ok yeah, this fiction is meh

WIP, at request of GroxKiller98

"I once had a young lieutenant ask me where the Rising Sun came from. I answered the same way I had been answered so very long ago when I had asked the same question. I said 'Where we came from has never mattered, nor will it ever. What matters is where we are going. The Rising Sun does not exist by dwelling in the past, nor what we have done. We strive to go where no one has gone before and do what has never been done.' The young officer looked at me, much as I imagined I had looked at the one who gave me that answer. Truth be told I didn't know what that had meant when I heard it, and I still wasn't sure I knew what it meant now. What I did know was that there was no room for the past in the Rising Sun. All that mattered was if you succeeded in the future."

-Lord Admiral Sorrow, personal log

== Overview ==
The Rising Sun Syndicate, or as some perhaps more accurately refer to them, the Rising Sun Crime Lords, are a collection of loosely allied criminals, warlords, wealthy aristocrats, outlaws, mercenaries, and other 'civilized' societal outcasts banded together not only by a need to survive, but the elusive prospect of wealth and power. Some have speculated they originated from a forgotten peoples of Terra that was. Whether there is any truth to that or not, not even they know. What they do know is that once they were a nomadic, shadowy people, existing in the fringes of society, moonlighting between their public identity by day, and their Syndicate identity by night. They are not governed by any set of rules, customs or individuals, save one. Success is the only acceptable outcome within the Syndicate. Failure almost always results in death, if not by your enemies in the rest of the galaxies civilizations, then by your rivals within the Syndicate.

== History and Culture ==
The Rising Sun's exact origins have been lost to time. They are not one singular specie, people, creed, lifestyle or otherwise. They had no true laws, no true leaders, no true home. They were wandering nomads to some, shadowy thieves to others. Still, long ago the Rising Sun conceded that anarchy was an unacceptable state of being. The most powerful and influential members of the Syndicate gathered and created the Lords and Admirals Council. These Lords and Admirals were members of great wealth and power who held either great sway over planets or fleets. They acted in effect as regional governors, ensuring continued Rising Sun control, or else securing it even further, as well as laying out the 'rules' for those members within their jurisdiction.

Governing these Governors, the Lord Admirals were those of greatest power and prestige, often commanding great fleets and several planets. The Lords and Admirals Council decreed that once a member achieved the status of Lord Admiral, who they were in the past no longer mattered. They deleted all records of this individual in their own archives, and instead replaced them with who they were now. They also decreed that upon being named a Lord Admiral, that individual must choose for them self a new name, picking amongst the vast array of thoughts, feelings, concepts and states of being that sentient beings could feel. Popular examples of these include: Wrath, Fear, Justice, Vengeance, Triumph, and Valiant. But these were by no means the only names that could be taken, and few of those who ever held these names rose to great power within the Lord Admirals Circle.

Rising highest of all members of the Rising Sun Syndicate was Lord Admiral Sorrow. Historians would later debate endlessly on whether this was because of his own merits, right place at the right time, luck, or any combination of these. What cannot be debated was the scale and finality of the changes he ushered into the Rising Sun. Lord Admiral Sorrow came to power as the years of another Rising Sun Admiral's life were coming to a close.

Admiral Justinian, or better known to the galaxy as Emperor Justinian, was one such individual who was a prominent member of society by day, and powerful leader within the Rising Sun by night. He used his contacts from both his walks of life to maneuver and position his enemies and allies into place over many years, gathering more and more strength to his banner, and slowly draining that of his adversaries.

When the time was right, he struck. He overthrew the local military powers in his own local systems with the aide of the Rising Sun. He then fashioned himself as Emperor with the support of the population, and rose against the Rising Sun Lords and Admirals. Having diminished their influence in his sector, he had then turned his attention back to his own planets, recruiting many of the surviving military men he had deposed not long before to reinforce his own position by suppressing dissension, while building his fleets to even greater power, daring the Rising Sun to come strike at him again.

The Rising Sun, however, was patient. It did not have the force to challenge such a fleet openly, nor had open and direct warfare been its means. Justinian knew this, and lavishly rewarded his military, attempting to secure their loyalty against the bribes, threats, and deceptions he knew the Rising Sun would hurl their way, regardless of how secure he tried to make his sector. For a time, it worked. But as Justinian aged, his grip began to slide. Sensing the coming vacuum, the Rising Sun increased its activity. As Justinian lay on his deathbed, he knew it would not be long before the officers of his military, held in check by his power and persona, made their move. It was with regret that he named Emmelaia, his niece, his successor.

Previously a recluse from the Political scene, Emmelaia's rise to the Throne came as a shock to many. They soon found out she was just as calculating, just as clever, and just as strong willed as her uncle. But those whom had waited so patiently for the old Emperor to die were not about to wait for this new, young Emperor to grow old and weak. They began mobilizing their forces. Emmelaia responded, but not with military might. Instead, she attacked her adversaries economically, imposing harsh taxes and levies on those who moved against her, draining their coffers and isolating them, one at a time. Before long, those generals and admirals who had thought to overrun her under their combined might found themselves crushed under the grand fleet of those in the military whom had remained loyal, knocking at their doorstep to collect taxes and conscripts of soldiers and materials. Emmelaia had achieved victory without firing a shot.

But the Rising Sun was not to be so easily denied. Funneling their own wealth and influence into the downtrodden and dishonored military, they funded grand fleets of ships. It did not take long for these fleets to swear their loyalty to the Rising Sun and make their move. Devastating wars ripped Justinian's Empire apart, culminating in the a battle that would see most of the leaders of the insurrection killed, and also the final defeat of the loyalists and Emmelaia. But with their victory, and added bonus of the Rebellion leaders being almost all dead, the Rising Sun claimed its revenge and established its dominance over Justinian's former Empire, putting the few remaining leaders in puppet leadership positions.

Into this scene, Lord Admiral Sorrow gained his seat on the Lord Admiral's Council. With any other Lord Admiral, in any other sector of space, this would be the end of tale. But Lord Admiral did something peculiar. He amassed a massive fleet with the most cutting edge of starship technology, carefully gathered and designed in the shadows as the wars of Justinian's Empire raged. After the other Lords and Admirals turned their attention back to their own holdings, Lord Admiral Sorrow struck a devastating blow to the puppets put in place by the Rising Sun, claiming all of Justinian's Empire as his own. Impressed by his audacity, and honoring the time honored Rising Sun tradition of success, the rest of the Lords and Admirals nodded their congratulations, even if they feared for their own positions.

Taking Justinian's Empire as his own gave Lord Admiral Sorrow access to vast reserves of resources, money, intellectual prowess, and most importantly, hardened soldiers accustomed to war. With this springboard, Sorrow consolidated his power, and began his rise to ultimate power within the Rising Sun. It did not take long for all the Lords and Admirals to recognize him as the greatest Lord Admiral the Syndicate had ever seen. His Reign would see the end of the shadow and rise of a new Empire which would spread its vast wealth and influence throughout the galaxies. They may not have taken great swathes of space, but their presence could be felt everywhere, in every pocket that felt a little lighter than it should, every transaction that came up a little short, every innovation that found its way out to the general public a little too quick, and every political decision that seemed a little too sudden and unfounded. Their existence became a thing of fact rather than product of speculation, and their hold on the outlying worlds, the social rejects, and political dissidents became a thing of very real danger. The Rising Sun would only very rarely engage with the other Empires grand fleets in direct combat. Instead, they dealt in the political sphere, often resolving their conflicts or removing their obstacles before ever a vote to raise a fleet was cast. And in time honored tradition, those who failed to achieve these ends, if not caught and put to death by their captors, were usually sought out and destroyed by their rivals.

== Military ==
The Rising Sun makes the most of that which it can use. Much of its military gear belonged to the Empires they interact with. They design their own works when they cannot readily procure what they require, but they have no qualms with stealing and modifying existing technologies. The one field this does not hold true for are their Navies. Rising Sun fleets are as vast and varied as the peoples that make up the Rising Sun, but they all strive to be the best they can be designed to be. So successful are their shipbuilders that many space-faring people have taken to buying much of their navy directly from Rising Sun ship yards, an economic opportunity the Rising Sun are sure to take advantage of.

== Economics and Politics ==
Above all things, the Rising Sun under Lord Admiral Sorrow is an economic and political empire, as opposed to a solid lines on a map type empire. They do not measure their successes by how many planets they hold, but rather by how much of a planet they can influence. It is not uncommon for a lesser Lord or Admiral to attempt to take a planet, only to be either repulsed or captured shortly after and put to death. In some ways, these failures are even necessary and enabled, a mechanization for conveying to the other Empires their supposed strength and ability to put down the Rising Sun wherever it may be found. While these border disputes may be violent, life on the Rising Sun core worlds tends to be peaceful and prosperous. Lord Admiral Sorrow's rise also saw sweeping changes in local governance, realizing that for a planet to be its most productive, it must be content planet. With this mostly stable, if small, core of worlds to anchor their Empire, the Rising Sun focuses its efforts into political and economic persuasion, resorting to force only when they have no other option, or it is the best option. They take great care to not directly provoke any Empire to war, exerting great influence to either persuade, discredit or else silence those who would seek it.