Astragius Galaxy, year 7213. For one hundred years the space nations of Gilgamesh and Balarant have warred against each other for reasons long forgotten. Severely exhausted, they both agreed to a ceasefire. With peace just over the horizon, some Gilgamesh soldiers turned traitor and attacked a Gilgamesh research station to steal its contents.

History

The Gilgamesh and Balarant nations had until recently been locked in a century-old galactic war whose cause was long ago forgotten. Now, the war is ending and an uneasy truce has settled. The main weapon of the conflict is the common Armored Trooper, a mass-produced humanoid combat vehicle piloted by a single soldier. Both the Armored Troopers and their pilots are also known as VOTOMS (Vertical One-man Tank for Offense & ManeuverS). However, since Armored Troopers have extremely thin armor, and use a highly combustible liquid in their artificial muscle, their pilots have a very low chance of survival, and are commonly referred to instead as "Bottoms", the lowest of the low

Gilgamesh Confederation

A decade of promises whose fulfillment always seems just around the corner. In the first Galactic war, a mere 20 worlds belonged to the Gilgamesh confederation. By the end of the 3rd Galactic War a millennia later, these were over 100 worlds involved. Many of these were destroyed during the Hundred Years War, and the remaining planets entrusted themselves into the hands of the Melkian Federation. Based on planet Melkian, the Melkian Federation had by far the best-integrated military strength as well as an excellent munitions industry, making it possible for them to unite underdeveloped worlds on behalf of the Gilgamesh. Much of this was done during the last 50 years of the war, during which time the Melkian Planetary Government slowly become a puppet of its own military. Once Melkia had control of the sovereignty, Gilgamesh was given greater mobility, especially after creating new versions of the AT and many other far more deadly and secretive weapons.

General Albert Killy Deceased	General Yoran Pailsen Deceased	Colonel Jean-Paul Rochina	Arron Schmitel Deceased	Gurran Schmitel

Proto-One Fyana	Ypsilon

Gilgamesh Armored Troopers

Balarant Union

The Balarant Union's recorded history began before the First Galactic War, and their union consisted of 30-40 planets. Using Balan as their capital world, the Union later grew to encompass 130 planets. The Balarant Union's special characteristics are the absolute loyalty and fealty of its members to their cause of expansion. As a result, their population gradually outgrew the ability of their planets to support them, and more habitable worlds were constantly needed to sustain them.
At the beginning of the Hundred Years War, the Balarant already had a massive space fleet and a right military structure which kept the Gilgamesh Confederation in check. (Ironically, this very rigidity made it difficult to keep up with advancing technology.) Whereas the early Gilgamesh Confederation was made up of highly individual, ragtag expeditionary forces, Balarant was divided into a star force and planetary army, which had specific and independent functions. But their strength gradually thinned out as the battlefront widened, and they were outclassed by Gilgamesh military technology, most especially the Armored Trooper. Even at the height of the war, the Balarant military considered the AT a mere component of a larger war machine.

Colonel Jean-Paul Rochina	Radaa Niva	Arron Schmitel Deceased	Gurran Schmitel

Balarant Armored Troopers

Secret Society

Despite the rise and fall of planetary and interstellar governments, the true powerbrokers of all worlds in the Astragius Galaxy for the past 3,000 years have been members of the Secret Society. In the beginning, they served the Quentian Overmen as a priest class who wielded power and considered themselves the Children of God. With the outbreak of the Hundred Years War, they infiltrated the militaries of both sides.

Shortly before the war's end, they developed the objective of creating an "Army of God." They would prepare for their god's second coming by building up a force to rule over the entire Astragius Galaxy. To support this goal (and line their own pockets) they began to operate a arms dealers rather than as a religious functionaries. Eventually few members of the Society truly believed that the Quentian Overmen were gods, or indeed anything more than a myth.

The current Secret Society may indeed have true links to the beliefs of their priestly origins, but if so, these beliefs are far overshadowed by their more secular ambitions.

Operation LIDO

The secret, illegal mission masterminded by Albert Killy of the Gilgamesh Army. In a raid on the Melkian Asteroid LIDO, AT pilots under his command stole both a huge gold stock and the freshly created Perfect Soldier Proto-One. The leaders of this operation then defected from the Gilgamesh Army and formed the Secret Society, each talking a responsible persona to hide behind (Borough becomes a holy man, Iskui a police Chief, etc.).

The Secret Society then went on to develop their own Perfect Soldier, Proto-Two, and pursue their own greedy interests in an attempt to stake their own claim on a galaxy destabilized by constant warfare.