Infinite Empire

The Infinite Empire, also called Alpha-Omega and a hundred names besides depending on the culture, is a multi-dimensional conquering force that exists across the vast layers of the multiverse. It is claimed that they truly encompass an infinite amount of worlds and timelines, stretching across both time and space. Their resources seem limitless. Their hypertech, magitechnology, psionics and sorcery are unmatched. They are an enemy that cannot be compared to, a force on part with such cosmic entities as Atrophus.

However, it is known that they have not conquered all times and places in the multiverse, and seem perpetually in a state of war. Their designs on the conquest of the mainline resulted in the Incursion but thanks to Earth's forces they were repelled by desperate measures. The crave the Cosmic Potential, which for all their trophies they lack, and in particular desire the Cosminesis which has evaded their grasp across all dimensions and time.

It is difficult for someone used to a linear perspective of time to understand the vastness of the Empire and their nature, something that works to their advantage when they plan. Because of the near omniscient nature of their Astral Masters, they can predict and account for any factor, and because of their perfect foresight are incapable of mortal errors of reasoning. This does not mean they are infallible, however, as the failure of the Incursion proved.

A repeat of the Incursion is the worst fear of every government on Earth and many of its superbeings. While the regional powers are attempting to plan contingencies and develop countermeasures, many accept that a second invasion would not be so easily repelled, hoping that the Anchor Point System will keep it in check.

The Infinite Empire is a name that still strikes fear on Earth, though the newest generation has little to no memory of it and soon it will fade into obscurity.

The Astral Masters
The Empire is ruled by a group of entities known as the "Astral Masters" who exist in a group consciousness that is not tied to any corporeal form, and seems to exist solely on a conceptual level within the Astral Plane that exists in the spaces between all dimensions of the multiverse. Though possessing very little individual power, they use Proxies, powerful thoughtforms formed from astral matter, as channels for their limitless mental powers, which they use to control their conquered client dimensions.

The Astral Masters discovered at the beginning of the endless march of time the ability to travel through time, and they used it to observe all the dimensions from every point in time, collecting this knowledge and sharing it with each other, before building consensus towards unifying the dimensions under their control. They were patient and methodical, using temporal mechanics to test failed plans on branching timelines that were doomed to extinction.

The Astral Masters discovered the Cosminesis on the mainline and sought to find a way to control it. The Cosminesis would allow them to not only rule the multiverse, but to shape it and create whole new universes, a power that they could only replicate through thoughtform facsimiles and greatly envied. Though they were omniscient and near all-powerful, they were not truly gods.

By using what they could predict in the future, they changed history by bringing the Cosminesis into contact with a nascent sapient race: Humanity. They feared actually interacting with the mainline (as they predicted that contact with the entity Atrophus would be their downfall), so they communicated to humans through dreams. Dreams connected sapient races with the Astral Plane. The Masters manipulated events so that the Power would choose a succession of humans as hosts.

This tradition became known as the "Power Penultimate" and was possessed by a long line of "Sorcerers" who cowed their kin with their petty powers. The Astral Masters presented themselves as mentors and patrons to these Sorcerers, teaching them how to "use" their powers though always to a limited extent. It was their desire to eventually influence events so that the Sorcerer would travel outside the mainline and into their grasp.

It was not until J. Q. Boehm, the Penultimate of the first iteration of the Modern Marvels, that humanity began to truly grasp the possibilities of the Cosminesis. Boehm was the first human to ever leave of his own volition the mainline, and the Astral Masters thought their long planning had come to fruition. However, the entity Janus, which like Atrophus was outside their understanding, prevented them from capturing him, despite (or perhaps because of) its desire to imprison and destroy the Penultimate Sorcerer for its "transgressions against the dimensional balance."

After seeing Boehm and later Nathan Pendergast so quickly develop powers on a cosmic scale, which seemed to coincide with the Potential's unlocking of metahumanity across the globe, they began to set their plan into motion. They predicted Atrus Vandu's plot to summon Atrophus, and used the aftermath of that battle for their gambit.

Though they failed, they have not given up, and their current state outside of time and mind remains inscrutable to even the most gifted metahuman minds. They still influence the minds of weak mortals, attempting to once again gain a foothold in the mainline and take the Cosminesis they so desire.

The Nameless Legions
When their proxies and plots are not enough, the Infinite Empire works through a limitless supply of armies that are named the "Nameless Legions" due to their lack of individual will and identity. Made up of virtually any entity within their limitless demense, the Nameless are stripped of their memories, but still maintain both sentience and sapience, their free will is checked by proxy handlers.

Each contingent is designed specifically over the course of centuries or even millenia and trained for a particular, singular purpose. A team sent to take out a particular hero might have been bread over the course of millions of years, and then the particular individuals trained for decades, just for that singular purpose. Because of their timeless nature, they take up a literally unending number of forms and designs, capable of any power or skill.

However, the Nameless Legions are limited by the travel between dimensions, and are not capable of dimensional travel themselves. While the Astral Masters and their proxies may move freely through the Astral Plane, special dimensional portals must be designed and built to allow the Nameless, and such portals require immense resources to maintain, and can only allow a limited number through.

While the Infinite Empire has a literally endless store, the very nature of infinity means that the logistics reach a critical mass that it must be used in controlled amounts, and generally the Astral Masters use only the exact amount they predict they'll need, usually to great success.