Kel-Azaan Republic
The Kel-Azaan Republic is a major interstellar government organised as a citizen stratocracy. Its capital is Azak, located in the Kel-Azak System. The primary population are Kel-Azaan, an arthropoid species that evolved on the savannah world of Azak. The population of the Kel-Azaan Republic is notable for its complex honour code and martial culture, and their relative egalitarianism. The Kel-Azaan Republic is ruled by a military administration led by the Strategos, who is elected on a term basis. Citizenship in the Republic is only granted through military service, and its culture highly values martial prowess above all else. Diplomatically, the Kel-Azaan Republic is aggressive to its neighbours, but primarily seeks out what it considers "worthy" foes to fight, and does not typically come into conflict with weaker opponents.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Government
The Kel-Azaan Republic is structured as a federal stratocratic republic. It is typically classified as a semi-liberal mixed-market economy, with moderate levels of corruption.The leadership of the Republic, the War Council, is comprised of the leading figures of the Republic's eight military branches. These include the Army, Navy, Marines, Intelligence, Militia, Special Forces, Republican Guard, and Gendarmerie. Although each branch is represented by a single individual, the representatives of the Army and Navy are given higher deference due to their branches' respective sizes. The eight branch leaders are joined by additional members of the War Council: the Arbiter of Duels, who oversees all duelling and questions of honour (effectively acting as the head of the judiciary the Clan Speaker, who represents the various clans of the Republic; the Chief Attaché, who is responsible for the Republic's diplomatic efforts; the Chief Citizen; who is responsible for matters of citizenship in the Republic; and the Chancellor, who undertakes matters typically regarded as 'non-military', such as budgets, welfare, education, and healthcare.
The thirteen members of the War Council elect the Republic's executive, the Strategos, who oversees all military matters and acts as the Commander-in-Chief. The War Council is responsible for promoting military commanders to the head of their respective branches, but the non-branch leader positions are a mixture of elected and appointed. The Chief Citizen and Chancellor are elected by popular first-past-the-post voting among all eligible citizens, while clan leaders vote for the Clan Speaker. the Arbiter of Duels and the Chief Attaché are both appointed by the War Council.
Full citizenship is limited to those who have performed a tour of duty in the Republic's military of no less than three years. The majority of those who enter the military end up in logistics or clerical roles, while the most coveted positions are in the Starfighter Corps, Special Forces, and Republican Guard. Non-Kel-Azaan species are allowed to become citizens through military service, assuming they can pass the stringent physical requirements.
Kel-Azaan citizens elect representatives at a local and provincial level. These representatives form planetary assemblies, which elect an executive (akin to a governor) who then reports to the War Council on Azak. Planetary assemblies are responsible for infrastructure development, healthcare, education, and other government objectives that have direct impacts on the lives of citizens, as well as raising and equipping planetary militias and system patrol forces. The rights of planets to elect their own executives are enshrined in Kel-Azaan law, similar to an unwritten constitution.
History
The Kel-Azaan have long exhibited martial traditions, ever since the first of them banded together to hunt large prey during prehistoric times. By the time they settled into an urban and agricultural society, their martial traditions had been well established. Throughout their pre-FTL development, the Kel-Azaan developed complex honour codes to establish codes of conduct when fighting the many wars they engaged in. Human readers may find these to be approximate to the chivalric or bushido codes, but significantly more complex and culturally significant.The history of the modern Republic begins in the late 20th century CE. A number of devastating global wars, several fought with nuclear weapons, led to a reexamination of the martial values that had guided the species' culture. A wave of spiritual pacifism swept the world, and the first period of relative peace in the planet's history began with the dawn of the 21st century CE. It should be noted, however, that this peace was still relative. Many wars continued to be fought, and the martial traditions of the Kel-Azaan were never forgotten. Alongside this spiritualism, egalitarianism and democratic rule became commonplace on Azak. Many of the world's nations banded together in great alliances for collective security, and global unification slowly progressed.
In 2048 CE, Kel-Azaan astronomers identified an asteroid on a collision course with Azak that would wipe out billions if it hit. A global coalition was assembled to deal with the problem, but decades of disarmament had resulted in few options. In addition, many believed that the asteroid was an attack from some unknown spacefaring lifeform, and demanded a return to their militaristic ways. Although no evidence was found to support this theory, it resonated with many of the traditional Kel-Azaan. Ultimately, the asteroid was knocked off course by a nuclear weapon, and the planet saved.
The 'new ways period' lasted until the early 22nd century CE. A revival of old Kel-Azaan martial traditions swept the planet, bringing back the 'old ways'. Duelling was legalised once more, and a strong warrior culture developed. Although the spiritualism of the 'new ways period' largely disappeared, the egalitarian ideals it championed became cemented in Kel-Azaan society. In 2116 CE, another asteroid had a near-miss with Azak, which galvanised pro-planetary unification activists. Ultimately, the nations of Azak agreed to a military committee for planetary defensive purposes, which quickly expanded to have sole executive control of all nations. Further demands by traditionalist activists created a system of citizen service - service by any means to the state was the only way to gain full citizenship, while other forms of citizenship were abolished.
Kel-Azaan scientists developed the hyper drive in 2200 CE, partly for exploratory purposes, and partly to secure Azak against aggressors. Many traditionalists also rejoiced in the belief that alien life could finally create a conflict beyond the war games and simulations they had participated in for the previous decades since unification.
Demographics
The vast majority of the Republic's population is Kel-Azaan, with significant minorities of Tzynn, Nyrr, Humans, Rototavuul, Graparx, Kiliks. Approximately seventy percent of the population are citizens, with xenos typically exhibiting higher rates of citizenship. Compared to other societies, the Kel-Azaan have lower rates of urbanisation, due to a reluctance of Azaans to live in dense populations. This has also led to a higher percentage of the population living on outer colonies, as Azaans seek out unclaimed land to settle away from others.Life expectancy in the Republic is fairly typical for a star nation, averaging approximately two decades past natural lifespans due to quality healthcare systems and genetic engineering. Synthetics are legal in Republic space and can gain citizenship through military service like organics, but the majority of synthetics have migrated from elsewhere in the galaxy.
Economy
The Kel-Azaan Republic is a large, semi-post-industrial mixed-market economy. Critical infrastructure such as communications, power generation, transportation, healthcare, and education are publicly owned, while the rest of the economy is primarily privately owned. There are extensive regulations regarding foreign ownership of anything the War Council deems important to the Republic's security, which includes starship manufacturing and agriculture. Starship manufacturing is one of the largest sectors of the Kel-Azaan economy, especially military starships. As such, military exports constitute a significant portion of the Kel-Azaan GDP, including the direct sale of hardware and the renting of shipyards to other states and corportations.While the primary sectors of the Kel-Azaan economy are strong, especially in mining and agriculture, the tertiary and quaternary sectors are relatively weak. Rates of civilian manufacturing compared to government and military expenditure are lower in the Republic than comparable star nations, resulting in a somewhat lower standard of living. However, economic equality is relatively high, thanks to wealth redistribution programs and extensive social welfare systems for the lowest levels of society. Citizens are generally wealthier than civilians, but both have access to basic assistance programs.
Society
Kel-Azaan society is intensely militaristic and stratocratic. The highest virtues a Kel-Azaan can have are martial prowess, bravery, service, loyalty, and self-sacrifice; all of which combine into a collective notion of honour. These virtues are instilled into every Kel-Azaan from a young age, reinforced through state education and citizenship requirements later in life. Disputes are often resolved via duels to first blood, though duels to the death may be authorised by the Arbiter of Duels for extremely serious breaches of honour. However, duels are not permitted to be scheduled during wartime or if one of the individuals is required for immediate service by the government for some other reason.A large part of Kel-Azaan society revolves around the warrior clans. The clans are ostensibly ethnic and geographical groupings of Kel-Azaan that can trace their lineage to ancient heroes and mythical figures, and today serve a role approximate to a union, guild, corporation, and political party. While many Kel-Azaan believe the practice of warrior clans is an ancient one, their modern incarnation was created in the early 22nd century CE at the conclusion of the 'new ways period' in order to promote values espoused by the recently unified planetary government. Despite their relative recency, the clans play an important role in Kel-Azaan politics. Every Kel-Azaan is a member of a clan, typically tracing their lineage patrilineally, except in cases where the mother is of higher rank or honourific standing than the father. Kel-Azaan who cannot trace their lineage, have been exiled from their clan, have been dishonoured by their clan, or non-Kel-Azaan who wish to join a clan can apply to a clan's Warmaster for sponsorship to join.
When clans have a disagreement or dispute, they are legally required to resolve it via arbitration or duelling. However, some clans occasionally take matters into their own hands and create long-lasting feuds with their rivals. This has the potential to escalate into open violence between clans, akin to gang wars between criminal organisations. Governments, from local to national, take a poor view of this kind of violence and crack down harshly whenever it appears. In the most extreme cases, clans have been dissolved after taking feuds too far. However, most clans respect the law and act in accordance with what it requires.
Kel-Azaan hold individual warriors in high regard, such as strike craft pilots, duelists, and special forces operators. However, Kel-Azaan culture does not fully discount the importance of non-military roles in society. Professions such as farmers, miners, scientists, metallurgists, and even (rarely) bureaucrats are all given a small measure of deference for their importance in the 'back end' of military operations. The paragons of these fields are occasionally awarded the title of 'honourary warrior', paying tribute to their contributions to society as a whole. In addition, Kel-Azaan society holds the belief that every individual should be allowed to succeed as a warrior based on their own merits, and attempts to remove structural obstacles (such as sexism and xenophobia) that impede the advancement of potential warriors.
Military
Although eclipsed by the Tzynn Empire in total fielded manpower, the Kel-Azaan Star Navy is the largest naval force in the galaxy by tonnage, and the Republic's military is the largest all-volunteer force in the galaxy. Kel-Azaan military units are widely regarded throughout the galaxy for their ferocity and aggressiveness in battle, as individual soldiers hope to secure honour for themselves and their clan. The Republic's various military forces also have significant rank mobility, with promotions and demotions being more commonplace than other militaries.There are eight branches of the Republic's military: the Star Navy, the Army, the Star Marines, the Planetary Militia, the Republican Guard, the Special Operations Forces, the Gendarmerie, and the Intelligence Branch. They are coordinated through the War Council, which, in addition to acting as the governing body for the Republic, acts as a coordinating body for the military. In order to prevent one branch from dominating the others, all proposed budgets must be proposed by the Chancellor and approved by the Strategos.
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Capital
Government System
Stratocracy
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Mixed economy
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Comments