Yeah. The empire on the other side didn't.
This universe I used in the game is quite detailed (we have about 30 million years of history there). This is explained in the Universe, if say briefly long time something from another Universe (not that reflected part, but a completely different Universe) came to the area when our Empire is located, it broke the symmetry, but the changes was so little, nobody knew about that, till the events you've been told in the game. These little changes finally lead to the war, and to some terrible events after that. Maybe I will tell that part in some another game.