Mass Dragon Effect Codex

by raw666

After humanities encounter with dilithium crystals and later the darkspawn, technology began to change for the Mass Effect Universe drastically. From human space exploration to an alliance that rivals the Council. The shift of power will determine if the Reapers will be defeated, or the cycle will repeat itself. Let's find out.

4. Codex: Darkspawn

Codex: Governments and Galactic Policies

Beta Reader: Albert

Confederation Alliance of Words

The Confederation Alliance of Worlds is a union between the Human System Alliance, the Geth Collective, the Krogan Clan Alliance, and the Quarian Conclave formed after the Darkspawn War. It was initially given its name when it was going to be a joint government similar to the Citadel Council, with a few fundamental differences. However, it soon became apparent that it was not possible with how dependent each member became to each other and quickly formed more into a centralized federation with a single military force rather than a confederate alliance of government homeworlds. A government that unlike the Citadel has all four races have equal representation, with more freedom on their local governmental structure, trade restriction, number of laws, and severity of said laws. As opposed to the Council aligned government with no single military force, three of their members are the leaders of the Citadel, and they put forth a lot of restriction on those that submit to an embassy on the Citadel.

In addition, compared to the Citadel, the Confederation have fewer galactic laws enforced by the Confederation forces, especially in outer space. Mainly that slavery is outlawed, weapons of mass destruction are not permitted to be used on the garden worlds, and the smuggling/selling of top of the line military grade hardware is prohibited. Along with a law, a prime directive is in effect that states that the Confederation government cannot interfere in a people's culture and that everyone must leave alone civilizations that are pre-FTL. These general laws, combined with more liberal laws on genetic researched and AIs ensures that the Confederation remains separate from the Citadel Council.

However, despite their independent nature, many treat the Confederation's government as though they are members of the Citadel Council, instead of a separate allied force. Something the Confederation cannot disprove because the Confederation does not have the political pull or the military power to ignore most of the Council's decrees. Recently that is changing as the Confederates builds-up their military, along with earning some goodwill in their protection on trade agreements. It also did not hurt that they have destroyed more pirate and slaver operations in the last twenty years than the Council has done in the last thousand plus years. However, it is still undetermined if the Council will absorb the Confederation, or the Confederation will be the dominant force in the galaxy. The current president of the Confederation is Shala'Raan vas Rannoch, a quarian.

Flag: Circle with four flashing stars in a starry night background, with an olive branch wrapped around with a small symbol of each government member at each side of the circle.

Confederation Navy: a delta with a circular orbit around the delta

Confederation Alliance of Worlds: AIs

Before the geth became a founding member of the Confederation Alliance of Worlds, research into Artificial Intelligence was strictly prohibited. The Citadel Council heavily enforced laws that made it illegal to create AIs to the point that they exiled the quarians for accidentally creating the geth. In fact, only a few companies like Synthetic Insight were allowed to research AIs to make peace with the newly created geth or to destroy any AIs they encounter. It was a galaxy policy built out of fear that only changed when the geth were discovered to be a reasonably peaceful race and were given sentient rights within Confederation space. Afterward, there was a shift as some worlds began to research AIs.

While the Council still outlaws the making of AIs, the Confederation put a significant amount of funding into AI research for two reasons. The first was to improve Geth Collective software to create a truly synthetic life form without relying on nearby platforms to become sentient on their own. The second reason is to develop new AIs to help Fleet operations, First Battalion infiltration or aid the Confederation in a position of their choice. So far, none of the AIs had turned them down when given an opportunity to customize their programming and take funds to spend on items or upgrades. Currently, there are over 40 synthetics, AIs outside of the Geth in Confederation space, like Eliza, Beta, Data, Beowulf, Roland, and Cortona, and the numbers are growing by the day as an open secret. Especially as of 2182 CE when Data was given a seat in the Confederation Senate to represent synthetics outside of the Geth.

Confederation Alliance of Worlds: Drop Off Locations

When the geth joined the Confederation, they revealed a startling discovery about the dangers of mass effect technology. Whenever an element zero drive core was discharged, the mass of dark energy released did not disperse as soon as it was released. In fact, the energy collected over high gravity objects like a star or black hole. For a star, the damage was noticeable in the fact that prolonged exposure to dark energy slowly choked a star to death, like the solar system Haestorm as the geth used Haestorm as a discharge zone for three hundred years. It had accelerated what would have taken five to fifteen thousand years to accomplish, showing that the threat was real. For a black hole, the effects are unknown, but it is theorized that it would increase in size over time, but no one as of yet was willing to test out that theory.

Seeing the effects, the Confederation created and directed both civilian and military ships to use a dedicated drop zone to discharge the core into dead star systems. This would hopefully limit the amount of damage to star systems outside unimportant systems. In addition, research was conducted on Noveria and several other planets to develop ways to purify/limit dark energy damage. Confederation scientists also have begun working on cleaner technology alternatives for their ships. The Citadel Council has yet to address anything about the problems with dark energy.

Confederation Alliance of Worlds: Government Branches

(X) Confederation Colonial Affairs or CCA are committees run mostly by civilians to determine the fate of celestial bodies like rich asteroids, comets, moons, and even whole planets discovered by the CEF, CRF or the Navy itself. These celestial bodies are categorized into the seven different types listed below. Although their classification may change when new information is found, the most critical factor was whether the planet could be colonized or was too dangerous to colonize outside of temporary operations.

Primary Worlds are celestial bodies that can support life or can be terraformed to support life. These worlds are often colonized immediately by an expedition force, or they are open for bids from companies to colonize in return for profits produced by their colonized planets, either by the company holding or by selling the land to others. Primary Worlds also serve a secondary purpose from simple operations like framing, mining, refinery and manufacturing to complex operations such as excavation/archeology, research, scientific discovery, trade centers, and shipyards. This makes them the most valuable worlds in Confederation space and often the most protected outside of the homeworlds of Confederation's members.

Secondary Worlds are inhabitable celestial bodies that are not going to be terraformed, but are still valuable either for mining or to conduct research/excavation on the planet. Most of these worlds are barren rocks or gas giants and often are bided to companies for their exploitation, with a few exceptions like the presence of natural resources needed by the military, or a strategic location for bases/shipyards and such. These worlds can also change over time into Primary Worlds if they had supported life for a long time and will continue to be a commerce center. An example is a moon over Earth, Luna could be considered a Secondary World, but it is classified as a Primary World due to a sizeable number of permanent bio-domes on the surface, and the fact that a large population had lived on Luna for a long time.

Recon Worlds are celestial bodies given to the CRF and Navy to station their patrol forces on or build listening outposts to act as an early warning system or spy on hostile territory. They are mostly worlds of little value that are at the edge of Confederation Space. Recently, the Navy has been searching for asteroids to build bases near Mass Relays to be made into Recon Worlds but hasn't established any more bases near their more secure colonies.

Diplomatic Worlds are celestial bodies given to the Diplomatic Core to established treaties and trade with various governments outside of the Confederation or made into neutral worlds on which to conduct negotiations. They are often worlds that the Confederation does not want to routinely provide military protection or celesta bodies that are more suitable for other species and can be traded for worlds of equal, if not a higher value to the Confederation.

Protectorate Worlds are an independent celestial body that the Confederation protects with their military, despite them not being members of the Confederation. Often, they are space-faring worlds in the Attican Traverse that are not part of the Council but allow the Confederation to send a small fleet to protect or patrol their space in exchange for payment or a small percentage of resources they export. They are also assisted by the Confederation to develop or buy a defense system for their own protection.

Primitive Protectorate Worlds are independent celestial body belonging to species that have yet to achieve spaceflight, be developed enough to be considered sentient, and needs to be protected to prevent uplifting that would be detrimental to a species development, like the krogans. Once a world is established, the entire system is quarantined, or the whole cluster if a Mass Relay is found within the system. The Confederation also sends a small patrol to ensure these worlds are left alone until they are advanced enough for first contact to be initiated.

Non-Critical Worlds are celestial bodies that have no standing value. They are not cost-effective to mine, have a poor amount of resources, or their resources are depleted. Often, they are given to the military and companies to test dangerous products, or to be used as target practice. These include mostly asteroids and comets, but it also may include a few poor worlds.

(X) Confederation Defense Affairs or CDA is a committee run mostly by military personnel that is in charge of inspecting, upgrading or establishing a defense grid on celestial bodies within a fixed budget of resources, manpower, and funds. They often used these funds to create a defense network for Confederation homeworlds, populated colony worlds, and various military installations, with a large margin of success against most attackers. However, that is only with worlds they considered important. Other worlds get minimal help, often depending on military patrols, secrecy, outsourcing or having the companies that own the celestial body to provide protection. This has earned the CDA some criticism for not protecting all of their holdings, but few can fault the CDA for not providing the best protection to worlds they planned to temporally control or that the companies themselves have resources to protect. The CDA also routinely funds companies to build new defenses or have CDA's own R&D core develop new technology or upgrade existing ones like defense grids, ground cannons, defense satellites and planetary shield generators for the marginal worlds. Many worlds owe their protection to the CDA, even if they are one of the first blamed, along with the Navy and CRF, if something bad happens.

(X) Confederation Diplomatic Core is a small branch dedicated to keeping the peace between governments outside and within the Confederation. They are highly trained individuals taught in a variety of cultures so they can negotiate with any group at a moment's notice. They also keep extensive records of every treaty made between species, even if they expired, and have knowledge of laws to draw upon to help with their negotiation. They are known as some of the best negotiators, even among the asari. Even if they had little chance to show off such skills due to the various conflicts the Confederation recently have been involved including conflicts with Batarian back slavers and pirates.

(X) Confederation Exploration Forces or CEF is a portion of the Navy dedicated to one job only, the continuous exploration of worlds and clusters for the Confederation. Composed of mostly heavy cruisers and cruisers, the CEF travel in packs or alone, to explore new territory and seek out new life, sometimes under extreme risk. Such as making the first contact with a new civilization or encounters a dangerous group hiding from the Citadel and Confederation, like pirates, slavers, and cults. Due to the elevated risks, the CEF only picks the best officers and personal for such missions, whether they are civilian or military. They even allow families to travel with them for trips that could take months, if not years to complete. Many officers often hope to be picked for CEF exploring jobs, as a career in the CEF is often a fast track to higher ranks or various high positions in the Confederation due to the amount of experience they obtain while serving the CEF.

(X) Confederation Intelligence Division or CID is the intelligence division of the Confederation military that rivals even the Salarian's STG, and usually operates either in space or on planets not part of the Confederation. Split into two sub-branches, one dedicated to field agents and the other cyber warfare, the CID is an expert in gathering information. Few things happening around the Confederation are unknown to the CID, and they like it that way. Only once did the CID fail in its mission and that was at the battle for Torfan. An intelligence failure they hope to never repeat as they aim to be the best intelligence division in the galaxy.

(X) Confederation Navy Investigation Service or CNIS is the criminal investigation branch of the Confederation, in charge of investigating crimes of military personnel, government officials, and their immediate families. From simple crimes like smuggling, stealing and embezzling to major crimes like murder, rape and war crimes, the CNIS is a well-funded group that tries to be as unbiased as possible in fulfilling their mission. They are also required to share any information with a local enforcement agency, even if it does not pertain to either the local or CNIS cases. This creates a unique relationship between the CNIS and various other law enforcement. The CNIS are in a love-hate relationship with the Citadel's police force, CSEC on the Citadel. Rank within the CNIS is CSI, Officer, Agent, Special Agent, Senior Special Agent, Deputy Director, and Director.

(X) Confederation Navy is the main military branch within the Confederation from which all other military branches were derived. From simple soldiers and servicemen to the brightest engineers, scientist, and strategist, they are a powerful force dedicated to the defense of the Confederation with many branches like the marine core, fighter core, R&D, medical core, and so on. It also makes up the largest number of personnel spread throughout the various fleets, both small and large, and all the army garrisons on planets they are sworn to protect.

(X) Confederation Recon Forces or CRF is a division in charge of an early warning system for the Confederation, as well as scouting out new or potentially hazardous systems under their control, including new systems discovered by the CEF. They also scout out all deadly enemies and report their activities. An important job, but one that many feel that either serves as a start of a career or the end of one as they rarely ever engage an enemy force since their fleet is primarily made up of frigates. However, without the CRF, the Confederation would be vulnerable to all kind of attacks. The fact that that is not said enough for the thankless job of being a CRF.

(X) First Battalion is an elite agency in charge of the safety of the Confederation Alliance of Worlds. Operating in squads and with their own ships, the First Battalion are elite personal considered the best, even if they are not from the military or were even born in the Confederation. With dedication and training, the First Battalion is the first to fight in a major campaign. As well as the force the Confederation turns to for complete missions that even Special Forces cannot complete. Either due to the danger of the mission or the political situation present, they are able to complete all missions with high efficiency.

However, unlike their SPECTRE cousins that work for the Citadel Council, the First Battalion does not work alone as they work in squads, and more importantly, they do not have full autonomy. In fact, there are many things that they are restricted from doing including what critical missions they can choose. Such as where they can operate outside Confederation space, and who they are allowed to kill other than in self-defense or rooting out criminals. These limitations keep the First Battalion in line while allowing the Confederation citizens to feel safe at night knowing they are out there saving lives. The First Battalion has a good working relationship with other investigating/intelligent services and with most SPECTREs and STG from the Council.

(X) Special Forces or N1-N7s is a branch derived from the Human System Alliance, dedicated to the training of elite soldiers/officers in the Confederation and is spread-out in every branch within the Confederation military. To be considered for the N branch is an honor, and to finish their harsh training designed for their species leaves them the reputation of being an N1 while given the option to advance in rank. For the N2-N6, advancement comes with further training or merit, often achieved after some extraordinary action during a mission. For the N7s, the elite of all elites, they can only be nominated from the Ns school after accomplishing a challenging mission in an 'admirable and effective fashion,' and surviving the harshest training possible. Once they pass their training, they are officially N7, the best of the best, and often become top officers within the First Battalion.

Confederation Alliance of Worlds: Diplomatic Relationship

Citadel Space: Relationship between the two major powers as a whole can be considered good. Both sides are trading partners with regards to resources and technology, and have formed a defensive military alliance.

Asari Republic and client government the Elcor Courts of Dekuuna: With the Confederation, the Asari Republic are powerful trade partners with the closest relationship compare to the rest of the Council. However, it is strained, as the Asari view the Confederation as wayward subordinates the Asari have to bring back into the fold using their superior economy and influence. While the Confederation species want to remain independent at the moment. Combined with numerous conspiracies, such as both sides tried to steal each other's more advanced technology, the Confederation is taking over the galaxy, and the asari are trying to reproduce with mages to have asari mages have caused their relationship to strain even further. Still, the relationship is considered to be fair and friendly.

Batarian Hegemony: Due to constant competition between the Batarians and CAW for territory, along with the Batarians funding continued pirate attacks on Confederation worlds, relationships between the Confederation and Batarians are considered hostile with almost no chance of improving.

Hanar Illuminated Primacy and client race the drell: While initially strong, the relationship between the Confederation and Hanar have waned over the years since the Hanar seems more interested in staying with the Citadel Council and remaining neutral on many issues while trading with hostile forces like the Batarians. In addition, the Confederation are concerned about their relationship with the drell as some feel the species has been groomed to servitude to the Hanar, creating numerous conspiracy theories abound that the Hanar not telling them the whole truth about the destruction of the drell homeworld, Rakhana. The Confederation still has a friendly relationship with the Hanar even if they are only in trade deals.

Krogans outside the Confederation and vorchas: It is assumed that they at best criminals and at worst, terrorists due to a few krogan factions constant attacks on the Krogan Clan Alliance.

Salarian Union: the relationship between the Confederation and the Salarians is good, though they do not trust each other as both sides have been spying on each other since the Confederation was formed. Some salarians are vocally hostile about the Genofertilization and the krogans once again entering galactic politics. While the krogans have not forgiven them for the Genophage and be labeled as savage brutes by the salarians.

Terminus Systems: The relationship can be hostile or friendly depending on which planet or warlord the Confederation contacts. Most relationships are friendly since the Terminus welcomes trade, especially in essential goods and necessities. Disagreements can occur when weapons or illegal drugs are offered as a trade.

Turian Hierarchy and client government the Volus Vol Protectorate: The relationship between the Confederation and the Turians can be considered cold with open arms in trade. A few individuals on both sides are downright hostile since the Turians have come into conflict at least once with each member of the Confederation, and many turians instinctively size up the other four races. In general, the turians believe either the Council or the Confederation will inevitably be absorbed into one another. Whether it is peacefully or violently remains to be seen, thus creating a frosty relationship.

SPECTREs: Confederation forces have a good, though the frustrating relationship with SPECTRE since their operatives are not restricted in Council space, and the Confederation does hold them accountable in their space. SPECTRE usually works well with the First Battalion and CID in joint operations.

Confederation Alliance of Worlds: Military Doctrine

Due to the vast amount of territory that the Confederation controls, the Confederation military forces adopted a Human System Alliance Doctrine with a few modifications to handle their massive military that includes 8% of all humans, 12% of all quarians, 31% of all krogans and 48% of the geth. As a whole, the Confederation's forces emphasize mobility and individual autonomy rather than command and display. Confederation forces also depend upon a strong support structure. Such as artillery, air/space control, VIs and AIs computers, drones, specialized personnel (biotics, mages, demolition, medics, and techs), heavy weapons, vehicles, electronic warfare, and gene therapy to turn the tide of battle in both attack and defense.

On a defensive role, they have placed in each densely populated cluster at least one to three patrol fleets of various sizes to intercept any invasion force or to act as an emergency response force within a cluster. On the borders between clusters or enemy territories, there are multiple CRF fleets made up of mostly by frigates that can easily escape the enemy to warn the Confederation of any invasion/attack. Combined with numerous outpost designs as an early warning system, it provides the fleet with a reasonable chance to scramble their forces and time for the planets within a cluster to put up a stiff defense.

When defending planets with a population of 1,600 or higher, they established a marine force one-twentieth of the planet's population, a number of defense bunkers/planetary cannons, planetary shield generators for the major cities, various assault vehicles, and a militia/police force trained in military tactics. In orbit, there is a defense force that consists of a space station of various size/design, along with a planetary defense fleet that is light (1,600-24,000), standard (24,000-80,000) or heavy (80,000+). Along with a planetary defense system, defense satellites, and the rapid response of at least one patrol fleet ensured that they had enough firepower to dispatch any kind of standard attack or to keep a large invasion force at bay until reinforcements arrive.

On the ground, recon drones and simple geth units are sent to scout out the enemy and transmit the information back to a Geth Server Hub. Once the scouts inform their allies of the expected opposition, the data is also sent to the fleet for advisement. From there, the marines can fight an entrenchment battle to protect the civilian population and keep the enemy distracted until reinforcements arrive in the form of a Confederation Fleet. Although critics have called it a reckless strategy after the successful raid on the colony world Mindoir, the policy has earned them far more victories than defeats.

When on the offensive, the Confederation's first tactic is to attack enemy supply lines and logistics, headquarters and their support fleet to cripple the enemy force using its attack fleets. Tactics included but are not limited to ambushes, raids, planetary occupation, targeting of vital systems (from weapons and engineers to reactors), and electronic warfare. However, unlike the Human System Alliance that was content to just crippling their enemy, the Confederation will destroy non-vital enemy ships/planets once their enemy forces have been severally damaged or drained through Confederation hit and run tactics. Combined with a more powerful fleet, Confederation forces are considered so powerful that only the Turians, Asari, and Salarians could possibly beat them on a fleet-by-fleet confrontation.

Confederation fleets mentioned below consist of an enormous complement of ships with enough firepower to give even the greatest military forces pause before tackling such a fleet. The first three are used to defend clusters that include the species homeworld, while others are stationed over crucial mass relay nexus to provide a quick response to any world under attack or to attack an enemy force. Very few military forces in the galaxy could withstand such assault. Ten dreadnaughts from the Krogans are currently awaiting approval from the Council to remilitarize the Krogans to be completed. Along with several other ships are under construction and expected to be completed within one sol solar year.

Standard Fleet Sizes in 2183 by current numbers and intended numbers next year:

1st to 3rd Fleet: 4x Dreadnaughts, 5x Carriers, 9x Heavy Cruisers, 18x Cruisers, 18x Heavy Frigates and 36x Frigates (90)

4th to 6th Fleet: 3(1)x Dreadnaughts, 4x Carriers, 8x Heavy Cruisers, 16x Cruisers, 16x Heavy Frigates, and 32x Frigates (79-80)

7th to 9th: 3x Dreadnaughts, 3x Carriers, 6x Heavy Cruisers, 12x Cruisers, 12x Heavy Frigates and 24x Frigates (60)

10th to 12th Fleet: 2(1)x Dreadnaughts, 3x Carriers, 6x Heavy Cruisers, 10(2)x Cruisers, 10(2)x Heavy Frigates and 21(3)x Frigates (52-60)

13th to 14th Fleet: 1(1)x Dreadnaughts, 2x Carriers, 4x Heavy Cruisers, 8x Cruisers, 8x Heavy Frigates and 16x Frigates (39-40)

15th to 16th Fleet: 1(1)x Dreadnaughts, 1(1)x Carriers, 3(1)x Heavy Cruisers, 7(1)x Cruisers, 7(1)x Heavy Frigates and 11(5)x Frigates (31-40)

Standard Fleet Sizes in 2185 by current numbers and intended numbers next year:

1st to 3rd Fleet: 4x Dreadnaughts, 5x Carriers, 9x Heavy Cruisers, 18x Cruisers, 18x Heavy Frigates and 36x Frigates (90)

4th to 6th Fleet: 4x Dreadnaughts, 4x Carriers, 8x Heavy Cruisers, 16x Cruisers, 16x Heavy Frigates, and 32x Frigates (80)

7th to 12th Fleet: 3x Dreadnaughts, 3x Carriers, 6x Heavy Cruisers, 12x Cruisers, 12x Heavy Frigates and 24x Frigates (60)

13th to 16th Fleet: 2(1)x Dreadnaughts, 2(1)x Carriers, 4(2)x Heavy Cruisers, 8(4)x Cruisers, 8(4)x Heavy Frigates and 16(8)x Frigates (60-40)

17th to 18th Fleet: 0(2)x Dreadnaughts, 1(1)x Carriers, 2(1)x Heavy Cruisers, 5(3)x Cruisers, 5(3)x Heavy Frigates and 7(5)x Frigates (20-40)

Other Fleets:

Reserve Assault Fleet: 1x Carrier/Heavy Cruiser, 2x Cruisers, 2-4x Heavy Frigates and 4-8x Frigates (9-15)

Lead Patrol Fleet: 1x Heavy Cruiser plus Standard Patrol Fleet

Standard Patrol Fleet: 2x Cruisers, 4x Heavy Frigates and 8x Frigates (14)

Light Patrol Fleet: 1x Cruiser, 2x Heavy Frigates and 4x Frigates (7)

Heavy Planetary Defense Forces: 2x Cruisers, 2x Heavy Frigates and 4x Frigates (8)

Standard Planetary Defense Fleet: 1x Cruiser, 2x Heavy Frigates and 4x Frigates (7)

Light Planetary Defense Fleet: 2-0x Heavy Frigates and 4x Frigates (6-4)

Exploration Fleet Ships: Heavy Cruisers and Cruisers

CRF: Cruiser (command ship), Heavy Frigates and Frigates

Confederation Alliance of the World: Military Ranks

The Confederation uses a modified version of the ranking system utilized by the Human System Alliance. Soldiers in their military are classified into rank-and-file enlisted personal, experienced non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and specially trained officers. Navy command structure is based on rank followed by ship class and a clear line of succession among commanders of equal rank and ship class. For ground forces ('marines'), their ranks are even more clear-cut out of necessity. Losing men is expected and if bad luck happens and all the officers are killed, their units are still expected to fight, unlike a ship that is probably about to be destroyed if too many of its officers are killed.

The division between naval personnel and ground forces is small. Ground units are a specialized branch of the fleet, just as fighter squadrons are. In most cases, the naval officer has the power over ground forces commanders of equal and lower rank, for an army cannot survive without the support of their navy. However, a field commander can still override the orders of a commander of a lower rank. A necessity needed for Colonels, Brigadier Generals, and Generals that are in charge of a planet's defense. As the higher the rank of the officer, the higher the population he is responsible for conquering or defending a world. However, they will never be able to override an Admiral in charge of a Confederation Fleet, and a Fleet Admiral that is in charge of the defense of large regions of Confederation Space (a dozen clusters).

Among the military officials, the Confederation separates the troops even further by designations on their uniforms and armor below the rank of captain. On the camouflage armor, it is on a stripe that is along their shoulder with a side insignia on the chest plate. On the black and white uniforms, it's on the black pads around the wrist or on the shoulder pads of the dress uniformed or regular uniform (short or long sleeved). On the armor and military uniform for marines, it is red for soldiers, yellow for technicians, blue for biotics and green for mages. For naval only personal, their armor has a silver strip and the military uniform stripes are orange for engineers, white for doctors, brown for scientists, purple for pilots, and silver for communication personnel, navigators, and strategists.

In ascending order of responsibility, the ranks within the Confederation are:

ENLISTED

Serviceman 3rd Class/Private 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class (one triple dash line, one double dash line, one dash line)

Serviceman 2nd Class/Corporal 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class (two triple dash lines, two double dash lines, two dash lines)

Serviceman 1st Class/Sergeant 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class (three triple dash lines, three double dash lines, three dash lines)

NCOs

Service Chief (one V arrow)

Gunnery Chief (two V arrows)

Operations Chief (three V arrows)

OFFICERS

Ensign (one line)

Lieutenant 2nd Class (one line and a triple dash line)

Lieutenant 1st Class (two lines)

Lieutenant Commander (two lines and a triple dash line)

Commander (three lines)

Captain/Major (three gold lines)

Rear Admiral/Colonel (three gold lines and two silver triple dash lines)

Vice Admiral/Brigadier General (three gold lines and two silver lines)

Admiral/General (four gold lines and three silver tripe dash lines)

Fleet Admiral (four gold lines and three silver lines)

Grand Admiral (five gold lines and four silver lines)

Debate: Biotics Vs. Mages

Ever since humans had found out about dilithium crystals and elemental zero, and its side effects, an ongoing debate was happening on what was better, biotics or mages. Biotics for the manipulation of dark energy that causes superior telekinesis attacks, as well as unique ability mages, cannot duplicate like singularities and charge ability. While mages are known to manipulate energy the forces of nature. This in turned crates a rivalry that only increased as humanity made it to the galactic stage and several different species began to the way in the debate.

To the point that in 2159, there is an official Olympics on a galactic scale with races compete in sports where one third are dedicated between the rivalry while others are spread out to physical, biotic or mage sports. There are also official, and unofficial sports between biotics, mages and non-mages/biotics as more mages appear on the galactic stage.

Galactic Exploration Policy

After humanity's introduction of the heavy cruiser, some species began designing their own versions as a military alternative, while others saw the same potential that the humans saw; that their heavy cruisers would be used for deep space exploration vessels under a new policy that the Citadel and the Confederation embraced. The new Galactic Exploration Policy was created after human's first contact with the Council that stated that a heavy cruiser could scout out a nearby cluster and if deemed safe could activate the relay to connect with the other mass relays. Many flocked to the chance as the policy had tripled the amount of explored space to 3% in the last forty years, allowing an increase in the number of valuable resources they could collect, and the ability to create safe colonies away from dangerous territory like that in the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems. This policy mainly benefited the Confederation Alliance of Worlds and the Citadel Council.

Military Classifications

Biotics: Biotics are individuals that can manipulate dark energy. This power makes them a precious resource to have in an army. They are rare outside of the asari, as the development of a Biotic depends on elemental zero exposure for their creation. Even the most basic biotics are valuable as a partially trained biotic can lift their foes up, throw them around, biotic pulse to knock out kinetic barriers, and shear their opponents with a warp field. However, all biotics, even the asari, are trained for one of five different elite classes: adepts, biotic soldiers, disruptors, sentinels, and vanguards. Expected races for biotics are asari, batarians, drells, hanar, humans, krogans, and volus, while elcor, quarians, and turians are rare, and salarians are extremely rare.

(1) Adept: Adepts are advance biotics that is considered masters to none. They often use their abilities to weaken, shred or flinging enemies away using several different biotic techniques such as slam, shockwaves, or singularities to create gravity wells to throw their enemies around, and stasis to freeze a target in place. Adepts wear light armor, strong kinetic barriers, and carry up to two weapons.

(2) Biotic Soldiers: Biotic soldiers, also known as biotic commandoes are biotics trained for a preference for hand-to-hand combat and utilize both kinetic weapons and soldiers' ability. They are extremely dangerous because in one moment they could stand and fight like any soldier, the next moment they are tearing apart enemy troops with their biotic powers. Because of their multi-talented skill, they are a valuable commodity, even if they are a bit difficult to train. Biotic soldiers wear medium armor, moderated kinetic barriers, and carry up to three weapons.

(3) Defenders: Defenders, also known as biotic supporters are advanced biotics trained for one purpose, to support the army with aerial biotic attacks and to create barriers. To have a defender is to have the field advantage, even if they are mistaken for adepts. The main difference is that they can create biotic dome barriers or deflect to deflect them for defense. While offensively, they can use Reave to soften and weaken targets, lash for individual targets, and flare to create a large area of destruction. Defenders wear light armor, strong kinetics barriers that can be enhanced, and carry up to two weapons.

(4) Sentinels: Considered a jack-of-all-trades, sentinels focus on the basics of both tech and biotic abilities except sabotage to be used to their maximum effect. One such special effect is an enhanced tech shield that is almost impossible to break, and if somehow is shattered, it creates a pulse that knocks people off their feet. They are also considered unique as they are trained to be the best tacticians as they have an understanding of both biotic and tech powers. Sentinels wear medium armor; have moderate to strong kinetic barriers (tech shield activated), and carry up to three weapons.

(5) Vanguards: Vanguards are advanced biotics that manipulates dark energy into a 'charge' to appear next to the enemy send out a nova blast to knock the enemy off their feet, or to shoot them at close range with a concussion shot or a charge shot. They are also the first to attack the enemy and the last to run away, making them the true vanguards of the army. Vanguards wear medium armor, moderate kinetic barriers, and carry up to three weapons.

Mages: Mages are rare individuals that can manipulate particles into various things thanks to exposure to dilithium crystals. Mages use this ability to control the elements and pure practical energy (spiritual, creation and entropy) at the tip of their fingers. They are also considered one of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy as an un-implanted mage is more likely to be possessed than any other individual when near dilithium crystals. Mages fall into two implanted categories, psychic knights, and magicians, with three subcategories each. Expected races are elcor, elves, humans, qunari, and turians, while quarians, krogans, batarians, drells, and volus are rare, and hanar and salarians are extremely rare.

(1) Psychic Knights: Psychic knights are able to use their powers at close range. These mages can unleash primal, and particle/spiritual powers on their foes as well as have the ability to enhance their own kinetic barriers and physical abilities. To see a psychic knight is almost certain death for a foe, to the point that the turians actually thought that humans had gods among their people. They are also the most common of the mages and have a variety of skills as they can focus on primal, spiritual, or a combination of the two during battle. Psychic Knights wear medium armor, moderate to strong kinetic barriers (arcane shield activated), and carry up to three weapons. The list below includes the common powers posed by Knights, but which particular group of powers an individual has can be different for Knights of the same class.

Primal: Earth, fire, ice, lightning, liquid (water), wind, kinetic forces, and telekinesis

Mixed: fire, ice, lightning, wind, energy arrow (spirit arrows), kinetic forces, spiritual pressure (death spell), and telekinesis

Spiritual: fire, ice, anti-energy (anti-magic), energy arrow (spirit arrows), kinetic forces, spiritual pressure (death spell), and telekinesis

(2) Magicians: Magicians are not just illusionists, but also mages trained to be healers. They can focus support on creation, entropy energy or a combination of the two. Magicians are considered the most mystical as they can harm enemies internally, enhance allies, create particle barriers, and can manipulate living things like plants and animals to attack people. However, what makes them deadly and somewhat unpredictable is the demon they share with their body, which when summoned can be an unbeatable force of rage, hunger, sloth, desire or pride. Magicians wear light armor, strong kinetic barriers, and carry up to two weapons. The list below includes the common powers posed by Magicians, but which particular group of powers an individual has can be different for Magicians of the same class.

Creation: barriers, enhancement, glyphs, heal, plants, light summons, draining, poison

Mixed: heal, enhancement, glyphs, plants, draining, hex, poison, sleep

Entropy: heal, plants, dark summons, debilitation, draining, hex, poison, sleep

Soldiers: The most common military fighters in the galaxy, soldiers are the basic units of most armies in the galaxy. They are the ones who engage the enemy on the frontlines and are often trained or at least familiar with every kind of weapon a soldier might carry. They are also trained to fire concussive or charge shots to knock down or severely damage targets and are trained to self-induce adrenaline rush to either improve reaction times and speed or strength for powered melee attacks. However, while most soldiers are just riflemen with medium armor and moderate kinetic barriers, a few are trained into one of the five elite classes: berserker, combat medic, commandoes, demolitionist, and marksman. Expected races are batarians, elcor, elves, geth, humans, krogans, qunaris, salarians, and turians, while drell and quarians are rare.

(1) Berserker: Considered one of the most dangerous personnel on the battlefield. Berserkers are soldiers trained to use their rage to full effect to give them blood range to strike down their foes and rush enemy lines. Along with invulnerability to ignore any damage they may receive for a short time and the ability to regenerate health and quickly repair armor. To assign a berserker to the battlefield is to assure that their foes will be struck down without fear of repercussions. Berserkers wear heavy armor, weak kinetic barriers, and carry up to four weapons including a heavy weapon that can be used more than once.

(2) Combat Medic: Combat medics are frontline doctors whose job is to make sure a soldier survives to their next encounter. Often by immediately treating any kind of wound without medi-gel, and using counter agents for any type of physical ailment (from poison to burns) that a soldier receives. They can even perform surgery on the battlefield to save a man's life and have no problem gunning down anyone who threatens their patients. Combat medics wear medium armor, moderate kinetic barriers, and carry up to three weapons.

(3) Commandos: Commandoes are the heavy troops of the army that carry heavy ordinance into battle and enough firepower to take down a whole squad of soldiers or even a tank. A squad of commandoes would be considered overkill for any kind of battle, especially as they have special shields (fortification) to keep them alive, can do more damage on identified weak-points unique or common, and modified weapons to increase fire rates and spread for a short time. Commanders wear heavy armor, weak to medium kinetic barriers (fortification activated), and carry up to four weapons including a heavy weapon that can be used more than once.

(4) Demolitionist: Demolitionists are soldiers that act as not only as frontline soldiers but also as ordinance experts that they set off to disarm foes during the heat of battle. They also carry several different types of grenades and mines to be used on targets depending on the circumstance and additional ammo they can give to squad mates. Expect a large number of explosions when you see this class in the field. Demolitionists wear heavy armor, weak kinetic barriers, and carry up to four weapons including a heavy weapon that can be used more than once.

(5) Marksmen: Marksmen are soldiers who were trained to hit a target with pinpoint accuracy. They are the type that can snipe a target from a distance one moment, and act as frontline soldiers the next. The combination of their ability to make every shot count and their skill at making most of their shots headshots, the marksman are very valuable soldiers. Especially, in a prolonged battle where every shot count, as marksman can do maximum critical damage quickly, and use advanced software to triangulate a bullet's flight path or ricochet to hit multiple targets at once. Marksmen wear moderate armor, moderate kinetic barriers, and carry up to three weapons.

Technicians: Technicians, also known as techs, are highly talented personnel that uses special Omni-tools to shock/overload their opponents, burn (incinerate), freeze (cryo-blast) and sabotage weapons. To have a tech is to have a C-class hacker that can kill their foes with their Omni-tools. A tech is trained in one of five categories: combat engineer, combat scientist, infiltrator, illusionist, and tech soldier. Expected races are batarian, drell, hanar, human, geth, quarian, turian, and volus, while asari, elcor, krogans, and frontline volus are rare.

(1) Combat Engineers: While a standard engineer is a valuable resource to any fleet, a combat engineer is a godsend on the ground. Combat engineers are tech experts that often perform field repairs on failing tech. They are also great support as they can unleash combat drones, and a defense drones/ sentry turret. Some can even double as a hacker, able to break firewalls on unfriendly technology to hack VIs and AIs, and drain shields from their enemies for themselves and possibly their allies. Combat engineers wear light armor, strong kinetic barriers, and carry up to two weapons.

(2) Combat Scientists: Exploring or studying the galaxy is a dangerous place, especially when they are an unarmed scientist. Which is why some are trained in combat. Combat scientists are individuals that use their expertise and technical skills in combat situations. A scientist can stun one person with neural shocks or poison/corrode even AI targets. While also burning their target's armor with acid and provide first aid in combat without a medi-gel to wounded to heal minor wounds. They have become a valuable cog in the exploration of new worlds and the military machine. Combat scientists wear light armor, strong kinetic barriers, and carry up to two weapons.

(3) Infiltrators: Infiltrators, also known as saboteurs are specialized soldiers with one purpose, infiltrate the enemy and sabotage their operations from the inside out using a tactical cloak that makes them invisible for a first strike. They are also trained to set-off mines and to cause the maximum amount of damage when sabotaging units. While using sniping rifles to kill/assassinate their targets with concussion shot and charge shot. Infiltrators wear medium armor, moderate kinetic barriers, and carry up to three weapons.

(4) Hypnotists: Hypnotists, also known as tech commandoes, are specialized tech experts that focus on the creation of special effects holograms to fool or confuse the enemy to either attack like life images or hide units in a holographic field for extra protection. Combined with their ability to enhance kinetic barriers with defense matrixes allows them to run across a Killzone without receiving a scratch. Though that is rare as their skills in trickery and deceit makes them the best spies and interrogators for any organization. Hypnotists wear medium armor, moderate to strong kinetic barriers (defense matrix activated), and carry up to three weapons.

(5) Tech Soldiers: Used heavily to influence military organizations, tech soldiers are highly skilled sharpshooters trained to use tech and soldiers' abilities in combat. From doing simple repairs/hacking to taking down targets, tech soldiers use a variety of skills that are derived from tech and soldiers. Because of this, they are a valuable commodity for their multipurpose role, even if they are a bit difficult to train. Tech solders wear medium armor; moderated kinetic barriers, and carry up to three weapons.

Krogan Clan Alliance

Formed during the Dark Spawn War, the Krogan Clan Alliance was established by Urdnot, Wrex, and his allies as the start of the unification of the Krogan Clans after the Krogan Rebellions. Led by a Supreme Commander decided by the Right of Succession, the Krogan Clan Alliance is the lead force for the galaxy. While it does not represent every clan, it does hold the majority and tries to unite the others under its banner using diplomacy if possible but force on those that attack Clan members. The Citadel Council keeps a close eye on the Krogan government that is one of the founding members of the Confederation Alliance of Worlds.

Krogan Clan Alliance: Right of Succession

Since the birth of the Krogan Clan Alliance, the right of who should hold the supreme leadership had always been an issue. Some believe it should be a right of strength, as it always has been for the krogans. However, their allies and the more long-sighted members within their clans feared that someone that was physically powerful might not care about the krogan people and lead them to destruction. So for years, the council of male and female shamans continued to argue about who should lead until they came up with a solution called the Right of Succession.

The Right of Succession is a three-act ritual that must be performed by any krogan who wished to challenge the current Supreme Commander of the Krogan Clan Alliance, or performed by the current leader every ten years to prove they continue to have the right to rule. It is a very tough, arduous ritual split into three acts. The first act is the witness of poverty, where a krogan is dropped off within a city without any food and water, and they must survive for two months. To fulfill the test, the participant relives the hardships facing the lowliest krogan as they survive off the streets of Tuchanka. Many potential Commanders give up within weeks of the test while others starve to death out of pride. The ones that survive now understand the hardship of being so low.

Once the elders have deemed the survivors of the first test a success, they proceed to act two. Where the candidate must take command of a large military unit of a natural or enemy clan and lead them against any number of targets. That range from pirates to a major military campaign in times of conflict or war. The objective is to lead his men to victory with minimal casualties, and the candidate krogan must gain the respect of their men. If the elders accept that the candidate has passed, then it shows they have the leadership the krogan needs to lead in times of violence.

However, even times of violence are followed by times of peace, and the final act tests how the leader would react in times of peace. The krogan's diplomatic skills are put to the test by having them act as a mediator in a major trade agreement or disagreement. If they are successful and the supervisor does not have to step in, then the krogan has the right to challenge the supreme commander for his position, it takes ten years for the test to be completed.

Few had ever succeeded, but none had a challenge or beat Urdnot Wrex, the first and only Krogan to take up Supreme Commander of the Krogan Clan Alliance. Mainly because they realize what the job entails and know Wrex is just looking for someone he considered worthy of dumping it on. Many hope they will not be picked when Wrex gives up and just retires instead of waiting for someone worthy to challenge him.

Joke: Humans had considered using a similar approach to weed out corruption, but it did not get a single vote in parliament, so the motion was squashed.