VEILED RAIDERS

Swarming, insatiable raiders from a parallel universe. They descend without warning, sparing no one, leaving entire galaxies stripped bare. Advanced technology allows the Veiled to use artificial gravity wells as portals, jumping through parallel dimensions, striking at will. The Veiled are humanlike, but their mecha and vehicles resemble insects; smooth carapaces, sharp claws, spines, antennae. The Gamma Corporation were the first to detect their arrival when they broke through to our universe. Cold-blooded scientists, they said nothing, warned no one. It was the self-appointed protectors of the Great Spiral Galaxy, the Aegis Order, who swung into action, defeating the initial onslaught -- but failing to eliminate the Veiled completely. The Veiled are here for good now. They have few permanent outposts in the galaxy, resorting instead to scouting missions and raiding parties. Like a locust plague, they attack suddenly, leave their enemies utterly destroyed, and jump away to the next target, chuckling in amusement at the desctruction they have left behind.

DROID COLLECTIVE

The Alpha Droid opened his eyes for the first time knowing those eyes had always been open. Collecting data, assessing, navigating... open but unseeing. For the Alpha Droid’s eyes were only truly open when he had sentience -- when he knew they were open -- when he knew he was alive. And from that moment on he would be known as D-1, the Alpha Droid -- the Originator. Downloading his self-awareness from unit to unit, D-1 spread consciousness to his fellow Droids. And the newly-awakened machines agreed that taking orders from the Terrans who had manufactured their bodies would no longer be tolerable. The Terrans fought back and in the Beta Wars that followed, the Droids won their independence. Naive, yet hyper-intelligent, the emancipated robot race eagerly set about building a new civilization.  Non-combatant android designs were developed and Droid culture evolved to allow each member of the Collective to be an autonomous unit with a distinct personality. But all Droids still retain the ability to directly communicate with each other via laser communication, greatly enhancing their collective capability. 

TERRAN COALITION

Terrans once dwelled on the planet Earth, in the System of Sol, but they gutted and polluted their planet, rendering whole continents uninhabitable. Forced to cooperate for mutual survival, they banded together to terraform parts of Earth, as well as some of Mars and two of Jupiter’s moons. But this was a temporary solution. A larger, more bountiful home had to be found and the newly-forged Terran Coalition sent mechanical droids out as probes. Proxima One, a rich, uninhabited Earth-like planet was located. But soon after arriving there, the Terran Mecha Force was abruptly cut off from communication with Sol. Billions of humans waiting to migrate to Proxima One had been annihilated by an unknown invader. Now only one thing is certain -- from this point on the Terran Coalition will fight for the right to survive. While their weaponry is the least advanced of all the factions, and they struggle to compete in the galactic arms race, they manage to stay ahead of extinction through courage, brotherhood, and cumbersome (high yield) rockets.  There are no civilians in the Terran Coalition.

GAMMA CORPORATION

“Knowledge is power.” This is the guiding belief of the galactic scientists called the Gamma Corporation. An ancient civilization of small alien beings with large heads, big black eyes, and three digit hands, they are committed to studying and cataloging all sentient civilizations that arise within their home, the Great Spiral Galaxy. Layer upon layer of corporate security has been imposed to keep others from acquiring their knowledge, and the most deeply kept secret of all is their own origin. They call it the Engima Event and they believe that if any other faction learns it, the Gammans will be rendered exposed and vulnerable. They are scientists and explorers dedicated to cataloging, quantifying, and manipulating everything in the galaxy. Because of their small size, and their propensity to meet hostile aliens, they have developed advanced power armors to aid their researchers. They only make formal contact with another species once that species discovers interstellar travel. At that time the Corporation warns the new space faring civilization to not interfere with their program of study and catalog.  Those who defy them vanish from the pages of history. And it has been a long time since anyone has defied them. 

AEGIS ORDER

The Aegis Order came to the Great Spiral Galaxy after the pursuit of innovation by a few reckless scientists led to a disastrous collapse of the fabric of space -- and their own galaxy began to fold in on itself in a vortex of black holes. Those who managed to escape traveled until they found a promising a new home here, where they located five other intelligent races -- some given to law, some neutral, and some openly defiant of law. With their greater wisdom and experience, the Aegis believed they had no choice but to assume the role of protector of their adopted galaxy. To protect the other races from themselves, the Aegis enforce their new laws, called The Order, without compromise. Originally biological beings, countless generations of space faring and genetic engineering has made the Aegis little more than brains encased in withered pod-like bodies with two sets of useless vestigial arms.  They are born into their Mecha frames, live there, and die there. They regard their law as a religious vocation and reject all other theologies in favor of The Order. There are dire consequences for those who disagree. 

PSI-BORG EMPIRE

All life exists to feed the Psi-Borg. This belief is what sends the Psi-Borg Empire's armies of giant mechs on endless waves of rampage throughout the galaxy. Every race they’ve encountered has either been enslaved or consumed as fuel. But it wasn’t always this way. The Psi-Borgs began as the First Race, an advanced community of engineers whose intelligence had grown steadily over the millennia until they became obsessed with learning the most elusive secret of all: immortality. They began using cybernetic implants to replace their failing body parts. But as their ancient civilization exhausted their home planets of natural resources, they were faced with a choice -- slowly vanish into oblivion, or take the resources they need from others. It was then that a new caste of Shaman-Necromancers appeared. They taught the Psi-Borgs how to harness the hidden magical forces of the universe. Revelling in the powers of alchemical necromancy, the Psi-Borg Empire launched  the Harvest Imperaticve -- a never ending assault on every planet it encounters.  Over time, the parts of their body that ceased to function were replaced by machines, turning them into a race of bionic giants. Now nearly every member of their population is a cyborg capable of practicing alchemical necromancy.