Cybrion Ascendancy
Space is often imagined as an endless, silent void—a beautiful backdrop for the stars twinkling peacefully above. Yet, this romanticized image only scratches the surface of a far more complex reality. Beyond the dazzling lights lies a harsh and unforgiving arena, charged with invisible conflict, buried histories, and the echoes of human ambition carved across the cosmos.
The vast emptiness is anything but empty. It holds a staggering wealth of secrets: remnants of forgotten civilizations, lost technologies buried in the cold, and ambitions that soared too close to cosmic catastrophes. These are not mere stories of distant worlds but frozen cries—silent testimonies of suffering and survival etched into the immeasurable dark. Each frozen scream captures moments of chaos, the quiet suffering of those caught in the turmoil of cosmic forces that extinguished lives far from any comforting light.
Within this cold expanse thrives the Cybrion Ascendancy, a civilization uniquely adapted to embrace this darkness. Unlike many who settle near the warmth of stars, the Cybrions dwell on the coldest planets within their territory. Anchoring themselves in stations carved deep into frozen bedrock or colossal space stations perched on the edges of solar systems, far from stellar warmth. Their history lives in these chilling landscapes—where cold does not signify absence but a vibrant, if austere, cradle for life and legacy.
Deep within the icy vastness of the Cybrion Ascendancy's territory lies a city unlike any other in the known galaxy. Mephit, the largest city and capital of this powerful interstellar empire, is situated on Attacus, an ice planet encircled by frozen mineral-rich rings and orbited by thirteen moons, each hosting its own stations and outposts. The metropolis captivates both by its staggering scale and its bold architecture, representing the pinnacle of Cybrion engineering and ambition. Attacus is a world coated in ice, its surface temperatures so frigid that conventional colonization would be all but impossible. Yet, the Cybrions have adapted spectacularly, drilling Mephit deep beneath the glacial crust to shield its inhabitants from the harsh environment above. The city’s descent into the planet is so profound that it penetrates nearly to the molten core, scraping the very heart of the planet. This subterranean metropolis thrives in the extreme, leveraging the immense geothermal energy radiating from the core to power its infrastructure and support life in a realm otherwise inhospitable. Large man-made canyons scar the planet’s surface, providing access to the city’s gates.
Surrounded by the dozen moons, Mephit’s orbiting stations function as vital hubs of commerce, defence, and research, creating a network that extends the city’s influence throughout the Ascendancy. The abundant minerals frozen within Attacus's rings fuel technological advancements and economic growth, making Mephit not only a political capital but also a critical industrial centre.
The unique juxtaposition of a city both frigid and fiery—a colossal urban complex bridging the cold exterior and molten interior of a planet—speaks volumes about the Cybrion drive for mastery over environment and technology. Mephit stands as a testament to their resilience and vision, forging civilization where few would dare to dwell. As the Ascendancy continues to expand, Mephit will remain a luminous heart of innovation and power, embodying the spirit of a civilization that turns even the most hostile landscapes into thriving bastions of progress.
Thus, the silence of space echoes not void but presence for the Cybrion—the weight of absence and memory woven into the fabric of the cosmos. Far from a tranquil expanse, space is a formidable archive of relentless struggle, ambition, and legacy. Reminding us that even in the most desolate places, life’s stories persist and even thrive in ascendancy.
Colonization parties that look for systems without Goldilocks zones so they don’t have to deal with other factions during expansion.
A very defensive faction that likes to exist in the darkness/cold so that they are inaccessible to others.
Societies degenerate and military rejects, like their forefathers?
Faction doesn’t use robots; they use humans only. In the past, they used robots to try and colonize an ice world, and they lost an entire world of 100 million people due to robotic failure in the cold conditions. They use people because there are so many that losing 100k people isn’t that big of a deal.
Population control through colonization.