Godly Republic of Eden

Godly Republic of Eden
Edenite Standard Seal
Motto
"Put on the Full Armor of God, so that You can take Your Stand against the Devil's Schemes"
Anthem
Are You Washed in the Blood?
c.4005 photograph
Celestial State
Capital:	Jericho, Eden
Official languages:	Edenite (de facto)
Currency:	Eden Flower (✿ or E)
Demonym:	Edenite
Politics
Government:	Federal presidential republic
- President:	Maynard Lee
Legislature:	Edenite Congress
Religion(s):	Edenite Baptist Church (state religion)
Settled:	3259
Formation:	3750 (Godly Republic of Eden)
Colours:	Edenite standard:              (Civil)              (Military)
Demographics
Population:	1.3 billion
Ethnic groups:	Edenite Baptists, Orthodox Baptists
National minorities:	Unreformed Baptists, Cainites, Zhu Que
Geography
Planet:	Teegarden b
System:	Teegarden's Star System
Avg. distance from Earth:	12 ly
Orbital period:	4.91 days
Moon(s):	0
Surface gravity:	1.05
[Source]

“	No religion except ours has taught that man is born in sin; none of the philosophical sects has admitted it; none therefore has spoken the truth.	”
–Blaise Pascal

The Godly Republic of Eden is the official name of the celestial state that governs the planet Teegarden b, also known as Eden (Teegarden English: Eden; Martian English: Iiden). The Godly Republic is the leading power in the Teegarden's Star System and hopes to dominate its home system in due time. However when taking into account other interstellar powers, Eden is still a fairly minor player by comparison.

History

Colonisation

“	This is the New Eden, the true Kingdom of God as foretold in the New Testament. As he did with Noah, God has granted us mercy and smited the wicked, we should thank him!	”
–A reputed quote from one of Eden's early colonists

The Climate Disaster witnessed mass extinctions of native species and loss of human life on an unparalleled scale that were outright apocalyptic. In accordance with the book of Revelation, many Christians came to believe this was in fact the Armageddon that had been foretold. There were those who willingly accepted their deaths, expecting to be reborn anew in God's Kingdom, and then there were those who believed that in fact their salvation lay amongst the stars.

Teegarden's Star became a particular focal point of these beliefs. With the origins of the name long obscured, the significance of the "Garden" part captured the imagination of some religious leaders at the time, in particular wealthy financiers who subscribed to this doctrine. The system in which the star resided had been mapped out centuries ago and it was known to possess two planets, one of the which possessed a planet with similar gravity to Earth. Probes had judged the planet habitable centuries prior, and this all came together in the belief that this planet was in fact Eden.

Colonists were handpicked for the mission by Christian financiers, drawn from the most devout of society that could afford to pay the expenses required to escape their dying homeworld with the promise of a fresh start. Most of the funds were drawn from several Protestant denominations, with the most prominent being the Pentecostal World Fellowship, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Church of the Nazarene, and the Unification Church. The Unification Church, hailing from the Korean Peninsula, was a particularly controversial choice on account of their non-Western origin and heterodox beliefs, but their deeps pockets managed to waylay any of the other financiers' moral quandaries.

The colonists' departure from Earth in 3247 was broadcast live to congregations across the planet as they blasted off towards Teegarden's Star, Eden, and their salvation. From there, the colonists were prayed over and then put into cryosleep for their journey through the cold void of space. It was a twelve year voyage to their destination at Eden, and the various denominations were eager to gaze upon their new Eden.

After twelve years, the colonists would finally arrive on Eden to find that the planet exceeded their expectations and more. Several dome cities and tunnel systems had already been created through automated means while the colonists were given plants to grow in greenhouses and hydroponic farms. However, many of them were still more than a little unnerved by the black foliage of the plants provided to them, the craters that pitted the surface of the planet, and the red sky that beat down on the surface. If this was a new Garden of Eden, it certainly was a strange one.

In 3259, the colonists inhabited three large dome cities on Eden to contain their population and lived together peacefully as they developed their settlements, dug further tunnel systems, and harvested solar power. The dome cities were named Ham, Shem, and Japheth after the sons of the Prophet Noah with the the Southern Baptist Convention occupying Ham, the Pentecostal World Fellowship occupying Shem, and both the Church of the Nazarene and the Unification Church occupying Japheth. Tensions began within Japheth almost immediately as the Nazarenes reacted very negatively to living near "Moonies". Violence sporadically took place in Japheth, and the other settlements looked on in fear. The whole attitude of colony only worsened as some within the dome cities began to questions whether this strange world with red skies and black plants orbiting a dead rock was really their "promised land". This sentiment was quickly shut down, with the Unification Church especially rejected any dissent among its ranks. Tensions were further heightened when debates went around on what to name the other planets in the system, with Tartarus and Ukobach eventually winning out.

The Edenite Wars of Religion

“	These Moon Men believe in a second messiah, indemnity, and the adultery of Eve with the Serpent! They have no place in Eden, they must be cast out!	”
–Bishop Martin Fenn

Twenty years after the colonists' arrival, all hell broke loose, and an all-out religious war broke out on Eden. This was sparked when the colonists suddenly lost contact with Earth with them assuming the rest of the apocalypse happened on Earth and that they were the last humans left. In reality, contact had been lost only because of a failure in their receiver equipment, but the Eden colonists did not figure that out for a long time. Instead, they started turning the finger upon each other for the destruction of the Earth, something many perceived as punishment to themselves. The Unification Church blamed the Nazarenes for being "communists", the Southern Baptists and Nazarenes blamed the Unification Church for being a glorified cult, and the Pentecostals blamed everyone for being too moderate on social issues when they were back on Earth. The tension finally slipped into religious war when some of the Unification Church poisoned the Nazarenes, causing blood to flow in the streets of Japheth. Seeing opportunity, the Pentecostals, led by Bishop Martin Fenn, marched on Japheth to kill two birds with one stone. Not wanting to see a mass murder, the Southern Baptists marched to meet the Pentecostals. The First Edenite War of Religion would last eleven more years before it ended with Japheth destroyed along with its dome and Bishop Fenn at the head of a new empowered Evangelical Union (Pentecostals and Southern Baptists).

The next two centuries would see a further five Edenite Wars of Religion with the Evangelical Union splintering after the third. At the same time, Eden would further develop as a colony with more dome cities being built, even as its inhabitants killed each other in a dozen senseless wars. One common form of execution used during these wars was crucifixion, a method still in use on Eden today. The population ballooned to nearly a quarter of a billion people by 3400 with most of them living in the two remaining large cities established after initial settlement. The Edenite language had also begun to develop as a significant force on the planet as a creole of the languages spoken by all the initial colonists. Near the end of the last Edenite War of Religion in 3411, things were looking hopeless for the people of Jericho (formerly Shem). The Baptist Martial Brotherhood had captured every city on Eden except Jericho in the name of their Grandmaster, and the then current Bishop Greeley feared for his life. It looked as if the Evangelical Union might be reestablished with the Grandmaster at its head. That was until a prophet from the tunnels began speaking to the masses of the seed of the serpent and how the devil walked among them and in the Grandmaster's army. Some spoke of blasphemy and how this talk was similar to the Moonies (said to be wiped out for almost a century). Nevertheless, the prophet’s words seemed to rally the people of Jericho in a frenzy, and they threw back the attacking army, shaming the Grandmaster in the process. Still the situation seemed fairly grim for Jericho and its people, surrounded by enemies. This situation of Jericho being under siege would last for many more decades.

More ships were sent to Teegarden's Star System after the initial break of contact with Earth, but these ships arrived only to be attacked by rock-hoppers turned pirates in the system's Outer Belt immediately after arriving. A second colony ship sent to Teegarden's Star System a century after Eden's collapse was also lost, seized by Edenites in the Outer Belt. This led to Eden being regarded as a failure and mostly forgotten in governed space.

• 

  The commonly used simplified seal of Eden

• 

  The seal of Eden (mostly used by the Baptist Martial Brotherhood)

Commonwealth Occupation

“	I cannot understand, we lost. Our Promised land, it is our's no longer. Perhaps this is punishment for bringing war to the land promised to us but regardless, we are in store for some unseen tribulations.	”
–Kim Hill, former Grandmaster of Baptist Martial Brotherhood

However as all this was playing out on Eden, cold unknowable intelligences had been observing the planet from the vast expanse of space. Two colonist ships had been sent to Eden and apparently been lost, and conglomerates had sent ships into the the Teegarden's Star System before, only to be harried by Edenite ships. The conglomerates mostly learned their lesson from these incidents and told their ships to avoid the system if convenient. However, things would never be the same for Eden with the creation of the Commonwealth of Earth.

There were concrete records of the existence of human colonies on Eden inside Earther archives and therefore the new military junta determined that the planet was their birthright along with the Earth's other lost colonies. Because Eden at eleven light years was an easy target, it was among the first on the Commonwealth's list of future conquests.

The Commonwealth fleet would arrive over Eden in 3481 and would be met with a token defense by the ships of the Baptist Martial Brotherhood, the planet's leading power. The Baptist Martial Brotherhood had a couple of ships taken from the original colonisation and later captures, but those ships were paltry against the overwhelming force brought by the Commonwealth of Earth. Most of the defending ships were destroyed while a few fled the battle above Eden. While all this happened in orbit, the population of Eden watched with a mix of terror and anger. Even Jericho, the enemies of the Baptist Martial Brotherhood, understood the gravity of the situation. Eden itself was under threat, and the entire planet was now at war.

The Commonwealth ships initially threatened bombardment against any settlements on Eden that resisted their rule, and they were surprised to be met with overwhelming rejection. The brass in charge of the invasion considered going through with the bombardment, but they decided in the end to mount a surface invasion since they did not want to irreversibly destroy all the current settlements on Eden. Landing ships were launched from the invasion fleet and landed on Eden. In this brief time, Jericho and the Baptist Martial Brotherhood had finally worked out a truce, not that it would do them much good. The Battle of Eden lasted about two weeks, with Ham holding out the longest. One by one, dome cities fell, and millions became refugees in the tunnels to flee from an expected genocide. Ham was the last settlement to fall, with remaining members of the Jericho Church and the Baptist Martial Brotherhood fighting side by side to defend their paradise, their new Eden. These brave defenders failed, but they would be remembered.

The following years were chaotic for Eden. Almost a fifth of the planet's population was killed in the weeks of the initial invasion with most of these casualties coming from refugees who were unable to adapt to the Spartan conditions of many unfinished tunnels. Many refugees managed, but eventually, most of them would return to the Commonwealth-occupied settlements. The Edenites that did not return to the settlements would go on to form their own isolated communities which were also subsumed to Commonwealth rule after initial resistance. Meanwhile, the situation in orbit was still a bit in flux. Quite a few ships of the Baptist Martial Brotherhood survived the initial battle with the Commonwealth fleet, turning to piracy, and they leeched off of the Commonwealth's supplies for several years before they were finally smashed in battle around 3490. After that, piracy would continue at a low level. In that time, the Commonwealth would go about establishing their rule of Eden.

With very few personnel to institute an occupation government, the Commonwealth would quickly set about looking for local allies. Former members of the Jericho Church, a theocratic hierarchy, and the Baptist Martial Brotherhood, a militant holy order, were both reluctant to work with the occupiers on both ideological and religious grounds. Most Edenites were just very confused at the occupation, as they had assumed Earth had been destroyed centuries ago. Now, the Devil's armies were seemingly upon them. The three dominant churches of Eden were allowed to remain, but their territories and assets were mostly seized by the Commonwealth. The idea of the invaders being of the "Serpent Seed" was strong, and the only people willing to really deal with the Commonwealth were members of the Nazarene Church, who did not believe in the concept of Serpent Seed. So, along with some more accepting Baptists, Nazarenes were put in charge of settlements across Eden. One especially painful episode in Edenite history was a grand military parade through the streets of Jericho on the first anniversary of the invasion by the occupying Commonwealth forces. Several young Edenites would lob stones at the Commonwealth forces from the crowd, only to be dragged into the street and shot execution-style. This would set the tone for the first few brutal years of the Commonwealth occupation.

After the initial conquest, word would come from Zhu Que that the war there was not going to plan, and it would need more Commonwealth forces. With Eden mostly pacified besides the outlying communities and a few pirates, the Commonwealth started moving its forces out of the Teegarden's Star System while also allowing interstellar conglomerates onto Eden and neighboring space for the first time. With these companies came more outsiders and more tension on Eden. Things would reach a boiling point when one of the conglomerates attempted to set up on Tartarus. Tartarus was considered a cursed planet and setting foot on the planet was considered an affront to many of the Edenites' religion. The Baptist Church, the Nazarene Church, and the Jericho Church all condemned the action, and mass riots took place on Eden. This took an especially ugly turn in Jericho with the riots being violently suppressed through a combination of armed Edenite enforcers and Commonwealth occupation forces. Things would changed unexpectedly though when the Edenite enforcers turned their guns on the occupation forces and sided with the rioters. Taken by surprise, the Commonwealth temporarily lost control of Jericho, and rebellion flared up across Eden.

The First Edenite Rebellion started strong around 3501 but would end in disaster. None of the other Edenite garrisons would side with their own blood, and soon enough, Jericho was brought back under Commonwealth rule. With the considerations of the Edenites in the mind, the Commonwealth barred exploitation of Tartarus, at least within the eyes of the public. That satisfied the Edenites' sensibilities, and they calmed down a tad. The Commonwealth would later quietly set up research facilities on Tartarus that would be met with much less resistance from the populace.

After the First Edenite Rebellion came nearly a century of peace, and a curious sort of status quo developed. As more conglomerates came and the occupation continued, more off-worlders came to Eden and settled down, mostly in the cities. These "Cainites" along with the Nazarenes and certain Baptists (known as Loyalists) became Eden's ruling class. They made up around twenty percent of Eden's population by 3600 and were allowed to vote on the elements of Eden's occupation government (though it was mostly a military regime). Meanwhile, the vast majority of the population who refused to give up the xenophobic "Snake Seed" elements of their religion, around eighty percent, had their status restricted to second class citizenship. They worked in industries and in agriculture, but they rarely saw any benefits from their own "booming" economy. The continued occupation force on Eden kept a firm boot on the necks of disloyal Baptists and Jerichoans while expanding industry and agriculture across the planet. The Edenites in the tunnels outside the dome cities were especially a problem for occupation as they would occasionally crucify outsiders who they caught near their communities. The language barrier would also become more stark around this time, with Commonwealth English influencing Teegarden English and marginalizing Edenite. Throughout the Teegarden's Star System, the Commonwealth partially colonized other worlds such as Tartarus, and Ukobach. The Commonwealth used Edenites to assist in the settlement of Ukobach while only Earthers and Edenite forced laborers settled on Tartarus.

The Commonwealth of Earth would target the Edenites with immense levels of propaganda in order to legitimize their occupation. The Eden of the past was portrayed as a Hobbesian nightmare of violence and superstition that the Commonwealth ended through their benevolent rule. They would also work to subvert Church institutions, but this proved so unpopular that it nearly caused another rebellion in 3517. With that, the Commonwealth ceased its attempts to interfere with religion, and they would work instead through other institutions to win the Edenites over. One of these was appealing to the Edenites' martial culture through service in the Commonwealth military. Although most Edenites abstained from fighting for the Commonwealth on principle, many others joined for the pay, promises of adventure, ideological reasons, or a hope for military experience in anticipation of another rebellion. The integration of Edenites into the Commonwealth military was messy initially, but most of them would adapt with time. Edenites would widely serve in the Commonwealth's military for the next two centuries with some holdouts even serving into the current day. Service in the Commonwealth military would have a mixed effect at best on Edenites, with many retaining their loyalty to their own kind while others gained a peculiar respect for their conquerors. After the return of the many veterans to Eden in the late 3500s however, resistance would grow with numerous veterans joining resistance groups against the occupation. This would lead to an escalation of tensions on Eden in the early 3600s with the occupation becoming increasingly violent once again.

In 3629, agents of the Zhu Que Directorate would arrive on Eden. After assessing the geopolitical situation, they approached a group of resistance fighters out in the tunnels known as the Edenite Brotherhood. Suspicion was the Edenite Brotherhood's initial reaction to Zhu Que, but they would warm up to the off-worlders with offers of weapons and training. Under the guidance of these foreign agents, the movement would grow from a small band of fighters in the early 3630s to the single largest independence movement by the mid 3650s. Unlike the other stratified movements that championed a single ideology or church, the Edenite Brotherhood called for all Edenites to unite under one banner to throw out the Commonwealth, the Cainites, and all traces of the Serpent Seed. Their manifesto outlined that only through unity could they hope to overcome their foes.

Word of the movement would eventually reach the ears of the occupation government, and they decided that best move would be to cut off the head of the snake. The Commonwealth occupation arrested suspected leaders of the Edenite Brotherhood and sent them to the penal camps on Tartarus, the favored punishment for religious dissidents. This act, instead of curbing the influence of the Edenite Brotherhood, would only attract more recruits to the cause. The Zhu Que advisers simply selected new figurehead leaders to lead the movement, who inspired Nazarenes, Jerichoans and Baptists alike to join the cause. All the groups began training militias and geared up for another rebellion. It was during these preparation, around 3655, that the "Trinity Flower" that would become the Edenite seal was used as one of the many flags of the Edenite Brotherhood. All this worried the occupation government who realized the scope of the problem was beyond their previous estimations. In a last ditch attempt to avert a war, amnesty was offered for the political prisoners if the Edenite Brotherhood agreed to disarm. The Edenite Brotherhood refused the offer, outlining that if they wished to disarm them, they would have to do it by force.

The attempt by the Commonwealth to disarm the Ham Chapter of the Edenite Brotherhood would serve as the spark for the Second Edenite Rebellion 3656. What started as a standoff between the two groups resulted in a slaughter that left the Ham Chapter cut down to a man. Incensed at the violence, riots erupted across Eden, and the Edenite Brotherhood officially declared that what had happened on Ham to have been an act of war. The armed uprising would see fighting on the streets, attacks on strategic targets and widespread sabotage of vital infrastructure. However, no longer restricted to act within the confines of civilian war, the Commonwealth Edenite Army employed deadly force against all enemy combatants and non-combatants alike. Within a year, the war was confined mostly to the tunnels, where the Edenite Brotherhood retreated to in large numbers. By 3660, most of the fighting had stopped, and the Second Edenite Rebellion came to an end. However, while the violence had stopped, the Edenite Brotherhood had not been vanquished and they still controlled large sections of the tunnels where the occupation forces could not rout them.

For the next eighteen years, the occupation would fight what amounted to a protracted guerrilla campaign in the tunnels. The Edenite Brotherhood would shelter in isolated communities and caves, and they would strike small targets under occupation control, such as checkpoints, mines, and factories. This would carry on in the tunnels while in the cities, there was increased antipathy towards the occupation, interstellar companies, and Cainites in general. The hatred towards conglomerates had especially grown in recent years, with many Edenites growing increasingly hostile to their secular and materialistic ways, contrary to their own beliefs. The Edenites also resented the conglomerates for their wanton pollution of their new Eden with industrial waste and refuse. The Earthers on Eden became especially nervous, as they knew they were hopelessly outnumbered. They pleaded with the Commonwealth government back on Earth for reinforcements to enforce the current occupation, and the Commonwealth did send a surge of reinforcements to Eden to put down the threat of the Edenite Brotherhood once and for all around 3675. The surge just led to an uptick in violence. At the request of the occupation government, the Edenite churches condemned the violence, but it did little to stop it.

Around 3678 news of the installation of a new artificial intelligence management system within the Martian Federation reached Eden. While this was an outlying threat, it was a significant concern to the Commonwealth of Earth as the act was in direct violation of the INTPOL ban on artificial intelligence being incorporated into vital services. With the threat of war with the Martian Federation brewing and the fear it may have already begun, the Commonwealth occupation forces redoubled their efforts on putting down the Edenite Brotherhood that had been a thorn in their side for the last half century.

The next couple of years would escalate the situation as the Commonwealth occupation tried to eliminate the remaining pockets of Edenite Brotherhood resistance assisted by Zhu Que. The occupation got even more desperate as they attempted to crush Edenite Brotherhood strongholds only to find empty domes and caves. The rebels were able to become more mobile with Zhu Que's assistance and would often make lightning strike attacks on corporate assets as well as occupation targets. The violence would even spread off-world when the Edenite Brotherhood announced their presence on Ukobach with a successful terrorist attack on the dwarf planet's central power station. There were some set-backs such as when the occupation captured several rebel leaders in a coordinated honeypot operation, but overwhelmingly, the momentum seemed to belong the Edenite Brotherhood.

3711 was a year of great change for Eden. A devastating war had apparently consumed the Solar System, and even better, Zhu Que had promised the Edenite Brotherhood that if they at least temporarily secured the Teegarden's Star System, the Directorate would send ships to assist them. Feeling that the time was now or never, the Edenite Brotherhood decided that 3711 was the time for another rebellion.

Third Edenite Rebellion

“	We live in complicated times. It would be all too easy to wave my hand and have all the Serpent Seed culled, but the world does not work that way. It would only attract more and more, and further devastation would follow them. We must be smart, and we must be faithful to our Lord and his Eden.	”
–Peter Combs, General of the Hamite Chapter of the Edenite Brotherhood

The Third Edenite Rebellion began in late 3711 with thousands of Edenite Brotherhood soldiers gathering outside settlements on Eden, Ukobach, and Tartarus. The battle began when Commonwealth occupation forces attacked the Edenite Brotherhood soldiers gathered outside Ham. That began a bloody war of survival for Earthers and a glorious war of vengeance for Edenites.

The dome cities of Jericho was first to fall to rebels but not to the Edenite Brotherhood. Independent Jerichoan rebels would secure the city from the inside and hauled up the Trinity Flower as their standard. From there, the war intensified. Earthers, also known as Cainites, were completely cleared out of Eden's tunnels with them either being killed or driven into the remaining dome cities under Commonwealth control. The Edenite Brotherhood would become infamous for their massacres of Cainite civilians in the tunnels and the various fields of crucified people on the outskirts of Commonwealth settlements.

3712 was ushered in by a Commonwealth offensive to retake Jericho that was stopped in its tracks when the Edenite Brotherhood arrived to assist their fellow rebels. Around the same time, Commonwealth forces on Ukobach managed to put down the Edenite Brotherhood on the dwarf planet. With the defeat of the Jerichoan offensive, the Edenite Brotherhood and the other rebels made a move on Ham, the largest city under occupation control. The Edenite Brotherhood expected an extended siege but were surprised when they found the city already consumed by urban warfare. Apparently, rebel militias similar to those in Jericho had taken the opportunity to rise up due to the approaching Edenite Brotherhood. So, the Edenite Brotherhood took a risk and moved to capture a Commonwealth airfield outside of Ham and the ships there. With these ships captured, the Edenite Brotherhood moved to assist the Hamite rebels and strafed the remaining Commonwealth forces in Ham with their new ships. The city would fall within two weeks with the Edenite Brotherhood securing the city completely. The fall of Ham led to the collapse of the Commonwealth occupation with only pockets of occupation forces holding out in smaller settlements. These were eliminated in due time.

The Third Edenite Rebellion on Eden was effectively over after the fall of Ham, but there was still work to be done. Tartarus and Ukobach were still under Commonwealth control with fighting still happening on Tartarus between Commonwealth forces and the Edenite Brotherhood. Also, there were still Earthers or Cainites on Eden that needed to be dealt with. More radical members of the Edenite Brotherhood wanted to completely exterminate the Cainites with no remorse, but the more practical members of all the rebel groups saw the value of the captured Cainites as a possible bargaining chip with Earth. The majority of the captured Cainites were herded into the ruins of Japheth and kept there temporarily in horrendous conditions.

Using their captured ships, the Edenite Brotherhood set out first the destroy the abomination that was Earther settlement on Tartarus. The Edenite Brotherhood bombarded the dome cities from orbit and destroyed them, killing many Earthers and Edenites. After that, the rebels landed on Tartarus to clean up the remnants.

Throughout the Third Edenite Rebellion, members of the Edenite Brotherhood on Tartarus had been fighting their own battle to secure the planet's terminator line. Unlike the rebels on Ukobach, they had persisted against Commonwealth forces and were overjoyed by the arrival of the larger Edenite Brotherhood. Mant members of the Tartarus Edenite Brotherhood died during the bombardment, but they still greeted their compatriots with relief. The Commonwealth forces and Earther colonists both surrendered when the Edenite Brotherhood landed and the war on Tartarus ended there.

That left Ukobach as the only Commonwealth-controlled planetoid left in the Teegarden's System. The Commonwealth forces on Ukobach had beaten back the rebels there who had tried to rise up, and the Earthers there were determined to fight to the end if necessary. The Commonwealth forces on Ukobach were sure that Earth would come for them eventually, and they just had to hold out until then. The Edenite Brotherhood would assault Ukobach for close to a year, and the dwarf planet would prove to be a surprisingly hard nut to crack. However without any relief forces, Ukobach would fall to the Edenite Brotherhood in 3713. That would leave almost the entirety of the Teegarden's Star System under the control of the Edenites.

News of this would greatly please the Zhu Que operatives in the system who congratulated the Edenite Brotherhood on their success so far, but outlined that victory had not yet been fully secured. The Edenite rebels at that point were still fractious, disorderly and in some cases actively hostile towards each other. The Edenite Brotherhood was the largest organisation among the rebels, but it was by no means in control or even united in of itself. Many members of the Edenite Brotherhood desired to exterminate the remaining Cainites, whom they actively persecuted, while the majority, under Zhu Que counsel concluded that they served more purpose alive as leverage with the Commonwealth of Earth. Another pressing issue to address were the corporate administrations still present in the Teegarden's Star System. While they had been spared from the bloodshed directed against the colonial government and their collaborators, as offworlders they were no longer considered welcome by the Edenite population. The Edenite Brotherhood, acting against the will of the people but in accordance with pragmatic sense, offered them amnesty for the assets they could provide in the rebuilding effort. Lastly, the Zhu Que operatives on Eden believed retribution from the Commonwealth was likely, advising the Edenite Brotherhood to maintain a war footing for the next two decades.

Word of the rebellion would reach the Solar System in 3722, and it would lead to a mixed reaction among the Edenites serving in the Commonwealth military. Members of the Edenite Brotherhood within the Commonwealth military were already dimly aware of the situation, and many of them mass defected to Zhu Que, a known ally to the Edenite people. A particularly contentious incident occurred on Ceres with hundreds of Edenite Commonwealth Marines defecting en masse to the Zhu Que garrison on the planet, almost causing a diplomatic incident between Earth and Zhu Que. However, the incident was resolved before Mars could take advantage of it. Less well-informed but still nationalistic Edenites simply deserted without any larger plans. This caused multiple smaller incidents across the system with Edenite deserters attempting to escape to get back to Eden. Other Edenites would remain loyal to the Commonwealth, most notably Vice Admiral Mariana van Rossem. Vice Admiral van Rossem distinguished herself during the Commonwealth Wars and the Great Interstellar War, and she was put on the spot when word of rebellion came. The vice admiral pledged her continued loyalty to the Commonwealth of Earth and even offered to lead reinforcements to assist the occupation in their efforts. However, word of the fall of the Teegarden’s Star System would only complicate the situation further.

The Zhu Que Navy's Liberation Fleet arrived in 3735 to find Eden on the verge of a new age. Although the rebels still had their problems, they had recognized that disunion was what had allowed the Commonwealth of Earth to conquer them. The Edenite Brotherhood took the lead with the assistance of Eden's churches, and by the time the Zhu Que fleet arrived, a government was being formed. The Zhu Que fleet worked its way into orbit, and high-ranking members of the fleet descended to Eden to observe the fledgling government form. The Zhu Que were welcomed by the Edenite Brotherhood for their support while other Edenites met the offworlders with more suspicion.

Admiral Archelaus Keys of the Liberation Fleet warned the interim government that a Commonwealth fleet would likely have been deployed to the system to reclaim it from the rebels, but if luck was on his side he could avert more bloodshed. As predicted the Commonwealth Navy's Expeditionary Fleet arrived a month later, equipped for war. A standoff in the Outer Belt would result between the two fleets. In relative terms, the two fleets had been comrades in arms before leaving the Sol System, fighting side by side to contain the ALIAS threat. A truce between the admirals of the fleets would see Eden spared further conflict. Admiral Ferdinand Abspoel of the Commonwealth Navy would be the first Earth official to recognize the independence of Eden.

A month after the arrival of the two fleets, the Godly Republic of Eden was founded in 3735. At the same time, all the religions of Eden were officially merged into the singular Edenite Baptist Church. Much of the Edenite Brotherhood and many other rebels were also subsumed into the Godly Republic’s new armed forces. The Eden Flower was chosen as the symbol of the new state. Admiral Keys and Admiral Abspoel recognized the new state as the official government of the Teegarden's Star System.

The Godly Republic

“	I will do what is necessary to ensure peace, at least for now.	”
–President Gerald Flint

The Godly Republic’s first order of business was dealing with outsiders, friendly or hostile, and securing the borders of their new state. That began with dealing with some immediate issues.

The newly appointed President of Eden petitioned Admiral Keys to sign a mutual defense treaty with the Godly Republic, to safeguard the future of both nations from Commonwealth aggression. The admiral stated that such a treaty would require diplomatic approval from the Zhu Que Diet and would be better handled at a halfway point between their two nations on Luna. Bewildered that their allies would suggest heading to the heart of their sworn enemy, the president called an emergency meeting, where Keys clarified the position of the Zhu Que Directorate within the greater whole of mankind's dominion, the need for cooperation with former foes and the reality of their tenuous position. Keys assured the government the service of his fleet to safeguard Edenite interests, but beyond that was the limited scope of his personal guarantees and the authority he commanded. In an unpopular move he brought Admiral Abspoel with him, an Edenite-born Commonwealth Admiral, to their meeting with the governmental assembly, where they advised the Godly Republic to seek a peace with the Commonwealth to secure their independence. After heated debate, the assembly reluctantly agreed and sanctioned a delegation to be sent to Earth. The Commonwealth Expeditionary Fleet departed from the system alongside vessels from the Zhu Que Liberation Fleet and the Edenite Delegation transported by ships belonging to the newly formed Godly Republic of Eden Navy.

At the same time, the Godly Republic dealt with remaining elements of offworld Serpent Seed. The captured Cainites, a population totaling in the millions, were still something of a problem, and there were a few wayward remnants of occupation forces causing trouble on Eden. However, the real concern for many Edenites was the interstellar conglomerates still on Eden. Their materialism and consumerism were seen as a disease by many Edenites, and although the rebels had tolerated them for a while, the Godly Republic saw the conglomerates as a real threat to Eden's fundamental identity. So, the Godly Republic set about nationalising all off-world private assets on Eden. Factories, farms, and mines were all seized by the Godly Republic, and the conglomerates fled in response.

The Edenite delegation arrived in 3747 to find a system still ravaged by war. From their vessels they were shown images of the Earth their ancestors had left behind, a polluted sundered world, cloaked in ash and dust. Escorted to Luna by Commonwealth and Directorate warships for negotiations, the delegation were welcomed to the IGSA headquarters. The delegation would not warm to IGSA, which they believed simply to be an extension of Earth and the Cainites' corrupting influence, despite assurances from their Directorate allies to the contrary. Seeking to ease tensions, the Directorate's diplomatic corps invited the delegation to the Zhu Que Embassy on Luna, a hab dome tinted red to match the skies of Zhu Que and furnished with ash black flora, where the Edenites could feel more at ease. The Delegation were also met with a cadre of Edenite ex-Commonwealth Marines turned guards that Zhu Que had scraped together through mass defections in the previous decades. The Directorate's generosity would only serve to provide another point of contention with the Commonwealth, as the delegation would now refuse to hold talks outside of the Zhu Que Embassy.

The Zhu Que diplomatic corps would explain the reason for their membership with IGSA to the Edenite delegation and the pragmatic need to be part of it in order to maintain sovereignty. This was another case of culture shock to the Edenites, who had come to view the Zhu Que as a war like people of liberators for their part in the Edenite Rebellions, not cowed politicians playing the games of the snake. Tensions rose within the embassy, particularly when the diplomatic corps explained they would only agree to the terms of a mutual defense treaty if Eden would join IGSA, to provide Zhu Que with another similarly aligned power within the organisation. In blunt terms the diplomatic corps outlined the reality of Eden's precarious situation in terms of numbers and potential. Zhu Que was a super-earth, far larger than the polluted cesspit that was the cradle of humanity with an abundance of resources and more importantly space. Eden was an insignificant planet with limited resources and developmental potential. Zhu Que commanded the largest navy in known space. Eden maintained a token fleet a handful of stolen and gifted vessels. Zhu Que did not need Eden. Eden needed Zhu Que. These facts did not sit well with the Edenite delegation, who felt belittled and betrayed by their supposed allies.

The Godly Republic spent many of its early years rebuilding its devastated infrastructure and environment. The Edenites had always been aghast at the disregard the occupation had held for Eden's fragile ecosystem, and the Godly Republic went about repairing the damage done during it. Trees were planted, factories were shut down, and rivers of waste were dredged up. The Godly Republic also spent time to transfer more industry and mining from Eden to the other planets and planetoids of the Teegarden's Star System.

The loggerhead to negotiations was broken in 3750 simultaneous to the arrival of several Earther ships to the Teegarden's Star System. However, these were corporate ships, not from the Commonwealth, that had hedged their bets on making inroads before any official diplomatic mission returned. They insisted on speaking with the Godly Republic's new president and his cabinet. The Edenites were reluctant to allow more outsiders in so soon after their great victory, but something about these representatives told the ships on the border to just waive them through.

The corporate representatives outlined to Eden’s president the situation: when the Godly Republic had nationalised its industry, it had effectively been a declaration of war on them as well as the Commonwealth. Now, the conglomerates were coming to Eden with a deal that might get them out of a future war: exclusive guaranteed mining rights to some conglomerates and an “independence debt” to others over a number of years. In exchange, the Godly Republic would be allowed to exist isolated on mostly its own terms. The Edenite president, skeptical of the conglomerates’ power, asked how he could be sure that they had enough power to sway the Commonwealth and the integrity to hold up their end of the deal. The representatives simply shrugged and asked if he wanted to test them. With that, the Edenite president bowed his head, ground his teeth, and signed the deal with the devil, the Ten Drachmas Agreement.

Unaware of an agreement having been made in their home system with corporate representatives, the Edenite delegation on Luna worked out the basis of an Earth-Eden Peace Treaty, moderated by IGSA in the same year. The treaty outlined that Earth would recognise the sovereignty of the Edenite claim over the Teegarden's Star System, respect the the Godly Republic's cultural integrity, and hand over any Edenite former Commonwealth military personnel still being held in captivity. In turn, Eden recognised the sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Earth's ownership of Mercury, Venus, Ceres, and many Trans-Neptunian objects as well as their extrasolar claims in the Centauri system and elsewhere. The Godly Republic also promised to hand over war criminals and conduct a fair and measured population transfer for all Cainites still on Eden. The Godly Republic would be officially recognised by by IGSA as a Celestial State, but it would not be granted membership in keeping with the wishes of the delegation.

Following on from making peace with the Commonwealth, the Edenite delegation signed the Vermilion Pact with Zhu Que. The mutual defense pact outlined the various terms that both sides would accede to. Eden would allow trade with Zhu Que on Ukobach, allow a naval base on Ukobach, and act in diplomatic tandem with the Directorate. Meanwhile, Zhu Que would keep a fleet within the Teegarden's Star System for the foreseeable future and represent Eden's interests alongside their own to the best of their abilities within the IGSA. The final point was and continues to be a point of contention between Zhu Que and Eden.

When news came on December 3rd, 3762 of an official end to the war, a celebration promptly broke out across Eden and the rest of the Godly Republic. In recognition of Admiral Keys' friendship to Eden, he was granted honorary Edenite citizenship, seen as a great honor for any off-worlder. The Zhu Que fleet, after participating in the celebration, returned back to their home system. They left behind a foreign embassy that for centuries was the only outside contact for anyone with Eden until the opening of Ukobach.

The business of shipping off war criminals to be judged on Luna proved to be a contentious early issue for the Godly Republic. Edenites did not really have a solid definition of war crimes and were confused by the accusations leveled at many former members of the Edenite Brotherhood. There were numerous protests made by the Edenite people and the Godly Republic against extraditing their own for trial by the IGSA, an organisation they were loathe to acknowledge. However, the Zhu Que ambassador and others impressed upon the government the importance of fulfilling the terms of the peace treaty with Earth, to the letter. Otherwise, the Commonwealth might renege on its end as well and invade a second time. So after almost a year of back and forth, the Godly Republic relented and allowed nearly two hundred war criminals be taken back to the Solar System for trial. About half of them had been involved in the bombing of Tartarus, an attack that destroyed almost the entirety of the planet's population. The majority of the others were involved with the wrongful treatment of civilians and prisoners of war on Eden and Tartarus with only a handful from Ukobach. Along with these war criminals came a demand from the Godly Republic for action against Earther war criminals, particularly those responsible from expelling Edenites from dome cities on Tartarus.

The trials for the Edenite war criminals would play out for many years before they ended with a handful being executed and the rest being confined to life imprisonment. Captain Robert Curnow, the commander of the squadron that bombarded Tartarus, was the most notable Edenite to be executed. The executions would drawn out over many years, with the last happening thirty years after the end of the war. The last Edenite war criminal would die in prison nearly fifty years after the end of the Third Edenite Rebellion. All their bones or ashes would be returned to Eden after their passing, and many of these war criminals have achieved a sort of cult following, especially Curnow. Their graves are pilgrimage sites for many patriotic Edenites, and they are fondly remembered even in 4005, when many other veterans of the Third Edenite Rebellion have been forgotten.

The next century or so after the war was spent reestablishing Eden, socially and politically. Even though there was technically only one church on Eden now, the Edenite Baptist Church, there was still trouble between various religious sects. The issue of the Serpent Seed had become controversial, and groups began to separate from the mainline church as early as the 3780s. The Orthodox Baptists were those who did not believe in the Serpent Seed but did not actively oppose the idea while the Unreformed Baptists were those who actively challenged the idea of Serpent Seed. The Unreformed Baptists were seen as detriments and allies to the Cainites while the Orthodox Baptists were accepted with some apprehension.

The issue of the Cainites was something that was a problem for the next half-century. The Cainites cooped up in the ruins of Japheth were almost entirely deported back to the Solar System after the conclusion of the Earth-Eden Treaty. Meanwhile, the Cainites elsewhere had a more difficult time getting off-world, even if they wanted to. Many Cainites went into hiding across Eden after the fall of Ham since there was no guarantee that they would not be killed upon being found. Millions of Cainites still lived on Eden after much of the population was transferred, and they were actively persecuted as Serpent Seed wherever they were found.

Around 3850, the situation on Eden had stabilised enough so that the Godly Republic could start to finally pay off its independence debt while also trying to make something of itself. Eden bloomed with life and culture while Ukobach boomed with the fire of industry and trade. Meanwhile, Tartarus was further settled by Edenites who viciously persecuted any remaining Cainites clinging to the terminator line. The Godly Republic prospered, even as a sort of discord began.

It was known that the Outer Belt had been conceded to corporations after the war for independence, but that did not mean everyone was happy with it. Many on Eden had become angry that their government had handed off all those resources to off-worlder corporations who had no real claim on them. They were also angry with the continued payment of the independence debt, which hangs heavy over the heads of many.

These militarist factions within the Godly Republic starting gaining traction in the 3900s and were voted into power by 3950. The new government was sure that they were not able to take on the corporations on their own, but they wanted to someday. So, the Sinai Project was initiated to ramp up Eden's military, both their army and navy. The main development of the Sinai Project was Moses, an orbital shipyard that would produce the fleet that would defend Eden from its enemies. The situation today is rather bright for Eden, but all is not quite as it should be. There are whispers of strange new lights in the Outer Belt, and Edenites are becoming nervous. What could be out there?

Geography

Habitability

Though Eden orbits its parent star's habitable zone, it is tidally locked and lacks the sufficient atmosphere to support life. Half of the planet is bathed in eternal sunlight while other hemisphere is left in freezing darkness. The terminator line of Eden is temperate, but most of the population lives underground in vast tunnel systems on the lit side of the planet. There are also dome cities on the surface as well, and large portions of the population live there as well.

Eden orbits its host star every 4.91 Solar days at a slim average distance of approximately 3.76 million kilometers (0.0252 astronomical units; for a scale comparison, Mars is on average 225 million km from Earth).

Government

Politics

The Godly Republic of Eden is the federal presidential republic that governs Eden with a firm grip. Established as a power-sharing experiment between victorious rebels on the planet, the Godly Republic has taken on a life of its own as the will of the people. A republic composed of five member states with the most prominent being Ham, Jericho, and the Edenite Baptist Church, the Godly Republic of Eden is tasked principally with protecting Eden from outside influences and enforcing the peace. The lower elements of government are a democratically elected unicameral Congress while the higher parts of the government are appointed by elected officials to be the president’s cabinet. The Edenite Baptist Church is given enormous power within the republic, with its most prominent power being the ability to veto funding to government projects if it feels so inclined. It is something of an inside joke that becoming Council President of the Church is just someone paving their way up the ladder.

In the early history after the end of the Commonwealth occupation, there was a movement within the Godly Republic to declare Jesus Christ to be the King of Eden. This movement began during the Second Edenite Rebellion, and it reached a boiling point during the period between the Third Edenite Rebellion and the Commonwealth's acknowledgement of independence. After a vote in Congress, Our Lord Jesus Christ was officially crowned the king of Eden in 3765. The ceremony took place in Jericho and was attended by millions of people, along with prominent members of the government and a Zhu Que delegation. Jesus has remained the king of Eden ever since, but this has affected policy very little on a practical level.

The appointed president’s cabinet of the Godly Republic of Eden is modeled after distant memories of the United States federal government. The largest difference is that the president is appointed by Congress. The cabinet’s positions are:

• President - Chief Executive of the government. The smiling face of the Godly Republic to the people of Eden and a scowling visage to outsiders.
• Vice President - Secondary executive of the government. A largely ceremonial position mostly created in relation to succession.
• Secretary of State - Chief officer in charge of keeping track of interstellar affairs and theoretical diplomacy between the Godly Republic and other states.
• Secretary of Faith - Responsible for government involvement with religious authorities and acts as an authority on religious matters. In practice largely subservient to the Edenite Baptist Church.
• Secretary of Defense - Chief Officer in the position of command and authority over Eden’s military, second to the president in this respect. Hugely influential and respected within the government.
• Secretary of the Garden - Largely analogous to the historical “Secretary of Agriculture” position, oversees the integrity of Eden’s environment and the Edenites’ agricultural practices.
• Attorney General - Chief law officer, in charge of general law enforcement and criminal punishment across Eden. Possesses an adversarial relationship with the Secretary of Morality.
• Secretary of Morality - Manages and enforces public morality using sometimes extralegal methods and acts as the role for many ambitious officials wishing to make a name for themselves. Possesses an adversarial relationship with the Attorney General.

Universal suffrage does not exist within the Godly Republic of Eden. Unreformed Baptists, suspected Cainites and sometimes individuals with anti-social tendencies are not allowed to vote in elections. It was considered early in the Godly Republic's life whether women should be given the franchise, but that question has been resolved since in favor of the fairer sex.

Foreign relations

See: Earth-Eden relations, Eden-Zhu Que relations

Military

Comparatively to other interstellar powers, the Godly Republic has a fairly small but robust military. Eden's military is split into three branches: the Army, the Navy, and the Marines. The army is very large and wields significant influence, being well-armed with supplies from Zhu Que and local factories on Eden. The origins of the army lie with the Edenite Brotherhood, which was integrated into the Godly Republic's military after the Third Edenite Rebellion. The navy is fairly small but effective in policing the borders of the Godly Republic. Eden has been slowly been building up its naval strength with new ships manufactured on Moses. The origins of the navy lie with ships hijacked from the Commonwealth of Earth and borrowed from the Zhu Que Directorate by Edenite rebels. The marines are the most prestigious branch of Eden's military, and they are seen as the future where Eden will expand, possibly clashing with other interstellar powers. The marines were established long after the end of the Third Edenite Rebellion.

Economy

Overview

The Godly Republic of Eden operates largely as a closed economy with only limited trade with Zhu Que, and it is agricultural for the most part. Eden's economy used to be almost entirely agricultural, but the Commonwealth occupation brought industry and mining to the planet. After the establishment of the Godly Republic, many of the factories and mines were shut down to preserve Eden's ecosystem while some were kept. Lately, the defense industry has become a larger part of Eden's economy with the Sinai Project spurring the growth in Jericho and Ham. Most of the Godly Republic's shipyards are located on Moses, but the majority of its arms are manufactured on Eden.

Energy

Much of the energy for Eden's infrastructure and general use is produced by a series of antimatter generators distributed throughout the planet. Fuel is also provided through nuclear power for more remote parts of Eden, mostly from uranium-235. Energy for spacecraft is provided on a limited level but much is imported from Zhu Que due to Eden's lack of a gas giant to provide essential fuels for interstellar vessels. Eden hopes to rectify this dependence on foreign fuel in time.

Health

“	And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.	”
–Genesis 1:28 KJV

Eden's physical health situation is fairly good, as exercise is actively encouraged by the Godly Republic and healthcare is provided by the state in most cases. However, self-imposed limitations are imposed upon Edenite medicine due to Christian morality. This is most evident in the fields of women's health, specifically abortion and ectogenesis, and transhumanism.

Abortion is illegal on Eden because of the moral implications of killing one's unborn child, and the practice has always been illegal on Eden. Ectogenesis is illegal because of the moral implications of removing an unborn child from a mother's body, but it was not always illegal. Ectogenesis was used by the original colonists of Eden to bolster their initial numbers but was stamped out by the Baptist Martial Brotherhood and further demonised by the Edenite Brotherhood after the Commonwealth occupation. Pregnancy and motherhood are championed by the Godly Republic as noble ideals for women, and good mothers and those with multiple children are given a certain degree of respect within Edenite society. Additionally, condoms are allowed on Eden for "practical reasons", but birth control is not for either sex.

Transhumanism is a taboo subject on Eden, as attempting to reshape the human form or become immortal is viewed as sinful. Therefore, life-extending technology is illegal and unavailable for just about everyone besides the very richest who can obtain it illegally from Zhu Que. Outlawed transhumanist technology includes human cloning, mechanical/biological augmentation, and various other methods. The rich and powerful have attempted several times to make transhumanism more palatable to Eden's general populace but have failed miserably so far.

Migration

As most outsiders are seen as poisonous Serpent Seed, migration is basically non-existent within the borders of the Godly Republic. The only outsiders who are able to live on Eden openly are the small cabal of Zhu Que diplomats who live in the Zhu Que Embassy on Eden. Cainites who are found to be living on Eden or Tartarus are sometimes "forcibly repatriated", but cases of that are rarer nowadays as independence becomes a distant memory.

Science and technology

The technology level of the Godly Republic is fairly low compared to most interstellar powers. That is both because of the relative isolation of Eden and the self-imposed restraints imposed by the government on scientists, especially in the field of biology. Edenite technology is mostly the same or lower quality than their ally Zhu Que's, with their own only notable gain in technology being in weapons development and energy.

Transport

Transportation in the Godly Republic is mostly provided by the state's public transportation, which takes people to their jobs on-world and off-world. Maglev trains are the most common form of transportation on Eden, with most Edenites in urban areas using rail as their means of travel to work and to other functions. These trains were adopted by the state after the end of the Commonwealth occupation to reduce pollution. Private transportation is also present on Eden, but these are rarer because they are usually unnecessary in dome cities. In urban areas, private transportation is more a status symbol. In more rural areas without a train connection, private transportation is more common.

Culture

Architecture

While multi-cultural, the most widespread and quintessential Edenian aesthetic is known as the Colonial style, which takes its cues from the neoclassical architecture of the original colonists' homelands.

Demographics

Eden has a good stable demographic profile as birthrates within the Godly Republic have stayed steady at around two per family due to the government pro-natal policies, and there are fewer elderly people compared to the youth. The planet itself holds a little more than a billion people while the entire Godly Republic only holds a few million more. The sex ratio of the Godly Republic is also fairly stable, due to natural birthrates and Fisher's principle seemingly playing out several times, most notably after the Third Edenite Rebellion.

Ethnicity

The Edenites claim to be a race apart from the rest of humanity, and it is true in that they have developed their own culture apart from the rest of humanity. Edenite culture is fairly comparative to the historical “Bible Belt” in North America, with high religiosity and moral standards. Old taboos like abortion and homosexuality are abetted by new ones such as outbreeding and descending to the planet Tartarus. Food selection is Eden is generally fairly limited, but Edenite cooking is generally regarded as very good if rather unhealthy for those with a sedentary lifestyle. Edenites also have a strong martial tradition that goes back to their long history of religious wars. Most households are equipped with at least one weapon, and the Edenite military is never wanting for recruits.

Genetically, Edenites are regarded as overwhelmingly European with some significant Asiatic admixture. This admixture, called Anglo-Teutonic Korean, is from the Unification Church in distant history, and it is an accepted part of Edenite society. Ironically enough, this racial admixture is not typically used a cudgel between fellow Edenites, though there have been attempts over the years.

Officially, Edenites are the only ethnic group present on Eden aside from a few Zhu Que present at the Zhu Que embassy in Jericho. However, Earthers are also technically present in the form of "Cainites". These Cainites are more ethnically diverse than the Edenites but have either retreated into isolation or hidden within larger Edenite society. Culturally, Cainites are for the most part indistinguishable from Edenites with most Cainites having lost any connection to their ancestors.

Holidays

There are seven major national holidays in the Eden Calendar, each either celebrating significant milestones in the nation's history or its Christian roots.

• Brotherhood Day: December 3rd, marked with military parades, fireworks, and demonstrations of shared brotherhood among Edenites, even those usually not welcome.
• Christmas: December 25th, Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ consisting of gift-giving and celebration, largely purged of its past consumerist aspects.
• First Landing: February 18th, First Landing is a festival of thanksgiving for Eden's intrepid first peoples.
• Easter: April 30th, Easter is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the culmination of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
• Pentecost: June 19th, Pentecost is a feasting day that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks.
• Freedom Day: August 4th, Freedom Day is marked with raucous parties and thanks for the millions who gave their lives for Eden's freedom.
• Presidents Day: November 26th, a civic holiday on the birthday of Eden's first president Gerald Flint to commemorate his life and remember his achievements.

Holography

Before the Commonwealth occupation, holography on Eden was underutilized and fragmentary. The only large use of the holography was by the Baptist Martial Brotherhood, who used it to broadcast propaganda and Bible stories. Much of this and holography before the occupation has been lost. The largest piece of lost holography is Judges, a filmed sword and sandals epic of the Biblical book of Judges with extensive action scenes and mock bloodshed.

The Commonwealth occupation brought a whole new paradigm to Edenite holography. The Earther colonists on Eden brought a new bombastic air to holography with the patriotic action genre dominating Eden's screens. This would come to influence future Edenite holographers, consciously or not. The most prominent Earther holography director of the period on Eden was Shadmehr Hedayati, a filmmaker of Persian heritage whose idols were ancient men with names such as Kubrick, Kurosawa, and Leone. Hedayati was popular on Eden for his hiring of Edenite actors and his incorporation of Eden's history into his holography. He was even sympathetic to the Edenites in some of his later holographies. However overall, Hedayati was careful to never go too far out of line with the Commonwealth occupation and died before the Third Edenite Rebellion. Therefore, his influence on later holography is rarely acknowledged beyond the most avant-garde of the post-Rebellion generation. The most prominent examples of his work include The Master and Margarita, an adaptation of the darkly satirical 20th century novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, and Joshua, a holography focusing on the initial Commomwealth occupation on Eden. Hedayati's work was heavily suppressed after the Third Edenite Rebellion, and his catalog is now hard to come by besides in some private collections and the more remote parts of Eden's Web.

After the emergence of the Godly Republic, Edenite holography gained new vigor. Sprawling war holographies were commissioned by the Secretary of Morality, and they delivered harrowing experiences for audience goers. However, many directors observed that these holographies lacked many of the subtleties present in Edenite literature at the time, and many attempted to incorporate more nuanced themes in their holographies. The most prominent of these directors was an Orthodox Baptist named Ishmael Walker, a man who was inspired greatly by Hedayati and wished to do more intelligent holography. This new "Strange Movement" was met in equal force by a group of reactionary directors who felt that the moral ambiguity expressed by Walker and his kind was tantamount to treason. This group, known as the Floral Cross, was led by Arnold Sung, a veteran of the Third Edenite Rebellion who was widely known for his guerrilla filming efforts before the war. This led to what were known as the "Holography Wars" throughout the later 3700s as these directors competed in a game of personal ambition and ideology. Having government friends and the love of the people on their side, the reactionaries eventually won the "Holography Wars" and their vision has triumphed up to the current day on Eden. This is most prominently seen in the name of the holography guild on Eden, the Floral Cross. Notable examples of the work of the Strange Movement include Ecto Genesis, a controversial holography by Amanda Goldman about a couple on attempting to find a way to save the wife from death in childbirth, and Alian, a holography by Ishmael Walker about abominable lives of the Martians under their robot overlord ALIAS. Notable examples of the original Floral Cross include A Red Cross, an adaptation of a sprawling Edenite epic about their history made by Arnold Sung, and One Way There, a holography about the Edenites' of the past's desperate but heroic attempt to unite in face of an Earther invasion, also made by Arnold Sung.

After the triumph of the Floral Cross in the early 3800s, Edenite holography has become rather mundane in its content. The sprawling war epics on the past were scaled down to cut cost and dramas in the form of mediation adaptions were introduced. Influence from Zhu Que has slowly crept in over time as trade with the Directorate brought new media to Eden. Many directors complained of the "feminization" of the holography industry, but even so, the action (generally seen as male) and drama (generally seen as female) genres of Edenite holography are religiously segregated and rarely intersect. However, fusion holographies do occur every now and then and have become more common as time goes on. The current hot director on Eden is Mark Rhee, a fairly young man who is best known for his hit drama series based mostly around family ties and relationships with romance being a large focus. The unusual aspect of Rhee's work is that he has fans of both sexes, highly unusual for someone making dramas on Eden. Much of the rest of the Floral Cross resent Rhee for representing a sort of "new guard", someone who can appeal to men and women. Rhee's influences taken from Zhu Que are viewed as almost apostate by the rest of the Floral Cross but his popularity has shielded him from most open criticism. The most prominent examples of Rhee's work include the series The Heirs of Eden, a speculative series about Edenite colonists on a new planet, and Mr. Right, a holography about a simple country girl trying to find love. Whether Rhee will have a lasting effect on Edenite holography is to be seen.

Language

Edenite, a language which evolved from English with significant influences from Korean, is the dominant language of Eden. Emerging from Eden's nearly three hundred year isolation from wider humanity, Edenite really became its own language around 3400 and has further separated from English since then. There are different dialects of Edenite across the planet , and the most noticeable dialects are Jerichoan Edenite and Hamite Edenite. Meanwhile, Teegarden English is a dialect of English spoken by a large number of people on Eden. This dialect is maintained for purposes of historical research and heritage. Edenite is generally regarded as the language of the lower classes while Teegarden English is spoke mostly by the middle and upper classes. Currently, Edenite is favored over Teegarden English for nationalistic reasons. Solar English is also taught among the military and the diplomatic corps to better acclimate Edenites to conditions outside the Teegarden System.

Literature

The literature of the Godly Republic is surprisingly diverse for a state with such puritanical values. Early in Eden's history without news about the outside world, many Edenite authors instead turned inward for inspiration, delving into examinations of the human condition and religious values. Later during the Commonwealth occupation, literature began to focus more on war and efforts to liberate Eden. The Godly Republic ushered in even more patriotic literature but also some introspection. Books would often even contain subtle critiques of the Godly Republic but usually refrained from outright criticizing the regime. In the current day, Eden's literature has become more censored and plain due to increased government scrutiny. Edenite literature overall though (not published state propaganda) is generally regarded as quite good by the outside world, at least in the few cases that are present outside of Teegarden's Star System.

The earliest genres of Edenite literature include epics about the Edenite Wars of Religion and the chaotic conditions of early Eden. Examples of this genre, called Basic or Early, include A Red Cross, a doorstopper epic by Theodore Mendel following several generations of a Baptist family living, fighting, and dying on Eden, and Duty to God, a shorter book by Madeline Harper about a pregnant widow attempting to survive in a world seemingly falling apart during the Third Edenite War of Religion. Because of the lack of unified censorship, this era had a lot of more “raw” literature.

During the Commonwealth occupation, a new genre of book would come on the scene, Rebel Thrillers. These books followed the adventures of various Edenite rebels and later the Edenite Brotherhood in their quest to liberate Eden and Teegarden's Star System from the Commonwealth of Earth. This literature was a great deal less cerebral than the previous centuries’ and was enormously popular, even though many Rebel Thrillers were banned by the Commonwealth occupation for incitement. Examples of this genre include Liberty Can’t Wait, a semi-autobiographical pamphlet by an unknown author directly inciting rebellion, and The Pastoral Hero, a novel by Erica Watts about a pastoral music singer wrapped up in the Second Edenite Rebellion.

Rebel Thrillers increased in popularity after the Third Edenite Rebellion and remain fairly popular into the present. However, two new genres would emerge in the generation after the war to challenge it: War Realism and Mediation.

War Realism was a genre born from literate veterans writing about their experiences and generally deconstructing the glorious image of war put forth by Rebel Thrillers. Examples of this genre include Hidden in Plain Sight, an autobiographical work by Quentin Rankin about his decades in Eden’s tunnels fighting the Commonwealth occupation in the Edenite Brotherhood alongside Zhu Que military advisors, and Split, a novel by Walter Odom about the complicated social situation on Ukobach after the Third Edenite Rebellion. Hidden in Plain Sight drew particular ire in its time for some limited criticism thrown towards Zhu Que for their perceived manipulation of the Edenite Brotherhood. Its author died penniless after years of persecution, but today, the book is regarded as the magnum opus of Edenite literature. War realism generally died off as a genre with its authors.

Mediation tried to steer the Edenite literary psyche away from war and chaos and more towards social situations. The genre was pioneered largely by women and focused on conflict at the home and the workplace rather than on the battlefield. However, male Edenite philosophers also took advantage of the genre to input some of their ideas, though these would rarely stick for a general audience. Examples of this genre include Conductor, a novel by Gregor Trunt about an alienated train conductor finding his way though an increasingly immoral Eden of the future, and Faith and Finality, a novel by Gloria Brooks about a family recovering from the loss experienced in the wake of the Third Edenite Rebellion. The mediation genre was initially quite revolutionary in its content, but through careful subversion, the genre was largely sanitized for a more general audience so that it continues to be popular today.

After the initial flood of creativity after the Third Edenite Rebellion, literature on Eden has become more uniform. Rebel thrillers, mediations, and the new war epics dominate the bookshelves at the dawn of the fifth millennium. War Epics are largely a product of the propaganda efforts of the Godly Republic to reinvigorate its population and add onto the useful parts of rebel thrillers by making them larger-scale and more speculative, more like holography. The most well-known of these war epics is the Sol series, which focuses on a future war in a Solar System dominated by Mars and ALIAS. The series is seen as fairly low-quality but very profitable to its revolving door cast of authors.

Music

Edenite music is primarily influenced from two genres: western (or country) music and k-ballad. The two genres, having evolved and influenced one another over the centuries, became known as pastoral music and urban music over time. These two genres reflected the Edenites' international origins, and both competed for the spotlight by the time of the Commonwealth occupation. Pastoral music is seen as being more nostalgic and strongly emotional while urban music is seen as more sentimental and rhythmic. Urban music is more commonly sung in Teegarden English while pastoral music is sung in both Edenite and Teegarden English. The genres have had little exchange with the outside world beyond some appeal of pastoral music to the lower classes of Zhu Que.

After the Third Edenite Rebellion and the independence of the Godly Republic of Eden, urban music and pastoral music have slowly fused into an union, called E-fusion. This genre is the most popular one currently on Eden, but fans of urban music and pastoral music remain among the more "cultured". E-fusion has some more popular appeal outside the Godly Republic on Zhu Que. Pop music from Zhu Que is also popular with Edenites, one of the few examples of cross-cultural exchange on Eden.

National heroes

As a militaristic xenophobic regime, the Godly Republic of Eden makes national heroes a large part of its national mythos. Edenite individuals from before and after the founding of the Godly Republic are honored by the government, and the Edenites celebrate their heroes in numerous ways. The following is a list of notable Edenite heroes:

• Arnold Sung - A holography director and the founder of the Floral Cross, Eden's holography guild. A veteran of the Third Edenite Rebellion who fought hard to win the "Holography Wars" against liberal elements on Eden. His holographies are still appreciated on Eden centuries after his death.
• Elias Manning - An Edenite commander fighting for the Commonwealth of Earth during the Great Interstellar War who distinguished himself on the battlefield. His heroism and piety are remembered by Edenites as a great example of his people, and he is also remembered as a good early friend of Zhu Que. The condition he came back in after the end of the Commonwealth occupation of Eden is often glossed over, however.
• Gerald Flint - Founder of the Godly Republic of Eden and its first President, also remembered as the General of the Northern Chapter of the Edenite Brotherhood who fought in the Second and Third Edenite Rebellions. The most recognisable Edenite historical figure with his birthday honored on Presidents Day and many statues being erected of him across the Godly Republic. Politically, he is remembered as shrewd and practical in his dealings with the Commonwealth of Earth and the Zhu Que Directorate.
• Mae Baker - An elderly matriarch from the tunnels of Eden whose assistance was pivotal to the early Edenite Brotherhood by housing them and supplying them with weapons. Having two sons among the Edenite Brotherhood, she felt compelled to help and later broke bread with Zhu Que advisors in her homestead as well. She was eventually killed by the occupation for not yielding the Edenite Brotherhood's whereabouts. Her generosity and loyalty are held up as the ideal for women on Eden, with patriotic female Edenites often being called "Mae Bakers" during the Third Edenite Rebellion.
• Robert Curnow - Commander of the squadron that scourged Tartarus during the Third Edenite Rebellion and a captain for the Edenite Brotherhood. Handed over to IGSA authorities by the Godly Republic and later executed for war crimes. He is lionised as a martyr by many even today, and his sacrifice is held up as part of the price Eden paid for its freedom.
• Sara Se-Yoon - A working mother in Jericho who lost her husband and several brothers during the Commonwealth invasion of Eden. Made a war widow, she would become one of the first to speak out against the Commonwealth occupation through her writings and her efforts to expose Commonwealth crimes against Eden. She would remarry and most of her writings would be lost during the occupation, but her contributions would remembered by later generations as one of the sparks that begat the three rebellions that would eventually liberate Eden.
• Thaddeus Boone - The most powerful Grandmaster of the Baptist Martial Brotherhood who nearly unified the entirety of Eden during his lifetime before the Commonwealth occupation. A diligent, dogmatic, and unyielding man who seemed almost prophetically determined to unite the planet under the rule of the Baptist Martial Brotherhood and fought several wars to do so. Eventually failed in his goal but is fondly remembered by many in Godly Republic as something of precursor to themselves.

Philosophy

Philosophy on Eden is largely limited within the parameters set by the Godly Republic, as in various flavors of traditional conservative. The biggest differences in philosophy on Eden are in regards to economics rather than morality. The main philosophical school on Eden is Exceptional Evangelicalism, with Christianity and the idea of Serpent Seed influencing Edenite thinking heavily. There is no open opposition to Exceptional Evangelicalism.

The general working philosophy for Eden emphasizes self-sacrifice and community. Religiosity and the immaterial are favored over individuality and materialism, and the government consciously reinforces the Edenite Baptist Church and puts limitations on corporations for fear of what excessive materialism may bring to the Godly Republic.

There is opposition to the ruling ideology of Eden concentrated in the upper and lower classes. This is due to dissatisfaction coming from both classes for differing reasons. The different parts of the opposition do not interact with one another and operate separately. The middle class in contrast has surprisingly few dissidents, as it has significant power within the Godly Republic even when compared to the upper class.

In the upper classes, many favor a more pragmatic approach to politics than Eden's current position with more emphasis on free trade, capitalism, and transhumanism. Most do not openly express this, but there are several secret societies such as the Fishermen who seek to subvert the Edenite state to their wishes and take it away from isolationism into a model more akin to Zhu Que, Cariocecus, or even Earth. They can do this through many of their positions in the institutions of Eden such as education, industry, or the military.

Meanwhile, Hatchet has a small but significant presence in the lower classes, brought back to Eden by veterans of the Coalition Invasion of Mars. The Edenite cell of Hatchet recruits from the outcasts of Edenite society: Cainites, Unreformed Baptists, atypical women, homosexuals, the mentally unsound, and many more. The characteristic of Eden's Hatchet cell that sets it apart is its general militant atheism in reaction to the overwhelming influence of the Edenite Baptist Church. Hatchet uses direct action due to their lack of institutional power in the form of arson, sabotage, and protests. Hatchet protests usually involve many shock tactics including offensive signs, disrespectful chants, and occasional public fornication. All this is done in the hope of 'waking up' the general populace, a task that has failed so far.

Religion

Eden was founded as a refuge for Christianity from a dying Earth, and the planet was originally settled by four sects of Christians. Those sects quickly went to war with one another and changed over the centuries until the remaining churches united to form the Edenite Baptist Church in 3735. The Edenite Baptist Church has been the dominant religion on Eden for centuries, but it still has not stamped out the remnants of the older religions, classified as Orthodox Baptists, Unreformed Baptists, and Cainites. Making up nearly ten percent of Eden’s population, Orthodox Baptists believe in the religion of their ancestors and do not agree with the Edenite Baptists over a lot of things. However, they do lip service enough to stay alive. Meanwhile, the Unreformed Baptists and Cainites, together less than two percent of the population, are actively persecuted by the Godly Republic of Eden.

Stereotypes

As the Godly Republic is a largely homogeneous society, stereotypes are alive and well on Eden. The first divide is between the majority of the population who either speak Edenite or Teegarden English. Those who speak Teegarden English are seen as elitist and haughty while those who speak Edenite are seen as dumb and lively. Religious and ethnic minorities are not spared. Orthodox Baptists are seen as cowardly and not fully loyal to Eden while Unreformed Baptists are seen as overly hostile and completely untrustworthy. Cainites meanwhile are stereotyped as demons in disguise and treacherous by nature, as Earthers are.

Stereotypes of other interstellar peoples by Edenites are common as well. Earthers are regarded as the Great Satan along with the Martians. Both are depicted as inhuman by Edenite propaganda though the Martians are depicted more accurately. Besides those peoples, the Edenites are actually fairly kind to other interstellar states due to the "Ark Principle" introduced after the Third Edenite Rebellion. The Ark Principle lays out that those who fled the Serpent's Seed can largely be free of its taint if they are a righteous or moral people. It was through this rationale that Eden allied with Zhu Que, to aid their more practical needs. Zhu Que on Eden are seen as generous and wealthy people and are positively stereotyped for the most part as friends of Eden (though in need of conversion). Meanwhile, other peoples have had limited interactions with Eden and have little known about them among the general public besides those in the Solar System. Saturnians are stereotyped as handsome yet evil rogues while Jovians are seen as weak-willed bureaucrats.

Symbols

Positive symbolism on Eden is often Biblical or Christian due to the heavy influence religion has on the planet. The primary symbol of the Godly Republic is the Eden Flower which primarily represents the trinity in the minds of Edenites. The cross is another important symbol for Edenites, due to its religious connotations. Flags with crosses were used by many factions of the Edenite Brotherhood during various Edenite Rebellions, and the cross continues to used by forces both private and public. Saint George's Cross is especially a favorite of the Edenites, with the symbolism of an armored Eden slaying a draconian Earth being a common image in Edenite propaganda. St. George is even regarded by some as the "patron saint" of Eden. The Latin cross and the Maltese cross are other cross variations used by Edenites. The symbolism of the Garden of Eden is also present on Eden for obvious reasons, having a heavy influence on Edenite art and architecture. In the Edenite cultural zeitgeist, Edenites are often imagined as new Adams and Eves, reestablishing a moral and just humanity far from the corruption of Earth.

Negative symbolism on Eden is often also Biblical and usually directed towards Earth. Seen as the "Serpent Seed" or alternatively "the Seed of Satan", Earthers were once often depicted as having reptilian physical characteristics in Edenite propaganda and almost universally depicted as evil. This has led to some of the more ignorant sectors of Edenite society believing that Earthers are literally "reptilian", even though it is made quite clear that the depictions of Earthers in propaganda are figurative. This symbolism is extended to the Cainites, the descendants of Earther colonists on Eden, who are also depicted as having more subtle reptilian features. Officials within the Godly Republic argued over the years against the use of reptilians in state propaganda, saying that it made identifying Cainites harder as it had people looking for the wrong identifiers so it was discontinued in the late 3800s. However, the image of Earthers as reptilian has not left popular imagination and their depiction as evil has not changed either, still being depicted as reptilian in temperament at least. State propaganda also tends to depict Eden and Zhu Que as the happy sons of Noah escaping the horrors of the antediluvian age as depicted by Earth. Other negative symbolism is used against other enemies of Eden, most prominently the Martians as being thralls to a computer aka Satan.

Gallery

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  Chart detailing two Edenite starships in their de-facto self-declared colours