The Sovereignty and Selinianity

OVERVIEW
The Sovereignty and it's main species/race called Selinians are something I've been working on steadily since about 2004-ish. I have a lot of work into them, right down to dining customs and such minutiae that although not strictly important, lend a sense of detail and depth.

My reasoning is simple; I don't want to walk the same path as all the others before me who have created alien species and races. I want to do something different, something that hopefully stands apart from the rest and doesn't come across as just more 'humans in rubber masks'.

Lately, I've become aware of the MASS EFFECT universe, and will be messing around with some fan-fiction regarding it, just for fun. HALO also. The opening is there, as a vast section of the Galaxy in MASS EFFECT is unexplored, uncharted and has no known Mass Relays, ditto HALO. Also, it's a big place, and Selinian technology as I've developed it and them doesn't need much alteration or tweaking to fit in properly to either.

Selinians are not your usual run-of-the-mill aliens who all have the same hairstyle and wear clothing that looks like they started killing furniture and skinning it to make clothes. They are relatable enough to Humanity for there to be meaningful communication, but the differences are at least as equally important. The technology they employ is quite different than what is used in many other universes, especially the MASS EFFECT universe but again, there are openings that permit for such. In MASS EFFECT the Reapers have shaped the technological development of every species in the area of the galaxy where the Citadel resides, and as is mentioned, they do this to ensure that species climbing the ladder of technology do not develop other, possibly better, technologies. The galaxy however is a very large playground and contains more star systems than any force could ever hope to supervise or hold under domination, especially one that spends most of it's time asleep in the void between galaxies.

Selinians do not fit into the STAR TREK universe. I've tried it, and have had many long conversations about it with my hubby and some friends who are deep into sci-fi, and they just don't 'fit' that universe. They never will without immense 'de-tuning' and I flatly refuse to do that to my creations.

Selinian technology is one of the biggest hassles in dropping them into other universes apart from the one I made around them. They have a history stretching back over one-hundred and fifty Millenia, and the technology they have is as appropriate to that kind of civilizational age as I could manage to contemplate. They have a unique, or nearly so, position with regards to Artificial Intelligence systems--they call them Machine Intelligences, and between the Selinians and the Machine Intelligences the Sovereignty is truly a hyrbid civilization. The MI's have been evolving on their own for tens of thousands of years, effectively a species in every sense of the word and are not treated as tools or such by Selinians. The MI community of the Sovereignty has it's own worlds and interests, but is an integral part of the Sovereignty as much as the Selinians themselves. They and the MI's have a truly symbiotic relationship, and need each other. MI's have a big problem trying to approximate Instinct, Intuition, those 'leaps' of reasoning and insight that organic minds can make. Thus, they rely on Selinianity for such, and Selinians rely on the MI's for all the benefits that a MI has to offer which are considerable. The deadliest fighter in existence is the DeathWing space-superiority fighter, and it's meant to be piloted as a true symbiosis of the resident MI and the Pilot. Organic Intuition and Instinct coupled to the staggering power and ability of an MI makes for a craft that is immensely more lethal and survivable than would otherwise be possible.

The Sovereignty is NOT the 'Federation'. Selinians are pragmatic to a quite ruthless degree and have little to no interest in bringing other sentient species under their sway for slavery or any other reason. Interstellar trade is limited as the Sovereignty has a self-sufficient economy (like Earth does right now, just on a much larger scale) and resources are simply not an issue for them. This means that while Selinians are not an Isolationist people, they do keep to their own affairs and leave others to their own in like fashion from basic 'courtesy'. The exceptions to this attitude and perspective is when a species, or multi-species governmental entity is advanced enough to attract their attention. In the MASS EFFECT universe, the Citadel Regions and it's races are such an entity. Then it's a matter of curiosity, and not an invasion or veiwing the new discovery as emminently hostile. Selinians, like Humans, have a finely developed and powerful sense of curiosity driving them.

While Selinians do have an extreme degree of natural curiosity, they are also extremely aggressive but intelligent and capable of keeping themselves in check to establish proper and carefully-done First Contact missions. Selinians prefer to avoid interstellar wars with outside, non-Selinian species because it's such a horribly wasteful thing when it does happen and the Sovereignty will not risk the lives of it's citizens and soldiers without adequate cause and proper justification.

That said, if you start a war with Selinianity, they'll do all they can to finish it--and this could well mean your homeworld being turned into a white-hot molten orb of rock orbitting a destabilized star.

STAR SWORD STRATEGIC WEAPON SYSTEM

SOLAR FLARE ENERGY LEVELS

Selinians do not fight for honor, and they have no Rules Of Engagement. Selinians at war with an external species treat it as a strictly Species-Survival issue and approach it with a frightening ruthlessness and an absolute lack of anything even remotely like mercy or compassion for the enemy. In the end, for the enemy species it comes down to either being rendered extinct, or offering an Absolute and Unconditional Disarmament and Surrender on their own initiative--Selinians do not ask for surrender.

Selinianity has exterminated enemy species before without even the ghost of a second thought and never is there any regret. The perspective is this;'' If the enemy was willing to start a war, then they did so willingly and with full knowledge of what the potential consequences could be, and if they didn't want to be annihilated, they could have surrendered at any point before being obliterated. ''

The species that have engaged Selinianity in war and then surrendered when it became clear where things would lead have become Client Races under the Sovereignty. For the Client Race, this means assistance in post-war recovery and protection from external threats by the Sovereignty Military as well as a requirement to adhere to certain areas of Sovereignty Law and Regulation. However, there is no say in Sovereignty affairs and politics and weapons beyond a certain level of technological level are absolutely forbidden to the Client Race. The Client Race is strictly regulated in the number and type of ships it may produce, license, and have in active service at any one time.

The Sovereignty is not big on accepting Client Races in general outside of those who have surrendered to them in wartime conditions and then it is taken on as an obligation. Selinians as a people and as individuals are very self-sufficient, and the Sovereignty was built by Selinianity without any external assistance. In their section of the Galaxy they are the oldest race in existence, although there are many dead worlds and ruined star systems in that area of the Galaxy testifying to the existence of races that are long dead. The races other than Selinianity are all quite a bit younger, the oldest among them only having ten Millenia of history. The younger races tend towards seeing opportunity for themselves in joining the Sovereignty, but are quickly disappointed when they are politely refused. Despite this, the relations between Selinianity and the neighbouring races is generally quite diplomatic as the Sovereignty is rather tolerant of minor infractions of it's space regarding mining and such so long as it's citizens are left undisturbed and nothing overly destructive is done. Colonization within Sovereignty space is absolutely forbidden, and dealt with swiftly and with a certain degree of harshness to ensure the point is made.

There is little contact between Selinians and the younger races as the only ones in the Sovereignty with any genuine interest in them are of the Sociological and Sapientological disciplines of study and research. But, Selinians do their best in being good guests when visiting abroad beyond the borders of the Sovereignty. They may not be the most extroverted of people in dealing with non-Selinians, but they are not impolite or disrespectful of the Galaxy's other peoples and cultures.

CULTURAL ASPECTS
Marlene38EE 22:27, August 28, 2012 (UTC)