the region, and finally when the Terran Empire invaded, they didn't even fight back. The Ittikani are a insectoid/reptilitian hybrid species that are roughly humanoid in shape, being bipeds though possessing two sets of arms. They are cold blooded and thrive in very high temperatures. Like most insectoid xenos, they are matriarchal and highly collectivist, forming around obedience towards queen-mother leaders. They seem to perform only specific tasks beyond maintaining and growing their civilisation, and much of their civilisation and their physical bodies designed around combat, even though they seem to never fight nor have they ever fought. While useful labourers in desert planets the Terrans don't want to colonise with humans, they are useless for warfare. That said, a recent theory has begun among Terran Federation scientists: They believe that the Ittikani are in fact a divergent or defective Yanthu strain of the Dathu Hives. If this theory is correct, Terran scientists argue, there may be some xeno plot to infiltrate their nation.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/Wso1C0H.jpg]-The Shanu:[/url] The most rebellious of the Terran Federations xeno subjects, the Shanu are a species of large, reptilian saurian bipeds. It is often joked among Terrans that it seems to always be reptilians revolting against Terran rule, with comparisons between the Federation's Shanu and the ENJ's Moracones often made. The Shanu themselves were once a society roughly going through the industrial/machine age (roughly late 19th century) when the Narasheen (see below) showed up and 'enlightened' them. The Shanu much like the humans after them were mesmerised by the Narasheen and would for the next four hundred years serves as essentially an entire species of soldiers for an otherwise pacifist overlord. They fought viciously against the Terran Empire to defend the Narasheen but eventually lost and were conquered. Later, with the influence (and pheremones) of the Narasheen absent, the Shanu begun operating under their own impulses of domination. Realising they were now slaves, they almost immediately turned to rebellion. Today, the Shanu make up the majority of the Ques'tchaan party/terrorist organisation as well as numerous regional rebel organisations and pirates. Those under the Federations control are some of the most strictly controlled of the xenos, the majority of them still living in slavery or heavily restrictive concentration camps.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/4vA4Q6j.jpg]-The Narasheen:[/url] Former rulers of the region that the Terran Federation now controls before conquered by the Terran Empire. They are considered 'aesthetically pleasing' to every species due to aggressive pheremones designed to influence any other species. The Terran Empire despite banning xenophilic activity was rife with Narasheeni pleasure slaves among the corrupt aristocracy. Since the fall of the Terran Empire, the Narasheen continue to exist in the Terran Federation. While most of them are no longer slaves (as the Federation found that making them slaves just encouraged xenophilic activity), they are banned from entering major cities or worlds and so are essentially forced to live in the outskirts of the Federation. The Narasheen once had an extremely advanced civilisation with emphasis on culture, enlightenment and grace, but after so many centuries as living as sex slaves, they now exist essentially as stereotypical mascots of run down backwater city red-light districts. Interestingly, the Federation has found uses for those few Narasheeni xenos that they can properly control, including using them as spies and honey-traps for more xenophile nations.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/DAIHQqo.jpg]-The Ibidi:[/url] Small, cat-like xenos, they are mostly considered pests despite being intelligent. Like the Narasheen, they are banned from entering or living in major cities or planets, thus forced to live in the backwater outskirts. They are often stereotyped as petty thieves and scavengers, often welding together rusty trash heap starships. They are renown pirates, both fighting against the Terran Federation as well as their enemies, depending.
[/hider]


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[b]Allegiance:[/b] Terran & Humanity

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[b]History:[/b] The UTFC begun in the Copernicus System within the rapidly collapsing Terran Empire. Copernicus at first was an ideologically neutral state between the Pro-Imperial and Pro-Rebel factions and politically loyal to the Emperor, mostly due to its primary concern being to look outward, towards the alien invasions that had been launched on the Perseus Arm so to reclaim lands from the Terrans. A military powerhouse and considered the “Gatekeeper of Perseus”, Copernicus continued its policy of ignoring internal conflicts and defending humanity from the ‘xeno threat’.

This policy continued until Copernicus was eventually forced into the conflict when the civil war dissolved from the Emperor fighting rebels into an all out battle royale between ex-imperial warlords. The system was invaded and fought over by numerous warlords, whom quickly turned the system (and surrounding systems) into a bloodbath. This was enough to eventually trigger the system's entrance into the civil war as another rebel faction, the population overthrowing warlord-collaborating aristocrats and declaring its independence from the (all but already dead) Terran Empire, at the time merely the Republic of Copernicus. Republican Copernicus was unique amongst the anti-Terran human rebels in that it was not particularly different from the Terrans they rebelled against, more influenced by circumstance than any ideological fervour. The planet was still enforcing anti-xeno laws and still practiced slavery. 

Copernicus, being a military powerhouse, was quite the sleeping giant. Pulling its vast military assets from defending the Perseus Arm from xeno invaders to defending itself (dooming countless humans in the process), the warlords realised their mistake too late. Copernicus’ newly independent civilian/rebel-run government went on to declare itself the new Terran successor state and launch wars of liberation against warlord-occupied star systems. 

Since then… this hasn’t really stopped. The Republic of Copernicus has since reformed into the United Terran Federation of Copernicus (or simply the Terran Federation for those who dislike the emphasis on just one star system) as it has rapidly expanded through ex-Imperial space. Being one of the most successful of the Terran successors (alongside the Earth faction and those ‘mad crusaders’), the UTFC has further increased its manpower and size through puppeting, sphering and annexing other human states. It also took in (and continues to take in) huge numbers of Terran refugees fleeing occupied territory throughout the galaxy, enough so where it has become famous as the nation of "angry refugees".

The UTFC unlike some of the more normalising post-Terran states has only become even more militant and aggressive since the fall of the Terran Empire. The huge number of refugees fleeing alien-conquered worlds have shifted the democracies referendums towards favouring interventionism, hoping to reclaim their lost homes. Furthermore, the UTFCs new citizens from the former Terran Empire’s inner worlds demand the UTFC move military assets to reclaim the imperial capital, Earth, from treacherous xeno-lovers. 


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[h3]Military[/h3]
Naval: The Terran Federation puts emphasis on range, many of its ships being equipped with powerful long ranged electromagnetic/mass accelerator cannons. Typically the Terran Federation puts emphasis on heavier escort ships (frigates, light cruisers) and capital ships (Heavy cruisers, Battlecruisers, battleships). Strike craft and other smaller vessels exist, however usually they are used as an extra layer of escorts for the main ships. The Terran Federation does not have designated carriers, instead having hybrid carrier-cruisers, though the navy plans on developing a proper carrier soon.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/HJXHCpD.jpg[/img]
Army: The Terran Federation puts a great deal of its land forces emphasis on armour, artillery and defence. It has a high tolerance for sieges and attrition warfare. The Terran Federation is famous for its use of large, siege-scale bubble shields, anti-orbital cannons and landship superheavy tanks. Some mecha-like vehicles have been created and are used, however overall the Terran Federation is more of a tank-orientated military force, sacrificing mobility for firepower, armour and range. There is a notable exception to this though: The Terran Federation possesses many small, power-armour like mecha used by elite, Transterran spec-ops mobile infantry. While these power armoured soldiers are not capable of taking on proper ‘mecha’ armour, they are among some of the best soldiers humanity has to offer.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/cffqa5P.png[/img]
The Terran Federation military overall has very little manpower issues, and in fact is at times in glut of manpower, despite its constant warring and militarism. This is because the Terran Federation both has active military conscription for all citizens for up to 4 years between secondary education and either work or further education (Note: due to longer lifespans, secondary education lasts until around 24-25 years old, with further education being masters or PhDs), as well as military service being required to gain citizenship, essentially forcing the massive number of refugees to perform some form of military duty (though it does not necessarily have to be fighting, unless the Federation is in a state of total war). During times of total war, the Terran Federation is more than willing to mass mobilise its populace for war, including even non-citizen xenos (as auxillary soldiers).

Terran armour is often wheel and track based rather than anti-grav/hover. The reason of this is both so that they can carry larger cannons that cause recoil and also so that all their vehicles have reliable anti-EMP protection. Another reason is that wheels are of course cheaper and easy to replace, thus making them superior for drawn out wars of attrition.

[h3]Military In-Depth[/h3]

[u][b]Grand Army of the Terran Federation:[/b][/u]
[b]INFANTRY:[/b]
[hider=infantry units]
[url=http://i.imgur.com/9KhMiA1.png]-Terran Conscript Infantry:[/url] Quantity has a quality of its own.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/TgIIjPG.jpg]-Terran Infantry:[/url] The standard soldiers of the Terran Federation, at least when concerning offensive campaigns. Fully armoured and carrying absurdly high-caliber weapons for their size, Terran Infantry are mostly designed to fight enemies larger than themselves, Terran Federation infantry doctrine built around the experience that often the aliens conquering human worlds are significantly larger and tougher than humanity.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/XIVYxdf.jpg]-Mobile Battlesuit Legionnaire (M.B.L):[/url] Terran elite soldiers. Genetically enhanced (Transterran) super-soldiers, particularly with heightened reflexes, reaction time and thinking/cognition speed as well as endurance to withstand heat, G-forces, cold and even vacuum(to a degree). These super-soldiers are put into powered armoured battlesuit mechs, significantly stronger than any infantry soldier but weaker than ‘true’ mechas. Designed to be miniature tanks in areas where tanks cannot go, such as underground, complicated urban battlefields, indoors and even in space. The standard M.B.I battlesuit is the M-32 Argonaut, an older but highly reliable model known for its incredible durability. 

[url=http://i.imgur.com/elpbnQR.jpg]-Deathhead Legionnaire (M.B.L):[/url] Similar to the above, but elite soldiers piloting cutting-edge experimental battlesuits. M-44 “Deathhead’s” are more similar in appearance and design to the mecha of foreign nations, particularly with a significantly greater emphasis on mobility and speed compared to the M-32, even including a jetpack.
[/hider]
[b]ARMOUR & ARTILLERY:[/b]
[hider=Armour&Artillery]
[url=http://i.imgur.com/iEsDt39.jpg]-SV-11 (Armoured Car):[/url] A small scout and patrol vehicle, more often used by conscripts and skirmishers and considered too light for open battle. Still, pretty reliable all-terrain vehicle.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/6OcUGLj.jpg]-ABT-55 (APC):[/url] A relatively small and cheap armoured personnel carrier, designed mostly for use by conscripts and even non-military SWAT teams. While it does see use in battle, it is usually only seen as part of armour reserves, otherwise it has been supplemented by the superior ABT-62.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/2m28ldg.jpg]-ABT-62 (APC):[/url] The current APC used by the majority of Terran Infantry. A heavily armored vehicle specifically designed for use in extremely inhospitable environments, including extreme heat and cold, corrosive/acidic planets, planets with alien or no atmosphere and other such things.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/nzvw1DG.jpg]-TAR-22 (IFV):[/url] Both a carrier of troops and a vehicle capable of taking on armoured vehicles and tanks, it wields a relatively large electromagnetic railgun that can swap between armour-piercing and explosive shells. Due to the nature of railguns, the TAR-22 also can act as a self-propelled artillery gun.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/nn90iOV.jpg]-Type 74 MBT Tank:[/url] The standard tank of the Terran Federation’s army. The Type 74 is equipped with predominantly a large particle cannon designed to cut through armour, concrete, chitin and whatever else gets in its way. 

[url=http://i.imgur.com/SzR4Wya.jpg]-Type 78 Heavy Tank/Artillery Hybrid:[/url] A cumbersome heavy tank ‘sniper’ designed for open engagements or defensive positions as well as also playing the role as heavy artillery, the Type 78 is equipped with a very large railgun that can fire shells at very far distances, both in arcs and as linear shots.  

[url=http://i.imgur.com/32YNKJY.jpg]-PALC-2 (Siege Artillery):[/url] Designed for siege warfare, the truck-like vehicle is not actually important and is really just a transport. The plasma artillery the truck carries is designed to fire bolts of super-heated plasma that are effective against enemy fortifications and shields.

[url=http://i.imgur.com/P0iuK0d.jpg]-Type-33LS “Bolon” Landships:[/url] Less tank and more grounded space warship on tracks, Type-33LS Landships are the absolute most powerful weapon in the Terran Federation’s army. Enormous super-heavy vehicles armed with a plethora of weapons, ranging from plasma cannons, particle beams, electromagnetic minigun point-defence and antimatter (or more cheaper, nuclear, if the Terran Federation has no interest in preserving the environment of the planet) missiles. These landships are further reinforced with bubble shields protecting them from long-ranged and even orbital fire. Furthermore, the landships guns have such range that they can actually fire back at enemy warships in orbit. Ridiculously expensive, costing roughly the same as a capital warship, the Terran Federation also equips these landships with shackled A.I's, a fact that is mostly unknown to the vast majority of the populace. Like with the Terran Federations capital ships, these Shackled A.I’s are expected to protect the landship from any cyber-warfare attempts by hostile forces, as well as support the crew in accurately firing upon the enemy. The A.I however has no actual control, is completely locked out of the main systems of  the landship, and the crew has numerous safety mechanisms to immediately destroy the A.I should any form of subversion occur. The immense size of the landship requires it to be sent to new warzones in modular parts, then put together on the battlefield. The “Bolon” part of the name originates from the name of the landships designer, Bolon-Aramaki Heavy Industries. It is also known as “The Destroyer of Worlds”.
[/hider]

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[h3]Other Stuff[/h3] (Culture, religion, etc)
[hider=Nation of refugees]
The Terran Federations majority demographic these days are now refugees from other parts of the fallen Terran Empire that fled here due to its relative security and 'liberal' policies (that is, for Terrans). These refugees are still coming, either unaware of the requirement of military service for citizenship or otherwise finding it preferable to whatever horrible end they could end up with elsewhere (Alternatively, many are too xenophobic to find refuge in an equally stable but more xeno-friendly regime, like Earth). 

The good news is this constant wave of refugees gives the Terran Federation a constant stream of both labour resources and military manpower. The bad news is, much of them are unmodified humans (due to being either too poor to get modifications or grew up in warzones/failed states/on the run) crammed into planets that may not be able to support their lives, [url=http://i.imgur.com/2kMggv8.jpg]such as this sadly too common sight...[/url]

Another issue is as noted above, most of these refugees have joined the military and gained citizenship and then used their voting power in referendums to push for military intervention. 
[/hider][hider=religious freedoms]
Unlike the Holy Empire of New Jerusalem, the Terran Federation has secular laws and overall supports the ye olde concept of 'religious freedoms'. Christianity was formerly a sizable minority in the federation, but has since decreased and continues to decrease as Christian Terrans emigrate to the ENJ. Nowadays, a slight majority (52%) of the populace remains irreligious, while the other 48% is divided between Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, New Agers, Singulatarians, Hindus and the plethora of Xeno faiths (Nearly entirely consisting of xenos, usually only radicals or xenophiles embracing the faiths).

The Terran Federations lack of piety in terms of religion constantly puts it at odds with the ENJ. On the other hand, the two nations also have a decent pressure valve in the form of just having dissidents flee to each others countries.[/hider][hider=Xeno-Apartheid]
WIP
[/hider][hider=The remnant aristocracy]

[/hider]
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Note 1: I'll complete the military section later on today. 
Note 2: I was originally designing a transhuman principality faction however stopped when I couldn't find a good way of giving the faction an overarching plot role other than the fact that it existed, so instead I went for xenophobic federation made up of angry refugees.
Note 3: I particularly want to see the Earth-based federation of [@The Spectre] so that we can design our histories together, we will likely be polar opposites (Starship Troopers vs Star Trek). 
Note 4: I am looking around and seeing that quite a number of nations seem to consist of only a single star system... What exactly is the scale of this NRP? I was under the impression this was a galactic space opera, so we would be more... well... interstellar.