Vaj

The Vaj, simply the "Empire", was an Orion nation-state on Rigel VII (Kolar).

The Vaj was a remnant of the old Thakolarivaj, the "Great Orion Empire", surviving into the late 24th century. Its capital was Vajripam, where the Imperial Palace was located (formerly a Fourth Orion Empire power plant), and it lay primarily on the continent of Ingarroi. With a population of 510 million Orions, it was the largest kingdom on Rigel VII, but was described as sprawling and ramshackle, and it was rent by internal divisions.

It was ruled by an Emperor, with provincial governors known as vazaks, however many of the vazaks were in open rebellion against the power of the Emperor. The Emperor received military aid and weapons from offworld sources, and controlled the only two working spaceports, in Vajripam and the fortress of Karkan. His armies of Kaylar slave-soldiers, including tandu-beasts dragging laser cannons, besieged the vazaks in their diburnite fortresses.

Meanwhile, offworld powers, including Orion merchants and Federation diplomats, did what they could to either help the situation or profit off it. However, both the Emperor and the vazaks rejected Federation interference in ancient Orion traditions. This left a precarious balance between the Emperor’s tenuous grip on power and the strong vazaks remaining subject, leaving the Vaj weak and unstable but still intact. Meanwhile, offworld observers were frustrated by the state-of-affairs but were hopeful for a resolution.

The Federation tried other tactics to bring stability and peace, and backed the creation of a global computer network to deliver education and alternative views to the citizens of Rigel VII. This crashed disastrously in 2362, when Rao Vantika, a Kobliad criminal, used a subspace shunt to access and purge all active memory. The resulting economic collapse wiped out nearly all of Rigel VII's progressive pro-Federation businesses, drove suspicion of the Federation and strengthened the hold of local authorities. The sabotage was suspected to be the handiwork of the Orion Syndicate or even the Emperor himself.