Empire of Mechyrdia

The Empire of Mechyrdia (Mec. Ciarstuo Mehurdias, Tyl. Kjarshtam Mechurdiasram), or Mechyrdia (Mec. Mehurdia, Tyl. Mechurdia), is a sovereign state in the Milky Way Galaxy. It includes 21 constituent inhabited sectors and 1 constituent imperial district and is populated by a majority (55%) of humans, with plenty of Tylan and other citizens from its annexed space in the east. With about 140 trillion inhabitants, Mechyrdia is the most populous nation in the galaxy.

Despite its name, Mechyrdia does not currently have a reigning emperor. The Empire was founded by Emperor Nicholas the First and Only (Mec. Ciar Nicólei Unerþ et Unic), who willed the throne to the people upon his death, which was interpreted as the republican government that the Emperor had established by charter to represent the people and sectors of the Empire. Mechyrdia still calls itself an Empire, despite being a semi-presidential federal republic, out of respect for their Emperor.

History

Before the Founding

See: Mechyrdion § History

The New Empire

The Empire of Mechyrdia was officially declared, starting the revolution against the Tylan Theocracy, on Thursday, July 30th, 2640 AD, marking the first day of the first month of year 0 of the Mechyrdian imperial calendar.

Upon the federation of the human realms into the Empire of Mechyrdia, the First Emperor, Nicólei, decided to revive an ancient human tradition: democracy. He would allow the people to vote for representatives, such as their various senators as well as the Chancellor. Delegates from all across the human worlds came together and drafted a Constitution that would form the basis for the Empire.

As this was happening, the Mechyrdian fleets were battling the Tylan forces. Eventually, the Theocracy capitulated as it was falling into revolution, and the Empire began integration of the new Tylan Republic. The humans decided not to punish the Tylans, but instead incorporate them into the Empire as equals.

Upon his death, Nicólei declared that the throne belongs to the people, not to any individual heir, thus abolishing the monarchy.

Surprise Attack

The Era of Good Feelings would end in 136 UC (2776 AD), when the various star-sects of the American Vestigium united and launched an all-out attack against the Empire of Mechyrdia, exactly 1000 years after the Second Continental Congress agreed to the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. The Vestigium sought to seize the dominion that the Mechyrdians had worked to unify, in order to restore their American Empire.

The Vestigium strike failed to seize power and conquer Mechyrdia, but it did weaken the Mechyrdians to the point that another rising threat saw an opportunity to invade.

The Arkant Horde

See also: Arkant Horde

The Empire's western border was assaulted by a massive strike from the Arkant Horde. Their leader, Atzal Arka the Great Khagan, saw the opportunity presented by the Mechyrdians' weakening as a result of the Vestigium attack, and demanded complete surrender. Naturally, the Mechyrdians refused to surrender, and so the Horde invaded.

World after world fell to the Horde as their fleets advanced. Olympia and Starkihet held out even under the Horde's occupation, and waged a guerilla war. Even the Vestigium fought the Horde, as they saw the Aedon-worshippers as the greater evil.

However, the invasion would come to a screeching halt when the Khagan was killed by a strike team led by Corporal Róman Gawrilówič Štertów, one of Mechyrdia's most celebrated heroes to this day. He sacrificed himself by detonating the reactor of the Khagan's flagship, destroying the entire vessel.

Mechyrdia eventually reclaimed the planets that were occupied during the invasion. The territories of the Arkant Horde, meanwhile, fractured into countless infighting Diadochi states.

The Ferthlon Insurrection

See: Ferthlon Insurrection

The Marcanów Doctrine

In 178 UC (2818 AD), Chancellor Marcanów invented the Marcanów Doctrine; stating that the entire galaxy is within the sphere of influence of Mechyrdia, and all who oppose them will be crushed. It also defined the concept of "adaptive power": rather than just sticking to the military force of hard power, or the diplomatic influence of soft power, adaptive power uses both, depending on which is more appropriate for the situation. In other words, "speaking softly and carrying a big stick".

The military component of the Marcanów Doctrine was the idea of a "putting in place": rather than occupying and trying to create a friendly government, Mechyrdia would merely smash the enemy military, give the opposing government a stern warning, and leave.

The astropolitical component of the doctrine is based on a pragmatic focus and an understanding that some cultures are not fit for democracy and capitalism, and that the best to hope for is a pro-Mechyrdian autocracy.

Stock Market Crash

In 181 UC (2821 AD), the stock market crashed, leading to massive bank runs that themselves led to the banks going bankrupt. In the aftermath of the economic collapse, the Chancellor at the time, C. Junius Silanus, fired Prime Minister Ferrunów and appointed a special emergency council to lead the executive ministries. This council would be staffed with non-partisan technocrats who would find the best solution to the problem. The members of this first council were:

• Rikahardus Stahlamanns, computer programmer, inventor of open-source quantum AI, and founder of the Quanix Foundation
• Jovar Kjanes, demand-side economist and head of the Final Frontier social-liberal think tank
• Constanzina von Rustlin, supply-side economist and head of finances of the Texandria Institute of Applied Sciences and Arts
• Marcus Julius Titus, sociologist and demographer, head of the Mechyrdia First nationalist lobby
• Wilhelm Josefówič Wourciów, small business owner, chosen to represent the common people

This arrangement was also called the Pentarchy in informal speech. As they set out to find a solution, the planetary mayor of Mechyrdia, Gogias Hantówič Vandrów had other ideas. He summoned the police and the Planetary Guard, and ordered them to occupy Paludlic Placj. From there, he declared himself the Grand Protector of the new Mechyrdine Protectorate.

The Protectorate

The new Grand Protector, Gogias Vandrów, took near-complete control of the government, and from there, the economy. He ordered the execution of the Pentarchs, however they fled with the assistance of rebel groups in the Mechyrdian Navy. Vandrów didn't pursue them, however, as he figured that they would be powerless to stop him. He then ordered the execution of both houses of the Senate, and the nationalization of the banks, the energy industry, the arms manufacturing industry, and the IT industry. He demanded that social media networks censor anything critical of his rule. Finally, he demanded the creation of unemployment pensions and a negative income tax for lower income brackets, in order to attract the people to his rule.

The Mechyrdian military, on the other hand, would not stand by and let Vandrów trample on their freedom. Every fleet in the Navy and every chapter in the Army was mobilized. Reserve forces were also mobilized. The military converged on the Mechyrd system with the objective of overthrowing the Grand Protector. Vandrów saw this threat, and mobilized the Planetary Guard and Fleet to stop the military. Being vastly outnumbered, however, Vandrów's forces were obliterated, Vandrów himself was overthrown and executed, and the Senate and Pentarchy were restored.

Economic Reform

The Pentarchy set out to create a plan of economic reform. At the radical end, Rikahardus Stahlamanns wanted to create an AI-driven centralized economy. This idea was shot down, as such an AI would become a prime target for hackers, and disconnecting it from the network wouldn't be possible, because connections to local households would be required for it to know what the people want and need. It would be inevitable that such an AI would be hacked into distributing used condoms instead of food.

At the other radical end, Marcus Julius Titus suggested that Mechyrdia use the Marcanów doctrine to justify taking tribute from the rest of the galaxy and using that to fuel the economy. This idea was also shot down, as it would turn Mechyrdia into a diplomatic pariah.

Wilhelm Josefówič Wourciów and Constanzina von Rustlin proposed the libertarian idea: Mechyrdia should shrink its government and purge corporate influence, in order to allow the economy to correct itself. The modern economic consensus is that this idea would have worked the best for fixing the problem at hand, however at the time, it was rejected.

Jovar Kjanes put forth the moderate idea: creating a welfare state to provide for everyone's needs. This had a fivefold plan:

• A universal basic income for every citizen of Mechyrdia, of 1024 thrones per month.
• Unemployment subsidies for every citizen who does not have a job, of 3072 thrones per month.
• A progressive and negative income tax that varies based on the percentile of income, ranging from -10% for the poorest citizen to 10% for the richest citizen, and 0% for the median income.
• Creation of new money to supplement government income.
• Price ceilings for common goods such as food, clothes, and shelter.

This plan agreed upon by the rest of the Pentarchy, and was put into law, bypassing the Senate and Chancellor. The common citizenry liked it at first, the national approval rating for the Pentarchs rose to approximately 65%.

However, it didn't work forever. The prices of every consumer good ended up rising greatly; the public was given more purchasing power, while businesses were not given any new production power. This resulted in a rise in demand of consumer goods, which increased the prices of those goods. But the prices couldn't reach their peak and stabilize; the fivefold plan's price ceilings prevented that. This resulted in massive shortages, and on some planets, literal breadlines formed, and the people started to get angry again.

Meanwhile, Constanzina von Rustlin was becoming disillusioned with the emergency council, and thus she resigned from her seat. She joined the libertarian think tank known as the Midas Institute and set up a campaign to educate the public on economics. This education campaign would inform the people the reasons for these shortages, and point them to the many flaws in the four-point plan.

Eventually, the plan was repealed by public referendum, and the economy returned to normal functioning.

The Ilkhan Encounter and the Great Galactic War

Main article: Great Galactic War

In 192 UC (2832 AD), Mechyrdia made first contact with the Ilkhan Commune. A syndicalist oligarchy, the Ilkhans immediately denounced Mechyrdia, citing "capitalist oppression" as the main justification. Mechyrdian leaders came together and calculated that military-wise, Ilkhai is an equal match for Mechyrdia. With this understanding, the Marcanów Doctrine was put on hold.

In 211 UC (2851 AD), the Ilkhans invaded the Niska Republic, a neutral nation. This alarmed the Mechyrdians, and led them to believe that war was inevitable. The Empire militarized and put its eastern sectors on Red Štagróz, in preparation for the conflict.

The War Begins

In 212 UC (2852 AD), the Ilkhan Commune invaded the Mechyrdian sector of Wostóctyla, starting the Great Galactic War. The war continued for twelve bloody years before the Fulkreyksk Authoritariat, a genetic aristocracy to the galactic northwest of Ilkhai, declared war on the Commune. One year later, the tide turned at the Battle of Languavarth Prime. The Ilkhan fronts eventually collapsed as Mechyrdian and Fulkreyksk navies met at the Battle of Ilkhai in 231 UC (2871 AD).

The Fulkreyksk Cold War

The Fulkreykski became hostile to Mechyrdia almost immediately after the war ended. They couldn't go to war, however, as they had both exhausted their military resources from the Ilkhan War, and any potential war between the two great powers would devastate the galaxy, something that neither power wanted.

Instead, they both tried to spread their influence across the stars; Mechyrdia and its conservative capitalism, against Fulkreykk and its genetic aristocracy.

Proxy War in Ilkhai

After the Great Galactic War, the planet Ilkhai was partitioned into Mechyrdian zones and Fulkreyksk zones, with the surrounding space being controlled by the Fulkreykk-influenced Ilkhan Potentate. In 236 UC (2876 AD), the Potentate invaded the Ilkhan Republic, the ally of Mechyrdia.

The war proved difficult for the Mechyrdians at first for several reasons. The most notable reason is each nation's approach to their occupation of Ilkhai: the Mechyrdians attempted to disarm the Ilkhans to prevent them from ever threatening the galaxy again; Fulkreykk, on the other hand, while they harshly occupied Ilkhan civilian sectors, decided that Ilkhan military culture was too much of an asset to dispose of, and thus they embraced it instead, militarizing Ilkhai more than ever before.

Another reason why the Second Ilkhan War was so tough on the Republic at first was because, while the Ilkhan homeworld was officially neutral, its star system was entirely within Potentate space. Such an encirclement swiftly destroyed the Mechyrdian military garrison on Ilkhai.

Furthermore, if the Mechyrdians officially intervened in the war, Fulkreykk would do so as well, causing a massive galactic war that would result in massive amounts of destruction and suffering. Instead, the Mechyrdians utilized private military contractors, giving them economic incentives to intervene on the Ilkhan Republic's side. This strategy worked wonderfully, turning the tide in the Republic's favor, and eventually unifying Ilkhai under the Mechyrdian-aligned rule of the Republic.

Rebellion in Niskon

The Niska Republic was the nation whose capitulation to the forces of the Ilkhan Commune foreshadowed the Great Galactic War. After war's end, Niskon fell entirely within the Mechyrdian sphere of influence. In 240 UC (2880 AD), Fulkreykk-backed rebellions broke out all across Niska space. These rebellions died out, however, due to Mechyrdia's swift mobilization of not only its military resources to defeat the rebellions in battle, but also its civilian industry to provide aid to those affected by the destruction brought by the rebellions.

The Race to Bulkspace

The Mechyrdian and Fulkreyksk navies both used bulkdrives: starships would dive into bulkspace in one system, and pop out in another. This technology can also be used to travel to different universes, however that hasn't been done ever before in human history.

Mechyrdia started the Race to Bulkspace by making first contact with another universe in 243 UC (2883 AD). The Mechyrdian fleet exited bulkspace and established diplomatic relations with the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and many smaller states, in that universe's equivalent of the year 2396 AD. Upon making first contact with Mechyrdia, and learning of other universes besides just the mirror universe, the Klingon Empire in particular attempted to warn the Mechyrdians of a threat posed by a species known as the Undine. Some within the Mechyrdian government heeded this warning, however their voices went unheard until the Basileiów chancellory.

The Fulkreykski followed by attempting to destroy a nation known as the Tau Empire. However, they were driven back by the locals' technology, and later the Mechyrdians opened diplomatic relations with that universe's local nations as well, most notably the Imperium of Man.

End of the Cold War

In 245 UC (2885 AD), after a continuing economic decline and outbreak of secessionist rebellions, the Fulkreyksk Authoritariat collapsed into civil war.

Fulkreykk fell into numerous previously-constituent states, as they waged their wars of indepencence: Isarnareykk and its ally Swartareykk, the Mechyrdian-aligned Stahlareykk and Theudareykk (the latter of which is facing rebellions from pro-Isarnareykk forces), and the independent Lyudareykk, a corrupt dictatorship.

Rise of the Freedom Party

During the Fulkreyksk Cold War, the Mechyrdian Senate was in its Sixth Party System, where the Democratic Union was the mainstream progressive party, the Imperial Party was the mainstream conservative party, and the liberal Whig Party was the kingmaker between them, deciding which of the prior two parties formed a government coalition. Until 246 UC (2886 AD), the Whigs had always chosen the party of the sitting Chancellor. However, in 246, the Whig Party left the Imperial Party's coalition and formed one with the Democratic Union, propelling the UD to government of the Mechyrdian Senate despite the Imperial Party's plurality and chancellory. Many conservative voters felt betrayed.

Furthermore, the Democratic Union's Pthilnora Chancellory, which was elected in 248 UC (2888 AD) on a platform of unity, resulted only in division between the various subcultures of the Empire. This stab-in-the-back feeling was part of what propelled Marc Adlerówič Basileiów's populist Freedom Party to such an early prominence. In 250 UC (2890 AD), the Freedom Party, which was founded only five years prior, gained its first plurality in both houses of the Senate in its first election. Two years later, Basileiów, the founder of the party, was elected chancellor.

The Basileiów Addendum to the Marcanów Doctrine

In 253 UC (2893 AD), Chancellor Basileiów proposed an addendum to the Marcanów doctrine: when dealing with nations with which a war would be too destructive, it is better to isolate them diplomatically and prevent their influence from reaching outside their borders. This was intended to target the remnant of Fulkreykk known as the Isarnareyksk Federation, which had previously made attempts to gain clout within states in Mechyrdia's sphere of influence.

Economy

Mechyrdia operates on a confederal economic system: sectors are, for the most part, free to make whatever regulations or interventions into their local economies that they want, while the imperial government is restricted to breaking up trusts, adjusting the spatial volume value tax, and for-profit government services.

The Mechyrdian government, while it operates its own currency, also sells licenses to people and corporations to operate their own private currencies. These currencies can be backed by whatever standard the licensee wants, be it commodity/material, fiat, or crypto. It's not required to have a licence to operate one's own currency, but it does make things easier, since many banks and merchants don't accept unlicensed currencies.

Uranium standard

The Mechyrdian throne (þron, Ŧ) is based on a uranium standard, with each throne being equivalent to a certain portion of uranium metal stored in high-gravity temporal freeze in the Treasury's vaults. The current conversion is 36.462159 thrones to 1 gram of uranium.

Exchange rates with other galactic currencies

The Chaebodes Star Empire also uses the Mechyrdian throne as its official currency.

Government revenue and expenditure

Much of imperial government revenue (46%) has not been taken from taxes; rather, it comes from profit made by government departments managed as businesses on a profit model, as per Chancellor Basileiów's reform. They compete with private businesses, and this competition is what drives the Mechyrdian government to innovate and improve efficiency. The government also takes donations, and spends each donation where its donor wants the money to be spent. However, donations have only made up 3% of government revenue over the past 16 years.

The only tax that the imperial government uses is the spatial volume ownership tax (Spacisus Volumus Aigatis Tax, SVAT). This tax is based on how much volume of space the taxpayer owns; the more volume, the more tax. The SVAT is described as "progressive tax without the bureaucracy", as its progressive nature is inherent; the more space one owns, the higher their social stratum, and the higher their potential for income.

Sectors, on the other hand, have the liberty to set their own taxes and expenditures. Sectors such as Calibor, known for their progressivism, have notoriously high taxes on things such as pollution, wealth, and capital gains, while Texandria, the financial capital of the galaxy, has high vice taxes on goods like alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis products. Even poll taxes can be set by sectors, though it is illegal for the imperial government to do so; furthermore, sectors' poll taxes can even affect empire-level elections. The Nicólei sector's poll tax, especially, is what keeps the sector away from progressive ideology, as its poll tax is levied only on residents of urban areas; residents of suburbs or rural areas are unaffected.

Government

Mechyrdia is a semi-presidential federation with the president-parliamentary system, albeit without using any office named "President". The Chancellor is head of the Legislative branch, and is elected by the people via an electoral college to balance disparities of population. The Prime Minister is head of the Executive branch, and is appointed by the Chancellor with the consent of the Senate.

This structure was inspired by the early United States of America, as Ciar Nicólei wanted to ensure freedom in the Empire for as long as possible, albeit with more power placed into the head of the legislature than into the head of the bureaucracy.

Legislative branch

The Legislative branch consists of the Chancellor and the Mechyrdian Senate. It is concerned with debating bills and filtering them before they're signed into law by the Chancellor.

The Senate is made up of two houses: the Relmitah, meant to represent the populace, and the Relmiraþ, meant to represent the sectors. Both the Relmitah and Relmiraþ are made up of elected representatives: the sectors in the Relmitah have the number of senators decided by population, proportional to 512 total senators; while in the Relmiraþ, each sector has twelve senators, and the capital district has four senators, adding up to a total of 256 senators.

The Chancellor has the legal ability to deliver orders circumventing legislature; these are called iussa quae mandavi (singular iussum quod mandavi) and they are effective immediately upon being signed by the Chancellor, but they can be overturned not only by the Arbitration Council but also by the Senate.

Doomsday option

Ciar Nicolei, the first and only Emperor of Mechyrdia, is officially and legally recognized by the imperial government as still being alive, since he signed the charter for the government, and he declared that the people, not the government, would inherit the throne upon his death. If the government legally recognized his death, that would give every single person and government in Mechyrdia a blank cheque to secede from the Empire.

The Chancellor of Mechyrdia has the unchecked power to give a deceased person a funeral, paid for and hosted by the Mechyrdian government. If he were to give a state funeral for the Emperor, this would result in the imperial government recognizing his death, which would result in the dissolution of the Empire.

Executive branch

The Executive branch consists of the Prime Minister, the various apparatus ministers, and the myriad bureaucrats within the various ministries. These bureaucrats enforce the law.

The current set of ministries is:

One may notice that some ministries overlap in jurisdiction. This is intentional; ensuring that different ministries will get in each others' way is meant to prevent the government from becoming too powerful and threatening individual freedom.

Executive nullification

In the year 216, the bureaucracy, police, and all other parts of the executive branch were given a political tool called executive nullification: the ability for bureaucrats and officers to choose not to enforce laws if they disagree with them morally.

This was taken away in the year 253 by Chancellor Basileiów, as he doesn't want bureaucrats legislating in the field; in his view, legislating is the job for legislators, not for executives.

Judicial branch

The Judicial branch is tasked with evaluating the effects of laws after they are passed, and ensuring that they are in compliance with common will. The Imperial Arbitration Council consists of seven judicial officials. The Supreme Jury is selected of a randomly-chosen three people from each sector, as well as a single random person from the Capital District. Together, the Council and Jury decide if the effects of a law are in accordance with the needs of the people.

Electoral system

The electoral system in Mechyrdia alternates capital elections, where people select the Chancellor, with senatorial elections, where people select their senators, every two years. Years that are evenly divisible by 4 have a capital election, such as 252 UC (2892 AD) when Chancellor Basileiów was elected; years that are 2 greater than being evenly divisible by 4 have an empire-wide senatorial election, such as 250 when Basileiów's Freedom Party gained its first plurality and formed the majority coalition in both houses, or 254 when the governing Basileiów coalition lost its majority in the Relmitah, and so became a seminority (semi-minority) government.

Capital election system

Capital elections use an electoral college, where sectors are apportioned a number of electors, and on each vote of the capital election, send that number of their electors to Paludlic Placj where the electors' votes are counted. Sector governments choose how their electors vote, but the number of electors is decided by the imperial government. The current formula calculates the number of electors as proportional to the square root of the sector's population; this is meant to ensure fairness for lower-population sectors. The current size of the electoral college is 1535 electors.

Every capital election is held on the eighth day of the seventh month of each year evenly divisible by four on the Mechyrdian calendar. Before each capital election, parties deliberate on whom they wish to select as their candidate for chancellor. Typically the larger parties that are seen as leading their senatorial bloc select a candidate from among their ranks, while smaller parties endorse the candidate selected by the leader of their bloc.

Selecting a candidate for Chancellor is up to the party's leadership to decide how the selection should be made. Some parties, such as the Imperial Party, allow all of their voters to select the candidate in a primary election. Others, such as the Democratic Union, allow their members to vote for a candidate, but these votes may be overruled by party elites. Chancellor Basileiów's Freedom Party chooses the candidate selected by the party's leader, which has been denounced in the media as "autocratic".

Capital elections consist of a single vote; ballots are cumulative, where each candidate is assigned a positive or negative integer (defaulting to zero), and the sum of the absolute values of each integer must equal 100. Positive numbers add to the number of votes received by a candidate, while negative numbers act as "voting against" and subtract from the total. The new Chancellor is the winner of the plurality; a majority is not necessary.

Sectors' selections of senators and electors

Sector governments choose how their constituents' votes translate into senatorial and electoral-college votes; the three options that sectors use are winner-takes-all, proportional representation, and modus Orelius, the latter introduced to Mechyrdia by Olympian populist Titus Orelius (née Aurelius) Cotta. It is not required for sectors to choose one of those three; indeed, the imperial government grants sector governments the liberty to send electors however they want.

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