The ancient Greeks were among the first to profess that extreme times breed extreme measures. This paradygm later came to be imprinted deeply into the soul of the descendants of the United Nations of Earth’s first and only pre-war interstellar colonization project. Their remnants in Sirius, and in the known universe, are currently referred to as the Crayter Republic.
After braving the unprecedented challenges that arose while taming their isolated new worlds for centuries, the colonists were driven from the Crayter Sector by sudden and inexplicable eruptions of radiation from their central stars. Forced to leave behind a large part of their population to gruesome deaths, the Crayterians escaped total extinction through a last ditch effort of mastering superluminal travel through hyperspace jumps.
With most surviving colonists cramped into gargantuan sleeper arks, a small fleet of hardy and indomitable Crayterians searched for planets habitable enough to accomodate the remainders of their civilization. It was during this time that the term “Colonial Vanguard” was first used. Inevitably, the searchers ended up in the same dense cluster of inhabitable star systems that the Alliance sleeper ships had fled to in their own escape from Sol: the Sirius Sector.
Making contact with the other factions in the Tau systems, the colonial remnants had no choice but to compete with the Outcasts and Bretonians for resources and territory, as they gradually gained a foothold on Tau 44's planet Borneo. Their terraforming and pre-colonization had barely begun when Gallia invaded, forcing them to seek refuge in the Coronado system. Through alliances and tactical prowess, the Crayterian nation was able to retake Tau 44, even holding Tau 31 for a while, after which they resumed settlement of Coronado and Tau 44.
During all these existential struggles, but especially in their flight from Crayter and first emergence in Sirius, the constant need for improvisation and extreme measures to overcome extraordinary circumstances established certain principles and philosophies, which evolved throughout whatever calamity the colonials were currently facing. More a circumstance than a separate organization at the beginning, the colonials operating as such continued to be called “The Vanguard” as an honorary title, until they ended up forming a dedicated faction.
They were destined to push the boundaries of the feasible, and used every questionable technology, tactic, and moral ambiguity available to them. Much like The Order acts like the last line of defense for humanity, even if it requires operating outside the law, the Colonial Vanguard carried, and continues to carry this burden for the remnants of Crayter’s civilization. Their ends justify the means, always.
The Vanguard are made up of elements of Fleet, Ground Forces, Intelligence, and Research assets within the Republic. The driving cohesiveness of the organization is to guarantee the survival of Crayterian life, culture, and tradition, continually pushing the limits of technological supremacy and innovation to ensure their place upon the world stage. Sometimes the Colonial Vanguard’s presence manifests in military action not officially recognized or approved by the Coronado government, but inevitably deemed required for the greater good.
Other times technological leaps are made by the Vanguard despite their methods of research not being considered appropriate or “safe” by the larger public. No matter the hurdle facing the former Crayterians, they are likely already being tackled by Colonial Vanguard elements.