Contents:
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1: Factions
-1.1: Introduction
-1.2: Summary and Society
-1.3: Interplanetary relations
-1.4: Technology
2: Locations
-2.1: Inner solar system
-2.2: Middle solar system
-2.3: Outer solar system




1: Factions

1.1 Introduction

Iris, United Earth League citizen:
"Eighty years ago to the moment, the Southern Hemisphere was gone.
Eighty years ago, almost all of our Earth was annihilated in a single instant. Our erstwhile foes had been protecting us, and we had weakened them enough to let what was outside in. After the aliens left, all we had was rubble.
But we're recovering. Earth is recovering. We've taken back Mercury, Venus, the Moon and Mars from the crushing regime that failed us, and we're bringing Earth to the stars."

Garett, Interplanetary Protectorate of the Skylords soldier:
"Every moment is a battle! It's frustrating how the Earthers never understand that. They've lived inside their warm bubble, secure from the big dark and the monsters that live in it. We fight and die every day to defend humanity, so of course our society is restrictive. Does that even matter compared to what we face? They only hear the horror stories from those too weak to fit in. They should hand their planets back to those who know how to manage them before one day, some attack breaks through the best defense we can muster and it will be all over. We're not damn warmongers, they're the ones jeopardising the peace! No infighting EVER happens in our world, and you can tell. We were and are the greatest civilisation, and we should be in control."

Keiko, Cold Arcadia Union explorer:
*laughter* "We know what's out there... the universe is open to us and we walk to it. Not fighting it, there's no point. You, you have to keep moving on, roll with the times! That's how evolution works, you have to adapt! Move on from what you lose, and take it as a lesson for when you finally recieve it again. The others need to know that, so we're, uh, ummm... pushing... them a little."


1.2 Society


Earth League (UEL) : Remnants of Earth powers. Laws and attitudes change depending on where you are. The UEL is fairly similar to present day New York in attitudes, as by this stage people have come to terms with the destruction of the planet (or weren't born to see it in the first place). Sort of like Earth, but spread over the inner solar system. The people of the UEL want to improve humanity and recover to become spacelords, and most of all to restore earth, but they aren't as acquainted with the real threat as the IPS. There's a big argument between the two factions- the UEL says to the IPS, 'if you want to defend the solar system why don't you give us your tech' but the IPS always refuses, not believing the UEL will do a good enough job.
The UEL is at war with the IPS, and is constantly trying to indirectly take over the CAU. Has a monopoly on spaceports, much to the other factions' annoyance. Pretty much the only reason they haven't been totally wiped out is that the IPS doesn't want to destroy them completely, just occupy and control them, which is hard to do when your closest base is Jupiter.
Their technology is pretty bad compared to the other groups, relying on kinetic weapons and plasma-based propulsion. However, it doesn't take long for them to move their forces around compared to the other groups, so they have the space equivalent of the high ground.


Socially the UEL is similar to Earth, with the old multifaceted divisions sparking rivalry over who should be in charge and who really shouldn't. Elects sole leaders similar to the UN system to hold the seat of power in London (Administration and Law), Sapporo (Navy) and Vladivostok (Resource Management) and strives to remain inclusive. Population elects advisers for each area who advise said leaders. Advisers can run for leader if they are popular enough within all planetary representations. Earthly society is very similar to how it was before the attack, but the First World is much smaller.
Mercurial society resembles a factory city prewar, with a highly specialised populace hailing from all corners of the solar system, although UEL citizens are far more frequently seen due to their low-gravity adaptations and the proximity of the planet to Venus.
Venusian society is also very similar to Earthly society, if in a much more closed environment. Xifeng has a similar atmosphere to Hong Kong, especially at the higher altitudes. Aeolus is full of retirees and mad people alike, all seeking adventure on the high winds.
The Moon is full of farmers and robots. Not much happens on the moon that isn't maximised for utility, at least to the degree of efficiency that the UEL can attain. A large fraction of European culture survives around the polar settlements.


Imperial Protectorate of the Skylords (IPS) : The remnants of the ITS, an advanced Earthly society that temporarily took over the world. During their reign, they spread past the asteroid belt up to Saturn, but lost the inner planets to the UEL in the chaos following the near-destruction of Earth's surface. Permanently hard-pressed to keep hostile alien threats out, their entire society is ordered around getting people to Get S**t Done. And there's not much freedom of choice in the matter. They're pretty high tech, due to all the stuff they've reverse engineered. Augmented reality, holograms, quantum computers, vacuum propulsion and true artificial gravity are taken for granted by its citizens. Architecture and design are always elegant and efficient to a standard.
The IPS feel like they're the only thing keeping aliens from curbstomping humanity, and are constantly frustrated with the UEL for being complacent. They constantly want to take over the inner solar system for fear that if they don't have all the resources available to them, they'll fail and humanity will be lost.
Has a problem with people fleeing to the UEL or CAU who can't deal with the strict life regimen- it's pretty much "do your best for the society or be imprisoned until you can" they aren't evil though- there's no capital punishment, law is fair and corruption is virtually eliminated by the constant surveillance and feeling of threat the civilisation lives under. People caught on corruption charges are deported to the UEL. Most people don't care about the strictness of the society because from a young age, they are warned about the threats out there and believe that such control is entirely necessary. The IPS is incredibly dangerous, having an immense navy and incredible technology. All they really need to take over the UEL is more people and relativistic space travel, so they have their eye on the CAU...

In the IPS, there is no time for racism or divisions of any kind, everyone's human and nobody's unique. A leader with an exemplary service record for the current task is chosen to lead a division of government for ten years. One is especially chosen to coordinate every division at once, but they only have to do so for five years and continuation is optional. Most people in the IPS are similar- all driven to maximise their potential and help the IPS to the best of their abilities- and if they're not, they're forced to become that type or be deported. The IPS recognises the need for art and music, but cracks down on anything criticising the strict life regimen of the IPS. They also train citizens to see such action as counterproductive to the survival of humanity. People with strong senses of identity tend to be destroyed by the IPS way of life, and so sacrifice their high quality of life to flee/be deported to Mars, the UEL, or occasionally Titania.


Cold Arcadia Union (CAU) : Occupies the moons of Uranus and Neptune. The CAU is mostly composed of people who are tired of the endless back-and-forth conflict between the IPS and UEL, or IPS asylum seekers who hate the world they live in and want mystery, freedom and adventure. Most people think the people in the CAU are idiots for even trying to live that far from the sun, but that's mostly propaganda distributed by the two other sides to discourage people from going there. Unbeknownst to the two major factions, the CAU has contact with some alien species who keep them safe from the threat of Zegnophians, and also lead to the CAU having the best technology of the three. Unfortunately, most of said technology (and most of their resources) go into keeping themselves alive given the hostile environment they live in. The CAU is the least strict of the three major factions, mostly being comprised of adventurous free spirits who did not fit into the IPS and UEL explorers curious about the outside world. this sense of common purpose keeps them relatively coherent for a bunch of unaffiliated groups, although the UEL & IPS have attempted to take it over indirectly in the past and will most likely do it again, leading to a 'witch-hunt' societal paranoia. a former politician during the most intense attempt yet recognised the signs of the CAU turning into something resembling the IPS, however, and the trend was quickly terminated.
If the IPS's technology is incredible, the CAU's is insane. They can transit the solar system- from one side of the orbit of Neptune to the other- in a matter of days, cloak entire cities and make regions of space impossible to traverse by either amping up the background quantum noise, or even using quantum teleportation on a macroscopic scale to fling ships backward along their path. They are also somewhat undisciplined with this power, severely lacking in Uncle Bens.

Small, fragmented insular communities are all that remain of the CAU in the Solar system. There's enough space and so few people that generally people can do what they want (see Dione Teleportation Incident) and it's almost impossible to define a governing body. Even as people dissatisfied with their life trickle into CAU settlements, there is a trickle outwards. People want to go and meet the neighbours...


1.3 Interplanetary Relations


UEL
Wants to save Earth and restore its glory, bring Earthly life to the stars. Gets mad at the IPS for not giving it the technology it wants/needs, and desperately wants the CAU's assistance/technology but is too far away to secure it. Doesn't give a damn about aliens, as populace generally doesn't understand the idea of anything besides humanity having ultimate soverignity.

IPS
Wants to take over the inner solar system to do its job - protection of the solar system - as best as possible, but the UEL doesn't like its way of life and bars its entry. Populace disapproves of the CAU, thinking of them as total copouts too weak to take the strain or cowards who won't use their power for good (i.e the good of the IPS). The UEL is also very unpopular, as they are seen as directly assisting the hostile aliens attacking the system by not siding with the IPS. Hates all aliens for the IPS lives lost to their attacks.

CAU
Doesn't really care about the Solar system, wants to explore the rest of the universe. Views UEL as shortsighted and IPS as a threat to all aliens, but is too weak to do anything about it (yet.) Directly assists alien attacks on the Solar system, but no other faction has noticed yet.


1.4 Technology


UEL
The UEL doesn't have artigrav, so it uses gene modification to sustain the bodies of its citizens on low-gravity worlds. Most of its vessels have rotational artigrav, but certain military ones just rely on crewmembers wearing weighted exoskeletons or undergoing extreme bodily modification. On the propulsion front, it relies on VASIMR and MPD thrusters using beamed power from Mercury. Long distance vessels use laser-augmented solar sails and are often uncrewed if they carry only cargo. Weapons are fairly primitive, with the most powerful weapons being basic railguns, x-ray lasers and nuclear missiles. However, a lucky break capture of an IPS drone fighter yielded by reverse engineering a plasma weapon capable of discharging an immense amount of current into enemy vessels, which they plan to use to capture a CAU warship. There have also been rumblings about a sun-based superweapon focusing solar flares across the solar system, but it is mostly dismissed as rumour. It is known that they have particle beams capable of eroding hulls at incredible rates, but no use has been seen yet outside of propaganda videos.
In terms of shielding, they have developed materials excellent at blocking radiation and incredibly strong armour, but no energy shields. Their ships are incredibly resistant to kinetic projectiles (why they were able to take back the inner solar system) but are pretty weak to heat-based weapons such as plasma or lasers, especially due to the limited heat sink capacity their ships have before having to rely on fragile radiators. It is this weakness that cost them the battle of Ceres and many others since the expansion of the IPS. In dire circumstances, they can vent their heat with a beamed power cannon. this is often a very decisive action as said beam is incredibly dangerous, but it drains the vessel of power down to auxiliary.
The UEL uses mostly beamed solar power from its many satellites in orbit around the sun, but does have access to nuclear fusion and a ton of fuel for it, so it is never short on power. Despite this advantage, they would be hard pressed to survive a true IPS assault if said faction was not permanently occupied fighting alien threats.

IPS
The IPS has artigrav, reverse engineered from a Lupine cruiser, but haven't got their heads around how it works. They know how to make it though, and they spam it everywhere because they can and they don't want to subject their citizens to bodily modification because, contrary to what the UEL would have you believe, they believe in a high quality of life for all citizens. Most IPS fighters & warships also use artigrav to land on planets and retain structural integrity if needs be.
The IPS uses a badly reverse engineered version of Lupine engine technology, rotationally pushing on the background quantum fluctuations of space to thrust their ships. Again, they have no clue how it works, but they use it anyway. Their engines get stronger the closer they are to a gravitational source and weaker the further away, so while they have a nearly unlimited range they're fairly slow. The engines don't allow inertial/Newtonian acceleration, either- they anchor the vessel to a "wave" created by the spinning of the "propellers" on the quantum background. The faster the spin, the bigger the wave, and the faster the vessels travel- but it means they're limited by how fast they can spin the propellers, and no material can handle the spin rate of relativistic velocities with this stage of engine technology. However, by taking a spiral trajectory around a planet and turning off their engines at the desired exit velocity, the IPS can get places relatively quickly.
The IPS's weaponry is the most formidable of the three races, (although it should be noted the CAU hardly needs to weaponise to be deadly) with warships backing quantum computers hooked to sensors and helix railgun CIWS, so that any target in the sight of the warship is guaranteed to receive an almost solid mass of hypervelocity tungsten shards within split seconds. Not even the CAU wants to get in range of anything bigger than an IPS corvette. the IPS also packs some serious energy weapon heat, with immense particle beams, lasers and plasma cannons being standard on most warships.
In terms of shielding the IPS is pretty similar to the UEL, but better. They've captured plenty of UEL warships, so they know all the tricks of the armour trade. The main difference between the two is that the IPS can use artigrav and magnetic manipulation to either pack on more armour or magnetically move armour plates around their vessels to counter incoming shots. They can also carry much more armour due to their range not being limited by their mass, and the IPS LOOOVES them some fusion reactors and antimatter.
The IPS also has the best artificial environment technology, first demonstrated in Vitality on Ganymede, attracting hundreds of thousands of emigrants with an almost-replica of a prewar Earth metropolis.

CAU
The CAU know how artigrav works and have mastered it, enough said. They abuse it to do some pretty crazy things too, like ships that can -from an outside perspective- completely atomise over a massive area, people included, while from the frame of reference of the inside, everything remains normal. They abuse the exclusion principle by making a radius around their ships an occupied quantum state, and therefore impassable. When the vessel is about to receive critical damage, they can gamble on the uncertainty principle to choose their fate. Despite all of this advancement, their ships are very fragile and if taken by surprise are incredibly easy to damage. Much to the frustration of the IPS and UEL, they always manage to jump away.
To travel, the CAU uses quantum teleportation and entanglement. Nodes have reportedly been set up throughout the solar system that they can instantly jump to, as seen in the Deimos and Dione incidents. There have been rumours that they have arranged with aliens to set up extrasolar nodes. Most citizens of the UEL doubt this, but the IPS takes into account every threat, despite their disbelief that humans can possibly cooperate with aliens.
The CAU can't really afford to lose any of their ships, even to nature- but that's pretty unlikely. If they have weapons technology, it has never been demonstrated, but their quantum teleportation is advanced enough that attacking vessels might suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of Mercury's sunshade.
Nobody knows what the CAU use for power, but nobody thinks it can be good.


2: Locations

2.1 Inner Solar System

Mercury: Neutral
Major Cities: Helios (multicultural, semimajor spaceport)
Resources: Beamed power from orbital sunshade
Mercury supplies power for most of the UEL, utilising an immsense sunshade to harvest terawatts of solar energy. Helios is mostly there to ensure the sunshade still works. Once, a group of European terrorists tried to blow up the sunshade, so security is incredibly tight. Nobody wants to damage Mercurian infrastructure, as it is far too valuable.

Venus: UEL
Major Cities: Medea (spire, capital-mostly minecraftian) Aeolus (roaming airship settlement-multicultural) Xifeng (spire, trade hub-mostly chinese), Kibo (orbital city- major spaceport & trade hub)
Resources: Chemicals
Initially there was conflict between Medea and Xifeng over what should be the centre of the planet after they were liberated from the ITS, but neither side really wanted to risk damaging the cities so cooler heads eventually prevailed.

Earth: UEL
Major Cities: London (british/multicultural, earth league capital, England retains agriculture), Sapporo (earth league major spaceport, space elevator, japanese), Vladivostok (manufacturing hub, home to earth rehab committee)
Most remaining cities are coastal and in the northern latitudes as the southern hemisphere is coated in dust and storms. China- especially in the east -is a smoking heap due to its status as a former population centre. Europe is an anarchic mess. North America (including Canada, the USA and mexico) has stopped working- east coast settlements have been getting support from London and are recovering/west coast from Sapporo. The middle is a mess though. North Africa, eastern Europe and the Middle East have recovered a little, and are functioning societies but poor, having difficulty fending off attacks from Europe. Mainland japan is a smoking ruin, Russia has completely fallen apart as all communications and infrastructure slowly failed, turning into a moderately populated wilderness again.

Moon: UEL
Major Cities: Selene (European, population hub, major military base) New Venice (polar agriculture hub, European), St. George (European, major spaceport, has a space elevator)
Resources: Food, water, minerals
EVERYONE WANTS THE MOON. This thing has so many guns on it, so, so many guns and spaceships. So so many. Also so many minerals. And so much water. And so much food. which explains the massive militarisation. After the Battle of Ceres, the UEL has stationed an immense defence fleet in lunar orbit permanently.

Mars: UEL/Mars
Major Cities: Pavonis (ambassadorial centre, located in Argyre Planitia, capital of Mars), Olympia (population centre, located near Olympus Mons, has an enormous space elevator), Elysium (located on Elysium Mons, has a space elevator, agriculture), Tormenta (located on Amazonis Planitia, factory city), New Palmyra (Arabic cultural centre and research hub), Phobos (enormous orbital military base) Deimos (enormous orbital prison)
Resources: Has a lot of factories and a lot of minerals
Mars is mostly neutral for the same reason as Mercury- everyone needs the stuff it has, and nobody wants all of humanity to die. For that reason and its location, it is the major diplomatic location in the solar system. That and the UEL keeps trying to take it over. It's true that the majority of the population of Mars is from the UEL, but the IPS has cut a deal with the martian government for equal share of the resources. Mars is to the solar system what China is to the West now in terms of production. Chances are, if you buy something in the UEL or IPS, it's been made on Mars. Both the UEL and IPS want to terraform Mars, it's the one point on which both superpowers agree has to be done. Unfortunately you can't terraform a planet in 80 years, and neither faction wants assistance from the CAU because they do not want to be indebted or let their populations know the power of the outer solar system's inhabitants.

2.1 Middle Solar System

Jovian Moons: IPS
Notable cities: Vitality (Ganymede, major population hub, widely regarded as the greatest city in the Solar System, capital of IPS), Constitution (Ganymede, IPS Superspaceport), Endurance (Callisto. Resource and manufacturing hub of Jovian system), Temper (Orbital station of Io. Heavily shielded, exotic manufacture hub of IPS)
Resources: Between all four Galilean moons- everything.
The Jovian system is the envy of the UEL and the applause of the CAU. Ganymede is heavily settled, drawing power and life from the underground ocean to allow enormous biodomes to be built, replicating an Earth sky and sun, complete with weather. Vitality, the capital, is the biggest tourist destination in the Solar System, incorporating life from Earth, architecture from across the solar system, and the biggest artigrav system ever seen. It is widely said that Ganymede offers the best quality of life known, and not even the UEL would disagree. Europa has mostly been left alone after the discovery of life in its ocean, but a few small scientific research groups remain there. Callisto is ugly and does not have the resources to handle the same luxurious biodomes as Ganymede, but still retains a large population regardless, as it's the economic powerhouse of the IPS.

Saturn: IPS
Notable cities: Titan (Titan, chemical research facility) Justice (Dione, major prison and spaceport)
Resources: Chemicals
The IPS hasn't really seen fit to invest too much time into Saturn, as Titan & Enceladus are too delicate of systems to interfere with and most other moons are not good for much. That said, they do not have much trouble putting criminals in for life in the Justice penitentiary. The prison city has suffered major damage recently (see Dione Teleportation Incident) but is rapidly recovering. Most other settlements are military bases or logistics hubs to prevent alien incursions into the inner solar system, although Justice is a popular tourist destination due to Saturn's magnificent rings.

2.3 Outer Solar System

Titania: CAU
Notable cities: Prospero (CAU major spaceport, CAU hub)
Resources: Technology
The last... unaffected moon of Uranus, Titania serves as the route into the middle of the Solar system for citizens of the CAU, although the agents of the nebulous ruling body of the CAU are careful who they let back out. Nobody who has ever had any inkling of the CAU's involvement in Lupine attacks on the Solar system is allowed through.

Triton: CAU
Notable cities: Oceanus (CAU technology metropolis)
Resources: ???
Nobody who comes here ever comes back.



if i ever experience another rush of writingness (this was written in the space of hours) i'll add more detail to this. for now, this is all.