Republic of Proxima's flag.


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ASTROGRAPHY:

Located 4,2 light years away from Earth, Proxima Centauri is larger than humanity's home planet but way less hospitable ; tidally locked facing a flare star, the planet has to compose with excessive solar wind pressure and UV exposure. The atmosphere only exists due to a conversion shield created by a network of satellites, the same shield regulates artificial day and night cycles in the terraformed zone ; all space operations happen on the dark side of the planet, shielding spaceships from the caprices of the sub-system's star.

Terraformed side of Proxima
Dark Side of Proxima


HISTORY:

Established in 2013 by the first short range-emigration fleet, and reinforced in 2015 by the second long-range emigration fleet, Proxima-Centauri B has been a prime source for Hydrogen and Minerals to the United Nations Government.

Alpha Centauri's initial colonization mission has been manned by humans identified as malcontents or formerly affiliated with anti-UN factions (mostly Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Australian, Russian, Israelian and South African nationals), it was a perfect way for the UNG to concentrate its problems in one place and not to seed their more expensive colony ships with future rebellions.

Since then, the attitude of the UNG towards the colony has been fluctuating between cautious and abusive ; the colony charter forbids any local weapon manufacturing, and restricts the constitution of any military force to planetary self-defense. Until recently, Earth bought all of Proxima's exports to build its fleets, which led the planet's government and companies to focus on its industrial output rather than stabilize the environment.

From the first elections in 2016 to 2040, the Proxima Workers Party has been in control of the government ; with post-colonial effort economic crisis hitting Proxima in the early 30's, the Workers Party lost a lot of its relevance. The Green Movement allied with the Nationalists, brought in the popular hero Rask Harkov to create a government, and won the elections in 2040.

It's 2049, the popularity of the new government has not declined since it first came into power. The  Green Movement is focusing on terraforming Proxima's habitable side , leading the Nationalist elements to seek a secret alliance with the Workers Party in pushing more confrontational policies towards the UNG.

Civil unrest due to unemployment led to an excessive use of force in repression from UN authorities ; private companies affiliated with the Epsilon Foundation lept to the rescue, ready to finance a refit of the dark-side factories in exchange for tax-exemptions.


ECONOMY:

Exports: Hydrogen, Steel and Heavy Machinery.

Imports: Agro-Alimentary and High-Technology goods.


CULTURE:

The people of Proxima treasure their families respective cultures, but through the years and many hardships the planet has known, they created a unique identity.

English is the official language as per UN regulations, but the proximian version is heavily influenced by australian and afrikaneer ; when conducting business, mandarin vocabulary is a must, and you will hear plenty russian swear words being thrown around when Proximian people get familiar.

The architecture long suffered from a purely utilitarian concern, but in the early 20's the Proximian Baroque was born: a mix of art-deco, soviet-era grandiose and tradiitonal chinese influences. The small town of Kimon Fields is a unique case, with japanese and european colonial styles being predominant. Nowadays, the architecture is modern with a great emphasis on glass to bring in sunlight and open on the exterior.

The people of Proxima are hard working, tend to come up with in-house solutions rather than ask for outside help (mostly because they are jealous or suspicious of outsiders) ; they also tend to be traditionalists and a bit supersitious. Once on a more friendly basis, the Proximians are generous and fun (as long as you have a taste for cynical humor and are not afraid of alcohol).

Proxima has a strict regulation of cloning technologies, they are to be used under government supervision mainly for terraforming or medical purposes ; sentient cloning is otherwise forbidden outside of possible population-related crisis.

The national symbol of Proxima is the Southern Cross, the constellation is central to the planetary flag ; the "cross" is rearely pictured as an object, for it refers then to the anti-unification league of old. "Raising the Southern Cross" is an expression of defiance with multiple meanings: to go against the grain, act on an idea with no regard for other people's feelings on the matter, or an explicit and crude gesture like giving the middle finger.


POLITICS:

The Proxima Workers Party: Political arm of the factory workers union, the PWP long dominated Proxima politics, remaining in power until 2040. The political line of the PWP is socialist in nature, statist and long has been subordinate to the United Nations Government policies ; that last point did them in, as the UNG is regarded as the main culprit behind the post-colonial economic crash of the 30's.

The Nationalists: Identified as such because of their opinions, these individuals are not recognized as an official political formation ; they were persecuted and sometimes outlawed by the PWP governments. When Rask Harkov returned to Proxima in 2038, like-minded individuals began gravitating around this national hero, and their opinions became a lot more mainstream. Nationalists are very critical of the United Nations Government, they push for a stronger and more independent Proxima ; a lot of them made their way in the military and post-2040 in other governmental organizations.

The Green Movement: Settlers from the dark side of Proxima have always longed for an environment similar to pre Space-War 1 Earth. When it became known that a handfull of people went to the illuminated side of the planet to make a life for themselves, despite the hard conditions and the government efforts to stop them, their fight became an ideal. The Green Movement championed the Medupesburg initative, and the catastrophy that befelled the city was a blow to their nascent credibility. Still, the Green Movement was the only alternative to the failed Proxima Workers Party ; naming the young and charismatic Frances Golv as its figurehead, the Green movement worked on a strategic alliance with the popular nationalists. The Green Movement advocates for self-sufficiency, environmental balance and sustainable development.


MILITARY

The Proxima Self-Defense Force maintains a small professional core of military personel, reinforced by reserve units manned with part-timers and former active service members. Military spending has never been a priority for the Republic of Proxima, defense being a closely guarded responsability of the UN Armed Forces ; therefore, the PSDF is equipped with hand-me downs from the different UN service branches.

The PSDF is organized in three branches: