Arizona Nova

Arizona Nova

Flag of Arizona Nova
Motto: "Freedom in Christ"
Location in Milky Way Galaxy
Region	Realm of Believers
Capital	Arizona Prime (homeworld)
Official Language(s)	English, German, Quenya, Latin
Leader	Anithraldur
Population	3 Billion+
Currency	gold weasel
NS Sunset XML

The Official Arizona Novanian Website

History of the Anikari

The Anikari are the main racial group of Arizona Nova. The first section deals exclusively with their history and is the "lore" part of the Anikari's history, while the second is the "history" part. Some historians hold that the lore is nothing more than entertaining stories, others hold that it is literal truth.

The Old World

The story of the Anikari is one older, some believe, older than Terra, or at least predates its first human civilizations. Much of this first history is lost, and now are distant legends concerning heroes and monsters, though truth is told, some hold that they are not legends at all. “Anikari don’t lie about history,” is the cliché of the people. As is, that these first legends even survive how they have is a testament to the written and historical tradition of this people. The oldest recollections concern the “old world”, whose name has been lost to the annals of time. This first world was a place most would consider fantastic, filled with creatures comparable to elves and orcs, dragons, and other mythical creatures. The Anikari themselves were founded by their namesake “matriarch,” Anikar the Great. She was a martial woman, and had led the human people of this world (though the Anikari are extraterrestrial, they consider themselves human, and genetic comparisons have found Homo Sapiens and the Anikari essentially identical) and the “elves” to an incredible victory over insurmountable odds, against a great horde of orcs during the “Orcflood.” She was made, by mandate of the people, the Empress, and she in turn carved out an empire in lands won back from the desolation of the orcs. Her empire grew great in power and might, and she, it seems was corrupted by that power. Eventually she was deposed by the people who had “elected” her, though no record actually recorded an instance of her death. Thus, some even hold that one day Anikar will return and lead her people to greater glory. Nonetheless, the Empire turned into a Republic, which prospered long in the land. At first, things worked well, as trade flourished and alliances and treaties were made. Yet, factions grew up around the most powerful cities, which soon caused any sort of administration to break down, which in turn caused the Republic to split up into powerful city-states, all engaged in fratricidal warfare. Eventually, the Republic totally collapsed, as did the power of the cities themselves, and the Anikari, the once proud people, were reduced to nomads, wandering about the hills of their former empire, gleaning a living from the land and the ruins of the cities of yesteryear. This kept up for centuries, until the second rise of Anikar’s Gate. It had been the capital of the Empire, but it had been oppressed under the Republic, a hated remembrance of the Empire. It had been reduced to a town, and stripped of power. This proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it was spared the later cataclysms which shattered the Republic. Eventually, the desire for centralized government grew up again, especially among the richer nomads who were harried by bandits and thieves. Anikar’s Gate grew again in importance. The legends become more obscure here, only citing that this New Empire lasted long, and was prosperous as the first. Many years it lasted, through wars, sporadic orc invasions, and the like. Yet, when the New Empire was at its apex, something happened. Anyone who is telling the legends become highly agitated if pressed for details. The most in-depth descriptions state that some powerful force of darkness shattered the world itself, destroying it utterly. It would seem that should have been the end of them, forever, but it seems it wasn’t. For whatever purpose, the Anikari were given what they call a “second chance.” They found themselves on the “new world,” or Arizona in Anikari (one of the few words which have survived). It’s resemblance to Terran Arizona, is considered coincidental, but it still doesn’t seem an accident to many.

Arizona

Finding themselves saved unexpectedly from the disaster, the Anikari set to rebuild their nation. This, though it encompasses at least a couple thousand years, is not considered as interesting as legends of the old worlds, and most of the history is relegated to the large tomes of history studied at prestigious universities. Be that as it may, after rebuilding, for a while the Anikari tried to forget the old world - they made a new language, and purposefully erased their history as they tried to start anew, though some noble houses nonetheless tried to preserve that heritage, and accept whatever pain came from memory. What was universally repressed was memory of the darkness that had destroyed the old world. The Anikari expanded over the face of what seemed an “empty” world, full of life, but no other sentients. They eventually split up into many countries, and had a history similar to Terra-middle ages characterized by feudal wars, minor religious crusades, and the like, an industrial age, and finally a modern age. With the birth of radio and later television, however, a shocking discovery was made. Alphonso Lord Chinera, its inventor, made more powerful versions, and discovered transmissions that could only come from other sentient beings. They had discovered the first transmissions from Terra, and after this discovery, the Anikari chose to not broadcast as much as listen to these signals. It took many years, but eventually the language which stood out the most, English to us, was translated. Many nations adopted it as their own language. Terran culture was emulated, but the biggest changes were yet to come. After discovering a series of religious Christian broadcasts, a religious revival swept the planet, as for whatever reason, the religions of the Anikari were always anemic compared to Terran religions (and they believed the "old gods," those who had been in their first world, perished with it) usually having little affect on anything. Christianity was a phenomenon like no other. Its spread was not violent in the least either; Arizona was spared the blunders of the great Terran crusades and religious wars of the Middle Ages and 20th centuries. It was a peaceful takeover. It was held by many that it was the God Himself who had rescued the Anikari from the destruction of the old world, and that He had done it so that they might spread His word to an Earth who, it seemed, was on the verge of rejecting it, if the broadcasts rang true. Yet they also had the further advantage of knowing the mistakes of Terran Christianity, and knew before the fact what to avoid. The stage, it seemed, was set for a religious revival unparalleled in universal history. They began to put great amounts of capital into space exploration and communication, until a rather unexpected event. One of the test probes they sent out suddenly stopped communicating, and probes sent after found nothing and in turn disappeared without a trace. Suddenly, different transmissions came in, and it was soon obvious that Terra was not the only hold of sentience. A cruel race of slavers, origin as yet unknown, wielding advanced technology, descended on Arizona. They gave the Anikari an ultimatum; to surrender the entire planet, and its entire people, to them, or be utterly destroyed. The Anikari, bolstered by their faith and belief in their just cause and defense, and technology comparable to 20th/21st century Terran technology, decided to not succumb to the ultimatum of “submit or perish,” given by these intergalactic fiends. A long battle for the planet and the people resulted, on the ground and air and in space. The ground forces of the slavers could not break the tenacity and toughness of the Arizonan defense, and air raids were proving fruitless. Soon, the slavers resolved to simply glass the planet over with plasma, and make it an example to others. In their arrogance, however, as they warmed up their plasma cannons to overload, they left their defenses down, enabling a well-timed and ingenious strike by the entire planet’s inventory of conventional and nuclear missiles to cripple the slaver spacecrafts, and junk most of their weaponry. The ships lost control, and the entire fleet plummeted through the atmosphere and into the oceans, inlands, forests, and cities of Arizona. Poisoned by radiation, or unable to enable any self-destruct protocols, the slavers were at the mercy of the Arizonans, but were shown no quarter after the slavers’ attempt to annihilate billions. With the slavers finally defeated, their evil plans finally thwarted, the Arizonans marveled at the ships, which while heavily damaged still held a vast treasure trove of technology that boggled the Arizonan scientists. Soon, the technology was imitated, reproduced, and began to hyper-modernize the planet at a rate that would seem incredible to any Terran. No technological revolution on Earth could even begin to compare to this. Industries would almost literally rise and fall overnight as technology was adapted and then replaced by something more efficient or powerful. As more and more technology was implemented, soon the pace began to slow down again, until essentially all of the technology that the slavers had brought was integrated, and now the cutting edge belonged to those who could improve it. The Anikari began to make spacecraft of their own utilizing the drive technology that had been left, and soon they found more worlds from which to get resources. Thus, the Anikari had come of age, now spanning planets in their empire. Never, though, did they forget what they believed was their calling, and they never left the church out of their planning, though some believers balked at using the tools of the slavers and isolated themselves from the rest of the people. These dissidents formed what later became the nation of Nominor.

Imperial Corporate Nautocracy

Here is an excerpt from Kierstan Gadry's work, Politics and Tomorrow, which helps to explain what an Imperial Corporate Nautocracy is and the principles behind it.

Politics and Tomorrow, by Kierstan Gadry

In recent years, the technological quantum leap in Arizona Nova has thrown everything off balance, especially in the political sector. The transformation of the corporation into the super-corporation, by acquisition of heretofore unregulated technology and the means to duplicate it, and the growing importance of the navy in directing expansion and protection of planetary interests in the place of mere oceanic patrol, have both created three distinct political factions, all battling for absolute supremacy. Yet, if only one faction won out, the balance would still be off. Thus, there are only two resolutions to this problem:

The First Choice:

If any one of the factions should gain supremacy, it will have been a useless enterprise. For example, we shall say that the state wins out. Wanting to secure its control, it restricts the super-corporations, and puts a tight leash on the navy. The super-corporations, now limited in their freedom and access to resources, slowly die or are bought and scrapped by foreign companies, and the economy collapses. The navy, already subject to bureaucracy put in place to check it, now cannot hope to even maintain itself, due to the collapse of the economy, and it rots. Any corporations who survive become subject to pirate raids, now that the navy's protection is gone. Lacking any economic engine, or military and police protection, the state will soon follow, as either it is thrown out by a foreign power, or merely implodes now that the original foundation of its power is gone, causing Arizona Nova to revert to a primitive society of nomad and small vigilante groups, tribes, and warlords, except now they shall use spacecraft. Should the corporation rise up, it shall either lack the means to police that the state had formally reserved, or it shall grasp the reins too tightly and rather strangle political and civil rights, while abusing them to forward the corporate agenda, and the same would apply to the navy.

The Second Choice:

If, then, no one group can gain supremacy, the only other choice is that all three should simultaneously become supreme. The question which immediately follows such a proposition would be: how could all three manage this in the first place, and not sacrifice some power? The key to such a system would hinge on one thing: someone who is a leader in all three areas, or can lead all three areas. An ultimate leader, who can handle bureaucrats, capital ships, and business deals deftly, smoothly, and charismatically. Once this "ultimate leader" takes control, no one group will have to fully sacrifice its power, and the whole of society will bind itself to this triune of power. It will be the ultimate expression of political, military, and economic might, and thus the ultimate expression of Arizona Nova itself, a nation built on these three principles. For those afraid that the importance of the church will fade or diminish, to this there is only one answer - it will depend totally on the nature of the leader. Hopefully, the leader will be devout, but not fanatical, and use the influence of the church to influence the direction of the triune. Once the triune is, as they say, "up and running," the entire nation will be galvanized. Then shall the true power of Arizona Nova, in the past dormant and sleeping as the nation grew, come forth and be utilized. Any one arm of the triune, while distinct and separate from the rest, can nonetheless benefit from the strength of the others - then, expansion, discovery, defense, conquest, whatever the nation sets its heart on, will be easier by the fluid and strong unity of the triune, and the near-effortless transfer of information, capital, and resources it will bring. No longer will the state be weary of the corporation and need to treat is as an opponent, or feel threatened by powerful military leaders, because all three interests will be united. Then, to use the cliché, the sky will be the limit for the Imperial Corporate Nautocracy.

Religions Within the Empire

Freedom of and from Religion is one of the rights laid down in the Sentient Civil Rights Act, and as such, no official religion can be established. However, the Emperor considers himself a Christian though he refuses to acknowledge any denomination.

The population is roughly half Christian, with this half being split up among the many denominations contained therein.

Another quarter is Muslim, and next to Christianity, Islam is the largest religion within Arizona Nova.

The remaining quarter is divided between various religions of both Terran and extra-terrestrial origins.

Subaru Worldsystems Incorporated

|Click here to learn more about Subaru Worldsystems Incorporated.

Sentient Civil Rights Act

The Sentient Civil Rights Act was born amidst a cauldron of international contention: witnessing the growth of power in the resurgent Facehuggerian Empire, and the attitudes and actions of a score of other nations in regards to civil rights violations of sentient creatures, the Commonwealth Congress decided to pass a law guaranteeing civil rights to sentient creatures. This would draw the line in the sand, so to speak, to warn other nations that Arizona Nova would be intolerant of such violations, especially within their sovereignty. Secondly, those nations who weren't xenophobic would know, quite clearly, where Arizona Nova stands - in fact, there are hopes that the SCRA will be a rallying point for anti-xenophobe nations. Thirdly, it will hopefully draw xenoform sentients to come to Arizona Nova, as they now have a guarantee of rights.

The Original Act

"Sentient Civil Rights Act

Witnessing the cruel oppression of sentient beings the galaxy(s) over, by varying degrees by certain nations, The Commonwealth Congress has recognized the need for a definition of what qualifies (and what disqualifies) a creature from possessing sentience, and by consequence, the civil rights available to the Citizen of Arizona Nova.

An Act Recognizing the Fundamental Civil Rights of all Sentient Creatures and Constructs, defined forthwith as this:

• 1. Possessing the capacity for intelligence, defined as the ability to solve problems and learn.
• 2. Possessing self-awareness, and the capacity to think independently*; to be able to act against instinct/programmed laws or not be bound to act only upon instinct/programmed laws.

The Fundamental Civil Rights of all Sentient Creatures and Constructs are recognized as thus:

• 1. The Right to Life
• 2. The Right to Freedom from Slavery In Any Capacity
• 3. The Right to the Pursuit of Property, Free Trade, and Commerce
• 4. The Right to Free Speech
• 5. The Right to Due Process of Law and Justice
• 6. The Right to Full Equality and Integration

All Sentient Creatures and Constructs are likewise bound by all Arizonan law, and violations of the civil rights of Other Sentients as listed herein this law will be punished to the full extent of the law, without discrimination.

*Hive Minds are a noted exception to the rule – an amendment specifically dealing with hive minds or “networked” AI/DSs shall be crafted at a later time.

The Act remains open to Amendments as long as the State endures, binding that those amendments do not oppose or limit the Original Statutes of the Sentient Rights Act.

This Act was penned by Tellenius Ryltar, Representative of the World of Ondataru, in the Arizonan Common Era Year of 472. It was Approved by the Commonwealth Congress, The Imperial Cabinet, and by the Hand of Anithraldur I, Servant of God, Emperor of Arizona Nova, and Lord Protector of Nominor. From the Fifteenth of the First Month of the Common Era Year of 472, this act is recognized as law in the entirety of the Sovereign State of Arizona Nova, and all affiliated territories. Approved by the Nominorian High Council, the Lebowan Commune, and other Free State Organizations within Imperial boundaries."

The success of the initial act was astounding, the full import of which cannot be grasped merely by reading it. The fact that it was approved (thus made law) by the radically radical Nominor, rebellious Lebowa, and the irascible Free State Organizations (one of these three is always either hostile or in active rebellion) is ground-breaking, as getting even one of these three to cooperate has historically been hard, if not impossible. That and the brevity, but concreteness embodied by the act was ingenius.

The First Amendment

"Additional Civil Rights - First Amendment Added Arizonan Common Era Year 473

• 7. Right to an Education
• 8. Right of the Use of Governmental Facilities
• 9. Right to Protection
• 10. Freedom of and from Religion
• 11. Right to Free Assembly

Additional Rights Suggested by: The Unified Worlds of Siesatia Diplomacy and Treaty Department"

The First Amendment, penned right on the heels of the actual act, wasn't totally groundbreaking in relation to the actual act - it just expanded the fundamental civil rights - but it was innovative in that it was done in partnership with another nation, the Unified Worlds of Siesetia. While the suggestions are essentially the same as those originally made by UWOS, some were split in the final draft to be less cumbersome. Also to note, originally Right Number 10 was only "Freedom of Religion." To be totally fair, Arizonan legislators (a good number of Christian and conservative stock) realized this didn't extend total protection to atheistic sentients. It was edited to read "Freedom of and from Religion" instead, and so it stand today.

The Second Amendment

"Additional Sentient 'Prerequisites'- Second Amendment Added Arizonan Common Era Year 478

• 3. The capacity to communicate."

This amendment was a good deal less innovative, and much more to shoring up the definition of sentience. It's existence was, and still is, controversial as far as actually being vital to the act, but it stands nonetheless.