Imperium of Galactic States

The Imperium of Galactic States, known often as The Imperium, is the governing confederation of civilized space, consisting of 5,106 member states as of the most recent Imperial Census (356B0). Each member is a sovereign country with its own laws and systems of governance that has agreed to join the Imperium and delegate to it certain rights and responsibilities, as outlined in a Treaty of Accession. The pinnacle of the Imperium’s governmental structure is the Emperor, who is elected by a subset of the membership (known as Imperial Electors) for a life term, up to 144 standard years. The office of Emperor is currently vacant since the death of the previous Emperor, His Supreme Majesty Ssuur Kar of Yrssai, in 356B2. The legislative power of the Imperium is vested in two bodies: the Imperium Council (consisting of the heads of state of each member) and the Senate of the Imperium (consisting of representatives from each member, typically between 1 and 12, depending on the terms of each member’s Treaty of Accession).

History
The Imperium of Galactic States was established in the Imperial Archival Year 3619 at the Metropol, then known as Manolakaar Prime. The Manolakaarans are the first among currently extant species to develop the technological ability to travel and transmit information through outer space at economically efficient speeds and established the Imperium as a coordinating entity for their interstellar holdings. Originally, only Manolakaaran worlds were members, with the first non-Manolakaaran species joining in 3798, 239 archival years later.

As originally constructed, the Imperium was an asymmetric alliance in which Manolakaaran members enjoyed more privileges than non-Manolakaarans. Of the first 24 new species to join, 22 of them did so after military actions or threats of military action from the Manolakaarans. Non-Manolakaarans had no representation in the Imperium’s systems of governance and were disallowed from maintaining their own military forces. After an initial burst of expansion in the first 400 years, growth slowed significantly, with the borders of the Imperium remaining unchanged from 4010 until 5162.

In 5162, the Gorath were admitted to the Imperium. This species, also known by their translated vulgar exonym “Goranians,” was by far the most technologically advanced species to have been admitted, with their abilities meeting or even exceeding those of the Manolakaarans. It is unknown when the Gorath achieved the ability to travel faster than light, but academic consensus generally indicates they did so very shortly after the Manolakaarans, with a minority believing they actually preceded the Manolakaarans. Gorath membership in the Imperium was a ruse through which the Gorath became able to spy upon and eventually attack the Manolakaarans in the year 5165. The resulting war was detrimental to the economy of the Imperium and the lives of its citizens, with more than 30 billion casualties. For a time, the Gorath occupied the Metropol and seized control of the Imperium—an event known as the First Interregnum, which lasted from 5170 until 5181. The Gorath military advance was able to move quickly through Imperium space because the various member states had no defensive capability of their own.

The First Interregnum ended in 5181 when the Imperium was able to develop a weapon targeted to the Gorath. This weapon was actually a self-replicating nanite designed to enter the Gorath body and use its tissues as raw materials to further reproduce, which had the effect of destroying the Gorath body from the inside out. It especially targeted bones, without which the Gorath could not move. These nanites rendered the Gorath extinct and proceeded to further reproduce using raw materials extracted from the planet itself, a process that continues to the present day. The weapon was not a Manolakaaran design, but was instead a collaborative effort between three other species: the Vdmians, the Shastarians, and the Zell Tafarans. During the process of development, a containment breach caused significant damage to the planet Vdm, leading to the deaths of some 10 billion Vdmians—91% of their population and one third of the war’s total casualties.

After the war’s end, the Manolakaar sought to return to the status quo ante bellum, in which the asymmetric governance structure of the Imperium continued to favor them. This led to the Second Interregnum in 5182, in which the Shastarians, surviving Vdmians, and seven other members bombed the Metropol and eliminated the Emperor and the entire Senate—a feat not even the Gorath had accomplished. The Manolakaarans surrendered after an internal faction of rebels violently overthrew the leader of the Manolakaaran government (which was, at the time, distinct from the Imperium). While all members agreed to continuing the project of the Imperium of Galactic States, the Manolakaaran state was abolished.

In contrast to the previous system, after the Second Interregnum, the Manolakaaran species was subject to the governance of the Imperium and had no government of its own. The Imperium took possession of every Manolakaaran world and, perhaps most significantly, the government revenues generated by taxation and resource extraction. Non-Manolakaaran members were each raised to the status of co-equals. In 6044, the Senate established a governing entity known as “the Metropolitan” (distinctly named to indicate the lack of statehood status) to administrate former Manolakaaran territory. Manolakaar Prime was renamed the Metropol, and the Manolakaaran language to Metropolitan. The Metropolitan is not a member of the Imperium, but is a created entity that governs those territories directly under the sovereignty of the Imperium itself. It would not be until the year 14615 that 12 Manolakaaran worlds were allowed to join the Imperium as full members, on the condition that they be admitted as separate states each with only one Senator. Of these 12 Manolakaaran states, 2 were dissolved by the Senate within 144 years for “unlawful political collaboration” that was deemed to be in violation of the Senate’s order that the Manolakaar states be separate.