#setting blurb

CorpEmp:

November 11th, Proclamation Day. The 51st Proclamation Day, as a matter of fact. The 51st for the Corporate Empire as whole, and the 26th under the reign of the Empress Hippolyta. It's often said that while her father, the Emperor Ignacio, put the pieces of the Empire together, it was Hippolyta's reign that welded it all together. That, and the Cordon Rebellion that took up the first five years of her reign. Things have yet to really calm down inside the Corporate Empire, as its leadership began the generations-long plan to reorganize the Empire from merely an alliance of warlords to a true brotherhood of peoples all under the platinum eagle.

The Delimitation Zones, territories that were conquered by the warlords' alliance before the formation of the Empire were the ground zeroes for the Rotthey patriarch’s “Imperialization” program. Gone were the nation-states of the Pre-War world, in their stead, the Empire divided its territory into Corporate Republics. Denizens of these newly created Corporate Republics were organized into several corporate groups based on common vocation and heritage to govern their home Republic. The Empire also began the formalization of its Great Class (caste) system, that classified the many corporate groups based on their function. What was originally an incentive program early into the post-WWIII societal collapse for parents to pass down their skills to children would consolidate into a system that enforced hereditary careers.

The five-year long Cordon Rebellion and the years of “police action” following the Rebellion (not counting the many other skirmishes that occurred during the Pax Texanica) have allowed for the Imperial Armed Forces to fully come into their own. Gone are the days of the IAF being a mere gaggle of warlords’ militias (collectively referred to as “Ayllu”) scattered across the globe. The Cordon Rebellion, and subsequent unleashing of Operation JANISSARY’s Bandon-Tumens were the catalysts necessary to bring about reform. Greater cohesion and esprit de corps were created through the integration of the old Ayllu militias into the newer Bandon-Tumens; it was also hoped this would allow a greater “Imperial” identity to emerge among the armed forces that would slowly disseminate among the civilian populations they garrisoned. The IAF inherited a myriad of combat vehicles and equipment from the pre-war militaries of the world, and the Rebellion was the perfect crucible to test what would serve as the progenitors for CorpEmp’s own models and variants.

UM:

Holding the peace conference that would end the Cordon Rebellion in Las Vegas was a diplomatic coup for what would become the United Markets, more importantly, it was a diplomatic coup for one of the many sub-factions that make up the United Markets. An alliance of anarcho-capitalist organizations in the Americas, wealthy nightwatchman city-states in Africa, India, and China, and several businesses across the globe that survived WWIII and the Warlords’ Wars, the founding groups of the United Markets all sought the position as first among equals. With the Nevada Free Staters holding the peace conference that ended the Cordon Rebellion, for the time being, that role would belong to them.

Unlike their CorpEmp or WCOF neighbors, using the declared peace to begin (or continue, in CorpEmp’s case) their grand plans to bring about their visions for society, the “leadership” of the UM had no such designs. To varying degrees (depending on where you lived), the Non-Aggression Principle was the rule of law. The megacorps of Washington-Vancouver, Bremen, and Hong Kong may chafe and grumble that they lost to Nevada to be the face of the United Markets, but Nevada will leave these “Free and Voluntary Mercantile Enterprises (FVMEs)” alone to pursue their own agendas. The people of Nevada responsible for hosting the peace talks never really saw themselves as leaders of the United Markets as a whole. The established the precedent of the “right person at the right time” style of ad-hoc charismacracy that would define UM leadership.

Militarily, the United Markets preferred to pursue a policy of “Wealthy Armed Neutrality”; they’d pay belligerents off the first threat of incursion, then they’d use however much the invaders wanted a second time to hire mercs and wipe them out. As technically a collection on Nonstates, the UM didn’t prohibit individual members or organizations from offering their services for either side during the Cordon Rebellion. From among these advisors, contractors, and “gentlemen adventurers” that would later establish the UM’s mercenary commands, a few were agents from Nevada tasked by the Free State’s leadership to perform some “investigative work”. There was plenty of military equipment produced in the early years of World War III, and there were some that bet their bottom dollar that there were caches of equipment hidden, and yet to be found by the Corporate Empire or rebel Cordons. A few would be found and used to bolster the strength of what would become the Free Market Militias, and others were reverse engineered to kick start domestic defense industries.

WCOF:

The Treaty of Las Vegas caused two great sighs to come from the nascent World Congress of Freedom. From the idealists of the rebellious Cordons that were annexed into the World Congress, a sigh of frustration. “We could’ve taken more from CorpEmp!” From the realists of the founding pre-Imperial members of the World Congress, a sigh of relief. “We could’ve lost so much more from CorpEmp!” While all the Cordons Sanitaires revolted against the Corporate Empire (with plausibly deniable assistance from the WCOF), not all were allowed to join the WCOF at the end of the Rebellion. San Fransisco, Rio de Janeiro, the greater Cape, Kaliningrad, and the south Atlantic and Indian islands were all ceded to the WCOF, with the remainder forced to resume their role as Cordons. The ones that retained independence, and those that helped them, now must work together in the face of the still-strong CorpEmp, and the rising UM.

Incorporation of the breakaway Cordons was difficult, but not impossible. The governments of the new members of the WCOF were reforged to resemble what the pre-Imperial founding states became in the years between their joining and the Cordon Rebellion. A form of tiered digital democracy was implemented in Iceland (aided by the resources of Riot Control Productions) during WWIII that was slowly disseminated to its surviving peers. Infrastructure was developed to allow citizens to have a voice in affairs from the local neighborhood council all the way to the World Congress as a whole. Residents of the annexed Cordons, and the myriad number of people that made their way into the WCOF (as part of a series of population transfers) would have to work for their citizenship, paying for their admission into the WCOF by building their means of participation themselves. Each member of the World Congress, a Congressional Republic, is free to conduct domestic affairs, if it doesn’t harm the welfare of the World Congress and its citizens.  

The rebel militias that had fought CorpEmp’s Bandon-Tumens tooth and nail were readily absorbed into the Congressional Armed Forces, later renamed Congressional Armed Freedom Fighters. The greater WCOF’s defense industries had limited access to resources. They couldn’t afford to see whatever worked like CorpEmp or could afford the best equipment and vehicles like the UM. The WCOF has what they had, and they had to make do. Continuous recycling and repurposing of equipment made the future CAFF experts at modular weapons systems. The great number of displaced persons from the post-war relocations were also a source of manpower, as many would enlist in the WCOF’s “foreign legion” as a path to citizenship and party membership.

Minor Powers:

Originally one of the rebellious Cordons Sanitaires, the Long Island-Martha’s Vineyard Cordon jockeyed for leadership of the North American front of the Rebellion with the SanFran Cordon. As it was the designated dumping ground for many of the world’s environmentalist groups, militants from Long Island-Martha’s Vinyard were more focused on environmental concerns than the rest of the Cordons liked. Eventually, the Long Islanders would break away from the remaining Cordons, establish their own “Green Consensus” contacting like minded cells operating in CorpEmp’s oft-porous interior. They were dismissed as a nuisance during the Cordon Rebellion, seizing control of sparsely populated Caribbean and Pacific islands. Their greatest success was the de facto seizure of the Amazon rain forest near the end of the Rebellion. Rather than wage another war for the region after ending the Rebellion, CorpEmp begrudgingly ceded it to the Consensus. On the international stage, Green Consensus has been quiet since the Treaty of Las Vegas, only reminding the other powers that they exist when something they do is a perceived threat to the environment. For now, all they can really do is complain and launch minor raids. Domestically, not much information passes outside of their territories, other than the Green Consensus’ radical restructuring of their society to one that is more beneficial to the environment.

Not all polities are part of the Big Three (CorpEmp, UM, WCOF, respectively). There were some communities that weren’t actively hostile to the expansion of the pre-CorpEmp warlords. In turn, the warlords left them alone. By the time of CorpEmp’s organization, these territories were declared “Reserved” for peaceful anti-Imperial communities. Pacifist, survivalist, and religious millenarian groups would form small to moderate-sized Reserves. The American and Russian Pacific, the Australian Outback, and the Sinai and Negev Desert are home to some of the largest concentrations of Reserves. There are two Reserves of note. The Republic of San Marino and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are two pre-Imperial states that fall under the category of Reserve. The former’s independence was guaranteed by CorpEmp so long as it remained a neutral polity, and the latter had a falling out from the founding members of the WCOF and decided to continue the Juche experiment alone. So long as they don’t ever threaten CorpEmp, they are free to continue as they see fit.

Texan-Virginian Alliance: An alliance created by the two most powerful post-American protostates in the South. The Texan Tribal Federation was formed by members of the New Tribal Movement wanting a radical reorganization of American society, and the Grand State of Virginia was a corporatist state created by an opportunistic Army officer escaping the collapse of the American government. The two protostates would begin talks following contact with each other during their respective campaigns to pacify the deep south. A proper alliance was formed following their now-joint campaign establishing client states between them. The new alliance went on to subjugate the rest of what used to be Canada and the United States (Texas in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, and Virginia in the Northeast and Great Lakes, respectively). Diplomatic missions were dispatched to see if there were like-minded groups elsewhere on the post-WWIII world. Slowly but surely, allies were found (or made) and what started as an alliance between the two post-American protostates would evolve into a global Empire.

West European Plurality: Much like the New Tribal Movement in the United States, the European New Right became more active during WWIII and the resulting societal collapse. During the Migratory Wars, elements of the New Right would secure territory in France and the Iberian Peninsula, and begin their project of building an ethnoplural European state (hence the name). What used to be France, Spain, and Portugal was weaved into a patchwork of pre and post-Roman territories. Gauls, Goths, and everything in between could be found in the "Plurality". It was around this time that the Texan-Virginian Alliance sent out their diplomatic feelers. Trade deals, and assurances of mutual aid and defense were made. Luckily for the West European Plurality, "mutual aid" included assistance with the pacification of Central and Northern Europe, and talks with the rising Tri-Rus' Confederation in the East.

Tri-Rus' Confederation: The Russians and Ukrainians would continue to hammer themselves during WWIII, and ultimately collapse like much of the world's governments. Belarus retained some measure of stability, and rise to become the leader of the eastern Slavic states. The Belarusian government began a campaign to engineer a united East Slav identity, inspired by the medieval Kievan Rus' and early modern Triune Russian ideology. This, coupled with the total fatigue among the Russians and Ukrainians, allowed for the "Triple-Rus'" project to continue without too many hiccups. Once their power base was sufficiently consolidated, the new Tri-Rus' Confederation expanded into the Baltics and Balkans to create allied buffer states in the event of contact with emerging adversaries. Instead of enemies, the Tri-Rus' found allies in the WEP and TVA. The Tri-Rus' would join the TVA and WEP in exchange for recognition as the hegemon of eastern and southeastern Europe.

Spring and Autumn Territory: Inspired by the works of Confucian thinker Jiang Qing, the Spring and Autumn Territory was created during the People's Republic of China's collapse at the end of WWIII. The Territory's leadership decided they would take their time "rightfully reclaiming" the rest of the Chinese mainland. They believed that the post-war period was just another period of time where China must be divided for a while. This was the time meant to build and demonstrate to the other post-PRC warlords that a government inspired by the Spring and Autumn Annals (hence their name) would be the one to reunite China. The aforementioned "while" would not last as long as expected, as the TVA's envoys arrived after their conquest of California and missions across the Pacific. Seeing themselves as kindred spirits, the Spring and Autumn Territory would join the TVA's growing global alliance, and began flexing their muscles to their neighbors. "Heaven's approval and lots of allies, get with the program." The Territory's "Way of Humane Authority" would serve as an inspiration for the Corporate Empire's own governing bodies.

West Arabian Emergency Coalition: The Gulf Arab states did not fare well as bystanders of WWIII. The resumed Iranian-Israeli and Indo-Pakistani conflicts ended up spilling over into the Shia and Kafala dominant regions of the Arabian Peninsula. The monarchies of Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, and Qatar were overthrown, and their loyalists taking shelter in a battered Saudi Arabia. The Hashemite Monarchy, also caught in the crossfire of WWIII, would intervene and bring security to the western half of the peninsula (and secure their own position as leader of the peninsular Arabs). When the Israeli state exploded due to its fundamentalist Christian foreign fighters mutinying, the WEAC managed to secure control of Jerusalem and the Palestinian West Bank. The WAEC would also cooperate with the rump Ethiopian State to bring stability to the Red Sea and Horn of Africa. When the TVA reached Europe and the Mediterranean, the WEAC and its Ethiopian ally would begin a series of diplomatic talks with proxies in the Levant and what became of Egypt and Turkey.

Peru-Bolivia Confederation: The Ethnocacerist movement came to dominate Peruvian politics as the Eastern and Western powers (including Brazil and Argentina) evaporated from WWIII. The states of the central Andes, Peru and Bolivia, found themselves in a position where they were the most powerful in South America. Much like the Texans and Virginians, Peru and Bolivia allied-later united as the Plurinational Confederation-and set out to expand their influence on the continent. Alongside their military expeditions, the Confederation also sent diplomats to check in on the remains of the United States. The Peru-Bolivia Confederation was the first post-WWIII protostate beyond North America to establish relations with the Texan-Virginian Alliance.

Pre-War States: It is a commonly held myth among the denizens of the Corporate Empire that all nation-states collapsed following the end of the Third World War, and the emerging warlords uniting to form the Empire. Cuba, Comoros, Iceland, the Maldives, Mauritius, New Zealand, Uruguay, and Seychelles survived the fallout of WWIII and the Blowback in one way shape or form. For one reason or another, these countries avoided being absorbed by the coalition of warlords as they began to expand (size, stability, and distance were key factors in how unappetizing they were). Communications, albeit sporadic, were maintained between the eight surviving states, aimed at coordinating the return of civilization to their neighbors. Iceland, New Zealand (renamed to Aotearoa), and the nations of the Indian Ocean were the most successful. Iceland secured Greenland and the islands of the Canadian Arctic with ease, New Zealand reached Tasmania before the warlords got to the Australian continent, and Comoros and Seychelles pacified the islands of the Indian Ocean without contest. Cuba and Uruguay, close to the Texans and Peru-Bolivians, respectively, could only fortify their positions and be as little an appealing target as possible. Around the same time as the Warlords began to consolidate into CorpEmp, the surviving pre-war states banded together to form their own bloc. Following the end of the Cordon Rebellion and the Treaty of Las Vegas, the breakaway cordons and the eight surviving states would band together and form the World Congress of Freedom.

Post-War Revolutionaries: The chaos of the third world war allowed for several revolutionary movements to seize (de jure) control of territory. While many were vanquished by the Warlords' Coalition, three managed to survive. The Zapatistas of the Chiapas, Sahrawi Republic of the western Sahara, and the Kefala revolt in the eastern Arabian peninsula were the ones that managed to endure the Warlords, the formation of CorpEmp, and join the World Congress after the Treaty of Las Vegas. Of the three, the Sahrawi and Gulf Republics managed to expand their territory before contact with the Warlords. It is still a matter of debate as to why they weren't conquered by the Warlords before or after the formation of CorpEmp. Most scholars believed the Imperial military drafted plans to conquer the three following Ignacio Rotthey's death and his daughter's coronation (to further cement the Empire's legitimacy). The Cordon Rebellion, and resulting Treaty of Las Vegas dashed those supposed plans, as the newly formed World Congress of Freedom managed to get the three states into their sphere of influence, eventually incorporating them directly into the WCOF.

As society began to break down within the United States leading up to, and during World War Three, the New Tribal Movement emerged and called for the recreation of tribes as socio-political units. The most prominent (and most militant) of these was the Hispano-Gaels, an organization that blended pre (and post) Columbian Latin American and Gaelic Celtic culture. As the self-styled "flagship" tribe, the early Hispano-Gaels were active in aiding like-minded groups across the United States as WW3 broke out. Eventually, the federal government began to pull support from all states west of the Mississippi, and then dissolved anticlimactically during the Leave Riots.

During the twenty year gap between WW3 and the Warlords' Wars, three cities formed the cores of new protostates in the former Lone Star State: the Hispano-Gaels of Houston, the Tejano Republic of San Antonio, and the "old regime loyalist" Austin in the middle. The Hispano-Gaels spent those twenty years "Tribalizing" their territory in the greater Houston area, with rapid expansion north into Dallas-Fort Worth. It was around this time that a young Ignacio Rotthey was inducted into the Hispano-Gaelic leadership, and he quickly made a name for himself with his diplomatic skills. Convincing the Tejanos that the Austinites were calling for aid in subduing the rest of Texas (which wasn't incorrect, Austin had sent feelers out to other Old Regime loyalists in Cascadia and New England), Ignacio was able to form an alliance between the Hispano-Gaels and Tejanos, and then conquer Austin. Patronage of the "right" leaders made San Antonio a Hispano-Gaelic client in all but name. Texas, excluding the Panhandle, was theirs.

Several decisions and policies of the Hispano-Gaels made in regards to what Texan society would become would later be used in the future CorpEmp. Parents were incentivized to train their children how to perform their work (what would later develop into the Great Class System), and the territory controlled by Austin was carved up into smaller and more manageable clients (predecessor to the National Delimitation Zones). The city of Austin itself, a bombed and shelled wreck, was used as a dumping ground for "noncompliants" until they were later expelled to the independent Cordons Sanitaires.

The Texan Tribal Federation, as it was called at the time, began to consolidate its borders and reach out to the rest of Post-America. The Grand State of Virginia, an expansionist protostate under the Kellam dynasty, was the first to answer to Ignacio's calls for cooperation. Their first act of mutual aid and friendship was their intervention in the American South, ensuring that there were only allies and clients between the two. Many tribal groups established pre-WW3 requested aid in the Mid and Southwestern portions of the former United States, as well as a few in what used to be Canada and Mexico. Ignacio Rotthey, now the Ard-Tlatoani of the Federation, advocated for even greater cooperation between the growing allies. A "League of Corporate Communities" was formally established, and as an alliance their first campaign was to prevent a rival alliance from forming between Cascadia and the New England. It was also around this time that the Tribal Federation completed talks the still independent Comanche, Apache and Hispano communities ( the latter two in New Mexico), and a Native American-led Oklahoma. The Texan Federation would annex New Mexico and Oklahoma (much like Virginia annexing Maryland and the Carolinas).

The League further expanded to the rest of the Americas, Europe, Russia, and China. Ignacio's continued calls for greater cooperation resulted in the League transforming from a defensive alliance to a federation with its own governing body. Ignacio would become the elected head of state, and would then be later crowned Emperor following the new Corporate Empire (CorpEmp)'s expansion into Africa and the rest of Asia. As a way of not showing favoritism to any one member of CorpEmp, Ignacio abdicated his position as ruler of Texas in favor of creating an itinerant court.

Adelsverein Standestaat: One of two provinces created from the former Austinite territory, the Adelsverein Standestaat was formed around central Texas' German heritage. As the titular culture of the region, Texasdeutsch is now the primary language spoken. They make really good kolaches.

Cimmerian Tribal Zone: The second province carved out of occupied Austin was awarded to one of the Hispano-Gael's subordinate tribes, the Cimmerians. Interestingly enough, the home of Robert E. Howard was within the borders of the Cimmerian's new territory. Many of the tribe took this as a sign. These adopted sons of Conan the Barbarian have a few daughter colonies across CorpEmp space.

Comanche Corporate Republic: The homeland of the Comanche was restored after the sublimation of the United States, with their borders recognized by the Hispano-Gaels during their absorption of the Texas panhandle. The Comanche have become the both an energy and martial powerhouse within Texas, second only to the Hispano-Gaels in their contribution to the Imperial Armed Forces.

The Hispano-Gaelic Tribal Zone: The core territory of the Hispano-Gaels, their Tribal Zone serves as the capital province of Texas. Although Hispano-Gaels are the titular tribe, their Tribal Zone has a large amount of smaller vassal tribes concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Dallas and Corpus Christi. Despite the Rotthey's passing of the dynastic torch, the Hispano-Gaelic people are diehard supporters of CorpEmp.

Hispano-Gaelic Septs: As they incorporated New Mexico and Oklahoma into their Tribal Federation, the Hispano-Gaels elected to settle a warband or two in those areas as Septs of the tribe. Over time, these Septs would help the locals assimilate into Hispano-Gaelic culture (or at least into the New Tribal Movement), and create new sources of manpower for the Imperial Armed Forces.

Land Force Demesne Hood: While it had been looted by various warlords and militias following the collapse of the American Government, the old Fort Hood was reconstituted first as a staging area for the conquest of Austin, and then as a land hold for the newly created Imperial Army. As a Land Force Demesne, Hispano-Gaelic warriors and other martial peoples residing in Texas arrive to prove their worth in the Austin proving grounds and become members of the Imperial Armed Forces.

Neo-Mescalero Tribal Zone: One of the two restored homelands for the Apache within the Texan MacroCommunity. The Neo-Mescalero took control of the territory along the southern Texan-New Mexican border.

Neo-Jicarilla Tribal Zone: The second restored Apache homeland in Texas. The Neo-Jicarilla concentrated in the northwestern corner of New Mexico that wasn't seized by the Navajo-Hopi .

Nuevomexicano Corporate Republic: When the United States went *poof*, the Hispano population of New Mexico seized the northeastern corner of New Mexico as their "homeland". They really like to put turquoise on everything over there.

Sequoyah Corporate Republic: The Sequoyah Corporate Republic was incorporated into Texas following the annexation of Oklahoma. While still home to many Native American tribes that were forcibly relocated to the state, many have begun to migrate to their former homelands in neighboring Dixica, or to the many orbital habitats constructed across Imperial space.

Because @hawkin-byrd asked.

The sieges of Chicago and St. Louis were bloodbaths.

The first Emperor, Ignacio I Rotthey, lost his firstborn in the South Africa incorporation.

Cascadia, was the first region where the soon-to-be Emperor lost a close friend. And took it out on the vanquished.

Cascadia was, prior to its incorporation into the League, home to several strong protostates organized around non-Imperial ideas following the Collapse and Warlord period of the post-WWIII world. As likeminded strongmen in North America came to talks and proposed unification, the protostates in Cascadia, allied with Chicago, other parts of Canadian, and New York to counter the warlords' potential expansion. Ignacio, then simply a Texan tribal chieftain, used this alliance as a means of solidifying the warlords' coalition and pave the way for what would evolve into the modern Imperial League. The warlords' coalition, known then as "The League" declared war on the rivals.

While inspecting the frontlines in a convoy near Portland, an IED detonated, killing one of Ignacio's closest friends. Enraged at the act, Ignacio ordered League troops to show little-to-no quarter on the opposing forces in Portland, and to impose a victor's justice on the rest of Cascadia. Once the region was pacified, reconstruction began. Cascadia was one of the first "National Delimitation Zones", territory that was to be dissected by anthropologists and ethnographers to create provinces along ethnoterritorial lines. Unlike other NDZs, Ignacio applied a "personal touch" with the population transfers and border delimitation, particularly towards those that showed the most resistance.

Blood Guard Landhold: In the aftermath of the IED attack killing his best friend, Ignacio awarded all survivors a new award, the Blood Diamond. Awardees of the Blood Diamond (and their descendants) were then organized into the first bodyguard unit to defend the future Imperial Household: the Blood Guard. The Williamite Valley (including the ruins of Portland) were given as a fief to the Blood Guard and would serve as the blueprint for the many Land Force Demesnes scattered throughout Imperial territory. Unlike other LFDs, martial tribes do not muster to prove their worth as Soldiers. Only recipients of the Blood Diamond, or a descendant can join the Blood Guard.

Commonality of the Isles and North: The First Nations of Canada and Alaska were spared the more excessive portions of the delimitation of Cascadia, so long as they quickly handed over any survivors from the conquests Seattle and Vancouver. The Haida and Tlingit ended up forming the predominant leadership of the Commonality.

Cleurchies of New Baktria and Tir Na Nog: Carved out from the Columbia Mountains and Snake River valley, respectively, the two Cleurchies were created to house military veterans from the many wars of the early Imperial League. Those original inhabitants that were not relocated simply adapted to becoming specialized Attendant Laborclades. New Baktria was meant for veterans across the League, and Tir Na Nog for fighters from the Hispano-Gaelic movement (of which Ignacio was a part of).

Principality of Anderson: The capitol region of the MacroCommunity, the territory around the Columbia Plateau was named after the friend of Ignacio killed in the Cascadia campaign. Before the Human-Crystalline War and the nuclear devastation of the Earth, the member of the Imperial Family most likely to be declared heir would be given the title "Prince of Anderson".

Sino-Salish Commonality: The Commonality surrounding Seattle and Vancouver serves as the homeland for the Chinese-Canadians and the Salish-speaking First Nations native to the region. While most members of the communities keep to themselves, a small admixture has formed from the two groups.

The origins of the Eurekan Khaganate began in the early 2700's, with the terraforming of Venus and the distribution of colonial claims once the planet became more habitable. A collection of mining families from the Australasian region of Viceroyalty Pan-Pacifica banded together to stake a landhold in what would become Aphrodite Terra, the landmass along Venus' equator. In the time it would take for Venus to transition to become more Earth-like, the Eurekan expedition (and other colonial ventures) would reside in a cluster of mothballed orbital habitats.

The Eurekans' stay in their temporary habitat took a turn during the Crystalline invasion of the Solar System in the early 2800's. Refugees and shattered military commands began to flock to the inner solar system as the war progressed to the 2830's, mostly to temporary housing habitats used by groups like the Eurekans. Desperate to win decisive battles to raise morale, the Imperial military chose to lure the aliens onto the surfaces of Earth, Venus, and Mars and draw them into a prolonged series of ground battles, allowing the Imperial Space Force to gather in force to cripple the aliens' space assets.

The Eurekans and their neighbors in Venus' orbit went from housing refugees to serving as a staging ground for the Imperial Land Force, watching what was intended to be their future home become a meatgrinder for alien invader and human defender alike. One Land Force command, Г Brigade, Mongolican Dragoon Division, spent the remainder of the Human-Crystalline war garrisoned with the Eurekans. The cultures of the Eurekan population and Г Brigade began to blend, with members of both groups testing in and out of the Worker and Soldier classes. By the end of the war in 2890, three distinct groups lived side by side: the Eurekans proper, the Soldiers of Г Brigade, and a new group descended from interbreeding between the former two.

Before the end of the 29th century, as the surface of Venus became safe for human habitation, what remained of the "pure" Eurekans opted to settle on the surface as intended. Due to their small population size they were eventually subsumed into another colony of Australasian descent. Г Brigade returned to their home in Viceroyalty Eurasia, and the third group opted to remain in their habitat of origin. Having inherited the mix-and-match of material culture and customs of their ancestors' cultures, this group were instated as the Eurekan Khaganate.

Harkening to the Eurasian half of their ancestry, the Khaganate became an itinerate populace, nomads traveling from planet to planet in their now-mobile habitat. The Eurekans spent the first few centuries of their history in the Asteroid belt, providing services as miners and soldiers, developing mining sites and defending them from pirates and non-Imperials. By the end of the Fourth Dynasty (and the chaos it entailed), the Khaganate enlarged into several sub-Khanates. The growing Khaganate acquired several more habitats to accommodate their growing population.

As the Fifth Dynasty consolidated its rule over the League, and interest of bringing more extrasolar settlements into the fold (or back in the fold), the leadership of the Khaganate discussed the future of the Eurekan people. The growing sub-Khanates began to develop cultures of their own, and each one had differing ideas on the future of the Khaganate. The four largest Khanates agreed to divide the assets of the greater Khaganate between them and go their separate ways.

The 'Roo Khanate - Primarily a Worker subdivision of the Khaganate before it dissolved, the 'Roos preserved and perfected the mining skills of their ancestors that migrated to Venus' orbit. Currently the 'Roos are en route to the Tau Ceti system, hoping to find and extract the untapped riches to be found there.

The Thylacine Khanate - One of the two martial Khanates, the Thylacines inherited some of Г Brigade's obsolete armored combat vehicles. This allowed the Thylacines to become tank specialists, with at least one battalion of tankers serving in the League's TRAPPIST expedition.

The Wolf Spider Khanate - The Wolf Spiders are the second martial Khanate, descended from the original Eurekan's security and light infantry forces. While the Thylacines contribute to the Imperial Land Force, the Wolf Spiders put their skills to use in the Support Service Force's Department of Security and the Space Force's Void Infantry.

Inspo: @chromasophore-art (also stole your flag bro it went too hard not to use, m8)

"My ancestor, John Kellam, was never an ambitious man. He was simply 'there at the right time', as the old family histories go. John was born at just the right time to grow up in an America slowly crumbling at WWIII's tail end, enrolled at West Point at just the right time to become an officer in an army that stopped seeing combat outside America's borders (and saw combat within), and given a command at a right time during the last days of the old order to have some manpower to march on Richmond following the Leave Mutiny and the dissolution of the federal government.

"Major Kellam, a native Virginian, saw little future in the United States after watching it all fall around him. Those that followed Kellam to Virginia were either loyal to the state like him, or loyal directly to the man. Taking Richmond was easy, what was left of the state government and national guard were more than happy to see someone from the federal government take some semblance of charge. Kellam declared himself commander and chief of the now independent Virginia Commonwealth's armed forces, and began to prepare campaigns to restore Virginia's borders.

"Every territory Kellam retook for Virginia, a small band of soldiers were assigned to garrison the area, with its commander made 'Sheriff'. All the trades operating in a shire were organized similar to medieval guilds. Kellam secured the Mason-Dixon Line, and retook West Virginia. Seeing that his Virginia was good, John Kellam made plans to retire. He was content. His son, however, was not.

"James Kellam, wanted more. More for his father's beloved Virginia, and more for the Kellam brand. Two rumors caught the younger Kellam's ears that served as the motivation for what would become his 'soft coup': Old Regime remnants in the northeast and Texan expansion. The former were a threat that needed to be removed, and the latter were an opportunity. Just as his father did years before, James Kellam became commander and chief of the Virginian armed forces. In his inaugural speech, Kellam declared his intent to 'coordinate the defense of Virginia's interests' by allying with the rising Texas and remove the Old Regime remnants. Texan friendship would help in defeating the Old Regime, and in order to meet with Texas...

"Coordinator Kellam called for the annexation of the Carolinas (they were always meant to be Virginian), and link up with Texan forces in the Deep South to start diplomatic talks. Along the way, Virginia took the state of Georgia as a vassal state (to show we weren't intent on taking over everything). Kellam and Texas' Ignacio Rotthey would meet, stage a few photoshoots, divide the Deep South between the two, and secured an alliance. Texans would help Virginian campaigns in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, and Virginians would help Texan campaigns in the Southwest and Cascadia.

"You know how the rest of this goes. Rotthey goes berserk in Portland, and diplomats from both allies reach out to West Europe and Peru-Bolivia. Then South China, Ethiopia and the Rus wanted to talk. Talks begat talks begat talks until eventually Rotthey makes himself Emperor of CorpEmp.

"And what did Virginia get? A seat at the table, and a stage to show off Virginia's grandness (hence our name). We eclipsed the Texans eventually, becoming the face of the Empire on the North American continent. When the Rottheys were replaced by the Bektashi, Virginia and her Kellams remained grand, which did not remain unnoticed. When the Imperial government created the Viceroyalties to govern over the Corporate Republics, the Kellams were chosen to rule Eurmerica. When CorpEmp went interplanetary, so did Virginia. New Virginias, Little Virginias, extrasolar Virginias even! I'm told a few Virginians that went to Jupiter helped form the Dix-Nipponese that rule the Empire today. We had our low points, too. When the aliens came, and the Earth burned, Virginia was not spared. Luckily for the human race, we evacuated to Earth orbit, turned our orbital habitat into a newer, grander Virginia.

"But, we Terrans always had our eyes on the motherworld; and we Virginians always had our eyes on the motherland. The Earth has healed enough, some say, to begin the process of resettlement. Rebuild what was lost. Reclaim old glories, damn what the mudhuttin' Greens say. When our Empress gives the order, we Kellams will answer and do what we do best.