Constitution Station is the capital of the Confederacy of Freelance States and one of the largest stations in Freelance space. What began as an impressive façade built for the signing of the Articles of Confederation has grown over two and a half centuries into a genuine city-station—proof that Freelancers can be stubborn enough to make anything real.
Constitution dominates the orbital space above Ashfeld, a massive structure that dwarfs most stations in human space. The station was designed to impress, and it succeeds—gleaming spires, vast docking arrays, and enough weapons emplacements to give even a battle fleet pause.
The station serves three primary functions:
Seat of Government - The Confederate Assembly meets here, in chambers specifically designed to look legitimate on camera. The various offices, bureaucracies, and quasi-governmental bodies that make up Confederate "administration" are scattered throughout the station.
Trade Hub - Constitution's massive docking capacity and central location make it one of the busiest trade hubs in Freelance space. Goods flow through here from across the galaxy—legal, illegal, and everything in between.
Fleet Anchorage - The station maintains extensive berths for visiting fleets from multiple governments, with segregated sections designed to keep rivals apart. League, Terran, and independent ships can all dock at Constitution, though they're kept at a careful distance from each other.
When the League and NorAellians decided to establish a Confederate capital, they needed to move fast. The station had to be ready for the signing of the Articles of Confederation—ready enough to look real, at least.
Emory Shipwrights and Talbot Yards were contracted to design and build the station, with the NorAellians providing the technological core. The result was Constitution: externally impressive, internally... sparse.
The original station consisted of:
Everything else was empty framework, sealed bulkheads leading to vacuum, and the promise of future expansion.
The chaos of the station's early days came to a head when delegates began fighting over the limited office space. Maggie Harker, a delegate from Ashfeld itself, got into a heated argument with Conrad Mercer, the young representative from the Empire Cluster, over who had claim to a particular office.
When Mercer refused to yield—reportedly making a dismissive comment about "slag pushers"—Harker cold-cocked him.
The punch heard round Freelance space had immediate consequences. The Empire Cluster, humiliated, withdrew from the Confederacy entirely. Harker became an instant folk hero and was unanimously elected Governor of Ashfeld. In a twist that still amuses Freelancers to this day, Harker and Mercer later married, creating an unlikely family connection between the Confederacy and the Empire Cluster.
The delegates refused to leave. More delegates arrived. The station needed to grow.
Fed by Ashfeld's industrial output, Constitution expanded steadily over the following centuries. New sections were built, empty frameworks were filled in, and what was once a hollow shell became a thriving city-station. The expansion never really stopped—somewhere on Constitution, something is always under construction.
Today, Constitution houses nearly 300 million people and serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of the Confederacy.
The oldest part of the station, built around the original NorAellian technological systems. The Core houses critical infrastructure: main reactors, primary life support, central computing, and the command center for the station's formidable defensive systems.
Access to the Core is restricted. The NorAellian tech at its heart is still not fully understood by human engineers, and the Confederacy prefers to keep it that way.
The Grand Assembly Hall and surrounding administrative complex. This is the most polished part of the station—the part that appears in broadcasts and official communications. The Assembly chambers can seat representatives from every Confederate world, though achieving quorum remains a challenge.
The original offices from the station's founding are preserved as a historical site, complete with the dent in the wall where Conrad Mercer's head allegedly made contact.
Constitution's docking facilities are vast, capable of accommodating everything from single-person shuttles to capital ships. The docks are divided into sections:
The Diplomatic Anchorage deserves special note. The station can host multiple foreign fleets simultaneously, with careful separation to prevent incidents. League and Terran vessels can both dock at Constitution—they just never see each other while doing so.
The commercial heart of the station, a sprawling maze of trading floors, merchant stalls, warehouses, and black market dealings that everyone pretends not to notice. If it can be bought or sold, someone on Constitution is buying or selling it.
The station's population lives in a variety of conditions, from luxurious apartments in the upper levels to cramped worker housing in the older sections. The residential districts closest to Ashfeld have a distinctly industrial character—built by Ashfelders, for Ashfelders.
Every station has its underbelly, and Constitution is no exception. The Underneath consists of the older, less-maintained sections of the station—places where the lights flicker, the air recyclers wheeze, and station security rarely ventures. It's home to the desperate, the criminal, and those who simply want to be left alone.
The NorAellians contributed more than just a technological core to Constitution. They also contributed their philosophy of peacekeeping: peace through overwhelming firepower.
Constitution bristles with weapons:
The NorAellians don't understand "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" options. Their contribution to station security was simple: make starting a fight so costly that no one would try. So far, it's worked. The few incidents that have occurred in Constitution's history were ended quickly and decisively.
The station also benefits from borrowed League flight technology, integrated with the weapons systems to provide rapid response capability. Confederate fighter wings can launch and engage within minutes of an alert.
Constitution is the Confederacy in miniature—chaotic, fractious, and somehow functional despite itself. Every culture in Freelance space has a presence here, from Highlands Cluster expatriates to Empire Cluster traders to independent spacers who call no world home.
The station runs on trade, gossip, and a healthy disrespect for authority. Confederate officials are tolerated at best, mocked at worst. The real power on Constitution lies with the merchants, the crime bosses, and the informal networks that actually keep things running.
Despite the chaos, there's a fierce pride in Constitution. This station was supposed to be a façade, a temporary prop for political theater. The fact that it became real, became home to hundreds of millions, became the heart of a government that barely functions but refuses to die—that means something to the people who live here.
The name "Constitution" was chosen by the NorAellians, who appreciated its directness. To them, it meant simply: "This is where the rules are. This is the foundation." That it also referenced the foundational documents of human governments was a bonus.
The irony that a government which barely follows its own rules is headquartered on a station named Constitution is not lost on anyone.