Location: Capital on Terra in the Sol System, spread throughout Civ-Space with influence dropping as distance increases.
Type of Org: Galactic Governing Body
Capital: Manhattan Capital District, New York City, United States, Earth, Sol System
Description: Easily the most powerful and massive organization in existence, TerraGov is the broadest governing body in the galaxy, operating like an imperium. Based in the Sol System, TerraGov operates on a tiered system for how much influence it exerts in a given region. Within Sol, they maintain a heavy presence and are responsible for maintaining law and order over smaller jurisdictions like planets and countries, as well as managing system-wide policy, elections, and finances. Outside Sol, their influence is much more diffuse and they shift to the role of primary peacekeeper between the smaller governments and organizations that lay within Civ-Space. For regions a short distance from Sol, this may mean appointing large delegations that advise and oversee regional governments while maintaining peacekeeping fleets and martial bases within their borders. Further away, near the peripherals of Civ-Space, they may be limited to sparse government embassies, listening outposts, and expeditionary fleets to maintain their presence.
Taken in total, TerraGov maintains the largest fleets and wields the most resources in the galaxy by several orders of magnitude, but they also claim the most territory by far. While they maintain a number of bases and colonies outside Sol (with a growing concentration in the Alpha Centauri system), they are more than happy to let smaller governments and even large corporations shoulder the bureaucracy of maintaining settlements and order on the edges of Civ-Space. In these scenarios, TerraGov maintains a more hands-off approach and mainly functions to assist with record-keeping, communication, and protection of TG assets/fleets from pirates and other hostile forces.
Notes:
- Most human crew members, and many alien crew members, are probably citizens of TerraGov and exist in their records in some form or another, unless they hail from an extremely backwoods/peripheral place.
- Nanotrasen's biggest source of funding, whether from purchasing their products or through research grants.
- Mostly focused on expanding Trailward of Sol, especially toward Alpha Centauri. Presence near SS13 is mostly limited to a group of embassies in the Spinward Stellar Coaltion.
Location: Territory mainly coreward of the station, just within Civ-Space
Type of Org: Regional Governing Body
Capital: New Moscow City (Novayamoskva), New Moscow, Zvezda Revolyutsii Oblast
Description: Born of the ashes of the collapsed Third Soviet Union, the Spinward Stellar Coalition is the closest governing body to SS13 that isn't an outpost for TerraGov, and controls many of the nearby destinations that the stations' crewmembers spend their extended off-time when not on rotation or staying in an NT housing accomodation. The SSC is fairly small in the grand scale of independent governments, and their territory consists of a few sparsely populated planets and orbital outposts. Life this far from Sol is rather austere, but the citizens of the core SSC are honest, hardworking folk by and large.
The SSC does its best to accommodate Nanotrasen's presence on the Periphery, and a good amount of their economy is based around supporting NT and other large corporations operating on the Space-Westward Periphery, despite their presence here predating NT's by several decades. The government is often characterized as bending over backwards to keep NT happy and avoid losing their business, and often averts its eyes from the frightening events and tales surrounding their nearby space stations. Nanotrasen, fully aware of their bargaining power, takes full advantage of this and often cheats on its taxes, violates SSC cargo and shipping codes, and even hinders or outright ignores investigations and inquisitions coming from the SSC when convenient, all while still maintaining a friendly, pleasant tone in communications. Some more cynical observers speculate that the only thing keeping Nanotrasen from outright ignoring the SSC altogether is the Coalition's embassies and friendly relations with TerraGov.
This power dynamic has begun to change in recent years, however, as TerraGov becomes more interested in NT's constant scandals. Emboldened by the greater TG presence, the SSC have begun standing up for themselves more often, and Nanotrasen has begrudgingly made more attempts to appease the Coalition and abide by their rules.
Notes:
- The most common language in the SSC is Novorusskii, an East Slavic language derived from Russian. While Galactic Common is frequently spoken in the major cities, it is not an official language of the SSC, and non-speakers will find their time in the region marred by communication issues if they stray too far into the countryside.
- The SSC popular living location for nearby NT crewmembers who are unsatisfied living on NT property and seek more freedom and normalcy during their time off rotation. Most seasoned employees can afford a decent living space on one of the planets or orbital facilities, and the commute from the SSC core to NT's Peripheral Dispatch Station is only a day or two by local sublight mass transit. If your character has a private apartment or domicile nicer than a closet and isn't at least a head of staff, they probably live here.
- Lots of neat tourist and recreational destinations for crewmembers on leave from work! The locals will probably hate you though, because of what some dumb band of assistants did to the place last weekend. And the weekend before that. And the weekend before that.......
Location: No official capital, small holdings throughout SSC space
Type of Org: Rump State/Insurgency
Description: The birth of the SSC did no favours to its mother, the Third Soviet Union. Founded roughly one century prior to SS13's construction by a splinter group of Communist settlers in the Russian dominated colonial region of New Moscow, the Third Soviet Union sought a return to what they viewed as the idyllic past of Soviet Russia, but this time free of the crippling external influences that saw that state (and the Second Union, for that matter) collapse. Unfortunately, they fell into many of the same pitfalls as their predecessors, with a regime marked by brutal repression and political violence.
Such a state was doomed to fail just like its predecessors, and it would take only around 50 years from its founding to its eventual collapse, with the February Revolution seeing the head cut from the beast. In its place, the SSC was founded to return political enfranchisement to the people of the Union, just in time to have that right again threatened by corporate influence.
Despite the central government's collapse, the half-century since has not seen the fires of communism die. Instead, they have been reduced to cinders- alive, but barely. Though the likelihood of a resurgent Soviet state seems impossible, resistance groups of Red Soldiers and Communist Loyalists continue the fight against the capitalistic decadence of the SSC from hidden outposts dotted around the region, and have been known to cause issues for Nanotrasen, too.
Notes:
- The hostile space Russians you see are mostly associated with the TSU, though some are just kosmogopniks with no cause and copious amounts of vodka.
- While they are hidden and their numbers are few, Soviet Remnants are a formidable problem for the SSC to deal with. Terrorist attacks by the group are a constant threat to major cities in the SSC, particularly in New Moscow.
- KS13 was a Soviet installation prior to being shut down during the collapse. The station was never reactivated by the SSC as it was deemed "too old" to bother expending resources on.
- There are rumours that the Soviets still possess the PWS Khranitel Revolyutsii, their old flagship that went missing during the collapse. If these rumours are true, the Soviets may be able to pose a serious naval threat in the region- but as this has never materialised yet, many believe it's simply an apocryphal tale.
Location: Spinward of the station, spread through Imperial Space
Type of Org: Galactic Governing Body
Capital: Zagoskeld, Oskmarzel, Tizira, Rizkalon System
Description: The Lizard Empire is composed of the holdings of the Lizard People. Despite their relatively long time in the Space Age, at least compared to humans, their historic lack of access to plasma and bluespace resources have stifled their development, leaving them technologically backwards in comparison to their newer Galactic competition. Prior wars between Terragov and the Lizards have resulted in a loss of territory, which has lead to a decline in their presence on the galactic level. The central government on Tizira struggles to project power to their further colonies, and a large exodus of lizards to human space has only exacerbated this issue.
This power vacuum left by the Imperial decline has resulted in several systems once held by the lizards being lost- small petty republics, corporate expeditions, and pirates have risen to capture these territories.
The Lizard Empire now stands weak, and threatened by forces not only external but from within. Republican and liberal forces have begun to put pressure on the government, and it seems likely that soon the centuries old Empire will soon be toppled and replaced with a republic.
The Government consists of a constitutional monarchy, with significant limitations placed on the monarch's power, leaving them as little more than a figurehead. The military high command instead holds most of the political power in the empire, with the president usually elected from amongst the most senior military leaders.
Notes:
- While relations between the Lizards and Humans have improved somewhat in recent years, there is still a strong underlying resentment between the two species. Lizards from the core systems of the Empire are most likely to perpetuate this, while the further reaches which are more independent from Tizira may be more welcoming to humanity.
- Conditions in the Empire vary depending on the proximity to Rizkalon- the further colonies are likely to be less prosperous, and those with the most distance from the capital are mostly sparsely-populated mining outposts and frontier worlds.
- With the exodus of lizards from the colonies, there are many lizards in human space today who were born outwith of lizard space, and are therefore much more integrated with human society.
- The majority of lizards who are found outwith the empire are members of the working and artisan castes- the military and priestly castes are much more likely to be loyalists to the Imperial cause and remain in the core systems.
- Lizards on the crew are most likely not from within the borders of the empire, however as with all things this is not a universal truth.
Location: Mothic Grand Nomad Fleet
Type of Org: Military Junta
Capital: The Va Lümla, Flagship of the GNF
Description: When the moths left their home on Lümla behind, the traditional power structures of planetary life were left behind with it.