Federation Headquarters

Every world occupied by the Federation of Xah, be it naturally formed like a planet or asteroid, or an artificial structure like a Orbital or Topopolis, will have at least one building called the 'Federation Headquarters'. On worlds entirely populated by caste members, held by the Federation for centuries or more, there are normally many of these buildings, spread across the habitable areas of the world, and acting as a central hub for communication between local Leader Caste members and the wider Xahian polity. On worlds only marginally controlled by the Xahians, there will typically only be one Federation Headquarter, and it will act as a fortified hub for all Federation control of the planet, acting as garrison, courthouse, government headquarters, and status symbol, all rolled into one.

Purpose / Function

The purpose that all Federation Headquarters have is to act as a visible and central hub for wider Federation matters. Almost all leadership actions are devolved to local top level Leader Caste members, given the vast scales involved, and the HQ acts as a hub for local issues to be communicated to the wider Federation Leader Caste structure. For this reason, they all have advanced long range communication facilities, including dedicated tightbeam to a Kurir class carrier if one is present in the system.
On worlds where Federation of Xah control is not absolute, HQ buildings also act as a way to enforce Xahian control over the local population. Almost always built around a large spaceport or the base of a space elevator, they allow for Federation of Xah to get down to the planet's surface and off again without having to move through areas that might not be under total control. They are the central location for the local Warrior Caste garrison, where patrols can rest and re-arm, and be rotated off-world if needs be. Additionally, they are where local non-Xahians are taken to be judged, if they have broken Xahian law, and where compliant locals are taken to be sterilised and gene-assayed.

Architecture

On Xahian held worlds, the structure of a HQ will match that of the local architecture, with the Engineer Caste taking great pride in making Xahian cities look good, as well has having function. Without the need to be fortified, HQ buildings are often gleaming pillars of glass and steel, a showcase of the best that Xahian architecture has to offer, their function built into the structure seamlessly.

Fortified Federation HQ by Unknown

On non-compliant worlds, HQs are vast fortresses, often covering hundreds of square kilometers, almost as tall as they are wide, with layered defences and being almost entirely self-sustaining. It is as much to provide function, as it is to intimidate the locals with the power and scale of the Federation of Xah, and the wider scope of Known Space. On worlds with a defined surface, the typical shape is that of a truncated pyramid, with either a spaceport on the top, or the base of a space elevator. They will dominate the landscape for as far as the eye can see, and whilst they are attractive targets for violent dissidents, all but the most radical see them as unassailable.

Defenses

Fortified headquarters on non-compliant worlds will have at least one Warrior Caste regiment (almost 8000 troops) acting as a permanent garrison, and often more as patrol forces, with the larger the world, the more troops and the larger the garrison. If the world is particularly hostile to Xahian control, there will be dedicated spacecraft, providing orbital weapons, comms and surveillance support, and one, if not more, Kurir class carriers in orbit around the local star, providing rapid FtL comms to nearby systems.

Alternative Names

HQ, Headquarters, FedHub

Type

Megastructure, Land based

Owning Organization

Federation of Xah