Factions

### Overview

There are nine factions in the game, and you will have a reputation score with each. That reputation indirectly determines pricing for the purchase and sale of goods at their stations.

Many of these factions have a signature color scheme for their stations and spaceships. The standard color scheme for the other factions is a light grayish blue. There doesn't seem to be any significance to the coloration aside from acting as faction flags on their ships.

### Central factions

These three factions will offer you contract work. You'll develop personal contacts in each of these organizations.

**Delta Merc** is a private security corporation. They provide protection from pirates and the Syndicate, for a price. Delta's operatives are, like you, independent contractors with their own ships. Delta has a few stations, mostly as remote bases. Delta is at the center of the main campaign. Station/ship color scheme: dark red. Pirates operate ships (and, especially outside the Solar System, stations) in a slightly brighter red, but there shouldn't be any confusion because Delta ships are always friendly and pirate ships are always enemies.

**Motus** is a logistics and transportation corporation. They provide scheduled passenger and cargo ships, but that's not of much interest to you. What is of interest is their charter work, which provides on-demand supplies and personal transport for individual passengers, including those who might be at risk. Motus normally uses Delta for security services but may contract directly when one of their ships is threatened. Motus operates a couple of stations near Jupiter, including the Stellar Mall.

**The Syndicate** controls organized crime in space, so it has an adversarial relationship with Delta. The run-of-the-mill pirates are undisciplined thugs, not part of the Syndicate, and the Syndicate occasionally makes a predatory run against a pirate-operated transport. While the pirates fly their own small craft, the Syndicate controls an impressive fleet that includes a number of capital ships. The Syndicate isn't concerned with being productive, so they don't operate any stations at all. When they need to receive some cargo, they use one of their carrier ships. Ship color scheme: gold stripe, similar to Workers Union's yellow but just thin stripes, and the two can almost always be distinguished by context.

### Story-line factions

There are three station-owning business factions that drive the story line of the primary campaign. You don't work for them, but their adversarial relationships make for a lot of drama.

* **Theta Corp** is a prominent member of the military-industrial complex. They exclusively operate factory stations located in the outer planets, producing weapons and ship parts along with some electronics. Theta maintains a fleet of combat ships, including some capital ships, to protect their interests.
* **Concordia** is much smaller but considers itself more principled. They operate a couple of space stations at the innermost planets, producing nutrients (food) and medicines. They also have a comprehensive mining and refining operation on Ganymede, but that's up for sale. Concordia relies on Delta to provide security. Station/ship color scheme: white.
* **Workers Union** is a quasi-Marxist collective that owns a few ground bases in the asteroid belt, consisting entirely of mines and the related refineries. The Union occasionally calls on Delta, but they can't afford Delta's rates for routine security, so they have their own limited security force. Station/ship color scheme: yellow.

### Planetary governments

These factions operate stations mostly located within their planetary areas. All of them rely on Delta for security services.

* **United Earth** produces natural resources in huge quantities. They are the exclusive supplier of oxygen and water in the Solar System, and they operate a couple of ground bases (one on Callisto) that mine metal ores and minerals, plus they run a large farming base. They also have a space station, but it's up for sale. After the main campaign is completed, they open a uranium mine near Uranus. Station/ship color scheme: green.
* **Mars Republic** runs a couple of bases that extract minerals and refine them into chemicals. It's a small-scale operation but notable for being the only supplier of chemicals and nuclear fuel within the inner planets. Station/ship color scheme: orange.
* **Saturn Confederation** is big business, with two stations that produce and sell a full range of manufactured products (except hardware). They have a uranium mine on Titan that's up for sale. For some reason they also maintain an aerial outpost on Io. After the main campaign is completed, they open another space station, producing weapons. Station/ship color scheme: tan.