Fiction:Paingler Imperium

((Under construction, please pardon the mess!))

"....let our soldiers and our fleet spread our power and influence across the stars and they shall spread fire amongst those who oppose us! Our territory shall grow tenfold, through colonization or conquest! Let the stars themselves quake and tremble at the might of our great Empire!" - a recording of a speech by Emperor Ralzus, the seventeenth Emperor of Nerophion, and the Emperor who saw his species achieve interstellar travel.

The Paingler Imperium is an interstellar empire that envelops a large expanse of stars and solar systems in the region known as Imperial Space or Imperial Territory. It is one of several political factions within it's sector of space, and a relative newcomer to space, being only 700 years old.

The Imperium has established something of a reputation to outsiders as an aggressive and vicious power. It's fleets immediately stop any incoming traffic in Imperial Space, or shoots incoming craft down, which is not so uncommon. The Imperium is not ruled by mindless barbarians and bloodthirsty savages; the Imperium will engage in diplomatic relations with outsiders and consider alliances, trade routes or treaties of neutrality.

Introduction
Welcome to the Imperial Codex! The following entry will provide detailed data on: the Paingler Imperium.

Founding and Early History: (0 B.F. - 4 A.F.)
The Imperium was forged by the government on the world of Nerophion, which is a monarchy ruled over by a single individual, the Emperor, in response to the Paingler species' achievement of spaceflight. The year that the first space craft (0 Before Foundation) was successfully launched was the year that the Emperor, along with his advisors of the Magistrate Council, had declared Nerophion and the rest of the Antin system the heart of Imperium territory and that the previous planet-wide empire was now known as the Paingler Imperium.

As more and more space craft were lauched after the first successful run, colonization efforts were made throughout the Antin system. Nerophion's moon of Lilon was settled as a small mining colony, and the rest of the planets in the system were similarly settled and exploited for resources. It was not for another four years that efforts were made for interstellar exploration and potential colonization.

In 4 A.F. (After Foundation), a small expeditionary fleet was sent out of the Antin system. The fleet left the Antin system and had plotted a course for the closest neighboring system, the Neppa system. The expeditionary fleet established a small observation post on the planetoid of Yeron, a small, frozen hunk of rock that lacks atmosphere.

First Encounter (4 A.F.)
While Yeron was lifeless and desolate, the Neppa system was not completely devoid of life. Only one world in the unusually dense cluster of planets and moons was home to a bustling colony beonging to the Sansan Collective. A small scout squadron of Collective ships were dispatched to Yeron to investigate reports of strange, alien ships in the system, said to be centering around Yeron. As the Collective scouts neared Yeron, they were set upon by the Paingler expeditionary fleet and immediately fired upon and destroyed. However, the scouts were able to relay a short transmission back to the colony: a confirmation of aliens in the system.

The colony, receiving the transmission and gathering data that the scouts were destroyed, now mobilized a larger force in retaliation. This fleet arrived at Yeron and opened fired upon the Imperium ships, forcing the Imperium to flee and abandon the observation post. The Imperium expeditionary fleet made it back to the Antin system. The Sansan Collective examined the observation post and was able to extract data that provided them a location of the invaders; the Antin system. This information in hand, the Sansan assembled an attack fleet and plotted course.

The First Contact War (4 A.F. - 11 A.F.)
It wasn't long before the Imperial scout fleet was back home. The Collective, however, was not far behind and they arrived in the Antin system days after the Imperial forces returned. The Collective attack fleet, not expecting much resistance other than the small fleet they chased from the Neppa system, immediately set for Nerophion without any preemptive measures or tactics. As the attack fleet neared the planet, the Imperium unveiled it's defenses; a huge fleet headed by massive captial ships and the "flagship", the Kuhha.

The Imperium won the ensuing space battle and the Collective forces were destroyed. The Imperium lost several dozens of fighters and bombers and a frigate. The attack fleet destroyed, the Imperium fleet mobilized and made their way back to the Neppa system. The fleet bombarded the colony there and gathered data on the location of other colonies and the Sansan homeworld. The fleet pressed on, raiding colony after colony, depleting the Collective's territory. One particular battle in 6 A.F. landed a powerful blow on the Paingler fleet. The Collective used suicide tactics to crash fighters into Imperium cruisers, destroying one and crippling two others. As they were deep in Collective territory, the crippled cruisers were evacuated and afterwards destroyed by the Imperial fleet, in order to prevent any information on design to go into enemy hands.

As the fleet pushed further and further into the Collective's territory, Nerophion was hard pressed to keep production of weaponry, space craft and soldiers up to the standards during war-time. In 8 A.F., when the Imperium crippled and captured an enemy cruiser, that task was alleviated. The crew members who were captured were sent back to Nerophion as slave workers.

Government
The Imperium is a monarchy, ruled over by an Emperor, who possesses total power. The Emperor alone is responsible for declaring or abolishing laws, directing the actions overall actions of the military (although command is given to admirals and generals, who direct the actions of those under their command) and deals with prospects of colonization and diplomacy. The Emperor is advised by a council of advisors, named the Magistrate Council. While these individuals advise the Emperor in his decisions, they have little to no overall say. However, the Council is often called upon to act as mediators in disputes and conflicts between Imperial colonies, or, rarely, as top classified diplomats.

The Imperium follows an imperialistic view on space; it seeks to conquer and expand it's territory, and has little interest in alliances or diplomatic relations. This is not to say that any and all attempts at diplomacy will be outright ignored, as the Emperor himself will consider, accept or reject such notions.

Military
Exploring, colonizing new worlds and expanding territory is dangerous business, with many unknowns and interstellar dangers out there. The primary defense against such dangers is the Imperial Grand Army, which consists of tens of thousands of soldiers, assualt vehicles, and the Imperial Grand Navy, a large fleet which consists of tens of thousands of space craft, ranging from the titanic capital ships to the small one-piloted space fighters. The I.G.A and the I.G.N is primarily tasked to protect Imperial space, but are often called upon as a scout force or, more commonly, invasion forces.

Imperial Grand Army
The Army is composed of planetside forces, such as soldiers, tanks and atmospheric fighter jets. There are tens of thousands of soldiers ready at disposal, equipped with protective armor and personal weaponry. The Imperium only equips it's army and soldiers with slugthrowing weapons, meaning their guns fire propelled projectiles, also called bullets. While such weaponry is considered primitive by the galaxy at large, slugthrowing guns are easier to produce, repair and maintain than energy based or laser weapons. In response to more advanced arms and armor, the Imperial Armory has devised numerous kinds of guns and projectile weapons to suit a variety of tasks, as well as specialized slugs, such as armor piercing rounds.

Assault vehicles and soldiers, during times of invasion or war, are deployed by large dropships. Imperial tanks are designed to traverse most forms of terrain; rocky and otherwise crooked terrain are not an obstacle. In addition to it's soldiers and vehicles, the Imperial Grand Army also deploys living weapons; domesticated and trained beasts, called Reef Prowlers, are taken from Nerophion and used as beasts of war.

Imperial Grand Navy
The Navy is the primary form of military in Imperium space; Imperial space craft are hovering over every world and colony, and they persistently prowl the space lanes between systems in their territory, keeping an eye for unauthorized ships, enemy invaders, or pirates. During the Navy's early days, the orbital shipyards were located in Nerophion's orbit. Since expansion, however, the shipyards were deconstructed and subsequently moved to the colony of Tibon. Tibon is now responsible for producing the Navy's vessels.

There are several types of vessels in the employ of the Imperium:

Starfighters: These vessels are piloted by a single pilot and have the weakest weaponry and armor of Imperial spacecraft. Due to their size and speed, these vessels are not easy targets. They are deployed during combat to attack and destroy enemy starfighters.

Bombers: These vessels are piloted by a single pilot, just like starfighters. Bombers, however, possess heavier armor and weaponry than the fighters, and are typically slower than fighters. Due to the slower speed, during space battles, bombers are often protected by wings of fighters. Bombers are tasked with destroying larger enemy ships, such as frigates, cruisers or capital ships.

Frigates: These ships are larger than bombers or fighters, but are smaller in size when compaired to cruisers or capital ships. They serve as armed escort to cruisers and captial ships. Frigates are also deployed as the command ship of scouting forces. It takes a crew of several dozen, excluding the captain, to properly run a frigate.

Cruisers: Also called dreadnoughts, the Cruisers are main powerhouse of the Navy. They are nearly three times the size of frigates. They are outfitted with numerous weapon emplacements and are often accompanied by two frigates. A cruiser can carry up to ten full squadrons of fighters and three wings of bombers, as well as twelve dropships to ferry soldiers to and from planets. It typically takes around one hundred and fifty indivduals to crew the ship.

Capital Ships: Even larger than the cruisers, the capital ships are titanic vessels and the truly fearsome powerhouse within the fleet. Due to their size, they are difficult and expensive to produce, and as such, are given top-of-the-line protection and weapons. They can carry up to twenty squadrons of fighters, and nine wings of bombers. Only admirals are given charge of the capital ships, as it takes a truly experienced veteran, or an extremely gifted indivdual, to command a ship of such size. It takes several hundred to properly crew the ship, and only seven capital ships are in commission, the oldest of which, the Kuhha, bears several scars along it's hull.

Economy and Currency
The Imperium's economy focuses little on outsider trade, as the Imperium is hesitant to accept trade route requests or alliances with outsiders. The economy is managed by the capital and the colonies, with various imports and exports. As such, the Imperium has become self-reliant. However, if any crucial colonies were lost, it would nearly cripple the economy. The Imperium still retains an adamant attitude concerning trade with outsiders.

The Imperium's system of currency is relatively simple. Due to the relative scarcity of cheap metals during the Imperium's foundation and early history, in the place metal coins, the Imperium used various different seashells from Nerophion as it's source of currency. The most common form of this currency is called the Imperial kebben. Other forms of the Imperial currency is called the kerren, the keb and nettin. It is unknown what the exchange rate for other currencies is.

Insignia
The symbol of the Imperium is the clan insignia of the first Emperor of the Paingler. It is a tri-pointed figure, with each of the three points representing a part of the Imperium; the uppermost point represents the Emperor and his power, and the other two points represent the Imperial Army and Navy, respectively. This symbol adorns military uniforms, flags, and the hulls of starships, especially cruisers or capital ships.

Capital
Nerophion is the capital world of the Imperium. Located at the heart of Imperial Territory, it is, arguably the most important world within the Imperium, if not economically, historically. It is home to the Paingler, the creators of the Imperium, and is home of the Emperor. The capital of Nerophion is Kanjhe, which is a sprawling city of open stalls, bazaars, tower-like homes. The skyline is dominated by the huge Imperial Palace and Palace Grounds, which houses the Emperor, the Royal Family, and the Council Chambers.

During the early years of the Imperium, shipyards orbited around Nerophion. After expansion, these shipyards were moved to the colony of Tibon. While the Paingler regard Nerophion as the most important planet of the Imperium, and the literal heart of the Imperium, there are other worlds of greater economic and strategic importance.

Imperial Territory
Imperial Territory covers a wide area. The following list is an example of worlds, colonies and locations within Imperial Territory:

Nerophion: Located in the Antin system, Nerophion is a water world that is the homeworld of the Paingler and the place where the Imperium began. It is located at the heart of Imperial Territory.

Tibon: Tibon is one of the oldest Paingler colonies. At first it was a simple outpost settlement used for mining and exporting resources. It gained even greater importance after increased Imperial expansion when the shipyards that once orbited Nerophion were moved into Tibon's orbit. Tibon is now responsible for producing the Imperial Navy's spacecraft.

Mallictra: An idyllic resort world of untouched beauty, Mallictra is notable only for being home to the Imperial Resort Home, which the Royal Family and the families of the Councilors frequent during getaways.

Trivia

 * The Paingler Imperium is partially based off the Galactic Empire (Star Wars) and the Helghan Empire (Killzone).


 * The speech made by Ralzus is based off of speeches and rhetoric made by real-world dictators.


 * The First Contact War takes it's name from a war of the same name in the Mass Effect universe.