Alpha Octant
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The Alpha Octant is a large area of the inhabitable Milky Way Galaxy in the fictional Star Fleet Universe, as well as the stage for both its primary setting (the Main Era) and that of the Early Years. Other settings featured in the SFU include the adjacent Omega Octant and the distant Small Magellanic Cloud.
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[edit] Background
The Alpha Octant is named for the Alpha Sector, which borders on a void, and stretches through to the Delta Sector. This is technically four sectors, not three, but Delta is largely unexplored and lightly settled, containing the Hydran Lost Colonies and Lyran Far Stars. It is by far the best known of all the locales in the Star Fleet Universe, being home to the Federation and all the other familiar races of The Original Series.
Alpha contains the bulk of the territory belonging to the ISC, Romulan Star Empire, and Gorn Confederation. Beta contains the United Federation of Planets, the Orion Enclave, and the Tholian Holdfast. Gamma contains the Klingon Empire, Kzinti Hegemony, Hydran Kingdom, Lyran Star Empire, Lyran Democratic Republic and the WYN Star Cluster.
Earth, Vulcan, Andoria and Rigel are at the centre of the Federation, in the Primary Member Zone. This is located in the central hex of the Federation as shown on the Federation and Empire map (which corresponds to the blue area of the galaxy map), below.
[edit] Alpha Octant Governments and Factions
[edit] Western Alpha Octant factions
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- United Federation of Planets
- In many ways, still the same idealistic explorers depicted in canon Star Trek. Technically, the UFP is present in both the 'western' and 'eastern' parts of the Octant. The Federation is also the economic powerhouse of the octant, which has been the cause of most of the tension with its neighbours. While the Federation is not a military powerhouse, its economy is capable of supporting a massive buildup in states of emergency. (Blue area in map centre.)
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- Klingon Empire
- The "smooth forehead" version from The Original Series, they tend to act less like the samurai-like Klingons of The Next Generation and show more of the "do what needs to be done" mentality displayed in The Original Series. It should also be noted that the Star Fleet Universe Klingons make extensive use of Subject Races, who are effectively second class citizens in the Empire. (Grey area to the left (West) of the Federation.)
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- Kzinti Hegemony
- Based on Larry Niven's Known Space Kzin, the Animated Series presented them as the Kzinti. The SFU further adapted them to its continuity. The Kzintis are an aggressive felinoid race who have warred with all of the empires along their borders, with particular exception taken to their mortal emenies, the distantly-related Lyrans. By the time of the General War, the Kzintis allied themselves with the Federation, but this more out of convenience against the Klingons than any true friendship. Due to licensing concerns, Star Fleet Command altered the Kzinti into the more canine Mirak. (Maroon area north of the Klingons.)
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- Tholian Holdfast
- A crystalline race at the edge of the galaxy (located where the Federation, Romulan, and Klingon borders come together). They are isolationists, and the last remnant of an empire that once spanned the M81 galaxy. The current Tholian denizens of the Milky Way are the remainder of a police force that moved a Dyson sphere from their galaxy to ours. As few vessels from the Tholian Navy made the transition (or survived constant conflict with the Klingons, who had claimed the region of space where the Tholians established their Holdfast) and lacking much fundamental equipment, much of their fleet is derived from the venerable police cutter - the vessel seen in "The Tholian Web". Eventually, a powerful squadron of Navy ships arrive in the Holdfast, just in time to save the Tholians from final defeat in the General War. (Tan area at bottom center.)
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- Hydran Kingdom
- A race of short, three legged, two mouthed, methane-breathing aliens with three tentacles for arms. The Hydrans live on the far side of the Klingon Empire from the Federation. Twice in their history have they been conquered by the Klingons and Lyrans, and twice did they draw their forces in the distanct Old Colonies to re-take their home worlds. (Green area at the far bottom left. LHC on the galaxy map refers to the Lost Colonies, the springboard for two liberation campaigns by the Hydran Guilds.)
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- Lyran Star Empire
- Distantly related to the Kzintis, the lynx-like Lyrans border the Klingon Empire, Hydran Kingdom and Kzinti Hegemony. While they fought a few early wars with the Klingons, most of their fighting has been with the Kzintis in a conflict of mutual hatred, or with the Hydrans to their rimward border. (Dark yellow area at the far upper left. FS on the galaxy map refer to the Lyran Far Stars, the furthest frontier of the Lyran Empire.)
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- WYN Cluster
- The WYN Cluster is located at the meeting point of the Lyran, Kzinti and Klingon Empires, surviving due to the fact that the cluster is surrounded by a zone of radiation so intense that any invader's ship would be disabled long enough for the WYN defense forces to overwhelm it. The Cluster was founded by a Kzinti, the Usurper, who had attempted to overthrow the reigning Patriarch and his followers, who all initially thought they were committing mass suicide. The Kzinti Civil War which broke out after the end of the General War proved otherwise. (One hex area at the Lyran/Klingon/Kzinti border.)
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- Lyran Democratic Republic
- The LDR is a former province of the Lyran Empire (then known as the Dark Star County) that rebelled against its ruling count and stood as a semi-independent neutral state for fifty years. This came to an end when the Andromedans saw their space as an easy target. (Brownish area at the bottom right corner of the Lyran Empire.)
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- Vudar Enclave
- A subject race of the Klingons who come from a world near the galactic barrier, and carved out a state of their own near the end of the General War. (Covers the bottom left corner of the Klingon Empire and the bottom right corner of the Hydran Kingdoms as shown on the above map.)
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- Carnivon Hordes
- A race of canine derived warriors, they appear to have a genetic link to both the Kzintis and Lyrans. The only thing that any of the three races ever agreed on was that the universe was not big enough for more than one of them. The Carnivons were eventually pushed out of known space by the other two. (Originally between Lyrans and Kzintis, may still exist in Delta Sector and Sargasso Octant.)
[edit] Eastern Alpha Octant factions
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- Romulan Star Empire
- The Romulans of the Star Fleet Universe are much the same as those most non-SFU fans know, and are an off-shoot of the Vulcan race who rejected the advent of Logic on their homeworld. During the General War, they become allied with the Klingons, who had helped them gain an equal technological footing with their rivals, but that alliance seldom runs smoothly. The Romulans truly believe it is their destiny to rule the galaxy. (Red area on the bottom right.)
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- Gorn Confederation
- After a brief war with the Federation resulting from mistakes during first contact, the reptilian Gorns became Federation allies. They have been in a near-constant state of conflict with the Romulans. (White area north of the Romulan Empire.)
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- Interstellar Concordium (ISC)
- An inter-species alliance just beyond the Gorns and Romulans (from the Federation's perspective), the ISC believed that the warring empires of the General War needed to be given a chance to find peace, and launched a massive pacification campaign (read invasion) of the rest of Alpha Octant to give it to them. As a result, their forces bore the initial brunt of the Andromedan invasion of the Alpha Octant. (Yellow area at the far right.)
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- Paravian Marauders
- A birdlike race who came from the same genetic ancestors as the Gorns, the Parvavians waged a quasi-religious war on that race until they were finally defeated and forcibly isolated to their own homeworld. This world was later destroyed when a space monster known as a Sun Snake caused its sun to go nova. (Formerly north of the Gorn, including on-map territory. Also possess a small enclave within the Omega Octant, established after the loss of their homeworld.)
[edit] Factions found across the Alpha Octant
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- Orion Pirates
- While the Orion Enclave is officially part of the Federation, the Orion pirates are a menace across the octant, though rumours persist of links between a number of Pirate Cartels and the Orion government. Many Orion Pirates are not actually ethnic Orions, but come from nearly every race in the regions of the Octant that the Cartels operate in. (The Orion Enclave, where Orion itself can be found, is the aqua area inside the Federation. Pirates operate in every known part of the Octant save the Tholian Holdfast.)
[edit] References
- GURPS Prime Directive, 4th Edition
- Star Fleet Battles Module Y1: The Early Years
