After the chaotic explosion of chelti interstellar colonialism, fractures between colonies and central authority were rife and unsanctioned colonies, rogue elements, and piracy have always thrived in the chelti reaches. Outwardly other races regard chelti space as a maelstrom of wars, larceny, and reckless disregard.
While war and conflict seem to be a continual habit in chelti territory, such events are rarely seeking the complete destruction of another, instead often being over confined areas, trade wars, or political pressuring. Whatever the case, the situation always seems to be tense enough that any foreign ships entering chelti space often find themselves being intercepted by multiple battlegroups from different factions and either being attacked or caught in a crossfire, making exploration in the area for alien vessels fraught with difficulty and hazards.
The Chelti are not a monoculture and there is no unified chelti government. Each of the major chelti 'factions' often has its own distinct culture; and they are, roughly, less nations and more cultural blocs.The byzantine nature of their political client states, territories, alliances, and the underlying written and unwritten rules of war they abide by are extremely difficult for alien observers to understand; shifting and changing faster than can often be explained.
Smaller factions form the patchwork star maps and territorial confusion within the chelti reaches, often independent or client colonies of one (or more) of the homeworld major factions. These smaller empires are diverse in the extreme regarding political systems, wealth, and security level, often evolving as coups and political changes sweep through the reaches; this often means travelers are required to purchase continually updating navigational maps which suggest systems best avoided.
The sheer number of all these minor factions and rogue colonies makes any definitive list impractical, and the rarely spoken of nature of the chelti primary factions leaves a lot of mystery around how these various organizations even maintain coherence, let alone nominal rule over such a massively expanding area of space.
War Rules, as outsiders know them, is a bottom up approach to the business of making war; the most common exposure outsiders have of which is a pocket book given to many chelti infantry on enlistment. It's topics include the importance of fire support placement, team work, the best ways to mutilate alien corpses to inspire fear and terror in enemies and populations, and the cooking of diverse plants and animals on alien planets.
However, at the top end of the War Rules, lays the foundation for how chelti have been able to wage war so long without utterly destroying themselves.
The closer to the mother planet, the less chaos will be tolerated
While not accepting complete stability, chelti are not adverse to it completely, and nuclear fail-safes back up the need for care on the mother planet. As such, both formal and informal agreements have been struck as to what level of conflict is acceptable within spheres around the mother planet. Seasonal traditions may temporarily change some of these, but bloc-level violence is not tolerated close to the Seloca by the Major factions.
Whenever threatened by a lesser faction who is breaking the guidelines, fall upon it together
Because of the unique state of war and peace within the chelti reaches many parties are more interested in maintaining the balance of power in neighboring regions, making them keep their eyes on each other rather than being tempted to attempt conquest of a weaker neighbor. However, sometimes gentle coercion is not enough, and coalition task forces will be sent in using allied, even if only temporarily so, forces to suppress the region and enforce new regimes more open to their agendas.
Do not interfere with ships bringing supplies to the motherland
Because of the economic pains suffered by the homeworld, any faction with a stake on its well-being will retaliate swiftly and harshly against any attempt to threaten it by others of their own kind. The continuous trickle of the large, skeleton crewed barges from their pipelines are a lifeline in the starved economy.
Being a race seemingly at continual war with itself at different times, it has become a complex and ever evolving set of sub-states that might seem alien and nuanced to other species. Typically conflicts closer to the chelti homeworld will not escalate as high as they might out in the far reaches. Occasionally some conflicts are seasonal traditions and are often politically restrained.
| Status | Information |
|---|---|
| True Peace | A scarce state of affairs in the reaches. While there may be no official treaties or alliances involved there exists an understanding between the parties. |
| False Peace | A more typical peaceful state than True Peace, typically any combat is done through clandestine or covert means. |
| Strained Peace | In this state both may be stubbornly refusing to go to war without casus belli. Covert activity may become more malevolent and aggressive. |
| Unwar | When conflict seems certain but all parties are waiting for the other to look at them in just the right way on a particularly bad day. More overt actions are taken, such as leading herd animals into the enemy minefields, stealing supply trucks and other unfriendly but non war-provoking acts. |
| Minor Conflict | Often this state comes about as all sides on a conflict begin to run out of supplies, often while attempting to ramp up their production from peace-time levels if conflict is sudden and hasn't been prepared for. |
| Limited Conflict | War with strict, quantifiable objectives and set resources and use of strictly sufficient force to achieve those objectives. Forces involved in these conflicts are often small, although these can quickly set the stage for further escalation. |
| Scalable War | An often strange state of affairs, all parties may be fighting without seeking a fatal blow. Often when none have the desire or resources to defeat the others or may be lacking a clear war objective. |
| Total War | Both parties seek to utterly destroy the other in unrestrained action. Extremely destructive weapons may be deployed, despite interfactional disapproval. |