Liberty

Liberty -- otherwise known as the Republic of Liberty -- is one of the five recognised Houses of Sirius, alongside Bretonia, Gallia, Kusari, and Rheinland. The Sleeper Ship Liberty was sponsored by the United States of America and was the first to arrive in Sirius, settling on Planet Manhattan in 1 AS. Liberty colonised the systems near the centre of the Sirius Sector where there was the highest concentration of main-sequence stars and Earth-like planets.

Republic of Liberty

Head of State

President Mildred Hawthorne

Founded

1AS

Core Territory

New York Alaska California Colorado Pennsylvania Texas

Zone of Influence

Bering Cortez Coronado Galileo Hudson Magellan Ontario Vespucci

Government

Liberty's capital is Planet Manhattan in the New York system. All branches of Liberty's government are based here, including the Congress, Senate, Liberty Supreme Court, and the Office of the President.

Liberty Senators are elected on a system-level to represent Liberty's core territories. Congresspeople are elected to represent planetary districts and orbital districts containing qualifying space stations, or groups of space stations.

The president of Liberty serves a 5 year term. The last election was held in 827 AS, electing President Mildred Hawthorne of the Manifest Destiny Party.

Notable political blocs in Liberty include the mercantilist Blue Star Party, the militaristic Liberty Reform Party, and the nationalist Manifest Destiny Party.

Law Enforcement

Liberty Navy

The Liberty Navy is responsible for protecting the economic well-being of Liberty through military force, both within the boundaries of the colony and in the independent systems that border its territory. Following the war with Gallia, the Navy has taken a more hands-on approach to the lawlessness of the unaligned worlds surrounding the Republic, to the detriment of those who thought themselves free of House interference.

Liberty Police, Inc

Liberty Police, Inc. (LPI) is a private company that handles the policing of Liberty space to interdict contraband and wprevent attacks on civilian and commercial traffic. Interstellar human rights organisations have long criticised the Republic for their reliance on private policing, citing the massive incarceration numbers and booming crime rates in Liberty as arguments against LPI's efficacy. The company, however, argues that these facts only justify further contracts with the organisation, as Liberty's needs for policing grow ever larger.

Liberty Security Force

The Liberty Security Force (LSF) is the intelligence branch of the Liberty armed forces, operating in secrecy to ensure the free flow of goods and services in the Liberty economy. LSF agents are infamous for their broad authority and oversight over the rest of the armed forces, operating with immense strategic freedom due to a constitutional provision mandating that they answer directly to the Office of the President.

Corporations

Ageira Technologies

Ageira Technologies, one of the "Big Three" Liberty companies, is responsible for the development of Jump Gate and Trade Lane technology. Ageira maintains a special relationship with DSE, who primarily constructs Jump Gates and Trade Lanes on behalf of Ageira. Their monopoly on Gate and Lane technology has become threatened in recent years, with the arrival of Gallia and developments in jump drive technology by Kishiro Technologies.

Cryer Pharmaceuticals

Cryer Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Liberty and markets a wide array of both commercially available and restricted-class drugs. Their most (in)famous product is Stabiline, an expensive synthetic pharmaceutical that staves off the effects of Cardamine withdrawal. The threat such a medicine poses to the Cardamine trade has resulted in numerous vicious Outcast-led attacks on Cryer facilities and personnel.

Deep Space Engineering

Deep Space Engineering is a Libertonian industrial corporation which specialises in heavy industry and shipbuilding. They partner with Universal Shipping and Ageira Technologies. Deep Space Engineering is responsible for building and maintaining Trade Lanes and Jump Gates using Ageira's technologies. In recent years, DSE has once more begun to expand its resource extraction operations, owing to deposits discovered in the Liberty border worlds.

Interspace Commerce

Interspace Commerce (IC), one of the "Big Three" Liberty companies, is a financial juggernaut and responsible for the financing and insurance of many of the largest corporate and civilian undertakings in Sirius, as well as the operation of the USI Trade Lane system. Their decision to underwrite -- or cancel -- route coverage results in massive swings in supply and demand overnight, a power that activists and House governments alike frequently criticize.

Orbital Spa & Cruise

Orbital Spa and Cruise operates an array of resorts and luxury liners throughout the Sirius Sector. Headquartered on the idyllic resort planet Curacao, OS&C goes to great lengths to ensure that their customers receive the all-star experience they deserve, as they happen to host many of the richest and most powerful people in Sirius at any one time.

Universal Shipping

Universal Shipping is one of the "Big Three" Liberty companies and specializes in the shipping of high-risk, high-value cargo, most notably Ageira's "white boxes" containing Trade Lane and Jump Gate parts which are shipped to DSE construction sites across Sirius. Their close business relationship with Ageira, combined with their high-value cargo, makes them a frequent target of Lane Hackers and subsequently a frequent claimant of IC insurance.