1st January 2400 While all three human nations have their own calendars due to having their own planets with unique orbits, they still keep track of the old Earth dating. In case of the Commune this is mostly due to the fact that their original habitats were completely enclosed and artificial, so they had a twenty four hour day and no need to keep track of local seasons, but even Phoenix and the Hegemony were doing so for traditions sake. As such all three powers celebrate the turn of the century, even more so thanks to their recent accomplishments, which include defeat of the Destroyer, multiple victories against numerous other aliens and the continued expansion of the human race, which by now numbers over thirteen billion people spread among eighty six planets and moons, six large orbital habitats and numerous mining outposts. Below is the status report of all the powers.
Federal Republic of Phoenix
The Republic was extremely lucky when they found the Phoenix system. Not only the alien ruins provided the refugees with enormous industrial and technological base, the four stars had more than enough space and resources to last for decades. In fact the only reason the Republic spread out among the other stars, was the need for the national minorities to try and re-establish their nations as highly autonomous regions. The central government supported this to avoid potential internal conflicts and to stimulate population growth as the smaller colonies had a higher one.
Technically the Republic comprises forty one systems, but in reality only four have any population and one more has an automated mining colony. For a couple of decades now the expansion has been on hold due to Phoenixian reliance on recovered alien terraforming installations which are extremely limited in numbers. Colonization of new systems will resume as soon as possible, as there are still minorities willing to try and re-create their nations, but it is currently unknown when resources will become available.
Economically Phoenix is very stable. Due to limited manpower, they invested heavily in automated mines and managed to produce enough of them to supply all the needed resources despite the fact that a total of five mining locations had to be established within their home system alone.
This however has been bought at the price of a somewhat smallish military. Historically the Republic never had to struggle against the aliens so their Navy lacks experience and the population feels so secure, they are somewhat opposed to rapid expansion of the Phoenixian naval shipbuilding capability. At the same time, as said Navy never suffered any major loses, they by now comprise a total of forty six battleships with numerous escorts
The Republic is the smallest of the human nations with a total population of two billion seven hundred and sixty one million.
Hegemony of Man 
The Hegemony is the largest of the three human powers, but not necessarily the most powerful, although they are working hard to change that. Unfortunately they had to deal with two major problems – resources and money.
Initially the Hegemony intended to leave mining to private corporations but it quickly became obvious that those were growing too slowly, leading to the establishment of the large government sponsored mining sites. This had far reaching consequences as it forced the Hegemony to support growth of certain colonies, which required a heavy investment into freighters, colony ships, infrastructure, fuel production and terraforming installations. Even more importantly perhaps it lead to far larger presence outside the Sanctuary system than the government hoped for, but so far the strategy of keeping everything important in the home system remains unchanged. The mineral situation still hasn't been fully resolved with the current largest issue being uridium.
The finances were stable until a couple of years ago, when a crisis finally hit leading to lowered manufacturing efficiency, dropping below seventy five percent at its lowest point. This forced the Hegemony to optimize their mineral purchases, making it rely even more on government owned operations but what really saved the situation was the growing income from the occupied alien population in the Untama system. By now the issue is largely resolved although the situation is still being closely monitored.
The Navy comprises eleven carrier groups, all of which are kept in orbit around the capital, with the exception of a single, smaller one keeping an eye on the recently conquered alien homeworld. So far the Navy acquitted itself well against numerous alien threats, but they are still very wary of the Commune which means their forces will be expanded as rapidly as possible.
The main short term objective of the Hegemony is to deal with the mineral situation, incorporate the aliens into the larger society and to resume military expansion. Their long term goal is to create a unified front against the Destroyers.
The Hegemony comprises a total of forty four systems. Below is the list of the most important ones:
Sanctuary (Total population of 4 236 million) – The Hegemony capital is the single most heavily populated human planet and system in the known space and is the location of nearly the entire national industry. Only mines have been moved off-system, although this does not include installations captured in the Untama system.
Untama (Total population of 6 308 million) – The home system of Takarans is still under occupation and dealing with significant resistance. Even so the acquisition of the star may have been the most important strategic development in the history of the Hegemony as it turned the recent mineral and financial issues from the total disaster they could be, to a mere annoyance. Despite the local industry running at only sixty percent of theoretical capacity, due to war devastation, radiation and sabotage, it already generates as much taxes as New Earth and continues to be the largest supplier of uridium and corundium. Unfortunately the mineral deposits are bound to be depleted within the next decade, but it still bought the Hegemony enough time to properly develop other mining sites and the tax income will be invaluable in the coming decades.
Philadelphia (Total population of 458 million) – The star is an old reddish giant with an expansive system. Due to the distances between planets and jump points it serves as something of an obstacle to further exploration and development of the systems beyond. At the same time the system is the gateway to the only area of space the Commune could not reach without having to move through the capital, making it extremely important from a strategic point of view. The only colonized planet, Delawere, is not only the largest Hegemony colony outside their home system, but also the second largest mining location, producing many important elements. If Sanctuary experiences more manpower shortages it is very likely that the system will be among the first target to move the industry to.
San Francisco (Total population of 312 million) – The system is a quaternary of Sol like stars with seven possible settlement sites, four of which has been colonized. However the most important part of the system is the Yerba Buena colony, the single largest mining site in the Hegemony with a thousand automated complexes and equivalent number of privately owned ones.
Little Rock (Total population of 57 million) – The system, located beyond Philadelphia, is rather uninteresting with a single A-class star orbited by a scattering of planets and only a single jump point. However one of the planets, Pulaski, possesses large and accessible deposits of uridium and corundium which were in short supply and not mined anywhere else before the conquest of Untama. As the alien home system will run out of minerals soon, the development of Pulaski is ongoing and as soon as terraforming is completed, the government intends to heavily support colonization with a thousand manned mining complexes planned.
Seattle (Total population of 46 million) – The only colonized planet in the system, Magnolia, was a site of major alien ruins which yielded, among other things, eight adaptable terraforming installations. The planet is currently being modified and before Delawere it was the only Hegemony world outside the home system to be terraformed to human standards. More importantly perhaps the planet has reasonable mineral deposits, which include easily accessible uridium which is in critically short supply, prompting the government to actively develop the planet.
Houston (Total population of 5 million) – The system is rather uninteresting with the exception of the gas giant Hermann which has large and easily accessible deposits of sorium, making the system the only supplier of fuel to the Hegemony. As it can be reached by the Commune and possibly other aliens without the need to pass through the Sanctuary system, the government is looking for alternative sites, preferably beyond the Philadelphia system, but it is very likely that the harvesters currently in Houston will remain there.
The Commune
The Commune is of moderate size in terms of population with a total of four billion and eight hundred million inhabitants, but is the largest human nation in terms of territory. It has also been on the forefront of fighting aliens defeating ADS, Specters, Travelers and even the Destroyers. It was also engaged in battle against the Hegemony, emerging victorious twice. All of this was accomplished thanks to their advanced technology, but the other two nations are catching up.
In terms of military the Commune is considered to be the strongest nation in the local space, with the exception of the Destroyers. However due to multitude of threats and the huge amount of territory they have to protect, their force is also the most spread out one with a total of seven fleets currently in existence.
The decentralization, developed out of necessity rather than intent, is a two edged sword. On the one hand due to how spread out the Navy it, any war against properly attacking opponent will likely result in the loss of territory. On the other hand even if an entire sector is lost, the rest of the nation will have the industry and resources to easily rebuild. With no way of changing the situation, the Administrator and the Oversight Committee decided to embrace this and are working hard at spreading the nation in a more even way, so that each sector is preferably self-sufficient.
The Commune faces many issues, the largest of which is a looming financial crisis, but all of those can be traced back to their limited population. Not only it produces insufficient taxes, there is not enough manpower to build enough financial centers to compensate. Fortunately by now most other problems, like resource or ammunition shortages, have been solved.
The major near term tasks of the Commune are expansion of the population and enlargement of the financial sector. The list of national territories, with their advantages, issues and opportunities is given below.
Capital Sector (Total population of 811 million).
The Capital sector is located at the very heart of the Commune and comprises only two systems – Baltic and Malbork. The former has, for the longest time, been the secret refuge of the nation, but as it comprises only spun asteroids and cannot expand, new colonies were needed for the growing population which was one of the major reasons for the expansion of the Commune. The Malbork system on the other hand has only a single, tidally locked planet and no interesting mineral deposits, but due to it's location was considered to be one of the safest places in the nation, making many want to emigrate there.
The sector is known mostly for its massive shipbuilding industry, but limited expansion possibilities mean its importance is declining as the time passes. By now there are at least two sectors which are more important and the situation will become worse as the time passes.
Home Fleet The Home Fleet is in theory responsible for the protection of the home system, but its true main function is to serve as a strategic reserve. In the recent years this became mostly impossible as the arrival of the Travelers have forced the Force to reinforce and create new formations, leaving the Home Fleet severely understrength. The situation improved recently but is still far from ideal.
The fleet comprises two major task forces. TF 101 is located in orbit of Valhalla, a gas giant which is home to all of Baltic's orbital habitats and comprises mostly formations undergoing refit or training. TF 102 is the main combat formation, located in the inner system, eight billion kilometers closer to the jump points and is responsible for quick reaction to new threats. Malbork does not have any major force assigned to it.
Task Force 101 comprises a destroyer squadron, a light carrier squadron and nine gunboat flotillas. Task Force 102 comprises three battlecruiser divisions, three cruiser divisions, three destroyer squadrons and eight gunboat flotillas.
Sudetes Sector (Total population of 2 025 million)
The Sudetes sector was the very first one to be established outside of the capital and by now is the largest, most heavily developed one in the Commune. It is so large and successful that despite having many good locations for colonization still remaining, it is currently ignored by the government in favor of improving other parts of the nation.
The sector comprises a total of twelve inhabited planets, including Eden, which is the most heavily populated one in the Commune with eight hundred and six million citizens living on the planet. The industry is massive and diversified, lacking only commercial shipbuilding and ground force training, both of which are limited to the capital sector anyway. Numerous mining sites are also being exploited, but unfortunately the sector is not yet self-sufficient lacking good deposits of some minerals like corbomite or boronide.
The sector borders Hegemony and Republican space. There is also a Traveler anomaly in one of the systems.
Second Fleet Second Fleet has a long and proud tradition, as it was the very first Commune formation to fight a war against aliens, clearing the space of the ADS holdouts. In recent years however, as the sector has been quiet, the fleet was declining in size and importance, a very controversial decision considering it is responsible for the most important area of national space. It is divided into three major forces.
Task Force 201 is located in orbit of the capital sector of Wieliczka in the Sudetes sector and comprises a cruiser division, two frigate squadrons and three gunboat flotillas.
Task Force 202 is located in orbit of Ceylon in the Pacific system and is tasked with protecting the Commune space from potential Hegemony invasion. Aside from significant fortifications the formation comprises three frigate squadrons and ten gunboat flotillas.
Task Force 203 is located in orbit of Eden in the Athens system. As the colony is responsible for upgrading older frigate formations and building new ones, most formations are assigned there only temporarily for refit and training. The small size of TF203 is one of the largest political controversies in the Commune as Eden is the single largest, most industrialized colony in the nation, housing over sixteen percent of the entire Commune population, which in theory would warrant a large force. However the system is so out of the way and “safe” that anything assigned there is for all instances and purposes out of position to protect anything else. As such the force currently comprises only two frigate squadrons.
Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a relatively new formation responsible for keeping an eye on the Traveler anomaly in the Thermopylae system. As it will be disbanded or moved as soon as the anomaly dissipates it is an independent formation from the Second Fleet, despite operating in the Sudetes sector. This is also why it comprises only a single task force with a total strength of two cruiser divisions, a destroyer squadron and two frigate squadrons.
Knossos Sector (Total population of 890 million)
The Knossos Sector is at the forefront of the Commune conflicts. The system itself has been attacked by both the Destroyers and the Travelers and another area has seen two incursions by the Hegemony. Even so it continues to grow and contributes much to the nation.
The sector comprises numerous stars but only four colonies, all of which have population of more than a hundred million people. Knossos itself is a major fleet base with large industry and mining sector, Gagarin is the primary propulsion research site, Tblisi is the primary energy weapons R&D site and Herinnering will likely become the largest financial center in the nation.
There are currently no plans to settle new planets in the sector.
Third Fleet In the recent decades the Third Fleet has seen the most combat of any formation in the Commune and it continues to be the largest, most prestigious and most dangerous post. The Knossos system itself is a fortress expecting a new attack by the Destroyers while Atlantic has seen two invasions by the Hegemony and will likely see a third one in the future. Despite all that in recent years the government tries to limit reinforcements to the area in order to strengthen other formations. Even so the Third Fleet continues to be one of the two most important fleets in the Commune. It comprises two primary formations.
Task Force 301 is stationed on Knossos itself. As the main threat is in the form of the Destroyer and gunboats have proven to be the best option against them in the past, TF 301 has the largest number of them out of any formation. This is accompanied by massive orbital and ground fortifications, but the task force is somewhat lacking in heavier units. It comprises a total of one battlecruiser division and twelve gunboat flotillas.
Task Force 302 is stationed in orbit of Gibraltar, an asteroid in the Atlantic. Its main job is to keep an eye on the Hegemony, which attacked the system twice already. Aside from fortifications the task force comprises three frigate squadrons and ten gunboat flotillas.
Phoenician Sector (Total population of 757 million)
The Phoenician sector was once very promising, with the central system itself having a total of eleven jump points. However most of those led to nowhere interesting, significantly stalling further development. The situation reversed itself in recent years as the government begun focusing more on spreading out and developing less populated areas of space and by today the sector has become a reasonable industrial and mining site, albeit still only a secondary one. In total eleven planets have been colonized in the area. In addition Phoenicia is home to one of the largest automated mining site in the Commune.
Fourth Fleet The Fourth Fleet is one of the smallest ones, as the sector is considered to be one of the safest areas in the Commune. It does have a connection to the Hegemony but its a secret one, requiring no frontal formations. As such the entire fleet is concentrated in orbit of the sector capital of Falsterbo and comprises two cruiser divisions, two frigate squadrons and three gunboat flotillas.
Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is one of the newer formations and is responsible for keeping an eye on the Traveler anomaly in the Rampart system. As it will move with, or disband, once the anomaly disappears, it is not considered to be part of the Fourth Fleet. All of the fleet is concentrated in one place, in orbit of Gotland and comprises two cruiser divisions, three destroyer squadrons and two frigate squadrons.
Ayutthaya Sector (Total population of 378 million)
For the longest time the sector was off-limits due to Specter presence. By the time this was dealt with the other sectors were firmly established which coupled with general lack of minerals in the area meant there were few reasons to develop the sector. The only special characteristic of the sector is the fact that it does not connect to the Hegemony making it relatively secure.
There are currently only four colonies in the sector – Gaillard, the capital which also serves as a naval base, Emesh in the Lem system which serves as the primary industrial R&D site, Gardatis in the Behemoth system, which is being developed as the next naval shipbuilding sites, and a recently established mining colony of Waikato in the Aoraki system, which is being developed to deal with looming corbomite shortages.
Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is among the smallest ones and is responsible for protecting the Ayuthaya sector. It comprises two task forces.
Task Force 501 is the primary fighting force of the fleet and is located at the sector capital. It comprises a cruiser division, a destroyer squadron, a frigate squadron and two gunboat flotillas.
Task Fore 502 is an ad hock designation for warships currently undergoing refit on Gardatis. It comprises two cruiser divisions.
Tartarus Chain (Uninhabited)
The Tartarus Chain refers to an area beyond the system of Peter's Crossing, starting with ES – 55, from which the Destroyer came. It comprises twenty nine known systems with numerous candidates for colonization and is filled with tracking stations, but it will not be developed. The current Commune strategy is to get as early warning of an attack as possible to use their high speed to concentrate as many forces as possible in orbit of Knossos for defense, so any colonies established in the Chain would be much harder to defend. Extending the tracking network is also problematic, as the system of ES – 135 has a total of seven jump points, significantly increasing the number of system which will have to be observed.
The Leviathan Expanse (Uninhabited)
The Leviathan system is located only two jumps from Ayutthaya, but is not part of that sector. This is due to the fact that the system is a binary of enormous and blindingly bright B class stars leading to considerable distances between various planets and jump points within the system. In fact the most distant ones are thirty billion kilometers away from the Commune space. This makes exploration difficult, military operations impossible without large tanker support, and colonization slow. This effectively turns the system into a roadblock for further Commune expansion in the area, despite the fact that the Leviathan system possess a total of thirteen jump points, more than any other known system.
Far Eastern, Far Southern and South-Western Sectors (Uninhabited)
The three sectors are temporary designations for potential colonization and development sites, each centered around a reasonable junction system, which are too far away to be part of the existing administrative structures. They are currently uninhabited but have numerous interesting sites for colonization. The Administrator considers them to be perfect for “seeding” - establishing very small colonies, in the low millions, that would be left to fend for themselves, resulting in high population growth, at least in percentage terms. This however won't begin for several years for three reasons. First the sectors aren't explored all that well. Second there are currently no forces available for defense. Last but not least there are still colonies within the established sectors which need development. Even so as those systems are far away from any threat – and one of them is connected to the Republican space – they are very attractive destinations for colonists so the development of those areas of space is only a matter of time.
Triangular Nebula (Uninhabited)
The Nebula refers to three systems connecting Phoenician and Far Southern sectors which are very difficult to traverse. Due to this any future development will likely see ships move through much longer route involving several systems of the Sudetes Sector. The Nebula has nothing to attract development and no other jump points, which means it will likely become a development dead spot within the nation.
Western Reaches (Uninhabited)
The Western Reaches is a general term for three different chains of systems starting from Knossos and Sudetes sectors which are too far away to be part of those but comprise too few systems to become a sector in their own right. There is little of interest there although ongoing survey may find something of note in the future.
