The Confederacy

The United Galactic Confederacy, more commonly known as the Confederacy, is a collection of allied states united under the common goal of preserving the ideas of the Galactic Collective but free from the conflict and corruption that led to its collapse. Similar to how the Collective was organized, each state belongs to an individual species that was once enslaved by the Chinchi Empire and later fought to bring freedom to the galaxy. The states are called sovereignties. The Confederacy is the second smallest major faction in the Sea of Spirits, claiming approximately one thousand five hundred inhabited worlds, and limited by the three much larger factions it is trapped between.

The Confederacy was formed after the fall of the Galactic Collective by those fleeing the reach of the newly established Imperium Siderum et Caeli. After the initial coup, a mass exodus took place in which billions fled the reach of the totalitarian dictatorship that was rapidly closing its grip around the territory of the former empire. However, the leaders of the Imperium had underestimated how long it would take for their forces to bring the Collective’s central regions under control, forcing them to focus their attention on these areas and allowing those who fled to claim the outer reaches. They would then come together to establish the society now known as the Confederacy.

The polar opposite of the Imperium, the Confederacy is a liberal democracy where all are treated fairly and equally regardless of race or species, as well as other demographics such as gender, sexuality and religion. It operates largely under the same political system as the Collective although more steps have been taken to see that it does not fall into the same abyss of corruption and ineptitude. The Confederacy is not led by a singular leader but rather a council of elected officials known as the Executive Council. Each member represents one of the sovereignties of the Confederacy and is elected by their own people. Along with the Executive Council, the Confederacy is led also by the Assembly, its parliamentary body composed of representatives from every inhabited world. Its primary function is to police the Executive Council and prevent it from making decisions that go above its level of power. No member species receives special favour over the others and all sovereignties (in theory) possess the same level of power and authority. This, however, is not always the case as some species have managed to gain themselves greater levels of unofficial power through various means including: economic, scientific, and military. While it has no official leader, the Treen are considered by many to be the unofficial leading species of the Confederacy, owing to their reputation for political shrewdness and scientific and technological brilliance.

The culture of the Confederacy is almost the exact opposite of the Imperium. Its core virtues are: peace, cooperation, compassion, tolerance, and acceptance. The Confederacy’s overarching belief is that all creatures should be free and not made to live in fear because of who or what they are. Its main tenets are: Democracy, civil rights, freedom of speech and religion, free markets, limited government, and equality. This has, however, led to some friction and internal strife as, in order to achieve these tenets, some member species have been forced to abandon some of their practices that were found to go against the Confederacy’s founding principles, a fact that has resulted in bitterness and resentment from some citizens. Despite extolling peace and cooperation, this is not always the case for individual sovereignties. Over the more than a thousand years that the Collective stood, many rivalries developed between its member species, some of which have carried over into the Confederacy. The most notable of these is the tense relationship between Humanity and the Iringroat. Both species have fought wars with each other multiple times and were at war when the Collective fell. It was only thanks to the fall of an empire and the urging of their allies that the two species were able to (reluctantly) come to terms and end their hostilities although they have remained bitter rivals ever since.

The Confederacy’s relationship with the Imperium is difficult to say the least. While openly disapproving of its politics and culture, the Confederacy was happy to coexist with the Imperium in an admittedly uneasy peace. The Imperium, however, views the Confederacy as an affront to everything it holds dear, and regards it as an enemy that must be destroyed. The Imperium and Confederacy went to war twice in the early days of both factions although both of these conflicts were ended quickly through negotiation before significant casualties could be accrued, and, while a “real” war has not yet broken out between the two, the Imperium constantly bullies and undermines its smaller neighbour and openly proclaims its hostility towards it. Due to its far larger military and technological advantage, the threat of destruction at the hands of the Imperium remains an ever present axe dangling over the head of every citizen of the Confederacy.

Author’s notes

The United Galactic Confederacy was originally called the United Galactic Sovereignty until I realized that that title didn’t really make sense. The change was a relatively recent one, to the point where, when I write notes about the Confederacy, I often call it the Sovereignty by accident. The Confederacy is intended to be the “good guys” and the antithesis to the Imperium. While, as with the Imperium, I’ve tried to make my factions as unique as possible, I did want a faction that was somewhat reminiscent of a traditional futuristic society, as in, what our society will hopefully become in the future, although that’s not to say that the Confederacy doesn’t have its problems.