Federation of Sovereign States (FT)

""We the people willingly stand together as one Federation, and we're here to shape our own destiny amongst these cold stars. It's up to us to determine the shape of our country in the eyes of the Sphere, and the Galaxy at large.""

- Joel Andrada, President of the Federation of Sovereign States, Presidential Inaugural Address, 305

The Federation of Sovereign States, also known as the Federation of Southern States and often referred to as the Federation, is an interstellar human state in the central Human Sphere, controlling the area now usually known as Federation Space, located south of the Mukhtar Limit and north of the Aizawa Arm. The Federation is bordered by the New Greater Empire to the west and south, the Interstellar Union to the east, and the Heavenly Kingdom to the north. With over 17.6 billion people on four inhabitable planets and the second-largest economy in the Human Sphere, the Federation is considered one of the five hyperpowers of the Human Sphere.

A federal republic and representative democracy, the Federation is a highly developed state, enjoys a generally high standard of living, and is home to some of the largest corporations in the Human Sphere. Its central location in the Human Sphere ensures that it is a central hub of human society, international trade, and politics. Today, the Federation is allied with the Empire and is part of the Empire-Federation Coalition. Despite its small size compared to the other hyperpowers, the Federation is considered to be an economic and cultural juggernaut.

History
The Federation of Southern States was founded on 3 AT following the Lunar Accords with the Ordic League at the conclusion of the Second Extrasolar War, making it the oldest continuous state in the Human Sphere. Once independence was achieved, the nascent Federation embarked on a period of reconstruction. Just nine years later, however, the Iyesaitpayn Incident led to open war between the Federation and the Interchoral Orchestra in the First Xeno War, which the Federation won by 16 AT, subjugating the Nangka homeworld of Aain. The Federation would continue to expand, colonising other planets in the area, until tensions between colonists and certain corporations erupted into the First Federation Civil War in 91 AT, ending with the creation and secession of the Interstellar Union, marking the start of the Standoff Era. By this time, the chaotic events in the Northern Sphere meant that the Federation and Union were the most powerful states in the Human Sphere, becoming classed as hyperpowers for the first time. Shortly after the First Civil War, the Federation was attacked by the Interchoral Orchestra again in the Second Xeno War, which saw the almost total genocide of the Nangka race by a genetically engineered virus developed by the Federation.

As the Standoff Era developed, a loose political and cultural movement backed by collection of originally Yashiman corporations began to attain wide influence and power within the Federation, coming to be called the Yashiman Cultural Lobby. Eventually, the cold war between the Federation and Interstellar Union devolved into a second major confrontation in 145, the First Hyperpower War. Upon the conclusion of the First Hyperpower War, the Yashiman Cultural Lobby suddenly made its move, launching simultaneous attacks on the Federation military, political system, and society. The most damaging action carried out by the movement was the deactivation or reprogramming of over half of the Federation Starfleet's drones, most of which had been manufactured by the Yashiman corporations. This sparked the very brief Second Federation Civil War, which resulting in the divide of the Federation into East and West factions. On 150, the Western Federation was reorganised in the Greater Empire, marking the start of the Second Standoff Era, with a three-way cold war between the Federation, Empire, and Union.

Strongly opposed to the Greater Empire and determined to reclaim its lost territories, the rapid expansion of the Empire into the unexplored regions of the Coreward Frontier were seen as a major threat by the Federation leadership. In 172, the Federation launched an invasion of the Empire, beginning the Empire-Federation War that eventually defeated the Empire and forced its remnants to the southern fringes of the Human Sphere, where they continued to resist the Federation. By this time, however, corruption, inefficiency, and war weariness had begun to take hold in the Federation Senate and government. The administration of the formerly Imperial areas, particularly the frontier regions which had never been part of the Federation before, spread the Federation government and military thin, and began to tax the Federation's budget. Eventually, the Federation was so weakened that it lost the control of several frontier states, which declared independence in the late 190s, and shortly after the Imperial Remnants consolidated themselves and launched the War of Imperial Reunification in 202, reclaiming all of the territory of the Greater Empire in 206 and proclaiming the New Greater Empire.

In the aftermath of the War of Imperial Reunification, the Federation leadership began to enact reforms to curb corruption in the senate and limit the power of the corporations, though changes came too little and too slowly. In 245, the Federation was invaded by the Union in the Second Hyperpower War following the Red Dust crop pandemic in the Union left it with a severe food and fuel shortage. After years of rapprochement, unexpectedly, the Empire formed an alliance with the Federation and began hostilities with the Union, pushing the Union out of the occupied area before negotiating a peace between the two sides. This marked a major change in the Federation's foreign policy regarding the Empire, and relations rapidly improved in the coming decades. Years of economic, political, and social cooperation culminated with the formation of the Empire-Federation Coalition in 290, following the 287 Empire-Union War.

Astrography
Main article: Astrography of the Federation of Southern States

The Federation is comprised of four inhabitable systems and over 450 catalogued, uninhabitable systems.

Government and politics
The Federation of Southern States is federal republic consisting of 12 states. It is a representative democracy.

The legislature of the Federation is the Federation Senate, which includes senators from all of the states, appointed by their respective states. Sufficiently influential corporations, lobbies, religious groups, and more can also be granted senate seats by popular national vote. The President of the Federation heads the executive branch, leading the Presidential Cabinet and other officers. The Judicial branch of the government is the Federation Supreme Court and lower federal courts.


 * New Mansan
 * Corpostate
 * Federal Republic of XX
 * Ostländen Republik: They are a cultured people, and like to keep it that way.
 * Union of Martaban: A single-party republican state. Descended from settlers from Nanyokuni, the inhabitants of Martaban maintain a strong connection to their roots as Hoaian and Myaarman peoples.
 * Cheongsu
 * New Imamate (Located on Alamut, one of the few island chains; the religion is Haqq'hanafi حقّحَنَفِي which is a ripoff of Haqqislam because I only know how to steal)
 * APEX Corpo Mandate Islands
 * Everything else is mobile island city-states loosely under the Pan-Cheongsu Intercity Cooperative
 * Airavata
 * Airavatan Democratic Republic
 * Space: XX Alliance

Law enforcement and crime
Law enforcement in the Federation is primarily the responsibility of local police departments and sheriff's offices, with the state police forces providing broader services. State courts conduct most criminal trials while federal courts handle certain designated crimes as well as certain appeals from the state criminal courts.

The Federal Office of Law Enforcement (FOLE) is the federal law enforcement agency, governed by the Department of Justice and existing to enforce federal laws and ensuring national security across state borders. FOLE personnel are commonly referred to as Federales. FOLE also oversees the Cheongsu Maritime Law Enforcement Agency, often referred to as the Marine Police or just Marines, which are maritime police forces that patrol the oceanic planet of Cheongsu.

FOLE state departments have Armoured Tactical Insertion and Strike Tactics (ARTIST) units, which are cybernetically augmented paramilitary special forces teams capable of heavy assault and counter-terrorist operations. These personnel also sometimes carry out solitary patrols throughout urban centres on specialised motorcycles, enforcing the law. Colloquially, they are known as Cybercops, of "Cop Dreads" (from "Cop Dreadnought").

Military
The President is the commander-in-chief of the Federation Defence Force and appoints its leaders, the Secretary of Defence and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Department of Defence administers the four service branches, which are the Starfleet, Marine Corps, National Guard, and the Coast Guard. In addition to these official branches of the Defence Force, the three military orders of the Church of the Trinity have also pledged to defend the Federation, and are considered to be independently-operating components of the Federation military.

With a marked manpower difference between the Federation and their neighbours, the Defence Forces maintain a strong focus on maintaining high-tech forces with force multipliers, operating a compact but powerful force to deter potential aggressors. The Defence Forces also employ over 7 million civilian personnel for various purposes.

Economy
APEX Corporation, Fulcrum International, General Kinetics, Matanza-Armatek, TekDynamika, Adler International, Margatroid Industrial Concern, Mayakovsky Group, GoodFoods Group.

Currency
The official currency of the Federation is the New Federal Currency Unit (돈), often referred to as the New Don, after the currency symbol's reading in Neo-Yeon. The Don is used by all member states of the Federation with the exception of the ADR, as well as some states outside of the Federation, and it is the third-largest currency in the Human Sphere after the Imperial En and the Commonwealth Dollar. The New Don has an exchange rate of roughly 1:10 with the Imperial En, and 1129:1 with the Commonwealth Dollar.

The New Don was adopted in 235 to combat the massive inflation faced by the Old Don following the extensive period of occupation over the former Imperial territories and the War of Imperial Reunification. Prior to the adoption of the New Don, the Federal government was considering adopting the ADR Ducat as the official currency of the Federation, but the idea was not popular within the Federation Senate, which was already wary of the influence the ADR continued to hold over the Federal government. In the period of hyperinflation, other currencies gained popularity within the Federation, such as the Ducat and even the Imperial En. The New Don was officially adopted by a bill passed in the Senate on 17 Nigatsu 235, with an exchange rate of 10,000 Old Don for 1 New Don.

Within the Federation's economy, the ADR is unique as it uses a separate currency, the ADR Ducat, which has been issued since 129 BT. The ADR's ability to maintain a separate currency from the rest of the Federation is preserved under Article 4 of the Federal Currency Act, which was passed in 3 AT to form the Old Don. Today, the Ducat is largely only used on Frontera and the ADR's offworld holdings. The Ducat maintains a 1:100 fixed exchange rate with the New Don.

Energy
The Federation is the originator of E-Stoff, the most widely used combustible fuel in the Southern Sphere. However, the Federation is only the second-largest producer of E-Stoff in terms of total volume, and even imports some from the Empire.

Religion
The Church of the Trinity is one of the largest religions followed in the Federation, and the Federation has the largest population of Trinitists in the Human Sphere.

Calendar and timekeeping
Like the rest of the Southern Sphere, the Empire uses the Revolutionary Calendar, which is based on the rotation period of Serenia. One day lasts 31 hours, the same as a day on Serenia, and a year lasts 336 days with 12 months of 28 days. As the length of a day varies from planet to planet, Standardised Time is utilised in space and for records purposes, though local calendars tied to the local rotational periods are used for day-to-day timekeeping.

The zeroth year of the Revolutionary Calendar is the Serenian Terracide, which occurred 250 Revolutionary years ago.