Alliance Military
The Alliance does not have a unified formal military. Instead, it provides contracts to a multitude of different organisations, security task forces, and planetary regiments. The result is a decentralised military force operating under a unified system of committees, checks and balances.
Anyone wishing to provide services that require use of force must obtain a license to do so legally. Purely defensive services that present little-to-no risk to the lives of sentient beings do not require a military license, but must be able to prove this extensively – most defensive services will opt to hold a license to cover themselves and reduce administrative hassle.
Obtaining a License
To be eligible for a license, each force must have:
- A leader
- A compliance officer (to enforce the restrictions of the license)
- A licensor (to negotiate the contract)
For simplicity, many companies will use an external licensor to make negotiations with the Alliance, similarly to how companies will hire an external accountant. License terms and restrictions are strictly enforced by a dedicated bureaucracy, with its own subset of licensed task forces for the investigation and prosecution of breaches. Action taken against a licensed group generally starts with the indefinite removal of their license, escalating only if necessary.
The AES Ardent holds a military license to ensure everyone aboard is legally covered if they need to defend themselves, and the MATTOCK division in particular holds an additional license that covers the activities of its members. Groups on board may also have an individual license from before their time aboard.
For information on the Alliance’s rules of engagement, follow this link.
Licensed Security Force Examples
- Sultonia Volunteer Brigade – a peacekeeping militia with law enforcement and dispute mediation duties.
- Marzion Lifeline Force Bravo – a crack first-response team designed to save lives in outer-space emergency situations where lethal opposition may be present.
- The Sentinels – a diverse selection of local preservation groups who fulfil both a technical and spiritual role in protecting Earth’s cultural sites.
- Sunrise PLC – a Vironti corporation which specialises in private asset protection for a variety of VIP and government clients.
- Diogenes College – A Kessler University working group who, among other things, produces autonomous weaponry and capability-enhancing combat suits, cybernetics, and warships.
- Basil’s Cluster Interplanetary Taskforce (disbanded) – the primary naval umbrella group who engaged in the Battle of Glittering Gulf.
Superweapons
The development and use of weapons with a planet-scale destructive capacity is strictly prohibited in all circumstances by Alliance law. This prohibition was set down after the Battle of Glittering Gulf, when THRONE used an unidentified weapon to destroy a strategic moon.
There are unverified reports of planets within the Alliance that developed superweapons prior to this law – some of which, according to rumours on the Alliance extranet, have the capacity to destroy entire star systems. Superweapon-adjacent technology may have been generated through plausibly deniable “dual-purpose” projects, such as terraforming or FTL initiatives. Official statements have emphasized that any weapons that are discovered will be viewed as tools of absolute last resort, and that the Alliance will attempt to safely decommission any devices that it uncovers in times of peace.
In any case, if the Alliance repealed its laws and wished to build their own arsenal of superweapons, they would struggle to source the rare resources needed to complete them – and concealing such a re-armament from rival powers within the galaxy would be almost impossible.
The working assumption is that THRONE possesses technology exceeding the destructive capacity of the superweapon it verifiably used many years ago. SHADOW may have access to holdover superweapons from its predecessors in MOTHER, but it is not believed to have the capacity to maintain or deploy those weapons against the Alliance (yet).
