Galactic Civil War (Dreadstar)

The Galactic Civil War was a prolonged series of military engagements that took place in the Empirical Galaxy between the forces of the authoritative Galactic Monarchy and the fundamentalist religious order known as the Order of the Instrumentality.

History
The origins of the war are lost to history, but many believed that it started over a claim upon a small, unimportant planet called Nimbus. The forces of the Monarchy and the Instrumentality fought a bloody struggle against one another for more than two centuries. The legacy of power was handed down through the generations, until even the inheritors of the conflict could no longer recall why they were fighting. Two-hundred years after the war began, the Monarchy was dominated by King Gregzor, the last in a long line of dynastic kings from the royal Dylogo family. The Instrumentality meanwhile, was led by the vicious Lord High Papal. Under Papal, the Instrumentality maintained a strong advantage over the Monarchy through a doctrine of fear and terror. Those who failed to follow their instruction were threatened with eternal damnation. Over the span of centuries, the two galactic super-powers laid waste to hundreds of occupied worlds, killing millions in their unending feud.

Caught in the middle of the ages-old conflict were pockets of resistance fighters who didn't claim loyalty to one side or the other, but were forever caught in the middle of the Monarchy and the Instrumentality's battles. One of the greatest heroes of the resistance was the mysterious Vanth Dreadstar - last survivor of the Milky Way Galaxy; a man who wielded tremendous power through a solar sword he could summon on command. Aiding Vanth Dreadstar in his efforts to end the war were a team of like-minded freedom fighters which consisted of the Caldorian cat man Oedi, the scarred mystic Syzygy Darklock, the technopath Willow 327 and her pet monk Rainbow.