Imperial clasification of governments

There are three basic types of governments within the Imperial borders classified by the level of their participation in the life of the empire itself.
The Allied states are those entities who, while they wish to enjoy the benefits of commerce with the empire, retain their independence. These states are served within the imperial government by the Council of Ambassadors. This body acts to communicate the collective concerns and desires of the allied states to the Emperor and to reduce friction between the allies themselves. While wielding no actual power within the empire this body does exercise a great deal of influence in the imperial court.
The Imperial Protectorates are those planets who, because of technological differentials or political instabilities are not ready for full membership in the imperial order. These worlds are overseen by imperial governors who are tasked with their development into fully contributing members of the Empire. At such time as a protectorate has become technologically advanced and politically stable enough to elect their own representatives it is advanced to the status of Member state.
The Member state is a full part of the Empire electing their own representatives to the Imperial Senate. The Senate is the Vox Popoli, the voice of the people, or so it is held by tradition. Each senator represents one political member state, whatever form the local government takes. There are some who represent only one inhabited planet in a star system while others speak for governments that span several star systems. The Emperor does not mandate what form the local government will take as long as they recognize the authority of the imperial throne and don't engage in wars using atomic weapons of mass destruction. In fact the senate membership includes representatives from each of the star spanning mega-corps. The Senate, like the Council of Ambassadors, wields little actual authority but they do propose new legislation to the Emperor for consideration. By tradition each senator may request a direct audience with the Emperor once in any given term and expect it to be granted.
The violation of the ban on nuclear weapons is the only offense on the books that can cause the empire to degrade the status of a member state to a protectorate.

Citizenship

The inhabitants of the empire are divided into two distinct groups, citizens and rezidenzi.

The rezidenzi, who make up the majority of the core world populations, live most of their lives on their home of birth rarely traveling off world for anything other than vacation opportunities. The rezidenzi are cared for by the government with their basic needs assured by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Under this system each rezidenzi is provided a basic living space with a food dispenser and terminal. This space is very minimal measuring 2m x 6m including the hygienic unit. In addition the citizen has no say as to where his unit is located. In addition the rezidenzi have access to community cafeterias and common spaces. Larger unit are available for rent so if a rezidenzi wishes to improve his living conditions he has but to find a way to earn credits. The philosophy behind this arrangement is that luxuries belong to those who put forth the effort to acquire them. Industry is rewarded by this system and the core worlds are rich with artistic and creative endeavors.

Education is free through the terminal and classes range from traditional subject of history, mathmatics and literature to programming and art. Classes in skills such as martial arts or painting are available from instructors though these usually involve payment of some sort for the instructor.

Another side of this system is not commonly known to the general populous, the food provided by the dispenser units are laced with a mild contraceptive. The gradual buildup of the drug in those who do not supplement their diet with outside sources of nutrition prevents them from conceiving. So the lazy are well cared for but are not adding to the future burden of the system. As a result only a small percentage of rezidenzi are in this self created dead end.

The majority of the rezidenzi pursue some sort of craft or activity that fills their day and earns them credits ranging from traditional jobs to competing in sporting events for prize money and performing in various theater venues. Almost any constructive endeavor can be a means for earning spending money.

Communities also exist in rural areas primarily for those willing to tend community farm lots providing fresh produce both for themselves and for sale to the urban centers. Members of these communities earn a percentage of the profits of the sales for their efforts. There are also people who elect to devote themselves to preserving a cultural heritage in dedicated communities for the edification of humanity. A good example are the restored native American tribal villages that are scattered throughout the former United States that preserve the customs and rituals of their respective tribes.

While travel off world requires visas for rezidenzi on world travel is unrestricted and 25- 50 credits will get one anywhere he might want to go.

All in all life for the rezidenzi is comfortable and rewarding but there are those who want more. For these individuals there is the option of citizenship.

With citizenship comes the right to own property and hold positions of responsibility within the government and mega corps. The right to travel freely from planet to planet is also a major motivator to pursue citizenship.

The roads to citizenship are many and varied.

The “simplest” method is to pay a 1 million credit filing fee and apply for citizenship. Baring any major hurdles, such as a secret life as an axe murderer, the application is approved and citizenship is granted. While this route does make for a number of dilettantes the number of families able or willing to pay the fee keeps this to a very small minority of the population. The other methods take a bit longer but are more accessible to motivated individuals.

One of the most common and well known paths to citizenship is military service. An eight year tour grants citizenship to everyone who serves in any capacity.

Homesteading, that is emigrating to a colony world and living there ten year grants not only citizenship to the individual but his offspring also become citizens on their tenth birthday regardless of whether they were born on the colony or not. In fact all inhabitants of a colony world become citizens on their tenth birthday until such time as the world goes from being a colony and is raised to full member status and their economy reaches the point where the ratio of population to jobs requires the shift to the rezidenzi system to remain stable.

Serving on a merchant vessel or working on a space station builds what are known as bankable hours towards citizenship. 50,000 hours are needed to qualify for this path and the more risky the job the higher percentage of bankable hours it earns. Working maintenance on a station usually has a 50% bankable ratio meaning it would take 100,000 hours to bank the 50,000 needed. On a merchant vessel every hour spent off-world is bankable so it has a 100% ratio. Orbital construction and other highly skilled professions actually carry ratings higher than 100%.

Citizenship has also been granted for exceptional achievements and contributions to the empire or the general good.

Some megacorps will offer to sponsor one’s citizenship as an incentive to attract people with special or particularly desired talents.

One thing that should be noted is that if a citizen resides on a rezidenzi world their children are rezidenzi when they come of age. The only exceptions to this rule are the members of the imperial house. The “recognized” imperial offspring pass citizenship automatically to their next generation and those who are fully entered into the house of Eximus pass their franchise on into perpetuity.

From the past

This is actually my second attempt to record the material on the Empire. The following entries were originally publish in 2006 and I am adding them now to consolidate my material. This assumes you are working your way backward from the present.

From the Ashes-The New York Megaplex-part one

More than any other event in Imperial history the destruction of New York City stands out as the singular point of change for Earth and the Empire as a whole. In a week of fire and destruction, the Eastern seaboard of the United States from Boston to Philadelphia ceased to exist.
The war with the Shaloi Hegemony had ground down to a stalemate with both sides doing little more than trading the same systems back and forth along the two fronts. In a bold move, the Matriarch committed all of her reserves into a desperate attempt to cross the Great Barrier and strike into the heart of the Empire. In retrospect, the failure of both sides to understand the underlying cultural differences ensured both the success and ultimate failure of the Shaloi assault.
The Shaloi fleet drove straight through to Earth intending to break the Imperial fleet by destroying the location of its capital and by their world view the only sane place for the true leaders of the Empire to have their nest. Within the Hegemony, all social identity derives from the egg-group into which one is born with the various nest mothers owing allegiance to the egg-group they originated from all the way up to the Matriarch. The Matriarch resides in absolute security on the Homeworld. The idea that she would ever place herself in danger by leaving her fortress on Homeworld was incomprehensible. By extension, it stood to reason that the Imperial Matriarch must reside at the center of our government. The mission of the fleet was simple, to destroy the stronghold of our Matriarch thereby causing us to be absorbed into their Hegemony the same as they would have done if the roles were reversed.
With the bulk of our fleet committed to the fronts, almost no one stood between the invaders and Earth. In a matter of hours after the Shaloi fleet materialized out of jump-space, they had eliminated most of the planetary defenses and began an orbital bombardment of New York City.
After the third day most of Long Island was underwater and the fleet began expanding the perimeter of the bombardment. By the time the Imperial Fleets arrived from the front seven days later everything within 50 miles of the Atlantic seaboard from New York to Boston was devastated and the shoreline had been driven almost 20 miles inland causing both of the cities and most of Rhode Island to cease to exist. As the fleet arrived the invaders played their final card. In a final act of destruction, the invaders set their reactors to overload and crashed them into every metropolitan area within the zone of destruction causing shock waves that were felt as far inland as Chicago. and rendering the zone totally uninhabitable for years to come.
Due to the massive scale of the devastation, an accurate accounting of the casualties was never possible, though the estimates placed the count at around 200 million people.
The outrage at the massacre unified humanity firmly behind the Emperor in a way all his humanitarian acts had never been able to do. The Imperial fleet had always had more ships than crews needed to man them. This was no longer true. From every corner of the globe, every adult who was able swarmed the enlistment offices demanding a place in the fleet. The fleet sent only enough ships back to the fronts to hold the line while the rest of the ships became massive training platforms for the swelling number of recruits. It was a green but enthusiastic fleet that set out 4 years later in the Emperor's response to the "New York Genocide". Driving straight through to the Great Barrier the fleet began to carve a passage through the ancient deathtrap. It took the fleet close to a year to blast a passage but in the end, they poured through the breach like water through a ruptured dam. Taking time only to neutralize the fleets in between the Imperial fleet made a straight path to Homeworld. Once there, the Emperor made his one gesture at a "humane" resolution by calling for the surrender of the Matriarch to answer for the slaughter of New York. When this was refused he proceeded to deliver his response in unmistakable directness. Every stronghold of every egg-mother residing on Homeworld was turned into a crater and the fortress of the Matriarch was subjected to such a massive barrage of fusion charges that the resulting cloud of vaporized matter darkened the skies for three months before dissipating. Within a few short months news of the fall of Homeworld spread throughout the Shaloi fleet bringing an end to the war and the inclusion of the Shaloi Hegemony into the Empire.
Immediately following the end of the war construction began on the ISS Atlancia, the first Imperial Capital ship. From that point on the Imperial center of government would never again be planetary. In the following years the seat of government would change two more times with commissions of the ISS Equestria and later the ISS Utopia.