Residing across the sprawling expanse of the First Unified Imperial Combine of Earth are billions upon billions of people, each of them living out their lives on one of thousands of worlds. While the Empire dictates many of the laws and social directions to which those planets must adhere, many of the colonies have their own cultural idiosyncrasies and societal mores.

The huge range of unusual names found across Imperial space, therefore, should come as no surprise.

It's #BiWeek from 19th to 26th September 2016, so what better time to run a feature on sexuality in the Armada Wars universe? This is a topic which has reared its head a few times in the novels so far — sometimes with great subtlety, sometimes not so much — and you will doubtless appreciate some pointers on how the culture of the Imperial Combine differs from ours with regards to love and intimacy.

Before we get started, let's take a quick moment to recognise what #BiWeek is. Simply put, it's a time for recognition and education. It aims to address the stigmas, misunderstandings, and falsehoods surrounding bisexuality, and to tackle problems such as bisexual erasure.

The biggest problem facing campaigns of this sort is that people like to believe that they "know what they know", and can't be wrong. Given the opportunity to actually look at some information, stats, and first hand accounts, many people suddenly realise that — even though they mean well — they actually hold a few quite large misconceptions.

So by all means get on and enjoy the rest of the article about a fictional universe, but please consider reading more about #BiWeek and helping to get the message out there!
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Nothing quite sums up the culture of the Imperial Combine like the most popular sport of the age: maulball.

First seen in List of the Dead, maulball is a full contact sport in which players attempt to acquire and maintain control of a ball in order to acquire points.

The sport is insanely popular across the entire reach of Imperial space. This is partly due to the highly competitive league structure, and partly due to the extreme violence which can occur during matches. Social commentators throughout the Imperial Combine have long speculated that the boisterous, aggressive nature of maulball allows the citizens of the empire to 'blow off steam', vicariously and without personal risk.

A maulball match can include between three and seven players, depending on the league and division. In local divisions, teams usually comprise players from a single city or district. In the divisions of the major and pro leagues, teams usually comprise players who represent their planet or star system.

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