The Social Darwinist Imperium of The Ascendant Hive is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Oryx the Taken King with an iron fist, and remarkable for its unlimited-speed roads, ubiquitous missile silos, and state-planned economy. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 16.925 billion Ascendant Spawn are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The relatively small, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government is primarily concerned with Defense, although Law & Order, Industry, and Administration are also considered important, while Social Policy and Welfare aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ascendant Dreadnaught. The average income tax rate is 99.9%.

The frighteningly efficient Ascendant Brood economy, worth an astonishing 15,130 trillion Ascendant Runes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Retail. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is a breathtaking 893,955 Ascendant Runes, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

Game show contestants scramble to fish trash out of the South Ascendant Worm Sea, military information leaks are **REDACTED** by **REDACTED** in **REDACTED**, student exchange programs are in trouble as everyone wants to leave but no-one wants to come, and the government maintains that belief brings greater security than money or a roof. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The Ascendant Hive's national animal is the Ascendant Worm, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is the Sword-Logic.

The Ascendant Hive is ranked 135^th in the world and 8^th in the Pacific for Most Patriotic, with 189.37 flags saluted per person per day.