Three Universal Civilizations

Biodata

Member Civilizations

The three remain separate powers with distinct leadership and technology trees. Their cooperation does not eliminate espionage, political rivalry, or competition for influence 1076 1082.

Government and Interstellar Order

Joint Rule

• Central Galaxy control: Its Star System- and Star Cluster-level civilizations are their vassals. Pirates and similar independent criminal groups are rapidly eliminated from this home territory 798.
• Central Council: They preside over the Galaxy Civilization General Assembly, the highest interstellar Civilization Council. Each possesses both a single-vote veto and a single-vote decision privilege 1318.
• Emergency authority: Their disaster classification system grants them supreme command over other civilizations when a cosmic disaster reaches the legally defined threshold 1101.
• Economic integration: Trade and cooperation continue despite their rivalry unless all-out war intervenes. Integration also reinforces their rule by increasing the cost of isolation 883.
• Shared strategic interest: None can eliminate the other two. Beyond their internal disputes, all three prioritize suppressing potential challengers and preserving their collective supremacy 881.

Treaties and Restrictions

Their authority does not make overt aggression politically costless. Even when targeting Super Star Cluster civilizations, they require a public justification and substantial preparations 1095.

Background and History

Origin Era

The three civilizations began as isolated powers in separate Star Fields, each facing rivals stronger than itself. After prolonged development and warfare, each eliminated its regional competitors, secured supremacy over its Star Field, and began crossing the Desolate Universe Belts 772.

Their original territories were adjacent within what became the Central Galaxy. Discovering one another led to a struggle for supremacy; historians regard the outbreak of this conflict as the transition from the Origin Era to the Exploration Era 772.

Exploration Era and the Galaxy Era

The three expanded outward while fighting, drawing newly discovered civilizations into an increasingly destructive war. Some present-day Desolate Universe Belts were once ordinary Star Fields devastated by that conflict 772.

They were not initially unrivaled. Other powers, including the Evolutionary Civilization, possessed comparable standing but were destroyed. Only the Federation of Light, Arcane Church, and Crimson Dynasty survived to establish lasting supremacy. Their eventual truce ended the great war and inaugurated the Galaxy Era 772.

The resulting peace restrained open conquest without ending competition. Civilizations continued seeking resources, vassals, and influence through political pressure, assimilation, and indirect conflict 345 983.

Story Role and Major Conflicts

Han Xiao's Rise

Han Xiao initially negotiated with the Crimson Dynasty rather than all three civilizations. He offered access to the Evolution Cube in exchange for resources, advanced Mechanic knowledge, participation in Shattered World development, and neutrality in the Secret War. His later formal reception brought him into the Dynasty's Beyond Grade A network 772 802.

After the Intelligence Plague, all three supported the Black Star Army's expansion and opened purchasing access to part of their Universal Treasure-grade blueprint archives. This both rewarded Han Xiao and strengthened him as a counterweight to the Mechanic Emperor 1121.

Intelligence Plague

The outbreak in the Ancient Star Desert forced the three to suspend their rivalry. They classified it as an apocalyptic disaster, severed the Star Field's external network connections, imposed a blockade, and requisitioned specialist Mechanics 1100 1101.

Han Xiao warned that the virus core could evolve, enter the physical world, and move between quantum-network nodes. He proposed restricting the network and trapping it at terminal nodes with Supreme Virtual Mechanics and containment equipment 1110.

After the core's destruction, the three restored the quantum networks and used their antivirus systems to eliminate the remaining leaderless infections. Their public account emphasized Han Xiao's contribution 1122.

Shattered World Battle

The three opposed the Super Star Cluster Alliance's expansion in the Shattered World's Free Competition Zone. Their anti-monopoly regulations promised support and territory to forces willing to attack the alliance, turning numerous participating organizations into proxy combatants 1150 1152.

The conflict gradually escalated from proxy warfare to clashes between regular armies. Following the Gaud Incident, the three accused Super Star Cluster civilizations of responsibility and committed their direct Beyond Grade A subordinates. They defeated the alliance in eleven months 1218 1233.

Confrontation with the Beyond Grade A Association

Sanctuary Revival intensified their fear of independent individual power. By extending Beyond Grade As' effective lifespans and reducing the consequences of death, it threatened to increase their numbers beyond the civilizations' ability to control them 1261.

The three sought restrictions on whom Han Xiao could revive and how many revivals he could perform. He rejected negotiations because they did not control the process themselves and would therefore remain distrustful regardless of his concessions 1262.

Their subsequent sanctions targeted the Association's organizations as well as its individual members:

• Disarmament demands: The Association was ordered to reduce its forces and break up 1278.
• Travel restrictions: Members faced stargate authorization failures, docking bans, and territorial transit restrictions 1278.
• Financial pressure: Credit ratings were lowered and account transfers restricted 1278.
• No allied exemption: Their own Beyond Grade A allies were also targeted, deepening resentment within those relationships 1279.

The Association retaliated by suspending the membership privileges of their direct subordinates and ending combat and technical assistance. Han Xiao sought alternative partners and instructed members to resist without harming innocents or provoking open war 1279.

The confrontation escalated to military pressure and battles between Han Xiao and their direct Beyond Grade As. Their fleet nevertheless withdrew before the ultimatum expired after they discovered evidence of an unknown advanced civilization through Sorokin's wormhole data 1304 1307 1309.

World Tree War

Truce and Mobilization

The unknown power was the World Tree Civilization. Its discovery changed the three civilizations' priorities and enabled a settlement with the Association 1309 1330.

They investigated the World Tree Passage, launched a Secondary Dimension expedition to locate the enemy's main body, and eventually announced the invasion threat. Border populations were evacuated while the Explored Universe entered unified wartime mobilization 1313 1330.

Interception Campaign

To avoid feeding their own planets to the World Tree, the three established a defensive perimeter outside their territory. Stargates supplied the front, while space stabilization anchors restricted enemy wormhole access 1329 1330.

Their initial defensive successes gave way to a prolonged struggle over the anchoring tracks. On April 6, Galaxy Calendar Year 784, the World Tree advanced toward the interception ring after destroying the tracks. Successive reinforcements turned the fighting into an unsustainable war of attrition 1357.

The interception zone's eventual fall caused widespread panic and damaged public confidence. The three shifted to delaying actions as the World Tree advanced toward the Shattered World 1364 1365.

Defense of the Explored Universe

World Tree bridgeheads beyond the Shattered World's border prevented the three from recreating their earlier anchoring strategy. They prepared to exchange strategic depth for time while continuing the search for a decisive solution 1403.

The Star Alliance secretly supplied the invaders with territorial intelligence. Subsequent attacks exposed gaps in the defenders' high-level combat coverage and forced rapid reinforcements, stricter military controls, and further refugee management 1410 1425 1429.

Despite their productive capacity, the three recognized that the World Tree would ultimately outlast them in an indefinite war. Their immediate objective was to buy time for the Pivot Snake to mature 1421.

Final Campaign and Dispute over the World Tree

The final offensive concentrated most of the Explored Universe's available forces. Its decisive advantages were Han Xiao and the Pivot Snake 1441.

When Han Xiao began subduing the World Tree rather than destroying it, the three ordered their forces to attack its main body. Beyond Grade A organizations obstructed them, and Han Xiao shielded the tree before storing it in his inner space 1441.

Their objection was strategic: Han Xiao already exceeded their control, and acquiring an entire Universal Civilization's forces threatened the foundations of their rule. The common enemy's defeat had not resolved their conflict over independent individual power 1441.

Postwar Balance

Han Xiao used the Information State Warning Network to identify Star Alliance infiltrators and presented evidence of their interference. The three planned to recover before invading and reducing the alliance to a vassal; Han Xiao initially declined to involve himself or the Beyond Grade A Association in that campaign 1443.

Official confirmation of victory ended a wartime period that had disrupted ordinary life for nearly twenty years 1444.

The postwar order was no longer theirs alone to dictate. The Super Star Cluster Alliance maneuvered between the three and the Super Sanctuary, gaining development opportunities and concessions from their competition. The three later remained responsible for handling the Star Alliance's remaining resistance after Han Xiao's intervention 1453 1455.

Military and Technological Capabilities

Fleets and Wartime Industry

• Maintain core regular fleets, top-tier war flagships, strategic reserves, and extensive military production facilities 1334 1335.
• Shift from restrained peacetime expenditure to continuous wartime production and large-scale military expansion 1334.
• Mobilize other advanced civilizations under unified command; reinforcements at the World Tree interception zone increased by billions daily 1335.
• Can eliminate Beyond Grade As through fleets, technology, and Universal Treasures, although the cost rises sharply without comparable direct subordinates to contain them 1261.

Psionic Energy

• Researched Psionic Energy produced by secondary-dimensional collapse and its ability to assimilate other energy forms 662.
• Developed storage techniques that put Primal Psionic Energy particles to “sleep,” suppressing uncontrolled expansion and enabling large-scale applications 662.
• Prohibit weaponized Primal Psionic Energy within their jurisdiction because its contamination makes it an extreme deterrent 968.

Virtual Technology

• Possess main intelligences strengthened by generations of Beyond Grade A Mechanics, incorporating their memories, experience, and portions of consciousness 1296.
• Can allocate these intelligences' computing power to coordinated virtual assaults alongside direct-subordinate Mechanics 1296.
• Are not supreme in every specialty: the Intelligence Plague's originating civilization surpassed them in virtual-virus development, requiring them to study the weapon before fully understanding it 1110.

Spatial and Dimensional Technology

• Maintain Secondary Dimension outposts, research stations, collection facilities, and protective garrisons; discoveries there underpin much of their technological strength 1071.
• Use spatial and dimensional weapons, stabilization anchors, and long-distance stargates in strategic warfare 1329 1358.
• Applied Spacetime Shearing Technology against the World Tree's distant linked bases 1347.
• Operate the High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter, allowing near-instant reinforcement once an invasion is detected 1429.

Universal Treasures and Anti-Super Weapons

• Stockpile Universal Treasures for individual combatants and fleet-level operations, lending suitable equipment to Association members during the World Tree War 1335.
• Possess specialized technologies for attacking advanced life forms; the Scepter of All Gods is one example 1076.
• Retain limits against peer powers: many formidable strategic weapons can be countered by civilizations with comparable technology 1358.

Strategic Weaknesses

• Detection gaps: Their vast territory permits carefully concealed outsiders and enemy fleets to evade screening 1411 1429.
• No native Information State Warning Network: Rapid reinforcement does not solve the problem of locating hidden enemies 1429.
• Finite resources: Unlike the World Tree, they cannot commit resources to attritional warfare without regard for economic and social consequences 1333 1421.
• Insufficient expert coverage: Dispersed attacks can exceed the number of Beyond Grade As available to defend every threatened location 1425.

Dark Side Iteration Revelations

Later revelations distinguish the current civilizations from counterparts involved in earlier iterations:

• Dark Side Universe project: Building on the Federation of All Stars' approach, the three successfully isolated an iteration's information state into a closed Dark Side Universe, developing in parallel with the real universe at an accelerated rate 1450.
• Third Dark Side Iteration: After the World Tree War of Han Xiao's previous life, they obtained Sanctuary access through the Sanctum Organization and inherited knowledge accumulated by countless civilizations 1450.
• Preparations for the next iteration: They created a World Tree “control valve” and invested enormous resources in strengthening the real-state connection, considering the bridge associated with player version updates insufficiently stable 1450.