Achaemenid Empire

Achaemenid Empire:
Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Current Ruler: Emperor Feroze
History:
Founding 540 PD:
The oldest of the great powers that exist today save of course for the SCG itself the Achaemenid Empire was established when the mega-ark Achaemenid fled the founding fleet with the stated goal of preserving the heritage and culture of the Persian people. The journey from the Founding fleet to the new homeworld named Achaemenid after the ship took five hundred and forty years; by this point the Captains had firmly established themselves as the absolute rulers of the half a million people of the mega-ark.

Building the Colony 540-550 PD: Upon arrival in the “New Persia” star system the population of the Achaemenid quickly realized that the world they had chosen as their new home was far from habitable. Deciding they had come too far and that they would not be defeated the ruling council of the Achamenid chose to proceed with establishing a colony on the world’s harsh surface anyway while they themselves remained high above with their families and cronies aboard the mega-ark. Over the next ten years thousands would perish as the colony was established, vita wombs were activated and large families were encouraged to compensate. Despite these measures the “grounders” still almost failed to establish a permanent foothold on the inhospitable world.

The Empire is born 551-570 PD: With a permanent foothold finally established the “orbiters” or “high ones” began establishing mining operations in the outer system to expand on their own orbital habitat while those far below toiling away on the planet’s surface struggled to create the foundation of a new Empire.
Over the next two decades the colonies in orbit and on the planet’s surface both grew and thrived thanks to the use of modern technology and the establishment of a functioning industrial base. The process of claiming Achaemenid began in earnest.

The First Steps to new worlds 632 PD: With the population of the orbital habitats and planet side colonies now numbering some six billion the Emperor chose that a new ark was to be built and sent out to the stars to spread the glory of the Empire to far distant worlds. In the end sixteen such ships were sent out and within a hundred years virtually all had established themselves on new worlds, their populations waking up from cryogenic suspension to spread the glory of their Emperor and people.

First Contact with SCG 700 PD: When the SCG made contact with the capital world of the Achaemenid Empire they quickly realized they had already made contact with six other worlds answering to the same name. At first the SCG council believed they had encountered another hyperspace capable civilization but quickly realized that they had instead encountered a civilization that despite the distances of space and the lack of FTL contact had somehow maintained its cultural identity. As soon as the gates were established the Emperor Ashram III of the Achaemenid set about reestablishing contact –and his authority over- the worlds that had been established in the centuries since the Empire’s founding. The Empire was one of the first nations to create a dedicated military force as Emperor Ashram III quickly destroyed and deposed any false Emperors or Empresses that attempted to oppose his unification of the Empire.

Tensions with the SCG: Seeing the militarily aggressive actions of Emperor Ashram III and his Empire the SCG quickly began sanctioning the Empire until at last the Emperor agreed –in secret so as not to lose face amongst his people- to disarm their warfleet and turn over all capital ships to the SCG Spacy.

The Empire Strikes Back 834-840: When the discovery of jump drives was broadcast throughout known space Empress Esfir I seized upon the opportunity this represented and diverted the vast wealth and power of her house to the construction of the “Immortals”, a military unit loyal to the Empress and her household. The construction of this military force took five years but in the end the Empress was in command of a formidable fleet of six modern battleships forty cruisers and nearly a hundred frigates, all of which were jump capable. Taking full advantage of the chaos and horror of the Foundation war the Empress set forth at the head of her fleet to seize and secure the worlds of her Empire. Her first combat action took place in the year 839 when her Immortals engaged an SCG task force in the Sarush star system. The battle was fierce and the Empress herself was nearly killed when her flagship was crippled but in the end the SCG commander chose to withdraw from action leaving the Sarush system and effectively the whole of Achaemenid space under the full control of the Empire.
Not satisfied with securing her borders Empress Esfir expanded the military might of the Empire declaring that all worlds of the Empire must contribute ships and soldiers to the cause of the Empire. This set a precedent within the Empire that persists to this day.

The Treaty of Seta and the end of an era 845: When the SCG announced that they wanted to initiate peace talks in the Seta system the Achaemenid initially chose not to appear instead continuing their expansion into chaotic systems. This changed however when the Empress Esfir I, always at the head of her forces engaged a fleet belonging to the Dominion of Listadt. The battle was hard fought and costly but in the end the Listadt Dominion Fleet managed to defeat the Achaemenid fleet. When the Empress surrendered the Admiral of the Listadt seized the Achaemenid ships and upon realizing who he had in custody ordered a Hussar platoon to secure the Empress and send her back to the capital. Unfortunately the events that followed are shrouded in mystery, the Listadt insist that the Empress own Immortal bodyguards panicked and attacked the Hussars resulting in a firefight, while the Immortals that survived the incident insisted that the Hussars were nothing more than a death squad. The result was the same, the Empress and her entire personal guard contingent was killed in action.

When news of the death of the Empress and the defeat of her Immortals spread throughout the Empire a great deal of grieving and sorrow nearly crippled the Empire. Fortunately Emperor Feroze, eldest son and heir to the Empress moved quickly to consolidate the remaining Immortal forces as well as the fleets of Satraps and Satrapahs he could trust and quickly put down the few Satraps that he knew would attempt rebellion. With the death of his mother and the costly war against Listadt going poorly Feroze made the decision to appear at the Seta star system as well as making a separate peace treaty with the Dominion which allowed the Dominion to keep the ships they had seized in the war as well as reclaiming two of the worlds they had lost to the Empire.

Reforms 845-860: Emperor Feroze; every bit as energetic vital and intelligent as his mother set about reforming the Empire to better incorporate the worlds and habitats gained under the reign of his mother. Each world was granted full rights and responsibilities as a Satrap regardless of whether or not they had joined the Empire willingly or been conquered. This went a great way to normalizing relations and ending several native rebellions as Satrapies are largely autonomous as long as they obey overall Imperial laws and honor their obligations to the Emperor.

Present Day: Under Emperor Feroze the Empire has not expanded territorially but has seen economic growth in excess of anything seen in generations. His reforms have also seen the vast class differences between “orbiters” and “grounders” largely dissolved as well as beginning the process of slowly changing the views of the “blood” Achaemenid towards those that have joined the Empire or been conquered. While far from perfect the Empire of today is a much more tolerant and progressive place than that of even a generation past.

Culture: The Empire’s culture is unique in that it has a single core culture made up of the Achaemenid “blood” which is heavily influenced by the ancient Persian societies of Sol. While the “blood” makes up roughly half of the Imperial population the remainder are actually a culturally diverse group of cultures that were absorbed into the Empire either through conquest or voluntarily joining. Each of these cultures is left largely unmolested by the “blood” so long as they do not attempt to sew dissent or degrade the stability of the Empire.

Overall the Empire is structured rather differently than most nations. Although the Emperor is the absolute ruler of the Empire itself he actually only directly rules over a single star system –the Capital system- while the other systems and worlds in the Empire are ruled over by Satraps or Satrapahs who owe feudal vassalage to the Emperor. While each Satrap and Satrapah has crucial responsibilities to the Empire he or she is actually free to run their own affairs largely how they see fit so long as they do not violate Imperial law. The granting of Satrap rights to the worlds recently conquered by the Empire actually did a great deal to end the rebellions as the populations realized they would still be able to effectively maintain self-rule and their cultures and customs would not be destroyed.

Military: The military of the Empire is unique in that there is no single fleet or army. The Emperor/Empress hold direct command of a powerful force known as the Immortals but beyond that each Satrapy is responsible for maintaining and contributing their own fleets and forces in the name of the Emperor to be sent where he commands.

Immortals: The Immortals are the closest force the Empire has to a “national” military though in truth they answer only to the Imperial family itself and have actually been deployed against Satrapy forces numerous times throughout the history of the Empire. The Immortals are divided into two “branches”:

Void Fleet: The Void fleet is the personal space force under the command of Emperor Feroze and consists of ten battleship groups and several independent squadrons. The Emperor’s personal flagship, the battleship Ester is a part of this force.

Immortal Guard: The Immortal Guard are the ground operations force of the Immortals; consisting of power armored infantry and organic air mobile support the Immortal Guard are some of the best heavy infantrymen in the galaxy.