The Interstellar Concordium (or ISC) is a technologically advanced collection of races located on the far side of the galaxy, beyond the Gorn-Romulan border. The Concordium is composed of over sixty sentient species occupying over two hundred settled worlds, and controls a sphere of influence only slightly smaller than the Federation.
The ISC believes in peace at any costs, and will not hesitate to interfere or intervene in even the most trivial conflict. The ISC's prime belief is that "a peaceful, harmonious and well-ordered universe is the right of all sentient species. Civilizations collapse when that right is violated, therefore it must be protected at all costs."
The dark underside of the ISC is that they have no respect for individual or cultural rights that violate this fundamental principle, and will go to any lengths to enforce their idea of "peace, order, and good government".
The ISC is a democracy governed by a council of five central members, although some argue it's really a dictatorial oligarchy. There is no central ISC constitution, a loose "Declaration of Ideals" is the guiding principle of the Concordium; and as long as the two-thirds majority believes that an action supports the Declaration, their decision will not be challenged. There is no judicial branch to provide a "check and balance" on the legislature, and the idea of "tyranny of the majority" is an alien concept to most ISC member cultures. Justice in the ISC is determined by telepathic investigation, and punishments often include forcing the victim to endure a telepathic recreation of the crime. Because telepathy is widespread among the member races of the ISC, no central authority exists among the member races to control it.Recently, the Organians returned, and asked the ISC for assistance in bringing order to the major civilizations of the alpha quadrant. As a result, the ISC moved the bulk of their military forces into the quadrant and began a peacekeeping operation to restore peace and harmony. All of the quadrant's native empires resisted the ISC effort, and as a result, a new war erupted. The ISC came into the Pacification campaign expecting an easy victory, in the belief that their moral supremacy would quickly translate into a military victory. In the early years of the War of Pacification, this proved to be a complete, and bloody, lie.
The typical ISC starship is very capable. Most of their designs did not appear until after their enemies had fielded their fleets. It seems the ISC are not above spying on and stealing ideas from the 'lesser' races. In addition the PPD gives their large ships a strong punch at long range.The ISC, like the Lyrans and Federation, are a technologically superior race. They were already quite advanced when they began to observe and analyze the weapons technologies of the other Star Empires - a research project that went on for quite awhile before their invasion began.
Based on their study of the ships of the known races, they designed their ships to be superior to them in all ways.
The ISC design philosophy resulted in a fleet of ships that have traded maneuverability for strength and defense. Their well-shielded ships are heavily armed with Plasma Torpedoes, Phasers, and with their own unique weapon, the Plasmatic Pulsar Device (PPD).
Like the Federation, the ISC is rich in resources and the ISC - again like the Federation - designed a powerful complement of Carriers and Fighters.
The sight of an ISC formation of warships and carrier groups is a daunting prospect. The ISC's ships typically have superior weapons arcs to the front and side but are less well-defended from the rear. The ISC avoid displaying their weak side by flying in formation, and they also have an unusual rear-firing Plasma (Plasma I) that functions as a point defense weapons system.
These precautions - their strong formations and rear-firing defenses - make it very difficult to take advantage of their relative weakness at the stern.
The ISC believe that it is their destiny to save the galaxy from the insanity of war, and their warships are designed to enable them to achieve this task by obliterating any and all opposition.
The primary weapons of the ISC are the Plasma S, G and F, as well as the Phaser 1. Secondary weapons are Plasmatic Pulsar Device, Plasma I and D along with the Phaser 3.
