Imperium Liberatus

"Keres, now called Imperatrix Keres, has raised an impossibly vast armada to take her revenge. Our best scientists and tacticians are at a loss for how she has accomplished such a task. She is out for conquest, and we do not have the resources to stand against her."

The Imperium Liberatus are a NPC faction introduced in August 2020, and are a secret army raised by Keres VII to exact her revenge on the Rebels and conquer the galaxy.

History
It is unknown when the Imperium Liberatus came to be, but it can be hypothesized that ever since Keres was rescued from Umbra, even though the Iron Star Company had pretty much disbanded, she was making preparations to develop a powerful fighting force in the event things did not turn out as she wanted. When the Miner Rebellion took Kobus Chiron into custody and denied her a chance to exact revenge, she activated this secret army and formally declared war on the Rebels, having had enough of their supposed "betrayals.".

Her new army burnt a path through numerous rebel colonies, completely obliterating Rebel colonies and bases, and the rebels could do little to nothing about her onslaught. In response, Burr activated the Spectre Division, intending to develop Countermeasures against what became known as the Imperium Liberatus.

In Upsurge, it is revealed that the reason Keres has been able to raise such a vast army unnoticed is because she made use of the Pharmakon's quantum replication technology to produce multiple clones. However, due to the increasing amount of failures to subdue the rebels constantly in Virago, she has pushed the replicator to its limits, causing multiple energy storms.

In Showdown, the Rebels are eventually able to locate and destroy the Quantum Replicator core, stopping the Liberatus from mass producing more cloned ships. Keres and her followers have since fled through a rift, with the rebels in pursuit.

Ships and Technology
Imperium Liberatus technology is highly advanced, and uses different tactics ranging from blitz to swarming in order to decimate their opponents.

The Buckler is capable of absorbing massive amounts of damage, while utilizing Fortify to replenish its defenses.

The Kopis is a fast attack hull that is designed to close the distance between its target then destroy them at close range.

The Broadsider is a long range hull that bombards its opponents with its weaponry from afar, while spawning Pike Corvettes armed with various weapons to swarm and distract the opponent.

The Plumbata is another long range hull that strafes its enemies and unleashes fire support from long range, gaining damage boosts as it deals more damage.

The Gladius is a close range fighter hull that specialises in getting up close to its enemies and then decimating them, with its bloodthirst overdrive.

The Preceptor is the centerpiece of any Liberatus fleet, specialising in supporting its allies with its agility support field, while weakening its enemies with its onboard squadrons and weaponry.

The Hastatus is a hybrid design; based off of the fighter role and features higher defensive and offensive power than other contemporary hulls.

The Princeps is another hybrid design; based off of the titan role and is designed to shrug off incoming damage.

The Primipilus is another hybrid design; based off of the ranger role and capable of delivering fleet scouring firepower.

Notable Figures
The Imperium Liberatus are led by none other than Imperatrix Keres, who has deserted the rebel cause and now intends to conquer the VEGA Galaxy and remake it to her own image.

Trivia

 * The Imperium Liberatus are the first NPC-only faction since the Aliens.