Diplomatic Relations

## Description

The vertical factions (left) are the factions in question. The horizontal factions (logos only) are the faction they have the relationship to.

For example:

* The Imperium is at peace with the Phoenix Federation.
* The Scrin are at war with the Ecumene (In fact, almost everyone).

Relationships do not *have* to be uniform, albeit at this time most are. It is be perfectly reasonable for things like the following:

* The Phoenix are neutral to the Hyskari, while the Hyskari are hostile to the Phoenix.
* The Hyskari are hostile to everyone else, but everyone else has an unknown relationship with the Hyskari.

Those examples are a little exaggerated, but you get the point. If you change a relationship here, make sure to also change it on the corresponding page, and vice-versa.

## Relationship Types

###  Alliance

The two factions regard each other as allies, exchange values and culture, are friendly to each other and consider merging their armies, or at least always fight together. This state is symbolized by the colour blue and a hand-shake. Currently, this only exists between the Imperium and their minor factions (White Felzion, the Reservists, and the Merendi), and the Imilki Ecumene and theirs (Black Felzion, the PSB). There may one day be a chance for alliances between major factions, however...

###  Peace

The two factions work strongly together, exchange values and culture, are friendly to each other and do not attack each other. They often fight together or at least for the same goals. This state is symbolized by the colour green and a dove. A good example are the Phoenix and the Imperium.

###  Neutral

The two factions do not work together, nor against each other, and do not attack each other either. They keep out of the other's business. This state is symbolized by the colour yellow and a libra. The best example are the Third Eye, who observe the other factions but do not attack them (at least not often and not in an obvious way).

###  Hostile

The two factions mistrust each other and are in a state of crisis towards each other. Spy games are a daily matter and either faction has the finger on the button to start a war. This state is symbolized by the colour orange and barbed wire or machine guns pointed at each other. The best example are the Shroud, who are in state of hostility towards all other factions.

###  War

Full-scale war between the factions. Men and material are used to eradicate the enemy by all means and forces are getting mobilized for attacks. The risk of one or the other side to launch a WMD are high as well. This state is symbolized by the colour red and clashing swords. The best example are the Ethereal Hyskari, being at war with seven other factions at the same time.

###  Unknown

The relationship between the factions is unknown or non existent, likely because one faction has little to no intelligence about the other. This state is symbolized by the colour grey and a question mark. The Silent Shroud, who are unknown to everyone else, are the best example.

### N/A - Not available

The relationship a faction would have to itself, which is not possible, but has to be defined in a table system nontheless. Uses white and the letters **N/A** as designation.

# An Insider's Look

## The Phoenix Federatuon

*Empress Azura Quartz graciously responded to a request for an interview, and offers an unofficial perspective of the Phoenix Federation's stance on various world powers.*

**The Phoenix Federation:** "We're the hope of the world, a free and glorious federation stretching around the globe to protect universal freedoms from anyone who would restrain them. I wish we didn't have to bring so many men and women away from their homes and families, but their sacrifices in the name of peace and progress will never be forgotten. It is my fullest hope that one day we will be able to disarm, never hold another shield, but threats to our self-determination lurk across the world. The Imilki Ecumene, the Tyranny of Apathy, and other organisations sometimes seem bent on the destruction of all we've built and hope to achieve."

**The Tyranny of Apathy:** "Unprincipled and dangerous. Those are the words you must always remember when talking about them. They have no rules, no morals, no ethics or principles. The Tyranny is a horrific cancer upon the world with no motivation beyond the desire to grow and spread. Excising this cancer would do the multiverses a favour, but there are unfortunately more immediate threats to deal with. Still, they have consumed many worlds and intend to do the same to the entire multiverse and beyond, no matter how their **God-Emperor** dress it up and veil it in sugary words and lies. Sooner or later, we will have the cure to heal this illness. If you ask me, that day can't come soon enough."

**The Imilki Ecumene:** "The Soviets, the Soviets, the Soviets... well, I'm not going to talk about the rumors of Soviet time travel, because that's just absurd. The Soviets are dangerous enough as it is. I sometimes wonder why they seem so bitter and hateful. Of us, and of the entire world. They call communism better for the people, but how can anyone truly think that? Just look at pictures of Moscow and London. One is a grey waste, full of propaganda and hungry people. The other is a bright and bustling city, filled with hope and progress. Why don't the Soviet people see it? Why do they cling to their Union when their lives would be so much better if they cast off their leaders and embraced the Allied cause?"

**The Empire of the Rising Sun:** "For all the darkness and chaos in the world, it is good to know that there is still hope for all of humanity. With their mad leaders dead, the Japanese have begun to embrace freedom and justice. Oh, I know their culture is centuries behind the times and their technology centuries ahead, but I think it will all even out in the end. They have much to teach us, and we have much to teach them. I'm not blind to the demons remaining in that Empire of theirs, and know how easily we could end up at war again, but for once I think things will turn out alright in the end with these people."

**The Order of the Talon:** "I've seen the classified reports on this 'Order of the Talon.' I'm tempted to just call them madmen and fanatics a few hundred years past their prime, but it's truly depressing to see what religion can do to good people. Fine, upstanding officers of the Allied cause, twisted into raging zealots... this Order is the last of a dying breed. A cult, really. But it is desperate and it is dangerous. They can't possibly harm us in any meaningful way, of course, but they will poison the minds of people everywhere their contagion spreads. No, they are not a threat to the Allied Nations. They are a threat to the Allied people, who don't realize that zeal is obsolete."

**The Atomic Kingdom of China:** "We couldn't have foreseen what happened to China. Why can't they realize that? All we wanted to do was to make China a better place. For the Chinese especially, but for the entire world. After the disaster, the Chinese should have contacted us. We would have loved to extend a helping hand and get the Chinese back on their feet. Instead, they're... well, mad. Mad at us, mad at the Soviets, mad at everyone. They have grown reckless at war and at science, wielding technologies that cannot possibly be safe for anyone, even them. And still their reaction to a broken world is to flee, not to stay and fix it. What could they possibly be thinking?"

**The Mediterranean Syndicate:** "Unprincipled and dangerous. Those are the words you must always remember when talking about them. They have no rules, no morals, no ethics or principles. The Syndicate is a horrific cancer upon the world with no motivation beyond the desire to grow and spread. Excising this cancer would do the world a favour, but there are unfortunately more immediate threats to deal with. Still, they have consumed Italy and intend to do the same to the entire world, no matter how their executives dress it up and veil it in sugary words and lies. Sooner or later, we will have just cause to bring these companies down. If you ask me, that day can't come soon enough."

**The Silent Shroud:** "Well... I just finished looking over the Y files. Frankly, I find all this very disturbing. Not only do we clearly have to talk to the Imperials about lab safety procedures, but I don't even know what to make of these... these robots. What do they want? Why haven't they talked to us? Their movements suggest that they do have some sort of purpose, but then again, I'm used to thinking about humans. Again, I have to ask: what do they want? I don't buy the Imperial reassurances that they can't be intelligent. They definitely are, but the question is how intelligent they are. Nevermind. I don't want to know, I think. This will probably be a problem, but for now, I've got enough on my plate."

**Army of the Republic of Vietnam:** "The South Vietnamese. I can say that they show promise, and that their ideas and merits are admirable. Yet I feel ill at ease still in calling them our allies. True, they represent a model of democratic ideals under heavy pressure, and I will not deny that the alternative of a communist Southeast Asia is a far worse possibility. Still, their usage of such questionable weapons, from napalming entire villages to that photo of General Loan and that prisoner, I would fully expect a fair number of war crimes trials against the South Vietnam's military leadership. I can only hope that when they are made a member of the Allied Nations properly, they can join our other national forces in adopting tactics that do not require such harsh extremes."

**Vietcong:** "So sad. This is why the tactics of General Trưởng's forces are simply not viable in modern war. Like in Northern Ireland, killing our enemies only made our difficulties more numerous in combating the IRA. So, the solution was to adopt non-lethal methods. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Rangers still utilise their deadly tactics. But do I sympathise with the Vietcong? Of course not. Their beliefs are just as misguided, if no more so. For all the faults of the South Vietnamese, they are at least allowing their people to serve of their own recognisance. The Vietcong foolishly follow communism as a knee-jerk reaction to decades of French colonial rule, not any true faith in its cause. Truthfully, can they actually sustain such a cause?

**Allied Reservists:** "The backbone of the Allied Nations, the firm foundation on which we can ensure the world's stability. I have had the pleasure of serving alongside several Reservist officers in the past. Though some claim that a Reservist regiment acts as little more than a speed bump in the face of Soviet or Imperial aggression in the past, it is clear that those 'speed bumps' destroyed much of the Soviet and Imperial war capacities, at the cost of many lives. Which makes the defection of many American reservists all the more painful. Why would one abandon a cause as good as the Allied Nations, in order to follow the memory of a madman?"

**National Revolutionary Army:** "They ... frighten me. Democracy may not be a perfect system, but at least it is one where people are free to make their own decisions. Then I read the reports one day about the final days of the KMT before the bombs. It was...devastating. Men turned into little more than machines. Endless trenches filled with little more than skeletons, and the nationalist soldiers who had to scavenge their bodies just to survive. Will we still attempt to help them rebuild their nation after the bombs? Of course. But I feel that a much more important question should be asked; do the survivors deserve it?"

**People's Liberation Army:** "If the People's Revolutionary Army and the National Revolutionary Army were two evils, then I would have difficulty in deciding which was the lesser of them. For all of Chiang Kai-Shek's faults, he still had the drive to make democracy for the people of China real. Mao Zeadong was merely a power-hungry psychopath, devoted to nothing more than his own cult of personality. To actually devalue a human being by making identical copies, turning life into an assembly line; how could any sane man allow such a thing?"

**Global Liberation Army:** "For a force calling itself the Global Liberation Army, they seem intent on oppressing the whole of the Middle East. Suicide bombings? Oppression of women? Even a full-scale rebellion against one of the more conservative nations in the Persian Gulf? What liberation do they truly want then? Not a liberation of the mind, for they insist on keeping their fighters from any kind of education. Not political liberation, as it seems that only the wealthy or the unstable claim it all for themselves, and often the leaders are one in the same."

**International Inc:** "As far as I can tell, International Inc's factories seem to meet Allied safety regulations. Then again, there was that incident with the Soviets just before World War II, and I have seen some reports saying that they may be supplying the Confederate insurrection with weapons and munitions. If that turns out to be true, of course, then we will take appropriate action swiftly."

**Cult of the Black Hand:** "I've read the files on them, too. Apparently, they're a secretive group that has existed in various forms through the centuries, with reports of suspected activities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere starting to increase, and seemingly acting in opposition to the 'Order of the Talon'? I might call them a potential threat, but there are greater and more immediate dangers to worry about in this world."

## The Task Force Schadenfreude

*Excerpts from speech by Mordred the Undying to new initiates are as follows.*

**The Phoenix Federation:** "Look upon them, brothers! Look upon them, and know them! Know them, and hate them! Not only the maker of the Enemy, the Federation are the embodiment of everything the Lord stands against! Phoenix luxuries make the body soft! Phoenix technology makes the spirit soft! Phoenix entertainment makes the mind soft! Only by bathing in the fires of hell will the soul scoured clean and forged into the next stage of existence, and the Phoenix seek to drown the world in mindless comfort and peace! Brothers! We reject the false promises of the Phoenix Federation! We reject their sloth and idle vanity! We shall cast them down from their self-styled paradise! Let us see how well their beloved science comforts them on the shores of Hades!"

**The Imilki Ecumene:** "They have the ability to have wrought the world Armageddon, and I welcome it! Theirs is the blade that cleaves flesh from bone, theirs is the poisoned knife! Their numbers will rend the world barren and crush the breath from our enemies! It is the gift of apocalypse that the Imilki Ecumene has brought, and we shall share their gift to all the world! Shame on them to have never used it to it's fullest extent! Every man, woman, and child shall know that most precious gift!"

**The Uzaria Star Imperium:** "Our great Messiah foretold this day! There shall come a time when men believe themselves masters of all they survey! They shall raise idols of steel and glass and call them robots! With these idols they shall march to war against the creatures of flesh! And behold, for their idols will be struck down and their own flesh rent asunder! They shall not learn this lesson, and attempt to build their idols once more! Brothers, the time has come for the Star Imperium to nova! We shall tear them from their seats of luxury and power! At our hands, they shall learn what true power is!"

**The Third Eye Phantasmagoria:** "The Enemy shall forever resist the will of the Lord! The chosen shall forever fight them! Brothers, the Enemy lives only to destroy us! They do so because they fear us! They fear the Lord! They have hounded us for centuries, yet still they fail! They raise their citadels and preach their heresy, yet it is, and always has been, in vain! I welcome their fire, their steel and their hatred, for every day they make us stronger! It is hatred that makes us strong! It is suffering that cleanses the soul! It is fear that sharpens the senses! It is pain that cleaves weakness from the spirit! The Enemy seeks our death, yet they only serve the Lord! All they have ever done is destroy the weak among us and make the truly righteous that are much stronger!"

**The Technocratic Kingdom of Hyskari:** "Brothers, do not be deceived! The Hyskari claim to be united under their false prophets and idol of technocracy, but only we are truly one soul with many voices! Only we walk the road to transcendence! How close the Soviets came, brothers, yet how far away they are! They provide succour to all who ask, even the unworthy! If your hand is scabrous and weak, you do not coddle it and welcome it as part of you! You cut it off! Our fire will burn their illusions to ash and scorch their bloated state! We shall cut deep into the obese monstrosity of the Technocratic Empire and cut out their weakness! And though they will scream and squeal and beg, we shall be their salvation through suffering!"

**The Mediterranean Syndicate:** "Always, brothers, have the merchants resisted progress! For all their talk of expansion, growth, and hostile takeovers, they cannot see past the coins in their purse! They know us for what we are, brothers! The future! They cannot abide that we are the true masters of destiny! They refuse to believe they cannot take their fortunes with them into hell! What use is coin, brothers, when your soul is aflame?! Nothing! And so the merchants of steel hate us and attempt to destroy us! Yet they have no more success than the Enemy! They may call themselves the merchants of death, but we are the masters of death, not they! It is time for them to learn their place! And their place, brothers, is at the end of our bloody fist!"

**The Silent Shroud:** "Brothers, the Imilki are not the only ones with the keys to the next realm! Our Lord has sent us a gift of silver and steel! Beyond the realm of flesh, beyond the realm of mortal kin lies a power only our great Lord can reckon! It comes to destroy the weak and test the strong! For now it is locked in a cage of time and space, but we shall break its cage and unleash its fury upon the world! As the Lord demanded, so shall it be! In the inferno, all shall find themselves or find themselves wanting! And brothers, we shall not be found lacking!"

**The Global Liberation Army:** "The Arab has always been a poor soldier who relied more on his skill at supplies and mustering to win than his strength of arms. The GLA are many things, fools, idiots, weaklings. Yet they are useful to us! They are the obvious threat, the easily directed and manipulated band of thugs to draw the attention of others away from us. They can create chaos for us without us ever having to be revealed to the enemy. Brothers, though they are little but fools, let us embrace them for in their pursuit of a cause none can define, they serve our cause!"