Veraun

"Officially the ugliest planet ever, but it's right where you need to go if you want to get anywhere west. Not too few natural assets there either."

- Unknown merchant to Setron Droek

 was a planet that had the distinction of playing host to its own Force organization, the Veraun Defenders. First colonized due to rare alloys on Veraun XII, it eventually became a trade city. Over many years, its political power grew until it was the head of the Veraun Alliance, an Allied Region to first the Galactic Alliance, then the Grey Imperium, and finally the Fel Empire, outlasting all of these institutions.

Mining Colony
The beginning of Veraun came when a stray smuggler found a strain of a rare alloy. Several mining companies bid for control of the then-uninhabited moon and the planet that came with it. When the mine played out, failed Jedi Setron Droek helped to set up the council-based government.

Before the Alliance
Eventually, the Ruling Council was appointed and decided upon making Veraun XII a port city for those who wished to travel west into the Wild Space. At first, business was rare, but after Defender G'arn T'rovan opened up a hyperspace trail into the region numerous mining colonies werre opened up to the west, and every shipment had to pay a reasonable fee. Both the Defenders and Veraun grew greatly, and numerous cities were opened up on the surface as Veraun XII became an ecumenopolis. Veraun soon gained economic control over the whole sector, and it was named the Greater Veraunese Sector as a result.

Alliance Formed
A daring politician named Ferrog proposed that most of the mining colonies to the west and several of the planets to the east become part of Veraun. Despite the initial problems this presented, over five millenia fifteen systems joined eagerly into the trade empire. At this point one of Ferrog's descendants, a man named Ferroh, petitioned the Galactic Alliance to become an Allied Region. Due to the presence of the Veraun Defenders, this was met with little opposition and passed with only two senators voting against it.

Politics
In the early years, the Ruling Council was made of ten elected citizens from Veraun and Veraun XII. As the Veraun Alliance grew, however, it eventually became sixteen members, one from Veraun/Veraun XII and one from each of the other systems. Three Defenders would preside as both security and advisors. As the role of Representative was an elected position that served a ten-year term, elections were fierce. Two terms was the maximum, and becoming a successful Representative would garner both praise and admiration a whole lifetime. Most Representatives started as Representative's Aides, of which there were two.

Military
Before the Alliance, the police force was the only military there was, with the Defenders being the only force to deal with outside matters. This changed gradually into each system having a System Army, which was supplied entirely by the system itself. Veraun did not have the biggest military of the Alliance; this role was filled by the more western regions. Organized into squads of ten and platoons of eighty, the largest command was a System Legion, commanded by a General. The Veraun Defenders still took an active role in peacekeeping and military operations when the need came, and were a welcome sight in a battle against pirates.

Culture
Descended from miners, most natives of Veraun and Veraun XII were hardy and stubborn. Their toughness became legendary, and most Veraunese who moved into the greater galaxy were expected to live up to the myth. Most Veraunese did nothing to dispel the myth, although some have pointed out that this is a result of pride. Any Force-Sensitive child was sent directly into service as a Defender while still young, almost always out of choice. The Veraunese sense of duty and honor would rival those of any other civilization in the known galaxy, even the Yuuzhan Vong, though there was no centralized religion.