Empire of AndrewBoard

The Orson Empire wrote:

The 7/7 Coup was an attempt by the Liberal Party, Constitutional Party, Labor Party, Federalist Movement, and various anti-Aturorist groups to forcibly remove the Aturorist Party from power. The name refers to the date this coup attempt was launched: July 7, 2006. 7/7 is considered one of the most important events in Orsonian history, and its failure had dramatic ramifications for the future of Orson.

Background

After the Aturorist Party decisively won a majority of senatorial seats in the 2000 general elections, they immediately began to reshape Orson into their own image. Civil liberties were severely restricted in the name of national security, with freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association coming under threat. Racial segregation mandates, relaxed during previous Liberal Party governments, were strictly enforced. Media outlets critical of the new regime were either shut down or intimidated into silence, while the Aturorists began destroying countless books, movies, and other entertainment deemed in violation of the party line. The newly-created Ministry of State Security was granted virtually unlimited powers to suppress dissent, and began to construct a mass surveillance network. Aturorists desired to totally control life down to the familial and individual network, guaranteeing absolute loyalty to the state and Emperor.

Few non-Aturorist politicians dared to openly voice dissent in fear of being targeted by MOSS or the Inquisition, but the other three major parties were nevertheless highly alarmed by these events. After Aturorists won a second electoral victory in 2005 (accused of being a sham election, as they are alleged to have created fake ballots to gain additional seats), an anti-fascist coalition of Constitutional, Liberal, and Labor politicians began to meet in secret, planning drastic measures to remove the Aturorists from power. The Federalists began coordinating with this coalition, hoping to achieve Emperor Turner's abdication and the establishment of a republic; despite being recognized as a terrorist group at the time, coalition leaders were desperate for any support available. Even separatist movements were invited to participate.

Coup

At 10:00 AM on July 7, 2006, the coalition executed its plan. The Red Brigades, a socialist paramilitary affiliated with the Labor Party, launched a sudden attack on Ravenwood and infiltrated the Imperial Curia. Emperor Turner and Prime Minister Christopher Wells were both kidnapped and taken to a clandestine facility in the Australian Outback. Unknown to the conspirators, Turner was already well-aware of this plan thanks to moles within the coalition's ranks. Turner allowed himself to be detained, believing this act would enrage the Orsonian people, increase his own popularity, and grant him an excuse to seize absolute power.

Months of Lead

In the days following 7/7, paramilitary forces loyal to the Constitutionals and Labor Party seized control over all government buildings in Ravenwood, and began to arrest Aturorist politicians and bureaucrats in droves. Aturorists senators fled Ravenwood and assembled at the Imperial Palace in Fort Victorium. The anti-fascist coalition attempted to declare martial law, and called upon the Imperial Army to suppress all "enemies of democracy". The coalition also threatened to execute both Turner and Wells if their demands were not met.

Imperial High Command, despite being sympathetic to the Aturorists, did not immediately choose aside. High-ranking officers desired to see which way the political winds would blow, and if the Orsonian people would support the coalition or not.

As a consequence, Orson rapidly descended into a quasi-civil war known as the "Months of Lead". Mobs of Imperial loyalists, alongside Inquisitors and MOSS agents engaged coalition paramilitaries in intense gunfights in dozens of cities across Orson, resulting in an estimated 5000 deaths and thousands of injuries. A massive uprising in Cape Town also occured, as the Capetonians attempted to throw off the yoke of Orsonian oppression, and the Capetonians rebels aligned themselves with coalition forces.

On September 10th, Turner's location was finally uncovered by the Office of Military Intelligence, after several members of a Constitutional paramilitary defected to the Aturorist Party and provided crucial intelligence. A team of Imperial Commandos raided the Outback safehouse, using stealth helicopters to avoid detection and rescued both Turner and Wells.

The Scouring

Following Turner's rescue, High Command finally decided to back the Aturorists and eliminate the anti-fascist coalition. Martial law was declared across the Empire, and soldiers were deployed in every major city to quell unrest. Aturorists Party leaders provided High Command with lists of dissidents to detain and execute, including all coalition politicians and bureaucrats who aided in the coup.

The deployment of Imperial troops resulted in the destruction of coalition paramilitaries over the following several months. The Federalist Movement suffered severe casualties and was forced back into hiding. Meanwhile, the uprising in Cape Town was ultimately crushed in 2007, when the city was put under siege by the Imperial Military and completely destroyed.

This political purge is known as the "Scouring". The purge, which did not end until 2009, resulted in an estimated 500,000 deaths (not including the hundreds of thousands murdered in Cape Town) and 2,000,000 people arrested.

Restoration Acts

On December 20th, the Imperial Senate assembled in Ravenwood for its final session. Only Aturorist senators were present, as all opposition politicians were either dead or imprisoned. This senatorial session unanimously passed the Restoration Acts, which granted Emperor Turner absolute political power, including legal immunity from prosecution and the right to enact his own decrees without parliamentary approval.

Secondly, the Senate voted to ban all other political parties, transforming Orson into a one-party state ruled solely by the Aturorists.

Finally, the Senate then voted to dissolve itself, replaced by an Imperial Council whose members were appointed directly by Turner.

By this time, the Aturorist consolidation of power was complete, with all political enemies either annihilated or severely reduced in strength.

Oceara wrote:

The Orson Empire

Cybus1

As it stands, the volunteer Aurora will be under medical observation for a couple weeks to recover after straining her immune system during the rapidly conducted tests. Additionally, in the meantime before new facilities can be constructed to accommodate the procedure of removing the Psychic Code from patients' genomes the Hospital in Keta will be upgraded to be able to provide the treatment as it's currently the most developed facility on earth in regards to medical application of Particle Manipulation technology and is readily able to be modified to accommodate the procedures.

Novo Wagondia wrote:

Beginning immediately after Easter Sunday and lasting until the following weekend, Pascoela is a major cultural holiday commemorating the end of the solemn season of Lent and the beginning of the celebratory season of Eastertide. It mirrors Catholic celebrations like Carnival and Mardi Gras, which precede Lent in anticipation of the coming restraint and spiritual discipline.

The weeklong festival originated among the Italian immigrant community of Santa Catalina, who adapted Pascoela from the Italian pasqua, for Easter. Although the holiday has strong Catholic roots, Xapenhos of all creeds and religions will celebrate, with schoolchildren receiving a full week's break from school and many businesses closing at noon. Pascoela has also grown into a major touristic event, with over a million observers flowing into Santa Catalina every year from around the world.

Most Xapenhos will observe a quiet Easter Sunday with family, eating salt cod (bacalhau) and fish fritters before preparing for the commencement of Pascoela at midnight. The city of Santa Catalina is decked in white and gold, the traditional colors of Eastertide, and citrus is customarily eaten with every meal. Flowering plants adorn homes and public buildings, especially the macela, which produces a small yellow bloom around Easter every year. Easter eggs are typically made from chocolate and are customarily gifted to lovers. Cake in the shape of an Easter lamb, a tradition passed down from German immigrants, is also consumed.

Festivities really kick off once the sun goes down, with all-night battles between the capital's famous samba schools, who train throughout the year to put on elaborately choreographed processions at the Sambódromo in Joanópolis Parish, involving towering floats and hundreds of locally-recruited dancers and drummers.. The oldest 'schools' (which function year-round as charitable social clubs) emerged from the capital's Afro-Caribbean community and were strongly associated with the development of samba as a musical genre incorporating lively African instruments and rhythms. Schools like Acadêmicos (founded by local students) and Porto Rico (founded by Caribbean migrants) are still considered important cultural refuges for marginalized peoples, even as samba and the associated Pascoela traditions have entered the cultural mainstream.

Cybus1 wrote:

The Vanlikian regime, paranoid and xenophobic, was quick to embark on the execution of class enemies. The medical establishment, once suitably indoctrinated, began pathologizing anti-communism, providing a medical gloss to the class terror. The Issakson Institute for Revolutionary Medicine (IIRM) issued a series of articles in 2025 exploring the possibility of certain groups being more prone to madness and genetic defects; namely, the aristocracy (due to supposed inbreeding; the Usher family was used as a prime example, due to their unexplained and mysterious Malady), the banking and business class (supposedly riddled with neuroses from working hard to extract wealth from the working class, they were also all prone to sociopathic detachment and disdain for life), while the priesthood were said to be insane to the last man (the Vanlikian model of communism was ardently atheistic, arguing that to believe in a god was proof of madness)...

The Orson Empire wrote:

Many biological Orsonians have already embraced conspiracy theories regarding the technology, skeptical that the Malians have truly benevolent intentions in its deployment and believing that the Malians still desire vengeance for various atrocities inflicted on the nation during WW3. They believe this is a plot to brainwash all Orsonians into carrying out West Africa's bidding, finally ensuring total victory over the Orsonian race by Malians.