Oligarchs

"She will stop at nothing to end the Heralds and silence the word of On-Wah."

- Klavik on his sister Ny'tah.

The Oligarchs are a rogue sub-faction of the Altairians, led by Klavic's sister Ny'tah. They were first encountered by the Miner Rebellion during Contact.

History
The Oligarchs attempted a Coup'de'tat on the Altairian throne, overthrowing On-Wah and allowing Ny'tah to rise to power.

In Contact, Klavic warns the Miner Rebellion of the Oligarchs, a splinter faction led by his sister, Ny'tah. claiming they will stop at nothing to end the Heralds, and begs them for help in defeating them. The Miner Rebellion agrees to help, and together they manage to destroy the Vanguard of their assault.

In Deadlock, Ny'tah gives the Miner Rebellion and Heralds a chance to surrender after hearing of their initial success, and when they refuse, commits more of her ships towards decimating them. Her ships enter cryo-sleep during the hyperspace travel, and awaken when fired upon by the Miner Rebellion. The rebels use that to their advantage however, and manage to destroy most of the Brigade sent after them. This was revealed to be a diversion however, as Ny'tah sent her remaining forces after VEGA's main processing complex, stealing their Solar Shards in the process, intending to use them to build a Planet Destroyer.

In Invasion, Ny'tah continues her campaign against the Heralds and Miner Rebellion. She sends a Regiment of her fleets to slow down the Rebels in order to stall them long enough for her to finish building the Planet Destroyer. Rebel Scouts also reported her ships were seen towing back unfamiliar Alien Devices from the Forsaken Sector for unknown reasons.

In Blindside, the Oligarchs have seized the Carmine Nebula and claimed most of the territories surrounding Rebel Space, and set up Outposts to act as Territory Markers. Their Planet Destroyer, known as the Titan is finished by the end of the event, and Ny'tah intends to have it destroy Rebel HQ as target practice before turning it against her father.

In Doomsday, The test fire of the Titan is delayed thanks to Larus' contact in the Oligarchs, buying the rebels a few precious days. To get Klavic to his sister, the rebels launch a daring offensive against the Oligarch Battle lines, fighting through the Altairian Motherships and Fortresses to get to Ny'tah's Ship. Klavic is successful in persuading his sister to stop using the information that the Altairians and Rebels were distant cousins due to their ancestors splicing their DNA together to solve a fertility crisis, and the Oligarchs cease hostilities with the Miner Rebellion.

After On-Wah's dangerous ambitions were revealed, on Ny'tah's Orders, the Oligarchs test-fire the Titan on a few abandoned rebel sectors before turning it against On-Wah's solar system. Targeting the Star, they cause it to go supernova, resulting in a wave of Electromagnetic radiation that would destroy all of the planets at once. On-Wah was however able to beam a trasmission out due to his reaction time as a machine, something Ny'tah never thought possible.

That transmission was a scorched earth protocol called The Contingency, and it resulted in the eradication of all the colonies on Altair, leaving Ny'tah, Klavic and their few thousand attendants to be the only Altairians left in existence.

In Ashes, Ny'tah decides to honor the truce with the rebels despite them being 'framed' for the recent attacks by an unknown force. Many of her Oligarch supporters were unhappy with this, and have mutinied.

However, With Klavic and Ny'tah now on good terms with each other, it is safe to assume that the Heralds and Oligarchs have since merged back together as a united race. There are still a few defectors who continuously rage war with the rebels however.

During Synthesis, it was revealed that the Oligarchs had stolen the blueprint for the Renascence Battlecruiser, and they intend to use a new Alien element synthesized from the Xeno Virus to make it stronger. Rhea Dage suspects its because of a turncoat within the Heralds.

Ships and Technology
The Oligarchs, being a subfaction, use Altairian Ships and technology. Their ships are coloured red. Their ships also possess certain weapons that are exclusive only to them and not the Heralds.

They are able to enter Cryo Sleep when faced with long hyperspace journeys, and thus are stationary at first when entering combat. However, if they detect any threats nearby or are fired upon, the ships will immediately chase and destroy their aggressors.

They also possess powerful capital ships in the form of Altairian Motherships which are able to spawn Altairian Corvettes to swarm enemy ships.

They also have outposts and fortresses to mark out their territory also, heavily defended by Altairian Spawners and Altairian Combat Modules.

Klavic warns of the lethality of the Oligarch Armada, noting that the ships were the same ones that overthrew On-Wah and siezed the Altairian capital.

Mk I, III and V ships are the most prominent among their fleets. The Mk I-III variants of their ships deal one of the conventional damage types, while the Mk V Versions deal plasma damage.

Notable Figures
The Heralds are led by Klavic's sister, Ny'tah. Unlike her brother, she despises the teachings of her father On-Wah, and will stop at nothing to destroy the Heralds and silence the word of her father.

Trivia

 * The Oligarchs are the "bad guys" of the Altairians. The Vanguard of their armada clashed with the Miner Rebellion for the first time during Contact.