Factions

Welcome back to yet another weekly blog! This week, we’re focusing on the two main factions from the Sapphire Verdict! Now, you may be wondering, what can I possibly cover on these factions that hasn’t already been covered in other blogposts? Well, the answer is simple. I haven’t yet really dove into what makes these factions tick! We know they exist, and we kinda know how they play into the story, but what are they? What are their goals? Their cultures? Their dynasties? Today, I am going to answer a large number of those questions while also revealing the first of the two faction emblems! The third one, the REDACTED one, will have to wait just a touch longer, but seeing as that one needs to stay redacted for a few more years… I don’t think that’s a huge issue! So, let’s hop into this and meet the Sapphire Eye!

The Sapphire Eye

Despite being a galactic powerhouse in every category, the Sapphire Eye is incredibly new to the galactic playing field. At its core, the Sapphire Eye is an empire composed entirely of a mechanical race called ‘Automatons.’ Automatons are what one would perceive to be robots, but what sets them apart is their soul. Each automaton has a true soul that allows them to feel emotion and have thoughts or dreams. They are just as alive as any flesh and blood creature, but they don’t have the same requirements for day to day life. All an automaton needs is power and purpose, a reason for existing, and within the Sapphire Eye, they have found their true calling! Every aspect of the Sapphire Eye war machine, from the veteran legionnaires all the way up to the mighty titans themselves, are automatons, and that, of course, extends to all those who work outside of the military. All walks of life within the Sapphire Eye are mechanical in nature, but there is one, singular being in the Sapphire Eye hierarchy that is NOT mechanical.

Sapphiria

Standing at the head of the Sapphire Eye as its de-facto leader is Sapphiria, the last surviving member of her species, the Krysheek, and serves as the main character for The Sapphire Verdict story. Her rise to power was only incredibly recent in the galactic timeline. Growing up an outcast on a far off world, she found the life she had always wanted only to have it ripped away when the UEC decimated her planet at the command of James Stockton. After escaping his clutches, Sapphiria clung to the only thing she had left, the last words of her mentor to lead what remained of her people. With what few automatons she had left, she began the process of building a home for them, but their ambitions quickly grew. They expanded planet to planet, securing their place in the galaxy and growing their power so they would never again have to worry about having their home ripped away, but against Sapphiria’s wishes, the automatons ultimately asked her to be their leader. Begrudgingly accepting the role, Sapphiria now guides them into an uncertain future with a war against the UEC looming over all their heads. While the war is unavoidable, Sapphiria has sworn to do whatever it takes to protect the innocent, and she will do whatever she has to in order to guide her automatons as the Archon that she was trained to be!

Culture

Sapphire Eye culture is fairly straightforward. Almost every automaton is created in a factory, something that is a bit of a departure from tradition but was necessary given the times. Upon creation, automatons are given a choice in how they will serve in the empire. They may choose military service, but could just as easily choose from a variety of other jobs such as art or even wildlife preservation!

Typically, automaton structures are built entirely underground depending on the planet. At Sapphiria’s request, should a planet harbor life in even the slightest way, all compounds that can be built underground are built underground. It is rare to see an automaton structure above ground, but there are a few exceptions. For starters, there is the Sapphire Eye throneworld. Here, Sapphiria’s palace is built into the side of a mountain and is one of the few structures on the planet that is above ground, though most of the planet at this point is mechanized. Additionally, on other worlds, there are the constellation citadels, vast fortresses built to withstand entire invasions!

Most of the time, automatons live where they work. Since they don’t require sleep, they typically just work around the clock. Very rarely will they take a break, but some automatons wanted a place to call their own. For these automatons, there are entire cities built underground. Picture something like New York, but entirely below ground. This is where automatons live when they aren’t working. These cities are typically a little on the small side, and many parts of them are empty more often than naught, but when they are packed full, they contain just as much vibrance and personality as any earth based city!

By personality, automatons are naturally inquisitive creatures. They want to know about the world around them, which is why so many of them fall into science based roles should they elect to not join the military. These roles can involve research and development at any number of facilities, but there are also positions out in the wilderness amidst the Rangers. Rangers are a unique class of automaton that focus on learning more about wildlife and protecting them from development. These atuomatons typically operate at outposts deep in the jungle and work alongside animal companions. Whenever an ecological disaster strikes or a wild animal threatens a facility, they are the ones called in to contain it, and while such a role may seem small and mundane, protecting wildlife is one of Sapphiria’s greatest desires, meaning this group of automatons in particular has quite a lot of influence.

Gender is another unique subject amongst the automatons. For almost all automatons in existence, they truly do not care. They don’t see gender amongst themselves and will typically just use he as an easy default to make communication easier. That being said, there are a few, very few, automatons that do commit to being a specific gender. In these cases, the automaton is modified to at least look the part, and while males are hard to spot typically, females stand out by quite a bit. Despite this, they are treated identically to other automatons and can be found in all ranks or walks of life.

Automaton hobbies are another fun subject. Most automatons don’t entertain hobbies by nature, but Sapphiria has been changing that of late. Since it’s her wish for her automatons to develop themselves individually, her automatons have slowly begun to adopt true hobbies. Some have taken to artistic pursuits, tailoring, cooking, reporting, and all manner of other side jobs. Additionally, many have also adapted to some games that survived the destruction of her homeworld by hiding in Atom’s memory as well as games freshly created by Sapphiria herself, the largest of which is a card game quite frequently spotted on front lines where there isn’t much else to do.

While I won’t go too in depth into this part, it is worth noting that, as a whole, the Sapphire Eye is very accepting of other races. As such, they have a healthy population of… certain civilizations that will be revealed as time goes on and will warrant another blog post at some point far, far off into the future…

Leadership

While we have covered Sapphiria’s role in leadership, it’s worth noting that there are other figureheads in automaton society.

Atom: Standing as Sapphiria’s right hand, Atom is the sapphire eye the empire was named after. He started out as a small bird meant to be her companion, but has evolved into a super intelligence responsible for running many aspects of the empire. If there’s an important task to be done, he’s involved in it in some manner or another, and nothing, NOTHING, sneaks past his watch. While he is rooted, quite literally, on the Sapphire Eye throneworld, his power is immense, and he stands as one of the most formidable foes within all the empire. If there is anything even slightly electronic nearby, you can guarantee that he will have his hooks in it within seconds…

Vargoth: Standing as Sapphiria’s left hand, Vargoth serves as the supreme general of the Sapphire legions. Created by Sapphiria during her tenure as a captive, Vargoth is quite unlike other automatons. He’s incredibly efficient, duty bound, and merciless to a degree shocking for anyone that knows Sapphiria. How he turned out in such a way is still a mystery, but he uses his penchant for battle and incredible lethality to serve Sapphiria fully in body and spirit. There is no one more loyal to her than him, and should one ever encounter him on the battlefield, the only option is to run…

Taldarius: A rather young automaton compared to the other heads, Taldarius serve as Fleet Admiral for Sapphiria’s armada. Created shortly after their arrival on the throneworld, Taldarius quickly displayed his aptitude for fleet combat. As the years progressed, he firmly established himself as the foremost authority on naval warfare, and was quickly promoted to oversee her vast fleets. Of all the admirals in the empire, he is perhaps one of the craftiest, and frequently works alongside Vargoth to ensure the wheels of the war machine turn without issue.

Nasic: As far as anyone is concerned, he doesn’t exist, but Nasic serves as Sapphiria’s hidden dagger. A prototype Viper of Sapphiria’s own design, Nasic was built to be the ultimate assassin with one singular purpose. To hunt down and kill James Stockton. Despite all his training and skill, he failed his objective, and lingering guilt drives him to fulfill every mission given to him with perfect efficiency, no matter how suicidal the objective.

Final Thoughts

I have more that I can explain for the Sapphire Eye, and more I want to explain in depth, but I don’t want these blogposts to be too long. Keep an eye out for the future Sapphire Eye faction page for all the details about their race and ideals! For now, let’s move on to their opposition, the UEC!

United Earth Confederacy

With a legacy that stretches back hundreds of years, the UEC is a powerhouse on the galactic battlefield. For almost a thousand years, they’ve had access to a number of advanced space technologies, and that has allowed them to grow into a substantially powerful force, but their history is rife with conflict. At nearly every point in their history, no matter how far down you narrow the date range, you can find a war or battle they were involved in. They are a very militaristic society, and have, over the years, become extremely hyper-fixated on economic development, even going so far as to model their government around corporate control. Over the past few years, however, the entirety of their civilization was thrown into chaos as the status quo was completely upended, leading to the rise of a new government and setting the stage for a very uncertain future.

History

After reaching the stars, humanity slowly began to expand from the solar system. They colonized hundreds upon hundreds of planets and even terraformed dozens in the process, but the cost of this effort was high and involved quite a bit of trial and error. At first, humans relied heavily on advanced AI to fuel this effort. However, a tremendous war broke out that was caused by the AI’s desire to be independent. While the war ended in victory for the UEC, it revealed a fatal flaw in their workforce. They needed a more passive workforce, one that was more easily controlled, thus leading to the great cloning initiative. This effort was spearheaded by seven corporations that ultimately overtook the UEC government and established themselves as its leadership, effectively turning it into the Confederacy it would come to be known as. With an ample supply of workers, they expanded through the stars without issue, increasing the power of their leadership and leaving the entirety of the population to starve and rot…

The Corporations

During the war against the AI uprising, several corporations ended up taking power and solidified their status in the aftermath. The names of these corporations, however, have mostly been forgotten. New corporations ended up swallowing them alive, and the balance of power steadily shifted as the years drug on. From the original grouping, only a few managed to survive, such as Earth Excavations Industries. While these corporations are responsible for the governing of the entire UEC, their main focus is increasing their influence and power however they can. They have complete authority over the military and access to advanced technologies not distributed to the public, making them incredibly powerful foes. All that being said, however, as time went on, only seven figures amongst these corporations would end up mattering…

The Council

Ruling over the UEC, the council is a representative organization that controls all aspects of UEC life with an iron fist. A few of these figures are not actually from a corporation of any kind, but the vast majority of them are, and they are overall an incredibly ruthless and bloodthirsty group.

Helen Allison: Charged with overseeing the military, Helen has an incredible amount of influence within the council. Her primary duty is keeping council control over the UEC military and ensuring that no dissidents can ever come to power. She handles all of the contract work, communication, and, when it comes down to it, termination of any problems within the navy leadership. No aspect of the military can pass her watch undetected, and that’s what makes her so valuable to the council. In fact, it’s the only thing…

Ethan Keyes: Playing the role of a colonization expert, Ethan Keyes is the council’s direct access to the UEC underworld. He is effectively a mobster in disguise that has direct lines of communication with all known pirate factions and is responsible for keeping them in line with the council’s interest. Effectively, he works for the council and only pretends to be an ally of the pirates, directing them to eliminate opponents and create opportunities for profit by directly influencing market trading with their actions.

Harold Zagabe: One of the older member of the council, Zagabe has control over numerous biotech corporations. His main focus as of late has been on agriculture, and it’s his responsibility to ensure that the entirety of the UEC has enough sustenance to keep functioning. However, in terms of power within the council, he is the bottom of the totem pole, though that doesn’t mean he’s left out of decision making by an stretch of the imagination.

Zach Carter: The swiss army knife of the council, Zach Carter has a hand in numerous industries and is responsible for a huge amount of production. Most industrial production passes under his eye, and he has a huge hand in ensuring that all sectors of the UEC receive the equipment necessary to continue functioning without issue. What makes him so powerful is how easily he can influence an industry. If he wanted the car industry to die overnight, all he would have to do is snap his fingers…

William Harris: The oldest member of the council, Harris presides over Earth Excavation Industries. He is primarily responsible for the raw materials that fuel the rest of the council’s operations, making him a figure they can’t exactly do without. Additionally, he works closely with other council members to create opportunities for growth, such as stripping a planet barren and leaving the workers behind in order to make a new pirate hive for Keyes to exploit.

Kang Yao: The Council’s technology expert, Yao is unmatched in terms of electronics. His companies are constantly producing the most cutting edge tech available and has a massive edge over even the closest competition. There is no system that he can’t crack, and he additionally has an immense amount of knowledge in regards to more… sensitive, technology. In terms of power, he is arguably the second most powerful member of the council.

James Stockton: Of everyone in the UEC, James Stockton has the most power by far. Standing as the figurehead of the Council, James Stockton rules the UEC with an iron fist. He makes even the nastiest cutthroat look like a kitten in comparison, and he isn’t afraid to bleed anyone dry in order to fuel his own gain. Every single living being is just a tool in his eyes, and he is willing to sacrafice anything and everything if it means boosting his own power. What is his ambition, you might ask? It’s simple. Keep rising. There is no end to his ambiiton. Just the next mountain to surmount…

Recent Uncertainty

While everything written above has been true historically, roughly four years ago, everything changed. Following an incident in the city of Valstadt, the Council was overthrown and replaced by a military leadership under the eye of Grand Admiral Keller. Keller had always been an oppoennt to the council. Seeing them constantly abusing the populace and slaughtering them at a whim left him with many grievances, and while he had numerous allies who felt the same way, he never quite had the opportuntiy to overthrow the council. Following the Valstadt incident, however, Keller finally got his chance and threw the Council out for good. Now, Keller rules the UEC as the head of its naval force and is focused on trying to repair the damage caused by the council however he can. Mostly this has meant empowering its citizens and trying to heal its many run down cities, but he has faced opposition in the form of rebels who seek to bring the council back to power, and his biggest challenge has yet to reveal its hand…

REDACTED

Due to disruptions, information on the REDACTED cannot be provided.

Conclusion

And that’s it for this week! I hope the dive into the factions of the Sapphire Verdict has proven to be an interesting subject, and I look forward to providing more information on all of them very soon! Once the final REDACTED faction is finished, I will update the website with a new factions page to support all the information listed above and more! For now, that’s all I have, so, without any fanfare… CHEERS!

The Flying Fennec