Initial SetupNOTE: To determine starting numbers for population/industry/research labs I went through the top 170 countries in the world, listed out their populations and HDI scores. I then 'drafted' them into the different factions to establish their populations and using a weighted average of HDI came up with their wealth/industry %. I know HDI isn't the best and perhaps I should have used GDP but the results ended up in line with my thoughts and I didn't feel like recalculating . For Research Labs I used the Aurora recommended values based upon population, industry, and government and then awarded 'bonus' labs based upon the number and depth of each nations space program. China, USA, and Russia received 5 bonus labs for having manned flight capabilities, countries like India and Germany and France received 3 bonus labs for having extraterrestrial probes, countries like Iran and N/S Korea received 1 bonus lab for being launch capable and countries like Brazil received .5 for having been involved with the ISS.
Also note that at this time, no nations know about jump points so their initial plans are all centered on salvation within Sol for the initial development.GSA (Global State Alliance)
By 2020 the GSA had become a permanent alliance of nations built around their space programs. Although originally GSA stood for something else, it was adopted and 'backronym'd' to the Global State Alliance, although everyone just calls it the GSA because the new name is terrible. GSA, despite setbacks over the 4 years since its founding is still by far in the best position of any nation.
Stats: Population: 1375 m
Industry: 2750 CI
Wealth: 100%
Labs: 40 (14 by population, +26 bonus).
Primary Nation: USA
Secondary Nations: Russia, Japan, Germany, France
The member nations are a merging of NATO, the EU, Russia, and ANZUS. A combination of very high industry and research compared to the second lowest population gives the GSA the best shot at saving their entire population. Before Trans-Newtonian elements their plan was to colonize Mars however with their new potential capabilities, they're looking instead at Titan as whichever way the Hoffmeyer Burp ends up going, Titan will be safe either way.
Government: Representative Democracy.
The GSA is struggling to organize itself but as long as R&D continues nobody really cares how things shake out. The GSA is heading towards a Representative Democracy with a tiered approach similar to the old European Union. Every GSA citizen elects local, national, and GSA representatives. The executive branches of each nation nominate and vote on a President of the GSA. The first GSA president, Jake Sweany, a US politician, stepped down after 2 years establishing a precedent of 2 year terms. There is no limit on overall terms, but no GSA President will serve consecutive terms. The recent nominations put Italian Giuditta Maglio into power.
Military: The GSA has no military of itself, instead the GSA just has a command structure (under the authority of the GSA President subject to GSA Legislative approval for war declarations) but instead the GSA has authority over local national military resources and commands them as necessary. The Naval command has so far been drafted not from the military but from space agencies as the new focus of the GSA Navy is spacecraft. Currently an American, Commodore India Manganiello has been put into command. She was previously a NASA administrator although she was a Lieutenant in the Air Force for a couple of years thanks to ROTC training. Manganiello is struggling in her position and her indecisiveness (and poor background) are causes of concern for the GSA but as long as the funding and research flows, nobody is going to risk causing disruptions.
For ground forces, the GSA has about 40 mixed units of armour and infantry at its disposal, the rest are all deployed as peacekeepers to help curtail riots and violence in their member nations. Brigadier General Major Finkel is in chief command although like Manganiello is in over his head and only a lack of need for ground combat is keeping him in GSA command.
Science: The GSA has been able to assemble five Trans-Newtonian teams to command their 40 research labs. Dr. Haywood Bumstead, an English materials expert (Construction & Production) is commanding 25 of those labs to study Trans-Newtonian elements as quickly as possible for the other teams.
Dr. Russell Accetta (Logistics) is commanding 5 labs to maximize fuel storage, Dr. Junior Verdin (Missiles) has 7 labs studying minimum engine power and biologist Dr. Wilma Slavens is using the remaining to study biology and genetics (although that will most likely be interrupted in August to free labs for post-Trans-Newtonian research).
Remaining is one more team unassigned at the moment that specializes in Sensor systems.
PRC (People's Republic of China and Asia)
Although technically an alliance of 15 asian countries, China dominates the PRC to the point that the 'official' acronym drops off the "and Asia" entirely. A unified Korea has considerable sway, and to a lesser extent Thailand and Indonesia have decision making abilities but effectively the PRC is the PRC. Although they start with half the research capabilities, they have nearly twice the industry and population (for good or bad) as the GSA. The PRC and the GSA are the two major global powers.
Stats: Population: 2325 m
Industry: 4350 CI
Wealth: 85%
Labs: 20 (10 by population, +10 bonus).
Primary Nation: China
Secondary Nations: Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines
The PRC's initial goal is to race to Mars to stake out the best places. It knows that GSA is planning on bypassing Mars for Titan and so Mars is 'up for grabs' from their perspective. To hedge their bets they are also planning on keeping an eye on Jupiter's moons in case the Hoffmeyer Burp goes badly. Despite being aggressive and stand-offish they are not actually eager for a fight against the GSA. With a far larger military and industrial capability the PRC is confident it could win, but it would be a Pyrrhic victory and potentially catastrophically delay their Exodus. The GSA has launch capabilities and industry spread across the entire globe while the PRC is far more concentrated with the bulk of their population/industry/research concentrated in small regions in China and Korea so a nuclear strike could permanently cripple the PRC in its current state.
Government: China's Unitary State dominates politics. The PRC and China are functionally synonymous while the members states are basically puppets. The current head of the PRC is Chien Ju, a notoriously conservative hold-over from the Cold War era. His policies frequently promote "the greater good" and China's launch capability was expanded by 300% over the course of 4 years, however the media is completely silent as to just
how that was accomplished.
Military: The PRC has consolidated its entire military under Chinese command. The naval forces are under the command of Da Xiao He Jie, a notoriously ruthless and efficient commander. It is rumored that he has practically enslaved the CNSA and R&D teams in order to meet their goals.
The ground forces are likewise unified under Da Xiao Yu Song Yi who while just as effective as He Jie, is known to be much more respectful towards those under his command.
Science: The PRC has 8 science teams, (2 Defensive Systems, 3 Sensors, 1 Logistics, 1 Power, 1 Missile) and currently all 20 labs are under the command of Dr. Gao De who expects a breakthrough in Trans-Newtonian elements by next year.
IAL (Indo-Arab League)
The Indo-Arab League starts in a poor position. It has a large population comparable to the PRC, but it's research and industry are half that. In the future if they fall behind and leadership changes they may become more violent but right now the IAL is spreading a message of peace and stability from the Sidhu movement and of all the global powers, it seems the most concerned with the fate of the Non-Aligned Nations.
Stats: Population: 2200 m
Industry: 2150 CI
Wealth: 75%
Labs: 10 (6 by population, +4 bonus).
Primary Nation: India/Pakistan
Secondary Nations: Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia
The IAL plans to split its efforts between two paths. Its primary goal is to delay or stop entirely the warming effects of the sun so it plans to rush to produce anti-greenhouse gasses to delay the need for Exodus. The second effort is to set up colonies on Mars and begin transitioning to their new home. The IAL is aware of GSA's plans for Titan and PRC's focus on Mars and is covertly preparing its military for potential conflict with the PRC.
Government: The IAL is the loosest alliance of the global powers however its member states are the most aligned so currently a loose, informal IAL government structure is needed. India, through ISRO and Deva Sidhu provide the direction and the other members do what they can to help. Deva Sidhu attempted to reject any grand title but the IAL bestowed upon her the title of High Prophet. Deva is quick to call for majority votes and has stressed the foundations of a democracy for when she is not around and the IAL is slowly putting together a formal government structure along similar lines of the GSA however most of its member states were authoritarian or single-party states so democracy is slow to spread.
Military: Similar to the GSA, the IAL has put forward space agency personnel as their chief naval commanders, and Captain Amma Gite, a retired astronaut, is running the IAL space program. She is known for being quite candid and blunt as well as cautious in taking extreme risks.
Brigadier General Patahk is in charge of the IAL's 66 division of armour and infantry. These were mostly drafted from India and Pakistan as both countries demilitarized following their unification. The rest of the Arab League has contributed forces as well however most of the rest of their forces are being used to reduce civil unrest.
Science: The lack of a strong space program foundation is very telling in the IAL's research as only a single lab team under the leadership of biologist Dr. Adya Shekhawat is capable of performing the Trans-Newtonian research necessary to save the IAL. The IAL is optimistic that not only will Dr. Shekhawat succeed but that a new emphasis on education will result in more scientific teams being developed.
AZN (Aztec Nation)
Without a question the global power in the worst position, it almost seems like AZN was founded out of spite for the rest of the world rather then any real hope. Their bloody rise to power has been marked with sharp focus on military rather then research and the rest of the nations are eyeing AZN warily. It is widely believed that the plan of AZN is to wait for other nations to develop the technology and infrastructure to make the exodus and then seize it by force.
Stats: Population: 630m
Industry: 1100 CI
Wealth: 90%
Labs: 5 (3 by population, +2 bonus).
Primary Nation: Brazil
Secondary Nations: Mexico, Colombia, Argentina
The rest of the nations are absolutely correct. The AZN leadership knows it probably doesn't have the infrastructure or research capabilities to make exodus however the other global powers, especially the GSA and IAL are forgoing military focus for technology to help colonize other planets and the AZN is hoping to use that blindspot to make exodus by force.
Government: The Aztec Nation is a unified state, not a federation of alliance like the other global powers. After Liliana 'the Beast' Vazquez seized control over Mexico, her revolution swept South like wildfire and country after country was annexed after their populous revolted against whatever government was previously in place. With the full might of the Aztec military behind her, she rules AZN with a bloody, iron fist. The AZN population is encouraged by this thinking a strong focused leadership is necessary to save the population.
Military: The AZN military has embraced the Aztec nomenclature that has taken its grip on Latin America and so the leader of their space program is Tlacteccatl (General) Claudio Betancourt, a man known throughout AZN for being instrumental in bringing Brazil into the fold. He is known as being a highly disciplined and resourceful commander but is also quite charming and personable making him a very effective leader in both conquest and command.
For the ground forces, like other global powers the majority of their troops are being used to quell civil unrest and resistance fighters who opposed the Aztec revolution. The AZN only has about 20 divisions of armour and infantry free under the command of Tlacteccatl Venus "Eagle Warrior" Sisneros. Sisneros is known for being aggressive and emotionless and during the conquest of Argentina she became known globally from the way she brutally punished any sign of resistance. Unlike other global powers, the AZN has already started to increase it's ground force capability although they have a long way to go to match the capabilities of the other 3 global powers.
Science: AZN only has three science teams (1 biology, 1 energy, 1 missiles) and so the 5 labs are under the command of physicist Dr. Alana Alcaraz however such a slow pace of research will put AZN nearly 4 years behind GSA and PRC.
NAN (Non-Aligned Nations)
Unfortunately for a variety of reasons many nations around the globe, primarily in Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa were unable to exert real influence to join one of the four major global powers. Supposedly these nations are aligned with one power or another but none of them were made full members and do not offer the resources or personnel to entice any of the other powers to reach out to them. As such nearly a billion people are being left to fall through the cracks and without a stabilizing global force most of these regions descend into pure anarchy with violent coups installing warlords into power or just having their governments dissolve into lawless regions. The people are neglected, ignored, and desperate for any aid. Presumably if another global power is able to establish a colony they could find any number of volunteers willing to brave the harshest of environments for the slim chance of survival for them and their families.
Neutral Population: 900m