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Name: Confederation of Independent Terran Systems (aka CITS, CTS, Confederation)
Capital: New Sydney, Sappora System
Population: 98,750,000,000 (77% human, 12% Orion, 4% Ferengi, 7% other)
Size: 20 member systems, 50 mining and trading colonies
Government: Confederation; central government's powers are severely limited by the Articles of Confederation. Member systems have their own constitutions and system governments.
-Executive Branch: The head of state is the President, who serves a 6-year term and is elected by popular vote.
-Legislative Branch: Each member system, regardless of size, elects four legislators to the Confederation Legislature. Mining and trading colonies each elect one non-voting delegate.
-Judicial Branch: There is no national court system.
-Diplomacy: Neutrality is enshrined in the Articles of Confederation. Maintains relations with all star nations.
Military
-Confederation Starfleet: The Confederation Starfleet is closer to a police force than a military. It is responsible for interstellar law enforcement, border patrol, drug and smuggling interdiction, anti-piracy, and search-and-rescue in jurisdictions not controlled by member systems or in aid of them. CSF members wear uniforms resembling late-23rd century Federation Starfleet uniforms. It operates mostly smaller ships, although it does have several Miranda-class light cruisers and D12-class Birds-of-Prey, as well as several domestically produced capital ships. During wartime, the President is allowed to call up the member systems' militaries to operate under CSF. The central government is constitutionally barred from implementing conscription.
-Member System Militaries: The Articles of Confederation allows every member system to maintain a military. Member systems' militaries tend to be better equipped than CSF, although some rely on older, decommissioned ships purchased from neighboring powers. Most member systems' militaries are composed entirely of volunteers, but three practice conscription of both males and females. Five member systems have no military, instead relying on police forces.
Both CSF and member system militaries are barred from participating in planetary law enforcement, except during emergencies, by the Articles of Confederation.
Culture: Since there are 20 systems and 50 colonies, there are many cultures, but they all share many common traits. In general, CTS citizens tend to be far more individualistic and materialistic than UFP citizens, but have the ability and right to think for themselves. Despite the economic inequality that exists, the residents typically have a higher standard of living than UFP residents. Citizens are treated as equal regardless of species and gender. Sexism doesn't exist and speciesism is rarer than in the UFP. Ferengi citizens are not discriminated against and mixed-species people are usually comfortable with their heritage, unlike those in the UFP.
Entertainment doesn't only consist of listening to 18th century Earth music or viewing Shakespearean plays. Holodeck programs, holographic movies, and music created by CTS citizens are all very popular. Orion slave girls are a popular commodity in systems such as Farius Prime where the Orion Syndicate has a very heavy presence, although owning them is supposedly illegal (on Farius Prime this is ignored in practice) Sports, including several invented in the CTS, are popular in all systems. Hovercar races and demolition derbies are popular in a few backwater systems and colonies.
Citizens have more rights in the CTS than in the UFP. Personal property is recognized as an essential right and, while government-owned transportation exists, most people own vehicles. Freedom of press exists and, except in three systems, no media organization is controlled by the government. Citizens also have more rights during trials and are never tried by military judges (a common practice in the UFP).
Technology: The CTS is more technologically advanced than the UFP in many areas. CSF and member system militaries utilize ground vehicles such as hovertanks, airspeeders, and hoppers. Technologies such as cloaking devices, phaser artillery, transport inhibitors, ground-to-space missiles, and ground-to-space phasers are also used and all CTS planets are protected by planetary shields. CSF is currently attempting to redevelop the Genesis Torpedo to use as a weapon.
The technology used by civilians is more advanced than in those in the UFP. Many families and individuals own hovercars and personal starships and shuttlecraft are not uncommon.
Medical technology is more advanced than in the UFP as well. Many diseases that are commonplace in the allegedly disease-free UFP are rare in the CTS. Some researchers have developed technology that allows the regrowth of lost limbs, but this is still being tested.
Genetic engineering is perfectly legal and widespread in some systems. Adigeon Prime is often the destination of UFP citizens seeking to have their (or someone else's) brains genetically modified through "accelerated critical neural pathway formation," a procedure illegal in the UFP.
Economy: Capitalist; social democratic in some systems. Mining, shipbuilding, and trade are three of the major industries. The Orion Syndicate controls the black market in many systems.
History: When the United Federation of Planets was formed in 2161, five human colonies refused to join the UFP for various reasons. Instead, four of them formed a loose alliance and drafted the Articles of Confederation in 2165, which created the Confederation of Independent Terran Systems. (The fifth colony, Rutia, opted to remain fully non-aligned and independent.)
In the mid-23rd century, the social democratic government of the UFP was replaced by a communist government that sought to wipe out any form of free enterprise, merge the military with the civilian government, and force all citizens to conform to its way of thinking. Hundreds of billions of people throughout the UFP were outraged. On Turkana IV, riots over the UFP's new "reforms" turned into armed conflicts between several factions, eventually leading anarchy. At 40 Eridani A, the owners of the Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems (known for constructing the infamous USS Phoenix) were arrested and their firm nationalized.
On Farius Prime (which, despite being home to the native Farians, was 65% human), the planetary leaders announced plans to secede from the UFP and join the CTS. Upon hearing this, three more human-dominated systems announced plans to secede as well. Within a few days, ten other systems announced their intentions to secede and join the CTS as well. The new UFP government said it would not tolerate secessionists and would move to force them back into the UFP with military force if necessary. The CTS began preparing for a UFP assault on Farius Prime.
Due to the new UFP government's anti-military policies, many classes of warships had been quickly retired, the UFP's ground forces had been mostly eliminated, and even UFP Starfleet had been demilitarized. Despite this, the UFP attempted to invade Farius. The invasion fleet's tactics were incredibly poor due to the forced resignations of many experienced UFP Starfleet officers and the fleet was badly put together - several Oberth-class science vessels were assigned to it. CSF easily defeated the invasion fleet. The UFP government soon realized it couldn't fight a war with the secessionists, the Cardassians, and the Talarians all at the same time and reluctantly allowed the sixteen secessionist systems to secede.
In the years leading up to the Dominion War, the Dominion made several attempts to infiltrate the Confederation Starfleet and government, but was thwarted each time. In late November 2373, the CTS signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion and remained neutral throughout the war.
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Lets try this ...
