Zetylian Hegemony

The Zetylian Hegemony was a very powerful interstellar government that emerged in the Andromeda Galaxy near the end of the First Vuokra Invasion, and the second great intergalactic civilization in the recent history of The Cluster. Formed by the Zetylians, a race created by the Serphiads to protect Tixax and perpetuate Serphiad technology, the Zetylian Hegemony effectively acted as the second incarnation of Serphiad civilization, though it was much more hostile and xenophobic than its forerunner.

Birth of the Zetylians, Death of the Serphiads (400,000 - 385,000 B.C.E.)
Though its later history would cause it to deviate from its preordained path, the Zetylian Hegemony originally had its entire layout and history planned by the Serphiads in response to the threat Red Six Trillion posed to their civilization. The Serphiads created the Zetylians from scratch as a race perfectly suited for the task of defending Tixax from external threats, so that the Vuokra could never breach the pocket dimension they were trapped in and would no longer pose a threat to intelligent life in The Cluster. As the Zetylians were situated on their homeworld of Zetylu, Serphiad civilization quietly faded away, allowing the Zetylians to pick up where their creators had left off.

The Zetylians had a major advantage when it came to developing an interstellar civilization. The foundations for their society had already been laid by the Serphiads, who had gifted them whatever remaining fragments of Serphiad technology they could access among the ruins of the collapsing Serphiad Union. This allowed the Zetylians to immediately begin expanding out into the void, not wasting any time as a developing civilization on their homeworld. Technically speaking, both the Serphiad Union and Zetylian Hegemony existed at the same time during the very early years of the latter's history, but as the Serphiad Union crumbled to dust, the Hegemony was quick to take up the mantle as dominant civilization of the Andromeda Galaxy. Many prior colonies of the Serphiad Union were abandoned only to be retaken by the Zetylians, who built their civilization directly atop the ruins of the Serphiads. It wasn't long before the Zetylians occupied most of the territory the Serphiad Union had controlled prior to their collapse in the Andromeda Galaxy, though they, for the most part, halted their expansion here, as, with nearly unlimited resources at their disposal and extremely advanced technology, they had no incentive to expand further.

Age of Slumber (385,000 - 365,000 B.C.E.)
After successfully expanding to its full extent, the Zetylian Hegemony entered what is referred to as the Age of Slumber, a very uneventful period of time for the civilization. No significant expansion, research or other large-scale decision making was taking place, and the state of the civilization was, for the most part, stable. Though they were fervently ready for conflict, there were no competitors for the Zetylians to actually attack. Other civilizations stayed out of their way, as the military technology of the Zetylians was very intimidating and more or less insurmountable. The Zetylians, already having access to nearly-perfect Serphiad technology and nearly unlimited resources, had no interest in dealing with other civilizations on a diplomatic level, and aside from minor expansion and development, they remained isolated within their corner of the Andromeda Galaxy. Unlike other civilizations that stagnated during periods of inactivity, the Zetylian Hegemony was able to retain its strength thanks to its extremely advanced technology and relatively young age.

Although no major decisions were being made in the external affairs of the Hegemony, there were numerous important changes being made internally. The Prime Hegemon, the leader of the Zetylian Hegemony, conspired with his closest advisors and political officials to create the Bedlam Society, which would continue to exist throughout the rest of the Hegemony's history and beyond. Political shuffles during this period of time were not unheard of, but they did not create any significant repercussions for the rest of the Hegemony. In secret, the Hegemony government was organizing itself for war, just as the Serphiads had wanted, but for the time being, their military would remain dormant.

The Seveem Conspiracy (365,000 - 364,900 B.C.E.)
Though everything seemed perfectly fine on the surface, the Age of Slumber came to an end with the formation of a searing conspiracy surrounding a particularly resourceful and charismatic political figure in the Zetylian Hegemony. A newly-inducted member of the Hegemony’s Council of Superiors, Seveem Anvuo, was beginning to worry the Prime Hegemon due to her immense popularity among the Hegemony’s populace. Seveem had more popular support than the Prime Hegemon himself, who, though still the eternal ruler of the Hegemony, was considered mysterious and untrustworthy even by those in the upper levels of the government. Soon enough, the Prime Hegemon suspected Seveem was intending to overthrow him completely, and establish herself as the new ruler of the Hegemony. This didn’t sit well at all with the Prime Hegemon, and so he contacted his loyalists in the Bedlam Society to devise a solution. He emphasized his desire to remove Seveem from her position of power, even suggesting that she be exiled completely. The Society members suggested using the Hegemony-wide communication networks to spread salacious rumors about Seveem, as this would reduce the public’s opinion of her and make it easier for the Prime Hegemon to justify her exile if he chose to execute it. The Prime Hegemon agreed to this plan, and in no time the Bedlam Society had accessed most of the Hegemony’s media outlets and began generating lies.

The plan worked exactly as intended. Countless rumors were put out, claiming Seveem lied, cheated, was sexually promiscuous and overall could not be trusted in a position of power. The public consumed and spread these rumors with viral efficiency, dropping Seveem’s popular support to unimaginable lows. Seveem herself was devastated, as she knew that there was no truth to these rumors at all. She tried her best to discredit and destroy them, but the Bedlam Society was ferocious, and used its influence to turn Seveem’s closest political allies against her. It wasn’t long until the exact same populace that had once supported her unconditionally was calling for her immediate exile, not just from the Council of Superiors, but from the entire Zetylian Hegemony. The Prime Hegemon seized this opportunity and rounded up Seveem and her remaining loyalists, accusing them of threatening the sovereignty of the Zetylian Hegemony. After a long wait, the Prime Hegemon had finally gotten the opportunity to exile his greatest contender once and for all. Seveem fled with her small contingent of followers into the far-off expanse of the Andromeda Galaxy, leaving behind the society she had once been adored by as a despised and unwelcome character. The Prime Hegemon and his lackeys in the Bedlam Society couldn’t be happier, and quickly took to replacing Seveem’s seat in the Council of Superiors with someone more compliant and modest. The invisible threat the Hegemony had once faced was finally gone.

Encounter With the Thotonci Alliance (364,900 - 320,000 B.C.E.)
Many millennia passed uneventfully after Seveem had been exiled, and it seemed as though the Zetylian Hegemony would remain stable and peaceful for the rest of the foreseeable future. However, unbeknownst to the Prime Hegemon and the rest of the Zetylian government, alien forces were at work far away from the reach of the Hegemony. Seveem, now bitter and seeking revenge on the Hegemony for her mistreatment, had encountered isolated alien species far beyond Hegemony space. Using her persuasive nature, Seveem convinced these aliens that the Hegemony was inherently evil, and that, if they formed an alliance with each other, they could destroy the Hegemony, removing a great evil from the Andromeda Galaxy and acquiring advanced Zetylian technology in the process. Three alien species agreed to this proposition: the Kyss, the Sovilans and the Braantuhr, and soon Seveem found herself the ruler of a rapidly emerging interstellar civilization known as the Thotonci Alliance. Using fragments of Zetylian technology that Seveem had brought with her prior to her exile, the Alliance was able to quickly expand towards Hegemony space. Though her alien underlings wanted to start immediately start a war with the Hegemony, Seveem warned them of the immense power the Hegemony military possessed, and suggested that they maintain peaceful relations with the Hegemony until she had devised a plan for destroying them.

The Zetylian Hegemony itself was extremely surprised when it first encountered the Thotonci Alliance. Up until this point, no civilization in the entire Andromeda Galaxy had come anywhere close to the power level of the Hegemony, so seeing the Alliance possess territory and technology almost equal to that of the Hegemony was extremely troubling. At first, the Zetylians wanted nothing to do with the Alliance. They were naturally very xenophobic and didn't trust the alien civilization in the slightest. However, the Alliance appeared benevolent, and respected Zetylian territorial boundaries, which made them seem more trustworthy than ignorant minor civilizations. Over time, the Zetylians warmed up to the Alliance, and eventually, the Hegemony and Alliance became close diplomatic companions. For vengeful Seveem, though, it still wasn’t close enough. Seveem knew the Alliance needed access to the Hegemony’s advanced Serphiad-era cyborganic technology in order to have even a slim chance of defeating them in a full-scale war. Unfortunately for her, the Hegemony was extremely protective of its cyborganic technology, as it was one of the only things they possessed that gave them an inherent technological advantage over other civilizations. It eventually became apparent that no amount of diplomacy would give the Alliance access to these technological marvels, and so they attempted to capture them through other means. Seveem established an espionage agency among her remaining Zetylian followers, which she then used to infiltrate the Hegemony’s cyborganic laboratories and steal their technology. At first, this secret technology theft was very successful, and was largely unnoticed by the Hegemony’s government, but as time went on, the Hegemony grew increasingly suspicious. The Alliance had grown silent in terms of diplomacy, and numerous reports of missing research samples and prototypes from cyborganic laboratories were starting to worry the Prime Hegemon. He contacted the Alliance’s diplomatic representatives directly, questioning them about the mysterious occurrences surrounding Zetylian cyborganic research. Thankfully, the diplomats had already been prepared for this situation, and calmly told the Prime Hegemon that nothing was wrong, even offering the Hegemony a considerable amount of raw materials and energy as compensation for the trouble they were facing (which the Prime Hegemon declined). This discussion only deepened his suspicion of the Alliance, though, at the time, he had no definitive proof that they had done anything wrong. The Prime Hegemon once again contacted the Bedlam Society, encouraging them to use their secret espionage agencies to keep watch on cyborganic laboratories, in hopes of finally uncovering the culprit behind the missing research.

With added security provided by the Bedlam Society, it was only a matter of time until the Alliance’s spies were caught red-handed in the act of technological theft. The Prime Hegemon was furious with this discovery, and wasted no time punishing the Alliance for their transgressions. He had all of the spies publicly executed on Zetylu and declared war on the Alliance shortly afterward, unleashing the full force of the Zetylian military upon them. The Alliance was terrified, but they were not about to be defeated easily. Using stolen cyborganic technology, they upgraded their military and resisted Zetylian assault for a considerable period of time, prolonging what the Prime Hegemon had hoped to be a short conflict into the Thotonci War of Betrayal, the first total war fought by the Zetylian Hegemony. Though the Alliance put up impressive resistance, they were ultimately defeated due to the technological and strategic dominance the Zetylians wielded in the war. The Kyss, Sovilans and Braantuhr were all systematically exterminated by the Zetylians after the conclusion of the war, erasing any trace of the Alliance from the Andromeda Galaxy, and leaving the Hegemony as the dominant civilization of the galaxy once again.

Cyborganic Insurrection and the Ouroboros Mainframe (320,000 - 300,000 B.C.E.)
Following the destruction of the Thotonci Alliance, the Hegemony was determined to reacquire their stolen cyborganic technology from the wreckage of the dead civilization. Exploration vessels were sent all across former Alliance space, looking for traces of recoverable Zetylian technology. The Zetylians discovered that the Alliance had been performing a plethora of experiments with their cyborganic technology, even making a few technological breakthroughs Zetylian scientists hadn’t been aware of previously. The Hegemony seized all Alliance research and reconfigured it for their own use, providing a generous boost to the effectiveness of Zetylian cyborganic technology in the process. As they progressed further towards the galactic core, moving through old Alliance territory, they began to notice an interesting trend. Though they had expected the concentration of stolen cyborganic technology to decrease as they moved further away from Zetylian territory, it was actually starting to increase. In addition to that, the Zetylians noticed the cyborganic technology they were discovering was very different from their own designs. Cyborganic entities found in the distant reaches of Alliance territory took on more bizarre forms, and didn’t seem to be entirely the result of Alliance experimentation. Following this technological trail, the Zetylians eventually discovered the Ouroboros Mainframe at the distant edge of old Alliance territory. It didn’t take long for the Zetylians to discover that the Alliance had been siphoning ancient Xyrbyx data from the Ouroboros Mainframe to improve the cyborganic technology they had stolen from the Zetylians. With no understanding of the Xyrbyx technology, the Zetylians figured it would be best to confiscate the “corrupted” cyborganic entities they had discovered for further investigation, while leaving the Ouroboros Mainframe alone. Little did they know, however, that this decision to study the mysterious entities could have very well been the doom of their civilization.

The Zetylians found it difficult to study the corrupted cyborganics, as they didn’t behave like ordinary cyborganic entities engineered by the Zetylians. Though conventional cyborganics were highly advanced machines that grew, evolved and behaved like living things, the corrupted cyborganics were neither machines nor organisms, but something else entirely. The research they attempted to perform became troublesome when they realized the corrupted cyborganics were superior to ordinary cyborganics in every conceivable way, an issue that became even more apparent when they exhibited violent tendencies towards the Zetylians. The corrupted cyborganics evolved in unexpected ways, and started to seriously worry the Zetylians when they demonstrated an ability to “infect” ordinary Zetylian cyborganics with their corruption. Over time, the Zetylians noticed that the corrupted cyborganics were organizing, coalescing into a unified, intelligent force that seemed to be commanded by some unseen entity. The Zetylians no longer saw the corrupted cyborganics as research subjects, they saw them as enemies. As the corrupted cyborganics began to ruthlessly destroy Zetylian laboratories and obliterate entire colonies, the Zetylian Hegemony entered a state of emergency. They became embroiled in the vicious Cyborganic Insurrection, which could have very well been the end of the Zetylians. Thankfully, they were able to trace the source of the corrupted cyborganics to a massive cyborganic hive located on the planet Uvurloq, where Seveem herself had escaped to during the collapse of the Thotonci Alliance. Using Alliance cyborganic technology, she uploaded her consciousness into a massive cyborganic computer, giving her supreme control over all of the Alliance’s cyborganic creations. By destroying Seveem, the cyborganic forces became scattered and disorganized, allowing the Zetylians to finish them off using their strategic dominance.

Following the Cyborganic Insurrection, the Zetylians became divided on how the remnants of the Alliance cyborganics should be dealt with. Some Zetylians suggested they should be researched further, as now, without a commander, they were much less dangerous, and the advanced Xyrbyx technology used to create them could bolster existing Zetylian technology considerably. Others claimed that the corrupted cyborganics were inherently dangerous and should be completely eradicated. Eventually, the Prime Hegemon settled on a compromise with his Council of Superiors. The corrupted cyborganics would continue to be studied, but under very controlled circumstances. Any improvements made to Zetylian cyborganics based on the information gleaned from such research would have to be approved by the uppermost magistrates of the Science Directorate, and at the slightest hint of the corrupted cyborganics posing a threat to Zetylian life, the Zetylian military had the authority to completely destroy them, completely halting further research. After a while, most of the corrupted cyborganics died off as they were confined to laboratories, deprived of the raw material they needed to sustain themselves. Though no further insurrections occurred, the research done on the remnants of Alliance cyborganics allowed the Zetylians to make considerable breakthroughs in cyborganic technology, which would greatly aid them in an eventual war with the Kaeolian Empire.

The Final Battle (300,000 - 200,000 B.C.E.)
See First Cluster War.

Technology
In many ways, the technological capabilities of the Zetylian Hegemony mimic those of the Serphiad Union. They continued to use the Shard Drive as their primary form of FTL transportation, and relied on advanced cyborganic technology to improve the efficiency of their industry and military. Unfortunately, the Zetylians were unable to match the full technological prowess that the Serphiad Union had once possessed due to the damage that was done to Serphiad civilization in the First Vuokra Invasion. As a result, the efficiency of any Serphiad-era technology possessed by the Zetylians is extremely limited, at least compared to its previous power at the height of Serphiad civilization. This is why the Zetylian Hegemony was limited in scale to the Andromeda Galaxy throughout most of its history, even though the Serphiad Union had equal control over the entirety of The Cluster. The Zetylians made only minor progress towards achieving this previous level of technological progress by examining the remains of the Serphiad civilization they could come across, though they were never able to completely recover this ancient technology, as they focused most of their resources towards military development as opposed to exploration and research.

Likewise, Zetylian military technology is sublime and unmatched by any other civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy. Extremely efficient plasma cohesion technology allowed the Zetylians to construct some of the most powerful plasma weapons in The Cluster, making it the default weapon technology of their civilization. Combined with their cyborganics, Zetylian weapon systems are capable of generating and manipulating plasma with almost biological efficiency, allowing them to use it as a basis of numerous other technologies, as well. Through careful cyborganic breeding, the Zetylians have created entire species of cyborganic creatures that they can deploy in combat, each with defined combat roles depending on their design as a specimen. Zetylian cyborganics can function in virtually any environment, meaning even some Zetylian spacecraft are actually extremely large cyborganic creatures that have been integrated with conventional Zetylian space travel technologies.

While the Serphiad Union was much more hesitant to use cyborganic technology due to its experimental nature, the Zetylians relish in their mastery over cyborganics, implementing the technology in virtually all aspects of their society. Almost all Zetylian industrial systems, infrastructure and vehicles are aided by evolving machine intelligences that grow and behave like ordinary creatures, if not completely controlled by them. The self-organizing, self-improving nature of cyborganics make them vastly more efficient than conventional AI, and due to their lack of higher thinking they can be easily controlled by guided evolution, gradually brought into a niche that benefits both the survival of the cyborganic entity and the survival of Zetylian civilization at large. Since some of the first cyborganic entities created by the Zetylians, the Cylopex Breed, were made in their own image, most every piece of cyborganic technology (and even ordinary technology) used by the Zetylians possesses a characteristic bright white coloring with bright blue details, similar to the physical features of the Zetylians themselves.

Legislature
At the highest level, Zetylian legislature is handled by the Prime Hegemon, a mysterious, possibly immortal being designated by the Serphiads as the uncontested ruler of the Zetylian Hegemony. During the early history of the Zetylian Hegemony, the Prime Hegemon made virtually all decisions for the government, but as the Hegemony became larger, he took to creating numerous smaller agencies for managing the Hegemony at various other levels. At the height of Zetylian civilization, the Hegemony was ruled through the cooperative effort of the Prime Hegemon and the Council of Superiors, a collection of 50 prestigious Zetylian government figures that collaborate with the Prime Hegemon to make major decisions for the Hegemony. Every 100 years, an advanced administrative cyborganic creature selects viable candidates for the council from the entire Zetylian population and places them in 5 different elective pools, each with 50 candidates. After this process is complete, the entire Zetylian populace gets to vote on which elective pool will become the new Council of Superiors. This selection and voting process encourages the candidates present in elective pools to cooperate with each other and develop close relationships in order to win the ensuing election, relationships that improve their effectiveness as a governing body. Of course, it is not unheard of for a single candidate in an elective pool to completely dominate the election process through powerful, charismatic campaigning. This can give said candidate incredible leverage over the rest of their elective pool, as they act as the only driving force by which the rest of the candidates get into the Council of Superiors. This was the case with Seveem Anvuo, as well as a few other overzealous candidates that came after her. To counteract this, the Prime Hegemon can exercise his complete control over the government and fire any council member he wants instantly, replacing them with a new candidate of his choosing. He infrequently does this, however, in order to uphold his public image, as being a cruel and unforgiving leader could lead to political instability or even a revolt, both of which could easily undo the civilization the Serphiads had worked so hard to create the foundations for.

Below the Prime Hegemon and his Council of Superiors, the administration of the Zetylian Hegemony is largely handled by networks of advanced cyborganic intelligences that automatically organize Zetylian society at a more local level depending on the overall needs and status of the Hegemony. The self-organizing nature of cyborganic entities ensures this process is highly efficient, and since almost all Zetylian cyborganic creatures are interlinked via the Emulsion Web, information from virtually all Zetylian colonies can be processed and integrated into their cyborganic administration systems, optimizing their society in almost every way.

Military and Law Enforcement
Being a highly militarized society, the Zetylians maintain a heavy military presence even inside of their own territory. The Zetylian military is comprised of two separate divisions, Hegemony's Guard and the Breeder Minions, which work together to protect the Hegemony and defeat its enemies. Hegemony's Guard is the primary military organization for the Zetylians, incorporating their conventional spacecraft and terrestrial vehicles, as well as their infantry. The Breeder Minions are a unique military division dedicated exclusively to cyborganic military technology and the cyborganic creature breeders that develop it, hence its name. The forces used by the Breeder Minions are entirely cyborganic, covering all theaters of war through the 5 primary breeds of militarized cyborganic creatures: Cylopex, Mekal, Cylomek, Exkal and Mruvam. Both of these divisions have their own hierarchies of command that operate independently of each other, though they both still report to the Prime Hegemon directly. The nature of a war largely determines what kinds of forces the Hegemony will deploy in combat. In smaller conflicts, Hegemony's Guard is usually all that is seen in combat, as conventional Zetylian military technology is usually enough to dispatch weaker enemies. In larger conflicts, however, the Breeder Minions are frequently seen backing up regular Zetylian forces with their powerful cyborganic creatures, which are usually superior to enemy military technology in every conceivable way. Often, the Zetylian Hegemony uses the Breeder Minions in minor wars as an intimidation tactic, since the behavior of their cyborganic creatures is usually extremely terrifying to other civilizations. During the First Cluster War, both divisions were engaged equally in combat, as the Zetylians were not about to take any chances with the Kaeolian Empire, a civilization that was equal in power to them.

Inside of their own territory, the military divisions of the Zetylian Hegemony double as law enforcement organizations, but even in their absence, the Zetylian Hegemony is capable of maintaining order through its self-organizing cyborganic administration. Every Zetylian colony contains a cyborganic intelligence that administrates the colony, which are all interlinked through the Emulsion Web. Whenever such an intelligence detects disorder on its respect colony, it is capable of organizing small legions of simple cyborganic creatures to enforce order. These creatures fall into one of the three non-militarized cyborganic breeds, Haclon, and though they are still capable of inflicting significant damage on dissenters or rebels, they are not nearly as heavily militarized as dedicated military cyborganics used by the Breeder Minions. Haclon cyborganics also double as an extra layer of defense for Zetylian colonies during ground invasions, even though they are much weaker than other automated defense systems found on all Zetylian colonies.

Research
Scientific research done for the Zetylian Hegemony is handled by the Science Directorate, a large scientific combine that performs research of all scientific doctrines. The Science Directorate oversees multiple subdivisions that perform research pertaining to specific aspects of Zetylian society, such as manufacturing, agriculture and space travel. The largest subdivisions of the Science Directorate, understandably, are the Military Technologies and Cyborganic Technologies divisions, which handle military research and non-militarized cyborganic research, respectively. Research performed by any of the directorate's subdivisions must be approved by the upper magistrates of the Science Directorate before being implemented into Zetylian society, and may even require approval from the Prime Hegemon himself if the technology proves to be especially controversial. In almost all of their scientific fields, the Zetylians are assisted by cyborganic intelligences to improve the efficiency of their research. In addition to this, almost all Zetylian research data is uploaded into the Emulsion Web, which constantly processes it and looks for ways to improve Zetylian technology overall. This allows the various divisions of Zetylian research to collaborate with incredible efficiency, causing Zetylian technological development to be somewhat uniform.

Culture
Thanks to the psychological engineering performed on them by the Serphiads, Zetylians are, by nature, very xenophobic creatures, unwilling to trust anyone but their own. Likewise, Zetylian civilization is characterized by isolationism and xenophobia. Their advanced technology provides the Zetylian Hegemony with all of the material resources it could ever need, so it has no economic reasons to involve itself with other civilizations. The Zetylians look down on all other civilizations aside from their own, and have never created a long-lasting alliance. They see alliances and other diplomatic involvement as merely a distraction to their ultimate goal as the protectors of The Cluster and successors to the Serphiads. This xenophobia and isolationism became even stronger after the conflict between the Zetylian Hegemony and Thotonci Alliance, as it created an example of why these ideologies were justified, considering when the Zetylians had opened up to foreign influence, they had been promptly betrayed. In the later history of the Hegemony, the Zetylians took zero chances with alien species, and used the defenses on their colonies to destroy any foreign spacecraft that entered their territory with the hopes of scaring away minor civilizations. This worked well, until they accidentally shot down Kaeolian exploration ships, triggering the First Cluster War.

Within their society, Zetylians live very enjoyable lives, their needs and wants provided by advanced cyborganic infrastructure. Even their distant colonies afford their inhabitants pleasurable lifestyles thanks to automated transportation networks. Understandably, Zetylian society is rife with hedonism and indulgence, with most of its citizens spending their time on lavish entertainment. There are some Zetylians, namely those that occupy positions of power, that take on more minimalist lifestyles in an effort to better replicate the society of the Serphiads, occupying their time with meditation and philosophy. In either situation, the basis of Zetylian civilization is the concept of waiting. As a civilization, the Zetylians exist to defend The Cluster (and Tixax, to a lesser extent) from further invasions, either by Vuokra or other extragalactic threats, and as a result, most Zetylians are preoccupied with finding ways to spend their exhaustively long lifespans.