The Alliance, All kinds o' fun about The Alliance

[Marcus Caine]

Don't be alarmed by the amount of information! Take a quick look at it. If you choose to play a resident of The Fringe, you most likely won't have to be very familiar with this info and can simply refer back to this thread when necessary. Characters from the IP will likely be more familiar with this stuff, but you have access to this thread whenever you need it.

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The Inner Planets of the Nu System
"Alliance Space"

The Trinity
There are three major planets at the heart of alliance space which are the most populous and the most prosperous of the entire system. These were the first planets to be colonized. They are the most diverse in terms of appearance and social class, inhabited like massive worlds of skyscrapers and technology ought to be.

Una
Una was the first colonized planet. It is the most comparable to Earth, though it is larger in size and features smaller oceans in greater numbers. The continents alternate between vast areas of flatland and high elevations. By utilizing the advanced technology of the 25th century, The Alliance has made use of almost all areas. In the center of the largest flatland lies the alliance capitol of Alexandria.
Duo
You guessed it-- Duo was the second planet to be colonized. Slightly smaller than Una, this planet is similar in topography but generally less temperate in climate with many rainforests and heated locations.
Triton
Triton is the largest of the planets and also the one with the lowest percentage of land. That hasn't stopped The Alliance from populating the majority of the planet, however. Cities sprawl out over the oceans and inhabitants make use of aquatic travel as though half of the planet was covered by futuristic versions of Venice.

Apollo and Artemis
These planets are on opposite sides of alliance space, but they are extremely similar, with Apollo being slightly larger than Artemis. Artemis is mostly inhabited by middle class civilians, many of which own land. Apollo is mostly inhabited by government personnel and their families. It often acts as a way station of sorts between the Inner Planets and The Fringe.

The Alliance Colonies
The Alliance funds some colonization and terraforming projects near The Fringe and even within it, decreasing the neutral territory and the available space for what may be a growing opposition to Alliance government. They've even been known to absorb Fringe colonies from time to time.

[Marcus Caine]

Government

Executive
The Council of Allied Powers are the greatest authority in the Inner Planets. The CAP, as it is sometimes called, is a group of representatives, one from each major planet of the Inner Planets. These representatives serve for five years after being elected by the adult populations of their respective planets. They may be elected for a second term (consecutive or otherwise) but can only serve a total of two terms. Although each member has, in theory, equal power over the laws of The Alliance, the councilmember from Una generally has the greatest power, and the representatives of The Trinity almost always band together for the power of the majority (overruling the representatives from Apollo and Artemis).

The people of Alliance space vote for their representatives when able, but there are many problems with the 'representative democracy', as illiteracy is a widespread problem in the lower classes of some planets and areas, and large quantities of people fail to educate themselves about the candidates due to the belief that their votes do not, in fact, impact the results of the electronic elections.

Legislative
The laws which are not put into action by the CAP are handled by more local representatives. Each planet/colony elects a number of representatives (based on population) to serve as part of the Alliance Senate. These senators are in charge of their local governments and serve as advisers to the CAP.

Judicial
There are three levels of judicial power in Alliance space. Locally, there are regional courts dedicated to hearing simple cases (often cases of theft, repeated minor crimes, etc.). Juries may be employed in regional courts only. More extreme cases may be sent to Alliance court to be addressed by generally more experienced, educated, and highly accredited judges. Regional court cases which are appealed can be heard by Alliance judges. In further complicated cases, a case may be sent to The High Court, either with representatives from Una traveling to an Alliance territory to hear a case or with the involved parties traveling to the actual court building on Una.

Law Enforcement
The Alliance military handles all law enforcement through a variety of different branches, including military-affiliated security organizations for important facilities within Alliance space. There are private security organizations licensed by the Alliance military, but the military oversees law enforcement of all kinds . . . legal kinds.

Values and Beliefs

Values
As with anything else, there are exceptions, but the core of Alliance society involves many widespread values. For one, The Alliance preaches the importance of society as a whole. Of course this is often proven to be a display of hypocrisy, and few people do, in reality, work to benefit all of the Inner Planets. Still, utilitarianism is essentially the ideal with the general population. This may very well mean that 'the end justifies the means' to the Allies, but that's certainly capable of being taken too far.

As a result of this encouraged utilitarian-like perspective, people often aspire to be highly productive in society to benefit the whole of humankind and oftentimes sentient life in general. Children are brought up to strive for practical careers, those which involve doing and creating in very literal and observable ways. Scientists and public officials are praised whereas artists and such may not be held in such high esteem.

Religion
Religion seems to be more prevalent amongst people of the IP, though atheism is not at all uncommon. Most are either atheistic or religiously affiliated with 'The Temple of the One God', the main religion of the Nu System. There are splinter religious sects and some who are privately spiritual, but atheism and what is often referred to simply as 'Monotheism' are undoubtedly the most common in terms of peoples' beliefs relating to religion and spirituality.

Many of the people in power in The Alliance are monotheists like many of the citizens, and as a result, the religion has maintained an important place in Nu System culture for many years. The religion emerged a few years after The Finale, merging many Earth religions together and incorporating newly-developed concepts to create a highly individualistic and varied 'new religion' (It was called The New Religion for some time until it was labeled with The Temple of the One God and Monotheism). There are no priests of Monotheism, though there are philosophers of sorts who focus upon the religion and seek to facilitate personal investment in the belief system. Each man is responsible for interpreting the religion and adhering to it as he sees fit. This leads to varying opinions on it and conflict from time to time, but all-in-all the religion centers on self-exploration and self-improvement in its purest form.

Gender roles and prejudice
Believe it or not, men and women are largely equal in the work force, in the home, and in a variety of other situations. Race has ceased to be an issue with the historical blending of Earth's races and nationalities, and homosexuality and bisexuality are rarely considered out of the ordinary. In fact, the entirety of the LGBT community is hardly considered to be strange or unacceptable or even a minority in many cases. Once again, there are many exceptions, especially in smaller settlements with less diversity. However, people tend to hide their prejudices and such, and politicians vehemently deny ever using gender, race, religion or sexuality against anyone if they know what's good for them.

Entertainment

You name it- it's in Alliance space. There are films, literary works (though books are hard to come by), clubs and bars. There is music of just about every kind, with the majority of it being made electronically, of course. There are also a variety of sports, some which may seem similar to sports from Old Earth, like Swingball (Baseball?) and the highly popular Tackleball (Rugby? Football?). Massive stadiums are dedicated to these sports, racing, and even tests of human skill unaided by technology, and these stadiums are frequently filled with spectators who may be there both for the light show and the actual sports event.

Education

Education at any level in Alliance space goes far beyond education in any part of The Fringe. The Alliance has the resources, the facilities, and the ability to draw talented minds from throughout the Inner Planets to create an education system for any type of learner. Children typically enter schooling at the age of 4 and continue through mandatory education until they reach the age of 18. During this time they are taught the basics of a variety of subjects, with the later years exposing them to more in-depth information and, in most cases, specialization. Most pursue further education in later years for specific fields. The most popular specializations are those related to science and technology, though people certainly still show interests in liberal arts and what some would call 'less practical fields'.

Large public schooling facilities are located on each of the main IPs, and smaller facilities exist in smaller settlements. Private schools are common and often utilized by wealthier citizens, but they are also generally expensive and unaffordable to a large portion of the people.

After basic schooling, many individuals choose to join the Alliance military, entering training and schooling specifically for military involvement at the age of 18. Depending on their specialization within the military, they may only require a short education before being employed as soldiers or they may be educated for years with short periods of active service as they work their way up to more complex specializations, such as that of a strategist or physician.

The Middle Class

The middle class of The Alliance is rather diverse. It may consist of businessmen living in the high-rises of Una in 2 bedroom apartments as much as it consists of teachers in small flats in the suburbs of Duo. In general the term 'middle class' encompasses all those who live with a decent amount of comfort (having what they need, but perhaps not everything they want) while blending into the scenery of the densely populated planets of Alliance space.

Jobs for the middle class include low-mid management positions in a variety of fields, as well as teaching positions. Some maintain middle class status by excelling at jobs which many would call "simple"- jobs which require the use of one's hands rather than one's mind to be productive, as some say. In truth, it is difficult to categorize any specific social class across the Inner Planets, especially when some would claim that the "middle class" encompasses everything from dockworkers to local politicians.

It should be noted that most people do not own vehicles, with the exception of scooter or motorcycle-like vehicles. The majority of the middle class makes use of public transportation.

Majority Opinion of the Fringe

Most residents of Alliance space seem to believe that the Fringe is dangerous and without any order. They view many Fringers as being unintelligent rebels without a cause- people that need to be educated and brought into real civilized society. They're people to be converted or kept out, perhaps even people to be feared. Many simply regard them with pity and offer charity more than respect.