Minor Powers of the Star Fleet Universe
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In the fictional Star Fleet Universe variant of Star Trek, the Alpha Octant is home to a number of interstellar governments. The Minor Powers of the Star Fleet Universe are such only in that they are not as well known as the major races. While any major power of the Alpha Octant bordering them could conquer them for themselves, each would be supported by others who would seek to deny the conqerer his prize.
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[edit] The WYN Cluster
The WYN (pronounced 'win', not 'W-Y-N') Cluster is a mass of stars enveloped in a radiation shell located at the border of the Klingon Empire, Lyran Star Empire and Kzinti Hegemony. For decades, the radiation was believed to be constant throughout the multi-parsec wide zone, which made any attempt to explore it fatal. Then the Kzinti Duke, having failed to show himself worthy of ascending to the Patriarchy of the Hegemony (without waiting for the current Patriarch to die first) led his followers on a suicide dive into the Cluster.
It was then that they found that the radiation was a hollow sphere, and that he systems within the Cluster were resource rich. For decades, the Usurper (as he was called) and his followers began to build a new nation with these resources. Soon, they were joined by fleeing Orions and refugees from the other border nations who all thought themselves better dead from radiation that be captured. By the time contact was made with the outside galaxy, the Cluster was ready to defend itself.
The Cluster lives on trade with its neighbors. The three bordering powers negotiate trades with the Cluster, after which each sends unmanned freighters through the radiation zone, normally manufactured goods in, raw materials out. Some manned missions take place, but are less common.
The Cluster Defense Force is a rag-tag fleet of available ships. A vast majority of the fleet consists of freighters armed with every bit of weapontry that the frame can carry. In addition are a number of smaller warships acquired by various means from their neighbors and armed too the teeth (far beyound what a ship can carry and spend more than a week away from port). As payment for giving them a safe port, the Orions provided some slightly stripped ships. Finally, the Cluster in latter years managed to build ships of their own design that were fully capable of long term independent operations.
The Cluster survived because no power could afford for another to seize the valuable resources within the Cluster, which would be a significant improvement to the seizing economy. In addition, the radiation zone, even during a high speed run, disables and disrupts ship systems to the point that by the time they have had a chance to recover, the rag-tag Cluster Defense Force is already blasting away at them.
After the General War, the grandson of the Usurper (who carried the title himself) launched an assault on the Kzinti Patriarch in an attempt to seize the throne. There is no historic evidence to suggest the attempt succeeded or failed, and the survivors came back to find that the balance of power in the Cluster had shifted away from Kzinti dominance.
Neither the ISC or the Andromedans made a serious attempt to penetrate the Cluster.
[edit] The Lyran Democractic Republic
The LDR was a renegade county of the Lyran Star Empire. After years of incompetent leadership by the hereditary Count, there was a general uprising in Dark Star County killing off the Count and his entire family. The new entity did not immediately cut ties with the Empire, but after attacks by some of the Empire's forces, they soon declared independence.
The LDR would have been easily reabsorbed if it were not for internal Lyran politics. The King found it convenient for the Enemy's Blood Duchy to be weakened by the loss of one of its five counties, and the other Dukes supported each side with varying enthusiasm.
The LDR remained neutral during the General War, providing both sides with a convenient communication route. Unfortunately, in Y195, the Andromedans saw a weak power with few allies. Within a few weeks of the initial assault, the Andromedans had destroyed the LDR as a political force.
[edit] The Vudar Enclave
The Vudar were a reptilian subject race of the Klingon Empire, where they were known for their expertise in ion and impulse technology.
The Vudar homeworld exists at a point near the galactic rim, and is surrounded by a wide zone of space saturated with ionic energy. While not instantly fatal, non-Vudars in the region require very heavy shielding to survive within the area. As a result, the Klingons took the unusual step of allowing their subject race to build and operate their own fleet of small ships to patrol the area.
Unbeknownst to the Klingons, the Vudar had greater ambitions. Taking advantage of Klingon complacency, the Vudar first built more ships than the Klingons had authorized (while allowing only a limited number to come within range of Klingon sensor nets), then more powerful warships.
At the height of the General War, the Vudar made their move and set up their own state out of Klingon (and Hydran) territory. As the Klingons were in the middle of a sector-wide war, they were not able to devote the resources to crush the new nation.
[edit] The Carnivon Hordes
The Carnivons were a wolf-like race who lived in a territory adjoining the Lyrans and Kzinti. While all three showed signs of having come from a common ancestor (perhaps due to seeding by an older race), none thought the Galaxy was large enough for more than one of them. By the beginning of the 'modern era' of the galaxy, the Carnivons had been vitually eliminated and were no longer a power within the galaxy.
Based on fiction and scenarios presented in issue 32 of the periodical Captains Log, It is believed that at a "rag tag fleet" of merchant vessels carrying the remnants of the Carnivon race away from the genocidal campaigns of the Kzin and Lyrans, escorted by the last Carnivon dreadnought, the Karelian, and supporting Carnivon warships, managed to defeat pursuing forces and make its way into the uncharted areas of the Delta Sector.
Nothing further is known of the fate of this surviving remnant of the Carnivon race.
[edit] The Paravian Marauders/Jihad
The Paravians were a race of humanoid birds apparently descended from lizard-like ancestors seeded on their world by the 'Lizard Kings' (as the Gorns had apparently been done on their three homeworlds). Unfortunately, the Paravians saw the fossilized records of a lizard-like race on their world as fitting their image of a race of demons before they even met the Gorns.
The Paravians never cooperated with any other race and fought viciously with the Gorns with a religious fervour. Unfortunately for them, they never built colonies and typically operated independently.
In the end, the Gorns managed to slowly push the Paravians back to their homeworld, then destroyed any spacefaring technology there, blockading them on their world. This would have been simply a longterm watch if it were not for the arrival of a Sun Snake in the system a decade later. The creature succeeded in diving into the Paravian star, which immediately went nova. The Gorns had tried to act to save the race, but the Paravians would not believe them, plus there was no way they could have evacuated the planet in the time available.
Unknown to the Gorns, one batch of Paravians survived the annihilation of their race. This group travelled to the Omega Octant where they became a very minor power, the Paravian Jihad.
[edit] The Jindarian Caravans
The Jindarians are not a nation, but a race spread across the galaxy (and the Small Magellanic Cloud). Having been a space faring race long before any of the others had even left the ground, the Jindarians are wanderers, not gathering in groups larger than a caravan of ships. The Jindarians do not concern themselves with galactic politics, but simply wish to continue their wandering, harvesting asteroids and engaging in minimal trade.
Jindarians can be hard to find in asteroid belts due to the simple fact that many of their ships are built from hollowed out asteroids.
