Mezian Empire

"Sometimes, it's best to just be scared. Especially of the Mezians."

- Cal Altar The Mezian Empire was a totalitarian absolute monarchy which ruled over a sizeable amount of territory during the waning days of the Old Republic up until the Legacy Era, following the New Republic's takeover of the galaxy. The Mezians were described as a savage and uncivilized people, who raided and pillaged many civilizations and governments. The Mezians were known for having a barbaric culture, centred around warfare and brutality, which resulted in its population mostly suffering whilst the military and aristocracy took their wealth and benefited from these wars. However, there was radical reform under Hadrion the Great, where the people benefited as well, however, that was reversed after Aarkash IX took control of his father's empire, soon making it an impoverished, backwater civilization.

Early Origins and Foundation
"Mezians weren't always this barbaric. They used to be normal people, according to an investigation by the Bureau of Galactic History."

- A HoloNet news article. The Mezian Civilization began when a group of humans and other alien species who were on a galactic cruise crash-landed on the planet of Mezia. Upon arrival, many of the crew and the passengers were left to their own devices, and soon, after being isolated and abandoned for so long, many began to turn to savagery, while others fled or perished. During this time, a man by the named Dak Indrass, who was the first officer of the cruise ship soon seized control with large support by many people, murdering his opponents and rivals, before proclaiming himself the King of the Mezian Kingdom. Dak took the name of Dak I of Mezia, and soon, he began building up a civilization upon the planet. As he built up his kingdom, he came into contact with the native Mezian people, and soon, in an act of goodwill, he allowed the natives to integrate with his peoples, even marrying the daughter of a Mezian chieftain and having a son by the name of Dak II. During this era, Mezian infrastructure developed as the civilization became much more prosperous, that is until Dak I's death in 1934 BBY.

Reign of the Three Tyrants
"There was a period of tyranny and bloodshed, which forged Mezia into what it is today."

- Janus Rae, a HoloNet user and historian on Mezian history. The reign of the three tyrants was an era in Mezian history which saw massive bloodshed and the reversion of most of Dak I's works and development. This era was characterized by its three brutal leaders, Dak II, Aarkash I and Omar I.

Reign of Dak II
The reign of Dak II lasted from 1934 BBY to 1895 BBY. During this period of time, with the foundation of the New Sith Empire, Dak II signed an alliance with the New Sith Empire, allowing it free reign to raid any Republic or Jedi forces or ships. During this period of time, Dak's reign was characterized by massive repression and creating a huge class divide between the elite aristocratic classes who originated from the cruise ship from long ago, and between natives and other poor peoples. His reign also saw mass genocide being committed upon several of his own countrymen, beginning mass purges and soon becoming a bloodthirsty tyrant. However, this wasn't legitimized until the reign of his successor, Aarkash I.

Reign of Aarkash I
Aarkash I's reign was characterized by his legitimizing of Dak II's genocides, creating a creed and religious cult to back him up, creating a doctrine known as the "Dak Doctrine", in which he stated that warfare and strength, along with blood is required to make a Mezian strong. With that, he was infamous across the galaxy, with many systems having a bounty on his head, resulting in his assassination by a Jedi knight while he was en route to strike a trade deal with the Black Sun. His assassination led many fanatical supporters to condemn the Jedi, and soon, the Mezians prepared for war with the Jedi.

Reign of Omar I
Omar I's reign was characterized by its sheer vengeance and lust for revenge against the Jedi. Mezian forces commonly attacked Jedi starfighters and stole many Jedi warships or Republic frigates. During Omar's reign, the Mezians continued mass genocide of native species as they conquered worlds. Mezia's territory began to expand to new heights, as the Mezians adopted new strategies on warfare, emphasizing on sheer brutality. Mezian forces were once documented to have once attacked a cruiser carrying Jedi and murdered the crew and took control of the ship. From there, many Mezian soldiers, especially newly conscripted ones raped female Jedi whilst the males were brutally mauled. This type of action would be what was to describe the Mezians: brutal, savage, and plundering peoples with no sympathy for life.

In 1500 BBY, as the Jedi campaign rolled along, Omar managed to board a Jedi cruiser, and soon he and his troops faced off against a Jedi master by the name of Salus Binn. From there, the Mezians managed to overrun the ship and Omar himself killed the Jedi, using stolen technology and mauling him. Soon, Binn's lightsaber, a green crossguard, would be stolen by the Mezians and soon, as a sign of their victory against the Jedi, the Mezian King soon used this as part of their ceremonial weaponry or their weapon of warfare.

The Alraz Dynasty
Later on, after many years of having several kings, the Alraz dynasty took control of Mezia following an internal crisis within the Mezian monarchy during Varlius I's reign. Varlius, although he was a force sensitive, was also celibate, and refused to produce an heir. Following his passing, a man by the name Jain Alraz, who was a highly influential government official within the Mezian Kingdom took control of the Mezian government, and soon proclaimed himself the first Emperor of Mezia, abolishing the status of kingship and replacing it with the role of emperor.

Aarkash II of the Alraz Dynasty began a massive reformation of the Mezian Kingdom, now known as the Mezian empire. Although Mezia maintained its brutality in war, he attempted to begin peaceful negotiations, where he began to normalize relations with the Republic and broke off Mezia's alliance with the Sith. However, this was later undone by his successor, Aarkash III, who was considered to be mentally challenged, who angered the Republic by raping a senator in public, thus leading to his death and the Republic declaring war on the Mezian Empire officially.

During the war, Mezia was badly bombarded and razed as the Mezian Empire started to collapse. Three emperors came and went due to the war, most of them being slain by the Jedi or Republic, as they closed in onto Mezia. During the battle of Mezia, the planet was severely razed, as the Republic effectively committed mass genocide onto the Mezian Empire. During the battle of The Screaming Ship, the Mezian Emperor at the time, Aarkash VI fought against the Jedi, however, he was killed by a Jedi master in combat, thus resulting in the fall of Mezia and the assumption of Hadrion II to the throne. As Hadrion II took the throne, he ordered a mass evacuation of all Mezians to the planet of Quaraxius, which soon was renamed to Hadrion Prime in his honour. With this mass evacuation, Hadrion II officially surrendered, and soon the Republic withdrew from Mezian territory, with the exception of former Republic planets occupied by the Mezians.

Hadrion II built up Hadrion Prime, quickly making it into a much more industrialized, developed city. Having had finalized Hadrion Prime's industrial capacity, he allowed trade and commerce, reforming the Mezian military, however, he died at the hands of his power-hungry son, Aarkash VII. Under his reign, Aarkash VII ruled with an iron grip, and was a money-hoarding elitist, throwing lavish parties on Hadrion Prime, disrupting the Mezian economy and having many concubines, throwing huge orgies in his palace. Aarkash VII's reign was characterized by his massive embezzlement and heavy taxation on the poor people, draining the empire's economy. He was normally absent from his planet, mostly residing on Canto Bight and throwing parties with the Galactic Elite and criminal bosses, thus gaining a huge reputation on the planet. Some even believe that he wanted to move the capital from Hadrion Prime to Canto Bight. His reign, however abruptly ended when he was killed during a lavish party he was hosting on Canto Bight, where he was riding a Fathier. When he couldn't produce a male heir, thus, his daughter succeeded to the throne as Milena I. Milena's reign was similar to that of her father's reign, however, her reign was much more scandalous and was described to be a living hell for the Mezian people, and the Mezians despised her, calling her "The Slut Queen". In fact, she threw even larger orgies, and to make matters worse, she refused to produce an heir, as she was a lesbian. In this period of time, Milena spent most of her time in her palace, sleeping with any of her fanatical supporters and her female concubines, whilst her government conspired against her. This eventually resulted in a coup in which Milena was deposed and was exiled in 43 BBY. However, with no clear heir, the war for Mezian Succession began, with two claimants being the Kartaronx Family and the "House of Mezia", which was in actuality a fringe group led by a former Jedi Knight.

War of Mezian Succession
The War of Mezian Succession was a conflict and a period of infighting from 43 BBY to 41 BBY between the Kartaronx Family, a powerful aristocratic house, and the "House of Mezia", which was a cult led by a former Jedi Knight who defected to the Mezian Empire. This war saw mass devastation over Hadrion Prime. Many Mezians fled from Hadrion Prime and the empire to the Outer Rim or to the Galactic Republic, where they later formed a sizeable community on Coruscant, known as "Little Mezia".

During the war, there were casualties, resulting in many deaths and soon, the Kartaronx Family took control of the empire, under Aarkash VIII, before he was quickly succeeded by Hadrion the Great (Hadrion III).

The Golden Age of Mezia
During Hadrion III's rule, Hadrion Kartaronx rebuilt and reconstructed the Mezian Empire, making it much more democratized and soon joined the Galactic Republic. In this period of time, he opened up the Mezian Empire to the galaxy, appointing senators and soon, the Mezian economy prospered and boomed, as the Mezian Empire became a semi-constitutional monarchy. During the Clone Wars, Hadrion Prime was attacked by the Separatists, otherwise known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems. However, due to his openness to the republic, he allowed Jedi and Clones to land on Hadrion Prime, to defend the Separatist invasion, with several Jedi such as Thrall Marcos and even Anakin Skywalker. However, in the wake of the Great Jedi Purge and Order 66, the clones turned on the Jedi, and many Mezians who were opposed to the Jedi soon started supporting the Grand Army of the Republic, quickly allowing the clones to end any and all Jedi stationed on Hadrion Prime. During the Imperial Era, however, relations with the empire soured as the Emperor was believed to be harbouring pro-Jedi sentiment, and soon, the Imperial-Mezian War began, in which the Mezians kicked out the imperial garrison out of Hadrion Prime, however, severely damaging their infrastructure.

Reign of Aarkash IX
During the waning days of the empire, Emperor Hadrion died of old age and was replaced by his son, Aarkash IX. Aarkash helped modernized the army of the Mezians, however, he reversed several of the progressive reforms his father enacted, for instance, he emphasized on ancient Mezian tradition and their methods of killing, and soon, the "Mezian Kill" was reinstated as part of military discipline. During his reign, the Mezian Empire was at his height, and Aarkash dreamed of expanding the empire. Following the battle of Endor and Jakku, and the collapse of the Galactic Empire, Aarkash, seeing the power vacuum left by the empire, began expanding the Mezian territory to new heights, soon enslaving the populations of many planets via barbaric means.

Tatooine Campaign
During this period of time, on 33 ABY, the Mezian Empire was at its height, as it began attacking Hutt Space and other outer rim territories, amassing power and influence. One such world that was in its grasp was Tatooine. The initial campaign led and overseen by the Defiler saw massive raids on Tusken Raider territory and Jawa Sandcrawlers, as he occupied portions of the Dune Sea. Later on, the Mezians occupied Mos Redna, where the empire arrested a force sensitive boy named Ayu and a clone by the name of CT-2 and soon extracted DNA samples of them, as they boarded a stolen Star Destroyer named The Foul.

On the command bridge, as they were about to arrive on Hadrion Prime, Aarkash was approached by a man by the name of Liam Shaltren, a force sensitive assassin in possession of a Darksaber. Facing him off, he duelled against Liam, quickly overpowering him at first until being impaled by Liam's Darksaber. In a last-ditch attempt to kill Liam, he attempted to push him out to space from the command bridge's window, only to end up getting killed by being pushed into the void of space himself. Soon after Liam escaped, his crew met the same grisly fate as him. Following this, the star destroyer was boarded by the First Order as any and all prisoners escaped. With his father's death, Omar Kartaronx, also known as Omar IV took the throne, and the Mezian Empire's fate is now uncertain.

Government and Politics
"The only way this empire can function will only be through absolute means. My father has undermined us by allowing "democracy" to flow into our people's minds."

- Aarkash IX.

Rulers of the Empire
The Mezian Empire is ruled under an emperor who governs the capital planet of the Mezian Empire directly and is the sole, supreme ruler of the Mezian people. The Mezian monarchy has always been an absolute monarchy, with the exception of Hadrion the Great, who allowed greater freedoms and appointed a prime minister until Aarkash IX's reign. The Mezian Emperor was normally styled as "your majesty" or "his greatness". Before the formation of the Mezian Empire, however, the Emperor was styled as the "King" of the Mezians.

The Mezian Dynasties
During the tumultuous and long history of the Mezian civilization, the Mezians have had three dynasties throughout the empire's rule, with the first being the "Mezian Dynasty", formed by Dak Indrass, otherwise known as Dak I. This was the first ruling family of the Mezian Empire, back then known as the Mezian Kingdom. The House of Mezia was also known as the House of Indrass, or the House of Dak by some galactic historians or scholars.

The second dynasty was the Alraz Dynasty, which was originally an aristocratic family in the Mezian societal hierarchy, who worked their way through power via corrupt means. The Alraz dynasty's reign was characterized by corruption and turbulence in the Mezian Empire, as their final two rulers ruined the economy of the failing Mezian Empire, and with this, the Alraz dynasty has had a bad reputation over the course of Mezian contemporary history.

The third and current dynasty is the Kartaronx dynasty. Similar to the former Alraz dynasty that preceded it, the Kartaronx dynasty was also a noble family, however, their first emperor did have very progressive views and opened up the Mezian Empire, becoming somewhat of a household name and was beloved by the people. He also increased the Mezian standard of living and soon joined the Galactic Republic. However, his works were undone once his opportunistic son, Aarkash took control, and soon brought back old Mezian culture that was considered savage or uncivilized.

List of Mezian Dynasties
Currently, all the rulers of Mezia are as follows:

Mezian Dynasty: Alraz Dynasty Kartaronx Dynasty
 * Dak I "The Creator" - Formerly known as Dak Indrass, Dak I formed the groundwork of Mezian society, modelling its civic culture similarly to the Mandalorians.
 * Dak II "The Brutal" - Dak II was the successor of Dak I and reversed most of his father's ideas and soon made the Mezian society into a totalitarian repressive one.
 * Aarkash I "The Revisionist" - During his reign, he legitimized his predecessor's genocides and was a revisionist. He was known for being assassinated by a Jedi Knight on Mezia.
 * Omar I "The Revenant" - Omar I's reign had an anti-Jedi mentality and was characterized by ideological fanaticism. His reign saw the end of the Three Tyrants period and the usage of the "great crossguard", stolen from a fallen Jedi master.
 * Ishin I "The Conqueror" - Self-explanatory. His reign was characterized by the expansion of the empire.
 * Omar II "The Ruin" - His reign was characterized by his absence and his deep depression. He later committed suicide, leaving his son to take the throne.
 * Omar III "The Bloodthirsty" - One of the most infamous tyrants in all of Mezian history; he forged alliances with the Criminal Underworld and profited off of illicit trading in the Black Market. He also committed mass genocides.
 * Ishin II "The Unfortunate" - His reign was the shortest of all Mezian kings/emperors. At the age of two, he passed away due to being shot down on a ship, leaving Omar III's brother to take the throne.
 * Dak III "The Inquisitive" - One of the most inquisitive and intelligent Mezian kings, he mostly spent time planning developments and infrastructure. However, his plans never came into fruition and were shelved until the reign of Hadrion III.
 * Hadrion I "The Slayer" - He is probably one of the most forgotten about emperors in Mezian history, and he barely did anything during his reign, maintaining the status quo.
 * Varlius I "The Sorceror" - The last emperor of the Mezian dynasty, he was very spiritual and was also celibate. He also had a connection to the force, but due to his celibacy, he never produced an heir, thus, the house of Alraz took control of the Mezian Kingdom.
 * Aarkash II "The Reformer" - Following the fall of the Mezian Kingdom, Aarkash II formed the Mezian Empire, as he proclaimed himself the first emperor. He also helped build up Mezia once more.
 * Aarkash III "The Mental" - Mostly considered mentally unstable and unfit for ruling, Aarkash III raped a senator in public once as he led the empire down to a path of war against the Republic.
 * Aarkash IV "The Horror" - Presiding over the first few years of the war against the Republic, Aarkash IV used brutal, disgusting tactics which reflected Mezia's image in later years to come. He was one of the most terrifying emperors of Mezia.
 * Aarkash V "The Breaker" - Known for breaking people's resolve, Aarkash V presided over a fragmenting Mezian Empire as he was forced to deal with popular revolts and dealt with them by crushing enemy resolve, and also staged many war crimes such as the infamous massacre of Taris City.
 * Aarkash VI "The Fallen" - Aarkash VI was known for being an "unlucky fellow", who had to deal with the incompetence of his generals and of his predecessors. However, he was described as a brave man, who defended Mezia to the very end, even until his death.
 * Hadrion II "The Indomitable" - One of the much more respectable Mezians, he kept the Mezian Empire together by surrendering and denouncing his conquests of the Republic, and of his predecessor, Aarkash III. He had a planet named after him in his honour, due to his exploits and his deeds.
 * Aarkash VII "The Lavish" - Aarkash VII was a scheming, power-hungry emperor of the Mezian Empire, being the son of Hadrion II. Under his reign, he ruined the state's economy, hosting lavish parties and massive orgies on Canto Bight, thus driving the empire into poverty once more. He was considered a "dishonourable man".
 * Melina I "The Slut" - Considered to be one of the worst leaders the Mezian Empire ever had, she was the first Mezian Empress and first female to take the throne of the Mezian Empire. Under her reign, she continued hosting massive orgies and lavish parties, breaking down the economy of the state. She was also known for acting promiscuous and also was a lesbian, obsessed with "sexual liberation", and she was hated by most commoners.
 * Aarkash VIII "The Young" - The original leader of the Kartaronx Dynasty at the time, he was briefly emperor of the Mezian Empire before he abdicated in favour of his older brother, Hadrion III.
 * Hadrion III "The Great"  - Hadrion III, better known as Hadrion the Great was one of the most prolific and influential figures in Mezian history, becoming somewhat of a household name. He not only rebuilt the Mezian economy, but he also helped the empire join the Galactic Republic and opened the state up to everyone once more. Under his reign, he participated in the Clone Wars, supporting the Republic and the Jedi. He also began progressive reforms and radical changes, making the Mezian Empire much more developed. He also made the nation a semi-constitutional monarchy, aiming to become fully constitutional later on. His legacy lives on in the form of Mezian immigrant communities integrated within Galactic society.
 * Aarkash IX "The Defiler" - Reversing most of his father's progressive reforms, he was quite intelligent and helped build up the Mezian military, expanding Mezian territory to its peak. However, he was very ambitious and planned on cloning an army for his empire, however, he was killed before he could do that.
 * Omar IV "The Savage" - The current leader of the Mezian Empire, his fate is currently uncertain.

Foreign Affairs
The Mezian Empire historically had cold relations with other civilizations, most notably the Galactic Republic and the Hutt Cartel. Many Mezians during the Mezian kingdom were encouraged to take up arms against the Republic and the Jedi, and many regarded the Republic as "imperialist". They, however, had cordial relations with the New Sith Empire, up until the reign of Aarkash II, who opened up to the Republic. Many attempts were made to open up to the Republic, however many of them ended in failure due to the undoings of many Mezian emperors/kings. The Republic was always an adversary to the Mezians, up until the reign of Hadrion III, when he finally opened up to the Republic and joined it. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the Mezians had sour relations with the Empire due to the imperials having suspicions on the Mezian people. Hadrion, however, attempted to maintain good relations with the empire, despite tensions. However, following his death, Aarkash IX, his successor finally normalized relations with the empire during the Rebellion era, until the end of the Galactic Civil War, where the Mezians expanded their territory. Due to this incursion, the Mezians had sour relations with the First Order and other imperial remnants.

Military
"There's nothing more brutal than the Mezian military."

- Lay Boon The Mezian military was one of the most feared galactic militaries, not just because of its strength, but also because of its sheer brutality and treatment of enemies or prisoners of war. For one, the Mezian military developed their weaponry through covert means, and most of their weapons came from criminal syndicates willing to supply them. Whichever the case, their military strategy involved animalistic behaviour, mauling and brutally attacking an opponent, giving them a slow, but painful death. The Mezians however had less technological development, but whatever the case, they were still considered formidable.

The Mezian Navy was comprised of a fleet of stolen Star Destroyers, but they formerly used Mezian-class battlecruisers as their main battleships until most of them were replaced by star destroyers or anything stolen from the Republic, Empire or Rebellion.

Society and Culture
Mezian society was centred around brutality and bloodthirstiness, along with strict harshness and the desire to spill blood. Growing up in isolation on the far side of the Outer and Carated Rims gave the officers and citizens of the Mezian Empire a Mezian-skewed version of galactic history. Under the guidance of Mezian generals, along with approved literature, vids, and mandatory viewings of morale sessions twice a day, officers learned of their history of survival on Mezia, and how they have to stay strong for the Mezian Empire, in honour of Dak I.

Mezian society was split between four main classes - the royalty and nobility, also known as the elite class, dominated politics and the government of the empire, and many of them were known for being notoriously corrupt individuals. The second class included high-ranking members of the military and wealthy, privileged Mezians, who were one of the most notoriously corrupt classes, and served the nobility as eunuchs, servants or as high ranking generals. The third class was the military, which was in charge of planetary governance and order, whilst the fourth class, also known as the proles or commoners, were the common people of the Mezian Empire, most of them being peasants. This stark class divide dominated Mezian society as a whole, as upper classes had better education and a much more lavish lifestyle as compared to the commoners, who were seen as inferior beings for the upper classes to rule over. However, Hadrion the Great attempted to break down the class divide, attempting to unite more classes until his death, which was seen as unpopular among the aristocracy.

Astography
The Mezian Empire controlled a sizeable chunk of Wild Space, the Outer Rim, and the Carated Rim. However, most of its empire was stretched out upon many star systems, often creating enclaves. The Mezians, however, were centred around Hadrion Prime and the old Mezian homeworld of Mezia, however, at its height, the Mezians also controlled important strategic regions such as Tatooine and Geonosis in Hutt Space.