The Empire

**The Empire**, also known as **the Human Empire**, **the Coruscant Empire**, **the Imperial State**, or **the World Empire**, is the current dominant world power. It is a human-centric monarchy led by two Sith Lords, Emperor Palpatine, known to the Sith as lord Sidious, and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, lord Vader. The Empire rules much of the world through fear and military might alone, an exact counterpoint to its predecessor, the Republic, which led most of the world through willing participation in its democratic government, the peace protected by the Jedi Knights, which are now persecuted by the Empire. At the head of the Empire's apparatus of state, under the ruling Sith Lords, are the Grand Vizier, head of the Imperial Court and the Imperial Ruling Council, whose other members are selected respectively from the Empire's best and brightest servants in the Court, and its most powerful leaders in the Ruling Council. Among these powerful individuals are the Grand Moffs and Moffs, the heads of government of the Empire's various regions and states, and the Imperial Viceroys and lower nobility, the heads of state of the same administrative divisions. At the same time, the two Sith Lords and their vassals do not enforce the Empire's rule alone; underneath them, acting alongside the Empire's Moffs' and Viceroys' political leadership are the military leaders known as the Empire's Grand Admirals and Grand Generals, who command the Imperial Military and execute the orders of the two Sith Lords, primarily received through lord Vader, as he is the Marshal of the Empire.

While the Old Republic was primarily built on the backs of republics and democracies with just a minority of monarchical and autocratic states within it, the Empire is precisely the opposite; Imperial states which offer their citizens any voting at all, let alone legitimate and free voting, are an extreme rarity. Carrying over the Republic's few monarchies and other autocratic states, the Empire has generally granted them respect and preferential treatment ahead of those that it has created during its rise to power. In fact, they formed the initial members of the Imperial Senate, though it has now expanded to represent a majority of the Empire. In addition, the older undemocratic states of the young Empire have also had preference in another key aspect, one which could be key if the Empire ever suffers a leadership crisis; under the Empire's governmental system, if the Emperor should die, abdicate, or otherwise leave the throne empty, and do so with no heir apparent, then the most powerful states of the Empire- known as Imperial Electors- shall convene in the capital, likely in the Imperial Palace itself, to select a new Emperor. This new Emperor would most likely be selected from among their own number, but the Imperial Charter, the Empire's constitution, does not require that. However, rumblings of a future political crisis in the Empire already exist in this regard; while the Empire's powerful elite are loyal to Emperor Palpatine, they typically show very little loyalty to each other, if any at all. Thus, some of the Emperor's advisors whisper in dark corners that if and when he should empty the throne, be it by death or by retirement, the Empire might be faced with the possibility of devastating civil war; a war between factions divided among supporters of various "true Emperors". But that time has not come yet, and it likely will not come any time soon. In the nearer future, war is still ongoing around the world, as the Empire seeks to solidify and violently legitimate its rule, even as some within the Empire itself begin to question such deadly methods.