Elite: Dangerous is a big game; it’s set in our very own Milky Way with a 1:1 scale. With this in mind, it might not be surprising to see the number one complaint about the game, is that there’s “nothing to do”. Well, they’re dead wrong.
Frontier Development’s space sim is teeming with NPC factions, all with their own stories and motives. One of them, dubbed as the “Empire”, is experiencing a civil war right now due a muddy succession struggle. It’s gotten so out of hand, that all sides have started to deploy some of the biggest ships in the game, and players can go watch (and fight) the entire thing play out in space, right now.
It all started a couple of days ago. A slave revolution has sparked in the system of Sorbago, which prompted a response from the governing faction, the Empire, in the form of a huge show of force. What’s more is that another rival faction, called the “Federation”, has sent its own forces to reinforce the anti-slavery revolution.
Now the boss of the Empire – aptly named the Emperor – is on his last legs. His succession is on all everybody’s lips right now – which his only son being the natural, and only rightful heir. The problem is that his son’s daughter (the Emperor’s grand daughter) is herself backing the slave revolt; she says that when her father takes the throne, he will abolish slavery in the entire Empire.
Hearing this, the Emperor quickly held a hearing, where he denounced his own son for being “insane”, removing his divine right to rule.. Now, with no clear successor, the faction is in turmoil as civil war looms on all sides. Powerful members of the Empire are contemplating who to side with, or whether to back themselves as a possible interdicting heir. And all the while, other rival factions are awaiting the inevitable infighting, to see if they can take advantage of it in some way.
Players within Elite: Dangerous can head over to Sorbago, and watch the entire war spill out into the system. They can even pick a side to determine who wins the overall power struggle, which will inevitably and permanently affect the system in terms of faction ownership, policies, laws and trading standards (including the selling of slaves).
Check out some footage from Youtuber CMDR Static Awesome of the two capital ships in action.
Have you been a part of the Sorbago civil war? Who did you side with? I’m going to pop over there tonight and see what the space jam is.
Images courtesy of CMDR Fireytoad via www.elitegalaxy.org