Human Factions

After the fall of the Paxia Empire, the Human star systems fell into anarchy. This is a list of the current known major factions in the human star systems that have risen from the ashes.

Paxia Empire
With the collapse of the Empire the Aristocracy has scattered. There are some who still follow the ways of Nobility and belive in the idea of the Empire. From the ashes of the Paxia Aristorcracy has risen a small faction of military forces and leadership who have rallied behind a fleet commander. The Paxia remnants are currently rallied far to the downspin at the distant edge of of the old Human Empire, and are surrounded and cut off by the Kelk invasion.

 

Aizu Corporation
 This corporate conglomerate has become a major power due to a near monopoly on certain vital materials found in abundance in star systems it exclusively controls. The corporation is acutely aware that other forces would like to break its stronghold on those systems, and they're as aggressive about defending their holdings. They're almost as aggressive in attempting to capture new ones. The forces under the company's control are impressive - even the individual divisions of the company have their own armies. The corporation views any in-fighting that may occur with this set-up to be a healthy display of competitive drive.

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Home World
The Aizu homeworld is Attara, a bright blue world with three large continents surrounded by blue oceans. The northern region is very cold with a large frozen continent made of ice, while the southern areas are warm. Attara has 2 small inhabited moons that are used mostly as mining, but there are some areas that are used a residential  living and vacationing.

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Government
The Aizu government is run by the corporation which is made up of a board of directors,  one leader from each of the corporate office headquarters on each of their controlled worlds. There are thousands of smaller companies but they are all fully sanctioned by the corporation and officially licensed operators. There is a lot of backstabbing and manipulation of the system, butthe corporation views this as healthy competition. The one thing that is off limits is the customers. There is an understanding that the people who live on their worlds keep them funded. Without their customers they would be out of business.

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Major Exports
Agriculture products, manufactured goods, machines, processed metals, raw ore.

Major Imports
Exotic Spices, medical products, learning products, luxury goods

 

Blue Ztar
  The Blue Ztar corporation started as a mining operation in the massive asteroid belt in the Netara system. When the last of the Empire ships left for the border-wars the corporation feared that they may be attacked while their protection was away. The executives started having their workers build war bots rather than mining bots. When a pirate raid happened they were unprepared for the welcome they got by the new mine defense. Over the last 20 years Tzar has become an unusual force of very few human soldiers acting as operators to the larger robotic combat force.

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Home World
The Tzar seat of power is situated on Netara IV, a green world with thousands of small oceans and lakes created by the massive asteroid activity in this system. There are only 3 planets in the system where there were once 10 or more, but all others have been reduced to massive asteroid fields. The asteroids have created an ideal defensive position allowing for hundreds of small outposts to watch the borders and eliminate potential threats. 

While the surface of Netara is very temperate and comfortable the terrain is rocky and difficult living. The cratered environment is a brutal mix of sandy ash and shattered bedrock making it almost impossible to build on. In addition all the asteroid impacts have made the soil difficult  to grow crops, and with no other habitable planets in the system it is too expensive to allow for a large population to grow.

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Government
While the government is technically a corporation, Blue Ztar is run more like a communist government. The government provides everything the individual needs. Robots are used to handle all of the most undesirable jobs. Jobs that must be done by humans are assigned to each person. Reproduction is closely controlled. From an early age each new member of society is groomed for a specific job forming an almost cast like system. With so much of the work being done by robots this leaves people with lots of free time. Learning from the past about the oppression of a system like this, art and culture is deeply encouraged. The Ztar citizens work 1 week a month and have the rest of their time to explore their own pursuits. The cities are beautiful with art and sculptures everywhere.  

Major Exports
Mined minerals, metals, precious stones, art, computers, robots and machinery. Many other systems have asked Blue Tzar to build the more complex combat robot systems for them, but the Ztar leadership feels this is the only thing that keeps them protected.  '

Major Imports
Food, medicine, entertainment, chemicals, biological.

 

The Consortium
Those in the Consortium feel that a grave threat faces the human race, and only by banding together and pooling their strength will the human race have any hope of survival. The Consortium is a collection of various corporate factions that have decided to work together and cede some of their individual authority to a semi-democratic controlling council. Their notion that in unity comes strength is frequently challenged by internal squabbling, however.

The Sheng Empire
China survived the expansion into the stars. This large and powerful group has pulled together to rule as a communist alliance of stars.

Nerio Confederacy
The Nerio Confederacy is a collection of small states that have banded together for mutual support and defense. Long the target of surrounding factions, their combined might has allowed them to not just hold their territory but strike back with surprising effectiveness. Once considered a bit of a joke, they’re now increasingly respected.

 

New Human Republic
The NHR government has rallied its citizens behind the idea that humanity has become decadent, corrupted by its ancient contact with aliens, and that alien spies, even today, have infiltrated human societies to destroy them. Only a new human society, carefully constructed to avoid the corrupting influence, is free from this blight. But this new human society must be carefully guarded, purged of anyone suspect, and it is necessarily in constant conflict with outside forces, "corrupt" as they are. They've outlawed all other political parties, and have stamped down on any challenges to their authority or their way of thinking, frequently holding mass executions of "decadents" and "alien sympathizers."

 

The Artemesian Order
The Order is a highly militaristic ascetic religious order whose watchwords are simplicity and purity. They've simplified their lives, removing everything that might distract them in their quest for purity of body and spirit and in spreading that message. The order is all female, for example, purely for the sake of simplicity - males and sexual reproduction were considered a redundancy, constantly making "improvements" to their genomes via genetic engineering. Their style is similarly spare and simple, with no unnecessary ornamentation. They spend their days in meditation and martial training. They have found the One True Way, and they will defend it with lethal force against any threats, internal or external, who challenge it in any manner.

 

The Chosen
A rag-tag collection of warlords and deserters from other armies, operating under a shared delusion: that they are divinely favored. Often preferring intimidating, primitive decoration, they believe that their faith and certain "magic" charms make them invincible, engaging in recklessly bold behavior on the battlefield. Partial to offense over defense, they eschew heavy armor in favor of heavy weapons, and rumors of individuals charging into battle unarmored and even completely naked are apparently true. Other factions claim that the apparently deranged behavior is due to soldiers being constantly drugged, perhaps without their knowledge, but it's unclear if this is true.

 

The Red Fangs
Once a loose confederacy of pirates and criminal gangs that joined together under a common flag out of economic self-interest, it has evolved into a well armed and organized criminal enterprise willing to directly challenge any government or corporation for its resources. They're careful and clever, meticulously making plans for maximum gain. They don't hold much territory compared to other factions, happy to operate in territories held by those others, and as a result are now spread across a multitude of star systems. Although their manufacturing capabilities are limited, they favor hit-and-run tactics to seize resources, taking what they want to equip themselves with the best armament that they can steal. 

The Black Mask
A quickly growing criminal gang known for their ruthlessness and that all members wear a black mask when they are on the job. They're feared pirates who stage attacks on both ships and planets. They'll steal anything, including people, who they sell into slavery or force to join the gang. They're not as clever as the Red Fangs, but they make up for it with brutality and connections that allow them to turn a profit on anything they can find. 

Scavengers
Not so much a faction as a label for a type of faction, Scavengers were once simple refugees fleeing the devastation of the Shadow Spiral and turned into something else entirely. They began as refugees with limited resources, forced into sub-light speed spacecraft that would take years to travel to other star systems, often just ahead of the devastation they fled. Initially they grouped together with other refugee ships for mutual support, and in their journeys they stumbled upon other resources that they scavenged, either left behind by others fleeing the devastation, or the remains of battles. Sometimes those resources were still being used by someone, and the Scavengers were a little more… aggressive in claiming them. Eventually some Scavengers made it to systems that had been preceded by the new Warp Ships and already installed wormholes. The wormholes allowed them to jump to more distant parts of the galaxy, and some Scavengers managed to capture their own Warp Ships, giving them even greater freedom of movement. Still they retain their fleets of refugee ships as mobile bases from which they launch raids and scavenging missions. Although their equipment is cobbled together out of parts, some primitive and outdated, some state-of-the-art (but all mis-matched), they’re formidable opponents, having been hardened by years of desperate struggle to simply survive.

                    