Sol Empire
The oldest bastion of humanity in our galaxy, and possibly the greatest threat to everything else that resided in it. This Empire is known to have spanned more territory than either the Arshanov Federation or the Sion Republic[sic]. Even the combined territory of the Varkesh did not reach the sprawling expanse of claimed yet unpopulated territory. Very little is known to us about the Sol Empire outside of what records could be recovered following the purge, and naturally, the aggressively xenophobic actions against the Varkesh and Arshans.
Possibly the oldest living heritage of humanity due to its ties to the old Interplanetary Federation of Sol, the Sol Empire is the most expansive of the Human nations in the Milky Way galaxy. Despite calling itself a 'Republic Empire', the Empire operates as a dictatorship, led by an Emperor seated in the Mars capital in the Sol System. Every individual sector and system obeys the laws and commands of the Emperor and his cabinet of staff.
Following the Third War, remnants of Humanity in the Mars colonies and the International Space Station formed into a new government calling itself the Interplanetary Federation of Sol. This nation expanded further into additional colonies and stations throughout the Sol System, before eventually being struck by civil war. This war, also known as the Sol Civil War, saw the end of the IFS and the birth of what would soon become the sprawling Sol Empire - The largest of the Human nations in the Milky Way galaxy.
Structure
Calling itself a 'Republic Empire', the Sol Empire is divided into districts that each govern a given section of the Empire's territory. These districts are further subdivided down by star system, planet, continent, region, and city, with orbital and fixed-point stations being treated as individual cities. The Emperor himself holds full authority and final say on any and all matters within the Empire, though how this power is exercised and to what extent varies from heir to heir.
Emperor's Cabinet
The top-level government of the Empire consists of the Emperor himself, followed by his appointed heir and cabinet of administrative staff. While the Emperor holds supreme authority, many things tend to be delegated down to the members of his cabinet whom make the day-to-day minute decisions governing the Empire.
Emperor
Main article: Sol Emperor
The Emperor himself holds full, supreme authority over the Empire. While specific areas of governance are usually delegated down to members of the Emperor’s cabinet, the Emperor can override or directly request anything that he feels would better the Sol Empire and his people. The Emperor is always succeeded by the Emperor's Heir, whom the Emperor himself hand-picks at a relatively young age.
Emperor's Heir
Main article: Sol Emperor's Heir
An appointed successor to the Emperor, the Heir lacks any real authority and exists more as a political figurehead until the time the current Emperor dies or is determined physically or mentally unfit to continue leading the Empire by his staff. The Emperor’s Heir is usually the first-born son or daughter of the Emperor, but there have been some reported cases of an heir being appointed that was not a direct descendant, or even a relative, of an Emperor with no offspring.
Grand Law Master
Main article: Sol Grand Law Master
The Grand Law Master acts as the top-level judge and jury, as well as the head of legislation for the Empire. Any legal matters that are not able to be resolved within a sector are brought before the Ministry of Law, which the Grand Law Master also leads.
Grand Enforcer
Main article: Sol Grand Enforcer
Where the Grand Law Master acts as judge and jury, the Grand Enforcer acts as the lead enforcer and executioner. Under his command, all members of the Sol Law Enforcement Corps keep the peace, ensure compliance with Sol law, and handle all internal threats to the Empire.
Grand Minister
Main article: Sol Grand Minister
In charge of all matters of internal state affairs, the Grand Minister is the governor of the Empire as a whole. All other state officials, including regional and system ministers and state-sponsored organizations, report directly to the Grand Minister’s department. The Grand Minister heads the Ministry of State department.
Grand Admiral
Main article: Sol Grand Admiral
The Grand Admiral serves as the strategic commander of the Empire's military, including the Grand Sol Navy, Sol Marine Corps, and Sol Guard Corps. The Admiral and his team of military staff are responsible for the large-scale strategic military decisions made by the Empire such as deployment of troops and ships and military doctrine.
Ministries
Each member of the Emperor's cabinet has their own department or ministry through which their tasks are carried out. In the case of the Grand Admiral, these departments fall under the Military section.
Ministry of State
Main article: Sol Ministry of State
Under the Grand Minister, the Ministry of State handles internal affairs matters such as infrastructure, public services, and general governance of various systems and sectors under the Empire’s control.
Ministry of Law
Main article: Sol Ministry of Law
The Ministry of Law handles the writing of laws and regulations within the Empire including taxes and tariffs, health & safety, manufacturing standards, etc. The Ministry of Law is led by the Grand Law Master.
Sol Law Enforcement Corps
Main article: Sol Law Enforcement Corps
Originally formed as a subsidiary of the Ministry of Law, the Sol Law Enforcement Corps (S.L.E.C.) has evolved into an independent police authority under the direct control of the Grand Enforcer. The entirety of the police force within the Empire, down to the municipal district levels, are all subsidiaries of the S.L.E.C.
Public Agenda
The Sol Empire's declared mission statement is 'Unity of all Mankind against the threats of the universe.' This has been interpreted and acted as a driving goal to re-unite all descendants of humanity under the Sol banner, and drive out non-human sapient species that have been determined a threat to the further existence of humanity. The recorded history of first-contact with the Varkesh and Arshans are commonly used to back these policies.
Assets
Arasma
Main article: Arasma
Originally discovered by accident during a research experiment to rapidly heat frozen foods, Arasma is now a common place material produced en masse by Arasik-Jovale Incorporated. This material has found uses in many fields, due to its relative stability, ability to hold a charge of electricity, and volatile nature when exposed to certain elements coupled with a positive ionic charge. Most commonly, Arasma is found in batteries and energy-based weapons, while an Arasma based combustion engine is also in development. Currently, the Sol Empire is the only nation known to manufacture Arasma.
History
Note
This section serves as a summary of Sol Empire history. For more specific details of events, refer to the 'Read the full account' links in the timeline events below the main article body.
Birth of an Empire
The Sol Empire's existence began with the Sol Civil War on February 25, 437 PT. A rebellious faction calling themselves the Sons of Unity, led by Titus Young, Sr, fueled the growing unrest in the outer colonies whom felt they were under-represented and under-valued by the IFS' core government. What started out as mostly peaceful but highly vocal protests quickly broke out into a full-blown rebellion when a group of protestors on Atlas Station were killed by IFS authorities in what became known as the Atlas Massacre. This catalyst strengthened the divide between the outer colonies and the core government, and even caused a split in the IFS' police and military forces, providing the Sons of Unity with the means and manpower to lead a campaign of war against the government.
The Sol Civil War lasted nearly a full year, ending on February 8, 438 PT/1 AU when the Sons of Unity stormed the station Nuntius Terrae and killed the Federation's leadership. The Interplanetary Federation of Sol ceased to exist, replaced by the Sol Empire under the leadership of the same man who had led the Sons of Unity, providing the outer colonies with the equal representation they had originally begun protesting for. Emperor Young's speech that heralded the new Sol Empire is broadcast throughout the Empire every 8th of February as part of the holiday Unification Day.
The next century saw the economic and political growth of the Empire as it expanded into colonies outside of the Sol System - Including Tau Ceti, which is now the commercial hub of the Empire.
The First Expedition
Two hundred years after the birth of the Sol Empire, on May 12, 205 AU, Edward Jameson embarked with the Jameson Expeditionary Fleet on the Empire's first venture into deep space. The expedition travelled west in what became a long, multi-year voyage, stopping in various star systems along the way to chart and survey celestial bodies. The fleet remained in contact with the Empire via long-range burst transmissions containing basic text data, that took longer and longer to reach their destination the further from Sol the fleet travelled.
The SNS Verde
Two years into the expedition, the fleet found a binary star system with an ocean world within the star's habitable zone. While surveying this planet, however, one of the fleet's research ships experienced a sudden reactor failure while maneuvering, resulting in full loss of power and drive control. The ship, named the SNS Verde, drifted toward the planet and was pulled in by gravity before power could be restored. The Verde and its crew were lost as the ship plummeted into the planet's oceans. The star system has since been named the Verde System and is a part of the current Empire's Verde District, named after the lost research ship.
First Alien Contact
Five years after the expedition first began, on May 24, 210 AU, the expedition came across an alien vessel. First reports stated the vessel appeared to be a derelict and an away team was in the process of gearing up, when the fleet was suddenly contacted by the ship. The aliens identified themselves as the 'Dovolish', and members of a 'Varkesh Alliance'[sic]. The Sol Empire was extended an invitation by the aliens to join their alliance.
A month later, the Empire sent their official response, rejecting the invitation. Jameson's confirmation of receiving this transmission was the last contact the Empire has ever had with the expeditionary fleet, as no responses to further communications were received. It was assumed the fleet had been destroyed following their refusal to join the alliance, and the Empire publicly declared the Varkesh an alien threat to all of humanity.
The Second Expedition
On February 23, 220 AU, ten years after the loss of the Jameson Expedition, a new expedition was formed. Led by and named after Samuel Larigo, the Larigo Expeditionary Fleet set out from Tau Ceti and proceeded north under the same mission of exploration and research as Jameson's expedition. Larigo's expedition was responsible for charting what later became the Amerigo and Larigo districts, and for first contact with two separate Human-descendent civilizations: The United Arshanov Socialist Federation and the Republic of Sion.
The Arshans
After eight months of exploration, Larigo ventured into the New Sibir star system and found himself in contact with another ship. Communication was difficult at first, but the contact's language proved familiar - It was clearly similar to English, but with other terms and nuances unknown to the team. Eventually, they were able to introduce themselves to each other. The vessel identified itself as a border patrol ship of the Arshanov Federation, a nation of humans that came from Earth on a colony ship fleeing the Third War centuries ago. This news excited Larigo's team, and the Empire as a whole - They had finally met another human nation. The Larigo remained in contact for some time but eventually had to continue with their mission of exploration as an emissary from the Empire was sent to negotiate peace and unity with the Arshans.
The Katarians
Following directions provided to them by the Arshan patrol ship they had met, Larigo's expedition travelled east toward the Republic of Sion. Eventually, the fleet came across a vessel of a design different from the Arshan vessels they occasionally came across along their travel route. The ship contacted the fleet, speaking in a language completely foreign to Larigo and his team, before speaking again in heavily-accented Arshan. The ship's captain introduced himself as a trader from the Katar Tribe of the Republic of Sion. After a brief discussion between the two, during which the Katarian ship tried to sell 'Arshan tech' to the expedition, Larigo was directed south to meet the 'Lassis' - A group the Katarian captain said would handle diplomatic talks.
The Lassis
Travelling south as directed, Larigo's fleet came upon numerous ships of the Katar Tribe, including a close encounter with a pirate that was successfully warded off by the fleet escorts. After three weeks of travel, the fleet was intercepted and ordered to halt in Arshan by a new vessel with different, standardized looking markings. Larigo identified himself and his fleet, and the vessel identified itself as a 'Lassi Border-Runner' named the Seto Higar. Communications with the captain, Iri Sudaa, were short and professional and Larigo was quickly put into contact with a Lassi representative named Kirta Vashur. While diplomatic communications with the 'lawless' (As Larigo's log describes it) Katar Tribe seemed unlikely, the Empire has been able to maintain constant and stable communiciations with the Lassi Tribe with Samuel Larigo serving as the Empire's emissary.
The Expedition was disbanded not long afterwards, in light of Larigo's new duties and the conflicts brewing along the Arshan border.
Sol-Arshan Unification War
While Larigo formed new relations with the Republic of Sion, a government-sponsored emissary named Eun Landi was negotiating peace and unity with the Arshanov Federation at New Sibir. Diplomatic communications officially began with the introduction of the Federation ambassador Netta Bullard on November 3, 220 AU. After a month of negotiatios, the two nations appeared to be reaching a peaceful relationship, despite the ambassador's refusal of unifying with the Empire - Countering instead with an offer of a trade alliance and citing a preference to remain an independent nation. After two months of negotiations, the Empire and Federation came to an agreement on the terms of a trade deal.
However, on January 1, 221 AU, when the agreement was to be signed, contact with Landi's ship was lost. A nearby Grand Navy border patrol fleet led by Rear Admiral Tacito De Ven picked up a distress signal and, upon arriving a few hours later, found Landi's vessel and his escorts to be destroyed. The fleet admiral's report on the incident was cut off by an Arshan fleet opening fire on the patrol and contact with Admiral De Ven was also lost. The Sol Empire officially declared war on the Arshanov Federation a day later, and many officials believed the sudden attack came from Varkesh influence within the Federation. The Sol-Arshan War, has lasted for the past 30+ years, drifting between periods of cold war-like peaceful tension, and moments of heated, open conflict.
Sol-Lassi Union
With the outbreak of the Sol-Arshan War, and the loss of the Jameson Expedition to the Varkesh years ago, the people of the Empire turned their focus to the diplomatic negotiations with the Lassi Tribe. Many were skeptical, fearing that events would repeat themselves and leave the Empire a lone nation fighting on multiple fronts, yet also hopeful that perhaps the Lassis could become an ally of Sol. Those hopes became reality when, two months after the outbreak of the Arshan war, Larigo and Vashur signed the Lassi Tribe and Sol Empire into a trade agreement and alliance with mutual open borders. The two cultures found many similarities between themselves as Lassi and Sol citizens started venturing across the borders.
Relations with the Lassi Tribe remained stable, and a bond grew between the two cultures. Lassi territories began to see Solus populations, and Sol territories in the Larigo District gained Lassi citizens. In the year 231 AU, on October 4th, this growing bond culminated into the Lassi Tribe officially declaring their support for uniting the Republic of Sion with the Sol Empire, under the Empire's banner within the Republic's council, and renaming themselves the 'Sol-Lassi Tribe'. The terms of the Sol-Lassi Alliance changed, making the newly re-christened Sol-Lassi Tribe a part of both the Sol Empire and the Republic of Sion, with mixed responses from the Republic's other tribes.
Demography and Population
Throughout the empire, 96% of the citizenship is of purely Sol descent - People who can trace their ancestries back to the Interplanetary Federation of Sol. The remaining 4%, according to recent censuses, are descendants of Lassi immigrants or unions between Solus and Lassi citizens in the Larigo District. There are no records of non-Lassi Sionian descendants, or citizens of Arshan descent.
Territories
In terms of territory control, the Sol Empire is divided into several regions of space known as Districts. Each district, typically containing several star systems, is governed by a subset of state figures under the Ministry of State.
Titus District
Main article: Titus District
The Titus District encompasses the core systems of the Sol Empire, including Sol with the Empire’s capital on Mars, and the commercial hub at Tau Ceti. As the government and economical center of the Empire, the Titus District contains the densest commercial, industrial, and residential sectors in Human controlled space. The Titus District is named after the original leader of the Sol Empire: Emperor Titus Young, Sr.
Verde District
Main article: Verde District
This district is named after the SNS Verde, a vessel from the Jameson Expedition which crash landed on an ocean while charting this region of space. The Verde District is the second district scouted and settled by the Empire and is the most populous district, encompassing systems along the 'mid-western' portion of Empire territory. The Verde District borders the Titus, Amerigo, and Jameson districts.
Amerigo District
Main article: Amerigo District
The only district of the Sol Empire not named after a specific person or ship, records on where the name 'Amerigo' came from don't exist. This district covers the entirety of the 'North-Eastern' territory the Sol Empire controls, including the United Arshanov Socialist Federation and Republic of Sion's Katar Tribe borders. Despite the physical connection to Republic of Sion territory, the Amerigo District has closed borders with the Katar Tribe and all Sionian vessels trying to cross the border are either seized or redirected to the Larigo District by the Grand Sol Navy. The border of this district is considered a militarized zone, with naval fleets patrolling both the Arshan and Katarian borders, and serves as a staging point for assault fleets striking the Arshan front.
Larigo District
Main article: Larigo District
Named after Samuel Larigo, an expeditionary leader who made first contact with the Republic of Sion’s Lassi Tribe. The Larigo District encompasses the region of space bordering the Lassi Tribe, and part of the Empire’s border along the Katar Tribe in the 'eastern' part of Empire territory. This is currently the only Sol territory with 'open' borders with an outside nation, allowing well-regulated travel across the border for both Sol citizens and Sionian visitors.
Jameson District
Main article: Jameson District
Encompassing the 'strip' of territory that borders the Varkesh, the Jameson District is the least populated territory and serves more as a purely military-controlled region. Blockade lines run the full length of the district, stopping vessels from crossing the border in either direction - Including Sol citizens attempting to betray the Empire and join the Varkesh. The district is named after the leader of the Jameson Expedition, which was lost after first contact with the Varkesh in 205 AU.
Military
Grand Sol Navy
Main article: Grand Sol Navy
The pride of the Sol Empire’s military, the Grand Navy fields numerous fleets of battleships commanded by high ranking officers. Craft falling under the Grand Navy’s control range anywhere from small the space-faring Manta-Class strike vessels to the large, hulking Leviathan-Class capital carriers.
Sol Marine Corps
Main article: Sol Marine Corps
Serving as the primary and only army within the Empire’s military the Sol Marine Corps fields infantry platoons and armor columns. Due to the Empire’s lack of a dedicated ‘air force’, the Marine Corps have a subsidiary Sol Marine Air Corps division dedicated to training and deploying transport, strike, and bomber pilots as well.
Sol Guard Corps
Main article: Sol Guard Corps
Despite officially being a branch of the Sol Empire's primary military, the Sol Guard Corps don't serve any traditional combat roles. This branch exists as a group of ceremonial units including honor guards, parade units, exhibition drill units, air shows, etc. Contrary to their name, the Guard Corps is not actually responsible for any protection duties of the Emperor or his staff - That duty is left to the Marine Corps.
Table of Contents
Humanity United
Solus Empire/Solusian Empire Common improper name used by foreigners.
Sol-Lassi Union
For the past 30 years, the Sol Empire and Lassi Tribe have held a peaceful relationship through trade agreements and alliances. This alliance eventually grew into a strong bond where the Lassi Tribe declared intentions of uniting with the Sol Empire under their banner, and lobbying with the Republic of Sion Council to unite the entirety of the Republic with the Empire. While the Lassis and Solus have become inseparable, the remainder of the Republic of Sion's tribes have been hesitant to follow.
Sol-Lassi Alliance
While the Republic as a whole has not declared any official alliances or pacts, the Republic's Sol-Lassi Tribe have declared themselves members of both the Sol Empire and the Republic of Sion, leading to some conflict and confusion within the Sionian Republic Council. The Sol Empire has made their approval of this pact quite clear, however, and also has an open trade agreement with the Katar Tribe.
Sol-Arshan Unification War
The Sol-Arshan Unification War has been ongoing for nearly 40 years, with periods of Cold War-like 'peace' and moments of heated, open combat between the Grand Navy (Sol) and Delta Squadron (Arshan) border patrol fleets as either side tests the defensive lines of the other. Conflicting records provide different accounts of the start of this war, typically pitting the blame of first aggression on the opposing force.
Open Aggression
Following the loss of the Jameson Expeditionary Fleet during first contact, the Sol Empire has considered the Varkesh a threat to their nation and race while the Varkesh themselves seemed content with ignoring the Empire's existence. However, as the Empire's borders expanded toward the Varkesh, and Grand Sol Navy fleets began coming across and firing on Varkesh ships, a defensive line and no-man's land was established between the two powers with the occasional skirmish as Empire fleets push the boundaries in attempts to claim additional systems.
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