Story

### Introduction

The year is 2221; one much like our own, and about 35 years after the Commonwealth of Man discovered the Warp Drive on Earth. Humanity quickly found out they were not alone, even in their local stellar group, and a “galactic” rush has begun to secure resources for superpowers who can barely understand one another. Each nation and a slew of private corporations has recruited their most daring, skilled, and/or desperate to explore and colonize the stars, securing their slice of history. You are among this bunch, selected for your brains, brawn, or frustrating habit of finding yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your task is great! These warp drives alter the flow of time itself, and you will be of a unique caste - witnessing more than you could ever dream while watching the universe age and change around you. The future is yours. Will you gain riches for yourself? Lead glorious wars? Uncover the unknown? Only time and space will tell.

### Factions

#### Superpowers

##### The Commonwealth of Man

The 22nd century on Earth was characterized by intense nuclear warfare, nearly driving humanity to extinction. Centuries spent on the aggressive pursuit of profit has left the once beautiful planet gasping for breath as the last few resources are divvied up amongst the most tenacious corporations. At the end of these wars, the wealthiest and most powerful groups and individuals from the major nation states consolidated their power and formed a sincerely autocratic oligarchy known as the Commonwealth of Man. The dominant power in the Sol system, the Commonwealth values money and power above the well-being of its constituents and routinely commits atrocities of varying degrees in their fervent struggle to expand out from a dying planet.

##### K’Titch’Zaa Confederacy

The K'Titch'Zaa Confederacy, often referred to as the Council of Greys for syntactic simplicity, is a loosely formed body of representatives from each of the K'Titch'Zaa communities. This council preserves the peace between communities and serves to guide the K'Titch'Zaa through interstellar trade and diplomacy. The K'Titch'Zaa communities are largely independent, and whether or not they will abide by Confederacy decisions is anyone's guess, but this government has proven surprisingly effective in organizing its people when times are critical, and in these cases they prove to be quite formidable.

##### United Flumbon Federation

The United Flumbon Federation is an advanced and high-functioning society controlling Wolf 359 and other nearby systems. The Flumbon Federation preserves life and rule of law as its core tenets, and although typically peaceful is quick and strong with any necessary enforcement. A dizzying mess of bureaucracy to outsiders is second nature to Flumbos and other Federal citizens, and allows them to benefit from an incredibly high standard of living at the cost of knowingly playing a cog in an albeit impressive machine.

##### Tiel Republic

A quarrelsome democratic society, the Tiel Republic has its share of political drama but still manages to hold its own in the interstellar arena. At any given time there may be a dozen political parties or minor factions hoping to gain their share of power, all championing various claims of freedom and prosperity. Although miserably inefficient and not without its share of corruption, the Tiel Republic does typically come to effective decisions.

##### East Terran Trading Company

The East Terran Trading Company is the largest of Earth's mega-corporations, responsible for nearly 60% of the manufactured goods bought, sold, and discarded in local interstellar space. Rich as can be and with a private security force rivaling most planetary governments, the ETTC brings the worst and most profitable parts of humanity to the outer reaches of space.

##### AstroCorp

AstroCorp is the only thing standing in the way of a full ETTC takeover of the local interstellar economy. A large-scale mining company backed by environmentalists from the Mars project and trade unions, AstroCorp provides a significant amount of the raw materials used in the Sol system and elsewhere including alloys and ice. Smaller and not nearly as cutthroat as ETTC, AstroCorp faces being pushed out of the market like so many others before, but still have some key tools and assets in their back pocket.

#### Minor Factions

##### Shining Kingdom of Gloemn

The Shining Kingdom of Gloemn is one of the two nations in power on the Gloemn homeworld. The Shining Kingdom of Gloemn is the more recently established, with a history of fewer than 100 years, having formed in opposition to the Holy Kingdom of Gloemn. The Shining Kingdom believes their queen, Misa the Pure, to be the incarnation of the Gloemn diety Harara. Since their foundation, they have been engaged in a brutal war with the Holy Kingdom over this disagreement. The Shining Kingdom values fervent piety, leading to frequent public religious demonstrations.

##### Holy Kingdom of Gloemn

The Holy Kingdom of Gloemn is the larger of the two nations in power on the Gloemn homeworld. The Holy Kingdom is significantly older, dating back allegedly a thousand years. The Holy Kingdom has long since believed their ruler, whoever may hold the crown, to be the incarnation of the Gloemn diety Harara. This has led to quite a tumultuous series of coups and civil wars, the most recent of which led to the formation of the Shining Kingdom of Gloemn. The Holy Kingdom values meekness and considers self-aggrandizement so obnoxious it has been labeled a crime.

##### Stoph Imperium

The Stoph Imperium is a longstanding empire governing the Stoph homeworld. Bloated and inefficient, the Imperium has long sacrificed the needs of its laborers and lower classes to allow the nobility to live in luxury. In an effort to crush rebellion in its slums, the Imperium has established a significant police state with (often corrupt) armed security found nearly everywhere poorer Stophs are known to congregate. The Imperium is led by a panel of the oldest and wealthiest Stoph nobles, and they will do anything to maintain power.

##### Stoph Revolutionary Party

The Stoph Revolutionary Party (or Glongshniks) is a large underground movement of lower to middle class Stophs determined to improve their conditions and ultimately overthrow the Stoph Imperium and remove the associated nobles from power. What they lack in equipment and strategy, the make up in numbers, however as the movement has grown it has been mired by factionalism and infighting. The Imperium has cracked down on the Revolutionaries with no impunity, forcing them to resort to clandestine organization, but that will only hold them down for so long.

##### Doomsday Unit

The Doomsday Unit is an unaligned fighting force comprised mainly of Daht and Human mercenaries, though most other species may have a few representatives enlisted as well. Typically ex-military, the Doomsday Unit is highly trained and incredibly dangerous if you are on the wrong side of their contract. This group often avoids legal trouble due to their wealthy and powerful clientele. Their loyalty comes and goes with funding, and they have been known to turn on their benefactors just as soon as the paychecks stop coming in, but if causing damage is your goal they are well worth the cost.

##### White Sun Corsairs

The White Sun Corsairs are a decentralized gang of pirates, smugglers, spies, and thieves found all over the local stellar group. Typically ill equipped and piloting interceptors on the verge of falling apart, the Corsairs have made a name for themselves among traders for being pesky, relentless, greedy, and... actually quite polite. It is rare that these pirates resort to violence to achieve their goals, usually opting for stealth and trickery in order to avoid fights with more structurally sound vessels and crews.

##### Garuma Clan

The Garuma Clan is the last surviving Daht clan, having escaped the destruction of their homeworld some 5000 years prior. The Garuma are slightly different from most Daht, larger on average but usually more even-tempered. The Garuma have recorded the legacy of their species, homeworld, and clan and consider it their solemn duty to do so. In recent years, since the development of the Warp Drive and the sudden explosion of galactic society, some Garuma have taken it on themselves to act as scribes for the other species as well. This is not to say however, they have abandoned their natural Daht instincts - despite being isolationists they still make quite formidable foes.

##### Applied Hydroponics

Applied Hydroponics is a medium-sized union of farming companies and colonies which banded together after the invention of the Warp Drive to ensure stable market prices for organically grown food and fair representation and defense for farming outposts in less-than-secure regions of space. The group staffs the majority of bio-domes and planetary farms in their jurisdiction and tend to be peaceful and hard-working so long as they are not cheated or interfered with. They have been known to offer safe haven to travelers in exchange for some help with their projects.