Cetian Union

The standing major power in the region before the State of Pariah came to the sector, a modest interstellar power that has been expanding in recent decades from its traditional home systems. This has put Union at odds with the Fracana League, and the State of Pariah. It is in many ways a Solist State, though the influences of the military have been greater here, than the civic administration, particularly in recent years, and the military command has assumed direct control over the central government and has begun to lean on even on the more traditionally independently minded worlds within the Union.

Culture

The Cetian Union is practically defined by intense militarism, at least at the higher levels. Military academies are highly important, and influential educational institutions, and inform the broader culture to varying extents. There is as strong an emphasis on physical fitness, strength, and courage, and the vision of a united and strong Cetian people willing to sacrifice for the good of the state. Interestingly, unlike many other states, the Cetian Union is very opposed to cybernetic enhancements, ironic given their value on strength and fitness, and though cybernetics are rarely illegal, those who get implanted often face severe discrimination. The Cetian Union is famous for its elaborate and grandiose sporting events, where members of the Union compete, usually in team sports, to demonstrate their skill and fitness. It is also a major producer of music, though generally music, along with arts made in the Union stay in the Union.

History

The origins of the Cetian Union can be traced primarily to the formation of the Stellar League in the later days of human unity. The primary systems of the Cetian Union, the Cetian Quadrumvirate, were colonized long ago, starting in the fifth century in the Age of Unity, and had been thoroughly terraformed and developed by the time the Stellar League. When the colonies were reorganized by the League, the Cetian Quadrumvirate was folded into the Fracana Sector, and though the capital of the Sector was established at Scipion in Fracana, the Cetian quadrumvirate received major investment and contracts with the military. This included hosting a part of the Sol Sector Fleet, a rare privilege for any systems standing outside the Sol Sector itself. When the Jred Scourge began to threaten civilization, the Cetian Quadrumvirate would serve as a major staging area for the Stellar League's Naval forces in driving back the Jred in the Nueve Aquitaine sector. Indeed, offensives from Ceti saved the worlds of Neuve Aquitane, Terra Nova, and Lux from a burgeoning Jred infestation close to their borders. This meant that when the Great Cataclysm destroyed much of the Interstellar communications network, the Cetian Quadrumvirate found itself with a respectable portion of the Sol Sector Fleet. Though most of these ships were recalled to Sol, many remained behind to keep order. As the Stellar League broke down in the fallout from the Cataclysm, the Cetian worlds were among the last of the outer colonies to declare independence, doing so when generational changes ensured the fleet was more Cetian than Solar. In the first century of the Cetian Union's existence, the original quadrumvirate was steadily improved, the various systems within it were industrialized, and outer asteroids were mined intensely. A prosperous society began to develop, thanks in large part due to the prosperity of the worlds that made up the original union. As overall prosperity began to increase, a growing class divide formed, and tensions mounted towards the end of the Cetian Union's first century. A series of coups established increasingly authoritarian Solist states. Under pressure from the steadily expanding State of Pariah, a powerful faction of the military staged a coup and established a stratocratic rule. Among the priorities of the military junta was the expansion of Cetian territory beyond the initial four systems of the Union. Traveling up the local Jump Gate spur, the Cetians established rulership over Zambezi, Xhosana, and Zanzibar, marking the beginning of Cetian conquests. Since the ascendancy of the military government, there has been a concerted effort to change the culture of the Cetian Union, with a focus on loyalty, duty, and obedience, and begin to direct schools and other institutions to this aim. Outside its borders, the Cetian Union has enacted a policy of expansionism, muscling into independent systems and seizing control at a steady, though sustainable rate, securing worlds against the worst of their insurgencies before seizing further territory. A major stumbling block came with the Makassi Rebellion, where a core territory of the Union revolted. This rebellion though short-lived, destroyed many of the supply lines in core Cetian territory and had to be ended with the meson-lanced genocide of the overwhelming majority of the population. The destruction of Makassi was covered up by the Union, though the setbacks caused by the conflict have set back Cetian timetables for further expansion.

Demography and Population

The exact population of the Cetian Union is difficult to ascertain, particularly as there has been an exodus from the Union to independent worlds in recent decades. Smaller than its neighbor, State of Pariah by a fair amount in terms of population, it is accurate to state that the population of the Cetian Union stands in the low tens of billions, with a more specific count leaning towards the thirty to thirty-five billion range with a comparatively modest dispersion of the population, and a fair number of fairly densely settled worlds. Smaller colonies, including extremely small corporate and state-owned asteroid mining and research colonies, exist throughout the Cetian Union. The peoples of the Cetian Union are comparatively diverse, though the current population itself is dramatically different in makeup than the original colonists, several waves of refugees from later colonies of the Stellar League brought in more persons with lineages traced from Old Earth's Europe and a selection of Northwest Asian states.

Territories

The Cetian Union is a relatively small interstellar state spanning seventeen parsecs of charted space, entirely within the Fracana Sector. The density of occupied worlds is middling to low with only nine systems within Cetian territory. This leaves roughly half of the space claimed by the union space. Most of the systems of the Cetian Union are fairly well populated with populations at least in the millions, and with more than a few industrialized worlds, several smaller colonies are interspersed throughout many of the systems of the Union, particularly those of a higher technological level.

Military

As a straocratic state, great emphasis is placed on the capabilities of the Cetian military. Nearly every citizen of the Cetian Union is expected to serve for two years in the military, generally, after their schooling is complete. Recruits are funneled into two distinct forces, most of the population is funneled into local defense forces and patrol fleets. Graduates from military academies (often the most prestigious educational institutions available) are entered into the navy and naval infantry force. Volunteers are, of course, accepted, and often find themselves in positions of leadership. The Cetian military is therefore quite large, with a fleet of hundreds of ships and a troop count in the tens of millions. Equipment quality is quite uneven, however, especially with the planetary defense forces, though there are no Cetian troops that are not at least equipped with slug throwers and decent body armor.

Technological Level

The Cetian Union is relatively rare among the interstellar powers lying outside the Sol Sector in that it has a fairly consistent level of technological development. Three of the four core worlds have achieved stellar levels of technology, and the only outlier is at a Late-Fusion level. Outside the core technology is marginally less consistent, but ranges from the information age to a slightly below Pre-Fall level of technology with no primitive worlds currently under the control of the Union. The Cetian Union is generally committed to furthering technological understanding within worlds under its control, whether members want it or not.

Religion

The Cetian Union is a nominally secular state, though the ruling junta encourages a policy of state atheism. The majority of the population is either atheist or otherwise non-religious. Post-Cataclysm religions have failed to gain a significant foothold, particularly in the core worlds of the Cetian Union. Most traditional religions have representation in the Union to a certain extent. Of these traditional religions, Buddhism is the majority religion of those that confess any faith at all, smaller minorities of the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and other faiths have found communities, particularly on the frontier worlds.

Foreign Relations

The Cetian Union is a relatively belligerent power, seeking to expand its influence to the rest of the sector. Union is currently engaged in a cold war, with frequent skirmishes with both the Fracana League and the State of Pariah, as well as engaging in battles over influence with the Democratic Republic of Yuanjing in the independent worlds of the Sector. The only power with which the Cetian Union has any warmth is the Centauri Republic, which is more interested in expanding its network of trading partners than expanding its borders.

Laws

The Cetian Union, like nearly all interstellar states, has some level of regionalization concerning its legal codes. The exact level of individual freedom of agency varies from planet to planet, though the junta has imposed a tiered citizenship system, something akin to a military chain of command. Perhaps the most stringent law regarding this system, is that those of a lower tier must, so long as the orders do not contravene any other laws, must obey the commands of those of a higher tier without complaint. Obedience and merit are the keys to advancing in this system, though, especially at the higher levels of state, there is a relatively high degree of nepotism, and crony sponsoring. The Union has relatively lax laws regarding the personal ownership of weapons and armor in most respects, though bio-identification is required for each weapon owned by residents of the Union.

Agriculture & Industry

The Cetian Union is far from an agricultural or industrial powerhouse, though it is at least self-sufficient for most of its needs. The Cetian Union has few dedicated industrial or agri-worlds, with most of the colonies settled by the union possessing a good mixture of primary, secondary, and indeed even tertiary industries. The Cetian Union's strongest industrial bases are found primarily in the outer systems under Cetian Occupation. The core worlds, ironically are primarily garden worlds, and agricultural worlds, a factor which is rather unusual compared to the norms of interstellar development, which favors the industrial core over agricultural frontiers. The Cetian Union has a robust heavy industrial sector that allows it to produce starships, and even jump gate assemblies, in limited numbers.

Education

The Cetian Union maintains a relatively unified state curriculum for the lower levels, giving students a broad base of Languages, civics, the arts, maths, and the sciences, though there is an unusually strong emphasis on physical education, and building strong physical health among the population. At higher levels, students are divided into a number of educational tracks, general education, vocational education, and of course the military academies. General education builds civic loyalty to the state in addition to a foundation for later academic achievement. Vocational education provides skills training for certain technical and industrial labor. Military educational institutions, generally the most prestigious schools in the Union, train the soldiers and officers for the defense of the state.

Infrastructure

The Cetian Union has a strong, but relatively unexceptional level of infrastructure development, with a solid core of systems connected to the Jump Gate Network. The core suffers from a lack of access but compensates for the relatively dense distribution of inhabited, civilized worlds. This has resulted in robust communication and logistical networks. The Cetian Union maintains a robust network of starports, which serve both as local trading hubs and as a means of controlling the flow of foreigners into and out of the union. Members of the Cetian Union can generally expect to have access to technological resources roughly equivalent to early or mid-stellar realms, and cannot do much worse than information-age technical bases.