Starfleet Jedi

General Donner wrote:What are the Shia'r?

Though the empire has grown to include hundreds of thousands of different sentient species and worlds, the Shi'ar race controls and governs the empire. Its central base of power is located on the "throneworld" Chandilar, while the Shi’ar homeworld is called Aerie (it is unknown if the planet still exists). The leader of the empire is given the title Majestor (male) or Majestrix (female) and is a hereditary position, occupied by members of the royal family of the Shi'ar. Formerly, the Neramani family represented the royal bloodline.

The Shi'ar Empire is one of the most advanced and expansive civilizations in the universe, spanning entire galaxies. It is mainly an economic co-operative, where trade with other galactic powers is its driving force. Not all races have the same rights in the Imperium, as the Shi’ar appear to have a disproportionate influence on its governance.

It is nominally ruled over by a high council, which has representatives from a large majority of the alien races that exist within the Imperium. However, in practice, the head of the council (the Majestor or Majestrix) exercises strong executive control and can institute policy virtually by decree.

The leader of the empire is protected by his or her own personal guard, the Imperial Guard, which is made up of the most powerful and elite soldiers from throughout the Empire, and led by a praetor. The military itself (outside of the Imperial Guard) has been depicted as consisting almost exclusively of Shi'ar personnel, at least in most of the command positions.

Though having warlike and militaristic ancestry, the Shi'ar Empire has largely occupied the role of peacekeepers in many interstellar affairs. Just to name a few, Empress Lilandra Neramani tried to broker peace between the Kree Empire and the Skrull Empire to help bring an end to their devastating war, sand attempted to avenge the destruction of Tarnax IV, the Skrull throneworld, by Galactus.

However, it should also be noted that Empress Lilandra was personally responsible for authorizing the use of the Nega-bomb weapon, devastating the Kree Empire during Operation: Galactic Storm, and that the Shi’ar were pivotal in the invasion and containment of Earth during the Maximum Security event. One of the latest atrocities committed by the Shi’ar was ordering the extermination of Jean Grey’s family, in an effort to quell any future conflicts with the Phoenix entity.

General Donner wrote:Ah. Those guys. I'd forgotten all about them.

General Donner wrote: Do the comics give any numbers on what they can do? IIRC they were afraid of Phoenix when she was around, but I haven't really kept up on X-Men for a number of years now.