General Extra-Polity Allegiance codes

[gchuck]

With-in a polity, allegiance codes IIRC are/should be similar. What about extra polity?

Is there a 'rule' or 'convention' that states 'extra-polity' codes are NA? Can a system outside of a polity boundary have an Allegiance Code with a nearby polity, i.e. a close trade partner or a mutual defense agreement etc.?

 

[Garnfellow]

Strong trade relationships are usually defined as the lesser polity being a client state of the larger. For example, the code for Imperial client states is ImCs. All of big polities should have equivalent client state codes, but the Aslan Hierate and Solomani Confederation do not seem to.

I'm not sure if there's an example of this outside GURPS Traveller, but the GT:Starport book mentions that the Imperium sometimes builds and administers starports for client states through the Imperial Starport Authority.

Some Imperial client states host Imperial Scout or Navy bases, even if the hosting world is not a member of the Imperium. This could represent a mutual defense agreement.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Some Imperial client states host Imperial Scout or Navy bases, even if the hosting world is not a member of the Imperium. This could represent a mutual defense agreement.

In quite a few cases it represents an "opening bid" to align public opinion in favor of a bid for admission later.

Look at District 268 for a demonstration of this.

Naval Bases:

• Motmos
• Elixabeth

Scout Bases:

• Bowman
• Walston
• Collace
• Tarkine

That's 6 bases on worlds outside the official border of the Third Imperium in 1105.
District 268 has only 32 star systems ... 2 of which are inside the border of the Third Imperium.

That means that of the remaining 30 star systems outside the border of the Third Imperium ... 20% of those star systems have either an IN or IISS base in them.

And of those IN and IISS bases, I would argue that the most consequential are the naval bases at Motmos and Elixabeth ... and the scout base at Collace.

 

[Grav_Moped]

... and the scout base at Collace.

Canon describes it as much more extensive than typical Scout bases:

Indeed, the term “scout base” does not accurately convey the vast scale of the IISS presence, which includes facilities (training sites, supply depots, early warning stations, etc.) on half a dozen other planets and satellites in the system in addition to the main base on Kirkton -- Collace’s principal moon.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Canon describes it as much more extensive than typical Scout bases:

In part because Collace wants to be the Imperial subsector capital for District 268 and are actively working towards legitimacy for their bid. Having an extensive relationship with the IISS, rather than the IN, goes a long way towards achieving that objective while allowing Collace to retain a LOT of their cultural identity, rather than needing to "bow and scrape and tug the forelocks" in front of the IN (who, let's be real, can get kind of stuffy and pompous, you know?). Being a major IISS base however puts Collace in the position of being a major "frontier depot" for the IISS throughout the region while also being "plugged in" to the Imperial Network in a way that a naval presence would NOT provide.

Also, bare minimum, it practically guarantees that when (not if, when!) the XBoat Network is extended into District 268, the link is going to be a direct one from Mertactor straight to Collace. Once that is done, all the IISS needs is Mewey/Five Sisters and suddenly the Five Sisters has redundant access to the XBoat Network (through District 268) and the threat of being cut off by the Sword Worlds dramatically diminishes.

 

[Grav_Moped]

In part because Collace wants to be the Imperial subsector capital for District 268 and are actively working towards legitimacy for their bid. Having an extensive relationship with the IISS, rather than the IN, goes a long way towards achieving that objective while allowing Collace to retain a LOT of their cultural identity,

And (IMTU) it's also why Collace is ok with Imperial Acession: In their experience, the "face" of the Third Imperium is the IISS, not the IN or the Imperial nobility. As you note, the IISS is "on their side" (that is, to a large extent they've "gone native") and will help Collace retain as much cultural autonomy as possible. That said, Imperial cultural hegemony has seeped into Collacian society -- I figure they have a streak of something like (in the contemporary context) the American fascination with British Royalty (as celebrities, not potential rulers), directed toward the Imperial Nobility at Glisten (and at a much further remove, the Emperor).