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The

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story of Sins of a Solar Empire

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Sins of a Solar Empire brings you into the epic conflict between the Trader Emergency Coalition, the advanced Advent, and the mysterious Vasari as all three strive to achieve absolute dominance over the galaxy. Each race brings to the table its own unique abilities and history that impact how you play the game.

Trader Emergency Coalition

The Trader Worlds enjoyed a golden era of lucrative trade and relative peace under the strict guidelines of the interplanetary Trade Order. They had forgotten their ancient history of war and replaced it with a future of endless prosperity. The arrival of the Vasari caught the Traders completely unprepared.

Advance exploratory waves from the Vasari Exodus Fleet hastily crushed and colonized over a dozen worlds. Political infighting amongst the Trade Order representatives and the independent Opulentsia, delayed the first military response by months. Finally, they sent everything they had to repel the invaders; a cobbled band of ships designed to combat piracy. The untrained, undisciplined, and poorly equipped crews met a swift demise.

Disasters continued for years, but the resilient Traders slowly learned to apply their perfection of the economic engine into an ever more powerful war machine. Factories, trade routes, and savvy businessmen were now one with star bases, supply lines and master tacticians.

Unfortunately, the disastrously poor cohesion of the independently operated planetary fleets often negated this progress. As the Vasari approached the central worlds, it became clear that their advance could not be stopped without higher levels of coordination. The Trade Order could not fulfill this role because its mandate forbade interference with the sovereign rights of the member planets. Thus, the Trader Emergency Coalition (TEC) formed despite strong opposition to the loss of planetary autonomy.

United under one authority, the TEC finally stalled the Vasari advancement, but the reprieve was brief. Their deviant brethren, exiled one-thousand years ago, have returned with a colossal fleet of sophisticated war ships and now wreak havoc across the undefended sectors. With their entire force dedicated to maintaining the Vasari line, the TEC faces a near hopeless dilemma.

The Vasari

The ancient Vasari Empire once ruled over countless worlds. Beginning at the galactic core, the empire expanded uniformly, brought hundreds of alien races under its control, and showed no signs of slowing down.

Most species encountered were young enough to be subjugated peacefully, although, some resisted and were harshly enslaved. Those who had expanded into space were quickly exterminated. Once conquered, most species were integrated into the Vasari social structure as “valued citizens”. The Vasari locked each planet down and ruled from vast orbital structures, finding a minimal surface presence more effective for both production and the minimization of rebellion.

When the first of the inner planets fell, analysts initially assumed that the local species had somehow managed to rebel. They immediately requested a wing of the Dark Fleet to restore order but no status reports were ever received. Instead, three more planets dropped from the communications grid. The probability of multiple, simultaneous, and successful rebellions was exceptionally remote. Internal Intelligence concluded that a renegade force from within the Vasari engineered a revolt. As deliberations proceeded on how best to deal with the traitorous acts, another series of planets were lost, including the ancient Vasari homeworld. The unknown enemy’s rate of expansion far exceeded even that of the entire Dark Fleet. As a last resort, the Dark Fleet Veerr brought the bulk of their forces back from the expansionary frontier and massed for a blind assault on whatever was eating its way out from the central worlds.

The inhabitants of a perimeter planet were surprised when a single warship of the Dark Fleet appeared out of Phase Space bearing signs of heavy damage. Their curiosity and confusion quickly gave way to fear when they boarded the ship and found the crew apparently mad with terror.

In a rare act of autonomy, the colony decided it would be best to take precautions and temporarily evacuate to a system far from the Empire.

The refugees waited for signs of a safe return but instead, the signal from their warning beacons ceased. The lifetimes of the warning beacons were used to estimate the speed of the threat. It would not be long before their current position would be compromised. Additional beacons were placed at their current location and the group moved on to a considerably further destination.

Settling for a time, the refugees started to build colonies, construct new ships, and extract resources. Ultimately, their goal was to uncover the nature of the threat, to research technologies that might aid in its destruction, and to restore the rule of the Empire. For the next ten thousand years this pattern would repeat - the growing Vasari Exodus Fleet only ever a generation ahead of the relentless.

When the Vasari arrived in Trader Space ten years ago, they were confident in their ability to quickly deal with the locals. Initially, the victories were painless – the scouts alone procured the initial settlements – but as time went on it became clear that the local space-faring species would not be so easy to eliminate.

Now, the Vasari are caught in a stalemate, and in some positions, on the verge of being pushed back. A state of panic ensues. Already too entrenched in this disastrous war, the Vasari are simply unable to withdraw without catastrophic losses. Even worse, the conflict is consuming resources faster than can be put into the reserve. They will not be able to fuel the next phase of their exodus and time is running out.

The Advent

The origins of the Advent began well before recorded history. It is said they began as one of many broken peoples who sought spiritual escape on peripheral worlds following the great wars.

The earliest known records trace back to the formation of the Trade Order. At its inception, the Order sent emissaries to recruit all known inhabited planets into the organization. One such group discovered a single desert world orbiting a massive red star surprisingly populated by a thriving civilization. Excited by the profitability of this potential market, the Order authorized immediate integration and the emissaries initiated contact. The representatives of the planet decidedly rejected the membership offer.

Not willing to accept failure, the Order sent a series of market research teams to acquire data that could be used to formulate a more elaborate strategy. They received a single, incomplete report containing disturbing information.

Shocking acts of deviancy, at every level of society, violated the venerable taboos common to all the Trader Worlds. Sinful cerebral integration technologies, unrestricted biological experimentation, strange forms of collectivism, and the wholesale usage of countless neurochemicals were but a few of the transgressions.

The Trader Worlds overwhelmingly voted that such an aberration had no place within the territories of their new Order. With an instinctive fear, the Traders took control of the planet by force and exiled the inhabitants far into uncharted space.

The exiles would integrate the story of their origins into myths and prophecies. They believed that their destiny was to exact retribution and assume their rightful place in the galaxy. One thousand years later, when it became clear that the rare and precious resources that empowered their unique way of life approached exhaustion, the society unanimously decided to return to their original home and fulfill their prophecies, hoping to attain revenge from the foes who banished thembegins more than 10,000 years ago in a remote area of the galaxy controlled by the Vasari Empire….

10,000+ Years Ago

The Vasari Empire ruled over countless worlds and lesser species at the height of their power. Relentless and unstoppable, their Dark Fleet sought to eclipse ever more civilizations into their growing empire. Those that would not serve would be enslaved and their development curtailed. Technological advances during this time were rampant and often of a martial nature.

10,000 Years Ago - The Vasari Exodus Fleet

Exactly what happened remains a mystery, but something brought the once unstoppable Vasari Empire to an abrupt end. In only a few short months, the Vasari were brought to the brink of extinction. With their worlds destroyed, the survivors began a desperate race to outrun their adversary in a mass exodus fleet. Every ship was hastily converted to hold as many of the surviving Vasari as possible as they escaped on their long trip across the galaxy.

~7,500-5,000 Years Ago - The Great Schism

While the Vasari Exodus Fleet traveled across space, the Great Schism saw the end of human civilization in the galaxy, and the start of a long dark age. During this period anarchy reigned, with worlds ravaged, technologies lost, and history forgotten. Billions were killed in the conflict and billions more died after, as each planet became isolated. With each planet left to fend for itself, they had to rebuild with the scars of racial memory which would pass into legend, and then into total obscurity.

1,500 Years Ago - Formation of the Trade Order

From the ashes of the now forgotten conflict, the Trade Order is formed by a group of economically driven settlers. Each planet in the Trade Order would operate as its own sovereign entity, but with free trade across the member worlds. Over the next several centuries, the Trade Order would grow to encompass hundreds of members. However, despite the amount of autonomy allowed in forms of government and culture, a strict set of laws were enforced across members against un-natural augmentation and other taboos.

1,000 Years Ago - The Exiled

Roughly 500 years after the founding of the Trade Order, an expansionary mission discovered a single desert world orbiting a red giant. Located on the periphery of what would become Trader Space, the people of this desert planet were found to practice the utmost in scientific and social deviancy! Shocked and disgusted, the Trade Order worlds conspired to exile the people of this forgotten planet far outside Trader territory. This action would have serious repercussions in the distant future.

1,000 to ~30 Years Ago - The Age of Prosperity

For nearly a millennium the Trade Order would experience widespread growth and peace. Major conflicts would be avoided via economic means and only piracy would pose a real problem to security.

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35 Years Ago - The Vasari Exodus Fleet Arrives (War Year 1)

The Trade Order’s age of prosperity would come to a quick end with the arrival of the Vasari Exodus Fleet. Stories of their ancestor’s wars had long since passed into the depths of history; the methods and machines by which they were fought long since buried. Consequently, when the Vasari fleet arrived, the outlying Trader Worlds paid dearly.

32 Years Ago - Formation of the Trader Emergency Coalition (War Year 3)

Caught flat-footed by more than 1,000 years of peace, the Vasari easily wiped aside Trade Order defenses that were only meant to deal with pirates. Fearing annihilation, the Trade Order member worlds agreed to set aside some of their autonomy to form the Trader Emergency Coalition (TEC). This new unified organization would coordinate defenses in order to drive back the Vasari.

25 Years Ago - Return of the Exiled (War Year 10)

The sins of the Trade Order’s past returned to haunt them with the return of the exiled, now calling themselves “The Advent.” Arriving with a vast fleet of advanced warships and mysterious weapons, the Advent quickly brought a number of worlds under their control. Now caught in a two-front war, the already struggling Trader Emergency Coalition appears to find itself in a hopeless situation.

20 Years Ago - Stalemate (War Year 15)

After nearly 15 years the war neared a stand-still. Thanks to the industrial and manufacturing power of the Trader worlds, the TEC managed to fend off both the Advent and the Vasari invaders. With the fronts temporarily stabilized, each race began to regroup and entrench in their respective territories. Great defensive battlestations were deployed and critical choke points fortified in preparation for the next great offensive action.

10 Years Ago - Diplomacy (War Year 25)

With more than a quarter century of constant warfare behind them, the three factions finally began to look for alternative solutions to the conflict. Many in the Trader Emergency Coalition feared that their people were losing their identity to the war, with younger generations never knowing peace. Others in the TEC began to feel as though their leaders had failed to provide them with the safety they had promised. Some within the Advent started to question if their course of vengeance was the right one to follow, while the Vasari simply wanted to escape as soon as possible.

Such conditions lead to the opening of talks between the three major races for the first time, in the hope that their envoys would finally bring peace.

5 Years Ago - Civil War (War Year 30)

In the 30th year of the war, the hope placed on diplomacy shattered as internal divisions within each race led to civil war - a split between loyalist and rebel factions.

The TEC loyalist members adopted a policy of isolation, intent to focus on enhanced defenses to ride out the rest of the war behind their walls. Those of the rebel faction adopted a purely militant view. Unable to reconcile the brutality of the past 30 years, the TEC rebels decided that peace would only come after crushing all who opposed them - especially the Vasari.

For the first time in their history, the Advent Unity found themselves split in their courses of action. The loyalist faction wants to continue their policy of revenge against the Traders and assimilate all others into the Unity’s influence. However, those of the rebel faction began to suspect that some form of corruption was diverting the Unity from its proper destiny.

Within the Vasari Empire the split was less divisive but no less severe to their people. With the Vasari now frantic to move on to new space, the loyalist faction embraces their imperialistic nature and decides to take the resources they need by any means necessary. This leads to the deployment of a weapon of destruction not yet seen on the battlefield…. The rebel faction takes an opposing view and felt that their best chance for survival was to work with the other races and flee the approaching enemy together.

Present Day - War Year 35

It is a time of many unknowns for all the factions as everyone seems to be stuck in a cycle of reprisals. Despite the constant infighting, the Vasari have become desperate to move on from this region of the galaxy and suffer from an almost paralyzing dread. Whatever the future holds, time has nearly run out.