NewShiron

Geography: An island kingdom that covers the entirety of an Australian sized island continent southeast of Klatch (and on an island that looks suspiciously like Australia as well). The central portion (nearly 40%) of the island is rugged hills covered in thick forests, with low mountains in the center of that. A number of rivers and lakes surround the central highlands, and another low range of mountains is in the eastern section of the island, effectively dividing that 20% of the nation from the highland region. In the far northern coasts a thin band of coastal jungle and swampland is present, with mangrove swamps being common. The western coast is the driest section of the island, and large tracts of prairie and steppe land are common, with almond and citrus plantations the primary crops. Vast sections of the southern portion of the country are wheat fields, and New Shiron has ample food to feed its burgeoning population.

The nation is organized into 6 states are Western Shiron (W. Australia), Northern Territory, South Shiron, Victoria, Greater Shiron (NSW), and Queensland. Principal cities are Anchorage (Darwin), Freemantle/Lorn (Perth), Varangia (Adelaide), Regina (Canberra), Shiron (Sydney), Nelson (Melbourne), and Newport (Brisbane)

The cities of New Shiron are dominated by huge arkologies. Massive buidings that house tens of thousands of people and soar thousands of feet into the air, they dominate the skylines and are visible from many miles away. Nearly 80% of the population live now in these massive cities within cities, but every weekend millions flood the surrounding countryside visiting more traditional towns and the huge number of parks in the nation. The recent widespread development of Fusion power has led to the availability of the cheap energy needed for these huge buildings, along with materials technologies improvements from the space program and projects undertaken after the New Cynthian invasion. Varangia was the first city deliberately constructed this way, a massive project instituted after the invasion as most of that city was ruined during the war. Another big incentive was widespread radioactive fallout from the war, which was a substantial incentive for moving indoors in the southeastern parts of the nation.

Government: The Royal government is organized into three branches and is a form of constitutional monarchy.

The judiciary branch consists of the High Court, a panel of 7 judges appointed by the Crown and approved by the Senate. In addition, Royal Courts can be found in each state and their mission is to provide judicial oversight over the local court systems and function as a court of appeals. The Royal courts also have oversight authority over the various national police agencies and appoints the commissioners of those agencies with the approval of the Senate.

The legislative branch consists of the Senate and Parliament. The Senate consists of 30 Senators who must be of noble birth and must be elected by constitutes of the states they represent. They serve a 10 year term and can stand for reelection. Parliament consists of 300 members and can be of any birth and are elected by the constitutes of their states for a 5 year term. The Senate is responsible for approving Crown appointments, must approve any treaties, and must also approve any law (including taxes) passed by Parliament except for spending bills. Parliament has the authority to tax and spend, and Parliament selects the King or Queen from the pool of eligible candidates from the Royal Family.

The executive branch is the Crown. A King or Queen is selected from the Royal Family by Parliament, and serves an initial 10 year term. At that point, the Parliament then either reelects the King or Queen or hands the Crown over to the next candidate. This rarely occurs but has on occasion. The King or Queen is the commander of all military forces (but not the police), conducts foreign policy (with consent of the Senate) and handles the Exchequer (with guidance from Parliamentary spending bills). The current royal family dates back nearly 500 years from the time of initial settlement by groups of settlers from the British Isles, Scandinavia, and western France.

In addition to the national government, New Shiron is also a member state of the Federation Klatchian Coast and has 3 keys in the FKC Parliament. The Keys are appointed by the Queen, approved by the Senate and traditionally consist of a distinguished military officer, an experienced diplomat and an accomplished leader from a large charity or welfare agency.

Military and Police Forces: Military and Police Forces: The Kingdom has a system of conscription, and each year those who reach the age of 19 are subject to call up (female and male). The conscription system is highly selective however, and only a few are taken each year into service. Generally there are sufficient inductees willing to volunteer that few are forced to serve. Conscripts have the choice of military service in the Territorial Guard, Permanent military forces or various Police Agencies.

The conscript chooses a preference of either military or police service, but is then assigned to which ever military branch or police agency can best make use of him or her (trying to follow their preference if possible). However, Territorial Service is for 3 years, with another 7 years of reserve obligation (weekends and summer camps). Service in the police or permanent military forces is for 6 years, with 4 years of reserve obligation. An inductee can choose to attend college however, and the Crown picks up the tab but the time in college does not count toward the inductee’s service time. Additional schools can also be chosen, such as flight school, law school, medical school and other possibilities and once again that time does not count toward the general service obligation. Both women and men are drafted, and the right mixture of athletic, social and intellectual abilities is the prime criteria.

Officers and senior noncommissioned officers are promoted from the ranks of lower noncommissioned officers who have demonstrated superior ability and are then sent to special officer training academies followed by additional training from branch schools. Outstanding officers are later sent to the National War College, or in some cases, even overseas to friendly nations to attend their equivalent institutions.

Conscripts can serve in the following branches: Territorial Guard (combat support and general support units) Coast Guard (coastal patrol, minesweeping, anti submarine and harbor defense forces) Royal Mounted Police (highway patrol duties in peace time, combat support duties in war) Royal Park Service (Park rangers, search and rescue duties, combat support duties in war) Royal Bureau of Investigation (FBI function) Civil Guard (oversees civil defense) Royal Aerospace Force (took over mission of Air National Guard) Royal Navy, and Royal Space Force