Alyssian Empire

The Alyssian Empire, known after 1956 as the Alyssian Reich (or Black Reich in 2115) is the governing faction that rules over the Alyssian people. The Empire is a totalitarian, nomadic race, based out of an armada of over a thousand starships, with the goal of establishing a number of new home-worlds to replace their own. The Empire, having based it's organization off of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, is notorious for it's ruthlessness, tendency to choose violence over other means, and it's separation of it's citizens by their species, classifying them as either Higher or Lower Species.

History
It is unknown when exactly the Alyssian Empire was first formed. Originating in the Andromeda galaxy, this ancient race of anthropomorphic beings discovered space travel far before the Earth became remotely livable. Their home star, Alyssia, bore home to a number of planets. The main homeworld, Jar’Zull, was the most stable and most compatible, and residency was restricted entirely to respected members of the Higher Class species. Lower Class species were kept on ‘storage’ planets that were Class 3 and lower, oftentimes with extreme heat/cold conditions that drastically reduced the population of lower class species.

At around 356BC, after centuries of research into stellar objects to perfect a classified weapons project, the Empire’s research team triggered a reaction in Alyssia, which advanced it to an end-stage life cycle. This forced the members of the higher class to quickly evacuate the inner planets, taking their lower class slaves with. Members living on the desert and frozen planets were left to die from the oncoming supernova. The Empire’s callous disregard for these people caused a rift, and led to a temporary revolution, which resulted in thousands of members of both the high and low classes to commandeer several hundred starships and flee the Empire. Due to the impact of this theft, many high tier members of the Empire were not able to evacuate in time, and perished when Alyssia exploded. Jadzar, the current emperor, declared those that fled as traitors, and charged them with the destruction of the star, as well as sabotaging rescue efforts. Although the Empire vowed to track down the Betrayers and slaughter them and their families, the Empire spent the next millennia building itself back up, and exploring the cosmos, deciding that they would take to the Milky Way galaxy to rebuild.

The Black Reich
The Alyssians arrived in the Milky Way galaxy in the year 1845AD, and began scouring for signs of the Betrayers, hoping to take over and capture any galactic society that they may have encountered during their escape from the Empire. It was soon discovered that the Betrayers had partially colonized with the nearly identified residents of Kepler-22b. The Empire observed the people on this planet for a brief period, realizing that they were undergoing a brutal civil war, and continued, picking up faint trails of the Betrayers’ starships. In the year 1942, they discovered that the Betrayers were hidden in the Sol System, and the Empire began performing observations on the human race that was present. The Empire found itself highly fascinated with Nazi Germany, namely it’s stance on racial superiority, intimidation, and extermination. The current heirarchy of the Empire was failing, with more and more individuals falling ill and vessels falling into disrepair due to a lack of ore materials and smaller uprisings from the Lower Species. Emperor Sin’lar, deciding that the Empire needed to adopt a new image to compete with that of other species, began ordering the entirety of the armada to adopt styles based off of the Nazi Germany. The language and history was spread throughout the Empire. Flags were remade, ideologies solidified and based entirely around the Nazi mindset, albeit with their targets being anyone outside of their race. The Empire retreated to the outer arms of the galaxy to regroup, and rebuild itself in the image of the Nazis, thus completely missing their subsequent downfall at the hands of the Allied powers. The Empire's armada exited Sol, leaving behind concealed satellites within the Kuiper Belt to monitor any FTL travel in the area while they begun the process of evaluating and learning from the research they'd obtained from Earth. Emperor Sin'lar made the final decision to change the organization of the Empire, keeping the divide between Higher and Lower Class, and rebranding himself as Fuhrer Sin'lar Wolff, First Emperor of the Black Reich.

Meeting the Federation
When the Empire returned nearly a hundred years later, they found that the humans of Earth had expanded at an extremely rapid rate. Coming across a deep space station owned by the newly christened United Federation, they recognized technology of theirs present, and immediately realized that the Betrayers have merged with this civilization. Feeling a great sense of anger at the audacity of the human race for waving around this ‘stolen’ technology, as well as the Federation’s stance on equality for all, caused the current Empress, who would be known as the Fuhrer, to reach out and attempt to silently infiltrate the Federation under the guise of establishing a peaceful connection. The Federation, having not witnessed the cruelty of the Empire outside of stories of old, accepted the invitation to sit down and talk, and offered the Empire a seat in the Galactic Alliance, a council dedicated towards the combined exploration and study of space, alongside the Keplarians. At first, the Empire seemed eager to take part in this. However, Federation intelligence began picking up chatter about a potential strike from the Empire, and when it was questioned, the Empire declared war, using gateways to bring in a massive armada.

Lower Species
The Lower Species of the Empire consist of a number of prey-like Alyssians, such as rabbits, deer, mutts, cats, and rodents. These individuals are not authorized or permitted to speak to or interact with members of the Higher Species unless providing them with a good or service, or if they are under their direct employment. Lower Species are not allowed to own property, and are boarded in a number of cramped co-ed quarters aboard the colony ships of the Empire. Lower Species members can, very rarely, be granted the title of Higher Species for providing excellent service to the Empire, for example, making significant scientific discoveries; engaging and capturing/killing a high level target of the Empire; Performing valiantly in battle.

Higher Species
The Higher Species of the Empire consist of primarily predator-like Alyssians, such as tigers, lions, wolves, foxes, and bears. Most, if not all members of the Higher Species are indoctrinated into the Royal Military Forces at age 4, where they begin grueling and harsh battle training until they are 16. Many individuals die during the intensive training, and some are even called into active battle as early as 10. Fuhrer Judia Wolff, the current head of state for the Reich, was forced into her first combat scene at 10, and performed excellently, securing and successfully boarding a stolen Empire destroyer.

Upon graduation of this training, they are assigned a military post and command dependent on their skill in combat, from manning a two man patrol to commanding an entire starship. Exceptional members of this class may also be considered for a number of elite units within the Empire, such as the Ja'Dar and the Shadow Jackals.

Royal Family
The Royal Family of the Empire is the ruling member, typically female, and is considered the supreme leader of the Alyssian Empire and the commander of it's armed forces. The formal title for the leader is Emperor or Empress. Higher and Lower Species are forbidden from contacting the Emperor/Empress directly, unless directly summoned, or if they are a member of the Royal Court. The succession of power goes by blood, and if no kin is able to claim the throne, then the Royal Court will determine the next successor by a test of leadership, strength, and combat prowess. The current ruler of the Alyssian Empire is Empress Judia, a female coyote and shifter.

Alyssian Empire Armada
The Alyssian Empire's Armada, sometimes referred to as the Flotilla, is the fleet of the Alyssian Empire, consisting of warships, colony, manufacturing, and penal vessels. The fleet wavers in numbers due to the construction of new vessels, and the scuttling of defunct or dysfunctional vessels. On rare occasions, the Empire has discarded colony vessels with undesirables levels of civil unrest among the Lower Species, either by shutting off the engines and opening fire upon it, or by shutting down life support. The various vessels of the Armada have a variety of purposes, from construction to colony ships, to heavily powered warships.

Colony Ships
The colony ships of the Armada are large starships that are primarily built for housing and feeding the various citizens of the Empire. The class of each ship is identified by the overall condition and markings on the ship. For example, a gold stripe along the side of a colony ship indicates that it is a Higher Species colony ship, where a black or no stripe designates a Lower Species ship. Lower Species vessels tend to have far poorer conditions then their Higher counterparts, with failed electricity, warm water, and bunk sizes of 8 to 10 per dorm. Due to the departure of the First Many, colony ships are unarmed, and can be remotely operated by their respective warship escort to subdue any hijacking attempt.

Mobile Shipyards
An old feat of the Empire, the mobile shipyards are able to construct, repair, and upgrade many of the ships of the Armada without fulling pulling them out of service. As most of the ships are somewhat the same size, they are able to dock with and fit within the shipyard with relative ease, allowing a number of repairs and renovations to be performed. Most of the 'crew' on these shipyards are autonomous drones, which operate off of blueprints and are overseen by a team of officers on the bridge of each shipyard. For similar reasons, the shipyards are unarmed, and are often escorted by at least three destroyer class vessels, who will disable or even destroy any ships showing signs of hijacking.

Penal/Detention Ships
These large ships hold all of the prisoners of the Empire, from High Species who have committed acts of treason, to Lower Species who have refused to work due to their living conditions. Sentencing is carried out aboard these vessels, and depending on the severity of the crime, prisoners are placed in either low security cells, maximum security cells, or executed by ejection into space. Executions are broadcasted throughout the entire vessel, in order to ensure compliance from all prisoners aboard. The living conditions on these ships is often considered inhumane, with rusted metal beds, cold temperatures, and at times, a lowered oxygen level to prevent inmates from exerting too much energy. Inmates that are able are forced to work in the engine of the ship, replacing spent fuel rods and maintaining the warp systems, often without any protective gear. Penal ships are armed with turreted beam weaponry, and are escorted by at least five destroyer class vessels. They also hold a military unit aboard that specializes in guerilla warfare and urban suppression.

The Grand Chariot
The Grand Chariot is a large, luxury starship that houses the Emperor/Empress of the Empire, as well as all members of the Royal Court and their families. The starship is sleek in design, and it's exterior is gold in color, making it stand out from the other vessels. Aboard the Chariot, the Empress oversees all operations of the Empire, and had a command center with visuals on all of the ships at their disposal. The ship is heavily armed and protected by ten destroyer class vessels, and is guarded by only the most highly trusted and decorated soldiers of the Royal Military.