Sovereign - Independence Charter

There’s a saying that all of the institutions are really just about pushing pencils. The FXT buys the pencils, the NCA tells you what colour you’re allowed to use, and Sovereign tells you that’s not your pencil so put it back.

I didn’t say it was a good saying. I got it from a Notarianshand up on fifth, so take it up with them.

Sovereign knows everything has a rightful owner, and it’s probably not you. In fact, the act of claiming ownership is already mighty suspect. 

The Captain has (hopefully!) a good enough relationship with them that they can operate one of the few independent ships. Stars forbid anything happen to our brave Captain, of course, but any potential successors to that seat would do well to maintain a close relationship with a Sovereign agent or two. 

Of course, this matters most when we’re talking about planets, and most would agree with the Sovereign policy that institutions shouldn’t be allowed to just gather up worlds into empires. Luckily, any time an institution gets a little too close to acting as an interstellar government, there are four other institutions suddenly passionate about the Sovereign cause, eager to bring ownership back to the world’s rightful inhabitants. That is, whoever Sovereign likes best.

The trick is in keeping all of those planetary governments on side, and Sovereign manages that by keeping them apart. Diplomatic assemblies aboard the First Forum lend Sovereign a sense of gravitas, for sure, but they also unleash the catastrophe of letting world leaders speak openly to each other. Much better to keep them focused on their own worlds, liaising through their entrusted Sovereign Charterhouse. Being gently overseen by Sovereign is so much more proper than being puppeted around by an institution. 

In the end, nobody really minds that there’s a border between the starport and the world-proper. It makes it easier for the FXT to run a frictionless orbital operation, and it gives the NCA a job to do keeping the border tight. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Starpath explains that you don’t need a pencil anymore, Konkord is hiding all the sharpeners, and the Justice Union has already stabbed the pencil into your back.

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