Elite Universe

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The Elite Universe

The Elite Universe is a term to describe the whole fictional universe of the Elite series. Every Elite game and media takes place in the same universe. There are some minor disparities such as timeline events.

A Dystopian Universe

The Elite Universe has many aspects that make it dystopian. It's not an unrealistic depiction of an utopia, near-perfect societies without conflict. The galactic superpowers Federation, Empire and Alliance are portrayed as imperfect. They're all flawed with good and bad aspects. There's not a clear group of "good guys" and "bad guys." It's kept rather ambiguous.

The timeline of the Elite Universe is a continuation of real life modern history. Elite Dangerous takes place 1286 years in the future and moves at the same speed as real-life.

These things make the Elite Universe more believable and realistic than most other science-fiction universes.

Post-Apocalyptic

The Elite Universe is post-apocalyptic. World War 3 (2044-2055 AD) was the most destructive war waged on Earth. In the after-math, the dominant power was the United States of the Americas. Governments could not cope with the damage of war. Corporations stepped in and gradually rebuilt human civilization.

In the 34th century, countries are historical entities that don't exist anymore. All remaining countries on Earth joined and dissolved into the Federation which was formed circa 2240 AD. People find it hard to imagine a time when people existed only on Earth with many disparate countries.

Lore

The official lore of the Elite Dangerous Role Playing Game gives an interesting insight into the Elite Universe. "Little has changed for those in the bottom of society since the old-Earth's dark ages. The planet-spanning mega corporations employ entire nations and rule unchecked over vast sections of the galaxy. Weapons are readily available and people are inclined to shoot first. The general lawlessness of space, inequality, greed of the galactic elite, navigational hazards and fierce creatures on planets make it a dangerous galaxy."

Societies

Societies in the Elite Universe can be very diverse, because star systems can have many different government types and customs. This is mostly the case in the Alliance and independent systems where each system is governed independently with their own culture, values and government.

The Federation is less diverse than the Alliance due to having common values, regulations and government types among all their systems. The Empire is the least diverse due to having an imperial monarchy with more strict regulations.

Federation

In the Federation, society is economically and socially corporatist. Social class is only determined by the 'haves' and 'have-nots'. Corruption is not unusual and people defend it shamelessly when caught as 'getting one over the system'. The working-class of the population is kept entranced by mass-entertainment and commercialism.

The corporations are the life-blood and backbone of the Federation. They hold a very wide remit as to what they're permitted to do in the name of profit concerns. They control many aspects of life, politics and business within Federal space.

The Constitution enshrines human rights and freedoms. It's the basis of Federal Law. The Federation respects human life more than the Empire, but it's not as free as the Alliance.

Empire

In the Empire, society is based on a cliens system like ancient Rome and strictly stratified. To move between strata requires money, patronage and influence. There's a dark underbelly of legalized slavery. Slaves perform work which machines would do in other parts of the universe. It's also a proponent of human-cloning. Few things are illegal, but much is frowned upon like narcotics.

Imperials value both status and honour very highly. Whilst it is acceptable to flaunt wealth, treating people well is a question of honour - and this includes slaves. People would sell themselves into slavery to pay for a debt that cannot otherwise be cleared in order to restore their honour.

Imperial Law is enforced by Senators who themselves are above the law. They can order executions or even kill people themselves. They're rarely held accountable by the Emperor.

Alliance

The Alliance consists of independent systems who are militarily allied. It's governed by a the Alliance Assembly. Each Alliance member state has a number of Council Members within the Alliance Assembly, based on the size of their respective populations. It functions as an arbitration body to establish common policies and treaties among Alliance systems, but it lacks any law making powers.

There's much cultural and societal diversity among its members. It's much more diverse than the Federation and Empire. This makes political agreement difficult. Personal freedoms are inscribed in the Bill of Humans Rights.

Alliance systems and planets have the freedom to govern themselves independently. The flipside is there are also oppressive regimes on certain planets in Alliance space. Such as "on revolutionary Eranin the population are expected to perform in weekly parades celebrating their independence from the Federation, even while their leaders ‘redistribute’ the people’s wages into their own back pockets."

Kardashev Scale

The Kardashev scale measures a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy a civilization is able to use for communication.

• Type I - a planetary civilization capable of utilizing all of the energy of a single planet. Earth, circa 2015, sits at 0.724 (circa 1960, 0.7), just under Type I.
• Type II - a stellar civilization is capable of utilizing all the energy of a star
• Type III - galactic civilization can control energy on the scale of the entire host galaxy

Type IV and V civilizations are thought to be too advanced by Nikolai Kardashev and may not be possible according to current scientific understanding. Other theorists like Michio Kaku, Robert Zubrin and Carl Sagan think it is possible.

• Type IV - a civilization that can control or use the entire universe. They can take on gargantuan, superhuman projects such as changing the structure of space-time.
• Type V - a civilization that can control or use a collection of universes. They are like gods, can jump between multiverses with the knowledge to manipulate the universe as they please.

Type II Civilizations

Based on the Kardashev scale, we can determine how advanced a civilization really is depending on the amount of energy it uses and how much it could harvest for its own needs.

Humans

Humans are a Type II civilization in the Elite Universe. It's estimated to be around level 2.6 which is near Type III. This is evident in the following human technological abilities and achievements in the 34th century:

• With the Frame Shift Drive humans can travel many times the speed of light between star systems.
• Humans can travel in a higher dimensional region known as Hyperspace.
• Corporations control countless companies which farm, mine and use entire planets and star systems for resources and food. This is done to produce basic goods which trillions of people use for their survival. Corporations have the technological capability and actively harness the energy of entire star systems.
• With faster than light travel (FTL) being commonly available, Dyson spheres are inefficient compared with harnessing energy (and resource) at a smaller scale over more stars and systems.
• Humans were able to jump across the galaxy and between galaxies with modifications to the original hyperdrive. It used the fuel Quirium in the classic Elite.
• The Middle-classes can afford spaceships like cars in the 20th century.
• Humans can travel to almost any point in the whole Milky Way galaxy on a mass scale
• Humans have the ability to harness power of thousands of star types in the galaxy.
• Humans have expanded heavily on an interstellar level. Primarily in The Bubble and some other regions like Colonia. Human settlements and asteroid bases are scattered in deep space.
• Tens of thousands of systems have been colonized so far. Corporations rule over vast sections of the galaxy, much of that is uninhabited.
• There's the galactic infrastructure GalNet. It provides news, market pricing and a pilot communication system.
• Humans can use Holo-Me holograms to instantly join other ships with telepresence. This works throughout the galaxy.

Humans don't yet control or use the energy of the entire Milky Way galaxy which is a requirement for being a Type III civilization.

Guardians

The Guardians are a Type II civilization. This is based on the recovered knowledge of the Ancient Ruins.

Type III Civilizations

Thargoids

The alien Thargoids could be a Type III civilization. They're an intergalactic species and may exist in a parallel universe or spatial dimension. They've interdicted pilots in Hyperspace which is a higher-dimensional region. Maybe they control energy on the scale of their entire original galaxy.

Thargoids are not a Type IV civilization, because they don't control the universe. This is evident by their lack of control over the Milky Way galaxy.