Terran Confederacy
The Terran Confederacy is the political entity representing most of the Terran race.
A bipedal species of mammals with a typical lifespan of 70-120 years, Terrans, also known as 'humans', are by far the youngest of the spacefaring races (cryogenic suspension notwithstanding). The name 'Terran' is a misnomer - originally meaning 'from/of Earth' in reference to their homeworld, it has remained in use despite the fact that it has been over six hundred years since the last Earth-born human died of old age.
Modern Terrans are descended from the passengers of the arkship 'Mission of Mercy', one of several ships that attempted to escape their dying homeworld and colonize a planet known as 'New Hope'. The ships were instead pulled into the distant Atroan home galaxy by unstable Overlord-created wormholes; while the fate of most of the arks is unknown, at least two of them managed to land more or less safely on a habitable planet and colonize it:
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Noble Venture, landing on Ruthin III, fathered the Hoonan.
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Mission of Mercy, landing on Gatt II - later renamed to New Hope - is the origin of all known Terrans in the galaxy.
Due to the limited amount of people that survived the Mercy's landing, the Confederacy's population numbers in the millions - partly owing to their later success in reviving some of the 'dead' colonists - a far cry from the billions seen in other races. This, combined with the high resource requirements of their civilization and their expansionist nature, has led to a tremendous amount of mechanization and automation in all areas. Consequently, planetary populations can range from hundreds of people for outlying colonies to several million Terrans for population centers such as New Hope itself - and countless nonsentient robots everywhere to maintain the Confederacy's economic backbone.
The Confederacy - and by extension, the Terran Defense Force - primarily adopts a 'if they don't mind us, we don't mind them' mentality in its dealings with other races. As one of the weakest factions, they have a tendency to pursue favorable diplomatic relations in order to obtain technology and allies that could be useful in the event of a military confrontation. Nonetheless, they do not look favorably upon aggression, and will not hesitate to defend themselves against attackers with a blatant disregard for the odds. It is this combination of diplomatic prowess and boldness that makes the otherwise feeble Terrans a major power in the galaxy.
Their most loyal allies come in the form of their Hoonan cousins and the verdant Oko. After negotiating a ceasefire between the two races - which had until then been embroiled in a centuries-long war caused by an accident - the Terrans' relationships with them progressed by leaps and bounds. While the Oko still prefer to keep to themselves if they can help it, the Hoonan are on extremely friendly terms with the Confederacy and shares a great deal of technical knowledge and military resources with them. They are also in an alliance with the Nylli in the aftermath of a war with the Feyh.