LoS: Conglomerate of Independent Colonies
- This is an article related to the science fiction role play setting Legacy of Sol.
Full Name : Conglomerate of Independent Colonies
- Abbreviations : CIC, Conglomerate
Independence :
- Founded : 2203 August 9th
- Recognized : 2203 August 9th
Government : Confederate directorial republic
- Chairman : Bertrand Barzam
Legislature : Conglomerate Legislature
- Upper House : Chamber of Law
- Lower House : Intercolonial Council
Capital World : Ganymede
Capital : Ariae
Major Holdings : Jupiter, Ganymede, Io, Europa, Callisto
Population : *todo*
Demonym : Conglomerate
Ethnic Groups : European ethnicities (English, Swedish, Austrian, Spanish), American ethnicities, southwest Asian ethnicities
Military : Conglomerate Colonial Defense Forces
Intelligence Agency : Colonial Security Service
Official Languages : English
State Religions : Atheism
Currency : Colonial Dollar (C-dollar • CDR)
InterPlaNet TLD : .cic
The Conglomerate of Independent Colonies is an interplanetary state largely located around Jupiter and has the moon Ganymede as its base of power. The CIC is known for its deep-rooted sense of individual identity. It values the independence of every member and has taken many pain-stacking steps to ensure that local government receives as much jurisdiction as possible without sacrificing the unity of the conglomerate. Led by the Intercolonial Council, which in turn, is headed by a chairman, the conglomerate is known for its isolationist and pacifistic nature. They tend to want to stay neutral in the affairs of the UDN and Triton Empire and go out of their way to avoid getting embroiled in conflicts they have no vested interest in.
Founded at the end of the First Independence War, the CIC was in fact the joining of the various orbital and lunar colonies of Jupiter. After a long string of cultural and social tensions, which culminated in high profile assassinations, the troubles in the region at reached critical mass. Local military commanders were tasks with personally handling the uprisings in the most direct and harsh of ways, but their refusal sparked the start of the first major conflict the Solar System had seen. The dissident fleet was later instrumental in organizing the disparate groups into a single union and they were subsequently reformed into the unique military that the conglomerate sports. The atrocities of the Second Independence War has kept relations between the CIC and UDN extremely tense and there is precious little communication between the conglomerate and the Triton Empire.
Known for the immense freedom delegated to the lower echelons of colonial government, the unique structure of the conglomerate has given rise to a great variation when it comes to culture, language, technology and mentality among its member colonies. Many claim diversity to be the state's greatest asset, while others believe the abundant freedom and the utter lack of real ties will make for a weak alliance that will break once they have no enemy to unify against. Whatever the case, the CIC is a popular destination for colonists who seek the freedom that their home could not gain from the union. While the UDN has restored its public image in recent years and has regained the loyalty of many hot zones across the Solar System, many dissidents still appear and tend to jump ship for the conglomerate as soon as they can.
History
Conception
Ever since the UDN's rise to power, mankind's spread away from Earth's embrace had been proceeding unchecked. Many theories were abound that attempted to predict the impact on human society and culture the new habitats would have. Even things that were once taken for granted, such as a way to tell time through the positioning of the Sun, or a clean separation of climate changes into four seasons, would no longer be uniform across mankind's territory. Every colony and every world would undergo its own, unique cycle and while scientists quickly devised all manner of schemes and frameworks to standardize timetelling between distant locations, the answer as to how much it would influence humanity itself was forthcoming. No conclusive answers came in time to help prepare those that remained on Earth, and the people that packed up their lives and moved to live around Mars, Jupiter and beyond. The further the colonization rush pushed, the more distant Earth became, the more digressed local paths became.
The first signs of tension came sociologically. Terrans at home, or out visiting the colonies, had begun to see how different those people's lives had evolved. Traditions became unrecognizable, languages gained new dialects that were unintelligible to the original speakers and nationalism took on a new meaning. Instead of identifying with an ethnicity or only with a country of origin, it became far more important to identify oneself with a mix of whether or not one was born on Earth, and which colony one lived on specifically. Racial tensions were nearly non-existent on the colonies, and showed a marked decrease on Earth, while religious discrimination also took a backseat to the growing elitism that terrans were masters of the fate of humanity. While most individuals merely felt a greater pride when being born on Earth, which seemed innocent enough at the time, there were still extremists that eventually coalesced into a political movement that encapsulated the most radical of principles of Terra Suprema.
These radicals were initially, largely dismissed, but their talk of the people in the colonies straying from the true path of humanity was loud and dreadful enough to cause fear to spark in the hearts and minds of many individuals in positions of power. Always in definite opposition of giving the colonies any form of self-governance, they argued that Terra should ever take the lead and that it was up to the UDN to keep the colonies under control, before it was too late. Before any seeds of revolt had even been planted, the fear of it was alive and well in the minds of the Council of Delegates.
Many times over the course of the 22nd century, colonies such as Mars and Jupiter, requested for more independence. Buckling under the oppressive and outdated laws of the union, they required tailored solutions to local issues that the UDN just did not have the resources to investigate and implement. Legislation became a matter of "do as Earth does", which was utterly unfeasible for most of the colonies in question. Taxation was also universal across all colonies, no matter their demographics, nature and location. Many colonies were stumbling under that financial strain.
These tensions eventually began to give rise to the need to distance the colonies from the grasp of Earth. The elitism that forced them to feel like lesser citizens of the greater whole, as well as the fact that inefficient governance was holding them back, was starting to create a very deep and intense frustration. This frustration would erupt into outright aggression before too long.
First Independence War
On January 30th, 2196, sir Jason Brewer, a celebrated proponent of civil rights and a prolific humanitarian, began his public manifesto in an attempt to garner more attention for the growing discrimination faced by colonists by terran governments, the UDN and earth-based corporations. Among the heavily exploited was the working class which, coincidentally, tended to hold a lot of sway in the colonies due to their ubiquitous presence. On many of the more outspoken colonies, outright poverty was rare, meaning the numbers of that societal class swelled continually. Jason gained popularity rapidly with both sides of the argument by proving himself to be quite the opposite from an extremist. He noted the consistent acts of violence aimed towards innocent families from Earth by colonial radicals, condemning them as doing nothing but aggravating a situation that should be resolved through peaceful discourse. Despite this popularity, he was seen as a dangerous individual by many, as he continually advocated that a greater autonomy was required for the colonies to develop to their full potential. The lives of colonists would improve through policies targeting their unique situations, but they would also become far more valuable holdings for the UDN, in return. According to his manifesto, it was time that colonists were seen on an equal footing to earthborn men and women, but this news was not well-received behind the closed doors of government. Media outlets quickly became swamped by the sheer number of death threats the man received for expressing his influential opinion.
In mid-2197, Jorge Cabello, governor of Ganymede, was murdered in his home in the moon's capital. The act was soon claimed by a colonial radical cell of terrorists. Jorge had been instrumental at tightening the hold the UDN had over its colonies, and had always been in direct opposition to Jason Brewer's attempts at moderation. This incident was what finally had everyone take notice of the gravity of the situation. No one could turn a blind eye to how high aggression and frustration had soured and the death of the governor played more than a small part in causing the issue to spin out of control.
Over the next four years, tensions continue to rise exponentially. While Jason Brewer and other activists are able to calm down most of the non-radicals, extremists simply label them as traitors and more than a few of the proponents for peaceful discourse are murdered or killed in terrorist attacks. While most of the violent acts come from colonists and are directed at any form of union military or law enforcement presence, there are numerous instances of travelers from Earth joining off-world Terra Suprema cells to further the agenda. With the increased violence comes a tremendously increased presence of security. Certain colonies come under the rules of a strict curfew and any protest or manifestation that runs the risk of becoming a bit too boisterous is immediately, and extremely harshly, cracked down on. Naturally, the Unions harsh response is fueled by the fear-mongering of extremists in their own midst, and does little to cool the fighting.
The final straw for many of the colonists, most notably those living in Jupiter space, came on March 2nd, 2200, when sir Jason Brewer was assassinated by pro-Terra activists during a live speech on Ganymede. The sudden death of a man who had been taking center stage for half a decade was shocking to the system as a whole. Without his charisma, notions of cooperation quickly began to disappear, and violence began to spring up across Jupiter's colonies in severe protest of the lack of reaction from the union. This latest string of riots forced the union's hand and a particularly brutal set of punishing raids were ordered, with the media outlets being strong-armed into silence. However, contrary to what the UDN had anticipated, a large number of colonial military commanders proclaimed they would no longer impede upon hard-won civil rights. Over the course of several months, over two dozen high-ranking military officers had been having private meetings on the matter of colonial independence. While their loyalty had not wavered enough to warrant the act at the time, they had prepared a plan to set into motion should the union's actions force their hands. With the unparalleled brutality being asked of them, the colony-born officers, who commanded fleets and armies of almost exclusively non-terrans, refused to move from their positions in orbit around the major colonies of Jupiter. Despite being threatened with court martial, they ignored any and all warnings and issued their own. While they discussed what to do about the soaring tensions, Jupiter space would be under their protection. Outraged, the UDN responded in the only way it deemed appropriate.
Early on in the war, despite a crushing victory over the initial UDN attack on Ganymede, it became very clear that the dissident fleet was going to be fighting defensively until they could force some kind of stalemate. After struggling to organize and coordinate at first, the greater experience with the limitations of the colonies of the dissidents when compared to the union admirals, gave them the advantage they needed to draw out the initial skirmishes. As soon as the fleet gathered its bearings, they began to outmaneuver union reinforcements at every turn. Using the media and InterPlaNet, dissidents were able to spark revolts on Mars, Ceres, Saturn and Uranus, with riots and uprisings on the first being particularly violent. However, local military forces remained largely in UDN hands, which meant the dissidents had no way of supporting their native allies. While the unrest on Mars lasted for roughly a year, it was ultimately quelled and left Jupiter isolated. The dissidents did not have the ships necessary to support Saturn and Uranus, but their own maneuvers consistently prevented the union from securing the distant planets, which is one of the major reasons why combat never reached beyond Jupiter space.
For three years of the First Independence War, a back-and-forth persisted between the two warring factions. Whenever the union would gain some ground in one region, they would be pushed back elsewhere. The UDN consistently underestimated the strength and skill of the officers leading the numerically inferior force, as well as the sizable, colonial funds supporting them. This caused the civil war to be dragged out far longer than was ever expected. However, near the end of the war, the dissidents were dealt several crippling defeats that pushed them back to Ganymede, where they held fast in a serious of heroic, defensive battles that have gone down in CIC legend. Losses on both sides, both material and monetary, had reached the breaking point and the union found itself forced to finally concede. After the Treaty of Ganymede was signed on August 6th, 2203, the First Independence War finally ended, with Jupiter and almost all of its satellites and colonies gaining their hard-fought independence.
Plans for what to do after the war had been under discussion among the dissident colonies ever since the start of the war, so it did not take long for them to capitalize on the newly granted independence. The Conglomerate of Independent Colonies, or CIC, was formed, with Ganymede taking the center stage as the conglomerate's capital. Immediately, the newly formed CIC began to consolidate its territory. It had gained sovereignty over nearly all of the colonies and installations in orbit around Jupiter, essentially gaining the gas giant and its plentiful resources for its own purposes. With the end of the First Independence War came a lot of lessons that were difficult to learn. However, it changed the face of warfare, society and the Solar System for centuries to come. The arm's race that started during the war would continue for decades longer, resulting in tremendous advances in nearly every scientific field, be it theoretical or applied.
Second Independence War
Over the course of the fifteen years following the end of the First Independence War, the CIC focused all of its efforts on securing its space and organizing the disparate colonies spread across its new territory. Local officials and former union governors were called to Ganymede for lengthy discussions. They had gained their independence, but now they needed to know what to do with it. No real consensus was reached by the end of the first months of the talks. While all had agreed that a form of government was required that granted each member of the conglomerate as much freedom in following their own path as practically possible, the measures deemed necessary to still ensure unity and cooperation were a topic of intense debate. Several officials even stepped down from their functions, leaving several members leaderless in the discussions. By this point, corporations had gained a vested interest in stabilizing the extremely lucrative Jupiter space. Many of the installations orbiting the gas giant, or dotting its moons, had been funded by these companies and, while some were now their own entity, they still owed their existence to the massive multinationals. As a result, the word of these economic giants held clout and through their political shows of force, the CIC began to take the form it would retain in decades to follow.
True to their more pacifistic nature, the CIC began pouring funds into repairing the extensive damage done to government and civic infrastructure, while also providing shelter and food for those left homeless. The military's focus was shifted away from protecting the interplanetary state as a whole, and was instead split into local defense forces stationed across the entirety of Jupiter space. Only in the early 2210s did the CIC bend itself over the options it had for a standing army, and a defensive fleet. Over the course of the following several years, with the colonies back up on their feet and the economic powerhouses of Jupiter's Galilean moons producing at full speed, the CIC was able to restructure its military into the Conglomerate Colonial Defense Force, or CCDF. While still lagging behind the recovered UDN, the CIC was now in a position to make its presence known in the Solar System and began to compete directly with the union. While frustrations had started to compound with the lack of progress, this sudden burst of activity was all the citizens of the young state needed to feel proud to belong to an entity so very different from the UDN.
Over the course of the next decade, the CIC did not stray from their decision to stay out of military and political affairs of its neighbors. Crippled by indecisiveness, they neither supported, nor condemned the rise to power of Corvinus Lars in 2220, as imperator of the then-unrecognized Triton Empire. CIC leaders were unsure what to make of Lars' intentions and eventually reached the decision that it was better to sit back and watch events unfold, than to actively partake in quelling the uprising. While recent years had seen a marked, positive increase in relations between the conglomerate and the union, these steps forward were quickly undone when the CIC made it clear that they did not trust the UDN enough to ally in a battle that would most likely be fought primarily around Jupiter.
Publicly, the CIC continued to condemn the violence unleashed by both sides of the conflict all throughout the first three years of the Second Independence War. They claimed that the union should have learned their lessons from the first civil war to have sparked within its territory, becoming more lacks with their restrictive, colonial policies. However, the Triton Empire was also targeted through diplomatic channels, as the CIC made it a point to never equate colonial freedom to simply being oppressed by a different governmental institute. Continued efforts to bring both sides to the table for peace talks met with failure and skirmishes between the two on the borders of CIC space were starting to cause casualties.
Moreover, the urgent plight of Mars and Ceres did spark a great deal of sympathy among colonists, as they all too vividly remembered what the ravages of war had done to their home when the fighting had been taking place over their heads. This resulting in the CIC finally giving into both pressure from the union, and pressure from its citizenry to take action against the villainized empire. In a move that wasn't wholly unexpected by Corvinus Lars, the CIC declared war and mobilized its rather inexperienced defense force to try and push the empire back to its moon.
The war effort was not kind for the CIC. For the remaining three years of the conflict, much of the fighting took place in orbit around Jupiter, with the Triton Empire showing little mercy. However, the UDN also stepped their military presence down significantly, effectively leaving the conglomerate to its fate and using it as somewhat of a buffer while they recovered from the string of crippling defeats they had been handed by imperial forces. While they did eventually rejoin the fray, the citizens of the conglomerate were less than pleased with their pragmatic decision to consolidate, rather than help an ally whose only reason for joining the war was to help the common union person in the street. By the end of the war, CIC casualties had soared tremendously, and much of the repairs that had been made after the First Independence War had been undone, leaving the conglomerate severely weakened and the main proponent for immediate peace talks.
When the Treaty of Titan was signed due to the collapsing economies of all three interplanetary states, the CIC turned to an even more isolationist approach. Once more only interacting with its rivals on an economical level, diplomatic channels were left largely closed, especially towards the brutal Triton Empire. While colonists were disheartened by having to start over once again, they would find strength in the fact that the CIC had managed to survive its first, major conflict, and the union that bound them together was stronger than ever.
Consolidation and Expansion
The years following IW2 were primarily a time of recovery for the CIC, more so than for its rivals. Much of its infrastructure had been destroyed in the heavy fighting, meaning it was fighting against time to get factories, production facilities and farms up and running again. Beyond mere rubble in the streets, there was also the tremendously gruesome issue of cleaning up bodies and either arranging for proper burials, or cremating the remains before diseases could spread. Local governors spared no expense in getting the works underway and exorbitant sums were being spent on getting the most shattered of colonies back up on their feet, before they would plummet below a point where they could be salvaged. Two colonies met such a fate, however, one during the war, and another which was condemned and, after having been evacuated and stripped, detonated and allowed to burn up in Jupiter's atmosphere. Harsh times were ahead and it took well over a decade before the situation began to stabilize.
While the CIC still did not have any intention of ever operating aggressively on any military level, they had also prioritized rebuilding their local, and joined defense forces. Naturally distrusting of both their neighbors now, they were sandwiched between two blocks that would still only need a minor spark to be at one another's throat yet again. Odds of one of them attempting to overtake the CIC and use it as a staging ground were considered very high and the CCDF was brought back up to full strength as quickly as possible to make the silent statement that the conglomerate would never fall easily. Seeing fleets fly the CIC flag high and extraordinarily effectively handling pirate and criminal elements in Jupiter space, was a major boon to morale that the conglomerate did not fail to capitalize on.
By 2256, the CIC had largely recovered from the punishment it had endured during IW2. Relations with the union had once again improved marginally, but especially colonies orbiting close to Mars, which had suffered the brunt of the first was of imperial attacks, retain a significant hatred for the UDN. They still consider them as backstabbers that had left them to their bloody fate. The focus of the CIC remains a healthy mix of internal and external. Ever-looking to expand, many projects are underway to capitalize on their slightly better position to colonize the Kuiper Belt than the UDN. They also suspect that the Triton Empire is going to attempt to linger closer to Neptune, rather than push its borders, meaning the conglomerate will have first pickings of the riches if they keep their momentum.
Politics
The Conglomerate of Independent Colonies is a confederate directorial republic which is governed by the bicameral institute of the Intercolonial Council and the Chamber of Law, the former of which is headed by a chairman. While there is no real, singular leader, the chairman is the face of the conglomerate in interplanetary affairs and does enjoy several rights that other members of the Council do not. The CIC perhaps has the most unique government among the states currently in existence in the Solar System. Every colony is granted as many independent rights and the options to govern themselves however they see fit, as is feasibly possible, without compromising unity and cooperation. While most responsibilities are delegated to the local rulers of a specific colony, the Intercolonial Council still drafts and passes any legislation that affects the conglomerate as a whole, or the interactions between them. Conglomerate interference is severely limited through a lengthy constitution riddled with definitions and exceptions that have been known to confound even the most talented of lawyers. Despite its complexity, most of the members of the Council have a vested interest of not acting against their own individuality, as they are more often than not the actual rulers of the colony they represent.
In contrast to the Intercolonial Council, the Chamber of Law is the executive and revisionary half of the whole, and tends to handle all matters related to the implementation of the laws passed by the upper house, as well as running feasibility checks. However, its power is severely limited due to these duties usually only being called upon after the fact, meaning any negative reviews no longer truly matter, for the bills have already been passed. While there are parts of conglomerate legislation that always need the Chamber's express approval to pass, such as any changes to the constitution, it is still largely considered a ceremonial institute.
Members of the Council are chosen by the colonies that are represented in it, which currently includes every member of the conglomerate. Almost always, this responsibility simply defaults to the local rulers of the colony. While in this function, that person is always referred to as a councilor, their actual titles can vary wildly due to the nature of the local governments of the colonies. Some colonies, such as Ganymede and Thebe, have a monarchy in place and labels their governor a king. The current chairman of the Council, Bertrand Barzam, is king of Ganymede, for example. Other possibilities include anything from a president to a prime minister, and a CEO to a religious title. While most colonies tend to have presidents or governors, examples exist of all of the above within the conglomerate.
Conglomerate politics are primarily defined by two elements: endless debate and corporate meddling. The CIC is known for being simultaneously magnanimous in allowing all opinions to be expressed evenly and never dismissed, while also suffering from the disadvantages that no mediator present at any discussion brings. On the truly difficult issues, the conglomerate has been known to get hung up very frequently and lacks the means to break the tie. Generally, this does not pose too much of a problem for its citizens, as affairs directly affecting them are handled by their respective governments, but in the face of any interplanetary issue, the CIC has been shown to be tremendously slow and ponderous. It is also no coincidence that the CIC's name incorporates the word 'conglomerate', as many of the its governors were former figureheads in powerful corporations, and very often retain these ties. Companies hold most of the real power within the CIC and either control their councilors, or are owned by them and thus are still subject to favoritism to make sure a healthy profit is made. The name was chosen, because multinationals were, and still are, seen as fierce proponents for colonial independence and respect for their activities was due. However, it is also commonly accepted that the motivations for corporate support were largely for monetary reasons as they can now, essentially, dictate their own laws.
Society
The CIC's society is a complicated beast. Just like most colonies in the Solar System, its territory was populated by an influx of people from all manner of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This amalgamation would have unpredictable effects on how the following generations would evolve. As seen with the Triton Empire, colonies tend to focus on elements they enjoy in particular, whether due to their unique situation, or some inspirational hype, and begin to incorporate those more deeply into their new traditions. The more Jupiter's colonists were alienated by the union, and eventually downright oppressed, the more they were started to reach for any way to express their individuality as not simply inferior offshoots of Earth, but people that stand on their own two feet. Especially the densely populated Galilean moons actively began resisting direct terran influences and trends, causing more and more local treads and idiosyncrasies to form. With Western European and Northern American cultures being the dominant driving forces behind the colonization exodus towards Jupiter, its satellites quickly became heavily influenced by older cultural aspects from those ethnicities.
Incredibly passionate about freedom of speech and free expression of ideas, conglomerate citizens will fight tooth and nail for their independence and rights to take their lives where they please. While restrictions are still placed on the most free of thinkers, the CIC generally allows their citizens to adhere to any religion they wish and almost no forms of public display of your life choices are shunned. Fear of having these rights revoked and returning to a time when the union decided how they lived and breathed is still alive and well among conglomerate citizens, to the point of creating a kind of paranoia towards anything that could be seen as a slippery slope. Councilors constantly have to walk across a sheet of the thinnest ice imaginable, as they try to soothe concerns of the local populace, while still progressing along the path of a society that promotes unity through diversity. Easier said than done, as plenty of arguably necessary laws and ideas have been shot down by more fervent proponents of the CIC's basic ideal.
Conglomerate citizens, in general, are extremely warm and welcoming people. If not in their expressions, intonation and countenance, than always at least through their actions. Polite respect is given to anyone who has proven to be capable of the same towards their fellow human beings. While tremendously social in nature, prying and rumor mongering are activities that are heavily frowned upon. Curious to a fault, they tend to seek out new things on a regular basis, as well as turning their entire routine upside-down simply to not fall into any kind of rut, which according to them promotes stagnation and a lack of personal progress. Generally, they are true "culture-philes" and will respond positively to just about anything vintage or "different" they can catch sight of.
Despite the welcoming surface, the CIC definitely has two darker sides to its society. Corruption is deeply ingrained in the higher echelons of its classes. Being primarily run by corporations or their owners, conglomerate interests as a whole often water down to the simple question of: will it make money? If it won't, chances are one will need to butter the other up with prizes and promises to get their way. Plenty of stereotypes of greedy CEOs or corrupt politicians, obsessed with keeping the status quo, exist in the common consciousness. It would be naive to claim they held no truth whatsoever. This greed also translates into a significant amount of rivalry, which includes the extensive use of mercenaries and private military forces to sometimes quite directly, and violently, end a competitors chance at viably opposing the other. Like with many things in outer space, however, lack of easily accessed proof often governmental institutes turn a blind eye to the battles.
The second darker side occurs when conglomerate radicals feel their rights are being repressed, and there are far more radical thinkers remaining within the conglomerate than one would expect, despite many years of freedom from the "tyrannical" UDN. These extremists have proven that they will stop at nothing to cause chaos and call attention to whatever point or defense they bring to the table. Rarely do the stories of these men and women have a happy ending, but they take a lot of other people, kicking and screaming, down with them.
Territory
Jupiter
- Main article: Jupiter
The enormous gas giant serves as the seat of power for the CIC. Having been considered a highly lucrative venture very early on during the colonization rush, corporations began to lay claim to swaths of space, moons and more the moment it became clear that the union wasn't going to be the sole entity investing in off-world installations and cities. The moment the Asteroid Belt had been safely mapped and explored by the union, the companies began the race for Jupiter and its resource-rich satellites. Since then, it has been a source of growth and an economical boon on the union, and subsequently the CIC once the UDN lost control over the giant.
Currently, Jupiter's region of space is littered with orbital colonies, outposts, research stations, checkpoints, lunar colonies and much more, it's position in between the core and outer union territories uniquely defining it as a hub of intense activity. With somewhat improved relations, more union traffic than before passes through CIC space, makings its lanes along Jupiter tremendously busy. This is only slated to increase with the growing importance of xenian, which has been discovered on several of Jupiter's massive array of moons.
Io
- Main article: Io
One of the Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, Io was one of the first of its satellites to be colonized by both corporations and the UDN. Possessing plenty of natural resources close to the surface, it would lend itself to less labor-intensive mining, which made it a prime target for constructing more administrative, research and housing infrastructure. As such, Io was soon being marketed to colonists as one of the finest destinations for young families looking to start a new life. This approach was more than successful and yielded a significant influx of colonists that was dwarfed only by that of Ganymede, solely due to the latter being UDN funded. Eager to want to establish some kind of outpost far from home, several religious groupings began moving important officials over to Io. Over many decades coalesced into Ascension, a unique blend of cultures and beliefs that makes up a significant part of downtown Danaë, which is Io's capital city.
Today, it remains one of the most densely populated and wealthy colonies in not only the CIC, but the Solar System as a whole, and maintains a reputation of being a wonderful and safe place to live.
Europa
- Main article: Europa
Home of the arts in the CIC, Europa was colonized rather quickly during the first rush to Jupiter, but when the yield of easy-to-access resources began to falter, corporations were quick to back out and leave the colony to its fate. After a decade of slipping into poverty, the UDN began to reinvest, hoping to transform the moon into an alternate destination for colonists, as Io had begun to suffer from crowding and over-population; the construction industry simply could not keep up with the local demands and preferred to see the focus spread across multiple locations and companies. With an influx of economical stimulus packages, the colony began to flourish. No one is quite certain how the arts became so prevalent across the moon, but slowly, the exotically colored moon became a veritable treasure trove of artwork of just about every discipline known to man. It's art colleges and conservatories are among the most prestigious in the entire Solar System and its gorgeous cities are laced with more statues than any other place with CIC space.
Today, Europa retains its status as one of the centers of the art world, despite having suffered tremendously during IW2 and not all of the damage having been repaired. Often forgotten, but not important, are also the expansive shipyards in orbit around the moon, as well as the expansive research campuses that dot the outskirts of most metropolises on Europa's surface.
Ganymede
- Main article: Ganymede
The massive moon that, if it was not subservient to Jupiter, would be a planet on its own, has always been the central hub of any and all activity in the region. It seemed that, from the very beginning of the colonization rush, Ganymede was destined to house influence and power. When the UDN first set its sights on the planet, it was intended to serve the dual role of containing various governmental buildings and official institutes, as well as house military and navel infrastructure. With the advantages of union subsidized companies and the experience of the UDN in colonization efforts, the moon was immediately put on the map and expanded tremendously over the decades since.
Despite several horrible battles in the space above it and in the city streets on its surface, Ganymede remains the shining jewel of the CIC. The perfect blend of what its other members have to offer, it sports an enormous population and is a veritable cash cow due to its wealth of industry, research laboratories and more. Furthermore, it also houses most the CCDF headquarters, conglomerate Assembly Halls and so on. While the conglomerate lacks a true capital, due to its fractured nature, Ganymede, and its capital city of Ariae, are considered to fill that role, and only bickering proponents of Europa or Callisto would ever claim otherwise.
The CCDF's elite first fleet is constantly in orbit over the moon, making it the only fully staffed, combat-worthy fleet during peace time, with any others split up and divided among the member colonies.
Callisto
- Main article: Callisto
The culture and folklore capital of the CIC, Callisto was the last of the four Galilean moons to be colonized. With its most fertile locations claimed by several entities at the same time, the contention set back any plans by nearly a decade, but eventually, works came underway. By the point, however, it was already being overshadowed by the industrial capabilities of its neighbors, meaning it needed a different identity. Instead of relying on local resources in the ground, Callisto instead began profiling itself as a veritable art city. Capitalizing on the impressively broad cultural base of its citizens, which was large even for a union colony, it began to erect museums, commission artists to come and be inspired and fill their streets with their work and organize massive festivals and markets that would sport foods, goods and trinkets of cultures from across Earth and, after decades of growth, the Solar System as a whole.
Today, Callisto remains one of the primary touristic attractions in the Solar System and the revenue that flows into the CIC from taxes and tolls levied during the festivals has made the moon a valuable prize to protect.
Economy
The CIC sports a very wealthy and tremendously stable economy. While it has created a very harsh corporate environment in the process, its free market has allowed for a lot of underdog companies to make a quick name for themselves. Many of the colonies are directly funded by corporations that wish to see investments returned to them tenfold. As a result, stimulation of local economies is a constant process and tourism is enhanced to make each and every colony marketable as holiday destination, whether an outright lie or not. Local products are exported en mass and sold as delicacies outside of Jupiter. Jupiter's colonies are also often the target of industrial centers moving their entire work floors over there to find better taxation circumstances and more freedom to do as they see fit. While wages for employees tend to be higher in the CIC, the localized government is better able to see to the specific needs and wants of an industry, whereas the union is too large to do anything but provide a broad spectrum.
The CIC economy showed its impressive resilience during and after both Independence Wars. During the first, the local corporations around Jupiter quickly threw their lot in with the dissident fleet, despite being well aware of the risks pertaining to being found out selling weapons to combatants who were, at the time, labelled as terrorists and illegitimate freedom fighters. Punishable in a whole variety of corporation-destroying ways, the risk paid off and by keeping the dissidents supplied of food, water, funds, materials and even weapons, they found a corporate paradise in the CIC that was founded at the end of the conflict. The Second Independence War saw less direct involvement by companies beyond those that are direct subsidiaries of the conglomerate itself. But, after the end of the war, the companies boosted their public image by offering drastically reduced rates for any sales that were necessary for the reconstruction and salvage effort of all the damage that had been sustained by imperial attacks on colonial holdings.
Simultaneously baffling and logical, the largest and wealthiest consumer company of all is an old corporation that specializes in the manufacturing of air scrub filters that can universally and very easily installed anywhere and by anyone. While exact figures of the company's net worth are sketchy at best. This is baffling for the simple reason that a single filter lasts a good amount of weeks, and doesn't cost all that much to produce or buy. For them to have the profit margin they do, their sales must logically be astronomical.
The CIC accepts the union's incred as the primary currency in matters pertaining to interplanetary trade and exchange, but also maintains a form of currency of its own: the colonial dollar, or C-dollar. Not as strong a coin as the incred, nor as stable at Triton's aureus, it is nonetheless a valuable asset that is known for its ubiquitous use in the business world, even in other states.
Military
- Main article: Conglomerate Colonial Defense Forces
The CIC's military, called the Conglomerate Colonial Defense Forces, or CCDF, is as unique an institute as the government that commands it. During peace times, the CCDF actually keeps only the bare minimum of vessels, machines and staff on rotation to do their essential duties. These are limited, primarily, to patrol and security of the few holdings around Jupiter that are owned directly by the CIC, and not by any one member of the conglomerate. Diminutive when compared to the giants of the UDN and Triton Empire, they are entirely geared towards operating within the confines of the CIC policies of isolationism and non-intrusive, economical competition. As such, there is no need for a sizable military presence that is both able to defend against and repel enemy invasions, as well as counterattack and take the fight into that foe's territory. True to its name, the Defense Forces are intended only to ward conglomerate interests and have been tailored to fit those needs and none other. Only the most experienced career soldiers are kept on staff at all times, with the bottom ranks of more fresh recruits preferred next, as they need to get combat experience, live or otherwise, as soon as possible. Several different institutes and schemes are in place to ensure work and aid for soldiers that are taken out of active duty and returned to civilian life.
However, if a conflict does spark that takes the CIC out of its status quo, the local military and security forces of each individual colony is pooled together using surprisingly efficient schemes and methods of reorganization that were first displayed during the Second Independence War. Merging all the resources on hand turns the CCDF into a formidable fighting force that is still heavily geared towards defensive strategies, but also has the numbers to back up any bark with a significant bite. The main problem with this method is that, while it does result in more localized costs and further decentralization, as well as drastically reduced costs for the CIC to pay out of their personal pockets for the upkeep of ships and troops, it also means there is a tremendous disparity in quality of troops. Some colonies allot a more significant budget to their military quota than others and while the CIC has certain bare minimums set up, these numbers are nowhere near restrictive enough to guarantee quality. While gear and technology is more or less identical across the board, training and experience varies more than wildly enough to make one fleet laughably poor in battle, while another can be an elite force capable of going toe-to-toe with the empire's finest. Aware of this issue, the CIC does keep close tabs on its members and constantly inspects training programs and recruitment drives to know how to organize its fleets to account for differences between lesser quality, nigh-militia and professional soldiers.
Since an aggressive war on worlds not their own is never considered an option for the CIC, the CCDF tends to feature a lot of patrol vessels, as well as highly maneuverable units that, while they cannot stray far from home, operate with excellent efficiency in known territory. The CIC has not missed the bus on the subject of MAs entirely, though is still lagging behind the union and Triton Empire in many respects. While the CCDF standing army has almost entirely been modernized and sports several MA models that are considered very powerful machines, the local colony defense forces very often still rely on regular tracked and wheeled vehicles to make up the bulk of the firepower in mechanized infantry platoons. Last, but certainly not least in the CIC's military lineup are a wealth of defensive installations, several of which sport weaponry and shield technology that is leagues ahead of its competitors in their respective fields. CIC surface-to-space cannons in particular are tremendously effective and the Triton Empire learned this the hard way during IW2. It is clear that the CIC puts a lot of stock in ground bases as the primary defensive line against any invasion, instead relying on swift fleets to outmaneuver enemies and cut off supply lines than engaging in any direct combat.
Science and technology
Science and technology in the conglomerate as a whole is regarded as one of the fundamental parts of growing as a society and interplanetary state. Almost every field of study is respected and especially chemistry, physics and biology are heavily endorsed by both the conglomerate and local governments. Countless projects are funded at all times to improve the standard of loving in outer space and finding solutions for the problems the CIC faces with regards to lack of space, hygiene and health. Colonization technique is leagues and bounds ahead of its rivals' and the CIC has kept many of those advances to themselves, not sharing them with corporations outside of the conglomerate. It is clear they intend to use those technological marvels to gain the upper hand in the race for the Kuiper Belt.
The CIC has also held a fascination for energy-based offensive and defensive measures ever since it became clear that, despite its well-developed industry, it could not sustain prolonged production of solid ammunition. Because of this, developments and advancements in the fields of laser weapons, variations thereof, electromagnetic fields, energy shields and more have been a constant in the CIC. Because they have yet to be fielded, both of its rivals remain unaware of some of the devastating systems that have been installed on CIC vessels and colonies, based on this technology, as a means of warding off invaders and prevent a repeat of IW2. However, advances have not been limited only to warfare as arguably the greatest achievement might be a new form of tightbeam communication that could revolutionize how information is spread across the Solar System, and the way the InterPlaNet is deployed.
Demographics
The Conglomerate of Independent Colonies' demographics are the second largest of the three interplanetary states. While numerically closer to the Triton Empire than the UDN, and despite the ravages of both Independence Wars taking their toll on the population, the conglomerate has been experiencing a significant boom ever since its founding. The ideals of freedom and experiencing life from each individual's point of view are extremely popular and a flow of immigrants from the union has never truly ceased. It is also very common for families to have three or more children on the larger colonies where space is far less of an issue than elsewhere. The large majority of citizens live on the four major moons of Jupiter, with a few orbital and deep space colonies also boasting an impressive number of inhabitants. The CIC is also home to the largest orbital colony in the Solar System, by far, in the form of Hyperion.
The population boom is not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Recruitment drives for colonists to head out towards the Kuiper Belt have caused the momentum to hold, as many see it as an opportunity to start with a clean slate and leave some of the bad memories of what has transpired around Jupiter in the past. Currently, the conglomerate has proven perfectly capable of providing its citizens with ample housing, education and other facilities. While poverty does exist in its smaller colonies, or the bigger cities on moons such as Ganymede and Europa, the government's efforts at narrowing the economically weak lowest levels of society and at least coming to a proper diamond-shape, instead of a pyramid, have met with significant success and there are a record number of people living above the contextual poverty line.
Languages
Jupiter had been the primary target of several corporations based in Canada, Scandinavia, Austria and Spain, which directly affected the more dominant languages spoken across the gas giant's colonies. Despite the fact that most citizens were influenced into speaking English for intercolonial and interplanetary affairs, much like what is the case with the Triton Empire, many colonies began to sport their own dominant mother tongue. This persisted well into the end of the colonization rush and Jupiter's citizens clung to their original languages more than other colonists. Nevertheless, unique dialects of known languages, usually contaminated by words from other spoken tongues, began to develop and in most places, one of these became the most widely used, by far. Once it was adopted by the ruling classes of a given colony, it was considered to be the official language and English took a backseat in most internal affairs. The UDN could do little to stifle this development, as the people of Jupiter were far more resistant to the union's rather oppressive tactics and propaganda than those of Mars, Uranus or Saturn, for example.
Today, each member of the conglomerate teaches its children a total of three languages, as a bare minimum. The native, dominant tongue is taught to allow for comfortable communication within the "privacy" of the colony in question, such as Ganymede predominantly sporting an offshoot of Spanish and Io favoring Canadian French. English is also taught, to allow communication between colonies and states to proceed smoothly and with as few complications as possible. Finally, one other conglomerate language is taught to improve camaraderie and respect for one another. Which language specifically is different for every generation, resulting in a significant variation and a need for either multi-lingual teachers, or every grade to have a teacher of their own. This policy has given CIC citizens the reputation of being language buffs.
Education
Education in the CIC is as disparate as everything else. It is commonly delegated as a responsibility of every colony itself, except for those who do not have sufficient centralized government to be able to handle the tasks on their own. While the specifics are determined by every government themselves, the conglomerate does enforce a whole slew of conditions that educational programs must meet. Many of these are intended to prevent instilling a sense of aggressive nationalism which has always been an issue with very fervent and devout citizens of the CIC. The last thing the conglomerate needs is for hate speech to turn a generation of colonists into terrorists out for union and imperial blood for slights during the war. An eye-for-an-eye is a mentality most conglomerate citizens refuse to follow. Another condition students leaving their primary education behind them is that they should be fluent in the three languages set as goals for their particular colony. While the tests involved in this are not particularly rigorous, they will send anyone found to be inadequate to mandatory evening classes to improve where necessary.
Theoretical and life sciences are held in high regard in the CIC, with students being constantly pushed into pursuing careers in those fields, for better or worse. As a result, there is an oversaturation of those experts in many fields, resulting in ever-increasing unemployment, or graduates going through life with degrees that have essentially brought them no added value. Nevertheless, this tendency is in no small part responsible for the scientific advances that the CIC is making in a lot of disparate fields, and the fact that their students are known for their ability to think creatively and outside of the box.
Studies up to the age of 18 are generally paid by the government, with taxation and subsidies lowering the costs of going to university or college to affordable levels for all. An abundance of place on the campuses of the CIC's most famous universities and centers of learning also allow them to take on just about every student that wants to commit time to the classes, whether truthfully or otherwise. This is a boast few others can match in this day and age.
Religion
Religion is one of the aspects of human nature that has seen the most change over the course of the two centuries since mankind began exploring the Solar System in earnest. While many people still believe, religious experiences have become a very personal, private endeavor, something organized religion does not really fall in line with anymore. Among conglomerate members, this was the same during the reign of the UDN. However, since becoming ever more individualistic under the independent governance of the CIC some colonies have started experiencing a resurgence of interest in forming religious communities. Io, in particular has proven to be more receptive of a conservative, community-driven way of experiencing religion. It has slowly turned into one of the few places in the Solar System beyond Mars where official institutions such as the Christian Church hold sway, and each of them pours as many resources into the planet as they can spare.
Religions particular popularity in the CIC are primarily modernized forms of druidism, naturalism and Buddhism, due to the disconnect many people feel they have with nature due to living in an almost entirely synthetic environment. Many people have found that meditation in the presence of a lot of nature and generated sounds of wildlife help center them in ways they cannot experience anywhere else. It has become an intricate sociological field of study to figure out what causes this effect, but it is clear that the long-term consequences of living in outer space have not all shown themselves yet. In waiting for the answers to come, people draw comfort and hope from old belief systems that were expected to have long died out by now.
Health
The CIC population's general quality of life and health is difficult to gauge. Numbers would indicate it to be quite high, but there are plenty of colonies that are struggling to find proper care and available hospital beds. This is in no small part due to the decentralization of government. While the colonies that are wealthy enjoy medical facilities rivaling those commonly employed by the UDN, there are others where such care is either non-existent or only for the very highest echelons of society. The Intercolonial Council has attempted to standardize the provisions across all members, but most of the attempts have met with resistance from certain colonies that feel they are being targeted. Whenever individual rights are in danger of being violated, alarms start ringing across the CIC and it becomes tremendously easy to bog discussions and bills down in endless debate. As such, healthcare very much remains a local issue, just like some governors would prefer it to be.
For many years, the greatest health concern to Jupiter's citizens were specific strands of well known illnesses, such as the flu, that tended to run rampant on the cramped, tight spaces of orbital colonies. With primitive technology and inadequate containment measures plaguing early expansion, epidemics tended to spread even faster than projections could predict and the first victims of essentially harmless diseases, at least for their age groups, started to reappear, many decades after the illness was last seen as a true threat. The CIC still continues to struggle with highly infectious diseases, more so than union or Triton colonies. In the case of the former, older colonies were either mere research stations or have long since been completely refurbished to accommodate the latest in technology. The latter never had the same problems as the colonies orbiting Neptune had been made many years after the technology become more streamlined and socially aware. Jupiter was caught in the transition and both Independence Wars did not enable the government to truly handle the issue properly. Even today, there is little progress and outbreaks are common on poorer colonies, with sometimes deadly consequences.
Culture
The CIC, much like the other interplanetary states, is an amalgamation of various cultures that moved to inhabit its colonies during the colonization rush from Earth. Mostly Western cultures had embarked for the distant opportunity and Jupiter was also one of the first to be targeted primarily by corporations, instead of UDN-funded projects. This is in no small part responsible for the corporate culture that permeates the CIC, but unlike the extreme capitalism of the UDN, it has evolved down a very different path. CIC culture is primarily defined by a love for the contemporary. Ever-looking forward, its people respond very well to changes in their lives and they tend to dislike getting bodged down in the same routine every week of every month. As a result, there are many "traditions" celebrated across the conglomerate that actually do not have a specific appearance, interpretation or a list of elements that need to be checked in order for the event to be considered a success. This translates to entertainment as well, were the popular programming of the day changes constantly and it is often hard for foreigners to keep up with the changing trends. The dominant cultures remain Western, despite a great deal of immigrants from other colonies and hemispheres flooding to Jupiter. While CIC citizens are extraordinarily welcoming of ideas and values that are not identical to their own, they do not often change the views they share with their own making them simultaneously multi-culturally progressive, and set in their ways.
The value of art in CIC culture varies wildly depending on where you go within the conglomerate. The colonies of Europa and Callisto are generally regarding as staple realms of the art world, where both classical and new disciplines find an intricate home. However, the stricter nature of Ganymede has its citizens far less receptive to lofty art forms and only classical, commonly accepted art tend to hold water there. As is always the case, the rich and wealthy enjoy showing off their cultural knowledge, but they tend to be far less blatant or snobbish about it than their union and, most definitely, imperial counterparts. They focus more on the price tag that was attached to a specific piece than whether or not they can make themselves sound insightful or intelligent with their interpretation of it. Especially sculpting in all of its various forms is extremely popular in the CIC and statues of all manner of public figures, both big and small, litter the major and even minor cities. The presence of statues gives even their modern buildings and skyscrapers a very conservative, almost classical edge that is unique to CIC dominion.
Folklore is a very personal experience in the CIC, as individuals tend to be exposed to all manner of cultural backgrounds, none of whom are shunned or ignored. While certain holidays have been ingrained into the lives of CIC citizens due to a large majority having come from Western Europe and North America, people tend to mix and match whatever interests them or piques their curiosity. Conglomerate local festivities are often seen as fickle and lacking substance, more an excuse to experience a cultural bath rather than truly connect with the reasoning behind a story, tradition or expressive festival.
Sports are not the dominant form of entertainment in the CIC, but to claim it is absent from the lives of its citizens would be quite incorrect. Having taken a backseat to other pass times, both social and otherwise, sports consisting of small teams or cooperative activities against an automated opponent are still greatly enjoyed. Sports that involve some form of rehearsal, or is able to incorporate a popular field of art are extremely popular. These include figure skating, interpretive dance and swimming, among many others.
See also
- Solar System for general information on the Solar System
- Society for general information on society on Earth, colonies and in deep space
- Technology for an overview of the various technological advances
