# The Confederated League of Independent Planets

The Confederated League of Independent Planets, also know as the Confederated League or simply CLIP, is a supranational confederation of planets located in the Frontier. The League is the largest state in the Frontier, only rivaled by the New Gorlex Republic. They are an ally of the Pan-Gezenan Federation, and frequently hire Inteq Risk Management Group mercenaries to supplement their military. They are the primary target of the New Frontiersmen.

In the 300s, the United Republics of Free Zohil established the Zohilian Outer Frontier (ZOF), made up of various Frontier planetary colonies. During a period of political instability, most of the military defending the ZOF withdrew from the colonies in anticipation of a brutal civil war in the United Republic Core. Some forces within the colonies disobeyed return orders, declared themselves the New Zohil First Fleet, allied with the local colonial militias, and moved to confront the newly-established Zohil Explorat for control of the ZOF. In the aftermath of the vicious Explorat-Militia War, a very close victory for New Zohil, pirates advanced and wrecked havok on the exhausted colonial forces, amongst them the Old Frontiersmen. A total defeat at the hands of the pirates was narrowly avoided after militiamen from Luna-Town salvaged equipment in the UNSV Lichtenstein. This abandoned vessel had been sent and then lost by post-NOF governments attempting to travel across Earth’s bluespace cloud, and would help establish the Minuteman title after the Luna-town militia destroyed two fleeing pirate cruisers in roughly one minute. After ten more years of grueling war, the victorious colonies of the Frontiersman War went on to establish the modern day Confederated League.

There are roughly 2 billion citizens of CLIP in 50 to 100 member planets, including Luna-Town, Lanchester City, Clover, Serene, Ryuunosuke, Radinska, and Star City. Luna-Town and Lanchester are the most populous, with about 500 million inhabitants apiece.

## Playing a member of this faction
One citizen of CLIP will be completely different from another planet's citizens, so when making a character you should look into the following member planets and check out their specific sections:

* Luna-Town, the semi-tropical capital of the League, where her citizens lead an intense night life and tend to view themselves as role models for the rest of the League (despite being quite ignorant of other members' problems).
* Lanchester City, the no-nonsense industrial core of CLIP run by a socialist(?) single party system, neighbor of Luna-Town
* Serene, a polar planet characterized for their residents' love for the outdoors, hunting, and sport shooting
* Ryuunosuke, the tropical capital of a smaller, less-loyal confederation within CLIP
* Radinska, a terraformed lava planet a bit behind on development that inherited a large Kalixcian population and their culture
* Star City, a desert planet that is a very popular tourist destination for their casinos and games. Notably struggles with organized crime. bad property prices
* Clover, an ex-Nanotrasen corporatocracy and founders of Clover Photonics, where citizens are shareholders with a work-hard-play-hard attitude, casual company culture, and a semi-friendly rivalry with Lanchester's sour outlook on work and leisure

...but you can also headcanon your own CLIP planet, if you wish! There's plenty of space to make your own for your blorbo's lore if it isn't too out of place tonally or lore-wise (e.g. CLIP planet that is just Space Russia or Space USA, or a planet bigger than Luna-town or Lanchester).

If you're playing as a member of a division, you are expected to behave professionally, and it's in your best interest to support the local efforts of independent and League colonists or workers to create a better frontier.

### Playing a Minuteman
As member of the League's armed forces, you should naturally expect military roleplay, but the C-MM's regulations are far more lax than other militaries.

* When on-duty, you must wear your combat fatigues and keep it recognizable at a glance at all times. If your hair fits in your helmet or your cap, and your fatigues are clearly blue, it's fair game.
* You can wear the service uniform if you aren't fighting or working. This is also the equivalent of your dress uniform to wear in ceremonies.
* In formal occasions, you must greet both superiors and subordinates by position ("At ease, Minuteman Alice", "Good morning, Sergeant Beatrice", "Evening, Captain Charles").
* Saluting is not necessary (particularly if you're not in uniform), but it is a sign of respect.
* You do not have a set rank - instead, your character may fall into a Rank Group, which determines what positions they can be in.
* Be reasonable. A character that studied to be an engineer won't qualify to be a medic despite being in the same rank group!

| Rank Group | Usual Human Age | Description |
| -------- | -------- | -------- |
| Cadet | 18-24 | Cadets are Minutemen in training. Examples of cadets include trainee medics and engineers, or junior minutemen in the field. |
| Enlisted | 20-30 | Enlisted are the bread and butter of the League. Soldiers, medics, engineers, artillerymen, armorers, vehicle crewmen... |
| Senior Enlisted | 30-40 | Senior enlisted are the first group to hold any authority, but only in their respective occupations, and are entrusted with teaching newer minutemen. Team leaders, instructors, advisors... |
| Junior Officer | 20-50 | Junior officers hold special, but not always critical roles. Radio operators, bridge officers, helmsmen, surgeons... |
| Senior Officer | 50-60 | Senior officers are trusted with giving overall direction to the Minutemen. Ship captains, fleet admirals... |

## Structure

The government of the Confederated League is led by a Prime Minister(?) and an unicameral (one chamber) legislature that represents member planets. Member planets designate a representative depending on their population, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10 representatives. There is an overall maximum of 600 seats in the assembly.

The league’s constitution outlines the federal government’s primary powers as:

- the power to create, manage and draft for a standing army,
- to regulate interplanetary trade and conduct inspections of cargo,
- to negotiate with foreign powers on behalf of the entire league,
- to operate disaster relief and other emergency response measures, with federal funding to do so,
- to levy taxes on international trade,
- to internally develop novel technologies, including pharmaceuticals and military equipment,
- to offer funding to member states for infrastructure, agricultural (etc) development, with material support for doing so

New planets are encouraged to join with the promise of protection, development aid, and extensive autonomy to each member planet in exchange for abiding by CLIP-GOLD’s trade regulations and taxation by the federal government.

Parties in the League include the ACLF (labor), liberal-democrat, militarist, and libertarian parties. As a result of the cold war between Zohil and Gezena and the ever-increasing Frontiersman threat, the current ruling prime minister is from a militarist-liberal coalition.

Federal-level CLIP laws are generally (and inevitably) lax, and may differ in specific League territories. Legal requirements for practicing medicine and operating spacecraft are minimal and easy to forge, only the most dangerous of narcotics and pharmaceuticals are regulated, and possession of firearms does not require a license at all. Dueling is permitted, but not to the death. In terms of criminal punishment, CLIP favors asset seizure and fines over imprisonment. Federal law enforcement may only search and seize assets with a warrant. Capital punishment, while legal, is very rare.

The federal government structures itself into divisions, ensuring a separation of powers and responsibilities between each division.

### League Minutemen (CLIP-MM)

The League Minutemen, or the Confederated Minutemen, are the professional, volunteer armed forces of the Confederated League, nicknamed Blueberries for their distinct primary blue color. They are a more modest force compared to the PGF or SolCon’s militaries, and primarily concern themselves with guarding the League’s member planets and their resources. With a long and bloody history of fighting for their land, they are experienced defenders, especially with the home advantage. Aside from their defense duties, Minutemen provide aid to member/independent colonies who face disaster and community benefits to members, such as healthcare or retirement pay. Minutemen in general, unless military police or in an emergency, are not a law enforcement body.

The requirements for joining the League Minutemen are committment to a minimum service period of at least three years, citizenship in a member planet, and basic education. Basic training is done over the course of three months, teaching the history of the League and the Minutemen, regulations and duties in service, and practical courses in the latter months, such as firearm or EVA training. Following basic training, cadet minutemen are assigned a senior enlistee to train for a specific position. Once determined to be up to par, a cadet minuteman is promoted from a cadet to a regular minuteman. Officer cadet minutemen go through much of the same process, with the exception of an additional period in the Luna-Town officer academy, and their promotion into a junior officer instead of a regular minuteman.

Hierarchy in the League Minutemen is divided into Cadets, Enlisted, Senior Enlisted, Junior Officers, and Senior Officers. Cadets are any Minutemen training to be in an officer or an enlisted position. Enlisted is a catch-all group for everyone without authority, such as soldiers, cooks, or naval workers. Senior Enlisted, arguably the backbone of all militaries, are Minutemen in leading positions that are not officers, like technical advisors, or unit sergeants. Junior officers are Minutemen who hold a commission but fall into less important roles while they learn how to be an officer, such as bridge or supply officers. Senior officers describe officers who are entrusted with important functions, like ship captains or fleet admirals. Officers are both raised directly from the officer academy and from experienced senior enlistees (who are often encouraged to do so).

League Minutemen may possess the elements of, but do not officially distinguish between a navy, an air force, an army, etc; there can be Naval Minutemen, but not a Minuteman Navy. Military units in the Minutemen are organized into chalks, which are sorted into wings and ultimately into system fleets. For example, the Maxin fleet would be composed of the Luna-town and Lanchester wings, each chalk equivalent to a ship's full crew or elements like a ground team or command team. Minutemen in fleets are trained to fight in EVA and planetary settings with their respective chalks and, when possible, together with other wings.

The Minutemen, apart from their professional forces, maintain a reserve force and planet defense militias.

#### Minuteman Reserves

The reserves offer many of the benefits of joining the Minutemen without requiring reservists to actively be in uniform. Reservists are attached to either a planet wing or a defense militia, and are required to attend drills on the last weekend of a month. Recent incursions by the New Frontiersmen have seen a growing number of Reservists transferred to active duty on ships patrolling further afield of CLIP territory.

#### Planet Defense Militias

Planet defense militias occupy a middle-ground between the calmer reserves and the professional enlisted as the guards of each planet.

Members of planetary militias are civilians called to duty in usually three to five month periods of the year. During their service, they are paid and treated the same as their enlisted counterparts. Planetary militias are armed and funded by their local government, and depending on their planet’s policy, may receive exotic or outdated equipment, menial work, and, when times are harsh, be levied by the federal government in emergencies as regular forces. As a result of their nature as a defensive unit rather than a permanent combat force, they are well suited to deterring attackers, slowing down sieges, and upholding martial law, but may not hold their own in the offensive, especially in EVA settings.

Men and women in the militia nowadays do not see much action, but occupied a much more important role in the Frontiersman war. Originally created as a civilian defense force, planetary militias later acted as the first (and sometimes last) line of defense for a colony, despite frequently being plagued with lackluster training and minimal equipment.

Aesthetics of the Minutemen follow themes of mid to late 20th century armies and especially foreign legions, such as the commonwealth forces (notably the Australian slouch hats) or the French foreign legion. There is also some minor early 20th century inspiration.

### Biohazard Assessment and Removal Division (CLIP-BARD)

In FS 434, following an intense earthquake and the appearance of Xenofauna in Ryuunosuke, the Unknown Threats Division was created in response to a poorly-managed combat operation by the Minutemen, rechristening itself as the Biohazard Assessment and Removal Division shortly afterwards.

While initially dedicated to the research and destruction of Xenofauna, BARD has ever since been dedicated to coordinating the government's responses against national emergencies and protecting the health of the general public, especially against infectious diseases.

BARD is a mix of the FEMA/CDC with a degree of military authority.

### Federal Enforcement Division (CLIP-FED)

FED is the federal law enforcement agency of the League. Their jurisdiction is on prevention and investigation of federal and interplanetary crimes, and may submit demands to local authorities when deemed relevant, but is not allowed to intervene otherwise.

FED is CLIP’s equivalent to agencies like the FBI or the postal inspection service.

#### The Galactic Optimum Labor Directorate (CLIP-FED-GOLD)

A directorate formed during the stint of the Unknown Threats Division, the Galactic Optimum Labor Directorate is a regulatory body designed to ensure colonial autarky (economic self-sufficency), as well as ensure funding for CLIP's governmental bodies. GOLD's role in the League covers law enforcement, border control and tax collection. Almost every planet in CLIP space has a GOLD office on it.

GOLD additionally conducts intelligence operations under the noses of the population, as the general population is still quite wary of Zohil black ops, but are generally terrible at it.

### Legal Oversight and Regulation Division (CLIP-LORD)

The civil and legal regulatory organ of the Confederated League. Their line of work ranges from covering rights and responsibilities of citizens to elaboration of conventions and settling land or ownership disputes between colonies. They are not law enforcement - they have their marshal service for that - they only handle judicial matters.

#### LORD Marshal Service (CLIP-LORD-MARS)

The federal law enforcement organ of LORD, responsible for catching fugitives, protecting courthouses, and guarding important government members. Marshals work with secretaries and bookkeepers, and answer to a group of marshal commanders, who themselves answer to the leading chief marshal.

Inspired on the US Marshal service.

### Legislative Agricultural Notation Division (CLIP-LAND)

After the conflict with the Frontiersmen pirate fleet, a commission was formed in order to coordinate colony development, including the pivotal agricultural sector. Eventually, this commission formed into LAND, which branched out its work into colony infrastructure and social welfare.

LAND is a mix of urban development, transportation, agriculture, and interior departments.

### Materiel Engineering and Leasing Division (CLIP-MELD)

The origin of MELD lies within the factories of Lanchester City, which manufactured much of the military hardware in use by CLIP in the modern day. Their job is to ensure that the League has the material they need, along with standardized designs and sustainable workplaces. They are often found assisting other divisions with engineering aid.

MELD is similar to a department of commerce and labor.

### Drug Evaluation and Enhancement Division (CLIP-DEED)

DEED's focus lies on the research, development and creation of medicine, though shares common ground with the healthcare sector in the Confederated League.

## Culture

Although certain cultural phenomena are known universally across the Confederated League, as a result of the many, many cultural elements exclusive to each, there is no definitive culture in CLIP.

The League has a considerable military history, and the highest civilian-to-military ratio of any nation.

- **RZNET**: An early Zohil-era communications network intended for rapid communication between military units stationed on the frontier. Following the URFZ's retreat, access was opened to the public to rapidly transmit defensive plans and updates to civilians, but developed in parallel its own culture and united the early New Zohil. Several posts have gained notoriety due their unusual nature coinciding with historical moments, including the infamous 'jumpdrive cables' post. RZNET was shut down in FS 423 after security flaws came to light, particularly its very poor moderation tools, its outdated protocols compared to recently developed planetary internet. Many today still shun the decision and regard it a major factor in CLIP's poor cultural meshing, as it left CLIP without an Intranet until decades later.
- **Time Marches Ever On**: A show based on the novel "Time Waits For Nobody" involving a fantasy setting based on Zale-Era Kalixcis. It starts off tricking the believer to believe it is an adventure genre show, then kills off what it framed as the main character by the end of the first episode and reveals itself to be a political/military drama, with its theme being the concept of time, where characters age and technology evolves. The show's most notable twist is the continuation beyond the original novel's ending. Where the original novel ends implying the first-person narrator freezes to death in a cliffhanger ending, the show shows the protagonist discovering how to use a plant's energy to create a fire by accidentally spilling a potion on it, surviving and later inventing a laser musket to take on the people who betrayed them.
- **Sweet New Life**: A novel based on the founder of Ryuunosuke's own experiences, who left retirement after decades to visit the capital, and noting the city has completely transformed into an alien urban landscape unlike what he remembered. The novel combines a love for life and humor to create a touching story, filled with historical facts, and both criticism and praises of modern life, agreeing that life now is better than before. A famous remark made by the author was seeing people living so comfortably made him "[...] feel as if my life was worth something."
- **Zeir 'ar Shar!**: A comic originating from Radinska set in the URFZ's first colonization attempts. The comic begins as a comedy, with Skaleel-Am, an extremely patrotic Zohil recruit, suffering the hardships of colony and military life in comedic ways, before the comic pivots to commenting on found family, and that there is more to life than serving one's country, ending with the protagonist looking back at all she has helped to build, before a foreign, EVA-suited spacer appears to remark about how nobody would live in such a cold and unappealing planet as a nod to the story's comedic tone early on.
- Critics who consider the protagonist's behavior 'cute' early on usually dislike the shift in tone, and comment on the conflicting themes. PGF and Minutemen aligned critics also tend to dislike this comic.

- **Refa Mifami**: CLIP's first animated production, where a Kepori migrant from the Southern Teceti Combine migrates to Lanchester due to their Mother's business, and has to adjust to life there. Unlike the tales previously mentioned, Refa Mifami does not comment on deeper topics and was created as a simplistic Slice of Life story that would later become one of the most popular stories to come from the Confederated League.
- Watchers tend to fall into three categories: bewildered that it is as popular as it is, consume it in a rather casual fashion and is taken by surprise when someone discusses it, or they may be a dedicated fan of the media. If a citizen of CLIP doesn't know about it, they are certainly aware of the polarizing discussion over the media's faithfulness.

## Relations

Relations with other factions depend on specific member planets' own culture and history, but in general:

* The Pan-Gezena Federation is allies with the League, primarily due to opposition to the Explorat, but also other common economic and political interests.
* The long nature of this alliance makes friendship between soldiers, especially long-living soldiers such as Vox or Elzuose, a common occurance. Regardless, officers and leaders of both sides are still sometimes wary of each other, especially with the Federation's new push towards the frontier.
* Even with their large recruitment rate, the League often recruits mercenaries from the Inteq Risk Management Group to help patrol their borders, defense against pirates, or simply operational aid.
* This encourages Inteq to keep an excellent public perception, as having a bad perception would mean a possible end to business with CLIP. This is, partially, a contributing factor to Inteq's "no bullshit" attitude.
* While officers of both sides treat each other as colleagues, soldiers tend to be buddies, something the PGF dislikes, fearing the unprofessional nature of Inteq may bleed onto the Minutemen's forces and tarnish the Federation's reputation.
* The League has a very tense political relationship with the New Gorlex Republic due to the Republic's wishes for independence and CLIP's minor support of Nanotrasen during the Inter-Corporate Wars.
* Conversely, CLIP is distrustful of the NGR, and watches them intently due to their former allegiance with the Gorlex Marauders.
* There is an ever-present anxiety that the League will force the Republic to join.
* The United Teceti Federation were involved in the terraforming of many member CLIP worlds pre-Zohil collapse, and have come to an agreement to fund the TUC's terraforming companies to undo the ICW's damage on some newly joined member worlds, '''arranging a favorable relationship'''.
* After the Explorat's rise, they have ignored CLIP for most of its history. Recently, CLIP has come onto their radar due to their rapid post-ICW expansion.
* The League enjoy a generally positive relationship with Nanotrasen, due to GOLD’s laissez-faire attitude towards trade.
* This has resulted in a quite large amount of growth within CLIP in the past millennia, ranging from Nanotrasen's Stock Part manufacturing facilities on CLIP colonies to DeForest Medical establishing several research stations in recent additions to CLIP space.
* Despite Nanotrasen's development of League territory, GOLD does not back down from fining Nanotrasen in case of felonies.
* The relationship with Nanotrasen leads to the League having varying reactions from members of the Syndicate Coalition.
* Some Syndicate members may believe that the attitude towards Nanotrasen is not enough to maintain order - perhaps even aiding it - while others may trust in GOLD's attitude to keep the company in check.

* In traditional Solarian fashion, the League '''is neutral, leaning towards positive''' with the Most Serene Solar and Intersolar Confederation.
* Their embassy is headquartered in the capital colony of Luna-Town, but several diplomatic missions have also been done on Clover and Lanchester City.