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Description
A map of my interstellar setting greatly inspired by the Chronicles of Man and some other science fiction universes. Humanity has finally crossed the threshold of the universe and built space empires of its own. Here's a short back story. Hope you enjoy.
By 2024 humanity has made many previously unbelievable discoveries in the field of space, computer and energy technologies. The first compact ion and plasma engines, modular thermonuclear reactors, electric and solar sails, new ways of spacecraft manufacturing, which in the long term perspective would overcome boundaries of the Solar system, were invented. The prospects of renewed space exploration turned out to be real and thus interested national governments and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. The companies operating in the space field such as SpaceX, XCOR Aerospace, Planetary Resources and others began to develop at unprecedented rates, primarily due to governmental support they were receiving.

In 2029 SpaceX began the construction of the Red Dragon spaceship, which was postponed from 2020 due to lack of funding. Thanks to the titanic efforts of SpaceX, the construction of the vessel was completed in three years after its inception. The launch was announced on January 1st, 2034 and was successful. However, a critical error was made during the construction. It has become fatal for 300 people of the RD crew. The ship's reactor exploded a month after the departure.

An unprecedented scandal broke out. SpaceX lost both governmental and popular support. The rest of the company's projects were closed within the next two weeks, and as a result the organization was disbanded after hostile takeover carried out by XCOR Aerospace. Assets that were not in XCOR interest were acquired by Boeing and Virgin Galactic.

For a long time all attempts to found settlements on other planets have been stopped by both state and private space agencies. The industrial use of space has become more important than its exploration and settling. There were many corporations specializing in extraction of space resources, and the most successful of them was T&K Tools Inc. A few years after the RD flight failure humanity managed to finally start extraction of minerals on asteroids on an industrial scale.

Nonetheless, dreams of creating a human settlement outside Earth have never left the people's heads. In 2045, the A-Space international organization, founded by former NASA employee Maxwell Ivey, with the support of governmental space agencies, established the first human colony on Mars. The corporation, despite its resources and financial support from various countries of the world, could not run the settlement efficiently, and three years after the colony establishment its managing has fallen into the hands of the UN.

Huge losses and a company crisis although did not destroy A-Space. In 2051 under its auspices an autonomous interstellar reconnaissance probe was sent to the Alphaa Centauri system.

Technological progress doesn’t stand still. With the discovery of new ways of traveling unlimited opportunities in space exploration were opened before humanity. The first experimental engine based on multidimensional space and hyperspace traveling researches that allows exceed the speed of light was invented. To maintain a constant communication between stations and settlements, modulation-based communicators were developed. Despite the high cost of production of such devices, they have gained immense popularity due to the lack of adequate analogues. The Internet has also been developed, there were several private and governmental stations involved in its retransmission to all of the human settlements.

However, the costs of maintaining space programs were growing every day, and as a result space expenses became too large for one state. In connection with this, a new supranational organization was formed, eventually replacing the United Nations and becoming the all-planet government with its capital in Geneva. Its name was the Intrasystem Alliance. The Alliance is a democratic representative republic, in which:

1) Legislative power belongs to a bicameral parliament. Its duty is to draft and adopt new and amend old laws and to maintain law and order at the state level. In the competence of the parliament is the declaration of war (with the consent of the president), the adoption of a two-year budget, the appointment of the supreme judges, the control and creation of state commissions of federal importance etc. The lower chamber of the parliament, the Intraplanetary Council consists of citizens of the Alliance who have been continuously living on Earth for five years and were elected by others citizens for 10 years for no more than two consecutive terms. The Council meets four times each year in the nominal capital of the Alliance, Geneva. The main functions of the parliament belong to the Council. In the event that the Republican Senate does not have the ability to perform its functions, they are transferred to the Intraplanetary Council. The upper chamber, the Republican Senate consists of citizens of the Alliance who were nominated by their homeworlds. The governments of each colony must nominate five people who have been continuously living on the territory of the corresponding extraterrestrial settlement for 3-4 years (depends on the colony) to be their representatives. Senators are appointed for 10 years for no more than two consecutive terms. The Senate meets in Geneva every two years twice. The functions of the Senate are the approval of changes in the outer space borders between the colonies, the appointment of the date of presidential elections, the president impeachment, the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court etc. The parliament is dominated by three parties, which are the Republican, Democratic and Confederal. Although the three-party system was not enshrined at the legislative level, these are the only parties which have chances to win elections. The basis of legal regulation is the Federal Charter, adopted on January 1st, 2056. It has supreme legal force and direct effect. It is applied throughout the Alliance. Only the Parliament can amend the Federal Charter;

2) The executive power belongs to the federal ministries, services, agencies, commissions, committees, colonial governors appointed by the parliament, the president elected for 4 years by Alliance citizens who are members of the Intraplanetary Council and the Republican Senate. The president is also the head of the government, the state and the armed forces of the Alliance. His functions include deciding on the short-term involvement of military units, approving bills, appointing ministers, heads of services, agencies, committees, commissions and vice-president, signing documents and drawing up a federal budget. The vice-president is appointed by the president and accountable only to him. In the event that the president does not have the opportunity to perform his functions, they pass to the vice-president. In addition, he has the ability to unseat them. Colonial governors are elected by local population of the colonies they represent. They serve as heads of colonial governments;

3) The judiciary power is represented by different structures at different levels. The first, local level is represented by courts dealing with the affairs of earthly and colonial subjects. The next is the planetary one which is represented by the courts that are in charge of colonial affairs. The Earth Court, which deals with all of the earthly matters, is singled out. The last level is represented by the Federal Supreme Court, which deals with matters of federal importance. Judges are appointed by local or federal legislatures.

During the next fifteen years, several settlements were founded on the planets, satellites and asteroids of the solar system, Titan, Moon, Ceres, (216) Cleopatra and (6178) 1986 DA. The colonies, despite their formal autonomy, strongly depended on Earth.

In 2067, the A-Space probe finished its long trip to Alpha Centauri and returned to Earth, along with a large amount of useful information about the system. On the basis of the data received, it was decided to send several colonial ships to Alpha Centauri, which were equipped with relatively stable hyperdrives, which is why they can overcome huge distances in an incredibly short time. The space program turned out to be successful, and on the planet formerly known as Proxima Centauri B, the human colony of Terra Nova was founded. It was the first colony outside the solar system. The planet, despite all the people concerns, proved to be quite suitable for carbon life forms and even surprised by the abundance and uniqueness of flora and fauna. However, local food was not suitable for man because of the neurotoxins it contained. This greatly slowed the pace of development of the colony. Despite this, a few decades later the colony became almost completely autonomous.

In 2073 scientists from the International Academy of Cosmonautics, George Allenwood and Alfred Vogt compiled a graphs that defines the boundaries of the local star cluster and divides it into 4 regions (Outer, Mid, Inner and Core Ring). The origin of coordinates was the solar system, which human scientists continue to consider the center of the entire intelligent life. All the astronomical objects behind the Outer Rim are in absolute inaccessibility to humans. At least for now.

Resources brought to Earth from the colonies and mining stations have caused rapid industrial growth. The native planet of mankind entered the golden age, not only the economical, but also cultural. Quality of life has increased everywhere, the majority of environmental problems and conflicts have been resolved. Almost every earthman lived comfortably and this cannot be said about the colonists.

By 2098 a few more colonies were established in the Local Cluster. These are Eden in the Aldebaran system, Horizon in the Zosma system, Victoria in the Arcturus system and so on.

In connection with large taxes and the reduced role of the colonies in the political life of the Alliance, organizations emerged opposing the power of the Earth.

The Alliance government, worried by the growing popularity of separatist views, instructed the initiative research centers and military industrial complex of Earth to begin developing combat spaceships capable of participating in combat battles both in space and planets’ atmospheres. Six years later, several corvettes and frigates were constructed and commissioned into the Alliance Navy. In addition to this, Space Marine Corps was created, a structure that performs the function of rapid reaction forces at the interplanetary level.

Meanwhile, the gap between Earth and the colonies has become bigger. In 2136 the colonial' governments in the systems of Tau Centauri, Beta and Alpha Pictoris, Celis and 14 Katana demanded complete self-management from the Intraplanetary Council, but with no success. Shortly thereafter, the colonies declared independence and then formed the Intersystem Union, which was actually the same Alliance, but with a unicameral parliament and expanded autonomy for all entities.

The Intrasystem Alliance, in order to avoid secession of the other colonies, made concessions. A reform was carried out that deprived the vice-president of the right to unseat colonial governors and gave it to the parliament, which expanded powers of local authorities and reduced taxes and tariffs which were established earlier. Most governmental structures have gained new names, the Intrasystem Alliance was renamed into Intersystem, the Intraplanetary Council became known as the Republican Council, and the Republican Senate was renamed into Interstellar.

In addition, to maintain order in extraterrestrial settlements, the Planetary Guard was created. It was a special type of military force, colonial units of the Alliance Armed Forces reserve, directly subordinated to the federal government. Colonies took this ambiguously.

Shortly thereafter, an extraordinary meeting of the Republican Council was held, the withdrawal of several systems from the Alliance was recognized as unconstitutional and invalid. The Earth government decided to regain control of these systems by any means, including deadly force. A few months after the announcement of the decision, the Alliance launched mobilization.

By the time of the colonies secession, the Alliance had sufficient forces to suppress any uprising, including space forces. The Alliance Navy was represented by five starfleets, which consisted of more than 16 cruisers, 20 destroyers, 14 frigates, 10 corvettes, 5 strike cruisers and dozens of other ships in total.

The Union Navy, however, had even more ships. Most of them were commercial barges with kinetic armament of past centuries installed. Furthermore, the situation was complicated by the fact that none of the Alliance commanders took the side of the separatists. However, many interplanetary organizations sponsored the young Union, and some helped it not only financially, several dozens of small warships which were to be commissioned into the Federation Navy were laid on the shipyards of the famous XCOR Aerospace.

After the colonies secession, the Alliance became short on resources. In 2138, the Earth was overtaken by a tremendous crisis. Military spending increased and in the volume of resources extraction decreased. Despite attempts to optimize expenditure, the Alliance was no longer able to maintain many colonies and finance most of the old projects.

In connection with this, many other colonies subsequently declared independence, later forming the Outer Alliance under the authority of the military junta. Most of the local federal forces have taken side of the colonists. Immediately after that, the Zosma split off from the Alliance. A local planetary council which consisted mostly of industrialists and traders, has taken the power into its own hands.

The final blow to the integrity of the Alliance was the secession of the colonies in Gamma Cepheus, Alderamin and Alpha Luminae. These systems formed another, this time relatively free and democratic state, the Colonies Coalition.

However, the Alliance survived. He retained control of most of the systems of the Local Cluster and, thanks to effective and timely reforms, coped with the crisis.

The conflict that entered the history as the First Cosmic War has begun shortly after the secessions.

The Republican Council declared all of decisions of the separatist systems regarding their independence unconstitutional, and decided to conduct a large-scale military operation against the separatist forces.

Despite loud statements, the Alliance did not hurry with dealing with the separatists. After several Intersystem Alliance victories in space battles, the status quo was achieved. The Union, Coalition, Zosma and the Outer Alliance received new spacecraft capable of opposing the Alliance's fleet on an equal footing, and therefore the Alliance, fearing to lose the offensive, waited for the counterattack of the enemy, which, however, did not follow because of a variety of reasons, primarily economic and social problems in the colonies.

In 2141 attempts were made to conclude peace, but all of them were unsuccessful. Neither side was willing to compromise for the moment. Nethertheless, a crisis recently occurred in the newly created states forced them to accept the terms of the Alliance. In exchange for preserving independence, the colonies pledged to pay 55% of their income and greatly reduce their Armed Forces. In addition, every colony that wanted to become a part of the Alliance again was given such an opportunity.

Meanwhile, the scientific studies of the Local Cluster finally proved absence of intelligent alien life there. Most of the private and governmental companies operating in this field have lost their funding. Man was convinced in the non-existence of developed alien civilizations.

Despite the improvement of hyperdrives, ventures to other star clusters continued to be a pipe dream, although mankind did not stop its researches in this field. Everything was just beginning.

Description
A map of my interstellar setting greatly inspired by the Chronicles of Man and some other science fiction universes. Humanity has finally crossed the threshold of the universe and built space empires of its own. Here's a short back story. Hope you enjoy.
By 2024 humanity has made many previously unbelievable discoveries in the field of space, computer and energy technologies. The first compact ion and plasma engines, modular thermonuclear reactors, electric and solar sails, new ways of spacecraft manufacturing, which in the long term perspective would overcome boundaries of the Solar system, were invented. The prospects of renewed space exploration turned out to be real and thus interested national governments and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. The companies operating in the space field such as SpaceX, XCOR Aerospace, Planetary Resources and others began to develop at unprecedented rates, primarily due to governmental support they were receiving.

In 2029 SpaceX began the construction of the Red Dragon spaceship, which was postponed from 2020 due to lack of funding. Thanks to the titanic efforts of SpaceX, the construction of the vessel was completed in three years after its inception. The launch was announced on January 1st, 2034 and was successful. However, a critical error was made during the construction. It has become fatal for 300 people of the RD crew. The ship's reactor exploded a month after the departure.

An unprecedented scandal broke out. SpaceX lost both governmental and popular support. The rest of the company's projects were closed within the next two weeks, and as a result the organization was disbanded after hostile takeover carried out by XCOR Aerospace. Assets that were not in XCOR interest were acquired by Boeing and Virgin Galactic.

For a long time all attempts to found settlements on other planets have been stopped by both state and private space agencies. The industrial use of space has become more important than its exploration and settling. There were many corporations specializing in extraction of space resources, and the most successful of them was T&K Tools Inc. A few years after the RD flight failure humanity managed to finally start extraction of minerals on asteroids on an industrial scale.

Nonetheless, dreams of creating a human settlement outside Earth have never left the people's heads. In 2045, the A-Space international organization, founded by former NASA employee Maxwell Ivey, with the support of governmental space agencies, established the first human colony on Mars. The corporation, despite its resources and financial support from various countries of the world, could not run the settlement efficiently, and three years after the colony establishment its managing has fallen into the hands of the UN.

Huge losses and a company crisis although did not destroy A-Space. In 2051 under its auspices an autonomous interstellar reconnaissance probe was sent to the Alphaa Centauri system.

Technological progress doesn’t stand still. With the discovery of new ways of traveling unlimited opportunities in space exploration were opened before humanity. The first experimental engine based on multidimensional space and hyperspace traveling researches that allows exceed the speed of light was invented. To maintain a constant communication between stations and settlements, modulation-based communicators were developed. Despite the high cost of production of such devices, they have gained immense popularity due to the lack of adequate analogues. The Internet has also been developed, there were several private and governmental stations involved in its retransmission to all of the human settlements.

However, the costs of maintaining space programs were growing every day, and as a result space expenses became too large for one state. In connection with this, a new supranational organization was formed, eventually replacing the United Nations and becoming the all-planet government with its capital in Geneva. Its name was the Intrasystem Alliance. The Alliance is a democratic representative republic, in which:

1) Legislative power belongs to a bicameral parliament. Its duty is to draft and adopt new and amend old laws and to maintain law and order at the state level. In the competence of the parliament is the declaration of war (with the consent of the president), the adoption of a two-year budget, the appointment of the supreme judges, the control and creation of state commissions of federal importance etc. The lower chamber of the parliament, the Intraplanetary Council consists of citizens of the Alliance who have been continuously living on Earth for five years and were elected by others citizens for 10 years for no more than two consecutive terms. The Council meets four times each year in the nominal capital of the Alliance, Geneva. The main functions of the parliament belong to the Council. In the event that the Republican Senate does not have the ability to perform its functions, they are transferred to the Intraplanetary Council. The upper chamber, the Republican Senate consists of citizens of the Alliance who were nominated by their homeworlds. The governments of each colony must nominate five people who have been continuously living on the territory of the corresponding extraterrestrial settlement for 3-4 years (depends on the colony) to be their representatives. Senators are appointed for 10 years for no more than two consecutive terms. The Senate meets in Geneva every two years twice. The functions of the Senate are the approval of changes in the outer space borders between the colonies, the appointment of the date of presidential elections, the president impeachment, the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court etc. The parliament is dominated by three parties, which are the Republican, Democratic and Confederal. Although the three-party system was not enshrined at the legislative level, these are the only parties which have chances to win elections. The basis of legal regulation is the Federal Charter, adopted on January 1st, 2056. It has supreme legal force and direct effect. It is applied throughout the Alliance. Only the Parliament can amend the Federal Charter;

2) The executive power belongs to the federal ministries, services, agencies, commissions, committees, colonial governors appointed by the parliament, the president elected for 4 years by Alliance citizens who are members of the Intraplanetary Council and the Republican Senate. The president is also the head of the government, the state and the armed forces of the Alliance. His functions include deciding on the short-term involvement of military units, approving bills, appointing ministers, heads of services, agencies, committees, commissions and vice-president, signing documents and drawing up a federal budget. The vice-president is appointed by the president and accountable only to him. In the event that the president does not have the opportunity to perform his functions, they pass to the vice-president. In addition, he has the ability to unseat them. Colonial governors are elected by local population of the colonies they represent. They serve as heads of colonial governments;

3) The judiciary power is represented by different structures at different levels. The first, local level is represented by courts dealing with the affairs of earthly and colonial subjects. The next is the planetary one which is represented by the courts that are in charge of colonial affairs. The Earth Court, which deals with all of the earthly matters, is singled out. The last level is represented by the Federal Supreme Court, which deals with matters of federal importance. Judges are appointed by local or federal legislatures.

During the next fifteen years, several settlements were founded on the planets, satellites and asteroids of the solar system, Titan, Moon, Ceres, (216) Cleopatra and (6178) 1986 DA. The colonies, despite their formal autonomy, strongly depended on Earth.

In 2067, the A-Space probe finished its long trip to Alpha Centauri and returned to Earth, along with a large amount of useful information about the system. On the basis of the data received, it was decided to send several colonial ships to Alpha Centauri, which were equipped with relatively stable hyperdrives, which is why they can overcome huge distances in an incredibly short time. The space program turned out to be successful, and on the planet formerly known as Proxima Centauri B, the human colony of Terra Nova was founded. It was the first colony outside the solar system. The planet, despite all the people concerns, proved to be quite suitable for carbon life forms and even surprised by the abundance and uniqueness of flora and fauna. However, local food was not suitable for man because of the neurotoxins it contained. This greatly slowed the pace of development of the colony. Despite this, a few decades later the colony became almost completely autonomous.

In 2073 scientists from the International Academy of Cosmonautics, George Allenwood and Alfred Vogt compiled a graphs that defines the boundaries of the local star cluster and divides it into 4 regions (Outer, Mid, Inner and Core Ring). The origin of coordinates was the solar system, which human scientists continue to consider the center of the entire intelligent life. All the astronomical objects behind the Outer Rim are in absolute inaccessibility to humans. At least for now.

Resources brought to Earth from the colonies and mining stations have caused rapid industrial growth. The native planet of mankind entered the golden age, not only the economical, but also cultural. Quality of life has increased everywhere, the majority of environmental problems and conflicts have been resolved. Almost every earthman lived comfortably and this cannot be said about the colonists.

By 2098 a few more colonies were established in the Local Cluster. These are Eden in the Aldebaran system, Horizon in the Zosma system, Victoria in the Arcturus system and so on.

In connection with large taxes and the reduced role of the colonies in the political life of the Alliance, organizations emerged opposing the power of the Earth.

The Alliance government, worried by the growing popularity of separatist views, instructed the initiative research centers and military industrial complex of Earth to begin developing combat spaceships capable of participating in combat battles both in space and planets’ atmospheres. Six years later, several corvettes and frigates were constructed and commissioned into the Alliance Navy. In addition to this, Space Marine Corps was created, a structure that performs the function of rapid reaction forces at the interplanetary level.

Meanwhile, the gap between Earth and the colonies has become bigger. In 2136 the colonial' governments in the systems of Tau Centauri, Beta and Alpha Pictoris, Celis and 14 Katana demanded complete self-management from the Intraplanetary Council, but with no success. Shortly thereafter, the colonies declared independence and then formed the Intersystem Union, which was actually the same Alliance, but with a unicameral parliament and expanded autonomy for all entities.

The Intrasystem Alliance, in order to avoid secession of the other colonies, made concessions. A reform was carried out that deprived the vice-president of the right to unseat colonial governors and gave it to the parliament, which expanded powers of local authorities and reduced taxes and tariffs which were established earlier. Most governmental structures have gained new names, the Intrasystem Alliance was renamed into Intersystem, the Intraplanetary Council became known as the Republican Council, and the Republican Senate was renamed into Interstellar.

In addition, to maintain order in extraterrestrial settlements, the Planetary Guard was created. It was a special type of military force, colonial units of the Alliance Armed Forces reserve, directly subordinated to the federal government. Colonies took this ambiguously.

Shortly thereafter, an extraordinary meeting of the Republican Council was held, the withdrawal of several systems from the Alliance was recognized as unconstitutional and invalid. The Earth government decided to regain control of these systems by any means, including deadly force. A few months after the announcement of the decision, the Alliance launched mobilization.

By the time of the colonies secession, the Alliance had sufficient forces to suppress any uprising, including space forces. The Alliance Navy was represented by five starfleets, which consisted of more than 16 cruisers, 20 destroyers, 14 frigates, 10 corvettes, 5 strike cruisers and dozens of other ships in total.

The Union Navy, however, had even more ships. Most of them were commercial barges with kinetic armament of past centuries installed. Furthermore, the situation was complicated by the fact that none of the Alliance commanders took the side of the separatists. However, many interplanetary organizations sponsored the young Union, and some helped it not only financially, several dozens of small warships which were to be commissioned into the Federation Navy were laid on the shipyards of the famous XCOR Aerospace.

After the colonies secession, the Alliance became short on resources. In 2138, the Earth was overtaken by a tremendous crisis. Military spending increased and in the volume of resources extraction decreased. Despite attempts to optimize expenditure, the Alliance was no longer able to maintain many colonies and finance most of the old projects.

In connection with this, many other colonies subsequently declared independence, later forming the Outer Alliance under the authority of the military junta. Most of the local federal forces have taken side of the colonists. Immediately after that, the Zosma split off from the Alliance. A local planetary council which consisted mostly of industrialists and traders, has taken the power into its own hands.

The final blow to the integrity of the Alliance was the secession of the colonies in Gamma Cepheus, Alderamin and Alpha Luminae. These systems formed another, this time relatively free and democratic state, the Colonies Coalition.

However, the Alliance survived. He retained control of most of the systems of the Local Cluster and, thanks to effective and timely reforms, coped with the crisis.

The conflict that entered the history as the First Cosmic War has begun shortly after the secessions.

The Republican Council declared all of decisions of the separatist systems regarding their independence unconstitutional, and decided to conduct a large-scale military operation against the separatist forces.

Despite loud statements, the Alliance did not hurry with dealing with the separatists. After several Intersystem Alliance victories in space battles, the status quo was achieved. The Union, Coalition, Zosma and the Outer Alliance received new spacecraft capable of opposing the Alliance's fleet on an equal footing, and therefore the Alliance, fearing to lose the offensive, waited for the counterattack of the enemy, which, however, did not follow because of a variety of reasons, primarily economic and social problems in the colonies.

In 2141 attempts were made to conclude peace, but all of them were unsuccessful. Neither side was willing to compromise for the moment. Nethertheless, a crisis recently occurred in the newly created states forced them to accept the terms of the Alliance. In exchange for preserving independence, the colonies pledged to pay 55% of their income and greatly reduce their Armed Forces. In addition, every colony that wanted to become a part of the Alliance again was given such an opportunity.

Meanwhile, the scientific studies of the Local Cluster finally proved absence of intelligent alien life there. Most of the private and governmental companies operating in this field have lost their funding. Man was convinced in the non-existence of developed alien civilizations.

Despite the improvement of hyperdrives, ventures to other star clusters continued to be a pipe dream, although mankind did not stop its researches in this field. Everything was just beginning.