The Brotherhood of the Stars
Location: I3
Home System: Nassau System
Homeworld: New Nassau
Capital: Sparta's Landing
Leader: Commandant Annaliese Rose
Colour: Some inoffensive shade of yellow maybe? Not really fussed.
The Brotherhood of the Stars originates from those living on the fringes of human space during the rise and reign of the Imperium of Manx. As the various human colonies fought and consumed one another, ships of the losing fleets would sometimes flee into the black rather than surrender and trust to the mercy of their vanquishers. There they were joined by by various outcasts and exiles from the core worlds. A ship alone in space is vulnerable, and so the outcasts formed a loose association for mutual support, both military and technical.
While outright piracy by members of the Brotherhood was not unheard of, more common by far was smuggling and unlicensed mining activity. Individual ships, or even entire fleets of ships would also at times sign up as privateers for nearby settled worlds, being often employed to interfere with enemy trade. However as the Imperium of Manx collapsed the revenue sources of the Brotherhood dried up, no one wanted the smuggled luxuries or minerals the Brotherhood supplied while trade died away leaving no merchants to be victims of privateering or piracy. With no means to pay for the supplies and services need to maintain their ships, indeed with no neutral colonies remaining to even get these services from, the leadership of the Brotherhood decided it was time for the Brotherhood to find a home of their own. Setting out at sub-light speed, the ships of the Brotherhood crossed the great divide leaving behind the ruins of the Imperium.
The Brotherhood has now been established on their new home, the moon New Nassau, orbiting a gas giant in the Nassau system. Following their long journey the bulk of the Brotherhood's ships are no longer spaceworthy, many having had their FTL drives stripped before they even set out to reduce mass. Therefore efforts are currently being focused towards developing the necessary industrial base to restore the fleet.
Brotherhood society is structured with each ship being a separate unit, with the captain of each ship representing their crew in the councils that govern the Brotherhood. A captains powers on his/her ship are extensive however there are hard limits on their powers imposed by 'The Code', a collation of the rights of a ship's crew as dictated by tradition and precedent. The councils of captains are highly democratic, decisions being made via consensus and compliance being voluntary (although failing to comply with a strongly supported consensus is unwise). How an individual ship is run varies widely depending usually on the origins of the ship. Former military ships are often run with the same strict discipline and hierarchies they operated under in their former occupations, while the mining ships in particular are highly democratic with captaincy being an elected position. Sections of the population have also abandoned shipboard life, choosing to settle permanently on New Nassau, however they have not abandoned their traditions and the villages and towns on the moon are run in the same manner as the ships of their forebears.