Children of the
Fifth War.
Campaign Parameters // core data
The thread running through all of Season 1 is a single question: when an empire chooses to let its own citizens die rather than reveal what it knows — what do you do with that knowledge? The answer to that question defines who the players are. Not just their characters.
The campaign is played as a TV series with deliberate perspective shifts. Each focus group is a "storyline" — like Game of Thrones or The Wire, we cut between groups of characters in different parts of the conflict zone. Group 1 are the primary characters; the others are ensemble cast.
Terminology: The campaign is structured as a TV series. Season (S) → Chapter (C) → Episode (E). Example: S1C1E2 = Season 1, Chapter 1, Episode 2.
It does not start with a barrage. It starts with an RVSC tour nearly finished, a courier shipment paid a little too well, and delayed xboats. Group 1 carries three months of impressions from frontier worlds, things they have seen but not yet pieced together.
The war is now a fact. The Zhodani and Sword Worlds hold ground. Imperial Navy attempts to stabilize the line around Regina. Group 3 shows us life under Zhodani occupation, not as dystopia, but as moral complexity.
Threads come together. Something neither the Imperium nor the Zhodani officially know about begins to surface. The season finale approaches.
The crew and passengers aboard RVSC Type R2A4 — a jump-2 fast trader at the end of the demonstration tour Abyss Rift Circuit (Rhylanor → Lanth → Vilis → Five Sisters). Three months of impressions from frontier worlds they have not yet assembled. The last ordinary day is Iderati.
| Mirriam | C573645-9 · Five Sisters 0333 |
| Iderati | A887794-C · Five Sisters 0732 · TL12 |
| Jumpspace | Claustrophobic silence |
- RVSC employee — Merchant, Engineer, Navy veteran
- Freelance expert — Scout, Agent, Scholar, Medic
- Notable figure — Noble, ex-officer, ex-diplomat
- Fake — Any career, but the papers don't quite check out
- Plant — Agent with a parallel agenda
Imperial combat troops on Efate (Regina 1705, A646930-D, TL13) and Yres (Jewell, B564735-6, TL6). Episodes C1E4–C1E5, C3E2. Haldeman aesthetic: war is system failure, not heroism.
Life under Zhodani occupation — not as dystopia, but as a society with different values taking over. The Zhodani are not monsters. That is almost worse. Episodes C2E2–C2E4.
Scouts, agents and informants moving in the conflict zone's blind spots. The convergence episode C3E4 weaves together all four groups' stories. The coordinate file. Mesret. The decision to leave.
| Faction | Role in 5FW | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| IM Third Imperium | Defenders. Spread thin. High-tech, bureaucratic. | Sprawling, slow, convinced of its own competence. |
| ZH Zhodani Consulate | Attacking from coreward/spinward. Psionic elite. | Disciplined, telepathic, certain the Imperium is sick. |
| SW Sword Worlds Confederation | Allied with the Zhodani. Their own agendas. | Proud, fractious, on the wrong end of every map. |
| VG Vargr Corsairs | Opportunistic. Loosely pro-Zhodani, primarily self-interested. | Charisma over rank, raid over treaty. |
| IG Ine Givar | Anti-imperialist insurgency. Active in the conflict zone. | Wrong methods, not necessarily wrong goals. |
| TY The Silences | Shadow network. Ancient agenda tied to the coordinate file. | An old network with one purpose: keep what was found from being used. |
| Owner | RVSC Interstellar (corporate property) |
| Charter | Expires in Act 3 · RVSC's rules, routes, agenda |
| Tour | Abyss Rift Circuit · Rhylanor → Lanth → Vilis → Five Sisters |
| Status | Final phase of tour · day 155-1107 · Mirriam Downport |
- Joachim Krystalfuchs "Foxy" · Crewman First Class
Loyal to RVSC. Methodical. Holds the ship-override code. - Stannen Vaanaii · Junior RVSC Executive
Official representative. Career-driven, a touch too honest for the role. - Maninra Heiss · Steward / Security (officially)
Imperial Naval Intelligence informant. Observes everything. Acts late.