There Are No Pure Good Factions in Our Neighborhood (2)
Anyway, after checking the info on ACIC, I hit refresh on the concept post page again.
The moment the gallery refreshed, I could see our veteran old-timers posting even sleeker new threads.
Of course, the new posts were about the remaining factions—Demonia Empire, Earth Coalition, everything except ACIC.
Maybe because those three were already blatantly radiating villain vibes?
I clicked on the new post by Doctor Midori about the "Babel Church".
And sure enough...
Riding the momentum, here's the fourth faction intro: the Babel Church.
Aliases: Space Demonic Cult, Outer God Worshippers, Demonia Empire's Spicy Extract.
Unlike other nations or factions, the Babel Church didn't rebel during the "Great Rebellion".
Right after the Great Rebellion, while the Demonia Empire was in chaos, some hardliners, Outer God worshippers, and the headquarters of the Empire's state religion got isolated.
There, that religion and the Outer God cultists fought each other tooth and nail, went mad in isolation like some blackening curse, and ended up fusing together.
After the Great Rebellion ended, the Demonia Empire somehow broke the siege and freed them.
But the problem was, after a century of isolation, they'd gone a bit off the rails.
How much? They called the Demonia Empire's current world conquest plan (unleashing the consuls) "weak sauce".
Shortly after breaking free, they teamed up with some ultra-hardline factions in the Empire calling for extreme measures, ditched the Empire, and set up their own shop.
That's the structure. So among the so-called galactic mega-factions, they've got scale on par with the Earth Coalition—the only other one.
But like the Earth Coalition, they're openly tangled with Outer Gods.
No, the Earth Coalition at least deals shady backroom trades with them.
The Babel Church straight-up worships Outer Gods and slings their power around, so fighting them means dealing with all sorts of insane bullshit.
No joke—in the game, when you face them as enemies, your ships suddenly mutate into grotesque monsters, wiping out the crew inside.
Or the crew gets brainwashed and turns hostile.
Sometimes it's not the ship, but troops, officers, or execs who get brainwashed or mutated into demons and attack.
It's like some 40k galaxy braindead cheese meta.
They uniquely don't swarm with mass infantry like other nations.
They send elite squads of absolute monsters for a total curbstomp meta.
Feels like Atlantis wuxia guys, but the difference? These elites are drenched in Outer God blessings.
They don't look human (our humans or countless aliens)—they're straight-up monsters.
If they keep humanoid form, you get bitches blasting battleship-grade beams solo.
Plus, get close and Outer Gods cheer them on, twisting everything with their aura—you gotta do hardcore purification just to fight.
Shitty traits everywhere.
But recruit them as allies? All those traits weaken, making them a chicken rib.
If you're fully theirs, maybe not—but otherwise, Outer Gods get salty and nerf their power, making them frail.
Still stronger than average, but way weaker than when fighting you.
Tech-wise, paradoxically, they're 100% science.
Why? All non-science tech is covered by Outer God hacks.
If it fails, just sacrifice and fix it.
They've got a quirk: even if you don't join them directly,
if you smash other heretics (e.g., planetary natives), their favor with you rises.
Beating them doesn't cancel heretic-smashing gains.
Back in game days, some vets turned the cult into a punching bag wife.
*Some idiots write this wrong, but top brass here have endless life-extension means—"previous emperor" was at least 500 years ago, not decades.
"Huh, that's... pretty bizarre."
It was longer than the others, so I wondered what the deal was.
Turns out, flashy name aside—even I, clueless on SF, knew Cthulhu-style Outer Gods from somewhere—and they're way more openly tied to them than the Earth Coalition.
Even demanding human sacrifices, classic villain org.
I inwardly grumbled: why are all the giant nations or factions in this damn world such pieces of shit?
Of course, that lasted a moment. I knew it was "that kind of game" when I downloaded it, modpack and all...
Whining here was pointless.
Anyway, that's how I learned about the four mega-factions the vets mainly mentioned—the so-called "Four Heavenly Kings".
Naturally, I checked the rest: other nations like the "Replicant Republic" other users mentioned,
and various mid-to-small factions.
While lounging, letting the baby kraken's soft tentacles wiggle-massage my toes, legs, shoulders, and waist.
But as seen before, most vet users were blatantly not spilling too much info to noobs like me, lest our brains melt.
Unlike the Four Kings, the mid-small faction posts were...
Quick note: the nations/factions here aren't for current consuls to touch.
Why? Size doesn't mean weak—
Smaller means paradoxically faster movers.
Others give response time; these can smash you before you blink.
And it's nation-scale small; a single consul lackey gets ant-squashed.
Replicant Republic: Galaxy's only place granting citizenship to "clones".
Clones mean braindead troop spam—ground forces other same/below-tier nations can't match.
No joke: just 30-40 star systems, but ground power rivals Earth Coalition.
Plus, clone superpowered kidnapped/trained psychics for elite/officer roles everywhere.
Problem: that insane potential got them nearly wiped in Empire days,
and now Red Scourge raids etc. keep them as cannon fodder.
Red Scourge = those guys from the recent live feed hype.
Not just outsiders—hybrids with local species.
MacGuffin lore: Earth Coalition involved in their birth.
Anyway, they've carved a corner, planet-rooted like Demonia, plotting conquest.
But Great Rebellion gave breathing room—before, Empire sent punitive fleets constantly; now everyone's on alert, so they're shaky.
Other factions? Skipping details, gg.
"Ah, they made it skimpy on purpose."
Unlike others, the post was super short, and comments confirmed why.
In other words, at least for now, ones we won't meet—or like Red Scourge, already smashed.
I nodded, accepting it.