Embedded Files
The Alliance is a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory within the known universe. The Alliance had previously not been a single government, but more like N.A.T.O., in other words a group of sovereign, independent nations working together. The Core worlds of Londinium, Sihnon, Osiris, Ariel and Bernadette may have been members of the Alliance since colonization began, but they were still individual worlds. The Unification movement merged the member worlds into a single government. Originally composed solely of a number of "core worlds", several years prior to the show's time frame the Alliance fought the Unification War to bring all colonized worlds under its control. The Independent Faction (Browncoats) wanted the outer worlds to remain autonomous and attempted to resist Alliance control. The war raged for several years, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, until the Alliance emerged victorious. An armistice was signed between the Alliance and the Independent Faction, thus ending the war and securing Alliance control over the entirety of the system. The Parliament is headquartered on Londinium, along with the Prime Minister, the State Council, and most of the Ministries. The Judiciary is headquartered on Osiris, along with the various law enforcement agencies. Sihnon is home to several Ministries, and many mega-corporations with influence on the State Council.
Parliament: The central structure of the Anglo-Sino Alliance remains the Parliament, the oldest of the interplanetary governing bodies in the 'Verse. Originally a product of the compact between the rulers of Sihnon and Londinium, the Parliament has changed and adapted over time to meet the needs of the Alliance. Nevertheless, it remains a product of the Core Worlds and their cultural preferences. Parliament is a large deliberative body made up of hundreds of delegates from the various member worlds of the alliance. Each world is allotted delegates based on population. There are currently 350 delegates, each one appointed or elected by systems chosen by each member world; some are appointed by local elites, many are elected by popular election, while others are a mix of the two. The senior delegate is usually elected to serve as “Speaker of Parliament”, which grants substantial legislative powers and influence. Parliament is charged with debating and deciding on the issues facing the Alliance and humanity as a whole. Among its powers are appointment of the Alliance Prime Minister, selection of some delegates to the State Council, and the usual responsibilities for war, currency, and so forth. Because representation is based on population size, the core worlds posses the lion’s share of the power and influence.
Prime Minister of the Alliance: The senior executive of the Alliance, the Prime Minister is appointed to serve a six year term by Parliament. The Prime Minister promulgates statutes adopted by Parliament. The Prime Minister also has the power to appoint various officials, State Council members, Ministers of all departments, and all legislative committee chairs, treasurers and secretaries. The Prime Minister has the power to give Emergency Decrees, and can declare wars and states of emergency. The Prime Minister is assisted by the Speaker of Parliament. In the event that the Prime Minister dies or leaves office prematurely, the Speaker of Parliament will perform the duties of the Prime Minister as “Acting Prime Minister” until Parliament can elect a new Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is served and advised by the State Council, a cabinet-like advisory body made up of the heads of the various ministries of state, the senior admiral of the Alliance Navy, the senior general of the Alliance Army, and a handful of appointed delegates selected by Parliament, usually representing specific powerful business interests. Many theorize that real power in the Alliance rests with this body, as the membership tends to be static, wealthy, and very influential.
Judiciary: Located on Osiris, the Judiciary handles questions of legality and constitutionality, as well as the “federal” level of law enforcement in the 'Verse. Though its decisions can limit the power of Parliament and the ministries in theory, in practice the Judiciary has taken a somewhat submissive role since the Unification War. It tends to instead rubber-stamp and justify the actions agreed to by Parliament and carried out by the ministries. Most questions of civil rights have been tabled since the Unification War. The Judiciary is also responsible for normal law enforcement in the Alliance, a function that occasionally overlaps with ministry functions. There are two primary law-enforcement agencies subordinated to the Judiciary:
Interpol (Interplanetary Police) deals with criminals who have fled the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, as well as crimes committed in areas that are outside local control, though still under Alliance control. (In other words, just about everywhere.) Interpol usually focuses on tracking criminal suspects and investigating interplanetary crime than direct enforcement.They function in much the same way as the FBI of Old America, or the MPS of Old China... in fact, Interpol can be thought of as a direct descendant of these two national police forces.
Federal Marshals (or simply, 'Feds') are the direct enforcement arm of the Judiciary. Empowered to go anywhere and do nearly anything (on occasion), they are charged with seeing that the laws of the Alliance are carried out. They also pursue criminals who are wanted for trial or bounty, or which have escaped incarceration. Most are assigned to a specific world or circuit, though some are instead tasked to specific investigations. Federal Marshals tend to work in small groups or alone, and are often free to bend or ignore some laws in the enforcement of other laws.
The Ministries: Day-to-day administration of the Alliance is actually run by the numerous faceless bureaucracies of the “Ministries”. Ministry heads serve at the pleasure of the Prime Minister of the Alliance, but may be recalled by Parliament in extremis. There are a number of these bodies, which vary in size and influence. The following is a list of the most important ones, scattered between Sihnon and Londinium:
Ministry of Defense - In charge of the various fleets of the Alliance Navy, and the Alliance Ground Forces.Ministry of Science and Technology - Responsible for tracking and monitoring scientific advances, especially things described as "Newtech".
Ministry of Ecological Affairs - Administers and maintains terraforming affairs, as well as environmental protection on Core worlds.
Ministry of Trade and Finance - In charge of economic affairs, including interplanetary commerce, stock markets, taxation, and currency.
Ministry of Population - Administers immigration, demographic issues, and resettlement of colonists.
Ministry of System Affairs - Responsible for managing interaction between Alliance and local authorities, administering local and regional elections, and managing titles of nobility,
Ministry of Information - Responsible for propaganda, news media, and policing and monitoring the Cortex.
Ministry of Agriculture - In charge of managing and increasing the food supply on Alliance worlds.
Ministry of Health - Administers the rather extensive Alliance medical system, especially the major hospitals of the Core worlds.
Alliance Navy: The modern Alliance Navy is organized around the notion of space supremacy rather than superiority, with the idea that controlling the space between planets is more important than control on the ground. The Alliance Navy was formed by combining the original military forces of the member worlds, and now constitutes the largest portion of the Alliance military. Most of these worlds had small space forces with very little in the way of ground troops. Basically, most worlds had a "space coast guard" for customs patrol, search and rescue and anti-piracy patrols. The bulk of these vessels were small, long range patrol vessels, intended for anti-piracy actions. Very few worlds (such as Londinium) had true warships designed for ship to ship combat and space superiority missions. The modern Alliance Navy is politically powerful, being well connected in Parliament, the ministries, and in the corporate world. The command and procurement agencies prefer the larger hulls like the Longbow and Tohoku classes for a variety of reasons, only one of which is military in nature. They are also popular for their size, and allegedly for their great expense.
The Alliance Navy is organized into eight "Trigram Fleets", each identified by one of the bagua trigrams from the I-Ching. Ships of the fleet carry the trigram as an identifying mark, and often make use of related imagery from smaller units. Each fleet is organized around "squadrons", each one consisting of a capital ship or major carrier and its escorts. Smaller squadrons of escort vessels operate separately as patrol groups, but are still attached to a Fleet command. Three fleets are always on deployment around White Sun, while the others are usually deployed in one of the other systems or in depot for refit.
Alliance Army: Down somewhat from its peak during the Unification War, the Alliance Army is still immense and relatively well equipped. Most of its combat forces have been shifted to infantry (popularly known as "Purple Bellies"), light armor, mobile artillery, and similar forces that are easily shifted from surface to orbit, or world to world. The Alliance Army is less politically connected than the Alliance Navy, resulting in lower priority for funding and supplies. Alliance Army units might be equipped with a range of gear, ranging from Unification War-vintage weapons, to the newest of Newtech. Most Alliance Army units are in garrisons around the 'Verse, suffering from the disdain of the subject populations around them, and low morale. Core Worlds keep the local Alliance Army forces on large bases, ready to deploy to trouble spots on short notice. These units tend to be higher quality, with better training and morale, as well as politically powerful division commanders.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse