Ur-Quan Hierarchy

The Ur-Quan Hierarchy, also known as the Hierarchy of Battle Thralls or simply the Hierarchy, is a system created by the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za to manage their series of conquests that perpetuates the Path of Now and Forever. In our region of space, the Hierarchy consists of the races which offered to obey Kzer-Za commands and act as Kzer-Za agents to help subdue other species, and thus keep some degree of political autonomy and freedom to travel through space rather than being confined under a slave shield.

It is unknown how this system has operated in past regions conquered by the Kzer-Za; they did not bring along the ships of any previously conquered races upon attacking our region, though it is possible that at least part of the crew of their Dreadnoughts originates from other regions. Also, the growing instability of our own Hierarchy near the time of the Doctrinal Conflict suggests that it might be dangerous for the Ur-Quan to keep Battle Thralls outside their direct supervision and control.

All species that decline to formally join the Hierarchy as Battle Thralls are relegated to the status of Fallow Slaves and immediately slave-shielded. Fallow species are still required to indirectly serve the Hierarchy by providing resources and labor in the form of Starbases maintained around their planets for the construction, repair, and refueling of Hierarchy vessels, transport to and from planetary surfaces being performed only under Ur-Quan supervision.

The Kzer-Za have a policy of modifying alien cultures to varying degrees in order to pacify them and make them useful to the Hierarchy after conquest. The extent of this most likely depends highly on the situation; for instance, the Kzer-Za were forced to take radical steps to prevent a nuclear war among the Thraddash — replacing Culture 18 with Culture 19 — while apparently leaving the Yehat clan system intact after both of those species became Battle Thralls. On Earth, they destroyed all Human dwellings, monuments and archaeological sites older than 500 years, including some of which the Humans were not even aware, apparently to forcibly uproot a culture they found troublesome and allow it to be completely replaced with a more Ur-Quan-friendly one. How often this was practiced for conquered worlds is unknown, though the Spathi claim to have undergone a similar process.

Hierarchy Battle Thralls during the Ur-Quan Slave War (Star Control I):

• Mycon - only known race to actively seek out the Ur-Quan and request Battle Thrall status.
• Spathi - intended to become a fallow species, but were tricked by the Umgah into becoming thralls.
• Androsynth
• VUX
• Ilwrath
• Umgah
• Thraddash - did not directly participate in the Ur-Quan Slave War.¹

Hierarchy Battle Thralls at the beginning of Star Control II:

• Yehat - the only former Alliance member to choose Battle Thrall status, the Hierarchy Veep-Neep government can later be overthrown by pro-New-Alliance Starship Clan Revolutionaries.
• Mycon
• Spathi - can defect to the New Alliance of Free Stars, then will soon after encase their homeworld in a slave shield.
• VUX
• Thraddash - the Hierarchy's Culture 19 government can later be overthrown by pro-New-Alliance Culture 20 government.
• Ilwrath
• Umgah - eventually enslaved by the neo-Dnyarri, but revert to Battle Thrall status once freed.

Notes and References

¹The Thraddash claim to have been Battle Thralls at the time, told to "guard the rear". They are usually not included in such lists because there is no mention of the Thraddash in Star Control I.