The years that followed were extremely chaotic, as the Zypger state all but collapsed and its military was fractured into competing groups squabbling for power in the vacuum. While a democratic state, the First Zypger Republic, was nominally in power, in reality the time was one of near-anarchy. A semblance of order was not reestablished until one of the most decorated generals from the Zypger-Vatna War, Marshal Xytss, overthrew the First Zypger Republic and declared himself the new First Citizen of the Zypger Union, a nominally democratic state that was in practice a totalitarian bureaucracy.

Marshal Xytss remains a controversial figure–a genocidal madman to some, the father of his people to others. But it cannot be denied that his government reimposed central control over the Zypger worlds, lobbied for full admission to the Star Confederation as a full member, and rebuilt the economy. His successors as First Citizen have largely upheld his policies, with some variations, though the current First Citizen is regarded by many as an elderly figurehead for his ambitious Second Citizen.

Xytss organized the Zypger Union around what he called “scientific balanced consultation.” Openings for government positions are filled with a combination of ballots, social merits and demerits, and input from supervisors. In theory, this means that the popular will, the ability of the person in question, and their supervisors’ experience are all weighed and considered in decisions of promotion and policy. In practice, critics argue that it is easy for wealthy and powerful Zypger to thumb the scale through informal means.

Strict censorship of all forms of media is practiced within the Union, and those who openly defy the government are added to the Union’s HoloKill list. Their biometrics–already in the state’s possession–are used to preemptively block their image and mute their voice in all Star Confederation broadcasts, streams, and media within the Union. If they are interviewed, the interviewer seems to be speaking to empty space–assuming that the interview is available in the Union at all. If they go into exile and are elected or appointed to any positions, the entire planet is muted–which the Star Confederation at large is loathe to allow, since it both needs Zypger products and wants to sell to their large population.

So while Zypger dissidents and exiles have full civil rights within the Star Confederation, they are effectively unpersons in the media–since no one wants their stream or their planet to be muted before a large and relatively wealthy audience.

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