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The Weirdo Zone is a pangalactic federation of nearly a billion member and affiliated worlds. Spanning three galaxies, this democratic socialism has brought peace and prosperity to its ten quintillion citizens. Formed in 2450 by the union of the Earth-based Terran Dominion and the Volanti-Kzroth-Koltrop Galactic Arm Federation, the Weirdo Zone was founded on the principle of egalitarianism as professed by the Weirdoist Party of the Terran Dominion.
The Weirdoist Party was initially a group of intellectuals and dissidents disenchanted with the capitalistic conquering of the world. Seeing how the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, they dreamed of a utopia where everyone worked for the good of all and their pay was equalized. Not everything would be equal, for that would be unrealistic. But basic food, shelter, and medical care would be provided to all who performed functions useful to society. Their equalized pay checks would be a sort of luxury fund to be spent or saved at the citizen's discretion. It was widely realized by the dreamers, however, that their utopia could never come about without a definite change in human attitudes towards each other.
This change came in 2100 after the Terran System Wars between the Russo-Communist and North American/European Union-Democrat space forces come home to the cradle of humanity. New York, Boston, Paris, Minsk, Leningrad II/St. Petersburg, Havana, and Bejing are annhilated. After realizing that they really could kill everyone off, the Moral Revolution begun with the signing of peace treaties between the two factions and ended with the unification of Earth later that year. Weirdoism came to power and egalitarianism commenced.
The Weirdo Zone is a republican democracy, as a direct vote from all citizens is only feasible whenever a new Supreme Emperor is elected. The laws of the Weirdo Zone are sufficiently vague to prevent chafing the wildly differing cultures inside of it but sufficiently stringent to prevent and punish crime. The bureaucracy of the Weirdo Zone has been described as top-heavy, but it is the only way to effectively control a large empire short of mind control. Enough checks need to be in place to make sure the government doesn't oppress the people and the people live up to their social obligations.
The Weirdo Zone is not alone on the universal stage. To its west (an arbitrary direction in 3D space chosen and agreed upon) is the Thaurian Concordat, an ancient empire much like a monarchal version of the Weirdo Zone. In various wars fought between the WZ and the Concordat the Concordat's Byzantine military has been soundly whipped and the people so oppressed they openly welcome their WZ 'liberators.' Yes, even us in the Weirdo Zone Public Relations Office use quotation marks, so quickly do the 'liberated' planets absorb themselves into the WZ for protection. To the north is the Reaver Biological Collective, the primary enemy of the Weirdo Zone.
The Reavers were contacted in 2500 when they attacked and destroyed our northern outposts in Primary Galaxy. They quickly barged their way to Weirdonia, the capital of the WZ, using strange new weapons and tactics. After a three year siege, our Weirdtroopers were finally able to repel the invaders and the WZ Navy quickly ushered them out of our galaxy. For the past five centuries we have been fighting the Reavers, constantly gaining territory in our struggle against them. Very rarely do we find the indigenous population left on the planets we conquer.
The Reavers expand using a strange symbiosis between their Queen genotype and tiny germs called Thought Parasites. These Thought Parasites can act as stem cells for any Reaver genotype and can also form an Aggregate capable of controlling a sentient or non-sentient hosts. The genetic material of each new host is scanned for 'the best parts' which are then, somehow, encoded into the DNA of every Reaver everywhere. How this is done is not known. However, as the WZ ideology of bringing enlightenment to all causes us to expand, the Reavers have a similar if more twisted ideology. They hope to give everyone they meet 'immortality' within their own genetic code. How sweet.
To protect the WZ from the mental subjugation and biological assimilation the Reavers have in store for us, we maintain a huge all-volunteer standing Army (which is more of a marine corps) and Intergalactic Navy. From the single Weirdtrooper to the largest super-battleship, the Weirdo Zone Military Services lives up to its motto "Everyone fights, everyone wins." The Weirdtroopers, our standard infantry, are supported by regiments of Weirdannhilator Mobile Infantry, tanks, artillery, BATAVs, Panzermenches, and the fleets of the skies and stars.
Even as the year 3000 wanes before us, we have fought the Reavers right up to their doorstep. Forces rally in Tertiary Galaxy ready to attack the Reaver Nebulous Galaxy. We shall prevail, no matter the cost.
Published 9.19.3000