THE FEDERATION OF ALPHA CENTAURI





GENERAL

The Official Centaurian Seal. Courtesy of The National Archives.

Formal Full Name: The Federation of Alpha Centauri.
Formal Short Name: Alpha Centauri.
Informal Name: AC.
Adjective: Centaurian.
Noun: Centaurian.

Leader: Elected Gubernatorial Overseer Farnsworth Horrigan IX, Elected War Overseer Daria Morgan II, Elected Interior Overseer Adrian Veidt III, Elected Foreign Overseer Esmerelda Corbell X, Elected Science Overseer Cuthbert Sherwood VII
Government: Totalitarian Socialist Democracy.
Sufferage: 16 Years Of Age, Universal.
Legal System: Based On Traditional American Judicial System.
International Treaties: AE, ACCT, APEC, AsDB, ASEAN, BIS, Big Eight, DC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICJ, Interpol, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IHO, ILO, IMO, IOC, IMO, ISO, IRC, ITU, NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, Pacific Community, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNAMSIL, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WFP, WHO, WIPO, WMO, and WToO.
Alliances: Indonesia, United States of America, and Australia.
Close Relations: Mexico, France, Russia, Vatican City, and Japan.
Hostile Relations: All Nations of Lodoss, Great Britan, and CreepyTeef.

National Anthem: "Glory Be to Alpha Centauri" sung in traditional choir form.
National Motto: "Bintang bintang kepunya kami" "Caelum est noster" "Les etoiles c'est notre" "The heavens are ours". Coming from the old Centaurian belief that in the Alpha Centauri Solar System, they will find their promised land.
National Languages: English is primary. Secondary include Latin, French, and Indonesian.
National Animal: The Centaurian Mindworm.
National Currency: The Centauron. (Approximately 1C = 1$)

The lable from a bottle of Mascasa Mango Rum, the oldest mango rum producers. Courtesy of Mascasa Mango Rum.

National Sport: Rope Fighting. Two contenders stand on a high tension rope about three feet from the ground. Each man is given a length of rope of 5 feet. Both men can use whatever means they have to throw the other man off the ropes.
National Drink: Mango Rum.

Capital: Alpha Centauri Prime
Major Cities: Porte-Du-Veux, Grisham, Adamara, New Fort City, and Oceania.
Minor Cities: Alphonso, Glunten, Mau Lay, Norengard, and Elentale.
Population: 198,115,308 Legal residents. (Numbers are provided by National Census Bureau, as of 2002)
Growth Rate: 1.98%, Annual.
Migrant Rate: 3 Immigrants for every 1,000 people.
Life Expectancy: 80.14 Years.
Religon: 89% Roman Catholic, 6% Sunni Muslim, 2% Sixam, 2% Other, 1% Atheist.
Nicknames: Backbreakers, Knucklers, and Bloodsweater. Commom amongst Centaurian youth, a term referring to the hard work that took to build the Centaurian towers. Brethern, One of the Brother(Sister)hood, A (Wo)man of the People, and Earthborne. Common amonst the older population, referring to Centaurian humanity.
Racial Slurs: Phobes. Used by non-humans in remark to Centaurian Xenophobia. Hoof Draggers. A Centaur was a mythical beast that was half man, half horse, and is used instead of knuckle draggers when referring to Centaurian technological shortcommings. Alpha Catholics. A play on the AC acronym and Alpha Male behavior, and also a note that Centaurians are overly defensive to their Catholic doctrine.
Literacy Rate: 100%.
Unemployment Rate: 0.13%.

Exports: Uranium, Bauxite, Coal, Titanium, Medical Supplies, Automobiles, Sea Vessels, Mango, and Books.
Imports: Electronics, Air Vessels, Lumber, Food, and Oil.
Gross Domestic Product: C755,041,955,309.
GDP Growth Rate: 1.15%.
National Budget Income: C187,925,074,781.
National Budget Expenses: C185,448, 540,712.

A section of the rain forest outside of Glunten. Courtesy of The Joseph Garis Nature Society.


Geographical Location: Southwest of Indonesia, west of Australia, and far east of Africa. Alpha Centauri is considred to be on its own continent.
Comparative Size: Slightly smaller than Australia.
Terrain: Rolling hills covered In dense tropical vegetation.
Climate : Tropical.
Natural Resources: Bauxite, Coal, Iron Ore, Copper, Tin, Timber, Uranium, Nickel, Tungsten, Lead, Zinc, Titanium, and Cobolt.
Area: 7,431,661 sq km.
Land Use: 15% Urban, 23% Farming, 62% Natural Forestry.
Natural Hazards: Heavy Monsoon Winds.



HISTORY

Alpha Centauri was considred by many as the land that could not be conquered. The first attempt at invasion was done by one of the Roman Emperor's, Emperor Nerva. He sent a general with a powerful Roman fleet to lead the navy through the uncharted waters. The Romans never heard from them again, and in Emperor Nerva's embarassment, the records of their departure were erased. The fleet only made landfall in Alpha Centauri, on the south western shore. There they started a settlement, and taught the natives to speak Latin. Though it is not certain, historians believe that the Mindworms of the island saw the Romans as invaders, and removed them from the island. However, the natives were left alive, and without their Roman colonizers, they become known as the Learsi.

This Roman structure was found in Mau Lay in fantastic condition. Courtesy of The National Historical Society.


The next nation to try to colonize Alpha Centauri was the French. Through an agreement with the Dutch, the French become the new imperialist of the continent in 1640. They started in the south eastern part of AC, in modern day Porte-Du-Veux. However, they could not penetrate the deep Centaurian rain forests before the British took control of much of the South Pacific, including Alpha Centauri in the early 1800's. The British used Alpha Centauri mainly for its lumber, and cut deeper into the forest. With their tools, they manage to cut away into several kilometers of forest, but another power shift occured and the Dutch took command of AC along with Indonesia. The Dutch taught Indonesian to many of the natives, and so now they had learned four different languages.

During World War II, the Dutch army fell to the might of the Japanese. And in the state of confusion, the Mindworm of the islands defended the island from another invader. For five weeks, during a Japanese siege, the Mindworms left the thick forests to fight Japanese troops. The boils would swarm into ships and tear apart the crew and eat through the machinery. When it was all over, the Japanese empire decided that AC was not worth the cost it took to occupy it, and the Centaurians sat out the rest of the war.

During the period until 1992, the land that is Alpha Centauri was broken up into 5 different tribes: the Sixam(native), the Elsi(French), the Learsi(Roman), the Rokoh(Dutch-Indonesian), and the Tinnez(British). The tribes were quite primitive in terms of technoloy, but had access to gunrunners that sold them munitions to funnel their wars. Each tribe had a violent warlord who ruled with neopotism and theocracy, and they forced their tribesmen to fight in their wars so they could maintain power. Soon, the people became tired to being drafted to fight pointless battles, and demanded democracy.

A church is burning during the Battle for Grisham. Courtesy of The Centaurian League of War Veterans.
One man, Grenen Skeen, started guerrila movements in all of the five tribes that succesfully overthrew the warlords in 1991-1992. Skeen then brought all the tribesmen together and created a Federation, and he was democraticly elected Gubernatorial Overseer.

When the Federation was created, one tribe was not willing to join, the Sixam. Their rejection of the Federation set off the other tribes, so many fanatics had the Sixam farms burned and forced them to be isolated from the world. The Sixam starved and after three months were forced to join the Federation. Almost immedietly, many Sixam joined a terrorist movement called 'Minority' that bombed government buildings and did public executions. The police responded with a massive crackdown on all Sixam citizens, and half of them were thrown into a subterrainian political prison where all the prisoners died in their first year. Through the years to come, the Sixam were massivly abused and ignored. Their votes were not tallied, pregnant Sixam women faced forced abortions, and any crime commited by a Sixam would almost certainly mean death.

In 2002, five Sixam residents fled Alpha Centauri and entered Demoness. They were captured an detained, but when one of them confessed to the autrocities in Alpha Centauri, Empress Jia Li had them released. Her next step was to verify their story, and she sent spies to Alpha Centauri to verify to story. The Centaurian Overseers found out, and the two nations began exchanging deceitful telegrams before the Religon Overseer, Enrico Loyola, stepped up and admittied to the autrocities. The Empress suggested that the Centaurian government release the Sixam and give them full independance. Overseer Skeen had no real option except to go along, and withing minutes, there was massive rioting through the nation. Centaurian police arested all the rioters and all the Sixam, but this was only a temporary sollution. The Overseer gave a State of the Federation address one week after the rioting, and asked not for Sixam independance, but for Sixam acceptance. He reminded his people that violence against their brethern was not their way, and the people listned. They agreed that the hate had gone on for long enough on both sides, and the Sixam were allowed to enter Centaurian society as first class citizens.



MINDWORMS
Mal Dominus

The Centaurian Mindworms, found only in the rainforests of Alpha Centauri, arethe official animal of the Federations. Mindworms grow from several centimeters long up to a half meter and an adult Mindworm weighs about 12.4 kilograms. The Mindworm is unlike most every other creature common on Earth, being that the Mindworm does not predate their prey for food, but instead to procreate. All Mindworms are female, and reproduce asexually. However, the Mindworm requires a very specific location to lay its larve. The larve must be planted inside the skull of mammal so that the young Mindworms could feast

The last image taken by the security cameras at the Wutana uranium mine. Courtesy of the Epsilon Mine Commission.
on the fresh brain before becoming large enough to burst open the entire skull over a process of several weeks. A Mindworm has a natural lifespan of 300 years, so it is quite rare that a Mindworm would find the need to attack a human for their skull.

The Mindworm moves slowly by shifting its weight left to right and crawling. The three triangles on the sides of the Mindworm's mouth are most likely used to suction on to the skull of its victum before thrusting its mouth through the bone and implanting the larve. The small, flexible, black feathers between the suctions move around extremely quickly, and modern biologist believe that the feathers are used to give the Mindworm a primitive sense of touch.

During the Second World War, the Mindworms repelled the Japanese invasion. Though biologist cannot explain the phenominon, it is widely accepted that the Mindworms felt that the Imperial Japanese Army was a threat to the rain forest. This was reason enough for them to activly fight the invasion forces. Survivng Japanese sailors reported being drenched in fear, and were immobile when the Mindworms attacked their ships. Many of them became permenantly mentally unstable from the experience, exhibiting signs of shell shock. Psychiatrists were baffled, because though the sailors told of experiences in vivid detaul, none of them actually happned. One survivor was so certain that he had lost all his limbs when the Mindworms attacked that he became crippled, even though doctors said there was nothing wrong with him. Similiar reports came from the Wutana uranium mine, built in the middle of the rain forest. In 2001, miners reported having extremly realistic nightmares. Three days later, the mine was swarmed with Mindworms and no miner was left alive. Ever since the massacre at Wutana, no new mines have been built in the rain forest.



GOVERNMENT

The Centaurian people are ruled through five elected overseers, one for each of the five branches of government: Gubernatorial, Interior, Foreign, War, and Science. Each overseer has several appointed lieutenants to his posts, and each lieutenant has an outfit of thirteen ministers. The Gubernatorial Overseer is the highest overseer. The G.O can veto any rulings made by the four other overseers, and also make proposals on any of the four other departments. The Interior Overseer has power over all national government offices, such as the police, schools, and hospitals. He or she is also the head of the Secret Service, a branch of sp

A picture taken at the first Regional Society meeting. From left to right to bottom: Consul Larson V, Consul Tagabor VIII, Consul Yeremia XX, and Premier Lukas I. Courtesy of The National Archives.
ecial agents that do many intra-Federation tasks and investigation. Just as the name implies, the War Overseer has command over the Centaurian armed forces and recruiting branches. The Foreign Overseer is elected to lead Alpha Centauri in all international issues. Under his or her command are all the embassies and ambassadors all over the world, and the F.O counsels the Gubernatorial Overseer on his foreign approach doctrine.

At the start of the Federation, there was an elected Religon Overseer. However, after the Horrigan administration took over, this position has been wiped out. Horrigan stated that the Federation was to be a secular government, and made a clear distinction between church and state. The only man to ever hold this position was Arch Bishop Enrico Loyola XVI.

The overseers have no term limit, and have unlimited power to change the laws and regulations governing the Federation. However, the overseers must hold an election once every year. The legislative branch, also known as the Regional Society, are made from two leagues. The first is the Consul League. Each city elects a Consul to represent their needs to the overseers. The other half of the R.S is the Primier League. Primiers are appointed by the overseers for each city, usually to give a dissenting opinion on issues. The number of Consuls and Primiers for each city is always equal, and is determined by the city's population.

Though rare, there are a number of extremely small nomadic tribes that wander the jungles through Alpha Centauri. These tribes are considred Centaurian, they are not obligated to pay taxes as long as they continue to live in the jungle. The Centaurian overseers do not reserve the right to manage the tribes. The larger tribes have deputies that go into the cities to speak with the government, usually asking for medical assistance. Currently, in accordance with the Horrigan Doctrine of Centaurian Comradery, it is very rare that these tribes are not granted their aid.