The Free Worlds League is an association of independent systems located in the Eastern regions of the stellar neighborhood. It was officially established in 2198 and currently includes the Human colonies in the 61 Cygni, Altair, and Gliese 876 star systems.
Although all three systems have maintained an interdependent affiliation with Hoshi Enterprises, the colonists themselves have developed very distinctive cultures, opinions, and local mannerisms. Early on in their history, each colony organized their own separate provincial governments which still answered directly to the United Earth Conglomerate. Most of their interactions with each other were limited to business transactions and trade negotiations, but that would all change by the end of the 22nd century.
When the Brekka made first contact with the Humans in the Altair system, the people of 61 Cygni sent emissaries of their own; eager to cultivate a beneficial relationship with this peaceful alien race. The Altairians and the Cygnians both shared similar views with the Brekka concerning the sanctity of life and the interconnected nature of the universe. Even when the Brekka chose to distance themselves, these two systems remained the only Human colonies that they continued to associate with.
During the prolonged conflict with the Zendathu, the Cygnians were reluctantly drawn into the war and relied heavily on the other two colonies for support. The Gliese 876 colony contributed much of the metal ore used for construction as well as a few hundred volunteers willing to fight for the cause. The Altair colony provided a seemingly limitless energy resource and later became the location of Hoshi Enterprises’ primary shipyard for the fleet. Brought together by a common enemy, they quickly realized how much they needed each other in this time of crisis.
After the war, the UEC began to institute many unpopular mandates; causing several systems to declare their independence. Refusing to accept any further losses, Earth’s corporate empire began to tighten its grip on all of its remaining colonies and even attempted to establish marshal law in the Gliese 876 system. Fortunately, the Cygnians arrived in time to defend their sister colony and force an end to the corporate takeover.
Outraged over what they viewed as a blatant act of aggression; representatives from 61 Cygni, Gliese 876, and the Altair system convened at the Inagaki outpost to establish a mutual alliance which pledged each colony to defend the others if hostile situations ever arose. This Free Worlds League was not intended to function as a new government for these colonies. Instead, each system retained its own individual government, but now had more of an incentive to rely on each other. Using their combined strength as leverage, they also declared their official separation from the UEC in exchange for relinquishing all of their corporate assets in the Sol system.
To this day, all three colonies continue to avoid dealing with the UEC unless absolutely necessary. Instead, they have focused on developing their own independent populist societies while using their individual strengths to support the league as a whole.