Star Kingdom of Aurora

The Star Kingdom of Aurora is a star nation, an interstellar nation-state consisting of eight inhabited star systems.

Geography
The home system of Aurora Rex lies in the "central/northern" part of Human Space and approximately 480 light-years to the Galactic north-east of Earth. Aurora Rex consists of one habitable planet, Tyranis, and four habitable moons in orbit around the gas giant, Brunswick.

The Star Kingdom has expanded since its founding and directly control eight systems primarily located in the Orion Sector, but also further north in the Ephera Sector. This colonization was in the beginning a necessary venture to relieve the struggling planet of Tyranis, but has later been undertaken to open new economic possibilites and of strategic necessity.

The Star Kingdom controls three wormhole junctions which represent a major source of income through trade routes and a major strategic advantage in war. The Star Kingdom is the star nation in possession of most junctions both under own control and through the Royal Alliance System.

Early History
The Star Kingdom started out as the single planet of Tyranis in 218 P.E (2679 A.D) and quickly experienced an extreme economic expansion, unlike most newly started colonies. Within fifty years of the initial settlement Tyranis had a population of over 2 billion, the majority of them settlers from “Commonwealth” countries as well as western Europeans and Americans. In 243 P.E (2704 A.D) the constitution of Tyranis was rewritten due to the large amounts of new immigrants, and essentially created a class of landed gentry and nobility, awarding prominent individuals and families from the original batch of immigrants and settlers, with lands, titles and important political positions. This created a sharp class distinction in form of social status, but at the same time it was made sure all classes of society would have equal opportunities and equal importance in politics, business and other matters of society, based upon means, ability and experience, not on social rank or lack thereof. The monarch was also given a more prominent role in politics, and were able to actively decide national politics alongside the Parliament (which was a result of the constitutional change was divided into the House of Commons and the House of Lords). Both instances have exclusive veto rights to propositions and bills forwarded by the other instance.

With the new constitution came new social laws created by the population and classes themselves, which in all essence mimicked the social laws of early 19th century Great Britain. The nobility started making careers as large scale merchants, in the military and as political figureheads. These roles were not, however, exclusively for the nobility as it had been in eons past on Earth, mixing the social laws of modern day with those of ancient times. At the same time the welfare state was written into the constitution, along with other left wing principles and practices like public health care, free education, subsidized industry and agriculture, liberal immigration, differing types of social economic insurances, etc. The tax levels were also set to 42% of total income regardless of stature and social rank. Women equality was also introduced, as had been the case with the UEE.

While large parts of the Kingdom became institutionalized left wing, other parts of government and society qualify as more liberal. The international trade and market is completely deregulated, and though large parts of industry is owned by the state, the majority of business is completely free to operate the way they see fit, as long as they follow basic laws of safe economic trade and respect international law and regulations. This created in the early days of Tyranis’ history an almost unparalleled economic expansion. Investors and companies investing heavily in the deregulated market and made great profits. Export and import was also very liberally treated and taxed in the early days of Tyranis, and promoted even more international and interplanetary trade between Tyranis and the surrounding systems. This promoted heavy build-up of the planetary economical and industrial infrastructure, and created the basis for a strong economic situation which the Star Kingdom still retains.

Colonial expansion
Over the next hundred years, the Star Kingdom continued to grow, and by 310 P.E it had passed 8 billion citizens on Tyranis and two of its four moons which had been terraformed to a degree which made them more or less a miniature version of the mother planet. This rapid expansion created a problem with space, even though the planet is 1.8 times larger than Earth, the fact that the majority of the population preferred to live in the 15 largest cities, making the capital of Aurora Magna the largest city in the entire sector of Human Space, with over 30 million inhabitants. The results were increased crime, poorer health for the inhabitants in the cities even though pollution was at a minimum, overencumbered health services, traffic networks and educational institutions. For a time the Kingdom suffered heavily from this, and the surge of immigrants slowed to barely a trickle. Finally it was decided by the Parliament and the Monarch in unison, to invest in creating a new colony to negate the problems of overpopulation. A limit was put on immigration as well, as it had been completely open up to this point. The choice fell upon the HB-99307-A system, a neighbouring system to the galactic east of Tyranis. It was renamed Hadley after the leader of the expedition, the first colony became Eden. It had in early human history (in late A.E) been classified as a “T-Class” world with atmosphere and climate closely mimicking that of Earth. It is however only 0.5 times the size of Earth, limiting the population.

But the establishment of Eden worked as intended, and millions moved from the overpopulated cities of Tyranis to the lush new colony. Over time the two other habitable planets in the Hadley system were settled and given the names Vulcan and Amaranth. Vulcan turned out to have an extreme axial tilt of over 26 degrees, and, combined with the planet’s distance from Hadley Star, gave it extreme weather and long years with very slow seasonal changes. No amount of terraforming could soothe the climate, and as a result only the hardest and most stubborn of colonists managed to make a living there. Crops from Tyranis and Earth did not survive long on the hostile world, and as such large orbital stations and satellite cities were constructed to house the agricultural production of the planet, and over time these grew immensely in both size and numbers, and today over 200 million people live in the massive orbital cities over Vulcan, with 400 million living on the surface.

Cyrell and renaming
This expansion served as the jump-off point for the Kingdom of Aurora. In 360 P.E the planet of Cyrell from the neighbouring Logos System asked to join the Star Kingdom of Tyranis, to become the Kingdom’s fourth colony and member world. The Kingdom was divided on this issue as the people of Cyrell was of primarily Russian and Eastern European descent, and the ethnocentric views of a large part of the Tyranian population made itself felt. It was decided, in the end, to include Cyrell into the Kingdom after a realm-wide referendum in which a majority of 54% voted for the planet’s inclusion into the Kingdom. It took a long time before the Cyrellians were acclimatized to life in the Kingdom, but over time they became more or less proper Tyranians, with nobility and gentry being introduced, partially from native Cyrellians, partly from Tyranian nobles moving to Cyrell. In 388 P.E the Kingdom of Tyranis was renamed the Star Kingdom of Aurora after the star which Tyranis orbits. Tyranis itself was renamed Aurora Rex and would serve as the capital world in the growing Star Kingdom. The Constitution was also rewritten to reflect a number of new political ideas, changes in social theory as well as firmly deciding the limits and regulations of the state. The relationship between the Monarch and the Parliament was more heavily dictated, giving the Monarch more say and weight in political matters, but could no longer actively propose laws, bills and proposals. The House of Lords was given more power, while the House of Commons was expanded and given exclusive double veto rights in case the Monarch allied him or herself with the Nobles.

Alyanov Treatment
Unbeknownst to Human Space, Cyrell had a large number of extremely skilled doctors, surgeons and medical researchers which led, with help from the Auroran government, to the establishment of a large number of research institutions and superb surgeon clinics. Mankind’s life expectancy was at this point in the region of 120 years on average, but a treatment devised by Dr. Sir Sergei Alyanov which essentially slowed down the redox process (reduction oxidization process) which severely slowed down the natural aging process of humans and other living things alike, enabling one to live on for several hundred years. The treatment was carefully tested over a period of 30 years before it was officially released. It was named the Alyanov Therapy and became standard medical practice in the whole of Human Space (with a few exceptions such as fiercely religious worlds) within relatively short time.

The Therapy slows aging sufficiently so that it appears to be fully arrested for a long period in the person's life. The 'freeze' do not last forever, but a Therapy-affected lifespan is in the region of 200-350 years. Aging is 'frozen' at a younger point depending on the treatment version available when the patient is young enough (but not too old) to be treated. For instance, the first-generation Therapy recipients would settle at a physical age in their mid-forties for an extended time, while third-generation recipients would appear to be in their late twenties. While the Alyanov Therapy 'freeze' its recipient visually at a reduced age, it also prolongs development. Many individuals have complained that it took them much longer than normal to break out of their awkward adolescent stage. It is just recently that the first recipients have started to die of age, almost 160 years since its introduction in the galaxy.
 * See: Alyanov Treatment

First Hydran War and Expansion
In early 5th century P.E the Hydran Empire came into its prime and started a series of wars and military expansions to further its own empire. Many worlds and colonies felt threatened by the rapid and violent expansion of the Hydran Empire and sought protection where they could find it. Many turned to the Alliance since it presented the strongest military power relative to the Hydrans, but a few also went to Aurora for help. Instead of accepting them as part of the realm as many of the exposed colonies wanted, they were inducted in an alliance composed of the Star Kingdom as well as other relatively powerful single-planet star nations. It eventually came to blows, as the Hydran Empire declared war on the Star Kingdom and the Royal Alliance as it had been dubbed to differentiate itself from the Alliance, in 420 P.E. The war was over relatively quickly, only three years since its beginning, and it was a crushing victory for the Royal Alliance. The ships and crews of the Star Kingdom were vastly superior to the Hydrans, and only when heavily outnumbered did the Aurorans ever lose. This attracted the attention of the Alliance and the other large factions and the Star Kingdom experienced a boost in investments and diplomatic activity.

After the war, many of the nations in the Royal Alliance applied for membership as colonies, dominions and/or Crown Territories to the Star Kingdom. There was great disagreement in the population whether to essentially become an empire or to continue as they had always done with their native worlds. In the end King William IV decreed that the Star Kingdom would take in any worlds that inherently wanted to become a part of the Star Kingdom, as long as they fulfilled a series of qualifications such as respecting human rights, no to little corruption, a functioning democratic election system, etc. The discovery of the wormholes in the late 5th century allowed for the establishment of more colonies and the induction of more nations to the Star Kingdom. Several colonies were established, and by 502 P.E the Star Kingdom controlled 12 inhabited worlds. The capital worlds remained Aurora Rex and the original worlds.

Recent history
The Royal Alliance system continued to expand in the years following the discovery of wormhole travel and several more worlds joined. The Alliance started too view the Star Kingdom suspiciously and many Alliance politicians proclaimed that the Star Kingdom presented the gravest threat against the Alliance way of life. Many Alliance member worlds felt the same and diplomatic relations between the two nations tensed. Many Alliance member planets started to shout for a reevaluation of the Alliance military's threat assesment and demanded the government to focus on defeating what they percieved as communism and despotism in the Star Kingdom and the Royal Alliance. This was the pretext for the Alliance invasion of Martin's Star, a system which had applied for membership in the Royal Alliance, but not yet admitted. The Star Kingdom was forced to stand back as the Alliance forces steamrolled the system, unable to do anything without risking open war against the largest star nation in Human Space. A state of cold war existed between the Star Kingdom and the Alliance from that point on. The Alliance wants to spread their own political ideology and liberate other worlds from the communism and despotism of the Star Kingdom, while the Star Kingdom tries to prevent other worlds to fall into the tyrannical and mismanaged Alliance. This continues to this day.
 * See: 6th Century Cold War
 * See: Alliance Ideology
 * See: Star Kingdom of Aurora Ideology

Territory
As of 550 P.E (3011 A.D) the Star Kingdom of Aurora was comprised of eight star systems, not including member nation of the Royal Alliance and protectorates.

Member worlds
Aurora System Hadley System Logos System Corrigan System Sigma System Deneb System Lucida System Draconis System
 * Aurora Rex
 * Brunswick Minor (moon)
 * New Landing (moon)
 * Aurora Minor (moon)
 * Threshold (moon)
 * Eden
 * Vulcan
 * Amaranth
 * Cyrell
 * Radesk (moon)
 * Corrigan
 * Alton
 * Enson
 * Clairdon
 * Ayrette
 * Lucidia Major
 * Lucidia Minor (moon)
 * Haven
 * Sanctuary
 * New Amaranth

Wormhole junctions
The Star Kingdom also directly controls three wormhole junctions, which enables ships to move from one wormhole junction to another with near instantaneous speeds and makes interstellar trade and/or warfare much easier.

The junctions in question are the Corrigan Junction, the Deneb Junction and the Draconis Junction.

Parliament and Monarch
The Star Kingdom of Aurora is a constitutional monarchy, with the Monarch as the head of state, with the Parliament, headed by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, as governing body of the nation. The Parliament itself is bicameral and is divided into the House of Lords and House of Commons. The monarch is also a political instance and is able to influence the Parliament, however not directly, but through suggestions and support to a party or side. Both houses, as well as the Monarch, has the power of veto, but the Commons have the power to lay down two vetoes, where the others can lay down only one. This is to strengthen the position of the public against the aristocracy and the monarchy. A bill has to be passed through both Houses if it is to pass. A political party needs to have majority in both Houses to be able to form Cabinet, which makes pure majority governments rare, and most governments are coalitions as to secure a majority in both Houses. A Prime Minister can be from both the Lords or the Commons.

The Parliament is composed of Members of Parliament from all Auroran planets. There are 300 seats in the House of Lords and 400 in the Commons. This is to strengthen the position of the Commons against the Lords and defend the public against abuse or exploitation. The Commons will always be able to outvote the Lords. The monarch cannot actively vote on a bill, but can declare his or her support for it.

Cabinet
The Cabinet is the government of the Star Kingdom and is led by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is formed by the party in Parliament which gets a majority (50.1%) of votes following a general election. If no party has definite majority, a party coalition can be formed with two or more parties agreeing to cooperate in running the Star Kingdom and shares the different Cabinet minister posts between them. The Cabinet is comprised of the Prime Minister, individual ministers, the Lord Privy Seal and the Heir of the Throne, with the current monarch presiding. The monarch officially reigns over the Star Kingdom through the Cabinet, but the monarch mostly listens to the advice of his or her ministers, to the point where the Cabinet is effectively the rulers of the nation.

Judicial Department
The judicial system of Aurora is divided into the High Court, the Lord's Bench, the Regional Courts, the Council Courts and the Admiralty Court. The High Court is the uppermost instance of justice in Aurora and is only formed when a case has run through all the court systems. It is also deals with high value and cases of high importance. The Lord's Bench is the second highest and is a collection of peers and commoners (somewhat derisive insofar what the name suggests) chosen by either the High Court and the monarch in unison. The Regional Courts are the highest judicial institutions in the different counties on Auroran worlds. Council Courts are the lowest in the judicial chain, and serve as the instance of justice in municipalities and large cities. The Admiralty Court is the standing court in the Royal Armed Forces, which differentiates itself from the temporary military courts of martial law.

Political Parties
There are seven major political parties in the Star Kingdom. They are based on political principle and party programs and most of them are married to a specific political ideology.

The parties are:
 * Labour Party
 * Socialist Democratic Party
 * Crown-Loyalist Party
 * Conservative Party
 * New Way Party
 * Central Liberal Party
 * Left Centrist Party

Aristocracy
The aristocracy of Aurora represents a relatively moderate number of the population and many have roots in the original re-writing of the Constitution and as such control and inherit relatively large areas of land and fortunes. The monarch can appoint new aristocrats, but only if the Commons agree to it. This is to avoid the monarch and Lords appointing new aristocracy to forward their own political agendas, especially if said aristocrats is appointed to the House of Lords.

Appointment
One can be appointed to an aristocrat if one have served the Star Kingdom dilligently for a long time in an important position, served valiantly any of the Armed Forces Branches, or performed some other great deed for which the people and the monarch deems worthy of reward. A new aristocrat is either given Crown Land, usually virgin territory owned by the state or his or her hometown and surrounding areas if not already part of a land grant.

Orders
More common than appointment to aristocrat is the appointment to one of the Knightly Orders of the Star Kingdom. There are several of them, and are ranked as follows, based on order of seniority and social standing:
 * Order of King Henry
 * Order of Aurora
 * Order of the Scarlet
 * Order of the Sword

Military
The Star Kingdom of Aurora's Armed Forces is divided into the Royal Navy, the Royal Army and the Royal Corps of Marines. The Royal Navy is the senior and most powerful of the branches, as is befitting in an age where the majority of warfare is interstellar. The First Lord of the Admiralty is the supreme commander of all Auroran forces, and is always a civilian MP, either from the Lords or the Commons. The professional heads of the military are the High Lord of the Admiralty, the Chief of the General Staff, Commander Ground Forces and the Commandant of the Royal Corps of Marines.

Further information on military

 * See: Royal Navy
 * See: Royal Army
 * See: Royal Corps of Marines