The Commonwealth Of Free States

General

The Commonwealth Of Free States-known simply as the Commonwealth-is a confederation comprising the former American States on Earth, the First Colonies and the worlds colonized by them during the Second Diaspora.

It is, in equal measure, both a parlimentary and a popular democracy, with the people gaining more and more power over the course of its 65-year history.

Government

The Fundamental Articles

"The Articles are the heart and soul of our people, that which tells us we are better than we think we are...that we must be better than we think we are, or it is the end of everything."

Then-President Melissa Marley, KC.C., three days before she was killed in action during the War of '69, 1 May. 2070

The law of the land-the only law of the land-is the Fundamental Articles of Commonwealth(known simply as the Articles amongst the citizens of the Commonwealth), consisting of three hundred eighteen titles and sixty-five million very plainly-written words, including the most important and sole non-repealable words of all-Title 1, outlining the inalienable civil rights and responsibilities of the people of the Commonwealth, consisting of (so far) one hundred sections detailling rights and responsibilites.

Treason: Title 1, Section 1, paragraph 84(I.i.84) defines treason as "any action-including the willful violation of the law of the land or blatant disregard of sentient rights and civil liberties-which serves the cause of this Commonwealth's enemies and undermines the traditions of democracy and rule of law upon which this Commonwealth is based."

In short, any act of malfeasance, any criminal act(mainly felonies), any failure to act in self-defense or otherwise promote the ideals of the Commonwealth by any Commonwealth citizen is an act of treason

In particular:

1. I.i.84.19 prohibits any form of discrimination against anyone, for any reason.

2. I.i.84.21 forbids any form of slavery within Commonwealth soil.

3. I.i.84.11-14 requires Commonwealth citizens-within or outside Commonwealth soil-to act in self-defence if the life, liberty or well-being of either herself or another is threatened in any way, using whatever means necessary, up to and including deadly force.

4. I.i.84.17 explicitly forbids, and has always forbidden, the use of, manufacture of, importation of, exportation of or possession by anyone, of devices of torture within Commonwealth soil.

Treason for felony-level acts is punished by the death penalty, whereas misdemeanors are punished with banishment from Commonwealth soil for life.

Amendments To the Articles: Any decision of Parliament and the people, or any popular referendum amends the Fundamental Articles, with one important exception.

Title 1 may be added to, but no part of it may be repealed, nor may any proposed addition to Title 1 contradict any existing part of Title 1 in any way. Additions to Title 1 must have a ninety percent majority from the people of the Commonwealth in order to pass.

The Power Of the People

"' You people let the emeffing rabble dictate policy.'

‘ And, that is why we will win...that is why we will always win.' "

Exchange between Terranovan Governor Guy Thomas Zellner and Commonwealth President Lilith Angelique Gault, KC.C., on the InterWeb, 11 October, 2097

First and foremost, the people of the Commonwealth are in charge of their own affairs.

All laws proposed in and passed by Parliament must be approved(confirmed) by a two-thirds majority of the people of the Commonwealth.

Alternatively, any Commonwealth citizen may draft a referrendum, submitting it to the President, who must immediately submit it to the people of the Commonwealth for a vote or be automatically removed from office(and executed for treason).

Passage of a referendum into law requires a two-thirds majority of all Commonwealth citizens.

All actions taken by Parliament must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the people of the Commonwealth...any declaration of war by either Parliament or the President, or any other intevention by the CF must have the approval of seventy-five percent of the people of the Commonwealth.

All State and Commonwealth budgets must orginate as referendums,and each cabinet officer is required to post his department's annual financial report on the IW for all to see....and to allow anyone coming in off the street to examine the books to make sure she isn't being lied to.

The people of the Commonwealth reserve the right to recall any public official from office at any time. A recall motion is started by one person drafting a petition, which automatically calls for the official in question to appear before an assembly of his constituents to give a full accounting of his actions before them...after a full accounting, the recall petition is circulated, and if 51% of his constituency sign it, he is recalled from office.

As per Title 1, Section 1, paragraph 6, failure of any Commonwealth public official to appear before a recall assembly is grounds for automatic removal from office and for trial on charges of treason.

As per Title 1, Section 15, paragraph 9, anyone recalled from office may not present himself as a candidate for any election within Commonwealth soil for a period of seventy-five years, nor may he hold any position within the Commonwealth government for that same period of time.

The Order Of Commonwealth: The people of the Commonwealth also have the responsibility of investing worthy candidates with the Order of Commonwealth, the Commonwealth's order of knighthood and its highest military and civilian honor.

Investment is handled via the election process(q.v.) and is accomplished by a ninety-percent majority of the people of the Commonwealth.

Those awarded the Order of Commonwealth may either attach the letters O.C.(Order of Commonwealth) or KC.C.(Knight Commander of the Commonwealth) after their names or use the title Sir or Dame before their names.

The Electorial Process

"Political parties are not even allowed in the Communist State Of Slave Worlds. How can you possibly call yourself a democracy when you don't even allow political parties?!"

John Jimson to his third-period Flynt County High School Interstellar Politics and Geography class, 28 February, 2096

The people of the Commonwealth have a great deal to say about who holds public office.

The electorial laws(Title 1, Section 3 of the Fundamental Articles) call for the following process to be carried out for all elections, plebiscites, referendums, confirmations and recalls:

1) The Delcaration Phase. On the day of the election, the people of the constituency in question gather together in assembly. Those wishing to run for the office under consideration either announce themselves or are nominated by others at that time and not before, with the stipulation that prospective State and Commonwealth cabinet officers be from amongst the most senior and/or most qualified of the members of their respective departments.

2) The Interrogation Phase. After the last candidate has announced himself, all the candidates go offstage or into a separate room, and, one by one, each of the candidates is called out to face a grueling question-and-answer session by the people he wishes to represent/serve...this part of the electorial process is the lengthiest part of the process, taking , on average, anywhere from three to eighteen hours to complete....with Angelique Gault holding the record of having been grilled for the longest time by her constituents, who, in 2072, was quizzed exhaustively by all 32.4 billion of her fellow citizens for a period of 193 hours and 57 minutes, going home utterly exhausted...and being confirmed in office as President of the Commonwealth the following morning.

The questions allowed in this process are questions pertaining to qualifications and character.

3) The Election Phase. After the last candidate has been questioned, the people of the constituency in question vote, with the candidate receiving the most votes winning the election...usually, Commonwealth elections tend to be unanimous.

Title 1, Section 3, paragraph 5 calls for mandatory elections every seven years.

The declaration phase in plebiscites and referendums consists of the topic of either one being announced, with the people debating the resolution itself during the interrogation phase. In recalls and votes of confirmation, the person being subjected to either confirmation or recall is quizzed by the people she serves during the interrogation phase.

Elections and recalls are decided by a 51% majority, with confirmations, plebiscites and referendums generally being decided by a two-thirds majority.

Parliament

"You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we were to become extinct a couple of years down the road. We have a good President, a competent Cabinet, and the people pretty much know what's best for them; they don't really need us.

That's a good thing, by the way."

Commonwealth Forces Fleet Captain Jacqueline Lacey, M.P., KC.C, from the Dominion of Cor Leonis, to Lyle Hammond on The YouTube Mid-Morning Show, on the 5^th anniversary of the Tau Ceti Accords, 11 September. 2096

Parliament is the last vestige of the original parlimentary system, consisting of 312 beings elected for an unlimited number of seven-year terms, sixteen cabinet officers and the President, also elected for the same duration....however, any member of Parliament can be recalled from office at any time if 51% of the State he represents sign a recall petition.

Unlike traditional parlimentary systems, there are no political parties in the Commonwealth...anyone can run for the at-large seats, and often, there are up to thirty people vying for one at-large seat when it comes time for elections.

Each of the Commonwealth's member States has three seats in Parliament, one of which is statutory and held by the head of the State's government(q.v.), while the other two are at-large post filled by direct election.

A member of Parliament is entitled to either referring to herself by the title "Legislator" or to add the initials MP(Member of Parliament)as a suffix to her name.

The Cabinet

The sixteen cabinet officers are elected at large by all the people of the Commonwealth, with the exception of the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth, whose position is a statutory one. The sole difference between these positions and the normal electorial process is that candidates for each cabinet post must be amongst the most senior and/or the most qualified of the members of their respective departments.

The Commonwealth Chief of Military Operations and the Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth are both members of the Cabinet, elected at-large by the people of the Commonwealth.

The Cabinet, as chief administrators of their respective departments, oversee the operations of their departments.

The Courts

The Commonwealth court system consists of one supreme court for each State and the High Court of the Commonwealth Of Free States(known simply as the Commonwealth High Court or the High Court).

Each State's supreme court is the court of original jurisdiction for all non-capital criminal cases, military and civilian, within its jurisdiction(civil disputes being handled exclusivelly by the Ministry of Civil Arbitration ).

The State supreme court consists of a single justice elected at large by the citizens of her State of residence, plus a jury of twelve beings drawn from that State to determine guilt or innocence based on the preponderance of the evidence and testimony presented to them in court and on their own investigations outside of the evidence and testimony presented to them in court.

The State justice-not the advocates on either side-is responsible for gathering all witnesses whose testimony bears relevance to the case being heard; she also passes sentence specified by the Articles for the offense(s) for which the accused has been convicted of.

Above the dominion courts is the High Court of the Commonwealth Of Free States, with original jurisdiction in all felony(capital)cases and appealate jurisdiction in all other criminal manners. The people of the Commonwealth elect two justices at large, those justices in turn electing the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth, who is also a sitting cabinet officer and must be confirmed in office by the people of the Commonwealth. Assisting them in criminal matters is a grand jury of twenty-three citizens drawn from throughout the Commonwealth; it is they who decide guilt or innocence based on the preponderance of the evidence

The highest judicial body in the land, the High Court's decisions are both final and enforceable under the terms of the Fundamental Articles...noncompliance with a decision of the High Court is punishable as treason...no exceptions.

Both the supreme courts and the High Court have the added function of reviewing any law proposed by Parliament/State legislature or any referendum to determine if it contradicts any of the civil rights outlined under Title 1 of the Fundamental Articles...should the proposed law or referendum fail to comply with Title 1 in any way, it is automatically withdrawn from consideration.

The President

"There's no need wasting your time trying to persuade me in any case, Zellner. I'm only the President."

Commonwealth President Lilith Angelique Gault, MP, PC, KC.C., to Terranova Governor Guy Zellner, discussing the normalization of diplomatic relations via the InterWeb, 18 August, 2098

The President is chief administrator of the Commonwealth government, commander in chief of the Commonwealth Forces, first citizen of her nation, the voice of her people and the duly-bound executor and servant of their will, as expressed through the Fundamental Articles.

She is elected by a 51% majority of Parliament(and does not have to be a sitting member of Parliament, though , as per protocol, she suffixes the initials MP to her name in any case) and confirmed in office by a two-thirds majority of the people of the Commonwealth, serving for an unlimited number of seven-year terms. As de facto head of Parliament, she is responsible for calling it into session and for recessing it.

As chief administrator of the Commonwealth government, she is responsible for its day-to-day running, with full authority to fire any government official, including any cabinet officer, with removal in this fashion being automatically confirmed if no plebiscite is called by either the prime minister or the affected government official within thirty days of termination.

As commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth military, she may order the CF to intervene in any situation calling for intervention under the Articles. In wartime, she is also obligated to command the Commonwealth Forces and lead her people from the front lines.

As the duly-authorized voice of her people and first citizen of her nation, she may act unilaterially for the good of her people, up to and including declaration of war. She may not, however, take any action which contravenes the Articles in any way.

Most importantly, as the duly-bound executor and servant of the popular will, she must do as they ask and what the law demands, no exceptions allowed.

This also means any decision she takes unilaterially is subject to a plebiscite, called either by the prime minister or any Commonwealth citizen, to confirm her decision.

A two-thirds majority is required to confirm her decision, and it is automatically confirmed if no plebiscite is called within thirty days of her decision.

A President who acts contrary to the will of her people, as expressed through plebiscite or referendum, is automatically removed from office, tried before the Supreme Court, and, if found guilty, ejected into space, as called for by the Articles.

Fortunately, this has yet to happen in the Commonwealth's sixty-five year history.

As per protocol, the President suffixes the initials P.C.(President of the Commonwealth)to her name.

Removal From Office

The President and any of the cabinet officers may always be removed from office in one of three ways, barring conviction on criminal charges or direct contravention of the Articles:

1) By simple majority(50% plus one vote) vote of no confidence by both the Legislature and the people of the Commonwealth.

2) Defeat in any election.

3) By a recall petition signed by 51% of the people of the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth Bonds and the Aggregate Commonwealth Profit

" They don't have a Gross National Product....my God, man,they don't even collect taxes...how can you run a country without collecting taxes?!"

Terranova Prime Minister Micheal Bauer, in his 6 March, 2095 interview with Lyle Hammond on The YouTube Mid-Morning Show

As per Title 1, section 6, paragraph 20 of the Articles, each Commonwealth citizen can elect to have up to 25% of her paycheck automatically invested in Commonwealth bonds(or C- notes), essentially investing in the Commonwealth government.

Every fifth of April, a holiday in Commonwealth soil, the people of the Commonwealth gather in assembly to draw up the republican and Commonwealth budget referendums; at that time, the money invested in C-notes(held in escrow by the Chancellory of the Exchequer's intranet by means of hard-logic imperatives until the Financial Holiday) is allocated, the people deciding what should be funded and what should not be funded, the Chancellory of the Exchequer's AIs automatically(and subconsciously, again, through hard-logic imperatives)allocating the revenue generated over the previous financial year as directed by referendum.

All monies left over after the people of the Commonwealth have finished funding the State and Commonwealth governments for the new financial year is referred to as the Aggregate Commonwealth Profit, or ACP, which is a more realistic indicator of economic health than the Gross National Product indicator used by the various human nations, as the GNP figure is invariably a political fiction used to justify agendas contrary to the will of the people, and the ACP is tied directly to personal and corporate earnings.

The ACP is then divided equitably amongst the people...most of whom choose to put their share of it back into C-notes.

Under the Articles(1.6.20.iii), any Commonwealth citizen has the right to review the Chancellory of the Exchequer's books, at any time, to ensure everything is as the Articles specify.

The Commonwealth Constabulary

The Commonwealth Constabulary, or CCs, as they are called, is the sole State and Commonwealth police force. Organized much like the old Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the CCs' enforcement of the law is very much low key, with CCs preferring to look for the reasonable alternative first and resorting to force only when everything else has failed.

The CCs are subdivided into 104 State commands, plus several special starport and spacedock security detachments(assigned to the starports and spacedocks throughout Commonwealth soil)and a parlimentary security detachment, responsible for the protection of the members of Parliament, including the President(assuming she actually wants a CC escort...which hasn't been the case for the past five decades and previous two Presidents).

Each of the State commands is headed by the State solicitor, and organized into separate constabulary, wildlife, criminal investigations, judicial security, emergency services and tactical divisions, each headed by a coloniel(or detective superintendent), and the special detachments are each headed by a coloniel/detective superintendent.

Uniformed CC personnel wear powered skeinsuits with grav shielding and are armed with stun sticks and massdriver pistols, with massdriver rifles available as needed.

Tactical units carry massdriver rifles at all times, in addition to their sidearms.

The CC dress uniform is a white long-sleeved dress shirt, black pants with white stripes along the pants legs and a dark brown beret.

The CC are headed by the current Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth, Grey Starling.

The CC badge is a gold shield with the Commonwealth coat of arms engraved in the center, and the words "FOR RULE OF LAW AND FOR THE PEOPLE ," engraved along the bottom, just above the badge number, and is worn on the left breast of all CC uniforms.

The Ministry Of Civil Arbitration

"The smallest ministry, yet one of the most useful...by keeping civil squabbles out of the courts, the Ministry of Civil Arbitration frees them to deal with far more serious criminal matters...and, by forcing the parties involved to face each other directly and make them talk to each other instead of through lawyers, the Ministry cuts out all the nonsense lawsuits and succeeds in permanently settling the genuine civil disagreements which occur."

Doctor Celeste Brimmer, The International Encyclopaedia of Political Science, 2099 edition

Those who have availed themselves of the MoCA's services say it is an idea whose time has come...arbitration has kept the relatively trivial civil squabbles out of the Commonwealth courts and has led to more reasonable and equitable settlements than any court of law could ever grant.

Civil complaints are handled in the following manner:

1) One of the parties involved makes a formal request for a Commonwealth Arbitrator to settle their complaint. Alternatively, the parties involved in the squabble can be ordered to appear before a Commonwealth Arbitrator, if the CA receives a petition signed by fifteen people associated with or affected by the parties in question and their squabbling... a drastic measure which has become known as the Impact Law(Title 1, Section 73, paragraph 11), this proceedure has only been used once in the history of the Commonwealth, during the 2034 IHL players' strike, when the player-owners of the Cor Leonis Blues, the Firestar Flames, the New Toronto Maple Leafs, the Timmonsport Shooting Stars, the New Polaris Silver Knights, concessions and sports-memorbilia owners and outraged fans forced both the owners and the IHL Players' Association to settle up before then-Arbitrator-General Michelle Slaybaugh, after the IHL Board of Governors refused to take action...and, after Slaybaugh threatened to slap a lifetime embargo on the IHL inside Commonwealth soil if necessary...it seems just having it on the books is incentive enough for feuding parties to seek a settlement on their own.

2) The CA informs the other party or parties that binding arbitration has been requested, requesting their presence in the CA's office to settle the matter once and for all. Should any of the parties in the dispute be a corporate or givernmental entity, the head of that entity is the only one who will be allowed to attend the arbitration session...under Commonwealth law, attorneys may not even advise in civil matters, nor may any other Commonwealth Arbitrator give advice concerning any civil matter he is not handling personally(all arbitration sessions are confidential)...any violation of the rules concerning civil arbitration(Title 2, Section 83, paragraphs 1-14, as well as the aforementioned Title 1, Section 73, paragraphs 1-12) is punishable as treason.

3)All the parties in the dispute talk things out and arrive at a settlement, at which point the CA again informs them that any decision reached here is final, with no appeal allowed.

The Ministry is the smallest in the Commonwealth government, with one CA for each State and a small staff of seven assisting the Arbitrator-General of the Commonwealth in Fort Gibson...and, it has proven itself worth the small expenditure the people of the Commonwealth put into it every year.

The ministry is headed by the Arbitrator-General of the Commonwealth-Doctor Gabrielle Zimmer-a cabinet officer, and its seal is two hands shaking superimposed upon the Commonwealth Tricolor, with the MoCA motto Lassiez Non Vené Entre Nous( Fr: Let nothing come between us)scrolled along the bottom.

The Commonwealth Forces

"...we are all citizens, not just of our Commonwealth Of Free States, but all humanity...that, and that alone, is what obligates us to fight for all those others, Mister Chairman, why we will-why we must-go to war for the sake of even one person, not the need to play policeman...unless, of course, you mean as in the desire to see justice and rule of law prevail, but that is also the obligation of every man, woman and child...why you can't see that simple truth escapes me."

Then-Commonwealth President Julie Tallgeese, to then-Terranova Governor Earl James Busbee, 23 September. 2074, two days before she was killed in action in the Battle of the New Belfast Corridor

"That whut I talkin' a-bout, blood brother...anyone who underestimates dem dam' Commies gonna take it up dey butthole every time. Every muthafuckin' time."

Overheard between two Terranovan men in the streets of New Whitehorse, the day after the signing of the Tau Ceti Accords, 26 September, 2091

"The Commonwealth Forces are our best represenatives and the living embodiment of our ideas...they believe that the right thing is the only thing to do, and they believe in the good fight...the Yanker military, on the other hand, only pretends patriotism and pays lip service to all those noble ideas such as freedom and human rights, just so they don't have to admit they're nothing but a pack of murdering animals. They scoff at our CF, mock their passion, dismissing it as fanaticism, find a never-ending array of reasons why they're weak and we're doomed to fall...well, maybe we will fall one day...but, I know, that as long as our Commonwealth Forces are there at the end, we will go down believing, and we will go down fighting."

Web blogger and Firestar Legislator Irma De Long, MP, KC.C., during her weekly Web blog, 2 November, 2091

General Information

"I am a soldier of the Commonwealth.

I will defend and honor my people and the Fundamental Articles.

I will speak for the silenced.

I will fight for the defenseless.

I will protect the innocent and the good.

I will free the oppressed.

I will destroy evil.

If I must, I will lay down my life in the service of this oath, for betrayal is worse than death.

This I swear in the presence of my comrades.

NO SURRENDER! COMMONWEALTH FOREVER!"

Oath Of the Commonwealth Forces

The Commonwealth Forces is that rarity in military history, a true integrated and unified armed force, numbering precisely 1,101,324,472 beings in five regular service arms, 120 Albion-class battle cruisers, 360 Cosmograd-class heavy cruisers, and 960 Dauntless-class cruisers in its Fleet's 120 fleets and 120 field commands in its Legionnaire Corps with a total of 1,160 combat divisions, 500 divisions of which are heavy infantry, the other 660 being combined-arms units.

The Commonwealth Forces are absolutely committed to fighting in self-defence or in defence of another, going out of their way to avoid killing.

The second respect from which it differs from most human military forces is the almost complete lack of bueraucratic "fat" within the CF...what Logistics and MedCorps do not provide in the way of support services is either outsourced to civilian corporations, or is provided by the members of the CF on their own.

For example, the CF allows civilians to establish businesses on their base and Headquarters reservations, charging only a modest rental fee(usually 10% of quarterly profits)-even the famous(or infamous....)canteen at Commonwealth Forces Headquarters is civilian-owned and operated.

This serves to keep the Commonwealth Forces out of the retail business and allow it to devote its energies to the job it was created to do-"...defend our Commonwealth and our ideas, as embodied by the Fundamental Articles and the popular will, against those who would seek their destruction, and to uphold and practice those ideas at all times, even at the risk of life and limb.[10.1.1]"

Also, the Commonwealth Forces have eliminated the need for mess hall facilities simply by resorting to the radical idea of teaching its people how to cook for themselves, applying the commonsense notion that buying and cooking your own dinner is a hell of a lot cheaper than eating out...especially when it's on the taxpayers' dime.

In short, where the Yanker military have two billion otherwise useless rear-echelon troops supporting" a billion warfighters, all 1,101,324,472 of the Commonwealth Forces's beings, even the Logistics and Medical Services Arms, pull their own weight.

Thirdly, unlike the Terranovan military, who simply take what they want when on foreign soil, Commonwealth Forces units pay their way.

Each Commonwealth Forces unit, from squad-level on up, has a requisition fund with which they can buy food, provisions and, if necessary, munitions from whatever populace they happen to be amongst; moreover, Commonwealth Forces personnel are required and actually do treat all others with the utmost respect, in accordance with the 2056 New Utopia Accords, the Fundamental Articles, and the oath they swore on enlistment.

Fourthly, the Commonwealth Forces believes the right thing to do is far more important than the political or convenient thing to do...even if doing right means disobeying direct orders. The beings of the Commonwealth Forces have been known to risk their lives and their careers to rescue emprisoned comrades, aid female victims of raping-male persecution in the various nations however they can, come to the aid of those in distress, bring the bodies of either their own, or perfect strangers home for proper burial, tend to the wounded, again either their own, perfect strangers or even the soldiers of whatever nation has decided to use the people of the Commonwealth and their allies for target practice.

Though this code of honour has been a source of great annoyance and exasperation to both the Military Operations Staff, who don't like seeing their people risk their necks in the defense of Commonwealth ideas, even if that was in the job description, and to Parliament, for much the same reasons, neither the people, the beings of the Commonwealth Forces...nor the Military Operations Staff and Parliament...would have their Commonwealth Forces any other way.

Finally, the Commonwealth Forces has a radically different philosophy concerning their leaders...in time of war, the place for a flag officer in the Commonwealth Forces, especially for any member of the MOS, is on the front lines with the rest of his people and not sitting back safe in some rear area far from the fighting.

Or, in the words of CF Deputy Chief of Field Operations, Admiral Mariah Treadwell: "Those who are willing to give orders and believe in those orders must therefore be the first ones willing to obey those orders."

The day to day running of the Commonwealth Forces is carried out by the Military Operations Staff, consisting of the heads of all the regular service arms, and the Chief of Military Operations, elected at large by the people of the Commonwealth from amongst the most senior and the most qualified of all the Commonwealth Forces officers, with the current Chief of Staff being Rebekah Lee Tilghmann.

Commonwealth Forces Arms Of Service

"Safe job?! Jesus H. Christ, but are you in the wrong effing line of work."

Master Chief Quartermaster Zek, of Clan Oropoho, head of the Logistics Arm supply depot at a MedCorps field hospital in Manyglacier, on Big Sky, to Quartermaster 3d Class Jakob Quan, three hours before a Terranovan assault against the facility, 11 June, 2090

"Goddamn, in how many armies do you see combat engineers, medics and supply clerks fighting right alongside the front-line soldiers...and, especially, how many times are you going to see generals right out in front fighting with their troops...God help us, if we ever get on the wrong side of the Commie Forces again, 'cause nothing else will."

Overheard between two Terranovan Republican Marines on maneuvers, 16 August, 2055, four months before Terranovan forces attempted to annex Ivanov during the Capellan Wars

The Commonwealth Forces is comprised of five arms of service, as follows:

1. The Fleet: Responsible for all military operations in space, the Fleet comprises 120 Albion-class battle cruisers, 360 Cosmograd-class heavy cruisers, and 960 Dauntless-class cruisers in its Fleet's 120 fleets.

The spacers of the Fleet wear slate-grey flight suits with grav shielding(called greys or Commonwealth greys), and are armed with laser pistols and laser lances, with access to laser rifles and autolasers.

Because all Commonwealth Forces Fleet personnel start their careers as warpfighter pilots, they are traditionally referred to as "brown shoes."

Their arm insignia is a winged sword.

2. Legionnaire Corps: Responsible for all ground force operations, the Legionnaire Corps consists of 120 field commands, with a total of 1,160 divisions and 33,408,000 beings.

Five hundred of those 1,160 divisions are heavy infantry, with each heavy infantry division comprised of three brigades, with each brigade consisting of three regimental combat teams of five battalions apiece.

The heavy infantry units are exclusively heavy infantry, with no supporting arms and are highly mobile and powerful.

Each heavy infantryman rides a Mark VIA Nike Heavy Infantry Combat Suit into battle.

Standing over three meters tall, and massing five and half a metric tons, the Nike is armed with four five-terajoule lasers, two on each arm, four shoulder- and four chest-mounted multi-missile launchers, twelve head-mounted five-hundred gigajoule autolasers, and a large laser lance for close combat, and is equipped with advanced chamelon and intruder systems, powerful radar and multiscanners, grav shielding and plasma jump jets.

Outside their suits, heavy infantry personnel wear greys and are armed with laser pistols and laser lances.

The Commonwealth Forces's AFVs, artillery,armor, air support and infantry are in the Legionnaires' 660 combined arms divisions and two independent combined-arms brigades, with each division consisting of three combined arms brigades, each combined arms brigade comprised of three combined arms regiments, each consisting of four combined arms battalions.

Each combined arms battalion consists of a field artillery company, an air-support company and three infantry companies, with each infantry company consisting of twenty WIG Lynx Mark VII AFVs, each of which transports a standard infantry squad of eight beings.

The Lynxes carry a two person crew and are armed with a robotic turret with a pair of five-terajoule lasers, two co-axial five-hundred gigajoule autolasers , four corner-mounted five-hundred gigajoule autolasers, four five-hundred gigajoule autolasers in a quad turret atop the troop bay and four multi-missile launchers in turrets all along the outside of the vehicle; the standard infantry squad deploys from the Lynx using plasma jetpacks integral to Legionnaire armor to propel them through the battlefield.

Air support units use Mark VII Bulldog hoppers, armed with a pair of five-terajoule lasers, four five-hundred gigajoule autolasers and four multi-missile launchers.

Finally, every company of Legionnaires has a Mark III Bulldog dropship at their disposal. Bulldogs are armed with a pair of five-terajoule lasers in the nose, a pair of autolaser quad turrets in the belly and two multi-missile launchers on either side of the spaceframe.

Combined-arms personnel wear slate-grey Legionnaire armor, and are armed with laser pistols and laser rifles as well as with laser lances, with every third person in a standard infantry squad carrying an autolaser; every fifth platoon of a combined-arms company is a heavy-weapons platoon, whose personnel wear a version of Legionnaire armor known as an "artillery suit," augmenting strength and dexterity and equipped with either a pair of shoulder-mounted five-terajoule Man-Portable Laser Systems or fifteen-tubed Man-Portable Artillery Rocket Systems.

Heavy weaps troopers carry standard armament in addition to their MPLSs/MPARs.

As Legionnaires wear red berets instead of the issue grey, they are often called "red caps."

Their arm insignia is a winged hand clutching a dagger.

3. MedCorps: The Commonwealth Forces's medical corps, assigned as needed to other Commonwealth Forces units and bases.

MedCorps personnel wear greys and are equipped with field medical kits, laser pistols and laser lances.

Their arm insignia is Asecphilus superimposed onto a white cross superimposed onto the Commonwealth Forces seal.

4. Logistics : The Commonwealth Forces's quartermaster, construction, transportation, technical support and combat engineering arm. Logistics personnel build the Commonwealth Forces's bases, fly the Commonwealth Forces's assault transports, keep the other Commonwealth Forces arms supplied and fed, carry out much of the Commonwealth Forces's R&D, repair the Commonwealth Forces's equipment, and act as the Commonwealth Forces's combat engineers, either repairing or destroying enemy fortifictions, equipment, et al, in wartime, or building bridges and repairing dams in peacetime.

Logistics personnel wear greys, are equipped with laser pistols and laser lances, and have other equipment relevant to their mission. Combat engineers are also equipped with laser rifles.

Their arm insignia is an inverted triangle with the words "CAN DO" inside it.

5. Commonwealth Intelligence: Responsbile for all external intelligence gathering(and only external intelligence gathering).

Intelligence Arm personnel wear greys and are equipped with laser pistols and laser lances, with access to laser rifles as needed.

Their arm insignia is a silhouetted man in a trenchcoat and hat(known as the White Spy, after a cartoon from the twentieth).

Commonwealth Forces Dress Uniform, Headquarters and Rank Structure

The Commonwealth Forces dress uniform(or dress greys) is a long-sleeved grey serge jacket extending slightly below the waist, dark blue serge trousers with a grey stripe along the pants leg and a slate-grey beret, worn with both greys and dress greys.

Rank insginia is worn on the beret and on the dress uniform cuff, as well as on the cuff and/or helmet of Legionnaire armor, the arm insignia being directly above/inside the chevrons/stripes indicating rank.

The Commonwealth Forces pin is a flaming sword superimposed onto the Commonwealth Seal, with the motto NO SURRENDER! COMMONWEALTH FOREVER! scrolled along the bottom.

The Commonwealth Forces headquarters reservation is directly underneath the city of Cydonia Starport, on Mars. Headquarters is staffed by veteran officers and soldiers from all five regular service arms on a rotating basis, and by officers and soldiers who have either voluntarily or involuntarily(i.e., due to medical reasons) retired from the field but still wish to continue serving active-duty with the Commonwealth Forces.

Rank Structure: The Commonwealth Forces employ the following rank structure:

Enlisted Ranks

Warrant Ranks

Officer Ranks

Bonuses to daily pay include: +$250 Cr/day distinguished service bonus,+300 Cr/day "guinea pig" bonus(for testing new equipment), +$500 Cr/day hazard bonus, +$1,000 Cr/day exceptional service bonus, +$5,000 Cr/day ace bonus and +$5,000 Cr/day for the Order of Commonwealth.

Miscellanous Organizations

The Reciprocal Trade Organization

"Under their so-called laws, the lunatic fringe are actually allowed to make people pay for things with wolf pelts and livestock."

John Jimson to his sixth-period Flynt County High School Interstellar Politics and Geography class, 19 December, 2096

"Have any change for a herd of cattle?"

Asked in jest by a customer at Star City Furniture in Heart's Content, a member business of the Reciprocal Trade Organization, 11 August, 2097

This group of over ten million beings are dedicated to replacing money with a system of barter. The RTO's members accept only goods and services rendered for goods and services rendered, and the Articles mandate and protect an individual's right to pay with barter rather than with money. Under the Articles(1.3.28.iv.), anyone frequenting a business displaying the three linked orbs of the RTO must pay for goods or services rendered with the same-money, even Commonwealth credits, will not be accepted.

The RTO's structure is informal, with a small staff of volunteers at the Heart's Content office, who prepare and upload the RTO newsletter into the IW. Its members are not activist, knowing most people are still a bit uncomforatble with abandoning money and that they will come around in time.

RTO's sole office is in Heart's Content, on Firestar.

Commonwealth MagRail

"Their mag-rails all run on time...what does that tell you?!"

Talk-net host Carl Hamilton, making a comparison between CommonwealthGravRail and Fascist Italy on his syndicated show The Black Avenger, 11 August, 2088

"It tells me we must be doing a pretty damn good job."

Commonwealth MagRail dispatcher Wanda Lursen, commenting on Hamilton's comments that same day.

Commonwealth MagRail is a cooperatively-owned and run concern which manages all of the Commonwealth's public mass transit, including the ubiquitous mag-lev, wing-in-ground-effect bullet trains(known as mag-rails) connecting the various parts of Commonwealth soil together-its best-known and most-widely used service.

Commonwealth MagRail also operates passenger VTOL and shuttle services, as well as a starline service which competes with other major Commonwealth starline firms and a commuter bus and boat service.

In business since 2041, Commonwealth MagRail prides itself on courteous, efficent and reliable service, going out of its way to make those who use Commonwealth MagRail enjoy their expirienece with them. Commonwealth MagRail's terminals are known throughout the human worlds for their cleaniness, their lack of hassles, their safety and comfort and, rare for such places, their excellent food services and spic-and-span restrooms.

Moreover, Commonwealth MagRail has a well-deserved reputation for punctuality-if the next g-rail from Timmonsport to Rebecca is supposed to arrive at 20:30, it will arrive at 20:30, no sooner or later.

There is a Commonwealth MagRail main terminal in each city, supported by satellite stations throughout each republic. All fares are Cr 0.75 for any distance.

Commonwealth MagRail's main office is at Muskogee Starport, on Earth.

Other Information

Population: 32,419,285,400 persons(PR10).

Capital City: Fort Gibson, Free State of Oklahoma, on Earth.

Monetary Unit: Commonwealth Credit(Cr), equal to $14.5 TSC, subdivided into 200 half-pennies, 100 pennies, 50 tuppence(two pennies), 20 nickels, 10 dimes, 4 quarters, 2 half credits and 1.25 three-quarter credits

National Motto: John 15:13

National Anthem(Official):"Commonwealth Forever," lyrics and music by Gayle Sheridan, 2040

(Unofficial): "City Of New Orleans," lyrics and music by Woody Guthrie, 1940

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