Since the last post worked, I'll endeavour to cover the points I raised in my lost 4th faction and end game musings. Sorry this one will be long too. Hmm maybe I can drop in some Spoiler sections so folk can extend\skip content as they like? It'd make it easier for folk who want to simply scroll past this entire post!
(Sorry, the Spoiler tag doesn't seem to be working for me. Anyone know how to get it to, or if it does?)
So what do we know about the Vasari's unknown enemy?
- The Old Vasari Empire ruled countless planets with hundreds of races living on worlds locked down and ruled from vast orbital structures to prevent rebellion
- 10,000 years ago the inner worlds of the empire suddenly fell silent
- A local wing of the Dark Fleet was sent to restore order (no further contact was ever received)
- More worlds went dark – including the ancient Vasari homeworld
- The rate of expansion\loss was greater than the capacity of the empire's entire Dark Fleet!
- A blind assault comprising most of the Dark Fleet was launched
- A single, heavily damaged warship from the Dark Fleet dropped out of phase space near a planet on the empire‘s perimeter (the once battle-hardened crew was driven mad with fear)
- The colony opted to evacuate the Empire
- For the past 10,000 years the Vasari refugees have fled system to system, replenishing resources and dropping warning beacons behind them as they went
- The warning beacons continued to fall silent behind then, their unknown adversary inexorably pursuing
- On arriving in TEC space they crushed local militias and enslaved nearby worlds
Only the creation of the Trader Emergency Coalition stemmed the tide, yet the forces of a single Vasari colony world, albeit forces which may have grown in the 10,000 years they were fleeing, rival those of the entire TEC. Worse, 10 years after the start of the 'Vasari-TEC War,' the Advent returned. Distracted by war on 2 fronts, Vasari forces were able to advance even further into TEC space. A further 5 years of hard fighting saw all sides opting for Entrenchment, and after a further 10 years of constant fighting, Diplomacy. Such efforts ultimately failed, resulting in Rebellion.
After 25 years of atrocities the TEC Primacy\Rebels want to wipe out their ruthless alien and deviant enemies, accepting Pirates as allies without question, while TEC Loyalist\Enclave want to fort up and make further fighting too costly for their foes. On the Advent side the Loyalist\Wrath are still committed to vengeance and retribution against lesser species while the Advent Rebels\Reborn sense corruption in the Unity and wish to cleanse this deviation and establish diplomatic, if not necessarily peaceful, relations with the TEC and Vasari.
As for the Vasari? They've split into two factions - Exodus, and Alliance. The former want to strip-mine all the resources they can and leave the TEC and Advent behind them - the original "Evacuate, Siphon, Run" philosophy. The Alliance by contrast believe it is time to stop running, and take a stand alongside co-operating TEC (Enclave) and TEC (Reborn) forces.
Now why's the Loyalist\Rebel issue relevant? Quite frankly it's possibly not. But there's 2 factors that could be. If the forces of the Old Vasari Empire which ruled hundreds of races and likely thousands of worlds, were incapable of defeating the unknown foe, why would TEC or Advent forces suffice? Remember the Vasari forces that equal the TEC are the product of a single evacuated colony world! If the resources of thousands of worlds and hundreds of races are insufficient, why would the resources of three races and only hundreds of worlds? Worse, TEC forces rely on primitive and makeshift technologies supported by mass production and heavy firepower. Advent forces are roughly on par with the Vasari, but they're heavily reliant on PsiTech, and cheap, lightly armoured ships with weak hulls. The other factor that may be relevant is the possibility, remote though it may be, that the corruption in the Advent Unity is due to external manipulation. Invisible manipulation by hidden or invisible foes is not an unknown concept. Are the Advent Wraith being manipulated by Vasari's foe? As I say, it's a longshot but not impossible.
Okay now for a seemingly entirely different tangent - Derelicts and Phase Jump Inhibitors
According to SoaSE1 lore neither the TEC nor the Advent are capable of manufacturing inhibitors. Instead the TEC rely on those they steal from the Vasari, and the Advent rely on those they steal from the Vasari. As for the Vasari? They replicate them using nanotechnology, but they are unable to fathom how they work. In SoaSE1: Rebellion the Vasari Rebels appear to have gained some understanding as they can use inhibitors to both radically slow inbound enemies, as well as delay the departure of enemies. Given SoaSE2 inhibitors prevent enemy forces jumping out rather than merely delaying them, and since Vasari Alliance appear to have no special phase technology benefits - they're diplomacy focused, there may be some sort of unresolved retcon thing happening.
As for derelicts? I don't think I've seen any lore on the subject, so it's just a matter of interpreting visuals. Here's a pair of images so you can compare for yourselves:
While both appear bronze, or perhaps gold, as opposed to the dull iron grey appearance of TEC ships, shiny mirrorlike silver finish of Advent forces, or grey carapace of the Vasari, the derelict, which has an awesome design IMHO, is a pyramid shaped structure with a large rounded gem on each side, and necrotic green lights showing - primarily on the exposed underside, but also in patches near the lower edge on each side of the pyramid. By contrast the inhibitor is comprised of 3 half spheres on tubular arms extending from a cylindrical core. They have more in common with each other perhaps than with the spiky ring of a Vasari Phase Gate, but that's not saying much!
Obviously some alien race designed the inhibitor, but was it one that had vanished by the time the Vasari discovered the inhibitors and started replicating them, or one they conquered and stole the technology from? If the latter then why didn't they get that race to explain how they work? Yes, being enslaved might make them reluctant to talk, but the Old Vasari Empire no doubt had ways to 'encourage' its workforce.
The derelicts are discovered in TEC or TEC adjacent space. Given their custom design that's another technologically advanced faction that was present in the area sometime before the present. Derelict means abandoned property, or perhaps an abandoned ship. It's not clear if these pyramids are, or were, ancient ships, stations, or part of such, and whether the damage on them is the result of age - life in the void is harsh, or battle damage etc.
To my mind the derelict design is reminiscent of Stargate's Goa'uld - Egypt and gold decorated. By contrast the inhibitor reminds me of the Elder Scrolls' Dwemer or Dwarven armour, the Sphere\Sentry, even some of the abandoned infrastructure - a golden or bronze Steampunk type design. Am I reading waaay more into this than the designers intended or want? No clue. But the two items mean 1, possibly 2 unknown races - it depends if they originate from the same race or separate ones.
Third point for consideration - Harbinger
It may be entirely unintentional but is the Harbinger name for the 4th race expansion intended to signify something? A harbinger is "a person or thing that announces or indicates the approach of something; forerunner" and came into English etymology is C12: from Old French herbergere, from herberge lodging, from Old Saxon heriberga; compare Old High German heriberga army shelter; see harry, borough.
So the 'Harbinger' 4th faction are the forerunners of something to come? Are they the heralds of the unknown foe following the Vasari, or something else?
Harbinger is also the oldest and largest of the Reapers, a highly-advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships in the Mass Effect universe. The Leviathan race had observed that biological lifeforms would regularly create synthetic constructs that would rebel, then wipe them out. They opted to create an intelligence with a mandate to preserve life at all costs. Yeah that worked well!!! It eventually concluded the Leviathans were part of the problem, slaughtered all those it could find, and using their genetic material, created Harbinger. Over the following billion plus years the Reapers would hibernate between cycles, awaiting the next rise of galactic civilisation. Upon reaching the desired level Reapers would move in, and harvest the spacefaring races of the galaxy - turning them into raw genetic 'paste' to be used in the construction of new Reapers, and their minds used to form the newborns' gestalt consciousnesses.
Harbinger is also significant as the controller of the Collectors. The Protheans, similar to the Vasari, developed an immense galaxy-wide empire encompassing many other spacefaring species. Early in their own expansion they encountered a hostile machine intelligence that threatened to overwhelm them so they opted to unite all sentient organic life under their empire. The Prothean Empire was able to hold off the enemy machines for millennia. The Reaper assault however saw their entire empire systematically exterminated in mere centuries, with a few subjected to extensive genetic experimentation, cybernetic implantation (Advent anyone?) and turned into a slave race.
Fourth and final point - the Vasari Grey Goo Paradigm
The Kortul Devastator uses nanites to Jam Weapons, and Volatile Nanites to increase damage to enemy vessels when they're attacked, as well as to make them explode on death, damaging nearby enemies.
The Antorak Marauder's Phase Restoration coats a friendly capital ship in nanites for a short duration to shunt it into phase space should it receive lethal damage. Once in phase space it restores a significant fraction of the hull, shields, and antimatter.
The Vulkoras Desolator's Disintegration Beam fires a stream of nanites at an enemy target doing damage to an enemy's shields, or significant damage to unprotected armour and\or hull instead.
The Skirantra Carrier's Nanite Armour both restores armour and bolsters armour strength, Repair Cloud disperses a cloud of nanite to restore a modest amount of hull damage on all nearby friendly ships, and Replicate Forces uses construction nanites to near instantly create copies of a targeted vessel.
Hmm now where have we heard of replication before? Ooh! Stargate SG-1\Stargate Atlantis anyone? The Replicators were a highly-advanced machine race accidently created by a childlike android as toys to play with. She lost control, they destroyed her world, and somewhere along the way ended up in another galaxy whereupon they waged war seeking to consume it all, especially advanced technology. Upon encountering the remains of their maker they developed human forms and caused further issues, including in the Milky Way.
In Atlantis the Asuran 'race' was discovered. Originally thought to be surviving Ancients, they were eventually revealed to be nanites that had developed the capacity to present an image akin to their creators. The Ancients had developed them as a weapon of war, but eventually deemed them unfit for purpose and dispatched a fleet of Ancient warships to wipe out every last trace of them - obviously that failed. And yes they caused issues when the outside world got in touch with them too!
How's this all relevant to 4th faction or the foe the Vasari are fleeing? What if Vasari nanite R&D occurring on or around the inner worlds resulted in the creation of a synthetic foe, an artificial entity that is hostile to either its Vasari creators, or organics in general, though possibly hijacking organics to operate as 'zombie platforms' ala Star Trek Borg as opposed to Stargate Asurans?
Vasari nanotechnology can be found in the crystal and metal seeking nanites used on planets, various versions used to upgrade planets to higher levels, nanite survey swarms to seek out exotics, matter hypercompilers operate at a molecular level so may use nanotechnology, organic reclamation nanites clearly involve it, nanomedicine uses it, and compliance nanites keep the populace … useful. A synthetic or nanite faction could likely tweak things to suit its purposes, assuming organics have a purpose.
If the unknown foe is a rogue nanotech faction, it could explain the rapid spread of it - corrupt the nanotech in a new system, use that to seize control. The Vasari would not be expecting to be betrayed by their technology while the non-Vasari would be helpless. The blind assault by the majority of the Dark Fleet could have been either obliterated or hijacked - multiple Phase Space Inhibitors would have prevented any retreat, mass production and\or replication would have allowed for unexpected numbers of enemy ships to be in the system. AI garrisons could be possible - just use dumb AI relying on a master AI to provide higher level direction. Best case scenario the 'organic Vasari' would have had to run gauntlets of firepower to destroy the inhibitors in the hope of escape. Worst case scenario the 'synthetic Vasari' were taking over the Dark Fleet ships and adding them to their own side. What's worse, being outnumbered, outgunned, and seeing your entire fleet getting wiped out, or seeing your entire fleet converting to the enemy force, with zero communication from whoever or whatever they are as they destroy you? Something drove a battle-hardened crew mad with fear, but barring Advent like psychic or telepathic assault, the trigger would have had to have been what the crew saw or experienced. I suppose mental assault is experience too but ...
If such a 'race' existed it would most likely start by using Vasari vessels and designs. Even without being particularly creative, it would be capable of building and using the Vasari Nano Assembly Factory, and using Replicate Forces, possibly creating permanent copies, potentially rivalling the TEC's mass production capabilities - especially for garrison forces. Advent mind control abilities would mostly have zero impact because telepathic or psychic abilities require a mind, not a synthetic network. And Vasari offensive or debuff use of nanites might be negated if the rogue Vasari nanotechnology were able to subsume the 'organic Vasari' nanites. Might dumb TEC abilities actually work best? That would be consistent with Tau'ri er Terran precedent right, not mentioning any particular universes of course?
Would such a race bother with planets? Raw resources aside, what purpose would it have? It doesn't need a population, it can just replicate in space. And if AI garrisons are an option - dumb AI could simply harvest local materials and build its own planetary fleet to prevent an organic invasion. Destroying planets ala the Vasari Exodus Core Stripper could actually be highly useful - prevents organics from regaining the planet, and provides a massive resource boost.
Of course while the AI Vasari might use organic Vasari ships, would they keep exactly the same abilities? Or would they modify them e.g. Evacuator Colonise ability turned into a strip core ability? Would hijacking of enemy ships via nanotechnology be possible? Might they have some sort of on-death racial ability e.g. launch a grey goo torpedo and attempt to hijack a replacement ship?
If TEC or Advent ships were seized\hijacked\whatever, what abilities would they keep? Vasari nanites being able to do Advent telepathic assaults for instance would be silly.
And would capital ships and titans be immune? Could such an enemy hijack your titan? 
Does this seem plausible? It would sort of tie in with the Harbinger point above - the ME one, not the etymological one. If true, this could provide a simple unknown foe design option - tweaks rather than anything major, with the tech tree and infrastructure being the big difference point. Of course that assumes playable faction. If the intent is an unplayable threat - either campaign only, AI playable only, or even end game challenge only, then some of the specifics e.g. abilities, as well as nuances and standard balance issues could be completely ignored or custom designed. Might this even be a superior endgame challenge?
Of course this still leaves the derelict and\or phase jump inhibitor race(s) as possible options. I was going to suggest one or more species that'd spent millennia in hibernation for whatever reason, either deep within a planet, or perhaps some sort of aquatic or gas giant species, but the Vasari send their nanites everywhere so would likely have discovered any hidden faction. Perhaps a faction, or remnant that hid out in phase space? A sort of ridiculously extreme version of the Antorak Marauder's Phase Restoration perhaps? A remnant even more high tech than the Vasari couldn't explain what the unknown threat is - but could be a 4th faction right? On the other hand, if they had sought to escape their own synthetic or equivalent cataclysm, perhaps they 'awoke' when the Vasari's enemy got too close to them and they're now following the Vasari in escaping the threat and are thus harbingers in the traditional meaning of the term? Alternatively perhaps a remnant could be discoverable as new minor factions?
I realise this was supposed to be about adding endgame challenges, something RammaStardock said they may explore after the scenario pack, or closer to the 4th faction DLC release date, but doesn't it sort of overlap? Can the unknown threat chasing the Vasari be an end game challenge, or are they the 4th faction? Is there any intent for the unknown threat to make any appearance at all in SoaSE2, or will they remain hidden until SoaSE3? 
Not sure if this'll prove interesting, enlightening, or inspire ideas for anyone else, but hopefully some others enjoy the brainstorming.
Fingers crossed this post works!!!
