Northup Alliance
The second largest nation in Known Space, the Northup Alliance was first signed by four large, high tech civilisations in the 3rd century XC once it was realised that the Federation of Xah's crusade intended to annex the entirety of human worlds. The alliance soon expanded to cover a couple dozen other important worlds in the region, including a number of mining and scientific colonies. Whilst it came close to finally being conquered by the Federation after its reacquisition of the FourDrive, it proved to be a hardier foe than the Xahians anticipated and it now claims several million star systems, and is the only human power able to retain its independence through force of arms, instead of stealth.
The Alliance makes great claim about its democratic ideals, but on a planetary level, worlds are free to conduct their affairs as they wish, leading to accusations that the lauded 'democratic' nature of the Alliance is just a face to oppose the authoritarian nature of the Federation of Xah. The Alliance counters this with its famous Bill of Rights, that ensures all of its citizens are expected to receive certain freedoms.
Structure
Despite a population of over 184 trillion people, and over 7 million star systems, the Northup Alliance still attempts to retain the democratic ideals that it was founded on. At the highest level is the Alliance President, who has executive authority over the Alliance's armed forces, its numerous executive agencies, and is expected to lead the Alliance on a strategic scale. The President is also responsible for selecting members of the Alliance High Court, who judge issues of constitutional law, but their selections need ratifying by the Alliance Senate.
The President is elected from, and by, the Alliance Senate, which consists of one elected representative from each of the Alliance's 1000 sectors, with each sector representing just over 7 thousand star systems. Whilst in theory, new sectors can be added as the Alliance expands, no new sectors have been created in over fifty years due to a lack of political consensus. As such, the number of worlds in a sector has increased from about four and half thousand to the number today. This has led, inevitably, to complains of a lack of representation, but the partisan nature of the Senate has stymied any attempts to change this. The Senate is responsible for authorising Presidential actions, and the creation and passing of Alliance-wide laws. It also ratifies the President's selection for the heads of executive agencies and members of the Alliance High Court.
Alliance Senators are elected by Sector Assemblies, which are expected to have one representative for each system in the sector with more than a million inhabitants. In reality, due to the large number of systems involved, and the slow pace of bureaucracy, this has led to instances of systems with large populations having no representation at this level, and some systems that have lost population having representation. Most Assemblies have thousands of representatives, and their own executive to deal with internal matters. The Assembly is responsible for Sector laws, which sit in a narrow scope between Alliance law and individual system law, for selecting Sector executives for the various Sector Agencies, and for judging on Sector members who are deemed to have broken constitutional laws on system governance.
Assembly Representatives are chosen by their star system, with the nature of this selection constitutionally devolved to the system itself. The Alliance constitution merely states that each system of more than a million inhabitants must 'take into account the desires of its populace' when selecting Assembly Representatives. Most systems directly elect their representative, using various methods of voting and various criteria of eligibility, but some appoint theirs directly, by elected or unelected officials.
At the system and planetary level, authority and forms of governance are devolved to the system, with the Alliance constitution vague in its wording of how systems are to be managed. The vast majority of Alliance systems have some form of democracy, representative or otherwise, but a significant number retain autocratic or technocratic methods, retaining just enough consideration for popular opinion to keep the local Sector Assembly from interfering.
History
Word of the Federation of Xah's inexorable advance across Known Space came to the attention of the leaders of the world of Secondus soon after the annexation of Sol, as refugees fleeing the Xahian conquest started arriving through the old Keyhole from that direction. Quickly realising the magnitude of the danger, envoys were sent to the three systems nearby that was known to hold advanced civilisations; Beta Canum Venaticorum, Tondigawa, and Xelnore.
A quick alliance was formed within a matter of months, largely due to the overwhelming evidence that was amassing regarding the Federation of Xah, and its methods and tactics for spreading its The Sevenfold Path ideology. The Invasion of Beta Canum Venaticorum followed very soon after, leading to a surprise victory for the new political power, and a realisation by the Xahians that there was another power in Known Space.
The success of this initial defence rapidly led to further integration, with negotiations to form a formal alliance taking place, and the first meeting of the Senate occurring less than a decade after the first attack of Xah. The incident aslo left the Alliance with several Xahian vessels, from which techniques to operate the previously unavailable FourDrive was eventually reverse engineered.
With the galaxy open to them, the Alliance expanded, although slower than the Federation, and it has been struggling to match the Xahian pace of advancements and technological development. It does, however, retain enough power to make outright conflict undesirable for either side.
Military
Each system in the Alliance is expected to provide for the defence of the Alliance as best suited for the system's population and resources. For the vast majority of systems, this is either a minimum number of recruits to join the Alliance armed forces, production of required material, or some other contribution arranged with the Sector Assembly and Alliance Senate. In return, the Alliance is constitutionally guaranteed to provide for the security of a system from outside invasion and internal conflict, although the constitution does not assign a timescale to this provision, and a number of systems have had to fend for themselves until Alliance forces can be brought in. As well as this provision, and despite it not being mandatory, most systems maintain their own defence forces to maintain order and other actions considered necessary by system governance.
The Alliance armed forces, whilst substantial and impressive, operate on a defensive doctrine, knowing that in an offensive campaign against the Federation of Xah, they would be entirely outclassed and outnumbered. As such, capacity for planetary invasion and conquest is limited, and instead is focused on defending orbital spaces, accompanying colonists into new systems, patrolling to prevent piracy and raiding, and acting as a deterrent for Xahian aggresion.
Fleet
Each Sector in the Alliance is assigned a Fleet Base, with most systems with a significant population being assigned a Sub-Fleet Base. Each Fleet is approximately equal is size, although the Capital Fleet in Beta Canum Venaticorum that is substantially larger than the others. On average, a Sector Fleet base manages about 2 and half million vessels of varying capability, with each Sub-Fleet hosting around three hundred vessels at any given time. Each Sub-Fleet is centred around a number of FourDrive enabled 'carrier' vessels, capable of transporting the rest of the fleet through FourSpace. The number of FourDrive carriers, and the ships they carry, varies depending on the needs of the Sub-Fleet, but most have about 5 or 6, with between 50 and 75 vessels for each carrier.Army
Unlike the Federation of Xah, the Northup Alliance does not place a premium on the use of ground troops, preferring to leave the policing of populations to local authorities. As such its combat soldiers are almost entirely made up of those trained in space combat; typically ship-to-ship or ship-to-station. The few who are trained and equipped for planetary combat do so as commando-style operations, designed to take out installations or individuals of importance.Religion
Largely in response to the state-mandated atheism of the Federation of Xah, the Northup Alliance actively promotes its multi-cultural mix, with faith-based organisations, with a minimum number of adherents, eligible for state-support and official recognition. Officially recognised religions are often invited to provide prayers and short rituals prior to meetings of the Senate and local councils, and official documents often reference the faith (or lack) of the Alliance's citizens.
Foreign Relations
Whilst not officially at war with the Federation of Xah (Xah has never issued a formal declaration against any of its opponents), the two factions have also never signed any formal deal of any kind. After successfully repelling the initial invasions of the 3rd and 4th century, the two sides have settled into an uneasy form of cold war, with espionage, propaganda, and industrial sabotage taking the place of actual armed conflict.
Officially, the Northup Alliance has extended the hand of peace to the Federation of Xah, encouraging it to accept that humanity deserves the right to determine its own future, but unofficially, the leaders of the Alliance know that the Xahian philosophy of the The Sevenfold Path makes this highly unlikely, and the two states will continue to oppose each other.
Freedom, Life, Purity
403 XC - Extant
Type
Geopolitical, State
Capital
Alternative Names
The Alliance, The NA
Demonym
Alliance
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Democracy, Representative
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Alliance credits
Legislative Body
Alliance Senate
Judicial Body
Alliance High Court
Executive Body
Subsidiary Organizations
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
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I particularly like the organizational chart and the coat of arms which are both very well done. Government institutions and agencies make sense and make it credible, great job!
Creator of the world Special Agent
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!