The Asterians venerate the pursuit of universal balance above all else, their very society based around this concept. Asteria is the antithesis to the blunt force of the Dwarfs’ Star Realm; patient, accepting, harmonious, all these terms apply to the Asterian Empire.
At first glance it may seem odd that a race so peaceful could survive in such a violent galaxy, but not only have they survived, they have thrived. It could be that the Asterians’ empire is the largest in the galaxy.
About
Overview
The Asterian Star Empire is one of the largest territories in the galaxy, something that has been achieved through Asterian dedication to scientific advancement, philosophy, and the protection of life. All these aspects are seen in its armies. Very few Asterians will ever actually set foot on a battlefield. Instead, the consciousnesses of Asterian pilots will be transmitted into the bodies of a host of drone warriors, armoured vehicles, and aircraft, and used to direct the firepower of some of the deadliest weapons in existence.
The elite brotherhoods of the Clades often lead the charge, supported by the professional Sho’senn military and a combined assault of these two forces is a force to be reckoned with. When it is backed up by the warbands of the Kalyshi, painted for battle and dedicated to the dance of death, it becomes practically irresistible.
The ghosts of the past haunt the Empire to this day and had kept her armies largely within its borders. But events transpiring in the universe at large threaten now to permanently unbalance the natural order of things and it is clear those armies must now act. The balance of the universe must be restored and Unity preserved. The legions of Asteria march to war.
Society
The most technologically advanced and sophisticated race in the known universe, Asteria knows only too well the danger inherent in economic strength and military might. Wisdom earned at great cost through painful past lessons has made Asteria cautious. Its reluctance to overuse its power is perhaps the only thing that has, so far, saved the human race from being wiped out entirely. Times are changing though. Asterian society is dedicated to Unity - a sensitivity to the patterns of energy that underpin all life in the universe - and to maintaining the balance between life and death.
But, as the galaxy grows more dangerous, and as news of atrocities and calamities reaches Asteria from its network of spies, Asterians are becoming divided. There are still those that urge caution and warn against risking much and gaining nothing. But those who counsel that war is inevitable, that the balance has already been pushed too far to be neglected any further, are gaining in strength.
Asterian society is highly traditional and strictly regimented. Rituals dictate the day-to-day life of its citizens, from rising in the morning until the setting of the suns. This respect for tradition - and the diktats of the Tesseract - has for generations protected Asteria from repeating its past and falling into destructive excess. The Tesseract consists of the greatest minds in the Empire and can be accessed in great halls on many Asterian worlds. It serves as the Empire’s conscience as much as its government, maintaining its peoples’ morality as well as directing its resources. Recent events though have threatened to reduce the Tesseract’s power, perhaps permanently and perhaps fatally.
What the GCPS calls the Death Arc is to Asterians the Silent Lands, or ‘So-var uk-ulash’. Once they were densely populated by a thriving Asterian race, homes of great learning and art. Then came the Scourge, a bio-contaminant that tore through the Asterians like a noh-blade through Sheba hide, ravaging and twisting those it did not kill outright into hideous abominations.
The Empire was forced to take the most drastic actions imaginable, laying waste to the infected worlds and annihilating millions of its citizens. Others were simply cut off from the rest of the Empire and left to die, in much the same way as the Council’s Deadzones of today. The Silent Lands served as memorials to the dead, the victims of Asteria’s overreach. The dust, all that remains of those left behind, lay undisturbed for centuries, until that is, the arrival of the GCPS.
The Secret Empire
The story of the Asterian Empire is one other races might do well to take heed of. Sadly, it is one they are unlikely to hear in its fullness as Asterian space today is, at best, a secretive place. At least to outsiders. Asterians have a reputation for aloofness - although they maintain diplomatic and cultural relationships amongst many of the galaxy’s other states and races, visitors are most assuredly not welcome in Asterian territory.
A corporate analysis might place mistrust and arrogance at the centre of Asterian foreign policy, and there would be some truth in that. But, to Asterians, a race that was shaping the orbit of stars when mankind was still contemplating crossing the plains of his homeworld for the first time, the rest of the universe is simply not technologically or, perhaps more importantly, philosphically advanced enough to merit a share in Asterian knowledge.
Asteria Prime has guarded its secrets for a long time and watched as other, younger races have made their own marks on the galaxy. Most of their progress has been of little matter to the Asterians - the first stumbling footsteps of children compared to the huge strides by which the Empire is ahead of them all. Even when the GCPS ignored repeated warnings and set its somewhat heavy boots down on what it called the ‘Death Arc’, Asteria Prime restrained its armies.
They chose to do so then because war and the taking of life is anathema to most Asterians. Even the most aggressive members of the warrior Clades would accept that the use of force is something best reserved as a measure of last resort. But the time has come for the Clades to be unleashed nonetheless.
Asterians and Humans
To the Asterians, all creatures have their place in the galaxy. Every species, from the sentient down to the most base single-celled organism, exist for a reason, even if that reason is beyond the understanding of a people as ancient as the Asterians. Through millennia of observation the Asterians have come to understand that it is the very presence of all creatures, and the myriad changes they each effect, which keeps the galaxy in balance. It is the butterfly effect writ to a schema so large no one individual could ever hope to understand it.
This observation is key to the psyche of an Asterian, from each of its members to the race as a whole – every creature has its place, and no one species has the right to decide if another’s place is better off in the past, extinct. The humans, however, have pushed that belief to the very limit.
In the few centuries the humans have swaggered among the stars there is not a species they have not butted against, nor a danger they have not prodded with no thought of the consequences. The re-emergence of the Scourge was the just the latest danger the humans have unthinkingly unleashed upon the galaxy, and even in the face of a threat so lethal to their survival the humans seems quite content to carry on as if the future is filled with nothing but their continued prosperity.
It is as if the humans suffer from a racial adolescent belief in their invulnerability. They are the infants of the galaxy; just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous, lacking the wisdom to realise they know nothing. So, for their own good and that of the galaxy, the Asterian Clades monitor the humans so extensively that an AI has been conceived for the sole purpose of tracking their movements and communications.
Pre-emptive Action
Over the centuries hundreds of potentially catastrophic events the humans would otherwise have blundered their way into have been averted by anticipating their primitive thought processes and influencing their actions. The sudden and unexpected trade concessions given to the Forge Father clan House Varll - averting war across the heavily populated emission clouds of the Eagle Nebula - were the direct result of this practice, as is the unquestioned existence of a blank area on human starship nav computers, which would otherwise contain the densest concentration of systems with Scourge artefacts outside of the Death Arc.
On only a handful of occasions has direct military force been deemed necessary to stop the humans causing irreparable harm to the galaxy. The severing of transmissions around the planet they call Exham IV attracted the humanfocused AI’s attention, but nothing more. The burst of imagery from their Recon Unit’s final transmission, however, was enough to jolt it into action.
Hunter Clades of Asterians covertly travel throughout the Five Spheres, using their own technology to evade detection while they track down the Plague fleets. They apparently have a strong interest in stopping the Plague, though for their own reasons, not out of any love for the GCPS. If this was all they did, the Council might be happy enough to let them play their game. But it is not. Sometimes, it seems, the Clades act pre-emptively, attacking corporate sites that stand in Plague’s path, perhaps in an attempt to deny them more recruits. There have also been at least two cases of attacks where the Asterians’ objective seemed instead to be to remove something from a planet’s surface before the corporate colonists could discover it. One such was New Gallimech.
Escalation
True to their nature, the Asterian High Command, acting on behalf of the Tesseract, showed huge restraint as the Corporations became more daring and began probing the worlds within the Silent Lands. Small Strike Teams would sometimes be sent down to monitor possible outbreaks or to retrieve items the High Command deemed too valuable to fall into human hands, but the Clade fleets and their ground troops maintained their vigils, watching closely. They maintained the status quo – until the outbreak that started at Nexus Psi.
The GCPS operation to contain the Plague infection at Nexus Psi was an unmitigated disaster. The outbreak was allowed to spread so far that the whole planet became overrun with infected individuals and various strains, with a horrific loss of life. There were disastrous errors and delays in establishing the blockade to quarantine the planet during the Containment Protocol, leading to countless breaches by not only Reb cells on the planet, but also various mercenary and alien factions. Most catastrophic however, where the breaches by the Plague.
While the Enforcer battlegroups sent to Nexus Psi fought a vicious campaign on the ground against the hordes of mutants, too many holes were left in the orbital containment grid. While the Enforcer gunships downed as many transports fleeing the carnage as possible, too many punched through the grid and the infection was free.
Within 18 months, with the discovery of new Artefacts on other words and the spread of infection from the new Plague fleets infecting previously clean worlds, asteroid mining facilities and major space stations, the Plague had spread so far and so fast that Containment Protocols were becoming less and less effective. The Enforcers were stretched thin and yet in their hubris and ignorant folly, the corporations reached ever deeper into the Death Arc.
Enough was enough and with deep regret but with a steely determination once the decision was made, the Tesseract issued the orders which mobilised the Clades onto a war footing. Phase one of the Asterian operation aimed to stymie any further human incursion into the Silent Lands.
Mostly successful, phase two has now commenced, and the Clades are pushing the humans back off colonised and recently claimed worlds. The battle at the Ewan-Io waypoint in the Yukatrin sector saw huge loss of life and military resource for the McAlpine corporation as its colonisation fleet was ambushed and devastated by an armada from Clade Sleek Moon Rising. The ultimate aim of the Tesseract is to drive the humans out of the Silent Lands completely, and then issue their own version of Containment Protocol across the entire region – effectively sealing the whole area of space off to everyone, restoring both peace and balance. The Asterians know all about the Scourge and now it is awakened, they know stopping it will cost all of their resources, and possibly even their existence.
The Asterian Philosophy of War
The Asterians venerate the pursuit of universal balance above all else, their very society based around this concept. Their disdain of warfare and violence has led to the development of technology, which allows their finest warriors to fight on the battlefield without physical risk, piloting sophisticated remote drones from orbit known as Cyphers, which are as nimble and capable as a living being, with the added bonuses of far superior speed, strength and endurance.
Military action is seen as a necessary evil by the Asterians; it is accepted as a universal truth that in order to maintain the balance of their own presence within the universe, the Asterians must be able to fight and defend themselves when necessary. If conflict is unavoidable, Asterians endeavour to keep casualties to a minimum, employing Cypher teams on hit-and-run surgical strikes to destroy military assets or leadership structures. The greatest generals of the Asterians are highly lauded, and in their later years often found monastic orders that teach their variant of Asterian warfare. But as well-regarded as these heroes are, the best Asterian generals are the Warminds. These artificial intelligences have prosecuted war for countless thousand years, and no tactical scenario is surprising to them.
Asterian military doctrine traditionally focuses on the precise application of appropriate force to bring a swift end to conflict. Their weaponry is focused in its lethality, allowing for minimal collateral damage and maximum effectiveness. ‘Noh’ energy weaponry typifies this principle – these elegant weapons seem to use matter acceleration and atomic destabilisation to focus beams of energy on the target, dissolving its molecular bonds in moments, enabling the swift neutralisation of the target with none of the risks of ‘splash damage’ associated with more common laser and solidshot weaponry.
The Asterian species is divided into three genders – true male, neuter male and female – which work in largely harmonious triads. Most commonly, it is minority true male warriors that are encountered in battle, usually as Cypher pilots, as these Asterians suffer hyper-aggression, an urge that they control through elaborate ritual, and an honourbased system akin to Earth’s ancient chivalric codes.
The Cyphers are typically accompanied by scores of Marionettes. Simple robotic constructs in comparison to the elite Cyphers, Marionettes are nonetheless highly effective, commanded as they are by Asterian pilots no less disciplined than those in the Clades. Junior ranks might each take control of a team of Marionettes, while more experienced officers can simultaneously operate one or more whole units.
The pinnacle of Asterian battlefield technology is the graceful Spectra. This lithe mech towers above even the Strider or Iron Ancestor and its agile movement make rival constructs look positively archaic. Unfortunately the toll it takes on the pilot to control the Spectra means that it’s only deployed in the most desperate of situations. Although these are, sadly, becoming more regular for the Clades.
One of the few Asterians warriors to fight up close to their enemies are the Kalyshi. They go to battle in traditional warpaint and armed with bows and glaives, but only a fool would mistake them for simple savages - the Kalyshi are no less technologically advanced than any other Asterian. Their bows and blades are powered by noh energy and quite capable of penetrating the toughest forged armour.
Occasionally Asterian Marionettes and even the mighty Spectra can be found fighting alongside the lizard-like Matsudan. Hugely mistrusting of the corporations, the Matsudan appear to have found an ally in the fight against the encroaching power of the GCPS. Although they may lack the grace of the Asterians, they make up for it with some serious fire power. Increasingly the Asterians are calling upon their Matsudan allies to infiltrate corporations they believe could destabilise the galactic balance and even more so by the newest threat to the galaxy - the Nightstalkers.
The Asterian people seldom find reason to venture into GCPS territory, but they are often reported around Deadzones, though their purpose is unclear. Certainly it would seem that they are most often encountered where an outbreak of Plague or the discovery of one of the ancient alien artefacts which heralds it have occurred. Beyond that, none can say, for they appear from nowhere, as ghosts and disappear as quickly, with no explanation. Attempts to communicate with them are ignored, and attempts to stop them are futile.
If balance dictates it, conflicts with other races may emerge, as with the Forge Fathers of Halvorakken Clan over Kappa Nu, the Tesseract's push into GCPS space and their latest involment on Tersia Prime.
Government
Gallery
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Asterian Logo
External Links
- Mantic Store Firefight Asterians - https://www.manticgames.com/firefight/asterians/
- Mantic Store Deadzone Asterians - https://www.manticgames.com/deadzone/asterian/
- Warpath Universe Sourcebook Digital Edition - https://www.manticgames.com/warpath/books-warpath/warpath-sourcebook-digital/
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