Aetia

Aetian Republic Res publica Aetica
Flag of Aetia Coat of arms
Motto: Officium, Honoris, Patria Duty, Honour, Fatherland
Anthem: "March of the Republic"
Capital	Primum Aetiae, Aetia
Official languages	Aetian
Ethnic groups	Human
Religion	Aetian Polytheism
Demonym(s)	Aetian Republic Republican
Government	Republic
• Consul	Tiberius Commodus
• Princeps Senatus of the Aetian Senate	Servius Vestinus
Establishment
• Unification of Pectus and creation of the Aetian Dominion	2610 AUB
• Completion Aetification	2760 AUB
• Overthrow of the King and establishment of the Republic	3000 AUB
Population
• TBD census	858,242,298,413
Currency	Aetian Denarius (DEN)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AE)
Driving side	right

The Aetian Republic is a human-majority state located in the TBD Galaxy. The Aetian Republic controls 54 systems, for a total of 52 inhabitable planets, 102 uninhabitable planets, 82 dwarf planets and over 390 moons. The population of 858,242,298,413, mostly human, is mostly concentrated in the centre of Aetian territory. Aetia is a Republic, where the Senate is composed of elected representatives of all planets within Aetian territory, who act as the Republic-wide legislative branch and elect the Consul, who is the leader of the state.

History

Rise of the Aetians, the Unification and Aetification of Pectus

The continental world of Aetia, the beating heart of the Republic wasn't always known by that name. The planet was originally known as Pectus, and was inhabited by the human race. The humans began as numerous tribes, but evolved relatively quickly when compared to other species in the galaxy. Tribes evolved into cities, cities into Kingdoms and Kingdoms into Empires. One of those states was the Aetian Principate, a monarchic city-state that was located in the Curente continent of Pectus. The Principate rose through conquest during humanity's iron age on Pectus, and throughout the span of 300 years it had the majority of its native continent under its control. A during the centuries that followed the last Aetian expansion, the Principate took a defensive stance as it came under invasion from several rival kingdoms and migrating nomadic tribes. After a century of almost continued conflict, the Aetians either assimilated or defeated the invaders, even launching campaigns that expanded their empire in response to these attacks.

The Aetian Principate would go on to endure century after century of conflict and crisis, whether internal or external, eventually bringing the entirity of Curente continent under its control. The Aetians were one of the first colonial powers on Pectus, and by the pre-industria era, the possessed the largest Empire in the world's history, practically having two entire continents (out of the five on the planet) within their empire by the year 2386 AUB of the Aetian calendar. In the year 2490 AUB, during the late industrial era on Pectus, a global war was fought by the Principate and its allies against the Accolian Federation, a rival superpower that had been locked in a cold war with the Aetians for three decades. Nuclear weapons were used, albeit mostly on the tactical level. The Aetian Principate emerged victorious from the war, bringing half of the Accolian territory under its control, with the rest turned into puppet states.

Aetia was now the sole superpower of Pectus, with no one to challenge it. It had an unrivaled economy, an unbeatable military and level of technology unreachable by other states. The Aetians were the first nation establish manned facilities in other planets of the Pectus's solar system, Cordis, and by the late 2550s, had several military, civilian and research space stations orbiting Pectus, its moon Gallia, and several planets within Cordis. Other nations of Pectus had launched their own stations and probes, but these were mostly over Pectus itself, and nowhere near the level of the Aetian equipment.

In the year 2602 AUB, the new Princeps Paulus Senna proclaimed the Aetian Dominion and demanded that all remaining sovereign nations of Pectus join the superstate. Most of the client states naturally submitted without conflict, as did several other independent states however, several of the other nations joined together to form to Alliance of Free States that opposed the Dominion. Thus began the Unification Wars, and the Aetians launched a worldwide invasion of the AFS nations. Some of the AFS members that were isolated from the rest fell quickly, but for all the superiority of the Dominion in arms and numbers, the Alliance put up stiff resistance. Four years into the grueling conflict, the Aetians were forced to employ nuclear weapons to crush enemy resistance. The conflict was the most catastrophic war in Pectus's history, and laster seven years. In 2609, with the last AFS stronghold subdued and the leadership captured and executed, Pectus was finally unified. By decree of Princeps Senna Pectus was renamed to Aetia in 2610, and the city that first bore the name was now known as Primum Aetiae.

The Aetians now looked to the stars. With most of the Cordis system explored and charted, the top scientists of the Dominion were put to work to develop the first FTL drives. However, things on Aetia were difficult for the new planetary government. Unrest in the newly occupied territories was high, and independence movements rose left and right. As such, Princeps Senna launched a Aetification campaign across the world. All other languages were banned, locals were forced to follow Aetian customs and the Aetian Pantheon. Dissidents, heretics and rebels were summarily executed or rounded up for slave labour. Regional governors ruled with an iron fist and the global surveillance system scanned everyone and everything for the slightest sign of resistance. These years were a period of brutal oppression and turmoil, but as the older generations died off and the global populace started to appreciate the services provided by the omnipresent Aetian state, the program proved successful. It took over 150 years for the Aetification program to be marked as finally complete.

First colonisation efforts and expansion of the Dominion

The Dominion's first FTL capable research ship was the ADS Explorator, which managed its first jump to the neighboring Pulmon system, and went to work exploring it at once. The Explorator made several jumps back an forth between Cordis and Pulmon, transferring personnel and equipment. It took three full years for the system to be surveyed and Pulmon Secundus, was identified as a inhabitable continental world by the Explorator and other research ships that followed it. By 2770, the first Colony ship of 100,000 colonists was launched by the Dominion to colonise Secundus, which was later renamed to Genia. The Colony grew quick, as the requirement of skilled labourers for new building projects attracted tens of thousands of Aetians to move there.

In the following years, more systems followed. The Iberius system (2782), the Baecticus system (2793), the Arvum System (2803) and the Margus system (2811) were the the ones that immediately followed in what was known as the First Expansion Campaign undertaken by Princeps Valorum, where seven more colonies were established in these systems. The Dominion continued to expand rapidly, establishing its presence in several more systems during the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Expansion Campaigns in a span of just 170 years. By the ascension of Princeps Gaius Durus, Aetian space included 18 systems, 15 of which included colonies. It was during year 2987 that the Aetians first established contact with the first empire of sentient species outside humanity, the Girzarad Ascendancy.

Girzarad Crisis, Fall of the Dominion and Rise of the Republic

The Girzarad are a species of humanoids with pale purple or yellow skin and entirely black eyes. Pale purple was the most skin colour of commoners and slaves, while pale yellow indicated that the Girzarad in question was of noble birth. The Girzarad have no body or facial hair, and most are physically taller than humans, with an average height of 1,90 metres. The Girzarad Ascendancy's capital world was Girza, in the Serian System, and was ruled by the Great Houses of Girza. Representatives of the Great Houses gathered in the Grand Assembly and ruled the nation in an oligarchical manner.

The firs contact was when research vessel ADS Remus stumbled upon a Girzarad military patrol. The crew of the Remus ran several checks to make sure that the vessels weren't theirs, and while their IFF systems showed negative, many believed the ships were a secret project of the Aetian Navy. While not outright xenophobic, the Girzarad's encounters with other sentient species other than theirs had mostly been hostile, and they assumed the same for the Aetians. The Girzarad corvettes powered their shields and armed their weapons, and offered a warning in every tongue known to them to the Aetians. The Aetian crew naturally didn't understand the warnings, and many were shocked to be making the first encounter with an alien Empire in the history of Aetian humanity. Remus's crew was still trying to hail the Girzarad vessels when they opened fire.

Military

The Aetian Armed Forces consist of main branches: the Aetian Army and the Aetian Navy. Several sub-branches also exist.

The Army (Exercitus) is the main ground based arm of the Armed Forces, and its famous Legions as well as the Auxilia forces that aid them number are in the millions. The Army is probably the most respected part of the military, due to Aetian tradition that traces back millennia. The Legion is the main combat unit of professional citizen-soldiers numbering at roughly 5,600 men, a heavily mechanised combined arms force that includes armoured and artillery support, and is a self-sustainable formation. Some specialised Legions exist, such as airborne Legions of paratroopers. They are organised in Vexilatios (Corps) of three Legions plus attached support Cohorts for large scale operations. The Legions serve as the main combat force of the Army. On the other hand, the Auxilia Divisiones are units equal in size to the Legions, but serve as planetary defense forces most of the time, while sometimes also deploying alongside the Legions in offensive campaigns. In contrast to the Legions, non-citizens can also join. While most citizens who pursue a military carrier join the Legions, some who wish to stay on their homeworlds join the Auxilia. They have generally lighter equipment than the Legions, but are similarly organised in Vexilatios of three Divisiones plus support Cohorts. The Aetian Army is led by the Exercitus Praetorium (Army Command) in the Administratio region of Primum, on Aetia.

The Navy (Classis) is the main space-base arm of the Republic. Despite the prestige the Army (in particular the Legionaries) enjoy among the Aetian populace, the Navy is considered of equal importance to the Army, and as such is given equal, if not more (disputed) funding. The Army and the Navy have a historical rivalry, but they are still dependant on each other. The Navy's ranks consist of purely citizen personnel. The organisation is split in several Classem (Fleets) that vary in ship count, and as such vary in personnel count. The Navy's vessel range from massive battleships and carriers down to small corvettes and strike craft, but the focus lies in cruiser combat. The Aetian Navy doctrine consists of battle formations of cruisers with long range heavy weaponry such as gauss cannons and torpedos, that support larger battlecruisers, and battleships. While each ship carries a fighter garrison in its hangar, small strike craft such as these are mostly geared towards the defence of larger capital ships while they inflict the majority of damage against the enemy. Carrier vessels as such are relatively less common in the Navy, and they are deployed for the most part to defend the capital ship battle group to which they are assigned. The Navy also makes use of Marine Cohorts (Cohors Classiarii). Marines are trained in ship-to-ship boarding actions, as well as orbit-to-ground operations, as well as conventional planetary amphibious operations. The Navy is unique in that it maintains a conventional, sea-going branch, the Classis Aquatilium (Aquatic Navy) which includes sea vessels such as submarines, cruisers and transports, that can be deployed from starships.

One of the most notable sub-branches of the Republic's military is the Special Forces Command (Praecipua Virium Praetorium).