Soviet Star Union

The Union of Soviet Federated People's Sectors (Союз Советских Федеративных народных секторов in High Soviet), more commonly abbreviated as the Soviet Star Union, is a massive, technologically advanced interstellar civilization located in the galactic east of the Phoenix Galaxy, with several minor holdings in the Milky Way. The Soviet Star Union originated in the top-secret Project Siberia, carried out by the ancient USSR, on Earth, which sought to develop new technologies based on the research of a wormhole discovered by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Overview
The Soviet Star Union is an interstellar communist civilization, based around the doctrine of Infinite Conquest, which developed from ancient ideals of unifying humanity under the Communist Revolution. It is organized as a federal republic, with representatives from each sector occupying seats in the Congress of the Workers' Party, the legislative body of the SSU. The executive organ of this massive supernation is The Politburo, which is assembled and chaired by a Premier, who is appointed by the Congress. Due to the nation's massive scale, the Premier is, by necessity, elected for life.

Soviet Star Union technology is highly sophisticated, as demonstrated by the Union's capability to convert entire planets into massive Fortressworlds, military-industrial complexes which produce and maintain the Union's fleets of warships. Soviet warships are massive, sleek craft, painted white and with an overlay of colored stripes that indicate which fleet each ship belongs to. Its massive military consists of tens of thousands of ships and billions of personnel and it is organized into Fleet Sections, notable exceptions being the Soviet Home Fleet, which is considered a separate branch of the military and Capital Strike Group Stalingrad, which is larger than a typical Fleet Section and is often given the role of spearheading the Union's continuous expansion.

Culture and People
Soviet culture is highly collectivist and heavily based around the ideals of Infinite Conquest. Deeply rooted in ancient Eastern European human culture, the Soviet Star Union has a distinctive, imposing architecture, as well as unique music. Influenced by the Union's expansionist doctrine for thousands of years, Soviets are a hardy people who value hard work, loyalty and military discipline above all else.

The majority species in the Soviet Star Union is, by far, Humanity, followed by  Arkanians, who form 9% of the population,  Varangirs at 4% and numerous other species forming the rest of the population, a result of thousands of years of military expansion. Conquered alien cultures are absorbed and supplanted by Soviet culture within a few centuries, through a policy of assimilation and cultural uniformity derived from the Infinite Conquest ideals of universal unification and communism.

Economy
The economy of the Soviet Star Union is based on the massive military-industrial complex which fuels the nation's continuous expansion and is entirely geared to support that. Strip-mining operations on a planetary scale produce the astronomical quantities of raw materials which are then refined and shipped across thousands of light-years, towards the Union's massive factories and industrial complexes. Although the exact figures have never been released, it is strongly believed that new warships are produced constantly, with some estimates putting the number at one new warship, every day, year-round.

Agricultural colonies known as agroworlds produce the food which is distributed across thousands of colonies to feed the superstate's massive, constantly growing population, in a standardized, assembly line fashion. Supporting all this is a truly colossal logistical infrastructure and bureaucracy. Private enterprise in the Soviet Star Union exists solely in the form of Workers' Cooperatives.

Technology
Also see: Riftspace

Soviet technology relies heavily on the use of nanites, artificial gravity manipulation and Riftspace travel. Rift Drive-equipped vessels travel through a 4-dimensional, artificially created space. Due to the lack of time in this pocket universe, travel from one point to another is instantaneous, however, limitations of this technology include the requirement for Riftspace Beacons to be constructed in realspace, to enable navigation. Ships using this technology, simply can not travel beyond the range of these beacons, forcing vessels to jump from beacon to beacon, or use much slower Warp Drive technology to travel outside it.

Politics
The Soviet Star Union's massive size has led it to develop a truly massive bureaucracy, at the top of which sits the Premier, who appoints and chairs The Politburo and fulfills the role of head of state. The Premier is, in turn, appointed for life by the Congress of the Workers' Party in an internal election. The Congress itself consists of representatives from each of the Union's four hundred and thirty-two sectors, who are appointed through elections by Sector Commissions which are, in turn, assembled by members of the Colonial Commission of each individual colony in that sector. As head of state, the Premier is also the Commander in Chief of the military, although individual Fleet Sections fall under the control of the Sector Commissions to which they are assigned, unless superseded by an order from military command, exception being Capital Strike Group Stalingrad, which is under the direct authority of military command. The Soviet Home Fleet and Order of Commissars are considered separate branches of the military and are under the direct control of the Premier, rather than military command.

Diplomacy
Due to the nature of its central ideological doctrine of Infinite Conquest, the Soviet Star Union rarely establishes diplomatic relations with other nations. This ideological doctrine of constant expansion also means that the Soviet Star Union is almost constantly in a state of war with one or more neighboring civilizations, seeking to expand its borders and bring more colonies under its fold. The only notable exception to this trend of hostility, is other socialist civilizations, with which the Soviet Star Union almost always establishes alliances and diplomatic pacts.

At the opposite end are monarchies, capitalist states and other nations which are considered stratocratic and hereditary. The Soviet Star Union particularly despises these, as it considers them oppressive regimes which enslave the working class. Such nations will find themselves facing an almost guaranteed invasion by the Soviet war fleets, if they are on the border of the Soviet Star Union.

Because of its aggressiveness and constant invasions, the Soviet Star Union has a bad and much feared reputation on the interstellar political scene and is often demonized and labeled as evil. However, the Union's motivations for this policy are derrived from its objective to create a unified universal superstate under the banner of peace and prosperity. Its motive for invading is, basically, the belief in achieving universal peace through military conquest. Soviets believe that the endless expansion described and demanded by the Infinite Conquest ideology, serves the greater good and are describing it as a necessary, millenia-spanning endeavor to unite the universe under the banner of the communist revolution. A popular saying amongst Soviet citizens states that "Where the Soviet sword goes, order and prosperity follow".

History
Read More: History

Old Earth
Also see: Siberia (Star System)

The Soviet Star Union traces its origins to Project Siberia, a top-secret endeavor carried out by the ancient USSR, following the discovery of a wormhole by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Early forays into this now-defunct wormhole were carried out using primitive chemical rockets, such as Soyuz-type craft. Following the discovery of a system which held a habitable planet, close enough to be within range of USSR ships using technology available at the time, the decision had been made to establish a colony on this planet, which had been dubbed Kremlin.

Initial Colonization
Also see: Union of Soviet Socialist Colonies

Initial colonization was carried out using early Soyuz chemical rockets, which delivered personnel and equipment to the surface of Kremlin. Through the USSR's most expensive and ambitious endeavor, hundreds of these rockets were sent through the wormhole, resulting in the cancellation of the ancient nation's moon program, as it was considered that the USSR had access to a far more important destination. This event led to severe economic problems for the USSR, which, coupled with a series of political upheavals which took place on Earth at the time, resulted in the eventual collapse of the nation. But, by that time, several settlements had been established on Kremlin, with a combined population of several thousand, as well as the infrastructure and industry to support them. Following the collapse of the USSR, colonial authorities on Kremlin decided to close off the wormhole, through the detonation of a primitive 50-megaton nuclear device, in order to prevent the spread of the political crisis to the new planet, with the express purpose of rebuilding communist civilization on this new world.

Infinite Conquest
Also see: Infinite Conquest

Over the following two millenia, this early Soviet civilization continued to develop, in both population and technology. Early FTL technology in the form of the Warp Drive, enabled the precursors to the modern Soviet Star Union, to explore interstellar space and establish several additional colonies in the neighboring systems. At the time, the nation's expansion was only hampered by its relatively low population. This was about to change, following the dramatic events which led to the Red October War, following first contact with a matriarchal, monarchist alien species which would later become known as Arkanians. This horrific hundred-year war which claimed the lives of over half of the population living in Soviet space, transformed Soviet society and by the time it finally ended with the complete annexation of Arkanian space, a new political and ideological doctrine had arisen in the Soviet civilization: Infinite Conquest. This new doctrine established that peace can only be won with the sword and that the People's Revolution must be spread to the stars by means of military might. This doctrine gave the Soviet civilization its prime directive, which it has been following ever since: To conquer the universe under the red banner of communism.

Over the following four thousand years, the Soviet Star Union grew from a handful of systems, into the massive galactic superstate it currently is, through constant expansion, driven by the principles of Infinite Conquest, greatly aided by the discovery of Riftspace and subsequent development of the Rift Drive, in the year 2809 of Infinite Conquest. Of the many alien species absorbed into the Soviet Star Union over this period, the most notable are the Varangirs, a warm-blooded species with a feline appearance, who's ideological similarities led to it being one of the few civilization to be integrated into the Soviet Star Union by peaceful means.