The Frontier Reaction Force
The Frontier Reaction Force, better known as the Reaction Force, or RF, was a paramilitary organization established to support colonial development through customs enforcement and interplanetary policing. The organization would grow from a small dedicated group of a few hundred to include over two hundred thousand personnel, specializing in a broad range of disciplines.
The formation of the Reaction Force spurred significant debate in the Senate. Many feared that it would compete with the military for funding and resources, while others were concerned about blurring the lines between the Triumvirate's responsibilities to uphold the law and the Senate's tradition of civilian oversight over military affairs.
In an uneasy compromise, the organization would be managed by a Magistrate who reported simultaneously to both the Triumvirate and to the Colonial Affairs Commission. Both were empowered to remove the Magistrate for cause, but only the Senate could approve a replacement.
As the Republic's efforts to explore and colonize the Frontier quickened, the RF went through a period of rapid development. Its initial remit to interplanetary functions would grow to include more intrusive roles in colonial administration, whether those planets requested their assistance or not.
Larger and larger swaths of the Frontier worlds' security would come to fall under the Reaction Force's umbrella. This newfound clout in turn would lead to a growing culture of imperiousness, with the RF's personnel seeing themselves as the arbiters of order amongst the unruly colonials they watched over.
In time, the Reaction Force would prove its detractors correct, as it established its own quasi-military structure, the vaunted Rapid Reaction teams. These organizations grew in size until they matched a full-fledged army legion in complement and capabilities. They would be supported by a fleet of patrol craft, which grew larger and more heavily armed with each new class of vessel.
Ultimately, the war with the Ascomanni would bring about the end of the RF. Faced with an adversary they were unable to contend with, the RF's prestige withered following initial contact with the aliens and the Republic military's expanded presence in the Frontier.
Finally, the organization was officially disbanded and its members rolled into the military or divided up amongst the planetary governments as its mission was deemed no longer relevant.