同盟

"Rise, like lions after slumber In unvanquishable number! Shake your chains to earth, like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you: Ye are many – they are few!"

• Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Mask of Anarchy (1819),

“I've read your speech a dozen times, Mic. We can't use it."

"Sure, we could sound off about self-rule and freedom from tyranny and the dignity of the working-man-slash woman, and the young hotheads would lap it up like they always do. I'm not saying we don't need that stuff. But we mustn't forget it's just marketing. A shiny wrapper. It's not enough."

"If we're going to make the Alliance of Independent Systems happen, we need more than tub-thumping speeches from a war hero. We need to show our people that the damn thing can work. I want spending plans, dividend forecasts, surveyor's reports. I want data so dry you don't need to believe in it.”

"The people are tired and heartsick. They've been sold dreams too many times by both sides, so let's not try to sell them any more. It's time to wake up."

• Private communiqué from Meredith Argent to Mic Turner,
  founders of the Alliance

The Alliance is the youngest of the galaxy's three superpowers, and is perhaps best understood in terms of what it chooses not to be. It rejects both the extreme capitalism of the Federation and the rigid hierarchy of the Empire, choosing instead a third way of voluntary association for mutual benefit.

The desire for freedom from interference, both from external threats and internal bureaucracy, was the key motivation behind the Alliance's founding, and is enshrined in its articles of association. The governments of the member systems are given as much autonomy to create their own laws and administer their own affairs as possible.

The right to political self-determination and cultural self-expression are essential to the Alliance, but it remains to be seen whether the ultimate result will be stable harmony or a cacophony of dissenting voices. Every Alliance member knows that alliances have been made before, many times over, only to collapse.

Alioth was colonised.

The crucible in which the Alliance was forged was Alioth, a system so rich in gas and mineral resources that early surveyors considered it a stellar El Dorado. When the Federation established its first colony on Alioth 5b in 2452, they gave the planet the less grandiose name of Fruitcake, as mineral deposits lay in the loamy soil as abundantly as raisins in cake. Later commentators would reflect, bitterly, that the world was well named because 'everyone wanted a piece'.

A conflict over mining rights drew in the superpowers.
Alioth's prosperity soon attracted corporations eager to support the developing system in exchange for a share of the profits. A dispute over rights quickly escalated into an armed conflict, prompting the Empire to dispatch a military force, ostensibly for the colonists' protection. The Federation also sent ships, but theirs were a response to the corporations' plea for aid.

Unable to directly engage the Federal ships without sparking a war, the Empire covertly encouraged the Alioth colonists to renounce the Federation and accept Imperial protection, thus freeing the Empire to engage with the occupying Federal forces in sympathy with the will of the people'. This marked the first of many incidents in which the people of Alioth were used to advance the agenda of another power.

Federation-sponsored insurrection. In 2530, the Federation set out to undermine Imperial control of Alioth by exploiting local resentment of the governor. They covertly supported acts of protest and petty vandalism, then, when the inevitable Imperial crackdown followed, stoked the fires of social unrest. A terrorist movement called the Cakers emerged, and the atrocities escalated.

The years that followed saw a protracted and degrading series of proxy wars and cynical, propaganda campaigns as the Federal, Imperial and corporate powers all contended for Alioth. The system made an abortive attempt to establish its independence in 2617, resulting in a short-lived cooperation between the Empire and the Federation, neither of which were willing to allow this.

The revolution.
In the early fourth millennium, both the Federation and the Empire had a presence in the Alioth system. Fruitcake, now known as Gordonworld, was a Federal protectorate, while the Empire had earlier conducted terraforming experiments on the world of New California, and also held gas mining platforms in the system.

The Federal corporations supplying New California had raised the prices of their goods several times in the previous years, and when they imposed yet another price hike, the planet's inhabitants revolted. In the insurrection that followed, rebels commandeered any available ships and headed out to the gas mining platforms, where they attacked the outposts' corporate employees.

Alarmed, the Empire and the Federation despatched ships to put down the rebellion, but were beaten back by a hastily assembled force made up of fighters from Alioth and - crucially - volunteers from nearby independent systems. Neither the Empire nor the Federation were able to gain a foothold, and eventually both forces had to withdraw. The Empire faced too many logistical problems fighting so far from home, while the Federation's efforts were undermined by public sympathy for the rebels.

An Alliance was brokered. The victory in Alioth had proven that independent systems, working together, could hold their own against the superpowers. It fell to pilot Mic Turner and scientist Meredith Argent to ride the wave of public spirit and propose a permanent alliance, under whose aegis independent systems could enjoy freedom from Imperial and Federal interference.

The Alliance was founded in 3230, and in the next two decades it expanded its membership to more than twenty systems, some defecting from the Federation and the Empire, others pledging as independents.

Many worlds, few rules, no overlords.
The Alliance's articles of membership are designed to unite the member systems with strong, straightforward bonds that allow as much self-determination as possible. Membership guarantees mutual prosperity through guaranteed free trade, and security through the Alliance Defence Force, while leaving much of the business of government to the individual members.

The Alliance Assembly acts as a central arbitration committee, helping to settle disputes between member systems. It also oversees formal arrangements between members, such as treaties, research goals and mutually agreed policies.

As no one system can be allowed to carry more weight than another, the Assembly frequently finds itself bogged down in endless back-and-forth negotiations. Getting them to agree on anything is a task often compared to herding ling langs, notoriously ill-tempered carnivores from the Achenar system.

A body of civil servants, who remain uninvolved in politics, handle most of the day-to-day administrative work that enables the Alliance to function.

Conditional autonomy for member systems.
Alliance members are required to subscribe to and uphold a code of human rights, and to have a democratically elected government. Citizens of any member state have a right of freedom of movement and residence within any other member state. Furthermore, all member systems are obliged to give immediate military assistance to any fellow member when necessary.

The Alliance Defence Force.
While each Alliance member system maintains its own navy, all members are required to commit ships and crew to the Alliance Defence Force. This rapid-response group usually remains within Alliance space, and its tasks vary from providing a beleaguered system with military assistance to evacuating settlements hit by natural disaster.

A six-member Council of Admirals oversees the Alliance Defence Force. It is accountable to the Assembly, but does not require its approval before taking action. This freedom of decision making prevents urgent military action being delayed by tedious debate.

Cooperation, mutual aid, tolerance, and respect.
The values that bind the Alliance systems also hold true on an interpersonal level. Just as the different worlds of the Alliance formally recognise one another's legitimacy and value, individuals are generally reluctant to show prejudice against others, and will band together to help those in genuine need.

Diversity is strength.
Members of the Alliance are not obliged to conform to what they consider the corporate saturation of Federal culture or the status-obsessed posturing of the Imperials. Individual systems are encouraged to preserve and celebrate their own cultural identities. This approach results in a rich variety of artistic, literary and dramatic output.

Free to speak, free to protest.
One curious cultural constant across the Alliance's member systems is the way the citizens indulge their freedom to complain. They can criticise their governments without fear of repression, and they frequently do so. Previous experience of exploitation has left many citizens cynical, but possessed of a certain mordant humour and a willingness to take life as it comes.

The Federation.
Alliance attitudes to the Federation vary sharply depending on whether one is asking about the Federation's government or its citizenry. The government is seen as a hidebound relic, unable to arrest its slow decline into decadence, but the general populace are much more compassionately viewed. An Alliance citizen, proud of his or her own emancipation, is likely to have a rather condescending view of a Federal citizen - they are characterised as ignorant dupes, kept satiated by mass-market entertainment and branded consumer goods. This is not seen as their fault, however. On the contrary, it is widely held that the Federation and the corporate barons deliberately keep the people in this servile state.

The Alliance is more interested in enticing Federal systems to join its union - thereby winning the moral war – than in exacting vengeance for the wrongs of the past. There has been too much violence already.

The Empire.
To the Alliance, the Empire is anathema. With its monolithic culture, veneration of opulence, disdain for human rights and tolerance of slavery, it could not be further from the Alliance's values of mutual respect and freedom from exploitation. Yet, for all this, many Alliance members would rather deal with the Empire than the Federation. The common belief is that the Federation will always pretend to be something it is not. At least with the Empire, you know what you are dealing with.

Most Alliance citizens view the emergence of a progressive movement within the Empire, with cynicism. Everyone knows that the Empire is incapable of changing its ways - the whole Imperial social model is an imitation of the past. But some in the Alliance nevertheless welcome the ascension of the first female Emperor. The edifice may not be about to crumble, but such a profound change cannot be ignored.