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New Helghan (informally known as the Helghan Republic) is the successor state of the Helghan Empire that was founded in the aftermath of the Terracide. The Helghast nation is located on Vekta, which it dominates one half of the planet, and is currently in a cold war state against the native Vektans.

History[]

Following in the aftermath of the Second Extrasolar War, Helghan was left devastated from the Terracide and Scolar Visari's Empire was no more. The ISA, in an act of pity, granted the planet's survivors refuge on Vekta by partitioning one half of the planet to be colonized by the Helghast. The survivors dubbed the founding of their new territory as "New Helghan" in 2361.[1] The Helghast's presence on the world of their enemies stirred violent unrest between Helghast and Vektans as both sides have never abandoned their animosity for each other from the war. As a result, the New Helghan and Vektan governments agreed to construct The Wall in which the Helghast would segregate themselves on the New Helghan side. In 2380, Hera Visari, daughter of Scolar Visari, became the current Chancellor of New Helghan.[2]

Since the construction of The Wall, New Helghan is engaged in a proxy war against the Vektan nation, pitting its Security Forces against operatives of the Vektan Security Agency, while enduring trade embargoes and economic sanctions placed by the Vektan government. In 2390, the tenuous status quo between the Helghast and the Vektans almost ended in a new war when Chancellor Visari plotted with Jorhan Stahl in unleashing a ISA-made bio-tech weapon to destroy the Vektans. However, the plot was prevented by the VSA which led to the death of Stahl and the weapon falling into the hands of the VSA. Vektan officials began publicly accusing New Helghan of restarting hostilities in which the New Helghan government strongly denied of any wrongdoings and vowed to defend themselves from Vektan aggression.[3]

Society[]

Indistinguishable from the Helghan Empire, New Helghan is ruled by a single-party totalitarian regime, filled with corruption, political infighting, economic hardship and social unrest.[1] The civilians are constantly surveilled by the authorities, who administrate and control the nation with an iron fist. The country has a history of human rights abuse as the regime uses political propaganda and state violence to control and coerce its people.[1]

Chancellor Hera Visari, despite being the daughter of the "Father of the Helghast", Scolar Visari, is very far from having the same popularity as her father had, mostly because of her wanting to bring peace between Helghasts and Vektans instead of conflict and for the fact that she is not charismatic and powerful as her father was. Her inefficiency as a leader leads to the existence of many anti-government and terrorist groups around New Helghan, such as the Black Hand. According to a report from the Vektan Security Agency, credible sources report that Chancellor Visari is no longer in control of the Helghast military, though no immediate threat to her position as ruler of New Helghan appears to exist.[4]

Despite New Helghan's massive wealth based on Petrusite mining, poverty is very common for regular civilians, as the capital has many slums where the inhabitants are abandoned by the state, due to political corruption and infighting that has prevented the nation's wealth from reaching the people.[1] This poverty leads to the emergence of various militant groups, criminal gangs, and places such as Containment City are known to have warlords controlling different areas of the slums.[1] Furthermore, one in three children are malnourished and the leading cause of death in rural areas is poor sanitation.[1]

New Helghan's population is around 1.1 billion people and the nation has a high birth rate, thanks to several government-funded initiatives to stimulate birth rate.[1] Figures estimate that the population of the Helghast part of Vekta City will rise and double in the next 10 years.[5]

Even though tensions are still high between New Helghan and Vekta, the nation has become more involved in intergalactic affairs and culture, since New Helghan seem to have a lot of influence in Gyre's political and economic affairs, having a significant diaspora of millions of Helghast on the planet, and even participating in interplanetary sporting competitions, such as the Planet Cup.[6]

Defense and Security[]

New Helghan retained the Helghast Army from their old Empire. The Helghast Security is tasked with defending the Helghan civilian population from threats both internal and external. Since the resettlement, New Helghan had focused on rebuilding its military might.

Geography and Economy[]

What can be inferred from what is available is that the Helghast place a much larger emphasis on industry and production—based on their monopoly on Petrusite that is harvested from planet Helghan[1]—than their neighbors, and their territory bears the marks of this decision, with massive space elevators and factories all across the Helghast sector of Vekta City. As a result of New Helghan's rapid industrialization, the nation is mired in pollution not so dissimilar to the Helghast's urban environment on their former homeworld. There are several areas in New Helghan that are largely reclaimed by nature. These areas are sparse and spread out closer to the Vektan's side of the Wall.

The police are seen using extreme force to segregate the pureblood Helghast from half-breeds. As trade sanctions against New Helghan began creating severe detrimental effects on life in the nation, the police have begun using extreme force to keep civilians of all types in line.[7][8] Large numbers of half-Helghast individuals were forced at some time to leave New Helghan, but were eventually allowed to return. These "tainted" individuals are hated and treated poorly by all the inhabitants of Vekta, especially their former kind. There are known worker riots clashing with the military.

The slums of New Helghan are usually below the main city. Such slums are either locations such as Containment City, where people live in shipping containers, or abandoned malls and apartments.[7][8] At least 43% of the 3 million inhabitants living there are Vektans.[9] Such Vektans wear what could be Helghast clothes. Half-breeds live there as well, presumably. The Black Hand have high influence in these areas.[9]

Gallery[]

Concept Art[]

Trivia[]

  • New Helghan is a clear analogue to East Germany, a successor state of Nazi Germany which in turn the Helghan Empire is heavily inspired from. The New Helghan government prioritizing in increasing its military at the expense of the Helghast civilian population's living conditions are similar to North Korea's "military-first" policy.
  • New Helghan is self-proclaimed to be a republic after the collapse of the totalitarian Helghan Empire. The only source of this seems to come from a recruitment video heard on one of the monitors on the Helghast side of Vekta. 
  • According to New Helghan's Minister of Culture Wertham, the country is struggling to recruit new soldiers into the military. Although he blames on comic books that portray war as a necessary evil rather than glorifying it for influencing flagging recruitment numbers.[10]

References[]

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