Shung Empire
"The Shung Empire is one of the great Neo-Human dynasties. They can trace their lineages back to the original Exodus fleet's Admiral Tanner. Proud and unyielding, powerful and ruthless- at first blush they seem exactly identical to any tin-pot dynasty. What sets them apart is their reliance on ACEs and drones. Every Shung citizen is, in their own way, priceless. To some this seems to indicate the Shung Empire cares about their citizens. To others, it implies the Shung Empire has feet of clay." ~Doctor Beryl Benjamin
Structure
The Shung Empire is a dynasty revolving around an emperor descended from Admiral Tanner. The Emperor is in turn advised by a cabinet of ministers spreading in a vast sea underneath him.
Public Agenda
The Shung Empire seeks total hegemony over human space. The New Economic Block is their major opponent and focus, but they're simply the biggest stumbling block to their overall goal of total galactic conquest. The Shung Dynasty is not shy about this. They are loud and proud about their goals, and use it as a political bludgeon to get other, smaller polities to ally with them out of fear for their future.
Assets
The Shung Empire possesses the largest Neo-Human fleet in space, with the Sun Dynasty falling just behind. This is in no small part due to their near-monopoly on asterium manufactured on Monad 2. Their soldiers are high-end ACEs operated by specially-built combat AI, and their ships drone-operated by citizen-soldiers aboard fleet control ships. Some of the best drones not built by the New Economic Block are built in Shung Empire factories.
History
Admiral Tanner made a massive power play soon after the fleet left what would become Ballard Constitution space. He immediately split off with most of the fleet's defense force and cut their way into the Orion Spur, carving out a massive section of space from small Torque colonies. While the rest of the fleet splintered, Admiral Tanner and his family consolidated power.
Admiral Tanner's son married Connie Shung, and this match made in the stars lasted only as long as Admiral Tanner was alive. After his 'mutagenic illness' Connie managed to oust her in-laws, dispatching them by assigning them to harsh military actions. Three bloody purges left the nascent Shung Empire unsteady, but the reformer Bali Shung assassinated her mother and brought a new era of stability.
A nasty war with a now-dead polity almost shattered Bali Shung's carefully-wrought stability. Too many of their best soldiers lay dead afterwards. Bali Shung called for a new era of automation and encouraged scientists and engineers to emigrate to their space. Soon afterwards the Empire started a massive project to retool their combat forces, and Bali Shung announced the Shung Citizen Axiom: All citizens of the Empire must be protected by any means necessary.
Her descendants took it to heart. Now a Shung citizen is a pampered, proud thing, unworried by war, working to better their empire and bring new prosperity to the galaxy. All they have to do is submit to the Empire's watchful eye.
