Empire of Virginia

The Empire of Virginia was named after its first ruler, Queen Virginia Maloney, who successfully led an armed attack against the native aliens of the planet after many attacks that nearly wiped out the population in their infancy. Since then, Queen Maloney led a genocidal campaign until her inevitable death in 2073 when she died of old age. The natives of the world are believed to have been rendered extinct. None were spared the onslaught of her armies. Eventually, her daughter took power and a monarchy was established.

As time progressed the Virginian Empire spread across their solar system and took over worlds such as Smali and Virginia. Once, their influence expanded far beyond their solar system and the manufacturing of Gates took precedence over all other construction. When the gates were completed travel became much faster than anticipated and worlds rose and fell as the Empire found itself dealing with rebellion after rebellion. Most of these rebels sought to occupy and control the trade routes that Virginia had found itself the center of though some rebelled for political reasons. Many of these worlds were pyrrhically victorious and were subsequently bombarded from orbit until nothing remained or the populace was subdued. Few managed to fight back as the trade economy of Virginia was used to produce a grand Imperial Navy that could best almost any foe in ship to ship combat.

The militaristic society continued to grow within the political borders of Virginia and eventually became the dominant ideology of the Empire. Children were taught to use and maintain weapons, armor and munitions in shcools and learned how to fight as part of their standardized schooling. Laws were eventually passed that required every able bodied individual of the age of sixteen years to enlist for a mandatory two years of service in the Imperial military; be it Royal Marines or Royal Navy. In the modern day these individuals are among the best trained soldiers in USC controlled space, provided they stay in past their expected mandatory service.

## Holidays and Events

### Liberation Day (2118)

Liberation Day is celebrated on January 6th each solar year primarily in the Sol System though many other star systems also celebrate this holiday. It is one of the few holidays that is recognized almost universally across the United Systems Confederacy as an official holiday. The celebration is about the liberation of Earth from its Nell invaders who took the planet by storm nearly a century before and laid waste to much of the world. Each year, on Liberation Day, the Sol Republic will fire the Canadian Defense Installation into a specialized target. In Europe, an old M1 Abrams main battle tank is driven through the streets which was once driven by the now Emperor of Virginia Jaxon Henderson. The tank was used in one of the final battles of the war and was instrumental in the defeat of the Nell landing forces that managed to make it past the initial strike on their fleet.

### Unification Wars (2172 - 2188)

The Unification Wars were less war and more conflicts and skirmishes though many colloquially refer to them as the 'wars'. In this time period, a number of galatic powers such as the Sol Republic, the Virginian Empire and a handful of lesser nations waged war on one another in the beginning for the first four years. With casualties mounting well into the millions within the first month of the conflict the official war soon ended less than two years into the fighting with no borders redrawn and white peace declared. Afterwards, the powers that were began to engage in trade disputes, negotiations, alliances and so on that eventually culminated into the formation of the USC. Lost colonies were quickly added to its ranks, especially industrialized ones, a unified fleet was risen and together these worlds set out to bring others into their alliance.

During the Unification Wars the Virginian Empire employed extensive use of autonomous units which were pressed into service mainly from existing units. Such units included caretaking machines and medical machines originally purposed for hospital use. At the time, the Virginian Empire did not recognize the rights of robots and any robot found deserting their post was dealt with violently and scrapped for parts. New series of units were produced and when the factories were unable to keep up with demand citizens were pressed into service alongside their mechanical counterparts.

The heaviest of these units, and one of the most popular units to be fielded by the Empire, was the Obliterator class which was a heavy war droid outfitted with extensive amounts of armor and the ability to field weapon platforms. They were often fielded beside Virginian Empire regulars who made up the bulk of the army. Obliterator class war machines were designed intentionally with sapience though only so that they could learn more for the purposes of war. The idea was heavily reinforced into their minds that, regardless of their feelings, they were 'born' to serve the Empire. Emperor Henderson never approved of the units being fielded due to his prior experiences with other autonomous units, namely Castle units, that had become sapient. His own ruling was overturned by the lords and vassals below him, however, and Henderson was forced to remain quiet lest he deal with a coup in the middle of a war.

It was during this time that the Empire adopted a 'service means citizenship' mindset. Every citizen that turned sixteen was pressed into mandatory service and drilled into becoming Marines. As a result, the Empire fields one of the strongest Marine Corps in the United Systems Confederacy. Citizens are allowed to keep their weapons and armor after their mandatory two years of service and are expected, in the event of an invasion of Virginia or any of its outlying colonies, to pick up their weapons and defend their homes to their dying breaths.