Backstory

---Welcome to the VORE Station background page!---

This is the starting page into VORE Station's lore, also commonly known as 'fluff' (but we usually just call it lore). This is the basic, common knowledge that the vast majority of characters should know and helps introduce you, the player, into the world of our server.

Many wiki pages will start with a collapsible entry like this one holding snippets of lore as told by a person who would live in our universe or a short story to help set the mood. They are mainly for entertainment and are not for explaining game mechanics or the like.

Once again welcome to VORE Station, we hope your stay here is a long and enjoyable one!

The year is 2324 CE (Common Era). With the help of massive arc ships humanity had slowly spread and colonized our sun's neighboring systems. Alpha Centauri, Tau Ceti, Sirius and more are connected by a network of warpgates that makes travel between systems take months instead of decades. With the discovery of the seemingly supernatural phoron and the acquisition of Terraforming Machines, on-ship FTL drives became a possibility, increasing the speed at which humanity expanded and colonized the stars at a never before imagined rate.

We aren't alone in this endeavor, the Skrell, Akula, Unathi, Tajaran, Sergals, and Dionaea, alien species that have allied with humanity, explore the stars along our sides, expanding the frontier ever further for knowledge and profit.

However danger lurks just around the corner. From hostile aliens like the Vox, other, unknown entities whose true names are only whispered in the shadows and existence kept hidden from the common person, are blamed for damaging and causing the disappearances of ships, stations and colonies out on the frontier. Phoron, as beneficial as it is, is still relatively unknown and all of its dangers even more so. Finally, space itself is a cruel, uncaring mistress that countless have lost their lives to from something as simple as a tear in their space suit, and it is commonly known that mankind is his own worse enemy.

It's a brave new world.

Welcome to the Frontier

Welcome to Virgo-Erigone (or Virgo for short), a system on the edge of colonized human space, the frontier. You are assigned to work on a station orbiting Virgo-3, one of only two phoron giants in known space. Several Trans-Stellar Corporations (TSC's), the Free Trade Union (FTU) and countless independents hoping to strike it big at Virgo-Prime are all vying for control of the system. Virgo lacks a stable warpgate, relying instead on ships capable of faster than light (FTL) speeds, so Sol Central's presence in this system is almost nonexistant. In Virgo, Nanotrasen is the de-facto governing body of the star system. They supply all the housing, nearly all of the infrastructure, all emergency services, and employ numerous military contractors to provide security--some of whom may or may not be playing both sides of any given conflict.

The universally accepted currency by all but a select few systems and regions is the Galactic Dollar, which is backed and supported by Sol Central and its allies. It is represented by the symbol "$" (e.g. $130). With the advances of technology the overall standard of living and education is high even out in the frontier, though glaring examples still exist (Like the colony Tenebre Lupus, whose supporting companies had completely collapsed and left them stranded, for example).

Your Job

Out in the frontier, employers, be they a captain of a Free Trade vessel, a Trans-Stellar executive, or just someone with money to spare and in need of an extra hand, are forced to take just about whoever is willing and apparently able. With Sol a year's worth of spaceflight away--even with faster than light travel, running a full background check on a candidate is not viable, which means many questionable people get placed in even the most high-security positions and loyalty is 'by your word', which means in Virgo, corporate backstabbing and criminal activity is quite high. This and a lack of available employees in general means employees who do prove themselves often find themselves promoted quickly, and put into positions that they are even the slightest bit capable in. Furthermore, unlike in systems where Sol Central has more influence, such as Nyx, or Tau Ceti, the population in Virgo is a rich melting pot of sentient species, be they natural born, hybrids, or outright artificial and made of genetically modified flesh or carefully crafted silicon.

Humanity and Allies

The below is a brief overview of humanity and aligned species in the known universe. The links in the name will redirect to further information about the species.

Humanity

Home planet: Earth

Home system: Sol

Humanity, everything and nothing can be said about them. They are the primary driving force for rapid space expansion and perhaps the most populated (known and sentient) species in the galaxy. The vast majority of Trans-Stellar Corporations are owned by humans, and the mighty United Nations Space Command is the main military presence across any system where humans make up the majority of the inhabitants. By this time men and women are treated all but equal, however there may still be exceptions.

While most humans are accepting of other species and simply want to earn an honest paycheck, the best and worst are found among them. You never know what a human is going to be like when you first meet them.

Due their prevalence in current known space, and their ability to encompass all traits, good and bad, humanity is often considered the 'status quo'.

Skrell

Home planet: Qerr'balak

Home system: Qerr'Vallis

The Skrell are a species of amphibious humanoids, distinguished by their green-blue gelatinous appearance and head tentacles. Skrell warble from the world of Qerrbalak (or as the lore once called it, Jargon 4), a humid planet with plenty of swamps and jungles. Currently more technologically advanced than humanity, they emphasize the study of the mind above all else.

Gender has little meaning to Skrell outside of reproduction, and in fact many other species have a difficult time telling the difference between male and female Skrell apart. The most obvious signs (voice in a slightly higher register, longer head-tails for females) are never a guarantee.

Due to their scientific focus of the mind and body, Skrell tend to be more peaceful and their colonization has been slow, swiftly outpaced by humanity. They were the first contact sentient species, and are humanity's longest, and closest, ally in space.

Akula

Home planet: Unknown

Home system: Qerr'Vallis

The Akula are a species of amphibious humanoids like the Skrell, but have an appearance very similar to that of a shark. They were first discovered as a primitive race of underwater dwelling tribal creatures by the Skrell. At first they were not believed to be noteworthy, but the Akula proved to be such swift and clever learners that the Skrell reclassified them as sentients. Allegedly, the Akula were also the first sentient life that the Skrell had ever encountered beside themselves, and thus the two species became swift allies over the next few hundred years. With the help of Skrellean technology, the Akula had their genome modified to be capable of surviving in open air for long periods of time. However, Akula even today still require a high humidity environment to avoid drying out after a few days, which would make life on an arid world like Virgo-Prime nearly impossible if it were not for Skrellean technology to aid them.

Most Akula today consider Qerr'Vallis to be their home where they live alongside their Skrell allies, while their true home world has been forgotten over the ages. Akula still tell legends of their home world, passed down through word of mouth, talking of great magical cities on the bottom of the ocean in a galaxy far away. Skrell historians believe a great tragedy befell the Akulan race which led to their near extinction, and the tribal Akula they eventually discovered had actually descended from the survivors of this once technologically advanced species. The most widely accepted theory is that the Akula originally hail from the Andromeda Galaxy. This is supported by the fact that varying races of Akula have been found in scattered tribal communities across the galaxy, some more technologically advanced than others, but all without space travel of their own. Unfortunately, no one has the technology today to make such a journey to find out.

Gender as a cultural identity has little meaning to most Akula, which is a result of Skrellean cultural influence, but the difference between male and female among the Akula is much more obvious than with the Skrell. Like humans and Tajaran, female Akula have large breasts and curvacious bodies, along with similar reproductive organs that appear almost mammalian in nature. Food also plays a huge role in their sexuality. The best way to an Akula's heart is through their stomach. Their demeanor will often change to docile and flirtatious while engorged with food--similar to Earthly sharks, or other shark-like creatures on other worlds with life. It would turn out that the shark is a popular evolutionary path for water dwelling predators throughout the cosmos.

Unlike the Skrell, Akula tend to be more arrogant and less intelligence focused, and will often find themselves in trouble with the law outside of Skrell controlled systems. Popular professions for Akula include piracy, smuggling operations, mining, and mercenary work. However, due to their mutual respect of the Skrell, most will not engage in hostile activity against Skrell or other Akula.

Unathi

Home planet: Moghes

Home system: Uueoa-Esa

Raging in from Moghes, the Unathi are a race of tall, reptilian humanoids that possess both crocodile-like and serpent-like features. They are a proud, warlike species that favors honor and strength, their home, Moghes, is a desert planet but was once believed to be full of life. There are many different races of Unathi as well, ranging from dragon-like to almost snakelike.

Of all the currently known sentient species, the Unathi are the most unequal in gender with females tending to be property of the males. Most Unathi outside of Moghes tend to be exiles however, and with influence of other species the cultural gender difference is not nearly as pronounced.

Unathi were humanity's second contact, and despite their aggressive nature, seem to get along well enough with humanity, though are often considered to be 'second-class' citizens and are rarely seen in jobs other than where muscle is needed.

Tajaran

Home planet: Ahdomai

Home system: S'randarr

The Tajaran are a humanoid race possessing cat-like features. Hailing from Ahdomai, the smaller of two twin planets, they possess insulating fur and felinoid stability to better survive in their harsh native environment. Their home planet is a cold planet of vast tundra and arctic zones.

For generations the Tajaran were practically enslaved by the leading class who were recently overthrown. While males and females are treated roughly equal, the true division is between the young and the old. Remembering their days of being ruled the older generation pride themselves on loyalty, while the younger generation are often seen as headstrong.

Tajaran are one of the most recent contact by humanity. While plenty of Tajaran hold reservations with their new allies, over all the alliance is accepted and welcome. Though like the Unathi plenty of humans take advantage of the less than modern education and slave past history, and it is rare to see a Tajaran in a position of command outside of systems like Virgo where the human population is limited.

Sergal

Home planet: Tal

Home system: Vilous

There are two subspecies of Sergal, Southern and Northern. Northern sergals are a highly aggressive race that lives in the plains and tundra of their homeworld. They are characterized by long, fluffy fur bodies with cold colors; usually with white abdomens, somewhat short ears, and thick faces. Southern sergals are much more docile and live in the Gold Ring City and are scattered around the outskirts in rural areas and small towns. They have short, brown or yellow (or other "earthy" colors) fur, long ears, and a long, thin face. They are smaller than their Northern relatives. Both have strong racial tensions which has resulted in more than a number of wars and outright attempts at genocide. The southern sergals have mostly been on the losing side of this long conflict. Sergals have an incredibly long lifespan, but due to their lust for violence and a nasty habit of occasional cannibalism, only a handful have ever survived beyond the age of 80, such as the infamous and legendary General Rain Silves who is claimed to have lived to 5000. Although General Rain's historical existence is disputed, she is nonetheless a symbol of the Sergal's warrior culture.

Despite advances in technology, militant Sergals still wear metal or leather armor and usually favor polearms or bladed weapons, and are capable of great physical feats thanks to their strong, wiry limbs with much denser muscles than humans, more akin to a chimpanzee's muscles. They are reluctant to embrace new technology and pride themselves on the old ways. Despite this, they have made great use of short-range space travel and have colonized much of their home system. This is not, however, to say they are not intelligent. Their intellect rivals that of the Skrell, but is focused mainly on military tactics and strategy, rather than science or history.

Among sergals, females tend to be the dominant gender with larger, more muscular and bulky bodies, and a much more aggressive demeanor, especially among the northern race. This gender divide is most likely born out of the legacy of General Rain, or perhaps General Rain is a fictional character who is the result of this culture where females are often commanders and warriors in vast armies while males are hunters and farmers who may be one of multiple mates to a single female. Like many mammal-like creatures, sergals have breasts, but females also have a unique prehensile hood over their genitalia which protects it from dust and infection.

Humanity encountered Sergals in the year 2558, shortly after The Battle of Oban. The damaged UNSC Infinity, upon arriving at the planet Tal, sent a lightly armed expeditionary force to the planet surface which was subsequently massacred by a group of northern Sergals. The UNSC forces immediately retaliated. Despite the massive technological difference in weapons, Sergals maintained the upper hand until SPARTAN-IV troops, armored support, and air support were deployed on the planet surface. The UNSC suffered precisely 1,257 casualties (mostly civilian and infantry early in the conflict) over the month long conflict, and a handful of lost vehicles, including one Hornet gunship. It is not known how many casualties the Sergal forces suffered, but it is estimated between 10,000 to 20,000. The conflict, now known as The Vilous Incident, ended when a SPARTAN-IV killed the Sergal faction's chieftan, thus forcing a surrender. The UNSC Infinity was able to use resources on the planet to repair their slipspace drive and return to Earth. The Vilous system has been under human military occupation since the incident.

Dionaea

Home system: Epsilon Ursae Minoris

The dionaea are a group of omnivorous, slow-metabolism plantlike organisms that are in fact clusters of individual, smaller organisms. They exhibit a high degree of structural flexibility, and come in a wide variety of shapes and colours to reflect the intelligence of each individual creature. They were discovered by the Skrell in 2294CE, not on a planet, but in open space between three stars, a figurative hell that made it difficult to discover, much less contact them.

Dionaea spread by seeds and are asexual, no gender. When grown into their small 'nymph' state, they are known to eat large amounts of dead plant matter and fertilize plants while they learn from those around them by sampling their genetic code (usually through blood extractions), and as they grow further merger into larger and larger forms. It is not unheard of for Skrell explorers to be traveling in a ship composed of habitat modules and engines of Skrell make, with the body of the ship formed by their Diona allies to warble across the cosmos.

Introduced by the Skrell, and quite slow and peaceful, the Diona share good relations with humanity.

Synthetics

Synthetics are spread throughout known space and serve a myriad variety of roles that range from a tiny drone scrubbing a floor to a nearly omnipotent AI in command of an entire battle cruiser. Most known sentient races use synthetics in some way or fashion, very often as prosthetic bodies when their own bodies fail. There are three basic kinds of synthetic found in the universe today:

Android: An android is a robot that runs off of a positronic brain and is usually introspective, calm, and thoughtful. Positronic brains are currently caught in a political controversy of whether or not they are considered property or free-willed beings that should not be law-bound.

Cyborg: A cyborg is a robot that uses an organic brain to function via an MMI. Cyborgs come in many shapes and sizes and most of the sentient beings that are cyborgs are free-willed. Some companies have used canine brains and brains of other animals to ensure a cheap workforce that doesn't rely on cutting-edge technology.

Robot: A robot is the term to use for any robot that uses more basic forms of intelligence. These are thought of as property in the vast majority of instances and are usually the robots that do the menial tasks that higher functioning beings choose not to do.

Halflings

Halflings, more commonly known as demis, is a broad term for any sentient life form that shares physical traits with species outside of its own. The most famous example are so-called nekos, which are humans that underwent genetic alterations to gain cat ears and tails as purely an aesthetic trait. Later examples have spawned more practical uses, such as raptor DNA being utilized by soldiers, or load baring animal DNA like horses or cattle enhancing the DNA of laborers. These so-called demis either underwent deliberate genetic modification, or were born with these traits from a genetically modified parent.

It is believed that the Skrell had some role in their creation, as some halfling societies pre-date human history, and there are a variety of common demis across the galaxy such as nagas (half-snake beings) that should not exist on the worlds they inhabit, as their evolutionary line doesn't connect with other life forms on the worlds they often live on.

Halflings continue to be developed even today for increasingly practical purposes. Advancements in genetic and xenoarcheological science has even allowed scientists to tap into the DNA of extinct life forms, which may result in even more hybrid options in the future.

Important Groups

Trans-Stellar Corporations

These are the big corporate forces, major companies whose reach cover numerous star systems and are nearly government forces of their own. While Sol Central does keep them in check to make certain nothing too inhumane or against humanity's interest is being performed, they actually police each other in a way. Keep in mind while many corporations do have their own security forces, some of them armed well enough to make some governmental military forces jealous, they are all used for 'asset protection'.

The major seven trans-stellars are: NanoTrasen, Ward-Takahashi GMB, Gilthari Exports, Grayson Manufactories Ltd., Aether Atmospherics and Recycling, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals and Hesphaistos Industries.

Other important trans-stellars are: Vey-Med, Aerospace Combat Escort Services (aka ACES), RauMauser, Donk Co., and Cybersun Industries.

Free Trade Union

To keep the TSC's in check, and to help protect the smaller businesses striving to just make a living, the Free Trade Union was formed 200 years ago. Each FTU branch is different from system to system, but each offer lawyers, copyright enforcement, and even anti-pirate asset protection forces for any non TSC business. All FTU stations are renowned for their open markets where all are welcomed to sell and trade, even the Vox. They're the vocal defenders of the mom and pop stores, basically.

Sol Central

The banner over which most of humanity is united under. They focus on keeping humanity's best interest in check and tend to keep out of a system's personal problems unless they are in a dire state of emergency. They are protected by the UNSC.

Military Groups

Not only are there corporate interests out in deep space, but also military ones. These factions tend to be neutral to corporate empires like Nanotrasen, but occasionally Nanotrasen will find its self in the crossfire of an ongoing conflict.

The most well known trans-stellar military group is the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), based out of Earth in Sol Central, as well as its mostly defunct grandfather organization, the United States Colonial Marines. Nanotrasen is non-hostile to the UNSC and has a number of lobbyists in Sol Central's government to ensure the UNSC's cooperation.

There is also the United Federation, which is a close ally of the UNSC, but is generally a peaceful exploratory faction who sometimes picks up the slack left by the UNSC by hunting pirates in some fringe systems like Virgo. Nanotrasen is very friendly to the Federation due to the Federation's protection, frequent business, and lack of meddling, and allows their ships to frequently travel through Virgo. There is even a Federation embassy on Virgo.

Also out of Sol Central is the 3rd Soviet Union, which hails from Europa and continues to exist despite tensions with the UNSC thanks to supporters from scattered colonies and sympathizers across the galaxy providing weapons and resources. Nanotrasen maintains a shakey neutrality with the Soviets, often through the exchange of technology. The Soviets also purchase weapons from Nanotrasen to use against the UNSC.

Contrasty, there is the Fourth Reich, which is a small but rabidly fascist military group which preys upon the hearts of disenfranchised citizens in colonies otherwise left for dead by groups like Nanotrasen once the phoron has dried up. Originally overlooked by Nanotrasen, the Fourth Reich became a threat during the November Crisis of 2558, where Reich forces fired upon the Virgo Orbital Research Establishment and NDV Brutus. The small NDV Icarus was also completely destroyed in the conflict. The Reich is hostile toward the UNSC, the Federation, and the Soviets, but are generally neutral toward the Syndicate.

Finally, there is the infamous Syndicate paramilitary group, which is a conglomerate of rogue governments and criminal forces who are hostile to the perceived corporate dictatorship imposed by Nanotrasen. The Syndicate also receive aid from rival corporate entities who would like to see Nanotrasen dethroned from its near-monopoly over the galaxy's phoron supply. The Syndicate are neutral to everyone else but Nanotrasen, toward whom the Syndicate are viciously hostile.

To defend against belligerent forces, Nanotrasen also employs a vast number of mercenaries to serve in the Nanotrasen Defense Navy, whose weapons and armaments are a mishmash of hardware purchased from surplus UNSC military stockpiles, or developed on their own.

Pirates and Smugglers

Not all in the Virgo system seek to gain an honest paycheck. Crooks and creeps are commonplace in a system like Virgo--far away from the governing bodies that would otherwise stomp them out of existence.

Blackstar Marauders

Consisting of a variety of alien species, the Blackstar Marauders are a group of ruthless space pirates once run by a man named Jarome Rognvaldr. When their leader was imprisoned by Nanotrasen five years ago, and later turned over to Earth government forces, the Blackstar Marauders were eventually taken over by an unknown individual who swiftly returned the group to its former glory as the largest piracy group on the outskirts of inhabited space. They prey mostly on cargo shuttles and fortunately a station like V.O.R.E. is of little interest as a target, but they do still occasionally perform kidnappings for ransom against Nanotrasen employees.

Some of their former members who have been arrested over the years, including Jarome, now work for Nanotrasen. They are not to be trusted, but still have old connections to the black market if you need to make a special order.

Vox

A bird-like alien species, these scavengers commonly trade with or raid stations and ships for supplies and hardware. Often considered barely organized rabble, they are usually only a threat to ships or stations out alone without any backup, or those with lazy or incompetent security personnel. Cowardly, they tend to only attack when numbers are in their favor, and if not will either run or attempt to barter worthless trash to gather what they want.

Hostile Forces

As mentioned before, there are several smaller antagonistic forces out in Virgo, a brief overview of commonly known knowledge is below:

Disloyals

Virgo has many opportunities for less than loyal individuals to get themselves into important positions. Reasons for betrayal are many: some could be looking for money, have a personal agenda, extreme political/religious ideals, suffering from some form of insanity, or could be more than they appear. Either way, in Virgo, the wise watch their back and do not give out their trust freely.