Culture Profile: The United Galactic Federation

Astrography

The United Galactic Federation (Federation for short) spans most of the Milky Way Galaxy, with a few settlements in the Magellanic Clouds. Every arm in the Milky Way is home to Federation systems and settlements, though the Orion Arm is where Federation control is the weakest, as that is the center of Imperial control.

Natural Physical Appearance

Being a galactic empire, the Federation's population is extremely diverse. Even humans, the overwhelming majority, are diverse, with many subspecies and ethnicities making up the human population. However, the Federation is predominantly composed of humans of the "Galactic" ethnicity, which has been the dominant ethnicity of mankind since time immemorial. Humans of this ethnicity have medium tan skin, black hair, and are on average six feet tall.

Appearance Traditions

You'd think that such a massive empire would have no uniform appearance tradition, but the Federation would prove you wrong. In its efforts to homogenize its entire empire, the Federation imposes codes of dress on all of its systems, exempting cultural reservations. These dress codes are differentiated by species, but only out of necessity, and these codes seek to be as uniform as possible. These codes are based on the fashions that were in vogue in the Federation's core systems during its foundation, resulting in Federation fashions looking tens of thousands of years out of date to the rest of the galaxy. Enforcement of these codes is anything but uniform, with worlds far from the central government's eye tending to do away with them entirely.

The standard Federation dress is a form of colored polynylon jumpsuit. Originally a military uniform, the colored jumpsuit has become a symbol of the Federation. These jumpsuits are color-coded by social class, with those occupying the lowest-classes wearing red, the middle classes wearing mauve, and the upper classes wearing gold (though upper-class individuals have much more leniency in dress). Those with specialist professions wear other colors during work hours. The Federation Eagle is stamped on all Federation clothing, and removing it is a crime. These jumpsuits are easy to clean and very resistant to wear and tear.

Although they aim for uniformity, there is a difference between dress between males and females (or their analogues). Female dress is far more promiscuous than male counterparts, ostensibly to "promote sexual liberation." For human females, the infamous miniskirts, boots and "beehive" hairstyle ensemble is nigh-universal, with few other legal options existing. This form of dress is even mandatory within the Federation Star Fleet.

Language

The Federation's primary language is Simplified Standard Imperial, a "rationalized" form of the language of the Second Empire. Simplified Standard Imperial is an agglunative language, and in fact Simplified Standard Imperial has a much smaller vocabulary than most other galactic languages. SSI has very few synonyms or antonyms, with prefixes and suffixes on "base words" sufficing. Prefixes are generally intensifiers or negations, while suffixes denote the "number" of the thing (none, one, more than one) or transform the word into another form.

The Federation's Bureau of Language governs the development of Simplified Standard Imperial, and is responsible of its propagation throughout the Federation. The Bureau of Language considers it paramount that the entire galaxy speak one language, as to facilitate cooperation and acceptance of Federal rule. That being said, due to the size of the galaxy, the Bureau of Language's mission is more than farfetched.

Government, Law and Politics

The Federation styles itself as a representative federal republic, though the truth is far less pleasant and far more complicated. In theory, the Federation is governed by the Federal Senate, a body of legislators elected by the people of every system in the Federation, who in turn elect an executive among themselves. Each system gets one senator for every inhabited world is in the system, and for every billion sapients are on each planet. This has resulted in rather skewed political representation, as a planet with a single permanent colony will be represented by a senator, while an orbital home to two billion individuals will be represented by the senators of the planet it orbits.

However, the Federation's size makes representing even half of the Federation's systems impossible. To compound the issue, thousands of systems the Federation claims are under the control of hostile powers or are in open rebellion. The Federation insists in overseeing elections to ensure that they are "free and fair," meaning that only the systems in regular contact with Federal authorities can hold elections. Those systems that cannot hold elections are appointed Senators on a "temporary" basis by the Bureau of Internal Affairs, which itself is populated by appointees from the ruling party. Oftentimes, these senators are foreign to the constituencies they represent, and many have no clue where their systems even are. As a result, the Federation is a de facto one party state, as the ruling Unity Party has been able to appoint senators to vacant seats during the Federation's rapid expansion.

The Federation is a multi-party system, even if the Unity Party is the only one that has any voice. The Unity Party was founded on the ideas of democracy, universal liberty and universal equality, but over the millennia has become just another bureaucracy interested only in the propagation of the Federation. Those words are merely dogmatic excuses for the Federation to do whatever it pleases. True, there are many ideologues within the Unity Party, often opposed to one another, but the majority of the party is populated with disinterested careerists just looking to make sure that the gears turn and to make that next paycheck. Most political radicals center around the many minority parties that the Federation allows, though they would never get the majority. Knowing this, even those worlds that are accurately represented in the Senate overwhelmingly vote for Unity, because why not be on the winning side?

Despite its massive size, the Federation attempts to govern everything from the center. This is due to its origins: having rebelled against the feudal Third Empire, the Federation is committed to the idea of governing everything fairly and equally from a body that represents the entire Federation, instead of letting petty despots have their way. Ironically, the realities of the galaxy have transformed the Federation into a semi-feudal entity, as they often have to rely on local authorities to enforce their rule. Despite this, the Federation attempts to standardize everything they could through their massive bureaucracy, which often involves subordinating local authorities to offworld bureaucrats who can't even speak the same dialect as those they are governing. Many of these bureaucrats are easily duped by locals, making them largely useless, but they also slow down the process of getting just about anything done. This, rather unsurprisingly, builds up resentment among newer and further-off systems, and as a result these systems often rise up against Federal rule. This, in turn, has resulted in a Federation-wide ban on locally-controlled armed forces, which has had the unintended side effect of making the Federation's periphery easy prey for outsiders.

Economy

The Federation claims to be on the verge of becoming a "post-scarcity" society, though nobody but the most disconnected ideologue would believe it. The Federation claims that its matter replicators allow it to produce anything at any amount, but this conveniently ignores the fact that only a few matter replicators exist, that the Federation lacks the technological know-how to produce more, and the tremendous amounts of energy a matter replicator consumes makes it one of the most inefficient production systems ever devised. In truth, the Federation's economy is much like the rest of the galaxy's: controlled by a mix of private and public entities and dependent on resources. The Federation's consumerist society relies on the massive resources only a galactic empire could provide, and indeed the Federation's hunger for more resources drives its expansion.

Trade

The Federation officially loathes trading with other entities, but in truth its economy cannot survive without trade. Though the Federation is not lacking in natural resources and its heavy industry adequately supplies its massive military, its rapid expansion through largely agrarian worlds has not allowed it to industrialize to the same degree as the Empire or the Consortium. Thus, a significant portion of the Federation's manufactured goods are manufactured by its rivals. The rest of the galaxy sees this as essential to making the Federation dependent on them, thus averting the possibility of war.

Currency

In their attempt to stamp out "greed and inequality," the Federation banned currency during its third phase of expansion, and mandated instead that all transactions were to be conducted with materials and energy. Unsurprisingly, the barter economy could not work on an interstellar scale, but before the Federal government could reintroduce currency, the banks within the Consortium of Sovereign Systems had leapt on the opportunity and Consortium-based currencies became the norm. The Unity Party, rather than admit that it was wrong, instead turned a blind eye to the Consortium's takeover. Ironically, the Consortium's banks were also the guarantors of the Imperial credit, meaning that the galaxy's two major powers' economies were dependent on the Consortium and making the Consortium practically immune to assault.

Sex, Romance and Family Structure

A society as enlightened as the Federation could not leave the sapients under its control to their primal instincts. The Code of Sexual Conduct and the Code of Familial Relations governs the more intimate aspects of every Federal citizen's life, with the aim of promoting liberty, equality and safety. The Code of Sexual Conduct was written with the promotion sexual liberation in mind, and is rather tolerant and sometimes even encouraging of promiscuity, and with advanced medical care and birth control the traditional issues arising from such activity are largely nonexistent (as they are for the rest of the galaxy). However, the Code of Sexual Conduct encourages behavior that many in the rest of the galaxy find abhorrent, such as encouraging children to have sex as soon as possible, encouraging people to have sex with as many partners as possible, and heavily discouraging forming any emotional attachment over sex, as that would make people feel guilty and sex is supposed to be all about fun.

What would be considered the traditional family, and the normal mode of familial relations, in the rest of the galaxy is alien to the Federation's most heavily-controlled systems. The majority of Federation citizens in these systems (and consequently, the majority of Federation citizens as a whole) are born to artificial wombs in "hatcheries," where genetically-engineered eggs and sperm are fertilized. As a result, many Federation citizens are genetically siblings or half-siblings. Fetuses are genetically tested for perceived future ability and sent to specialized nurseries, where they are then raised for their future careers. This does not mean that they are locked into these roles for life, but it takes an exceptional individual to rise above his station, or even to transfer to another career. The major exception to this rule is the Federation's ruling classes, who maintain traditional family structures and view being "tube-born" as a great dishonor.

Religious Beliefs and Traditions

The Federation have outgrown the "silly superstitions" of old and is officially atheist, and is proud to display this fact to everyone in the galaxy. The Federation's political doctrine holds that there are no gods, only sufficiently advanced beings. This is how the Federation is able to cope with beings such as the Cog Lords, the Seeping Ink and other abominable entities destroying their fleets and despoiling their worlds on a regular basis. Religious belief is seen as inherently irrational and intolerant, so the Federation naturally has an irrational intolerance towards it. Those professing to religious beliefs in the Federation are prosecuted and oftentimes imprisoned for a short period, while worlds being brought into the Federation are taught that their gods are powerless through arrogant displays of sacrilege. This has led to many religiously-motivated revolts against the Federation, but the central government insists that these rebels will eventually see the light and there is no need to change policy.

Philosophy and Disposition

The Federation views itself as the light of the galaxy, an enlightened society that will recreate the glorious utopia of the Second Empire and unite all in liberty and equality. The Federation believes that it has the answer to galactic progress, and that any who stand in their way are unenlightened reactionaries. The entire galaxy must be "enlightened," whether they want to or not, and resistance is merely a sign of insufficient philosophical maturity. There is only one path, the Federation's, and all shall march along it.

The Federation is very intolerant of any political entity apart from itself. This is an outgrowth of the Unification ideology, which holds that mankind does best when it is under a single government, and that wars are impossible unless there is more than one government. This rather conveniently gives the Federation a mandate to take over the entire galaxy, though all but the most radical Federal leaders know that Federal control over the entire Milky Way is a pipe dream.

Although a multi-species entity, the Federation is majority human and officially places humans above all other species. Humans are seen as the vanguard species, the species that will develop everything for the rest of the galaxy's sapients to enjoy. When that end state is reached, then all may be equal, but until then, humanity must have and maintain a position of paramount leadership. In practice, this is used to promote bigoted, human supremacist policies, and as a result most species within the Federation are second-class citizens.

Military

Views on War

The Federation views war as barbaric, but its actions would lead one to think otherwise. War will be eliminated when the galaxy is united under Federal rule, but until then, it is clear that many galactic societies only understand the language of force. Thus, the Federation will not hesitate to engage in military action against a civilization that is deemed to be "ready" for Federal integration. The Federation is obsessed with exporting its vision throughout the stars, and the Federal Star Fleet's secondary prerogative is to explore new star systems to bring into compliance. As the Federation is always putting down rebellions and expanding throughout the galaxy, the Federation has been in a state of war for its entire existence.

Ranks and Command Structure

The ultimate commander of the Federal military is the Chancellor, who is elected from the Senate and is the chief executive of the entire Federation. Below him is Star Fleet Command, which controls both the Federal Star Fleet and the Federal Star Fleet Army. Both the FSF and the FSFA have separate command structures from then on, but share the same command nomenclature. Every FSFA commander is subordinate to an FSF commander of the same or higher rank, and FSF commanders direct all planetary campaigns.

Soldier Types and Equipment

As the Federation prefers to secure orbit and bombard planetside opposition, the Federal Star Fleet Army is a smaller organization than would be expected in a galactic empire. Most FSFA troopers are flash clones: the clones of proven warriors from the Federation's past, genetically engineered to mature to adulthood within the space of five years. This also means that these clones will die of old age by the time they are ten years old, but they almost always die in combat before reaching such an old age.

The FSFA is engaged mostly in recovery missions and enforcing the will of the Federal government in worlds the Federation already holds. Thus, the FSFA soldier is equipped to fight guerrilla wars, and is unfit for fighting any major engagement. The standard infantry weapon is the phaser rifle, a directed energy weapon that fires a pulse of phased photons. Depending on phase and energy output, a phaser can either temporarily paralyze a target by subjecting it to intense, but nonlethal, pain, or it could disintegrate the target entirely. Though more advanced than its primary rival on the galactic battlefield, the Imperial blaster, the phaser is a far more complex and difficult to power weapon. Thus, its utility to guerrilla organizations is limited.

Formations and Tactics

Against a primitive opponent typical Federation assault is a no-holds-barred bombardment of a planetary surface. Photon torpedoes, ship-based phasers, disruptors and pulse canons would turn important centers of resistance into slag. Oftentimes, this is enough to bring a world to surrender. If resistance continues, or the planetside forces are able to muster anti-orbit defenses, landing shuttles filled with FSFA troopers are sent to crush remaining resistance. There is little finesse to these tactics, as the Federal commander understands that his troops are disposable and his only concern is ensuring that he is not forced to call for reinforcements, as that would delay the assault. When facing another galactic power in war, the Federation typically brings in heavier firepower. These planetside assets are actually space-capable antigrav vehicles, and thus fall under the control of the FSF.

Against technologically advanced opponents, such as the Empire, the Federation cannot use its normal orbital bombardment techniques. A properly defended planet will always outgun an attacking fleet, and a properly defended planet can move its population to subterranean habitats where they can mount resistance even if the surface is relinquished to the invader. Here, the Federation will use its ground forces to overwhelm and flush out local resistance. This task is easier said than done, and often requires a siege action lasting for decades and tying up disproportionate resources. It is for this reason that the Federation avoids prolonged conflict with technologically advanced states.

While the FSF prides itself in its tactical superiority when engaging Imperial forces, only a few battles have had the FSF win from a numerically inferior position. The FSF primarily wins by overwhelming its opponents in superior numbers. With only the Empire and the Consortium able to match the Federation's naval industry, this is not a problem. Furthermore, the Empire's overstretched military allows the Federation to isolate pockets of Imperial Navy craft and overwhelm them, though Imperial commanders have learned to jump into hyperspace should they be jumped by an FSF assault.

Navy and Spacecraft

The Federal Star Fleet is the centerpiece of the Federal military. The Star Fleet is at most times the largest naval force in the galaxy, although at times the rival Imperial Navy is larger. The FSF's ships are generally smaller and less heavily armed than their Imperial counterparts, but they are much faster in in-system.

Almost all FSF ships are equipped with a warp drive, which compresses space in front of the ship while expanding it behind the ship. This is slower than Imperial hyperdrives and requires that the ship travel in a straight line and jump out at the right time, but it consumes less energy per jump and is far more versatile. This is what gives the FSF its greater mobility: as warp drives are unaffected by hyperspace currents or vacuity entities, the FSF's ships can jump into warp in-system, with the ships jumping out elsewhere in the system.