Starmap - Alliance, Current (2416)

Planets of primary military, political, and/or cultural importance labeled. Alliance territory shaded in blue. Sector administrative capitals displayed as stars.

The Alliance's official star maps are centered around a swath of the Orion Spur known as the Interior Expanse. This ragged quasi-circular region extends from between roughly 600 to 900 light years from the original Glis homeworld of Gliris, and represents the area of space the Glis had explored and mapped at their empire's height. The space beyond the Interior Expanse is broadly known as the Outer Reaches.

Common misconception often designates the Interior Expanse as "Alliance Space," which is wholly incorrect. Officially, the Alliance does not in fact claim any space as a collective. Combining the claimed territory of Alliance planets results in what is colloquially termed Alliance space, a band that runs across the breadth of the Expanse, beginning and ending a short distance into the Outer Reaches on each side; this area follows the border of the Fourth Kingdom Incursion Zone, narrows significantly, then runs along the flank of the Ninth Kingdom Incursion Zone. There are a few Alliance planets on the other side of the Fourth's territory, and a few scattered throughout the rest of the Expanse, but much of the Expanse is mapped and nothing more.

Another common misconception is that either Alliance space or the Interior Expanse as a whole is fully explored. The Glis maps are nearly 30,000 years old, and while useful for navigation they are woefully outdated when it comes to determining what civilizations might exist elsewhere in the Expanse. Even within the territory the Alliance nominally controls, nebulae and other interstellar obstacles prevent a full and comprehensive exploration. Though the Alliance believes it has at least made contact with all starfaring races in its territory, new discoveries are a regular occurrence.

Earth itself lies some 13 light years deep within the Outer Reaches. Prior to the Alliance's formation, space around Earth had been mapped in three concentric circles: the innermost circle was divided into five sectors, extending 100 light years out from the planet. A second 100 light year zone outside the Five Sectors was known as the Rim, while everything outside the Rim was simply termed Deep Space. Much of this framework remains on Alliance maps; the Five Sectors exist as administrative districts, while the Rim is used as a regional name for the part of the Outer Reaches it overlapped with.

Alliance intelligence on Drule holdings is limited. Analysts believe there to be other Drule incursion/colonization zones beyond known occupied space. At the very least, the Tenth Kingdom is estimated to have a roughly 95% probability of holding Milky Way territory, owing largely to the fact that the Hydrans were once Tenth Kingdom colonists. Additionally, the border between the Fourth Kingdom Incursion Zone and Sixth Kingdom Colonization Zone is known to shift regularly; this map represents its most recent confirmed state.

No Man's Land is the buffer zone established with the Fourth Kingdom by the Treaty of Kandaloth. This 15 light year band extends around the Fourth Kingdom Incursion Zone from the edge of the Interior Expanse until reaching the Sixth Kingdom Colonization Zone. Hydros and Kolair were grandfathered into this buffer, as the Fourth Kingdom refused to acknowledge either planet as being unquestioned Alliance holdings; beyond those systems, no colonization is permitted, and both factions patrol heavily with unarmed craft to ensure no enemy warships violate the buffer.

A final cartographic feature of particular note is the Vex-Cha Confederacy, a large mercantile alliance nearly opposite the Five Sectors. The relationship between the Alliance and the Vex-Cha is warily cordial; both factions are very well aware the Alliance provides them a de facto bulwark against the Drules. In response the Vex-Cha often grant Alliance traders discounts on military equipment, though neither side officially recognizes this deal.