Black Star Confederacy

Founding
The Black Star Confederacy was founded some time around 2,000 BBY as the Fuller Republic. Its founders were 100,000 human colonists, who had inadvertedly swirved off course, and crashlanded on the planet Fuller.

At first, the colonists spread across only one of the three continents, building farms and mines. Within six months, the first large town, Fuller City, was founded. Factories and airports shot up around Fuller City, and by the end of the first year, the elected leader, the Pro-Consul, declared the founding of the Fuller Republic. Shortly after, the term 'Fulleri' was coined as a reference to the citizens of the Republic.

For the next 500 years, the Fulleri prospered. They quickly re-invented the hyperdrive and other common technologies, and began to colonize the other two habitable planets in the system, Killian and Yril. The resulting wealth benefitted every Fulleri, as the government generously spent the wealth on public services.

But as the wealth grew, some Fulleri turned to piracy. Between 1,600 BBY and 1,591 BBY, the number of pirate attacks soared. In response, the government founded the Killian Shipyards on the planet Killian. KS soon began building escort ships to guard against the pirates, which slowly decreased the number of attacks. But the worst was yet to come..

The War of Lost Souls
Sometime around 1,500 BBY, the Fuller Republic made contact with a neighbouring government, the Decuu Empire. According to legend, the meeting was anything but friendly, and shortly after the meeting, ships of the Decuu Empire began raiding Fulleri shipping. The Republic retaliated in kind, entering Decuu space and raiding Decuu shipping.

The raids quickly escalated to full-scale war. The years between 1,500 BBY and 1,300 BBY became known as the War of Lost Souls (a term originally coined by Decuri historians in 1,294 BBY), and were characterised by almost continual warfare between the two realms. Both Fuller and Decuu, the capital of the Decuu Empire, was invaded several times in the course of the war. Every invasion on both Fuller and Decuu were repelled, though with great losses. The planet Yril in the Fuller System changed hands several times.

Finally, the citizens of both realms had enough of the war and the mounting losses, and in 1,300 BBY, the Pro-Consul of the Fuller Republic met with the Emperor of the Decuu Empire, and signed the treaty that ended the war.

Total casualties amounted to over 2 billion Fulleri and nearly as many Decuri. The damage to the infrastructure of the realms exceeded 300 billion credits, both militaries had lost excessive amounts of equipment, and the planet Pesht in the Decuu System had been scoured of life by Republic warships.

The Unification War
After the end of the War of Lost Souls, the Fuller Republic and the Decuu Empire co-existed relatively peacefully, and even began trading with each other. But in 1,100 BBY, the Decuri colonies broke off. When the Empire did not retaliate on the former colonies, seedy personalities saw their chance, and by 1,053 BBY, large swarms of pirates began plaguing the trade routes. When Toren DeVij ascended the throne of the Decuu Empire in 1,031 BBY, he called his Republic counterpart, Pro-Consul Simm Rodolv, to a meeting. Here he proposed the joining of the two realms in a new Confederacy, in an effort to combat the pirates. Rodolv agreed, and the formation of this confederacy was announced in early 1,030 BBY.

But large parts of the Decuri disagreed with the decision. The planet Aksum rebelled, joining with the pirate forces to form the New Decuu Empire, declaring war on both realms. With the unification thus delayed, the Republic and the Empire remained apart, instead signing an alliance against the pirates and the rebels on Aksum.

The rebel forces, now merged with the pirate fleets, proved stronger than anticipated, and the war dragged on for nearly 30 years. Finally, in 1,000 BBY, the last remaining pirate fleet was crushed above the planet Pesht, and Aksum fell to a determined Loyalist assault.

A month later, the Fuller Republic and the Decuu Empire merged to become the Black Star Confederacy.

A New Power
After the formation of the Black Star Confederacy, there were a surge of immigrations from the Fuller System to the Decuu System, and vice versa. When the immigrations slowed to a crawl in 989 BBY, there were no longer any planets in the Confederacy exclusively inhabitated by only one of the prime species. Most noticable were the planet Killian in the Fuller System, where fully half of the 700 million were Decuri in 989 BBY.

The industry of the Confederacy were expanded, which led to the founding of the arms company Decuu Arms in 977 BBY, and the Decuri takeover of Killian Shipyards in 942 BBY. Mining operations on Fuller, Decuu, Killian and - to some extent - Aksum, were expanded between 846 BBY and 791 BBY.

As pirate activities increased from 993 BBY, controlled by surviving Rebels from the Unification War, the military was also expanded. The Droptrooper Corps were founded in 986 BBY, the Navy was expanded in 984 BBY, and the Starfighter Corps were officially founded in 963 BBY (though it had existed unofficially since 1,030 BBY).

By 300 BBY, Fuller, Killian and Decuu had been all but stripped of their natural resources, and began making the areas holding the few remaining resources (mostly forest and mountains) Sanctuaries. In their stead, Aksum experienced an increasing demand, and increased their mining efforts accordingly.

First Contact
A new era for the Confederacy began in 6 BBY, shaped by three distinct events.

Firstly, 6 BBY were the year that the idealist Piel Tomanns became President. Tomanns immediately ordered the exploration of the surrounding systems, in an effort to find new resources. The results of this exploration increased the wealth of the Confederacy several times, and was in effect the precursor of the wave of expansionism that hit the Confederacy after 6 BBY (see below).

The second event to shape the Confederacy after 6 BBY, was the introduction of the eighth Dread-class battleship, the Crusader. These powerful vessels were the most sophisticated warships available to the Confederacy.

The third, and arguably most important, event occurred in the last months of 6 BBY. The Skaadi-class cruiser Sword of Vengeance, commanded by Commodore Ton Lind, were exploring the systems north of the Decuu System, when it happened across an alien warship. Lind took a chance and put his weapons offline, before hailing the ship. It quickly turned out that the ship belonged to a race of feline aliens, known as the Kartanin, organised in the Kartanin Dominion. Thanks to Lind and the Kartanin commander, the encounter turned out peacefully.

The meeting with the Kartanin resulted in a trade agreement in 5 BBY. The agreement meant that the Confederacy gained access to Kartanin anti-matter technology in return for large shipments of Valarite, a mineral frequently used in Kartanin hyperspace technology.

A Call to Power
By 1 ABY, pirates based on the independent planet Drillaria began raiding Confederate and Kartanin shipping. Over the next 4 years, the attacks increased, inflicting severe economic damage to both realms. By 5 ABY, they had enough. The Confederacy and the Dominion made a temporary alliance, and began raiding pirate holdings, slowly whittling down the pirate forces. The campaign ended in 6 ABY when massive Confederate and Dominion forces assaulted Drillaria, capturing it and the entire pirate high command, including the self-proclaimed Pirate King.

At the subsequent negotiations between the Confederacy and the Dominion, it was decided that the Dominion would occupy Drillaria, while the Confederacy received the majority of the spoils found on Drillaria.

Later that year, Anton Millard replaced Piel Tomanns as President, after Tomanns retired after his third period. Millard continued the expansion course started by Tomanns, and at the beginning of his second period (10 ABY) saw the launching of the colony ship Another Chance, which colonised the planet Garagos in the Garagos System.

But Millards triumph was short. A month after the launch of Another Chance, he was assassinated. To prevent chaos, the Chief Senator Dechin Ko'Iron, the Chief Advisor Darren Sindral, and the captain of the Presidential Guard, Colonel Alia DeRoon, gathered and chose the Decuri First Admiral Joran Thorn as "Interim President". After capturing and executing the traitors responsible for the death of Millard, Thorn was elected President three months later.

A Golden Age
Since Thorn was elected President, things have evolved at record-speed. The Confederacy has expanded immensely, now numbering 21 inhabitated systems and growing. Much has happened in foreign politics as well.

First the Confederacy met the Isen Star Empire, a realm controlled by Dark Jedi. Then it met the members of the Interstellar Sovereign's Alliance: The Sandian Imperial League, the Jade Worlds, the United Systems Alliance, and the Isis Empire. Shortly thereafter, the Confederacy joined the ISA.

Some time after, the northern members of the ISA (the Confederacy, the Jade Worlds, and the United Systems Alliance) were attacked by the alien race known as the Uul'Ba-Rai. The Jade Worlds ceased to exist, and was soon occupied by Isen forces, and the United Systems Alliance were reduced to a single system. The Confederacy was lucky - the aliens attacked Fuller, the most heavily defended planet in the Confederacy, and were destroyed. When the Isis Empire saw a chance to expand its powerbase, and attacked the United Systems Alliance, the Confederacy joined with the Sandians and the United Systems Alliance in a punitive attack against Isis territory, destroying the realm. The Sandians subsequently executed the emperor of Isis, but was forced to give up occupying the territory.

After the Isis campaign, the Confederacy and the Kartanin Dominion signed a mutual protection pact, to defend themselves against the antics of the various realms surrounding them.

Shortly after, the Isen Star Empire convinced the Confederacy to leave the Interstellar Sovereigns' Alliance, and join the newly-made Interstellar Concordium. The Concordium was shortlived, however, and the Confederacy quickly joined the Interstellar Sovereign's Alliance once again.

With the fall of the Concordium, the Isen Star Empire was plunged into civil war. The Confederacy took advantage of the situation, and annexed the Jade Worlds Sector.

Some time later, Thorn ordered that contact be made to other interstellar realms. This resulted in relations being struck up with the New Firrerre Republic (later renamed the Commonwealth of Allied Systems), and resulted in the formation of a Confederate garrison on the NFR capital world, Firrerre. Later, relations were also made with the United Raimei Federation, the Kingdom of Naboo, and the Laro Order.

A few months later, the Confederacy launched a campaign against the pirate realm known as the Grey Worlds Alliance. The campaign lasted for nearly eight months, resulting in the Protectorate of Spyrta and the occupation of the former Grey Worlds systems.

While the campaign was ongoing, the Interstellar Sovereign's Alliance were dismantled, being replaced with mutual protection pacts with the Sandian Imperial League and the United Systems Alliance. After the disbandment of the ISA, the Confederacy signed an alliance with the United Raimei Federation.

Recently, the garrison on Firrerre was moved to the planet Sanctuary, and reinforced with another 7,000 troops (bringing the force up to 10,000) and a naval contingent. The Jade Worlds Sector was rocked by terrorist acts, but the terrorists have since been forced into hiding by the arrival of a Confederate task force. The Jade Worlds Sector is now under martial law, commanded by Commodore Linda Evans.

Time will tell what else is in store for the Confederacy...

Membership of the Confederacy
The Black Star Confederacy is a voluntary confederation organized on democratic principles. There are three types of membership.

Primary (voting) membership is available to any independent sovereign political entity representing one or more unified planetary populations, or to other recognized and definable territories. Membership follows an application process (during which the candidate member reviews the Constitution and other governing statutes and agrees to abide by them) and an assessment process (during which the candidate member's annual support contribution is determined).

Affiliate (non-voting) membership is available to subordinate political units (for example, the individual members of a league of worlds) and to duly recognized representatives of sentient species not constituting a political unit.

Observer (non-voting) membership is available to nonmember allies of the Confederacy.

The Senate
The government of the Confederacy is organized around a legislative body called the Senate. Primary members are represented in the Senate by a Senator. Each Senator has a single vote, regardless of the population represented. Affiliate members are represented on Fuller by a Legate, who may speak in general sessions of the Senate, but may not vote on official Senate business (to avoid dual representation) or serve in the Senate's various working bodies.

As a body with a large and potentially unlimited membership, the Senate-in-whole is an almost impossibly unwieldy structure for getting work done. Consequently, most of the real governance is performed by the Senate's councils, committees, and commissions. The daily business of the Senate proper is primarily speech-making and public debate. Councils are appointed bodies with autonomous decision-making and appropriation authority over some segment of government operations outside the Senate proper (for example, the Defense Council, which oversees the Armed Forces). The most populous and powerful members of the Confederacy are disproportionately represented on the Senate's councils. Committees are elected bodies with the authority to administer various aspects of Senate operations, including the general budget. They are semi-autonomous; in the event of a unanimous committee vote, the approval of the Senate-in-whole is not required (however, the Senate-in-whole may override a less-than-unanimous committee decision with a three-to-five majority). Commissions are voluntary bodies with an advisory capacity only. They may prepare reports on issues of concern for presentation to the Chief Senator of the Senate, to the Chief Advisor, to the Emperor, to the Supreme Commander, or to the general membership; schedule and conduct hearings; and contract for independent research.

The Emperor
Until recently, the Confederacy was led by a President, who was elected by a three-by-five majority of the Senators. The President was the Chief of State of the Confederacy and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

The President could be recalled by a majority vote of the Senate on presentation of a petition of no-confidence by a majority of the Ruling, or Inner, Council, or by a quarter of the primary members of the Senate. The election of a President could be blocked by the Ruling Council on a unanimous vote. In practice, the power of the Ruling Council to void an election and initiate the recall of a sitting President meant any candidate proposed by or approved by the Ruling Council was likely to be elected by the Senate.

However, in 11 ABY, President Joran Thorn, following popular demand, was crowned Emperor of the Confederacy. As such, he would have the powers of the President, but also has having the power to veto any decision made by the Senate. In practice, however, Thorn lets the Senate govern for him, intervening only when necessary.

If the Emperor should become incapacitated, incommunicado, or die, the chairman of the Ministry Council selects an acting Chief of State from among the following: any former President, the current Chief Advisor, or a former Chief Advisor. It has happened that another person has been selected as Acting Chief of State - Thorn, for instance, was a First Admiral when selected to rule in place of the assassinated Anton Millard.

The General Ministry
The General Ministry is the non-military bureaucracy of the New Republic. It is organized into several large permanent Ministries, smaller task-oriented service Agencies, and several semi-independent Institutes. The various Senate councils have oversight and financing authority over the corresponding Ministries.

The Cabinet consists of the heads of the various ministries and is headed by the Chief Advisor. This body is the link between the Chief of State and the Ministries.

The Chief Senator, appointed by the Ministry Council with the approval of the Chief of State and the Chief Senator, heads the Confederate General Ministry. He reports to the Chief of State.

The Court of Justice
The members of the Court of Justice are selected by the Senate Justice Council from a list of nominees presented by the Chief of State. The First Justice is elected by the other members of the Court from among their number. Nominally independent, the power of the Court of Justice is limited by its narrowly defined jurisdiction: to review charges of violations of the Constitution by members of by the other branches of the Confederacy's government. The Court of Justice does not serve as the court of last appeal for ordinary civil and criminal cases; those are settled by local judicial authorities on member worlds.

Member Systems
The Black Star Confederacy consists of 21 inhabitated systems:

Heartlands:

Fuller Decuu Garagos Ida Chae Megaera Claymore Millard Luxor Bhein Morr Aquinas Bryant Ortenes

Jade Sector:

Mortilis Cypra Mundi

Grey Worlds Systems

Svea Dacia Norico Finarl Serahq

The Confederate Military
The Armed Forces Command is the military arm of the New Republic. It has overall command of the various sub-commands, and coordinates actions between these sub-commands.

The Supreme Commander, appointed by the Defense Council with the approval of the Emperor, heads the Armed Forces Command. He reports to the Chief of State.

The Confederate Navy
The Confederate Navy is the military arm of the Black Star Confederacy charged with maintaining security in Confederate space.

It fields more than 100 vessels of varying size.

Specific responsibilities of the Confederate Navy includes defending Confederate citizens from space-based threats such as pirates, smugglers and other armed governments, enforcing Confederate will, and overseeing commerce through customs and blockade operations. The Confederate Navy also performs orbital bombardments, transports major ground force deployments, and supports them with space and aerial support.

The Confederate Navy conducts itself by the Confederate Naval Code, a set of martial laws and regulations created to guide the massive military organization. The vast majority of personnel in the Imperial Starfleet are humans or Decuri, although other species are also in the service.

The Confederate Marine Corps
Instead of relying on the Confederate Army to protect its vast number of warships, the Confederate Navy created this corps of deadly and well-trained warriors. Besides acting as soldiers, they serve as security, handle hanger traffic control, monitor sensor arrays, and other duties when their combat skills are not required. With their technical skills, they use them to maintain the Confederacy's facilities. They are also assigned to defend key installations.

The Confederate Starfighter Corps
The Confederate Starfighter Corps is nominally an independent organization, but more often than not, starfighter units are under the command of Army or Navy officers.

The men and women of the Starfighter Corps are recruited among the general population. After going through a three-month training programme similar, if shorter, to the Army training programme, those who pass are then transferred to one of the numerous Flight Schools operated by Starfighter Command, where they go through a six-month training programme. During their time at the Flight School, the pilots-to-be are taught to fly all support and fighter craft in use by the Confederacy, all the while subject to extensive testing of their abilities. Depending on their test results, they are then assigned to either Fighter Command, Bomber Command, or Combat Command.

Nevertheless, by the time that the new pilots are assigned to their new positions, they are capable of flying any type of support or fighter craft operated by the Confederacy.

The Confederate Army
The Confederate Army handles the defense of all Confederate planets. Between ten thousand to five million troops are on duty at any one time, depending on the planet.

The members of the Confederate Army are recruited among the general population. After going through a gruelling six-month training programme, those selected for the Army are then deployed to whatever units are in need at the moment, though Army Command makes it a point to assign troopers to their home planet.

The Confederate Service Force
The special forces, also known as the Confederated Service Force (CSF), are a part of Military Intelligence, and are made up of a number of individual soldiers selected after training, as a trooper is complete, on the merits of their physical and mental abilities. These soldiers undergo a more rigorous and lengthy training process than the average soldier, during which time they become familiar with all weapons in use by enemy and friendly army groups. They are trained as commandos, able to handle any situation deemed delicate. The many specialities of CSF Agents are infiltration (terrorist), demolitions, techs (slicer's), security (anti-terrorist) and - when called for (which is very rare) - assaults of "impossible targets". The actual number of CSF personnel is left unknown for security reasons. The largest CSF units usually to be found are Company sized, and are commanded by Captains or Majors, although larger units are known to exist.

Special Air Service
Trained in everything and specializing in most, these soldiers are the elite of the Confederacy. Able to go anywhere and survive anything, they are trained over years and tend to be much older then the average trooper. Their weaponry is chosen by mission specifics.

The Imperial Guard
A sub-section of the CSF, these elite guardians of the Emperor are specifically picked for their loyalty and abilities while serving in one of the many anti-terrorist units within the CSF. Formidable warriors underneath their golden and crimson armour, they carry AT-1 blaster pistols under their garments as well as BR7-A3 Blaster Rifles. Formerly known as the Presidential Guard.

Special Boat Service
These troopers are specifically trained for zero-G combat and ship actions. Posted with the Navy, they are the elite assault troops for boarding actions. Wearing space armour similar to that of the feared space-troopers of the Empire, these soldiers float across space to deal out their special brand of combat. Also used for planetary scouting missions in advance of landing army units.

The Confederate Droptrooper Corps
Confederate Drop Troopers are first strike units that are sent into critical combat situations in support of both the Confederate Navy and Confederate Army. Confederate Drop Troopers were originally introduced as the new elite of the military during the early years of the Confederacy. They are highly disciplined and completely loyal to the Confederacy. Confederate Drop Troopers will carry out their orders without hesitation and without concern of their own lives. Maintaining their own command structure and support facilities, Confederate Drop Troopers are independent of Army and Navy chains of command. If a situation warrants it and if the Drop Trooper Company Commander authorizes it, regular officers can be given command of Drop Trooper squads or platoons. Confederate Drop Troopers are deployed to neutralize resistance to the Confederacy.

Confederate Drop Troopers are organized in a manner similar to the Confederate Army, however with varying quantities of troops as their organization is distinct from that of the other armed forces. It must be noted that the Confederate Navy controls Drop Trooper assignments in the Confederate Starfleet. The basic element of Drop Trooper organization is the squad (which contains eight to ten troopers). Unlike the Confederate Army, the squad is the smallest independent operating unit. While organized into platoons, Drop Trooper squads are frequently assigned independent objectives. Confederate Drop Troopers are organized up to the corps level and anything above that level of organization is not well known.

In non-combat situations, Drop Troopers wear a green army uniform and cap. Their insignia conform to standards of the Confederate Army, barring the iron chain denoting them as members of the Drop Trooper Corps. All Drop Trooper officers are proven soldiers and in combat they wear armour like any other trooper. Confederate Drop Troopers are also employed as security troops or as honour guards for Confederate dignitaries and influential persons, and ranking officials such as Confederate ambassadors, Governors or Admirals. In these cases no less than ten Confederate Drop Troopers are employed for this duty. Garrisons of Confederate Drop Troopers are stationed on planets throughout the Confederacy to quell any uprisings and to enforce the Emperor's will.

Despite the many similarities between the Confederate Drop Troopers and the Imperial Stormtroopers, the Confederate Drop Troopers are not as inhuman as the Imperial Stormtroopers, and are celebrated rather than feared by the population of the Confederacy.