Cast Adrift: The Alphans
Some more background material.
Cast Adrift: The Alphans
The Alphans claim to be the oldest Galactic-level species in known space, a claim that few – if any – can openly challenge. It is certainly true that they are the oldest race currently active within the quadrant, with an empire that – at their height – controlled thousands of star systems, multispace crossroad chokepoints and wealth beyond measure. Even now, even after the Second Lupine War, they remain a force that cannot be challenged lightly. Their influence on galactic affairs cannot be understated. Their claim to have been the original writers of the Convocations may actually be true (although it has never actually been confirmed, one way or the other).
Physically, the Alphans are orange-skinned hairless humans with giant bulging eyes and muscular frames. (Their human subjects nicknamed them bemmies, from Bug-Eyed Monsters.) Technically, they have two genders; practically, their bodies automatically transition from male to female and back again on a regular schedule between puberty and death. Unsurprisingly, gender dimorphism and sex-based oppression is almost unknown amongst them; they tend to be a little bemused by sexism and suchlike when they encounter it in other races. The idea of deliberately remaining one gender, without transitioning, is seem as a little weird.
Mentally, the Alphans are generally no more or less smarter than the average human (or any other sentient race). They do, however, have an extreme superiority complex and tend to look down on other races, with the possible exception of their fellow Galactics. They might adapt themselves to handle other races, but they never truly convert. Nor do they let alien sensibilities stand in the way when they want something. They had no qualms about imposing their rules on Earth, after they overran the plans, and crushing anyone who dared resist. Lacking a religion themselves, for example, they saw human religions as nothing more than foolish superstition. They certainly didn’t think about converting.
The Alphan Government is confusing, by Earthly standards. It is dominated by the Core, a council formed of the various clan leaders and their advisors, but each of them are elected by a complicated system that they rarely even try to explain to outsiders. Their government relies on a degree of cooperation and collaboration that would probably fail completely, if humans tried to make it work. Outsiders speculate that, at least prior to the war, the Alphans were so satisfied, as a species, that there was little to fight over. There was no need for conflict, at least amongst themselves, so they could collaborate in the certain knowledge that none of them would really lose.
It is probably best to think of their society as a cross between an aristocracy and a corporatocracy. Their society is dominated by giant organisations that serve as both clans and corporate interests, with the majority of youngsters either devoting themselves to climbing the ladder to the top or dedicating themselves to pure pleasure. The sheer wealth of their society allows them to create and maintain a social welfare state on a truly staggering scale. A young Alphan need never work, if he does not wish to. In a sense, the Alphans devised a system that allowed people to rise on merit without actually threatening the status quo. They claim their welfare system allows people to sow their wild oats, then take up their place within the clan. They may well be right.
An Alphan who does not want to climb the ladder, or give himself wholly to pleasure, has a number of other options. The military is always desperately short of manpower, particularly after the war. If that isn’t exciting enough, an Alphan can take command of an alien-crewed vessel or military formation, serve as a trader or even go into deep-space exploration. The Alphan Government is always on the lookout for youths who can serve in such roles, particularly as it keeps them out of trouble.
The system only works because it rests on a base of (effectively) slave labour. The scutwork is done by alien immigrants, from Earth and a dozen other worlds, who are treated poorly by Alphan standards. They have no hope of climbing the ladder, something they’ve found increasingly onerous as the small colonies of immigrants became ghettos and small communities that are both part of the planetary system and apart from it. The ghettos are heavily policed, but the combination of manpower shortages and low-tech answers to advanced technology makes it harder for the Alphans to keep an eye on what’s going on.
The Alphan military is divided into three subsections. The Capital Fleet – often called the Showboat Fleet by its human detractors – is a stately formation where spit and polish is more important than competence, dash or tactical skill. The Outer Fleet patrols the borders and is generally more competent and open to new ideas, not least because it is generally the Outer Fleet that meets enemies for the first (and often the last) time. The Elitists are ground-combat troops, intensely augmented and trained for meeting their enemies on even terms. They are regarded as extremely dangerous, unlike the Capital Fleet, but they are very few in number, a problem that worries their more thoughtful commanders. They get few volunteers, unlike the fleets, and most of the volunteers don’t pass the training course.
It is not uncommon for outsiders to underestimate the Capital Fleet. It is true that the fleet’s officers are trained more for formation flying than actual fighting. It is also true that their exercises are predictable, with the winners and losers determined well in advance. They would be in deep trouble if they had to fight an enemy on equal terms. However, their technical prowess gives them the edge against almost any foe. Their weapons, sensors, armour and starfighters are vastly superior to the vast majority of their potential enemies, their giant warcruisers almost untouchable …
This led to overconfidence. The belief they could not be challenged in open battle became a certainty they would never be challenged. The Alphans allowed their industrial base to atrophy, weakening their ability to fight a long and costly war. They turned their ships – their warcruisers, the mainstay of their fleet – into works of art, while cutting the number of support ships to the bone. It took five years, by the time war broke out, to build a new warcruiser from scratch. They didn’t see the problem with this until it was far too late.
Unsurprisingly, the Alphans had a nasty shock when the Lupines proved capable of touching the giant warcruisers. The Lupines had planned the war carefully, deducing the weaknesses within the Alphan and calculating how best to take advantage of them. They traded hundreds of ships for each warcruiser they took down, but they had hundreds of ships to spare. If the human sepoys – and human-manned ships – hadn’t held the line, the Alphan Empire might have been crushed. The shockwaves nearly brought the whole system crashing down. The simple act of building up their industry and rebuilding their fleet was almost too much to bear.
And even victory, when it came, brought its own challenges.
