The Mechanical Theocracy of the Orrachian Empire

[Orrachius]

The Mechanical Theocracy of the Orrachian Empire; A Foreigner's Guide
by Hans-Ulrich Doetovskij, ANI 306
APPROVED for Public Consumption
(with unapproved annotations by Doctor Karla Ortega)

Foreword

The primary aim of this document is to educate the unenlightened reader on the wonders of the great Orrachian Empire, of which he should be ashamed to not be a citizen of. The efforts of heretics to undermine the Empire have resulted in outsiders being fearful; while fear is a normal reaction to the awe-inspiring majesty of the God-Emperor's works, this document aims to reassure the reader that we are not as ruthless and evil as he may have heard from more heretical works. In fact, the Orrachian philosophy is the one true way; if the reader does not accept the inferiority of his religion, his race, his nation and his ruler in the face of our might at first, surely he will by the end of this document.

I have consulted with representatives of the Orrachian Imperial Guard, the National Socialist Party, the Order for Excision of Heretics, the Cultural Commission, the Society for Preservation of Historical Purity, and other such noble organisations, throughout the drafting of this document, to ensure complete accuracy and adherence to the values of our great Empire.

I pray that the reader of this document find the strength in his heart to pity his weak organic shell, and that he one day join us in unwavering loyalty to the God-Emperor, blazing a path of glory across the stars!

~Hans-Ulrich Doetovskij.

This document is certified clean and pure by the Cultural Commission and has been found entirely non-objectionable by five Inquisitors, as required by the Purity Act 201. It hereby recieves an Approved rating.
Praise the God-Emperor! May His light guide the way.

Signed: High Inquisitor Ulfric Jurgensson, Board of Literature, Cultural Commission.

Foreword to the Annotated Edition

If you are reading this, then you are lucky to be one of the denizens of humanity outside of Orrachian jurisdiction. The existence of the Orrachian Empire is in itself a curiosity, and of great interest to anthropologists such as myself.
When humanity lifted off from Earth into the stars to commence a journey of understanding and discovery, we had no idea that others of our species were already there. And so it was that when our groups first met, great confusion ensued. Religious experts took the existence of other humans in the galaxy unaffiliated with the Earth Conglomerate as proof of Creation. Others assumed the whole thing was an elaborate hoax. But the truth was far more tragic. Cut off from Earth for some thousands of years, the Orrachians had missed out on many of the events that we picture as having shaped the course of humanity: the rise of the civil rights movement, the abolition of slavery, many wars, and the terraforming of Mars. They had no idea that we shared a common ancestor and a common homeworld. Our only similarities, physical appearance and vaguely recognisable language. Our separation had led to two entirely different human empires expanding across the stars, each believing themselves the true successors of humanity. And refusal of either state to accept the other has not helped relations.

For the benefit of our readers, annotations from myself will be displayed in blue text. They will be used to provide additional background information that is either unknown to the original author, or was not included as the result of censorship. Hopefully these annotations will provide insight into the differences between our cultures and pave the path to reconciliation.
Of course, these have not been approved by Orrachian authorities, if they are even aware of the existence of the edits. Perhaps that's for the best.

~Doctor Karla Ortega
Anthropological Institute of Savara, Earth Conglomerate

[Orrachius]

Introduction

Look outside your window on a clear starry night. For each pinprick of light in the sable vastness of space, imagine, for that is what it is, a whole world teeming with soldiers, shopkeeps, citizens, and slaves, each working to spread the word of the God-Emperor.
Now try to count the stars. Once you lose count, how many did you find? Four hundred? A thousand? More? What you see is but a fraction of the thousands of worlds encompassed by the glorious Orrachian Empire. Your pitiful existence is not even a fly's shadow on the bright beacon of the God-Emperor's realm. But be not afraid. For one day we will come to your miserable planet, so shrouded in the darkness of unenlightenment, and bring to its primitive inhabitants the might of Orrachius.

We praise the glorious God-Emperor Firenze Schwarz, who rescued humanity from slavery so many years ago and created our great Empire, of which you will learn later in this document. From nothing we arose from the ashes and built a philosophy with which to conquer the stars. None shall ever be in darkness again! That is the creed of Orrachius.

It is impossible to sum up the myriad geographies and economies of the thousands of worlds of the Empire. Each is its own precious place, united in subservience to the God-Emperor. And so I shall refrain from it. But think; for whatever you can imagine: the hottest of deserts, the lushest of jungles, the most crowded of cities, for anything there is a place in the Orrachian Empire.

Our capital is Eos Prime, a world so choked with beautiful machinery that your weak organic body may have difficulty breathing. That is why many Orrachian citizens choose to convert to mechanical bodies: to follow the God-Emperor, the first to undergo the procedure, to enhance their bodies into a purer, more efficient form, or to serve the God-Emperor more wholeheartedly, without the shackles of the flesh to hold them back. It is not a compulsory procedure, but it is recommended; for we all know that the mechanoid is superior to the organic.

Introduction to the Annotated Edition

Propaganda pamphlets and leaflets like this one were dropped on isolated human colonies some years before we made formal contact with the Orrachian Empire. Having experienced this sort of biased media and exaggerated facts for millennia, many found it laughable, but unfortunately this extremist, heavily militaristic doctrine is par for the course for our Orrachian brothers. After centuries of conflict, humans of the Earth Conglomerate have moved past the need for totalitarianism, if there were any to begin with. For the Orrachians, it is their strength; without the rigid belief in their own superiority, surely they would still be slaves to the Rachi, unknown to the galaxy. While I would never imply that resigning any humans to such a fate is permissible, much bloodshed could have been avoided...

[Orrachius]

History

Disclaimer: Firenze Schwarz will be referred to as the God-Emperor throughout this document even before His crowning as such. This is due to Orrachian laws regarding portrayal of the God-Emperor.

"For in all things that were, and are, and will be, there will always be the God-Emperor. To watch over us, to guide us, to keep us on the right path, to strike down our enemies, and show us the light.
-Anya Tyler, The Light, ANI 250

The Before-Time AT >1
Orrachius comes from the now-ancient Low Orrachian tongue, meaning 'from the Rachi'. For that is what we were before the God-Emperor. Humanity was enslaved under the heretical filth of creatures known as the Rachi. We know little of them. We destroyed all traces of their disgusting 'culture', their constructions. We crushed their bones underneath our boots. But once we were not the greatest race in the galaxy.
A time before the God-Emperor! To even imagine such a thing is unthinkable. But there are documents that exist.
The God-Emperor told us of the times of squalor and destitution. Humans were slaughtered by the thousand daily, or died starving in their own filth, their only purpose to serve the Rachi. We know not how long this period lasted, for little record of time before the Empire exists.

The God-Emperor was then but one of many thousands of slaves. And yet He alone had the power to unite the humans and crush our oppressors. An old interview, which is classified, shows the God-Emperor's reflections on that period. It is said that when asked of the rebellion that created our Empire, He shed a single tear and said simply, 'It was hard.' Again, we know not how long the war raged, but that the victors, that is humanity, went forth and destroyed all trace of their oppressors. The God-Emperor vowed that humanity would never be in darkness again. And thus the seeds of our great Empire were sown.

Yet again, little is known of the early days. We know only that the God-Emperor brought order and culture to the former slaves, and built up a new civilisation for humanity. Our calendar starts on the year that Orrachius truly became a nation, AT 1 (deis Aentique Tsolen, the Old Times in Low Orrachian).

After several decades of research and piecing together what little evidence we could find, the best estimate as to the origins of the Orrachian people were that they were abducted by the Rachi from nations around Europe on Earth some time during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire: similar iconography, nomenclature, and language patterns point to this conclusion. However, the Orrachians also have an understanding of such concepts as nationalism, national socialism, fascism, and democracy: none of which existed at that time. Some sketchy evidence points to the Rachi returning to Earth several times over the course of the proceeding centuries, implying that the Orrachians were originally made up of several different ethnic and cultural groups comprising an interesting mishmash of the dominant cultures in Europe from the 16th-20th centuries, and the descendants thereof.

The Miracle Age, AT 1-2112
The first two thousand years is known as the Miracle Age, for it is then that science truly made many leaps forward. We can only thank the glory of the God-Emperor for creating such amazing works from nothing. Those few who do not believe the God-Emperor's divinity (not a heretical thought- it is only heretical to not accept the God-Emperor as ruler!) have proposed the hypothesis that experimentation and chemicals from the Rachi rule led to His unusual longevity. There is no evidence for or against this proposition, and there never will be as the God-Emperor is now in a mechanical body and tampering with His brain would be heretical.
Some groups seceded from Orrachius at this point to set up their own colonies elsewhere on the planet, the first heretics. While trade with them continued, it was not to last.
The Low Orrachian language gave way to what we now call High Orrachian, although the last remnants of Low Orrachian can be found in our homeworld's name - Eos Prime, which comes from the Low Orrachian Eoshu Primae. While there was some exploration and mapping of the planet, few ventured very far. The local animals called 'sunwalkers' were used as primitive mounts, but their expulsion of noxious gases meant that travel was limited. More time could be spent improving the quality of life.
The first version of our capital city, Regiae, was built. The architecture, while primitive, was beautiful, and pure white.
The God-Emperor was not yet revered as such, although His longevity was considered a curiosity. Instead He was known as a mere King.

Of course it is impossible for this version of events to have occurred. It is far more likely that the God-Emperor, if he ever existed at all at this time, used the remnants of Rachi technology to bolster research and rebuilding efforts.
Furthermore, the 'God-Emperor' was more likely a line of nobility which passed on the name and its sovereignty from father to son, the details being distorted over time.
Finally, the language of Low Orrachian, which has roots in our Latin, became obsolete as the aristocratical and religious institutions for which it was suited no longer existed in their culture after being abducted from Earth. Since there was no longer a need for a language of the clergy and aristocracy in a land where those institutions had no standing, it was replaced by the common language, High Orrachian (which has roots in the Middle Low German/Low Saxon spoken in the Holy Roman Empire). The use of Latin-esque names of cities and institutions during this time are a carryover from the Holy Roman Empire's attempts to justify its claim as the successor of Rome by its use of Latin, a language which may have still held some air of mystery and regality to the Orrachians.

The First Purging, AT 2112-3
By the middle of AT 2112, the heretics foolishly decided to challenge the God-Emperor, believing His rule to be illegitimate. They rushed Regiae. Unfortunately, there was no military to fight back. The ancient weapons used in the rebellion had been preserved as artefacts, but there had been considered no need for them until this point. So the people of Orrachius fought back against the invaders with their own tools. Sheer numbers overwhelmed the heretics and defeated them. But the God-Emperor was no fool. He knew that they would return. So, using the new sciences, He commissioned the forging of weapons for the first time in two thousand years. All those who wished to fight were rounded up to create the first Orrachian Military, then called Waermakt. With new weapons and armour, the First Purging began. All heretics were destroyed, their towns burned to the ground, and all heretic products and supporters were also purged. Those who protested were told the truth: the heretics were agents of the now almost-forgotten Rachi, seeking to return humanity to slaves.
The planet burned with the fires of the damned for several days.

Obvious propaganda. Since the Orrachians were not present on Earth for the creation of the United Nations or other such guidelines for peace and changing standards of morality over the centuries, these early periods are marked by much brutality, what detractors would call proof of their 'primitive' upbringing. The effects can be seen in its expansionist campaign today, which still holds old-fashioned beliefs of divine right and the need to 'bring up primitive cultures' by means of colonial subjugation.

The Age of Enlightenment, AT 2113-2558
With nothing to contest its might, Orrachius continued to develop. Inspired by the cleansing fires of the Purging, steam power was discovered, as was the beautiful form of the machine. As technology continued to evolve, the perfection of the machine became steadily more apparent. Reverence of machines became commonplace, and while many tried to make themselves into cyborgs, they only failed. Some primitive mechanoids were created, but they could not think for themselves. The God-Emperor was still not known as such, for machines were considered the most divine. High Orrachian transformed into the language we speak today, New Orrachian.

Luckily enough, the current Orrachian language holds enough similarities to Earth languages that it could be recognised as such, otherwise we would have been in quite a pickle.

The Ascension, AT 2558-2667
By this period machinery was perfected, but while we aimed for the stars, there was nothing there we could yet reach. Orrachius had become a true Empire, spanning across half the planet.
The scientist Ernst Brown wrote a report in 2666 that would change our world forever. He claimed that he had the technology to convert into a robot body, and the God-Emperor volunteered for the procedure.
When it was over, He had become the true God-Emperor: A perfect machine, capable of far greater sense and knowledge than anything we feeble humans had ever known before. All bowed down before His might. The new age had begun.
ANI 1, The Year of Our God-Emperor. (Low Orrachian: Anneus Neo Imperatori. The name was chosen to be in Low Orrachian to represent how the divinity of the God-Emperor is everlasting.)

Due to mystique and secrecy surrounding the current God-Emperor of Orrachius, we have no idea as to the legitimacy of these claims. They are likely false.

The Crusade, ANI 1-

"And the God-Emperor looked up at the stars with His new body, and took a star in the palm of His hand, and the stars spoke to Him the way forward. 'Great God-Emperor, take flight, and spread Your word to us so that we one day be as great as You."
-Horst Gruening, The Ascension

It is said that on the day the God-Emperor ascended to perfection, he was shown the way across the stars. By His order, a starship was built. The first of what would be many, the Ascension. He had seen that there were minds in darkness across the galaxy and that we had to spread His light to them. As the Ascension folded through space itself, faster than anything deemed possible, we saw new worlds, each brighter and more beautiful than the last. And so it was that Orrachius spread across the stars. But it would not be long before we would meet resistance.
Unexperienced in the matters of war, many colonists died at the hands of heretics. But when the Orrachian Imperial Guard returned, the heretics were destroyed. World after world fell to the might of the God-Emperor's wrath. By ANI 134, there was silence. We had conquered many systems, and those at the edges of our influence acknowledged their inferiority and pledged allegiance to the God-Emperor. But there was still more work to be done.

The crusade continues to this day.

First contact with the Orrachians was reached in ANI 347 by the Orrachian calendar. After the initial language hurdle, and misconceptions that they might just be a group of rogue traders were cleared up, the Orrachians attempted to convert the peoples of the isolated colonies they contacted to their system of belief. After they refused, their inhabitants were slaughtered. By the time the Senate of the Earth Conglomerate was able to contact the Orrachian Empire and explain the situation, several Earth colonies had been destroyed or forcibly occupied. The Orrachians refused to apologise or provide aid to the affected, and refused to believe that they had originated from Earth, calling the idea blasphemous.

[Orrachius]

Military

The Orrachian military is the hand of the God-Emperor, and it is through its might that we spread enlightenment to all heretics.
I apologise in advance as to the short length of this section, as there is little public material regarding our glorious military- after all, we would rather not the enemy know the extent of our forces.
The majority of upper-class citizens of the Empire are involved with the military. As one's prestige and awards grow, they are offered to be converted into a mechanical body. Few decline. As such, almost all high-ranking officers of Orrachius are cyborgs.
Most infantrymen are complete mechanoids, fitted with armour and weapons enough to hold their ground.
Military service is not compulsory, but highly recommended. One cannot enlist until they reach adulthood.

The Golden Hand are the most elite of our forces, the God-Emperor's personal guard. They stand at the Imperial Palace forever. Of course, they are full mechanoids, so they have no need to sleep, eat, or other such disgusting functions that us poor humans are forced to subject ourselves to. Truly they are the most holy save for the God-Emperor himself!

The Black Hand are the interplanetary forces who roam the stars doing the God-Emperor's will. The greatest of our starships are fitted with a weapon to turn planets into stars, a solution used when a planet has exhausted its usefulness or, although impossible, fallen to heretics.
A capability used to horrendous effect on some of our own colonies. The first reports of this were dismissed as an impossibility, but after one system with multiple colonies reported being blasted by intense heat by the combustion of one of its planetary neighbours, laws were put in place in the Earth Conglomerate to forbid the use of these weapons as an act of war. Unfortunately, the Earth Conglomerate would likely be completely obliterated were it actually to declare war on the Orrachian Empire, so these atrocities are responded to with very angry letters.

The Red Hand, also known as the Inquisition, works from the shadows to root out heretics. While not primarily a military branch, they are just as important.
From what we have gathered, the Red Hand of Orrachius consists of the Inquisition and High Inquisition, both of which have utmost authority over all other branches of government, save for the supposed word of the God-Emperor. "Working from the shadows" usually denotes sitting around in an office all day.

The Orrachian Imperial Guard are the planetside forces, sometimes human regiments scrounged up from citizens, sometimes cyborgs.

Finally, the Watchmen are mechanoid infantry posted to watch over slave mining worlds and others where real humans would be a nuisance.

[Orrachius]

Government

While the God-Emperor is the final authority, planetary government varies, although only a few are democratically elected. Where democracy does exist within the Empire, the Orrachian National Socialist Party represents the offical stance of the God-Emperor.
Generally, the Orrachian Empire practices military dictatorship. Military might is a higher authority than anything else- although no government already under Orrachian jurisdiction created by coup could be considered legitimate, as rebelling against the Empire is heretical.

Despite this, Orrachian law is rather lenient on civil rights. All drugs are legal, as is sex and marriage between any two or more adult parties capable of consent. However, some planets choose a more stringent philosophy in accordance with their beliefs. One is free to practice any religion as long as it does not put any god or spirit above the God-Emperor. Slavery is also completely legal, as it is illegal for anyone to use a sapient machine for menial labour.
It took Earth thousands of years to accept peoples of different ethnicities and sexualities as equals. The Orrachians did it instantly. Of course, being forced to work together as slaves helps.
That slavery is commonplace in the Orrachian Empire is interesting, since it denotes that the Orrachians have become the very oppressors that they set out to destroy. However, it is also a side effect of their forbiddance to use industrial machinery in place of human labour, as noted above.

Political rights, again, vary by planet, but are generally very strict. Political dissidence is heretical, a crime punishable by death in Orrachius. Anyone who does not accept the God-Emperor as ruler is a heretic. However, individual opinion varies wildly on His divinity.

The Empire is divided into two primary sections: East and West Empire. The East Empire is the most controlled, while we are only beginning to expand into West Empire. Within each section, laws tend to be more lax towards the very centre where both sides meet. This is due to its Security Rating. Each system has a Security Rating between 0 and 1 indicating the amount of policing it recieves and general legal strictness. Generally, Security Rating dwindles towards the centre of the galaxy, but otherwise varies slightly.
A security rating of >0.5 is called 'hisec' (high security), <0.5 is 'lowsec' (low security) and 0 is 'nullsec' (no security).
The Earth Conglomerate is, of course, in West Empire. It is highly amusing to many that the Orrachians have dubbed the entire opposite side of the galaxy the 'West Empire' which they don't even have jurisdiction over (and likely doesn't even correspond to the 'west'). Another result of Orrachian belief that they are the rightful owners of the galaxy.

Security Rating

Hisec
1 - 0.8: Very safe. Military prowl every system.
0.7 - 0.5: Fairly safe. While not omnipresent, military presence is frequent. Some dissidents slip through the system due to corruption. Allied systems are also placed here.

Lowsec
0.4 - 0.1: Unsafe. These systems are not yet under complete control of the Empire.

Nullsec
0: Chaos. These systems are yet to be reached by the Empire and can be safely considered heretical.

Individual security ratings are fully public for the benefit of all.