United Federation of Planets
| “ | Let me end with an explanation of why I believe the move into space to be a human imperative. It seems to me obvious in too many ways to need listing that we cannot much longer depend upon our planet's relatively fragile ecosystem to handle the realities of the human tomorrow. Unless we turn human growth and energy toward the challenges and promises of space, our only other choice may be the awful risk, currently demonstrable, of stumbling into a cycle of fratricide and regression which could end all chances of our evolving further or of even surviving. | ” |
| —Gene Roddenberry, Planetary Report Vol. 1, 1981 | ||
| United Federation of Planets | ||||||
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| Capital | Utopia Planitia, Mars | |||||
| Largest City | Starbase 1, Mars | |||||
| Official language(s) | English, Klingon | |||||
| Common nicknames | Trekkers, Trekkies, FedFen | |||||
| Membership | Fenspace Convention | |||||
| Government | Representative Democracy | |||||
| - | President | Bjo Trimble | ||||
| Formation | ||||||
| - | Declaration of Sovereignty | August 19, 2009 | ||||
| - | Kandor Treaty | March 28, 2010 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2015 estimate | 350,000 | ||||
| Political influence | Major (largest organized faction) | |||||
| Major Achievements | Utopia Planitia Shipyards, Mars
Starbase 1, Mars (first Fen station). Starbase 2, Rigel Kentaurus A (mankind's first permanent extrasolar settlement). Miranda deep-space mission. |
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| Stereotype | Nosy and self-righteous scientist/soldiers who never leave their ships. | |||||
The oldest, largest and best-organized faction in Fenspace, the United Federation of Planets started out as a network of Star Trek fan clubs which banded together in the early days of the handwavium boom. Their superior organization paid off in their initial claim of Martian territory (the Utopia Planitia settlement) and launching the first large-scale interstellar exploration effort; so far, this has lead to the Starbase 2 outpost around Rigel Kentaurus A and the Miranda deep-space mission.
The Federation is the closest thing to a completely self-sustaining society in Fenspace, with a strong economic and political presence. In an interesting move that surprised many ’Danelaw intellectual property lawyers (to say the least), Paramount gave their official blessing to the Federation on 14 October 2008, allowing the Trekkies full use of the Star Trek brand “in an official capacity.” To date, this makes the Trekkies the only major faction to have authorized totems.
The Federation is run by a civilian Federation Council, the members of which are voted for directly by all adult Trekkies. Day-to-day operations are managed by Starfleet, the paramilitary arm and the organization under which most of the original fan clubs were assembled. Roughly 60% of the Trekkie population is involved to one extent or another with the armed forces, although Starfleet takes great pains to ensure a mixture of non-combat personnel on all their commands in order to emphasize the Federation’s overall peaceful mission.
Politically, the Trekkies have two major “parties,” the Explorers and the Defenders. The Explorer subfaction is science-oriented, and has spearheaded most of the technological progress made by the Federation in recent years; they were the major backers of the Miranda mission in the faction. The Defender subfaction are more militant, focusing on strengthening Trekkie government and fleet capabilities to ensure the Federation lasts for a good long while. Starfleet has not yet been asked to handle peacekeeping or police duties in the greater solar system, and the Council has not seen fit to offer their services for their own reasons.
The Trekkies had a short-lived conflict with the Warsies in the early days of the expansion. That conflict lead to the infamous Tomed Incident, where a bar brawl in Port Luna turned into a near-riot. The conflict was eventually settled by the November 2009 Treaty of Algeron, duly ratified by the Council and the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, forbidding any furtherance of the conflict. Not that the treaty stopped the occasional brawl, but it did prevent things from breaking out into another major international incident.
Trekkies are an insular faction, and can usually be found aboard (or on liberty from) a Federation ship. The major Federation settlements in Fenspace are located on or in orbit around Mars, with their de facto capital at Utopia Planitia (which is also home to Starfleet Academy, the faction's post-secondary educational institution).
Despite a fanon-boosted reputation for being nosy and self-righteous, most Trekkies are agreeable sorts. As noted Federation shipmaster Harcourt Mudd phrased it, “We’re not here to tell you what’s right or what to do. We’re here to do right, and to do.” The statement rings true with the behavior and policy decisions of the Federation.
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