Colonial Earth Empire
The behemoth that is the Colonial Earth Empire had its origins long ago, before even the discovery of the gates, in the founding of the Federation of Earth. In the centuries that followed, the Earth Government has adopted new titles and constitution to reflect the times it has existed in, but the those in power and the structures of hierarchies has mostly stayed the same since its inception.
The Colonial Earth Empire is ruled and is run as a fascist right-wing stratocracy, where those in the core worlds exert a certain level of imperialism on those in the mid and outer rims. It has rampant displays of corruption, systematic oppression, and elements of a corpocratic state, with wealth controlling a good portion of the bureaucracy within the empire. It maintains certain control through a series of media outlets, ruthless intelligence agencies, a police state, combined with military projections within the more resistant colonies.
That is not to say that all those who live within the empire are far-right extremists, but that the majority of those voices have been snuffed out, or are regularly silenced by their counterparts. No political ideas are outlawed here, but there are few and far between that would openly state their opposition to the state, lest they draw the gaze of the Ministry of the Imperial Secret Service or the Colonial Security Bureau.
The Empire extracts resources and raw materials off of systems in the Mid Rim , exploiting their colonies for the benefit of their holdings in the Core Systems. The peak of this wealth collection happens in the Throne Worlds. This makes those willing to expand and push the boundaries of the empire in the Mid Rim profoundly wealthy, at the expense of the local inhabitants. This exploitation and oppression by the colonial forces have caused factions such as The Dragon Resistance and the Pacifica Liberation Front against the Empire.
Imperial Authorities go about this task through all manner of ways, from buying off local governments, to forcible regime changes by the Imperial Navy at the behest of the Emperor. Those trying to garner favor from the emperor and expand their own holdings might look for approval for expanding and exploring new systems and economic opportunities. Grand Admirals are always looking to strike a deal with corporations to divert military resources to somewhere that might add to their own wealth.
Structure
The Empire is organized into three distinct branches of government, creating a semblance of checks and balances. On its face, it can somewhat represent a democracy, however, in reality the majority of the government is under the control of the Imperial Nobility and Corporate Interests thanks to rampant wealth inequality and legalized corporate personhood.
The three branches of government of the Empire are:
- Imperial Court, which exists as the executive branch, is made up of the Emperor, the the High Lords of the Imperial Military , the Directors of the various intelligence services , the various heads of the Royal Psionic Academies, and a chosen set of advisors from Imperial Nobility that have garnered the emperor's favor for one reason or another.
- Imperial Senate, the legislative branch, which is made up of made up of the various Noble Houses, corporate interests, and core world representatives that write and pass the laws that are passed into law within the Empire. It is broken into three "Forums", the Forum of the Many, the Noble Forum, and the Service Forum.
- Imperial Judges, the judiciary branch, Imperial Judges are meant to negotiate conflicts between imperial worlds, mostly in regards trade and taxation, as well as fees. Judges also exert a monopoly over the cultivation and education of Psionically gifted individuals of the Empire. The Judges are charged with the enforcement of the more federal laws of the Empire, often finding themselves at odds with the nobility who overreach.
Coalitions of Power
The Empire is large, and its political movements are as diverse and wide as the people they govern. However, most politics in the Empire revolve around three coalitions that have formed over the years. The Absolutists, the Fourth Column, and the Federalists. Most power bases within the Empire will find themselves gravitating towards one of the three, though they might disagree with certain aspects.The Absolutists
Far and away the largest political affiliation among the noblity and voting members of the ignoble classes, Absolutism is the primary motivating ideology of the Imperial Court, the Imperial Senate, and the broader constituencies of the Throne Worlds and the Panem Region. Absolutists support the current status quo, though often along a spectrum of conservatism and liberalism that swings between the Fourth Column on the one side and Federalism on the other. Federalists support involvement in colonial efforts in conjunction with the Corporate Assembly. With Union taking the brunt of the burden for building and maintaining The Great Expanse, the nobles are free to concentrate on their own projects in the Mid Rim and in the Core Systems. To the Absolutists major houses, preservation of the Throne Worlds and the noble system via the Colonial Earth Empire is paramount. There is no desired “return” – only continued, well-regulated development of the existing system. The gradual addition of more major houses is taken as a given, though not to be handled lightly; expansion into Pacifica and the Terminus Systems is the right of the Nobles as dictated by the New Prosperity Agreement, but should be engaged with care and moderation; all-out war with opposed states is to be a last resort.Fourth Column
The Fourth Column are the “true” monarchists of the Empire. Sometimes called Colonials, they seek to establish a powerful confederacy of consenting sovereign states, each in command of their own subjects. The Fourth Column are distinct from Absolutists in that they think centralization of the Imperial state around New Babylon is a mistake, one that can only lead to conflict; likewise, they are opposed to the Federalists they imagine a different version of a centralized state. The Fourth Column as a political theory first emerged from among the military and minor nobility before and the Union–Imperial war, following the defeat of the Imperial fleet by rebel forces during the Outer Rim Unrest. At first a militant anti-leftist party and paramilitary “social” group, the Fourth Column movement swept across the Throne Worlds and the bloodied veterans of the Republican Military forces. Born from the shock of the Outer Rims Unrest, and then the terrible losses suffered by the people of New Babylon, the ignoble soldiery, and officers of minor nobility, the Fourth Column movement gained steam as an angry response to the perceived mismanagement of a once mighty power by the centralized Republican government. It was the Fourth Column who would instill the vote of no confidence and help bring about the Colonial Earth Empire. Unable to fully grasp power in the turmoil that followed, the movement was split by the Absolutists and evolved into a militant conservative political movement. In the centuries since, the Fourth Column have established themselves as a vocal plurality faction that holds sway in the Houses of House of Steel, and Moments, as well as many within Harrison Armory. Their party planks stand against what they see to be the liberalization of time-honored traditions, the degeneration of ancient Imperial culture, the weakness of the Colonial Earth Empire in addressing internal and external threats, the arrogance of the Corporate Assembly and its expeditions into Pacifica, and – as always – the existence of the Union of Socialist Systems.Federalists
While not going so far as to abolish the system of monarchy, the Federalists have drifted far enough to the left of the larger Absolutist movement on policy that it can accurately be called liberal. Frustrated with the slow pace of the change that animates the Imperial Senate, the Federalists seeks to liberalize the existing system while maintaining the status quo. Despite media presentation in the more conservative houses, Federalists are far from a revolutionary political movement. It seeks adjustments to current paradigms, not wholesale change. These adjustments include a broad expansion of personal speech liberties and major house–managed social safety nets for the ignoble classes, a reduction in the rigidity in class interactions between the ignoble and lower-rank nobility, and greater mobility between the worlds of the Mid Rim and the Core Systems. The factions that make up the Federalists are primarily those of the Corporate Assembly and the House of Sand.Culture
At its core, the Empire is a xenophobic stratocracy that views anything past the Mid Rim as backwards planets in need of Imperial Authority, and ripe with resources for exploitation to enhance their wealth. Wealth is king in the empire, and while they hide behind the veil of bureaucracy and imperial righteousness, it is wealth that truly makes the government move.
The empire is propped up by propaganda, masking the true power with disdain and hate for the outsiders, and pushing this hate towards imperial expansion, making the whole empire wealthier for it. However, ruling over hundreds of trillions, there is not one culture that can rightly define all those who live within the empire.
Most people are simply trying to get by, taking one day at a time, and trying to avoid the prying eyes of C-Sec and Imperial Security. They do not necessarily agree with the overreach Court , or the Imperial Judges, but what are they going to do against an Empire that can field enough Shock Troopers to wipe out their whole planet.
History
The Empire's rise comes directly from the fall of the United Republic of Earth Colonies. Bloated and ineffectual, the First Trade War laid bare just how corrupt the Republic had become, and cries for a more heavy handed authority came from within the Core Systems. Powerful and wealthy nobles, utilizing their control over various forms of media and entertainment fueled popularity for their beliefs, and by the time of the Earhart Incident had formed a sizable far-right party within the Republic Senate known as the Fourth Column.
The violence in the Mid and Outer-Rims from before the silence only added fuel to the flames. Violence began to pit those in the Core systems against those out in the further colonies. While the majority under the Empire sought a peaceful solution, those under the Far-Right "Fourth Column" made a play for power.
Histories are varied on how exactly the republic was reformed so quickly. Imperial Authorities state that the bureaucracy had failed, and was infiltrated by extremist sympathizers. The Fourth Column took matters into their own hands, and party loyalists took the Republic Senate on New Babylon and then sicked the republican military forces on left-leaning politicians, planetary governments, and the workers unions. Powerful industry heads were put into places of power in both the Judiciary and Senate, and the executive branch was re-organized into the Imperial Court. Objectors were arrested, and sent to work camps established what has now become the Colonial Security Bureau, and the Colonial Earth Empire was finally established, placing at its head a powerful former republican admiral. In time, the New Humanity Front Coalition has splintered into the Fourth Column, and the Absolutists. Both are far right, but in different directions and beliefs about the future of the empire.
The Republican Remnant claims to be the true legitimate successor to the former government, and it is said those who were not picked up by imperial loyalists and killed, fled to Straatos , where they hoped to once again return to normalcy.
Demography and Population
The people and cultures of those within the empire are wide, and vast. From the high browed nobles, scheming for power in the Throne Worlds to the mining union members, digging out Isotope-10 on Tar'Atu. Most people within the empire care very little for the Imperial cause, content to live their life day to day. To them, the conflicts in Pacifica and the Terminus Systems are literally lightyears away. For many, thats weeks on a jump ship to even get close to the military operations underway by the Empire. It is hard to identify with the active occupation of Thraka when you are just trying to make ends meet on the opposite side of the galaxy.
In fact, a good majority resent the oppression of the empire, as it truly only benefits those at the top of the pyramid. However, actively going against the empire is likely to end up with you at the bad end of an interogation by some particularly zealous CSB officer, and without an effective democracy in place, it is hard for any political movements to make progress. Propoganda is constantly blasted at imperial citizens, usually by companies like Waystar. At best, some residents have some political say, but it is drowned out by the far-right manifest destiny politics that is mainstream throughout the imperial propoganda arm.
The empire also gives plenty of reasons to join there side, power can be achieved by helping move the empire further into the Mid Rim. Either by joining up in the military or one of the intelligence agencies. They also can support the empire by foraging forward with the as a colonial, establishing "Imperial Society" in the "untamed" sectors of the galaxy.
Citizenship Tiers
Citizenship in the Empire is tiered, and best represented as a pyramid. The top of the pyramid is made up almost wholly by the Imperial Nobility and the wealthy that control power within the Senate. They are called the Noble. They have the most power in the Empire with their citizenship, given ample benefits and tax breaks, priority in citizenship relocation and priority in resource allocation. A great majority of the higher tiers reside in the Throne Worlds. The Middle tiers, called the Ignoble, make up the majority of those born in Imperial Space, and represent a good proportion of the Panem Region and the Throne Worlds working class citizens. The ignoble's day to day lives revolve around work (usually for the Nobility) or their local communities. The only ways out of this tier is by moving up some kind of corporate ladder, through the military or through an incredible stroke of luck. Education is expensive, and only enabled usually through military backed loans, or by tying yourself to a single corporate entity. They are the largest population group within imperial space. The Lower tiers are known simply as the Subjects, born to recent immigrants or refugees to the empire, or those who chose to immigrate into the empire (whether by choice or not). They often ride a thin line of being banished to the expansion zones of the Empire, doomed to hard manual labor or service in a trench reigment. The only way out of this tier is through service to the Empire. One must join the military or the government apparatus to even achieve ignoble status. Many times their life is spent perpetually in a state of struggle at the bottom of the pyramid. The lowest of the low usually represents essentially the dregs of society, those the Empire deems undesirable. These include prisoners of war and criminals. It also includes illegal refugees, political dissidents, and those of cultural descent that the empire does not agree with. They are legally considered slaves by the laws of the Republican Remnant and the Union of Socialist Systems, though the Empire dismisses these claims as anti-imperial propoganda.
Long Live the Empire!
Founding Date
612 BE
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Alternative Names
The Empire, Colonial Empire, Earth Empire
Demonym
Imps, Colonials, Imperials
Leader Title
Head of Government
Government System
Stratocracy
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Imperial Credit
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments