Mantos Republic

The Mantos Republic, formally the Honourable Republic of the Mantos is an interstellar civilaztion populated alomst entirely by the mantos race. The Republic is regarded at times as a slightly xenophobic and quite aggressive.

Prehistory
The planet Falem, homeworld of the Republic, was a dangerous overgrown world. It is extremely humid and a great deal of the planet is covered in water, although on average this water is only 0.3m deep. From this hostile environment the Mantos emerged. They are believed to have evolved from a sea-dwelling race that moved further inland and grew larger in response to the threat posed by various predators. The first Mantos settlements were coastal, though as they developed they moved further inland.

World History
The history of Falem is a conflict-filled affair. Three major world powers developed, constantly vying for the edge which would secure their supremacy. There were several devastating wars which culminated in the destruction of one of the three powers. Following this a ceasefire was agreed to prevent further loss of life and ecological damage which threatened the Mantos' existence.

First Contact
Following a burst of radio contact from an unknown alien race, the remaining powers looked to the stars. They began a race into the space era. The race was ultimately won by the dominant power, which went on to conquer the last opposing powers on Falem. The new unified Republic began pushing into space looking for this new alien power. Within some short centuries they had colonised off-planet.

Veranos Colony
The newly built Veranos Colony was essential in the growth of the Republic into a civilization capable of interstellar travel. The new colony alleviated the over-populated settlements of Falem while also providing enough raw materials that much of Falem could be re-dedicated into farmland over the next dozen decades. More resources were dedicated to research and development of interstellar travel. The Veranos Technical University became renowned for its expertise and spearheaded government-funded research into an experimental Harzet Drive, an FTL system based in warp bubble technology.

Aggressive Expansion
The Mantos found their initial neighbouring systems to be devoid of any intelligent life. They built colonies and outposts. Though these were initially for trade and research, the frontier grew as new, faster Harzet Drives were developed in time. Travelling between the Mantos systems turned from a matter of months, then to weeks and then to days. The colonies grew larger and eventually became cities of their own right.

Ghendars Conflict
The Mantos encountered another sentient race, the Kovians in the Ghendars system. The Kovians had colonised an asteroid belt surrounding a gas giant. The asteroid field had trace amounts of dacium and mentanium, a material used to develop more advanced Harzet drives.

Both races were an unknown quantity to one another but the Mantos' demand for mentanium was high enough that they issued a declaration to the Kovians to surrender the colony. There was some miscommunication between the two races and ultimately the Mantos took the colony by force, deploying a significant force to the colony to defend themselves from potential counter-attack.

Following the events of the conflict, the Ghendars system was declared part of Mantos space, though the Kovians were granted rights to control half of the asteroid belt and deploy their own mining colonies.

Social Values
The Republic respect strength, honesty and dignity and hold these as virtues to be admired.

Military
Nearly all mantos citizens have served some time in a branch of the military. While most mantos join the Interstellar Defense Marines, some will join an engineering or medical corps instead, depending on their vocation. As a result of this, the military is a significant part of mantos culture and many retired or discharged mantos may still consider themselves a part of the military.

Structure
The Republic government is structured as a democratic republic. A civilian leader, named the High Overseer is elected by any registered voter of appropriate age. The civic leader is traditionally responsible for civic, internal and foreign affairs. A military leader with the title Great Protector is elected by his equals in rank. The military leader is responsible for overseeing defense and logistics. This system is carried downward and replicated at a smaller scale in most Republic settlements, outposts and colonies. The two leaders have equal powers but neither can enact a significant piece of legislation without approval from the other.

Domestic
The Mantos Republic embraces a capitalist free market. Though much of the production and service output of the central Republic is controlled by a small number of mega-corporations, smaller businesses and independent traders flourish along the frontier and within the colonies.

Foreign
Discovery of the Kovians has lead to a significant push from many corporations to seek trade agreements with this new foreign power.

Starship Construction
Medium Advancement; High Research

Both the civil and military government have a great deal of interest in increasing the efficiency and speed of their ships. Many private interest groups are also invested in more efficient interstellar and intrastellar travel. As a result, starship development in all forms is the best funded area of research.

Weaponry
Medium Advancement; High Research

As the Republic expands, control of its borders and control of its colonies becomes a mounting concern for the combined government of the Republic. Weapons technology, specifically starship weaponry, orbital defense systems and defence systems are the largest areas of research.

Following the Gheadars conflict there was an interest in 'universal personal defence systems' - weaponry that was effective regardless of the distinctions in alien biology.

Orbital Construction
Low Advancement; Low Research

The mantos have shown little interest in developing advanced orbital constructs and colonies, aside from those that have military purpose. Their primary developments in this field emphasize space elevators, defense platforms and remote refuelling stations (primarily for fleets of military vessels).

Interstellar Travel
Medium Advancement; Low Research

The Republic use their reliable Harzet Drive to allow them to perform FTL interstellar travel. Several advances have been made since the initial drive to allow it operate more effectively, though the core principle remains the same. Research in this field now focuses on miniaturisation of the Harzet Drive, with some theorists comparing efficiencies of one larger drive versus several smaller drives.

Planetary Engineering
Low Advancement; Low Research

Planetary engineering is still an under-utilised field within the Republic. Given the unusual make-up of their homeworld, most mantos prefer living in created artificial habitats rather than engage in costly terraforming operations. The Republic has displayed a willingness to perform such operations, most notably with Falem, their homeworld, though this is highly unusual.

Robotics
Low Advancement; Medium Research

Robotics is still a field in it's infancy in the Republic. The development of some technologies, like mining robots and some police and military droids has been researched though the greater implications of robotics and the development of such technologies is still something that the Republic is not hugely invested in.

Genetic Engineering
Medium Advancement; Medium Research

Genetic Engineering is a field with a unique place with the mantos. Their biology is extremely robust and adaptive, allowing for much greater adaptation of unique genetics changes or physical augmentations. As a result, many mantos have some minor genetic modification depending on their wealth and place in society. Clean metabolisms are common, and improvements to immune system are become standard to those born in the central worlds.

Members of the Military of the Republic can receive extensive genetic and physical augmentation; mantos foot soldiers are some of the most fearsome in the known galaxy as a result.