The Empire is one of two interstellar superpowers that share human-controlled quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy during the First Era of human Civilization. The Empire is ruled by an absolute Monarch from the Khan dynasty. Imperial seat of power lies at the Capitol City on the oceanic planet Limmea. Below is the short recount of the events that shaped the Empire into a state that it is today:

678-715 AE – The Great Oligarchy

Year 678 after the Exodus. Pangea, the largest continent of Limmea was ruled by the Great Oligarchy, a cartel of rich and powerful business magnates. After taking over the whole continent their ambition became to gain rule over the whole planet. The economical takeover was deemed to be too lengthy, and Oligarchs chose the military approach instead. So the Unification Wars have begun.

701-715 AE – The Unification Wars of Limmea

Unification Wars began year 701 AE when a giant armada of ships under the leadership of Grand Admiral Unmesh Khan embarked to conquer two other continents of Limmea, Araszi and Dar.

After more then a decade of bloodshed, the Unification Wars concluded when all of the conquered states have pledged allegiance to the Grand Admiral Unmesh Khan. Oligarchs got uneased by the sheer power of their victorious Grand Admiral. They tried to deal with Unmesh Khan promptly by accusing him of a treason, and issuing a restraint order against him.

Unfortunately for them, most of the Pangean Navy has either grown personally loyal to Unmesh Khan, or was recruited by him from the conquered nations and had no loyalty to the Oligarchy in the first place. As a result of this overdue betrayal, operatives who was supposed to carry out the order were killed on sight by Grand Admiral’s loyal troops under the command of his first mate and lover, Alexander Denj.

Unmesh Khan used this opportunity to accuse the Oligarchy of using him and draining Limmea in blood of his troops. This way, both Pangeans under the Grand Admiral’s command and soldiers from other continents were eager to sail back and liberate Pangea from the Oligarchs. The latter had no chances in a battle against their own Navy.

So, with almost no resistance, the Grand Admiral Unmesh Khan has taken over the last Limmean continent and proclaimed himself as the first planetary King of Limmea. This development was met by full support and applause of his troops and citizens, who were happy that Unification Wars were finally over.

One of the classical ancient imperial songs tells the heartbreaking story about how the First King Unmesh Khan had to abandon his lover, Alexander Denj, in order to begin the Khan dynasty together with Anissa, a imprisoned noblewoman and daughter of an executed Oligarch.

715 AE – The White Uprising

Few historians dare to point out a fact that Unmesh Khan have never completely conquered the Araszin Continent. Instead, as the resistance there was too strong, the Pangean Grand Admiral had to negotiate with Araszin Sultanate about terms and conditions of their capitulation. Araszi agreed to cease the resistance in exchange for an unique autonomous status under the Limmean world state. They have also requested guarantied higher status in the new class system and to get a huge amount of slaves, specifically women from Dar.

Unmesh had no choice, but to agree to these conditions as alternative would be a bloody conflict with no clear outcome. Unfortunately, the Grand Admiral has misjudged the loyalty of his troops, one quarter of whom was recruited from Darfolk. When news about their sisters, mothers and friends were sold to become Raba for Araszin masters have reached Khan’s Darian troops, they began to rebel.

Thousands of decorated veterans as they drove their landships to the shores of Pangea. It was only Khan’s iron will and the loyalty of his own Pangea-born troops and Araszin mercenaries that saved him from the imminent demise. The White Uprising, as it was later named by the Imperial historians, was overnight shattered by the united might of the loyalists under the First Monarch’s command. Echoes of it and distrust towards the light-skinned people became forever imprinted into the Imperial culture.

715-947 AE – The Kingdom of Limmea

For over 300 years the Khan dynasty has ruled over Limmea with justice and iron fist. Year 912 AE though, the Kingdom began to face a crisis of overpopulation combined with ineffectiveness of an overly bloated bureaucratic machine.

The famine of 928 AE was a result of a severe climate change that destroyed 25% of Limmean crops. Civil unrest began to erupt among hungry and unemployed workers in the biggest cities on all three continents. Under the fear of revolution, the Queen Priscilla Khan has ordered her troops to invade the cities and subdue the monarcho-sceptics. Unfortunately for her though, that move have only undermined the loyalty of Priscilla’s own troops.

Year 935 AE, on the brink of the planet-wide revolution, Priscilla Khan got an unexpected opportunity to calm the civil unrest and give a new hope to her citizens: An imperial scientist, Rufus Haddad, has invented an interstellar Subspace Engine that enabled Limmean spaceships to travel with speeds faster then light.

News about Royal Colonial Space Fleet that could conquer the depths of known universe were widely used by the governmental propaganda machine in order to pacify Limmean citizens and rally them around an idea of interstellar expansion. Soon other human-inhabited planets were discovered and millions of Limmeans happily departed to become revered ruling class on those underdeveloped worlds.

947-1029 AE – The Empire of Limmea

The 940s became a time of ruthless colonization of newly discovered worlds when desperate and hungry citizens from the Limmea were literally descending from the skies on local populations, of neighboring planets, taking their lands and settling their homes. By the year 947, five colonies were added to the Kingdom of Limmea and that time Monarch Alexander Khan I, who succeeded Priscilla Khan I, declared this new interstellar state to be called the Empire of Limmea.

Since then the Empire was going through a transitional period when new institutions were established to rule distant worlds under the imperial might. The Empire of Limmea was thriving and consolidating its power over new lands until in 1024 one of the imperial patrols shot down an unidentified vessel. That spaceship turned out to be a scout from the Human Interstellar Alliance. This act of aggression laid the beginning of the Mirror Wars.

1029 AE – The Empire

During Mirror Wars, in order to manifest the unity in the face of an enemy, the Empire of Limmea, by Monarchs Decree was renamed to be called simply Empire. It was a sign of modernity and consequence of successful integration of the colonies into the unified system of imperial government.

1024- AE – The Last War

During the Last War the modern Federation and the Empire of the First Era were born. These interstellar entities wage devastating war over hundreds of lightyears of their bordering space with no end to this carnage in sight…

Sources:

Imperial Informatorium