Imperium Ascendant

The Imperium Ascendant is a major galactic power in the galaxy of Proteus Vex.

History
The Imperium has an incredible ancient history, spanning at least eighty millennia. Historically this era would be the heart of a galactic war known as First Conflict and be the earliest of a series of bloodshed in the centuries to come. This would be also the same time when an emissary of the Imperium approached the leader of the Scorcher s to deliver news of a discovery of a star-dwelling race similar to the Scorchers. The news though was dismissed by Scorcher leader, and refused to consider such a revelation as it conflicted with her race's uniqueness in the galaxy. Out of respect, the emissary agreed to suppress knowledge of the race and any other races of similar makeup as such information would upheave Scorcher civilization.

1400 years before the start of Proteus Vex, the Imperium Ascendant encountered a new race known as the Obdurates. Initially the Imperium reached out in peace to the Obdurates, but were met by violent aggression. The encounter with the Obdurates soon encompassed into a galactic war with the Obdurates leading a warpath of carnage, aiming to wipe all other races. To combat the Obdurates and for the very survival of galactic civilization, the Imperium Ascendant formed the Alliance, made up of various kingdoms such as the Seaborne Coagency and the Unaligned Worlds. However despite the other galactic powers uniting, they were no match for the sheer brutality of the Obdurates. The conflict prolonged for centuries with the Alliance drawing it out as a war of attrition.

General Netores Edge having fought twenty-four engagements with the Obdurates and the greatest of warriors in all the Allied worlds approached the Scorchers to join the war. Her diplomatic mission was her only recorded failure as the ancient race did not care for the fates of what they perceived as lesser races. Desperate for aid, General Edge concocted a scheme with the Imperium's most skilled agent, Proteus Vex to bring the Scorcher into the war.

Proteus Vex piloting his ship the Farrago rammed into the vessels of the Eight Obdurate Fleet, and drew them to the world of Rixxot Minor where a Scorcher colony was located. The Alliance having inserted comm relays in the system, activated, causing communication chatter to erupt, fooling the Obdurates into thinking that they stumbled unto an Alliance military base. Seeing it as a greater threat, the Obdurates bombed the colony, unaware that it was actually nursery for the Scorchers young. Nine Scorchers were killed in the massacre, and finally forced the Scorchers into the war to avenge their dead.

The Scorchers allying with the Alliance gave the galaxy a fighting chance against the Obdurates, though even with the aid of the ancient race, the Obdurate threat was still ever present. To land a decisive blow against the Obdurates, a plan was enacted by the Alliance to teleport a dying white dwarf star into the heart of the Obdurate homeworlds. The plan was a success and while the ploy saw the death of billions of Obdurates, historians at the time believed the the ending of the war saved countless lives. Though many Obdurates forces still persisted, the Alliance was able to neutralize them, leaving only a handful of survivors left. After the end of the Obdurate War, the kingdoms split the territories of their enemy among themselves.

Forty-years into the post-war era, the Imperium Ascendant received news that its senior member, Chancellor Rho 7 Baryon went missing. Due to Baryon possessing vital knowledge on not just the Imperium's secrets and other members of the Alliance, the leadership of the Imperium sent its top agent Proteus Vex to locate him. Proteus Vex being a former protégé of Baryon accepted the assignment, diverted his attention from transporting an Citheronian fugitive named Midnight Indicating Shame back to Hive Regalis to locating Baryon. From his information Vex tracked his superior to the former Obdurate war-world of Korregag which became a lawless region in the aftermath of the war.

Upon arriving to the war-torn world, which was being stripped by the dregs of the Alliance, Vex came under attack by several Sigmoids whilst the peacekeeper force stood idly by. Vex though managed to kill a few of his attackers before the peacekeeper force were forced to intervene, though the alien marauders warned Vex to give up his mission as Baryon was not missing but left the Imperium voluntarily. The Imperium agent did not accept this as he wanted to hear it directly from Baryon himself.

Vex then approached the chief peacekeeper for assistance in locating Baryon as his signal took him to Korregag before it suddenly vanished which the chief explained was the vicinity of the Obdurate reactor and was shielding Baryon's tracking signal. The reactor as it turned out was being salvaged by a team of Scorchers which Vex then requested to have a meeting. Vex using his skills managed to acquired credentials to enter the facility. There he met with Glass Raven, a Scorcher he was all too familiar with. Glass Raven though was not friend to Vex as after the Obdurate War, it was leaked that the Imperium Ascendant had arranged for the attack on Rixxot Minor and that Vex was the main perpetrator. In rage Glass Raven was prepared to kill the agent for his crime. Vex admitted that he would not deny was he did, but believed that his actions were justified as it forced the Scorchers to see the threat of the Obdurates. The excuse was not enough for Glass Raven, and was prepared to enact his justice, until a fellow Scorcher asked his peer to allow Vex to speak. Vex then told them of a more dire crisis looming in the recovery of Chancellor Baryon who was still at large and in possession of all the Scorchers dirty secrets.

Culture
The Imperium Ascendant is a major power in its galaxy, being the forefront in all events of galactic importance from the Obdurate War to the Scorcher War. While structured as an autocratic empire, the Imperium Ascendant is made of multiple races that are given equal rights and protection.

The majority in control of the Imperium Ascendant appear to be a thin lanky humanoid race, though other races have been shown to hold high rankings in the government structure, which indicates that the Imperium allows equal opportunity of advancement, at least within the military.

Agents of the Imperium's elite force are ranked based on levels, which allow them certain discretion of information and privileges to carry out their missions. Using technology developed by the Scorchers high ranking agents are implanted with indestructible trackers with a coded signal to allow the Imperium to keep track of their whereabouts.

The main currency of the Imperium is silver.

Among the races that compose of the Imperium Ascendant are:


 * Troxillan
 * Sekkillarian
 * The Silent