Pre-alpha codex — written from the build in internal testing. Systems, numbers and features can change before launch. · Join the waitlist

Thirteen empires were already old when your ark arrived. The Velthari Dominion, the Ashfall Compact, the Meridian Accord — between them, the thirteen hold roughly a sixth of all charted space. Their colours mark their borders on the map, and a diamond marks each capital.

Borders are final

Imperial space can never be taken — and neither can yours. There is no conquest in this galaxy, in either direction. Expansion means colonizing unowned stars, not flipping somebody else's. An empire's territory is exactly as old as the galaxy itself, and it will outlive every war fought over it.

Garrisoned space

Every imperial system defends itself. The system card grades what you are looking at before you commit a fleet:

• Outpost — a lightly held border system, far from friends.
• Garrisoned — settled space with allied lanes close by.
• Fortified — deep territory, well connected and well armed.
• Citadel — an imperial capital. Another order of magnitude. Bring a reason.

The grade follows the map: the more allied lanes around a system, the harder it fights. For exact numbers there is exactly one honest source — fly a spy mission. Your intel shows on the system card once the probe reports back, and a battle plan built on stale intel is its own kind of lesson.

Rules of engagement

Attack an imperial system and you are raiding the garrison — win, and the fight itself is the prize. The empires do not forget it, and what they remember is about to start mattering: every empire will keep a personal standing with every commander, from Allied down to At War, moved only by how you treat them. Trade builds trust. Raids start wars. Nobody attacks an unprovoked commander.