# Lore: Tri-Star Compact

## Overview:
The Tri-Star Compact is a Technocratic Democracy situated trailward from humanity's cradle of Sol. A member of the Orion Confederation, they are politically relevant due to their pioneering humanity's development of Vatborn and Biosynthetic technologies.

## History:
At the turn of the twenty-second century humanity was still recovering from the Third World War. This time of strife and upheaval led to a variety of ideological movements, one of which was a grassroots movement formed from disillusioned intellectuals, technocrats, and former members of humanity's military-industrial complex.

This group called for extrasolar colonization; "Our future is not within humanity's cradle. We must seek the stars, where we can find progress."

These dreams became possible when humanity made first-contact with the Vikara Combine in 2138. The revelation of advanced technologies and the subsequent trade between the two species opened up the possibility of Faster-Than-Light travel. The extrasolar colonization movement were some of the biggest collaborators with the Vikara, and through fostering deeper relations were granted the technology they desperately needed.

This was ratified in the trades agreement of 2141. Empowered from their crucial role, the movement acquired the funding and political power needed to develop their FTL colonization programme. By 2145, prospective colonists were boarding the ships that would take them to their new home.

The planet chosen for colonization was an earth-like world that would become known as Singheim, notable for its singular supercontinent and vast archipellago range. The difficulties of colonizing a new world were many; unknown pathogens, alien flora and fauna, and countless other dangers threatened the colony's success from the start.

Reluctant to rely on Sol to support their efforts, the colonists instead turned to the technology they had access to thanks to their warm diplomatic relation with the Vikarans, alongside the growing private human enterprises that would go on to form the future's Trans-Stellar Corporations and Orion Confederation member states.

Autonomous technology was leveraged heavily to aid what the colonists saw as human frailty. At first this came in the form of drones and rudimentary Artificial Intelligence, which accelerated their infrastructural and technological developments. However, basic human needs were still not being met, birth rates and life expectancy suffered.

The nascent government of Singheim struggled to address this issue, turning instead toward more experimental measures to fulfil the colony's shared ambitions. Their solution came with a moral cost: Artificial Life.

At first, this came in the form of Vatborns. People developed within artificial vats was an advanced and surprisingly affordable alternative to natural processes. Genetic modification was also much easier to do on this population, allowing for the colonies to produce hardier people more capable of withstanding the rigors of settling an alien world.

However, the Vikaran combine had been reluctant to trade this kind of technology with humanity. These first Vatborns, a result of reverse-engineering and Singheim's own R&D suffered from short life expectancy and defects. Trading this technological development with the rest of humanity allowed for much-needed revenue to keep Singheim afloat while they trialed even more daring solutions.

The first Biosynthetic was produced shortly after.

By 2173, the colonies of Singheim were consolidated into the **Tri-Star Compact.** By this point, merely decades after their first-landing, Biosynthetics had begun to outnumber the human population.

A period of stability followed, where the Compact continued to expand both on Singheim and beyond their new homeworld. Technological fields flourished, particularly in the fields of AI, Robotics, and Artificial Life.

However, this new government had become increasingly distinct culturally from the rest of human space, and the Compact's people were galvanized in a competition to outpace the other human colonies that had followed in their footsteps. This competitive nature was tested during the War of 2195, where pirates, raiders, and other non-state actors unleashed a swathe of attacks across human space.

While the Compact were relatively unscathed from this war, the reality of military threats forced them to sign the initial Orion Accords in 2198. Despite this, their sense of alienation with the rest of human space would only grow.

The next couple centuries saw the unique culture of the Compact cement itself. Biosynthetic and genemodded citizens became the dominant demographic, and AI and digital government took an ever-increasing role. This period saw the creation of the **Noospheric Archival System,** or **NASYS,** a proprietary information network designed to connect all citizens in Compact space, all of which linked to a national AI named **Sovereign.**

By the late 2200s, Tri-Star had become an estranged founding member of the Orion Confederation, and was the only polity to refuse the confederation's addendums to the Orion Accords. Due to their military influence and remaining commitment to the OriCon JSDF, they remained a technical member but became isolated in terms of economy and diplomacy.

This period of isolation lasted until 2495, where the Tri-Star Compact was pressured into signing the Orion Accords due to internal economic factors and the strong urge from the AI system Sovereign, marking the moment that the Compact rejoined civilized space.

With the borders open and free trade agreements signed, the Compact's own version of Biosynthetics began to proliferate throughout galactic space, where they can now be found commonly in the modern day.

## Modern Day
While the Tri-Star Compact ended its isolationism officially, it took many decades for freedom of movement to become common-place for the citizens of the Compact, and equally as long to open up trade with Megacorporations. Previously, they had only participated in the military aspects of Confederation membership including weapon standardizations. This meant that the Compact's technology filtered into the galactic community at a notably slow pace. Some see them as strange and insular even in the mid 2500s.

The Compact holds strict control over the systems it lays claim to, the most notable being the Traxis system where Singheim is located. Other important planets include Luren, one of its most important industrial worlds.

An ordinary citizen's quality of life drastically changes depending on where they live within the Compact. Despite this, the Compact does maintain an extensive social security program.

For someone living within the core worlds, they can expect to have access to some of the most advanced medical and recreational services in colonized space, thanks to the high level of development on Singheim and other population systems nearby. Most industries here have become mostly service-based or are otherwise in highly specialized technical fields. It is often for a citizen from Singheim or nearby to have a high level of education.

On the other hand, life inevitably becomes more austere as one travels further from the TSC’s core systems. These planets tend to be recently colonized or have predominantly industrial settlements, leading to poorer access to amenities. Food out in these systems are often derived from nutrient pastes and derivatives. It is common for Biotic and Biosynthetic settlers to save up their funds to bulk-buy various commodities when the next colony shipment arrives, which can range from non-artificial foodstuff, to the ever-popular Tri-Star animation series, or more practical luxury goods like a Noospheric Interface to help them manage their daily lives.

All people under the TSC are subject to a great deal of surveillance; after all, their national network is directly linked into the AI Sovereign, which monitors and collates their personal data and utilizes it to better assist the individual in their daily life. This kind of surveillance is at odds with most of civilized space, yet it is embraced by the citizenry who view Sovereign’s benefits and the security it provides as outweighing the concept of privacy violation. This has led to individuals being quite open with one-another alongside a greater tolerance and acceptance of societal deviation, so long as those within society do not attempt to damage this status quo.

## Government Structure
The Compact government, while generally democratic, has strong authoritarian tones due to its Technocratic nature. It gives the impression of inflexibility and deeply ingrained institutions compared to other democratic counterparts.

Its advanced AI system, Sovereign, is an important body of the government. Based on the Noospheric Archival System it monitors and maintains, it manages the country's mixed-market economy, acts as a tie-breaker during judicial deadlock, and is an advisor to all bodies of the government.

The TSC is led by the Secretariat, a supposedly meritocratic executive with each respective Secretary having responsibility in a certain field. The most important positions are the Secretaries of War, Economy, Foreign and Internal affairs. The Secretariat is headed by the Emissary, a unique Biosynthetic created by who acts as the head of state. Great power is invested into this individual which is enshrined within the TSC’s constitution.

The Sovereign, its Emissary, and the Secretariat are located within a centralized government Arcology on Singheim, which also houses the vast server banks needed for its technocratic system, and serves as their seat of power.

The government has a secondary political body; the Senate. This body hosts democratically elected officials chosen to represent the people of the TSC. Their responsibility is to represent the concerns and views of the public. As such, their approval is required for 60% of the government budget, allowing them to pressure the Secretariat if necessary, while giving the government the flexibility to function even during legislative deadlock.

The third check and balance is the Tribunal; the nation’s courts. Appointed by the Judicial Selection Committee from those eligible, they act as an additional check-and-balance to the Secretariat and Senate. A Tribune’s duty is to uphold the constitution and the rule of law and ensure that justice is meted out fairly and proportionately. There are multiple levels of court, from the Prefectural level to the National level. The Cardinal Tribunal Act as the highest-ranking members of the court, and are responsible for arbitrating the most serious of matters. As the name suggests, they represent the cardinal directions of the compass, including the ordinal directions counting to eight in total. When there is a tie, the AI Sovereign acts as the tiebreaker and ninth seat.

## Military
The military forces of the Tri-Star Compact have their origins in the tradition of the Eastern Bloc militaries, organized under the banner of the Tri-Star Armed Forces (TSAF). The Tri-Star Compact Navy (TSCN) handles all issues of defense that exist outside the gravity of planetary bodies while the Tri-Star Territorial Defense Force (TSTDF) is responsible for the defense of Compact worlds and their environs. The TSCN operates on a mobile defense doctrine of small frigate and destroyer squadrons, with limited power projection capabilities based on a small number of core battlegroups that patrol and operate within their borders.

On the ground, they heavily favor heavy infantry, based around mechanized and armored formations that tend towards the heavy side in terms of firepower, if somewhat lacking in supporting elements such as artillery or integrated aviation. What they excel in however is in command and control and electronic warfare, coordinating the actions of disparate elements widely separated in the field, while maintaining their communication and data-link security.

The internal security and intelligence apparatus of the Tri Star Compact is known broadly as “The Watch”, though the actual name of this organization is not known at this time.

## Ethos
Given their origins alongside their refusal to participate in the greater Orion Accords put into place in 2352, they are considered insular to the rest of the galactic community. A firm belief in self-reliance, unity of action, and a strong national identity is pervasive within the area of space the TSC claims and administrates.

## Notable Stances Towards Corporations
Because of their Mixed-Market economy, the Tri-Star Compact has strict ordinances regarding the operation of Mega-Corporate enterprises within its own economy; as such it is markedly common for corporations who wish to do business in its lucrative territory to create an approved subsidiary that operates within its borders; goods and services solely from within the Orion Confederation flow freely due to a standing free-trade agreement.

The Tri-Star Compact otherwise deals directly with Megacorporations and other political entities through the Central Trading Bureau, where it offers its unique commodities and services to interested and relatively reputable buyers, including work contracts for their prided Biosynthetics.

## Relations With Other Factions