Fiction:Ultramirusian Empire

"By definition, the Empire cannot fall."

- Durrandon

The Ultramirusian Empire, alternatively written as the Ultra-Mirusian Empire, abbreviated as UME, and also known as the Mirusian Empire, the Mirusian Galactic Empire, simply as the Empire and rarely as the Unity, was a powerful empire in the, which it claimed dominion over but only actually controlled the southern arm and some of the northern one. Led by two ruthless dictators: the Nothosaur General Apollyon and his apprentice, Quisling warlord Durrandon, and boasting a powerful and recognizable army, UME was staunch and steadfast in its attempted domination of the galaxy.

The Empire was formed by three separate empires: the, led by infamous warlord ; the , led by Talis, who was close enough to Durrandon to allow him unofficial leadership of the empire; and the , led by General Apollyon, which had recently taken over and assimilated the. Combining their power, wealth, and armies, Durrandon and Apollyon fought two main Mirusian superpowers, the and  to a standstill during the, ostensibly as a campaign of revenge for the , which had seen the defeat of the Quisling Empire and its allies.

With their enemies fought to a stalemate and forced into a truce, Durrandon and Apollyon used the weakened state of their empires and co-belligerents as an excuse to unify, at first in secret and then openly, becoming the Ultramirusian Empire and gathering under one vision and leader: General Apollyon. With Durrandon as second in command, Apollyon cemented his power by unifying the three empires and their allies' armies into one Imperial Army, which used armor reminiscent of that worn by Patrollers of old, striking fear into the hearts of foes who remembered those mindless, fanatical soldiers.

In order to keep making his empire more powerful and to reach his eventual goal of galactic domination, Apollyon would continue to enact schemes and plots throughout Mirus, causing and ending wars at will and, using the now-nationalized companies from the IBC, used money and trade as weapons, just as dangerous as his armies and black ops teams. Durrandon, meanwhile, would continue his warlording ways, leading the Imperial Army into many missions, as well as engaging in a lifestyle of hedonism and debauchery with his newfound money and power. However, the Empire would not be getting a free ride; angry at such blatant attacks on their sovereignty, but unable to act directly due to peace treaties and mutually-assured destruction, the and  would use their own wealth and military power to form a clandestine resistance led by their best and brightest, whose mission it was to fight UME on its own grounds.

Background (2815-2820)
The plot to form a Mirusian empire began in the mind of General Jinn, the leader of the, who was transformed into a cyborg by the , a massive conglomerate of businesses who had their own plans of galactic domination. Disgusted at becoming a cyborg, Jinn renamed himself Apollyon and refused to allow any of his own people to know that they were the same being. In his mind, Jinn was dead, so it must be made true in the eyes of his people.

At the same time, the warlord  was being backed by the IBC as the successor to Lupotragus gang boss and insurgent, who had been killed in battle on. Over the course of four years, Durrandon gained a large popular following in the Red Veil region and even with many in the. He also managed to subdue and conscript many members of the race, get the Vermillion dynasty its planet and titles re-bestowed, and trigger the formation of the.

Eventually, Durrandon reunited his own people, the Quisling race, forming the. Events perpetrated by the Stonespawn Empire and subtly manipulated by the IBC would eventually spark the, with the Quisling Empire, Stonespawn Empire, the Hyraco-Varakian Empire, and the forming the Quadruple Alliance (along with several co-belligerents) against the Mendel Pact, , and  and their allies.

The Waptoria were defeated within the first year, and their territory partitioned among what would become the Quadruple Alliance. Spurred on by success, Durrandon invaded Vanara space, resulting in his forces being repelled. The Alliance quickly reorganized, bringing the Draconian Empire in to fight the Mendel, who had not yet entered the war. Unfortunately, the double offensive met with several logistical problems, resulting in the Quadruple Alliance fighting a defensive war for the next two years. Not even the entry of the Pseudopath Empire, which had recently experienced a revolution that deposed a pro-Mendel leader for an anti-Mendel one, into the war could save the Quadruple Alliance from defeat. War reparations were high for nearly all of the Quadruple Alliance and their allies, and the Quisling leadership was slated for arrest and trial.

Luckily for them, their ally the rescued and transported them to the mostly desolate southern arm of Mirus, where IBC operatives arranged for them to find asylum within the, led by a vicious despot called Dingam Struetal. Dingam was only interested in the money the IBC was willing to pay him, and cared very little for Durrandon's objectives. Either way, Durrandon, under support and guidance from the IBC, began to rebuild his defeated empire from afar, using pirates and gangsters to smuggle cargo for the rearmament of the Quisling army, creating Ponzi schemes and stock scams on other planets to refund the empire, and causing as much secret damage to his enemies as possible.

Despite controlling much activity in Mirus, Durrandon and his aides could only do so without ever leaving Campia. While there, they became good friends with Dingam's daughter and demigoddess Talis, which caused Dingam to become suspicious of them. This would eventually lead to Talis nearly strangling him with the bandages around her body that she could telekinetically control. After this, Talis usurped her father as leader of the empire and gave her Quisling guests much power in the Mesocampian political system, allowing them a much wider range of operations. This would culminate with their funding of the Shardakour Rebellion led by the chieftain Zairre's confederation, an armed insurgency on planet Taraquery against their Mendel rulers which would eventually prove successful. Durrandon also continued to back the Vermillion dynasty, despite their remaining neutral during the Imperial War.

Prelude (2820-2824)
As the IBC continued to support Durrandon with money and information, they would soon have a problem of their own on their hands, though they didn't know it yet. General Apollyon, their enforcer and leader of the Nothosaur Empire, whom they used as guns for hire, was beginning to have doubts about the crash that led to his reconstruction as a cyborg. The crash occurred because he had taken the ship on a test drive before IBC upgrades were complete, and by rebuilding him, the IBC had gained his loyalty and that of his people.

Launching a personal investigation, Apollyon discovered that the coolant around the upgraded engine that exploded and caused his ship to crash was deliberately not replaced so it would overheat. The upgrades were also timed so that when Apollyon took it out to test the command bridge layout, the old rear shields and escape pods were removed and the new ones not yet installed. Armed with this knowledge, Apollyon set out to exact his revenge. He traveled to the world where the dozen IBC executives who led the conglomerate as a whole, appointed by the real leaders of each company, were hiding.

Apollyon knew where the planet was, and had the access codes for their command center, because it was he who had them hide there in the first place. When Apollyon entered the command center, he was met with confusion but no concern from the executives, at least until he began slaughtering them one-by-one with his tail blade and claws while their Nothosaur bodyguards stood by and watched. When the carnage was done, Apollyon used a holographic projector, with the voices and likenesses of the dozen dead executives saved on it, to assume leadership of the IBC. Intent on using the company's resources to further his own ends, Apollyon maintained the IBC's business deals, political campaigns, and subversive operations in place, albeit under his more aggressive direction.

One of these operations was the continued support of Durrandon. Apollyon, still disguised as one IBC executive or another, continued to feed him direction and information. Durrandon noticed the more aggressive, overt, and direct support he was being given, but paid it little mind, and had no inkling that his benefactors had been slaughtered and replaced by someone else. That would all change very soon, as a new mission would take him to a new planet: Linber, the home of the werewolf Fell people. The planet was deep in civil war after an ambitious clan chieftess called Vanni had formed an empire called the and was violently opposed by a group of nationalists led by Hetto, another clan chieftain. It was in Apollyon's interest that Vanni survive and grow her empire, since her people were powerful warriors and would make useful allies.

To this end, wanting to avoid suspicion from other Mirusian powers, Apollyon began by simply sending weapons to the Monarchy, which proved to be insufficient to secure her victory. Support for her empire escalated to the point where companies of Nothosaur troopers were deployed on Linber to fight the nationalists. Eventually, Apollyon decided to send Durrandon to the planet to assist and protect Vanni. Durrandon was taken aback; after nearly a year of not leaving the capital of Campia, he was being ordered to a war zone. On top of that, he realized that he had never been ordered by the IBC to do anything, and became gravely concerned. Still, he realized he would get no answers unless he went. So he did, but resolved to be very careful about it.

Upon arriving on Linber, he was introduced to Queen Vanni and became her bodyguard and leading general, directing her troops in combat. Using the strategies and tactics he had learned over his time as a warlord, Durrandon began to beat the nationalists back. Finally, after nearly two weeks of fighting, the nationalists were all but defeated. In desperation, Hetto attempted to assassinate Vanni personally, sneaking into her bedchamber at night while Durrandon was in another room plotting troop movements. Hetto drew a knife and was just about to slit Vanni's throat when Apollyon burst through the window and knocked him across the room. Angrily digging his claws into Hetto's flesh, Apollyon dragged him out of the bedchamber to be met by Durrandon. Apollyon claimed to have been sent by the IBC to ensure his success, then ordered him to kill Hetto. Despite his confusion, Durrandon knew Hetto to be an enemy, so he drew his sword and killed him.

After this was done, and Vanni had emerged from her bedchamber naked, confused, and terrified, Apollyon revealed to Durrandon that the IBC executives were dead, and he was now using their resources and operations to his advantage. Apollyon's tail twitched, ready to kill Durrandon should he attempt to avenge his dead benefactors. But to his surprise, Durrandon applauded his ingenuity and thanked him for his continued support. When asked why he saw fit to send him to Linber, Apollyon replied that he wanted to see Durrandon's abilities for himself, and had been watching the castle the entire time. He then told Durrandon that another war with the Mendel and Vanara was coming, and that it would bring about his plans to create a Mirusian empire. He asked Durrandon to become his apprentice and second-in-command, to bring the Quislings and Mesocampians to his side. Durrandon agreed and swore himself to the cause, casting off his clan name Voelyrocanth in the process.

Formation (2825-2828)
With the partnership of Durrandon and Apollyon, the seeds were sown for the creation of the Empire. However, a catalyst would be needed. To the two dictators, such a catalyst would be a second war with the Mendel and Vanara, which they foresaw as having two favorable outcomes. Either the proto-empire would win, in which case their plans for domination would be nearly complete, or at best they would fight their foes to a standstill, in which case they could use the weakening of their empires and allies as an excuse to unite into one empire. Total loss was not considered; they would win or they would die, as both beings were sick and tired of failure. They began to set their plans in motion, rallying allies and amassing ships and weapons. By the time the Mendel and Vanara noticed, it was too late.

Before the war began, Durrandon traveled back to Campia to rally the Mesocampian Empire to their cause; with their number of troops and advancements in technology, the Mesocampians were right behind the Nothosaurs in terms of military power, and actually ahead of the Quislings. Upon hearing Durrandon's request, Talis was excited and eagerly pledged to support the war. However, when she presented the notion to the other Mesocampian leaders, they were unwilling. Despite being legally bound to obey their demigoddess leader, they were hesitant about such a war. Talis quickly grew angry at their refusals, and promptly began strangling the entire room at once with her bandages, proclaiming that if her own advisers refused to listen to her, then she had no need of advisers.

Later, as Talis and Durrandon discussed the coming war, he confessed his doubt that he could survive a one-on-one fight with many of his enemies, like or. Talis offered to "upgrade" him; using her powers to imbue him with a power similar to but weaker than her own. Durrandon accepted, and Talis encircled him in energy, enhancing him and granting him powers that would eventually become some of his defining traits. Among the most obvious was his newfound telekinetic ability. Considering himself ready for combat, Durrandon sent messages to the Quisling Empire to prepare itself and its vassals for war.

The two plotters were determined to avoid a repeat of the Imperial War, where the Quislings lost due to a lack of ships and a reliance on other empires outside of their control to perform as hoped. To avoid this, they began a massive military buildup in the southern arm, their main territory with the Mesocampians inhabiting the Dimstar Outbacks and the Nothosaurs living in the Speartip. Working full-speed with the entirety of the IBC's resources at their fingertips, the allied empires churned out war machines and weapons at a rapid pace. Many of the fearsome ships and battle vehicles produced for the coming war would eventually be upgraded into weapons that would become some of the most recognizable faces of the future UME.

To finance this massive military buildup, the proto-empire set up an elaborate scheme. Taking dozens of tons of outdated and replaced weaponry, they gave them to the Brandonian Guild, which used weapons as currency. Following Durrandon and Apollyon's direction, the Brandonians used the value of these weapons as payment for their services to the Q-Company, a notorious crime syndicate led by Goar Taboryur, known for its massive annual income. The Brandonians became an integral part of the Q-Company's operations, piloting drug ships through secret lanes and serving as elite enforcers. Their fee already having been paid in guns and the potential to convert more enemies into Brandonians as per their life cycle, the Brandonian service cost Taboryur nothing, so he was happy to agree to the next phase of the proto-empire's plan: kicking back some of the profits he made to several corrupt politicians in various Mirusian empires, who paid the money to shell companies owned by the IBC, thus laundering it safely.

The proceeds from Taboryur's syndicate helped a great deal in paying for the armada buildup. Several IBC businesses, under the firm control of Apollyon, set up shell companies to build ships and weapons without attracting unwanted attention. Using information dating all the way bac to the days of the, Durrandon and his men began searching for either the remains of or the designs for the Galactic Devastation Ray or the Spear of Apocalypse. Eventually, his search teams brought back pieces of what could have been either weapon. When the technicians looked it over, they realized the weapon was so badly damaged and missing so many pieces that, even repaired and rebuilt to the best of the engineers' abilities, it would only be capable of destroying a planet or maybe a solar system. However, results also revealed that, while many advanced planets had defenses that could stave off a Planet Buster attack, it would be impossible to prevent the new weapon from vaporizing the planet in question. Apollyon immediately approved the project, and work began quickly, though it would take a while for it to be ready.

In the meantime, the Q-Company and Brandonians were making millions of credits per month and funneling much of it back to the proto-empire, allowing them to build and buy a massive starfleet. However, their actions were beginning to be noticed by the Mendel and Vanara. The Brandonians were hated enemies of the Mendel Pact, as they were fond of kidnapping young Mendel to hunt and transform into more Brandonians. The Q-Company was hated by both, as they used to be supporters of Fenric Vermillion, and were known for brazen terrorist attacks and assassinations. The Mendel and Vanara established a joint task force (JTF) to combat the threat, an organization from which would eventually sprout the resistance movement against the Empire.

The JTF's investigations began to make it abundantly clear that there was an outside player involved when they noticed that the Q-Company was going to unusual lengths to hide its money, and the Brandonians were sporting weapons usually produced only by IBC company Vehement Umbrella, which they in theory should not have had access to. Under the leadership of, who had experience dealing with the Q-Company and other crime syndicates, the JTF began to target members of Taboryur's gang, a string of arrests and kills that culminated in an angry Taboryur performing his trademark action: using a planet buster on a colony, a Mendel one which had not yet had time to set up its defenses. It was small and insignificant, but thousands were killed. Taboryur never really intended for the bomb to force the Mendel to back away, he was simply angry at the loss of his men and wanted to pay the Mendel back in turn.

Naturally, this heinous action caused the Mendel to declare total war on the Q-Company and Brandonians, followed in suit by the Vanara. However, this was just the distraction Apollyon wanted, and when his foes were distracted he launched his attack. A gigantic armada made its way from the southern arm to the northern, catching the Mendel fleet pursuing Taboryur off-guard and obliterating all but two ships that escaped beforehand. At the same time, the newly-armed Quisling Empire and its allies launched a second invasion of Waptoria space. Despite having attempted to fortify after the first invasion during the Imperial War, the Waptoria had concentrated on the northern borders of their territory, believing an attack would come from the Red Veil. With the Quisling Empire defeated and disarmed, the Waptoria felt they needn't bother as much with their eastern border. This proved a grave mistake.

With the Quislings secretly re-armed with a powerful fleet and ground vehicles, they bypassed the token defenses of the eastern border and captured many worlds. However, their target wasn't really the Waptoria, since the Raptoranean Matriarchy was deemed a possible ally and they still maintained covert control over much of the Waptoria government. Instead, the Quislings sought to occupy several worlds on the border with the Mendel, to draw them into a siege they couldn't win while the Nothosaurs and Mesocampians attacked Vanara territory. Over the course of what would become known as the Mirusian Galactic War, the three main empires would be joined by many allies, including the Pseudpath, but others, such as the and, refused their offers of alliance.

The Galactic War lasted for three years and was fought on hundreds of worlds. Both sides had their victories and defeats, but in the end it became clear that neither was capable of destroying the other. Both armies had been weakened since the beginning. This is where Apollyon enacted the next stage of his plan. Gathering all the faction leaders in secret, he proposed they unite as one Mirusian empire. Through one method or another, he convinced all the leaders to submit to his rule, with Durrandon as second-in-command. When asked how such a move would help them win the war, Apollyon unveiled his superweapon: the Moon Dragon. The remains of the Spear of Apocalypse had been built into a battlestation the size of a very large asteroid, armed with powerful shields and hyperspace drives, and capable of destroying a planet with one shot. Its only drawback was that the weapon required solar power to complete the charging process, meaning it would take time to fire.

While some generals pressed to use the Dragon on Ugandalore or Alastor, Durrandon though such a move too risky, as the station could be caught and destroyed quickly. He instead proposed to use it on a Vadyadhara planet, to show the galaxy what happened to those who refused an alliance with the Unity. Apollyon agreed, and the Dragon was transported to the Grey Channel, where it charged up and fired its laser at a Vadyadhara colony world, destroying it instantly. They then sent a transmission warning the Vadyadhara Emperor that their homeworld would be next should they choose to aid the Vanara. When word of this got around, the Vanara were deeply concerned, since Vadyadhara territory wasn't too far from their own. The Mendel were also worried, and the two resolved to find the Dragon and destroy it.

However, on the last day of the war, the newly formed Empire gathered its armada around the Moon Dragon and traveled to the edge of Mendel space. When the Mendel fleet arrived, Apollyon contacted them and ordered them to stand down and sign a peace treaty declaring the current borders of both sides as permanent. When the Mendel admiral refused, the Dragon fired its laser past them, destroying an uninhabited planet behind them. When word of this standoff reached Kirta and the Druid Council, they knew they had a tough choice to make. Given time, they would probably be able to defeat this evil new threat, as they always did, but if they tried to drag the war out and finish them, billions of innocent civilians might die as the Dragon continued its rampage. Having lost barely any territory, the Mendel agreed to the cease-fire. The Vanara were much more reluctant to quit while they were ahead, but the Mendel convinced them that it would not be worth the lives lost if that battle station made it into their territory.

So the Galactic War ended on a stalemate, with the fledgling Empire maintaining control over much of the southern arm, as well as Quisling territory and the Red Veil in the northern one. Despite millions of soldiers and civilians dead, and many ships destroyed, the Mendel and Vanara remained relatively unscathed as well. However, they were not happy about having a powerful and well-armed foe lurking in their galaxy, ready to destroy an entire planet at a moment's notice, and resolved to find a way to defeat them without provoking them into using their doomsday weapon. One week after the end of the Galactic War, January 4th, 2829, Apollyon was officially crowned Emperor of the Ultramirusian Empire, with Durrandon as Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army.

The Resistance (2828-)
"Jinn and Voelyrocanth can claim all they want that the Empire was created through their own ingenuity. The reality of it is that the whole process was like playing a game of pool where each successful shot, by some miracle, sets up the next, and you end up pocketing the 8 in one turn. In short, the whole thing was one lucky miracle after another. The Empire simply pocketed all of its balls."

- Unknown

In the time since its victory during the galactic war, UME set about radically improving their Army and fleet, knowing they would likely have need of them soon. While larger and more powerful ships and vehicles were always in development, the most noticeable change was the merger of all Imperial forces into one army, where Nothosaurs, Quislings, and Mesocampians all served side-by-side. To instill fear, their armor was based on that of the long-gone Aeba Shuka Patrollers, who some members of the Empire had once served with or fought against. The trademark skull-like gas masks became an instantly recognizable feature of the Imperial Army, as did their massive battle walkers and armored tanks and helicopters, many of which were modeled on other infamous armies in the universe. For example, their walkers and battlecruisers were vaguely similar to those used by the, and their tanks and helicopters were also similar to Aeba Shuka ones.

For the time being, however, the war for ownership of the galaxy would be fought with money, not soldiers. With much of their money sank into rebuilding their military, and all the IBC companies now dissolved and nationalized, the Empire needed funds. To create some, Apollyon set Durrandon up with a massive trading company, cobbled together out of the nationalized IBC industries. Never interacting directly with its customers, the front company's purpose was to, by means of transmissions and calls, facilitate the sale, trade, and transport of goods, something Durrandon excelled at. Since the Army was on standby, Durrandon was free from his duties as Supreme Commander, and he committed himself full time to the company, Striped Hat Trading Floor, or SHTF.

However, soon after, shit hit the fan at SHTF. With millions rolling in every day, and fraud going through the roof, Durrandon, Dolg, Urai, and their friends soon found that they could quite literally party until they passed out. Since they only had to be sober enough to make calls to customers, and nobody else ever entered the actual building, SHTF's employees were getting high non-stop, which often led to hiring truly obscene numbers of prostitutes and playing pool, cards, beer pong and golf until they passed out or went home. Durrandon's office table became stained by the sheer amount of fire salts he snorted off of it, employees openly smoked vixen and tar powder while talking on the phone with clients, and somebody was always having sex in the bathrooms. Still, the money kept flowing, so nobody cared.

Nobody cared, that is, until Durrandon, after taking several droplet drugs before work, decided to land a brand-new military Deathcopter on the roof of the SHTF building. When his horrible hand-eye coordination resulted in him ripping off nearly the entire roof, firing a missile into a nearby warehouse, and finally tearing the chopper's rotor right off, Apollyon quietly removed him from his post. Luckily for him, his old job of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army was now of more importance. Things were about to go down. Apollyon constructed a shell company with the explicit purpose of creating pyramid schemes to collapse governments. To test this new strategy, Apollyon had the company work its magic on the dissident Mendel colony of Astria, whose people despised the Pact but were for now ruled by a provisional government to keep the uprisings down.

The pyramid company offered many broke Astrians a chance to invest and make some much-needed cash. Many of them sold their homes to invest. When the scheme collapsed, at was the very nature of such a plot, many Astrians were left without property. They blamed the Mendel governor and his corrupt administration. Never a diplomatic lot, the Astrians stormed the governor's mansion, killing his guards and most of administration, before beheading the survivors and hanging the governor. Hearing of this, the Mendel Pact prepared a strike force to go to Astria, arrest the perpetrators, and restore government rule. However, the Empire stepped in, declaring Astria "under their protection", meaning a Mendel incursion would give the Empire cause to use the Moon Dragon. The Mendel backed off.

Satisfied with the success of the pyramid scheme company, Apollyon directed it towards its next target: the Terquiose Monarchy, the empire that House Ferquievy wanted to usurp and take over. An empire notable for its riches and strong connection to the former, the Monarchy had enjoyed relative peace. Not even the rebel Ferquievys dared invade, as they knew such an action would turn their people against them. Apollyon coveted their riches, and desired to strip away another ally of the Mendel and Vanara and add it to his empire. To this end, he used his pyramid company to infiltrate the business-minded Terquiose population on their homeworld of Metropolis and convince them to invest in "the latest medical advancements". At it happened on Astria, the scheme collapsed after making nearly a billion dollars for the Empire. Over a third of the Terquiose population on Metropolis had invested.

Despite being a peaceful, business-minded people, Terquiose can get extremely angry and quite violent when they know they've been cheated. Apollyon knew this and had set up all the money trails to lead back to the government, including secretly adding some of the citizen's money into politicians' bank accounts. This fueled protests all across the planet, but especially in the more city-filled north. When the government did nothing, and the current Presidente was reelected despite the scandal, many Terquiose cried corruption, and it didn't take long for the protests to turn violent. The government cracked down in the north, but in the more slummy south, armed gangs took over, raiding military arms depots and freeing criminals from prisons, who quickly set themselves up as warlords, claiming the loyalty of one gang or another.

This was the exact situation Apollyon had wanted to create. Under the pretense of freeing oppressed people from a corrupt government, he sent Durrandon and nearly three million Imperial troops to Metropolis to fight the government, which was materially supported by the Mendel and Vanara, who could not intervene directly. The government was beaten in ten days, with continued fighting going on for another six months. House Ferquievy quickly stepped in, using both their own money and injections from the Empire to repay the Terquiose citizens who lost money to the pyramid schemes. This convinced the Terquiose population that the Ferquievys were "good after all", and the House quickly assumed leadership over the Monarchy, costing the Mendel and Vanara another ally.

This was the last straw for them. Unable to stomach the rapid and aggressive expansion of a genocidal empire bent on galactic domination while they swallowed threats from a battle station, the Mendel and Vanara began transforming their joint task force into a resistance movement, armed with advanced weapons and guerrilla tactics, to fight against UME and stop it from plunging Mirus into another dark age. For the time being, the Empire remained unaware of this, believing the might of the Moon Dragon would keep their enemies in line.

Government and Politics
"No more will we be a ragtag band squabbling for scraps from larger factions. Today is the day we unite under one flag, with one goal. Today marks the beginning of a new dawn, a new age. Today, is the first day that Mirus lives under the rule of the first galaxy-wide empire!"

- General Apollyon upon his coronation

By its own definition, UME was a dictatorship, or more accurately a military junta. General Apollyon controlled the entire empire, with his word as law. Durrandon was a close second, with Apollyon as the only being in the galaxy who could give him orders. Other prominent leaders, like Talis, maintained a semblance of authority over their own affairs. Only factions absorbed by the Empire willingly were given any form of power. Those that had to be conquered or forced to join were treated little better than slaves, with absolutely no say as to what happened to their people. Though it might have seemed very strict and ordered, it was common knowledge that to acquire freedom to do as one pleased, they must have been friends with either Durrandon or Apollyon, or friends of friends.

There was little to no freedom in the Empire. All had to obey their leaders without question. Some leniency was put on things like correcting errors and offering advice, but dissent was swiftly cracked down on. However, the three main species, the Nothosaurs, Mesocampians, and Quislings, were all quite used to such conditions and didn't seem to care much. In fact, nationalism was such a highly-regarded ideal within the Empire that it convinced many to join it simply by offering to empower their species, ethnic group or political faction. One of the primary ways the Empire spread was by either igniting or supporting nationalistic or ethnic conflicts, then absorbing the victorious faction they backed into the fold of the Empire. This proved to be an effective tactic that drew little attention.

Despite being considered a violent militaristic regime and a threat to peace and stability in Mirus, the Empire maintained strong business and political ties to many individuals and organizations throughout Mirus, including some within their enemies such as the. It inherited these ties from both the now-defunct, which it absorbed and nationalized, and the , which had ties to corrupt Mendel leaders that the Empire acquired from former members. These assets proved invaluable to the Empire's rise to power, allowing it to influence events within their enemies' empires. Political and business infiltration is a well-known issue within the Mendel Pact, and they have taken steps to counter this. The Empire was also known to have dealings with organizations like the and Sids and Sars' gang.

Economy
The Empire had an extremely well-developed economy due to several factors. First and foremost was the nationalization of the Independent Business Consortium, Mirus' largest business conglomerate. This gave them access to a trove of political and corporate resources, including a massive pool of money and well-established trade routes. Though it was never quite as effective as the original IBC at running these businesses, the Empire did well enough at it that they were making several billion a month legitimately, of which nearly all went into the military. Trade, banking, and weapons sales were its largest industries.

Of course, there was also the illegitimate side, and having descended from criminals, terrorists, and warlords, the Empire was well-connected in this realm. It had access to the highest-quality drug manufacturing facilities. On a daily basis, it produced hundreds of metric tonnes of fire salts, electrogas, vixen, tar powder, droplets, and other drugs which were sold to criminal organizations such as the Q-Company, Spyke Syndicate, and Sids and Sars' gang, often in exchange for services such as smuggling or assassination. At the height of its power, the Empire was Mirus' leading drug manufacturer and supplier. It also used its facilities and chemicals to produce medicine, which only added to its already massive income.

One of the most infamous sides to the Empire's economy was its fondness for Ponzi schemes and pyramid scams, which were used to generate revenue and often cripple enemy governments in the process. These scams notably caused the 2829 Astrian Coup d'état and Terquiose Civil War, both events gaining the Empire an advantage over their enemies. The success of these schemes eventually waned, but only because it became galactic knowledge of what they led to. The Empire was also fond of using the stock market to generate money, setting up its own trading floors. Despite often being corrupt, drug-filled orgies that regularly defrauded their clients, these floors helped fund the early days of the Empire, and continued to be a reliable source of revenue.

For the most part, trade in Imperial territory continued unhindered. As part of a effort to subvert the Mendel Pact, the Empire used shell companies and fronts to send money to corrupt Mendel politicians and military leaders, ensuring laws were passed in its favor and that there would be internal opposition to the Resistance movement. Due to the third-party nature of the Resistance, the Empire was unwilling to go directly to war with its backers, fearing another massive war would create more problems than it solved. Instead it relied on its own black ops teams and political influence to curb the Resistance's effectiveness.

Society and Culture
The culture of the Empire was very ascetic, with little forms of entertainment due to the militaristic and minimalist nature of the three main species. To control the population, the Empire actively encouraged the use of drugs with little or no harmful effects, such as droplets and fire salt, when the citizen wasn't working. This kept the population placid and nonresistant, and the ban on drug use during work hours ensured the economy remained stable. In fact, drug use was actually more common in the upper echelon of military officers, businessmen, and politicians, with some individuals consuming pounds of drugs during a week.

The business culture was as ingrained into the minds of the citizens as the military culture, with serving the Empire as a businessman being as honorable as being a soldier. Within the government itself, businessmen, politicians, and military officers were basically the same thing; dedicated politicians didn't really exist, and a successful military officer was likely to also be a successful business owner and vice versa. This led to the rise of a corporate mindset dominating the non-military cultural aspects of society. Most literature and film in the Empire consisted of how-to business manuals, skewed history books and films, and military films intended to ignite nationalistic feelings and lust for combat within the population.

Within the Empire existed many forms of religion. While many members were former members and were thus staunch atheists, Durrandon and Apollyon both saw benefit in religion, such as fanaticism, and allowed many religions to exist. Perhaps the most widespread was the Mesocampian religion, simply called the Religion, of which Mesocampian leader Talis was the main focus of worship. Durrandon and Apollyon promoted this religion because it would cement loyalty from its followers, with a message of "Talis is a loyal member of the Empire, so if you go against the Empire you go against your Demigoddess". This proved to be quite effective in cementing loyalty. There were other religions, such as Zaraturaism, shamanistic beliefs, and even Adaism, but none received the attention that the Religion did.

While not being outwardly xenophobic, the Empire did imply the inherent superiority of its three main species and their allies, and often derided their enemies as being "inferior", or "underbeings". Ethnic cleansing was also an occasional occurrence within the Empire, especially against humans. Quislings are well-known for their hatred of humans, and with their race in power, it was inevitable that such massacres would happen. The Empire was also notoriously immoral with those it looked down upon, often performing experiments on them in the name of science. However, all in all the Empire tended to keep a lid on racist and xenophobic actions, because their leadership knew it would be much easier to rule a galaxy without being hated by its member species.

Military
"Kill them all. No sorting required."

- Common Imperial Army order

At the height of its power, UME boasted a massive army of over a trillion combat-ready troops and another trillion in reserve or training, with the possibility of calling many more into battle if necessary. Despite being considered the spiritual successor to the and, the Imperial Army always dwarfed any military power the previous two organizations ever had. However, the Empire was never actually as large as it puffed itself out to be, and even at its most powerful the Imperial Army was at best equal to the military strength of the Mendel Pact and Sacred Vanara Empire. Unlike many other militarizes, the Empire saw no need to divide its forces between army and navy, and thus the Imperial Army was the one and only military organization within the Empire, encompassing the ground forces, navy ships and pilots, special forces, and allied gangs and paramilitaries.

Due to the relative isolation of UME's main territory in the southern arm, consisting mostly of dim stars with little natural resources, the Empire was able to rapidly amass an armada out of reach of prying eyes and interventionists. It constructed shipyards and weapons depots on several planets, and used resources imported by shell companies and smugglers to construct their equipment. After the Galactic War, the Mendel and Vanara sanctioned the Empire, preventing any company from legally doing business with it. To counteract this, many companies spun off front corporations to do business with the Empire. Domestically, the nationalized company Vehement Umbrella manufactured the Empire's small arms, buying raw material from a shell company called Epitome Arms. The also-nationalized Shipping Lane Assembly produced the Empire's warfleet, with shell companies DeepspaceTech providing material for capital ships and Hypermatter Concern providing parts and designs for star fighters.

The primary species serving in the Imperial Army's ground forces were Quislings, Nothosaurs, and Mesocampians, all fanatical fighters with a cultural emphasis on combat prowess. Other species, like Lagorthenes, Fells, Terquiose, and Hyraxes were used as auxiliary units or attache units, their roles based on their specialties. To present a unified, fear-inducing image in the minds of their enemies, the soldiers of the Imperial All wore similar outfits and armor: black and white combat armor and skull-shaped gas masks reminiscent of the Patrollers used by Blood Brotherhood member, who were all believed long dead. This image was a terrifying one for many who had fought the Patrollers and were unnerved even then by their soulless visage.

Imperial soldiers were always trained vigorously and thoroughly in all forms of combat, a tradition carried over from the Quisling Empire. Recruits were not allowed onto the battlefield without first having been deemed educated to the extent the training courses could provide. Even before the formation of the Empire, the individual soldiers had been trained for years and exposed to many battles, with the core of the Imperial Army being formed by veterans of the Mirusian Imperial War. This meant there was a stable base to train new recruit with, giving the Imperial Army an edge against many of its opponents with inferior training programs.

Another memorable component of the Imperial Army was its powerful planetary attack vehicles. These ranged from the 40 ft tall Rodent-class battle tank to the 120 ft tall God-class quadrupedal walker. All vehicles used by the Imperial Army began as retrofitted surplus mixed with new designs during the Galactic War. For example, the massive God walker began as a modified walker previously used by the Nothosaur Empire, while the Rodent tanks were refitted Simnu Deathcutioner tanks, which are still used in the Imperial Army due to being more mobile than the Rodent. Perhaps the most notable air vehicle is the Imperial Deathcopter, a type of heavy attack helicopter built from old Aeba Shuka Hunter-Choppers.

Astrography


At the height of its power, the Ultramirusian Empire controlled the Dimstar Outbacks, the Speartip, the Red Veil, Pseudopath space, Quisling territory, and various planets in and around Mendel space. Despite controlling more territory by area in the northern arm, mainly Quisling space and the Red Veil, the Empire's real hub of power was the Dimstar Outbacks, where nearly half of its colonies were situated. Due to the remoteness and lack of resources of the Outbacks, no other major empire had an interest in them, allowing the Mesocampian Empire to grow unhindered. This in turn made the Outbacks the perfect base of operations for UME, where it built up its massive fleets.

The equally uninhabited but slightly less remote Speartip region, home of the Nothosaur Empire, would prove to be the economic stronghold of the Empire due to its proximity to prominent trade routes and possession of some natural resources. The largest region of Imperial Space, the Quisling territory, despite lacking loads of riches, natural resources, or even distance from prying eyes, its real strategic value lied in allowing the Empire to keep troops close to the Mendel borders, and closely support anti-Mendel forces.

The three capital worlds of the Empire were Quis, Noth, and Campia. Other important worlds, and worlds inhabited by allies of the Empire, were Vermis, Astria, Thera, Linber, Lagorth, Taraquery, and the Pseudopath Homeworld.

Vassals and Protectorates
You are under our protection.
 * Kingdom of Lagorth - Feral beasts useful only as cannon fodder.
 * - You fight well, but only with proper direction.
 * - Powerful warriors, but led by ignorant upstarts.
 * - Unfortunately too few in number to stand on their own.
 * House Ferquievy/Terquiose Monarchy - You owe your power to us now.
 * Northern Alliance - Useful for raids and distractions, little else.
 * Zairre Confederation - You fought well. Consider yourselves safe from Mendel tyranny.
 * - Enjoy your kingdom.

Allies
The Empire appreciates your assistance.
 * - We share similar goals. With our combined might, all our enemies will fall.
 * - A strong race, one we will likely have use of soon.

Cooperation
May our friendship continue to bear fruit.
 * Sids and Sars' gang - Ruthless. Effective.
 * - They have their uses, though they are barely tolerable.
 * Brandonian Guild - We may have...other uses for you.
 * Q-Company - They served their purpose.
 * Pseudopath Empire - Another great empire weakened by its own conflict.
 * Simnu Empire - We no longer need to buy tanks from you. Though perhaps you may wish to buy some from us.
 * Raptoranean Matriarchy - Cooperation is a possibility.
 * Vermillion Dynasty - You should be more amicable. You are not as strong as you think.

Neutral
Treading a line can get you killed as easily as crossing it.
 * - We have no need to fight them, yet.
 * - You do not concern us.
 * - There is only one plan, one vision, and it belongs to the Empire.

Cold War
You will not last long in your current course of action.
 * - Rendering assistance to the Vanara will result in your homeworld being burned into nothing.
 * - We will not forget your treachery.
 * - Probably will have to be destroyed sooner or later.
 * - Facing us would be decidedly unwise, but you are welcome to try your luck.

At War

 * - We know of your support for the Resistance. Be warned, you will be punished for it.
 * - That goes double for you.