Mysteria

*"We hope you are enjoying this military approved program; long live the Mysterian Empire and Her Majesty!" ―Mysterian TV, Part 2/3, Lap 46*

Mysteria is an independent system founded by a joint venture of colonists from Germany and the United Kingdom under the Galactic Space Federation colonization program. The planet is large but with a dismal population by Federation standards largely due in part to the endless fog that consumes the planet. Mysteria is known for being a planet of extraordinarily bright lights (to help combat its fog), its Mist Flow F-Zero track, and its reputation for hosting especially tyrannical and reclusive government regimes.

## History

### Colonial Mysteria

*'Once a democratic colony of the Galactic Space Federation, the breakaway planet exists as a sovereign system following a bloody war for independence.' ―Part 2/3, Lap 10*

By the end of the 22nd century, the Galactic Space Federation—created following the colonization of new planetary systems and subsequently the unionization of Earth's nations—embarked on an expensive and ambitious operation known as the Star Settlement Program. Under this program, Earthlings were subject to a decade-long taxation increase designed to subsidize the colonization of numerous new systems in what would ultimately expand the Galactic Space Federation tenfold. Under this program, planets were rewarded to cultures based on factors such as preferred climate, potential wildlife, and whether said planet could sustain that culture's ideal architectural style.

The moonless planet Mysteria was given its name due to the mysterious nature hidden beneath the iconic fog consuming the planet. Due to a presumed lack of jungle or desert terrain, rights to colonization were granted to a joint mission of German and English community, who at this time did not yet own a system of their own. An evenly split mission of 10,000 German and English settlers were delivered to Mysteria, where the first settlement of Engelland was founded.

While Engelland developed, English explorers mapped out the entire planet within five years, determining that Mysteria was a planet characterized by its flat open grass and limited water supply that came in the form of rivers. The lack of extraordinary discovery, mixed with the fact that the planet was burdened by an endless fog, had people labeling Mysteria as a 'welfare planet,' owing to the planet's complete dependence on Federation subsidies to remain stable. This heavy reliance on Federation subsidies played a major role in the political direction of the planet, as colonists almost unanimously agreed to elect left-wing governments that largely centered around fighting for greater Federation funding.

As part of Federation galactic law, Mysteria had a contractual mandate to establish a democratic form of government that adhered to Federation rule of law. The English and German settlers faced their earliest point of tension in this regard, with the English demanding that a constitutional monarchy headed by the House of Windsor be established. A more pro-republic German population instead insisted upon a democratic republic headed by a chancellor, selling the idea by acknowledging the shared history Germany and England held with chancellorships. As Mysteria came dangerously close to the deadline the Federation mandated of them, the English offered a concession, now dropping the idea of a Windsor establishing a throne in Mysteria, and instead suggesting the start of a new dynasty⁠—the House of Hesse-Oxford. Incidentally, this seemingly small concession was enough to win enough German support, as a referendum passed that would establish a constitutional monarchy. The first Mysterian monarch was named King Henry I, a Bavarian man who had arrived on Mysteria as captain of the German mission. The captain's ascension to the throne was due to his marriage to an Englishwoman, Queen Caroline, which the population felt would demonstrate a willingness for the two cultures to share power.

Consequently, few at the time considered the religious beliefs of Henry I when selecting him to head the monarchy, as it was quickly realized that his firm Catholic beliefs would alienate an otherwise very Protestant colony. Over the course of a century, the Catholic influence projected from King Henry I would lead to a mass conversion of Protestants from both English and German people of faith in what eventually evenly divided the planet religiously. Given the harsh planet the people were given to work with, religion went on to play a substantial role in early Mysterian culture, with many coping through the economic woes by means of close religious ties to one another.

Several decades later, as new settlements emerged slowly and Mysterians adapted to the harsh conditions of daily life, a miracle breakthrough occurred that would leave the Federation in shock. Mysterian geologists and survey teams, while investigating the origin of what bodies of water existed on the planet, went on to discover that deep under the planet's surface was a seemingly endless supply of high quality planetary plasma of extraordinary electromagnetic levels. In the simple manner of a weekend, Mysteria's economy would go from being reliant on Federation subsidies, to turning the table and providing the Federation with loans of Mysterian plasma, in what led to incredible interest returns. The high level of electromagnetic quality to this plasma, mixed with the seemingly endless quantity that the planet crust produced, meant that starship engine, shields, and weaponry could be enhanced by nearly 30% quality, potentially even paving the way for new anti-meteorite protections for planets. Under this groundbreaking development, Mysteria escaped its poverty in a flash and easily summoned its population to perform mining labor, a job opportunity that would quickly take over as the dominant career path for the people.

### War for Independence

During this era of new riches for Mysteria, cities of great size were erected with myths even spreading throughout the Federation that the rich live above the fog in their towers. During this time, Mysteria continued to elect left-wing governments typically comprised of liberals and social democrats credited largely to the great economic riches and societal advancements occurring under these past electoral terms. This great momentum and stability was suddenly shaken when the Federation defaulted on their debt to Mysteria, citing an unsustainable deficit and a desperate need to buy out planets that were having economical disasters. The Mysterian people were outraged by this, even more so by the lack of stated intention of ever paying back what was owed in exchange for Mysterian plasma. The Federation only further upset the Mysterian people by eventually suggesting that the Mysterian people be supportive of the Federation as a collective of planets rather than care only for Mysterian interests. To make matters all the more agitating, off-planet mining companies had been permitted to establish themselves on Mysterian soil and extract their own plasma per Federation law, as Mysterians were technically allowed to do the same on other planets. Lastly, and most importantly, Mysteria had been made the 'shipyard of the galaxy' due to the convenience of fueling ships directly from the planet the plasma is sourced from, henceforth countless Federation warships were now constructed by Mysterians. While the Federation's controversial debt default covered the massive shipyard construction endeavors as well, this was one exception where the Federation openly promised to soon resume owed payments.

Politically, the abrupt halt in Federation payment had a catastrophic effect on Mysteria's economy, as all within a single week, Mysterian income had crashed, leaving miners on standby and unpaid, and Mysterian politicians under fire for not properly navigating this situation. Over the course of this crisis, political factions formed with various calls for action. Furious with what they perceived as a slave-like relationship with capitalism, the Mysterian People's Party formed under a communist ideology that sought independence from the Federation, and to replace what they saw as a short-sighted government with an all-communist one. Similarly came a more popular Monarchist Party, who believed that Mysterian Parliament did not hold the interests of the people, and that only granting the Mysterian monarch absolute power would guarantee continued stability; they too sought independence from the Federation. Finally, a more general support of pro-independence supporters emerged on a day-to-day consistency, gaining so much support that many stores and civil services would refuse to serve Federation loyalists. The ruling government would remain openly loyal to the Federation and make desperate bids for the affection of the Mysterian people, but as the general consensus soon turned against the Federation, so too did the government, and so an illegal independence referendum was summoned, which passed with over 79% of the vote.

The Galactic Federation, who did not recognize the referendum as legitimate, was swift in condemning the governing body of Mysteria and declared all Mysterian politicians in favor of the referendum as traitors and declared a snap election, a demand Mysteria did not recognize nor participate in. Sensing that the Federation would respond militarily, all vessels in Mysterian space were ordered to the ground and confiscated. Most controversially, however, was when Mysterian militiamen were ordered to seize all grounded Federation warships of Mysteria's famous shipyard. Although the seizing of Federation ships was bloodless, this was nevertheless viewed as an act of rebellion by the Federation, and thus Mysteria was officially listed as a planet in revolt, prompting military action.

In the early days of the Mysterian War of Independence, the seized warships would be ordered to continuously patrol Mysterian space, making use of the nearly unlimited supply of high quality plasma to keep the ships on an endless defense of the planet. This was of supreme importance at this stage, for the Mysterian planet had nothing more than 70,000 militia defending the planet, most of whom were equipped merely with basic police handguns and batons, nowhere near enough to guarantee the defense of Mysterian soil if the space navy were to fail. This fact led directly into a desperate measure to recognize communist and monarchist underground cells as legal defenders of Mysterian sovereignty, despite both groups having been organized to violently install their respective ideology into government by force. These cells brought a mere 20,000 additional troops into the war, however, they were equipped with modern weaponry illegally imported from Earth, making them the most well-equipped for fighting Federation ground forces. During this time, the King of Mysteria called upon all political factions of Mysteria to come together and resist Federation aggression, while at the same time keeping an open channel with the Federation, taking a diplomatic stance insisting that the best outcome would be for the Federation to allow Mysteria independence without causing bloodshed, as death would cause a great tear in their future relationship. The Federation rejected all diplomacy with what they deemed a rebel government, largely believing that conceding to their demands would prompt other planets to seek independence. The war moved forward.

A fleet of 34 Federation warships made their debut in Mysterian space, where the fleet commander was surprised to find 22 Federation warships under Mysterian command awaiting them. Despite having superior numbers, it was assessed that due to the superior plasma energy of the Mysterian vessels—which provided superior speed, shielding, and firepower—the Federation was likely to lose the battle, but with a pyrrhic victory for the Mysterians that could eventually lead to ending the rebellion. The presumption was that since the Mysterians did not have their own ship blueprints, they could not construct more ships, and since they did not have the blueprints for the Federation vessels, they would not be able to sufficiently repair any critical damage that is received. Thus it was determined that the best course of action for the Federation would be to simply damage the Mysterian fleet enough so that many ships would be forced to return to the planet surface. The battle to occur would follow along with this plan nicely for the Federation, but most consequentially saw the battleship *Willowleaf* disabled and then blown apart by Mysterian battery fire. Aside from this, the Federation would suffer great damage to all warships and ultimately left retreating back into friendly space; however, the pyrrhic victory the Federation handed Mysteria was far better than anticipated, with 11 of the 22 warships destroyed and the other 11 terribly damaged. Citizens of the Federation were outraged by the defeat over Mysteria, raising a tremendous level of anti-war support, while the people of Mysteria celebrated this as a tremendous victory for their pursuit of independence. The Federation, not wanting to spoil their military strategy to the public, had no choice but to allow the anti-war demonstrations to surface; the Mysterian government, knowing that they could not send the 11 remaining warships back into space, feared the worst.

As the Federation prepared for Phase II of the war effort that would see boots put onto Mysterian soil, a disturbing controversy struck the Mysterian planet after it was revealed by the Mysterian communists that the governing liberals were preparing to sue for peace with the Federation, with terms that would ideally keep the current government in power while restoring colonial rule over the planet. Both the ruling liberals and social democrats denied that such evidence existed, but the claim alone was enough to shake public confidence, prompting many to join communist and monarchist forces for a daring inter-war coup d'état. Moving swiftly, communist forces seized control of the Mysterian parliament building in Engelland while the monarchist forces moved in to secure the royal family and other relevant structures. An inevitable clash of interests resulted as Mysteria now stood as a fallen democracy in a state of war, caught between competing forces of communists and monarchists. Knowing full well that Mysteria would fall to the Federation with ease if civil war were to happen now, the communists and monarchists agreed to an unholy alliance that saw the communists filling the traditional function of Mysterian Parliament, while the monarchists raised the King of Mysteria as absolute ruler of the planet. The communists and monarchists agreed to share power over the military for the time being.

At last, the Federation would return to Mysterian space with a fleet of 30 warships, as well as 10 transports of Federation soldiers, trucks, and battle tanks in what would serve as the invasion force. This time the fleet was met with no resistance due to the remaining 11 Mysterian warships being damaged and therefore grounded. The invasion was predicted to be a fairly simple victory for the Federation due to the vastly superior numbers and weaponry of the Federation; however, it quickly became apparent upon landing the invasion forces that the dense fog of Mysteria would prove to be incredibly problematic. The fog made use of the battle tanks mostly ineffective due to the short line of sight, and the infantry suffered from a loss of direction and an inability to visually keep track of each other while in battle. The Battle of Engelland was immediate, but the Federation even with their far superior numbers and technology entered the city as very easy target for the experienced Mysterians. Most tanks that entered the city were easily captured and used against the Federation, and soldiers were unable to gain any strategic foothold in the city due to the chaos and lack of direction. It was in the battle of Engelland that the Federation troops were faced with another disturbing reality: The newly mobilized woman soldier. As part of the new government's strategy to keep the Federation at a disadvantage, all young women were called to active service, the thought process being that Federation soldiers would struggle to pull the trigger on an army of young women. While many Mysterian women fell in combat during this battle, the strategy had its great damage dealt in morale for the Federation, and left many panicked. The dagger that would cause a disturbing scream across the galaxy was when one of the damaged Mysterian warships swooped in and easily demolished the grounded Federation troop transports, thus trapping the Federation military on the planet. Fighting in Engelland persisted for a mere two days before the Federation ground forces surrendered to the Mysterians. The crushing defeat at Engelland saw over a hundred thousand Federation soldiers imprisoned and sent to mine plasma creating a new massive supply of plasma. The Federation, simply jaw dropped over their horrific miscalculation that led to so many soldiers dead or enslaved, decided that they had to stop the bleeding by recognizing the independence of Mysteria. Anti-war demonstrators in the Federation very suddenly transitioned into a movement calling for the freedom of the many imprisoned soldiers now mining in Mysteria.

The war ended with Mysterian independence secured, as well as a joint communist-monarchist government, which most political observers expected would lead to civil war at any moment. In a surprising turn of events, the ruling communists felt that for the sake of Mysteria, there was an unusual path to permanently merging the goals of the monarchy with that of the proletariat, and thus it was agreed upon that the planet of Mysteria would now be known as the 'Mysterian Empire,' a bizarre planet where the monarch held a great deal of power over the government, which would hold elections that chose a government to serve under her. The communists, running under the Mysterian People's Party, were rivaled only by the socialist Mysterian Workers Party, while the remaining liberal party was small and weak enough for the communists to simply censor out of the competition. Under this new hybrid government, Mysteria would take its place in the galaxy as a reclusive state that serves only its people's interests. The Federation, from afar, would keep an eye on them, waiting for their opportunity to bring the planet back into their alliance, and with it, its rich plasma.

### Communist Mysteria

In this newly independent system, the communists maintained a strong hold over all aspects of life. Despite the equally strong number of monarchists that had fought in the independence war, monarchist parties would vanish from relevancy since their primary aim had been achieved and even encouraged by the governing communists. While the communists did regularly have to fight off the less radical socialists in Mysterian elections, the immediate era of post-independence saw high popularity for the communists, especially with party propaganda crediting themselves for virtually every success Mysteria faced.

The first struggle that the communist government faced following the war was the realization that it would be impossible to reobtain the great wealth that colonial Mysteria had generated through plasma trading, for the Federation placed an embargo on Mysteria that essentially banned trade with all human planets, thus forcing Mysteria to deal only with alien planets. Even so, space piracy became a major concern for the economically desperate Mysterian Empire, and the immense distance between Mysteria and alien planets substantially increased the risk of trade routes coming under attack. The answer to this early crisis was to emphasize the need for a planned economy model and more importantly a focus on military enforced subsistence economy, which would seek to use Mysteria's rich plasma rather than trade it. This was a solution, but not necessarily a victory for the communists, who essentially surrendered the Mysterian dream for a rich society—a major factor behind the independence war to begin with. The socialists, not yet having much material for an attack platform, sought to agitate the Mysterian people early on by accusing the communists of being scared of pirates and adopting an anti-commerce position.

A second immediate struggle the communists faced was addressing the war prisoners Mysteria held from the failed Federation invasion. Up to this point, hundreds of captured Federation soldiers and officers worked forced labor in plasma mines, and despite the communists' attempts at portraying these men and women as savages who had tried to crush Mysteria's dreams, the majority opinion across the planet was that this forced labor did not align with Mysterian values, let alone communist values. Only a few years past the war, the communist government reluctantly agreed to have the Federation prisoners sent back to Earth. The communists had, however, taken this opportunity to fabricate propaganda that this was not done as a concession to the Federation, but that it was done as part of a prisoner swap—which the Federation refused to honor, keeping their Mysterian prisoners. This communist propaganda was an immense success, effectively fooling the Mysterian people into believing that the Federation were barbaric and dishonorable. This great propaganda result would inspire the communists—and later even the socialists—to normalize false propaganda as a way of influencing the Mysterian people. Conversely, this led to a renowned reputation that Mysteria is a planet of government and military brainwash, a reputation that even non-human planets came to agree with.

Even with many years passing and communist rule only becoming stronger, the unpredictable alliance of communism and monarchism persisted. During these times, the government coined the famous saying, "Long Live the Mysterian Empire and His/Her Majesty", which would even go on to become required speech in even the most rudimentary of events. The Mysterian monarchs held a great amount of power in what was later compared with the late powers of the Kaiser in the German Empire, but each monarch was surprisingly cooperative and even embracive of the governing communist body. While it was theoretically possible for the crown to flat out reject the will of the communist government, this was practically unheard of due to the crown's adherence to the oath that they must do everything within their power to maintain the integrity of government and trust in it. The ruling monarch, therefore, was expected to sign any legislation brought forth by the communists with haste, and even play along with their propaganda stunts most often.

In the decades that the communists continued to wrap their roots around Mysterian society, many major changes would occur that sought to further push control over the people. This is considered the period when political analysts across the Federation detected a subtle deviation from traditional communism (aside from the already unorthodox alliance with monarchism), leading many to believe that Mysterian communists were becoming communist only in name. One substantial reform the communists pushed was the bipolar treatment of Christianity in the planet. Churches were no longer allowed to exist, but the communist government still sanctioned a form of Roman Catholicism, albeit one of a more personalized design. The 'Church of Mysteria' was a government and military approved sect of Christianity that made many modifications to the Holy Bible, such as retconning Jesus Christ as a communist, emphasizing the inseparable role that monarchy plays alongside Marxism, and countless prophetical subtleties suggesting that God intended for man to find and settle Mysteria—where the model society would be raised. The Church of Mysteria saw a surprising rise in support early on, and with the sect seeing almost universal membership as the older generations of Mysterians and naysayers gradually disappeared.

The Mysterian military during this time captured much of the government's focus. With the economic policy now preferring that Mysterians use their resources rather than sell it, Mysterian plasma was naturally used to greatly bolster its military might—now laying down ship designs loosely based off existing Federation schematics. In addition to this, plasma was utilized in military vehicles and even small arms, thus ensuring a heavy supply of military equipment in preparation for what the government always promised would be an inevitable second conflict with the Federation. Bizarrely, while the controversial decision to field only women on the frontline during the Federation invasion was seen then as a temporary and desperate move to help lower Federation soldier morale, even decades later it would become official military doctrine that all women starting at the age of 16 were to make a 2-year military service pledge, which would always prefer to see them in the Mysterian Army. Men were not required to serve, and if volunteering, were generally assigned to the Mysterian Navy. Due to a lack of military conflict, Mysterian soldiers acted as policewomen, traffic officers, garrison, bodyguards, and even teachers. Additionally, all Mysterian teachers were required to be part of the Mysterian military, typically left in reserve so that they can teach, but ready to serve during times of war as officers.

Another bizarre and mostly unknown policy of the communist government was their inconsistent tendency to abduct the elderly, where they would never be seen again. Most Mysterians would dare not question the widespread disappearance of the elderly, but in private had a variety of theories ranging from an honest mistake that has them losing themselves in the dense fog, while others believe that the communists eliminate them. Mysterian analysts believe that due to the severe lack of food Mysteria has mixed with the crippling embargoes, the communist government may purge society of the elderly to help preserve food for the young and healthy.

### Patriotic War for Glory

All the while Mysteria existed independently, a potential answer to their long existing economic woes had emerged: The independence of another human planet, and even better, one not far from Mysteria, and coincidentally, a fellow monarchy. The Magican Empire—or Magica—had achieved independence from the Federation in a very similar fashion as Mysteria. Although also considered a welfare planet, Magica excelled in its technological advancements due to countless natural resources that introduced incredible new possibilities in science not before thought possible on Earth. These advancements led to riches Mysteria had once experienced following its discovery of plasma, only Magica was more immediate in seeking independence. Shockingly, following a referendum for independence, Magica seceded from the Federation, but unlike Mysteria, was allowed to move forward with it. Despite Magica's independence, the Federation would for many years continue to seek opportunities to invite the planet back, believing that with time, Magica would come to regret this decision and return to the alliance. Mysteria saw this as their best chance for an ally and business partner, as Magica could utilize Mysterian plasma for their advanced machinery and vice versa. The Mysterian government ambitiously and optimistically dispatched a diplomat, seeking friendship with the planet.

Everything that could go wrong with this meeting did so. At first, the Mysterian diplomat was arrested and jailed for trespassing into Magican space, and once this incident was cleared up, the Magican government reminded Mysteria that, even though independent, the same embargo on Mysteria would persist simply due to the infamously ruthless and reclusive nature of the Mysterian government. While the rejection hit back hard and the diplomatic incident even harder, it was the unprecedented intentions of keeping a Federation originated embargo in place that led to a destructive chain reaction between the two empires. Without any declaration of war or even a hint of hostility, the Mysterian Empire declared to its people that war had been imposed upon Mysteria again—this time by the Magican Empire.

In the beginning, Mysteria held several advantages that would help them make early gains. Firstly, many years of peace but intensive military expenditure would leave Mysteria's navy in a position of both quantity and quality, and with the war beginning on their terms, much of this navy would be dispatched to Magican space without any resistance. A second advantage Mysteria held was an early jingoistic fever, as the Mysterian people wanted vengeance for the losses they suffered fighting the Federation in their war for independence, and many erroneously considered Magica to be part of the Federation. Conversely, the Federation found itself in a delicate position as its people were still disturbed by the disastrous invasion of Mysteria many years back, which saw countless Federation soldiers killed, and just as many captured. Because of this dissenting view toward Federation intervention into Magica, the Federation would approach the war undecided on what to do. Lastly, Magica, although technologically superior to Mysteria, sorely lacked the naval assets needed to win any battles—a consequence of not having trade partners to facilitate ship construction.

The casus belli of the invasion was claimed to be over the arrest of Mysteria's diplomat, and that the aim of Mysteria's intervention was simply to contain Magica's aggression. In reality, the war aim of Mysteria was to overthrow its monarchy and induct Magica into the Mysterian Empire, in which titular right to the system would fall under the control of the Mysterian monarch, with the governing communists more than likely to reeducate the planet. The Federation, fearing that this would mark the beginning of a rival faction of planets headed by Mysteria, had begun to debate whether intervention was a necessary means of self-defense. Some political forces within the Federation contended that they should only intervene if Magica seeks re-admission into the Federation, and that by letting Mysteria bring harm to the planet, they would become desperate and beg for this arrangement. Pacifist politicians instead argued for a policy of isolationism, some even believing that a Mysterian victory over Magica would have a benefitting effect of scaring Federation colonies away from further secession. Other political forces argued that, regardless of Magica's independence, the Federation had a moral obligation to stop Mysterian belligerence. Ultimately, though, factionalism and debate within the Federation government would stall a final decision from being made, consequentially meaning that Magica would be on its own for the start of its war.

The first battle of the Mysterian labeled 'Patriotic War of Glory' would expectedly see a mass of Mysterian warships enter Magican space, where they would be greeted by a far smaller Magican fleet. Having foreseen a massive threat, the Magican fleet relied on unorthodox ship positioning and advanced weaponry as a desperate attempt of resisting the Mysterians. With Magican ships spread so far apart and moving in seemingly random positions, they had hoped to catch a number of Mysterian vessels by confusion, allowing for an opportunity to fire at their weaker rears. At first the strategy would seem to work, with some Mysterian warships taking significant damage and resulting in a few hours of standby. Following a reassessment of the battle deployment, however, the Mysterian navy would chase down each Magican vessel with high efficiency, and proceed to destroy each one. Very few of Magica's naval deployment would survive the first battle of the war, and their desperate effort would do little to stop the Mysterian blockade to follow.

The swift and crushing defeat of the Magican navy within its home territory came to the Federation as a surprise, but still not enough to influence the government toward a final decision; the Federation commander, however, was in full support of intervention. As a full-scale Mysterian blockade of Magica threatened to starve the planet of much needed food and water trade, the Federation was finally moved enough by the situation to declare the blockade a humanitarian crisis, and issued an official demand to the Mysterian government to allow trade with Magica to resume. It surprised few that Mysteria would ignore the demand, and consequently, enough support had thus been gained to move forward with intervention. Although a divisive issue among the Federation populace and government, warships were once more mobilized against the Mysterians.

Back at home, the Mysterian People's Party enjoyed tremendous support from the population, who hailed the government and military for their great campaign against the Magican Empire. What the Mysterian public did not know, however, was that over Magica, battles of great size and casualties were occurring day-after-day as the Federation sought to shut down the blockade. This phase of the war was unique in that one front was fought in Magican space, but another was fought close to the planet's surface, with Mysterian warships bombarding Magican settlements and military installations. In the latter engagements, Magican soldiers and militia fought against Mysterian fighters and bombers with what small arms they had available in what proved to be surprisingly effective. Federation interceptors would now and then break into the atmosphere and disrupt Mysterian ground operations, but would usually be stopped by the inevitable Mysterian warship response. In Magican space, the Federation and Mysteria fought exclusively against each other and were very similar in quality and scale. Rather than have one massive engagement to decide the war in a single day, the space battle would go on for weeks, with both sides planning accordingly as one might in a game of chess.

A significant event of the war was the capture of the *Stuttgart* battleship just above Magica's capital city. This feat was achieved by a stealth infiltration unit of twenty soldiers using Magican cloaking technology. The result saw the crew of the *Stuttgart* overtaken and the ship therefore seized by Magican forces. The surprise capture had dealt a crippling blow to the Mysterians, who now not only had to lay fire to their own battleship, but worse of all, would need to withdraw at least two battleships from space to deal with the *Stuttgart*. With these two battleships moving, the Federation saw a moment of weakness in the Mysterian line and engaged the space fleet with concentrated firepower where most exposed. The result of this saw heavy losses for the Federation with the complete destruction of three battleships, but it was an opportunity cost that saw most of Mysteria's lighter ships destroyed, four battleships critically damaged, and the Mysterian Grand Admiral fatally wounded. Mysteria's solid line of defense would never come back to form, and as a consequence of this disaster, they would no longer have enough available firepower to continue surface operations, nor could they effectively maintain the blockade. A mere day later, the Mysterian fleet would engage the Federation in one last offensive, which in reality was little more than a move designed to cover the retreat of the critically damaged vessels; following the safe departure of these ships, so too would the strongest of Mysteria's navy retreat back to Mysteria: The Patriotic War of Glory was over.

The Mysterian government pursued war with Magica under the ambition of forcing it into the Mysterian Empire, yet in the end, Mysteria found its ships in full retreat and the Federation in fast pursuit. In reality, very few in Federation government supported an extension of their intervention onto Mysterian soil, and any motion to put soldiers back on Mysteria would be political suicide. As far as the Mysterian military knew, the Federation was giving chase with the full intention of forcing Mysteria back into the Federation. The Federation did, however, take up this opportunity to pretend as though an invasion were imminent by issuing a peace condition to Mysteria demanding that they liquidate their naval assets. The communists, fearing the momentum of the Federation, reluctantly accepted these terms and allowed Federation military engineers to observe the dismantling of the Mysterian navy. Although the people of Mysteria would never know it, the planet had suffered great humiliation and defeat.

Despite the catastrophe that was the Patriotic War for Glory, the government would declare complete victory over Magica and the Federation, claiming that the original aim of punishing Magica had been satisfied, and that a Federation invasion had been avoided due to the heavy hurting they inflicted on their navy. The military proceeded to explain away the dissolution of the Mysterian navy by claiming that their warships were outdated and being replaced with far greater designs. This great lie would be further propagated with the advancement of a cultural celebration surrounding the Patriotic War for Glory, calling it an even greater struggle and victory than the war for independence. Over time, most Mysterians would buy into the false narrative of a great victory, but many others were skeptical, a consequence of war veterans spreading around an alternative—albeit truthful—take on the war. With a portion of the Mysterian population whispering about the government's disaster over Magica, cracks had begun to form around the communists' hold of the planet.

### Day of Falling Mist

In the years that would follow Mysteria's surrender, already it would violate its agreement to retain a disarmed navy. The one truth inspired by a lie was that the military had scrapped their old navy in preparation for a newer and stronger one, but this came with costs that not even the propaganda could sell to the people. Not understanding—or not believing—how such an expensive navy was justified considering their apparent victory in the Patriotic War for Glory, many became suspicious of the communist government, and in numerous cases even dissenting. The tamer socialist Mysterian Workers Party seized this rare opportunity to run a brutal advertising campaign which accused the communists of being wasteful and materialistic. Furthermore, the socialists boldly portrayed the communists as being driven by jingo, desiring to essentially replicate the very federation they once sought independence from. With these risky attack ads deployed, the socialists raised themselves as the isolationist option, stating firmly that a socialist Mysteria would keep to its own planet rather than seek to expand its empire. This campaign would gradually appeal to the population, especially with charismatic faces such as Robert Flower leading the party.

As a very important election neared, the communists continued to tremble at the prospect of a socialist takeover of the planet, made worse by the lack of purpose for these new expensive warships. Just as Mysteria seemed to be at its greatest point of internal conflict, an unexpected threat descended into the planet's atmosphere, somehow eluding all Mysterian scanners. The city of Engelland on this fateful day was covered by the shadow of a massive unidentified ship initially thought to belong to the Federation. Within minutes, the entire city came under fire by weaponry of unmatched destruction. The ship fired without bias, killing military and civilian alike, wiping out industry, homes, and businesses in a matter of minutes. It would only take the massive ship minutes to essentially wipe Engelland off the map, and when all was said and done, the ship would ascend back into space, again avoiding all sensor technology. The ship had departed so quickly that even the new Mysterian navy would be unable to effectively respond in time. The massive attack would leave most of Engelland's population dead, including the rising socialist leader Robert Flower.

The Day of Falling Mist would unsurprisingly create immense tension between Mysteria and the Federation, with the latter being the natural suspect. Genuine confusion by the Federation would lead to the theory that the attack was staged by Magica as revenge for the war. Alternative theories would suggest that the Day of Falling Mist was orchestrated by an alien planet, owing to the incredible technology that the attacking vessel boasted. While the communists initially focused on the blame game, it soon became evident that the destruction of Engelland would easily mark an end to the communist government. Indeed, come the election that year, the communists would lose power to the milder socialists in a blowout, so powerful in force that the communists would essentially become a minor party. The rise of the Mysterian Workers Party—with its new strong majority—would essentially erect a single-party state going forward.

### Socialist Mysteria

The aftermath of the Day of Falling Mist massacre warranted investigation, yet the new socialist government instead focused on delivering its promises to focus on developing the planet, starting with Engelland. The reconstruction of Engelland would last years as the surviving populace was temporarily relocated while the entire city underwent complete renovation. By the time the survivors would be returned, they would find a brand new city mostly comprised of industry and apartment complexes. The new Engelland was hardly satisfactory—a clear product of a poor planet and industry centric mindset.

The foreign policy of this new socialist Mysteria would largely remain the same, with open hostility towards the Federation and Magica stronger than ever; however, the government was very open about its intention for the military to serve a completely self-defensive role, especially in face of the mysterious attack on Engelland. A substantial development under this new government had Mysteria officially signed up as a host planet for F-Zero racing—albeit exclusively for annual Grand Prix races. This partnership, to many, came across as F-Zero's payback against the Federation for getting the league once banned. Soon, with the help of the F-Zero committee, Mysteria would construct its own F-Zero track, which would take advantage of the planet's extreme fog to add complexity to the track. This unholy alliance with the most capitalistic organization in the known universe would bring in immense wealth to the Mysterian Empire, as well as bring in generations of new F-Zero fans; this was the clearest sign yet that the days of communist Mysteria were truly over.

During these years, the Mysterian Empire would be headed by a queen, and with a princess as heir as well. Having now gone well over a century of having women at the throne and with more to come, a cultural preference for queens would emerge and lead to an unchallenged change in inheritance law that would always see a suitable female heir take priority over any available male heirs.

At the very start of this new era, the daughter of the deceased Robert Flower, Chiya Flower, would escape the reclusive planet just as adulthood started by sneaking aboard a government vessel. As a result of this daring escape, Chiya would find herself on Earth, where she would make a home for herself in the vile Lower City District of Mute City. The Mysterian government during this time would put out a bounty on her, demanding her extradition to Mysteria so that she may face justice.