In the cold deeps of interstellar space, alien warships travel between the stars, and mysterious creatures appear from the void with secret agendas.

There are ten major factions, or power groups, known to operate in interstellar space. Countless other aliens exist, but these are the ones known for making an impact on the universe around them.

The Guardian Order: formed hundreds of years ago by a joint operation of humans and aliens, the Guardian Order accepts candidates from all worlds.

The Unaligned Races: the humans of the Terran Alliance are the most important and advanced of the Unaligned Races, but these numerous minor civilizations are no match for the older star empires, such as the Druin or Zin Don civilizations.

The Druin Hegemony: the ancient and mysterious Druin are masters of mental power and high technology, and always seem to know more than they will say.

The Zin Don Empire: bold and ruthless, the dragon-like Zin Don are an expanding space empire with great military might.

The Pridermians: looking like humans born with brilliantly colored skin and hair, the Pridermians are another advanced spacefaring people.

The Shaloe: with an older civilization than even the Zin Don, the traditionalist Shaloe were slow to take to space travel. These rabbit-like creatures occupy the fewest worlds of the major space empires.

The O-Kon: former slaves of the Zin Don Empire, the O-Kon can no longer find their homeworld. Now a freed people, they live in extended family clans, existing as bands of space pirates, merchants, or laborers among the other civilizations.

The Soed Hani Spirits: neither living nor dead, the energy clouds which call themselves Soed Hani interact with other races mainly through robotic bodies that they wear like armor. Soed Hani are few in number, and their services as ship "computers" and space navigators are in high demand. Despite being rare, these mysterious creatures have accumulated a lot of power.

The Giants: huge, powerful, and slow, these beings appear and disappear mysteriously, traveling from world to world without the aid of spaceships. They communicate slowly, and their culture values manners above all other things.

The Bringers of Peace: alien in the strongest sense of the world, these insect-like creatures live in planet-sized hives that share a single huge mind. Named by the Druin ages ago, these creatures were thought to be extinct, wiped out by the Druin Hegemony in a war of extermination. Now they are beginning to reappear in civilized space.