United Federation of Colonies

In the story, '8113 ', the United Federation of Colonies (UFC; the Six Colonies) is a nation made up of six orbiting, interconnected space stations situated between Earth and the Moon, as well as a number of smaller 'modules' that serve industrial or military purposes. Colonists commonly refer to their nation as 'the Six Colonies' despite there being only five left by 8113 AD; Epoch was blown apart by Martians during the Fourth War, but the title remains to honor those who were lost.

As a democratic union, each colony within the UFC operates as an individual state, wherein a number of large cities reside, but are collectively controlled at a federal level by a Senate and elected President. Ethnically, the colonies are largely Western and European, but much more diverse in population compared to Mars. It is a highly capitalist nation, with enormous divides between rich and poor, a substandard health system, corrupt politics, and a very large military/defense spending budget. Economically, the UFC heavily relies on ore to maintain a radiation-proof magnetosphere, artificial gravity, and an artificial atmosphere inside each iron-walled habitat, making ore the key commodity that fuels their economy. All ore mining is currently controlled by the UFC, and its exportation amongst the colonies and to Mars is tightly regulated.

Basic information
Official name: The United Federation of Colonies

Demonym: Colonist

Capital: Capital

Languages: Engleet

Population: 6.5 billion

Government: Democratic constitutional republic

Currency: Ingot; uncle (colloq.)

Religion: NA

Calendar conversion to OT: AD - 2115

The Six Colonies
Stormport: The UFC's military base, where all training, machinery/weapons manufacturing, and operations take place. It has a small permanent population during peacetime of officers, generals, and weapons manufacturers. Many hospitals are dedicated to rehabilitation of injured/traumatized ex-soldiers. Stormport does not have official Senate representation; its law and court system is controlled by a Marshal. Major compounds within the colony include Lincoln and Buffalo (training reserves), Edison (research and manufacturing site), and Musk (rocket launch site). Demonym: Stormporter/Porter.

Capital: The capital city/colony of the UFC, making it the center of all political activity. The Consortium (house of the Senate) is located here, as well as all federal departments and offices. National intelligence and surveillance operations operate out of Capital. Other cities include Kirribilli, Elysee, and Pretoria. Demonym: Capitalist.

Gaia: A wealthy civilian colony. Most famous universities are located here. Cities on Gaia include Phoebe, Rhea, and '''Themis. '''Demonym: Gaian.

Polygon: A middle-class civilian colony. Cities include Penta, Hepta, and '''Ico. '''Demonym: Pelican.

Epoch: A lower/working class civilian colony that was destroyed by Martians during the Fourth War. Cities include Meridian, Era, and Dial. Demonym: Pokki.

Nomad: A wild, semi-lawless colony of high criminal activity. Cities include ..... Demonym: Nomad.

Modules
Modules are the names given to planets, moons, or ultra-terrestrial stations under UFC control that serve as non-residential, industrial, or temporary establishments throughout the Solar System. These include:

Module-1: The Moon, where ore processing and exportation takes place.

Module-E: Earth, which is deemed a module due to its lack of permanent residence.

Module-2: Mercury, the previous source of ore (now destroyed).

Module-3: Venus, the current source of mined ore.

Module-C: Ceres, a disputed weapons-manufacturing territory originally established by Mars.

History
Construction

Plans to build permanent, habitual colonies in space came about in the mid-21st Century AD, when Mars exploration by humans also began. A number of Western nations (the US, Russia, Germany, Japan, etc) aimed to build orbiting stations and modules (eg: the Moon) situated between Earth and Mars for refueling and supply-channeling purposes to the proposed Martian colonies. When Western settlements on Mars failed, resources were redirected to reshaping space stations into permanent habitats for civilians.

The joining of the first two space stations, Polygon and Gaia, occurred in 2076 AD, and construction of Epoch and the Russian-led project, Laika, began soon after. Unfortunately, internal struggles - possible sabotage - resulted in Laika's destruction in 2088, but Epoch was successfully added as the third chain in the link by joining to Polygon. In 2097, live ore was discovered on Mercury and the geodynamic generator was invented, sparking a revolution in terraforming technology that allowed the space stations to experience artificial gravity, atmosphere, and a protective magnetic shield to deflect solar rays. Module-1 was established initially by a mining company called Surge Systems (later taken over by Vaux Refineries) for ore processing and exportation to the colonies and Mars.

In 2115 AD (1 OT), Stormport - a specialized colony for military operations and defense - was launched and attached itself to Gaia. The population of the colonies reached 10,000 permanent residents, prompting a democratic vote of leadership to oversee all future colony operations. The United Federation of Colonies became a pseudo-state of its own, and began recording time in a new calendar: Orbital Time. The last two colonies to complete the chain were Capital and Nomad, and construction of each was completed by 2149 AD (34 OT). Stormport temporarily detached itself from the chain in order to slot Capital in between itself and Gaia, with the purpose of keeping colonies utilized by civilians and the military separate.

The Exodus movement

Roughly between the years 2300 and 2400 AD (185 and 285 OT), Earth underwent massive emigration as environmental instability, war, famine, disease, and dwindling natural resources threatened humanity's future on a global scale. Both the Colonies and Mars began preparing for massive numbers of new residents in need of permanent relocation. The vetting process was starkly different for each new world: the Colonies used a vague lottery system to choose who to take on, while Martian authorities were only interested in specific nationalities and ethnicities amongst applicants; a controversy that sparked conflict between the two. By the start of the 26th century AD, only 1/7th of Earth's population were said to have been relocated, and once maximum capacity was reached, the Colonies were forced to close their doors. Mars - a much more spacious habitat - was reluctant to relax their immigration policies, but took in more desperate refugees in exchange for ore from the UFC.

The Colonies made many efforts to 'blackout' Earth after separating themselves from the planet; news of ongoing environmental catastrophes, massive extinction, riots, and anarchy were kept from their new citizens in order to create the illusion of calm and control. Radio and internet connections between the two were severed, meaning it is not known exactly what took place on Earth after Exodus stopped, and what became of those who were left behind. Any information or historical relevance of pre-Exodus Earth was stored away in massive hard drives under the control of a self-learning AI system that eventually became known as the AAA (Triple A). The information was not illegal to access, but over time, pre-Exodus knowledge faded out of relevance when the Neural Network was established.

The Seven Wars
See 'The Seven Wars ' for a more in-depth account of each war.