Universal Union Civil War

*"How has this become of our glorious Union? Our Forces uncountable now fight amongst themselves, leaving entire solar systems barren... Even members of our own council attempt to take the other's life... I just ask you one question Admiral...How?"*

-Council Member Samuel Edward Deven, shortly after returning to Universe 0:0 and learning of the outbreak of the Universal Union Civil War

How or why the multiversal superpower known as the Universal Union has splintered is currently unknown, however the remaining fragments of the once great nation now fight amongst themselves in what can only be described as the most destructive war to be fought.

Over the last few decades of the Universal Union’s seemingly unstoppable expansion, evidence was clear that dissidence had begun to grow among the higher ranks of the Universal Union. The privilege of Cognitive Advisory Transfer saw expansive misuse on core UU galaxies, leading to the expenditure of valuable resources. With an influx of Advisors that were not fully loyal to the UU, something akin to faction politics began to grow amongst the Combine. These Advisors were power-hungry bureaucrats, and began to gain extensive sway over non-Transhuman fleet admirals and other vital UU commanding assets. The Council, fearful of treason, began a sweeping purge of the UU’s ranks, replacing all naval leadership not directly loyal to the Council with a new species known simply as the Barons. The Baron class, alongside the Advisors loyal to the council, managed to restore order for quite some time; however, radical surviving elements of the human naval captains and rogue Advisors began to plan a retaliatory act of terror.

The assault came as a shocking coup: Flynn Taggart of the Council was assassinated by Jack Collins and Aries Azure, who in turn were convinced into killing each other. With Sam Devin and Shitara being the last two ruling delegates of the Union left, much of the UU fell into disrepair. It was only then that the true perpetrators revealed themselves: The rogue Advisors boldly declared they had found a way to manipulate 3 of the 5 council members into killing each other. Staging a hostile takeover of much of the Overworld that lasted some 8 months in total, the Radical Advisors and their Human admirals send a universal directive to all Transhuman assets across the multiverse to follow their directives specifically. The Rogue Advisors then sealed off the Overworld, giving Sam Devin and Shitara precious moments to escape. Before he escaped, Sam was able to undo the directive; however, this was only partially successful. This launched the UU into a decade-long civil war, forcing the Loyalist Transhumans to fight the Humans’ mind-controlled armies.

Over the course of this disastrous war, billions of UU biological assets were lost. Darkness-powered Reality Gates were all but abandoned as order within Union fortress-universes degraded further. Reality Bombs saw extensive use, and nearly wiped out the core universes. For roughly a decade, the millennia of progress the Union had spent on their dream of universal unification was undone.

Finally, a decade later, the war began to dwindle. Not because any side had won; but because both sides had destroyed themselves so utterly. Technology has regressed by centuries, and the current Loyalist fleet consisted of a few hundred ships at most. The Renegade fleet had been forced to retreat from the last of the core systems, with the unfathomably massive space battles of years past giving way to smaller skirmishes.

Sam Devin was the last surviving member of the Council. Having suffered critical wounds in the penultimate battle of the Civil War, he was forced to transfer his consciousness into a new UU project. In hopes of forming a single unified leader, the Loyalists has combined the intelligences of some 20,000 Advisors into a single super-intelligence; Sam Devin was the last to join, and became Sam Devin no more. This super-intelligence, known as the Overmind, would lead the Universal Union (now more commonly known as the Combine) to this day.

Though the UU had lost uncountable masses, they had nonetheless survived. In one final, dogged battle, the Overmind led the Loyalist fleet into the Overworld, liberating it at last. The Combine arrived and defeated the Renegade fleet, only to find the Rogue Advisors had long since died; the Rogue Transhumans had blindly followed the orders of dead generals for the last 5 years, and had torn the UU apart. However, the Combine reunified. Mastering the new form of dimensional travel using Xen, they rebuilt their fleets within the Overworld, and set their sights on new horizons.