[i][b]The Empire of the Shattered Sky[/b][/i]

[img]https://karratti.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/shatteredskyflag_500.png[/img]

[b]Backstory:[/b]

Initially, Vault 44 was designed by Vault-Tec to study Communism and the Chinese "mindset," by packing only Chinese citizens into the space, closing it off to all other influences. The number 44 was cruelly chosen simply because the number four is equated to "death" in Chinese culture. Exactly 44 years to the day after the vault was sealed, it opened unexpectedly, and the residents slowly made their way out into the northern winter of the British Columbia wasteland.

Since that time, the former vault-dwellers established their own society, based on the principles of their homeland, and followed a charismatic leader known as The Emperor of the Shattered Sky. This Emperor seems immortal, and has never been replaced. Under his leadership, the Empire has grown strong, encompassing much of former Vancouver, and proving a remarkably stable and intimidating force in the BC Wasteland as the years have gone on.

More recently, within the last decade, a surprising amount of flaming debris touched down near Imperial borders, and their scouts and scientists gathered as much as they could find, realizing that the scorched pieces comprised parts of an extraterrestrial vessel. Though the concept had frightening complications, the Imperial scientists went to work, eventually scrapping together a working version of one of the unusual weapons - a beam which could be reflected off of one of the numerous satellites in orbit, to be fired down as space-faring artillery.

Upon the initial test fire, however, the beam's aim was slightly miscalculated, and scorched a non-Imperial settlement, Tsing Sha, approximately two hundred miles south of the Imperial palace. The accident notwithstanding, the results were impressive, as nothing had survived the blast, and the earth and sand itself had been practically turned to glass and slag where there was once buildings and farms.

The test proven successful, the Emperor encouraged further research, especially in light of the considerable power drain required by the weapon itself.

The test firing, however, attracted the attention of both The Enclave and The Brotherhood of Steel, each of which sent scouting groups to the area like moths to a flame, curious and concerned about the source of such an output of energy.