Though variously proclaimed conquered, abolished, or bought out, the Ctjn Empire never really ended. Founded in the early days of Viridian civilization, allegedly in imitation of the lost Intoa, the empire was one of many regional power structures subsumed into the Parliament of Worlds. Elements of the empire continued as the Ctjn Advanced Products LLC, but from that point, the trail becomes murky.

Tracing imperial influence through Viridian history is a nigh-impossible task. Certainly the Chemists’ Guild contributed to imperial might, but they were likely merely opportunists who foresaw the resurgence of the Ctjn in the wake of the Viridian independence. Some theorize, moreover, that humans had long since abandoned the imperial ideal, and its resurgence was engineered by the Minds of the Protheon Institute for Higher Thought.

Whatever its genesis, the Ctjn Empire quickly became a major military and economic power in the system after the Viridian secession. While they obtained almost total control over Viridia Prime, they never established permanent control of the many asteroid clusters of the outer system, as they proved unable to reliably counter the guerrilla tactics of the United People’s Revolutionary Confederacy of Free Rocks.

—Heichner Kzolknov