Stellar Nomads

Stellar Nomads, also known as Space Nomads or Star Nomads, are a category of people who live semi-nomadically aboard mobile habitats and interstellar spaceships. These ships, while occasionally making use of wormhole gateways, are generally equipped with jump drives for interstellar travel, or in some cases designated carrier-ships will transport a number of intrastellar vessels with a single jump drive. Most stellar nomads live aboard spin habitats, which are either capable of limited mobility through a number of integrated thrusters, or are capable of being towed or pushed by other ships. This allows them to adjust their orbits when necessary, and more importantly, allows them to travel through wormholes generated by jump drives, meaning they can be relocated when necessary, potentially between star systems. Space nomad economies (and thus spacecraft) are primarily powered through nuclear fusion due to the abundance of appropriate fuels, and the United Leagues of Earth's strict regulations on antimatter technology.
While stellar nomads are culturally and politically diverse, their economies are usually relatively similar. They tend to be built around self-sufficient mining, agriculture, and manufacturing, supplemented by trade with sedentary communities. Some nomad communities, however, have been known to practise piracy and the raiding of settled peoples and other nomads. There has also been evidence to suggest that some Stellar Nomad flotillas have come to blows with Mperi ships, though this has yet to be confirmed.
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History

The first precursors of stellar nomads began to appear in the Solar System during the 23rd Century, in the form of groups of people making their living continuously orbiting the Sun aboard large vessels, trading with planets and planetoids as they passed them. As technology improved, and Humanity spread to other star systemsvia jump drive, it became possible for people to live completely isolated from the rest of humanity by colonising distant star systems, each of which contained vast amounts of resources with no claim on them.
The first true space nomads were groups of pioneers, political dissidents, and refugees displaced during and after the League Wars of the 23rd Century. These initial groups were thereafter joined by later waves of prospectors, pirates, and others during the later 23rd and 24th Centuries. The last major group to adopt a nomadic lifestyle were the so-called "Void Sowers" in the 2390s, whose stated goal was to eventually spread humanity throughout the entire galaxy, and who now exist largely at the fringes of human space. By the 25th Century, sedentary human space had become largely surrounded by existing nomad groups, which, combined with cultural divergences, has resulted in no new major waves of nomadicity in the time since.
When gateway technology was introduced, it began to centralise Human civilisation in star systems linked with wormhole gateways. This relieved some of the pressure on the more isolated nomad communities that had developed by this point, slowing their expansion away from the rest of Human Space. However, many flotillas continued to be forced out of valuable systems by more powerful rivals, meaning stellar nomads have continued to advance further into uncharted space, and it is estimated there could be as many as a billion Humans completely cut off from any form of settled civilisation. This has caused concern among some experts, who fear that Humanity's first contact with new sapient alien species could come in the form of resource disputes with disorganised nomads, as may have been the case with the Mperi.

Stellar Nomad Society

It has been noted in recent decades that the majority of stellar nomads are not truly nomadic, but rather simply capable of relocating their otherwise sedentary societies when the need arises. As such, they are generally classified as semi-nomadic in academic circles, though the vernacular term remains unchanged. The belief that they were entirely nomadic seems to have originated as a result of most of their contact with sedentary societies being in the form of trading expeditions, which consist of large numbers of ships visiting numerous star systems to trade, before returning to the rest of their society. This is likely why nomad societies are referred to as "flotillas", even when most of their population resides in mostly-stationary habitats.
Nomad flotillas can range widely in size, though their populations are rarely under one million, and rarely exceed one hundred million. While these populations are not tiny, they are much lower than most star states, and thus they rely heavily on automation in their economies, even more so than in standard societies. This has caused tension with many star states following the Tavastian War, as few, if any, nomad flotillas accept the interstellar bans on fully-automated spaceships that followed the conflict. Additionally, in part due to their low populations, very few flotillas can claim control of an entire star system, which harms their percieved legitimacy as independent states when interacting with sedentary societies.
While most flotillas have generally avoided conflict with the rest of Human Space, many nomads have turned to raiding and piracy throughout history, either due to desperation, avarice, or ambition. Nomad flotillas have occasionally organised into loose confederations, primarily for the purpose of launching large raids against sedentary societies, with the largest such confederation being that of the warlord Ardager Serikov in the 26th Century, which wreaked havok across the Outer Systems during the Antimatter Crisis. These confederations can often field very large navies, which have historically maintained relative technological parity with their settled opponents, partially due to trade with them during peacetime.

Nanmin Nomads

The oldest group of space nomads are known as the Nanmin nomads, from the Chinese for 'refugee'. The Nanmin flotillas are descended largely from those who fled Earth during and after the League Wars. In the centuries since, they have intermixed to the point of having developed a somewhat unified culture and language, creating a strong identity apart from sedentary societies and other nomads alike. As the oldest group, the Nanmin are the most populous nomad culture, and are commonly held to have the greatest mastery of navigation, mining, and other practices necessary to their lifestyle. Despite this, they are largely displaced from their previous homes on the edge of ULE space by later waves of nomads with superior technology.

Lutera Nomads

The second major wave of nomads to leave sedentary human space were named Lutera nomads, from the Hindi for 'hijacker'. This group was initially made up of criminals and pirates fleeing from the United Leagues of Earth, as well as those who followed them in the hope of wealth or adventure. While they were shortly joined by various others, especially prospectors seeking unclaimed mineral deposits, the Lutera are nonetheless infamous for their piratical past, and to this day there are many flotillas among them who regularly engage in raiding activities. The Lutera arose in the mid-24th Century, and quickly drove most Nanmin flotillas away from the edges of ULE space with their more advanced ships and weaponry. Most of the nomad flotillas that invaded the Outer Systems during the Antimatter Crisis were Lutera nomads, including that of Admiral Ardager Serikov. While they share many practices in common, the Lutera have not developed a unified language, and flotillas retain relatively distinct cultures from one another, clearly descended from the cultures of their founders.

Void Sowers

The Void Sowers are the youngest group of space nomads, only arising in the late 24th Century. They began as an ideological offshoot of Human Supremacism, which sought to ensure the survival of humanity - as well as its supremacy over alien races - by establishing human colonies throughout as much of the galaxy as possible. Today, the Sowers have very little contact with sedentary society. From what has been gathered second-hand through other nomad groups, most experts believe the Void Sowers are continuing their mission to this day, having potentially set up several hundred small colonies in the last 200 years. None of these colonies are known to have been established on habitable planets, instead taking the form of spin habitats, as is common among space nomads, as well as stationary dome habitats, which are nearly unheard of among other space nomad groups.