The Last Praetorian
Prologue

The Imperium, more commonly referred to as “The Empire”, was founded circa 542 (New Confederation calendar)/2312AD (Old Earth calendar). It was arguably the most powerful and enduring geo-political structure since the Roman Empire’s repressive form of government, almost two thousand years earlier. It was undisputedly the largest Empire in history, at its greatest extent spanning almost one-hundred, seventy-five star systems, with a size in excess of thirty-five light years. In comparison, the Roman Empire only extended four million square kilometres, and there is no historical evidence it extended beyond a single star system.

The Imperium was formed by necessity soon after the discovery of Faster-Than-Light (FTL) travel early in the 23rd Century. With massive overpopulation problems on Earth and in the Sol system, FTL was offered as a way to escape the overcrowding and presented huge opportunities. These were confirmed with the early discovery of many hundreds of habitable worlds within a dozen light years of the Sol system. Hence the second exodus of mankind commenced. The first wave was led by the massive, system-wide conglomerates that had formed on Earth and led to the initial colonisation of the Sol system. With access to the large colony ships and FTL engines, they led the first wave of settlers, intent on profit. These were realised beyond their wildest dreams!

With abundant natural resources, and no need for expensive environmental habitats or terraforming, these early corporations could undercut all. As the cost of FTL travel fell, the next waves were the religious and persecuted political groups. By pooling funds they could afford the massive costs charged by the conglomerates—which found a lucrative secondary source of income for the now mothballed FTL colony ships. Within a decade humanity had spread to a dozen star systems; within a century, over a hundred different star systems had become colonised. However, then came the Great Schism…

With the most easily colonisable systems already established, and huge profits at stake, conflict quickly spread. Initially this was between the conglomerates over newly discovered systems but soon spread to recently established colonies, where the conglomerates fought over who had ownership. With no legal framework that could be agreed upon beyond the Sol system, it became a free-for–all, with the side having the most ships often winning the disputes. It was during the peak of these conflicts that the separatist movement first appeared.

Abundant in natural raw materials, the early colonies had become rich, but this wealth was being shipped back to the Sol system to line the coffers of the conglomerates. Incensed that others were becoming rich off the backs of the early colonists, and long since having become self-sufficient, they declared their independence and rebelled. War spread across colonised space like wildfire, leaving no colony untouched.

It is impossible to measure the loss of life, but historians estimate it was in the hundreds of millions, and interstellar trade all but collapsed. It was in the forge of war that the coalition of worlds, precursor to the Imperium, was founded.

An enigmatic leader of one of the earliest colonies, Edward Aurelius, proposed a mutual defence pact with a number of the nearest smaller colonies. This was based on the idea of mutual defence; if one member were attacked, all would come to its defence. After a few initial victories, the idea was an unqualified success. Peace finally spread between the founding colonies and they were able to rebuild their shattered industries and economies. Initially these colonies ran separate patrols of their systems but soon these were being combined to form joint patrols. Finally the fleets of the various systems were combined into one overall organisation, the forbearer of the modern day Imperial Navy.

The other colonies were still frequented by attacks and, with almost all trade halted, requested entry to this newly formed coalition. However, the early founding colonies had used their rebuilt industries and economies to become rich and powerful. They were distrustful of the other colonies, viewing them with suspicion. Led by the powerful Edward Aurelius, the cost of entry to the coalition was set high. Tribute was demanded in terms of ships, people, resources and raw materials, while in return they offered security and stability. Staring into the abyss of destruction, most colonies accepted the arduous terms of entry. The initial founding colonies of the coalition became the core worlds, the latter entrants the rim worlds. Over time the coalition evolved into the Imperium, where the threat of expulsion and withdrawal of protection from the fleet was enough to keep all but the most fool-hardly colonies in line. Eventually Edward Aurelius passed into the history books and, with his power base secured within the Imperium, succession was passed onto his eldest son James.

For five-hundred years the Empire ensured the peace via the threat of expulsion and withdrawal of the protection from the Imperial Navy. As generations passed, the Aurelius family tightened their hold on power, until they become synonymous with the Empire. With the backing of the Imperial Navy and his elite Praetorian Guards, the Emperor’s grip over the Imperium was absolute.