Xenocracy is a cross between a space combat action sim and a political strategy game. In the far future, four planetary superpowers (the Earth Dominion, the Mercury League, the Venus Alliance and the Mars Combine) are vying for control of the solar system and on the brink of all-out "thermostellar war". As commander of the United Planet Nations peacekeeping fighter squadron, your role is to maintain the balance and prevent cold war and localized conflicts from escalating into open interplanetary hostilities. Further complicating the matter, you must deal with pirates and a looming alien threat.