Fiction:Interstellar Tundraklen Commonwealth

"...and in this new age, we look to other worlds, to new frontiers and to new beginnings. Though we were born from war, we, as a nation and as a species, must put aside Zaer and Sabyrun so we may usher in a new golden age beyond the glorious motherworld of Aktron.  As we send out our colonists, we must toss aside bloodshed and accept that we are unified under one cause now- to leave our mark out there in the massive galaxy awaiting us."

- Domines Sabyrun

The Interstellar Tundraklen Commonwealth is a space-faring empire originating from the Segmentum Umbra of the Andromeda Galaxy. With roughly 300 colonies and more expansion still happening, they are a rising nation in Andromeda, though their fragmented nature may mean danger for allies and enemies alike.

Precursors and uprising
While friendly rivalry between Bloodtwines was normal in Tundraklen culture, the notorious Zaer Bloodtwine was in no way friendly in their claims of superiority to their brethren. With ties to the Monarchy that let them influence laws to an extent far beyond what the laws allowed, they were practically in charge of the nation, and hoped for aggressive expansion on their homeworld and into the stars. They strung the Monarchy along with their goals of 'cleansing' the world of those who were not supportive of the Zaers.

While several uprisings had been attempted and riots were common, no group was organized enough to do anything aside from annoy the Zaers and give them self-justification, blaming the riots on 'jealous inferior beings'. With a need for an organized force against oppression, the hard-working Sabyrun Blreoodtwine decided to organize rebelling Bloodtwines in a fight against the Zaers' control, with much more success over the riots.

Levoans Sabyrun and the formation of the Commonwealth
After decades of civil war, Levoans Sabyrun, leader of the organized rebellion, realized that the war was futile and got in the way of the things that mattered most to the Tundraklos. In his final years of leading, he put the rebellion on defense and prepared a treaty to form a commonwealth and end the war. While he died before he could see the Commonwealth be formed, the treaty was a success, with resources and choices for the whole race being made together while retaining individuality. The Global Tundraklen Commonwealth was a success, with Domines Sabyrun and Ivnar Zaer choosing representatives from various prominent Bloodtwines to help them.

While relations were shaky, peace was finally reached, and the first space program, Project Maelstrum, was put into motion, and a golden age was beginning. However, ultimately, it ended shortly after its beginning when Maelstrum failed to launch, causing a massive fire known now as the Maelstrum Fault. Tensions between Bloodtwines rose once more, with Zaer claiming it was the 'inferior Sabyrun fools' fault', and Sabyrun passively standing back and trying to avoid a civil war. The Commonwealth was breaking apart, and only one thing could repair it- the launch into space.

First steps into space
With engineers working day and night to launch a newly funded and re-designed fleet of Maelstrum colony ships into space to prevent a meltdown of the Commonwealth, Domines Sabyrun began addressing the public regularly, assuring that while the Maelstrum Fault had divided them, they would still enter the space age and that neither Zaer nor Sabyrun was at fault. In response, the Zaers began a campaign to push the responsibilities of the massive fires onto Domines. Eventually, riots began flaring up again, but at the same time, a new hope was available.

The reconstructed Maelstrum fleet was ready to go, with a centuries-long plan to colonize the surrounding stars ready. With the successful launch of the fleet, the public was reunified, and Domines and Ivnar renamed their empire to its current name, to reflect their new interstellar dreams. A 'silver age' began, with animosity still high but society functioning and well.

Space age and the present
After centuries of colonizing, the dreams of Domines and Ivnar were reality, with 230 systems under Tundraklen control, and first contact with other empires beginning. While animosity is still a big factor and current leaders Mostyl Sabyrun and Yaizin Zaer struggling with learning how to work together, hopes are still high in the Commonwealth.

Government
The Interstellar Tundraklen Commonwealth is a commonwealth, obviously, lead by two leaders, chosen from the older members of the Zaer and Sabyrun Bloodtwines. Upon a leader is selected by their predecessor, the new leader selects representatives from an elected group of Bloodtwines, chosen due to their virtues and influence. While the Zaer and Sabyrun representatives are the leaders of the commonwealth, the other representatives form a council of advisors, and in emergency situations temporary leaders. While the Commonwealth has several colonies, all government activity takes place in the capital city of Cyren Vilias, on their homeworld Aktron.

The responsibilities of the advisory council include providing insight from the public when relevant, calming the people in a crisis while the leaders make larger choices, and checking in on colonies after invasions or similar events. Likewise, the leaders have responsibilities related to major matters such as expansion, declaration of war or treaties to end them, and choice of systems to colonize.

Technology and Vehicles
The Interstellar Tundraklen Commonwealth, due to their love of work, have invented technology at a rapid pace, only helped by their natural creation of a mineral they call coldsteel, which works well in alloys. While they have very little military force to speak of, they have developed weaponry such as railguns for self-defense, and they have a highly advanced colonization system, along with several research vessels supplemented by a database of knowledge that allows research picked up by a vessel in one star system to be transmitted to its fellow research probes, even if they're systems away.

Their largest and most notable creation is the Maelstrum, which is approximately 1476 ft. long (in Earth measurements) and can house up to 250 colonists, with a crew of roughly 50 operating the massive ship. It is used primarily for transporting colonists to new worlds or supplementing colonies who need more workers, although it can also be used as a sort of mobile space station, docking smaller vehicles. Due to the ship's massive size, need for a large crew, and the fact that it requires a very high amount of energy to run, there are only four of the Maelstrum model of ships.

Culture
for information on the concept of Bloodtwines, see the Tundrakle page

Due to consisting only of one race, the Interstellar Tundraklen Commonwealth has a unified culture, with many cultural traditions still in place, even in their modern age. According to the latest census, at least 97% of the citizens are still in a Bloodtwine, and 46% of that population follows older traditions such as keeping younglings unnamed until they do something considered 'worthy' of being named. As seen in the government section, Bloodtwines are a major part of the government too, with candidates being chosen from certain Bloodtwines.

Aside from Bloodtwines, the culture of the Interstellar Tundraklen Commonwealth focuses highly on efficiency and hard work, with hard workers being prime candidates for the council of advisors. This is partially why the Commonwealth has a high production output, which means the Commonwealth is in a win-win relationship, with citizens happy to work and common goods being easily available to the Commonwealth and its allies. Although the workers enjoy hard work, they still enjoy the hard-earned break they get after work, with time alongside their Bloodtwines being spent well.