Factions

Stellar factions are sovereign space entities, stretching multiple sectors and controlling a large number of individual systems. Each may have their own preferred ship manufacturer, or they may do it themselves. They are generally divided into Major and Minor factions.

The Galaxy accommodates all these Factions, each with their own Goals and Ideas. Each Faction sells you their Idea of the perfect Spaceship. It's up to you to decide who is right and who is wrong. Player can progress their storylines by performing missions or doing other Tasks. Each of the Factions can have a Standing with the player in the form of Reputation, and those involved in Conquest will ave a separate Conquest Reputation score with different rewards.

You can declare War against any Faction. Not only that, but you also can declare Peace with them, but for this you need to raise your standing by performing missions at their Embassy (if they have one). The Embassies are marked on the Map with a golden outline.

Major Factions

Major Factions are the main driver of expansion into Darkspace Territories, and they start the Faction War.

Major Factions

Logo	Faction	Notes
	Stellar Industries	Megacorporation.
	Luminate Combine	Behaves like a cybercratic cult.
	Kolyatov Collective	A Soviet Socialistic Utopia.
	Darkspace Compact	Mysterious owners of the Darkspace, currently invaded by Major factions.

Minor Factions

While Minor Factions do not start actively participating in Conquest, they can establish themselves with player's assistance and eventually grow to rival the Major Factions.

Minor Factions

Logo	Faction	Notes
	Mindus Holdings	Mining corporation dedicated to ore processing.
	Steel Vultures	A collection of space salvagers and rippers.
	Stranded	Remnants of frontier pioneers and colonists stranded after failing to reach the Great Gate.
	Corsair Syndicate	Pirates.
	Umbral Reach	An extremely mysterious organization with quite insidious methods of spreading their reach.

Pacifists and Pacifiers

The following Factions do not actively participate in Conquest, and have no interest in doing so. They primarily offer specialized services and their missions grant very specialized rewards.

Goods and Services

Logo	Faction	Notes
	Intertrade Network	Global network of stock-market stations dealing in everything from guns to TV.
	Forge Industries	Company looking to expand through business ventures that tend to draw hostile fire.
	Canisec	Police security force ensuring compliance and hunting pirates across the quadrant.
	Orsanon Security	Private bounty-hunting force on the lookout for pirate leaders.
	Omnitac Agency	Mercenary company offering its services.

The Unknown / Unclassified Factions

Next to nothing is known about these factions. While they do own stations, or can at least technically become their owners, they do not offer much in the way of quests or info.

Unknown

Logo	Faction	Notes
	Void Drifters	Little is known about them.
	Meridia's Chosen	Extremely hostile band (nation?) of raving fanatics, no communication possible.

Faction Controlled Space

There are two main types of Faction controlled space in Vanguard Galaxy:

Controlled systems

War zone

These apply to the Frontier - the first half of Canis Majoris Sector.

Specific systems can be under the exclusive control of a factions, such as Motherlodes, Graveyards, Dread Ports and War zones. Getting to them required either buying a gate key from the owner's station outside the controlled space, or by looting it off dead pirates also found outside controlled space.

See Navigation for more details.

Inside these controlled confines, the player can find special loot - Skillpoints - either for purchase at stations, or looted from remains of pirate/enemy leaders.

War Zones: Player will not lose reputation when fighting against a Faction inside a War Zone. Defeat everything in order to get a skillpont from the hostile station.

Dread Ports: When fighting against the Corsair Syndicate and attempting to get a Gate Key to their Dread Port, the Gate Key can be found in a Combat Zone inside the subsector Dread Port is in (not necessarily the same system). It will drop from the last ship defeated. Once through the gate, defeat the patrolling enemies first before attacking the Station. The station's defense will decrease with each defeated patrol. Reward is a skillpoint and standard loot.

Conquest space

These apply to Ara Martis - the Conquest.

Inside Ara Martis the factions extend their reach and control over vast swathe of systems, and the player is incentivized to help them extend their grasp even further.

See Conquest Zone for more information.