AST Border Protectorates

Although they are still all-powerful in the Southern hemisphere, the leagues of the AST do not control every square centimeter of territory. Entire regions escape the Alliance’s influence, and the human settlements there have their own way of life. Some of these city-states have willfully allied themselves with the AST for trade and mutual assistance, even though they are not formally part of the Alliance.

Ever since the War of the Alliance occurred, many more city-states have been contacted by the “benevolent’ Allied Southern Territories, arguing that should Earth return (or “WHEN Earth returns,” as some ambassadors put it), it would be best for those independent citystates to be under the protective wing of a powerful ally, such as the AST.

More and more small communities have signed on ever since the AST introduced the controversial Savannah Regional Defense Pact. This pact has attracted a great number of small desert communities by promising them MILICIA resources to ensure their defense against Northern and other aggressors. The South has used this treaty to set up more MILICIA bases in the Badlands and to draft locals into those armed forces. Communities whose loyalty is dubious can be (and have been) shut down by sudden declaration of a state of emergency. Some desert communities have resisted the pact (like the desert town of Verona) but the are under increasing pressure of being left out from any trade advantages while nevertheless being occupied as strategic targets. The regions near the tumultuous ESE are far less secure, however.