The Commonwealth Factbook

[Kostemetsia]

This factbook is modelled on that of Xiscapia; to him am I heavily indebted.

Table of Contents

1. Statistics and miscellanea

2. Government and administration

3. Holdings

4. Uniformed services

5. Who's who:

a. Civil leaders and diplomatic officials

b. Military leaders and personnel

c. Merchants, traders and businessmen

d. Mercenaries, criminals and other vagabonds

e. Law enforcement and the intelligence community

6. The military:

a. Warships

b. Naval weapons

c. Ground vehicles

d. Small arms

7. Foreign relations

8. Other notes

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Name
The Commonwealth.

Government
A federal republic; a representative democracy led by an executive council.

Head of state
Emily Sinclair, 1st First Councilor of the Commonwealth Council and ex officio Head of State of the Commonwealth.

Capital
Capital City, Kostemetsia.

Currency
CWD: Commonwealth dollar.

Official languages
English.

Colours
Charcoal and silver.

Average age
As yet unknown.

Average life expectancy at birth
About 100 years old.

Emblem
The Star-Crowned Eagle: sable, an eagle volant alighting argent beneath a five-pointed star argent.

Population
9.447 billion at press time.

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Executive
The executive Council is headed by the First Councilor, who is ex officio the head of state and government and appoints the Council at their discretion. The First Councilor is, in turn, elected from the Senate by their colleagues, and can be recalled either by the Senate or by a popular referendum.

Any member of the Senate may declare their candidacy for First Councilor. No state funding is allocated to any election campaign, but there is a Charter upper bound on the size of donations from any individual entity, which, apart from inflation adjustment, remains static, so that any potential candidate for First Councilor must have a wide base of support in order to mount a credible campaign.

Legislature
The Commonwealth Senate is elected directly by popular vote; it allocates senators at a rate of one per hundred million. It is, by law, a non-partisan body, although shifting power groupings and rough ideological blocs do exist.

The current dominant faction is a bloc colloquially known as the Night Watch, who are united through a strong emphasis on personal freedom, with a lesser emphasis on corporate freedom, and a very narrow view of corruption or abuse of power in any position, including that of megacorporate executive. In regards to international affairs, members of the Night Watch tend to advocate an isolationist doctrine. Sitting First Councilor Emily Sinclair is aligned with the Night Watch.

While the Senate has no direct influence over foreign affairs and defence, it does have the power to call for e.g. a treaty to be scrutinised and possibly vetoed, and the First Councilor must always explicitly give it the option to do so; however, it rarely invokes this power, and does not receive treaties by default. In case of war, the Senate will probably invoke this power; however, the Senate is primarily an internal body, tasked with the difficulties of managing ten billion citizens.

Judiciary
The Commonwealth judiciary divides into civil and criminal courts. Both streams terminate at the Commonwealth Supreme Court, which also has the power to interpret Charter law. While judges below the Supreme Court level can be appointed by executive order, Supreme Court judges must be approved by Senate majority vote.

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The Big Two

Kostemetsia
Discovered by Harold Allen Koste and Paul Metz; named after its discoverers (pronounced KOSS-teh-MET-see-ah). Also known as TOC 1394 after its Terran catalogue number. Suspiciously similar to Earth, but has only two major continents. Population 6 billion; home of Capital City (population 8.1 million). Primary ethnicities English, French and Indian. Only Commonwealth canton under direct administration; home of all primary organs of the government.

Mescalero
A smaller, warmer planet than the somewhat wintry Kostemetsia. Population 3 billion; capital Fireberry (population 2.7 million). No natural satellites. Mescalero canton is led by a semi-autonomous government known as the Republic of Mescalero, but the Mescaleran President nonetheless yields by law to the First Councilor of the Commonwealth (similarly, the Great Khural cannot legislate in conflict with the Senate, and cases decided in the Mescaleran Panel of Review can be appealed to the Commonwealth Supreme Court).

The Others

Suskind
Small and icy, Suskind rockets around an orbit which runs an average of 1.45 AU from its yellow dwarf primary, and is habitable only by virtue of its oxygenated atmosphere. Originally colonised by Earth as a testing ground for exotic classified projects, Suskind changed its allegiance to the Commonwealth late in the Revolutionary War, and remains a hotbed of scientific endeavour and technological progress. The capital is also named Suskind, and has a population of slightly under 100,000; the planetary population is slightly less than one million, total.

Kostemetsia also has minor directly-controlled holdings in the Soweto and Nuur systems, and is strongly allied with the Hadassan Sultanate (more on that later).

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Law enforcement and emergency services
The Commonwealth Police Service has national jurisdiction; otherwise, cities generally manage their own business.

Common to all levels of policing is an ongoing shift away from on-foot policing into stationary surveillance of public spaces and a greater concentration on robotic and other electronic equipment. Most cities maintain a semi-sentient Superintendent which identifies problems, issues emergency orders, takes calls and directs units, allowing the emergency services to operate with minimal human intervention. However, human personnel are still assigned to more challenging beats, and handle most armed interventions.

Most police services are also somewhat militarised in comparison to, for example, their twentieth-century predecessors; armed air overwatch is common, though not obtrusive, and pursuits are generally ended by disabling the other vehicle rather than attempting to trap it. Most weapons, however, are not specifically lethal.

Armed services
The Commonwealth Navy has the lion's share of the government monopoly on force. Rather than a fixed spinal main gun after the Terran fashion, Commonwealth ships maintain multiple heavy weapons; during the Revolutionary era, these tended to be plasma-based weapons which packed an insane punch and were easy to fuel from confiscated UN stocks, but in the new age of legitimate government dealings, kinetics tend to be the order of the day; they do less damage per shot, but are easier to maintain and dirt cheap to restock. Commonwealth designs tend to aim for relatively small form factors in order to be smaller targets and draw less engine power, and as such tend to be agile damage-dealers while remaining fairly vulnerable to enemy fire. Work is in progress to overcome this weakness.

Groundside, the Commonwealth Army is seeing a revival. Infantry have adapted to a combat philosophy where any fixed above-ground position without protective collateral is suicide, and are now fast-moving, aiming to destroy the enemy slowly through attrition without suffering any losses of their own, rather than clearing the field in one fell swoop. The role which mobile artillery previously held has been largely replaced by kinetic bombardment from low orbit, the same seat from which command and control are administered. The vehicles and emplacements remaining tend to be fast and underground, respectively; both seek to deal large amounts of damage in a short amount of time.

The one exception to the Commonwealth's cheetah-on-adrenaline mentality is the Operator Corps. Theoretically embedded in the Army, this largely independent battle group consists of five hundred select personnel, mostly Army commissioned officers, whose remit is to wage abnormal warfare (though not too abnormal – that generally gets passed to civilian agencies up the chain). Powersuit qualification is a must for Corps entry, and their own particular breed of gravity-modifying, self-camouflaging armour has become their trademark.

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Emily Sinclair // date of birth: May 7, 2220

You know what they say – real is brown.

At the end of the Revolutionary War, Sinclair was the chief general of the rebel armies; she transitioned seamlessly from that role into the first First Councilorship, and has been consistently re-elected to the post since. Her leadership style is eclectic and highly informal, and her political sympathies could probably be described as left-wing despite her military career. In recent years, Sinclair has come under political attack from some of her former comrades, who object to her isolationist, pacifist approach to international politics.

Sinclair is Caucasian, red-haired with gold streaks, has blue eyes, is slim, of a moderate build, and is significantly taller than average. She tends to wear her hair long, and favours wearing conservative suits (mostly black or brown) or military uniform. Her distinguishing mark is a sizeable atrophic scar running vertically down her face from above her left eyebrow to low on her left cheek, the result of hand-to-hand combat with a UN operator equipped with prosthetic claws. Her eye is unharmed. A stylised image of this part of her face is her personal seal.

Kareem the Magnificent // date of birth: c. 2226
Warrior-king of Esther's World, the sultan formerly known as ambitious entrepreneur Kareem Abdulrahman has led a distinguished career. Indignant at UN privateering and interference with trade during the Revolutionary War, he provided funding and strategic support to the nascent Hadassan Volunteers during their first forays into revolution, and later led them in their first offworld campaigns.

A master of advertising, Kareem purposefully played up the more ludicrous aspects of his personality. While he had a natural grasp of tactics, the image of Kareem walking into the midst of a pitched infantry battle wearing a jeweled turban and ceremonial robes while carrying a large rocket launcher (captured by a lucky Commonwealth News embed sometime in 2250) remains a memetic symbol of revolutionary culture.

Regardless, Esther's World, a smaller, less powerful state than Kostemetsia, came out of the war limping and badly fragmented. Deciding a strong leader was needed, Kareem promptly merged the Volunteers and remnant UN bureaucracy into a new Sultanate, and declared himself monarch with widespread support. Since then, he has reigned unopposed as Hadassan Sultan, and has self-deprecatingly described himself as a 'nineteenth-century curiosity' – a view his critics, in light of his over-the-top Arabian imperial imagery, tend to agree with. Nonetheless, Kareem runs a strong government which is well-liked by his people, and is organising the first steps on the road to democracy.

Kareem is Afro-Asian of appearance, black-haired with silver streaks, brown-eyed, is of moderate weight and build, and quite tall. In recent years, he has been cultivating a sizeable moustache. Disdaining his original Arabian Nights mode of dress after accusations of racism (Kareem is British by birth, although of African and Indian descent), he is often seen wearing a dark blue two-piece suit, white shirt, no tie.

He has two sons, Crown Prince Abdullah and Prince Adil, both of whom are serving in the Royal Hadassan Navy.

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Dmitri Sorenson // date of birth: April 22, 2196

Stand down, comrade, the war is over.

Prior to the Revolutionary War, Dmitri Sorenson founded and led the Western Plains Company, a private military firm which worked for the United Nations sporadically in Kostemetsia sector, but completed its last job approximately six months before the war. When hostilities began, Sorenson allied his company with the Revolution, first out of opportunism, then out of a genuine respect for Emily Sinclair. The number under Sorenson's direct command fluctuated – sometimes as high as 3,000, sometimes as low as 900 – but all were unified by high standards and a genuine camaraderie.

Sorenson personally ascended the rebel ranks throughout the war, achieving the station of lieutenant-general in charge of capital defence; however, the Western Plains Company followed where he went, and in doing so fought in most of the major battles of the war. Much modern Commonwealth training is based on data collected and notes made by the Company's planning staff during these times.

After the war, Sorenson was the Supreme Commander of the Commonwealth's armies until 2272. He successfully managed the multiple brushfire counterinsurgency wars fought throughout Commonwealth space during that time, most notably reinforcing the Commonwealth government on Grand Sequoia in 2263.

Sorenson is olive-skinned, grey-haired, brown-eyed, of a heavy build, and slightly taller than average; his body type could best be described as endomorphic, although not fat. He is given to wearing military uniform, although with the trappings of state that come with the position of Supreme Commander (there has been more than one recorded instance of Sorenson wearing a dark purple cape). However, when called to testify before the United Nations General Assembly in 2252, he was seen to wear a black pinstripe suit – a momentous occasion in the annals of international politics.

Ryana Taylor // date of birth: December 25, 2259

Well, son of a bitch.

At the age of 17, Ryana Taylor was arrested for trespass and malicious damage to property, and given the choice of a five-year prison term or a penal tour of duty in the Commonwealth Forces in exchange for a state pardon. She chose the latter. Three months into her term, she was appropriated by Operator Command, after having received a perfect score on her aptitude test – which was almost unheard of. Taylor currently holds the rank of Commonwealth Army first lieutenant, and is on secondment to CITATION.

Taylor is red-haired, blue-eyed, exceptionally pale-skinned, of a slim build, and slightly shorter than average. She is most commonly associated with the CITATION black duty uniform.

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Salvatore Moreno // date of birth: January 17, 2222
The Salvatore Moreno Apparatus was the premier black market supplier of goods and luxuries from Earth during the Revolutionary War, much to the initial dismay of the rebel commanders, who later found ways to cooperate with the Apparatus, to their mutual benefit. However, the Apparatus did not become a legitimate business after the war, and continues to supply items, services and data that are illegal to possess within the Commonwealth. The Police have made token efforts to stamp it out, but not with much success.

Moreno himself is memetically associated with white suits, of which he is quite fond (typically worn with imitation Ray-Ban Wayfarers and brown shirts). He is known to smoke 'torpedo' cigars, which are also considered one of his trademarks. Bodily, Moreno has olive skin, is heavily built with broad shoulders, and is exceptionally tall; he has dark brown hair and eyes (although there is no official record of the latter). He has a net worth of about ten billion Commonwealth dollars, although, surprisingly, seems to pay his fair share of taxes.

The Orgiast [real name unknown] // date of birth: probably around 2250
Little is known about the Orgiast other than the business she runs, from which she takes her alias. The Orgy is a joint nightclub/brothel/hotel located in the Merchant's Quarter of Capital City, known for its innovative applications of nanotechnology as a recreational device and sexual pleasure enhancer. It enjoys a reputation of genteel depravity, counterbalancing its inherently disreputable nature with a record of fast customer service, unbroken security and reasonable legality – and happens to be trading in the Capital, possibly the most liberal city known to man. As such, it conducts a roaring trade.

The Orgiast herself is very private. She has no criminal record and a sizeable fortune, although probably not as large as Moreno's. Data collected by CITATION monitoring suggests the Orgiast had a working-class childhood and possibly one sibling, but beyond that nothing is known of her early life, and given the amount of business she brings to the Capital, nobody is willing to risk asking.

The Orgiast is Caucasian, blue-eyed, has short blonde hair, is of average height, and has a slim build. She is normally seen wearing grey – although all her clothes are the same shade, bear a remarkable resemblance to one another, and seem to be made of the same unknown material, fueling speculation (linked to her nanotechnological gifts) that they are, in fact, all the same outfit, tailoring itself to the Orgiast's needs at any given time. If so, what other capabilities it has, apart from changing shape, are unknown.

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'Delta Dawn' [real name unknown] // date of birth: unknown
Delta Dawn is an unlicensed private military contractor. She is known to probably be female from voice analysis, and is owner of a Bronze Whaler-class freighter equipped with multiple unauthorised cannons and other modifications. Little else is known about her.

Helena 'Skids' Horvath // date of birth: May 2, 2250
Horvath is wanted throughout known space for accessory to various crimes. While she has near-current qualifications in multiple small arms, her specialty is aviation – Horvath tends to provide personnel transport and air cover for private sector small-unit operations.

Jasmine Takei // date of birth: January 2, 2250
It's generally agreed that Jasmine is either brilliant or utterly mad. Although the Commonwealth professes to consider her a legitimate private citizen, this is simply for lack of evidence – she's been a substantial thorn in their side in the past, unofficially implicated in everything from fruit raids to insurgencies, and not always in a way on which a priest would smile. She puts a distinct emphasis on style in the completion of her work, feeling that if something can't be done well, it shouldn't be done, and maintains an obsessively perfectionist outlook; nonetheless, behind her down-to-business and aggressive persona, Jasmine has the heart of a genuinely good person. She keeps it in the cupboard.

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Elizabeth McKeaton // date of birth: February 5, 2212

That's above my clearance.

McKeaton has held the post of commander-general of the Commonwealth Police since Sinclair's election as First Councilor. During the Revolutionary War, she was initially a member of the United Nations Colonial Authority Armed Response, but changed sides on ideological grounds around the midpoint of the war and consistently worked to advance the revolutionary cause throughout the later stages. McKeaton has the distinction of perhaps being the Commonwealth's most veteran soldier, having been present at the Battles of, among other places, Suskind, Mescalero and Kostemetsia.

McKeaton is Caucasian, red-haired, has brown eyes, is of average weight, of a moderate build, and is slightly taller than average. She tends to cut her hair extremely short, and, like Sinclair, is mostly seen in either formal wear (police blue) or her uniform or armour. She has no specific distinguishing features.

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Commands

Commonwealth Central Command is located aboard CNSTA The Eyrie, in orbit of Kostemetsia. The Eyrie plays host to the Commonwealth general staff, as well as a sizeable shipyard (the original foundation upon which it was built) and a supermax-class wormhole terminus (i.e. the largest there is).

[More content coming soon.]

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Sorted alphabetically.

Bronze Whaler-class Q-ship
The Bronze Whaler-class is a conversion of the MSC-Soweto civilian freighter class of the same name. The first of this line pressed into service was CCS Leveebreaker in 2279, and since then they have become a mainstay of the Commonwealth's covert navy. Bronze Whaler-class ships are admired for their interwoven reactor/drive assembly, a feature which not only considerably boosts the levels of delivered power but makes remotely disabling the engines without destroying the ship rather difficult - a useful feature for those with something to hide. Also worthy of note is their proprietary systems firmware, which is based wholesale on its civilian counterpart from the Soweto software labs and is still considered extremely elegant.

Enterprise-class command cruiser
One-off. The only member of this class ever built is Enterprise, formerly an RT Generalistics Type Alpha-328 tri-lobe freighter owned by Leslie Tyler. The Enterprise is best remembered for its legendary defence at the first Battle of Casey's Head where, under Tyler's command, it held off the UN Seventh Fleet long enough for the Ironclad to emerge from Casey's Head and rout the enemy.

Exigent-class landing craft
The Exigent-class warframe is known by most of its occupants as the Brick, a five-deck block three hundred metres on a side, designed to easily carry a full battalion and support it indefinitely (or, alternatively, carry a battalion's volume in cargo).

Ironclad-class cruiser
Converted from a stock MSC spaceframe, the Ironclad-class is the venerable forefather of the modern Commonwealth navy. At the class' peak, thirty Ironclad-class ships were in service, as the primary Revolutionary capital ship during the War. Though relatively fragile compared to the opposing UN forces, the Ironclads' secret to success lay in their Mark I Statzmann cannons, originally reengineered from industrial plasma cutters, allowing them to deal out massive amounts of damage by the standards of the day.

[More content coming soon.]

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Quantumbuster
The quantumbuster exploits the euphemistically named 'collapsing field effect' – the huge realspace energy discharge that occurs around a closing wormhole terminus with matter trapped within it. For all practical intents and purposes, a quantumbuster attack is equivalent to a similar antimatter attack: CFE annihilation of a 2.328-kilogram slug produces a yield of one hundred megatons. The immense gravitic force required to create a wormhole, however, combined with the limited output of a core-and-power assembly small enough to fit in a quantumbuster missile, means that quantumbusters do not significantly outyield contemporary nuclear weapons, which they are far more expensive than. On the other hand, the CFE applies equally to everything, meaning that one can exploit the propaganda effect of destroying the enemy with, for example, two oranges and a suggestively-placed banana; this ensures that top brass remain interested in the project.

Statzmann cannon
Yuri Statzmann's Mark I Heavy Weapon is a Revolutionary War relic: a basic, easy-to-produce, easy-to-repair plasma cannon that retains maximum firepower – literally: putting out enough heat to melt steel. Thousands of Statzmann cannons were produced during the Revolutionary War, and the Mark II line still enjoys a limited deployment in the Home Fleet, but by and large kinetics are cheaper to run.

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Operator combat blade
The Operator combat blade is a light, one-metre bastard sword with a titanium blade, issued to members of the Operator Corps, who receive basic training in the use of edged weapons.

Operator heavy carbine
The Operator heavy carbine is a Corps specialty weapon, essentially a light electromagnetic machine gun with a drum magazine and a smart link scope. Because of its high power requirements, it is impractical for anyone but an Operator to use, and even by them is used only in situations where it is absolutely required.

VT4A pistol
The VT4A is a large-calibre pistol issued to various non-frontline units on the strength of its modularity, low profile and excellent stopping power. Notable users of this pistol include Ryana Taylor.

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