Other Stellar Nations

I’ve talked about the Galactic Concord a lot when talking about the setting of my home campaign, largely because since that’s the largest known galactic alliance and one that’s relatively stable, the heroes will likely come from those member worlds. However, there are other stellar nations and alliances out there that play a large role in the political landscape of the galaxy.

Romulan/Klingon Alliance: The Romulan and Klingon Empires have been allied for about 10 years now and represent one of the strongest threats to peace in the Contested Sectors. The alliance makes sense. Both empires are expansionist and even largely aggressive, but neither can match the might of the combined forces of the Galactic Concord members. Both species value strength of arms and spirit, placing a lot of resources in the building and maintaining of their militaries. Thanks to this alliance, the Klingons have been able to make inroads in systems in the Contested Sectors that they wouldn’t have likely been able to keep control of without Romulan assistance. Romulans gain key routes to sectors they have colonies in that used to take them much longer to reach, strengthening their hold on those sectors, and the native inhabitants within.

This alliance is not without its detractors, however. There is a small, but vocal and growing faction in the Klingon Empire that wishes to break off its alliance with the Romulans. They see the Romulans as a people without honor, who rely on trickery, half-truths, and outright lies to gain the greater advantage in the alliance. They fear the growing influence the Romulans have in Klingon affairs and fear that it is just a matter of time before they move to subjugate the Klingon Empire entirely. The Romulan Empire scoffs at these fears, but have pressured the Klingon High Council to enact measures to keep these “rabble-rousers” in line. After all, how strong is an Empire if it cannot control its own dissidents?

Tau Empire: The Tau are a humanoid species that appear very similar to species like Fraal, Duros, and Protoss. They control an area in the Utrigant Supercluster. Their Empire is small compared to that of the Romulans, but they have shown time and again their ability to defend their systems from outsiders. Unlike many other stellar “empires” the Tau offer species on planets that fall within their sphere of influence membership into their “holy” empire. Those that refuse are subjugated by force, but are not enslaved like most. The Tau will often banish those that have been conquered but refuse to submit, seeing any further loss of life as a waste when the conquered could easily live their lives elsewhere. However, this has only happened twice in the history of the Tau Empire. Most conquered species end up becoming members of their empire, and as full citizen as well.

The Tau Empire has so far had peaceful relations with the Galactic Concord. They have even been offered membership into the Concord, though the Tau have declined the offer. The Tau are expansionistic, but not aggressively so. Still there have been skirmishes between Concord members and the Tau along bordering sectors. To date, the control of all contested systems have been resolved peacefully, but the negotiations have oftentimes been very tense.

The Tau Empire has a strong military. They could very well hold their own for quite a while against the Concord, especially in ground warfare. They make use of mechs more so than any other stellar nation, and their soldiers are very respected for their martial prowess on the battlefield. Their navy is well supported, and their ships are largely on par with the Concord standard even if their Spike Drives don’t have ranges on par with most Concord starships.

Peacekeepers: An ironic name for a stellar power, since the Peacekeepers are largely seen as aggressors. The Peacekeepers started as a Sebacean mercenary unit that grew in power as the former Sebacean government fell into economic ruin. When the Peacekeepers took over the government they turned the once commerce-driven culture into an industrial military complex. They sold their services to neighboring cultures as law-enforcement for hire, which is how they started to bring weaker systems under their control. Once they were fully entrenched into a society, they essentially took control. Now, they aggressively attack systems with the goal of subjugation…all in the name of law and order.

The Peacekeepers control nearly 80 systems in the M21-33 Supercluster. Their existence wasn’t known to the Concord until the Illanic-Luxan Alliance approached the Concord looking for allies in their war with the Peacekeepers. The might of the Concord Navy quickly cause the war to become a stalemate that still flares up in the bordering systems from time to time. Although the Peacekeepers have not totally given up on taking down the Illanic-Luxan Alliance, they have largely set their sights on other sectors with less powerful allies.

The Peacekeeper military is among the strongest in the galaxy. They put nearly all of their resources from all of their conquered systems into it. While Sebaceans make up the majority of the Peacekeeper forces (largely through a strict policy of conscription), they have grown to the point that they allow other species that have been deemed “worthy” of the honor of serving to join their ranks, however non-Sebaceans have no chance promotion into the upper ranks of the Peacekeeper hierarchy. Other species under the control of the Peacekeepers are typically put into support roles as laborers, well, slaves.

Another threat of the Peacekeepers is that since Sebaceans are outwardly the same as humans, the threat of Peacekeeper spies in Concord space has put the Sol System Alliance in an awkward position. Several species, most notably Illanics and Luxans are wary around humans. Even though genetic scans can determine the difference between humans and Sebaceans, the two species are similar enough that such scans aren’t always entirely accurate (mostly due to genetic “masks” developed by the Peacekeepers) and many systems either don’t use scanners or don’t have access to them. Spies have been uncovered, some in rather high positions in the Sol Alliance and the Concord, which has put the Sol Alliance’s position of influence in the Concord in doubt, even if humans do not comprise the entirety of the Sol Alliance leadership.

League of Worlds: The League of Worlds is an organization of stellar nations that have banded together out of mutual protection and economic benefit. Several of the member nations are known slavers and defeated war-states, who would not be allowed membership into the Concord due to past or current actions. The most prominent member of the League, the Abbai, declined membership in the Concord out of fear of the Concord gaining too much power.

In the grand scheme, the League is a minor power. The members squabble too much amongst one another to offer up any sort of truly united front, either economically or militarily, to have much of an effect in negotiations. If it wasn’t for the Abbai, the other members, particularly the Dilgar and Trandoshans, would have likely gone to war with each other by now.

The Dominion: Very little is known about the Dominion as of yet beyond that they are a supposedly large and powerful stellar empire in the Delta Quadrant. The Dominion is largely controlled by a shapeshifting species known as the Founders whose natural form is that of puddles that can form with others of their kind to instantly share information. However, none of this have been confirmed by Concord intelligence. Most of the information on the Dominion has come from deep space explorers and non-Concord species.

Cardassian Union: The Cardassians control a group of systems in the Carjorn Sector. They have only recently ended a short, but bloody war against the Concord who came to the aid of the Bajorans who had been living under Cardassian rule for the last 96 standard years. Relations between the two powers are still prone to outbreaks of violence, but most of the fighting has subsided. Cardassians are still convinced that they can and will oust the Concord and once again rule the whole of their sector…and all of the sectors beyond.

The Cardassian Union is a dangerous mixture of xenophobia, paranoia, and military might. They believe they are the greatest species in the galaxy and that time will prove their superiority to all other lifeforms. Their deplorable treatment of the Bajorans is proof enough to most Concord members that the Cardassian Union was one that needed to be dealt with.

They have warred with other stellar powers as well. The Cardassian-Klingon War was a brutal 18 year affair that left their border with the Klingon Empire in serious doubt. Even though no Cardassian Gul would admit it, the alliance between the Klingons and the Romulans has them doubting their ability to maintain control in those contested systems.

Neogi Collective: Neogi are a strange spider-like species of slavers from a cluster of systems in the Epsilon-Theta Sector. They are known slavers and plunderers who have never been truly organized until lately. They are currently ruled by, Sarsax, a particularly forward-thinking Great Old Master who has banded together most of the nests into a central power. Where the neogi were little more than pirates before, they have become a serious threat to the stability of the surrounding sectors. Add this into their dealings with various criminal organizations, and the Neogi have become a threat that has the Concord worried that a new theatre of war will soon open.

Other Threats: There are many other very organized threats to peace in the galaxy that are not political in nature. These threats like the Necron, Borg, and Tyranid will be covered in future posts. Others like the Illithids and Nano-Terrors have been touched upon briefly, but will be dealt with in greater detail as well.