[hider=The Imerian Republic][center][b][h3]THE IMERIAN REPUBLIC[/h3][/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/4XYKLWi.png[/img]

[hider=The Consul and Admiral-Legate of the Republic]
[hider=Consul Bartholemy Eidenhag]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Y3n4ame.png[/img]

[b]Age:[/b] 81

[b]Description:[/b] Bartholemy is a politician through and through. He has tailored his appearance carefully, making sure he always carries himself with gravitas and inspires authority. Though his greying hair shows his age is beginning to catch up with him, he remains a very charismatic individual, and still stands an inch above most other men. As for his comportment, he is of a patient nature, and dislikes rash decisions. He is a master manipulator, in fact, and takes great pleasure it outmaneuvering his political enemies without them even knowing it. This political acumen has enabled him to rule the Republic almost single-handedly, the senators all dancing on his strings. Above all, he is a pragmatist, and holds very little in the way of personal belief, preferring to tailor his views however will gain him the most.

[b]Biography:[/b] Born in 4419 to a wealthy family in Coddenstag (the capital city of Imeria), Bartholemy never really had a childhood growing up. He was groomed from an early age to be the brightest and the best at everything, in preparation for his role as dynastic heir to the empire his family had built up. This coldness is perhaps what drove him to join the Republican Armada, in 4442, against the wishes of his parents. 

He made quite an impact in the Guard, his aptitude showing quickly enough. When raiders threatened to sack the mining colonies in the outer reaches of the Ruthweiler system, in 4449, he was among the force sent to see them off. His actions in that affair brought him into the notice of the upper echelon of the Armada. Thirty seven years later, upon retiring, he held the rank of admiral, and an enormous amount of respect as something of a popular hero. In this time, the political scene of the Republic was undergoing a turmoil after a scandal toppled the previous Consul, and Bartholemy eyed the post hungrily. 

He ran in opposition to the Republicans, who'd held the Consulship almost without opposition for a century. The people were tired of their rule, however, and his newly-created Dominionist party- formed with the support of his friends in the Republican Armada- won power in a landslide. In the twenty years since, he has tightened his grip on power, driving the Republicans to near-insignificance. He ended the policy of his predecessors of neglecting the armed forces, with the expansion of Imerian influence as a priority of his rule. 

His opponents have decried his jingoistic rhetoric, and the system of rewards he has set up in the upper society of the Republic as blatant corruption, but still Consul Eidenhag maintains his iron grip over the Republic, seemingly invincible.
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[hider=Admiral-Legate Janos Korwitz]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dbAWpmh.png[/img]

[b]Age:[/b] 57

[b]Description:[/b] Janos is famous in the Republic, and the Shoals beyond, for his cybernetic augmentations, going far beyond what is required of most officers. After a devastating ambush early on in his career which be barely survived, he had to undergo substantial surgery, and now he lives only because of his augmentations. More machine than man, they say. Liver, heart, intestines, even the brain- all his major organs are now at least partly synthetic. This has given him a frightening appearance, to be sure.

He seems to have lost his humanity with his heart, and he'd agree: Humanity is such a handicap, after all. He always takes the most rational and utilitarian approach to any given problem, and damned be the accusations of butchery. Of the rare emotions he has, key is his contempt for weakness, which he believes infects the human being.

[b]Biography:[/b] Janos Korwitz was born in 4448, to relative poverty. Even as a child, he was cold, almost to the point of sociopathy. Little is known of his childhood, growing up in the slums of Egan Manora, a key industrial city on Imeria. He certainly isn't divulging anything. What is known for a fact is that he enlisted in the Republican Guard as an officer at the age of twenty, the youngest possible for that organization. 

He rapidly cultivated a reputation for ruthless efficiency, one he retains to this day. Though many were disturbed by his more controversial methods, none could deny the results he consistently achieved, and so he rose quickly in the ranks. As a lieutenant, his platoon was ambushed as it raided a pirate outpost, and he barely survived. The extensive operations required to maintain his life saw many of his organs replaced by machines, and he came out of the experience having something of a fascination with cybernetic augmentations. In the years since, he's replaced most of his organs, one way or another, with cybernetics.

In any case, he continued to serve with distinction, rising as one of the three Legates of the Republic in 4491, and then as Legate-Admiral, and thus in command of both the Guard and the Armada, in 4496.

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[hider=Territories of the Republic]
The Republic's only truly inhabited system in the Ruthweiler system, which contains two populated planets: Imeria itself, and Gonoris, a volcanic planet with colony cities floating in its heavy atmosphere. Between the two of them these planets contain 90% of the population of the Republic. The rest are scattered in various stations throughout Ruthweiler, and some others systems beyond.

The surrounding Ingria, Havendall, Potoma, and Essarnine systems are officially Republican territory, and are heavily exploited by Imerian corporations, though they remain plagued by pirates and rivals. Nearby systems can also feel the Imerian influence, with trade passing through and corporations moving in to exploit resources, but remain wild territory.
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[hider=Governance]
The Imerian Republic is governed by the three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. While the system is not perfect, each is nominally independent of the others.

The executive branch is headed by the twin heads of states of the Republic, the Consul, who manages all political, economic, and social questions, and the Admiral-Legate, who manages the defense of the Republic. Though they are nominally of equal rank, and can veto each other, they traditionally focus exclusively on their own spheres of influence. The Consul is elected by a popular vote, while the Admiral-Legate is nominated by the Consul, and approved by the Senate.

The latter is the legislative branch of the Republic. The Senate is a body composed of the fifty most esteemed statesmen of the Republic. They each represent a given portion of the population, nominated for the post by the Consul, and approved by a general vote among the populace of their district. Though universal, the franchise is not equal: Citizens worth more than a million Imerats have twice the vote as those under that threshold, a system which is intended to avoid spoiler votes by the ignorant masses. In recent years, the Senate has lost much of its authority to the Consuls, particularly under Consul Eidenhag, whose cronies in the Senate enable him to legislate essentially on his own.

Finally, the judiciary branch of Imeria is headed by the Republican Court, which examines controversial laws passed by the senate, and judges whether they abide by the principles of freedom enshrined in the constitution. 
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[hider=History of the Imerian Republic] The history of the Republic can be traced back to the old Arcturian Empire, like most other things in the galaxy. As that civilization entered the 4th millennium, its inexorable expansion slowed, and it began to focus on governing the territories it already controlled. Prime on the minds of its emperors was the threat posed by the renegades of the Dolorous Shoals, who raided Imperial systems, their bases safely hidden away in the Lesser Arm. 

Enough was enough. In 3118, an Imperial expedition entered the Ruthweiler system, and established a colony on the planet Imeria. It was one of the few garden worlds in the Lesser Arm, though slightly cold, and initial scans revealed rich deposits of minerals. But the true intention of the colony was a martial one: the colony's strategic position on the Arm's subspace lane made it one of the main "gates" into the Dolorous Shoals. The idea was to construct an Imperial bastion there, from which Arcturian influence could spread, hopefully pacifying the tumultuous region. By 3200, the Imerian colony was self sustaining; by 3300, it was emerging as one of the most prosperous place outside the Empire proper.

Unfortunately for Imeria, the Empire began to stagnate in this time. The 3300s saw the gradual erosion of the authority of the Emperors, with almost incessant civil wars breaking out throughout the century, epic affairs that saw billions die and entire star systems be destroyed. Even worse for the Arcturians, the Astro-goths began forming as a coherent entity during this time, first as an Imperial client, and then taking part in the wars on one side or another, before finally growing bold enough to raid the Empire itself. All this strained the Emperor's forces, and in 3392, he recalled the vast majority of the fleet stationed in the Ruthweiler system back to fight his own wars, ending the Imperial influence in the Dolorous Shoals.

This left Imeria effectively fending for itself. Though it had little to fear from the Astro-goths, who swarmed instead into the rich Empire, there were many similar barbarian peoples who eyed the colony hungrily. In 3422, the Gabrathians finally overcame the militia, and established the Gabrathian Kingdom with the colony as its capital. This began an era of foreign rule, that saw the succession of numerous kings and warlords take power in Imeria. The Gabrathians terrorized the Shoals for two centuries, before being conquered by the Fehazedan, who were displaced by the Potorans, who were subjugated by the Naender Kings. During all this time, the Imerian populace mixed with the influx of peoples from all over the Lesser Arm, creating a mongrel ethnic group.

This state of affairs was again changed in with the onset of the 5th millennium, as the spark of the Arcturian Empire lit again. The second Empire rose from the ashes of the first, and began its attempts to reunite the lands it had lost- Imeria among them. In 4370, a small scouting force sent by the Arcturian Emperor toppled the Neanders with the aid of an Imerian revolt, and incorporated the wayward colony as a formal territory. But the Imerians had grown dissuse to the directness of Imperial rule, and objected to the Emperor's heavy-handed enforcement of policies. They revolted after twelve years of tension. 

Thus, in 4384, the Imerian Republic was born. Its constitution gave its citizens power over, and protection from, the state. In the hundred years since, the Republic has shown itself to be a rising power, with the pacification of the Dolorous Shoals as a national project. Its laissez-faire policies have also placed it on friendly terms with the mega corporations, generally in alliance against the pirates who plague the region. And the time since has also been marked by a constant tension: The second Arcturian Empire has only grown in the time since, and has never recognized Imerian independence, or forgiven the rebellion.[/hider]
[hider=On the Republican Guard and the Republican Armada]
The armed forces of the Republic have existed since its inception, when the colony first rebelled against the barbarian occupiers. The Imerian Militia, as they called themselves, played no small part in the reconquest of the Ruthweiler system by the Second Empire. When these newcomers proved to be just as tyrannical as their predecessors, the Militia turned its guns against them, and after routing the Imperial forces from the planet, seized a great deal of equipment. When the Republic was proclaimed, the Militia was split into two branches, the Republican Guard and the Republican Armada.

The Republican Armada has always been the more prestigious of the two. Its mandate is the protection of shipping lanes, the defense against pirate raids, and the pacification of the Dolorous Shoals beyond. An aristocratic institution, advancement in the Armada's ranks is more dependent on family ties than actual merit.

The Republican Guard, meanwhile, has always been something of a joke. After all, what purpose could a ground-based force have in this age of space travel? Those who say this forget that it was the same ground-based forces that defeated the Imperial Garrison, during the War of Independence, and seized the ships that would eventually form the core of the Armada. While in the time since it has often had little in the way of relevance, the recent increase of pirate raids, and the threat of emerging enemies, have highlighted the need for the Guard. Recently, with the arrival in power of the jingoistic Dominionist party, the Guard has received a great deal of additional funding and attention, and has been the center of a deal in negotiation with the Zenith corporation, over the purchase of ten thousand manned mechanical armored automatons.
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[hider=Foreign Policy]
[b]The Second Arcturian Empire:[/b] The relation between the Second Arcturian Empire and the Imerian Republican can best be described as non-existent. The Republic gained its independence by rebelling against the Emperor, after all, and the latter has never recognized its sovereignty. Most consider the two in a state of unofficial war, with only the Empire's distraction and otherwise lack of interest in the Shoals as explanation for the tenuous peace that currently exists. 

[b]The Seven Houses:[/b]

[b]The Ascendancy of Kaasid:[/b]

[b]The Jasaran Dominion:[/b] Since the independence of the Republic, the Second Empire has sought to replace it, as a beacon of Imperial influence in the region. In the last century, it has greatly propped up the Dominion of Jasar, which has become something of a client state of the Empire. Given this situation, it's fair to say that relations between the Dominion and the Republic are chilly, at best. The Dominion is seen with almost irrational fear and hatred in the Republic, with politicians contrasting the freedom and prosperity of Imeria against the tyranny and hellishness of the Jasar, which is not far from the Truth.

The Empire, making use of the Dominion's envy of the Republic's prosperity,  have pushed the Dominion to counter the expansion of the Republic, and in particular the Ciditar system, which though devoid of any colonizable planets but filled with a ressource-rich giant asteroid field. Both nations claim colonization rights for the system. The Republican push in the system is led by an alliance of Imerian corporations, chiefly the Adonis Mining Corporation, which is based off the (somewhat unimaginatively named) Adonis Station. Meanwhile, a Jasaran expedition sent by the Sovereign is based from the Trident Zero Station, from which it periodically raids Adonis survey parties, and mining colonies.

The tense military situation the Ciditar quagmire has created has both nations locked in a cold war, which occasionally flares hot in skirmishes. The emerging threat of the Dominion is what enabled Consul Eidenhag to secure funds for the massive Mechanical Automaton purchase currently in negociation with the Zenith corporation.

[b]Highbeam Interstellar:[/b] Though the Republic maintains a generally laissez-faire and corporate-friendly economic policy, Highbeam Interstellar's continuing support of pirates, raiders, and enemies of the Republic have earned it no favors there, and it was among the Golden Crescen mega-corporations the Imerian Senate outlawed in 4429, after the great raid of that year razed the colony in the Potoma system and caused untold costs of damages in that system, using corporate technology. 

[b]Zenith Heavy Industries:[/b] In the same manner as Highbeam Interstellar, the Zenith corporation was outlawed in 4429, its presence banned from Republican space, its employees liable to prosecution.

[b]The Red Fleet:[/b]
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