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Union of Soviet Socialist Planets

General

Informal Names: USSP, Soviet Union

Capital: Nova Cygni - 15.1 billion citizens

Demographic

Citizenship: At birth & Through military conscription

Languages: Neo-Russkyia, Galactic Common

Population: ~32.6 billion citizens

Policy

Form of Government: Soviet Democracy

Head of State: Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Presidium, Stukov Vedenin

Fleet: 130 militarized Corvettes + ~300 catalogued civilian crafts

Currency: Stovpira, 'Soviet Credit'

Summary

The Union of Soviet Socialist Planets (Also known as the USSP or Space Russia) is a minor human government beyond the range of the TSF’s considerable reach. Residing on several dozen of space stations, planets, and colonies in the fringes of the populated human bubble, the USSP holds control of several outlying colonies outside the Trans-Solar Federation's sphere of influence, relying on the remote nature of many of their systems for protection against pirate raids or military interventions.

Having begun as a series of disjointed planets and stations that were colonized, overtaxed and overregulated, the first of the USSP's members eventually rebelled, collecting together into a series of rogue fleets during actions. While many stations and lives were lost, enough people revolted in armed civilian and stolen military craft to create a solid enough front that the destabilized Solar Federation was not able to penetrate. A large assembly was brought together with the Chair as the elected head of the assembly, and when a peaceless truce was signed, life slowly returned to a new normal.

Numerous USSP Citizens blame the Trans-Solar Federation both for the destruction of several stations, such as KC13, and for the uncalled murder of many civilian lives during the Cygni Massacre. The USSP is presently sharing a forced truce as an independent government with the Trans-Solar Federation, though this hasn't stopped various organizations and corporations such as Nanotrasen from conducting occasional trade deals with them. Nowadays, the USSP is still a fledgling compared to most government bodies, especially compared to the TSF. Despite that, the soviet state still lives on to this day doing its best to strive through its struggle, not without allies nor enemies.

“I'm a patriot first, communist second. Nothing will change that.”

- Stukov Vedenin, first official Chairman of the Presidium and veteran of the Cygni Rebellion.

A Brief History

The beginnings of the USSP were born in the 16 Cygni system around a century ago, located around 70 light years away from Sol. Cygni B IIa, often simply referred to as 'Cygni', was the only landable planetoid/moon of the system, orbiting the gas giant Cygni B II. A rocky and mountainous planet known for its massive fjords and equally massive ore deposits, it at first was used as one of the Trans-Solar Federation's many mining colonies before it slowly grew into an industrial powerhouse. With its relatively distance from Sol, it was the main industrial hub worlds in its sector, focused on production of raw materials for neighbor systems. Due to the high quantity of antique Russian heritage - both in physical relics and political beliefs - brought to the colony from various colonist families, it was of no surprise that a new culture would bloom.

Father of the Revolution

Malfoy Ames was born in 2403, a bit more than fifty years after the colony's creation. A citizen of Cygni IIa and considered a patriot and opportunist since his youth, Ames shared the desires of the people he was chosen to lead, and he promised them that he would do everything in his newfound power to improve their living conditions. However, Ames was also well-connected to the several independent groups of the sector. Several other colonies and their governors in the proximity of Cygni had similar goals and motives, yet none had the charisma that Ames seemed to have. He started illegally funding and arming several local independence and rebel groups through embezzled federal funds. By holding patriotic speeches condemning how the TSF treats its colonies, he earned himself a positive local reputation and was idolized by the people that he leads. This pushed Malfoy Ames to establish the Cygni Popular Socialist Party alongside the help of personal acquaintances, planning to be elected to the position of sector governor.

The local federal oversight committee had become much more aware of the traction Malfoy's party was gathering as local elections were nearly a month away. Local media chains owned by TSF-loyal entities began showing increasing bias against the Cygni Popular Socialist Party, causing outcries on social media networks. This endeavour by the TSF ended up being fruitless, as the popular support for Malfoy Ames grew more and more every passing day. Worried that a socialist entity could disrupt trade and cause conflict in the region, the oversight committee allowed the arrest of Malfoy Ames only a few days before elections were due to happen under pretence of forged legal documents. This bold, evident lie became the spark needed to light up the revolution's flames. Major system-wide protests happened over the arrest, causing the local Trans-Solar Federation forces to deploy riot control troops. This would soon be followed by the biggest revolution the Trans-Solar Federation experienced.

The Cygni Rebellion

Only a few days after the early festivities of the new year and the re-election of the previous sector governor, the Naval Station Oahu tasked with overseeing the security of the system and housing the oversight committee of the sector, had become the target of the Cygni populace's revolution. Turncoats and Revolutionaries took over the station by force and took hostage TSF loyalists. All those who were loyal to the Trans-Solar Federation alongside anyone else unwilling to cooperate was promptly executed, the hostile takeover ending up with what is approximated to be 5,310 military casualties by the USSP's records, 21 of those being high-ranking TSF officials. This led to what would then called the Cygni Rebellion and the Oahu Massacre, followed quickly by an official declaration of independence by Malfoy Ames himself. Merely hours later, other planets in the proximity of the Cygni system did likewise. Together, they proclaimed the founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Planets at 09:00 Galactic Commercial Time on May 24th, 2443.

The TSF considered this a declaration of war. It took less than a day for the Trans-Solar Federation to form up an attack fleet, invading the newly-created Union's system with an armada of 105 vessels. Arriving in the Cygni system, the flotilla met head-first with the defences of the USSP rebels: Naval Station Oahu, 15 USSP-flagged TSF corvettes, and about 150 converted civilian ships, asteroid miners, starliners and freighters with the TSF flag covered by red paint. A declaration was put out by the Solar Navy; The people of Cygni IIa would stand down immediately, or be killed in the ensuing nuclear bombardment. None of the rebel vessels stood down, the resulting battle lasting roughly 10 hours. After the fighting ended, a mere 20 Federation vessels remained functional, and all of the Union vessels had either fled or were destroyed.

A planetary assault was attempted by the TSF, yet their marines were severely outnumbered by the rebel forces. Out of the five thousand deployed marines, 500 were captured and the rest either deserted or were killed. This was the first and the largest of Federation planetary landings. Several other minor subsequent landings were attempted by the Federation forces, yet none of them were a success.

The Federation, under pressure from many protests against the war in their home systems, did not want to send more Marines to die in the meat grinder that was the Cygni rebellion. While the USSP had much, much more losses in both lives and ships than the TSF's powerful naval forces, they decided to sue for a ceasefire, which subsequently turned into a peace treaty. The Trans-Solar Federation would recognize the independence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Planets under the condition that all captured Federation marines, living or dead, were safely returned to the Federation. As the space in the orbit of Cygni IIa was turned into salvage fields, the Trans-Solar Federation fleet returned to its shipyards, weakened by one of the first major successful revolutions in the TSF. The USSP won a pyrrhic victory against the TSF's powerful naval forces and was allowed to be left alone in relative peace. Nova Cygni eventually evolved into the capital world of modern-day USSP, compromised of many of the same politicians that took up lead of Malfoy Ames' socialist mantle.

The Aftermath

As the dust settled and infrastructure was being rebuilt, Malfoy Ames had began setting into stone the Union of Soviet Socialist Planets' proper functions. Having worked on written work just a few months before the Cygni Rebellion, Ames had written various works on socialist states, many who were inspired of old soviet work. Founding the Presidium, he brought alongside him his personal group of close contacts as advisors to assist in restructuring the new USSP. While the early days of the USSP focused on reconstruction, Malfoy had used his personal contacts - those he hadn't broken off - to get funding and support, being a boon and a curse for his work. The new chairman would not last long in the Presidium, having personal interests that contrasted with his proclaimed goal of helping the people out of the TSF's grips.

His past as a Trans-Solar Federation governor still gave him various connections with TSF-aligned politicians, of which many wanted to maintain relations together. It didn't take long for Stukov Vedenin to be made aware of his friend's corruption as discrepancies in budgets and resources didn't add up. Only a month after the USSP was born, he publicly denounced his friend over his acts of corruption, demanding the resignation of his position. This was met with denial from Malfoy, but a quick investigation by the state police force he himself set up revealed Stukov to be in the right, and for Malfoy Ames to be thrown into court. After a public vote, Stukov Vedenin was elected as a temporary head for the USSP, whose experience as a colony overseer granted him plenty of respect. A year passed and elections were held again, where Stukov succeeded again.

To this day, little competition shows up to Stukov Vedenin's doorstep, his management of the USSP being well respected by both his peers and the populace.

Culture and Society

The USSP's internal culture is known to be a mimic of old terran culture, bearing the soviet name with pride. The act of sharing one's possessions is taken as not only just a duty, but a honor. Greed and materialism are seen as mental rot, individuals favoring their own good over the collective's being heavily shunned by the USSP's members. Corporate entities are not welcome to establish themselves inside soviet space, all form of workplace being managed by the government itself. This allows for anyone to pursue work where they wish to do so through socialized education and employment systems. As the USSP sought to establish a proper tongue for its people, a new language born from a bastard mix of Gutter, Sol Common, and old Russian grew on Cygni B IIa, nowadays known as Neo-Russkiya. Sol Common obviously lost its title as one of the soviet state's official languages, now replaced by Neo-Russkiya and Galactic Common.

The Soviet state operates a notable control over artistic forms, most notably banning any form of literature, art or music that pushes capitalist, nationalist or fascist points. Otherwise, the state does not restrict artistic intend under specific parameters, even allowing a few critiques of the states. Modern art trends find Socialist Realism - idealized art of the soviet state - to be quite popular, especially in sculptures and visual arts. Handshake of Giants, a massive stone sculpture which stands in front of the Soviet Presidium on Nova Cygni. Made by a Vulpkanin named Jikkerio Kuzgacharz, it is one of the best representations of this artistic current, representing a Human, Vulpkanin, IPC and Nian all holding a singular hammer together face-to-face.

Soviet Technologies

Distanced from the major resource hotspots that the Trans-Solar Federation owns, the USSP has limited resources to work with, especially when it comes to plasma sources. Infrastructure in the USSP is planned with longevity in mind. Many of these stations, ships and colonies are built with alternative methods that differ from what most Trans-Solar Federation and Nanotrasen stations base themselves on. While iron is in higher abundance, titanium platings are much more often used by soviet installations due to its longetivity, especially when exposed to space debris.

Singularity, Tesla or Supermatter engines typically found aboard terran stations are instead replaced with expansive solar arrays, oftentimes taking more space than the station itself. In bigger USSP installations, these solar panels are typically accompanied with impressive batteries and turbines in the rare cases that the solar panels aren't providing enough. Recent breakthroughs in Soviet tech have produced the 'Uran-Sila Engines', comparable to Nanotrasen's own systems of Supermatter engines, instead built out using uranium threads whose radioactive decay is used to power entire networks. The use of 'clean' energies that require little renewal of resources is something the USSP prides itself on.

USSP stations and ships lack powerful enough gravity generators, leading the soviet union to develop a crew-wide Magboot lining system that is kept in constant effect. All state-issued jackboots hold within their sole a magnetic band, helping soviet spacers alongside low-gravity situations. This allows for easier movements inside their installations with very little upkeep, all while making everything much easier to move. All these alternative methods ensures that there are less cut corners and substandard construction materials which, early in the formation of the USSP, often resulted in high-upkeep costs or the stations' subsequent dismantlement.

Government - The Presidium

The primary governmental structure of the USSP is the Presidium, an assembly based upon the blueprint laid down by old socialist terran theorems. Its main doctrine was more formally presented in an official document known as “Sovereignty and the Intergalactic Obligations of Socialist Planets” - the SIOSP manual - that was distributed to all public outlets of the USSP. It stated that while socialist planets should be free to determine their path, none of their decisions should damage either socialism in their country or the fundamental interests of other socialist countries. It further elaborated on the policy - which detractors called the Doctrine of Limited Sovereignty - particularly noting the threat of capitalism to the socialist commonwealth and calling military assistance “extraordinary.” The USSP does not endorse the inclusion of independent political groups into the Presidium - especially due to the 'us versus them' dynamic such systems tend to have - and their existence in the USSP is typically restricted, the soviet Presidium's focus being a single cohesive party. Visually, the USSP goes so far as to appropriate parts of the ancient soviet flag, anthem, and language in order to bolster a culture unique from the Trans-Solar Federation's, furthering the legitimacy of their movement and capture people's attention. The Presidium regroups all these into one assembly, holding daily office to discuss current affairs, laws and information publicly every day at 14:30 galactic Commercial Time. Its most numerous member type is the Presidium Unionist, elected on the basis of population with one delegate for every 300,000 people in the USSP, and the Presidium National, which has a delegate for every major and minor installation, planet, or colony. Popular votes are held in the Presidium at every end of month, where the people not only give their opinion on current issues, but also express their current likes and dislikes of elected officials. While these are polls, should the popular opinion of any member of the Presidium dip below 40% approval for two consecutive months, their place in the Presidium will be given to someone else. The effective ruler of the USSP is known as the Chairman of the Presidium, who appoints Nationals to operate the various department leaderships of the USSP. The current Chairman is Stukov Vedenin, the ex-Vice Governor of Nova Cygni and a once-close friend of Malfoy Ames.

Role	Function
Chairman of the Presidium	Elected by vote from Presidium National members
Presidium National	Has a delegate for every colony and starport
Presidium Unionist	Has a delegate for every 300'000 citizen
The people	Makes monthly polls on all positions and subjects

Soviet Military

The USSP’s Military force is best described by the adage “Quantity over Quality”. USSP fleets are often composed of repurposed yet effective vessels such asteroid miners, starliners, freighters, or other such civilian ships. While ramshackle in appearance, the USSP Navy has proven itself an effective fighting force by virtue of sheer weight of numbers and blistering speed.

An USSP soldier's outfit

Most ships in the USSP Navy are specialized for extreme close quarters combat (under a kilometer between vessels), where the outdated cannon, missiles and boarding parties become much more viable options, creating the need for USSP vessels to close the distance quickly between themselves and their targets. USSP Navy Captains are given significant leeway in customizing their engagement style and hull configurations, with some preferring the “wall of lead” approach, while others strip down to a bare minimum of firepower so as to maximize the engine’s power-to-weight ratio. Many freighters and mining rigs opt to carry with them short-distance fighters alongside a hangar bay, allowing repairs and refits on the go for smaller vessels. It's quite hard to make the distinction between the USSP's military and civilian ships, as not only their individual roles are often scrambled together, but even civilian ships carry ample armor platings and hardpoints.

The USSP Army is outfitted in much the same way, formed primarily through conscription and volunteers. All citizens of the USSP, regardless of rank, job or conscription, are allowed and encouraged to exert their rights to bear arms. Due to this, the Army requires volunteers and conscripts to provide their own firearms, with only elite squad units being issued locally-produced AK-814 rifle variants. Personal laser-based weaponry are typically reserved for the highest-ranking personnel in the military, their production being too limited and expensive for widespread use while ballistic weaponries - typically rifles - are in constant production. The Unica-6 Autorevolver is one of the hallmarks of Soviet weaponries, packing stopping power without being overly costly to manufacture. It's not uncommon to see industrial vehicles sporting hardpoint slots, especially in the more militarized planets of the USSP. The easiest way for an immigrant - or anyone with intermediate citizenship - to acquire full citizenship is through a conscription of 3 years, after which they can apply to integrate with the USSP's populace.

What truly makes Soviet soldiers unique in the eyes of many is their training in guerilla warfare. Having learned with the Cygni Rebellion that Soviet forces are not able to brute force their way through conflicts, the USSP developed 'Revolutionariat' agents tasked with infiltrating stations to cause revolts, overthrow the current local leadership and, in the mettle, allow for the USSP to seize control of their targets with much less effort. This has led to the major military doctrine of the USSP to be all about hit-and-runs, the asymmetrical style of warfare that makes veterans of the USSP forces desirable for numerous organizations, most notably the Syndicate.

Foreign Relations

The USSP is considered by and large to be a politically neutral entity by most planetary governments and corporations due to having a focus on self-sufficiency. Despite their rocky relationship and their grievances with the Trans-Solar Federation, the USSP does seek to reconcile with the central human government in hopes of cooperating, to no avail. The USSP has had occasional minor trade deals with the Syndicate, mostly sharing manpower, skills and resources to further mutual goals. This goes as far as to arm the Syndicate with a few of the USSP's weapons, which puts the USSP at odds with Nanotrasen who finds itself quite often victim of the Syndicate's activities. This doesn't stop the odd deals here and there between the two entities.

One of the few exceptions to this neutrality is the USSP's ongoing military actions against what they believe to be fascist government entities, often conducting disruption campaigns on any and all companies known to be cooperating with the Elysium Republic or the Prospero Order.

The Vulpkanin Assembly was introduced to the USSP when a convoy of Vulpkanin refugees entered soviet space and landed on Herars III. As the first non-human encounter of the USSP, various diplomats were sent to the planet to greet the newly arrived Vulpkanins, including Stukov Vedenin, the current Chairman of the USSP. While only a few members of the convoy knew galactic common, it was sufficient for the USSP and the Vulpkanin Assembly to be introduced to each other, the soviet state allowing ressources to be spent towards colony development for the newly arrived refugees. With the high quantity of Vulpkanin lives inside the USSP nowadays, the Assembly does wish to maintain friendly relations with the soviet union, which is quite welcomed.

While the USSP was not the first to discover the Synthetic Union's homeworld, New Canaan, the proximity of the Synthetic Union's sphere of influence with the USSP's own systems naturally inclined the two bodies to interact much more closely with each other. Showing support to the Positronic cause, the USSP offered their support to the growing synthetic state in both material wealth, mutual diplomatic accords and guaranteed independance. While the Synthetic Union has refused the USSP's offer to integrate into one singular union together, the two unions consider their political relationship to be cordial, willing to protect each other. After contact with the Synthetic Union was met with success, the USSP was informed about the existence of a moth-like species in proximity of their worlds, the Nian. While translating their language alongside the Synthetic Union's, USSP scholars agreed to give the Nian language the name ‘Tkachi’, Neo-Russkiya for ‘weavers’, a name that spread through human space.

The USSP does not maintain relations with other bodies, mostly due to either their distance from the USSP's holds or the lack of common ground.

Demographics

The USSP is one of the few human government states to be fully open and accepting of non-human immigration. This has led to a surprisingly reduced percentage of human lives inside the USSP's frontiers. Approximately 63% of the USSP is compromised by humans, the remaining 37% being entirely alien species. Of these species, the majority are Vulpkanins composing 18% of the USSP's total populace. Vulpkanins typically immigrate into the USSP to join the Herars III colony alongside fellow Vulpkanins, but most importantly to find a world to call theirs. Naturally, many Vulpkanins find themselves spread out around the USSP's territories. Enjoying integration and equality with fellow organics, IPCs form 14% of the USSP's populace, all of which share the same rights as the citizens of the USSP. This also includes free access to maintenance programs, allowing IPCs to maintain their chassis with little cost. Being the first to have discovered Nians alongside the Synthetic Union, a fair share of the moth-like species lives inside the USSP's frontiers. Any remaining non-humans inside the USSP's colonies are not selectively specified, lacking any other majority. Cyborgs and AIs were not included in this chart.

Species	Percentage
Human	63.2 %
Vulpkanin	17.6 %
IPC	14.1 %
Nian	4.0 %
Other	1.1 %

Notable Planets & Stations

Nova Cygni, Capital Planet - Nova Cygni, once Cygni B IIa, is a large mountainous planet and the birthplace of the Union, orbiting Cygni B II, a gas giant 1.67 times as massive as Jupiter. It is most renowned for its arduous 799-days long eccentric orbit. It is the main hub of all the affairs of the state with several underground megacities being found here, housing over 15 billion citizens. While factories are present on Nova Cygni, it is not the Union's main industrial planet, a major focus being put on preserving the natural beauty of the planet via edicts preventing major mining operations over the surface. With the eccentric orbit of its gas giant around Cygni B, the planet goes through an intense 480-days long winter with temperatures dropping lower than earth's coldest ever registered temperatures with a current record of -145 Celsius (-229 Fahrenheit). During this winter, the surface of the planet is covered in a thick layer of ice, save for the peaks of its mountains and the populated megacities of its surface. The remaining 319 days of its orbit are milder, with temperatures varying between -10 to 20 Celsius (14 to 68 Fahrenheit) as its ice caps melt and cool the atmosphere, despite the proximity to its star.

Stukovir, Industry World - A dry, desertic planet with the largest industrial base of the Union, a large departure from Nova Cygni when it comes to environment. One of the first planets that joined the Union right after the proclamation of its founding. Modern day Stukovir is however a shining beacon of industry, with most of its old factories demolished and replaced with factories that fit the modern standard. It is also one of the most polluted planets in the Union's territory due to the heavy industrialization, the local government recommending proper internals use when going outside. Most of the Union's IPC population lives and works on this planet, unaffected by the planet's condition all while enjoying high access to the union's most industrially advanced planet.

Kommunisticheskaya Contrapor XIV, Drydock Station - Also known as the KC14 is the largest out of the 14 space stations owned and operated by the Union. While it started as Naval Infantry outpost it was converted into a trading station and it is currently the hub of all trade in the territories of the USSP while still retaining it original purpose of being a military drydock for the soviet fleet. Its predecessor, KC13, once shared the same role before an unknown object's impact brought it out of orbit and damaged it beyond repair. The design between both space stations are similar, using multiple twin sets of rings attached to a central pillar. It is part of a lineage of modular space stations that date before the USSP's creation.

Herars III, Union Planet - An interesting case, what originally was a small desertic planet would be further terraformed and then colonised by the Vulpkanin during their Exodus before being incorporated into the Union with a relatively high degree of autonomy. Naturally, the majority of the Vulpkanin population still lives on this planet after integration into the USSP. Herars III is the entertainment capital of the Union, with various entertainment centers present on the planet. Speeder races are one of the biggest attractions of the planet, most of the planet's landscape being reserved to such races. The Grand Soviet Supertour, which spans the entire planet's circumference and takes an entire month to complete, happens on this planet at every new year, the victor receiving high honors from the Chairman themself. Many historical sites pertaining to the first contact between Vulpkanin and Soviet are still present here and thus about half a billion tourists come to Herars III every year.

Notable USSP flagships

With its focus on mobility, the infrastructure of the USSP relies on multiple capital ships capable of moving its asset around soviet space.

T78-Korobka, Logistics Center - The Korobka was one of the first ships installed into the USSP's navy after the Cygni Rebellion, sporting a custom blueprint designed by soviet engineers to maximize its cargo space. This ship allows travels from planet to planet - and starport to starport - to be done with ease, acting as the center of the USSP's internal supply and transfer chains. It has massive holds of storage, to the point of being massive enough one could fit an entire city's population inside its vast storage system. It is typically seen assisting the construction and supply of new infrastructure around soviet space, acting as the center of the supply chain for various manufactures.

C09-Molotok, Fleet Carrier - The Molotok is the main fleet carrier of the USSP's navy, capable of housing mutliple squadrons of combat pods alongside light corvettes. Its use in combat is typically more of a forward operating base than a combat craft by itself, supporting the fleet from afar. Its size makes it vulnerable to the TSF's long-range weaponry, which is why it is always supported by smaller, agile craft capable of intercepting hostile ships earlier.

M17-Serp, Medical Cruiser - The Serp is the biggest medical ship inside the USSP's frontiers, assembled during the Cygni Rebellion out of a bulk transport ship to help tend to the high quantities of wounded soldiers. It's also the logistics center of various 'Trauma Team' rescue squads that spot escape pods from recent conflicts. Should a medical emergency arise on any of the USSP's installations or colonies, the Serp is able to relocate itself in orbit to ease the emergency and ensure every soviet is capable of having access to high-quality medical care.