Alliance 2517

The Verse contains 5 main sequence stars, each with its own planetary system: White Sun (Bai Hu, central Core), Georgia (Huang Long, Border), Red Sun (Zhu Que, Border), Kalidasa (Xuan Wu, Rim), and Blue Sun (Qing Long, outermost Rim). Additionally, 7 brown dwarfs were helioformed into protostars between 2258-2273, providing supplementary heat for outer moons. The entire cluster is gravitationally bound as a single multi-star system designated 34Tauri(2020).

Population: 303e9. Estimated per-person power by region: Core (40B): ~30,000 W/person (advanced tech, terraforming maintenance). Border (150B): ~7,500 W/person (moderate tech). Rim (113B): ~2,000 W/person (frontier conditions). Weighted average: ~8,400 W/person (vs Earth 2023: 2,200 W/person, about 3.8x more).

Total power: 303e9 x 8,400 = 2.55e15 W. Kardashev: log10(2.55e15) / 10 - 0.6 = 0.94, rounded to 0.95.

Min (5,000 W/person): 1.5e15 W, K = 0.85. Max (30,000 W/person): 9.1e15 W, K = 1.05.

TV Tropes analysis estimates 10^15 to 10^17 W based on Serenity's power output, consistent with this range. Helioforming 7 brown dwarfs suggests peak capabilities above baseline, but everyday tech (ballistic weapons, fuel-cell ships, no FTL) is modest for science fiction.

Total terraformed habitable worlds: 215 (75 planets + 149 moons). Count from the Official Map of the Verse. All have been terraformed to support human life, though quality varies widely from the lush Core worlds to barely habitable Rim settlements.

The Verse is a compact multi-star cluster. A Class 10 pulse drive (fastest available) can cross it in about 25 days at sublight speed. Assuming speeds in the range of 0.01c to 0.1c, the cluster diameter is roughly a few hundred AU, or on the order of 0.01 light-years. The real-world astrophysical analysis at planetplanet.net shows the system would need to be fairly compact to remain gravitationally bound.

Westminster-style Parliament on Londinium with a Prime Minister. Representatives are drawn from planetary systems. The Parliament complex is described as big as a small city. Outside the Core, local governance operates through planetary governors and magistrates appointed by Parliament.

Total population of the Verse derived from the Official Map of the Verse supplementary material. The Core worlds (White Sun system) account for about 40 billion, with the remaining 260+ billion spread across Border and Rim worlds. The original 252.5 million colonists departed Earth-That-Was around 2097, growing to 303 billion over roughly 400 years (~1.7% annual growth rate).

TL 7: Fusion. The Alliance operates gravity manipulation drives, has terraformed hundreds of worlds, and helioformed brown dwarfs into protostars. Bioengineering is advanced enough to produce psychic operatives (the Academy program). However, there is no FTL, no nanotechnology, no energy shields, and personal weapons remain ballistic. The most advanced individual technology (gravity manipulation, mass terraforming, helioforming) sits squarely at TL 7.

The Verse is located at the star cluster designated 34Tauri(2020), roughly 160 light-years from Earth-That-Was. The designation comes from the Official Map of the Verse, a QMx-produced chart endorsed by the show's creators. The cluster contains 5 main sequence stars and 7 helioformed protostars in a gravitationally bound system.

Class 8: Advanced Interplanetary. The Alliance has terraformed over 200 worlds across a multi-star cluster and maintains mature interplanetary civilization with gravity manipulation drives, but lacks FTL travel. Helioforming 7 brown dwarfs into protostars demonstrates significant stellar engineering capability, pushing the upper end of Class 8 without quite reaching Class 9 (which requires FTL).

The Alliance traces its origins to 2060, when the United States and People's Republic of China merged to form the Anglo-Sino Alliance during the exodus from Earth-That-Was. By the snapshot year of 2517, the Alliance has existed for 457 years. The 2060 founding date comes from the licensed RPG sourcebook timeline.