///From the author: this is a good bit of lore to back up an in-progress project called Infinitum, which entails a band of outer system miscreants and vagabonds, many of them refugees of the Kuiper Wars, who are contracted for a supposedly simple passenger ferrying mission which spirals into a race against time to prevent all-out chaos...
The Map and the Background
(Here we see the rough dispositions of the Kuiper Belt at the story's opening)
After the Frontier Wars ended in the late 2290s, the new astropolitical order which emerged, with the victorious Ceres and Mars funding the rebuilding of the outer solar system, could only last so long. As the people of the former Alliance of Free Worlds ascended to a new position of power in the Solar Union which rose from the aftermath of the Frontier Wars, Mars suffered a long, slow decline due to its expenditures on their former enemies, a fact which drove its military leadership to seek radical reform, at any cost.
Finally, in 2412, a cabal of hardliners led by Colonel Sanyar Galvani carried out the Bicentennial Revolution and formed the Martian Federation. Ten years later, the Federation and the remaining powers of the Solar Union embarked on a long and bitter struggle to control the vast, untapped resources of the Kuiper Belt. This conflict lasted more than twenty years, and only ended when the Martians agreed to peace talks in 2453.
Following the Treaty of Triton in April 2457, the outer solar system settled into a period of tense peace, with the two superpowers resigned to consolidate their holdings and the Outer System Patrol tasked with keeping the peace. By April 2469, twelve years after the peace deal, many people fear that one side or the other–most likely the Martians–will do something stupid, like instigate a return to open war in the interest of enlarging their empire once more. And when the crew of the fast cargo hauler the Fool’s Errand pick up two passengers on an urgent mission to Ceres, they may find themselves stepping right into Mars’ crosshairs…
The Worlds and Their Stories
The Martian Federation
Population: 556 million (population lives on only about five percent of the land)
Capital: Galvani's City, Marineris Republic (population - 35.1 million)
Government: federal one-party parliamentary republic (Supreme Chancellor - Sanyar Galvani)
Affiliation: itself (officially split from the Solar Union in 2417 after five years of disagreements)
Notes: arising from the Bicentennial Revolution of 2412, the Federation is notable in that it took the already simmering militarism and expansionist tendencies of the United Nations of Mars and followed them to their logical conclusion. This led to a falling out with the Solar Union, and eventually to the Kuiper War (2426-2457), which saw the Martians attempt to wrest total control of the outer system from the Union
The Solar Union
Population: 2.61 billion (spread relatively equally across the Main Belt, moons of gas giants, etc.)
Capital: Dantu City, Republic of Ceres (population - 3.43 million)
Government: federal presidential republic (President - Danyelle Hakusembe)
Affiliation: itself (official successor to the defunct Interplanetary Cooperative Administration)
Notes: after the Frontier Wars ended, the ICA and Alliance signed a pact to secure closer ties between them so as to prevent such a conflict from recurring. Over the century which followed, the power of Mars grew, and by the Bicentennial Revolution in 2412, they were forced to adopt the role of balancing out the rising militarism of the new Martian Federation–a trend which culminated in the Kuiper War
The Federation of Neptune and Triton
Population: 14.8 million (majority live on Triton)
Capital: Unkulunkulu, Republic of Uhlanga (population - 2.21 million)
Government: federal constitutional republic (Prime Minister - Ralen Monteca)
Affiliation: mixed (backs the Solar Union, but welcomes Martian business)
Notes: despite being relatively small players in the era of the Frontier Wars, the Protectorate of Neptune and the Federal Republic of Triton acted as a major stepping stone for refugees seeking shelter in the Kuiper Belt. By the era of the Kuiper War, the combined Federation of Neptune & Triton had emerged as the official gateway to the Kuiper Belt, with the Treaty of Triton bringing the war to an end in 2457
The Republic of Acheron
Population: 10.9 million (highest in the Kuiper Belt - majority live in the "bridge city" of Acheron)
Capital: Acheron City, Pluto (population - 4.83 million)
Government: unitary constitutional presidential republic (President - Yuta Cantacheros)
Affiliation: none (maintains neutrality as the Kuiper Belt's original "free state")
Notes: despite only emerging at the end of the 22nd century, the Republic of Acheron had grown into a powerhouse of outer system politics by the time of the Frontier Wars in the late 23rd century. By the time the outer system erupted in the Kuiper War, it was the richest and most populous of the “free republics” springing up there, and became a major hub for inner system expats in the postwar era
The People's Republic of Haumea
Population: 6.36 million (fifth highest in the Kuiper Belt - majority live on Haumea)
Capital: Kanaloa City, Haumea (population - 1.37 million)
Government: unitary one-party socialist republic (Premier - Rani Tukaram)
Affiliation: the Martian Federation (maintains official neutrality but fools nobody)
Notes: Haumea was not settled until 2187, and its growth did not really take off until an influx of refugees of the Frontier Wars (2271-2297) caused its population to swell. By 2469, it had grown into a bustling trade empire, ruled by a small cabal of state-run business interests including the State Ministry of Interstate Transit, which controls all traffic in and out of the vital ports of the small, oblong dwarf planet
The Free State of Quaoar
Population: 9.47 million (second highest population after Pluto/Charon)
Capital: Port Tomol, Quaoar (population - 1.86 million)
Government: semi-presidential republic (President - Faience Haveri / Prime Minister - Luca Maldonado)
Affiliation: officially unaffiliated (maintains neutrality and enjoys relative peace and stability)
Notes: actually one of the first dwarf planets to be settled, Quaoar was in fact reached by pioneers only a few years after Pluto. Over the three centuries that followed, its home-grown trade empire flourished, centered largely on its cornering of the market on the design of deep space transit engines. This monopoly has allowed Quaoar to remain largely free of inner system influence, even during the Kuiper War
The Democratic Republic of Rapa Nui
Population: 7.75 million (fourth most populous of the Kuiper Belt Objects)
Capital: Ariki Mau, Makemake (population - 1.73 million)
Government: unitary one-party totalitarian state (Premier - Yanek Unshara)
Affiliation: the Martian Federation (current regime is a puppet government propped up by Mars)
Notes: as the Martian Federation’s primary supporter in the outer system, the DPRN has long enjoyed the favors of the Red Planet’s imperial agenda, even at the detriment of its more free-thinking citizens. During the Kuiper War, Makemake hosted the Martian Outer System Command’s main base of operations, and the URRN has remained the Federation’s principal ally in the Kuiper Belt since the war ended
The Most Serene Republic of Gonggong
Population: 5.11 million (sixth most populous major world in the Kuiper Belt)
Capital: Tianwen City, Gonggong (population - 1.17 million)
Government: unitary authoritarian oligarchy (rulers - the Three Heavenly Families)
Affiliation: the Solar Union (Union supports regime on Gonggong to support their own agenda)
Notes: in order to keep Gonggong as their main ally in the Kuiper Belt, the Solar Union props up a cabal of rich families who rule over the settlements there like a sort of fiefdom. During the long years of the Kuiper War, the local militia were all too willing to clamp down on dissenters, which only intensified the dislike of their puppet masters in the Solar Union, meaning that by 2469 the regime is on shaky legs
The United States of Eris & Dysnomia
Population: 8.67 million (third highest of worlds in the Kuiper Belt)
Capital: Freehaven, Dysnomia (population - 1.68 million)
Government: federal parliamentary republic (Prime Minister - Walter Prentiss)
Affiliation: none (maintains a "laissez-faire" policy that it claims protects its economy)
Notes: as a major port of call for merchant vessels in the years before the Kuiper War, the USED has retained a fair amount of autonomy in the years since it ended. Despite its importance to outer system commerce, it holds a strict “hands-off” policy, and refuses even to permit an Outer System Patrol base on its territory. This may only buy it so much leniency if the War should kick back off again, however
This is fucking wonderful. You did an outstanding job on the graphics, and I so enjoy the breakdown of each world. Please always make more of these.