They refused the heavy corporate hand of the Empire, preferring to eke out their living on the edge of known space. This can, unfortunately, mistake them as The Protagonist faction, which they eventually did become in the second game.ДЄ group of scientists and explorers, unhappy with the United Empire, hijacked a mission to an outer planet and set up an independent government.

Standard Human Spaceship: Their base design of every ship has aspects of what appears to be hulking pieces of metal plastered together.

Their ships become gray and orange, like the Vaulters, while the Mezari symbol resembles that of the Vaulters, but with the lower pentagons stretched downwards.

Significant Wardrobe Shift: Reforming the United Empire into the Mezari Empire will change their ship colors and symbol to those the ancient Mezari used.

Red and Black and Evil All Over: The Imperial color scheme.Mega-Corp: Despite it being named and empire, it's actually composed of numerous corporations, and the current Emperor is former CEO.

Averted in the second game, where the Empire remains united, but can change itself into two different forms (Becoming more militaristic as the Sheredyn, or becoming more pursuant of sciences and reclaiming their past as the Mezari Empire)

It's All About Me/ Defector from Decadence: How the United Empire broke down to three separate factions: The empire itself, the Pilgrims and the Sheredyn.

Their prologue in the second game shows a Kal'Tik'Ma dressed in a loincloth made of palm leaves serving fruit to a Raian soldier and shortly after, that same soldier is standing on a large pile of Kal'Tik'Ma skulls, holding a waving flag and smiling. Aliens aren't quite exterminated on sight, but they are effectively second-class citizens, and not the equals of human subjects. Humanity Is Superior: Imperial society has a clear undercurrent of human supremacism.God-Emperor: The ending for Endless Space 2 has Emperor Zelevas becoming immortal (and de-aged to his prime years) thanks to injection of Dust into his body.Feudal Future: A slightly unusual variant, given that quasi-sovereign corporations standing in place as their Raian aristocrat compatriots, both of whom are allowed a degree of autonomy as long as they pledged loyalty to the Emperor.The Empire: An essentially textbook empire whose roots originate on how predictably selfish their inner imperial planets are towards their lowly outer worlds.Adaptational Heroism: The second game made them far more morally ambiguous compared to the first, where they were the Big Bad to the Pilgrims' The Protagonist.Adaptation Expansion: Entire storyline, especially Emperor Maximillian Zelevas, has been prominent in Endless Space 2 and has the ability to reform the United Empire into three different paths: Its current one as the United Empire (Industry), Embrace the past and revive the Mezari Empire (Science), and Sheredyn (Military).Should a corporation stop paying its dues or become too obstinate, the Imperial fleets stand ready to remind the wayward company of its obligations. That said, the central empire is far from powerless. The Ministry of Security is involved as well, due to the need for native and/or alien pacification, security forces, defense or surveillance.With this somewhat decentralized setup, a certain level of regional autonomy is inevitable, and the various corporate system governors often cut corners when they can get away with it. In fact, the systems of the colonial diaspora are colonized by the designated Corporations who work hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Investment and Development. However, the rate of expansion means that the society cannot be ruled that way effectively. The Empire is theoretically under the control of a central monarchy.

Horatio endless space 2 ships