Factions

War is like a diamond. Its history is often times bloody, and full of strife despite the end result. As a diamond has its facsets, so does war have its factions. Each fights for its own cause in the best way they know how. But in the end, there can only be one winner.

Autobot Alliance
The Autobot Alliance is a religious militant group dedicated to the preservation of extra-cybertronian worlds, and civilizations. Led by the noble Optimus Prime, the Autobots dare to risk everything to prevent the Decepticon Star Empire from gathering all under its flag.

Originally the Autobots were but the small personal task force of Sentinel Prime. They operated mostly in secret, hunting down illegal fighting matches, and routing out criminal elements that threatened the Cybertronian Senate. The death of Sentinel Prime nearly left the Autobots disbanded, and they would have if not for Zeta Prime’s massively successful public relations and propaganda campaigns. It was he that transformed Sentinel’s task force into the basis of an army. The fledgling Autobot army with its raw, ill-equipped recruits faired no better against the rising Decepticon forces. It would not be until the rise of Optimus Prime would the Autobots come into its full glory.

Under the leadership of Optimus Prime, the Autobots went from being a rag-tag collective of entertainers, merchants, and artists to a well trained fighting force that is able to go toe-to-toe with the Decepticons and exchange blow for blow. Now well organized, and with a clear line of command, the Autobots have possitioned themselves throughout Known Space, hiding amongst the machinery and animals of other sentient species, and waiting for the Decepticons to start showing signs of their Infiltration.

Hearkening back to its beginnings, the Autobot Alliance is comprised up of specialized strike teams. Each team, while small, is extremely effective. While able to work independently, they are best used in groups of two to four, each team supporting the other as they advance towards their goal.

Decepticon Star Empire
The Decepticon Star Empire is the foremost danger threatening the stability of galactic peace. Led by Megatron, the Decepticon Star Empire has enslaved hundreds of species, and claimed thousands of worlds for its own. They do not share the ideas of peaceful co-existence that the Autobot Alliance holds. In place they view that the strong are meant to rule the weak, and the weak are meant to serve the strong. Their true purpose of the Decepticons is known only to Megatron’s closest advisers, and even they do not have the full picture.

The origins of the Decepticons dates back to the streamlining of Cybertron’s economy. Many workers felt that they were being sidelined in favor of cheaper automated systems. This led the miners at Outpost C-12 to rebel. While the rebels were arrested, they somehow managed to escape into Kaon’s criminal underworld sometime during transit to the Kaon Penal District. Some time later a young mech named Megatron began to grow in fame as a highly skilled pit fighter. He attracted to him a cult-like following that grew larger and larger with every victory. Soon he seized control of the illegal blood sports, and began his own brand of control. Through his contacts in the Senate he began to arm his followers with military-grade weapons. Calling his new group Decepticons, Megatron attacked Kaon, bringing the entire city-state under his control, and killing Sentinel Prime in the process.

Inspired by their overwhelming success, the Decepticons pressed their advantage. City-state after city-state fell under their might until all that was left was Iacon. By this time Cybertron was not fit for habital life, and so both the Autobot Alliance and the Decepticons called a cease-fire. That cease-fire would not last long. The Decepticon’s ambitions knew no bounds. They infiltrated world after world, bringing it to social and economic collapse, only then to enslave the local populace so that they may harvest their world’s natural resources for the Decepticon’s war effort.

The Decepticon hierarchy is almost always in flux. Like a pack of wolves, the Decepticons fight and pick on each other, weeding out the weak, and tempering the strong. Regardless, there is structure within the Decepticon Empire. At the head is Megatron, whom rules over his army with an iron fist. At his side is Soundwave, his Intelligence Officer, Starscream, commander of the Decepticon's air force, Leozack, commander of the Decepticon Star Fleet, and Onslaught, commander of Decepticon ground forces.

Interplanetary Galactic Federation
Once the most powerful force in the Known Space, the Interplanetary Galactic Federation was once comprised up of hundreds of sentient species, and thousands of star systems. It was founded by the Femaxians nearly thirty thousand years ago when they made First Contact with the Hive. Throughout its history the Federation has helped to maintain the independence of pre-space worlds, while introduce fledgling space-nations incorporate themselves into a larger galactic society.

Recently the Cybertronian Civil Wars has forced the Galactic Federation into a difficult spot. It is simply impossible for them to defend under-developed worlds with their current level of technology. Moreover, the Decepticon’s use of infiltration tactics has made it harder than ever to detect if and when they will strike until it is too late to do anything. Things are made even harder by the fact that the majority of the Federation’s member systems do not recognize the difference between the Autobot Alliance and the Decepticon Star Empire.