The Convergence War

At this point, a slight detour to the years that preceded the Convergence War is necessary.

When Iris was discovered, the galaxy’s factions were in a development burst caused by their expansion and colonization of many different worlds across what is now known as the medium-risk zone and a few small colonies in the high-risk area.

The MUD had already harnessed the resources of Earth to propel their empire toward the stars. Following the appearance of the Photoli Ahr, they created a new unified religion and regime for humankind based on the leadership of Charon Gotti and the teachings they received. Humanity was now striving to earn their promised heaven in the skies.

The Ustur had awakened just a few years prior, finding themselves in a hybrid organic body and unable to access the memories of their past. Nevertheless, a calling was placed on every Ustur soul to experience reality and to expand their understanding of creation and themselves on all fronts, even spiritually. For this mission, their people also spread through the stars.

Finally, the ONI had just formed its Consortium. The people of the Om, Segal, Akenat, and Neuno systems had set aside their disputes and united in harmonious cooperation in hopes of building a better future. Paizul, a Sogmian race member and the Consortium's first leader, had just reached power and found the love of her life, Bekalu. This warrior race led the expansion of the ONI people towards the center of the galaxy.

The homeworld systems of the three different factions were more or less equidistant from one another in the outer reaches of the galaxy, and so they also started almost simultaneously expanding their borders and influence towards the inner zones.

By the time Iris was discovered, all of them had already built extensive supply routes in the medium and high-risk zones, and all were ready to reach the cataclysm zone in deep space. They had little direct engagement before that point, aside from knowing the existence of the others, and one could imagine the surprise when all of them converged on the borders of the Cataclysm at nearly the exact same time with their scouting fleets.

A myriad of reasons, including pride, greed, and overall ignorance, kept the factions from settling a cooperative solution for the exploration of Iris, and a massive war broke out between the three groups.

There is no language in the galaxy with enough vocabulary to describe the nightmare that was the Convergence War. Entire worlds and civilizations were destroyed as the factions clashed across the cosmos. The prosperity built upon the expansion of the factions to the stars was turned to ashes, burnt to keep the machines of war and destruction flying from system to system to bring death and sorrow.

Among the many tragedies of this period, the leader of the ONI Consortium was assassinated, and her kind was pushed to the brink of extinction, with only 10,000 Sogmians left in the universe. Her husband Bekalu, followed by the remaining members of their race, proceeded to their homeworld for her funeral, and as his love's ashes burned in a beam of light, Bekalu left a wrathful howl and swore to lead their people to victory, no matter the price, rattling the assembled crowd to the core.

After a few more years of this conflict, Bekalu’s promise finally came to fruition in the form of the ultimate weapon: the Busan Last Stand mk. I. This titan ship served as both a home for the Sogmian and the core of the ONI fleet, and whenever it appeared on the horizon, destruction was sure to follow.

It wiped out entire armadas in the blink of an eye.

At this point, every faction had already overstepped their capacity to finance the conflict. Aside from the incalculable number of lives lost, the faction’s populations in their home systems were plagued by poverty, famine, diseases, and civil unrest for the mindless slaughter and destruction of goods that the war effort caused. The appearance of the Last Stand was the last drop of galactic patience with this conflict that had dragged on for many years.

It was beyond the time to stop. So, finally, the factions signed the Treaty of Peace, issuing a new era in the galaxy.