The Confederacy of Man: Expansion, Planet's Rights, and Slavery
The Confederacy of Man is, to be certain, an enigma. Historical data suggests that the Confederacy of Man was founded by citizens of the old Earth nation known as the Confederate States of America, or CSA. But strictly speaking, this should not even be possible - Earth history records the CSA ceasing to exist in the Earth year 1865. How a Confederacy could have survived so long, transported through time and space, and wound up at the head of a stellar empire, is beyond the ability of most scientists to understand. Nonetheless, the Confederacy of Man has begun to make their presence felt, starting in a far-off mass star cluster...
Lead by a charismatic man named Reginald Elwood, the Confederacy of Man was structured along much the same lines as the Confederacy of old - a superior "white race" lording over their darker skinned "inferiors" in a property-owning, master/slave system not too dissimilar from the Confederacy of old. One major difference, however, is that the Confederacy of Man has managed to make slavery a more economically viable option, using them as cheap labor for factories and so on. They put these into practice on an entire world they called "Gettysburg," perhaps in honor of a pivotal battle that, in their alternate universe, the South won.
Beginning in the year 2225, the Confederacy began their climb into power, bringing ships filled with settlers and slaves (the slaves being listed as non-persons). By early 2227, the Confederacy already controlled four worlds - the two habitable planets in the Gettysburg system, and two in the nearby Hough system. A number of deep-space mining outposts had been planted in the territories as well.
The dual prongs of this expansion were two venerable ships of the Confederate Navy - the fast colonizer CNS Furlong series, and the space miner series CNS Prospector.
Utilizing various Ion Drive systems and basic life support systems, the CNS Furlong lead the charge of the first colonization drive for the Confederacy. Capable of moving 500 million colonists rapidly across great distances, the CNS Furlong was the true workhorse for the Confederate Navy, quick, efficient, and inexpensive to produce.
2227 turned out to be a banner year for the Confederacy - by August, the Confederacy had acquired a crucial military resource just outside of the Gettysburg system, a small field of dense crystalline structures capable of incredible focusing. These crystals were used to jumpstart the Confederacy's budding weapons project, with the search for viable Laser attack and defense systems. Soon, the first of these experimental laser systems would be rolled out on a new class of defense fighter - the CNF-2 Sharpe.
The rollout of the new CNF-2 Sharpe series of fighter spacecraft, however, was marred by riots in several cities on planet Gettysburg. Indeed, the homeworld's overcrowding was becoming notorious, with approval for Reginald Elwood at a low of 54%. Clearly, something would have to be done, and quickly. Research was diverted from military matters over to researching new ways of entertaining the population, to make them forget the overcrowding. By 2228, the first Multimedia Centers were coming online on planets throughout the Confederacy.
By now, the Confederacy had gained sufficient strength to increase its relentless colonization drive, and by 2229, more CNS Furlong ships were being built and sent off to far-flung planets, feeding the Confederacy's need for more land, more slaves, more of everything. But these colony ships also served a secondary purpose - as ersatz exploration vessels. While enroute to their destinations, the colonist-laden ships were asked to scan nearby space and report any findings to the Confederate Navy - whether it be resource-rich planets, new resources to exploit...or alien civilizations.
