Shade Imperium

The Shade Imperium is the oldest living civilization. They first appeared on the scene before the 1st Great Universal War. They are the 2nd known intelligent race to have developed, just over a billion years after the Triune race came to universal power. With billions of years of history at their backs, Shade historians have a difficult time finding truth in their origins.

For the last few thousand years it has been widely known that the Shade were responsible for the extinction of the Triune race. As well as innumerable species and worlds across the universe. However the Shade Imperium having been the dominant faction in the cosmos for several billion years finally met its match with the unusually quick to come, rise of humanity. It was only up until the 2nd Great Universal War that the Shade Imperium had established a presence in almost every known galaxy.

The Shade Imperium has a strict, dictatorship/monarchy type government. It is ruled by an emperor with a council of 13 advisers.
There is no democracy with the Shade. They follow their emperor and their interpretation of their religion. The Imperium has a seemingly endless military, which is in control of the edge of the known universe.

The Imperium worships the fire side of Zeon, believing that it is their divine duty to bring justice and balance to all individuals and lesser civilizations that seek power. Due to a "Commandment" given to them from their Zeon. The Imperium instructs in civilians from the time of birth that Zeon was actually the 1st Shade and that the emperor was a direct descendant of Zeon himself. Because the Shade race is genderless it makes it impossible for anyone to prove this genetically.

In addition, the Shade Imperium also has the largest military force in the entire history of the universe. Many scholars have wondered why the shade have not been able to simply annihilate all life with this huge number advantage. The answer is simple, at some point in a class 5 civilizations evolution, they reach a standstill technology wise. The rate of which war, famine, destruction and the chaos of the universe equalizes their ability to advance in technology.

For the Imperium, this is believed to have happened billions of years ago. Others may ask why have they simply not left the universe altogether. If they have such advanced technology then why stay in a universe that will inevitably die at some point in time. Many people believe that their simply is no possible way to break through the edge of the universe. But there are a select few who have another theory. That the Shade have already done this in the past and know the terrors that lurk beyond the universes edge.