Star Sector 4: The Galactic People's Republic

A Socio-Technic History of the Galactic People's Republic

The following is an excerpt of “The Rise of the GPR and its Influence on Interstellar Relations” written by Ian McNaughton, Professor of Military History, Star Fleet Military Academy, 2551 AD.

Foundation of Communism

The earliest success that Communism had on Earth took place with the overthrow of the Czar in 1917 AD during the First Global War. With the collapse of the old regime, Comrade Lenin took command of the nation and began an effort to industrialize it known as the Five Year Plans. Later, Comrade Stalin continued the Five-Year Programs by brutal but effective methods. These plans are an important reason why the Soviet Union was able to hold off the invasion of their country during the Second Global War of the 20th Century. The other main reason was the huge amount of manpower expended in the defense of the state. An estimated thirty million Russian people lost their lives during the “Great Patriotic War” as it was referred to by the Russian people. The defeat of fascist invaders left the Russian people in a mixed mood. Yes, they had preserved their motherland, but large parts of it lay in waste and devastation. It was clear that huge efforts would need to be taken to safeguard their independence from the new winners of the war; the Western Alliance. The people realized that one struggle had ended only to be replaced with another one.

The period of time from the end of the Second Global War (1945 AD) till the beginning of the “Wet Firecracker War” (2008 AD) was collectively known as the “Cold War” due to its relative lack of direct fighting between the competing super-powers. The later stages were marked with competition for Space development and Nuclear weapons. While the Soviets held the lead for a short while, the Western Alliance led by the United States of America quickly caught up and even surpassed the Soviets. The Americans became the first to land a man on Luna in 1969 AD.

The buildup of nuclear weapons consumed a huge amount of the GDP of the Soviet Union and nearly caused an economic collapse. Only the tight control over the population enabled them to continue the arms race. The Western Alliance did much better and even grew economically more powerful. It became clear that while the Soviets were a military superpower, they were economic midgets.

The Collapse of the Soviets

The United States announced the development of the Xenon Damper fields in late 2007 AD and called on the Soviets to join in disarming both of their huge nuclear arsenals. Believing this was a Western trick, the Soviets prepared a surprise strike on the West by the use of sub-launched cruise missiles that wouldn’t be detected until too late. On June 28th, 2008, the attack was launched with 4900 missiles and over 14,000 warheads. Only twenty-six exploded over unshielded targets, mainly in South America and some islands in the Pacific. The United States waited out the attack without a nuclear response. Some Soviet submarines were quickly destroyed by Alliance naval forces and a few shots were exchanged in border areas. Nothing else happened.

The leaders of the Western Alliance announced the failure of the Soviets and demanded their immediate surrender. Knowing that they were wide open for a slaughter, the government collapsed in about three hours. Most of the leadership of the Soviet Union was arrested and placed in prison. A few of the KGB leaders escaped to the People’s Republic of China, which had stayed neutral during the brief war. There were some hardliners still in the PRC who thought that the Revolution had been betrayed after the death of Chairman Mao. The KGB had arranged their escape plans ahead of time with their Chinese counterparts and had a hidden supply of diamonds and gold siphoned off during the nearly ninety years of communism. While it was not enough to get back into power, it was enough to hold out and make plans during the long years to come.

The Waiting Period

Starting in 2009 AD, the United Planet government was founded and the PRC was allowed to join it. The Chinese had developed a powerful economy and a fairly good technical expertise in many advanced fields. The hardliners were able to pull more funds covertly from this growing economy and secretly invested part of it in some advanced technology labs. It was hoped that this might lead to a future revival of the Soviets and help in returning the PRC to the true path of communism.

The 2011 AD discovery of the damaged Bug star destroyer in Mars orbit changed everything. The PRC was allowed to share in the information obtained by the recovery of the ship and helped fund the research into the drive systems. The research labs included those owned by the exiled Soviets. By 2025 AD, the TISA sub-light engines had been researched enough to build a prototype. The first flight to Mars was made in the unheard of time of twenty-three hours, eleven minutes. Even at its most distant orbit, Mars could still be reached in less than five days.

In the next few years, Mars was colonized and the TISA engines became faster and more efficient. The ex-Soviets continued to wait and raised a new generation of purer communists. The leadership sent secret agents to the moon and Mars to gather intelligence on a possible subversion of these new worlds. They also put most of their efforts into the development of Faster-Than-Light (FTL) drives. It was hoped to continue the work of Marx in another star system if their plans in the Terran system failed.

By 2048 AD, the FTL drives were ready for testing. The engines proved to be a big success for the time period. One of the designers, Charenkov, was hand picked by the former KGB to work on the project. While most of the former leadership had passed away to a workers paradise, their children and other disaffected people continued the program begun years before. 2056 saw the launch of the Pathfinder mission to Alpha Centauri and 2058 saw its return. Plans were made to find a new home among the stars.

Off World Scouting and Colonization

The rise of the Pure-Earther movement caused the remaining communists mixed feelings. The new group could be manipulated to a degree along the Marxist line of “spreading the wealth” to the masses but at the same time, the masses started to contribute less and less to the group. This would not do at all. Communism is a give and take system. Give to the State so the State can provide for you. Pure- Earthers seemed to believe that the State should give and give and expect a few workers to carry the load while the leadership enjoyed the capitalist perks. Over a short period of time, many members of the group dropped out of sight and left with valuable information and investments.

The communists built a secret FTL drive for a ship, to be used for a scouting mission, in a remote area of China (no longer the PRC since 2064 AD). The hull of the ship was built in an L-5 orbital city (Alliance – a bit of a sick joke by a junior member of the group who was admonished by the group Soviet for un-communist thoughts towards the sacrifices of the brave people’s long covert struggle.). While it was slow by today’s standards (8 LY), the 25,000 ton ship was well equipped when it landed and was fitted with its FTL drive. About 200 crew (100 male, 100 female) manned the ship “People’s Struggle” and left Earth on October 20th, 2081 AD.

Going on a previous scouting report of NCG 1039, the “People’s Struggle” took six months to travel to that sector and begin scouting the area. Over a year later, on April 12th, 2083 AD, the “New Motherland” Star System was discovered. The Primary was named Lenin. Containing one type 1 Terran-Class planet (Lenin III) and one type 2 Steppes planet (Lenin IV), it was the best choice for making a successful colony. Both planets orbited 180 degrees from each other and thus shared the same orbit. While this was found to be unusual, no one onboard could argue against it being anything else. New Moscow was founded after a suitable landing site was settled upon. Set by a wide river and fertile land, the first colony was made up of all the spare crew (eighty) not needed for the return trip to the Terran system. Enough provisions and equipment were left behind to start a successful settlement. It was hoped that enough useful metals could be found here to start an industrial economy quickly. A colonist who had training as a geologist, Demetri Petrov, used the scout car of the colony to go on survey missions to the nearby mountain range. Within one month of the “People’s Struggle” departure, Petrov found the site of a very old Forerunner core tap in one of the foothills. This yielded a high concentration of (among other metals) gold. Using an ore processing plant left behind that had been used for meteor mining operations during the mission; the colonists were able to process one-hundred fifty tons of ore into an 80% purity of gold. Normally this might lead to greed and outright capitalist thoughts. Not so with these people. Plans were made for its use in the cause.

The return next year of the scoutship brought four-hundred members of the Soviet ruling body and experts in various fields to expand the colony. When shown the gold, the People’s Counsel of Lenin III made plans to begin their first five-year plan after the immediate needs of founding a new world were completed. By 2095, the first of the 5-Year Plans were ready to begin. The gold in the core tap plus other precious metals would be used to fund the costs of more starships, agricultural supplies, and most importantly, factory equipment to make machine tools. This would lead to further factories being built and supplies to make all the tools to equip and defend the people in their new “Workers Paradise”. The ore was shipped back to Terra immediately. Meanwhile, the work at the core tap site was expanded.

The New First Five Year Plan: (2095-2100)

Plan 2100 called for the construction of a bigger mining operation in the foothills of New Moscow. The precious metals such as gold and silver would be used to buy equipment and bribe Pure-Earther officials to look the other way at certain times and overlook certain mistakes in inventory control at factories.

There was to be a contract made with an L-5 colony to construct a version of the 500,000 ton Conestoga-class colony ship to be outfitted with 100,000 cold-sleep chambers on board. 150,000 tons of cargo space was to be made onboard for equipment and supplies. An FTL drive rated at 10 Light years / day would cut the transit time down to 4.6 months.

Recruitment of young, healthy colonists would be a priority. Advances made in subliminal hypnotic conditioning would enable the new colonist’s mindset to be correct once awakened from cold-sleep. The first groups to emigrate would be Party loyalists from the Russian and the Chinese side of the operation. In a deal made on Terra, the Chinese hardliners would colonize the type 2 Steppes planet (New Beijing aka Lenin IV). Both planets would form a unified soviet and share equally in the resources of both planets.

By 2100 AD, the population of both worlds reached 750,000 total.

The Second Five Year Plan: (2100 – 2105)

Work now began on making the colonies independent of all outside influence. Light construction equipment was being assembled from local resources to augment the heavy equipment brought in by ship. Farm supplies such as pesticides and fertilizers were being made on New Moscow and New Beijing and the surplus crops stored. Raw metals were now being refined on the planets and gold & silver being shipped back to Terra was cast into ingots bearing the mark of the old Soviet Union to disguise their origin. Two meteor miner ships (minus FTL drives) were brought in to mine the three asteroid belts in the system. Collaspium was found in these belts as well as at the core tap site. This was stored for later use.

With the Conestoga-class ship bringing in new recruits and equipment and taking back the precious metals, the “People’s Struggle” was sent on scouting missions into the surrounding sector. New systems were charted and plans made for their future colonization. The System Soviet also laid out plans for a Defense Force: The People’s Militia. Small arms were purchased for training and copying. By 2105 AD, the population reached about 2,000,000 at a solid Tech level 7 rating.

The Third Five Year Plan: (2105 – 2110)

Mining stations on the large moon in orbit around New Moscow (Lenin III) starting producing titanium for starships and Helium 3 fuel for fusion reactors. An orbital smelter (built by plans bought from an L- 5 city) refined the metal and basic ship hulls up to 1,000 tons began to be constructed by 2110 AD. While most advanced systems still required imported materials, each year saw more parts being manufactured in the system.

Small arms production began on New Moscow and on New Beijing as well. Laser rifles started being issued in greater numbers to the People’s Militia. A small system patrol of three ships marked the beginning of the People’s Liberation Navy. A cadre was formed to train new recruits. Mandatory conscription was started for all colonists between 18 and 20.

Machine tool industry finally reached its full limit and began gearing up for supplying heavy manufacturing factories. Power plants on planet generated excess electrical energy for future expansion. A technical university was built to supply the needs of a growing colony. Total Population reached 5,000,000.

The Fourth Five Year Plan: (2110 – 2115)

It was getting harder and harder to buy needed supplies from Terra as the Pure-Earthers started to control more and more of the means of production and resource allocation. With the growing population, less material was available to buy, but more people were willing to leave crowded Terra for new land. Recruiters continued to load the ships up and “indoctrinate” the fresh additions for communism. The gold supply on New Moscow finally dried up to a trickle; just enough to meet the needs of industry in fact. No further shipments were made after 2112. Excess food was shipped back for needed capital and was readily accepted for payment of what few goods could be bought. Plans were bought or stolen for whatever was needed to copy the methods of building high technology components.

Additional cold sleep ships were built or bought during this period. The first Boretz Za Svobodu (Freedom Fighter) class star destroyer was completed in 2114. The first MIG-47 “Foxfire” class starfighter squadron deployed later that year. Plans were drawn up for bigger classes of warships. Prototype T-137 “Flame” MBUs and other armored vehicles were built and stored for the day when the People’s Soviet Forces would return to reclaim Terra from the corrupt and stupid Pure- Earthers.

By 2115 AD, total populations reached 16,000,000 and nearby planets were set up for colonization.

The Fifth Five Year Plan: (2115 – 2120)

The Lenin System Soviet Government saw its first combat action against an armed foe in 2116 AD. The humanoids of Peyto II (Code named “Cossack”), were in the midst of a global war similar to the First Global War on Terra (early tech 5). One faction of the planet (and the smallest) had a similar social structure to early communism in about 1920 AD. The Lenin Soviet opened relations with the Peyto Group Welfare Government in late 2115 AD.

After exploring what the PGW Government stood for and seeing that the other two alliance groupings were reactionary imperialists, the Lenin Soviet offered to send help to their socialist brothers. The People’s Militia (PM) was committed in regimental-sized units carrying the latest in laser weaponry. The Causalities were fairly large for such an overwhelming abundance of technology. At least 25,000 troops were killed with over 60,000 wounded. It was true that they killed many times more enemy than they suffered in losses, but the losses to such an inferior opponent shocked the leaders into action. The Soviet Command needed to study these results to determine where the main problems lay.

Officer training, especially in the mid-field grades of battalion and regimental leaders needed much more work. While squad and platoon level cooperation was in evidence, work between the various platoons and companies was lacking in the extreme. There were even cases of PM troops firing on each other due to a lack of communications with higher HQ. A major weakness that was not brought up was the lack of a professional NCO corps. As a local defense force, the PM was adequate. As an offensive arm of the Soviet, it was lacking in effectiveness.

The equipment was also tested in combat conditions and minor bugs worked out. Of course there was no way a tech 7 main battle tank (MBU) could be taken out by an early tech 5 cannon. The same was true with their ASP fighters and bombers. While only a few were used, the only losses were due to mechanical failures and pilot error (of which there was too much).

The 5th Five Year Plan called for the retraining of the armed forces and correcting the minor mechanical defects found in combat. The PM was to be replaced in offensive missions by the People’s Defensive Protective Forces (PDPF). True to their Soviet Russian and Chinese roots, there was nothing defensive or protective about them except their name.

By the close of the 5th Plan, the Soviet planets now numbered eight and one “Liberated” race on one planet for a total of 60,000,000 humans (Tech 7) and 500,000,000 “allied” associates (Tech Level 5). The keel was laid down for the first battlestarship “Potemkin”. The Navy now numbered about forty ships.

Sixth Five Year Plan – Expansion: (2120 – 2125)

The main issue for the 6th plan was to bring the natives of Peyto II into line and be properly educated into Marxist-Leninist theory. Also, the ruling government of Peyto II was to be trained and educated in developing technology and raising their level up to at least tech level 6. While the first attempt at this improvement failed to bring everyone up, it did have a positive effect on the overall level of efficiency. The armed forces of Peyto II and the rest of the System Soviet were trained together as often as possible with a suitable training ground built on Stalin II, an arid planet. This planet was found to have a fair sized area for growing food and a minor source of common minerals. The whole planet was declared a “Gulag” for the re-education of criminals and those immigrants too dumb for anything else but guard duty and manual labor.

Combat training was done on larger scales on Stalin II with the food for the troops being provided by the population of the Gulag. As the armed might of the Soviet increased, so did the population of the Gulag rise to meet their appetites with Terran and Peyton plants and animals. Advanced combat simulators were used in the training and division-sized exercises were not uncommon.

Some of the brightest humanoids were sent to Lenin III on technical scholarships. They would return home and begin training their workers on these advanced techniques and social correctness of communism. Care was taken to bring members of the former alliance nations onboard with this training and education. Lenin III became a model of what communism could do for its people.

With the continued increases in population on Terra, immigration greatly increased during this time. While the average quality of colonist was not great, there was always a job to be done on a collective farm or factory. Overall population reached over 150,000,000 humans on seventeen planets and a little over 510,000,000 Peyton humanoids.

The Seventh Five Year Plan – Growing Pains: (2125 – 2130)

At the start of the preplanning for the 7th plan, the Supreme Soviet worried that their “worker’s paradise” was showing signs of wear and tear on the fabric of society. The latest wave of immigrants had an average IQ of only 85. Most lacked useful skills or a desire to work. While they cheered the virtues of Socialism and Marxist-Leninist governing principles, they were proving too stupid to keep up with their fellow colonists who first came out to their NCS 1039.

While some leaders expected there to be a bit of a rub with new colonists, the main social problems lay with the original colonists. They resented being treated as equals when they had built this colony up from nothing while the others had sat on Terra with their hands stretched out for food, shelter and needed goods. It was not right that this new group should determine the correct course of action for the whole when they had proven themselves to be less than a bunch of uneducated peasants.

The Sector Soviet set up a process whereby a citizen could be tested and recommended for acceptance into the Communist Party. Such a test would include a performance evaluation on their past work, their individual knowledge of communist theory and practice, as well as an educational level requirement equal to at least one year of college. Many young people worked harder to earn this advancement than had been demonstrated in the past. New colonists were kept out of the decision-making process until they had proven themselves worthy of directing the People’s Government. Everyone else either worked in the growing factories and farms, or was sent to Stalin II for prolonged reeducation.

Membership in the Communist Party brought with it perks and better job assignments as well as leadership roles in government or the armed forces. Housing priority was given to members over nonmembers. A further change involved the separation of the workers pay by planet and job. Prior to this change, everyone was paid the same amount of credits to be used for consumer goods and a smaller amount for under-aged children (to encourage a higher birth rate). Now workers were paid by the collective and had a reason to produce more. Assignments were based on government testing and Party recommendation. Assignments were long term in nature (possibly life). The population reached 200,000,000 humans and 520,000,000 Peyton humanoids by 2130 AD.

The Eighth Five Year Plan – Restructuring: (2130-2135)

The 8th plan called for the massive evacuation of Terra of any person still connected to the leadership of the Communist Party. Any potential colonist was examined for mental/physical defects and, if accepted, assigned to a new colony in-route to the home sector. Upon arrival at Lenin III, the colonist would be transferred to the next ship leaving for the destination planet while still in cold-sleep. It was discovered that there was less fuss and more acceptance if the colonist was awakened at the destination rather than given a choice. Factories and increased mining production were the major goals for the 8th plan. By 2135, the sector reached 240,000,000 humans and 535,000,000 Peytons.

The Ninth Five Year Plan – A New Vision: (2135 – 2140)

While plans were being formed to launch a takeover of Terra by 2150, certain events occurred back in the Terran system that altered the communist plans. The first was the sudden revolt by the new High Republic over their oppressive Pure-Earther governors in 2136 AD. The next was the failure of the agents left behind on Terra and the various planets and stations to convert it into a Marxist/Socialist upraising. The rebels wanted more than just “change”. The High Republic citizens wanted freedom from most government interference, not just a change in governments. By the time news reached NCS 1039, the rebellion was over and the High Republic formed.

An assessment of the new Republic Star Fleet revealed that it outnumbered the People’s Fleet by about three to one. They also tended to have better trained crews and better EW/ECM equipment. Their ground forces were somewhat smaller than the PDPF, but their heavy equipment was quite a bit superior to the locally produced gear. To attack from such a position of weakness over a 1400 Light-Year gap would be sheer folly. A new plan was needed.

A last effort was made to pick up the remaining communists still on Terra before it was too late. Using only civilian ships on a mercy mission, the last personnel were picked up in 2137AD. There were a few remaining spies left in various L-5 cities and on both Luna and Mars. These provided much needed intelligence and espionage on the new High Republic while maintaining a watch on Terra itself. It was decided to expand into the entire NCS 1039 sector and create a larger base of supply and recruitment than the High Republic. This would give them an advantage to fight and conquer the republicans without their knowledge. No outside starships were allowed into the sector and visitors were either turned back or, more likely, seized and put into a Gulag. Any ships taken were carefully hidden or were pillaged and crashed into an asteroid or planet. Any survey of the crash site would reveal no survivors.

Meanwhile, an intense ship-building and training program was begun for the People’s Fleet and PDP units. Militia training was continued for everyone in the sector and efforts were made to provide for reserve divisions to be drawn up in the event of war. While women continued to also receive the training, their roles tended to be in the support roles and some rear area defenses such as anti-aircraft and transportation units.

The planet of Peyto II was given the assignment of providing a large contingent of light infantry units to the PDPF. The heavy combat arms and supporting forces as well as all armored and mechanized units would be recruited among the human population. Greater efforts were made to raise the technology level of Peyto II and rewrite their history to shape it along Marxist-Leninist theory. With the collaboration of the leadership of the planet, these steps led to the full attainment of Tech level 7 by 2160 AD.

The Tenth Plan to the Creation of the GPR: (2140 – 2159)

During the next twenty years, plans 10, 11, 12, and 13 were carried out with ruthless communist inefficiency. Population expansion was encouraged among the selected humans and discouraged among the rest. Peyto II continued to gain population but was contained on their home world for a number of years in order for the human population to exceed them. Of course, this was not the official reason given to them. A number of other planets were colonized and conquered during this time period. There was no opposition from native populations that exceeded tech level 5, most being 3-4. While there was some combat, the PDPF and the People’s Fleet faced no serious test of their skills or equipment. Re-education of the native populations was begun in earnest and Marxist-Leninist theory became the sector’s new “religion”.

In 2159AD, the System Soviet announced the formation of the Galactic People’s Republic. The population was over a billion humans on twenty-seven planets and 750 million Peytons. Added to that total were roughly four-hundred million subjects of races undergoing “Reeducation” and development. The PDPF was renamed the Red Army and the People’s Fleet renamed the Red Navy. The Red Army was responsible for ground based operations and included any water-borne forces. The Red Navy was responsible for star sector patrols and all operations outside of a planet’s atmosphere.

First Trial by Fire

When a GPR scoutship entered the Subra star system in 2161 AD, they were hailed by a strange starship and ordered to heave to. Obeying standard GPR procedures, it turned about and left. The other ship followed it to the system FTL convergence zone and monitored its departure. The scoutship made a jump to Lenin III and reported its findings to the military command headquarters.

There could be no question of allowing an advanced space-faring power in the home sector so the Red Fleet was mobilized and the Red Army assembled a one million man invasion force. It was to be the first of three waves in the initial attack. With over five-hundred warships and transports, the Reds had no fears about the coming campaign. The FTL convergence zone lay at 50,000 LS as the system star was a red giant. As the fleet assembled into convoy, ECM sensors detected an active scan being done of all their ships. Efforts to pinpoint the location failed as the signal seemed to appear and disappear a moment later. The fleet sent destroyers ahead to screen the formation and search for the enemy’s base.

As it neared 30,000 LS from the star (after seventeen hours insystem), the enemy was sighted and the destroyers were sent in to deliver a star-torpedo attack. Of the twenty-four ships sent, less than half survived the heavy novagun fire to launch their missiles. Only two destroyers made it back to the fleet lines and the missiles either failed to lock-on, were shot down, or the enemy moved away and out of range. Enemy ships appeared to be much faster and very maneuverable. They also clearly had a higher electronic warfare capacity than the Red Navy.

The fleet admiral, Ivan Popov, ordered the fleet cruisers forward to support the screening forces and continued on course further into the system. The scouting forces were forced to pull in closer to the fleet as those that didn’t were picked off in hit-and-run attacks by the enemy's light forces. No certain information was available about the class of ships they were fighting against but, based on their speed, it was determined that the enemy forces must be composed of an estimated sixteen destroyers and maybe four light cruisers. If the fleet stayed together, the planetary objective could be reached and the invasion started.

What admiral Popov and his staff did not realize was that the forces arrayed against him belonged to the system’s Mekpurr Star Patrol and operated ships based on Tech 9 manufacturing technology. The sizes of the ships were masked by heavy electronic warfare jamming and the four light cruisers detected were in fact Tiger III class Battlecruisers. The rest of the detected force included some light cruisers (Panther III) and destroyers (Cougar III) totaling about thirty ships. By fighting a retrograde battle in front of the advancing ships, enemy missiles took longer to reach their targets while oncoming enemy ships had fewer chances to lock-on and destroy Mekpurr missiles. The defending cats began to whittle away at the GPR’s numerical advantage while warning their home world (Subra V) to get all civilians under cover.

By the time the GPR reached Subra V, less than half of their escorting forces were battle-worthy and the whole fleet was reduced to a speed of 75 LS. Upon entering orbit, the Red Army commander, General Chernikov, ordered the landings to start on an island continent that seemed to be uninhabited. It was hoped that this would allow his army to gain a foothold and dig in to await the second invasion wave. After about a third of the Red Army’s units had landed, disaster struck the invaders.

Planetary defense guns and launchers that had been hidden opened up on the flagship Potemkin and in minutes left it an orbital wreck. The guns then concentrated on the next battlestarship in command as determined by electronic eavesdropping collections made over the past three days. Within twelve minutes, there were no functional battlestarships in orbit. The GPR detected a fleet returning from where the enemy had retired earlier (to reload missiles and novagun ammo from a system arms cache. The remaining communist ships abandoned the landing operation and headed out of the system at maximum speed….right into a Mekpurr carrier group.

Seven days later, a damaged corvette emerged into the Lenin system and started to broadcast the fleet’s battle report. Waiting at its emergence point was a Panther III light cruiser which destroyed it in its opening salvo. The next two days saw over half of the system’s meteor miners captured or destroyed with the crews left on Lenin V (Type 14 airless “Mars” type). The Mekpurr left them with a warning; don’t ever come to the Subra star system again.

The landing force left behind found their control of the air gone within one hour and within a day they were completely surrounded by robotic ground forces armed with blasters and aerosol sprayers. As the robotic forces advanced, the area was blanketed with laser dispersing aerosol. Very few Mekpurr causalities were suffered by the time the GPR ground forces surrendered. It was a complete military rout of the GPR. An advanced technology level is partly to blame for their defeat. Another reason was the lack of real combat experience on the GPR’s part. One other reason was the good intelligence about the GPR given to the Mekpurr by the High Republic. Armed with this advanced knowledge, the Mekpurr had a number of battle plans readied and their population protected. They had expected this event for about the previous three years. The cats had played their cards close to their chest and won the first and only hand. The GPR has not been back since.

Consolidation of NCS 1039

By 2180 AD, twenty-seven systems had been colonized and/or captured by the GPR. Further exploration of the sector was declared unnecessary as a main goal of the 17th Five Year Plan and left to a few older scoutships. The meteor miners had been replaced and the prisoners from Subra V returned. The Red Navy was forced to rebuild after losing over a third of its fleet and tactical changes worked on for future battles. Not a lot of information came back from survivors so not a lot of changes could be recommended. What could be done was done. It was time to spread into the neighboring sectors. Large numbers of scoutships were built and launched into the surrounding sectors and reports began to be filtered back into the Soviet Government operations directives. No serious opposition was found and no further signs of the fearsome Mekpurr were noted outside of the Subra system. The next ten years brought greater expansion into the nearby sectors and thirty more systems were added for a total of 1.5 billion humans and about two billion non-human allies and subject races “liberated”.

The Pleiades War and the Ranan Rebellion

The expansion of the GPR into the different sectors eventually led to contact with the High Republic. This sector (KK12, +200) contained a planetary system, Carina, with Forerunner artifacts and a working core-tap on three different planets. The mineral wealth combined with potential advanced military technology could swing the balance of power in the quadrant for good. Scattered fighting started between the two disputing parties. Tensions began to escalate. Without their knowing it, the event known as the First Interstellar War had begun. After the GPR made contact with the Blarad Star Kingdom in 2193 AD, the communists were barely able to hide their disdain for an ursinoid, reactionary, and, in their eyes, oppressive régime led by decadent aristocrats. Recent events in the Pleiades sector had started a small conflict between the GPR and the High Republic. The communist forces were looking for potential help in the socialist struggle to liberate the galaxy’s peasants from the control of capitalist pigs.

By 2212 AD, the first of the Ranan worlds had declared themselves Autonomous People’s Democratic Republic of DzaKoan. (See Star Sector Atlas 5) The GPR had supported the rebellion with “Volunteers” (more like “Voluntolds”) and a small fleet to operate in NCG 7292. Further operations to liberate other Ranan worlds, and indeed the continuance of the Pleiades War, were interrupted by the First Bug War of 2215AD.

The First Bug War: 2215 – 2218

Massive assaults by Bug warships occurred all over the quadrant in 2215. As the main fleets of the GPR and the High Republic squared off for yet another battle for control of the Carina star system, a Bug fleet numbering over ten times the combined totals of the human nations warped out of hyperspace into the system. At first both admirals believed it to be a sensor trick by the enemy. When it was seen by the both sides that GPR and Republican ships were reacting to the newcomers, communications were opened between the two fleets. After a few tense moments, the on-scene commanders agreed to set aside their previous battle to deal with this clearly non-humanoid invasion. Whatever differences they had could be overlooked for the time being.

Both human fleets took heavy causalities in the first Bug battle of Carina III. Ground forces of the Red Army and Terran High Guard fought off wave after wave of Bug warriors until they ran out of ammo. The insects kept coming. The survivors were evacuated to any transport they could get to as the combined fleet fought off suicidal Bug attacks. The remaining humans fled out of the system into a nearby uninhabited star system. Survivors were sorted out and emergency repairs made. A cease-fire was declared and both staffs prepared for future cooperative battles. Many encounters with the Bugs were made during the three years of the Great Bug Raid (as it was known then).

By 2218 AD, the First Bug War was over. Carina III had been destroyed by the use of three Planetbusters and multiple Hellburner bombs. The High Republic had come to the conclusion that the Bugs were not going to be removed and the planet had become a prize too valuable for any one nation to own. After the destruction of the covering Bug fleet, the Republic fleet cruiser Pluto fired off its special load of weapons once the Xenon fields were knocked out. While the planet was not blown up, the surface was completely destroyed and the atmosphere blown away into space. Nothing remained of the surface down to the bedrock.

The GPR sent an official protest to the Republic as it had not been notified of the special weapons to be used in the attack. It also frightened them that a display of overwhelming firepower had been used by a one-time enemy (and possible future one too).

Ranan Unity and the Second Interstellar War

By 2223 AD, the first eight worlds of the Ranan Soviet were formed and allied with the GPR. It was good that this area was under more control as a fresh war broke out with the High Republic in 2220. After some initial GPR gains, the High Republic started launching skilled offensive actions that left the Reds hurting badly. The small fleet sent to help the Ranan people was withdrawn in 2221to the front lines. After holding off repeated attacks, including one bold attack into the Lenin system itself, the GPR decided to sue for peace in 2231.

The Azuriach Imperium War

Seeing the communist forces in defeat, a new enemy launched an attack on the GPR’s frontier. The Azuriach Empire launched an attack on the GPR in 2229. In sectors NN14 +1000, NN15 +1000, OO 13 +1000 and +1200, OO 14 +1000 and OO15 +1000, Imperial forces made great progress into communist space. By 2238, the GPR had finally advanced to tech level 8 and started issuing blasters to its frontline units. The Red Army formed units of combat veterans to receive extra training and the best equipment. The new “Red Guards” units held off the attacks by better equipped enemy forces by defending cities in house to house fighting. In point-blank duals, the superior Red numbers began to beat Azuriach forces even though two to three GPR troopers died for every Imperial soldier. The truth was that the Reds had numbers on their side.

Communist agents also fomented rebellion in conquered worlds captured by the Azuriachs. Even planets held before the war were infected with revolts against the followers of human supremacy. Fighting died down by 2251. Low-scale fighting in between all-out wars is a constant in these disputed sectors. No formal peace made is worth the paper it is written on. The GPR continues to make efforts to help resistance cells in these areas using tried and true methods of guerilla warfare. The GPR also is forced to maintain a large part of the Red Navy to protect these sectors and help in the supply of resistance fighters.

Continued Efforts

From 2395 to 2506, relations between the GPR and the Ranan Soviet (later the URW) were strained at best. By 2525, however, the GPR and URW signed a treaty of mutual defense and cooperation. Relations with the Hissss’ist Empire had also begun to take on a friendly character. The three “Socialist” nations are not yet fully coordinating their efforts, but future peace in this part of the galaxy is threatened as a result.

Contact with another technically communist star nation, the IRSOL, has not produced much in the way of cooperation between the two powers. It seems that the IRSOL society is more socially communist than doctrinally communist like the GPR. The humans have a hard time grasping the IRSOL concept of life in space and how hard it is if everyone doesn’t pull their own weight and look out for their neighbor. This lifestyle isn’t the result of government mandate or political rhetoric. It is the simple need to survive in a hostile environment that has led the IRSOL to this form of government. In fact, the IRSOL maintain close ties with the Federation and have cooperated with them from time to time in the past. When it was discovered that IRSOL interference in the early 21st century on Terra led to the “Wet Firecracker War” and Soviet defeat, the GPR’s relationship with the star-bound race cooled off to just about nothing. Only the current difference in technology and difficulty in finding (and attacking) an IRSOL star-city plus the war that would be started with its neighbors keeps the GPR’s desire for historic revenge in check.

The GPR today controls 1324 planets in forty-one star sectors. These range from full-scale worlds that are industrialized to small colonies on the edges of the frontier. These include a population of close to 400 billion (of which humans make up about 60% of the total). With an average productivity of 4000 credits, the GDP is roughly 1,600,000,000 MCR with about 50% available to the state in “taxes”. Of the 800,000,000 MCR collected, roughly 500,000,000 MCR are spent every year during peace and 600,000,000 MCR in time of war. This is compared to the Federation which spends 1,250,000,000 / year on defense and 500,000,000 MCR by the Azuriach Imperium. Because it is a command economy, the GPR is capable of converting to a wartime footing economically in a very short time.

The Military Forces of the GPR

Most of the frontline units of the GPR are between a tech level 9 and 10. All Red Guard units are rated as a tech 10 in regards to their weapons systems and equipment. These make up about 5% of total forces in the GPR.

It should be noted that the GPR rarely throws away any military equipment. Large warehouses in remote areas are stocked with older equipment (as low as tech 6 in some cases) just in case they are needed. As ground and air vehicles become obsolete, they are gathered up and placed in “mothball” reserve.

Reservists operate the weapons and equipment they were trained on when they drill or are called up to active service. Depending on their category of unit, military formations receive a division/wing designation based on the old USSR rating system. Category A units are frontline active duty at 100% manning. Category B units are drilling reserve units at 80-90% manning. Category C units are standby reserve units maintained at 30-40% manning. Category D units are ad-hoc units drawn together from various militia units and are mainly used in local defense at 15-20% manning. All Red Guard units are category A as are about half of the total Red Army divisions. All GPR citizens receive military training from age 18-20, male and female alike. Males make up the combat forces and females make up a large part of the support services. All receive small arms training for at least self-defense purposes. After serving two years, citizens are then assigned to a career by the state that suits their talents and skills...depending on the needs of the state, of course. Most appointments are merit based, but some high ranking officials manage to take care of their children and friends.

Current Active Duty Forces are about 2.5 Billion troops and Reserves about 18 Billion.

Red Navy

Candidates selected for the Red Navy are given a three-year term of service for their first conscription due to the extra time they will spend in training. Marines onboard are part of the Red Navy and use naval ranks. They are listed as Naval Infantry units and rarely use heavy land equipment for planetary assaults. When such equipment is called for, the Red Army will attach units as needed for the duration of the operation. The main use of Naval Infantry is for boarding/counterboarding operations and conducting raids in enemy territory. The Naval Infantry units are responsible for the protection of star ports and naval bases throughout the GPR. There is no standing unit above division in their organization. Higher level units are put together on an as needed basis.

System defense is the responsibility of the Red Navy. All star fighters are Red Navy units. Onboard each GPR warship is a political commissar from the KGB’s First Directorate (as in all Red Army units battalion and higher) to keep an eye on crew morale and welfare as well as ensuring loyalty to the state and party.

The KGB (Komitjet Gosudarstvjennoj Bjezopasnosti / Committee for State Security)

The KGB for the GPR acts in the combined functions for internal and external intelligence gathering and law enforcement plus foreign operations.

The First Directorate is responsible for matters dealing with internal security. Any foreigners are monitored during their stay within the borders of the GPR, as are all citizens who come into contact with them. Anti-socialist cells are hunted down with a ruthless efficiency without regard for anyone’s civil rights. They can take anyone in for questioning and have no limits on the amount of time they can be kept. Unlike the Federation, the charges against you don’t have to be presented to the accused. Foreign citizens are generally treated relatively well as there would be repercussions from those foreign governments. If the First Directorate believes that the suspect is from a hostile nation (such as the Azuriachs) or if it is known that their government has no idea they are missing, then all bets are off as to the expected behavior. The First Directorate is also responsible for running prisons and gulags for longterm prisoners.

The Second Directorate is responsible for foreign intelligence operations. Spies and agents are the specialty of the Second Directorate. Intelligence gathered in the field is sent to the Second Directorate for analysis and plans made for future operations. Small teams of special-forces work for the Second Directorate for behind the lines sabotage and support of guerilla forces of anti-government groups. They receive training in demolition, agitation of the local populace, small group combat tactics, indoctrination in communist beliefs, and more. Their skills proved of great value in the Ranan rebellion and in spreading dissent in Azuriach controlled planets in the frontier areas. They also work with the military intelligence sections to get an accurate picture of foreign forces and technology.

The Third Directorate acts as a controlling group for the first two directorates. It passes information and clarification to the two groups so that operations flow smoothly and the groups don’t work against each other. Given the size and scope of the operations, it is not unheard of for the first two groups to work against each other and not realize it. The Third Directorate is responsible to the head of the KGB and the Chairman of the Politburo. While the KGB pay scale lags a bit when compared with the Federation, it is a very good compensation for a citizen of the GPR. The pay also does not take into account the ability of the agent to shop in special state stores that cater to the needs of the KGB and other high government officials. Added to this pay is the occasional bribe money extorted from various contacts the agent may come into contact with.

Rank Structure for the KGB

While it is officially frowned upon, it is a known occurrence and agents are warned not to put the state or other citizens into danger or there will be dire consequences. A number of high ranking officers in the government got their start in the Third Directorate.

Due to competing interests among the heads of these three directorates, it is not uncommon for them to withhold information from another director in order to gain political power. During times of relative peace, a fair amount of resources are spent watching each other. Such rivalry is lessened during wartime, but does not go away altogether.

Life in the GPR: Wait Your Turn

The life of a citizen of the GPR is not the easiest. There is a constant pressure to measure up to the standards of loyalty to the party and the state as given by the ever present KGB. Complaints are not very welcome when it comes to criticism of the state or its leadership. Freedom of speech is unheard of in the GPR. The old joke goes that citizens of the Federation can go to the front of the President’s office and say what a horrible job he is doing. A GPR citizen can go in front of the Chairman of the Communist Party office and say what a horrible job the Federation President is doing.

Given the structure of a command economy, it is not surprising to find shortages of consumer goods within the GPR. It has been the habit of communists for many years to make economies of scale to produce goods in large enough quantities. The usual method would be to make a single large factory to manufacture all the needed numbers of a single product such as batteries or electric motors. This does allow easier accounting practices for the state but does put a hardship on the transportation system of a planet or star system. Goods for purchase tend to come for sale in areas in a sporadic way that leads to long lines and lots of waiting. Another joke goes like this; A man waiting in line in New Moscow gets fed up and declares he is going to shoot the Chairman. He storms off towards the capital buildings. Hours later he returns and gets back in line. When asked if he had shot the Chairman, he said “No, the line was too long.” If government officials can be persuaded to overlook some of the red tape involved with imports, there are many customers willing to buy consumer goods of just about any type. With so much of the state’s production used for weapons and support equipment, the problem is not a lack of money but a lack of anything to spend it on. Another problem is finding a return cargo to make a trip back with due to the same problem. It all makes trade within the GPR difficult and exciting....but mainly difficult.

With everyone required to give two years of service in the armed forces and an active militia system, the life of the average citizen is fairly disciplined to say the least. They also tend to be in fairly decent physical shape after the intense training they receive and the requirements of their reserve/militia unit. It could also be that there is not enough extra food to go around for them to get fat. Medical care is socialized and treatment for common problems is good but slow in general. That is unless you are a member of the ruling elite, in which case you get the best treatment and consumer goods from special vendors.

The further you are from Lenin III, the more relaxed life is in the GPR. Of course, even on the frontiers life is more controlled than at the overwhelming vast majority of Federation planets. That includes Federation penal colonies as well. The government workers assigned to the further reaches of the People’s Republic are not enthusiastic in the choice made for them by their government. They tend to do their time and try to get noticed for doing a good job so they can be promoted and, hopefully, reassigned to a post closer to the core of GPR space. In practical terms, this means smugglers on the edges of GPR space are better off dealing with older public workers as they have more than likely accepted their fate and are trying to make their life a bit more comfortable.

Education is entirely state-run with competition high among students for good grades in order to be chosen for a higher level school. That can lead to a better career and better lifestyle. Lower scores could result in a lower placement and a dead-end career. It could even result in an assignment to the Red Army for life in the infantry. It would be unlikely they would ever rise above private if they really put out no effort. Assignments after the military are generally for life unless unusual circumstances arose and a high level party member pulled some strings.

New colonies that the GPR sets up are manned with new graduates of various academies and military veterans. A few older officials also go in the first few waves to set up administration and government agencies. Most of the selected colonists are young and capable of having a lot of children. It is with this eye that most are selected and a high degree of loyalty to the state. Given that all property is owned by the state, there are few reasons to want to emigrate away from home. Therefore, most of the “Volunteers” are sent off on orders from the government.

Membership in the Communist Party: Better Red than Dead

About 20% of the population are active members of the Communist party. It is a big deal in a citizen’s life to be selected for membership. They have to be recommended by two party members and pass rigorous written and oral exams on Marxist-Leninist theory and show great devotion for the state over themselves.

Membership means that members are eligible for higher ranking government positions (rank level 5 for the military or any position in the KGB). Very rarely is a citizen permitted to join before completing their mandatory military service. Sometimes very bright members can substitute service in the KGB in place of military service. This has a negative impact sometimes in the GPR’s R&D areas, but other bigger problems (such as lack of free communication to peers outside of the GPR) retard their efforts.

While basic pay does not go up with membership, certain luxury goods can be obtained from party sources not available to the general public. These perks and the chance of upward mobility give membership in the party its benefit. There is generally no distinction along gender lines, but membership is usually reserved for humans and a few trusted alien humanoid populations. The fact that no nonhuman has ever risen above rank level 11 in the KGB and rank level 12 in the military is one sign that the GPR believes that all beings are equal but humans are more equal than others (a fact that the GPR emphatically denies).

There is only one official starline for travel within the home sector of the GPR: Cosmoflot. They operate a number of 50,000t starships that are also used for the military in times of war as troop transports. They are capable of making planetary landings with or without any particular facilities on the ground. Most planets have a regular scheduled run between them within the sector. Planets with at least 1 billion GPR citizens are also rated to receive outside sector flights from outside the GPR as well as sending outgoing flights out. Travel into and out of the sector is required to go through customs which can be a time consuming process taking from two days to two weeks, depending on the travel location and the citizenship of the traveler.

Travel: The People’s Starline

No flights go into or out of the Azuriach Imperium. Anyone detected having been in Azuriach space or territory is going to have a long discussion with the KGB: about one to two years minimum. They have no diplomatic relations with Azuriachs and don’t desire any.

Typical travel costs are as follows:

High Passage – CR 200 / LY
Middle Passage – CR 120 / LY
Low passage – CR 70 / LY
Cold Sleep – CR 30 / LY
Cargo – CR 25 / ton / LY
Bulk cargo (100t min) – CR 15 / ton / LY
GPR officials on business - Free
GPR Vets get 25% discount if retired.

Star Master can calculate individual flight's costs between planets and their frequency (standard is at least one per week for regular service). Use the “Skate” class vessel found in Seldon’s Compendium 1 for an example.

Regular Service requires no special permission for travel. Other planets will require special permits for travel to them.