THE GALAXY
In the 26th Century, the Milky Way Galaxy has been mapped and explored by man using the marvelous invention: The Hyperspace Drive.
The Milky Way Galaxy is rougly 100,000 light years from core to rim and contains roughly 200 billion star systems. The majority of these systems lie in the dense Core region. The Galaxy is divided into four equal quadrants: The Orion Quadrant, the Sagittarius Quadrant, the Centaurus Quadrant, and the Perseus Quadrant.
The Orion Quadrant is the home of Sol System and Earth. The star systems around Earth were the first colonized and are now heavily populated Core Worlds. These colonies are still owned by he traditional governments of Earth such as the U.S., China, France, Japan and others. Collectively, these worlds and their governments are called the Old Earth Empires. They are constantly embroiled in petty wars and strife but still maintain uneasy relations with both the Stellar Federation and the Pan-Solar Empire.
The Perseus Quadrant is home to the Interstellar Federation. The Federation, as it is known, is a strong union of former colonies that have all gained their independence from Earth. The government is a Republican Monarchy with a President being elected for life. For the most part, the Federation is benevolent and fair in their government and laws. Citizens of the Federation enjoy a high standard of living.
The Sagittarius Quadrant is governed by the tyrannical Pan Solar Empire. The Empire, like the Federation, is also comprised of old colony worlds. Unlike the Federation, they did not gain their independence. Instead, they were conquered by the mad Emperor, who has ruled his quadrant with an iron fist for more than 150 Solar Years. The Worlds of the Empire have all been raped of their natural resources to fuel the huge military-industrial complex of the Imperial Armed Forces.
Citizens of the Empire live in squalid misery with no human rights. They view the Federation with jealous eyes. It is the Empire's ultimate goal to conquer the Federation and take it's wealth.
The Centaurus Quadrant is home to many new Federation colonies and countless small independent governments. It is on the edge of explored space and most of the new planets are being discovered there. For this reason, it is called the Frontier. The Centaurus Quadrant is home to pirates and bandits and is considered a wild area of space. Many independent freighters try their luck against both the Empire raids and Bandit piracy to deliver goods back and forth between the colonies and the Federation and the Old Earth Empires.
In all, the Galaxy supports an estimated 48.5 Trillion human inhabitants on over 1.6 million worlds and expanding. Core worlds are heavily populated world with populations exceeding ten billion. These are usually heavily industrialized and were some of the first worlds colonized during man's expansion into space. There are less than 1000 Core Worlds in the Galaxy. Core Worlds are usually not self-sufficient and rely on supplies and resources from the outer Colony Worlds. Colony Worlds are relatively recently discovered worlds which are self-sufficient. Some Colony Worlds have been settled for over 400 years, yet still maintain a relatively small population of five billion or less. Recently colonized worlds on the Frontier are heavily dependent on other worlds for technology and supplies. Their populations usually number less than one million.
Rangers are tasked to enforce Federation law in the Frontier and on Federation Colonies and Associate Worlds. They have no jurisdiction on Federation member worlds. There, Federation Security maintain bases for permanent law enforcement.
