Republic of Elyra

The Republic of Elyra
The Republic of Elyra, or more officially the Serene Republic of Elyra, is among the more populous and powerful colonial factions. This is one of the few locations in the Orion Spur that Phoron can be found, and as such it is the cornerstone of the growing Republic’s economy. It is seen as a sibling of sorts to the residents of Tau Ceti and thus the newly-formed Republic of Biesel due to its similar upbringing, having been the product of very early colonization efforts.

Overview
Elyra is often seen as a highly utopian player in the Orion Spur, being logistically and technologically ahead of most other Human factions. This is partly due to its well-planned, heavily funded government effort from the richest nations of the time when its first colonists were sent out. Moreso this is owed to the discovery of Phoron in Elyran space, which has seen the Republic’s industry rise to Olympian heights, holding some of the greatest minds in the known galaxy.

Among the nations which were originally responsible for the colonization of Elyra’s capital - the system of New Ankara - were those of the transcontinental Middle Eastern regions of Earth, and Northern Africa. Much of modern Elyran culture can draw its roots to these corresponding regions. Elyra is largely isolated from interstellar travel, having very harsh customs and monumental requirements for those seeking citizenship. Despite this, the citizens within are far from locked inside, the Republic itself heavily funding foreign exchange programs. As well, Elyrans are often known to wilfully explore the unknown frontier beyond charted space.

The Serene Republic above all is known for its separation from NanoTrasen. It alone is dependent on its thriving Phoron economy, something it secured in the early days of the material’s discovery. Now, it is among the very few galactic entities to be able to rival NanoTrasen’s monopoly. Thinly veiled however is a heavy hand by non-NT megacorps in Elyran internal politics, something that nonetheless gives it a unique profile.

No longer merely an industrial power, recent years have led to massive shifts in the Elyran political mindset, bringing militarization and defense funding to the highest degree possible. This is largely defense against major galactic threats, such as the Izweski Hegemony or the Lii’dra hive, both of which engaged the Serene Republic with the latter mounting a full-scale invasion on the planet Bursa. While their relations with the Hegemony are simply sour now, the Vaurca of the galaxy are often seen as a foremost threat to many Elyrans.

Population and Planets
The total population of Elyra is 17,353,349,200 based on the 2458 Census. This population is spread out over the nation's planets.

Persepolis
The capital planet Persepolis, in the New Ankara star system, has roughly 15 billion residents. The planet was originally an arid planet with a modest atmosphere and stubborn native ecosystems already present. Original Alliance-funded terraforming efforts transformed the planet into an Earthlike planet within a decade, allowing the population to flourish before and after independence. Commercial and service sector jobs remain the highest employer, second to refineries processing phoron or other minerals transported to the planet's orbit. This is among the primary locations in Elyra where phoron can be found in abundance.

Persepolis is known for its incredible luster, the soil giving the vast treelines a unique shade of amethyst that may be confused for a vast sea from space. Contrasting this are vast arid swaths of sand deserts, usually filled with crystalized phoron which, despite efforts, poisons the soil and prevents any plant life from growing. However, these phoron crystals jutting out of the ground provide Persepolis with a rich export.

The planet holds host to the New Ankaran Jewel, an orbital shipyard and drydock connected by space elevator. From here the majority of the Republic’s finest space-faring vessels are made, civilian or otherwise. It is located in the planet’s capital city Uthma among sandy dunes, and extends to low orbit of the planet.

Medina
The second most inhabited planet with 1.3 billion people, Medina resides in the Jedeed Isfahan system. The planet has a thin yet breathable atmosphere which makes prolonged physical effort difficult without respiratory gear. However the planet is incredibly rich with mineral wealth due to its active geological history. Settlements on the planet are built to compensate for the high frequency of earthquakes.

Bursa
In the Cairo United star system Bursa carries 700 million people. The planet sits farther out from the star than usual and thus has a predominately frigid climate year-round. Paradoxically hydroponic farm companies remain the highest employer on the planet, second to the shipyards that circle the planet. Several Elyran Defense Force bases also dot the surface, taking advantage of the harsh winters for wilderness survival training.

Bursa was the site of the Lii’dra hiveship’s planetary landing, and its population is still shaken by the nearly 40,000 dead after the ensuing conflict.

Aemaq
A hot, chemical-water covered world in outer Republic space. Self sufficient, the settlements on the world are made up of flotillas dotting the waters of the planet. The water itself is unpotable but rich in exotic volatile organic compounds. These compounds alongside various art crafts are the planets biggest exports. The water industry is a large part of the economy on this planet.

Edirne
Colonized after independence and sitting in the Serene Riyadh system, the dwarf planet of Edirne carries only 50 million people. With the lack of an atmosphere the vast majority of the population lives in the various biodomes that dot the surface or in the orbiting space stations. Most of the inhabitants work as space miners taking advantage of the systems high concentration of phoron wealth.

Other Worlds
Ankara Station - The Republic's primary space dock orbiting Persepolis. Dependant on importants from Persepolis, the station has a large service and banking economy. It is extremely heavily armored boasting multiple battle defence cluster stations equiped with state of the art plasma artillery and kinetic weaponry.

Qamar Station - A large station situated on the largest moon of Persepolis. It is self sufficent industrial station with primary Republic exports being computer components and machinery.

Nazar Flotilla - Large defense flotilla situated in the New Ankara. The flotilla's sole purpose is to detect and engage any Lii'dra hive ships that might enter the region. Due to its size and constant operation it has developed a large supplementary civilian population. Almost self sufficent, the flotilla still relies on imports from the Republic. It contains a large number of Offworlder Humans.

Tokat - A young mineral rich colony located on the outer regions of the Republic. Self sufficent with a mixed economy, it's primary exports are minerals for the Republic.

Errai Station - A former mining colony turned into a large rotating space habitat, the station is largely self sufficent with it's main import being water and it's key exports being services and banking.

Karistal Outpost - Located on a planet in the Republics frontier bordering Sol Alliance space, the outpost exists as a location of strategic importance. Reliant on Republic imports the outpost itself has a thriving artisan crystal cutting and shaping industry due to the rich crystal deposits in the outposts region. Many wealthy Elyrans spend large amounts of money to purchase crystal trinkets and even furniture from the outpost.

Government
Type: Parliamentary Democracy

Executive: Prime Minister Rasheed Tatenda Tau Kwadwo Daniyah Latifah Andile Nabil
 * Current Prime Minister:
 * Minister of the Army
 * Minister of the Navy
 * Minister of Diplomatic Affairs

Legislature:
 * Upper House: High Parliament
 * 550 Representatives; Two for every territory; unicameral legislature

Judicial: High Court of Tranqulity
 * 8 Seats; Serve for life

Military
The Serene Republic of Elyra being a sovereign entity in the frontier has made the creation of a martial force a necessary development. Being exposed to foreign and at times volatile entities has led to the formation of the Elyran Armed Forces, also referred to as the EAF. They would emphasize on speed and precision when conducting their operations, employing equipment providing the capability to strike fast or to retaliate swiftly to a plethora of threats to the Republics safety. The recent aggression by the Hegemony and the Lii'dra has prompted extra funding to the defense program to improve their naval capabilities.

The degree at which this defense program has progressed is not known to the public, but the mass mobilization of Elyran military assets is apparent. A large portion of Elyra’s developing industry has, in the last few years, been geared toward the comprehensive overhaul and total modernization of their armed forces with no exception. The balance of power in Frontier space has since shifted in the EAF’s favor - to the alarm of many smaller states that surround the growing Republic.

2nd Bursa Army Corps aka “The Shield Corps”
The Shield Corps is an elite unit within the Elyran military that specializes in combating Vaurca, specifically the Lii'dra. Veterans of the various Elyran-Lii'dra conflicts, the men and women of the Shield Corps are renowned for their steadfastness and anti-Vaurca combat skills. Generally extremely wary of all Vaurca, their hatred of the Lii'dra hive burns extremely hot. Quite a few former members have found themselves working with NT for various reasons, usually as engineers, medical staff and security.

Economics
Official Currency: Colonial Dollar

Accepts Union of Sol Credit: Yes

The Serene Republic of Elyra is a modern service economy with strong resource extraction sectors, namely the phoron sector, which is one of the largest employers in the Republic. New Ankara in specific is home to several major financial corporations, either branches of Idris Incorporated or domestic banking services. The heavy industry sector of the Republic has been seeing large increases, with demands for domestic manufacturing of weapons, vehicles, and ships after the recent conflicts with the insidious Liidra. With the high education standards pushed by several governing coalitions in recent decades, engineering and mathematical fields have seen higher-than-average growth, with the Republic producing highly trained engineers and doctors who are desirable across human space for their skill and proficiency. This economic growth, seen as a testament to their hardy spirit, is not seen as a pure positive by all in the Republic - Elyran society has seen increasing levels of economic stratification and growing income disparity alongside the better standards of living on the major planets, and some parties call for social policies to combat what they see as an unwelcome change.

Technology
The endearing technology of Elyra and the geniuses behind it are seen as the foundation of its modern society. Without it, Elyra would surely crumble. Examples of this technology include but are not limited to:

Prolific hover tech: Clever usage of magnetized phoron-based materials and chemicals have led to the perfection and proliferation of hover technology. This is to such a degree that hover transportation is the norm among Elyrans, and has progressed to create a total disregard for even the most basic of street elements in modern environments. Instead of parking lots are landing pads, and most indicators as to traffic control and the like are left to heads-up-displays found within hovercars via helmets, screen projectors, or otherwise. Travel to and from any point within any Elyran territory as a result is usually fast, reliable and easy as hover-vehicles are fully capable of flying well above and beyond any obstacles or landscapes. The average commercial flying car would be able to sustain flight at nearly one hundred fifty meters over ground.

High-end VR and simulation technology: Among the best of Human-designed VR can be found within Elyra, seen commonly in public-access Idris VR terminals or in higher-end private-use modules. More on the pedantics of VR can be found on the culture page.

Plasma technology: Utilized exclusively in the military field, high-end plasma technology is the most apparent indicator of Elyran presence in any given combat situation. They are the only faction to utilize superheated plasma in this sense, able to penetrate and combust foes from the inside out with horrifying results. The ethics behind using such weapons are questionable, however their effectiveness is without doubt. This was mostly pioneered after the Lii’dra invasion of Bursa.

Societal
Ethnic Groups:
 * 56% Wasat
 * 31% Kharijiin
 * 13% Other (Humans of other heritage)
 * ?% Alien (Skrell, Tajara, Dionae, Other)

Languages
Tau Ceti Basic is the most spoken language in the Republic of Elyra, with Sol Common and Freespeak coming in a distant second and third. Tradeband is relatively rare, being spoken mostly by foreign immigrants and resident traders from across human space. A minority of pro-Sol people in the Republic speak using only Sol Common.

Religion: Secular; Religious Freedom; Variety of Religions

Culture
Elyran culture is a mix and match of North African and Middle Eastern culture inherited from its original colonists coupled with a perpetual struggle against the galaxy at large. Foreign media, though a hit, is heavily overshadowed by internal Republic culture at large. Contrary to its anti-xeno beliefs, public society is rather progressive - much of any Human can be seen in Elyra with little discrimination and naught a single eye will be batted to the more exotic or unfamiliar cultures.

Virtual reality, pop culture icons and art dominate Elyran culture as a whole.

A comprehensive look at Elyran culture can be found here.

Anthem
Live my country, for the unity of our Elyra lives

To glory and greatness we march

For Elyra, we have sworn to live and work

For Elyra, we sweat and toil

For our Elyra, we await the call

From our Elders to our Children, we await the call

With haste we march, for Greatness

Oh my Elyra, we sacrifice for you.

With our blood and soul, we stand for you.

Oh my Elyra, Oh my Elyra, we are yours forever.

For greatness, we strive!

Long live our Elyra.

Wasat
The Wasat race makes up the largest portion of the population. They are descended from colonials from Arabia and Persia.

Skin Tone: 85 - 130 warm

Average Male Height: 5'6" - 6'1"

Average Female Height: 5'4" - 5'9"

Black to light brown hair

Blue, green, brown eyes

Kharijiin
The Kharijiin race makes up the second largest portion of the population. They are descended from colonials from North Africa.

Skin Tone: 110 - 170 warm

Average Male Height: 5'4" - 5'7"

Average Female Height: 5'1" - 5'5"

Dark hair

Various shades of brown eyes

Elyran Synthetics and Citizenship
Elyran-manufactured synthetics, particularly when compared to their Solarian compatriots, have much of their citizenship and freedom provided for by the Elyran government. As such, concepts of self-ownership and citizenship, although still requiring effort to obtain, are much easier to acquire.

During the Lii’dra invasion, the efforts and ultimate sacrifice of many Elyran synthetics spurned respect from the Elyran people, encouraging the laws to change in favor of their synthetic companions. As a result, when an Elyran integrated positronic chassis is manufactured, their ownership largely falls under the megacorporation that built them. Almost akin to a pseudo-guardianship, these synthetics are made to work for the corporation in question for three years before; so long as they maintain good performance evaluations, they are made a free synthetic and offered an Elyran citizenship. During this period, maintenance and repairs are offered as a part of their ownership to the company. However after the synthetic has been made free, they are required to pay for those services. Largely indentured by wages, few synthetics ever ‘leave’ the company, instead moving from a status of ownership to contractorship.

A deep-seated paranoia in synthetics manufactured from different systems has meant that non-Elyran synthetics seeking refuge are outright turned away, sent back to their fleeing star system’s or if volatile, decommissioned outright. This however doesn’t stop synthetics from attempting covert operations of forging documentation. As a result, Elyran synthetics have a tiny phoron inlaid engraving on their tag, denoting their original make as Elyran synthetics.

= History = The Republic of Elyra was formed during a large scale colonization and emigration effort from south western Asia (Middle East) and northern Africa during the early years of space colonization. Sitting on some of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, nations of Arabia and northern Africa found uncommon cooperation between one another to push their own space programs. This economic and scientific partnership soon encompassed even the nations in west Africa with little or no petroleum reserves, as it gave them a competitive edge to the West. This was a matter of necessity and survival, as it was clear that the powers of the West would not willingly share resources that they were raking in from their advances into the resource rich final frontier.

So the loose coalition of nations formed their own faction within the Sol Alliance, but as with most of the nations of Earth developed the insatiable hunger for resources that began to exploit the colonists they had sent out. During the civil war with Earth, the colonies of Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait all declared their independence, storming understaffed Sol Alliance garrisons and outposts and seizing the ships and equipment. These planets and systems formed together out of necessity, creating the Coalition of Elyra. This name was taken from the elyra moth, which had been introduced to planets within the Coalition and bred exponentially, making it an extremely common sight in the colonies, and one of their shared characteristics.

After the First Interstellar War
Due to their distance, being farther out than most other factions, the Coalition was spared from most of the fighting. There were minor skirmishes, but for the most part the Coalition was left alone.

This left the colonies time to develop and observe, with many of the highest ranking Coalition officials noting the tactics and outcomes resulting from the conflict raging between the Sol Alliance and independent systems. General Abd Al-Hamid was one of these men: he called for the Coalition to transform into a Republic, claiming that no matter how the war ended, the Coalition would have to walk its own path. There was resistance to this notion, mostly from the old guard of colonists who had been born on Earth or were influenced heavily by those that were. It took three years and two constitutions being dissolved, but on December 1st, 2399, the Republic of Elyra that exists to the present day ratified its constitution.

Since then, the colonies have had time to develop, staying out of harm’s way as the Interstellar War raged on and eventually came to a close. In Elyran society’s two-hundred years leading to the twenty-fifth century, it has hinged on its own resolve independent of the Sol Alliance. The rugged, self-sufficient Frontier nation has in time become a technological paradise, and a proud galactic power in the Orion Spur.

Current Times
Elyra has met more turbulence in recent times than ever before in its two-hundred-fifty year history on a galactic stage. Recent incursions by a Lii’dra hiveship and the Izweski Hegemony have left the public alert, adamant on maintaining purity of Human influence in their own homeland. As such, xeno presence within the Republic has dwindled in recent years.

In the past, NanoTrasen relations with Elyra have been spotty as the two contended over the necessity of phoron. Since the Lii’dra invasion, however, a formal aid contract was signed with NT against the Republic government’s better wishes seeking help in their time of need. Holding up to their end of the deal, NanoTrasen fabricated the eponymous “cardox,” a viciously effective chemical which can purge k’ois into nothingness effortlessly. The demand skyrocketed as the need for aid rose, and cardox quickly became a massive thorn in Elyra’s side as NanoTrasen proceeded to hike the prices to extreme heights.

Since the death and retrieval of the Lii’dra lesser queen on Bursa, the invading hiveship retreated back into deep space, not seen since.

Bursa Memorial
The Bursa Memorial was an initiative conducted in 2458 by the Elyran Parliament to house the names of the fallen and missing soldiers along with civilians of the Serene republic of Elyra during the Lii’dra aggression. The site of this is the location in which the hive ship landed. The site itself is separated into walls of different sizes also divided into different sections. Section A is reserved to the land forces, B for the planetside Air Force, C for the navy and D for non-combatants. Sections A-C have their walls separated by their unit or vessel they were stationed in while Section D reserved for non-combatants is separated by place of birth. Like many other memorials of the fallen, this place has an honor guard posted in respect and reverence to the martyrs that have laid down their lives in the name of their Republic.

Relations with Trans-Stellar Corporations
Due to Elyra's location, they sit with some of the largest reserves of phoron in their area. Nanotrasen was quick to notice this, and for the better part of a decade has been fighting tooth and nail to press claims on the deposits. The smaller systems that had initially depended on phoron mining and refinement found themselves muscled out by Nanotrasen, leading to a rising unemployment level and growing discontent about Nanotrasen policies in Elyran space.

While toting itself as wholly independent from megacorporate influence, this could not be further from the truth. Hephaestus and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals have had a heavy hand in Elyran internal politics for an indiscernible period of time, with both megacorporations battling for rights to even a sliver of the phoron deposits available. So far, very little to none have been granted to either by the doting Republic, but this may be soon to change as the endlessly rich corporations gain more sway.