The Rebel logo.
While details are scarce about the Rebellion, they are a human supremacist movement that has virtually defeated the Galactic Federation in a civil war that has killed millions. The Rebellion’s ideals might be more complicated than human supremacy as the Zoltan Envoy event hints at, but it is never elaborated upon. Some evidence suggests the Rebels believe humans will never reach their full potential while stifled by the Federation and its policy of equality towards aliens. They will go to great extremes to aid other humans, and some will even let an enemy go if the crew is composed entirely of humans.
No alien is ever found serving on a Rebel ship. The Rebellion is not opposed to making political agreements with aliens as evidenced by the Engi non-aggression pact, though it should be noted that both sides covertly break the agreement, with the Engi covertly building the Stealth Cruiser for the Federation and the Rebellion attempting to steal it in secrecy.
Aliens have a negative view of the Rebels. When Engi are freed in the Friendly slaver Event, this exchange occurs: “ 'Verify primary object is to defeat Rebels, re-establish peace?' You nod and it responds, 'Acceptable.'" Some aliens are also extremely hostile towards the Rebels - when Mantis are freed in the same event, the resulting dialogue screen says “The Mantis seems fine with the orders, saying 'I'm on board if it means we kill some Rebels!' "
No single Rebel character is introduced, but many nameless Rebels appear in-game. There are many events where Rebels act like a typical conquering army, but that doesn’t tell us much. Other events provide more insight: in Rebel Controlled Sectors, the player can encounter the Rebel Defector event wherein a Rebel is either defecting or pretending to defect, apparently having lost support of the Rebels' cause. This implies that despite the Rebellion nearly having defeated the Federation, they have elements that are deeply off-putting even to its supporters. Another event allows the player to bribe the Rebels to let civilians through a checkpoint. The game says the Rebels are underpaid and living in a "rough" galaxy, which suggests that the Rebellion has many members from the lower end of the economic spectrum or that the Federation is going through a depression. It's known that the Federation has previously had many wars with the Mantis.
Known Rebel Ships :[]
Destroyer Class Cruiser
Frigate Class Cruiser
- Rebel Fighter
- Rebel Invader
- Rebel Elite Fighter
- Rebel Elite Assault
- Rebel Rigger
- Rebel Disruptor
- Rebel Auto-Scout
- Rebel Auto-Surveyor
- Rebel Auto-Assault
- Rebel Auto-Hacker
- The Rebel Flagship
- Rebel Cruisers
- Destroyer Class Rebel Cruiser (Ship mentioned in unused image "fleet_2_med_warning")
- Frigate Class Rebel Cruiser (Ship mentioned in unused image "fleet_1_med_warning")