So I guess this isn't so much creative writing as it is an information repository for a hypothetical faction, the realization of which I've been wetly anticipating. What follows applies more to the fluff of it rather than how it may appear in-game, however. Most of the content here will include pictures, which can also be found here on my DA.

The Free Systems Confederacy was born from a peoples' desire for freedom from distant masters. The Higgins Cluster- where the home systems of the FSC are based- was once the subject of an international land grab, as various interstellar nations sought to exploit its bounty of resources: as though the lives of the miners who lived there weren't made hard enough by living in a region largely devoid of habitable worlds, their rapidly burgeoning populace piling up on what few terraformed worlds existed there. With overpopulation, isolation and ongoing conflict, revolution filled their minds. However, it wasn't until the conglomerates arrived that their aspirations could be realized.

In exchange for granting them exclusive mining rights to the Higgins cluster, and protection from galactic law, these corporations supplied the rebels with everything they'd need to resist the powers that were, and resist they did. Half a decade of uprising passed before an agreement was finally reached, at least for the time being, and the colonists were granted sovereignty, allowing them to establish a confederation of liberated systems, free from the influence of outsiders.

To this day, the FSC has gained infamy for being suspicious- at best- of anything that isn't them. Often made to defend their modest interstellar domain, their military forces greatly benefit from the abundance of resources found in their home systems, and has become a pivotal aspect of their culture. Their war machine tends to prefer simplicity and ease of manufacture, and often trades advanced energy weapons and lasers for conventional armaments, and similarly, prefer to employ thick armor rather than relying exclusively on energy shielding.

Anti-orbital railgun installation
On worlds where fleets of warships are best deployed elsewhere, the M-337 Haley anti-orbital railgun can be found in abundance. These surface installations, though lacking the elegance and advanced technology of its foreign counterparts, make up in terms of affordability, with such weapons able to be deployed with great density on planets and planetoids that require defense.

Confederate G.I
Basic infantry, armed with basic equipment and given basic training, form the backbone of the armed forces of the Free Systems Confederacy. Versatile, numerous, and relatively expendable, the FSC's general infantrymen- or G.Is- are often drafted from the civilian populace. After their compulsory tour of duty, many return home broken and empty, as no part of their training prepares them for the horrors many of them encounter in battle.

EB-7 Lynx bomber
The FSC navy initially figured that any function fulfilled by the fighters and bombers of any other fleet could be fulfilled by remote-controlled or AI-piloted drones, at a fraction of the cost. This proved not so much to be the case, and the FSC eventually found itself building manned space fighters and bombers. The Lynx is a fairly recent design: beefy, agile, and packing heat in the form of two 30mm autocannon turrets- one dorsal and one ventral- the Lynx is more than capable of holding its own while it maneuvers into punching distance within the shield barriers of larger vessels.