Special: An Act of Dissolution
The following is a letter by the Empress following her televised speech this evening, it is not an endorsement by the Martian Times
What is a nation without its people, its pride, its ideologies, its borders, and its military? For nearly two centuries, the Martian nation, while not the sole entity on Mars itself, has existed in what many feel was a rather unique and exceptional position. From humble beginnings as a small city-state, to the rise of the Laconian Republic in the Anseris Basin, its eventual expansion in the Reaches, and realisation of its colonial ambitions across the galaxy -- the Martian nation has come far.
With each evolution and subsequent generation of this great nation, ideologies and people from far and wide have clashed, have taken pieces of Martian identity - not to tear it down - but to make it theirs, to define what it means to be Martian. At this nation's height, under the Conglomerate, the nation more than quadrupled in size and population, spreading this Martian exceptionalism to far-flung peoples across a vast and immense galaxy. The nation has come far, but far has it also fallen.
Martian society has changed and is changing in ways that it is practically unrecognisable to what it was just a century ago. From a human-centric state to a multi-species empire, the very foundations of Martian exceptionalism have been challenged. At least, those are the considerations and critiques by some, but it can be argued more favourably that those foundations have been reinforced by such a plurality of species and that together with the collective histories and knowledge going back thousands of years, Martian culture can actually flourish.
However, the collapse of our Conglomerate, and the great cost of our wars and attempts to dominate over the supposed lesser beings has wrought spectacular consequence. Like a master metalworker that hammers out and exposes the impurities within his craft, the loss of the Conglomerate has exposed impurities in the very fabric our great nation. Apparent strength became weakness, and long believed weaknesses became our strength.
For many, the Martian identity has been lost or called into question. Some clamour for a return to the old days of an era that has long since passed, others are forging ahead towards a new future of unknowns. We have arrived at a crossroads in our history, and been granted the opportunity to either succeed or fail upon our own merit during a time of great upheaval. Whatever decisions we make now will define what we become. The Conglomerate Era has come to a close, and with it, we must begin a critical examination of our faults and what impurities the forge has exposed.
For centuries, the Martian nation has been dominated and led by the Laconian Republic on Mars. It has sought to culturally, politically, and socially dictate both Martian identity and the billions it ruled over. Our expansionism, corporatism, and militarism have been carefully crafted by generations of policy and centralised authority vested into the Laconian Senate, who accumulated vast amounts of wealth and political capital at the expense of those around them. This parasitism can no longer continue. The Laconian Republic as a functioning and noble state that ruled as a hegemon across vast territories must be challenged and ultimately put to rest as the relic it is.
Thus, under my authority as the Empress of this new Martian Empire, I hereby permanently dissolve the Laconian Republic and its institutions. No more shall our empire's fate be guided by archaic policies and political thought that has long been out-of-touch with the new reality. Instead, the future of the Martian people will be decided by this new era - we must be like a bundle of sticks and play on our collective strengths for the new challenges we face ahead. Our identity has not been lost, but it shall be forged and crafted in the years to come. We must strive for a new awakening of the Martian nation.
