Ultima Republic

The Ultima Republic is a minor interstellar realm in the Aleph Sector. Consisting of a single system, it is located strategically between the Stellar Republic and the Pax Galactica, profiting from trade between the two major powers as well as from their interest in regional stability, making the Ultima Republic a signatory of the Grand Treaty.

The Republic is a military autocracy, presided over by a "Protector" whose position almost entirely relies on the power of the Overlord, a late human battleship. Mostly as a consequence of this, the citizens of the Ultima Republic enjoy an overall great degree of personal liberty and autonomy, even if barred from participation at the highest levels of government.

History
Following the destruction of earth during the Human Culling Campaign, the Ultima system was one of the major destinies of human refugees. While local forms of government and even some minor regional states evolved in the decades following, attempts to emulate the example of the Free Refugium failed and the planets and space of Ultima remained at a mostly lawless state.

An adventurer by the name of Thomas Cornell would eventually change this. Acquiring maps detailing the location of the Overlord, a prototype human battleship that was built shortly before the war but never saw action, Cornell and a group of local criminals and outcasts he gathered stole a trading vessel and set out to acquire the ship for themselves. When the succesful group returned two years later, succesfully and onboard the Overlord, they began enforcing their own despotic rule over the system with the threat of a powerful warship.

As Cornell consolidated himself as dictator of the newly proclaimed Ultima Republic, both Stellar Republic and Pax Galactica saw use in Cornell to facilitate order and stability along one of their major trade routes. The recognition and support of the two powers helped stabilize the autocracy.

When Cornell died, his designated successor Arthur Mbembe took over. He was succeeded by his son, Arthur Mbembe Junior.

Political Structure
The Ultima Republic is a military dictatorship in the purest sense of the word, as the autocracy is based entirely on the devastating threat of its military, the Overlord in particular. With the threat of orbital bombardement and the control over interstellar trade routes, the Protector maintains his position as head of state and government, as well as extracting taxes from the population.

However, possessing only an underdeveloped beuraucracy centered at the capital of Carter City, the autocracy maintains an overall laissez faire policy, allowing local communities and sub-states considerable amounts of autonomy. This makes local government of the Ultima Republic very diverse. Semi-feudal warlords are as much a part of the Republic as democratic city-states are.