I'm doing a little Worldbuilding project, and, as a
rough draft of the background, there's this:
The Golden Empire
The word "sprawling" comes to mind. At its peak over one hundred star systems, thirteen different recognized sentient species, and over two trillion individuals paid tutelage to the Emperor.
The Empire, however, is in decline. An aging teleportation system makes it more and more expensive to trade every day. The Holy Church, which claims the Emperor is God-Made-Flesh, is being challenged by new religious movements.Most worrying of all, however, is the rapid rise of nationalism. The peoples of the Empire are starting to view themselves as separate from the imperial apparatus, and are growing more and more loyal to their local Planetary Governors than the Emperor on his distant jewel-encrusted throne. The Governors do nothing to stop this.
The Emperors sees a hideous vision in a dream: his capital city in flames, his body broken. The Emperor believes that the collapse of his empire is imminent, and that actions must be taken.
The Emperor orders his trusted ally the Grand Marshal to "Strangle at insubordination among the Empire with a fist of solid steel." Flowery language aside, the Emperor wants the Grand Marshal to start a regime of fear.
And a regime of fear the Grand Marshal starts. The Governors are replaced by leaders loyal to Holy Church. Systems suspected of facilitating anti-imperialism are declared enemies, and are brutally attacked by the Grand Marshal's forces. Planetary barracks aren’t capable of repelling a direct imperial attack, and once the Grand Marshal gets in civilians aren’t spared from the massacre. Those who object to this are silenced and replaced.
The Grand Marshal eventually runs out of moles to whack. However, he is too young for retirement, and grows restless. He wants war. He’s been trained from an early age in combat, and is eager to test himself. Local imperial "rebels" aren’t enough for him, so he appeals for funding to expand the empire. The Emperor eagerly agrees. First the Elbrini fall and are enslaved, then the Kuklopes, and then the Teorgar. However, the wars cost more than the Grand Marshal planned them to (the Kuklopes areclever strategists) and they certainly cost more than the Emperor is willing to pay. The two have a falling out. When the Governors side with the Grand Marshal, the Emperor demands the Grand Marshal resign his position.
The Grand Marshal refuses. His subordinates, however, aren’t entirely loyal to him. When the Grand Marshal announces his plan to conduct a war against the Emperor, thirteen of his twenty direct subordinates defect. The Grand Marshal goes along with his plan anyways, and thirty years of a horrible civil war result in the death of ten billion civilians. The Emperor is the first to relent: the war ends and the Grand Marshal is given the Elbrini Sector as his own separate state.
The Imperial Armed Forces are in a state of turmoil, and most generals manage to carve their own little fiefdoms in the stars. The imperial government is regularly purged, and the Emperor orders his own children executed. They manage to escape, and are given asylum alongside the ex-Grand Marshal. The Planetary Governors, who are still loyal to the ideas of the Holy Church, realize that they'd likely get purged as well if the Emperor remains. The Emperor's children claim the throne, the Planetary Governors back them, and after a brief yet bloody civil war the Emperor is assassinated and replaced.
Several new states grow out of the turmoil, and that's where history currently is.
Warbanner of the Golden Empire:
-Red sun for the red sun of Othrugot, as well as the blood spilled for the glory of the Empire
-Yellow rays to show the vast riches of the Empire
-White rays to show the uncorruptible purity of the Empire
