Submission

Okay. The debate so far:


>>     Unfortunately, what was destroyed in Hard Times and the Virus
>>was the Imperial interstellar culture...

And...

>My sense is that, after only 70 years, those groups that
>manage to move back to the stars are going to be - by and large -
>descendants of Imperial culture that somehow managed to lessen the
>onslaught of the Virus.

Why not a middle ground? Imperial Culture (capital letters, please) that had
1,000 to ingrain itself won't be wiped out by a 70-year gap. Even the entire
Dark Ages didn't wipe away the influence of Rome on, for example, Northern
Europe. And look how long others tried to keep the "idea" of the Ceasars
going - all the way up to the last Czar.
    In the New Era, the Noble Houses may change, technology may be viewed in
a new light (ie, with suspiscion; once you see Uncle Ed eaten by his
mulchmower, how eager are you gonna be to mow the hypergrass on Rigel-7?),
but the basic Imperial societal structure will be far harder to wipe out
completely, even given the enormous impact of the Hard Times.
    Individual planets may be exceptions, but the "idea" behind the Imperium
is far from dead...and the Eastern Roman Empire (the Regency as the
Byzantium, anyone?) did briefly reunite both halves...
    Solomani Home Rule!
    John Kovalic
    ([email removed])