Holy Tekkelien Empire

Tricolor flag of the Tekkelien Empire

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The Holy Tekkelien Empire is the primary superpower in the Empire in Peril Universe. It has a central role in peacekeeping and counterterrorism, and is at the forefront of most events in the Empire in Peril franchise. Although it has mainland territorial holdings across the Sol System and colonies spanning dozens of outer systems, its cultural heritage ties primarily back to Imperial Russia and Eastern Europe.

The Empire accounts for nearly 12% of the human population and 25% of all extraterrestrial territories. Its people generally enjoy a high standard of living with developed infrastructure and robust local governments. The central government in Eklesia emphasizes strength and security as its foremost concern, and provides police and militia across all colonies to keep order. Aside from security, the Empire remains generally uninvolved in the common people's affairs.

During the events of the Human-Dominion War, the Tekkelien Empire led the effort to drive back the Aradynic Dominion with its massive military, suffering the brunt of the casualties and economic impact. Over two dozen worlds were under at least partial enemy occupation during the height of the conflict, and over a billion people were killed. It was Tekkelien Special Forces that ultimately claimed victory for humanity, killing the Dominion's leader.

A number of highly unusual events have circulated about the Empire both before and after the conflict, usually involving military units encountering dangerous extraterrestrial entities. The Imperial Government is suspected of actively seeking them out to destroy them before they can become a threat to humanity.

## History

Not much is known about the Empire's history before the 29th Century. It underwent significant liberal reforms around 1910, and suffered a minor, unsuccessful communist uprising a few years later, coined the "Red Star Rebellion."

The Empire led the development of nuclear power, refining the use of thorium in both pressurized water and liquid metal reactors, giving it an edge in early space colonization.

In 2860, the Empire clashed with the Han Federation over the oceanic world New Petrograd. The ensuing Sino-Tekkelien War was considered unprecedented in scale, taking place across the entire planet and involved multiple expeditionary fleets in orbit. Peace negotiations were made in Eklesia, with the Empire taking control of New Petrograd permanently. Tensions with the Han Federation have been high ever since.

### Human-Dominion War

The Aradynic Dominion made its first contact with humanity on a remote Tekkelien colony. They presented the commanding officer of the carrier *Genesis* with their ultimatum to join or be destroyed.

There was much deliberation in the Parliament between war, full surrender and making concessions in attempt to appease the alien aggressors, but ultimately, the government was convinced by the testimony of Cpl. Natalie Epstein that the Dominion did not believe in negotiating and would do anything to undermine humanity regardless.

The conflict was the defining event of the 29th Century. Imperial naval and ground forces attempted to hold a progressively retreating line in order to buy time for the Special Forces to find and destroy the Dominion's supercomputer leader. The conflict lasted just over nine months before ATMOS-7 was killed by the Winged Hussars.

## Demographics

Ethnic Tekkeliens make up the majority of the population, but the vastly different living conditions in space colonies have made its definition rather hard to pinpoint. The Empire is also very open to immigration, due to a scarcity of manpower for its territorial ambitions. Immigrants are actively encouraged by tax and financial incentives to move out to the extra-solar colonies, and corporations are known to hire contract workers from abroad as expatriates, many of whom become citizens.

There is a significant Jewish population due to the Empire's reputation for strict law and order protecting them against ethnic violence.

### Religion

The Stellar Imperial Orthodox Church is the state religion of the Empire. In addition to religious and charity services, it also provides and sponsors essential research functions. In some communities, it serves as *de-facto* regulators and legislators, using its influence to encourage or discourage certain behaviors where the Empire is unable or unwilling to intervene. The Church also functions as its own political party, and is guaranteed four seats out of one thousand in the Imperial Parliament. Unofficially, it has significant lobbying power due to its wealth, and wields considerable influence among all members of parliament.

### Health

The central government provides a baseline healthcare service for free, however the quality and methods are questionable at times, especially on rural outer worlds where resources are more scarce. The majority of Tekkeliens choose private providers, of which there are many, including foreign ones. Due to lack of regulations, healthcare practices range from extremely advanced stem cell regeneration to outright snake oil. The average life expectancy in the Empire is about 140 due to the proliferation of anti-aging medicines.

### Education

The Empire provides public primary education, focusing on civics, formal logic, literacy and arithmetic. Basic statistical interpretation is taught starting sixth grade. Not much is known about the education system beyond primary schooling. There are government-run "practical schools," functioning as part high school and part trade school. There is at least one college: the University of Eklesia, and it is relatively uncommon to have a college degree at all. Any skills one learns while in the military automatically become certified in the civilian world by law. For example, a combat medic will be given an EMT certification immediately upon honorable discharge.

## Government

The Tekkelien Empire is technically a *democratic stratocracy*, where the elected military leaders provide all the functions of government. The Premier General, all ministers and members of parliament are commissioned officers, and the Civil Police is a branch of the military. However, they all behave as a civilian government would. The court system and civil servants are fully civilian as well. The Empire is divided into 100 administrative provinces, which are mostly used for electoral and bureaucratic purposes, having little independent power. Colonies are given more leeway in terms of setting taxes, regulations and laws. Their powers are limited by the Charter of Colonial Governments, and headed by a Premier Officer.

### Executive Branch

The Premier General is the head of state, responsible for approving laws, overseeing executive agencies, commanding the military and managing foreign policy. Their power is severely limited by the Constitution of the Tekkelien Empire. The minimum age is 18, although the youngest Premier General in history was Yulia Chen at 32. Premier Generals are elected directly by popular vote, and can serve a maximum of four terms of four years each. The seat of executive power is the Turquoise Palace in central Eklesia. The Premier General nominates three candidates for Viceroy, the second-in-command, who is also chosen by popular vote.

There are a comparatively small number of executive agencies responsible for enforcing laws and regulations, most notably the Ministries of Interior, Economy, Defense, Health and Environment. The Secure Empire Agency is an independent policing agency with the combined responsibilities of foreign intelligence and domestic counter-terrorism.

### Legislative Branch

The Imperial Parliament is the unicameral legislative body of the Empire. Members of Parliament are elected through proportional representation. Each of the Empire's 100 provinces are given 10 seats. Every four years, the population of each province votes for the *political party* of their choice. The seats are awarded proportionally to what percent of the votes each party receives, and each political party can appoint whomever they choose to fill those seats. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 10%. For example, if the Party A receives 44% and Party B receives 56%, Party A has is awarded 4 seats and Party B is awarded 6. If any parties receive less than 5% of their province's vote, they are awarded no seats, and the vote is recalculated among the remainders.

There are 1010 members of parliament: 1000 are elected from provinces, 4 are given to the Imperial Orthodox Church, and the Army, Navy and Police are each given 2. In the event of a tie, the Viceroy votes to break it, generally in favor of the Premier General's interests.

### Judicial Branch

The Tekkelien Empire follows the Civil Law tradition. Judges in have a very minimal role in legislating. Court precedents are not legally binding, unlike Common Law systems. The Tekkelien Civil Code is updated by the Parliament with the Constitutional Court's (and Premier General's) approval, and in all cases, the judge's job is to determine guilt or liability strictly based on the code by gathering as much information as possible. Every criminal case entitles the defendant to a lawyer and a jury.

*Ignorantia juris non excusat (ignorance of the law is no excuse)* does not apply in the Tekkelien Empire, due to the complex nature of its laws. All code infractions must be given at least one warning before the penalty is applied, "except where a reasonable person would believe they are causing serious, immediate harm, or are failing to take reasonable precautions given an inherently dangerous situation."

The law is primarily enforced by a central police force: the Imperial Tekkelien Civil Police. There are various agencies that deal with more advanced or specialized fields ranging from counter-terrorism to agricultural inspection.