The Interplanetary Alliance

The Interplanetary Alliance is a name given to both the diplomatic agreement and the physical council that moderates interstellar peace between the different alien species of the galaxy. The alliance exists to defend against conflicts between different species, and thus has no control over conflicts that arise between factions of the same species or within a single faction on its own. The only faction that lives directly under the control of the alliance council is The Local Alliance, but even they have their own ruling sub-council at the helm.

Rules, Purpose, and Effects

When the IPA (as it is often abbreviated) was created, it was drafted in part to put a stop to the fighting between the Glycean and Terrkarakki people. Suggested initially by the new-comers at the time the Trallyr, the agreement's foremost purpose is to allow each space-faring species to grow and develop in space without being wiped out by those that are either more populous or have better technology. To this end, the alliance defines any species that is "sapient, sentient, possesses skills of communication, and works towards the construction or maintenance of a form of society" as eligible for protections from the alliance.
Protection from the IPA is not the same as being a member of it. Protections apply automatically to any qualifying species and consist of the following:

Member species are forbidden from invading territory belonging to the protected species

Protected species will be spared from violent conflict with alliance members as long as the protected species did not initiate the violent encounter

Protected species are permitted to exist within specified Local Alliance Neutral zones, in order to learn and communicate with others.

When a species becomes a member of the Interplanetary Alliance, they are granted a single representative seat on the Alliance council and become beholden to the following agreements and benefits:

Alliance members are bound to uphold the protections granted to protected species

Alliance members agree to withhold from inter-species wars and conquests. This applies to large-scale efforts between militias and militaries belonging to or representative of their people. The Alliance does not interfere in individual conflicts or the squabbles of business and family.

Alliance members are not prevented from engaging in conflicts within their own kind, but the Alliance will not create additional council seats in the event of a schism or civil war.

Alliance members vow to respect the designated neutral territories belonging to the Local Alliance faction as well as the unsettled neutral zones outlined in the original alliance agreement. This respect includes agreeing to not claim, block access to, or otherwise damage these areas. Slidespace in its entirety is designated as an unsettled neutral zone.

Alliance members are allowed to determine the level of access outsiders may have to their home systems. Home systems are defined as the star system in which a species evolved.

All IPA members are granted full access to travel through and live within the Local Alliance Faction Borders, and are given the benefits of this faction's dual-citizenship.

Member species may freely expand into unclaimed territories. The Alliance takes into account first settlement and population percentage when deciding what faction an area is 'officially' owned by in their eyes.

History

The Interplanetary Alliance was first created between the Trallyr, Krakki, and Glycean species. In these early stages, it existed primarily as a document and not as a group. The jalgar would join soon after, but it would not be until humanity and the Chi'suut joined later on that the first formal alliance council would be formed. This council would later go on to form the sub-council responsible for forming the Local Alliance. Stipulations in the alliance regarding this faction were added in at this point.
To this day, the Alliance's ability to enforce its own rules and regulations has never been proven, as no member species has yet dared to put them to the test. As newer generations of people were not around for the time before the alliance, many have come to take it for granted as a given in their lives.