The Hyperion Empire is one of the longest reigning empires in human history, rivaled only by that of Rome of Ancient Earth. It was also the most expansive before the Arcadian Imperium, followed by the Vanguard Ascendancy, came to power after almost five hundred years.
The flag is two main colors: Black and red. These were the two main colors of the Rezal family crest and were meant to symbolize power and strength. Even after the death of their initial Emperor, and subsequent loss of power of the family, the colors were retained in both honor of him and because it was seen as Hyperion more than Rezal. The Y shape in the center represents the triumvirate that initially led the empire. Around the Y, the three triangles stand for the pillars of the Hyperion military: Honor, bravery, and loyalty.
Beginnings:
During the middle of the third millennium, the Praesidium Union was flourishing. Taxes were low, income was soaring, social programs were abundant. It was a stereotypical shining utopia. The one thing that some felt were missing was a military, though few voiced these concerns aloud.
After the rebellion that gave the Union its freedom succeeded, the leaders saw little need for a standing military. Instead of continuing to contribute money to it, they chose to divert it to the much needed programs, such as health care, education, welfare, they were lacking under the Solar Empire. There were no real outside threats, so it was ultimately viewed as unnecessary.
Alan Rezal, a security consultant and owner of a private military cooperation from Hyperia, disagreed with this viewpoint. He felt that in order to achieve true peace and to safeguard their society, they needed to conquer the rest of the known galaxy. He argued the only way to ensure their Union would last would be to eliminate any potential threats before they arose. He played to the people’s fears of what could be, and he coasted to victory as President of the Praesidium Union. Many politicians, and even the military leaders the Union still had, tried to convince the population that Rezal was a threat to their way of life, that his rhetoric was dangerous and just unfounded fearmongering. However, they didn’t heed the warnings.
In addition to Alan Rezal winning the presidency, the party he ran under, the Intergalactic Freedom Party, won majorities in the Union’s parliament. They were able to enact sweeping reforms of the electoral process, ensuring that they would remain in power, under the guise of protecting the public from external threats, such as the Solar Empire. They also systematically weakened the Galactic Council, reducing its power and ensuring that it wouldn’t get in the way. In addition, the IFP transferred funding to the military, outpacing the spending of Earth even at the height of its empire, and instituting a mandatory military service of fifteen years starting from the age of twelve for all citizens of the Union. Billions of new soldiers were conscripted and thousands of spaceships were built in just a few short years. Their military technology made leaps and bounds in time frames that seemed impossible to achieve.
However, some planets within the Union grew wary. Siatia, Stariek, and Arcadia all saw the dangers that Rezal posed to their way of life. Not wishing to be part of it, they withdrew from the Union, preferring to go off on their own. Their delegates were expelled from the Parliament and sent back home. However, before other planets could follow their lead, the Parliament rewrote their constitution, outlawing the secessions for the Praesidium Union. Alan Rezal also fully realized his dream by officially proclaiming that the Union was to be dissolved, and all planets currently part of it would be reorganized under the Hyperion Empire. He appointed two of his lifelong friends and trusted advisors as Supreme Generals within the Empire, ruling alongside him.
War and Peace; “Pax Hyperia”:
Alan Rezal’s triumvirate guided the Hyperion Empire to many decisive victories in a war against the Solar Empire. Unprepared for such attacks, Earth was unable to fend off against the better trained armies and better technology of Hyperia. They saw their large expanse of planets slowly dwindling until they were left with no more than the Sol System, at which point even that splintered into three distinct factions: Earth, the Martian Federation, and the Lunar Assembly.
Stolen story; please report.
One of the most decisive battles was the Battle of Luna-Sol, a spaceport on the Moon of Earth that provided the majority of logistics for the Sol system. Rezal’s top general and member of his triumvirate, Oskar Valkor, led a surprise assault on the spaceport. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Hyperions were able to take control of the defense cannons around the spaceport, turning them against the Earth fleet and destroying over half of their vessels. This severely weakened Earth military capabilities, and, with the successful capture of the port, crippled their supply chains, effectively dismantling their empire and bringing it under Hyperion control.
Despite the capture of Luna from Earth, there were many on the homeworld of the humans that sought to maintain independence from the Hyperion Empire. They felt they would be able to recapture the spaceport and bring about the return of the former glory of the Solar Empire. As such, they brought the full might of their remaining fleet down onto the Hyperion Forces still present at Luna. It led to one of the deadliest conflicts in modern history. Not just in space, but also in the aftermath.
The Hyperion Empire did not tolerate resistance. They demanded nothing less than undying fealty to their Emperor. Those who rebelled against that were treated harshly. None more so than the Earth soldiers that tried to continue the fight against the Hyperions.
During this time, the Hyperions were experimenting with tritinium. It was a extraordinarily rare resource, only found in minute quantities that did not allow for much leniency in its use. Only in extremely specific scenarios was it allowed to be used outside a laboratory. One of those was in the quelling of Earth.
Oskar Valkor was given authority to use five of the largest warheads ever created by humans, prior to or since. Each contained a kilogram of tritinium, the equivalent of ten gigatons of TNT. Not only did he want to quell Earth, he wanted to make an example of them. And an example of them he made.
Valkor brought the missiles to Earth aboard his flagship, the dreadnought Cataclysm, and carried out Operation Fallen Origin. He gave them one final warning to give into the Hyperion forces and allow their subjugation. When they responded by destroying one of the escort frigates—just one—he launched the missiles. They struck the planet’s crust and detonated with enough explosive force to leave a scar of destruction visible from space to this day. Radioactive fallout covered the planet and plunged the planet into a nuclear winter. Billions died in the initial strike. The rest perished with the complete ecological collapse brought about by the lack of sunlight and extreme weather shifts.
The action brought condemnation from those former colonies that were not under Hyperion control. Killing so many in such a way, not to mention the environmental impact of what was dubbed a terrorist attack, was unheard of. Some petitioned the Galactic Council to sanction the Hyperion Empire, though these attempts ultimately fell on deaf ears as the Council had long been defanged.
The Martian Federation and Lunar Assembly, after seeing the destruction brought to Earth, quickly capitulated to Hyperion demands without fanfare. They agreed to the terms given, as unfavorable as they were, to ensure their continued survival. And with their acceptance, the home system of humanity came under the control of the Hyperion Empire.
Satisfied with the destruction of what had once been a thorn in the side of the Praesidium Union, the Hyperion Empire turned its sights on other conquests. There were many different colonies throughout the galaxy that had, so far, managed to stay out of either the Union and Solar Empire. However, Rezal believed these to still pose a threat to Hyperia. Planet after planet fell to the Hyperion Empire and were dissolved into their society. Some planets welcomed the change in leadership. Others fought it. However, rebellions were quickly quelled and punished severely, making them an example for others.
Of the three planets that originally left the Union upon Rezal’s change of policy, only one landed in the sights of Hyperia: Arcadia. Siatia had seen the writing on the walls and bolstered their own military, making it too costly to try to re-assimilate them, and Stariek was too far out of the way with little in the way of rare resources to make it a worthwhile conquest. However, Arcadia sought to try a more peaceful route, and Rezal viewed this as weak. He wanted to bring them back within his Empire. Not only for their people and resources, but to show the galaxy that one did not simply abandon the Empire.
In short order, they sent a demand to Arcadia to cede control of their planet to the Hyperion Empire. As expected, the Arcadian government denied this demand. While the Cataclysm did not make an appearance above the planet—it was stationed at Hyperia itself—a fleet of three hundred warships appeared at the Arcadian's front door. After a brief orbital bombardment using traditional weaponry—and the destruction of the majority of the Arcadian fleet—the government acquiesced to the Hyperion’s demands and agreed to rejoin the Empire.