Chapter 1 - Panic, Conversations and Politics.
= place: Coruscant, Senate Building; April 15, 2188; 19 ABY =
There was panic in the senate rooms. They had only just received information about the appearance of an Eclipse-class ship in the Bothawui system and did not know what to do.
"We must immediately mobilize all available fleets and move to Bothawaui." - one senator shouted.
"We can't." - another shouted - "What if it's just a prelude to a greater invasion? We have to mobilize our strength and prepare for the next blows."
"There won't be a better chance to destroy a ship like this, especially since the 5th fleet is close." - another shouted.
"By this time, Bothawui will be destroyed." - another shouted.
"Calm down." - Mon Mothma interrupted them. Since she happened to be on Coruscant when Ponc Gavrisom was dealing with the problems on Bothawui, the Senate literally threw her in temporary power to deal with the crisis. I guess they thought she could use magic to vanquish this crisis.
"Our first goal is to have all armed forces on alert and find out what is going on in the Bothawui system." - Mon Mothma continued calmly - "Send nearby forces to support them and assemble the 5th fleet for a potential counterattack, but out of the system. According to scans provided by fleeing ships from the system, the escorts weren't Imperials, so there's no need to panic that much."
"But these ships also cannot be identified." - one of the Senators said - "They could just be new Imperial ships."
"In addition, communication systems with this system collapsed shortly before their arrival." - another shouted.
"So what is the purpose of the attack on Bothawui when we are on the verge of civil war?" - Mon Mothma asked. All the senators began to ponder the question, but could not find an answer. After a minute or so, Mon Mothma decided to continue - "The Emperor wasn't stupid. Same as Thrawn. If any of them prepared this attack, they would have waited for us to weaken themselves and then struck. The more likely scenario is that this ship has been taken over by some other faction like the Duskhan League. Yes, it may be hostile, but such panic won't help anyone, it will only increase our problem."
All senators hushed and waited for further news to arrive, while the officers watching them began giving orders.
= place: SSV Milda; April 15, 2188; 19 ABY =
Meanwhile, on board the SSV Milda, SA ambassadors were discussing another matter.
"For the next time, I think such a show of strength was unnecessary." - said Ambassador Haddan Sek'Totte. As a member of the Caamasi species, he was against sending so much military force. In the event of a war, the New Republic 5th fleet alone would be a sufficient equivalent to the entire SA navy, so doing everything not to antagonize the New Republic was very much on the mind of many SA politicians. However, there was also a second perspective.
"But if there is a civil war in the New Republic, that will be the end of our chances of joining the galactic community peacefully." - replied Ambassador Sheridan - "Besides, the commanders of the armed forces and politicians of the New Republic aren't suicides who will attack without provocation ship as large as Milda. At the same time, it will allow us to deter potential aggressors. We have enough problems with aggressive species next to us."
"Sorry to interrupt your ambassadors." - said Admiral Hackett, entering the room - "The New Republic delegation has just arrived and is on its way to the meeting, along with the 4 guards. They will be in 2 minutes."
Meanwhile, a group of ambassadors, escorted by 4 marines, made a trip to the turbolifts, where they began watching their guards. Although they were in the hangar, it was a very short time that allowed a small number of fighters and armored vehicles to be seen, along with some 100 guards, only 4 of whom stayed and escorted them. In the elevator, Han looked at them and immediately made one point.
They were VERY heavily armed for simple guards.
A rifle on his shoulder, a pistol on his right leg, a knife on his left, a few grenades, and everything attached to black armor that made it impossible to recognize who was under the hood. They looked a bit like the Stormtrooper of the Empire, just with black armor, istead of white. At the same time, however, it had several differences. There were several symbols on the armor, including one of those that were on the ships. Probably a flag or a coat of arms of this breed.
"Excuse me, soldier." - Senator Elegos A'Kla suddenly said - "But could you tell us the name of your race? So far you have been very secretive and it would be fitting to at least get to know some of your basic information."
"I understand, senator." - one of the soldiers said. There was a slightly different symbol on his shoulder from the rest of the soldiers, so he was probably their commander - "Unfortunately, the home worlds of all our members are in the Unknown Regions, so it means an almost constant threat from many different races and factions that are fighting for control over territories and resources, repeatedly enslaving the weaker races. Plus, your New Republic is on the brink of civil war. Had it not been for our appearance, the battle would probably have been ongoing."
"But you can probably reveal some background information." - Elegos pressed on. The soldier sat quietly for a moment, then began - "I am a human from Earth or Terra, so we are called Earthlings or Terrans. Our government is the System Alliance. The government is a democracy ruled by the Senate, headed by the President. In addition to us, there are several other species in System Alliance, as you will soon find out when you meet our ambassadors. The rest will be revealed to you at the meeting."
Before anyone could add anything, the turbolift stopped and SA soldiers led the representatives of the New Republic to the SA ambassadors. Many were surprised that the SA representatives were 2 humands, Ambassador Sheridan and Admiral Hackett, and Caamasi, Haddan Sek'Totte. This naturally raised some questions, but was quickly left aside to start a negotiation. After the first performances, questions began, with the unpleasant reaction of Ambassador Bothan.
"Why did you bring such a huge fleet over our planet?" - Borsk Fey'lya asked rather sharply.
"You have been close to starting a civil war with many fairly radical factions, so let's assume that a little show of force will scare off potential aggressors." - Sheridan said.
"Unfortunately, many of the first contacts were quite aggressive." - Haddan said - "Just over half of our population is Terrans, who have quite an old and proud militarist culture. Additionally, after starting to open up to other races, many of them turned out to be very aggressive, leading to many skirmishes and other conflicts. And many more races that later joined us did so mainly to protect themselves from invasions by other races."
"So you decided to play it with military force and the first thing you did was attack 3 Star Destroyers?" - Leia asked.
"Ever since Empire attacked our planet Milda, we've recognized ourselves as the state of war with the Galactic Empire." - Hackett said - "We have this ship captured from them. Besides, the crews of these 3 Star Destroyers will be released into what's left of the Galactic Empire after the negotiations are over, and they will probably be tried for treason there."
"For treason?" - asked Ponc Gavris.
"We learned that they were acting in secret from the Empire's current commander in chief, Gilad Pellaeon." - Sheridan said.
"How did you do it?" - asked Borsk.
"We searched their computers and found a lot of evidence there." - Hackett said.
"While all this is very interesting, first I would like to know why a member of the Caamasi species is one of your representatives." - Leia said.
"I can explain it." - Haddan said. - "You see, at the time the Empire carried out the Bombing of Caamas, several ships with civilians were able to escape by introducing random Hyperspace coordinates. A few years later, the Terran recon team arrived at the system in which we got stuck, and it was then that we made our first contact with the Terrans, and then with other races. The first founding members were just them and us."
"And what territory do you control?" - asked Ponc Gavris.
"Mainly MassEffect relay systems built by the now extinct Raakatan race, and a lot of territory in what you call Unknown Regions." - Sheridan said.
"And the locations of these relays?" - asked Borsk.
"They're all over the galaxy, isolated by hundreds of light years." - Hackett said - "They're interfering with Hyperdrive, so we've had to do some special upgrade over the last 30 years. Actually, only 4.2 light years from here is one of our planets."
"I assume you will give us the locations and set the borders." - Leia said.
"This is one of our goals for these negotiations." - Sheridan said - "Others include the non-aggression pact, trade deals, and a lot of smaller things that we can deal with later."
"But before that, maybe we'll show you around the ship." - Hackett said - "Surely you want to get to know some of the other races that make up the SA. Then you should go back to Coruscant and report it to the rest of the Senate."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the senate was now in a state of complete panic." - Han thought.
The New Republic representatives agreed and together with the guards they followed the representatives of the SA.
= location: SSV Milda, hangar =
In the hangar, the X-wing escort pilots relaxed a bit, as did the Marines SA. This soon led to minor conversations and an exchange of war stories.
"And I'm talking to this pirate, and let me remind you that he had 2 fighters and a corvette against our 2 fighters." - said the X-wing pilot, human Gaul Ranka - "You're right. I will fight you alone, and my wingman will continue the patrol. Then it should be a fair fight."
At that, a group of pilots and marines laughed.
"But then my wingman, we know him as 'Kick' because he always had the strongest kick that once broke a chair in a bar fight. That's probably why they moved him. But he says to me, 'But Captain, it's still going to be unfair.' And I was like, 'But how is that unfair?' And he says - 'You'll have all the fun just to yourself.'"
Another wave of laughter rolled through the hangar.
"But the pirate leader broke communications in and ordered his fighters to take us down when he breaks through. Their fighters were old Cloakshape Fighters, with more ion weapons to take down civilian ships, but their pilots were a bunch of amateurs. Kick and I broke up quickly, and the two flew after me. I kept my speed fast enough that they wouldn't get me, but slow enough that they wouldn't lose me and I chased after their corvette. And they pounded at me with everything and before they caught up, it turned out that they had hit their corvette."
Another wave of laughter could be heard in the hangar.
"And to add to the picture, Kick decided to show up then and quickly took care of both pirate garbage fighters. Although I have to admit that those bastards were tough. Or at least tougher than the glass TIEs ."
Another wave of laughter rolled through the room.
"Well, then it's just to hit a few more important parts of the corvette, which was still immobilized, I will remind you, to wait for the patrol ship and Call it a Day."
"Pirates are a problem no matter where you are." - said the older Marine, known simply as "Grandpa," referring to his age, making him one of the oldest, if not the oldest, SA Marine still active. Thanks to modern medicine, he was in very good shape despite having 78 years on the back of his neck. In the old days, an old man like that would have already been seated behind a desk, but this one would still do the trick on the battlefield by meeting the standards - "I remember when in my youth some stupid pirates attacked the ship I was on. It was my vacation, but I had a firearms license in my cabin. So when the pirates boarded, I quickly killed these idiots and borded them myself."
"By yourself?" - one of the surprised New Republic pilots asked.
"Well." - said Grandpa - "The pirates are so hopeless that their incompetence can be considered a small support squad for me."
The room burst out laughing again.
"You from the New Republic, you're not that bad at all." - one of the SA Marines said - "After hearing the story about your part of the Galaxy, I thought you were painfully bureaucratic."
"Fortunately, it's only the highest levels of command that are so annoying." - said another pilot.
And so began an agreement between ordinary soldiers.
= place: SSV Milda, bridge =
After seeing several parts of the ship, the delegation found itself on Milda's Bridge. The crew did not pay much attention to them and continued their work as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, the delegates could not hide their admiration for the unusual changes that SA introduced to the former Empire dreadnought.
"You've rebuilt this whole place for your needs." - Han Solo said with a little admiration.
"We prefer our workplace to be more about function than appearance." - Hackett replied.
"And what is that?" - Leia asked, pointing to what appeared to be a miniature room in the center of the bridge.
"These are the places for the Oamecini Coordinators." - Hackett said - "They are a very small species but with remarkable biological characteristics. For example, each of them has enough 'Force' sense to become a Jedi. When a battle comes, they carry out Battle Meditation here to improve our coordination in battle."
"I assume we won't see this genre for now." - Ponc said.
"They are currently in their quarters." - Hackett replied - "But before that, I'd like to introduce someone to you."
At these words, next to Hackett stood a tall, humanoid alien with a bird-like face and some symbols painted on it. He had three fingers and three toes.
"This is General Adrien Victus." - Sheridan said - "During the officer exchange between System Alliance and Citadel Council, he was assigned to this ship. Although he isn't allowed to negotiate, he should be allowed to provide basic information."
"That's right, Ambassador." - said Victus - "According to the information obtained, the diplomatic team should be dispatched within the next few days. As far as I know, many other species and governments in our part of the galaxy will soon start doing the same."
"I see." - Ponc said - "Then I would be delighted to welcome you to the Senate Hall."
The journey continued for a while, and the subsequent return to negotiations allowed for a non-aggression pact to be signed, boundaries and a few other minor issues that were later approved by the Senate.
But at that time, there was also another, less formal meeting between the SA Task Force and a certain Jedi Master at a certain Grand Admiral's fortress.
Codex
System Alliance, general information:
Upon contact with the New Republic, SA already had 4508 systems under its control, with 1,124 garden worlds. Over 90% of this was still in systems with MassEffect relays, but it also has bridgeheads, colonies, home worlds, and many other objects in Unknown Regions. Many of them border on other countries. The rapid development of SA has resulted in the discovery of new types of animals and plants, sources of minerals, and many other objects in their own space. In fact, the only system that can be considered fully explored is the Sol System, and this has only been achieved in the last few years. The discoveries are expected to continue over the next several thousand years before every single system in the SA is fully investigated and cataloged.
The SA currently consists of 7 human species: Terrans/Earthlings(Humans from Earth/Terra), Caamasi(from New Caamas), Oamecini(Ichlings), Kushans(Humans from Kharak), Cylons(Humans from Kobol), Enphili and Virtuals(AI). It is noteworthy that despite calling many of these races "human", the genetic changes that have taken place have led to almost subtypes different from the regular humans who inhabited the territories of the former Empire. This is due to specific planetary conditions(Kushans), genetic/technological modifications(Cylons), or evolution from an entirely different species(Terrans/Earthlings). In addition, other species have submitted a petition for SA membership and if it is accepted, the number of SA members will increase to 10. These species are Markazians, Fongoidns and Lombaxs[1].
Species that have petitioned to join the SA:
The Markazians are a race in the technological age of the 20th century, but they had first contact with other races, and their planet was attacked not too long ago by a small squad of Narnas that was pushed back due to their vast superiority in numbers. Following this, the race wants to join for protection, with a small SA Navy task force already in orbit, guarding it and conducting research.
Phongoids are a race with early 2000s-level technology but have several other sources that allowed them to travel and populate 5 planets in their region using an unknown version of teleportation technology. Potentially similar to that found by Oamecini. Consequently, their technology in space stands behind considerably. Although the first contact was established with the colony, it was very fruitful and the species quickly became a trade partner for the then-still underdeveloped SA region. Soon after, information about the first contact came to light, and a nearby race of Vaygras[2], with whom you were in touch only a few months before, came to light. As a result of the possible arrival of a Vaygr fleet, the Fongoids decided to forge a defensive alliance and a subsequent membership attempt with the SA before the attack took place. The announcement of this, and the swift exposure of SA navy elements to the region prevented an attack, although smaller raids later began to take place.
The Lombaxes are the last race that wants to join the SA and is unique in that it is the only ancient race known to SA, remembering the times of the Raakatan Empire and actually repelling as many as 3 invasion groups, despite heavy losses. However, each attack was stronger and resulted in enormous civilian casualties after numerous orbital bombardments. For this reason, they decided to cut off access to their home system, destroying hyperspace lanes with a gravity weapon created from a small amount of captured Ezzo, which, combined with a specific nebula in this part of the galaxy, cut this civilization off completely from the rest of the galaxy. The SA only managed to make contact with their Ezzo-reinforced FTL drive. Lombaxes have specially kept their population small, thanks to which they still have huge reserves of raw materials in the system. Due to the fact that they are the only known species to withstand as many as 3 invasions, their armed forces are considered very powerful, despite the fact that only 0.05% of the Lombax population serves in the military.
But what's most impressive about them is their sense of technology. Whatever the rest of the galaxy has, the Lombax has it better, cheaper, and faster, with many other technologies that weren't even thought possible. Their tech-savvy is so good that within a week of giving them FTL propulsion as part of technology exchange, they managed to make their own and equip one of their ships. Currently, their desire to join the SA is taken mainly by a curiosity about the rest of the galaxy, their technologies, and security. After all, if SA has found them, others can too, and even the best technology cannot protect when the odds are 1000:1.
[1] All races listed are from the 'Ratchet and Clank' Game Series
[2] This breed comes from the game 'Homeworld 2'