The New Order

The production of Voidmass rapidly altered the economic and political balances of the planet. The international agreements born during the experimental phase widened together with production, reaching ever more extensive sectors of the economy. The new industry required investments of a size scarcely sustainable even for the major powers: besides the Voidmass production plants it was in fact necessary to finance new energy networks, extraction and refining infrastructure, research centres and, above all, the first programmes intended for the exploitation of the resources recovered from space deposits. The growing demand for precursor materials also transformed numerous deposits and industrial plants into strategic resources, increasing the political value of the countries that controlled access to them.

These conditions accelerated a process of economic and political integration already under way for several decades: exploiting military alliances and free trade agreements, the great corporations and the supranational organizations began to assume direct powers over research, energy policy and access to space. The need to coordinate investments and supplies progressively favoured the formation of more stable structures, in which a growing share of strategic decisions was removed from individual governments.

In the course of the following decades five great geopolitical systems consolidated, commonly termed Hegemonies, which represented the only entities possessing the capacity to sustain the new industrial economy autonomously and to organize space programmes on a comparable scale. The nation states continued to exist, but progressively lost their monopoly over the main strategic decisions: defence, space policy, energy infrastructure, advanced research and resource management were ever more often delegated to the hegemonic bloc which each state had chosen (or had been forced) to join.

Atlantic Directorate (AD)

The Atlantic Directorate (AD) developed around the economic and industrial integration of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The bloc possessed a particularly favourable combination of financial capital, aerospace industry, computing research and military capability. The great technological and industrial firms were involved in the Voidmass programmes from the earliest phases, initially as suppliers and subsequently as permanent partners of the public institutions.

The AD adopted a model in which public funding and private capital tended to overlap. The great industrial programmes were normally entrusted to consortia of firms which developed infrastructure, software, propulsion systems and military applications while retaining significant control over the technologies produced.

This structure allowed a rapid commercialization of innovations and favoured the birth of the first great private fleets. The resulting dependence of the institutions on the firms charged with managing infrastructure considered essential still constitutes today one of the distinctive traits of this Hegemony.

As things stand at present, the Atlantic Directorate holds a substantial share of world financial capital and retains primacy in the sectors of software, artificial intelligence and the aerospace industry, besides controlling a significant proportion of the relevant patents. It also controls, directly or by means of its Megacorporations, some of the most powerful private military companies in operation.

European Federation (EF)

The European Federation (EF) came into being following the progressive transfer of powers from the European states to the common institutions charged with coordinating the Voidmass programmes. The new bloc replaced the earlier integration experiment of the European Union, from which it inherited a great part of the institutions and of the regulatory framework.

Dependence on the import of certain raw materials and the high cost of the new infrastructure rapidly rendered separate national programmes inefficient. Research, energy policy, defence and access to space were therefore integrated through a series of reforms which gradually transformed the European Union and the associated countries, among them the United Kingdom and Switzerland, into a single federal structure.

The EF developed a strong specialization in fundamental research, precision engineering and containment systems. The dangerousness of the first plants also favoured the emergence of a series of particularly strict regulations concerning industrial safety, the use of Voidmass and the handling of precursor materials. Many technical protocols subsequently adopted by the other blocs derived from the European standards, above all in the fields of containment, plant certification and the safety of warp drives.

The federal model still guarantees a greater regulatory uniformity, but entails more complex decision-making processes and industrial costs generally higher than those of the other Hegemonies.

As things stand at present, the European Federation enjoys a leading position in research, engineering and standardization, besides being the principal regulatory and compliance reference at world level.

Kontinental’nyj Sojuz (KS)

The Kontinental’nyj Sojuz (KS), known in the West as Kontinental Soyuz, developed around the industrial, energy and mining capabilities of China, Russia, Iran, Central Asia and a series of states linked economically or militarily to those countries.

The availability of large mineral reserves, energy and heavy industry allowed the KS rapidly to expand the production of precursor materials and to build Voidmass plants of large dimensions.

The political structure remained more hierarchical than that of the western Hegemonies. The principal strategic infrastructure was coordinated directly by the central governments or by companies subjected to strong public control, while the peripheral states supplied above all resources, territory and productive capacity.

From the earliest phases the KS favoured large-scale production. Its plants were generally less compact than those developed in the Pacific, but could be built in relatively short times and reach very high productive capacities.

The principal vulnerabilities of the system continue to derive from the strong economic differences between the various regions and from the tensions between the bloc’s main political centres.

Despite the by now clear Chinese economic and technological superiority, the KS continues to be perceived in the West as a bloc markedly Russian-led: from this reputation derives the derogatory nickname Kremlin Sphere, still widespread in the political and journalistic language of the other Hegemonies.

As things stand at present, the Kontinental’nyj Sojuz possesses great capabilities in the energy and extractive sectors and in mass industrial production, as well as the largest number of deposits of precursor materials. The bloc also makes wide use of private military companies and paramilitary formations, often closely connected to the state apparatus and employed in the protection of strategic infrastructure and in external operations.

Pacific Alliance (PA)

The Pacific Alliance came into being initially as a network of industrial cooperation between Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The relative scarcity of certain raw materials prevented the bloc from competing directly with the other Hegemonies in the extractive sector, but the strong concentration of electronic, robotic and biotechnological industries allowed it rapidly to assume a central role in the technologies needed to control Voidmass.

The Alliance developed more compact containment systems, more precise sensors and control apparatus characterized by a high level of automation. The miniaturization of the infrastructure proved particularly important for the development of the first drives intended for ships of reduced dimensions.

As things stand at present, the Pacific Alliance controls essential technologies in the electronic, robotic and biotechnological sectors and is at the forefront of Soma technology.

Meridian Pact (MP)

The Meridian Pact formed more slowly than the other Hegemonies and followed a different path, tied less to the integration of pre-existing alliances and more to the need to avoid a growing economic and technological dependence on the other blocs.

India, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia and numerous states of Africa, Latin America and southern and south-eastern Asia possessed a substantial part of the mineral resources needed by the new industry, but initially had limited access to the most advanced technologies of Voidmass production and containment. The growing concentration of patents and infrastructure in the other four blocs fed the fear that vast areas of the planet would be integrated into the new economy exclusively as suppliers of raw materials. The response was a progressive industrial cooperation between countries characterized by very different political and economic systems.

A particular position was occupied by the states of the Middle East. With the exception of Iran, which joined the Kontinental’nyj Sojuz, a great part of the region reorganized itself into a unitary bloc and converged into the Meridian Pact, bringing as a dowry vast capital and long experience in the management of energy and extractive infrastructure. It was above all thanks to the capabilities and resources of the Gulf countries that the MP managed to make up part of its technological lag with respect to the competing Hegemonies, eventually reaching a competitive level.

Over the years the MP has invested constantly in the construction of its own refining capacity, energy production and access to space, developing technologies compatible with infrastructure less uniform than that of the other Hegemonies. The restrictions on access to patents have also favoured reverse engineering and the spread of alternative systems, less sophisticated but generally cheaper and simpler to maintain. These solutions have given rise to an autonomous engineering school, which still today represents one of the bloc’s principal strengths, above all in peripheral industrial environments.

As things stand at present, the Meridian Pact possesses vast mineral resources and an engineering school of its own specialized in cheap and easily adaptable technological systems, as well as a dense network of independent operators: private military companies, humanitarian organizations, commercial intermediaries and criminal networks, favoured by the lower level of control exercised by the central authorities.

The Megacorporations

The birth of the Hegemonies was accompanied by an equally rapid concentration of economic power. The Voidmass supply chain in fact required the coordination of activities until then distributed among distinct industrial sectors: extraction and refining of precursor materials, energy production, containment systems, aerospace shipbuilding, computing, logistics and finance.

The great programmes launched by the Hegemonies therefore favoured the formation of ever more extensive conglomerates, grown through mergers, acquisitions and above all public contracts of unprecedented size. The firms which managed to control several stages of the supply chain possessed a decisive advantage: they could directly guarantee the supply, production, transport and maintenance of the Voidmass infrastructure, reducing dependence on external suppliers.

Within a few decades some of these groups came to own mines, refineries, power stations, orbital shipyards, commercial fleets and logistics networks distributed across several continents; with the beginning of the exploitation of extraterrestrial resources, they were also among the first private entities to manage permanent infrastructure off the Earth. In common speech, these groups gradually took the name of megacorporations (MC).

While remaining formally subject to the legislation of their respective Hegemonies, the control of infrastructure indispensable to Voidmass production and to access to space conferred upon them an economic and political weight hardly comparable with that of the great firms of the previous century. With the expansion of activity in space, their role grew further: little by little the MC began to manage orbital shipyards, industrial stations, commercial fleets and energy infrastructure directly, also providing their own workers with housing, medical care, transport and security.

As things stand at present, the MC operate formally within their respective Hegemonies, but their activity frequently exceeds the political boundaries of the blocs. Supply contracts, joint ventures and cross-shareholdings connect companies belonging to competing geopolitical systems, above all in the sectors in which no Hegemony possesses a completely autonomous supply chain.

In many industrial settlements the institutional presence of the Hegemonies remains limited to military, judicial and fiscal functions, while the day-to-day management of the infrastructure is entrusted to the corporation that owns the plant.

The relationship between Hegemonies and MC therefore remains based on a mutual dependence: the former possess the regulatory, military and diplomatic capacity needed to protect the strategic supply chains, while the latter control a growing share of the infrastructure indispensable to Voidmass production and to expansion into space.

Atlantic Directorate

Halcyon (Halcyon Defense Corporation). Born from the merger of several North American aerospace and defence contractors, it is one of the principal producers of warp drives, military ships and FTL navigation systems. The group also holds the patent of the first operational Alcubierre Drive architecture, from which derive numerous proprietary solutions used in its propulsion systems. It manages numerous orbital shipyards and one of the largest private fleets of the AD.

Main partners: Helix, Northstar
Main competitors: Eidolon, Suzerain

Northstar (Northstar Industrial Holdings). A mining and energy conglomerate grown during the first rush for precursor materials. It controls mines, refining plants, fusion stations with metric confinement based on Voidmass and extractive infrastructure distributed between the Earth and the Solar System. In recent years it has undergone a progressive decline, due to the growing competition of the companies active in the new extrasolar extractive districts and to the high costs of a by now obsolete industrial network.

Main partners: Halcyon
Main competitors: Siyanda, Orbe Sul

Helix (Helix Systems Corporation). A computing group specialized in artificial intelligence, industrial automation and control systems. Its software is used in a significant part of the Voidmass infrastructure and of the logistics networks of the Atlantic Directorate. It is also the AD’s principal operator in the Soma sector.

Main partners: Halcyon
Main competitors: Mirai, Atsuki

European Federation

Aurelia (Aurelia Werke SE). An industrial conglomerate born from the integration of German, French, Spanish and Italian companies. It is specialized in Voidmass containment systems, precision engineering and the construction of high-security plants.

Main partners: Eidolon, Novalis
Main competitors: Mirai, Vahana

Eidolon (Eidolon Aerospace Group). One of the principal European builders of civilian ships, orbital stations and transport infrastructure. It operates predominantly through large federal concessions and is present in the main commercial hubs of the EF.

Main partners: Aurelia
Main competitors: Halcyon, Orbe Sul

Novalis (Novalis Biotechnik). A pharmaceutical and biotechnological group active in space medicine, genetics and synthetic biological materials. In recent years it has become one of the two principal world operators in the Soma sector.

Main partners: Aurelia
Main competitors: Atsuki, Helix

Kontinental’nyj Sojuz (KS)

Suzerain. A historic Russian conglomerate developed around the energy, military and aerospace sectors. It controls large Voidmass production plants, heavy shipyards and numerous strategic infrastructures of the KS. Its political influence remains considerable even after the progressive shift of the bloc’s economic centre of gravity towards China.

Main partners: Vostok
Main competitors: Yang, Halcyon

Yang (Yang Technologies). A Chinese colossus active in industrial production, electronics and logistics. Its productive capacity now exceeds that of any other Megacorporation of the KS, and a significant part of the bloc’s civilian infrastructure uses components and systems developed by the group.

Main partners: Vostok
Main competitors: Suzerain, Nexus

Vostok (Vostok Energomash). An industrial conglomerate of Soviet origin specialized in extraction, energy production and the construction of large infrastructure. It manages some of the largest precursor materials refineries and several industrial complexes in the peripheral regions of the KS.

Main partners: Suzerain, Yang
Main competitors: Siyanda, Northstar

Pacific Alliance

Mirai (Mirai Dynamics). A Japanese group active in robotics, electronics and automation. It is among the principal producers of miniaturized control systems for warp drives and Voidmass infrastructure. In recent years it has also entered the Soma industry, establishing itself in the development of neural chips and synthetic prostheses.

Main partners: Nexus, Atsuki
Main competitors: Helix, Aurelia

Atsuki (Atsuki Neogenics). A biotechnological conglomerate active in regenerative medicine, genetic engineering and neural interfaces. It is the principal world operator in the Soma industry, a position contested in recent years by Novalis.

Main partners: Mirai
Main competitors: Novalis, Helix

Nexus (Nexus Pacific). A producer of semiconductors, sensor systems and advanced computational systems. Its components are used in a great part of the ships and automated infrastructure of the Pacific Alliance.

Main partners: Mirai
Main competitors: Yang, Helix

Meridian Pact

Vahana (Vahana Industries Ltd.). An Indian conglomerate developed in the energy, aerospace and heavy infrastructure sectors. It is one of the principal promoters of the Meridian engineering school and produces relatively cheap and easily adaptable Voidmass systems.

Main partners: Siyanda
Main competitors: Aurelia, Vostok

Orbe Sul (Orbe Sul Participações S.A.). A Brazilian group born from the integration of mining, logistics and shipbuilding firms. It controls numerous extractive infrastructures and a substantial part of the traffic between the South American settlements and the orbital installations of the Pact.

Main partners: Siyanda
Main competitors: Northstar, Eidolon

Siyanda (Siyanda Resources Holdings). A southern African holding company specialized in the extraction and refining of precursor materials. The availability of large mining concessions has allowed it to acquire a strategic role within the Meridian Pact and subsequently to expand into energy and space infrastructure.

Main partners: Vahana, Orbe Sul
Main competitors: Northstar, Vostok