The Silent Ruins of Earth...
...And the Scattered Shards of a Race

The Imperial Cluster wasn't hit as hard as most by the Great War, and after the war the still powerful corporation Singularity Starcraft fled there. Between these two factors, the Vespasian League appeared to be in reasonably good shape. They were only second to the Nassanite Confederation in recovering from the Great War, and soon had a thriving government. Then the Scrren came again.

The Scrren had previous run-ins with the United Republic, which were disastrous. The Vespasian League wasn't nearly as powerful as the United Republic, and the Scrren were just as viscous and aggressive as ever. The Vespasian Traders, which consisted of the Imperial Cluster's government, came together to form the Vespasian League. This was partially to fight the Scrren, but just as much to rise up to and compete with the growing power of the Guild's Cartel.

The Vespasian League, with close alliances with Singularity Starcraft, Galland Cosmonautics, and Avery Flying Machines, grew very powerful. The League was also blessed with acquiring some of the old UR ship designs, specifically the Wildcat 2b warship and the Hurricane Fighter. With technology from the three corporations, and ships from the old United Republic, the Vespasian League Fleet quickly grew into the largest and most powerful human fleet in service.

August 21st, 2493, the Scrren launched their second invasion campaign of the Imperial Cluster. Against all odds, Commander Fugerson outmaunvered Scrren forces in the Battle of Asua, turing the invasion back before it could really even begin. That was the day that the Vespasian League Fleet earned it's reputation that precedes it everywhere it goes in the galaxy.

After the Battle of Asua, the Scrren aggression died down to isolated raids and lone wolf warriors wandering around the Cluster. While these raids and warriors initially did embarrassing amounts of damage to the VL, they are now relatively contained. The Scrren have yet to launch another campaign against the VL, but they still hate them. For now, the Scrren are just a time bomb sitting on the edge of Vespasian Space. A time bomb that the Vespasians, despite great efforts, can't diffuse.

The VL has used this break in the Scrren War to attempt to spread their influence - and ultimately their domain - over other parts of the galaxy. They have got several independent worlds to ally with them, or in one case even join them. They are very active taking refugees in from the Core and the Pleiades Union, and even endorse their merchants to help with this.

They have also found that they aren't the only ones looking to spread across the galaxy. The Guild's Cartel is just as active with this, and the two superpowers don't get along with each other too well. The Vespasian League despises the Cartel because of the Cartel's open support of the Slave and Implants trades. The Cartel despises the League because it believes it to be a reincarnation of the United Republic. They have started competing directly over the galaxy - most notably the Core and the Pleiades Union. Both clusters are weak and could greatly benefit from the power of either superpower. They want the Pleiades Union for it's mineral resources, and they want the Core so they can reclaim Earth - which lays in ruins and devoid of almost all life. This would be their ultimate proof of their power.

The Guild's Cartel had a very similar beginning to the Vespasian League in some ways, but very different in others. Unlike the Imperial Cluster, the Domus Nova Cluster was devastated by the Great War. It had been the site of the first rouge bombings, the first open rebellions, and the first planets to declare independence. It had also been the first cluster to free itself of UR rule. But, because of this, it had also taken the bulk of the United Republic's retaliations. It was devastated by the Great War, and was constantly being picked apart by Anarchist fleets, pirates, and the last renegade UR fleets. To put an end to this, the Domus Nova traders organized the Guild Worlds Cartel and the Guild Worlds Defense Fleet, although both are often refereed to as the Guild or the Cartel. With the help of Stellar Dynamics and Supergalactic Industries - two shady but powerful corporations - they were quickly able to recover their lost power and establish a thriving nation. Their government slightly resembles a feudalistic one, though. Each Lord can rule his planet or sector however he wants, provided that he complies with the Guild Council. This means that in most of the Cartel slavery is legal, and virtually any implants you can dream of are too.

In fact, most of the Cartel's government revolves around these lords. The Council has the ultimate power over them, but most of the time they just watch over the Lords. So you could almost look at the Guild as a strong alliance of dictatorships. Each lord has their own personal militia, but the Guild Worlds Defense Fleet - ruled directly by the council - easily dwarves the militias. It was made primarily to compete with the Vespasian League Fleet. The fleet is made from many of the base designs as the Vespasian League Fleet. However, the designs on both sides are constantly being modified and enhanced. This is done through the allied corporations, and the Singularity Starcraft/Galland Cosmonautics side (allied with the Vespasian League) has a clear edge on the Supergalactic Industries/Stellar Dynamics side (allied with the Guild's Cartel). The competition between these companies can get just as serious and bitter as the competition between their governments - especially against Singularity Starcraft (as SS is the most powerful corporation out of the bunch by a generous margin).

The only direct threat to the Guild Worlds is the Corsairs, a terrorist organization operated out of bases on Crevice and Phoenix. They have plenty of hatred towards the Guild Lords, and are particularly resentful of the Lord's part in the slave trade. Of course, they could be using that as an excuse to strike out against the Guild for some other reason.

While the Human/Nassanite Federation has power to compare to the two feuding Superpowers, it has largely stayed out of the Galactic Competition. The only things it's done to take a side is to let Singularity Starcraft set up several research and production bases in their space. They have given great amounts of aid to the Pleiades Union, and had given aid to the Core until they were forced to withdraw due to increased New Gobian/Goblin aggression.

The Nassanites were the first race of aliens for the humans to make contact with. They were much more technologically advanced than us, and much more pacific. They had lived in underwater cities in their homeward, researching technologies and just living their lives. Ideas of space travel had never occurred to them. And they were peaceful and cooperative enough so they had no need to complex governments. When the UR made contact with them, they ended up joining the United Republic. They benefited from our ideas of space exploration and colonization, and we benefited from their technology, that was well beyond anything we had ever tried to do. With these new ideas in the air, some of the Nassanites went on to become fierce warriors and diplomats. Once the UR fell, which the Nassanites weren't too sad about, the Confederation was created. Because of the Nassanite's great ability as merchants and the wise investment of the Confederate Interstellar Bank, the Confederation quickly grew into a prosperous government. They gladly took in refugees from the Core and the Pleiades Union. Many of these refugees went on to contribute greatly to the Confederation, and eventually it began to actively evacuate refugees from the Core. Once back in Confederation space, they were offered jobs by the Confederation for fair wages and benefits. The majority of the refugees gladly accepted these offers, and the Confederation had a good source of workers for anything it needed. Unfortunately, due to the growth of the Goblins and the New Gobians in the Core, the Nassanites have been forced to withdraw from sending ships in to get the refugees. But they will still welcome any refugees who manage to find their own way to the Confederation, and will generously reward independent merchants who do so on a regular basis.

The Core has decayed much further than the rest of the galaxy. It was hit the hardest of any of the clusters, as it took the brute of the Rebellion's fury. Most of the planets were rendered uninhabitable, or at least had most of their populations wiped out. Any hint of a government larger than a town collapsed shortly afterward. This was terrible news, especially on New Gobi. New Gobi had been the UR’s prison world - an entire planet devoted to being a high security prison. All the exceptional ruthless and dangerous criminals were sent there. But when the UR collapsed, there was no one to watch over them. They easily broke out of what was left of the prisons and ran loose to terrorize the Core. Eventually, they came back together as the bizzar cult-like organization that eventually became the New Gobians. They are led by the Grand Vizier, who's real name is has been forgotten. Their allegiance to him is of a near religious level. To this day, they ravage the Core doing what they want when they want, and no one has adequate forces to stop them, except the Goblins - who are little better.

The Goblins are very similar to the New Gobians, but a little less bizzar. While less numerous, they control more space - and thus more resources - than the New Gobians. They also have better ships and weapons, as they success in stealing some technology from Singularity Starcraft early on in their rein. They control most of the Core, and will supposedly leave it's citizens and passing merchants alone - but only if they receive huge amounts of tribute. If they don’t (and sometimes even in they do), you’re fair game for plundering, kidnapping, or anything else they can think of.

EIther of these two pirate fractions could easily control the Core and threaten the other clusters, except they are engaged in a deadlocked war - keeping each other relatively contained.

The Pleiades Union is one step above the Core. It actually has a central government, although it isn't a very effective one. They problem is that the people of the Pleiades Union are extremely diverse - and have many conflicting interests. So while they are trying to get everyone together to help the Union - which they desperately need to do - they haven't gotten the government past the point of a loose federation of worlds. They are constantly undermining their own efforts at further unification because of these conflicting interests. Meanwhile, mining accidents kill hundreds of workers weekly due to inadequate equipment and under funding, Pirates pillage their worlds, Slavers raid it, and there used to be very little resistance.

Finally, though, a group of people had decided that they'd had enough of this. The Pleiades Militia was formed as an attempt to make the Pleiades Union safe from pirates, criminals, and Slavers. The organization was intentionally formed completely separate and independent from the government. The downside of this is that they get no funding. Each member has to supply his own ship and equipment, though the Militia will gladly chip in if it means another fighter in their ranks. This would mean that their ships would not be as good as the Slaver ships, if it weren't for the generosity of the Confederation. The Confederation set up a shipyard for the Militia, where Nassanite ships were produced and sold at a %50 discount to Militia members.

The members of the Pleiades Militia are more unified than the Pleiades Union, because they can put aside their differences for the goal and dream of making the Pleiades Cluster a safe and prosperous place. However, it is a very difficult job. Even with a %50 discount, Nassanite warships are extremely expensive. Being as under funded as it is, the best the Militia can do for new recruits is a Wolverine. If they want a better ship, they have to find the rest of the money somewhere else.

Overall, the Pleiades Militia are one of the few organizations left in the galaxy who's leaders have good intentions concerning their people, not their bank accounts. Unfortunately, they are very much the underdogs. They have to stay involved in a day to day struggle to protect their worlds from pirates and their people from slavers. And if they get in a pinch, they really don't have anywhere to turn. There are a few Nassanites on their station, but the rest of the Confederation can't react too quickly across a vast stretch of deep space. When they've turned to the Pleiades Union, they representatives would argue over what to do until it was too late to put any of their purposed plans into action. So the Militia is basically on it's own when they kill the wrong Slaver or Goblin - and often they don't fend too well. But they aren't backing down.

There are also two competing news networks allied with each of the superpowers. Galactic News Network has the upper hand in the matter, and is very much a propaganda network in the Guild's pocket. As should be expected, they are constantly bashing the Vespasian League. The Vespasian League, though, has so far maintained a better reputation across the galaxy. This is largely due to Stellar Times, the work the Vespasian League does in the Core, and the fact that they don’t support the Slave trade.

Stellar Times is a much different news network. They are basically an electronic newspaper that will deliver to anyone who subscribes for free. No one knowns where it’s run from, or how it stays in business at all. GNN has tried valiantly to shut it down, or at least bring it under their control, to no avail. They best they can do is renounce it and everything it says on the airwaves. All people know about Stellar Times is that adds to subscribe to it aren’t hard to come by, and it shows up every morning in their virtual mail. Any attempt to trace any of the adds or deliveries ends up in a dead end - sometimes weeks later. This is why GNN is so frustrated with ST.

Stellar Time is (supposedly) devoted to delivering straight, unbiased news of current events to anyone who wants it. While the news actually is biased against the Guild, it is hardly propaganda. But that doesn’t keep GNN from labeling it as such.