Factions

The Far Side is carved into sectors, each the territory of a power. The expedition's foothold sits inside Threshold — the first sector of the saga, and Vresh space.

The Vresh

The local masters: a regional slaver power, mid-tier by galactic standards but far beyond the reach of a few hundred stranded newcomers. They run the sector's worlds — including the one the Earthers land on — as holdings, and they do not take kindly to an outside force seizing territory and freeing their labor.

Freedom's Gate

Humanity's foothold — a derelict Celestar station the expedition drags back to life, home to the only working gate. Its ancient defense intelligence guards the gate and the station with overwhelming force, but not, crucially, the world nearby. Holding the door is one problem; protecting the people on the planet is an entirely different one.

Liberators and invaders

The central friction of the whole saga starts right here. To the humans, they are liberators, freeing the enslaved. To the Vresh — and to the watching powers in neighboring sectors — they look exactly like invaders, annexing sovereign worlds and dismantling an economy. Both readings are true at once, and that ambiguity only deepens as the map grows and greater powers begin to take notice.

(Each power can be expanded into its own entry under the Factions area.)