A/N: Updates here and there, specifically hanar, volus and drell.
Updated March 2020
Chapter 7: Alien Relations
THE SYSTEMS ALLIANCE ORDER OF BATTLE
With Addenda Regarding Citizenship Tiers and Your Government
Prepared by the Systems Alliance Commissariat
Distribution limited by the Manswell State Security Act
OFFICER EDITION : DO NOT DISTRIBUTE TO NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS OR ENLISTED PERSONNEL
Section F: Our relations with our alien neighbors
"The great majority of humans do not know much about most alien cultures, but nonetheless fear them all as violent, morally bankrupt, sexually deviant, expansionist and hostile to our society and way of life. Sadly, most aliens look at humanity in the same light. The problem to overcome is not hatred, but ignorance." – Princess Aleesia Manwell, 'On our cousins the Asari'
Ever since the end of the First Contact War, Humanity has been forced with the reality that we are not alone in the universe, and that all life is not kindly or willing to act in our best interest.
As an officer you have already undergone your primary and secondary training in xenology and xenoethical restrictions. This guide is not to rehash such information, but instead to provide you with a quick overview of the Systems Alliance viewpoint on aliens.
Every race is summarized with a modified PRIDE rating, where 1.0 is at war and unwilling to communicate meaningfully and 5.0 is complete harmony and trustworthiness. Each race is also summarized with a Danger Rating, from Alpha to Omega. Alpha is harmless, Omega is incredibly dangerous. The Danger Rating represents that race's ability to inflict serious harm on a military force if engaged in combat.
An overview of current diplomatic and military relations is also offered , as is a gauge of military, economic and scientific strength. Scores range from 1 to 10, where the SA is a 5, and higher is more advanced.
Asari:
Overall Relations: Excellent
PRIDE : 4.7 (allied)
Danger: Sigma (very high)
Diplomatic relations: Outstanding
Military relations: Outstanding
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 10 / 10 / 10
Overview: the asari are our closest kin, the only aliens in this galaxy that we can fully trust. Having aided us in the FCW and then contributed both scientific knowledge and economic assistance in its aftermath, the asari helped humanity develop full FTL, biotic amps, omni-facturing, and even today aid in cleaning up Earth.
As a result, asari are classed as humans in many aspects of the military and government. Asari can become up to class IV citizens in government, class V if they are of the Thirty Families, and can hold any government position except for President.
Asari believe in collectivist concerns, and are led by elder matriarchs. Like humanity, they are led by their noble classes, known as the Thirty. Treat any member of the Thirty as you would a Manswell. Asari use plasma weapons, heavy armor (personal and ship based), super-advanced warp cores, and are the supreme power in the galaxy at the moment.
Remember that tens of millions of asari live in the SA, and that tens of millions of humans live in the Asari Republic. Treat them with the respect they deserve.
Commissariat Advisory: Maintain good relations with this species at all cost.
Salarian:
Overall Relations: Calm
PRIDE : 1.9 (distrusted)
Danger: Epsilon (high)
Diplomatic relations: strained but improving
Military relations: good, with the exception of the STG
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 6 / 8 / 10
Overview: slender, hyperactive humanoids. The salarians are believed to have observed humanity prior to us achieving FTL. A race that prides itself on its intellect and research, salarians are amoral, quick thinking, and very good spies and agents. Currently, we are at peace with the Salarian Union, but their role in brutalizing the Krogan is a warning we will not ignore.
Salarians do everything fast, breed in large families dominated by females, and are very isolationist. Salarians use heavy laser and grenade technologies in battle, super-heavy armor suits, and advanced ships. Salarians cannot hold positions in the SA government outside the Corporate Court, but can become class I and II citizens.
AIS advisory : Salarian intelligence-gathering efforts are to be regarded as provocation. React accordingly.
Commissariat advisory: "accordingly" means with heavy weapons fire.
Turian:
Overall Relations: poor but improving
PRIDE : 3.5 (cautious trust)
Danger: Omega (lethal)
Diplomatic relations: warm
Military relations: heavily strained but improving
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 10 / 4 / 8
Overview: Reptilian/bird creatures that stand taller than humans, the antagonists of the FCW, our relationship with the turians has slowly improved over the years. A brutal race of militaristic soldiers, their entire culture and lifestyle rotates around the military and the glory of war. Possessing the largest fleet in the galaxy (after the quarians) and many colony worlds, the turian economy is weak.
Turians are honor-based creatures of ingrained tradition and habit, but their military traditions make them almost immune to route or panic, and they die before surrender.
Turians prefer rail-based and energy weapons, heavy shielding, and jump units. Turians cannot hold positions in the SA government, but can become class I and II citizens.
Commissariat Advisory: minimize contact between your forces and that of the turians.
Hanar:
Overall Relations: confused, frustrating
PRIDE : 1.1 (very distrusted and hostile)
Danger: Omega (incredibly dangerous)
Diplomatic relations: poor
Military relations: poor
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 10++ / 6 / 10++
Overview: Hanar are gasbag creatures given to business, philosophy, peace, and the worship of the they are not peaceful, the ones in hanar space don't even use money, their philosophy makes no sense and involves scarves, and their worship of the Protheans makes them feel entitled to seize Prothean technology and ruins.
A confusing and self-referential people, the hanar uplifted and employed the drell to act as their military force, which is baffling given their military forces easily defeated the combined forces of the galaxy multiple times. Hanar technology is decades or centuries beyond any other race, and the hanar themselves are extremely alien and share little overlap with humanity.
They cannot become citizens of the SA at this time.
The Hanar are focused on Prothean relics and sites, and have made several insulting attempts to gain access to the Mars Archive. Assume hanar in the Sol system are hostile.
Commissariat Advisory: combat is not recommended under any circumstances. Hanar look harmless but in any ground combat are incredibly lethal.
Elcor:
Overall Relations: peaceful
PRIDE : 4.1 (trusted)
Danger: Sigma (very high)
Diplomatic relations: very good
Military relations: excellent
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 4 / 5 / 5
Overview: Elcor are reptilian beings with some mammalian features that live on a very high gravity world. The elcor are peaceful, placid and move slowly, but when angered fight extremely fiercely. Elcor are very closely matched in most capacities to the Systems Alliance, and while not exactly allied, along with the volus, we find them trustworthy enough to share embassy areas and conduct military training with. Elcor are sharp businesspeople and due to their origins almost impossible to take out in a ground fight, capable of shrugging off up to light missile fire.
Elcor favor explosives and ion weaponry, and light suits of powered armor. Their fleet, while small, is well-built and extremely well trained. Their infantry are the most dangerous in the galaxy, with their special forces being able to stand off tank divisions and engage in slugging contests with starships.
Commissariat Advisory: Maintain good relations with this species at all cost. Don't underestimate them, for all their slow speech they're frightful in a fight.
Batarian:
Overall Relations: extremely hostile
PRIDE : 1.0 (hatred)
Danger: Sigma (very high), possibly Omega (Imperial Guard)
Diplomatic relations: severed and good riddance
Military relations: extremely hostile and deteriorating
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 6 / 4 / 8
Overview: Per Executive Order 994-C, all information regarding formal SA attitudes towards the illegal criminal/terrorist organization purporting to represent a government for the Batarians is to be handled through the office of the Commissariat.
Informally, recommend caution and combat readiness at all times around batarians. Batarians may not become citizens in the SA but may serve as targets per instructions by your senior leadership.
Additionally, engagement with the batarian Imperial Guard is not recommended at any time.
Commissariat Advisory: Shoot first. Remember Mindoir.
Volus:
Overall Relations: excellent
PRIDE : 4.3 (trustworthy, near allies)
Danger: gamma (elevated)
Diplomatic relations: outstanding
Military relations: outstanding
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 3 / 10 / 4
Overview: Like humanity, the volus have been sidelined by galactic society. Small humanoids from a heavy planet with high pressures, volus have to wear pressure suits to survive in our atmosphere.
The volus have a great deal of money and investments. Volus culture is tribal, bartering lands and even people to gain status. This culture of exchange inclines them to economic pursuits. It was the volus who authored the Unified Banking Act, and they continue to monitor and balance the Citadel economy.
While most Volus are not violent, they do love missiles and torpedo weapons and high explosives. The VDF is surprisingly vicious and well trained for such peaceful creatures and their soldiers can easily withstand fusillades of fire that would drop a krogan, as well as demonstrate titanic strength.
Volus can become class I or II citizens, but not hold office outside of the Corporate Court.
Drell:
Overall Relations: poor
PRIDE : 1.3 (extreme dislike)
Danger: gamma (elevated)
Diplomatic relations: strained and deteriorating
Military relations: wary and deteriorating
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 5 / 4 / 7
Overview: the mercenaries of the hanar, the drell are a highly agile race of reptilian humanoids with some mammalian features. Aside from some intercepted spying efforts on their part we have no real interactions with them at this time.
Drell favor precise sniping weapons and melee weapons. Drell rarely engage in business, and most who are not involved with the hanar still prefer semi-nomadic living in the wilds of Kahje. Drell do not tolerate damp atmosphere well and are, as a race, slowly dying from a type of acquired cystic fibrosis called Kepral's Syndrome.
Due to the fact several have tried to gain surreptitious admittance to the Mars Archives on hanar orders, they are considered security risks and cannot become SA citizens.
Commissariat Advisory: The subsect of drell known as Remembrance Dancers should be treated as Omega level threats and engaged with either anti-material weapons or orbital bombardment.
Quarian:
Overall Relations: distant but very positive and improving
PRIDE : 4.5 (trustworthy, near allies)
Danger: gamma (elevated)
Diplomatic relations: outstanding
Military relations: very good and improving
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 6 / 1 / 9
Overview: Another race the Citadel Council has abandoned, the quarians were chased from their home by the AI creatures known as geth. Forced to survive on their remaining ships, the quarians have wandered for nearly three centuries at this point. Highly intelligent, skilled engineers and loyal to those who are loyal to them, the SA is seriously considering entering into discussions with the quarians to give them a planet.
Quarians are semi-humanoid, but like turians cannot eat some of our foods. Their immune systems are weak, meaning they must live in their suits all their lives. Quarians use heavy electroplasma discharges as weapons, and have cybernetics and other implants far beyond our technology. Quarians are disliked by most Citadel races, but have dealt fairly and honestly with the SA for over twenty years. The SA is in the process of formal alliance discussions with the quarian admiralty.
Currently they are limited to class I and II citizenship, but legislation is now under review to allow them the nearly the same rights as the asari, expected to encompass up to class IV citizenship.
Commissariat Advisory: quarian psychology places extremely high value on allies and trust. Maintain good relations with this species at all cost.
Krogan:
Overall Relations: displeased
PRIDE : 2.2
Danger: Omega (lethal)
Diplomatic relations: almost none , but slowly improving
Military relations: wary
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 4 / 1 / 1
Overview: violent and gigantic brutes, krogan were crippled by the salarian genophage when they rebelled against the Council. Now living wandering and nomadic lives as mercenaries or soldiers-for-hire, most krogan cannot be trusted. Krogan mercenaries are very common and they are not considered a security risk, but cannot hold any level of SA Citizenship.
While the krogan are not currently unified, keep in mind they were able to nearly fight the entire galaxy to a standstill and that it took both asteroid bombardments and the Genophage to break them. A reunited Krogan Empire would be dreadfully dangerous.
Recommend extreme caution. Krogan are powerful combatants that regenerate from almost any wound. Some have biotics rivaling that of asari. Most require anti-tank weapons to kill. This is not a typo. Krogan also do not die of old age, and the older ones have more training than any other being in the galaxy.
Vorcha:
Overall Relations: hostile
PRIDE : 1.0 (hated)
Danger: alpha (laughable)
Diplomatic relations: technically not possible
Military relations: hostile
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 1 / 1 / 1
Overview: ravenous humanoid monstrosities related to planarian type flatworms, vorcha are opportunistic scavengers and free-lance mercenaries. Considered hostile at all times. Recommend termination with prejudice. Vorcha are not fully sentient and cannot become anything in the Systems Alliance except a problem.
Commissariat Advisory: The SA does not recognize vorcha as a sentient species. Dispose of them as needed. One cannot murder cockroaches.
Collectors:
Overall Relations: none
PRIDE : 1.5 (hostile)
Danger: Omega (lethal)
Diplomatic relations: none
Military relations: extremely wary
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 6 / 1 / 10++
Overview: The Collectors are an enigmatic race that live beyond the Omega 4 Relay, a mass relay within the same system as Omega, in the Terminus Systems. They are most well known for their odd trade requests for which they offer new technologies, often of a startling level of advancement. Their requests usually involve the trade of living beings in odd numbers and varieties. One of their current interests is in healthy human biotics. No one knows what happens to the individuals concerned after the exchange is completed.
The Commissariat and AIS are very interested in the capture of one of these beings for a polite chat.
Geth:
Overall Relations: at war
PRIDE : 1.0 (hostile)
Danger: Omega (lethal)
Diplomatic relations: none
Military relations: hostile
MIL / ECO / SCI score: 8 / 3 / 8
Overview: The geth are a humanoid race of networked AIs. They were created by the quarians 300 years ago as tools of labor and war. When the geth showed signs of self-evolution, the quarians attempted to exterminate them. The geth won the resulting war. The geth possess a unique distributed intelligence. An individual has rudimentary animal instincts, but as their numbers and proximity increase, the apparent intelligence of each individual improves. In groups, they can reason, analyze situations, and use tactics as well as any organic race.
Recent events have shown the geth are hostile to all organic species. Destroy them on sight.
Rachni:
[REDACTED]
Yahg:
[REDACTED]