Insular Movement

The Insular Movement is an ideological and political movement in the Emorian Union that opposes the exploration of other galaxies, in competition with the Distance Movement, which supports exploration. This opposition is focused largely against the Venture Expedition, the first Emorian mission to explore another galaxy.

The primary reason for its opposition to exploration is a two-fold concern for potential consequences of discovering other intelligent species. The first concern is for the effect that Emorian arrival would have on xeno civilizations. The second is for the effect that other civilizations would have on Emorian civilization.

Some in the Insular Movement suspect that Emorian history may not have been as peaceful as is commonly believed. During the Venture Expedition, AD Janson encouraged Thomas Greene to consider the true probability that the Emorians were the only intelligent life in their home galaxy, insinuating that other species likely existed at some point in history, but that they were somehow driven to extinction in the distant past. This is known as the Great Fall. Janson believes that exploring a new galaxy may precipitate the same fate for any intelligent lifeforms the Expedition meets.

In some cases, the Movement has resorted to violence to further its goals: operatives of the Movement killed Captain Ava Paige, Ambassador Jorge Esposito, and Ambassador Aris Jones during the Venture Expedition, and dispatched an unknown vessel to attempt to destroy the Venture.