Main Factions
Western Coalition

• Year Formed: 1967
  
• Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
  
• Leadership: Chairman of the Coalition Military Committee, General Patrick Steinmann
  
• Controlled Territories: North America, Western & Southern Europe, Australia, North Africa
  
• Purpose: Protection of its member nations' security and interests, especially against perceived threats against their freedom

Western Coalition is NATO's successor in the post-shift world, where technological growth spurred an ever-accelerating arms race between the East and the West. Concerned that the balance of power could end up tipping in favor of the Soviet Union in light of the rapid technological advancements being made in the aftermath of the Shift, the leaders of NATO nations collectively agreed upon and signed a treaty that, when put into action would transform the organization into a much-tighter knit political, military and economic alliance. In 1976, an incident later dubbed 'the Annihilation' resulted from the Soviet military covertly transporting an experimental and unstable weapon created using little-known aftereffect of the Shift - the so-called Exolis Crystals, detonating prematurely in the outskirts of Istanbul, destroying large parts of the city and exposing the existence and potential of these crystals to the world at large, sparking a conflict that would become known as the Resource War, with Western Coalition ultimately triumphing over the Soviet Union, if only because the latter fell apart due to internal conflicts and ultimately dissolved as a coup took over and created the Eurasian Dominion. An uneasy truce between the superpowers lasted for a few years before the inevitable happened, and the second Resource War began with no real end in sight.

Eurasian Dominion

• Year Formed: 1984
  
• Headquarters: Moscow, Russia
  
• Leadership: President Sevastyan Biryukov
  
• Controlled Territories: Eastern Europe, Middle East, Asia
  
• Purpose: Establishing permanent order in the world that has been thrown into chaos by the emergence of previously unimaginable technologies

A new regime was installed on top of the ruins of the Soviet Union in 1984 - following the first Resource War, as a result of a coup staged by a group from within the former Soviet military led by General Sevastyan Biryukov. Such an audacious feat as taking over an entire country, not to mention a former superpower, was accomplished by the aid of technology, developed in secret by a research bureau under Biruykov's supervision. Called Dominus, it allows one to influence the thoughts of other people, effectively a form of remote brainwashing or mind control. Biruykov's plan was to create a regime that could truly bring order to the world, to prevent it from falling into the chaos of war once again, mere moments away from total annihilation. In the years following, their aggressive expansion campaigns, along with the ever-increasing competition for the rare elements introduced by the Shift, eventually kickstarted a conflict with the member nations of the Western Coalition, the second Resource War that continues to this very day.

Phantom Imperative

• Year Formed: Unknown
  
• Headquarters: Unknown
  
• Leadership: Unknown
  
• Controlled Territories: Unknown
  
• Purpose: Unknown
  

An enigmatic paramilitary group that appears to bear no allegiance to any nation of the world. The exact nature, origins, and goals of this organization remain shrouded to practically everyone, even to the most competent of intelligence agencies, leaving many who might have an inkling in the first place to doubt its very existence and the rest who still believe branded as conspiracy theorists. Phantom works towards their inscrutable objectives from the shadows, utilizing resources and connections across the globe, especially those within the world's dark underbelly. Their greatest asset by far, however, is their access to technology that even the mightiest nations of the Earth can only imagine - the kind of technology that allows them to harness powers that defy the laws of reality itself. While Phantom's role in the ongoing conflict between the world's superpowers has not yet become clear, it would be foolish to assume that they do not have a stake in all of it. There almost certainly is a plan - and when all of the pieces fall into their places, there might yet come a time for Phantom to emerge from the shadows.

Notable Subdivisions
W.A.R.D

• Year Formed: 1990
  
• Headquarters: New York, United States of America
  
• Leadership: Director Grant Archer
  
  
• Controlled Territories: None
  
  
• Purpose: Technology development for Coalition military

Warfare Advancement Research Division is an organization established shortly after the onset of the Second Resource War to further develop technologies to ensure Coalition supremacy. The proliferation of laser weapons, as well as the new Flashbolt weapon technology in the Coalition arsenal during the war, can be traced back to W.A.R.D's achievements. As the conflict has dragged on and both superpowers have started to run out of steam and resources, W.A.R.D's funding has received several cuts, necessitating several projects being canned and other avenues of development to be pursued. There is a rumor that the current director, Grant Archer, has been in talks with the Excelsus Group, an unusual concept given the latter's stance on involving in military conflicts for a collaboration on a project, but nothing of substance regarding this matter has been confirmed as of yet.

Scythe

• Year Formed: 1984
  
• Headquarters: Unknown
  
• Leadership: Colonel Rodion Sobol
  
  
• Controlled Territories: Unknown
  
  
• Purpose: Testing of nuclear-based weapons and employing scorched earth tactics against Dominion enemies where deemed necessary

A task force operating under Colonel Sobol, one of Biryukov's right-hand men, employs a large amount of nuclear-based weaponry and serves as a testbed for their development amongst the Dominion military. Scythe is the inheritor of the legacy of several Soviet black projects related to nuclear technology, most notably Project Dazhbog, which aimed to create new nuclear fusion-based weapon that inadvertently, due to coinciding with the Shift ended up transforming one of the persons present, Major Timur Oborin into what can only be described as living nuclear reactor, becoming a nigh-immortal, secret Soviet 'super-commando' nicknamed 'Tokamak' as a result. Any attempts to replicate the process afterward have proved unsuccessful.

Eclipse

• Year Formed: Unknown
  
• Headquarters: Unknown
  
• Leadership: Commander Alexander Bishop
  
  
• Controlled Territories: Unknown
  
  
• Purpose: Protection of assets of the Phantom Imperative

A fast-response task force dedicated to protecting assets, mainly infrastructure essential to Phantom's operations and future. They primarily employ technology fitted with warp engines, which allow them to teleport from one location to another within reasonable limits. Fittingly, the bulk of their forces are made up of Nightmare Warptroopers, which use exosuits fitted with said engines. Their commanding officer, Alexander Bishop, also employs a unique battle suit made to fit with his cybernetic augmentations when he needs to personally enter the field. Given that the vast majority, if not all, of Phantom's assets, particularly infrastructure, are unknown quantities to both Coalition and Dominion, it does raise a question if Eclipse was created as a countermeasure should that veil of secrecy fall, or if there are other things Phantom considers as threats to warrant its existence.

Other Groups
Crimson Crown

• Year Formed: 1987
  
• Headquarters: Milan, Italy
  
• Leadership: CEO Ignatius Mercuri
  
  
• Controlled Territories: Balkan Conglomerate
  
  
• Purpose: For-profit defense / security contractor and PMC

Crimson Crown is one of the biggest players in the security industry - being the largest PMC in the world, a major arms manufacturer, and the market leader in various electronic warfare and countermeasure solutions. A polished facade hides behind a network of black market contacts, weapons, information trafficking, and a number of other illicit activities, albeit many of which have become a public secret within certain circles. When their web of corruption fails to provide adequate means for them to acquire more power and money, they bring in their troops and weapons. Proliferating conflict in the more tumultuous areas of the world and raking in the profits from war is business as usual for them. Currently, they have an agreement with the Western Coalition to provide 'security and order' in the contested region of the Balkan Conglomerate, a feeble union of many former Balkan nations, in exchange for Coalition leadership ignoring some of their questionable activities.

Fist of Titans

• Year Formed: Unknown
  
• Headquarters: Unknown
  
• Leadership: Unknown
  
  
• Controlled Territories: Outposts scattered across Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East & Central Asia
  
  
• Purpose: Creation of nation(s) independent from both Coalition and Dominion rule

A loosely associated group of mercenaries and guerilla fighters bearing a name borrowed from a near-mythical group from a bygone era despite there being no apparent connection. Primarily operating in Eastern Europe and defined by animosity against the Coalition and Dominion alike, they exist in a conflict to free themselves of the influence of the said superpowers. In pursuit of this greater goal, however, members of the Fist of Titans might be willing to sacrifice their principles and temporarily align themselves with one of the major powers if it comes with a benefit for their own ultimate objective.

Excelsus Group

• Year Formed: 1965
  
• Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa
  
• Leadership: CEO Nathan Towers
  
  
• Controlled Territories: None
  
  
• Purpose: For-profit manufacturing & research of new technologies with a particular focus on energy, for-profit as well as non-profit research into the Shift phenomenon and its aftereffects and products

It was founded in 1965 as Excelsus Energy Company by Sir Jacob Milton, a British industrialist with a keen interest in the possibilities brought upon by the rare earth elements introduced to the world by the Shift. Decades later, Excelsus Group is a large conglomerate that is the frontrunner in many areas of technology, from their forte, energy technology, to electronics and computing, material sciences, and aerospace development. They are the leading researcher on the Shift phenomenon in civilian space, and it is in fact Excelsus scientists who came up with the term Exolis for the peculiar crystals introduced by the said phenomenon. Soviets called it Element X for a period of time. Excelsus Group has had a staunch anti-warfare stance for the longest time, instead focusing their efforts on peaceful technologies. They have, however, collaborated with the Western Coalition on matters of relief efforts and peacekeeping indirectly, and there are rumors that they have a secret project with W.A.R.D on the way, but no further information is available beyond that.

Rubicon Defence Systems

• Year Formed: 1988
  
• Headquarters: Paris, France
  
• Leadership: CEO Armand Ingram
  
  
• Controlled Territories: None
  
  
• Purpose: For-profit military hardware manufacturing

One of the chief manufacturers of Coalition military equipment, Rubicon Defence Systems has been producing military hardware for the last 14 years, supplying the Coalition military with weapon systems, armored vehicles as well as infantry gear. They have a tight collaboration program with W.A.R.D, and one of the fruits of sharing technologies is the Seraph shield system recently deployed by Coalition military that allows for efficient protection of their military establishments and equipment from enemy fire. There are rumors of some sort of internal incident within the company that occurred years ago involving the CEO, Armand Ingram's, own daughter, who was employed in the company. No further information on the subject is available, and Celeste Ingram's location has been unknown for the past eight years.

The Framework

• Year Formed: Unknown
  
• Headquarters: Unknown
  
• Leadership: Prometheus (possibly)
  
  
• Controlled Territories: Unknown
  
  
• Purpose: Unknown, presumably to further the personal interests of its constituents

The invisible connection, the dark network, is something that does not exist, yet there are those who know it has to. Within the council of nine, the first among equals distributes celestial fire to those who are too blind to see the strings in their avarice or lust for power. The truth may become clear in times to come, but by then it might already be too late if you wish to awaken in the same world where you came from.