Tink and Tank

The Republic of Cascadia

Born of secessionist movements from Northern California through Southwestern Canada, Cascadia rose rapidly to power when its rebels got their hands on unspecified high technology being secretly developed in territory that they seized. Warp technology was presumably part of this cache, because Cascadia beat every other faction out of the Solar System by a decade and a half. They control more colony worlds than any other faction, but others are quickly catching up as Cascadia's socialist bureaucracy has become more bloated and inefficient over the years. They control the colony worlds Kobuk, Moro, Olympia, Nabesna, and Lassen. They are bitter enemies with the Saterlee-Kurosawa Corporation and NABMU. Cascadia has uneasy military alliances with RUNIA and China and maintains trade relations with FEADS.

China

As the most powerful traditional nation state left on Earth, it has largely fallen to China to police world affairs. Given these responsibilities, and an ongoing proxy war with NABMU in South America, China's only off-world presence is partial control of Mars (which is also contested with NABMU) and Jupiter's three largest moons - Io, Ganymede, and Callisto. China has an uneasy military alliance with Cascadia, and trades with RUNIA.

Finmeccanica-EADS

The space-faring arm of the European Union, FEADS rigorously strives to be neutral among the other factions. They have been entrusted with stewardship of Earth's moon, and control two other colony worlds, Columbus and Tyr. The have trade relations with all other factions except RUNIA (due to tensions between expat Russian oligarchs who emigrated to Europe and the current ruling party in Russia).

The Kerala Corporation

Following the collapse of the Indian government, the massive Kerala Corporation, which already provided much of the state infrastructure, morphed into the new de facto ruling body. It largely controls the colony world Padma. It is bitter enemies with RUNIA, but maintains peaceful trade relations with NABMU, SKC, and FEADS.

NABMU (North American and British Manufacturer's Union)

After the disintegration of the United States, the Federated States of America were forcibly united with Canada and Mexico by a mercenary army supplied by NGR (Northrop Grumman Raytheon) and Lockheed Martin. BAE Systems of the former UK soon after declared a formal alliance and eventually became part of the same organizational hierarchy. Exhausted by these efforts and an ongoing proxy war in South America vs. China, NABMU's only off-world presence is partial control of Mars (which is also contested with China).

RUNIA (Russian North India Alliance)

A Neo-Maoist guerrilla movement in northern India warranted little international attention until an eccentric Indian billionaire found religion and decided to open his vast coffers to their cause. As the movement gained momentum the New Russian Soviet declared formal support. It is generally believed that RUNIA has the most advanced research into psionics. RUNIA controls the colony worlds Parrikar and Gagarin. They are bitter enemies with the Kerala Corporation and have frosty relations with most other factions except the Republic of Cascadia, with which they have an uneasy alliance. They also trade with China.

SKC (Saterlee-Kurosawa Corporation)

SKC is a Japanese-American corporation which elected not to join NABMU. Although comparatively small, SKC is generally believed to have the most advanced biotechnology and robotics programs. They control Saturn's two largest moons, Titan and Rhea, and three extra-solar colony worlds, Toku Kaiyo, Capitoline, and Okami. They are bitter enemies with Cascadia. They have trade relations with NABMU, The Kerala Corporation, and Finmeccanica-EADS.