Chapter 75: The Great Purge of the Federation

Solar System Defense Command.

This division exists solely to maintain safe navigation throughout the Solar System and enforce law and order in space.

It’s an armed force directly controlled by the Presidential Office.

In fact, every newly inaugurated president automatically takes on the role of Commander-in-Chief for the Solar System Defense Command.

This means the president can issue orders directly to this entire unit.

Even though the Battle of Jupiter left them with significant losses in warships.

Still…

Their current fleet remains above a thousand warships.

And now, a third of their ships have already been upgraded, fitted with massive railgun batteries for a major boost in firepower.

Sure, their combat strength is nowhere near the level of the Federation Fleet, but if you call them the next strongest—no one would argue.

After all…

When it comes to military presence in space, this is all the Federation has.

Conveniently, because of all the ongoing upgrades, most of the Solar System Defense Command’s ships are currently stationed on the Moon.

That’s where humanity’s largest warship factory complex is located.

——

Unlike Mars, which remains undeveloped, Earth has been the Federation’s number one focus for resources and time, and now houses a staggering 25 billion people.

You could technically fit 25 billion on the surface, but it’d be packed beyond belief.

According to the latest Federation statistics only about 3 billion actually live on the surface, with an average age of 58.

That means almost everyone there is just living out their retirement.

So the real question is—

Where are the other 22 billion?

The answer?

The Orbital Ring Station.

It’s a colossal ring-shaped city in geosynchronous orbit, anchored by five space elevators, linked together into a single structure.

This is, unsurprisingly, a supermassive engineering project.

Even after centuries of work, only 48% has been built.

So, over half of the ring remains unconnected, but even the completed sections can house over 30 billion people.

And that’s with 70% of the space dedicated to crops, not living quarters. The calculations are generous.

If you really pushed the limits and used every inch, you could theoretically fit over a hundred billion people.

Of course, that’s assuming you have enough food…

Once it’s finished and self-sufficient in food, it’s designed to hold up to 70 billion.

And as for the timeline…

According to the plan, full completion is still 180 years away.

All things considered, the Orbital Ring Station is the largest construction project in human history. Nothing else comes close.

Its main purpose is to solve the problem of rapidly surging population while humanity is still stuck in the Solar System for the next few centuries.

And, of course, to push humanity toward the next stage in evolution.

Which is why, these days, most people left on Earth’s surface tend to be older.

As for the Federation’s Presidential Office and Congress, they’re set up near the first node of the Orbital Ring Station. This district is technically off the ring, connected to the main node but separate from the loop itself.

Both the Presidential Office and the Federation Congress…

Were thrown into chaos.

Because just a few minutes ago, President Friedrich delivered a live speech and announced a stunning decision.

In light of a dire threat to civilization, Earth’s sphere would enter a one-month state of martial law. According to Article 7 of the Federation’s legal code, he forcibly dissolved both Congress and the Cabinet.

When the month’s martial law lifted, the government would be restructured.

Friedrich delivered this with steely resolve, gave no further explanation, and ended the speech.

Almost at the same moment, close to a thousand warships from the Solar System Defense Command launched from the Moon, fully armed, and arrived at the five key geosynchronous orbit nodes—each leading to a space elevator—within the hour.

At the first node alone, 300 warships formed a blockade.

Armed soldiers stormed in, taking control of the Federation Congress and detaining all its members before anyone had time to react.

Meanwhile, a swarm of soldiers did the same at the Presidential Office, rounding up more than a hundred people and transporting them elsewhere.

The other four locations were equally active.

Squads fanned out, arresting everyone on a list marked as traitors, while the rest seized control of every media outlet across Earth’s sphere.

The first three days were chaotic after the operation began.

But by day four, once almost all names on the arrest list were dealt with and soldiers withdrew from the Orbital Ring Station—

Everything settled down. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

But that was only the beginning.

Because just one day later—

Trial after trial was broadcast live to the entire Federation with cooperation from every media outlet.

During these hearings, Friedrich signed a presidential order: traitors to humanity would have no rights, and technology could be used to directly probe defendants’ memories during trial.

The entire Federation watched, stunned.

Many familiar faces—the ones who always made holier-than-thou speeches on TV, Congress members and celebrities alike—were now on trial, and—

Their memories were far uglier than anyone could’ve imagined.

Some played saint for votes.

Others were tied to shadowy organizations, using those words to rake in cash.

Some outright adored aliens, hoping humanity would end up enslaved.

…..

Every flavor of crazy showed up—just none who were truly selfless.

Not surprising, since before any trials, everyone arrested had already gone through memory extraction and screening.

Only the rare few who truly were saints—

Were discreetly omitted from the public trials.

But this wasn’t even the worst part.

Because memory extraction didn’t stop at motivations—even past deeds were revealed, every skeleton in the closet on full display.

There was literally no crime they hadn’t committed.

Each person had so much dirt you couldn’t find a single one who was remotely clean.

Completely spotless? Not one.

Everyone was left speechless.

What kind of monsters had become the so-called elites of humanity?

At this point, their behavior couldn’t even be called human.

After ten days of endless live trials, public opinion had utterly transformed.

No one complained about Friedrich’s martial law. People were actually signing petitions demanding all traitors be executed.

Friedrich soon signed another presidential order—one that shocked the Federation anew.

A brand new department would be created to conduct a memory audit on every official and member of Congress—including the president—every three years. No exceptions.

Artificial intelligence would do the first round of memory screening.

Once audit concluded, all memories would be deleted by AI instantly. Nothing would be kept on file.

Only if potential criminal activity was uncovered would the relevant memories be extracted and sent for human review.

Even staff in this new department would also have their memories checked every three months, just to ensure fairness.

And anyone hoping to run for Congress or president would need to pass a memory audit before even qualifying.

To set an example after signing this order—

Friedrich made himself the first person to undergo a memory audit.

Normally, a policy invading privacy to this degree would spark outrage.

But after over a thousand live trials in just ten days,

And with Friedrich himself volunteering as the first subject—

The whole Federation threw its support behind him.