Following the end of the First Machine War. The Galactic Empire in all its opulence and unity, was divided into several bodies spread throughout the entire galaxy. Some may say that even without the war it would've divided itself into a millenia long civil war. If that is the truth, then the war saved us, yet never avoided the century long civil war after.
The civil war lasted for at least 800 years. With most of the fighting happening in the Loreya-Matryoshka front between the Galactic Empire and the United Galactic Federation. A century long stalemate that ended after the Federation managed to pierce through the Empire's solid defenses and captured the Empire's homebase at Earth.
With the surrender of the empire, and the rise of the federation, it was all clear that the entire Galaxy would never be under the rule of one man's hand ever again. Perhaps it was inevitable, that the 3,000 Year long reign of the Empire was to end by the future it was trying so hard not to have. Yet, the centuries of slavery and malcontent of several bodies far from the Empire's grasp caused their grip to falter.
It begged the question of the Federation's effectiveness to govern the Galaxy. Perhaps its system would be easier to manage, as the task of running the galaxy isn't upon the shoulders of one person and its beauraucracy. Yet some people harshly disagreed. Stating that in the 1,000 years of the Federation's existence, it saw more infighting between rivalling galactic factions than the empire has in 3,000 years of existence.
Yet some people think it's better this way. That the empire's ineffective handling of its people are a harsher, bleaker look into the individual. Some argue that the empire ran on slavery, only to be rebutted by the fact that some galactic factions are ran entirely by slavery.
One questions the galactic federation's true role in maintaining the peace within its borders. Yet it knows within itself that by handling the largest military in the empire, it still wouldn't be able to win should it impart a bit of aggression within even a single galactic faction. Due to the fact that the factions would unite against the Federation's rule.
The last thing it should do, after all, is to spend more money fighting a long, expensive civil war. This is why it implemented several bodies to maintain the peace and order between factions without necessarily imparting intense show of military strength upon them.
Such bodies include: The Galactic Agents, from which Marcus, Haya, and the rest of the gangs were affiliated; The Church of Terrium, whose edict is focused on maintaining the production of Terrium within the planets; and finally, The Grand Galactic Armee, who calls itself, the "Milkmen". As they are typically used as a final deterrent against total war.
The effectiveness of each of these individual bodies vary. But studies shown from each of the occupied regions of the galaxy following its implementation seem to suggest that it made the entire galaxy at least 33% safer, and more peaceful. A more indepth look into the Galactic agents will be present in the next chapter.