Ver Eshalakh

The Ver Eshalakh were the state security agency of the Pe'khdar Nation, serving as both military and law enforcement agency.

The name of the group translates roughly as "the truth is mighty".

Function
The Ver Eshalakh were similar to Starfleet in that they had many functions, including operating what military starships the species owned, but state security was chief among them.

The Ver Eshalakh had the authority to investigate any and all crimes reported to it regardless of where the trail led. In most cases the investigating security officer(s) would deliver their findings to the clan's Council of Elders, who would adjudicate the case and hand down a sentence. The most common sentence was hard labor for varying periods of time, but in the case of sexual crimes, murder, and any major violent crime committed by a clan elder, the only sentence was death. If a clan elder or chief was conclusively implicated in such manner the investigating officer had the authority to kill the perpetrator on the spot.

Due to the unusual space-based nature of the Pe'khdar Nation the Ver Eshalakh's spacefleet was not absorbed into Starfleet after the species was admitted into the Federation in 2397.

Ver Eshalakh officers had the authority to declare trakh'pash against anyone who murdered a fellow officer.

Structure
The Ver Eshalakh were highly centralized with a primarily seniority-based chain of command. They were led by the chief officer, who was required to have served in the agency for a minimum of forty years. The station chiefs of each clanhold reported to him. Each station chief directed a contingent of officers and several cutter ships for patrolling the space around the clanhold. Senior officers, who had served for at least eight years, reported to the station chief, and had authority over up to ten rookie officers.

Uniform
The Ver Eshalakh uniform consisted of black pants and a black jacket with evergreen trim. The uniform featured flexible armorweave that was resistant to knives and could dissipate most hand-held without harm to the wearer.

The color of the undershirt indicated the wearer's rank: Yellow for a rookie, red for a senior officer, blue for the station chief, and white for the chief officer.

Colored panels on the jacket indicated specialty: Red for law enforcement, yellow for flight crew, blue for technicians and laboratory techs.

Resources
All Pe'khdar clans were required to contribute a minimum of four percent of their adult population to the agency; in practice the percentage tended to be about five percent.

The Ver Eshalakh had around 54,000 total personnel in 2409 and approximately 2,150 cutters. Their funding was voted to them in by the Council of Clans in the yearly budget.

They also possessed ten small warp-capable ships, primarily for pursuing fugitives outside the borders of the Dar Klatus system. The most famous of these was the Rendakh, an aged warbird purchased from the Romulan Star Empire in 2371.