Palladian Republic

The Palladian Republic is a faction located in the northwestern Delta Quadrant, bordering the Starkonian Empire to the south, and the Ketr'Zai to the northeast.

Its governmental structure consists of a parliamentary democracy with an elected body of representatives responsible for upholding their society's moral principles, and from which a chancellor is also appointed to act as the head of state. Though it has gone by multiple names throughout history, said legislative body is currently known as the Grand Assembly, and it is headquartered on Kishar Prime - the homeworld and political capstone of the Palladian people.

The Palladian Republic is a firm ally of the Galactic Abyssal Federation and its government, having joined the Orion Pact in 2798 CE at the invitation of Earth. It also provided ships and troops during the Western Galactic War (2811-2816 CE), many of whom fought directly against the Holy Union of Sarnakus and Vascor United Systems in multiple battles.

The Harmonic Bicentury:

While certainly much older than their Abyssalite allies in terms of space flight, the Palladian Republic is still considered a very new entity, having emerged around ~ 900 BCE when the Palladians themselves first gained FTL technology. From there - according to official academic records at least - they had roughly 200 years of relative isolation, during which the majority of their time was spent peacefully exploring and settling the space around their world of origin, as well as creating artistic and sociological works designed to usher in a new age of philosophical enlightenment.

This brief period of national identity establishment is referred to as the Harmonic Bicentury by scholars, and many historians today still consider it to be Palladian civilization's most culturally important time frame because the vast majority of items created during it are still highly revered and coveted texts and artifacts, contributing heavily to the Republic's self-proclaimed status as a "philosopher's democracy" in the international community.

The Great Reckoning:

Being the representative polity of the first species in their region of space to achieve interstellar travel, the Palladian Republic and its people quickly found themselves surrounded by a handful of primitive civilizations still confined to their home planets, and at first, practiced a policy of deliberate avoidance of contact to prevent shock and panic spreading amongst these still-developing societies from premature discovery of the fact that they are not alone in the universe.

However, during the later years of the Harmonic Bicentury, this policy was changed due to a sudden shift in perspective which suggested that it may - in fact - actually be better to teach these worlds about the necessity of peaceful coexistence with other species to avoid possible future wars and strife over trivial differences in physical appearence, customs, or ideology - something that that the Palladians themselves had seemingly outgrown.

Their first and only attempt at trying to expedite the peaceful incorporation of new people into their nation would befall a relatively remote planet by the name of Amya Prime, whose native inhabitants then requested samples of FTL-age technology to reverse-engineer so that they might learn how to join the Republic naturally and on their own terms. The Palladians then quickly discovered that they had made a catastrophic mistake by granting their wishes, as Amya Prime's denizens proceeded to use said technology for self-annihilation through nuclear war over competing political interests and worldviews in a grotesque, apocalyptic fashion.

The Republic and its people were left so scarred and heartbroken by this turn of events that they strictly forbade any further contact with pre-FTL intelligence, dubbing Amya Prime as the Great Reckoning, and forever asserting it as an unwashable stain on their otherwise clean history.

Early Contacts:

Some time after the events of Amya Prime, the Palladian Republic would make contact with the major galactic powers in its immediate vicinity. First and foremost amongst the people with whom they would establish true bilateral relations would be the Ketr'zai, with their civilization's spiritualistic outlook on the cosmos resonating well enough with the Grand Assembly to cement an alliance that has now lasted centuries.

Their relationship with their neighbors to the immediate south though - by contrast - would prove to be that of a polar opposite dynamic.

Ever since first greetings with the Starkonian Empire, diplomatic proceedings over their shared border have been tense at best, and outright non-existent at worst; the royal authorities on Ryala have declared war against the Palladian people numerous times over seemingly trivial disputes, and its alliance with the Ketr'zai - who are bitter enemies of the Starkonians - has often made it a secondary target in Imperial invasions of Ketr space.

Furthermore, while the two allies are almost always successful in repelling attacks directed at their immediate territories, the normally pacifistic Republic continually finds itself chafing from having to dedicate significant resources to national defense and struggling to project power beyond its borders. For hundreds of years, the Starkonian Navy has had near-total control over the Enigma Nebula - the only contestable region of space between them - with the vast majority of it sadly resting firmly in Imperial hands, even now.

Modern Status:

The Palladian Republic has watched the rise of the Abyssalites with great interest. Earth's decisive victory against the Starkonian Empire during the Southern Galactic War (2767 - 2775 CE) convinced them that involvement in defensive pacts with other democracies across the galaxy may allow them to bolster their own measures of deterrence against hostile powers.

Moreover, given that Ryala and its monarchy were now a shared adversary, joining the Orion Pact alongside the Fafossan United Worlds, Democratic Cobaltian Empire, and G.A.F. seemed like a natural progression to Kishar Prime, with the only major hiccup so far being the outbreak of the Western Galactic War (2811 - 2816 CE), which was also the first instance of armed conflict in which all members of I.S.T.O. fought as a single force against a shared existential threat.

Though it heavily strained their resources, both the Palladian government and people remain steadfast in their commitment to the alliance. However, their Ketr allies - while interested in seeing how things progress - are content to merely observe for now, and did not follow the Republic in applying for membership, nor contribute to immediate war efforts against the Union-Vascor coalition.

Main Story Importance:

While it is mentioned and visited briefly a few times in multiple episodes, the Palladian Republic does not play a frontline role in the main story, acting mostly as a source of background exposition, at least during the first season. Fortunately, this is likely to change in the future :)