Avarian United Worlds

Avarian United Worlds

Avarian United Worlds has been the dominant  Avarian government for nearly a thousand years. In this time they have dealt with all alien threats from all the other dominant races, and even developed alliances with certain groups of all of them, including humans.

The secret to the A. U. W. 's long history is that it does interfere at all with local politics of its many worlds, and will allow any groups or individuals even to opt out of any major treaty.  This flexibility makes the government popular with its people, who see it more as a fundamental cultural institution, almost a religion. The disadvantage is that the A.U.W. gets dragged into wars quite often because of the actions by just one of its hundreds of states.  This happened with the Terrans in Earth year 2305.

The Avarian United Worlds often acts as arbiter in disputes between Avarians and aliens. Those races that have had dealings with the A.U.W. for a century or more know that it cannot control the states under its rule, much less the individual citizens.  The A.U.W. is actively diplomatic, establishing its own form of embassies with all other sentient beings. Most of the leaders in the central government wish to make peace with the Terrans, but various clans in the military wish to continue the fight until honor is restored. Until either the humans or the clans make some overtures of peace, the A.U.W. is at war.

The central government is concerned with another alien race that is more violent and more genocidal than even the Terrans appear to be. This race of insectoid beings has attacked Avarians numerous times in the past.  There have been grave atrocities I committed, resulting in a century-old vendetta by the Phoenix clan, a major power in the A.U.W. The central government has allied with the aliens more than once, but that race refuses to excuse the A.U.W. for actions committed by its members. The leaders of the A.U.W. fear that they will be forced to war on two separate fronts, facing enemies that could destroy their government.

At the height the greatest space war in human history, humans met the first intelligent alien race. They came to the solar system in nearly a hundred warships, demanding reparations for the destruction of several of their ships in Delta Sector. The Terrans had blood on their hands. After several attempts at peace humans and bird-people were at war.

These aliens stand about as tall as humans, have two legs, two arms. two eyes, and otherwise look like birds. They usually weigh about 2/3rds to half as much as humans of the same height. Their plumage can vary in color, shading, and pattern. They have sharp talons and sharper beaks. Their eyes are large and they have no external ears.

Other than their appearance, humanity has little knowledge of its new enemy. Scientists gave the aliens the name Avarian, but have little more information about them. Some biologists and neurologists believe that the Avarians have genetic disposition to trickery, theft, and violence. The handful of Avarian bodies recovered from the first encounter do not provide no evidence for or against this hypthesis.

Avarians warriors have shown great agility in battle, both on the ground and in space. Human soldiers who have fought them agree that the aliens are tenacious and cunning fighters. Beyond that, opinion is divided. Some claim they torture prisoners , others say they don't. The A.U.W. has agreed to POW exchanges, so perhaps they are merciful.  Perhaps each Avarian and each situation is different.

Although Federation contact with the Avarians has been mostly negative, humans in Delta Sector have signed treaties with them. It is rumored that some of these people have even set foot on Avarian worlds. These rebel humans have everything to gain from an alliance with the Federation's greatest enemy. The T.T.F. has little hope of annexing Delta Sector with the Avarian War going on, even if the Avarians don't help the rebels. At least one transmission intercepted by TT.F.N. intelligence suggests they are more than happy to aid the rebels if it keeps humanity divided.

Avarians believe they understand humans fairly well. The ape-like Earthlings are neither the most aggressive nor the most passive sentient race the Avarians have encountered. It's just that isolation from the rest of the galaxy has made them very egocentric. Beyond that, most of them are tolerable, and some are quite interesting.

If things had begun differently, most Avarians would like to stay neutral in human affairs. Unfortunately, the ape-like aliens killed the first Avarian envoys before they could establish peaceful relations. Only the wisdom of the Speaker of the Council for the Avarian United Worlds prevented a holy war against the trigger happy Earthlings. Earth acquiesced to some of the A.U.W.'s demands, but were unwilling to share their technology. In a bloodless raid the Avarian Navy found the information it was looking for. The A.U.W. considered the debt repaid, and the matter closed. But the humans went mad with rage, and went on the warpath again.

Avarian war clans were more than happy to retaliate. The Speaker could not hope to stop them after this second unprovoked attack on Avarians.  Nor would she want to, for that matter.

Now that a few years have gone by, many of the oldest clans want to settle with the humans. Hundreds of Avarians have died, and the A.U.W. has little to show for it. It has no new star systems, few new resources, and little hope of conquering Earth itself. Even some of the more ambitious war clans are quietly asking about a cease fire. Some clans have lost half of their fleets, while the A.U.W.N. continues to grow.

The clans closest to the frontier fear something worse. Avarian spies have discovered that an ancient insectoid race is once again expanding its reach. Two centuries have gone by since their last raids, and still some Avarian planets remain wastelands. If the Terrans do not agree to a truce soon, the A.U.W. will be too weak to stop the other aliens. Then the humans themselves face annihilation.

Avarian United Worlds Navy

The A.U.W.N is the most powerful navy in the known galaxy--on paper. In reality the Navy has difficulty mustering enough ships to fight most of its battles.  The Avarian Navy is organized very differently than the Terran Navy.  The A.U.W.N. must recruit ships owned by various military clans on a regular basis. The clans, although nominally in the Navy, operate independently, and only go to war when their representatives in the A.U.W. council tell them to. This is very frustrating for admirals, but fortunately once clan members have pledged to in a campaign, they obey the commands like any other.

Below is a rough break-down of the A.U.W.N’s.'s ships. The number listed in bold is the number if all the clans are mustered at once, a feat reserved for holy wars and threats of annihilation. The number in parentheses is the number of ships the Navy itself controls.  The final number is the average number of ships available for the Terran War.

source:  Terran & Avarian Fleet Book