The Redemption sector

Some hundred thousand years in the future, the Empire of Tzar rules over the Redemption sector in the galactic south west of what remains of the galaxy.

Encompassing fourteen habitable planets and moons, the Empire rules with an iron fist from it's capital Helot Prime. Existing in a universe of decline and facing slow extinction after a catastrophic breakdown of galactic civilisation, humanity accepts the totalitarian rule of the Tzar Empire in exchange for survival in the face of degeneration and oblivion.

Hiding amongst the ruins of an ancient interstellar war, mankind has closed it's borders to it's previous alien allies, treating them with contempt and ignoring them to perish. Preoccupied with it's own affairs, the Empire of Tzar pays little heed to the apocalyptic events transpiring throughout the cosmos.

Despite the apparent decay of the galactic plane, the Empire after several thousand years of solitude finds itself beset from above and below: insidious cults threaten from within, ancient organisations from without.

One such cult to challenge the Imperial religion has proven itself far more powerful than previously thought possible, and indeed far more older than the Empire of Tzar itself.

This seditious cult, having infiltrated Imperial society now deals a death blow to the capital Helot Prime. Coordinated atomic detonations remove the command structure of the Empire and herald the march of the Black Praetorian occult forces upon the scattered Imperial army and it's citizens. Ancient machine intelligences and hermetic societies emerge in reaction from the depths of space and descend on the Redemption sector, their actions revealing sacred doctrines and historical mysteries surrounding the legendary collapse of the galactic golden age.

Humanities last chance is to unite... yet the Empire of Tzar begins to crumble as it's noble houses scramble for power and once enslaved societies see their chance for revenge, with the very planets themselves erupting into industries of war.