| Song Dominion | |
| Leader | Vega T'rvati |
| Races | Nusriza, Decheerans, Ry'nari, Amaians |
| Base of Operations | Song City |
| Allies | Unknown |
| Enemies | Celestine Ascendancy, Ishvana |
Background
The Song Dominion was formed in 29 A.E. by an alliance of the Decheerans, the Nusriza, the Amaians, and the Ry'nari to oppose the forces of the Ishvana during the Bushraki War - the first invasion by the Ishvana in 40,000 years, since the War of Extinction that saw the end of the reign of the Elder Races.
They chose the planet Song - long a shining jewel of multi-species cooperation - as the capital of their budding Dominion. Rich with life and abundant with natural resources, it had been settled and built up more than a thousand years prior.
They immediately hired the Free Fleet, led by an aging but still-brilliant Mezer Juul, with Maddox Khan and Akari Lane as his seconds. Alongside that formidable force, they built a combined fleet jointly supplied by the formerly individual militaries of the involved races.
Together, they pushed back the Bushraki and Vendal forces of the Ishvana, until a desperate all-out assault destroyed Mezer Juul's command ship, throwing the Song forces into command paralysis until Maddox and Akari took control and saved the day.
Destruction of the Planet Song
The capital world was absolutely devastated in an attack by the Bushraki, leaving it a toxic, radioactive wasteland. Its shining towers and verdant fields were reduced to irradiated slag, and the planet's population, which had numbered in the billion, was now less than 10 million strong, and living aboard refugee fleets.
Possibly even more tragically, as all now know, Tamiko Lane Khan took this opportunity to use a cast-off Celestine Ascendancy cruiser, broadcasting Ascendancy transponder codes, to blow up a portion of the refugee fleet fleeing the planet, triggering the beginning of the vicious hostilities between the Song Dominion and the Ascendancy that have expressed themselves in the Empire Wars.
The races of the Song Dominion examined many planets to relocate their capital to, but ultimately rejected any replacement. Instead, they would rebuild on Song itself. The critics of this seemingly pointless decision were loud and self-righteous in their attacks. It would cost too much. Too many lives would inevitably be lost to accidents leading to environmental exposure.
In the end, the complaints were swept aside, and the decision to rebuild on Song was framed as a moral imperative. The Ishvana would not be permitted to drive them off their chosen capital. It would not get the privilege of such power over them without utterly destroying them first.
And so began one of the most unique engineering projects and one of the most defiant displays of pure stubbornness Starmourn has ever seen - the construction of Song City.
The City
Song City is a huge, craggy, green, self-sustaining island in the sky, constructed that way in order to distance it from the radiation-laden ground. It's covered in huge, shining metallic spires and is lush with plant life of all kinds, in distinct contrast to the world below.
The 'island' was created with a Decheeran landmass generation technology, who developed it using their knowledge of solar energy and nanotech. This landmass (which the Decheeran's call 'sunloft') is strong, porous, and scientifically lighter than air, resembling dark green cork. Sunloft is biodegradable when exposed to water, which is great for food production, though it requires constant upkeep and an influx of raw biomatter to replenish the substance of the island.
Many of the residential buildings in the city are crafted primarily from wood, another influence of the Decheerans. Massive hovertech engines (developed by the Amaians and the Ry'nari) keep the city in the air and stable, while force fields, controlled electrostatic discharge, and atmospheric manipulators keep the air clean and the wind quiet. Tech is in use everywhere, but wealthier residents prize discrete tech that doesn't make itself glaringly obvious.
Despite the serene, minimalist facade of the city, its inhabitants are painfully aware of what caused the wasteland below, which even eight centuries later remains mostly uninhabitable. As such, the Song Dominion is capable of fielding a ruthless military force when it needs to, under the command of its Lord Commander, and it has large clusters of military satellites in orbit around the planet, placed there to house their combined army and protect the capital from any incursions. Great gun emplacements are concealed beneath the spongy mass of the city itself, which could turn the whole thing into an island-sized, laser-shooting battleship in the sky.
The Lord Commander
There has only been a Lord Commander in Song since the end of the 40 Year Empire War in 727 A.E., when Adyos Endatia, Grand Admiral of the Song Fleet, effected a bloodless coup, displacing and exiling the civilian leadership with the support of a large portion of the populace.
As the decades passed, the military's influence spread throughout all of the Song Dominion, until it was no longer possible to reasonably separate where society began, and the military ended. The entire society was armed, and all able-bodied adults were required to serve a two-year stint in the armed forces. Private militias, loyal to the State, were formed to defend the Dominion, usually composed of small fighter craft with perhaps a corvette or even destroyer anchoring that cell. The Lord Commander, whoever it may be at the time was lionized and was considered not just the peoples' political and military leader, but in many ways a spiritual leader as well, embodying the best of the strength, resilience, and will to power that marks the Song Dominion.
The system of selecting the Lord Commander slowly changed as well, until it arrived at today's system, wherein citizens gain Influence by performing actions that help the Dominion and can then spend that Influence on a Challenge to replace the Lord Commander with a new one. The more useful that citizen is, the more Influence they have, and thus the more say in appointing a new Lord Commander.
That is, however, the only direct say the citizens of the Song have, for the Dominion believes in unity of purpose and unity of mind. Near-total power is exercised by the Lord Commander, at their discretion, though an incompetent or corrupt Lord Commander is likely to find themselves quickly replaced by the powerful amongst the citizenry.
The current leader of the Song Dominion is: Lord Commander Vega T'rvati - A Human woman.
Further reading
To understand more about the rivarly between the Song Dominion and the Celestine Ascendancy, read Martias and the Angel.