Nebulan government is kept at an utmost minimum, so as to provide a decisive supplement to the military and streamline against potential corruption. At the top of the government are two elder statesmen who have served the empire in a military capacity for a minimum of fifty years. These are called the Kezakna (singular: Kezak, from ghazak “elder” and kesha “great”). There are never more than two, and they are always elected based on the merits of their careers. The elder of the two is the nominal ruler of the Nebulan Empire; the younger Kezak is essentially the military leader, and more than once has been known to command from the field.

To aid the Kezakna are a council of two hundred other retired elders usually called the Ghozakna Nev’idaen (“200 Elders,” also known as the Vaeyakh Nev’idaen or “Council of 200”). The Ghozakna operate as an advisory board, but can have tremendous political weight against one or both of the ruling Kezakna.

Beneath these two upper echelons of the Nebulan state are Military Command and local governments. Military Command consists of fifteen ranking officers in the Imperial Military. Though they are bound by law and the orders of the younger Kezak, they have been known to pursue their own interests. High Admiral Luculus is a current member of Command. General Cabal Raegen, formerly a member, was relieved of his position following the Durson War – a move that angered a large portion of the rank-and-file Nebulan infantry.

Local governments are broken down as simply as possible for effective and fair leadership. Borrowing from the ancient Oriani, the Nebulan government offers conquered peoples the ability to continue self-government under the Nebulan banner. Concessions of taxes and manpower are drawn in return for non-citizen benefits. Resistance is a tried-and-true road to severe punishment, even virtual extermination, and rebels are placed under generally brutal magistrates elected from the Ghozakna.
Among those worlds colonized by Nebulans, it is generally a woman that has control of planetary and system-wide affairs. Systems are then accumulated into sectors, which are governed by an elected Nebulan official (an elder; either a Ghozak or an accomplished woman).

Sectors are then divided into major provinces, always governed by a Ghozak. Above this are the Vaeyakh Nev’idaen and the two Kezakna. In general, the Nebulan Star Empire is fair to those that submit, but exceptionally harsh to resistors – and even crueler to rebelliousness. Its policy of equity and tolerance is often overlooked by outsiders, who rarely have the chance to glimpse the inner workings of the empire. Only the two major Graedian revolts of the last five hundred years have truly tested Nebulan bureaucracy.