If anyone is interested, here is some of the Lore and general timeline I've been working up for the Faction version of SDV.
As a note, the Faction will start with 2 built-up colonies in the Talia system near the core, and will be colonizing two planets outside of the core at the start of the game. You'll see these referenced in the timeline.
Stardust Ventures was a minor shipyard during the years of the Domain, focused almost exclusively on the creation of long range exploration and colonization ships. Their proprietary core system allowed safe passage through hyperspace storms and other dangerous phenomena. With the collapse of the gate system, however, many of the crucial parts necessary are now no longer available, and the company was forced to make do with what can be created locally.
The instability of the sector and its growing piracy also spurred the creation of a whole combat line of ships to help escort what were once the primary focus of the entire enterprise. These days the company has carved out a small niche in the sector, selling ships and weapons to various factions and independent explorers. It is uncertain if such a relatively weak group can maintain that neutrality forever or if they will be subsumed into one of the larger powers.
Timeline:
Pre-Collapse <0c : Small shipyard focused on exploration/colonization ships
Venture Industries and Stardust Hall settled to provide Persean Sector manufacturing base and living quarters for executives and workers.
Collapse 0c - 50c : Loss of specialized equipment and support cuts off the company from most of its vendors. Local factory is retooled to provide as much as possible.
Brabant 62c : Settled by independent minded workers, the colony initially focuses on mining and later expands to refining to support the SDV industries in Talia.
First AI War (~100c) : CEO Brandon Silverlight makes the decision to stay neutral. This causes and end to any ongoing joint development work with Tri-Tachyon and a chilling of relations. Hegemony accepts the neutrality provided the company begins to build warships. A similar deal is struck with the League. Neither side is happy with the Company, but has much bigger issues to deal with.
Warlord Loke's invasion 160c: Increased pirate raiding and dangers prompts the formation of the System Defense Force military HQ and an increase in internal fleet development.
Rise of the Sindrian Diktat 182c: Sindria contracts with the now famously neutral shipyard to work on warships that fit with the Solar Shielding doctrine of the Diktat. Joint work between Sindrian engineers, Tri-Tachyon scientists, and Stardust engineering dramatically improve the capabilities of the Stardust Core systems following breakthroughs in the Solar Shielding technology.
Second AI war 189c: CEO Cameron Olympus follows tradition and refuses to be involved in anything other than a manufacturing capacity for either side. Relations with Tri-Tachyon sour further, and contracts are broken. While some SDV hulls are in use by TT, no new orders are made.
CEO retires 204c: Cameron Olympus retires, leaving the company in the hands of the capable but relatively young Ravenna Silverlight, great-granddaughter of Brandon Silverlight.
Star Seeker Initiative: 205c : Captain Danlia convinces Ravenna and the board to approve the expansion of the company out beyond the core worlds to make use of the rich resources, many long forgotten, throughout the sector. Wayfarer's Rest and the whimsically named Mystical Grilltopia are founded and serve as hubs for the increased exploration efforts.
[Player arrives in 206c]
I'm certainly open to any suggestions or feedback anyone has on this and can answer questions on what I'm going to be doing with the faction release.
