The Intergalactic Commonwealth of Foggistan: Striking the Balance

"Some vices miss what is right because they are deficient, others because they are excessive, in feelings or in actions, while virtue finds and chooses the mean." -Aristotle

The Intergalactic Commonwealth of Foggistan is an outsider to planet Coralende. It is a federation of 17 worlds, clustered together in a constellation roughly 15 light-years away, and its only permanent presence in the solar system is a small colony on Coralende's partly-habitable first moon of Attica. More importantly, a fleet of nearly 70 scientific, economic, and military starships arrived in the system only 3 months ago, ostensibly to investigate a set of anomalies their scientists detected over 30 years ago in the Foggistani core worlds. It is this fleet, with its extensive resources, manpower, and advanced technology, that makes Foggistan a major player in Coralende's affairs.

The Commonwealth itself is a textbook case of contradictions. It officially operates as a single whole, despite the fact that worlds separated by light-year distances must operate independently for most practical purposes, and that each world maintains a distinct culture conditioned by the characteristics of their first settlers. Its political order varies from world to world, but universally mixes elements of democracy and monarchy, with administration shared (and fought over) between both elected assemblies and representatives of the Grey King. Its economic system finds a middle ground between capitalism and socialism, reflecting dual (and sometimes contradictory) commitments to both liberty and social justice, and balancing the wish to free business from the heavy hand of government with the need for disciplined coordination to survive in the hostile environments of virgin planets.

What makes Foggistan so Foggistani is its commitment to balance, moderation, and the reconciliation of opposites. The nation was first born nearly a thousand years ago, on the distant planet Breckinridge, when its legendary warrior founder King William I combined a calling to justice, diplomatic cunning, and sheer military force to unite three warring ethnic groups under his rule. He established a political system where he would share power with councils representing the notables of each of the three ethnicities, and his heirs would spend their lives preventing the kingdom from breaking apart so that it could continue to grow and thrive. The passage of a millenium has brought many changes, but the basic nature of the Commonwealth has changed little: the Grey Kings use moral suasion, cunning, and military might to create and maintain order among the peoples under their protection. The unique Foggistani philosophy of moderation, in turn, is the direct result of this constant balancing act. The King and his representatives will approach any problem by identifying the forces threatening to destabilize or undermine in the situation and then forging a path that maintains the most careful balance. The metaphor of this approach has gained new currency in the age of interstellar colonization, where small variations in the environment of a planet or a spaceship can mean the difference between life and death. There are an infinite number of unsuitable environments, conditions with too much or too little heat, too much or too little of this gas or another, and only a small band of conditions capable of supporting human life for any significant period of time. There are many ways to die and only one path, the middle path, that leads to life for you and for future generations.

The Coralendians are vaguely familiar with the Foggistanis, but none of them are sure what the Foggistani fleet is doing in their orbit. Vague explanations about "anomalies" satisfy no one, and it is clear the arrival of the fleet is connected somehow to the disturbing events taking place in LushLocks, but no one knows for sure what the Foggistani role in the situation is--are they here to help, or will they use the Coralendians as pawns in their own games? The Foggistani inhabitants of Attica, for their part, have mixed feelings about the fleet as well. By royal decree, the commander of the fleet, Admiral Solomon Jagesic, has replaced the old Governor-General as the official representative of the King in the Coralendian solar system. His relationship with the elected Prime Minister of Attica has been strained, in no small part because the fleet "requisitions" substantial portions of the colony's resources for its own unclear objectives.

The end of the developing situation in Luscious Locks remains to be written, but it seems clear that, whatever happens, the Foggistanis will respond with their characteristic blend of careful planning and balanced execution. Admiral Jagesic is a servant of the King, after all, and like all good Foggistani soldiers, he is an ardent pacifist--and a fierce warrior.

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Illustration of Admiral Jagesic done with the most gracious assistance of Hero Machine 2.5:
http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heromachine2/heroMachine2.asp