The United Planets Confederation (UPC) is a supraplanetary confederation formed after the alliance between the inhabitants of Elearis and the Xarelite civilisation. Over time, additional worlds and strategic territories joined the confederation, turning the UPC into the largest political, economic, and military bloc within the civilised universe.

Officially, the UPC defines itself as a framework for interplanetary cooperation, stability, and mutual development. In practice, it often functions as a power system shaped by Elearian corporate interests, where influence is distributed according to strategic value rather than equal representation.

Origin: The Elearis–Xárel Contact

Before contact with Xárel, the Elearians were already a technologically advanced civilisation driven by a strong interest in exploration, expansion, and resource acquisition. Their space activity, however, remained limited to conventional space within their own planetary system, relying on high-performance fusion propulsion, gravitational assistance, and complex orbital navigation and transfer methods.

During one of these exploratory operations, an Elearian probe achieved first contact with Xárel. This encounter marked a decisive turning point, fundamentally altering the trajectory of both civilisations.

The Xarel–Elearis Alliance and the Birth of the UPC

Following the Xarelite intervention that stabilised the Elearian genetic crisis and later helped Elearis improve its planetary resource management, Xárel and Elearis formalised a strategic alliance that reshaped their future. In exchange for scientific assistance and sustainability frameworks, a portion of the Xarelite Nomad population was accepted as citizens of Elearis, gaining regulated rights to access resources on Elearis and within adjacent systems.

The combination of advanced Xarelite science and Elearian organisational drive initiated an unprecedented phase of development. Joint research led to the discovery of Chronodium and the mastery of travel through the Space-Time Currents (CET), breakthroughs that enabled true interstellar expansion and made systematic colonisation of new systems viable.

The UPC emerged as the institutional structure designed to coordinate that expansion, administer member-world relations, and regulate the growing network of colonies, enclaves, and strategic assets.

Member Worlds and Recognised Territories

The UPC includes multiple member worlds, with influence concentrated around its founding and core planets. Among the worlds with the greatest political weight are Elearis, Xárel, Terra 2, Gumgar, Nurulia (homeworld of the Aquanites), and Astrax.

In addition to these core worlds, the confederation also includes fully integrated member planets such as Kabta, Tayar, Urlok (a shared world inhabited by Tudrokas and Yetikas), Sunaran, Ashvar, Umicra, and Sarahi.

Beyond sovereign planets, the UPC recognises limited representation for certain colonies and strategic enclaves, including Tempra 4, Vixalis 6, and specific settlements on Alurian-8. These delegations rarely hold meaningful voting power and often operate under political or economic tutelage from central worlds.

The Congress of the UPC

The Congress of the UPC, based on Elearis, serves as the confederation’s central legislative and deliberative body. It brings together representatives from member planets and recognised territories, shaping policies that affect allied systems, dependencies, and frontier operations. In formal terms, it embodies the UPC’s promise of collective governance.

In practice, the Congress raises a persistent question across the confederation: is it a truly representative institution, or a mechanism that legitimises power already held elsewhere?

Although the Congress and the UPC Armada represent institutional authority, their decisions are frequently conditioned by powerful Elearian corporate blocs, particularly technological and mining interests. Effective power within the UPC is rarely ideological. It is economic and strategic, exercised as much through corporate boards and concession offices as through legislative chambers.

Notably, the Congress also recognises the presence of corporate representatives, especially entities holding exploitation rights over colonies, satellites, or entire systems. These actors are not formally classified as planetary members, yet their influence is often disproportionate, and in many cases comparable to, or greater than, that of peripheral worlds.

While, in theory, all UPC planets possess a voice within the Congress, true equality between worlds does not exist. Political weight is determined by economic contribution, control of strategic resources, military capacity, and technological relevance. As a result, the Congress functions less as an equitable assembly and more as an unstable balance of competing interests, where central worlds and corporate powers set the direction of the confederation.

Within this environment, a faction of Xarelite representatives remains actively opposed to corporate dominance, attempting to preserve the alliance’s original intent and prevent expansion from repeating the catastrophic mistakes of Xárel’s past.

Ideological Tension Between the Founding Powers

Despite their alliance, Elearis and Xárel maintain fundamentally different visions of expansion and development. Xárel prioritises responsible exploration, long-term scientific research, planetary viability assessment, and sustainability as a civilisational necessity. Elearis, by contrast, operates through a corporate-driven economy based on heavy industry, large-scale extraction, and profit-oriented growth.

This conflict is not incidental. It is structural, and it permeates UPC policy, especially when resource rights, colonisation priorities, and military deployments are at stake.

The Role of the UPC in the Lore

Within the broader narrative, the UPC represents the ideal of interstellar cooperation, but also the ease with which that ideal can be captured by corporate exploitation, scientific instrumentalisation, and strategic use of time and technology as weapons.

It is a system that does not require visible villains to function. Its structures, incentives, and mechanisms are sufficient to perpetuate themselves.