Regina Valane

Regina Valane-Solarin was a major political figure in the early 25th century and the 4th Empress of the Terran Empire. She was the first female to rule the Empire and the first solo head of state in Terran space for over 120 years

Early Life
Born on Earth in 2394, she was the youngest child of Emperor Isaac Solarin and Empress Ivy Solarin. She was given a top education, including attending an exclusive prep school.

From an early age she had perfect court manners and was a very well liked figure around the court. She was often seen accompanying one of her relatives at court and possessed excellent social skills.

She attended Sacred Heart College on Earth, graduating with a Degree in Nursing and Healthcare.

Socially she was a part of a clique of wealthy, aristocratic or upper class girls who were the talk of the social scene on Mars or Earth.

Imperial Princess
Regina was born into the title of Princess and took to the limelight with ease. She played a minor role at court and attended many social or charitable functions. She was much more at ease with the court that Prince Alexander was

She was close to her brother, Prince Michael and grieved his death deeply, wearing black for three months

Nursing Career
Regina emerged from Sacred Heart as a qualified nurse and her primary line of work was in paediatric, medicine, working largely in Dhaka.

Preferatti
With the death of Prince Michael, there was a minor political issue within Houses Valane and Solarin over who would be preferatti for the two houses when Emperor Isaac and Empress Ivy left power. With the feeling that Prince Alexander, who had already been gently set aside in favour of the late Prince Michael, would not be suited to the role. Therefore it was decided that Princess Regina would be preferatti

In order to fulfill this role, she was expected to play a bigger role at court.

She also married Galen Hammond, the son of Lord Maece Hammond and the leader of the Conservative faction at court. The couple had four children:
 * Grayson Valane-Hammond was born in 2423
 * Charlotte Valane-Hammond was born in 2424
 * Desper Valane-Hammond was born 2430
 * Aurora Valane-Hammond was born 2434

Minister of State
Regina was appointed Minister of State for Social Affairs & Charities in 2420 and did far better than expected, despite this being one of the simpler briefs. She impressed the civil service and other staff members with her poise, work ethic and leadership

She also continued to play a role at court, supporting her father and mother.

In 2425 she was assigned by House Valane to oversee the development project in Old Chicago and worked with local leaders, corporate execs and engineers to expand the old City and to increase the infrastructure in the city. She did well in this role, gaining valuable executive experience

Imperial Conclave of 2429
With her parents abdication in 2429, Princess Regina was elevated to preferatti and was nominated to be the next emperor. The Conclave of 2429 took place over just nine days and Regina spoke eloquently before the Lord-Governors

The campaign was very positive, with neither Regina or Lord Brahms speaking ill (at least publicly) of the other.

The first ballot concluded that Princess Regina had won 13 votes, one more than required to secure the throne. She was then confirmed as Empress of the Terran Empire

Empress
As the first sole Empress of the Terran Empire, her husband was confirmed as the Imperial Consort and transferred to the Imperial palace from his role as a field officer in the marines

Empress ivy returned to her role as Governor of Mars

Collingwood Ministries
Regina inherited Lord-Chancellor Aldrich Collingwood as her Lord-Chancellor and the influential noble was able to retain the post for the first ten years of Regina's reign

During this time she was able to end the moratorium on 11th generation AI, sparking what became referred to as the "Silicon Baby Boom".

The IIS suffered a bad defeat with Operation Cordite-1 but then crushed Black-Star with Operation Thundercloud and Operation Hangman

The Empire also agreed to a Mutual Defence Pact with the Gannid Commonwealth which was expanded by the Southern Defence Summit in 2435. This ended up being the downfall of Lord-Chancellor Collingwood who collided badly with elder statesman Lord Maquessa and the new foreign minister, Lord Hawthorne

Empress Regina was forced to accept the will of the council when they voted to increase the restrictions on the corporations and to increase the top tax rates.

Tancredo Ministries
In 2440 young Lord Hayden Tancredo was named as the new Lord-Chancellor. The new ministry had to deal initially with the recession, agreeing to cut several programs in order to put the budget right

The Empire also agreed a new Mutual Defence treaty with the Rorn Republic.

There was an intense confrontation when Empress Regina was forced to fire Lord Troy Maquessa, initially ordering him arrested for his "stunt" at the Galactic Council

Hayden Tancredo returned as Chancellor in 2445 and worked with the Empress to keep the peace. Lord Maquessa suggested a pre-preemptive strike against the Karkouri Regime but it was defeated in Council

A large marine force was deployed to Furnace to put down a separatist uprising there which was done with minimal bloodshed

The ministry also agreed to expand the number of 11th generation licenses produced to 5,000

Hayden Tancredo returned again to a record equaling 3rd term as Lord-Chancellor. He was able to keep the peace in the quadrant with the up-coming agreement to sign up to a new peace-treaty with the CANDL members

The Empire also voted to make further votes on secession in the Empire illegal. The Empire also voted to create a new expanded Court of Appeals

The Government was rocked by the Project Azure controversy where the Ministry of Communications was accused of creating a super-weapon for use against AI. Minister of Communications Gossamar Bluth denied the existence of such a weapon. Lord Drake Grumman agreed to resign on the back of the public leak of this information

Princess Charlotte Valane married Kotek Grumman in 2450 in a lavish ceremony

Empress Regina faced a number of challenges between 2455 and 2459 with the arrest and peer trial of Lord Ordell McQaid who made several disparaging comments about the Imperial house and claimed to be "following orders".

Empress Regina named Lord Hayden Tancredo, the longest serving Chancellor in the Empire's history, as "Lord-Protector" of the Empire, an honorific title but a prestigious one.

The Empress also faced the attack on New Carthage from the unknown "Roaches" who killed 20,000 Imperial citizens and destroyed 18 Imperial Navy ships

Princess Aurora Valane married Colamere Tancredo in 2459 in a quiet ceremony

In 2459 Empress Regina, having celebrated the 30th anniversary of her reign, announced she would abdicate the office and this would trigger a conclave.

She announced that Princess Aurora Valane would be her preferatti and the intention was for her to rule jointly with her husband, Colamere Tancredo. She also announced that Aurora would name Stafford Collingwood as her first Chancellor

Empress-Emeritus
After the successful election of her daughter, Princess Aurora, to Empress, Regina retired back to Mars where she took over duties as Lady-Governor of Mars following the death of her mother. She retained the services of Lady Lola Whirry as Lt-Governor.

Regina was not in the Governor's mansion when the August Uprising of 2467 took place and therefore was unharmed. However, her health had taken a bad turn around that time and she was seen less and less often in public.

Empress Regina Valane died in 2474 after a long illness. Her funeral was widely attended.