Created by: Garry Stahl
Appearance: STB-600 game
Number of Members: 150 trillion
Nature of Members: Many races and many cultures.
Organization:
        The Grand Alliance is a multi-world Empire. The Grand Alliance is a meritocracy class structure. Technically anyone can rise to any position they have the drive and ambition to achieve. If you have a title and are entitled to preferential treatment that is suppose to mean you deserve if for more than your parent's ability to breed. The Alliance is primary a Government that deals with planetary governments. It has little effect on the population of worlds that never move in space. Make no mistake, Citizens are taught they are indeed citizens of the Alliance first, but the machinery of the Alliance is not largely geared to deal with individuals. There are branches of the Military and the Cultural Ministries that do work one on one, but they are a separate matter.

These are the categories of world in the Alliance:
Patron member: These are Alliance worlds with a native warp technology or the occasional exception that the Loyal Observers can agree should be given an exception. There are currently 253 full members of the Grand Alliance. Patron members must meet the following criteria.

• They must have a single world government that is responsible for the power it wields. It must be a nation of laws, not men.
• They must guarantee a minimal level of sentient rights. This include but are not limited to the right of fair trial. The abolition of slavery. The separation of religion and state. There are other requirements as well not listed here.
• They must possess a native warp technology unless the Loyal Observers agree than the race in question has a special circumstance that should wave that requirement. There are two exceptions currently, the Ane and the Gentheal.

The basic breakdown of the Alliance Governmental structure is as follows:
Emperor: The Regent of the Stars is chosen from among the Loyal Observers at the time of the late Emperor's death or retirement. Any member of the Loyal Observers can be elected to the position that is held for life, until you retire, or until utter stupidity gets you removed on a three quarters vote of the Loyal Observers. Over the last several hundred years many different races have served in this office. Most have done it well. In no case has the office ever been passed down within a family. At least one Emperor was replaced for trying to set exactly that into motion. Most retire after a decade or so in power. So great is the duty and the responsibility that most cannot endure it for longer than this.
       The Grand Alliance is far too large for any single person to rule. The duties of the Emperor are mainly to keep an overall eye on the machinery of government and to be responsible. If something goes wrong, they are responsible. Because of this the Emperor has broad powers over the administrative branches of the Imperial Government. They also have access to a large staff of overseers who do not have positions of power, but may only report what is seen. They carefully have nothing to gain, and nothing to lose by reporting or not reporting. Some might call them a secret police, but their job is to spy on the government, not the people. They make no arrests and have no power other than the ear of the Regent of the Stars.
       In response to a job well done the Emperor enjoys a privilege equal to the crushing responsibility. All needs and wants are taken care of. Retirement is nearly as good. The Empire may support as many as seven former Emperors at any one time. This is not a burden. These are not people that thrive on idleness. Even once out of politics, and having served as Emperor they are out of politics, the former Regents of the Stars find ways to contribute to society.
The Loyal Observers: The equivalent of the noble class, but it is not hereditary. Each planet within the Alliance sends a single member to serve in The Loyal Observers. A term as an Observer is usually for life, but some worlds have a limited term. Like the Emperor, few Observers remain in the Body of Observers for a lifetime.
       The Loyal Observers are responsible for the direct work of the Alliance Government. It is their job to see to the departments of the Alliance. They also observe the Patron Members of the Alliance to see that they adhere to the standards of the Alliance.
       The Observers also run the Alliance military and scout service. They run the diplomatic service to non member worlds, changed with preventing the use of the military. You also have the Accoradia Academica that coordinates research throughout the Alliance in some attempt to allow scientists to keep track of developments. There are other departments as well.
The Planetary Peers: These are the members of the ruling councils of the Alliance members. They have various titles and functions depending on the customs and culture of the worlds they come from. Some will have a single head of government, again powers and responsibilities vary.

Game Role: One of the places Ane are found.
World Role: A major stellar empire that is a player but not on the Federation side of the Galaxy.
Relative Influence: Major.
Public or Secret?: Very public
Publicly Stated Goal: Live in peace and harmony with all.
Economy: The Grand Alliance enjoys a healthy energy economy on all of its prime worlds and 80% of the secondary worlds. It is the goal of the Alliance to see that every Citizen has all needs cared for and as many wants as they are willing to contribute for taken care of. This goal has not been met as the Alliance is always expanding, but it is still worked towards.
Group advantages: Huge old political unit with stability
Special Abilities: Multiple viewpoints. The Grand Alliance seeks and encourages each culture within it's sphere to keep and communicate their unique viewpoint to the whole. They are aggressive about not allowing the meta culture to overwhelm the cultures within the Alliance.
Group disadvantages: Huge old political units are not quick on the uptake, even if flexible to new ideas and circumstances.
Those who favor them: Worlds looking for the advantages offered by a larger political unit.
Those opposed to them: Independent worlds that would rather not be part of of the Alliance, or other Stellar powers that fear the Alliance or wish its power for themselves.
Relations: Obviously the Grand Alliance will have friends, rivals, and enemies. I do not however have that side of the Galaxy detailed.

The Kazon: These loose tribes of interstellar barbarians snipe around the anticlockward edge of the Grand Alliance. It is believed that they took galactic technology from another race because their understanding of the technology is incomplete. They can run their ships, but seldom can make anything but simple repairs. They lack the most basic of food processing technologies. Their worlds have a curious mix of technology from Tech 3 to Tech 12. All on the same planet.        For every reasonable Kazon tribe there exist three that are not. The Kazon are a menace to trade and exploration. They create nothing, but steal and destroy where they can. Not even their worlds are united.        The Alliance carefully limits the expansion of the Kazon into Alliance space. It is made firmly plain as many times as necessary that peaceful contact is welcome, violent action will be firmly punished. This policy does not always work. United Federation of Planets: The Grand Alliance was made aware of the Federation by the Ane. They are also aware of the Ane membership. They have noted this and consider it academic as it would take a ship nearly 9,000 days to reach the Federation.        Currently the two bodies are putting our feelers towards each other via the Express. A handful of diplomats and scholars have been exchanged to study each other and learn. Thus far the relationship is light, friendly, and noncommittal.

Area of Operation: 6 O'clock on the galactic map where the Federation is at 1 O'clock.
Headquarters Location: Avalon, the garden world. Home world of the Tenset, a humanoid race Avalon has been restored from the brink of ecological death by Alliance technology.
Public Face: Come join the party.
Notable Races:
Tenset: Tenset resemble humans except for the red cast to their skin and the red eyes with a cross shaped pupil. There are considerable internal anatomical differences.
       Tenset are all drive. Whether it is making a profit or making a conquest, the Tenset give it everything. If it is worth doing it is worth doing to the exclusion of everything else. Unlike some races they have no specialty, but what ever they do the do to the maximum.
       Tenset are one of the three founding races of the Grand Alliance. The aggressive culture that typified their early stellar period is waning. It is being replaced by a more consolatory approach to other peoples.

Paldin: Paldin are one of the three founders of the Alliance. With faces that look like a cross between a Terran cat and an otter, they have long cat-like whiskers and smooth nut-brown skin. Like the Tenset the Paldin are doers that love to sink their teeth into a problem.
       Paldin are one of the three founding races of the Grand Alliance. They are considered the "soft science" specialists of the Alliance.

Bron: Bron resemble bipedal elephant seals with their smooth gray skin and pendulous "noses". They average 300 pounds and are not known as swift movers. Their legs are stumpy and thick, their feet are round.
       Bron do have the reputation within the Alliance as the conscience of the Alliance. It was the Bron whose direct action resulted in the formation of the Alliance. Bron are good at getting people to find agreement. Bron are most often found in diplomatic offices.
       Bron are sensitive poets. They love and live the large emotions, preferring the positive emotions to the negative emotions. They would rather feel than reason, and they have made it work for them.

Tlone: The Tlone are twelve limbed arthropods that breath a methane ammonia mixture at 80O Celsius.
       They are voluntary members of the Alliance from when it was a conquering Empire. While class M worlds are of little used to them with their life support requirement and space based culture they do require resources and joined for that reason. It was better to negotiate for resources with friends that fight over them with foes. The former wastes less resources. Waste is the ultimate crime for a people that have never known plenty.
       It was the Tlone that pointed out that the Empire was it's own worst enemy and led to the creation of the Grand Alliance.

Ane: The Alliance has embraced the Ane and is the only place where Ane are employed doing what they do best, communication. Alliance communications would fall apart without the Ane. 1.4 billion are so employed at any time with the number increasing. Should the Alliance suddenly decide not to use Ane they would have a hard time absorbing the population.
       The Ane were encountered 150 years ago. They are responsible for solving a crisis of communication within the Alliance. The Alliance has given two class M planets to the Ane in addition to the one they found them on.

Gentheal: Gentheal are something different. They are partly chitinous, but have a cartilage skeleton. They lay eggs but nurse their young. They are sentient but have a bee-like hive structure with only a single breeding female per hive and a rigid caste structure. They are six limbed and covered in soft fur. They have an insect like head with soft mouth parts, and large limpid eyes.
       Gentheal have no desire to travel the stars. When discovered they were under the opposed digit of another race with whom the Alliance found itself at war. Part of the settlement of that conflict was the liberation of the Gentheal.
       Gentheal are the other exception to the warp drive rule. While they are aware of galactic society they desire only minimal contact. They are valued by others for a biological waste product they produce called Anthin. Anthin promotes natural healing in 90% of the species that have been tested with it, including Ane. Every O2 breather so far tested responds to Anthin in a positive way. So remarkable is the result of Anthin treatment in cases of trauma that it has been said to raise the dead. It doesn't.
       The only problem is that Gentheal removed from their home world do not make Anthin. They make something like it, but it isn't nearly as effective. The problem is under study.
       Gentha has been turned into a planet sized sanatorium. The Gentheal are willing to treat the sick that come there, but are not interested in warp drives or leaving home.
       A few do leave to perform their duties with the Loyal Observers and participate in the requirements of Patron Membership, but they do not do so gladly. The only other reason they travel is to learn the medical techniques of other races.

History of the Organization:
The Grand Alliance is an Empire of 250 worlds, it is currently some 500 years old.
       It began with the Tenset. These aggressive humanoids came boiling out of their world in primitive warp ships 570 years ago. Almost at once they were mixing it up with their near neighbors. After the conquest of two primitive worlds and three wars with close neighbors the Tenset found themselves in a situation from which there was no recovery. The Paldin were as adamant as they. No middle ground was obvious and it looked like the current war was shaping up to become a final cataclysm of death and destruction for both parties.
       As both warring parties had stopped to collect themselves the Bron stepped in. The large and passive Bron offered a compromise. Instead of fighting, join forces, combine the best of both of themselves into a greater whole. The problem was that the Tenset and the Paldin were so close they would either make fast enemies or faster friends. Being friends was better.
       The negations were not quick or easy. Several times it nearly broke down to a shooting war again. Much bad blood have built up and the Bron had their hands full keeping the two off each other throats. Finally the treaty of joining was signed. The Tenset and the Paldin invited the Bron to also join the alliance. They had caused it. Their clear thinking and calm demeanor would compliment the drive and ambition of the Tenset and Paldin. The Tri-Part Alliance was formed.

       The newly formed alliance got off to a firm start. To begin they behaved much as you might expect an Empire to behave. They conquered, annexed, and acquired. 100 years into the empire they had 75 worlds and were tottering on the verge of collapse. One of the newer races in the Empire pointed out the problem. There were two classes of world, the three of the alliance, and everyone else. No one else had reason to want to be part of the Empire. If everyone was treated equally, there would be a feeling of investment.
       It took one last pointless and unnecessary rebellion to bring the Tri-Part powers to the table.

       What emerged from three years of talks was the Grand Alliance. All worlds with warp drive are treated as equals and have equal representation in the Loyal Observers. Prewarp worlds have Patrons responsible for their protection and development. All are encouraged to gain a native warp ability and to become full members.

       One hundred and sixty years ago the Alliance was once again on the ropes. The Grand Alliance idea had worked, perhaps a little too well. The Alliance was now so large it threatened to fly apart., One end could not effectively communicate with the other.
       Then the Ane were encountered on Lea. Again something different. The Ane were aware of Galactic society having been placed on Lea 750,000 years ago by the Builders.
       The Ane had the solution. Telepathy. Ane because the couriers and diplomatic communication specialists of the Alliance. As a result they took a neutral position. They have a representative in the Loyal Observers, but they seldom have an opinion on anything, and are in charge of, you got it, diplomatic excommunication.

       With the communication issue smoothed out The Grand Alliance has continued with increasing stability.

Culture: The Alliance has a multitude of cultures. Early in their history they learned that multiple viewpoints were to their advantage. While they do not have the Prime Directive as does the Federation, the do have the First Instruction on preserving cultures. Like the Federation they recognize that new culture have something to offer, but not if destroyed in the cradle.
Languages: Bron Standard is the Official Language of the Alliance. However there are hundreds if not thousands of languages within the Alliance. The Minister of Cultural preservation is in the business of seeing they do not die out.
       Paldin pictographs are the official writing. The system is not tied to any language, each symbol standing for an idea or concept not a syllable or sound. The system has a steep learning curve, but it is taught from a young age. Local writing systems survive, but the pictographs are used for all official documents. They can be read from one end of the Alliance to the other.
Military:
The Alliance has had warp 9.9 technology for several generations, and no breakthroughs into disodium.
       The Alliance military is broken into three parts. The Scout Service, and the Military Command and the operational parts. Support Command serves both branches equally.

Scout Service: These brave and hearty types set out in light ships to explore the great unknown. They are the equivalent of the UFP Starfleet Galaxy Exploration Command, but more specialized still. While their ships are armed, and well armed, they are less capable of a stand up fight than a UFP light cruiser. Most of the scout vessels are in the 300 to 400 meter range, and hold a crew of 200 to 400.
       Scouts are highly trained officers. No ship carries anyone that cannot do at least three jobs. Scout Captains are considered the best of the best. Their position in society is higher than even the Loyal Observers. Indeed many Observers once served as Scout Captains, and each considers the move to politics a step down.
       In times of war the Scout Service scouts for the fleet. This task is no less dangerous than facing the unknown as the unknown isn't shooting at you that often.

Military Command: Military Command is changed with the general defense of the Grand Alliance. Military Command ships have more power per ton than just about anything in space. Breaking things are their sole task and they are very good at it.
       Military personnel are not the generalized and over trained types of the scout service. A military officer is a solid and dependable being who can be counted on to remain cool and focused no matter what is flying around his ears. Military enlisted personnel are trained to react to orders when the beams are flying that things are exploding, but equally expect to give those orders should they find themselves without officers. They are reasonably proud of this.

Support Command: Supply Command are often the poor slobs caught in the middle. Support does it's best to keep both services supplied and ready. Military complains that Scouts get preferential treatment when they breeze into dock. Scouts complain that Military has everything so locked up they cannot get what they need. The truth is Supply does a pretty good job, and the sour grapes are because Supply Command does it by the book. Not the way that pushy Ship Captains want it.
       Supply Command is responsible for running all the Space Bases, and the dockyards of the Alliance forces. It is not a glamor position, but it requires Commander and crew that are solid, dependable, and resourceful. Many of the Supply Command's personnel are term enlistments from the worlds the bases are located at. A good many have never been in deep space and really don't want to. They work 9 to 5 and go home at night. This does not lessen their dedication to a job well done.