Kingdom of Torch

The Kingdom of Torch was an independent star nation established by former Manpower slaves on the planet Torch, formerly known as Congo, in the year 1919 PD.
== Star Geography ==
The Kingdom encompassed the Congo System, which lay between Erewhon, the Solarian League, and the Republic of Haven. The nearby Congo Wormhole Junction was believed to have no fewer than three termini. ()
In 1921 PD the junction was surveyed by Dr. Jordin Kare and Dr. Richard Wix and their team aboard the Manticoran survey vessel Harvest Joy. The survey mission located the terminus and determined that it was a wormhole bridge. ()
== Population ==
As of November 1921 PD, the population of Torch was over four and a quarter million people with almost fifteen thousand additional people immigrating every T-week. ()
== History ==
After 8000 slaves aboard the Mesan slaver Felicia III were able to seize control of the vessel with the help of Manticoran, Solarian, and Havenite agents, they joined with the Audubon Ballroom and conducted Operation Spartacus, a military strike against the planet Verdant Vista, taking control of its orbital defences and, later, the entire world. They were aided by the Manticoran cruiser HMS Gauntlet as well as a Solarian fleet of eighteen destroyers and a Solarian Marine Company under the command of Major Thandi Palane. Officially, the Marines were volunteers and her command, a combination of volunteers and members of the Audubon Ballroom, was the Torch Liberation Army.
All major powers in the interstellar neighborhood, save the star nation of Mesa, recognized Torch as a sovereign star nation. The Kingdom was officially organized with the coronation of Queen Berry in the presence of delegates from Manticore, Erewhon, Haven, the Solarian League, and the Andermani Empire. W.E.B. Du Havel became the first Prime Minister and Jeremy X was the first Secretary of War. Its first act as a star nation was a formal Declaration of War against Mesa.
The slaves of Felicia III settled on Torch while all surviving Mesans were allowed to leave the planet, if they chose to, without further acts of revenge by their former property. Some Mesan employees, mostly scientists, even chose to stay and become subjects of the Kingdom of Torch. ()
In June 1922 PD, Queen Berry went on a state visit to the Star Empire of Manticore to attend the Royal Wedding of Crown Prince Roger Winton and Rivka Rosenfeld. ()
== Government ==
The Kingdom of Torch was a prospective constitutional monarchy. As of 1922 PD, the Kingdom had no written constitution and was ruled by precedents rather than constitutional lawQueen Berry I was elected by the slaves on board the Felicia III.. (, )
=== Senior officials ===
*Queen Berry I Zilwicki – Monarch of Torch
*W.E.B. Du Havel – Prime Minister
*Jeremy X – Secretary of War
*General Thandi Palane - senior uniformed officer of the Torch military
== Military ==
Created with the founding of the Kingdom, the military of Torch was initially a unitary military with strong proponents such as General Palane and Secretary of War Jeremy X advocating that it retain that structure instead of adopting the multi-branch structure seen in other star nations. However in 1922 PD, with Palane's extended covert mission to Mesa, that support began to waver. ()
For the most part, the military of Torch contained two distinct services:
* The Royal Torch Navy was created along with the Kingdom. ()
*The Royal Torch Army was also created, but its build-up was slower than that of the Navy. ()
== References ==
Category:Star nations
Category:Torch