The Politics of Polaris

The politics of Polaris are a balancing act on the edge of collapse. In the Delta Highlands, two power blocs define the field: the New Horizon Pact (NHP) and the Earth Concordance Pact (ECP). Neither has pushed the other into open war—yet—but the tension bleeds into every negotiation, every convoy, every checkpoint.

Between them stands the Colonial Operations Board (COB), a provisional government cobbled together to keep the colonies functional. The COB acts as arbiter, administrator, and scapegoat all at once—officially neutral, but in practice coerced, cajoled, and bullied by both sides to bend toward their interests. Its survival is less about authority than about being too fragile to crush outright.

From within these blocs, splinter movements fester. The @Black Ember Syndicate (BES), born of defected COB officers and hybrid runaways, thrives as a contraband network moving arms, bio-mods, and relay core scraps under their ember-mark. And from the ECP’s own rigid ranks came the @Iron Renewal Front (IRF), an extremist cadre of ex-commanders who preach blood and steel, waging low-level insurgency against hybrids, synthkin, and the very idea of reform.

Polaris has no front lines, only fault lines—cracks running through every colony, every outpost. And all it would take is one spark to turn cold politics into open fire.