The Founding of MACOFS: The Secret Committee

Type: Narrative — Canon History (Full Dictated Account) Status: Canon (confirmed by creator) — full text preserved per archival standard

This is the detailed, dictated account of MACOFS's actual founding — superseding/elaborating on the shorter summary previously documented on MACOFS's page. See also The MACOFS Constitutional Conference (2005-2006) for the full story of the Conference itself, and The MACOFS Constitution for its actual text.

Late 1994 — The First Meeting

Perold Jonas, Zarkof Androve, Ravel Magrep, Harold Bronson, and others met in seclusion on an island in the inland sea surrounded by Thasula. Their reason for meeting was the imminent civil war looming across the New World Maf Government (NWMG).

The meeting concluded with a plan: each member would travel to different NWMG states to assess the situation from each nation's perspective, and communicate with their own contacts for additional insight. Everyone would reconvene on the island in one month, bringing any guests they felt necessary.

World recovery efforts from World War 3 had been substantially completed by 1994, with a few areas requiring assistance until 1997, and a very few not fully recovering until 2000. By 2004, when the second major meeting took place, WW3 was, to most of the world, becoming just another piece of history.

November 2004 — The Second Meeting

Bronson had traveled to Zambetq and several other states the Desert Empire had allied with during WW3. Androve met with Andrew Johnson in the Desert Empire, and together they traveled to the Republic of Waon, then to Peplle and Jonesboro. Jonas returned to Kila Vas, then traveled to the Empire and several states close to it. Magrep traveled to Thasula and the NUN, then to several states in the EUN.

Their reports were grim:

Bronson: Zambetq was on the verge of open warfare; he was able to dissuade them from action until they heard back from the committee. Several of Zambetq's allies were prepared to follow suit.
Magrep: Ros in the EUN (the nation that started World War 1) and two nations closely associated with it were prepared to begin hostilities within the year.
Jonas: The Empire was about to announce its secession by year's end, but would refrain from action pending the committee's response.
Androve: Andrew Johnson reported he was ready to assume the Presidency "at any moment, if conditions warrant doing so."

Several other people appeared at this meeting, invited by the founding members — academicians, local political leaders, businessmen and women, bankers, farmers, shopkeepers, family men, and religious leaders. Opinions varied (some felt the situation dire, others felt they were "sitting on a powderkeg," others believed dialogue could resolve things) but the consensus was clear: war would come if the situation were not resolved quickly.

Jonas proposed the group meet again in 15 days — the original group only, no guests — promising he would bring a potential solution, but needed time to prepare it.

December 3rd, 2004 — Jonas's Plan

In the intervening 15 days, Zambetq had declared its intention to secede, and several EUN states had announced a military mobilization — ostensibly "just for training purposes," but the first such mobilization since 1987, seventeen years earlier.

Jonas presented his plan: hold another plebiscite in November 2006, the next scheduled NWMG elections. Member nations would choose either to continue or become sovereign nations. Bronson caught the missing phrase: "Continue with — what?" Jonas replied: "Peace."

Then Jonas added: "Peace — and this —" and, appearing out of nowhere, literally all around the group, were beings from many starnations.

Jonas explained: "These are beings from 21 different starnations. All are seeking to form a new starnation, large enough to protect it from others, dependent upon each other for trade, commerce, intellectual pursuits and peace. They hope that the new NWMG, in whatever form it may take after the plebiscite, will join them or, failing that, they will render whatever assistance they can to help us through our current situation — but after the plebiscite. We — they and I — need your help to craft this new nation whether it includes us or not. There is a lot of work to be done, and I aim that Kila Vas, and this world, should be a part of it."

Crafting the Constitution

The group agreed, and over the next few months, Jonas and the beings from two dozen alien civilizations (21 original plus 3 more who later offered assistance) met to craft a Constitution for the new starnation. Jonas persuaded the alien representatives that Kila Vas, being centrally located to all of them, should be the capital — pending Kila Vas's own agreement, which was given.

Androve, Bronson, and the others traveled to the other NWMG states to smooth things over and persuade them to maintain peace, assuring member states that a plebiscite was coming, and that in any case the NWMG would be peacefully extinguished, with each state free to choose sovereignty or the new organization.

Medaris, upon hearing news of the new plebiscite, was initially opposed, then chose to ignore it entirely.

Jonas, Androve, and Johnson, unable to secure several states' (including Zambetq's) support without revealing details, reluctantly divulged the composition of the new nation — met with shock, surprise, and in some cases disbelief.

Bronson returned to the island and became chairman of the group working out the Constitution. Though he often felt out of place, he recognized his importance as the one truly impartial person assembled there — and was instrumental in resolving an early dispute: the nation of "Abrah and Jahulsban," formerly two separate nations that had voluntarily merged, refused to join the newly forming starnation unless they could join separately, effectively doubling their vote. After some haggling, Bronson secured agreement from the other starnations.

Mid-2005 — The IFTR War

Over the course of the NWMG's existence, an interstellar war had been fought: the NWMG fought three wars against the Viachon Empire, losing the first two and winning the third in a stunning victory. In mid-2005, the NWMG made contact with Earth itself — actually, the Interstellar Federation of the Terran Republic (IFTR) — which opened fire. Out in deep space, Maf (the NWMG) lost this conflict, with several thousand NWMG ships destroyed — essentially its entire fleet. But Imperial Negotiators drafted a peace favorable to Kila Vas.

Imperial Negotiators attend graduate school for negotiation for 2 years, then apprentice for an additional 10 years, becoming "Masters." After roughly another 10 years, if chosen by their peers, they may attain the rating of "Grand Master." These negotiators spent months working out the peace treaty between the NWMG and IFTR. The terms seemed fair to both sides at first — but as IFTR examined the details, they discovered they had relinquished control of a chunk of the Milky Way to Kila Vas, leaving Kila Vas free rein in its own galaxy, Snickers. Other restrictions, seemingly fair on the surface, turned out to fall entirely on IFTR upon implementation. This caused internal tension that erupted into civil war a year or two later, and IFTR was dissolved.

IFTR had controlled a good chunk of the Milky Way — Earth had expanded unimpeded across the galaxy for over 2,000 years (since 3100 AD). The civil war threw the entire Milky Way into war.

The Empire of Man

The Milky Way civil war was fought between powerful groups, military entities, and corporations, all vying for control. After a few years, 16 warlords emerged as (almost) undisputed power holders, vanquishing their foes. After 10 years of war against other factions, they hammered out a peace between themselves — sometimes brutal, sometimes bloody — and after another 3 years declared themselves the "Empire of Man," controlling roughly 60-65% of the Milky Way. They declared all IFTR treaties and deals null and void, and wanted revenge against Kila Vas — but after 10 years of brutal war and 3 more years of sporadic fighting, they were not yet ready to face MACOFS's military might.

Lum's Worlds

Under the NWMG, in 2001, 7 cruisers in a single task force of the then-Space Force disappeared without explanation — no hostilities, no reported difficulties, no space/gravity/temporal anomalies in the area. The ships simply vanished, a significant loss to the fledgling space force.

What actually happened: many captains of the fledgling space force were unhappy with a restrictive, authoritarian command structure that dismissed their concerns and reprimanded suggestions. After two years of this, Captain Lum persuaded the other 6 ships under his command to leave Space Force and go "their own way." They crossed space into the Confluence Region — where the Milky Way and Snickers galaxies intersect — and found 7 neighboring solar systems with habitable planets (only one with a few million existing inhabitants), where they founded their own nation: Lum's Worlds.

Space Force searched diligently but declared the task force "lost" after a couple of years. Some who perhaps suspected the truth engineered reforms within Space Force, returning most authority to captains, since they were "on the front lines" and best understood the situations they faced millions of miles — sometimes light-years — from home.

As the NWMG dissolved and Space Force transitioned to Starfleet, the Lum task force's disappearance was overtaken by larger events. Starfleet later declared a blanket amnesty for Captain Lum and his task force; once assured this was genuine, Lum revealed the existence of his nation and its neutrality toward any other nation, especially MACOFS. By then, MACOFS — now a huge starnation — had little concern for Lum, "old news from a nation that no longer existed." Lum's Worlds was accepted as the neutral entity it wished to be in the stellar frontier.

November 2006 — The Plebiscite

The November 2006 plebiscite across the NWMG was complex, requiring 3 days of voting. It determined whether each state would become independent or join the new starnation (with Kila Vas as capital); states near Kila Vas could additionally choose to formally join the city of Kila Vas itself, forming the city-state that would become the new capital. The plebiscite also selected representatives and Senators for the new starnation.

In Kila Vas, one of the Senators chosen was David Jones, a "nephew" of Perold Jonas, who has presidential aspirations of his own.

The new starnation was named MACOFS — "Maf Confederation of Free Societies." ✅ This is the confirmed original meaning of the acronym, per this dictated founding account. The head of state's title, "Coordinator," reflects the belief that the role would primarily involve coordinating the disparate interests of a far-flung starnation and reaching agreement among its members.

The first Coordinator chosen was Shumblaq Eriko, an affable, well-known Kila Vas businessman with an astute grasp of political issues, keenly aware of the challenges of leading a brand-new starnation encompassing over 500 individual planets, each with unique interests, goals, and aspirations.

Military Structure

Each member state within MACOFS maintains its own military. The central authority retains a small military force. Each year, member states assign a portion of their military to serve with the "central force" for periods of one to three years, depending on organization type — highly specialized forces serve longer periods. Starfleet (Starfleet Command) is similarly composed of units from member states, serving for 2, 3, or up to 5-year periods, generally at the unit's own discretion. Many heavy cruisers voluntarily serve 4-5 year terms, renewing their commitment annually, with the option to disengage and return to their home state.

Appearances

Creator-provided detail (ChatGPT export, "Government to Commercial Shift")

Open Questions

Whether "MACOFS" as "Maf Confederation of Free Societies" is consistent with any other acronym expansion used elsewhere in the archive should be checked
The relationship between David Jones (Senator, Jonas's "nephew," presidential aspirations) and any later-established facts about him is not yet fully cross-referenced