Known Minor Powers of the Milky Way as of Nineteen-Ninety-Eight

Introduction

Now we turn to the known Minor Powers of the Milky Way as of the moment. As previously stated, these would be small pocket realms of up to a dozen worlds each. Such powers rise and fall all the time, as the Goa'uld abandoned worlds or discover new empires to conquer. Those who stand the test of time often either have some unique quirk, like the Ionic Weapons Technology of the Tollan Council, or are otherwise too obscure to be worth conquering, such as the Enigmatic Nox, who Project: Blue Book encountered in a hidden enclave and who have since left Galactic Affairs behind them and wish to remain isolated.

Of Note is that Obscurity is no real proof against attack or conquest by the Goa'uld, such was the case with the World of Kephaloida and its native, Mesozoan Hives. The Aquatic Species was a race of tadpole-like, parasitic, insects whose infiltration specialty had allowed it to outcompete the nearby, similarly parasitic, Yeerk Imperium. The Yeerk Imperium had taken control of three worlds but the Mesozoan Hives had six.

The Goa'uld, seeing competition for Hosts, wiped both of them out fairly recently, destroying their worlds with orbital bombardment and mining the planetary cores for anything of value before leaving. In this case, they may have done the Galaxy a service, albeit for their own selfish reasons. Regardless, it does point to a reason for the Mesozoan Invasion of Ohio some months ago that was handled by a combination of Task Force Ironarms and Project: Blue Book Staff, with an assist from several local Hunters who believed Hostile Sub-Terrestrials responsible.

It also proves that if the following powers wish to grow further, then they will need to be smart and not rely solely on their anonymity or Off-Network Locations to protect them. . .

Minor Powers:

Confederation of Antar: The Confederation of Antar, also known as the Antarian Pentarchy is a pocket kingdom of five worlds just to the Galactic Southwest of the territory of the System Lord Ares. Antar is a technologically adept civilization whose inhabitants, the Antarians, are capable of various Psionic Abilities through the use of the manipulation of their bio-electric fields. Their Kingdom used to be more expansive, having a sixth world before their discovery by the Go'auld.

It should come as no surprise that the Go'auld coveted such a race for hosts, however, only a few perfunctory slave raids had been launched on the Sixth World of the Antar Confederation, known as Xel'nat, before the Antarians, in a bid to attempt to lap the Goa'uld's Warship Technology, attempted to test an experimental new hyperdrive-equipped Battlecruiser in orbit of Xel'nat, with a quartet of Cryotubes containing Hybrid Clones of the Royal Family who were supposed to be decanted on a world inside Goa'uld Territory in order to raise a revolt against the Goa'uld.

The exact sequence of events that came next is unclear, but the general layout should come as no shock to those of you familiar with the conventions of Science Fiction that the Hyperdrive Malfunctioned, scattering wreckage and sliced out compartments from the doomed Battlecruiser across hundreds of Light Years, including some wreckage that landed in Roswell New Mexico in Nineteen-Forty-Seven and whose partially successful reverse-engineering over the succeeding four decades allowed us to begin work on our own computer technology.

The Project: Blue Book Team sent to negotiate with the Antarians couldn't get the exact nature of the crisis that unfolded on Xelnat from the Antarians, but the Hyperdrive malfunction seemed to have shifted the axis of the planet somehow, rendering it an uninhabitable wasteland. Since then, the Antarians have withdrawn inward, focused on their own internal squabbles. With the Closest System Lords, Ares and Cronus, constantly trying to deniably raid each other's territory, they felt it was for the best. As internal issues cropped up in the aftermath of the disaster, it appears to have been the right call.

Technologically, the Antar Confederation is more advanced than Earth Currently is in most respects, with more advanced laser weaponry, cloning technology, FTL Drives and Communications, and local-scale teleportation. They are slightly behind the Goa'uld in terms of technical sophistication, but they utilize the technologies they have far more effectively, not to mention having psionic capabilities.

Tollan Council: The Tollan Council is a small Republic of Four Worlds in the Galactic East, near where Apophis and Heru'ur's territories meet. The Tollan are possibly the most advanced Human Civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy right now. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that not only did they not receive any outside aid in their technological development.

Between their capability to manufacture Stargates, their advanced grasp of the various biological and technical fields required for terraforming a plant, and the unique form of Ionic Weaponry they utilize, you would think the Tollan Council would encompass more worlds than Tollana and her three off-world colonies. They could certainly simply terraform worlds, place Stargates of their own design on those worlds, then ring their settlements with Ion Cannons and none would be able to do much against them.

The reason they do not is thanks to various societal quirks possessed by the Tollan, the first of which is their tendency towards isolationism. There is a deep philosophical stream of thought amongst the Tollan Eligible to sit on the Curia, their highest political council, that because the Tollan did not get their technology from other races and had to invent it all themselves, they understand not only technology and science but also the underlying principles of the universe better than anyone else. Likewise, engaging with other worlds who might want their technology would do nothing to push those other worlds toward their own understanding.

It's a paternalist attitude that comes off as entirely arrogant and smug, but one the Tollan still hold to dearly. The second major cultural reason for a lack of Tollan Expansion is the time it takes for the Curia to debate anything. It could be days or weeks before a consensus is reached, as the Curia by tradition debates proposals in person. That's practically a lifetime in terms of geopolitics.

Finally, the Tollan are a culture that values neutrality and a carefully measured response over immediate action that might see them drawn into a wider conflict. The Curia encourages methodical thinking in its members and it shows in the way the Tollan act on the Galactic Stage.

For all that the Tollan Council is the most technologically advanced culture yet visited by Project: Blue Book Staff, these cultural and political hindrances mean that it is unlikely that the Curia could effectively manage a crisis that they could not simply rely on their Ion Cannons and Neutrality to deal with.

New Hiigaran Daiamid: The New Hiigaran Daiamid is an oddity in Galactic Affairs. A small, four-world, Human Polity sitting on the Outer Rim of the Milky Way between the Outer Arm and Perseus Arm. They are unique in that they claim to not be native to the Milky Way but from the Whirlpool Galaxy. If so, they must have somehow found a way to traverse the Thirty-One-Million Light Years between the Whirlpool Galaxy and the Milky Way.

Apparently, the Project: Blue Book Team who established contact with them claimed that they had Hyperdrive Technology, but of a variety only good for short jumps through Hyperspace. Certainly, they had nothing that could travel between Galaxies. When Pressed on this, the Speaker of the Daiamid mentioned that the Hiigarans were originally members of an expedition flotilla to study a Progenitor Space Station. The Space Station reacted to being actively scanned by jumping the flotilla to New Hiigara and then activating its self-destruct.

The Flotilla, upon realizing that they weren't going to be going home any time soon, colonized New Hiigara and set up their own government. That had been back in his Grandfather's day, however. Since then, the New Hiigarans have expanded to three other nearby worlds in search of resources. Notably, their Government works more like a sort of United Nations with Teeth than a coherent centralized government,

Apparently, Hiigaran society is organized into Kiithid, which are large organizations. Kiithid may be nations, corporations, familial clans, and so on. The Hiigarans don't tend to make those distinctions. The Daiamand, or Grand Council, is there to settle grievances between and direct the collective efforts of, the various competing Kiithid.

Technologically, aside from their short-jump hyperdrive, the Hiigarans possess advanced Ballistic Technologies, Railguns, and Advanced Flak cannons are their go-to weaponry. Aside from those, however, they are behind the Go'auld in most respects.

Aschen Confederation: This Ten-World Confederation is one that Project: Blue Book hasn't encountered personally, but has heard about through middlemen. A highly centralized society, especially for a Confederacy of various worlds, the Aschen Confederation is known for its medical technology and its extremely slow, almost creeping, pace of expansion.

The Ten Worlds of the Aschen Confederation, with the exemption of Aschen Prime, the capital of the Confederation and homeworld of the Aschen themselves, are all extremely specialized towards one particular thing or another. For instance, the Volians are agriculture specialists, while the People of Blue specialize in Gas Mining.

All of the various subject peoples will claim to their dying days that the Aschen have helped them, saved them from various plagues and diseases that would have wiped their populations out generations ago if not for the Aschen arriving with vaccines and medicines. However, a more cynical take would be that the Aschen's slow pace of expansion was due largely to them waiting until an existential threat to an independent world could be taken advantage of with the Aschen's superior medical technology.

The Information Broker that Project: Blue Book Staff engaged to get this intelligence also hinted at something darker behind the Aschen's expansion, however, he refused to divulge the information without extra payment, at which point, Project: Blue Book Staff terminated the conversation.

Technologically, the Aschen make heavy use of advanced drones, hard light holograms, advanced computers, limited teleportation technologies, and highly advanced biological engineering. Notably, a small probing force from the Goa'uld Sobek was sent toward their Confederation forty years ago and was sent packing infected with some sort of plague, so the possibility of advanced bioweapons use on the part of the Aschen should not be discounted.

Others:  There are a few other independent minor powers that Project: Blue Book has visited, though of these, many are tribal or feudal societies with nothing to be gained from further interactions, such as the Simarkan Tribes of Simarka or the Crystalline Unity of P-Three-X-Five-Six-Two who refuse to be contacted again.

There are exceptions to this, however. Cimmeria, protected by the Asgard and who forms a vital communications link with the enigmatic Asgard Race is one such world. They still hold a device capable of sending communications to the Asgard and can call on them to defend them if necessary. Cimmeria has been vital in ensuring continued diplomacy with the otherwise pre-occupied Asgard.

Another such world is Oannes, the homeworld of the aquatic Ohne Species. The Ohnes are a long-lived, technologically-advanced species, that makes use of sonic weaponry and mind-machine interfaces that can retrieve lost memories and even alter memories. Project: Blue Book's initial encounter with the Ohnes was not peaceful, but subsequent encounters have managed to swing diplomacy back in the other direction. Currently, a Project: Blue Book Negotiation Team is bargaining for a less advanced version of the Mind-Machine Interface Device in the hopes that reverse-engineering such a computer will allow Project: Blue Book personnel to download skills directly into their minds.

Lastly, there is the Black Bastion. A small, rocky, planetoid set to watch over a dead world somewhere in the Galactic Halo. The Furthest address that Project: Blue Book has dialed to date, the warriors of the Black Bastion were armed and equipped with a combination of weapons and equipment, powered armor, plasma rifles, and even more advanced-looking equipment. Apparently, they have no interest in anything other than keeping vigil over the dead planet below. As far as Project: Blue Book was able to get them to say, there is something dormant down on the dead world called an Alien Intelligence and it had been chased to the world below by a coalition of stellar powers from a trio of faraway galaxies called the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. The Consortium's fleet then bombarded the world with every gun it had, turning the surface molten and forcing the Alien Intelligence below into dormancy.

It is a fanciful tale, but they take it seriously. At any rate, if it's even remotely true, anything that can survive total planetary biome destruction while simply going dormant is worth keeping a wide berth away from. As the Black Bastion is the only outpost of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds in the Milky Way, it also couldn't meaningfully do anything aside from keep watch over the Dead World even if it wanted to.