| E'san |
Inna |
| Scaldart |
Sertucon |
| The
E'san Congress (Confederacy) Description: The E'san is a humanoid race that arose on a borderline ST world. With very hardy cardiovascular, immune, and digestive systems a typical E'sani can live on most T and ST type worlds. Resembling anthropomorphic seals, the E'san are also quite good swimmers, still retaining webbing between their two thumb, two fingered hands. At at average height of 2.2 meters the race is the tallest in the Commonwealth. Skin coloring ranges from pale orange to light purple. Clannish in nature, the E'san went through a long period of territorial wars on the homeworld. The fighting ended after one clan had, through marriage and treaty, gained enough influence to settle most disputes through arbitration instead of fighting. Eventually the clans formed into nation states and a world-wide confederated government was born. The E'san were at a high-frontier level of technical development when they were contacted by a Terpla'n survey force. Not far removed from their own beginnings as a nascent space power, the Republic initially offered a trade treaty which the E'sani accepted. Over time the relationship upgraded to a trade and military assistance and, just before the Axis War, then to partnership. The E'san amalgamated with the CPS just at the start of the Fendalen War. Like the Bulan, the E'san are quite friendly and gregarious, always willing to volunteer their help, especially for hazardous operations. Validation of one's personal bravery and willingness to take large risks is the central pillar of E'sani beliefs. Recruitment into the armed forces is never a problem and in wartime the number of applicants often exceeds the manpower quota. At the start of the Pulurtan War the E'sani were eager to get as much personnel involved as possible. The large reserve of destroyers and light cruisers in CSF mothball storage, slated to be scrapped due to their low survivability in large fleet battles, was successfully saved by E'sani lobbying efforts. With a minimum of refurbishing those small ships, crewed completely by E'sani, went on to provide exemplary service, though at a high cost. Next to the Terpla'ns, the E'san formed the largest component of the Republic (later Commonwealth) Army. Their troops performed admirably in ground combat in the Axis and Fendalen Wars. Due to their toughness reduce E'sani PCF casualties (after all modifiers) by 10%, with a minimum of 1 PCF lost. Thanks to their robust constitutions E'sani can serve about Hazen ships. More specifically, it allowed the Hazen to operate carriers with E'sani-manned fighters, giving Hazen-lead assaults more of a punch. Hazen freighters and repair ships also had E'sani crews. The Mandate of Inna (True Democracy) Description: A race of tripedal lizards, the typical Innan stands 1.2 meters tall and have a pair of arms with six-digit hands. The head bears a resemblance to that of a desert horned lizard but with three eyes instead of two. Externally there are no differences between males and females aside from coloration. Males are light to cinnamon brown while females are bright blue to purple. The world-wide participatory democracy arose after three millennium of civilization clashes and mergers. When it finally came down to the last few nation states, and a set of conflicts, economic as well as fighting, a group of diplomats made a bold suggestion that all the nations should merge to form a world state. After a decade of arduous negotiations the final decision on the merger was left up to the voters. Powerful orators on both sides of the merger vote attempted to sway the people, but the provision in the world constitution that allowed the people to vote on decisions that affected the world as a whole proved decisive. After a century of peaceful society the Mandate of Inna made its move into space. The Inna were discovered by a Tzelan survey squadron. At a high frontier level of technology the Mandate was both impressed and intimidated by the technical sophistication displayed by the Tzel. Settling on just trade, the Tzel left it to the Terpla'n Republic to conduct further negotiations. By majority vote the Mandate entered a trade treaty with the Republic, then a trade and military alliance and finally partnership. Technical assistance was slower, and the Mandate had a purely defensive navy (consisting of copies of CSF designs) until two years after the Fendalen War. It was not until the middle of the Pulurtan War that the Inna amalgamated with the CPS. With the importance placed on voting the need for persuasive speakers formed a significant cornerstone in Mandate politics. To reflect this all negotiations of treaties conducted by the race are shifted by 5% in the direction desired. It was due to this ability that the CPS had an Innan diplomat conduct the peace treaty talks on their behalf with the Fendalens. The Scaldart Compact (Ordered Socialism) Description: A insectoid race with ten limbs and thick, rubbery skin, the Scaldart are the smallest sentient race encountered. The body is just under one meter in length and stands at seventy centimeters tall. The first two pair of limbs have five fingered hands while the back three pairs have feet that are quite adept at getting a grip on most surfaces. With three pairs of eyes a Scaldartan has a wide range of vision and excellent depth perception. Like most insectoid races, the Scaldartans are matriarchal by nature and its quite common for a female to have three to five males. A stubble coat of hair on top of the head is the most visual distinction between females and males. Like the Uan, the Scaldartan males form the great majority of the labor and military forces, but there are far more males in officer positions than in the Uan military. When encountered by a Terpla'n Republic survey force the Scaldartan Compact was in the process of recovering from a racial catastrophe. A massive series of earthquakes, followed by region-wide forest fires, was bad enough. But one of those earthquakes destroyed research laboratories and nuclear power plants in a crucial area of the planet. Massive clouds of radioactive dust, in combination with genetically modified pathogens (used for medical research), encircled the planet. Only a miniscule portion of the population could be saved, the homeworld having become totally uninhabitable. Two mega orbital habitats, two hostile environmental settlements, and scores of asteroidal colonies and outposts , a total population of nine million, were what was left of out nine billion. Ignorant of warp points, the arrival of a Republic survey group came as a complete surprise. Though on technical parity with the Republic, the Compact had practically no military force due to the needs of the remaining population centers. After first contact it became clear that the Terpla'ns were a peaceful enough race and both sides signed a trade treaty. Once the true scope of the Scaldartan tragedy became known the Republic Senate made a compassionate offer. Next to the Scaldart system, warp link wise, was a system that held a habitable world. This system was given to the Compact so that it could have a new homeworld. Deeply appreciative, the Compact accepted the offer and went on to form a partnership with the Republic. The new world, called New Foundation, became an important fleet base during the Fendalen War. During the Pulurtan War the Compact had gained enough strength to field a task group to support the Commonwealth offensive into former Xhali space. Only after that war ended did the Compact amalgamated with the CPS. The Scaldart are at a disadvantage when it comes to ground combat due to their size. Increase all PCF casualties (after all modifiers) by 10%, with a minimum of 1 PCF lost. The Sertucon Treasury (Plutocracy) Description: Descended from flightless predatory birds, the Sertucon can be thought of as a beefed-up version of the Tuphon. Although they lost the talons of their ancestors the modern Sertucon still retains a sharp, axe-like beak. Adept sprinters, the Sertucon can go as fast as 55kph for distances up to 300 meters. The hands have four fingers and two thumbs. A feathery crest runs from the center of the brow, over the head and down to the small of the back. Males have brightly colored feather crests while the females are significantly taller, being on average 1.8 meters tall to a male's 1.6. The average female can brood as many as six eggs with three being the norm. Wealth is the driving force of the Sertucon. Over the millennium there were brief appearances of communist societies and socialism to one degree or another. However, the internal drive to attain wealth overcame such affectations. When the world achieved a more-or-less market driven society the politicians decided to enshrine the money making principle as law. Voting at a regional and planetary level required a certain level of wealth, determined by a formula involving earnings, property, stock holdings, savings, objects of arts, and so on. An agency was created to insure voter eligibility, the Income Registration Service. In addition to auditing the IRS also collects unpaid taxes and investigates illegal financial dealings. For a Sertucon its a matter of honor that money must be earned honestly, either through personal effort, trading on the stock market, or legal gambling. Apart from their avarice-driven society, the most remarkable and unusual component of the Sertucons was their inexplicable wildcard technology. The Republic survey squadron was surprised to find that, after making first contact, that the Sertucons were actually at a petrochemical/printed circuit board level of development. Yet, somehow, they had two destroyer-sized vessels with which to explore their home system. Theories ran the gambit from precursor artifacts to time travelers, gifts from God, alien visitors, and crackpots scientists that got lucky. Only the highest leaders in Sertucon government know the true facts and would tell them to anyone ---- for the right price. After establishing a trade and military assistance treaty the Republic placed a technical assistance outpost on the Sertucon homeworld. In the middle of the Fendalen War the Sertucon had developed sufficient where they could build and operate modern Commonwealth fighters. They became the scourge of Royal Navy fighter and gunboat groups; many Sertucon pilots became aces and lived to boast about it. After the Fendalen War the Treasury became partners with the CPS but never amalgamated. There was concern that CPS business law would adversely affect the Treasury and lead to an 'unfair and anti-market distribution of goods.' Beyond that the Sertucons were committed military partners and provided a substantial number of pilots for the CSF. Due to their physiology the Sertucon are very good at piloting fighters and small craft. All initiative rolls are at +1 (except in gunboats). Gunboats and small craft (not fighters) can be targeted with a +1 to hit. Also, the first point of erratic maneuvering costs only one movement point (including gunboats).
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