Galactic Council

-WIP-

Based out of Starpoint Station, the Galactic Council refers to the body of representatives from multiple factions in this Milky Way galaxy, joined together to foster peace, trust, and common ground amongst all cultures within the galaxy.

The Galactic Council was founded by the Mindnet, the Arboreals, and the Jolnari, who at the time believed themselves the only spacefaring civilizations to survive the devastating Singularity Wars. They met with one another and decided that something must be done to prevent such a disastrous conflict from ever happening again. They established the Galactic Council, a democratic union in which every nation could have a voice, and vote on laws that would effect the entire galaxy.

Originally, the Galactic Council would rotate their meeting place, meeting on the capital of whoever was next on the list. However, the Na'alu constructed Starpoint Station as a gift to the Council, providing a steady meeting place for the Council as well as a place for diplomacy of all kinds.

The Galactic Council itself has no proper military, beyond a fleet and band of marines that guard Starpoint Station. The members of the Council are expected to carry out the laws and edicts which the Galactic Council makes. The Council primarily makes laws regarding the dealings between nations. If a Terran merchant cheats another Terran merchant, that is a matter for the Terran Alliance's laws to deal with. But what if a Terran merchant and an Ikthar merchant have issues? Alliance laws will likely conflict with those of the Star Empire. This is where the Galactic Council's legislation comes into play.

Among other things, the Galactic Council has drafted laws for ethical warfare, fair dealing in interstellar markets, banned slavery galaxy-wide, and established the agreement that should the Milky Way be threatened by invaders from another galaxy, all nations that are members of the Council will band together to defeat the threat.

The Galactic Council is also responsible for making it easier for different nations, and different people from those nations, to interact. The Murrcioun are the Council's champions in this particular area, having invented a standard currency (the galactic credit), language (galactic basic), and time for use by all Council races. And indeed, having these points of common ground makes interactions between people and nations that came to be on wildly different planets that much easier.

## History

The Galactic Council has become such a staple of life in the modern galaxy that many people take its' existence for granted. The truth is that this united legislative body is something born out of necessity, in the desperate hopes of preventing another total collapse the likes of which came down upon the galaxy over 2000 years ago.

### Aftermath

The seeds of the Galactic Council were planted before the Singularity Wars were technically considered over. However, the destruction and total collapse that they had wrought were obvious. At this time, the Jolnari arks and the AI exodus that would one day come to be known as the Mindnet had evacuated the collapsing Metaform Combine, seeking a new home. The Mindnet found one very near the centre of the galaxy, a place where they could hide as they developed. The Jolnari eventually did the same in the northern fringes of the galaxy, somewhere far out of the way. However, along the way, one of the four arks reported that they had come across a civilisation that had only just recently achieved space travel: the Arboreals. The Jolnari had warned the Arboreals to lay low and let everything blow over. The Arboreals did not heed this warning and desperately sought any refugees they could rescue from the horrors of this galactically devastating conflict. They were disappointed.

However, they were also fortunate, as the remains of the exhausted Razorbird Empire's military forces were dedicated wholly to the utter destruction of the Metaform race. If they even noticed the Arboreals, they did nothing about them. And then, when finally it was all over, the Razorbirds retreated into the Grasping Claw nebula, closed their borders, and no one heard from them for millennia.

After a few years of eerie silence, the Arboreals tentatively reached out, seeking the Jolnari, hoping to find someone else who had survived. Overjoyed when the Jolnari got back to them, the Arboreals invited a diplomatic contingency to come to Elysium, as they did not wish to lose contact with the only other civilisation of which they were aware. The Jolnari being aware of the budding Mindnet at this point, offered to extend this invitation to them as well, and the Arboreals accepted quite happily.

### The Power of Friendship

On Elysium, at the very peak of Mount Empyrea, the representatives of the United Colleges of New Jolnar, the Mindnet, and the Arboreal Commonality met in person for the first time. The Arboreals did their best to provide every possible comfort for their guests, not easy when your guests are androids and giant crustaceans in floating tanks. They resolved to maintain constant contact with one another, share knowledge and information, and support one another in whatever way they could.

However, the Arboreals insisted that more needed to be done. The Singularity Wars were their civilisation's first exposure to conflict on a mass scale, and it shocked them to their very core. War as a means to an end, they reasoned, is an evolutionary dead-end, and they needed to stop something like that from ever happening again. The Mindnet and the Jolnari both reasoned that this was unfeasible. To prevent war completely would be a foolish endeavour, one certain to end in failure. However, they reasoned, it could certainly be mitigated. This line of thought led to the formal creation of the Galactic Council, a unifying body which could watch over the galaxy and make sure it didn't destroy itself in this way ever again.

For a long while, the Galactic Council continued like this. Three members, staying in contact with one another as best they could, and meeting in person regularly if somewhat sparsely, with the location rotating between Elysium, New Jolnar, and The Core. Even today, there is a grand memorial on Mount Empyrea commemorating the formation of the Galactic Council.

However, the expansion and development of the Council nations was quite slow. In the case of the Jolnari and the Mindnet, it was due to the need to develop their new homes and lick their wounds, and perhaps some fear of what they had just endured. In the case of the Arboreals, they were slowed by their drive to revitalise ecologically devastated worlds they came across, and their tendency to shy away from aggressive conflict in an aggressive, lawless galaxy.

### Rise of the Go-Getters

Things went on like this for nearly a century before someone new stepped out onto the field. Arboreal ships detected exploratory vessels near their space of a type they had not encountered before. After enlisting the aid of the Mindnet in translating their transmissions, the Arboreals were able to make peaceful first contact for the first time in far too long.

The people of the Murrcioun Syndicates were as delighted as the Arboreal Commonality to finally meet new people. For a long time, they had really only encountered pirates, marauders, and the savage states that had risen out of the destruction of the Singularity Wars. The Murrcioun were everything that the more timid states of the Galactic Council were not. They were dynamic and eager to expand, but also extremely amiable and willing to learn from their (relative) elders.

The Murrcioun Syndicates became a member of the Galactic Council almost at once, and Caltorsis was added to the rotation of the Council's meeting places. The Murrcioun were almost immediately the driving force of expansion of the Council's influence and stabilisation of the galactic core. It was their eagerness to establish trade routes and facilitate easier travel between the Council states that led to their development of the Warp Lane Network and facilitation of considerably easier FTL communication, and they were additionally responsible for laying the framework of all of the Council's laws regarding interstellar trade and commerce regulation and facilitation. This is also largely why the Murrcioun Syndicates, rather than being a nation with mostly contiguous borders, is instead scattered across the galaxy in small blobs of settled territory.

During their expansion, the Murrcioun were actually contacted directly, by a nation which had already spread to other planets in their system, had already acquired other species to join their nation, and had worked out the Murrcioun language. This was the Na'alu Collective, which would prove to be another driving force.

While the Na'alu were content to let the Murrcioun be the primary force of civilisation and stabilisation within the galactic core and middle rim, the Na'alu were just as influential in other ways. Expert stateswomen and extraordinarily influential, the Na'alu had a major hand in helping the Galactic Council solidify the nature of its authority. The idea, after all, is noble, but it could only prevent disasters if everyone agreed to follow the rules, and thus, the rewards for following the rules had to make doing so a no-brainer. They also spearheaded the initiative to establish a galactic language (though the language itself was more developed by the Syndicates), and a central location for the Galactic Council to meet. It was the Collective which constructed Starpoint Station.

Even today, the Murrcioun remain the gold standard of commerce, and the Na'alu, the gold standard of culture within the Milky Way.

### The Elysium Accords

The Elysium Accords are an expansive document, drawn up over the course of several years by the members of the Galactic Council, with the purpose of ensuring that the destruction wrought by the Singularity Wars would never be repeated, and to protect future generations from the horrors of unrestricted warfare. Initially proposed by the Na'alu Collective, the Elysium Accords would have interesting consequences, and not necessarily the ones the writers and signatories intended.

#### Conception and Creation

The idea for the Accords was initially brought up by the Na'alu, who at the time were dedicated to codifying the Galactic Council's power, solidifying it and making it less ephemeral. Things which would be legally binding. As the core founding principle of the Council was to prevent a repeat of the galactic disaster that was the Singularity Wars, it seemed inevitable that the ruthlessly efficient Na'alu lawmakers and politicians would turn their attention to matters of war.

When the Na'alu brought this up at the next session of the Council in Starpoint Station, it was received quite enthusiastically, and plans began almost at once to put everything down in writing.

The finalisation of the document would wind up taking the better part of a decade as there was a great deal to discuss, little details to iron out, and attempts to balance idealism and pragmatism. Strangely, however, the only real objection to the document came from the most unexpected quarter: the Arboreals. The plantoids of the Commonality had always been the most pacifistic and steadfastly moral members of the Council, so most expected that they would be the staunchest supporters of these accords.

However, the Arboreal Commonality was very concerned that by giving war such strictly codified rules, it would be trivialised, and become in fact a more acceptable method of settling disagreements. Their concerns were noted, but most everyone else determined that the benefits far outweighed the potential risks, and with the Na'alu pushing their agenda hard, the warnings of the Commonality would, unfortunately, mostly go unheeded.

As such, after a long period of debate, the final document was signed by every member of the Galactic Council, at the same spot where the Council itself had been formed a few centuries ago, on Mount Empyrea on Elysium, thus giving it the name, the Elysium Accords. To this day, becoming a signatory of the Accords is a requirement of joining the Galactic Council.

It is noteworthy that the Elysium Accords, like all laws passed by the Council, is only relevant in interactions between distinct interstellar entities. Internal conflicts, or conflicts with an entity that is not a signatory, are not subject to the Accords.

#### Contents of the Accords

Listed here are the various sections, appendices and their contents in brief. These follow a preamble explaining the purpose of the Accords, as well as the date of their creation and a list of all signatories.

##### Articles

*Article 1 -* Forbids the use of nuclear weaponry on any planets, civilian targets, or military targets within proximity of a planet.

*Article 2 -* Forbids orbital bombardment except against hardened military targets which are nowhere near populated areas.

*Article 3 -* Establishes the white flag with a blue circle in the middle as the universal sign of surrender and truce, which all signatories must respect.

*Article 4 -* Establishes the conditions in which prisoners of war must be kept, and guidelines for the treatment of occupied populations.

*Article 5 -* Explicitly disavows combat in cities or against civilian targets, except in cases where there was a military target within the city.

*Article 6 -* Forbids not just the use, but also the research and development of biological and chemical weaponry.

##### Appendices

*Appendix A -* Defines combat forces, ranging from infantry to battleships. Also defines war as being between uniformed combatants, and even goes as far as defining a uniform.

*Appendix B -* Defines civilians and civilian assets. Especially rigid, this appendix also inadvertently defines pirates, as they fall into neither category.

*Appendix C -* Clarifies safe passage for humanitarians, noncombatants, and civilians through hostile and/or occupied territory.

*Appendices D through F -* Defines the nature of a hostile action, and introduces the idea of conducting proxy battles through sports matches, simulations, or duels.

*Appendices G through J -* Defines weapons of mass destruction, with incredibly strict restrictions. Even the use of tear gas against foreign soldiers was outlawed.

*Appendices K through M -* Outlined third party investigators to watch for violations of the Accords, as well as boards of inquiry and protocols for investigating reported violations.

*Appendix N -* Serves as the glossary, containing a laundry list of definitions, available in Galactic Basic but with many many translations available.

*Appendix O -* Defines allowable uses of espionage and intelligence operations in a war context. Due to the Na'alu Collective, this section is the least restrictive in the entire Accords.

#### Effects of the Accords

Largely, the Elysium Accords had the effect which the writers intended. To be certain, they led to a system in which war brought about considerably less collateral damage, as the Accords were largely followed, for fear of the heavy sanctions that would be levied upon offenders, if nothing else. Ecological devastation and civilian suffering were reduced across the board in later wars.

Of course, there were occasional situations in which signatories would creatively interpret or elect to attempt to subvert the Accords. The Star Empire is particularly infamous for this, though they have always viewed the Galactic Council as more of an obstacle than anything else.

Then there were the unintended consequences. For example, most military fortifications were placed in or near major urban areas to deny the enemy the chance for orbital bombardment altogether. This in turn led to city fighting becoming the norm rather than just quite common. While there would almost always be ample time to get civilians away from the worst of the fighting, collateral damage to civilian infrastructure in such situations is unavoidable.

Furthermore, the warnings of the Arboreal Commonality would prove to be prophetic. By giving war such rules as these, it legitimised war as a means to an end. While there had been no major war or even serious skirmish between the Council members before the accords, they started taking place very soon after they were signed.

### A Galactic Renaissance

Steadily, over time, the galactic core was stabilised, lawlessness and chaotic elements being pushed ever onwards to the edges of society. More and more, Council explorers, particularly the Murrcioun, were coming across budding interstellar nations, or isolated ones holding out amidst barbarians and pirates. The Council swelled with new members, in a period known as the rebirth. The most notable new additions during this period were the Star Empire, the Reclaimers of Muaat, and the Terran Alliance.

The Alliance, in particular, became the darling of the Council, quickly developing close diplomatic friendships with the Murrcioun Syndicates and rapidly expanding into a poorly developed region of space. They were the primary Council force involved with the war against the Ravasect Hives, and were able to bring the Veydreth Tribes to the diplomatic table, something not even the Na'alu had been able to accomplish. The Na'alu Collective, in conjunction with the Murrcioun, Jolnari, and Mindnet, managed to establish an interstellar, international communication network today known as the Ultranet.

There were plentiful crises at this time, of course. But overall, this period was marked by rapid expansion and development, and the addition of a great many new members of the Galactic Council. The Mindnet, the Jolnari, and the Arboreals all stood quite proud of what they had managed to accomplish. The Council had, thus far, mostly matched up to their fondest hopes for a brighter future.

The greatest threat to this new period of hope occurred with the reemergence of the thing those original three feared most. Razorbird ships were once more sighted beyond the boundaries of the Grasping Claw Nebula.

The three original founding nations recalled well the raw, callous destruction that the Holy Razorbird Empire had wrought upon the entire galaxy, and most of the rest of the galaxy considered them a sort of bogeyman. A terrifying monster which existed in tales alone. Yet here were their delicate looking golden starships, soaring through foreign skies. Here were their lavishly dressed preachers trying to spread the good word. Here were their haughty diplomats, refusing all overtures from the Galactic Council. After all, their empire was above the laws of other mortals.

Planets near their nebula, which had been left alone for millennia out of fear, were reclaimed. Ancient caches and ruins were plundered and reactivated. The most feared war machine in the galaxy slowly clunked back to life.

Then, a barely reawakened Razorbird Empire launched an attack on the Terran Alliance, and after a blitzkrieg, they were stopped dead at Djangor.

The galaxy was shocked and relieved in equal measure. The Razorbirds backed off from their aggressive stance to properly restore their former glory, even becoming observers in the Council. They would later come to lend their support in the Second Pathogen Crisis. The Battle of Djangor and the cessation of conflicts between the Razorbird Empire and the Terran Alliance are considered the end of the renaissance.

We are now in what some have taken to calling the Age of Destiny. The galaxy is troubled, but there's opportunities everywhere. It remains to be seen who will seize them, and carve out their place in history.

## Functions of the Council

The question of how exactly the Galactic Council works is a complex one to grasp at first. It is a very old body after all, and with so many different alien minds all being put together, things can get complicated quickly. Still, the Council goes to great lengths to ensure the process is as smooth as possible for all those involved.

### Requirements for Joining

The Galactic Council relies primarily on the Murrcioun Syndicates to keep an eye on burgeoning civilisations, due to their widespread presence, advanced technology and respect for alien life. The rule is that once a race has both developed warp drive technology and colonised a planet outside of their home system, a Council representative (again, usually the Murrcioun Syndicates) will make contact and begin their slow integration into the wider galactic community.

Of course, joining the Council is not mandatory, but representatives of course stress the benefits of doing so, and the drawbacks if they don't. Whether or not they do, the representative of the Council will give them the secrets of FTL communication, if they didn't have it already, as it's considered vital to the survival of an interstellar state.

After a few years, giving the young nation time to adjust to the confirmation that they are not alone, meet their neighbours and perhaps and perhaps expand a bit more, the original Council representatives will make contact again. This time the new nation's world will be given access to the Ultranet, and the formal offer to join the Galactic Council will be extended. If they do agree, they will be observers for five years so that their society may further acclimate and they can see how everything works. Then they will be given a seat and considered a full member of the galactic community.

Overt contact with any nation before the noted point of first contact is considered cultural contamination and is highly illegal. Those who are found to have intentionally done such a thing are treated to some of the harshest penalties of galactic law.