Formiden Colonial Mandate

The Formiden Colonial Mandate, previously Arstotzkan Federation (more commonly referred to as Arstotzka) is one of the oldest player organizations in StarMade, surviving through various incarnations from April-May 2013 to the present. It is famous for being a media heavy, stylised ship building faction with heavy emphasis on PVP.

Description
The Formiden Colonial Mandate is an aggressive, propaganda-fueled stratocracy ruled by Comr4de. It was formed in May of 3013 on NASSzone, and has survived with the same ethos and core membership since then through various incarnations. Their ships are uniformly grey/black with red and white highlights; sleekly designed, with straight edges and an industrious, utilitarian feel.

History
The Formiden Colonial Mandate was founded in May of 3013 on NASSzone by Comr4de as a branch of an existing faction, the White Tigers, under the name Arstotzkan Colonists. This semi-autonomous region was granted a small planet and a border defense fleet. However, this was not sufficient to protect the planet plate from hostile players. Kharak found itself under attack almost daily, as Arstotzkan colonists fought desperately to protect their home. Arstotzka declared independence from the White Tigers a week later, citing widespread discontent and a failure of White Tiger leadership to address hostile incursions by pirates. Arstotzkan refugees fled White Tiger space expecting an imminent reprisal, yet none came. After a day of travelling and exploring, the Arstotzkan refugee fleet found a suitable planet and established their homeworld of Hiigara.

Expansion and Prosperity
After settling on Hiigara, the Arstotzkan Confederacy was formed by the colonists, promising stability in the face of increasing server unrest. The Confederacy immediately began a naval expansion program to help safeguard their new home. Their first homegrown ship design, the Trotsky-class cruiser, cemented Arstotzka's place as a naval power on NASS. After their first battle with the Banggangers, a serverside pirate faction, Arstotzka swelled with new recruits and citizens. Arstotzka began to absorb smaller serverside factions, which helped expand its population to unprecedented levels. At its peak, Arstotkza had 40 members, with an average of 15 active daily. Arstotzka's fleet had grown to the point that construction of a defensive station above the homeworld was now a feasible concept. With the construction of the Arstotzkan Orbital Ring, Arstotzka became the primary superpower on NASS.

Galaxy Ranger War
First contact between Confederacy and Galaxy Ranger forces took place on June 12th, 3013. The Galaxy Rangers, led by NASS Admin MichaelSeph, declared themselves to be the faction representative of the law on NASS. They used this as justification to perform combat actions in factions deemed to be in violation of their laws. After attempting to gain entry to Arstotzkan territory, war was declared and all GR-aligned factions and ships were treated as hostile invaders. The war was primarily fought defensively, as the GR opted to not us the homebase feature. This prevented Arstotzkan forces from easily locating the GR base. After a series of high-profile and highly damaging raids against Arstotzkan civilian and military targets, Comr4de opted to resort to subterfuge and infiltration. An Arstotzkan agent was inserted into the GR, and the GR homeworlds were discovered. On the night of June 19th, 3013, Arstotzkan forces and their allies traveled to the GR home system to destroy their ships and facilities. Upon arrival, it was discovered that MichaelSeph had used his admin powers to grant the GR multiple protected sectors. An admin embedded with Arstotzkan forces used his powers to override the protections and allow Arstotzkan forces to complete their mission. However, within 24 hours MichaelSeph imported the sectors from a previous save and banned multiple Arstotzkan players, including Comr4de. Furthermore, admin privileges were revoked from all admins save for MichaelSeph, Pholopalus, and Warsong. This led to the overnight dissolution of the Confederacy and an exodus from NASS. Within a week, the Arstotzkan population had dwindled from over 50 to just under 5. The Confederacy had been all but defeated within a week.

Resistance and Reformation
Acknowledging the futility of continuing a conventional war against MichaelSeph and the Galaxy Rangers, Comr4de and the remnants of the Arstotzkan Confederacy abandoned NASS in order to rebuild their forces and prepare for a renewed conflict against the Galaxy Rangers. The time spent away from NASS took its toll on the Arstotzkans. By the time that Arstotzkan forces redeployed to NASS, only Comr4de and BDLS remained. Under alternate names, Comr4de and BDLS quickly gathered enough resources to establish a small fleet and a station. Using small frigates and cloaked vessels, Comr4de and BDLS fought a guerrilla conflict against GR forces for over a month, with the frigate "Genocide II" notching up to 23 kills, many over twice its own size. Eventually it was discovered the MichaelSeph had an alternate admin account on NASS that was unprotected. Using this account, Comr4de and BDLS granted themselves admin powers. Using these powers, Comr4de and BDLS administrated the server for over a month before their actions were discovered. Their admin status was then revoked by MichaelSeph, but subsequently restored by Doomsider. Comr4de and BDLS began to reduce their offensive activities against the Galaxy Rangers, but continued to attack any GR ships that entered their territory.

Vaygr-DFN War
With the collapse of organized Arstotzkan military operations, all that remained were small, unorganized pockets of resistance. However, with the rise of the Vaygr empire many of these pockets found a new home. Comr4de took note of the meteoric rise of the Vaygr empire and chose to assist them in the coming war with DFN. Planr, the previous minister of the interior, chose to support the DFN against the Vaygr. This caused the Arstotzkan remnants to become even more divided, and prevented them from making a decisive effect on the outcome of the war. While the Vaygr Empire eventually prevailed, admin interference in the conflict resulted in a mass exodus from NASS to other servers like Illusive and Elwyn. After the Vaygr war, many Arstotzkans joined the Lillymu Mercenary Corporation (LMC) as mercenaries. The LMC, while short-lived, was renowned for their brutality and efficiency in their operations. With the dissolution of the LMC many Arstotzkans lost interest in the game and the faction eventually became fully dormant.

Rebirth
In the early months of 3014, Arstotzkan forces in hiding established a base on a french hardcore server to construct new ships and update their fleet tactics. After two months of fleet design and construction, the Arstotzkan Federal Forces moved their primary base of operations to the Hyper-Core server. Immediately upon joining, the Federation found itself under attack by powerful serverside warlords. After a brutal and bloody defensive war, the Federation established an uneasy truce with many of these warlords, with the remaining hostile factions being manageable for the defense forces. Some notable exceptions included a raid by a titanic warship named "Mattise", which was sunk only by the combined efforts of the entire fleet. The federation remained on Hypercore until the universe reset, with interest in the server dying shortly afterwards. After leaving Hypercore, the Federation migrated from server to server, ranging from Shattered Skies to Elwyn Eternity.

Helkan Imperium
The Federation was a charter member of the Helkan Imperium, led by a triumvirate of TwoNiner, Incap, and Comr4de. Due to the size of the Arstotzkan Federation, over half of the Imperium consisted of Arstotzkan citizens, giving Comr4de considerable leverage in executive decisions. The Federation maintained their own elite strike fleet, dubbed "The Red Lancers". The Red Lancers were found at the forefront of every Helkan combat operation, serving as the vanguard of the Helkan Navy. Eventually the Red Lancer fleet grew to eclipse the mainstream Helkan fleet. Internal tensions within the Imperium reached a head when the newly-completed Imperial Flagship Myoko was painted in Red Lancer colors and operated under the control of the Red Lancers. With internal tensions at its peak, the Helkan Imperium dissolved and the Arstotzkan Federation declared independence once more, albeit with several new warships and the entire Imperial treasury.

Terran Gossamer Technocracy
Hot off the heels of their independence from HI, the Federation joined the Terran Gossamer Technocracy, a newly formed coalition of previous engineer factions. Their entry was accepted with the leverage of their extensive combat experience and exceptional work ethic. Again, the Federation remained a semi-autonomous entity with their own combat forces, dubbed the Zyklon Fleet. Despite promising beginnings, TGT's life was brief, and folded some few weeks later.

Demographics
Arstotzka was originally formed as a faction to accommodate interested players from the Blockland forums. As the faction expanded, so did the diversity of its membership. This included members of the /vg/ space voxel games general and mainstream StarMade players. The current population is made up primarily of Blocklanders and 4channers. Arstotzka is considered the default faction for /egg/, or Engineering Games General on 4chan.

Military
The Mandate's primary expenditure is to its navy. Their current fleet consists of legacy designs from the Helkan empire and new ships designed specifically for modern Formiden. Modern Formiden doctrine emphasises fleet tactics and small ship combat as opposed to capital ship battlegroups. Vessels listed with * indicate Helkan legacy fleet. Ships have been updated to modern standards, however, their aesthetic design is a product of the Helkan Empire's Red Lancers.

The Mandate also has a small naval aviation group.