Editing Star*Drive (section)

=== The Great Alliances and Stellar Nations ===

Known space in the Star*Drive setting is divided under the governance of 13 stellar nations.  In the century long crucible of the Second Galactic War, these nations formed three military alliances which persist to the present.

* '''Expansion Pentad''': Generally regarded (even by themselves) as the aggressors of the Second War, the Pentad is not a unified force but rather an agreement to divide the galaxy between two powers (a'la the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), namely the the Thuldan Empire and Voidcorp.  The junior members, Hatire and the Nariacs, are effectively client states of their respective neighbors.  A second puppet of Voidcorp, the Dreth Commonwealth, was destroyed in the war and most of their space was used to form one of the Concord neutralities.

* '''FreeSpace Alliance''': The principle obstacle to the ambitions of the Pentad was the twin states of the Orion League and the Orlamu.  Sharing a common border and similar societal values, the two combined are more than a match for either Voidcorp or the Thuldans on their own.  Their chief accomplishment in the war was preserving the Borelian Republic from being annexed by the Pentad.  For much of the war FreeSpace was on good or neutral terms with the nations of the Profit Confederation, although whenever the Pentad threat was checked the two would engage in standoffs and skirmishes over disputed border colonies.

* '''Profit Confederation''': By far the least stable of the three alliances, the Confederation formed in desperation by nations caught between the Pentad and FreeSpace.  But each brought unique qualities that made the alliance an effective if not necessarily unified force.  The combination of well armed Austrin armies backed by the peerless StarMech navy, operating from the centralized space of the Solar Union, and financed with the economic might of the Rigunmors preserved them all from the Pentad's aggression.