Solarian Empire
Culture
See also Solarian Culture
The Solarian Empire is comprised of multiple peoples, and consequently, multiple subcultures, but the predominant culture into which all citizens are socialized is that of the Solarian Culture. This matriarchal culture places great importance on an individual's contribution to the greater society and stresses the collective over the individual. Its tendencies toward power distance manifests in the average citizen's tendency toward obedience and trust in authority figures. This is not born of fear, but rather trust that those in higher positions have earned them through their accomplishments in life. Indeed, the entire society tends toward the meritocratic.
Slavery
See also Solarian Slavery Unlike many parts of the galaxy, slavery is legal in the Empire, and those without means or who suffer unexpected hardships often sell themselves into slavery until they are able to buy back their freedom. Imperial slaves are considered people and have a say in society. Their freedoms are restricted in that they own their labor to their owner. That owner is expected to provide the basic necessities of life and to treat the slave with respect owed any person. Cultural pressures often push slave owners to exceed the legal and moral requirements of the master-slave relationship as a means of displaying their wealth.History
Early History
See also Republic of Solaria The Solarian Empire originated from the Republic of Solaria, a republic governed by the Solarian Senate and administered by the Solarian Meritocracy. This came to an end upon the ascension of Imperitor Ivo Laris Telephore by unanimous vote of the Senate following his decisive victory against the Nyxians at the Battle of Barnard's End. Telephore's time as Imperator was originally authorized only until the end of the Nyxian Incurrsion, but with his many great victories and his ability to lead the meritocracy to rebuild in the wake of the war, he found his tenior repeatedly extended by the Senate. Indeed, the Senate at the time was all too willing to cede their power and avoid the political ramifications of their own mistakes. This ultimately lead to the lifetime appointment of Telephore as Imperator.Imperial Age
Before his death, Imperator Telephore convinced the Senate to make the imperatancy a hereditary position with new imperators confirmed by the Senate. The rules of succession were ultimately allowed the imperatancy to leave the governing family if no suitable heir was had, and it cared little for gender or order of birth. Instead, the imperator or, as imperial society gree more matriarchal, slowly became more commonly the case, the imperatrix was judged on his or her ability to beneficently and skillfully govern the empire. Under the first several imperators and imperatrices, the Solarian Empire grew rapidly, conquering surrounding nations and always incorporating their people into the imperial citizenry. This gave them great material wealth, and fueled their economy. And as the empire grew, the imperators and imperatres grew more and more distant from their billions of subjects. This was largely a function of the vast interstellar distances separating them and the slowness of news. But the end result was that imperator cults who deified the imperator for his ability to bring prosperity and harmony to the empire sprung up and grew across the empire. Over the course of three centuries, this wave grew in size until it became the official state religion, Reidivism.Contemporary History
In the past century, the Empire has primarily exercized soft power to expand its borders, as has their long-time rival, the Thurian Federation. This has led the two superpowers into a cold war for economic and political control of the human expanse. To date, no open conflicts have sprung up between the two, but this cold war is no less a war and ultimately led to the formation of the Orionic Republican Confederacy, a confederation of dissatisfied states who had originally banded together to resist the influence the two superpowers.Territories
The Solarian Empire controls some 370 star systems antispinward of Earth in the Orion Spur and exerts tremendous influence over a bloc of nations adjacent to it known as the Galactic Organization of Allied Sovereignties and Terrirories.
Military
The Imperial Solarian Military consists of the Imperial Army, Imperial Air Force, Imperial Marine Force, and the Imperial Astral Force.
The Solarian Empire boasts the most advanced military in the human expanse. With a primary focus on mobility, the military builds and maintains an extensive infrastructure of waystations and bases to fascilitate travel throughout the empire. While not specifically focused on offense or defense, the Imperial Military tends to be strong in both categories owing to its technological prowess. This combination of power andibility allows the empire to bring devastating power to bear anywhere along its borders or interior at a moment's notice and fosters strong, efficient logistical support when campaigning into foreign territories.
Military Doctrine
The Imperial Solarian Military achieves dominance through precise applications of extreme violence using advanced technologies developed by their local Astrian population. The high cost of such technology has lead to an overall smaller military than that of the Thurian Federation , but individual units tend to be better equipped and capable of far more destruction. in battle, the Imperial Military seeks to overwhelm an opponent's defenses early and decisively in hopes of crushing their adversary"s will to resist. in assymetric conflicts, this leads to quick victories with minimal imperial losses. How such tactics would fair in a direct conflict with one of the other two superpowers is unknown.Technological Level
The Solarian Empire is among the most technologically advanced powers in humanity, second only to the Astrianic Church with whom it maintains a close relationship. Its emphasis on technology makes it one of the most progressive societies in the the human expanse and provides its citizens with a higher average quality of life than in other interstellar nations.
Religion
The state religion of the Solarian empire is Reidevism, and about 86% of its citizens identify with the faith. Another 10% are atheist, and 2% are Astrian the highest percentage of any nation outside of Astria. The remainder are various other religions.
The Imperatrix Dei
One of the core tenants of Reidevism is that the Imperatrix Dei is a living deity ruling benevolently over her subjects and ensuring harmony throughout the empire. This is a two-way relationship between the Imperatrix and her subjects: She is obligated to protect and care for her subjects, and they are obligated to serve her and the empire for the mutual benefit of all.Astrianism
The Solarian Empire, despite having a state religion other than Astrianism, is extremely close to the Astrianic Church. They are the most excepting of Astrians of any government, and boast a very large population.Infrastructure
The greatest underpinning of the Solarian Empire is the Starway, a system of space stations whose purpose is to serve as waypoints along popular trade and military routes. While some of these waypoint stations maintain port fascilities, most fulfill their minimal reqirements - to continuously perform hyperspace jump calculations and store the data for retrieval by passing ships.
This allows ships who arrive at a waypoint station to forego the time required to perform the most time-intensive part of interstellar travel, and thereby increase interstellar speeds greatly. These waystations have underpinned most of the Empire's economic and military success by increasing interstellar communications and response times.
The military has proven instrumental in building these waystations as part of their logistics during campaigns. After the conflicts end, the the starway remains and allows closer supervision by and stronger economic ties to the Empire.
Table of Contents
General Information
Founding Date
???
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Alternative Names
Solaris, The Western Empire
Demonym
Solarian
Leader Title
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Related Ranks & Titles
Allies
Cold War
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