The Andras Dominion (/ɑːdrɑːs), or formally known as the Δημοκρατία της κυριαρχίας του Ανδρας (Republic of the Andras Kyrarchia) was a star nation existing from 2618 to 2937, conquered by the Threshold in the same year, and then relinquished after the Threshold Civil War in 3101. The regions of space are now claimed by the People's Coalition. During its time, the Andras Dominion was renowned as being a totalitarian dictatorship under the guise of the betterment of humanity through genetic modification and eugenics, and for attempting to enslave entire planets and peoples, including newfound colonies.
Following the rise of the organization known as the Second Dominion, the Andras Dominion became colloquially known as The First Dominion.
Table of Contents
Etymology
The name "Andras" comes from the Greek word for "man," and the formal Kyrarchia comes from the Greek word for "dominion;" ergo the formal title translates to "The Dominion of Man."
Cartography
The Andras Dominion was made up of two spheres of influence; Laterus and Gael.
History
The Andras Dominion's capital of Laterus was one of the last of the original Astrum Diaspora settlements, and many subsequent lesser planets were settled by the Astrum Diaspora's Deep Seed project of the Human Continuity Project. Laterus, which was later discovered to be a Termini World, started terraforming it's nearby moons and planets within the Laterus system almost as soon as it could, and many individuals became focused on genetic modification early on as it allowed them to survive in less than ideal environments before the terraforming was finished.
The Laterus system began settling as many regions of its sphere of influence as it could as soon as the Alliance introduced began to reunify mankind. A tentative military force consisting of little more than glorified security personnel managed to land on and take Destrie and later Theseus with the threat of nuclear war in 2645, in what was to be some of the first warfare between star nations not involving Earth.
Destiny of The Pure
Initial expansion for the Andras Dominion came in the form of additional colonization and terraforming of planets to build industry. Meanwhile, many Andran volunteers were picked to undergo extensive genetic modification to make themselves better for a variety of tasks. Many of these individuals were, prior to operation, "less than desirable genetic purity," and transformed into ideal soldiers, thus beginning the militarization and nationalism of the Andras Dominion, and subsequent imperial tendencies. These soldiers went on to begin conquering planets as they were colonized by unsuspecting new Deep Seed colonists, who in turn "volunteered" for the genetic programming.
Classes of The Pure & the Will of the Dominion
Many people of the Andras Dominion were forcibly genetically converted for what the Dominion stated was their "ideal job." Unfortunately for many of these people, genetic modification hadn't come to full fruition and a good many of these people's bloodlines were left sterile after several generations. As a result, a number of men and women who were considered to be "pure" were left as breeding stock for future generations.
This left serious class segregation between the physically inferior "pure" individuals and the "perfect" yet impure peoples of individual job classes. Many of the genetically modified were displeased in their job fields; though the Dominion allowed them to request what job they wished to be idealized for, ultimately the will of the Dominion decided what they were needed for. Classism became apparent, as the "perfect" individuals viewed the "pure" as lazy and not worth serving.
Meanwhile, those left invalid, mentally handicapped, or otherwise impaired at birth were left for dead or enslaved, as they were not of pure breeding stock, and their parents were often separated and dealt with on an individual basis - often resulting in sterilization through severe genetic modification.
Conquest & The Andran-Kansai War
The Andras Dominion realized their large-scale genetic modification would have disastrous results if left to go on, and required additional humans to help vary the genetic code to maintain the fertility of the people. In a bold move, a large portion of the population was made into physical supersoldiers, and the nation went to war with the Imperial Republic of Shin-Kansai, a large two-sphere neighboring star-nation, beginning their invasion in 2903.
In a rapid blitz assault, Andras took multiple planets by force before Kansai forces could retaliate. Within two years, Kansai had lost eight planets to Andran forces, and these people were enslaved and genetically modified for breeding stock. This conflict, the Andras-Kansai War, became later known as the War of the First Dominion. In the coming 34 years of war, two planets, Murdalla and Adenai were focus points of the war, with soldiers born from Shin-Kansai mothers sent to fight against their motherland. Murdalla and Andenai were deemed uninhabitable by the Human Continuity Project following the war. The Andras Dominion is credited with killing over one billion people and displacing an additional four billion.
In 2923, the Republic of the Threshold entered the war with aging equipment formerly of the Intersystem Alliance and began to turn the tide of Andran conquest. By 2937, the Andran government was forced to surrender to Threshold and Kansai forces - at gunpoint. Rumor has it that when formal terms of surrender documents were signed later, Threshold General Hannas Avner had to hold a knife to the back of the then Andras Dominion Director Rui Hanzar to speed along the process.
Culture
Andran culture was very class-based, with those classes being decided by genetic "idealism" for jobs individuals were forced into, and Andran officials insisted that all classes were designed to be equal, though strict government regulation prevented lateral movement as a method of control. One was legally not allowed to get a job that was not in their class-field, creating large degrees of separation and tension between the classes.
By 2690 it was considered rare for anyone to make lasting friendships with anyone not in their job field.
In order to stymie this tension, the government began a nationalistic movement early on; parades and celebrations became a part of everyday life in the Andras Dominion, many centering around their genetic superiority - that all Andrans were superior, and that other humans were therefore inferior. As a result, the Andras Dominion became very culturally reclusive and attempted to reform their culture entirely - in 2709, all art not of Andran make, including music and fictional literature - was deemed illegal. Instead of being destroyed, it was sold off by the Andran government, with rare pieces being held until they gained value, many sold in the late 2880s to fund the Andran-Kansai war.
The remaining art was often very nationalistic, depicting Andrans as being superior. Those arts truly considered "beautiful" were still symbolic of the eugenics upon which Andras was based. Anything produced by Andrans that was viewed as subversive was destroyed and the artists responsible doomed to a life in isolated labor camps. Killing these artistic "political opponents" was looked on as extremely criminal, as the individuals were still "born of strong blood," and so long as their ideas were not propagated, their bloodlines could continue.
With no singular culture to call their own, the Andran Dominion began a large campaign to define what was "Andran." Much of this focused on current status symbols of the time. Things that were difficult to obtain and were legitimate of great value, chiefly among them meats (due to the difficulty of transporting cattle) became a booming market as Andrans struggled to produce a viable cattle industry, and along with this, cheeses and junk foods, in general, found their way into the everyday scene. Even rarer still, the Andrans were noted with purchasing, capturing, and transporting several pods of Bryde's whales and Minke whales for harvesting their meat after a thorough breeding program bolstered their numbers in the oceans of Laterus. These were eventually bred into the Lateran whale which was hardier and farmed for its meat.
The Andras Dominion, with their fixation on such things, became known throughout the ever-expanding galaxy as a luxurious region, and they made a point of exporting rare foods, and many Andran planets found themselves as wildlife preserves of old-Earth creatures, many of them farmed and hunted regardless of the actual taste of the meat.
Andrans found great enjoyment in watching captive indigenous wildlife; some view them as being naturally strong, while others look down on them as being inferior, as humanity took over their planet. Hunting was a very popular pastime, and many Andrans were outdoorsmen, camping, and "taming the wilderness."