Neutral Colonies
"How can you call a colony that's manufacturing new weapons for the Earth Forces 'neutral'?"
- Rau le Creuset
Neutral Colonies
A handful of colonies have successfully cut ties with the Federation and gone their own way in space without appreciable bloodshed. The requirements for such a political event, however, were incredibly narrow and unlikely to be repeated ever again; the history of space is, unfortunately, ever-increasingly the history of war.
Likewise, the question of just how "neutral" the neutral colonies really are is... open, at best. Side 6 has long been Federation-friendly, despite breaking off from the Federation in the 0070s; it has allowed multiple Federation weapons projects to operate within its borders, usually in secret. Even among citizens themselves, this usually meets with rolling of eyes and description of their political status as "Federation membership with extra steps."
List of Neutral Colonies
- Copernicus City - Copernicus City is the cultural capital of the Moon, and its primary neutral ground. Despite its name, it occupies the South Pole-Aitken Basin crater rather than the Copernicus crater. During Zeonic occupation during the One Year War, Copernicus City was known as Granada.
- Heliopolis - Heliopolis was an Orb Union-owned colony which was destroyed in 0096.
- Industrial 7 - A manufacturing colony owned and operated by Anaheim Electronics.
- Side 5 - While Side 5 is best known as a shoal zone in L1 due to destruction during the One Year War, non-Federation interests have staked out much of Side 5 for redevelopment. Non-Federation nations like the Kingdom of Scandinavia and the Orb Union operate colonies here, as do non-state actors like Anaheim Electronics.
- Side 6 - An independent Side located at L4. Side 6 claimed its independence as part of a proxy conflict between the Federation and Zeon in the 0070s. Side 6 has a relatively amicable relationship with the Federation despite not being part of it.