Claremont Confederacy

The Claremont Confederacy is the third most powerful Earth Terragen originating Star Nation in the Galactic Coalition and is considered probably the most honorable of the big three [the Theban Cluster and the UNSF being the other two].

The first long distance colonization fleet left Earth in 2142 aboard a huge vessel named the SS Claremont. The reason for the vessels humongous size [topping out at over 25 kilometers in length] was due to the fact that it carried over a 1,000,000 colonists and everything they would need to colonize the system that had been dubbed Claremont 348257.

The system was one of over 400,000 systems identified by the Claremont Astronomical Plotting & Long Term Colonization Institute built on the outskirts of Macon Georgia on old Earth. The Claremont institute was in control of over two dozen Hubble style space telescopes as well as hundreds of probes capable of just above .1c.

Of the 400,000+ systems, that the Institute researched and identified 348257 was the only one that showed the possibility of extremely quick colonization. It was not until the advent of hyperspace travel and the Fulcturm Hyperspace Scope that many of the other systems were more clearly plotted.

The Institute with funds from the U.S. Government and dozens of multi-national U.S. based corporations started a twenty-five year project to build a long-range colony vessel that could hold a sufficient amount of genetic diversity and the supplies needed to colonize the far-off star system.

The vessel was completed in 2137, it took another five years to finalize the cargo, and colonists and the vessel launched on March 3rd 2142. All communication was lost with the ships automated systems in 2213 and the vessel was not heard from again until 2597 when the vessel landed on Claremont IV and its passengers were awakened from cryogenic sleep. Although the U.S. [and later the UEF and then the UNSF] thought the far-off colony would be loyal to them, it soon declared its independence and established the Claremont Confederacy.

The original colonists from Earth came from the region of the U.S. known as the Deep South [Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, and a smattering of other states including a large chunk from Texas]. The colonists could be characterized by the term Redneck a derisive term used during the mid and later 20th century through the end of the 22nd century.

The colonists were very independent and not afraid to show it with their cessation from the U.S. [UEF/UNSF] and founding of their own form of government [it’s not like the Earth government could do much about it either considering extreme long range hyperspace travel was still in it’s infancy].

The UNSF wrote the whole thing off as bad idea and really did not care that much considering the project had been funded by a long defunct government and several companies that were no longer even in business.

Even though the Claremont Confederacy has gone through several Pan-Galactic Wars with damage to several of its major systems [Claremont itself, Sultan, and Forestall], it is still a strong and independent star nation with much pride.

The Claremont Confederacy’s citizenry consists of over 90% earth stock Terragen, with another 8% non-earth stock Terragen and 1% non-Terragen. Like most other humans Claremont citizens have great energy and ambition and even with the Telomere Enhancement Treatment extending their lives to almost three quarters of a millennia they still strive to move forward, create, expand, and when it can’t be done easily they fight to do it.

As with other humans, they are able to adapt easily to new situations and views.

The Confederacy is probably has the least stratified of social classes of any known Star Nation; of course this could be due to the fact that the majority of the original settlers were from the deep south on earth and all the problems that occurred there in centuries past.

Families are a very important factor in the day-to-day life of most Confederacy citizens. Huge sprawling clans are not uncommon and even in the largest cities it is not hard to find a HAB-tower that is almost completely related to one another if only loosely or by marriage.

One of the Claremontians deepest convictions is that family is one of the most important thins in a person’s life and that it is what shapes a persons life even to the point where an entire family may be involved in the same line of work, the same military service, or working together in the same business.

It is not odd to find several generations of a family living in the same residence and even some have aunts, uncles, and cousins living together.

If a person visited a Confederacy planet on a Sunday, they would probably say that Religion is one of the most important things to the Claremontians. This is close but not entirely true, while large majorities of the Claremontians profess to Southern Baptism; there is also a smattering of other religions the second largest ones are Episcopalian and Judaism.

The Confederacy’s main language is English unlike most Earth based human dominated space that now uses Modern Theban. However, Modern Theban is used more as a trade language with a few patois languages such as Creole being used as well.

Performance Entertainment - The average Claremont citizen enjoys a wide variety of musical and performing arts entertainment; chief amongst these being rodeos, dancing, and musical concerts.

Rodeos - Probably one of the widest and largest entertainments in the Claremont Confederacy the rodeo contains a wide variety of things, these include bull riding, bronco busting, roping competitions, and many other things.

Dancing - Whether it is line or square dancing or musicals the Claremontians enjoy an artful dance performance.

Musical Concerts - The most enjoyed music types in the confederacy are Jazz, Blue Grass, Country, and Classic rock usually with lots of little bits such as fireworks and other types of performances during the concert.

Competitive Sports - The three major sports in the known galaxy are GAVRA, GRAV-Disc, and Laser Jet Ball.

GAVRA - The Galactic Anti-Vehicle Racing Association is the most popular sport in the Confederacy with businesses scheduling vacations and in nation races around the holidays.

GRAV-Disc - Is probably the least popular sport in the Confederacy and not because of its violence but more because it’s the newest of all the competitive sports only being about 250 years or so old.

Laser Jet Ball - Is the second most popular of sports in the Confederacy with lots of violence and the like.

Gambling - Gambling is fully legal in the Claremont Confederacy there is only one draw back it has to be done over open water so river boats styled in the old fashion or cruise ships ply the water ways for those willing to part with their funds.

The two main forms of art are Victorian style oil painting [mainly as portraits but artists also do scenery and landscapes] and the use of black wrought iron.

Oil Painting - This type of painting became popular in the Claremont Confederacy in no small part due to the efforts of the Claremont Preservation society over 1100 years ago when they started depicting historical scenes with oil paintings rather than 2D or 3D holographic representations. Now in the Confederacy it is traditional for a family to have oil paintings done during milestone occasions.

Wrought Iron - This form of art was started when one of the original colonists wanted to make his home more rustic and investigated different styles of decorations for homes and found articles on Wrought Iron, researching it further he started dabbling on his own.

During the process, he involved others, they created some of the most beautiful wrought iron work created, and most homes have heavy wrought iron influences.

Technology wise the Confederacy is only a few steps below that of the Theban Cluster but a step up from the UNSF and while they do not have as much automated equipment in their homes and businesses, they do have it where it really counts mainly in their shipyards and farms.

However their technology does not stop there while they do not believe in using HAB-towers except in the most densely populated cities they prefer sprawling plantation and colonial style dwellings surrounding by huge tracts of farmland tended by automated farming equipment.

While the Confederacy does have major cities with huge HAB-towers, skyscrapers, spaceports, and orbital elevators their designs tend to run more rustic than modernistic when it comes to architecture.

While a HAB-tower may have the same black glass as one found on a Theban Cluster world but instead of the black metal framework it may be styled to mimic either brick or white-washed wood.

In addition, their cities tend to be greener with more parks and planter sections on the sidewalks.

Outside of the cities, however people prefer sprawling white-washed and wrought iron decorated plantation style homes with numerous small out buildings for whatever purposes.

The Confederacy has a laid-back attitude towards magic with the most prolific types being the school of Earth since farming is such an essential part of their lifestyle.

Confederacy citizens have a very laid-back attitude towards Espers and have one of the largest populations of Esper Guild members in the galaxy with the majority being Aero, Hydro, and Terromancers once again due to the fact that farming is such an integral part of their lifestyle.

The Claremont Confederacy includes approximately 25,600 systems with over 250,000 planets [this does not include moons and the likes].

The following is a list of some of the best-known systems -

The Claremont Confederacy has two branches of military the Navy and the Marine Corps. The following section will describe both these branches. The Confederacy Navy follows the same basic pattern as that of the Theban Cluster Fleet with a single fleet for every 1,000 systems in the star nation they currently have 256 active duty fleets although not all fleets are currently up to strength.

The CN consists of Support personnel that staff the stations and build the ships as well as the logistics fleets, training and reserve personnel, and battle fleet personnel. Uniforms of the CN consists solely of Mono-Film Duty Suits, save for dress uniforms there are no other kinds [which are very ornate items which date back to 1860‘s of old Earth‘s United States] and are a buff gray color with yellow trim.

The CN’s insignia is a round patch with a black old Earth Style Iron Clad with smoke coming out of its stack on a field of blue with a black border around the patch with Claremont Confederacy Navy in gold letters circling the patch.

Rank and insignia patches are made of mono-film as well and have a molecular/magnetic adhesive that allows them to be emplaced and removed with ease [although they do not come off during strenuous activity]. The main uniform of the Confederacy is a charcoal gray mono-film duty suit that has a retractable full-face hood and gloves and the feet have rubberized soles; the stripes running down the arms is gold.

The suit has a wide stripe running from the bottom of the collar to the cuff stripe on the outside of the arms and shoulders; this is considered the primary stripe, there is also a stripe running from the interior cuff stripe of the arm, down the sides and all the way to the outside toe of the suit and another stripe running from just below the knee and on the inner thighs and over the groin area [these two stripes are considered the secondary stripe.

Cover - Cover for the uniforms consists of several types, while on base or at a duty station, enlisted and NCOs are issued a slouch cap, and officer’s a cavalry hat that is very similar to a Park Rangers hat, while in the field all ranks wear boonie hats of the appropriate camouflage.

Naval personnel are issued three types of mono-film duty suits, the first is the standard suit made of mono-film and as described above has the standard colorations and is worn when aboard ships, stations, or well established bases, the second is a field suit which has a nanno-tex coating to cut down on wear and tear as well as offering more protection and insulation this is considered the field suit and is worn while in the field or at less established or non-permanent bases, the final version is the off-duty or in some cases called by personnel the mess dress version and has coloring opposite that of the standard suit with the primary color being that of the person’s section with the primary stripe also being this color and the secondary stripe denoting the fact that they are in the navy. These off-duty variants also have a nanno-tex coating but the coating has a highly reflective metallic sheen to it so as to make the personnel more visible while on leave as a sort of recruiting gimmick.

Ship Prefix - CNS - Confederacy Naval Ship.

The CN has a number of strategic assets such as 5 shipyards, 256 Aries-Class space stations located at the heart of each sector and is used to service, supply, and train them. The space stations each have an inherent shipyard capability but the Confederacy Navy relies on five military shipyards spread throughout the Confederacy in times of war and heavy ship losses the space stations start operating their shipyards and the three major civilian shipyards are also pressed into service to manufacture and repair ships.

Over its long history, the Confederacy Marine Corps has used hundreds of different weapons and armor some of which are still in service [albeit either as training aids or stowed away in some soldier’s locker].

The Confederacy Marine Corps is divided into four branches, Tactical Corps, Raiders, Special Operations Branch, and Air Corps.

The first and largest of these branches is the Tactical Corps, which covers defense of planets, its primary job is to defend against raiders and pirates and other incursions once they have reached the surface of the planet currently there is an average one brigade of Tactical Corps troops stationed in each system, generally on the most populated planet.

The Raiders are the smash and grab, as well as invasion and ship defense troops, these are stationed on the Confederacy Naval Vessels and Space Stations, they do the jobs of boarding, ship defense, and combat insertion on known enemy hideouts, and this is the second largest branch of the CMC.

The third largest branch is the Air Corps; these are the pilots of the Navy’s Corvette Fighters and the pilots for most auxiliary craft and fighters. They are stationed both aboard ships and space stations.

The fourth branch and by the far the smallest is the Special Operations Branch [SOB for short often referred to as Bastards behind their backs].

SOB is trained in numerous tactics and terrains including, Arctic, and Desert weather conditions, Forest, Jungle, Marsh, and Swamp combat, Mountaineering, and wet naval combat as well as escort and reconnaissance duty. This branch is the forward scouts for both the Raider and Tactical branches of the CMC. Generally, a company [which is the largest unit they are deployed as] will be versed in a specific type of weather or climate condition and deployed from their training as needed.

Confederacy Marine Corps Size & Structure

As stated, earlier on average, each system has a brigade of Tactical Corps troops and an Air Battalion of Air Corps crews and sometimes a single company of the Special Operations Branch.

The Raiders as stated are specifically stationed on ships and space stations but it is not odd to see TC troops undergoing Raider training or serving a stint in the Raiders to help round out their careers for further advancement. Uniforms of the CMC consists solely of Mono-Film Duty Suits, save for dress uniforms there are no other kinds [which are very ornate items which date back to 1860‘s of old Earth‘s United States] and are a buff gray color with crimson trim.

The CMC Insignia is that of a Falcon with an anchor in one claw and shotgun in the other. It should be noted that the different branches have their own insignia; also, the SOB has various “merit badges” for each type of weather condition that one is trained.

Rank and insignia patches are made of mono-film as well and have a molecular/magnetic adhesive that allows them to be emplaced and removed with ease [although they do not come off during strenuous activity]. The main uniform of the Confederacy is a charcoal gray mono-film duty suit that has a retractable full-face hood and gloves and the feet have rubberized soles.

The suit has a black two inch stripe running from the bottom of the collar to the tips of the cuffs and from the bottom of the cuffs to the ankles, the suit is also piped in a secondary color in thin stripes that run down the sides of the primary stripe.

The primary stripe denotes what division they are from with the secondary stripes indicating whether they are enlisted [blue], non-commissioned [green], or officer [gold].

Cover - Cover for the uniforms consists of several types, while on base or at a duty station, enlisted and NCOs are issued a slouch cap, and officer’s a cavalry hat that is very similar to a Park Rangers hat, while in the field all ranks wear boonie hats of the appropriate camouflage.

The CMC has a number of strategic assets throughout the Confederacy and bases sizes vary by location. Depending on the size of the unit stationed on a planet they may be small enough to operate from the same building as the local Galactic Patrol up to having a fully functioning training facility with support staff, spaceport, and landing ships to carry them. Over its long history, the Confederacy Marine Corps has used hundreds of different weapons and armor some of which are still in service [albeit either as training aids or stowed away in some soldier’s locker].