Factions
Every route in Mainframe crosses somebody's claim. This page lists the factions a captain meets in the game, how they stand toward each other, and what the records say about the powers behind them.
In the game
Players enlist with one of two factions, the Ganden Republic or the TZHAL Empire. The two are at war over Greylock, a gate fort. Enlisting decides which home hub you fly from and which faction your Merits count for. See Faction war.
| Faction | Shown in game as | Players can enlist | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ganden | Ganden Republic | Yes | A mercantile, oligarchic republic. Home hub: Ganden. |
| TZHAL | TZHAL Empire | Yes | The old empire: the navy of the Emergency Government. Home hub: Zhat Kali. |
| Serat Republic | Serat Republic | No | Shipbreakers. |
| Culminar Republic | Culminar Republic | No | Shipwrights of Culminar's Forge. |
| Clementines | Clementine | No | The Order of Saint Clement. |
| Teks | Tek | No | Nomadic techno-alchemists who live by scavenging. |
| Outlaws | Outlaws | No | Pirates. They hold no hub and fly as gangs. |
Relations
Factions fight each other as well as players. There are three degrees of hostility: war, hostile and feud. Pairs that are not listed are neutral.
| Between | And | Standing |
|---|---|---|
| Ganden | TZHAL | War |
| Serat Republic | Culminar Republic | War |
| Culminar Republic | Outlaws | War, declared by Culminar |
| Clementines | Outlaws | War, declared by the Clementines |
| Outlaws | Serat Republic | Hostile |
| Outlaws | Teks | Hostile |
| Clementines | Culminar Republic | Feud |
| Outlaws | TZHAL | Feud |
| Outlaws | Ganden | Feud |
What they field
Faction ships fly as patrols, convoys and mining operations. Ganden and TZHAL also hold strongholds. Teks fly as scavenger crews or alone. Outlaws fly as gang wings.
Heat
Attacking a faction's ships raises your heat with that faction, on a scale of 0 to 10. Heat does not carry over to your next session. A faction answers heat with response forces in three sizes: a scout, a wing or a war party. A ship that is fired on shoots back whatever your heat is.
In the world
Four powers shape the war in the records of Mainframe, and their alliances decide which routes stay open and where Breachers are sent next.
| Power | Known as | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Ganden | The Republic | Mainframe's largest city and the chief victor of the Credit Revolution. An oligarchic republic that controls the Open Corridor and issues ORE. |
| TZHAL | The Emergency Government | The military administration that survived the THALIT Union's collapse, fighting to reunify the old state. |
| Clementines | The Order | Land's oldest and largest Curricularist monastic order, governed by a Synod in Saint Clement. |
| Teks | The Court of Miracles | A politically detached, semi-nomadic people of hackers, cipher alchemists, counters, and shipborne clans. |
Other powers
The records also name:
- Ordo Crucis, a military order that grew out of the Clementine tradition. It kept a fortified independence under THALIT rule and still uses the ancient licent.
- The Acheronites, Savelians and Ioannites, Curricularist orders that also emerged from the Clementine tradition.
- The city-states of Land, among them Bastion Serat, Acheron, Heraclea and Sinop.
- The Communal League, the alliance of central city-states that Ganden led against the THALIT Union and that failed in the Old War.
Their unfinished war now divides Mainframe alongside city-states, monasteries, fleet domains, manufacturers, logists, tek clans, pirates, and communities too distant to recognize either claimant.