The Elysian Colonies
“Well, my friend, I am not a big fan of the government around here.”
“Well, what are you going to do about it?”
“Wait five minutes.”
-Conversation overheard in a Cygnus Zeta habitat
“The Elysian Colonies are a fascinating region of space. Here, the inhabitants have perfected the meaning of what it is to be human that transcends mere biology or genetics. Humanity here is an idea - a goal to strive to. But what ideal of Humanity is it? Well, that is where the Elysians cannot decide. So they try to achieve the peak of everything it means to be human. Human cruelty, human ingenuity, human hedonism, human altruism. You will find everything here - all facets of Humanity are driven to the extreme. Everything exists here - and for the right price, can be bought.”
-excerpt from the book “To Cygnus and back - a Travel Diary” by Konane Kahale
| Major Faction | |
|---|---|
| The Elysian Colonies | |
| File:(Elysian Colonies Flag) | Official Name No real official name Colloquial Names: Elysia, Cygnus Colonies, The Elysians, Anarchists, The Demimonde Government Type: No central government - colonies are totally independent from each other Population: around 800 Billion Sapients (Humans and human-derived) Economic Strength: Indolent Slave-Economies rubbing shoulders with extreme Command Economies Military Strength: Fearsome united, otherwise unimportant Political Importance: Humanitas in extremis |
Long before the Hegemony War and even the formation of the Commonwealth of Sol-Procyon, the Cygnus Zeta colony has been a hotbed of development and radical thought - for it was one of the first colonies formed by private interests instead of state impetus. From here the “Cygnus Region”, as it was officially called, found unusually many garden or near-garden planets, leading to a mad rush of colonization by freethinkers, vainglorious business magnates and mad prophets with too much money or charisma. Influence from the Skrell eventually lead to the leading philosophy of the Elysian Colonies - the ultimate freedom to form a society, unfettered by incipient complaints like “morality” or “practicality”.
Key Planets
It’s foolish to think that one planet within the Elysian Colonies is more important than the other. In reality, any colony would claim it is a key planet. Probably even some stations would go as far and claim such. In the end, what defines the Cygnus Colonies is that they are a well-developed, old region of human settlement, with over 200 years of history behind some colonies, families and bloodlines. Growth, however, is often explosive, unregulated and riding on a tide of good or bad luck - new colonies spring forth and decay at a relatively astonishing rate and carcasses of failed projects litter barren planets and empty space.
Political System
The Elysian Colonies have a very simple political guideline - do as you want. Political power is backed up solely by the people in charge, whether this be my overt military force or more insidious means or just good old fashioned democracy. Nobody is going to tell a colony how to behave or organize, unless they are quite literally cowed to do so. However, these forms of protectorates and vassalages don’t survive for long, as they are seen as an offense by neighboring colonies, who often then band together to enact punitive raids and sieges.
Needless to say, power, administration and political alignment within the Elysian Colonies can change on a coin toss and wars are frequent, short, small-scale and brutal.
However, very loose associations do exist, with similarly-minded colonies forming so-called “clubs”, that propagate and support new colonies with a favorable philosophy. Monarchists, Anti-Slavers, Turbogoon Hypercapitalist Gig-Economy Magnates, or whatever else one might think of regularly meet and rub shoulders like old friends and try to protect each other within the cutthroat world out there - often being the very same people who eventually backstab each other for the slightest advantage or trophy.
Organization
Elysian Colonies are organized however they wish to please. Recognition of a colony is when another colony tries to lay claim to them and get shot for the offense. Beyond this, there is no real template on how a colony might organize. Often, local strongmen regulate their society, but other times the whole colony establishes a magna carta of rights, privileges, and duties for their leaders they must adhere to or face reprisal by angry mobs.
It is very fluid, in the end. Some strongmen establish a constitution so their children might inherit or a savvy leader uses their emergency powers to form a dictatorship. Or the military they establish sweeps in and installs a junta. In the end, nothing is certain except the immediate today and the near tomorrow within the Colonies.
Military
As before, the colonies are very individualistic within their way of organizing their military. Some truly revive feudal practices of knightly houses with worker levies, led by exosuited warrior-nobles, while others prefer a general draft and weekend training. Others hire mercenaries and PMCs and indeed, the Elysian Colonies are a hotbed of rental soldiers and a major profit zone for most security services.
A special type of mercenaries is also found in the Elysian Colonies, ancient deserters of the beginning of the Hegemony War, who have formed generation fleets of raiding ships and smaller ship-of-the-lines who prowl the Colonies and Spinward Frontier for plunder and glory. These half-pirates, half-fleet for hire have dubbed themselves Void Ronins and have formed quasi-feudal relationships to each other - an admiral leads captains like noble houses and internal politicking and covert wars are led for the command of fief-ships and servant transports. These Ronins are subject to a multitude of media coverage, ranging from romanticized telenovellas to dry documentaries.
Economy
As a wildly unregulated space with a lot of people needing a lot of money fast, there is no surprise that the economy of Elysia is fuelled by illicit, illegal, and immoral practices. Slave trade is common, whether it be natural born people, vatgrown workers, or drones designed for tasks - a majority of labour within the Cygnus Region is backed up by involuntary servitude. Beyond this, the place is rife with drug production, sex trade, and black market services like forgeries, assassinations and protection rackets.
Needless to say, the Megacorporations of Humanity love this place, not only to sink money into clandestine slush funds and secret bank accounts, but also to source incredibly cheap labour who see having a bed and three square meals a day as a definite upgrade over their current life situation. As an added bonus, unscrupulous researchers and bio-hackers find themselves making a pretty dime at the ever-increasing demand of changed genomes and exotically changed Humanity to fill market niches.
This, coupled with tacit Skrellian support in the fields of biology, makes the Elysian Colonies one of the best places for biotechnological advances and products. The respectable, legal markets of the Elysian Colonies specialize in the export of such… And never mention how the perfect designer baby or cure for a new disease comes from a long tradition and expertise making gladiator freaks and nerve stapled flesh automatons for the more exotic clients within Elysia.
Next to the Commonwealth, the Elysian Colonies as a whole are a main contributor to the interstellar Gross Domestic Product of Humanity - the glee of the Demimonde and the chagrin of everyone else.
Culture and Society
To see a snowstorm and see all the differences between the snowflakes is equally as a waste of time as trying to quantify and see the throughlines of culture between Elysians. It is a wild, clashing hodgepodge of businessmen-turned-nobility enamored with ancient civilizations and brutally enforcing their trappings on current society, of revolutionary socialists who carved themselves out of a previous dictatorship, of religious fanatics who tried to craft their own utopia without the input of others - literally everything can be found. Sometimes on the same planet, never interacting much with each other out of mutual respect or weariness.
Ultimately, there is only one common factor. Fear. Fear of what tomorrow brings. Elysians are proud people for their ultimate freedom, but many wouldn’t look twice to getting out of there and appreciate this grand social experiment from afar. After all, it takes one bad day for some to become a slave themselves and join the trudging masses underpinning and maintaining this fever fit of human philosophy.
Problems and Troubles
Too many to count for too many individual colonies. In the end, the Colonies are indeed self-perpetuating and nobody has much interest in changing the current arrangement. For all its volatility and individual instability, neither unification nor foreign conquest seem all that likely. The Commonwealth does not bother with them, especially when lobbyists of Megacorporations hold them at a tight leash to not ruin their current business deals made with the region.
Opinions on other Factions
The Commonwealth
“Imagine living under a regime that tells you from far away what to fucking do. What a joke. Let the invisible hand deal with all the little shit instead of some stuffy bureaucrat on Luna. The only good thing coming out of there is the genuine devil-leaf from the Peruvian Mountains. Can’t find that shit anywhere else. Makes you work 40 hours a day and beg for more tasks to do. Lifesaver, amen.”
The Unitary Alliance of Salthan Fyrds
“Bro, we all love big toys, but they take themselves way too seriously. Have you seen them all goose stepping around? If Mister Man would tell me where to shit I would blow a fucking gasket and go sicko mode in the barracks. No, thanks.
Don’t tell them I said that, by the way, I don’t want some angry dino dudes to use my skull as a baseball - they don’t pay for that privilege.”
The Elysian Colonies
“So jazzed to live here, nose to the grindstone, gig to gig. I’m dancing on top of the world baby and when the beat drops I am going to fucking kill myself.”
The Third Ares Confederation
“Yeah okay, it’s like Erithia Colony, right? Just more of them and all in their own little weirdo club? Whatever, man. Good luck to them, I guess. Beats me how they can stand each other long enough to actually have formed their own little kumbayama circle.” Skrell Consensus
“Big Cheese said they’re the ones to thank for all our progress and philosophical flourishing. Squidbros are bros. Very unnerving with their cold, black and dead fish eyes though. Dunno if they like me or not at any given moment.”
The Unathi Hegemony
“I honestly can’t tell the difference between them and the Great lizard mystics from Korith IV. Supposedly dinostomped all over the Commonwealth? Beats me how they did that but I don’t wanna mess with them, considering the Fyrders get their ass kicked from here to Sunday by ‘em every month or so.” The Tajaran Diaspora
“Wait, this is not a furry thing? Do we actually have aliens that look like big cats? This bodes unwell for the YiffEmporium stocks. I should sell quick, fuck fuck fuck…”
Nomads
“Wait, are these special? Sounds like the Ronins. Good customers, I guess. Buy every NutriBar we get and then fuck off. Love customers who don’t bother me at all.”
Mega-Corporations
“Three square meals and a paycheck makes a lot of people sell their soul out to these goons. Power to them, my applications have all been rejected because I refuse to not include my “Most Well Adjusted Libertarian” Award from my colony. That shit made me cry for hours when I looked at it. Still does. Sniff.”
The Free Trade Union
“My Pa said Unions are the devil’s pubes and I don’t see much difference with that point of view when I look at these clowns. Who the fuck says we have to regulate the market and treat people “fairly”? It’s called meritocracy, not participation awards.”