// FACTIONS

Bastion Arms

"Security through demonstrated capability."

The oldest trading house still operating under its original charter. Bastion Arms built its fortune in military hardware - weapons, hull plating, ship systems - and has been supplying whoever has the most ships for three centuries. They supplied the empire before the Sundering, supplied the Varath federation through the recovery, and quietly maintain relationships with Keth military procurement officers who would rather buy Bastion hardware than admit it.

Bastion Arms is deeply conservative - they believe the current three-race arrangement is temporary and are positioning themselves to be whoever comes out on top's preferred supplier. They are not corrupt, exactly. They are transactional in a way that becomes indistinguishable from corruption at scale.

Space: Cinderhold and the Ashfall corridor. Bastion patrol ships run the most heavily armed civilian routes in Varath space.

What they want: Stable conflict. Not peace (peace is bad for business), not uncontrolled war (destroys the customer base). Controlled, ongoing tension between the races.

Starting standing: Varath: +250 | Keth: -50 | Meridian: 0

Missions: Security contracts, prototype weapon field testing, intelligence gathering on Keth military movements, supply convoy escort.

Exalted perk: Bastion hardpoint modification - bonus weapon mount on any Varath ship.