The Galaxy's Major Movers

By Steven Otte

---

So here are the largest, most influential organizations in the known galaxy -- the megorgs, the giants of the setting that can shake worlds with a blink. Some, the player characters may belong to; others, the characters may interact with in other ways, as allies or adversaries. While these organizations are arguably the most important in the setting, and we've done our best to shape them to provide as many character hooks as we could, there's no way we could possibly cover it all, or make every player and Storyteller happy. Feel free to modify these groups or create your own as your characters' needs dictate. We think you'll find that there is room in one or more of these organizations for almost any idea you can come up with. If not, like we said, it's a big universe -- make your own.

Using The Groups

Each group has an Allegiance Ability Group. This is a list of 6 Abilities common among members of the Allegiance group; at character creation, the character gets 10 dots to allocate among these six skills as the player sees fit. Each organization has a different Allegiance Ability Group, to represent the diverse skills necessary and the varying training available in the different organizations.

The articles on the megorgs also include extensive detail on the organizations' structures and functions, their philosophies and goals, their histories and resources. In-character "color" text also gives the player and Storyteller an idea of what life is like for the members of these groups, and gives clues as to how to roleplay a member character. However, these are only guidelines, examples and suggestions; a player or Storyteller who wants to create a character outside the bounds of the typical is certainly within her rights to do so. It's a big ... yeah, you know.

Bear in mind that although there are groups whose agendas may be at cross-purposes -- CIPAC's profit motive with the Orange Star's sapientarian motives, or Spacefleet's military mission with the Order of All-Space's pacifistic ideals -- Allegiance is not the primary determinant of a character's personality. Though it's easy to start a ME series by saying, "Your characters are all members of an Æon Themis Division team assigned to explore the Ninth Octant," it's just as likely that a player character group will be composed of members of varying Allegiances. Compatible personalities and convergent goals are far more important for a player character group than what symbol each character wears on his pocket or sleeve.

The Groups

The Æon Institute: This mysterious agency, which disappeared from known space shortly after the destruction of Earth, has only recently returned to reveal the reason for its absence. In the Repository, a planet known only to the Æonites themselves, the Institute has gathered and preserved a staggering archive of knowledge of the Three Million. Now, operating under the guidance of prescient founder Maxwell Anderson Mercer and Æon's Themis Division, the Æonites undertake Project Rebirth, to return Hope, Sacrifice, Unity and Enlightenment to a shattered galaxy. Whether the galaxy needs or even wants their help, though, remains to be seen.

CIPAC: When research physicist and engineer Emil Zelazny discovered the hardtech teleportation drive in 2277, two things happened: the floodgates of human colonization were opened to the galaxy; and CIPAC was made inevitable. Founded only 34 years after the Starfall Drive's invention, Companhia Interplanetária de Passagairos e Carga (Interplanetary Passenger & Cargo Company) made use of the largest privately owned fleet of jump ships at the time to fuel the colonial expansion. Eventually it outgrew both its full name and original mission; today, CIPAC is literally everywhere, and does everything. More of an intercorporate trade organization than a company, CIPAC comprises the largest interstellar corporations, Qin trade houses, Coalition business units and Chromatic guilds in the Three Million -- and thousands upon thousands of smaller ones. They have their own agenda, too -- the restoration of communication, trade routes and commerce agreements among the worlds of the Three Million. So what if they happen to make a cred or two along the way?

The Confederation: Once a proud galaxy-spanning empire, the former Confederation of Allied Worlds has been reduced by centuries of Aberrant assault, internal strife and barbarism to a shell of its former self. Comprising perhaps 100,000 star systems, the Confederation remains the single largest interstellar government in known space. But the "Old Confed" is a toothless giant, with little power over its member worlds and not even a spacefleet under its direct control. And though most of the galaxy's richest and most populous worlds are here, some pockets of the Confed are as bad off as the Fringe, suffering from poverty, lawlessness and benign neglect. There is a new vitality in the corridors of power on Khantze Lu Ge, though, and the sleeping giant is beginning to stir. It remembers the glory days of yore, and has decided it can have them again. But will the surrounding Autox and independent worlds stand for it, having known freedom for nearly three centuries?

Cyan: To illuminate the darkness and bring light to those who seek: That is the credo of Cyan, a media syndicate based on ChromePrime but operating throughout known space. Sort of a cross between the Associated Press and the Pony Express, Cyan is both the pulse and conscience of the Three Million, sharing news, entertainment and educational content between its member agencies. Compared to the other megorgs, Cyan has few actual employees, apart from its administration and the crews of its packet boats; most instead work for member agencies, such as Chrome-Prime's entertainment giant WhiteLight. The typical Cyan news correspondent, though, is an intrepid stringer, living hand-to-mouth, pursuing the next story wherever it may take her.

The Domains of the Autox: As the civil war spread and central authority threatened to collapse altogether, a number of military leaders, corporate tycoons, highly placed politicians and other powerful people with a lot to lose held a series of secret negotiations. Their purpose: to divide up the galaxy between themselves. When each felt the time was right, with the secret backing of the others, they seized power in their section of space, either through military might, economic control, popular election or less legitimate means. Each government -- or Autoc, as they would be dubbed, short for autocracy -- solidified power by promising, and delivering, some measure of relative stability, prosperity and/or peace in their individual domains. As chaos reigned outside their borders, neighboring worlds signed on, expanding some Domains to thousands of systems. Today nearly a hundred recognized Domains, from the Eridani Prefecture's 30,000-plus systems to clusters of fewer than a dozen worlds, encircle the shrunken heart of the old Confed. Each is a microcosm unto itself, with its own form of government, culture, customs and laws.

FarHunt Blue: From its origins as a group of quasi-religious enforcers on ChromePrime, the Chromatic-founded FarHunt Blue has evolved into the Three Million's last arm of the law -- and a long arm it is. Their reputation as relentless pursuers is well-deserved. FarHunters operate throughout the Three Million, whether with or without the blessing of the individual planets' governments -- anyplace there's a fugitive to be caught or an injustice to be righted. Though the stereotypical FarHunter is a ruthless bounty hunter, members range from investigators to administrators to forensic technicians.

Interplanetary Scientific Organization (ISO): What Æon is trying to do with its Project Rebirth, the ISO has been trying to do for the last 300 years: preserve the knowledge of civilization against chaos and destruction. And though the ISO does not have the Institute's resources, it has something Æon does not: the goodwill of most of the Three Million. The ISO's well-guarded neutrality makes its researchers and envoys welcome almost everywhere, and their advanced technology protects them in places they aren't welcome. That's a good thing, because there are many who would like to get their hands on what the ISO knows.

Orange Star: This interstellar, multiracial aid agency can be found wherever sapient beings are in need: war zones, natural disasters, impoverished worlds, Plague worlds, and the like. It was formed after the destruction of Earth, when the Qin House of Mercy took in the remnants of the Æsculapian Order, which had itself earlier absorbed the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Salvation Army and other similar groups. Orange Star members are not afraid to get their hands (or claws or paws or biomanipulators) dirty in pursuit of their group's high purpose, to provide aid and comfort to sapient beings in need whoever and wherever they may be. Though the group is nominally administrated under the auspices of the Qin, local chapters throughout the Three Million have diverse memberships.

Order of All-Space: Descended from one of the lost psi orders that once protected Earth from the Aberrants, the OAS is a loose association of mystics, philosophers and seers who pursue deeper meaning in the mysteries of the universe. Often solitary and nomadic, the Brothers and Sisters of the Order pursue their own paths, whether those paths lead to salvation, enlightenment, rebirth, or something else. They follow as many different faiths and creeds as they have members, but are united in their unswerving pursuit of the Truth. Though they may never live to see the discovery of the ultimate Truth, every member of the Order sees himself as a step along that path.

Spacefleet: When the Confederation that ruled the Three Million collapsed in civil war after the destruction of Earth, a new constitution gave the nine Spacefleets the authority to collect their own taxes and support material from the worlds under their protection. While that theory worked well for some of the Fleets, most of them suffered from a lack of rich planets to support their operations. A few remained true to their mission; however, others turned to mercenary methods or even piracy and organized crime. One, the notorious Sixth Fleet, was destroyed by the combined efforts of two other Fleets after it imposed a brutal military dictatorship on its sector. Today, Spacefleet still plies the spacelanes -- though it's very different now from the professional military machine of centuries past.

The Tribes: Rarer than a working jumpship out on the Fringe is more than one psy in the same place. Where those two rarities intersect are the Tribes, nomadic clans, families or other groups of psys making a living where and how they can -- and staying as many steps as possible ahead of those who would exploit their Gifts or take what they have. Tribes may range from tightly-knit paramilitary groups to guilds of independent traders to extended families who simply want to stay out of trouble.

Other Allegiances: Some of the smaller players in the galaxy can nonetheless make for interesting characters. Here are some suggestions, and how to use them.