Eridani Federation

Overview
Eridani, or the Eridani Corporate Federation, is a dystopic oligarchic republic in the Epsilon Eridani system dominated entirely by a council of mega-corporations that seek profit and expansion at any cost. It's capital is the planet of Oran, inside a sprawling corporate headquarters the size of a small city. It's citizens are called Eridanians.

The primary languages are Sol Common and Tradeband for the upper class Corporates, and Gutter for the lower class Dregs.

Population and Planets
The total population of the Federation is around 854 million based on the 2460 Census. This population is spread out over four worlds.

Akhet (&#949;Eri I)
Akhet is an Earth-sized oceanic world. It has limited infrastructure above the surface, but tens of kilometers below the tumultuous waves lie thousands of remote mining bases scattered about the shifting seafloor. Their purpose is almost universally the excavation and export of the various exotic elements located on the sea floor. Although this endeavor is highly lucrative, you wouldn’t know it from how the nearly two hundred million denizens of Akhet live. Most are packed like sardines into dank and aging facilities, constantly facing down incredible pressure and unpredictable seismic activity. The few who live topside, as it were, still contend with an unforgiving ocean and sweltering heat.

Oran (&#949;Eri II)
Oran, formerly known as Satet is slightly smaller than Earth and quite arid. Vast wastes of worn silicates and jutting crags cover the majority of its surface. Despite this, the planet is by far the most populous in the system. Its six hundred million residents are packed tightly into the thin coastal ribbons of green enabled by massive desalination plants. Over several centuries, these swaths of land were sculpted and seeded to form beautiful enclaves for those favored by the governing corporations, surrounded by small supporting communities. The recent decline of fusion power, however, forced a huge wave of migrants to Satet from Set and Nebthet. This shook the most essential foundations of Epsilon Eridani’s economy, and Satet was rapidly redefined as a modern consumerist society. The idyllic landscape of the past has given way to an endless sprawl of automated factories, housing complexes, holotheaters, and superstores. Though this change has brought with it considerable opportunities and a burgeoning middle class, the control of the megacorporations remains ironclad.

Amon (&#949;Eri III)
Amon’s weak magnetic field, freezing temperatures and fractional gravity have made it quite unattractive to colonists, and its lack of substantial mineral wealth only ensures that it remains unsettled. Far above its barren surface, however, drift Neith and Sais, its two moons. Despite being similarly inhospitable, both harbour sprawling military complexes and shipyards operated by various components of the Eridani Federal Navy. The atmospheres of Neith and Sais were stripped long ago by Epsilon Eridani’s powerful solar wind, and paired with their negligible magnetic fields that makes them convenient places to anchor the advanced sensor arrays that monitor the system’s interplanetary traffic. The orbit of Amon is such that the vast majority of Epsilon Eridani is visible from at least one of the two moons at any given time, and they correspond to detect the faint and ephemeral traces of bluespace travel. Tracking down smugglers and unceremoniously seizing their assets has proven to be a lucrative pastime for the Federal Navy.

Set and Nebthet(&#949;Eri IV & V)
Set and Nebthet are the twin ice giants that, until quite recently, provided the majority of Epsilon Eridani’s wealth. Both contain substantial reserves of the various isotope gasses required to initiate the fusion reactions that powered humanity’s galactic expansion until the advent of phoron power in the 2410s. It was for this reason that, in the latter half of the 22nd century, Einstein Engines constructed colossal gas harvesting platforms in the toxic atmospheres of the pair. In the scramble to adapt to new technologies, however, the platforms were rapidly abandoned. What remains are gargantuan shells, derelict superstructures sinking slowly into the cerulean clouds of the nearly identical words. Now their only residents are small communities of salvagers trying to claim any remotely serviceable devices before the giants are lost forever.

Societal
Ethnic Groups:
 * 73.8% Eridanians (Colonial Central & West African)
 * 23.3% Other (Humans of other heritage)
 * 3.9% Alien (Skrell, Tajara, Dionea, Other)

Eridani is a secular society with a variety of beliefs, but a majority of the elite are avowed athiests or agnostics who are more occupied with the pursuit of profit than heavenly rewards.

Corporates and Dregs
Eridanians are unspokenly split up into two major groups: Corporates and Dregs.

Corporates are lawful, visually inoffensive, and and usually very well dressed. Many people who fall into this group have high paying jobs and hold positions of authority, being everything from local law enforcement, doctors, and government officials. Your average Corporate holds appearance and societal norms in very high regard - they will not dye their hair wild colors or augment themselves in ways that people would find "unusual" and often do not sport tattoos of any kind. The most popular form of augmentation for a Corporate are biomechanics that serve practical purposes (and do not look out of the ordinary) and ones that enhance their natural appearance, usually to fit a standard of beauty.

Dregs are the counter-culture to the prim, pretty, stifling capitalism of Eridani. They are more likely to choose personal freedom over high social standing or a promotion in the workplace, leading to Dregs making up for the vast majority of the lower rungs of society. Due to this, they will also fall into gangs (hence the name) to have a belonging and funds. Outrageous body modification is popular among Dregs, sporting tattoos and peircings, in addition to more unusual alterations that require surgery to achieve. The more outlandish a Dreg looks, the better, in their perspective - to spite their Corporate overlords.

While not every Eridanian will fall into either extremes on this category, it is extremely likely that the very wealthy will be a Corporate, and the very impoverished will be a Dreg. It is fashionable for both groups to have bionic eye replacements and neural implants with which the Eridanians can use to interface with their work terminals and computer systems for both licit and illicit purposes in Eridani space. Sadly these interfaces do not exist in Biesel as of yet.

Eridanian
The average Eridanian look is:

Skin Tone: 120 - 200

Average Male Height: 5'5" - 6'2"

Average Female Height: 5'2" - 5'8"

For Corporates, black or dark brown hair. For Gangers, any primary color.

For Corporates, dark brown to black eyes. For Gangers, any primary color.

Government
Eridani's status in the Sol Alliance is complex and esoteric, but that is by design. In favor of a constitution, Eridani holds the Alliance to a 303 page Terms and Conditions Treaty Regarding The Free Economic Zone of Epsilon Eridani. Very few politicians have actually read the entire text of the Terms and Conditions - not that it matters, that the Terms and Conditions can change at any time and for any reason.

Executive Branch
The executive branch is ran by the Board of Five hosts five representatives from the largest megacorporations present in Epsilon Eridani. The distribution of these seats has been more or less constant for over a century (this is no surprise, as it takes a 4 to 1 vote to dismiss and replace a member); two are occupied by Einstein Engines and the remainder are held by Hephaestus Industries, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, and Idris Incorporated. The second piece of the ECF is the Corporate Interests Board. Although the majority of the CI Board’s seats are allocated to the aforementioned four megacorporations''', other interstellar businesses are also given some input.

Legislative Branch
The legislative branch is ran by the Corporate Interests Group. While it currently has 145 seats, that number changes regularly to reward or punish different members as necessary. This brings up an interesting point: the CI Board is not intended to function as a check on the Five. Instead, it extends the power of smaller subsidiaries and independent Eridani-local corporate power and deals with many of the everyday problems a state must contend with (taxation, regulation, etc.). All appointments and dismissals are handled by the Five, which also can superseded any of the lower board’s decisions. They rarely do so, however. Having a significant presence in the CI Board is financially advantageous, and the Five would very much like to keep it that way.

Judicial System
The judicial system of Epsilon Eri is quite easy to navigate if one has money, and exceedingly perilous if one does not. Most petty crimes are only punished by an escalating series of fines (though recidivist or especially heinous criminals may face harsher treatment). If a person is unable to pay their fine, which becomes increasingly costly with time, they can face what are effectively debtors prisons. Most often, the only avenue of escape provided to those who find themselves in these “correctional facilities” involves protracted work for the owning mega-corporation on Anket or (until recently) Set-Nebthet. Unsuprisingly, many lower class elements of society elect to simply flee the system, seeking refuge in Tau Ceti or out in the Frontier.

Military
The Eridani Federal Navy (EFN) is unlike most of its contemporary counterparts. Most prominently, it acts both as the ECF’s army and as its police force. Secondarily, it is far from unified. Instead of being commanded directly by the ECF, its individual components are employed and operated by the members of the Board of Five, to the extent that each can afford it. When the Five’s interests aline, everything generally proceeds smoothly; riots are suppressed, smugglers are deterred, order is maintained. When they are at odds, however, the Federal Navy becomes another piece to be integrated into the megacorporations’ constant machinations.

History
The Eridani Corporate Federation is an Inner-System local government in charge of most of the system of Epsilon Eridani, about 10 Ly's from Sol. While a member of the Sol Alliance, the Eridani Federation has been granted a large degree of independence.

The Eridani Corporate Federation is an extremely privatized state, currently residing in the Eridani system and is a major supporter of NT through both trade and political support. An oddity arises from the fact that the military forces of the state are separate from the government, sometimes acting of their own volition, and enforcing the laws should the civil government fail to do so.

The Eridani Corporate Federation began as a major colonization operation undertaken by a multitude of private corporations with the goal of exploiting several of planets strong resource deposits. The system was settled in 2105 and steadily built itself up over the next 250 years. The system managed to remain under the control of the corporations, even as the population swelled in the 2200's, and eventually the Sol Alliance officially granted the corporations, together, the right to govern the planets under their control. By the year 2257, a loose coalition of corporations was formed under the banner of the Eridani Corporate Conglomerate, which controlled colonies on Eridani 4, 5, and the moons of Eridani 4 and 7. Following a terrorist attack in 2361, which rendered Eridani 4 uninhabitable, the Eridani Federation was formed from the politically and economically collapsed Conglomerate.

The most descriptive factor of the Eridani Corporate Federation’s society is the economic divide that exists between the middle class and lower class. The middle and upper class enjoy relative safety and state support, while the lower class are relegated to the lower levels of the state’s cities, and are often despised by citizens living on the higher levels of the cities.

The Eridani Corporate Federation favors an extremely open market approach, with state interference staying at a very low level. The state and military will only interfere when the minimal laws applied to free trade are broken, otherwise, the two forces governing the Eridani Corporate Federation provide the corporations and citizens with an extreme amount of freedom. This leaves the state’s economy greatly attached to the open market, and susceptible to the tides present.

The Eridani Federal Military is a force largely removed from government control, a Board of High Commanders being in control of any and all actions undertaken by the Eridani Federal Military forces. This creates an odd relationship between the civil and military governments, one that can result in a lot of strain and potential conflict. The Board of Five are able to recommend actions to the High Commanders, however, the High Commanders are not required to adhere. However, due to the military’s own unwillingness to involve themselves in civil affairs, the High Commanders take little issue with listening to the Board of Five.

A second oddity would be the autonomy provided to the Eridani Federal Military. The Eridani Federal Army can be held responsible for multiple assassinations and detentions of Eridani Federal Citizens suspected to be involved in anti-national activities. These actions can be carried out without approval from the civil government.

Life in the Federation
WIP

Potential Character Concepts
Here is an example character from the Eridani Federation:


 * Akem Obiteng, 23, is a Freelance Reporter currently on the NSS Aurora. She is naturally curious and a bit callous.


 * Obiteng is 5’8” and has a thin, lanky build, likely 120 lbs. She has laid back posture and swinging movements. She has bright yellow, mechanic eyes and a bright red mohawk.


 * Obiteng moved to Mendell City in hopes of an easier life. She lives with three roommates. Obiteng is an atheist. She is also a strong supporter of New Republicans.


 * Obiteng is a passionate fan of Unathi culture, though the worse subjects are scrubbed out. However, she does hate Vaurca just as much as she loves Unathi.


 * Obiteng speaks Tau Ceti Common and Freespeak.

Here is a second example character from the Eridani Federation:


 * Kenjo Nde, 36, is a psychologist working for Nanotrasen. He is pleasant and a stepford smiler.


 * Nde is 5’9” and has a lithe frame, about 140 lbs. He has perfect posture and a professional gait. He has dark brown, mechanic eyes and curly, black hair kept in a professional cut.


 * Nde is a contractor, having moved to Biesel for work. He lives with his pet cat, Kumari. Nde is agnostic. He sways toward the more Democratic side of politics, though ultimately declares himself neutral.


 * Nde is fairly neutral about non-humans, but has a distaste of Vaurca.


 * Nde speaks Tau Ceti Common and Tradeband, and he knows Sign Language.