Alperia

==Geography and Environment ==

Alperia was mostly inhospitable land consisting of high mountain ranges, arid plains, deserts, and a few fertile zones and coniferous forests. If it were not for the vast natural resources that where located under it or the industrially-capable and technologically advanced populace living on it, Alperia would have never been a Drakite province, likely set to be conquered by the Warpians and subjugated like so many others. The Drakites however did not needlessly conquer and instead built the weakened proto-Alperia (once the North American Alliance) up to its former glory, constructing new cities and greatly expanding existing ones. As people moved back to the cities for economic reasons and as Alperia became the home for millions of specialists and workers transplanted by the empire it grew densely-populated. By the time of the assassination of the emperor; Alperia was the most densely populated of the territories and its people had built its cities into their own massive artificial geography. In the land-grab afterward, Alperia expanded its control considerably, making it the second-largest nation on the planet (second to TWP) and controlling most of the former United States, Canada, and parts of Mexico. Since then however Alperia has seceded a considerable deal of southern and eastern land in the wake of the Exodus, reducing its overall territorial holdings but still maintaining large country.

Due to the geological changes caused by the great fault Alperia is mostly arid plains/rocky desert, mountains, prairie and coniferous forest (primarily the areas that were Canada and Alaska), with speckling of other biomes throughout; in sharp contrast to the massive diversity it had pre-fault. Apart from the natural biomes, Alperia is dominated by one man-made one; urban sprawl. Alperia has more square miles of city and suburb than any other nation on the planet by several orders of magnitude. Rural living is unheard of, with any “rural” area being held by corporations performing automated mining or farming of genetically modified crops.

Alperian cities are known for being unconventional, they are miles and miles of widely spaced city clusters that are considered part of “the network,” at the center of each “section” (Alperian states or territories) is a mega-city…which is as its name suggests (mega-cities are surrounded by “the network”). The areas untouched still have the same relative ecology they possesed before the Fault, usually the areas up-north in what was once Canada due to the mega-cities being more prominent in the former American west-coast, east-coast and Midwest. Alperia is also has a bit of a reputation for being extremely hot most of the year, primarily in the urban areas that aren’t costal, often not dipping below 70F even in winter. White uncomfortably sweltering for many foreigners, heat is something most Alperians revel in.

Depite the best efforts of the Alperian Government and GSC forces, even Alperia has not remained untouched by the blight that is Infor and its genetic heritage, quite the reverse; Alperians have to put up with more Infor-derived animals and plants than most nations to the point that it has started to become viewed as "normal" and decorative Inforian trees and potted plants are often cultivated in citizen's gardens. While Alperians detest everything Inforian, the reality of the situation has lead to many attempts to modify their natural virulence, leading to some success in the form of the new breeds of decorative plants and assorted crops intended for huamn consumption. These numerous "decorative" plants and even animals have led to many visitors describing Alperian ecology as "unsettlingly manicured", with almost everything seemingly placed there with the intent of aesthetics; a rumor that is often true as letting anything with Inforian genetics grow unmolested will cause far more problems than it solves. Despite the "unnatural" nature of Alperian ecology, none will dispute its beauty and Alperians deliberaly select the most colorful and elegant bioforms to breed cultivars from. As a symbol of this begrudging unity, many suburban streets are lit by bioluminescent fungal colonies and plants at night in place of lampposts and the more upscale suburbs tend to go so far as to utilize Inforian cultivars in architecture.

==Government ==

The Alperian government is a bizarre one, formed from what was left of the North American nations and the ensuing corporate-technocratic city-states after the fall. Due to the dominance of business and academics in the industrial and technological bases of the old United States, when Alperia finally succeeded from the Empire and “regained” its cultural identity it quickly set up a form of government emulating the pre-Drakite era.

The Alperian Technocracy is divided into 4 branches; Judicial, Legislative, Executive and Advisory. The Judicial branch consists of the courts and much like pre-fault nations serves to both punish criminals but also to determine if laws are constitutional. The remaining branches however; are what really set Alperia apart.

The Alperian Legislative and Executive branches are dominated by automated systems, unlike pre-fault nations which tended to be infested with bloated and wasteful bureaucracy that both corrupts and spends excessive amounts of money. The Alperian Legislative branch is unicameral, consisting only of a senate of 3 elected officials for each of the 45 (formerly 62) Alperian “sections”; a “section” is defined by the presence of a “mega-city” (which its self is defined by a certain economic output and size) rather than population or any other means as Alperia draws lines based on economics. Senators are elected every 4 years by the public in open voting that is open to any individual possessing a university education and owning property (general local voting is open to everyone). The Legislative branch does as its name suggests, it draws up laws, amendments, passes bills and helps along other changes. The Senate is led by the non-partisan Smart-AIs “Juno” and “Minerva” who acts as the Speakers of the House (or Senate) due to their status as an AI. Juno and Minerva also run the entire bureaucracy of the Legislative branch, with each senator only having very small numbers of human staff.

The Executive branch consists of the President, his Second (not vice president, the “second” is powerless and only there in-case then president is in some way disposed) and the “Permanent Executive Assistant” who is the Smart-AI Juno, in addition to only a few assistants as the former "cabinet" or "ministerial" jobs are covered by the Advistory branch. Juno was instated for the role of helping to run the nation because she is a machine; after looking back at the political debacles that plagued human government before and after the Fault the Alperian people tried their hand at electing an AI to the government, after two legendarily popular terms the constitution was re-written to replace the VP with Juno and to give her a theroretically limitless service term. The President is not publically elected, instead picked from the Legislative and Advisory branches, all of whom vote to select the next president from among the Senators or Councilors. The President serves a 6-year term and can be re-elected without limitation; however no Alperian president has served more than one term. The Alperian president is both less and more powerful than presidents or prime ministers such as those who served the pre-fault nations. The veto process is much more intricate, but the president is also treated like the true head of the government and not a glorified figurehead. The president and Juno have the final say in almost all matters. It may also be noted that the president is not considered the commander-in-chief of the Alperian military by default, however they may be given military command if he/she served and retired from the military with a pay-grade of OF-7 or higher (this has yet to happen however so there is no real legal precedent). Below the president, Juno and the second are the two chancellors (also voted in similar to the President) who act as the president’s “organic” advisors. After them come the various High-Councilors who are considered part of the executive branch in terms of succession or “importance” due to the High-Councilors performing a similar role to the various “Secretaries” of the United States’ government.

The final branch is the Advisory, which is roughly tied with the Executive branch for small size. The Advisory branch started with very little actual power, serving only to "advise" the other branches but eventually grew to be the "Voices of the AI" meaning they have limited veto power over the Leglislative branch. Since many of the AIs run actually run the nation’s…everything, the Advisors fill an…advisory role to the rest of the government and therefore lack formal power otherwise. The Advisory branch does as its name describes, it advises all the other branches and is filled with many of Alperia’s greatest minds who serve short; 3-year informal terms. The Advisory branch is elected academically, only academics in the field of the councilors or high-councilor may vote in that election, for example; only people who hold extensive degrees in biological sciences may vote on the Councilors or High-Councilor of Virology. Each scientific, technical or mathematical field (there are roughly 5 dozen; including medicine, economics, metallurgy, computer engineering, agriculture, etc) has a High-Councilor, who is considered; more or less one of the best men or women in that field, and 5 Councilors below them who; while considered second to the High-Councilor are still highly respected in their field. It is considered an extreme honor to be selected for candidacy for a job in the Advisory Branch and most people are actually voted-in via write-in election. While significant academic skill is a requirement for any position in the Alperian government, the Advisory branch is a step above; and filled with some of the world’s most brilliant minds. The actual service is somewhat informal, while the Councilors and High-Councilors do have a meeting chamber in Mechanis they are mostly free to live where they want and only have to meet as a group once a month. They are also free to continue their other jobs since their job is simply to send some mails to help educate people on how they think a bill should be voted on (more or less).

As one may be able to tell the federal government dominates the Alperian government completely, with sections able to manage themselves but still deferring to the Federal government for anything important. This causes some chafing but Alperia explicitly focused on sections being centered around mega-cities so that they are all relatively homogenous, plus the AI that run Alperia help to make sure every section gets treated like individuals despite all the federal control. It may also be noted that due to the limited nature of Alperian official’s elections, serious limits have been places placed on campaign contributions to limit excessive influence by special interests and corporate entities.

==Demographics == Once a highly heterogeneous and populous nation, filled with the former citizens of North America as well and descendents of the millions of refugees from after the Fault, the First Drakite War and the reconstruction; Alperia has become the reverse in recent decades after the historically disruptive political turmoil during the "Cybernetic Enlightment" and the "Equality Riots." When the nation was still nothing but an alliance of states during the interregnum era it will still fairly diverse, being built upon the corpse of the United States; but during the reign of the Drakite Empire it became a repository for all the best engineers, scientists and corporate minds from across the empire as well as their families and the refugees fleeing the far worse-off parts of the world. Later; after the First Drakite War it became a haven for even more immigrants during the Reconstruction, and Alperia was more than willing to find room for more workers and thinkers to fill the depleted nation and help regain its former glory. For decades Alperia was much like it's ancestor during the early 1900's; diverse and accepting with a powerful economy assuring that unemployment and general happiness was high, but all this ended with the so-called "Cybernetic Enlightenment."

Since the 2130's, tensions had been rising between the regular citizens and "Augs"; people willing to accept more extreme genetic and cybernetic modifications than the norm. Alperians were no strangers to cybernetics and almost all at this time were cyborgs, a neural implant and a dose of nanites being considered the standard package for all newborns since the late 21th century; however Augs were somethign different, people willing to replace most of their body with assorted artifical limbs and organs, or cut out half of their brain and replace it with a computer, test-tube babies engineered to be "perfect" in every way by their parents or even the few willing to completly shed the human form and adopt a new mechanical body totally alien in form and function. These citizens were far more productive, with one able to do the jobs of several lesser citizens; further aggravated by the ever-rising automation of most tasks it eventually started to cause a massive spike in unemployment, shattering Alperia's formerly untouched standard of living, small income gap and social wellfare programs. The problem became more and more serious until it exploded in 2141 with the "Dual Revolutions," a pair of social upheavals on opposite ends of the spectrums. The Cybernetic Enlightenment was a transhumanist movement followed by augs and people wanting to become one; these people viewed heavy modifications as inevetable and the destiny of humanity, more and more people became augs out of either ideological loyalty or a wish to remain competitive in the job market. On the other hand you had the "Equalitists", mostly those who couldn't afford modifications or were unwilling to go to such extremes, somewere those that became disgusted by the Augs and rejected their own implants (even if this meant crippling themselves); reasons varied for being an Equalitist, anywhere from religious dogma to technophobia to plain humanism to a belief in social justice. These two revolutions in thought eventually duked it out during the "Augmentation Riots"; the months-long violent "civil war" fought by both sides on the streets of Alperian cities across the nation. The Augmentation Riots ended in thousands dead and many more injured, with hate crimes being enacted on both sides of the riots, hundreds of businesses were burned and homes invaded; resulting in the deployment of Alperian armored infantry and drone forces across the nation in an unprecedented show of force. With the AIs, the government and the military technically backing the outnumbered and (slightly more) victimized augs, the riots were on the verge of becoming some sort of full-blown revolution and succession crisis, so the AIs worked with the government to propose a controversial answer; Alperia would cede land to form new nations and it would construct cities for these new nations in addition to the cities seceded. While radical, it was determined to be the only outcome that didn't end in more bloodshed and so the idea was proposed to the general populace; groups were formed, leaders were selected, and cities were built. By the 2150s over 67% of the former Alperian population had immigrated to any of the 3 major progeny-states, new city-states, microstates and other GSC and LIN nations. The loss of such a huge chunk of the population barely impacted Alperia, with it now devling ever-deeper into automated systems and cybernetics. Historical revisionists have cast a different light on this period however, with some claiming that the AIs and Alperia's leaders pushed-for and fostered the riots behind the scenes with the expressed purpose of eventually "kicking out" all the poor and undesireable citizens of the country, as well and removing those unwilling to accept the Enlightenment.

Since this great exodus, Alperia has moderated a bit; with some of the extremism of the Cybernetic Enlightenment blamed on reflexive social behavior towards the baseline humans and equalists that persecuted them, regardless; with the loss of so many people, many of them lower-class; Alperia has become much more culturally homogenous and a bit less ethnically diverse, especially compared to what it once had. Alperians are universally seen as being unbearbly over-informed, elitist, condescending and general smart-asses; however Alperians are also known for being helpful and diplomatic on the international stage, even if they keep most of their secrets for themselves. Alperia has no offical language, while english is the at-home language of 99% of the population, any Alperian with the right uploads and implants can technically speak any language fluently (if a bit simply) meaning that it not uncommon to see families or groups of friends use a particular language "for fun" in social conversation. Ever since the exodus the Alperian economy has only grown, leaving a very small population holding most of the worldwide wealth, it goes without saying that Alperian standard of living is sickeningly high and some social justice groups have been trying to get their fellow Alperians to reduce their standard of living a tad and donate more to international wellfare, which has had varying levels of success, as well as to reduce the overall personal spending which is viewed as overly-materialistic and self-obsessed.

Crime in Alperia is almost entirely white-collar due to the nature of culture and the economy in recent times; with practically no unemployment and an educated population that is unlikely to stay unemployed for long, instead of someone committing a blue-collar crime to get by, you're much more likely to see credit fraud, electronic robbery, embezzling, insider trading and money laundering committed by affluent individuals or those wishing to become more affluent. While as a whole crime per capita has gone down drastically since the Pre-Fault or even relative to a century ago, these crimes are still a problem that often affect dozens, hundreds or thousands of people rather than just one or two at a time, leading the AIs (particularly Themis, although the others help) and the justice system to crack down hard on criminals regardless of whether it was a violent crime or not. As such; punishments in the Alperian legal system are unconventional, Alperia has few prisons but many more "facilities," designed for the purpose of being a rehabilitation center where those incarcerated within must watch philosophical lectures, attend seminars and be part of mutual aid groups in addition to manual labor (a forigen concept to Alperians) and conventional counseling. The idea is to change the mindset that led to the crime rather than directly punish, for this; Alperia's federal prisons are saved for only the most derranged or dangerous criminals who are most likely waiting out life sentences, anyone with a lesser offense is sent to one of the rehab facilities. While success has been great with this system, the Alperian penal system has been accused of illegally modifying cybernetics, depriving prisoners of mobility-enhancing implants, brainwashing, and psychological abuse; all of which have been denied by the government.

==Medicine ==

Healthcare in Alperia is socialized due to its extremely low costs, seeing as how Alperian medical techniques are extremely advanced; with a heavy use of robotics, lasers, computer interfaces, and advanced techniques create a very high success rate for even the most invasive surgeries. The costs saved on labor due to computerization and resources due to general technological advancements mean everyone can afford all but the strangest operations. Organ cloning is also used often for critically damaged or infected organs, and most Alperian citizens over 40 have at least some cloned tissue (like skin, hearts, or livers).

Some of the more “extreme” medical practices are a hallmark of Alperian living, the foremost is cybernetics, all Alperians born since around 2088 have a cybernetic implant installed in their cerebellum by the time they are 5 months, the semi-organic computer grows with the person throughout their lifetime and allows them to command electronics (like TVs, computers, or toasters) with thought. Older citizens can opt for accelerated growth implants too, free of charge. While the basic implant is provided free by the government, numerous upgrades are also offered for additional fees by numerous companies; including everything from compete photographic recall, to telepathy with other telepathically upgraded people (although that one is very rare). All Alperians are also injected with a “dose” of nanites during the cybernetic surgery; these nanobots also grow with the individual and maximize the efficiency of the body in every conceivable way, even the average Alperian will live a far greater span than the unagumented, and are faster, stronger, healthier and able to recover faster than citizens of any other nation.

Advanced prosthetics are another option to a cloned body part (and rapidly surpassing said cloned organs in popularity), not to mention that voluntary non-emergency cybernetic replacements are considered near-mandatory with some people bordering on being post-humans with a near-addiction to cybernetic and biological enhancement. On that note, genetic therapy is another popular science used to fix genetic conditions (or in some cases; enhance). en-utero or "synthetic womb" therapy which can fix everything from genetic disposition for shortsightedness to a weakness toward developing cancer is a highly popular option, often tests and “operations” are performed with the same percentage of parents wanting to know what gender their child will be in other nations. While Alperians prefer cybernetics to genetic modification; due to the stigma associated with genetics coming from the issues with the Infor, it’s still a very powerful field capable of many brain-bending feats. The advanced medical system means that many from other countries often come to Alperia for treatment to cure particularly complex or unique ailments. White it may seem utopian, one must remember that Alperia is everything it is due to science and trade, a somewhat delicate balance if one looks at it the right way.

==Education ==

A good education is considered the single most important thing a youth can be given during the informative years. Alperian schools are heavily state-funded and are given access to the absolute best resources available. Alperian children are given extensive grooming in math, the sciences, government, history, engineering and business/economics, while the arts and language are left to be considered basic forms of education; however language classes are taught until the 12th grade and most Alperians are taught numerous languages to stay competitive in the international field. Alperian colleges (mostly free to students) and standardized testing are set to what other nations might call “insanely” high standards, however; Alperian students have the highest graduation ratio of any nation and are often considered the brightest in the world from their extensive education.

==Economy and Science ==

Alperian economy is a “social market” (which is to say, regulated capitalism) and based entirely on the export and production of high-quality, high-tech, and large scale industrial and domestic products. A number of the world’s greatest scientific research firms are also based in Alperia, as the advancement of technology and science is considered paramount by the Alperian government, many companies base themselves out of Alperia for the sake of large benefits and tax breaks. The Alperian economy is one of the most successful in the world and Alperian citizens have the highest standard of living known. To say it bluntly (and save time) it can pretty much be said that Alperian are addicted to the advancement of technology and that most jobs are devoted to the advancement of some kind of technology. Alperia turns out a massive per-capita of scientists, doctors and engineers, who often find little issue getting a job employed in a firm either locally-based or for forigen branches. This is what has made Alperia what it is today and most Alperians see technological obsession to be the very hallmark of what makes an Alperian an Alperian. --Note: Alperians are the first (and currently only) to develop Smart AIs working off a dynamic memory-processor matrix, meaning they can not only be taught a vast wealth of information, but can learn and comprehend from their surroundings, and are able of thinking creatively. Much more common however are "static intelligences" (SI) which are much like conventional computers but have the advantage of very advanced GUIs, an exceptionally long list of parameters, and unusually-fast processing power. SIs can come close to duplicating the external performance of a true AI but are incapable of actually learning, only making slight adaptations to parameters within another set of parameters. SIs are given class names, with the first letter of the class dictating the intelligence based on a scale, with A being the “smartest” and Z being the “dumbest” (an Algonquin-class AI is faster and capable of more than a Gerald-class AI). SIs are found just about everywhere and are simply a part of Alperian society, government, and military; most households for example contain a variable-class AI to operate machinery and assist its occupants.

==Infrastructure ==

Alperian cities are heavily engineered so that the aesthetics, efficiency and durability of a city are never compromised. Since a huge amount of Alperian land is covered in some kind of urban or suburban sprawl and mining facilities or factories, cities are designed to not only concentrate the high population comfortably; but also to look pleasing as most Alperians rarely get away from them. Alperian architecture tends to be highly organic in influence; sweeping slopes, curved shells, and (synthetic) stone rather than concrete pathways are all hallmarks of Alperian design. In stark contrast to the urban areas of other nations; Alperian cities have wide, spacious streets, well lit alleys, thoroughly cleaned buildings and roads, glittering high-rises, interconnected buildings, large parks and green spaces and extensive gardens and planted pathways. Alperia is also known for its mega-architecture and hyperstructures; with most of the world’s largest and tallest buildings in the world calling Alperia their home (often by several orders of magnitude). Alperia has also dabbled in layered cities, pyramid-cities, and even orbital-elevator theories. High levels of energy efficiency are mandatory for building designs and often include features such as air purifying greenhouses on the roof, this coupled with extensive use of low-emission and renewable energy resources, fusion power plants, and an extremely well-funded mass-transit system (94% of Alperians make use of some PT system at least once a day) make Alperian air and ecology some of the purest (if you don’t mind the heat). Factories, docks, some personal services and menial labor are mostly automated since most citizens are employed in business, R&D companies, engineering firms, or medical technologies/fields. The beauty of Alperian cities also functions as a tourist attraction, since the unique architecture; designed to look pleasing, is appealing to most visitors, even those from other industrialized nations/cities, and this somewhat compensates for the lack of natural wonders the mountainous and mostly arid land Alperia is located on offers. Apart from the above ground building; a number of buildings are built underground and a few cities are even built into the sides of mountains and extend throughout them (mainly port cities). As described in the Government and Geography system Alperia has mega-cities surrounded by the semi-urban-semi-suburban “network” which are very wide clusters of vertically-constructed cities within eyesight of one-another. Most individuals live in the network, while being employed in mega-cities and commute via train to get to work each day. Mega-cities contain most of Alperia’s business and industry while the network contains most of the livable space, entertainment, shopping and tourism.

==Foreign Policy and Trade == Trade has always been important to Alperia and its export of the world's finest technological and electronic goods are what keep it at the top of the GDP charts. Alperia's primary exports are complex technological machinery, electronics, appliances, computers and software; Alperia also makes a considerable deal of money in the service industry as its scientific and engineering firms are often hired by other nations to perform problem solving or R&D. The nation's advanced space program and control of the asteroid-mining business also make Alperia a massive supplier of specific rare minerals and services regarding orbital transport (such as satellite installing). Import-wise; Alperians are known for their consumption of earth-metals and luxury goods, along with assorted heavy machinery and equipment (primarily imported from the Protectorate).

Alperia has always had a somewhat controversial foreign policy. Originally Alperia was a crusader; willing to go to war with any nation that threatened global stability or treated its citizens without basic dignity. As time changed however so did Alperia and its citizens, as Alperia grew into a technological, economic and scientific powerhouse bar none its citizens grew elitist and haughty and while even to this day support is offered around the world and Alperia will stand up for other’s rights if necessary it is always done in subtly condescending way at best. Alperia also no longer will wage a war on principle and has grown obsessive with the proper channels and reasons for going to war, becoming ever-more withdrawn and beholden to rules. Alperia’s most controversial choice however is their declaration of sovereignty over earth’s orbit and space. With few exceptions, no nations are allowed anything but civic satellites and space travel is strictly prohibited unless under direct Alperian authorization. Alperia controls space and has done so for years under the premise of them protecting the world from its self, and that they are the only ones worthy of the power that is control of earth’s orbit.

As the co-founder of the Global Security Coalition, Alperia sees its self as the center of the modern world, and often uses that to its advantage, its massive economic and political sway combined with being the nation whose law-makers chartered over 90% of the original New Holstice Convention and the leader of the International Stability Council (the “leaders” of the whole GSC General Assembly, akin to the UN Security Council) means what it says usually passes with little issue, and with very little public opposition to its actions. This has led to many outside the GSC to state that Alperia is tyrannical…an arguable point, however not one likely to be agreed upon by most of the long-term members publically or privately.

==Armed Forces == Main Article: Alperian Armed Forces

Unlike most militaries, the Alperian armed forces are almost entirely disconnected from the public they serve as the only fully-organic members of the assorted branches are technicians and engineers, flag officers (many of whom are still full-body cyborgs) and the rare crew members of heavy armor, naval warships and patrol vessels. Despite this disconnection and the military's current lack of heavy mobilization it consumes absolutely massive amounts of tax credits due to the sheer expense per-unit and the rather impressive size of the standing army; a necessity in these times of constant war, plague and threat of invasion. The Alperian military is characteristic of its people; informed, cold, distant, effecient, and unerringly capable...and possessing expensive tastes; the Alperian government spends more money on its military (including the military-controlled federal assets in space) than any other nation currently, even more than the culturally militant Warpian Protectorate in both gross expenditures and percentage of GDP.

Service in the Alperian military is voluntary with no plans for a conscription system given the extreme nature of the enhancements required by organics wishing to become combat platforms and vehicle operators, as such; in terms of number of deployed servicemen and women the Alperian military is far behind most GSC nations, with even small LIN and IP nations easily surpassing the few thousand base guards, tankers and wetware platforms. Making up for this however are legions of drones coming in hundreds of models, makes and variants. With the exception of Alperia's unique "aerial warships" and a few heavy MBT models, all their AFVs and aircraft are completely automated and for every wetware platform there are a dozen-dozen automated infrantry analogues ranging from light tanks to small drones the size of a large spider. Despite a small navy and a technically small ground compliment the Alperia air force is huge, easily surpassing all air forces past or present by several orders of magnitude. Consisting of dozens of "aerial warships", hundreds of fighters and thousands of gunships, the Alperian air force is so massive as to fill many roles found in other nation's armored divisions, navies and marines.

The largest employer of actual servicemen and women in a non-support capacity is the navy, which; while a shadow of its former self still maintains and operates the 6 "offshore semi-mobile artificial islands" as well as operating several dozen submarines and many more defense frigates and heavy cruisers. As a whole, the Alperian military employs close to 1.3 million "citizens" (not including wetware platforms) in assorted roles. Supplementing these however are several PMCs and mercenary groups based in Alperia who, unlike most nations; are employed regularly as occupation and rebuilding security forces, as the Alperian military is not known for winning hearts and minds nor does it want to waste valuable wetware platforms or drones on standing around. While lightly criticized by many nations for this practice, Alperia is quick to remind the international community that its PMCs are held to the highest standard and tightly regulated to prevent abuse.