Some Psychohistorical Perspectives of the Permatic (Seventh) Imperium [circa 200 Permatic Imperial Year]

Here is the Introduction to The 10,000 Years of Star Empires of Man: The Factors Leading to the Foundation of the Permatic Imperium authored by Baroness Laurel hault-Daarnuludka, PhD. Laurel is a Visiting Professor with the Institute's Department of Psychohistory, as well as being a noted and tenured Professor of Imperial Histories at the Imperial University of Quelw. The history is published by Zebra University Press the most recent edition is the 4th (6 Annotated Volumes) and it is on its seventh media run (in multiple TLs, formats and with various options depending on market).


Also found below the Introduction is a chronology used by Professor hault-Daarnuludka while she was researching and writing her well received history.

The history of Humanity has had many Ages. 

First is the Pre-Space Flight Age, in which Ancient Terra had yet to even leave its atmosphere. Also know as the Primitive Age, little if anything is really known, most of the true knowledge is lost with Terra to the mists of time.

The second age of Humanity is known as the Pre-Jump or Spaceflight Age. Humans had begun truly exploring and exploiting the Solar System. It also encompasses the era of Sub-light Interstellar Exploration and the Terran Federation, also referred to as the Federal Imperium or the Old Federation period depending on the source.

The third Age of Humanity is Early Jump and the Exodus from Terra. Also know as the Great Migration, the Colonial Era or the Late Terran Federation period. The key highlights of which are the Brushfire Wars that brought about the end of the First Terran Federation and the Formation War of the the First Imperium, also known as the Volcker Imperium (or Second Imperium, the subject is still in debate according to more radical views held mostly by distant House Volcker relations).

Fourth is the Age of Jump. Beginning this age are the end of Volcker's Empire, the Dynasty Wars of the Great Houses, and establishment of the of the Second Imperium. While the Second Imperium changes leadership many times in its history, it remains stable for centuries. However, in the end the Empress Vashti was dead, the Sapphire Throne empty and many claimants vying for the Crown, and in the struggle the Second Terran Federation comes into being.

After millennia of Empires and Autocrats the human race again moves to back to democracy. The Second Terran Federation is eventually replaced with a new Galactic Republic headquartered on a world distant from Terra (and more centrally located to all the member worlds) for more efficient administration. By this time Terra, once the mighty and proud Home of Humanity had fallen to the side of the road and now found itself on the fringes of the new star spanning human polities.

As all great, grand and elder republics do, the Galactic Republic fell under the sway of single leader. This time forgotten Terra crept back on the interstellar stage and the Third Imperium or the Last Terran Empire, sometimes called the Solar Empire for the Solar Disk and Rays most commonly used as its official Badge. The Third Imperium however only lasted a few centuries before falling to into civil wars. 

Out of the ashes of these wars came the Fourth Imperium. While it is called the Fourth Imperium, this period actually has multiple forms of government throughout its reign, the current rulers finding it easier to take the name and merely change the workings. This allowed the Fourth Empire of Man more flexibility and it remained in place and stable for a millennium. The end of the Fourth Imperium came with the great Robot Wars humans had feared coming for most of recorded history. The rise of true Cybernetic Intelligences combined with vast command and control made the war quick and mostly painless for both sides, if one does not count the humiliation felt by the common human. 

The end result though became what is called the Great and Honorable Fifth Empire of Man. The Fifth Imperium is the source of most legends of Ancient Artifacts and Wonders of the Golden Age of Man. This was the age of Anti-Matter power, Matter Transportation portals, the fabled One Hundred Parsec Drive, the Rise of the Psionic Institutes, the Immortals and other such myths of "Man Conquers the Stars". Artificial Persons, Cyborgs, Uplifts and main line Humans strode among ten thousand stars. Or so it is said, no one really can pin down a firm final number. What is known is that in its glory days the Fifth Imperium held more than five thousand systems under its banner. In the end the Empire grew too large and the leaders too negligent and it too decayed and fell. Emperor Rufus XVII, last known Emperor of the Fifth Empire disappeared and no one can quit pin down what happened to him. He is rumored to have abdicated and left to wander the stars, others say he was assassinated, still others say he disappeared while visiting a secret project at an Imperial Research Station and it was covered up with the tale that he died of old age. 

What followed was the Age of Pocket Empires. A multitude of polities ruled various pockets of civilization. Wars were fought, treaties arranged and ratified, then broken for one side's advantage later. A turbulent age as various players tried to take as much as they good of the decaying Fifth Imperium's infrastructure. Wars were fought over shipyards, auto-nanofacs, resources and wonders of the fallen empire. As in all such contests eventually one player had the most resources and declared themselves Emperor of the Sixth Mighty Imperium. 

The Sixth Imperium while not as glorious or even as mighty as its predecessor did manage to hold the remaining fragments together long enough to not just stay stable but expand and retake the worlds once held by the previous empire. The growth of the Sixth Imperium lasted for centuries. It was carefully and slowly, managed by the Imperial Bureaucracy and a rigorous selection process for the Crown kept the Sixth Empire going for around twelve centuries before it too began to have problems. While the Fifth Empire had spanned thousands of stars the Sixth Empire had started holding a few hundred systems and eventually grew to thousands. Of these thousand and some worlds a few hundred threw out their own tendrils of influence and began exploring and colonizing beyond the proscribed borders of the Imperium. Once humanity expanded past the lines drawn by a distant bureaucrat on Capitol, that the Emperor is said to have decreed, control of the Imperium fell into dispute, some loyal to the Empire, others to the new Colonial factions which lobbied for greater growth of the Imperium, not only to boldly retake what once was under the banner of the old Empire, but to seize new territories. In the end the Bureaucracy and Crown bowed to pressure as well the influx of goods and credits to the Imperial Ministers and other influential persons from the factions' agents led to the passage by the Moot of the Chartered Company and Colonial Affairs Act. 

For a few centuries this growth and rediscovery of lost and former Imperial Worlds keeps the Sixth Imperium going. Glorious rumors tell of the discovery of various wonders of the glory days, the continued rediscovery of Terra by someone or another followed by the refutation of that discovery by academia. Wars would break out over the discovery of supposed Fifth Imperium technology only for the winner to expend it with out the resources or infrastructure to maintain or effectively deploy it, if it even existed.  The dark times are slow in coming but eventually the light goes out of the Sixth Empire and it dissolves into the vacuum of an empty throne and over stretched bureaucracy. 

Interregnum came to the Imperium and the various states held on to what they could as the chain of stars was broken and the interstellar traffic stopped. Some systems survived, some did not, a few flourished and held on in small stable groups here and there, but the days of Sector spanning Empires are gone and the stuff of legends. 

Yet legends are useful tools and any psychohistorian can plain point to various uses for legends as the base for building or rebuilding interstellar governments and infrastructure. 

The Emperor of the Permatic Imperium knows this too, he has advisors who tell him such things. While His Majesty has studied the basics of psychohistory, these advisors are specialists. This is why the Treasury issues payments to them out the Imperial Psychohistory Allotment. Though the Allotment is small by the standards of the Imperial Budget, it does allow for the purchase and maintenance of a sophisticated Model/9 computer array which is used to run simulations. These simulations and advisors have suggested to His Majesty that it is time for mankind to retake the stars and worlds of old before the embers of the galactic civilization burn out in the darkness of the Interregnum...

A TIMELINE FOR THE PERMATIC (SEVENTH) IMPERIUM

Spaceflight Age. 1969 to 2123 CE documented and sourced (Fourth Order Sources).

Humanity's first dark age was ended as Terra leapt into space and stayed there. Once humans leapt out off of their birthworld they quickly built spaceports and fought at least one atomic war. A century and a half were spent exploiting Sol system's resources, and planning the exploration and exploitation of the those vast number of worlds discovered in this age.

Pre-Jump Age. 2124-2532 CE documented. (Fourth Order Sources)


In the 564 years that preceded the discovery of Jump theories and their application in early Jump Drives, Terrans dared the stars in slow torchships. Colonies both official and private were founded, some flourished, others failed. Those that flourished were used as the argument to continue interstellar ventures and further scientific surveys. 

Jump Age Begins: 01 July 2533 CE documented. (Fifth Order Sources)


A Daarnulud Design Bureau R&D Team funded by grants (from sources such as the Thornwood Institute's School of Dimensional Physics, Terran Academy of Sciences, UNA Space Department, ESA, Indian Space Ministry, Sino-Soviet Space Alliance) and headquartered in deep space Sol, develop the first practical Jump Drive. After working with current theoretical maths and simulations, based on an orginal paper A Theory of Jumpspace (Applications and Implications for Interstellar Societies) by W. Hawthorne, PhD and L. Khukek, PhD that outlined the basic theory of Jumpspace, including data sets and formulas.  The paper was published in the Journal of Interstellar Naval Architecture and Engineering (JINAE) in 2307 CE. 


The DDB team ran the solution simulations on 3,072 mainframe computers arranged in a hypercube array. The base computers were fiber optic Model3bis hardware with improved semi-organic operating wetware, loaded with special applications (Gravitics-6, HCP-3i, Jump Theory-1, Math-6, Physics-6) with a base cost of MCr 1.35 per unit ror a total array cost of MCr 4,147.2 and a mass of 27,648 Kg or 28 Tons.


Jump Drives open the stars to humanity in ways only previously imagined. The environmentally and war damaged Terra's nations, the system's other sovereign states together with the guilds form the early 1st Federation. 

Terran Federation: Believed to have lasted for 472 years. [2534-3005 CE] 

Transitional War: Believed to have lasted for 62 years. [3005-3067 CE]

Siege of Terra: The long siege is said to have actually lasted for only 17 years. [3068-3084 CE]

Grand Empire of Man and the Stars (Volcker's Imperium): Believed to have  actually lasted for 627 years. <3085-3711 CE>

First Emperor  was Rufus Cornealius Augustus (of the Great House Volcker), Rex Imperator, Lord of the Twenty Stars, Prince of Terra, Archduke of the Old Expanses, Warden of the Marches, Protector of the Domains of the Thousand Worlds, Defender of the Faiths, &c, &c.. Was known to liked fishing.

Succession Wars: Said to have lasted for 164 years. <3712-3875 CE>

Second Empire of Man: Recorded to maintained stable for 1206 years. <3876-5081 CE>

Vashti al-Vlada of House Akiilaar,(b. 5723, d. 5081 CE), Empress of the Sapphire Throne, died of withdrawal from anagathics, her daughter and Heir abdicated on the advice of Councillors, ran for President of the Federation, and won for two Terms before losing to a challenger.

Second Terran Federation: Flourished brightly for 249 years. <5082-5330 CE>

Galactic Republic: United the stars and people for 261 years. [5331-5591 CE]

3rd (Solar) Imperium: The rule of the Solar Emperor, or the last Terran Emperor, of the Old Empires lasted for 431 years. [5592-6022 CE]

Fourth Empire of Man: The Fourth Imperium held the stars a total of 544 years before bowing to other minds. <6023-6566 CE>

Last ruler was the Empress Lizabella Fortuna of the Iridium Throne. The Fourth Imperium is also known as the Empire of the Psi Lords, though the actual reign of the Psi Lords started well, the Lords and Ladies used their talents together with the Imperial Bureaucracy and Parliament, but after about four centuries it became a decadent and tyrannical dictatorship.

The Human Rights for Cybernetics and Manufactured Life Revolution: Was mercifully quick and efficient and accomplished its goals in a mere 41 years. <6567-6607 CE>

After this Imperial Citizenship was opened to all Life Forms meeting commonly agreed upon Imperial Standards negotiated with the losing powers. The end result of those negotiations was the creation of a new empire with a new Imperial Charter. Sophonts previously denied entry to citizenship and basic sophont rights. It is this revolution against the Psi Lords that caused the term sophont to enter into the Interstellar Lexicon.

Empire V: For 3087 years the Immortal Emperor of the Fifth Empire ruled the stars, man, cyber, machine life, other sophont life Citizens and Subjects. <6620-9707 CE>

In 3087  then Emperor Rufus XVII boarded the HMS IMPERIAL (BFH-1000) flagship of the Fifth Empire's new Leap Drive enabled Task Force 136. The task force and all who accompanied it were lost and eventually presumed dead.

Age of Pocket Empires: Actually lasted for 326 years. <9708-10,033 CE>

Quite a few of the pocket empires fighting over the remains o the last managed to hold on for centuries.

Sixth Mighty Imperium: Holding together almost a millennium, but falling shy at 988 years.  <10,035-11,021 CE>

Much of the Sixth Mighty Imperium's early history is devoted to bring the rest of the pocket empires in line.

Sixth Mighty Imperiums (Spinward & Trailing): At over half a millennium, the 519 years of the fragments of the Sixth Imperium held and controlled by various Imperial Nobility seemed stable.  <11,022-11,540 CE>

The Spinward Imperium lasted for 519 years, while the Trailing Imperium fell 467 years after the split. The Lords of Parthia claim the titles, holdings ad privileges of the Spinward Imperium.

Interregnum: Actually lasted for 383 years. <11,541-11,923 CE>

The Interregnum was a result of the Spinward Imperium's attempts to take over the Domains of both Imperiums. The top four subsectors of public charts are known as the Dark Stars for a reason. The collapse of the Spinward Imperium took four centuries and they took the Dark Stars first. They are beyond the Frontier of the Empire and thus it is believed that the 

Permatic (Seventh) Imperium:  0-200 IY [9700-10,000 CE]

His Imperial and Royal Majesty Vladimir Svenson Alexandr Kirosowa the Second, High Lord of Permatic, Prince-Regent of the Spinward Imperial Domains, Emperor of the Permatic Worlds, Archduke of the  of Far Stars, Duke of Kylin, Prime Space Lord of the Admiralty, Lord of a Thousand Stars., etc. HI&RM Vlad II has survived at least one known on New Year's Day of the 162nd year of his reign. The attempt occurred on multiple Imperial public live broadcast formats. The assassination attempt involved what some sources at the Ministry of Justice and INI reports as "a cell of human purist using equipment reported destroyed by the Imperial Army", including a "Threts Tactical PAT-16 Cephalopod Swarmer also known by the designation TAC-16IA when issued to Imperial Army as a Tac Missile for Heavy Weapons units" (The Weapon is a military grade genius guided packet anti-vehicle missile multi-launcher, it uses advanced sensors pushing data at dedicated Model/) Whether the use of this weapon, designed to get past near Imperial level defense nets, manufactured by an Imperial Chartered Company at its headquarters which is a private system has yet to be ruled out as a connection to the rebel cell sources close to the Moot's Special Committee on Assassinations say. 

Rumors say that Vladimir has survived multiple assassination attempts in his two century reign, some from very close. Combine this with his age which is said to be at least 250 years, one can assume that some vary interesting resources and infrastructures could be built. As to the source of the Emperor's apparent immortality, some say Life Insurance though critics point out that Vladimir can recount in vivid details the entire attempt to those who question which most sophonts who are revived in backups can not tell you what killed them. Others say it is merely the result of Old Empires Artifacts that the Crown has collected in it various incarnations. The various accouterments that may possibly be used by HI&RM come with many benefits  and are used by right of his full titles, offices, holdings, duties and hereditary inheritance. 

it is commonly held that the Seventh Imperium was founded in 980 CE and  the current year is 10,00 CE, thus leading to it to be known in some circles as the 10,000 Year Imperium. The claim of being "the 10,000 Year Imperium" is believed by most to be a product of the Ministry of Information & Communication's Propaganda Section of the Psychohistory Department.


I hope you have enjoyed this the latest fruits of labor by our humble Archivist in the Institute Library's Stacks.
Laterness,
Craig.