Confederation of Coreward States

""Some folks are born made to wave the flag They're blue, white and red And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief" The cannon's pointed at your head, Lord""

- Popular song in the Confederation of Coreward States

The Confederation of Coreward States is a confederated presidential republic located in the Coreward Frontier, in the south-east area of the Human Sphere. The Confederation is bordered to the north by the Interstellar Union of Revolutionary States and Ventura, to the north-east by the Greater Zhushan Revolutionary State, and to the west by the New Greater Empire and the New Axis.

In the modern day, the Confederation remains one of the least developed nations in the Human Sphere, and is widely considered a backwater. Its member states often face internal issues such as widespread corruption, poverty, and lack of modern technology. Insurrections, piracy, and terrorism are somewhat common, while the Confederation government and military appear too limited to act against all of these violent elements, and in some cases are constitutionally prohibited from intervening in state affairs.

At the same time, the Neo-Confrontational machinations of the hyperpowers within the Confederation often cause major disturbances, for example the brief Xunlei Incident, an open conflict between the Empire and the IRPR in 245 that took place within Confederate Space. The Confederate Starfleet, Imperial Navy, Federation Starfleet, and IRPR People's Army Space Force officially carry out joint anti-piracy patrols within Confederate Space, though in practice the foreign naval forces typically operate independently.

Nonetheless, the Confederation government appears to be aiming for more influence on the galactic stage, and has been attempting to pressure Independent Ventura to join the Confederation, though without much success.

History
Colonisation of the Coreward Frontier first began under the Federation of Sovereign States during the Second Expansion period after the Second Xeno War. The planets of the Coreward Frontier were rapidly discovered by studying planetary charts obtained from the remnants of the extinct alien Ael'zef civilisation on Kamisuwa. Following the First Federation Civil War, the Coreward Frontier came under the control of the Greater Empire, which dedicated large amounts of resources to developing the region and encouraged migration to the frontier. However, the region began developing various revolutionary sentiments during harsh Imperial rule, and officially rejoined the Federation following the Empire-Federation War and the fall of the Old Empire. In the post-Imperial period, the region faced continuous attacks by various Imperial remnant forces and saw an increased Federation military presence even while the Federation government neglected the development of the area due to a wider lack of resources and interest.

In 156, an Imperial remnant invasion of the Coreward Frontier was spearheaded by the New Axis faction, sparking the First Frontier War. Taking advantage of the Federation's weakening position and the internal instability of the Imperial remnant factions, revolutionary Masayuki Arcturus and his Independent Frontier movement declared independence from the Federation. The Confederation of Coreward States was officially founded on 8 Ipali 156, and joined the war against both the Federation and the Imperial remnants, known locally as the War of Independence. After the Federation withdrew from the region, the Confederation fought against the Imperial remnants until they withdrew due to the outbreak of the First Imperial Civil War. Though unrecognised by any other state, the Confederation quickly unified the region and began efforts to combat remnant Federation and Imperial forces still within the Coreward Frontier.

However, ideological disagreements led to various insurgencies and breakaway movements emerging shortly after independence, the largest of which was the National Independence Movement. The nascent Confederation was tested again when the region was invaded by the Interstellar Union of Revolutionary States in the 160 Second Frontier War, with the Imperial remnant also invading the region to push back the Union. An unprecedented truce was negotiated between the Confederation and the Empire to defeat the Union, which is accepted within the Confederation as the first recognition of the Confederation's independence by the Empire. This truce deepened the factionalism within the Imperial remnant, and the New Axis faction again broke away and invaded the Confederation in 163, a conflict known as the Frontier Continuation War. This conflict ended with the outbreak of the Second Imperial Civil War and the ultimate retreat of the Imperial remnant forces from the Coreward Frontier, and also saw the negotiated re-integration of the National Independence Movement as well as major post-war governmental reforms.

Following this period of conflict, the Confederation saw a long period of peace and began rebuilding the economy and infrastructure of its member states. In the aftermath of the War of Imperial Restoration, the Empire surprisingly recognised the Confederation's independence and began making trade and defence deals with the region, though it mainly sought to use the Confederation as a buffer zone against the Union. After the secession of the Independent Revolutionary People's Republic from the Union in 193, the IRPR also recognised the Confederation and began building bilateral ties, soon followed by the Union itself.

The Confederation began seeking to assert itself on the international stage, and in 210 a campaign was carried out to forcibly take control of the Empire's territories on Niflheim, an inconclusive conflict known as the Snowdrift Wars. During the Second Hyperpower War, the Confederation declared itself neutral. It was only in 227 and at the urging of the Empire did the Federation formally recognise the Confederation's independence, beginning official lines of relations and trade.

Since 238, Confederation Space has been patrolled by the Joint International Trade Enforcement Mission (JITEM), which is an international task force comprised of forces from the Confederate Starfleet, Imperial Navy, Federation Starfleet, and Revolutionary People's Army Space Force. Tasked with hunting pirates and ensuring the safety of the trade routes within the Coreward Frontier, the international forces are officially under the oversight of the Confederate Starfleet, though in practice the international forces typically operate independently.

In 245, the region saw a brief conflict between the Empire and the IRPR during the Xunlei Incident, which occurred when rogue elements tied to the Union attempted to instigate a war between both powers by attacking the Republican destroyer Xunlei. Due to their destructive actions, both the Imperial Navy and RPASF were suspended from JITEM participation for one year before they were reinstated, during which piracy in the region increased almost 400%.

Concordia

 * System Information: Sanzu System, 4 planets
 * Population: 1.8 billion
 * Planet: Dai-Sanzu (Gas Giant)
 * States: Autarchy of Ikyokuni, Republic of Castellan, Republic of New Amuro, Blauwald Republic

Concordia, formerly also known as Sanzu, is a temperate moon with three continents. The largest ocean is known as Sara.

Sanzu is a warm moon with a single continent and a large ocean with some island chains. The continent, Mikuni, stretches from the north pole to the south pole and features vast equatorial deserts, plains, mountain ranges, and forests. Its soil is very fertile and ideal for farming. The moon is sparsely populated, with the bulk of the population concentrated in two major cities in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere, with many smaller settlements linked my maglev train lines. Bandits, gunmen, and nomads are known to roam the wilderness, raiding settlements and trains, and are opposed by highly decentralised law enforcement outside of the major cities. The Federation of Sanzu governs the entire moon, with the capital at the city of Neo Lek Thong.

The Federation of Sanzu has the second-largest militia in the FTO, operating the second-largest space fleet, which evolved from the Sanzu Merchant Fleet.

Ikyokuni is a mountainous landlocked nation, the only one on the planet, bordered on the west and north by Castellan, to the south by Onomachi, and to the east by New Amuro. The state is a monarchy after the most recent dictator declared himself the king after a revolution. Ikyokuni is ruled by the Singham family, a series of hereditary dictators and former gangsters who control the country mainly through the vast drug profits that they hold. Mingzhi Singham founded the family three generations ago when he seized power over the region following a period of civil war. He later passed his throne to his son Ajay Singham, who returned from an Imperial education. Ajay has since stepped down and passed the throne to his own son, Bajirao Singham. The nation is mainly a resource zone for the rest of the planet, and more particularly Yoshigawa now that they have seceded. They face lots of internal unrest, and are known for producing lots of drugs. Even in the 27th century, the poppy is still power. The Renacimiento plant's sap is a powerful psychotropic, because of the large quantities of even more powerfully psychotropic Cilanti fungi that grow underground.

Niflheim

 * System Information: Sol System, 6 planets
 * Population: 830 million
 * Satellites: 1
 * Dominions: Dominion of Wotan (Yoshigawa), Dominion of Nordkap (Yoshigawa), Dominion of Gangwon (Seo), Konrun Province (Empire)

The Empire still maintains some territories on Niflheim, which they know as Kakigori.

Niflheim is divided into four territories, three of which are Confederate Dominions of Wotan, Nordkap, and Gangwon, and one is the Imperial territory of Konrun (崑崙).

Law enforcement
The Confederation's intelligence agency, the Confederation Intelligence Bureau (CIB), is notorious for having been infiltrated by various terror groups. They have also provided support for terror groups to further Confederate interests, such as funding and supporting Jose Makati in his 235 insurgency.

Military
The structure of the Confederation Armed Forces is partly based on elements of both the Federation Defence Force and the Imperial Military. The President of the Confederation is the commander-in-chief and appoints its leaders, the Secretary of Defence and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Department of Defence administers three of the four service branches, which are made up of the Defence Corps, Marine Corps, and Starfleet. The Orbital Guard, which is also a branch of the armed forces, is normally administered by the Department of Confederate Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of Space Defence in wartime.

Similar to the Federation, each member state of the Confederation is constitutionally able to operate its own armed force for self-defence. These forces are known as State Militias.

The Confederation Armed Forces is often considered outdated and ineffective compared to their foreign counterparts, and the force as a whole suffers from widespread corruption and a lack of standardisation across the entire force, though morale is high due to strong patriotism. The bulk of the Confederate Starfleet is comprised of former Federation warships from a century ago. The Confederate Marine Corps also controversially uses neurally resocialised personnel within penal units, with the use of such technology banned elsewhere in the Human Sphere. According to Imperial observers, only a small core of elite units are properly equipped and operate in a professional manner.