The Republic of Orion

The Republic of Orion was a minor Human empire located on the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy and southwest of the Rah'ol Imperium, founded shortly after the beginning of the Age of Strife. Despite its name, the Republic was a top-down military dictatorship with the commander of its armed forces, known as the "Master Commander", at its head. The Republic would be dissolved in the year 840, M30, following seven years of war with the ascendant Imperium of Man.

History
The Republic of Orion was founded early into the Age of Strife by Federation Admiral Dimitri Chernigov. Though the details are unclear several millennia later, it is said that the Admiral used the fleets under his command to bring roughly twenty Human colonies present within the local stellar neighborhood under his protection. After some time of convincing, and after the Admiral had demonstrated that he could provide the protection he promised against a large xenos threat, the nature of which has been long-since lost to time, all of these colonies would cede emergency powers to him. Upon Admiral Chernigov's passing, his immediate second-in-command, Nathaniel James, would begin using these powers to lay the foundation for what would become The Republic of Orion.

Nathaniel James would also lay the foundation for what would become the ultimate goal of The Republic: the reclamation of the galaxy's Orion Arm, including the lost home system of Sol. In his later years, he would name himself the first Master Commander of the new Republic.

Future Master Commanders would move The Republic towards this goal through even greater militarization and limited expansion, where the turbulent nature of The Warp during this time permitted it. Over time, they would come to control a sizable portion of The Orion Arm, and were made up of nearly one thousand inhabited worlds. Their expansion inward into the galaxy and in the direction of Sol would be halted, however, when they encountered a strip of space consisting of several minor Ork empires. These empires, known as Da Borda Bosses for reasons the Orionites misinterpreted at the time, were constantly both hindered and empowered through conflict with one another. This prevented them from making any successful aggressive moves into Orionite territory, but also made them incredibly difficult to make any gains against. For several centuries, this stretch of space prevented the expansion of The Republic inward towards the galactic center. Unknown to them, the existence of Da Borda Bosses prevented The Republic of Orion from coming into contact with The Rah'ol Empire, an event that would've likely been disastrous for it.