Colonial Administrative Authority

"'Pacem dare, ne bellum.' - the motto of the Colonial Administrative Authority"The undisputed centralized governmental power in human space, the CAA is a regulatory body created to ensure that colonists rights were protected and that all colonies followed a specific standard. The CAA is an international organization comprised of delegates from most national superpowers - giving it supreme and total jurisdiction over all human territory. In addition to it's administrative and logistical power, the CAA also operates an extensive paramilitary branch comprising of the Colonial Marshalls, Colonial Intelligence Service, and the Colonial Merchant-Marines - intended to enforce the CAA's authority and laws, and also to render humanitarian aid. The jurisdiction of the CAA is total, meaning that it can freely investigate, arrest, or move around any colony or territory.

History
Founded in 2142, following the McKellan Disaster - in which over two hundred colonists died due to an unfortunate combination of equipment malfunctions and a total lack of health-safety concerns by the colony's corporate government - the Colonial Administrative Authority was established by the five major superpowers on Earth as both a humanitarian organization and a regulatory commission to ensure that colonies followed standard health and safety regulations. It's role in human space expanded shortly to encompass law enforcement and criminal investigations after a string of armed uprisings and the Corporate Sphere's flat refusal to abide by CAA regulations during the 2170s.

During this period, the so-called Five Year War started when the corporate-backed Outer Sphere Alliance, a loose confederation of various, wealthier colonies, closed their ports to the CAA and officially declared succession on March 5th, 2178. TerraGov bestowed the CAA with emergency military powers and issued an ultimatum to the OSA to unconditionally surrender in exchange for clemency, which was promptly ignored. Deliberate information manipulation by the OSA's corporate backers led TerraGov to believe that the colonists only had a weak, makeshift fleet defending their systems- and thus decided to attempt to end the uprising as painless as possible, ordering the 1st Enforcement Fleet to make an unshielded jump directly into the OSA's home system. The colonists turned out to have a rather large fleet of advanced warships, assembled entirely in secret and staffed by professional mercenaries from the Outer Rim. The 1st Fleet was wiped out, leading to further escalations by both TerraGov and the CAA against the rebellious colonies.

The pivotal turning point of the War occurred during the Battle of Yarrow's Rift, when TerraGov's 3rd Home Guard Fleet was effectively surrounded near Yarrow's Rift, a remote system with an abundance of asteroids. The 3rd managed to hold out long enough for the 2nd Enforcement Fleet to perform an emergency jump into the system and encircle much of the OSA's forces. The battle caused heavy causalities on both sides, but largely broke the back of the rebel naval forces - as much of their capital-class ships, such as their carriers and cruisers, were destroyed. The War then shifted into the OSA's home systems, causing unprecedented amounts of collateral damage to the worlds as the aristocracy attempted to stubbornly hold onto their territories, resulting in frequent usage of orbital bombardment and planetary landings. The final stretches of the Five Year War, 2183, destabilized or destroyed so much of the territory's infrastructure that it still remains a largely lawless, unstable area to the present day.

The remainder of the OSA's leadership and military forces surrendered on June 16th, 2183 - although some elements continued to resist until 2195. With the situation stabilized, TerraGov added a paramilitary arm to the CAA to allow them to enforce their regulations without assistance from Earth. This included the Colonial Marshalls, to enforce international law, the Intelligence Service, to investigate crimes, and the Merchant-Marines, the naval arm of the Marshalls. The CIS, during their investigation of the war, discovered links to various major corporations - leading to a major criminal trial in which over five companies had their assets seized and liquidated for their involvement. The rest were let off with severe fines and restrictions to prevent the situation from ever occurring again.