Sagittarium
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"A symbol of unity for all the live in the core, numbering among the brightest objects in the entire galaxy... ironic considering it is a black hole, but brightest nonetheless. In the night sky of all planets privileged to be under the control of our nation, and in many of their skies during the day, its brilliance shows through. Truly, no nation could ask for a better symbol of unity." -First General Lexus Castillo remarking about Nocturne, 22007
Template:!Nation InfoboxSagittarium (Demonym, Sagittarian) is a large mostly autonomous state within the Boreal Federacy residing mostly within the core of Via Aylathiya and Martial Space. A federal republic, Sagittarium consists of 73 prefectures, a federal district, 13 provinces, and 5 wards. Within the 1.4 billion stars under its control, Sagittarium generates enough power to be considered a Kardashev III civilization. It is the most populous state within the Boreal Federacy and, were the state fully independent, it would be the 8th most populous nation within Via Aylathiya. The capital of the state is Thalia and its most populous and productive body is Nocturne.
The region around Nocturne, called Nocturnal Space, escaped colonization for most of its history. First discovered by Sedrua in 118,612 BCE, the region was mostly ignored due to the difficulty in colonization. The neighboring region around the core was far more populous as well as productive. In 13,444 BCE, Nocturne was first colonized by the Triumvirate Civilization who "activated" the black hole of Nocturne, causing it to continually release the astronomical amounts of energy it does today. Afterwards, the body and the region encompassing it was fought over by the states comprising the Triumvirate Civilization until its collapse in 210 CE. A military base left behind by the Yohjan Confederacy would go on to control much of the region around Nocturne, eventually forming the Vaplein Republic in 11,711 CE. At this point, other leftover bases, outposts, and break away factions from the Republic still controlled much of Nocturnal Space.
Sagittarium was formed out of the Vaplein Republic after a coup lead by the first chancellor, Klein Vay in 21,677 CE. While in power, Vay established Sagittarian hegemony over the entirety of the core and turned Sagittarium into one of the most prosperous members of the Commonwealth of United Economic Nations. After Vay's death, Veselko Abedayo, a prominent general within the nation, took power and became the successor to Vay. After several more chancellors, calls for democracy grew until a near-collapse of the nation. Chancellor Eris Sailem and many other high-ranking officials eventually drafted and passed a constitution, turning Sagittarium into a democratic republic. After leaving the CUEN during the Commonwealth's Eclipse, it joined the Confederacy of Borealis in 42,057 CE.
To this day, ghosts of its authoritarian past haunt Sagittarium. Many chancellors have been corrupt and, among democracies, it has one of the lowest democracy scores in the galaxy. Jingoism is also common, especially after tragic events or a particularly charismatic Chancellor takes power. Even so, it is one of the most important regions in the galaxy. Without Sagittarium, the Boreal Federacy would most certainly not be the superpower it is today. Controlling nearly a third of the Federacy's military, Sagittarium is by far the most independent of the Federacy's regions largely due to its great distance. Despite this, it and the wider Federacy share cultural ties, language, and currency.
General Information
Sagittarium | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| 21,677 CE | |||
| - | |||
| 3.031 | |||
| Thalia, Jezreel, Sekhmet, Vaygrad, Alba | |||
| Unitary Democratic Republic | Mixed Economy | ||
| 701/1000 | 112.812 Septillion C-Units | ||
| Usually Equal | Post-Scarcity | ||
| Superpower | Galactic Power | ||
History
Prehistory
An unknown number of years ago, perhaps even as early as the universe formed, Nocturne, the center of Sagittarian civilization, came into being. Dormant, Nocturne lied, orbiting the center of Via Aylathiya the same as any star. In the same state since the beginning, Nocturne remained, containing vast amounts of potential energy and potential in the more general sense.
Other than the presence of Nocturne, the region was virtually devoid of any presence. Due to a lack of sulfur and especially phosphorous in the region, typical organic life was entirely unable to emerge. Unconventional forms of life, themselves incredibly rare, simply never formed save for a handful of worlds that never advanced beyond simple single-celled life forms or their equivalents.
While there is evidence that Nocturnal Space was briefly inhabited for a time around 300,000 BCE, it is unknown by what or for how long. The most common suggestion is that Ohko's Civilization had a presence in the region for a time.
Initial Colonization
It was not until discovery by the Yohjan Confederacy in 908 BCE that any significant habitation began in Nocturnal Space. The planet Thalia would soon be settled, an attempt by the Yohjan Confederacy to claim the core. When the Confederacy collapsed due to the War of the Final Transition, the military personnel and colonists it left on Thalia were stranded. Thalia soon became a self-sufficient military junta state.
The Yohjan Confederacy was not the only nation to build infrastructure within the core. In 10 CE, significant Neo-Terran populations settled planets near Nocturnal Space. Non-Humans also had a hand in the colonization of the core, in particular the Ravis, who were the majority in the region for much of its early history. These groups, largely uncoordinated, settled worlds such as Sekhmet and Jezreel.
With time, the gradual trickle of unorganized colonists would give way to mass immigration as truly large numbers of individuals fled to Nocturnal Space. Following the Split of the Yohjan Confederacy, the space once comprising this nation fell into chaos. This was exacerbated by the Un'oit Accession, causing untold numbers of Humans in particular to relocate to Nocturnal Space. With its relative lack of strict noble classes, lax or often non-existent governance, and opportunity were large driving factors. By 15,000 CE, the population had increased to over one quintillion and was over 80% Human.
Before this massive population milestone, the Vaplein Republic formed as a civil war destroyed a kingdom of the same name. This kingdom, forming out of the remains of a Yohjan military base on the planet of Thalia, was the most powerful nation in Nocturnal Space before collapsing. Once it reformed, becoming a semi-democratic republic, it soon returned to its position as the head of Nocturnal Space. With time, it would come to conquer or make vassals out of every Nocturnal State, its original inhabitants becoming citizens while the conquered were non-citizen subjects.
Prelude
This stability was threatened by the Great Empyreal Crusade. In 18,991 CE, the state of Empyros invaded practically the entirety of Via Aylathiya. The death of their prophet created a fear and hatred among its populace soon spiraling into an ever more radical political landscape. Their rhetoric would eventually cause a genocidal Empyros to begin its invasion. While almost untouched during the beginning of the war, Vaplein and its client states bore much of the cost of the conflict. The last battle, the Battle of Nocturne, saw heavy fighting around Nocturne. This battle, determining the fate of the conflict, was a hard-won battle involving not just the forces of the Vaplein Republic, but dozens of other nations in the galaxy. In 20,904 CE, Empyros was driven back and not only the battle but the war was won.
While the Vaplein Republic was able to survive, its sister states were not. In a massive campaign of genocide, Empyros systematically destroyed the small states of Nocturnal Space. The Vaplein Republic alone around Nocturne. Its clients destroyed and any other political influence in the region crushed, the Vaplein Republic would soon become elevated to the status of Great Power, a nation capable of galactic-level influence.
Founding
After the end of the war, Grand General Klein Vay, the most well-known general of the war, would run for Chancellor. Popular amongst the proper citizenry for his brilliant strategies and popular amongst the non-citizens for his populist rhetoric, Klein Vay was predicted to win the election in a land slide. The then-current Chancellor of the Vaplein Republic, Uriel Ibrahim, likely engaged in great election fraud to manage to win. Despite the outrage across the nation, Ibrahim suppressed protest and even went so far as to exile Vay.
Vay, refusing to accept defeat, decided to go to Emperor Emperor Jayvyn Drusus of Drusidia, a nearby Human nation. Drusus, who believed that Vay would make a good ally, gave him the supplies, funds, and materiel to lead a coup against the unpopular Chancellor. In an extravagant show of force, Vay's fleet obliterated the defenses around Thalia, taking it within weeks. After a mock trial, Ibrahim was executed for "crimes against the people of Nocturne" and was executed. Popular with the Vaplein military who he was supreme leader of during the Crusade, there was little resistance to this takeover.
Reform and Expansion
Once in power, Vay immediately began a series of reforms meant to further his own power while also making himself appear more favorable to the people. To do so, Vay initiated "The Cleanse" in which Vay himself and a fleet of ships went from province to province clearing out the Vaplein government and replacing it with more loyal officials. After this ten year period, Vay began to focus on economic reform. In favor of the heavily state-centric economy of the Vaplein Republic, Vay preferred a freer model based on the approach Commonwealth of United Economic Nations. Doing so brought the Commonwealth and Sagittarium closer together while also greatly expanding Sagittarium's fledgling economy.
At this point, beings called Thalians began to enter the Sagittarian population. These androids, modeled after mostly Humans and sometimes Ravis, had the purpose of boosting morale and loyalty to the state by subconsciously influencing those around them. In other words, Thalians were designed to be a positive influence on those around them while also being model citizens. The idea was that citizens would be far less likely to defy the will of the state if they were constantly buffeted by Thalian influence. The Thalians themselves were not aware of their existence as androids, themselves perfectly fitting into society.
In 22,771 CE, Klein Vay, as thanks for the original support from Drusidia, joined it in its invasion of the Triumvirate remnant. The war emerging from this invasion, called the Third Galactic War, would soon come to involve nearly all of Martial Space fighting against Drusidia and Sagittarium. Using its impressive military might, Sagittarium crushed the nation of Enkatz, conquering it and converting it into a colony. In 23,333 CE, Demiurge was sacked by both Drusidia and Sagittarium, ending the conflict as their other enemies surrendered. With this victory, Sagittarium's status as a military power was fully cemented and with the reparations its enemies had to pay, its economic power increased we well. Following the victory, Sagittarium joined the Commonwealth.
While Sagittarium would come to dominate the politics of central Via Aylathiya, especially in nations of Humans, it struggled to gain influence far beyond. Under Vay, the few campaigns against other galaxies resulted in only meager colonies, always failing to gain substantive footholds. These colonies in Herschel Space and the Florathel Galaxy were little more than propaganda tools for the state. Even the edges of Via Aylathiya were areas it had trouble influencing. Nations outside of the core area, while most certainly conscious of Sagittarium in their foreign policy, were much harder to exert influence over. In an attempt to gain more influence over Martial Space, Vay personally lead fleets to begin a campaign of conquest. This, however, would result in a number of space-based organisms, called The Pestilence, to descend upon Vay's fleet, nearly destroying it. Vay died in 23,431 CE as his ship was overtaken, forcing the rest of the generals to flee to the homeland.
Succession Crisis
Vay, having lived for so long already, was seen in a similar way as one would see a law of the universe, permanent and unchanging. His death sent waves throughout not just Sagittarium, but also the galaxy as a whole. While the people of Sagittarium demanded that the military exterminate the Pestilence, the remaining generals and other oligarchs knew that it would be futile. Those with significant power, or those with significant enough social capital to make their way into the elite, would form a Council to decide the future of the nation post Vay.
The Council, however, proved divided as few agreed on who the next chancellor should be or if there should even be another chancellor. They did not have time to debate. As almost as soon as they met on Thalia, news of an attack by the Ekrosian Guardians began to come in. These beings, who are mostly ancient machines built thousands of years before the modern day, decided to attack Nocturne itself. While there no answers as to why, the threat they posed was huge. Destroying entire civilizations in the past, not only Sagittarium but the galaxy held its breath as their invasion began.
The various generals and oligarchs, without much direction, attempted to push back the Ekrosian Guardians. Their unorganized efforts without a cohesive plan only barely slowed them down. Veselko Abedayo, one of the leading generals in the military, grew frustrated with the Council's lack of coordination. While uninvited to the Council. Abedayo pulled enough strings to end up attending anyways. Once they began their discussion of the invasion, Abedayo simply declared that he would be Chancellor effective immediately while heavily criticizing the council for "soiling Vay's legacy." The meeting, publicly broadcast, spurred great fervor amongst the people; they wanted another Chancellor. Abedayo declared a referendum, without official power, and stated that it "would be what Vay would have wanted." The referendum went through with a little over half of the population choosing Abedayo. His extreme confidence partnered with the results of the referendum forced the council to accept Abedayo as the next chancellor. Unanimously, they voted to cement Abedayo's power.
With power finally centralized Abedayo had Sagittarium begin its largest successful invasion in history. The campaign to push back the Guardians was largely successful; only a small number slipped through. After the majority were destroyed or pushed back, Sagittarium focused on the planet where they seemingly originated, Ekros. Even though little evidence existed pointing towards a direct involvement of the planet or its government in the creation of the guardians, Abedayo had the planet bombarded and its government officials executed. From there, Sagittarian forces occupied the planet and much of the until-then decentralized space around it. They converted all of Ekrosian-controlled space into the colony of Rendell.
The native Ekrosians had no say in their governance. Despite Vay's attempt to get rid of the divide between "citizen" and "non-citizen," Abedayo enforced this distinction by making it illegal for any Ekrosian to have the status, thus barring them from any government position. Human governors and officials ruled the Ekrosians. Ruling not only the colonies but also the homeland itself with an iron fist, billions would end up executed, exiled, or simply disappear with no official cause given.
Despite the expansion of both economic and political influence, a series of relatively incompetent chancellors followed Abedayo. By the time Abedayo's rule ended, Sagittarium's economy was nearly unmatched. However, the next leaders saw an increase of corruption and decadence, spurring further decline. Sagittarium, going from the jewel of the Commonwealth to just another member greatly hurt the soft power of the nation.
Prelude to the Eclipse
As tensions rose within the Commonwealth amongst its member states, a massive level of capital flight and a run on the banks caused an economic collapse, further propelling the Commonwealth into disorder. These tensions, caused by a lack of central authority, was most certainly not helped by Sagittarium's heavy-handed foreign policy and aggression. The Golominian Confederacy, a fellow Commonwealth member, had to constantly open counterintelligence investigations to prevent influence by Sagittarium. It was not alone, virtually every Commonwealth nation were at each other's throats, reducing investor confidence as war seemed imminent.
The economic collapse facing the Commonwealth caused not only Sagittarium, but the entirety of the Commonwealth to lose its prestigious spot as the number one galactic economy. Both Tenshi and Confederacy of Borealis surpassed the Commonwealth. The humiliation of becoming the third wealthiest nation in the galaxy caused anxiety among the populace. Sagittarium saw the rise of Satella Laghari, an ultra-nationalist who had the goal of returning Sagittarium to greatness. The people greatly enjoyed her rhetoric to the point of essentially begging the government to start a new war. As other Commonwealth nations experienced similar trends, military spending began increasing wildly. Soon after, a web of alliances formed where nations with similar interests would form alliances or cartels. Sagittarium had no alliances within the Commonwealth.
In 40,000, the government seized the assets of most corporations within its borders, due to increased tensions, its economy was weak. They began using a state-capitalist model to revitalize the economy this time using corporations as tools for the state. A fully centrally-planned approach was taken instead. While resources were mostly managed by AI, minimizing losses and shortages, this was the last strike against the nation as anything resembling an economic power. Its economy effectively at zero, the nation's military was the only thing it now had going for it. Of course, the people blamed the Commonwealth for this and began calling for everything from succession to outright war.
Commonwealth's Eclipse
Main Article: Commonwealth's Eclipse
In 41,123 CE, tensions between the High Rule of Cenades and Eqeyuana reached their peak, causing war to break out. At once, every nation, which had been yearning for war for so long, sprung into action. Sagittarium, within hours of learning of the conflict, officially left the Commonwealth and declared war on all of its neighbors. Its troops quickly moved into several Commonwealth nations near to it, creating a huge surge of morale in the nation.
For the rest of the Eclipse, Sagittarium would take great care not to fire upon ships from the Confederacy of Borealis that were intervening. Sagittarium's weak economy was unable to handle the strain of exerting itself so much holding onto so much hostile territory in addition to its colonies. In 40,137 CE, Sagittarium gave its colonies of Enkatz and Rendell, both in Martial Space, de facto independence, freeing up the occupying forces there to fight.
By the time the Eclipse had ended, the democratic nations reigned supreme and Sagittarium had little to show for the conflict besides a large number of casualties and its colonies being harder to manage. The people, of Sagittarium organized their own referendum and decided that Laghari was incompetent, their rapidly shifting opinions and temperament in character for Sagittarian history. They demanded that Eris Sailem, an advocate for democracy, take power. After taking power, she almost immediately began initiating democratic reforms; the rare instance of a person not acting in self-interest but as a servant of their people.
Democratization
The nation became semi-democratic in 42,057, when the constitution was ratified and the first elections took place. Many of the Thalians were freed and allowed to form their own opinions for the first time. Additionally, Sagittarium was the only nation in the galaxy to give full and equal rights to sapient machines. They also gave Thalians the right to procreate, allowing couples to adopt humans or newly created Thalians.
Some of the more brutal leaders were "banished" to Ventemir, which really meant that they were given large homesteads on worlds owned by the state. The remaining colonies were given more independence as the historical treatment of its natives was questionable at best. Every state corporation was privatized in an attempt to reinvigorate the economy. In the rare act of genuinely putting the people of the country first, it was made illegal for the state to declare war without a referendum. This was all in an attempt to save face with the wider galactic community, with the end goal of joining the Confederacy of Borealis. The people would have never accepted having anything to do with the Commonwealth again; however, they had an interest in joining the largely Human Confederacy to gain protection from the Commonwealth.
Joining the Confederacy of Borealis
In 42,184, the nation joined the Confederacy of Borealis and later in that same year, Rendell and Enkatz were made into functionally independent nations which also joined. The economic boom caused by this was as of yet unseen in the nation. Now that it was moderately stable and open to trade, foreign investment poured into the relatively young economy. Many of its still vast military assets were sold, with the rest updated using grants from the Confederate government. The goal of the CoB in allowing them to join was to integrate the nation as quickly as possible.
Its relatively lax laws concerning the creation of androids and its insistence on android rights caused vast numbers of androids to immigrate to the country seeking amnesty. Large numbers of them still existed in the galaxy from before the strict laws were put in place. Rather than turn themselves in and risk deactivation, they pooled funds and purchased ships to venture to Sagittarium themselves. Not only did machines immigrate to Sagittarium, but individuals of all kinds made their way into the nation. The cheap energy from Nocturne was the largest drawing factor in addition to trying to grab assets privatized by the government.
As time went on, the Chancellor began transferring their power to the newly-created Congress. Even though little more than precedent would keep the chancellor's power in check, referenda and bills passed by congress had new great power. Other changes include the gradual shrinkage in military spending as well as the gradual shrinkage of government authority, all due to foreign influence on the populace. The Chancellor, at any time, could undo all of this and return Sagittarium to its original state; however, external and internal backlash would most certainly make this difficult at best.
In 70,078, humans lost their majority as they comprised 49% of the population. The first nonhuman chancellor gained power shortly thereafter in 70,111. The nation, not having a native species in it meant that no majority was set in stone. Its population increased to the second most populous state within the Confederacy around this time as well.
Sagittarium was an economic powerhouse during this period. Widespread stability lent itself well to economic growth. For processes that are incredibly energy-intensive, the highly developed Nocturne was vital. Growth was assumed as a constant as only a handful of years saw shrinkage in the economy. It continued expanding and colonizing stars, however, this was done mostly privately compared to the formerly government-lead colonization of Sagittarium's past. Enkatz, Sagittarium's former colony, officially rejoined as a full part of Sagittarium in 72,341 CE out of fear of aggression by the Dominium of United Duchies.
The War of the Ancients
Main Article: War of the Ancients
When the War of the Ancients began in 88,073 CE, Sagittarium began rapidly increasing its production of arms. Additionally, it began increasing the amount of funds it spent on research and development of weapons. Shielded from the conflict by its natural allies in Martial Space (given similar cultures and heritage), Sagittarium was largely untouched by weapons such as the Celestial Plague. It was the Quintet Payotari Association's Vaults, massive capital ships the QPA used to great effect, that proved to be the main issue for Sagittarium. Numerous times, especially during battles such as The Battle of Sekhmet, the Vaults proved to be a problem for the juggernaut of the Sagittarian military. Where Sagittarium had numbers, the Association had incredibly effective large ships capable of fast deployment as well as matching even the largest of navies.
Learning from their example, Sagittarium restored the ship known as the VSS Readymade, a four-dimensional craft created by the Triumvirate Civilization. It spent most of its time defending vital Hyperlanes and worlds, preventing further Association attacks on Sagittarian worlds. After the fighting left Sagittarium's borders, it still fought, supporting its sister-states in the conflict. The sudden freeing of Sagittarium's military from engagement, as well as the looming threat of the Commonwealth of United Economic Nations served to end the War of the Ancients by armistice in 88,433 CE.
Post War
The War of The Ancients caused a huge economic downturn in Sagittarium. Despite hardly being attacked directly and increased population growth, the nation's best trade partners experienced severe recession. In the ruinous galaxy, less money was being exchanged, the wealthy were still in-fighting (causing less money to be invested), and people had less money to spend in general. All of these factors hit Sagittarium particularly hard. It was not during the war but after the war that the Chancellor removed a large amount of Congress' power to quickly aid the economy without partisan bickering getting in the way. The Chancellor at the time, Chao Ueno, took inspiration from Sagittarium's past and had the state acquire large amounts of capital, partially turning the Sagittarium into a command economy.
As time went on, Drusidia gained far more economic influence in Sagittarium than it had before. They built thousands more wormholes leading to the core of Via Aylathiya. Sagittarian companies used the cheap production facilities Drusidia provided. Before then, trade was mostly done directly with materials, so an entanglement of the actual economies helped both nations. The nations grew closer than they ever had before, and with this closeness came huge Drusidian influence on Sagittarium itself.
Following the War of the Ancients was another conflict, Jezebel's War. Starting in 90,804 CE, Tensions between the Confederacy and Drusidia grew to the point of war. The Confederacy had to choose between Sagittarium and its newest member, Tenshi. In the end, they sided with Tenshi and supported them in their war against Drusidia. After subjugating Drusidia, the Confederacy forcibly dissolved Sagittarium's government for its traitorous actions against the Confederate central government during the conflict. They rebuilt it into a fully democratic state later that year.
Contemporary History and Diplomacy
In 91,001 CE, the Confederacy of Borealis reformed into the Boreal Federacy. In the common outburst of nationalism, the people of Sagittarium demanded a referendum. The congress, obliging, found that over 60% of the populace did not want to become a state in the Federacy. Instead, just like the Entente of Ventemir, they decided to carry over their self-governing power from the time of the Confederacy. Sagittarium became a mostly autonomous state still a part of the Boreal Federacy in some but not all ways.
From here, Sagittarium entered into a political era defined by doing everything they could to justify their independence. Massively increasing military spending, engaging in independent trade deals, and doing everything they could to make potential succession as painless as possible. The government issues its own, albeit uncommonly used, currency, has a military making up a little under a third of the total Boreal military, and even has regular referenda about succession (which only ever garner 10% of the vote at most). Despite these efforts, it does not seem like Sagittarium will leave the Boreal Federacy any time soon, its position too valuable to valuable to throw away.
Government and Politics
Sagittarium, while historically semi-fascist, slowly transitioned to its democratic republican form. Sagittarium consists of 73 prefectures, a federal district, 13 provinces, and 5 wards. The nation typically scores poorly on Corruption Indexes and Democracy Indexes as things such as term limits and checks on executive power are minimal.
Elected officials are elected using an approval based system, where citizens can vote for as many candidates as they please, the candidate with the most approval overall is elected. This tends to push parties towards the center, pushing radicals out of government. This crucial protection acts as a buffer against jingoist leaders seizing power, a common problem in Sagittarian history.
The Federal government is divided into 1523 Ministries. Each ministry is responsible for running a certain aspect of the state. For example. the Legislative Ministry is the Congress as well as all the other individuals that help to run it. Other major ministries include the Chancellor's Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Colonization. Rudimentary checks and balances are put in place on these ministries. A Chancellor can remove or add any ministry head they want from power for any reason. The Legislative Ministry is exempt and has the power to reject these placements within forty five Thalian days.
The Congress itself has exactly ten thousand members (the round number was intentional as they use the base ten system in Sagittarium). They remain in office for an orbit of Thalia around Nocturne (equivalent to 31 years) before they must run again. The Congress is the only body allowed to make laws, however, due to the huge size of the nation, a large quantity of laws need to be passed. Whenever a law needs to be passed, one hundred random representatives will be selected to form a panel. This panel will then read and approve or reject the law. Rarely does the Congress vote as a collective body on things, as the panel system typically represents what the collective body would pass overall. The Chancellor is the head of state and government as well as the president of the Congress. They have the power to break ties in Congress and are also the supreme leader of the military.
Sagittarium has some of the loosest laws when it comes to androids and mind-uploading in the entire confederacy as a result of its history of using them in society. So long as they cannot process anything much faster than a typical person or are incapable or proliferation, they are entirely legal and have full rights.
Political Divisions
In the federal system, planets or systems typically have limited abilities to govern themselves. Groups of systems are sectors, and sectors are further grouped into prefectures. Enkatz is divided into provinces, a remnant of its time as an independent state, who have limited self governing power. Enkatz itself is one large prefecture with significantly more self-governing power than most prefectures. The last major division are what are known as "wards," planet-sized prefectures whose population is so great that they would dominate the politics of any prefecture they would otherwise be in.
When the nation was founded, each star was counted, a process taking many decades. These stars were then divided into regions each containing one million stars. The regions were organized into prefectures when the stars around them first became colonized. This brings the total number of stars claimed by the nation is ten billion, however, since its creation it has only colonized 1.4 billion stars. The Boreal Federacy only officially recognizes its claim to over 1.2 billion stars, however as many of these stars exist within the Verpletter region.
Military
The Chancellor has absolute control over the military and can deploy it anywhere with or without congressional approval. The military itself is divided into three major ministries: The Ministry of Defense, The Ministry of Offense, and The Ministry of Internal Stability. These three ministries respond to orders from the Chancellor and will implement them as best as possible. The military is capable of playing a role in governance as well. Generals are able to form emergency councils just as they had when Sagittarium became a republic. These councils are strictly only able to gain power during war time, but many periods in Sagittarian History have seen rule by this council for extended periods of time.
In total, there are 1.1 quadrillion active military personnel and well over a quintillion in the compulsory reserves. The bulk of the military might of the nation is contained in semi-automated ships accompanying them. The average soldier controls over 20 craft, known as "augments," simultaneously. This makes the military the largest controlled by a single nation in Via Aylathiya. As per the treaty the nation signed to join the Confederacy, the military need approval to act by the federal government. Sagittarium has the freedom to intervene in nations not in it and has throughout its history.
The military was originally mostly automated, but fears of another super intelligence, such as Beatrix, arising caused every ship to need approval to act from a sapient being, hence the large number of personnel required. For the sake of appeasing the nations around it, Sagittarium does not allow any android into the military.
Sagittarium has military bases scattered across the Local Universe that are mostly remnants of when it was the most powerful nation in the galaxy. A large number of these bases are located around the core in neighboring nations, most of the rest are in Via Aylathiya, and a small number are in the Florathel Galaxy, although they operate mostly independently. Over 12% of the nation's GDP is spent on the military. This is the highest percentage in Via Aylathiya for a great power.
Diplomacy
Sagittarium has been a member of the Confederacy of Borealis since 41184 and the Intergalactic Council in 41185. The nation has strong ties to the Greater Martial Consilium and Rendell, both of which were heavily influenced by the Sagittarium in their early histories. Most of the other nations in and around Via Aylathiya have embassies or consulates across Sagittarium to negotiate access to the incredibly energetic Nocturne.
Previous Government
The Chancellor
Before the democratization of Sagittarium, the Chancellor was the most powerful public figure in the nation. Just like the current Chancellors, they had broad power over the military. Every ministry that existed answered to the Chancellor alone. The difference is that this power had no limits to protect human rights, meaning that the Chancellor often ordered for large numbers of people to be killed. Several times in history, entire planets were destroyed and propaganda painted it is a noble act.
The Founder's Council
Main Article: The Founder's Council
The Chancellor, apart from Vay himself, answered only to one entity, the Founder's Council; the existence of which was one of the most tightly kept secrets of the nation. It was comprised of three hundred individuals hand-picked by Vay at the inception of the nation. Its purpose was to originally act as a cabinet for the Chancellor, however, with the often departures of Vay to various locations away from the capital world, they often managed the government on their own. When Vay died, the council assumed all power he had with no need for a new chancellor.
After the next Chancellor was put in place, the relationship was clear. Despite having absolute power normally, the Council always held the chancellor at gunpoint so to speak. With a legion of androids indistinguishable from humans, the Chancellor would have no ability to know if an agent of the Council was near them. Leaving the capital world without a large number of these androids was forbidden. Three chancellors were assassinated by the council and immediately replaced with convenient stories explaining their death as suicide. The vast power of the Council over the nation was seen as a continuation of Vay's will. Those that did know of its existence always approved of their actions without second thought.
How the council maintained its existence over twenty thousand years with the same individuals is unknown. When questioned as Sagittarium joined the CoB, many individuals seemed to have had their memories wiped. They likely uploaded themselves to computers or used cloning to make sure that no members in their ranks would truly die. However, they only started this practice when the first among them started dying, preventing Vay from receiving the same treatment.
An internal rift in the Council during the democratization likely caused most of the members to delete themselves, the rest remaining long enough to detonate thermonuclear warheads all across the nation, vaporizing all traces of the council. The only evidence of the Council comes from historical discrepancies, data retrieved from Thalians serving them that were deactivated when it was destroyed, and a handful of artifacts that survived the detonations. Why they did not oppose the democratization is unknown. Many posit that it was Vay's original goal to create a democracy and the council was merely obeying this wish. This is merely conjecture, however. The real reason is likely to remain unknown for all time.
Demographics
To this day, humans have a slight majority in Sagittarium. For quite some time before the War of the Ancients, things were more equal, however, a large influx of mostly human refugees and subsequent immigration from Via Aylathiya pushed the percentage of humans up to where it is presently. Despite the slight majority of humans, Sagittarium is fairly equal as far as nations go. It lags behind some of its cohorts in the rest of Via Aylathiya, mostly due to Neo-Terran influence leading up to Jezebel's War. The human majority is expected to go away within the next millennium as immigration and other factors cause non-human populations to grow (in particular Dotsk populations as more and more Dotsk leave their home system, Mili.)
Economy
Historically, Sagittarium's economy has fluctuated wildly. At times, it was the largest in the galaxy by far. At other times, its total economy would fall behind individual planets. With an estimated GDP of 13.1 Nonillion C-Units, Sagittarium has the second largest economy of Yohjan states, bested only by the United Federation of Star Systems. The largest sector of the economy has almost always been industry. The abundance of large stars and, of course, the central black hole gave the nation easy access to cheap energy.
Wealth is only moderately uneven, with the 1% controlling 17% of the wealth and the bottom 50% controlling about 45% of the wealth. Historically, the numbers have varied wildly. At one point in history, the government attempted redistributing wealth fully with moderate success. Immediately after joining the Confederacy of Borealis, the one percent controlled similar amounts of wealth as other nations around the galaxy at 25% (a residual echo of the Plutocratic Era in Yohjan history).
Major Planets
| Name | Description | Location | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thalia | Thalia is the capital of Sagittarium and was the first planet colonized by it. It is the closest continually inhabited natural body to Nocturne as well as the planet with highest population in the galactic core. Thalia is the most important world in Sagittarium and has large numbers of military units stationed nearby to it, despite never having been directly assaulted in its history.
|
Via Aylathiya Core | 1.2 Quadrillion |
| Jezreel | Jezreel was originally a gas planet an astronomical unit away from Thalia. To fuel massive fusion arrays, most of the He-3, Tritium, and all other elements capable of being easily fused were harvested. At the same time, large amounts of gas were stripped off of the planet and shipped to Nocturne to be thrown into it.
|
Via Aylathiya Core | 912 Trillion |
| Sekhmet | Sekhmet is a planet in the core controlled by Sagittarium. It is the third most populous planet in the nation and has a large amount of influence over the rest of the nation. It started as a minor colony which quickly sprouted into an Ecunmenopolis once Sagittarium came to be. It was one of the oldest colonized worlds near Nocturne, having a history going all the way back to the 10,000s CE, before the formation of any Nocturnian state. | Via Aylathiya Core | 104 Trillion |
Culture
Sagittatium is home to many cultures from across the galaxy. Relatively lax immigration laws put in place after it joined the Confederacy of Borealis caused large numbers of individuals to migrate to the nation. Even more immigrants entered the nation after the War of the Ancients due to the nation's relatively untouched state. Planets such as Thalia and Jezreel were flooded with refugees while Nocturne itself had a large influx of individuals as well.
The government struggled to make room for all of these individuals, many of which required their own orbital habitats or accommodations entirely unavailable within Sagittarium. Many people were crowded onto O'Neill Cylinders while space for them elsewhere was being freed up or created. In these cylinders, dozens of cultures mixed together, all with influence from the previously mostly-human Sagittarium. The product of this was a distinctly Sagittarian culture that can trace influences from dozens of places around Via Aylathiya and beyond.
The mixture of cultures as well as its time separated from the Confederacy before the 40,000's caused Sagittarium to speak and write a form of Boreal Basic called "Sagittarian Basic." This dialect of Basic is fairly easily learned by non-native users, as it removes five letters from the base alphabet. However, the pronunciation is entirely differently from other human nations using the language. The dialect relies heavily on vowel sounds. Loan-pronunciations for words are common, despite most of the pronunciations being bastardizations of the original languages they came from. In particular, Sagittarium adopted Ravis pronunciation for things such as the name of many galaxies and regions, the names of almost every mythological concept, and most words for genres of media (due to the relative ease of speaking Ravin as a human and vice-versa).
Sagittarians regard things such as androids and AI's as completely alive and worthy of the same treatment as organic beings. Recent polls show that disembodied AI's were "no different than anyone else" 78% of the time, and androids were approved of over 97% of the time. This is caused by the acceptance of Thalians into Sagittarian society after it was democratized.