Yamatai

Yamatai, officially the Galactic Empire of Yamatai (邪馬台銀河帝国, Dai yamatai ginga teikoku), also known as The Empire of the Rising Suns and colloquially as the Empire, is a spacefaring Human federal constitutional monarchy. It is comprised of 73 star systems in 12 sectors, and is the largest and most powerful nation in Imperial Space. The Empire controls a total of 1,187 known planetary bodies and 672 large moons, with an as-of-yet unknown number of dwarf planets and even more small moons and natural satellites. Only 10 planets and 2 moons are considered environmentally inhabitable, though numerous settlements exist on and around uninhabitable bodies. Yamatai has a large population of 200 to 250 billion humans. Its capital and governmental centre is the planet of Yamatai.

Humans from the ancient nation of Yashima on Tiandi first colonised Yamatai as part of the First Wave in 1996. The planet, which was strikingly similar to their homeworld, was named after a mythological island kingdom and soon became the most prominent colony in the galactic region. Following the Great Silence in 2050, Yamatai and its sister colonies were forced to become independent, resulting in a period of infighting between the former Yashimese colonies and neighbouring colonies of other nations. Yamatai's first Empress, Kaguya, launched the Empire on the Divine Mission, winning the War of Yamataian Unification. The Gods blessed the new Empire, and Yamatai soon united the Humans in their vicinity.le they were carrying this out, non-Humans were discovered close to the new Union, forcing Yamatai to engage and aim to destroy these threats to Humanity's Divine Destiny. While the non-Humans would constantly prove to be a threat to Yamatai and the Union they built, Yamatai began to look outward to expand its Empire and spread humanity across the Galaxy, seeking out and colonising new inhabitable planets beyond Imperial Space to allow humanity to achieve their Gods-promised Divine Destiny.

Within Imperial Space, Yamatai is the apex economic, political and military power. In addition to being one of the oldest initial colonies, Yamatai operates the largest military force amongst the currently known human civilisations. Yamatai is well developed technology-wise, though often opts for traditional technologies and techniques, if not wholly then aesthetically.

Etymology
Yamatai is named after an ancient kingdom on Tiandi, the first major dominant civilisation on what would become Yashima. The name carries no significance in the modern context, and is simply the name the first colonists named the planet Yamatai. When Yamatai expanded, the Empire continued to carry this name. It is thus a constant reminder of Humanity's roots.

People from Yamatai are normally called Yamataians or Yamataijin by outsiders.

History
Yamatai was first settled following the First Landing on 11 Kisaragi, 1963, as the first inhabitable planet discovered by Humans on Tiandi. Also during the First Wave of Human Colonisation, Aoyama was colonised by Zhonghua as Jinpo. The Second Wave of Human Colonisation brought civilian settlers and restructuring from scientific experiments and mining operations into settlement and government as well. During the Second Wave, the colonies of Niigata, Hirasaka and later Ashihara, Aomori and Hirasaka. Jeobseon was also colonised by Hanguk.

From 2045 onwards the Third Wave of Human Colonisation occurred as refugees began to flood the colonies. In 2050 the Great Silence occurred, removing the colonies' central government, as the refugees continued to swarm them into the 2060s and even into the 2070s, such as the Al-Falah generation ship. Across the five colonies, Akitsukunese Imperial Government representatives lost power and popular uprisings occurred. After three months, the colony of Niigata would be the first to self-declare independence from Akitsukuni, followed by Hirasaka. Both colonies would sever contact with the other loyalist colonies.

Yamatai and Kanagawa remain loyal and form the Empire of Yamatai, as well as Aomori an ally, though Aomori remains distant. Hirasaka allies with Ashihara and establishes Mizuho. Niigata is fiercely independent. The First War of Yamataian Unification begins between Yamatai and Niigata, forcing Niigata to join. Partway through, Hirasaka and Ashihara ally themselves with the three-planet People's Republic of Jinpo and attack Aomori, resulting in Aomori joining the Empire and the Empire fighting them off and successfully conquering Ashihara. Hirasaka and Mizuho are untouched as they are still allied with Jinpo. The First War of Yamataian Unification ended in 2138, and Yamatai then helped Jeobseon deal with their civil war, gaining a great ally.

Hirasaka was an unrecognised state by both Yamatai and Jeobseon, though Jinpo was still backing them. The unexpected discovery of non-Humans in 2174 resulted in a panic across the Empire. A resource dispute in 2176 began the Second War of Yamataian Unification, which was rapidly won and Hirasaka was absorbed, rapidly becoming the Jinpo-Yamatai War from 2180 to 2189. The Treaty of Sekigahara in 2189 saw Jinpo/Aoyama's surrender and full capitulation of their three worlds to Yamatai.

Then Yamatai began to deal with the aliens, sending exploration ships into their own territories to find them, and also began expanding. They discovered the Akumahebi first, then the Nekari and finally the Kuans, who were the most intelligent. They still warred with all of them, a war that continues to this day. Rebellions in Aoyama and some of the worlds continued.

They began colonising worlds, starting with the First Frontier, Nemuro and Teshio and the moon of Hidaka in the late 2200s to mid 2300s. In the early 2400s the New Frontier was colonised.

Aoyama Semi-Autonomous Zone

Jeobseon Cooperative Autonomous Zone

First War of Imperial Reunification
The First War of Imperial Unification was declared by the Empire after Niigata and Hirasaka joined into a union called the Celestial Union, which then aligned itself with the neighbouring and new Galactic People's Republic centred on the world of Qingshan. Threatened by this and desiring to unite the human factions in the region, the Empire declared war on the Celestial Union and began an invasion of Niigata, which surrendered early on and soon came to become the third Core World. Following this, the war spread as the Galactic People's Republic attacked Aomori and Ashihara, which while separate were allies of the Empire. The Empire moved northward and liberated Aomori, though Ashihara would remain a part of the Galactic People's Republic for many more years.

Cold War with the GPR and Second War of Imperial Reunification
Following the cessation of hostilities between the Empire, the remnants of the Celestial Union and the Galactic People's Republic, a three-way cold war began between the factions, with the Empire and the Galactic People's Republic comparable in size and level of development while the Celestial Union was safe due to its alliance with the Republic. In such a volatile environment, small skirmishes occasionally took place and military technologies developed at a rapid pace for a tense entire century. During this time, the Empire also helped the burgeoning Jeobseon Cooperative to attain supremacy over their planet, attaining the Korean-dominated world as a strong ally.

Relations with the Galactic People's Republic began to thaw after several outreach programmes on both sides, threatening to end the cold war. It was suddenly discovered that Hirasaka had independently colonised a moon, Mizuho. The Empire claimed that Hirasaka was building weapons of mass destruction and invaded the smaller nation, finally incorporating the rebellious planet into the Second Expanse region, then seizing Mizuho, eradicating the Celestial Union. The Galactic People's Republic did not take action during the war but relations deteriorated once again, as the Empire and its ally Jeobseon were now larger and more powerful than the Republic.

First Expansion Period
In the newfound peace during the continued cold war with the Republic, the Empire began reaching outwards to form new colonies and connect with the galactic community at large. The colonies of Nemuro and Teshio were founded in the First Frontier shortly before the Empire first contacted the Galactic Concordat, discovering to their disgust the existence of non-human races, as well as humans which did not share their ideology. The Empire then withdrew to its familiar isolationist state, cutting all external connection and chasing away trade and scout ships that moved close to their territory - the common stereotypical depiction of an isolationist Yamatai stems from their behaviour during this period.

Discovery of the Nekari
It was during this period of exploration that the alien species within the Imperial borders itself, the Nekari on the planet Neka, were discovered. A developed, starfaring civilisation of aquatic cephalopods, the Nekari had long known of the humans in their area but chose to do nothing, being in some ways even more isolationist than their rivals. Fuelled by their dogmatic beliefs, the Empire promptly went to a war of extermination against the Nekari. Faced with superior technology, the Empire failed and changed tactics to a war of containment, ensuring the Nekari were boxed into what was christened the Nekari Exclusion Zone. Few people outside of the Empire are aware of this ongoing situation.

Empire-Republic War
Distracted by the war against the Nekari and their defeat, the Empire failed to notice the Galactic People's Republic planning to end their regional rivals once and for all. Armed with technologies purchased from abroad, the Republic cut a swathe through Imperial Space and struck at Yamatai directly. As the hard-fought and nigh-legendary Battle of Yamatai raged for months, the Empire launched an attack on Ashihara, cutting off the Republic's supply line and liberating the planet at last. The Battle of Yamatai ended as the forces were recalled to defend Republic space, though the Empire encircled them at Dongchuang and defeated half of the People's Space Force, also nominally taking over the ice planet.

Following this, the Empire then attacked Qingshan itself, and after several months of bitter fighting finally came to a ceasefire with the entrenched communists. The terms of ceasefire allowed the Empire to keep Dongchuang and Ashihara, while the Galactic People's Republic kept Reqing. Qingshan itself was split into half between the Empire and the Republic, with numerous walls and demilitarised zones erected between the split continents. The Galactic People's Republic continued to exist as the government of the limited-autonomy Aoyama Special Autonomous Region. Peace had finally been attained in Imperial Space, though the policy of containment against the Nekari continued.

Second Expansion Period
What could have been considered a golden age for Yamatai then followed, with the new technology and resources coming from the conquest of the Republic and the cessation of hostilities allowing the Empire and Jeobseon to flourish. More missions to reach out to the galaxy again resumed, and the New Frontier worlds of Suwa and Atsuta were colonised.

Imperial Civil War
An unpopular Prime Minister was elected by a hair width, and the faction of the Teikoku Gikai opposed to him attempted to impeach him. However, he then tried to dissolve the Teikoku Gikai and grant himself emergency powers. This resulted in a brief civil war between both parties until the Imperial Shrine stepped in to stop the fighting.

Modern day
In addition to contacting new civilisations and the Concordat once again, the Empire opened up trade with other civilisations in the landmark Hidaka Special Trade Zone Act just twenty years prior to the present day, which allowed the frontier planet of Hidaka to be opened up for external parties to conduct trade, with the obvious exception of non-human nations. The same act also allowed Imperial trade convoys and citizens to go beyond the Empire's borders freely for the first time, finally integrating the Empire with the galaxy in some way. The Empire also finally created formal ties with the Galactic Concordat as an observer about five years before the present day, along with an embassy on Point Suko.

Government and politics
Yamatai is headed by the Empress of Yamatai, regarded as a Goddess walking on this plane who is directly descended from Amaterasu, the sun goddess of their religion. In this respect, the Empress exercises absolute power over the nation in addition to acting as the head of the national religion. However, due to the scale of the Empire, the Empress rarely exercises her absolute power except in extremely crucial times. She is revered by all in the Empire as a living Goddess and is assisted in her religious duties by the Supreme Priest.

The Government of Yamatai proper is headed by the Prime Minister of Yamatai, the single most powerful person in the Empire with the exception of the Empress. The Prime Minister heads the Imperial Cabinet of ministers, whose members are voted from the Imperial Assembly, which includes representatives from all provinces of the Empire. The Imperial Assembly democratically votes on laws and resolutions, with the exception of anything the Empress requests.

A federal system is in place to effectively govern the nation, with each planet divided into provinces, and each province essentially acting autonomously as micro-states (except issues of defence) under the federal Imperial government. The federal government regularly issues production requests to provinces, which attempt to meet said targets. Provinces must also recognise federal laws and resolutions. Different provinces have varying government styles, ranging from democracy, socialism, and even direct dictatorships, most of which are tolerated so long as they remain obedient to the Empire and achieve production yields. If a provincial government is viewed to have gone too far in any respect the Imperial government can crack down and remove said provincial government possibly by military force.

Military
The Imperial Military is a large force consisting of around four billion troops across two main branches, the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy. The commander-in-chief of the military is the Shogun.

Atypically, the command structure of the Imperial Military is almost completely separated from the civilian government, with the only main link being the War Minister and the War Ministry. Requests for military action from the civilian government and the Prime Minister of Yamatai are relayed to the Shogun from the War Ministry. The Shogun is the overall head of all military actions and orders the Chiefs of Staffs of the various Imperial Military branches to carry out actions. The Imperial Military also maintains its own factories and an internal economy based on selling surplus supplies and equipment to soldiers, civilians or to groups like the Self-Defence Forces and the other national militaries.

The Teikoku Gikai maintains the right to enact conscription during extremely dire times. During peacetime, the Imperial military's numbers are maintained through voluntary service, as well as troops pledged to the Empire by planetary and provincial governments from their Self-Defence Forces. Citizens are by law allowed to choose between joining the Imperial military or their home province's Self-Defence Force or home planet's Self-Defence Fleet.

Technology-wise, the Imperial military operates tried-and-tested weapons and technology such as chemical-propelled bullets, lasers and nuclear weapons. While far from highly advanced compared to other galactic civilisations, some of the equipment used by the Imperial military is considered cutting-edge within the Empire itself. The Imperial Military uses a wide array of legged machines due to Yamatai's heavy investment in the technology.

Law enforcement and crime
Due to the size of the Empire, it is very difficult to establish a single federal police force. The only such force is the Imperial Customs Authority, which maintains the FTL beacon highways and patrols these highways as well as star systems for criminals, and the Imperial Security Bureau, which is the main internal intelligence and enforcement agency, maintaining national security. Beyond this, law enforcement is primarily the responsibility of local police departments within each province.

In space, with the increasing volume of trade, piracy is an emerging issue. While the issue had always existed, pirates have now grown stronger and are able to outrun and outgun authorities at times. The Imperial Navy has thus also begun to aid anti-pirate activities in addition to their standard duties.

Economy
This is going to be fun but I'm so scared.

There is a large mining and resource extraction industry based around the use of resources on uninhabited planets or bodies. These efforts are typically fully automated, with only a minor human presence in-system to monitor the mining drones. The use of resources from off-world allows the Empire to attain valuable planetary resources without damaging or polluting their precious new worlds, as was done on Tiandi prior to its death.

Mention how cities are subject to strict laws to prevent them from becoming too big, and all cities must be green cities.

[size=150][b]ECONOMIC-[/b][/size]

Ideology: Free-market capitalist/Varies

Economic ideology varies between the various provinces, though at the topmost level the Empire embraces free market capitalism. The government is generally non-interventionist, with provincial governments largely responsible for their own trade and social spending. However, the government does occasionally provide extra funding or aid to help the provinces with a lower standard of living, especially those in the conquered territories or on the frontiers.

Economy: Decent

The Empire's economy is based on trade between the provinces and planets, with some government intervention, to ensure healthy competition to promote efficiency and economic growth. As a whole, the Empire's economy grows at a stable rate. External trade contributes only a small amount to the Empire's economy, with foreign trade extremely regulated and geographically restricted to a single system, the Hidaka System, which is the designated trading point for foreign humans. The Empire's major exports are local foodstuffs, luxury goods, cultural artefacts, projectile weaponry, metals and superconductors.

The economy is dominated by a handful of oligopolistic supercorporations with stakes in almost all major industries, primarily Mitsushishi, Sukimoto, Kawazaki, Gomusubi, Beifang, and Takaoka. Saseong is another major corporation from Jeobseon, which regularly competes with the larger Yamataian corporations. Other niche manufacturers include Kurikara Robotics, Same-Kakurega Shipyards, Sasebo Military Systems, Dai Yamatai Starship Solutions and Arisaka Weapons Corporation.

Manufacturing: Good

Yamatai is somewhere in the "middle of the road" in regards to manufacturing. Depending on the province and good in question, production processes range from human-assisted robotic assembly lines to full 3D printing facilities. Yamatai also possesses the technology to produce synthetic materials through atomic -level fabrication.

Agriculture: Strong

Agriculture is intrinsically a part of Yamatian society, to the extent that most families in rural areas have their own garden farms and city dwellers may have rooftop or vertical farms. On a larger scale, industrial farms tend to be highly efficient and include both advanced hydroponics and organic farms of a variety of foodstuffs, though Earth-based foods are preferred everywhere. Algae-based food is also widespread as a food substitute. Genetic modification of food is widespread and is largely not seen as problematic.

Religion
Main article: Imperial Shrine

The state religion is known as the Imperial Shrine. The Imperial Shrine borrows heavily from suprareligious Shinto practices of old Yashima, and is itself not officially considered a religion in the traditional sense. While the majority of the Imperial Shrine Gods are non-corporeal, the Empress of Yamatai is the main corporeal religious figure, the prime patriotic and divine figure amongst the mortals due to Her direct lineage to the Sun and Universe Goddess, Amaterasu. This is a historical fact, and questioning this fact or the existence of the Gods is akin to committing blasphemy in the Empire. Reverence for the Empress and obligatory ritualistic visits to local shrines, as well as the regular rituals carried out within and outside of such shrines, are central aspects of the Imperial Shrine religion. It is possible to forego the rituals but still worship the Empress and the Gods, but it is highly recommended to strictly maintain the traditional rituals of respect and worship. Places of worship are simply known as Imperial Shrines.

One of the most important aspects of the Imperial Shrine religion is the belief in the Divine Destiny of Humanity, promised by the Gods through the Heaven-prescribed teachings of the Empress and the Supreme Miko, the head of the Imperial Shrine. As taught by the Imperial Shrine, the Divine Destiny of Humanity is to attain total dominance over the Galaxy, ensuring that all Humans collectively believe in the Gods and the divinity of the Empress, and all of Izanami's mistakes (non-Humans) are eradicated or dominated. Once this is achieved, the Gods will be fully pleased with their children, and balance will be achieved in the cosmic forces. It is to achieve this goal that the Empire began and carries out the Divine Mission.

Other minor religions do exist within Yamatai, though these are usually confined to single provinces or planets. All efforts are made to convert such individuals to the one true belief system, lest they grow too large and displease the Gods.

Science and technology
Yamatai can be considered as having just passed a golden age of development. New technologies and previously unheard of scientific methods have allowed Yamatai to enjoy a high standard of living in the Union. Like all Humans, the scientists of Yamatai are capable of higher thought, organisation and innovation. While lesser species helplessly evolve their own bodies and can never attain a pure form, Humanity can only increase its knowledge of the universe around them.

Large amounts of money and resources are spent on research every year. Yamatai considers itself particularly advanced in technology, machinery and biomedical research. Some of Yamatai's more prominent technological advances are in the fields of electronics, vehicles, weaponry, spacecraft, machinery, space engineering, robotics, optics, chemicals, semiconductors and metals.

Despite its advancement, Yamataian society tends to gravitate towards older, more proven technologies. The most basic technologies, such as ballistic weaponry and the wheel, have undergone few principal changes as their reliability has been proven over centuries of use. However, other great advancements are in place such as FTL drives that are capable of reaching other star systems in hours or minutes, as well as the creation of highly sophisticated AIs that can fulfil versatile roles.

It may also be argued that Yamatai is indeed highly developed, but has a love for the aesthetic of the past, allowing for traditional-style temples to be built with the most modern polymers and materials, for example. Though Yamataian vehicles still mostly rely on crude wheeled or continuous track motion for locomotion, they are still extremely advanced and incorporate high-strength materials with precision engineering to improve mobility and durability. Most have switched from fossil fuels to hydrogen-fuel cell engines which runs from converted salt water. Yamatai is also largely powered by solar, wind, hydro or nuclear energy. Space engineering is widespread, with space stations and orbital platforms in orbit above all major planets. Some civilians can afford leisure spacecraft with in-system FTL ranges.

Yamatai also excels in the medical field. Innovations such as sterile field generators reduce the risk of infection to open wounds, biofoam allows for rapid wound compression, and other equipment such as auto-sutures, laser scalpels and nanomachines allow the injured to be treated rapidly and efficiently. Diseases such as cancer have also been cured with new top-line medicines. To ensure the purity of the Human form, any form of non-medical modification of the Human body is banned in the Empire. This means that cybernetic augmentations are only available for true medical emergencies, and bioengineering of Humans is theorised but not practised. If Humans are modified, they lose their pure form and will be eventually descend into a downward slope of continuous modification, until they become unrecognisable to the Gods. This will prevent Humanity from attaining their Divine Destiny. It is only with strict discipline that the Humans of the Empire avoid attempting to "improve" upon their own bodies, and continue to work with what has been gifted to them by the Gods.

Dump
[size=150]Location: Yamatai Imperial Space Region[/size]

Located in a fairly unexplored part of space close to several other nations, the Yamataians defend their space region fiercely against all intruders to maintain their xenophobic isolationism. Not immediately bordered by any other nations, any foreigners detected near any of their frontier systems - except for the designated trade system of Hidaka - are either turned away or blown up, depending on how hostile or how human they are. However, these racist humans paradoxically continue attempting to spread outwards by sending colony, scouting and missionary expeditions beyond their borders.

Imperial Space is home to not just the Empire of Yamatai, but also the Jeobseon Cooperative, which is a minor allied nation, and the Aoyama Special Autonomous Region, a nominally independent autocratic socialist state located on half of the planet Aoyama and the moon of Reqing. A single non-human race, the United States of Dai'gor on Dai'gor, is populated by the Nekari and is at war with the Empire. Some minor independent states like the Dongchuang Autocracy also exist, essentially rebel states that have yet to be wiped out due to certain factors.

[size=150]Tech Tier: Stagnated early Tier 2[/size]

Yamatai is mired by a fixation with tradition and the past, as well as isolationism and a sense of superiority, preventing them from properly advancing along with the rest of the Galaxy. While they have attained numerous standard technologies such as FTL travel and artificial gravity, the nation still relies primarily on wheeled transport, for example, and projectile weaponry similar to those from the 21st to 22nd centuries on Earth. While they are often viewed as uncompromising and stubborn, refusing to buy technologies from their neighbours or cooperate on research endeavours, Yamatai regularly attempts to steal technologies from other nations as well. The Empire is however advanced in agricultural technologies and some forms of computing and robotics, able to for example create lifelike intelligent androids known as Humanoid Interfaces.

[size=150]Nation Type: Multi-system nation[/size]

Being a relatively old human nation plagued by isolationism and thus stagnation, Yamatai remains a small-sized multi-system nation of 131 known systems with 17 fully inhabited systems.

[size=150]Capital: Miyako City, Yamatai, Yamatai[/size]

The administrative capital of Yamatai is Miyako City, located on Yamatai in the Yamatai System. It is accordingly one of the most highly-defended and one of the largest cities in the Empire, though is by no means a form of arcology, and is a sprawling metropolis comparable to the largest cities on Earth in the early 21st century. Due to ideals of coexisting with nature and the need for balance in the environment, no cities in Yamatai are allowed to grow beyond a certain size or to become an arcology, with only a single such super-city existing on New Jiulong, Aoyama.

However, Yamatai also has a secondary capital in the form of the Imperial Capital, known as Imperial City. Imperial City is also located on Yamatai, though on its own continent, which is also one of the most secure locations in the Empire. Within Imperial City is the Imperial Palace where the Empress resides, as well a the Imperial Temple itself, the central focal point of the Empire's religion. The continent the Imperial City is located on is also reserved for the upper class to maintain vast estates, mostly due to the sheer cost of real estate there.

[size=150]Government type: Federal Theocratic Monarchy[/size]

Yamatai is headed by the Empress of Yamatai, regarded as a Goddess walking on this plane who is directly descended from Amaterasu, the sun goddess of their religion. In this respect, the Empress exercises absolute power over the nation in addition to acting as the head of the national religion. However, due to the scale of the Empire, the Empress rarely exercises her absolute power except in extremely crucial times. She is revered by all in the Empire as a living Goddess and is assisted in her religious duties by the Supreme Priest.

The Government of Yamatai proper is headed by the Prime Minister of Yamatai, the single most powerful person in the Empire with the exception of the Empress. The Prime Minister heads the Imperial Cabinet of ministers, whose members are voted from the Imperial Assembly, which includes representatives from all provinces of the Empire. The Imperial Assembly democratically votes on laws and resolutions, with the exception of anything the Empress requests.

A federal system is in place to effectively govern the nation, with each planet divided into provinces, and each province essentially acting autonomously as micro-states (except issues of defence) under the federal Imperial government. The federal government regularly issues production requests to provinces, which attempt to meet said targets. Provinces must also recognise federal laws and resolutions. Different provinces have varying government styles, ranging from democracy, socialism, and even direct dictatorships, most of which are tolerated so long as they remain obedient to the Empire and achieve production yields. If a provincial government is viewed to have gone too far in any respect the Imperial government can crack down and remove said provincial government possibly by military force.

[size=150]Population: 260 billion[/size]

260 billion humans live in Yamatai, including the nominally independent Aoyama Special Autonomous Region and the Jeobseon Cooperative. The number of Nekari is not known*.

[size=150]Number of Systems: 131 - 17 Inhabited[/size]

131 known systems exist in Imperial Space, though numerous unexplored systems have yet to be discovered. Only 17 of these systems have inhabited planetoids, though some of the "uninhabited" systems are also home to minor space habitats.

The Core Worlds are Yamatai, Kanagawa and Niigata, representing Yamatai and its first two colonies during the colonial period.

The Outer Core consists of the moon Aomori and Ashihara, which were the second two colonies to be founded during the colonial period, though the circumstances surrounding the First War of Unification prevented them from being a part of the Core Worlds.

The Second Expanse includes Hirasaka and Mizuho, the nations which once formed the core of the Celestial Union, conquered after the Second War of Unification. It was almost entirely a politically-motivated administrative division, seeking to isolate the former Union states from the Republic.

The First Frontier, Yamatai's first attempt to spread beyond their borders, includes the planets Hidaka, Nemuro and Teshio. Notably, Hidaka is the designated trade system of the Empire, the only place foreigners are allowed to engage with the Empire's inhabitants except in extraordinary circumstances.

Finally, the New Frontier, which represents Yamatai's latest attempt at colonisation from less than 100 years ago, includes the planet Atsuta and the moon Suwa.

In addition to these, the Jeobseon Cooperative includes the planets Jeobseon and Cheongsu, while the Aoyama SAR includes the planets Aoyama, Reqing and Dongchuang, the remnants of what was once the Galactic People's Republic.

Beyond this the planet Neka/Dai'gor is also inhabited by the non-human Nekari, located deep within the Nekari Exclusion Zone. It is not known if they have any other inhabited planets.

Species: Human

Radically xenophobic due to their religious ideology, baseline humans make up the vast majority of the population. Social and religious constructs generally look down on body modifications such as radical voluntary cybernetics, though certain helpful modifications like medical cybernetics are accepted. None of the Empire's humans are known to have psionic capabilities.

MILITARY-

Population: 5,962,042,000

The Imperial Military is a voluntary organisation, though heavy propaganda makes it a very attractive career prospect for many in the Empire. Imperial Military units are either Imperial or Local, with Imperial units consisting of people recruited from all over the Empire and can be stationed anywhere in the Empire, while Local units tend to be stationed on a single planet and recruit from the same planet and geographical location it is based at. Recruits have a choice as to which type of unit they are posted to, with various incentives following either choice.

The Jeobseon Self-Defence Force is included in this number, though itself is very small. The Nekari military's numbers are not known*.

Branches:

Imperial Army Ground Force: The Imperial Army Ground Force is the main ground fighting force of the Imperial Army. It also includes its own air forces under Frontal Aviation, consisting of a myriad of VTOL, helicopter and some atmospheric fixed-wing aircraft. Land vehicles tend to be highly conventional tanks, IFVs, APCs, artillery and combat walkers.

Sea Force: The Imperial Army Sea Force is the aquatic navy of the Imperial Army. It maintains several types of warfare ships and submarines, which are primarily located on the Empire's own planets. In this respect, it is a far more defensive organisation than the other branches of the Imperial Military, arguably the only branch wholly dedicated to a defensive role.

Space Force: Similar to the Navy's possession of a ground force in the SNLF, the Imperial Army also has a Space Force, which is responsible for transporting their forces between planets as well as providing some aerospace combat capabilities, though the Army's ships are not intended to engage in full ship-to-ship warfare and are primarily troops carriers or aerospacecraft carriers.

Imperial Navy

Combined Fleet: The Combined Fleet is the total armada of the Yamatai Imperial Navy, consisting of a vast array of combat warships of various classes up to multi-kilometre supercarriers and a single near-3,000 metre ultra-battleship. The Combined Fleet is divided into mobile and system fleets. While system fleets are stationed within and patrol the immediate area around a specific system, mobile fleets regularly roam the Empire and also patrol the borders to maintain the Empire's draconian border protection policies.

Special Naval Landing Force: The SNLF is the main marine force of the Imperial Navy, operating a variety of ground assault options to act as first-strike troops during planetary invasions, though cannot sustain land operations for long. Their arsenal is highly identical to the that of the Imperial Army, with some differences in service rifles and combat vehicles. The SNLF, however, is not responsible for security on the ships of the Imperial Navy, which such duties falling under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Navy Marines, a smaller force trained for shipboard combat and security duties.

Standard infantry:

Infantry vary depending on the service of the Imperial Military they are a part of. Most are equipped with load-bearing mechanical exoskeletons and ]basic protection. Infantry tactics are largely identical to early 21st century tactics, updated for the modern battlefield. Furthermore, due to the vastly increased distances in modern warfare, all infantry units tend to be mechanised or airborne, with a transport option always available for infantry troops.

Robotic infantry also exist, often acting as meatshields for more valuable living humans.

Standard Infantry weapon types:

Yamatai continues to arm its troops with reliable, well-tested projectile weaponry such as handguns, shotguns, rifles, machine guns, rockets and grenade launchers. Directed energy weapons are also available, though are considered specialist weapons that range from "laser rifles" for special forces teams to anti-vehicle shoulder-mounted lasers.

Notably, Yamataian officers and some enlisted men carry mass-produced carbon-fibre-titanium swords for melee combat due to a strange fixation with romanticised images of warriors promoted by Imperial propaganda. Regardless, these swords do remain a dangerous close-range weapon for enemy troops.

Standard ship:

There is no single standard ship of the Imperial Navy, a constantly evolving organisation that constantly upgrades its equipment for modern requirements. However, most Imperial warships are armed with similar types of weapons, elaborated below, and are armoured with titanium and carbon alloy plating, as well as the synthetic Yukitate Crystal Lattice** system designed to protect against energy weapons. The Empire has not developed the technology for energy shields, and instead rely on thick armour and redundant systems to protect against enemy attacks.

Warships range from carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes and patrol ships, with a variety of support ships also existing. Beneath these, there are also fighters and bombers, some of which are aerospacecraft and can enter atmospheres.

Space Weapon Types:

Similar to their ground weapons, the Imperial Navy's ship-to-ship weapons are highly conventional, consisting of a variety of railguns, lasers, missiles and guns like autocannons and machine guns.

Missiles of various types serve as all-range weapons systems, often launched in mass numbers to overwhelm enemy point defences.

The primary long-range options for Imperial Navy vessels are their Beam Laser Arrays, which are highly accurate, extremely powerful directed energy weapons designed to disable enemy ships before the enemy is able to react. All warships above Cruiser classification are armed with these weapons, with the notable exception of the Kabekage Stealth Destroyer, which also mounts beam laser arrays. Beam lasers tend to be broadside or front-facing weapons.

Mid to close range combat is carried out by turreted railguns, which range in calibre from 127mm to 560mm, firing a variety of projectiles.

Point-defence is usually carried out by autocannons and machine guns. Most fighter spacecraft are also armed with autocannons and missiles.

Strengths:

While lacking in technology, it can be said that the Empire is undeniably good in one respect: numbers. They have the industrial capability to churn out thousands of seemingly low-class tanks a day, and even more robotic drone soldiers to bolster their human infantry. At the same time, they do not mindlessly use their numbers as their only advantage, resulting in an enemy that has mass numbers and good land warfare tactics.

In space, the Imperial Navy is built around individually powerful battleships and cruisers supported by numerous destroyers and more minor vessels, with tactics aimed at value-adding and formation-based encirclement. Their warships while unshielded are of a high quality, with strong armour and conventionally reliable powerful weaponry.

Weaknesses:

Even so, their biggest weakness has to be their level of technology. On land, normal infantry outside of specialised exosuit units only have standard skeletal load bearing exoskeleton frames and body armour that protects against shrapnel and possibly pistol rounds, with no chance against energy weaponry or more exotic armaments. Their vehicles, while more advanced than their ancient counterparts, are still extremely conventional, facing problems such as fuel shortages and a lack of energy shielding.

In space, the lack of energy shields can quickly become a liability, as the Empire has noted after several closely-won border defence activities. While they have developed technologies to counteract this, such as the Yukitate Lattices** and shield-piercing ammunition, their warships still have glaring vulnerabilities against shield-equipped enemies, forcing them to rely on specialised tactics and long-range combat to deal with shielded enemy ships.

Overall, the Empire's reliance on kinetic weaponry is a liability, as ammunition supply lines are yet another vulnerability. Another weakness stems from their very culture itself, which values obedience, success over all and personal honour. This results in a dangerous fanaticism that promotes suicidal actions and attacks, such as the infamous kamikaze tactic, so prevalent an entire line of suicide drones had to be introduced to deter pilots from sacrificing their lives and fighters.


 * And is OOCly inconsequential since I will only ever RP them fighting the Empire - they're surrounded by the Empire anyway.
 * Handwavium not-shield shields.