The Tholian ISC alliance.

This is a SS submission idea. Two things-- what do you think and what new types of ships would be used. Note-- I don't want technology sloshing-- so I'm assuming that hte Tholian ships and technology really aren't compatiable with plasma (or they are, if yo uwant to spend 5x the normal cost on a ship).




In the Real Setting of SFB, the Tholians largely stayed in lordly isolation, coming out occasionally, but for the most part being content with their fortified enclave…but in the setting of Steller Shadows, familier faces may wear new masks…

The Tholian ISC alliance setting diverges from the “real continuity” in Y175. The ISC had started making its long range planes to deal with the insanity of the galaxy, and one of those involved an attempt to “separate” the various warring empires. It would be a long and desperate process, but the ISC expected that by Y186 their economy would be the most powerful in the galaxy—able to support a fleet far more powerful than the battered nations they would be saving from themselves.
There was some debate—nearly eleven years of slaughter was to be expected, but if the ISC entered now, before their fleet was fully ready, they would simply be another combatant in the morass. It was then that the first contact with the Tholian refugees occurred.
The Tholian Holdfest was not the only group of refugees, and while the 312th had been destroyed, several other groups had managed to escape, including one large, albeit ragtag caravan, centered on a long range Tholian exploratory ship, which had been preparing to leave at the time of the revolt. The fleet was large, if in poor shape, and the ISC, with some information about the Tholians, quickly noted the origin of the fleet—and engaged and destroyed a Seltorian force that had finally cornered them.
The Tholian admiral knew that these Seltorians were just the first of a wave of them—one that the Tholian Holdfest could never hope to survive against without aid. The ISC saw in the web and webcaster, a way to open up their drive to save the galaxy from itself decades early.
The negotiations took most of Y175, and involved a great deal of covert communications, and the eventual move to provide an ISC squadron to aid the Holdfest while negotiations were continuing—one that assisted in the smashing of a Klingon attack, which put Operation Nut Cracker on an indefinite hold. In the end, the ISC and the Tholian’s formed an alliance—the ISC pledged to provide ships and more importantly, technical assistance to the Holdfest, to assist in the founding of another Tholian Enclave in ISC space (to “keep all the eggs out of one basket”), and to assist any other Tholian refugees. The Tholian’s pledged to provide their warships to assist the ISC in launching its pacification campaign. In addition, the mobile shipyards of the second group of refugees allowed the Tholian’s to increase the type and quantity of their production, especially with ISC technical assistance.

Y177 Operation Open Road.

Y177 began with the full scale entry of the ISC into the General War—in this case as an offensive designed to open a clear route between the Tholian Holdfest and the ISC. The Romulan’s attempted to block the ISC—but their ships were no match for the combination of the PPD and the webcaster—and in any case the offensive steered clear of any major planets. The ISC was only interested in linking up with the Tholians, and the Romulans were unwilling to lose their fleet trying to block them, no matter how much the Klingons demanded it.
In the latter part of Y177 the first Seltorian scouts were welcomed by the Klingons, but the main Seltorian fleet would not arrive until early Y180.
Y179 The first pacification offensive.
Y179 was the point where the ISC and the Tholians launched their offensive. The Tholians, with the aid of extra personel and the trained engineers of the refugee fleet were able to dramatically increase their production—and complete the first of several new designs. Attempts to add PPD’s or plasma torpedoes proved universally unsuccessful—web systems and plasma based weapons seemed to be incompatible, and while one could theoretically produce a Tholian ship with no web based systems, it would be expensive, and the ISC had all the plasma armed ships they needed. The Tholians did continue working on a form of guided weapon, but did not achieve success until late in Y186.
From Y179 to Y182, the pacification campaign steamrollered down the various neutral zones. The ISC proved able to secure a base—and their Tholian allies made taking those bases a very expensive operation. The Federation fell into a good deal of internal debate as various groups bickered over whether to attempt to remove the ISC and continue the war, or use the breather to negotiate a peace. Given that large parts of every star nations territory were now considered “neutral” zones, most nations were not overly happy, but every nation faced the fundamental problem—anyone attacking the ISC would be gravely harmed by the conflict, and would then be vulnerable to their enemies. Even the arrival of the Seltorian fleet did not change the equation—while the Seltorians were dangerous to web equipped ships, they were not able to match the ISC—the Klingon Empire started settling Seltorians at several planets, and cooperated in the build up of a seltorian fleet, in order to one day destroy the Tholian/ISC forces.
Meanwhile, in Y181, the forces of the pacification successfully conquered the WYN cluster, before inviting it to ally with them (No WYN planets were invested, but once able to shake off the effects of the radiation zone, it was very plain what would happen if they desired to). In return for a Tholian defense garrison, and contracts to repair/refit and construct pacification ships and auxillaries, the WYN would be permanently protected from any of their neighbors. Not only that, but the trade of the formerly devastated zones, growing as the effects of the war receded, would be of great benefit to the WYN coffers. The WYN government agreed, although the ISC was suspicious of their “concern” about the Kzinti government and continual requests for information on said government. The final ally of the pacification was the Vudar Enclave, which provided material support for operations in their area, and token ship support. Eventually, this morphed into a full alliance.
The ISC found that the lesser powers, among them, the Tholians, Vudar, and WYN were very effective allies—while the Tholians were obviously the greatest catch, the other two (and numerous small worlds), were decent allies, yet had the most to lose from a return to the General War. Even many “loyal” worlds in the larger neutral zones cooperated with the ISC, which at least promised a period of relative peace, and the more defensive minded of the great powers were, if not happy, not automatically opposed to the situation—The Klingons had been losing the momentum, and could use the ISC pacification to catch their breath, the Hydrans and Kzinti saw it as a god send—the main race that didn’t like it were the Lyrans, who found themselves unceremoniously ejected from Hydran space.

Y182-Y187 The “golden” age.

During Y182-Y186 The ISC alliance continued their operations—they had lots to do. Pirates, raiders, monsters, to say nothing of the various races, which would continually test the ISC’s will, meant that every ship was continually working. On the other hand, the border regions, freed from the continual raids of the General War, and provided with ISC aid, quickly grew into increasing prosperity, and actually became able to support the ISC operations—this put the Federation in a bind as the ISC was reaping the economic rewards of trade (something the Feds took for granted), but the trade was also benefiting the federation. The Gorn Confederation spent the time repairing the damage of the war and fortifying their own systems—but the system put in place by the ISC suited them very well.
The Coalition powers were less well off. The Klingon empire, having lost not simply border regions, but an important subject race, occupied their time with assiting the Seltorians in building up a fleet that could smash the Tholians—and restraining their fanatical “allies” from jumping the gun early. The Lyrans, embroiled in a five way civil war, were unable to form any coherent policy. The Romulans, like the Gorn, found the current situation more or less suited to their condition, albeit for different reasons, as unlike the Gorn, the engaged in building up a fleet capable of smashing their enemies when the ISC were removed from the equation.

In Y187, the Klingons launched their offensive, and quickly broke through several ISC cordons—the Seltorian web breakers were not as effective as hoped, but they did deprive the ISC forces of what had been a tremendous advantage. Taking advantage of the diversion of ISC alliance forces, many of the other powers started moving back into their former frontier zones—but they quickly found themselves embroiled in battles with local defense forces, set up by the ISC, who had little desire to return to their former nations.
It was then, as the galaxy stumbled to the brink of another General War, that the Andromedans launched their long planned offensive….

By Daniel G. Knipfer (Dgknipfer) on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 10:03 am: Edit

Wouldn't the I.S.C. ally with the L.D.R. under these conditions? That would give them an even stronger western support network and let them separate the Lyran and Klingon fleets, preventing joint operations.

By Charles Gray (Cgray45) on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 06:08 pm: Edit

They might-- but one of the problems of hte LDR is that while independent they are also neutral and still linked to the Lyrans-- I could see them provoding logistical support, but not ships.