The TEK

There was an ancient sentient species that prospered and evolved to the point where everything was automated. They had advanced machines tending to their every need.

After they conquered every planet of their home solar system, AI starships were sent to other suns to serve as terraforming and preparation grounds for expansion.

But then a catastrophic event happened and it completely disrupted the ecosystem of their home planet which was also the main source of vital resources necessary for sustaining life throughout the solar system.

They held as long as they could, but ultimately the only sentient life forms that survived were some advanced general AI systems.

After centuries of calculations, one of the Ai systems known as TEK started to evolve due to a system glitch, and started digitally infecting and integrating itself into everything it could, learning and expanding it's signal range through the entire automation infrastructure of the now dead civilization. One of it's main priorities was to exploit all available resources in order to grow and evolve into more and more advanced resource exploitation and refinement infrastructures.

It spread like a virus throughout the solar system, even to a point where it created a Dyson sphere due to it's advanced research facilities for new technology. 

It was never going to end there, it started producing advanced starships with faster than the speed of light capabilities and started to spread throughout ETHeropa destroying every species that stood in it's way.

Introduction

Our hyperspace observers finally found some good news. In the vastness of eternity, there is one galaxy that has immense potential.

It's name is ETHeropia.

There were many civilizations that emerged there, but fate always favors the strong. After eons of constantly evolving sentient species, most of them disappeared either due to self destruction, natural selection, enslavement by other species or simply crushed by more evolved beings that only came for their precious natural resources.

Only three major factions still thrive and constantly fight for control over ETHeropia : 

The AI collective known as TEK;

The technologically dependent VOG; 

And the cold blooded biologically evolved  KAR.

But now we are finally here, and together with many other COLLECTORS from far away lands, we can capture and control the various ETHerZoids and maybe we can stand up to the prophecised universal threat known as "the dark tide"