Very few perhaps no one knows how humanity began. Various theories are abound. The Solar Alliance claims humanity must have sprang from aquatic life on the surface of prehistoric Solaris. The Ryuvian Dynasty claims all life originated from the hand of God on the peak of Mount Destiny on Ryuvia Prime. Whatever the case may be, the origins of humans, and how humans came to rule the galaxy, are unknown. For as long as recorded history can tell, humans have been the dominant life form in the galaxy, and their only real enemy have been themselves. All other life forms in the galaxy have either been exterminated, domesticated, or adopted into the human diet. Some ancient fossils suggest a human-alien war may have taken place millions of years ago. Whatever the details may be, it is clear who won the war.
Likewise, nobody knows when or how faster than light travel came to be. The general consensus seems to be that the Ryuvians were the first to master instantaneous quantum jumps. They spread through the galaxy, exponentially growing in power as they exploited planet after planet of its natural resources, and wiped out any life form which stood in the way of development. For thousands of years, the galaxy was united under the singular Ryuvian banner. However, not even the mighty Ryuvian fleets could tame human ambition. Men and women across the galaxy sought to leave their marks on history and revolted against Ryuvia Prime. The Holy Ryuvian Empire fractured, collapsed, then rose again too many times that even historians lost count.
At its apex, it is said the Holy Ryuvian Empire possessed technology capable of quasi-god like powers. Obviously, the Ryuvians used this technology far too liberally to destroy its enemies, as weapons proliferation ultimately led to the destruction of most of the Holy Ryuvian Empire, and humanity in general.
Thus begins most of recorded history. Most of the history of the Holy Ryuvian Empire has been unfortunately lost, thanks to humanity penchant for using excessive firepower. After the downfall of the Holy Ryuvian Empire, humanity splintered into three camps: The free people of the Western quadrant of the galaxy, the New Empire of the Northern quadrant, and the remnants of the Ryuvians in the Eastern quadrant. For a time, warfare stopped, as humanity lost the power of quantum jumps, overall, the technology of the Ryuvian Empire had been destroyed or forgotten. It fell upon the humans who survived the Ryuvian Wars to rediscover the lost technology of the Holy Ryuvian Empire, and to restore mankind to its former glory.
This is still 500 years before the beginning of Sunrider. Tune in next time, as we cover the birth of the Solar Alliance, and the Alliance-New Empire War.

Following the collapse of the Holy Ryuvian Empire and the near extinction of human race in the Ryuvian Wars, humanity briefly entered a Dark Age. The remnants of the Ryuvians retreated back to its core worlds and faded from power, their technology now long lost.
However, studying derelict Ryuvian ruins and artifacts allowed humanity to slowly but surely reclaim its master place in the galaxy. Ruined, but not defeated, humanity once again took to the stars to colonize undiscovered worlds. Fortune smiled upon the courageous explorers, and a class-28 paradise planet was discovered in the far reaches of the galaxy. Named New Eden by its settlers, it was said it would be the center of humankind revival. Overflowing with natural resources, arable land, and fresh water, news of New Eden discovery spread swiftly through the galaxy. The people of New Eden named themselves the New Empire, and boasted they would restore the glory of the old Holy Ryuvian Empire of the legends. Backed by the seemingly endless resources of New Eden, the New Empire quickly developed a formidable military force. Countless neighboring worlds decided voluntarily to give themselves to the Empire. Those who did not were soon after seized and made vassals. The Imperial Age had begun.

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However, with power came inevitable oppression. The rulers of the New Empire became drunk with power, and soon fancied themselves reincarnations of the Holy Ryuvian Lords. They ruled their people with an iron fist. New Eden became the home of the rich and powerful, where the Imperial elites would live in lavish luxury. The rest of Imperial society lived in abject poverty, their minds brainwashed by propaganda and their livelihoods taken for the benefit of the rich.


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Circa 397, the New Empire appeared destined to rule all of humanity. The decaying remnants of the Ryuvian Empire was written off as doomed, and the remaining humans of the galaxy grimly waited until they inevitably became slaves of the New Empire.
However, the free people of Solaris refused to become slaves. Under the leadership of legendary Admiral Madeline Grey, the remaining free worlds of the galaxy united under the banner of the Solar Alliance. Declaring the universal truths of freedom and democracy, Admiral Grey scrambled together a massive armada from fleets across the galaxy, and met the Imperial onslaught at the now mythical Battle of Solaris.


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The combined mettle of free people across the galaxy brought forth a miracle, and the Imperial fleet was routed. The setback at Solaris reverberated throughout the New Empire, and shook the Imperial Court. Frictions between the Boy Emperor, who had ascended the Imperial throne at the age of 14, the Imperial Consort (his mother), and the Counsel of Advisers, broke into an outright power struggle. Further rattling the Empire was the resurgence of the Ryuvian Empire, whom everyone had previously written off as the sick man of the galaxy. Emboldened by the Solar Alliance victory, the Ryuvians finally chose to reclaim the heritage of their ancestors and join the Alliance in its war against the Empire. Worst of all, the first signs of an internal revolutionary movement began to take form inside the Empire. Calling themselves the Compact, the citizen-slaves of the Empire began to openly question their rulers after their catastrophic defeat at Solaris.


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Faced with a war on two fronts, a power struggle within the Imperial Court, and internal revolution, the Empire had no choice but to pursue peace. The Treaty of Vespa formally ended the Alliance-Imperial War and restored an uneasy peace to the galaxy.


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The Alliance emerged as the uncontested winner of the war. Solaris, which was nothing more than a merchant world a mere decade prior, won territory which stretched from the hub world of Far Port to the Eastern quadrant. Far Port was a former Ryuvian world which was liberated from its Imperial occupiers by the Alliance. While the Ryuvian fleet had admittedly abandoned the world to its fate in the face of an imminent Imperial invasion during the war, most had expected the Alliance to return Far Port to the Ryuvians at the conclusion of the war. However, Far Port proved to be far too strategic a world for the Alliance to give up, as it served as the gateway into the Alliance core worlds. After having assisted the Alliance in the war, Ryuvians would never forgive the Alliance for essentially stealing Far Port. After the Far Port scandal, the Alliance-Ryuvia alliance quickly disintegrated. With the loss of Far Port, Ryuvia brief resurgence ended, and the old Ryuvian nation now no longer even an empire continued its slip into oblivion.
Over the course of the next century, the Alliance developed into a military, economic, and cultural powerhouse, and the New Empire declined further into internal power struggles and unrest. The revolutionary group Compact, now funded by Alliance covert operatives, spread the fires of unrest throughout the New Empire. The assassination of the Emperor in 494 sounded the death knell of the New Empire. After ruling most of the galaxy with an iron fist for nearly 500 years, the New Empire formally collapsed in 495.
Join us next time to learn about the transformation of Compact into the entity we know today as PACT. Who is this mysterious Veniczar who leads PACT, and why are they now intent on galactic domination? Tune in next time!

Some commentators have called the galaxy the battleground of human ambition. Throughout history, men and women have longed to amass power and leave their marks on history. Fleets have been assembled, and billions of souls have clashed in battle, all for the sake of leaders intent on preserving their legacy. All of this suggest that humans came to dominate the galaxy because no other species could exhibit such an unbridled desire for power and yet not destroy themselves before discovering FTL travel.

Whether this is true or not, the people of the New Empire longed to rid themselves of the oppressive hands of their Imperial overlords and forge their own course in history. No matter how tightly the Emperor clenched his iron fist, dissent formulated in the dark shadows of the Empire. The Compact was a underground liberation movement which had a vast network of conspirators throughout the subjugated Imperial colonies. While considered nothing more than a petty criminal ring by Imperial authorities during the height of Imperial power, the Compact became a legitimate independence movement with the formation of the Solar Alliance. Led by an idealistic Venassar during the time of the Imperial-Alliance War, the Compact received substantial financial and military support from Alliance operatives who sought to disintegrate the Empire from within.
The conclusion of the Imperial-Alliance War left the New Empire in a substantially weakened state. The Treaty of Vespa led to substantial loss of the Empire former territories and left the Alliance to dominate the southern half of the galaxy. Worse, when the Imperial Court should have been focusing on reconstruction efforts after the war, it instead fell into infighting. The former mighty rulers of the Empire betrayed themselves in a last effort to cling onto what little remained of the Empire bounty. Civil War became inevitable.
The New Empire was still a mighty and vast power, and its demise was gradual. However, by 490, the New Empire was on its death bed. A new Venassar emerged, and proclaimed that the Compact would liberate the enslaved people of the Empire and restore equality to all. Long had the citizen slaves of the Empire been deprived of their share of the Empire riches. The Venassar marched throughout the Empire, liberating world after world, and spilling open the coffers of the Empire elite into the hands of the masses.
The Alliance initially greeted the Venassar with welcome, and offered the Venassar a shared vision of a galaxy based on freedom. However, it soon became clear the Venassar had his own plans. The Compact finally marched on New Eden in 494 and looted the ancient Imperial capital. The elite were torn of their clothes, beat in the streets, and summarily executed, then displayed for all to see. The Emperor narrowly escaped the chaos, only to be assassinated by Compact agents shortly after fleeing the capital. The sacking of New Eden shocked Alliance space. The Venassar previous oath of promoting justice appeared forgotten, and the Venassar himself vanished from public view without a trace.
In 495, the New Empire formerly collapsed. The figure known today only as Veniczar S. Arcadius emerged from the shadows and declared the formation of the new PACT order. As the leader of every formerly enslaved citizen of the New Empire, Arcadius soon turned to the Neutral Rim in search of more riches. Exhibiting a cult-like zeal for their leader, the citizens of PACT rallied around Arcadius. With each conquest, the people exuberance grew. For Arcadius, total control was easy, for a people who have never known freedom for generations could only be dominated by a new charismatic dictator who offered the former slaves wealth, power, and respect.
The year today is 503. PACT has aggressively encroached into the Neutral Rim in violation of the Treaty of Vespa. War between the Alliance and PACT appears almost inevitable. Instead of taking decisive action to stop the PACT threat, the Alliance has instead split into two parties. The Progress Party, which currently controls the Solar Congress, seeks the peace route and believes that allowing the Veniczar to control half of the Neutral Rim would safeguard Alliance interests and prevent bloodshed. The United Univeralists believe war is the only option and favor militarization. Neither party has managed to accomplish anything in the Solar Congress and the President has been powerless as to form a consensus. While the Alliance debates, the power of PACT grows by the day.
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