Mass Effect Universe -> Batarian Hegemony

Batarian Hegemony

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Mithias	Posted: 16 May 2011, 09:27 am
Mastermind Group: Justicar Posts: 1,522 Member No.: 619 Joined: 02 February 2010	Batarian Hegemony Wording Key WHITE = taken from Mass Effect Wiki MAROON = added for clarification and/or specfic to MEU HISTORY The Citadel Council made first contact with the batarians in approximately 200 BCE, and granted the batarians an embassy on the Citadel a century later. Despite being welcomed into the galactic community, batarian aggression provoked several crises in galactic relations over the years. Sometime around 1785 CE, a batarian fleet bombarded the salarian colony world of Mannovai; in 1913, the Batarian Hegemony annexed the independent asari colony of Esan; and in 2115, Citadel forces skirmished with batarian forces on the planet Enael. In the early 2160s, humans began to colonize the Skyllian Verge, a region the batarians were already actively settling. The batarians asked the Citadel Council to intervene and declare the Verge an area of "batarian interest". When the Council refused, the batarians closed their Citadel embassy and severed diplomatic and economic relations, becoming an inward-looking rogue state. Money and weapons funneled from the batarian government to criminal organizations led to many brutal raids on human colonies in the Verge, culminating in the Skyllian Blitz of 2176, an attack on the human capital of Elysium by batarian-funded pirates and slavers. In 2178, the Alliance retaliated with a crushing assault on the moon of Torfan, long used as a staging base by batarian-backed criminals. In the aftermath, the batarians retreated into their own systems, and are now rarely seen in Citadel space. Mass Effect Edan Had'dah, an extremely rich and powerful batarian living on Camala, is a major player in the events of Mass Effect: Revelation, but despite the fact they have their own Galactic Codex entry and are still a part of galactic society (though active mostly outside of Citadel Space), batarians make no appearance in the retail release of the game; as Lieutenant Zabaleta notes with relief, batarians no longer come to the Citadel. They are, however, mentioned during a few planetary scans. Batarian surveyors were responsible for bankrupting several human corporations by claiming that the planet Klensal was a rich mining prospect when it is actually mostly barren rock. The batarians are also accused of stealing the so-called "Leviathan of Dis", supposedly the remains of a genetically engineered living starship found on Jartar. They now claim no such remains were ever found despite the fact that the salarians documented it before the Leviathan mysteriously vanished. Among humans, batarians are now known mostly for their slaving practices, particularly their raid on the planet Mindoir in 2170. Once captured, the slavers implant control devices in the skulls of their slaves without bothering with anesthetic. Talitha, abducted from Mindoir, was a victim of this practice. The batarians are also known to enslave addicts of the biotic drug red sand when they can no longer afford to support their habit. Rear Admiral Kahoku was well-known for his victories over the batarians in the Skyllian Verge. ARRIVAL (ME2 DLC) The events of Arrival result in the total destruction of the batarian-controlled Bahak system and the deaths of its over 300,000 inhabitants. The Batarian Hegemony believes that the destruction of their system is a terrorist attack undertaken by Systems Alliance agents. Tensions between the Hegemony and the Alliance rise sharply, with the batarians speculated to be willing to go to war. CULTURE Batarians place an extremely high value on social caste and appearance, and overstepping one's place is frowned upon. Casting aspersions on the monetary worth of a social better is considered a serious insult. Batarians strongly believe that species with fewer than four eyes are less intelligent; they often gain the upper hand in inter-species arguments because other races find it difficult to know which eyes to focus on when speaking to them. Slavery is an integral part of the batarian caste system, despite being illegal according to Council law, and it is currently unknown how the batarians maintained standing on the Citadel for so long with slavery still actively practiced. The custom is so deeply ingrained in batarian culture that batarians consider the Council's anti-slavery standing to be prejudicial. Rogue batarian slave rings are feared throughout the galaxy, especially among colonists. Body language is an important part of batarian society. For example, tilting one's head to the left is a sign of admiration and respect. When a batarian tilts his head to the right it is a sign that he is (or considers himself to be) superior to the one that the gesture was directed at. Therefore, this gesture can also be interpreted as an insult. RELIGION Little is known about batarian religious beliefs. Mordin Solus has noted that batarians do believe in an afterlife. When a batarian dies, his soul leaves the body through the eyes. Treatment of the corpse is considered unimportant, unless the batarian's eyes have been removed by an enemy. GOVERNMENT The rest of the galaxy views the batarians as an ignorable problem. Their government, known as the Batarian Hegemony, is still hostile to the Systems Alliance, but beneath the notice of the powerful Council races. It is not known what the average batarian thinks about their enforced isolation, as the Department of Information Control ensures that only government-approved news enters or leaves batarian space. Given the batarian government's oppressive nature, it is speculated their supreme leadership is autocratic or totalitarian in nature. The batarians blame humanity for their troubles and claim they were forced to fend for themselves, despite the fact that their exile is largely self-imposed. The batarian homeworld, Khar'shan, is still divided amongst nation-states. However, the batarians still provide up-to-date glossaries and linguistic rules to the rest of the galaxy (allegedly so they can continue distributing propaganda). Possibly due to the prevalence of batarian criminal gangs, batarian languages have become "lingua franca" in the Terminus Systems. Government Clarifications The Batarian Hegemony is an autocratic empire. It is broken up into a caste system that is essentially divided into three distinguished parts: the bourgeois, the commoners and the slaves. The empire is comprised of nation-states. The leader of each nation-state is a member of the bourgeois, titled according to the size of their holdings. For example, here are the titles bestowed to the bourgeois: Emperor & Empress (king of kings�only one) CURRENT: Emperor Rega'mah Lis'garr, Empress Vudia Lis�garr Viceroy & Vicereine (rare�usually Hegemony department heads) Archduke & Archduchess (rare�bestowed by the Emperor for a particularly loyal Duke) Duke & Duchess (usually the rulers of the largest nation-states) Prince & Princess (rare�some children of the Emperor take this title) Infante & Infanta (rare�usually younger brothers of the hereditary heir; taking this title shows no ambition to being Emperor, but is not a slight on them either; indication that they are content with their place) Marquess & Marchioness (usually rulers of large nation-states) Margrave & Margravine (usually rulers of large, militaristic nation-states) Count & Countess (usually rulers of average sized nation-states) Viscount & Viscountess (highest nobility bestowed to non-noble families; can be ruler of a small nation-state) Baron & Baroness (usually rulers of small nation-states) Ritter & Ritteress (a knight; can hold land) Edler & Edle (lowest rank of nobility) In recent years the Batarian Hegemony has been dealing with a Resistance Group that has been causing tremendous effort to solicit attention from Government officials. Due to moving ideology and counter-propaganda, there are Hegemony politicians that are in sway with them, but do not openly disclose such information. Internally, it is noted that the Hegemony makes conscious effort to get rid of the Resistance group and is often presented with legal documents from the faction. MILITARY Little is known about the batarian military; most batarian military hardware is produced by a nationalized institution called Batarian State Arms. The batarian fleet is known to operate at least one dreadnought (as a non-Citadel race, they are not bound by the Treaty of Farixen and may have more). They also field smaller vessels, including the Hensa class of cruisers. However, given one member of this class -- later obtained by the quarians and refurbished as the Idenna -- was twenty years old in 2183, the batarians may have retired the Hensa class from active service by this time. Their military capacity is believed to be weaker than the Systems Alliance as early as 2160 (when colonisation of the Skyllian Verge began) as Balak claims that the council and batarians themselves knew the humans were stronger but nothing was done to protect them, and they were left to defend themselves. The batarian military has a special forces division known as the Special Intervention Unit. All that is known about the SIU is that their training program is brutal. The Blue Suns hired a group of former SIU operatives to run a hostile environment training camp on the planet Xetic, an investigation by Illium authorities into the camp found that the mortality rate was as high as 18%. But an independent Blue Suns inquiry found that the batarian operatives harsh training techniques were consistent with those employed in the SIU training program. Ships of the Line BRV Vraw-Class War Cruiser - CLASSIFIED BRV Griken-Class Cruiser BRV Lis'garr-Class Heavy Frigate BRV N'varqk-Class Corvette BRV Harro'vah-Class Heavy Cruiser BRV Yustavin-Class Frigate BRV Camala-Class Dreadnought Military Clarifications For the last couple of decades, the Batarian Hegemony has been conspiciously quiet. The reason is that as it has been disguising its ailing economy and its inadequate military--and they have been building their naval assets with a renewed fervor. When Emperor Resa'mah Lis'garr became Emperor 10 years ago, the effort redoubled. Its concentration came in the form of Heavy Frigates, Cruisers...and Dreadnaughts. With the Batarian Hegemony not a part of the Citadel races, they have no restrictions on their military production... Due to expansive Government with all of it's fees, Akru'Dah, the Batarian resistance group, gained the attention of the Batarian SIU. Over the years an accumulated total of 1/3 of the standing forces left to go rogue and join the Resistance. Before, the resistance faction had an easier time stealing Hegemony ships by force until the Emperor came to power. Few military standoffs between rogue factions within the Hegemony happen biweekly, and is rapidly escalating. ((More clarification coming soon...)) BATARIAN WORLDS �Khar'shan - Controlled Homeworld �Anhur - Uncontrolled Batarian/Human World Due to the fact that I hate it when people metagame, I will not be allowing Ezramon/Anhur to interact with the Batarian Hegemony. For simplicity's sake, I will have Anhur remain neutral to the Batarian Hegemony. �Aratoht* - LOST COLONY �Camala - Controlled Inhabited Planet �Logasiri - Contested Colony [Resistance Faction] �Lorek - Heavily Contested Inhabited Planet [Resistance Faction] GALACTIC RELATIONS Citadel - Uneasy neutrality Systems Alliance - Non-aggression treaty - mutually agreed upon split of the Skyllian Verge -------------------- MITHIAS' COMPENDIUM