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[EnigmaticHat]

I always figured they were slaves, although that doesn't explain why they keep fighting if all the mantis are dead.

[Mageziya]

They fight because they know they will still die if they don't.

Engi are smart. They know they're up against something that won't stop or allow them to escape.

[Leafsnail]

Engis can be reprogrammed, so they could work for anyone really.

Actually I think I've worked out the main backstory: the Federation are (were?) a UN-like organization with the goal of maintaining peace amongst all the species (which is why both Fed Cruisers have a really mixed team, and indeed why the saviours of the federation can be any race).  Only they began to fail miserably with increasing inter-species violence and piracy.  This led some humans to believe that co-existence was impossible, and that the only way they could live in peace would be to crush all the other species in a decisive war.  The Federation obviously opposed this due to their principle of inter-species co-operation, and hence we have the conflict seen in the game.

[Arcvasti]

I always figured they were slaves, although that doesn't explain why they keep fighting if all the mantis are dead.

Maybe they got forcibly reprogrammed? They ARE robotic.

      I actually really like all the backstory and events dropped off-hand. Its got really good world-building for a randomized rogue-like game. Especially the ambiance for the abandoned sectors. It does a good job of building up menace. Rebel ships talking to colonists about the Lanius before you kill them, being attacked by people trapped on ships for weeks because the Lanius ate their engines and the generally creepy music give you a sense of foreboding. Its sort of underwhelming when you shred through their pathetic scouts though. Although in later sectors, the ships with boarders give you a bit of an "OH CRAP" moment when you realize venting the ship doesn't work on them.

FAKEEDIT: Ninja'd with the reprogramming thing. I personally thought at first that the Federation was evil as rebels are often the ones portrayed as protagonists. Then I found out the Rebels were human-supremacist. Although considering that Earth was presumably locked in a bloody war with the Mantis for a while and most of the Rockmen and Slugs do little to endear themselves to you during the course of the game, that attitude is sort of reasonable

[Leafsnail]

It would also explain why the rebels face so little federation resistance throughout most of the game - the federation is more of a diplomatic organisation than an actual nation with an army.  They have a few offices and peacekeepers scattered around, sure, but outside of their home sector they have nothing that can withstand a large organised offensive.

I'd guess the idea is that the nations comprising the federation were meant to use their forces to help put down rebellions, but due to the perceived weakness of the federation they decided to just defend themselves instead.

[EnigmaticHat]

My personal theory is that the Federation is almost literally the Federation from Star Trek, except in a different universe, and they admit planets instead of entire races.

According to this theory, both Engi and Zoltan planets have willingly joined the Federation (although the Zoltan also have their own government, and there are independent Engi out in space doing their thing), while some Slugs once did but were kicked out, the Rockmen never would, Mantis are too busy killing everyone they meet, and humans are the race that started the Federation.

There are also probably minor races that joined the Federation but aren't worth including in the game.

[Mageziya]

On the whole subject of Engie reprogramming and other stuff, one thing..... or several things that need to be explained, but never will be, are the physiology and evolution of well ... everything.

Such things include, but are not limited to:

• Evolution of the Engi.
• Physiology and evolution of the Zoltan.
• The weird evolution and physiology of the Crystals and Rocks.
• Slug psionics.
• The odd paradox of how Lanius are anaerobic lifeforms, but drain air from rooms. (Opportunistically aerobic? But if this was the case, then why don't they have O₂ systems installed? Does prolonged exposure cause problems?)
• The Lanius's metal phsiology.

[GlyphGryph]

Maybe it's not so much that they drain o2, but that they actively push out some neutral gas as a byproduct of their internal processes?

something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asphyxiant_gas

Basically, they displace the o2 rather than using it up.

[EnigmaticHat]

On the whole subject of Engie reprogramming and other stuff, one thing..... or several things that need to be explained, but never will be, are the physiology and evolution of well ... everything.

Such things include, but are not limited to:

• Evolution of the Engi.
• Physiology and evolution of the Zoltan.
• The weird evolution and physiology of the Crystals and Rocks.
• Slug psionics.
• The odd paradox of how Lanius are anaerobic lifeforms, but drain air from rooms. (Opportunistically aerobic? But if this was the case, then why don't they have O₂ systems installed? Does prolonged exposure cause problems?)
• The Lanius's metal phsiology.

Tvtropes has your answer.

[Mageziya]

On the whole subject of Engie reprogramming and other stuff, one thing..... or several things that need to be explained, but never will be, are the physiology and evolution of well ... everything.

Such things include, but are not limited to:

• Evolution of the Engi.
• Physiology and evolution of the Zoltan.
• The weird evolution and physiology of the Crystals and Rocks.
• Slug psionics.
• The odd paradox of how Lanius are anaerobic lifeforms, but drain air from rooms. (Opportunistically aerobic? But if this was the case, then why don't they have O₂ systems installed? Does prolonged exposure cause problems?)
• The Lanius's metal phsiology.

Tvtropes has your answer.

That's why I said they will never be explained.

[mosshadow]

Maybe the lanius use O2 as a speed boost since its more efficient, but their home planets dont have oxygen.

[Mageziya]

I feel like they don't equip it in their ships because prolonged exposure to Oxygen harms their health.

A good example is, well, us. Oxygen's highly reactive nature causes problems, and often in error during cellular respiration highly reactive oxygen molecules are made. These molecules bond to stuff and tend to cause whatever they bonded to was a part of to break.

Now, for a species that hasn't had the opportunity to endure natural selection in an oxygenated environment, their system probably produces a lot more of these error molecules than we do during aerobic respiration. That, and being made of metal doesn't help.

[Draignean]

Had a victory that I wasn't sure of, which hasn't happened in a while. Mantis cruiser, with only one of the original crew surviving to the end. We had 7 people at sector six, including all of the originals. Three mantis, two engi, two humans. Then, disaster struck. A misplaced bomb killed one of the two really experienced boarders. Then we got into a fight with a slug ship that event-hacked our oxygen. Then everything went to hell. We weren't oriented for a quick victory, and they sucked our ship completely dry. The mantis pilot, both humans, and both engi asphyxiated. The sole survivor was the remaining boarder, who I accidentally saved by having him suicidally attempt to take on the enemy ship himself.
After the slugs had been killed, he returned to his ship, and, despite having absolutely no experience in the game beyond hitting things, took over the duty of pilot. Long story short, we got three more crew by the end, all humans, and the flagship battle was... interesting.  Finished at about half hull, but it took a lot of prayer and spit to get there.

[Mageziya]

Had a victory with Zoltan B recently where two of the starting Zoltan died at the end of sector 6. Barely had crew before that. Survivors where the engine Zoltan and the Pilot (Mantis I think?).

Bought/hired as many crew as was reasonable at the few remaining stores.

[Arcvasti]

The day AE came out, I had a game where my entire crew except for one Mantis in Fed A died. I had just vented out a lot of the ship to kill boarders, and a lot of my crew were badly injured from something[I think it was a fire or breach in the Medbay or something like that]. I wanted to close all the doors so the oxygen would stop draining out through the airlocks. My finger hit the "Open all the doors and vent the atmosphere into space" button. Everyone except the Mantis[Who was less wounded for some reason] died. I eventually won, but only because I had enough surplus scrap to buy 3-4 new crew members with decent skills from a lucky store in sector 8.