Canon & Lore
From Fleets Game Guide
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What is Lore?
Also known as fluff or background details, these are items of knowledge that do not directly influence gameplay but serve instead to build up the setting. On a meta level, they are used as justification for certain game-wide events. Canon refers to events and information that are laid down by the game developers as inarguable basis for the setting's background and progress.
The Story Behind Fleets
The Federation of Races
Events in the galaxy are often centered around the affairs of the Federation of Races, the galaxy-wide government and civilization formed in 17532 GSY in the wake of the disastrous Deriv-Zallus War. The Federation charter proposed by the ancient, powerful and utterly pacifistic Taenarian Race opened up the galaxy with the gift of the Taenarian-designed Subspace Jump Drive and Jump Gate Network. At first there were just six Races in the Federation, the Taenarians, Derivians, Zalluns, Kitarans, and Tamarans, but over five thousand years since its Founding the Federation grew to its current state as the cultural wellspring of many races, many civilizations, and many many triumphs and tragedies of history.
The Scourge War
From 22212 to 22214 GSY {Date requires review and revision}, the Scourge invaded from the dark unknowns past the Outer Rim and cut a swath straight to the heart of Federation space. Countless worlds were stripped bare of resources and still unknown millions perished under the pitiless cybernetic Swarm. The cost was great, and the sacrifices many, but the Hivemind were finally stopped at the last great battle for the Nexus supercluster.
It was the glorious moment of unity for all the Races and all their polities and all their alliances, and as it passed a long cold silence descended upon the galaxy.
The Corporate Wars
Megacorporations and corporate states are among the protectorates and dependencies allowed under the Federation Charter. The original founding Races are not allowed to expand 'traditionally', by claiming and seizing systems to expand their borders. Not only would this inevitably lead to aggressive competition between the member Races, but sheer distance and variations in interests inhibit effective governance from well within the original core regions.
The testbed for self-governing but economically dependent polities was the supercluster of Nexus, the very same spread of space that was fought over in the Deriv-Zallus War. Nexus Gateway Territories is formed of many different colonies and corporate holdings owned by older Racial companies and regulated by the neutral commands of the Border Patrol.
In time, as the Federation expanded into the arms of the galaxy, these corporations themselves grew to become self-sustaining political entities that could apply for control over new regions. Many colonization efforts were undertaken with the backing of these corporations to establish corporate states that would tap new regions of wealth and influence. This was partly responsible for the explosive rush of expansion and exploration during the early days of the Federation.
The frontier expanded perhaps to quickly, far beyond even the Federation's ability to effectively police and protect, that corporate states and alliances had to acquire military hardware for their own use. The hefty markups on importing from the Fedcore regions, and with the vast resources of the Outer Rim, eventually had them seeking the capability to manufacture their own ships and weapons.
This was one of the reasons leading up to the traumatic Severance War, which saw the end of the Long Peace of the Federation and the collapse of previously vibrant Outer Rim cultures and civilizations.
The end of the Severance War saw the rise of even larger and more powerful corporate states, though now with greater scrutiny from the Federation to keep them from further rebellion. A few, such as the Andromedan Science Institute and the Conclave Suites of Meras, gained almost total independence from the Federation, free to enact their own laws and maintain their own defensive fleets, giving way only to the common laws as specified by the Federation Charter in its foundation.
Corporate states were organized along Tamaran Merchanting Lines, with parent corporations taking keen interest in new child corporations opening up new systems for colonization. Corporate states are supposed to be interim governments until the systems can officially become self-sustaining. Some of these states, such as the ASI and CSM, maintain the corporate veneer even as recognized political entity, but many seemingly natural subcluster authorities are ruled by distant boardrooms.
The Second Age of Exploration ended with the Scourge War. Corporate states had little to contribute to the military undertaking, and ironically grew stronger with the trade and resource exploitation required to feed the grueling war for survival. In the aftermath, the Federation Navy was nearly gutted, Racial Navies and volunteer fleets paid a heavy price just to buy them time to build up enough forces for the final stand. The Outer Rim along the Scourge invasion route was a decimated ruin.
The wounded Federation pulled out even from their watch over the Inner Rim, forcing again the corporates states to pick up the slack. Fortunately an event such as the Severance could not happen again, since the powerful Rim presence known as Jorael still considered itself as the heir to the first Severance and would dearly love to reunite the Rim to a state strong enough to challenge the Federation again.
Corporate states were granted a bevy of freedoms and unique incentives to seize and use the broken pieces of the Outer Rim just to keep it marginally under Federation influence. Rather than challenge these system transactions directly, as various Rim powers were still weakened from their temporary alliance with the Federation to repel the Scourge, they too used corporations and unaligned raiders as proxies for their competitions and conflicts. Pirates and mercenaries, many of them veterans of the Scourge War, carved out their own brutal fiefdoms in the Rim. There was no safety except that which could be taken at the expense of someone else.
These were the Corporate Wars. It lasted for hundreds of years, a cold but cruel conflict between the powers in the Core and the Rim.
When the Icarus Gate was found, and the prospect of a new untapped galaxy was announced, many of the colonists who sought this unprecedented and dangerous journey did so to escape the widespread anarchy and suffering of the Corporate Wars.
The Icarus Gate
In 22386 GSY, a fantastic discovery was made deep within the Pleiora Nebula. Previously undetected, a massive subspace gate of ancient construction was found. Enormous, dwarfing any artificial object ever touched by Federation hands, this device would come to be known as the Icarus Gate, and the entire galaxy took notice.
Nearly a century passed before Taenarian engineers finally unlocked its secrets and sent the first unmanned probe across the void. Upon arriving, the probe transmitted images that hushed every voice in the Federation: the Icarus Gate was a portal to another galaxy, nearly three hundred thousand light years distant. Even as the Taenarians continued to analyze the data being returned, dozens of factions and hundreds of alliances began to make plans to send expeditions through the gate. Politicians and diplomats argued for years to determine who would receive the honor of taking the first step into this uncharted frontier.
In the end, despite the protests of the Taenarians, a massive fleet was assembled. Teams and representatives from every walk of life united under the banner of the First Intergalactic Expedition. Hundreds of thousands of individuals prepared to risk everything to become the first to depart from the galaxy that had cradled the only known civilizations for countless thousands of years. Well trained and highly motivated, these brave explorers were prepared for a journey that would take nearly fifty years, even at the fantastic speeds capable with the Icarus Gate. On the first day of 22501 GSY, thousands of colony ships departed from Icarus Base as the galaxy looked on.
But no one could have foreseen the consequences. Decades later, the colonists awoke from stasis only to realize that their lives had been shattered forever during their long sleep. Unstable and erratic, the Icarus Gate had scattered them across the new galaxy. Many ships were lost, never to be heard from again, and those that remained were low on supplies and resources. Worst of all, there was no sign of another Gate that could take them home. Divided, leaderless, and stranded, the myriad colonists splintered into countless factions, each preoccupied with survival in a new and unforgiving environment.
Adrift in New Galaxy
You were the captain of a colonist ship, and are now the leader of your faction. Frightened and alone, they look to you for leadership and guidance. You must take control of your colony, and establish yourself in this new and unexplored galaxy. Whether through diplomacy or military might, the future of your people is in your hands.
Lore notes on:
The History
The Races
The Factions
The Technologies
