The Yzakians

[Peter Svensson]

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Yzakians are a very peaceful species, living on an M-class planet called simply "Yzakia", hidden in the Van'Gu Cluster.  Since the giant dust cloud of the Van'Gu Cluster blocks ship's sensors of most technology systems, this planet has not been mapped by many other species, and this has kept the Yzakian homeworld safe and unbothered.

The planet Yzakia is not an ordinary Class M planet.  It is, after all, not a planet that is part of an ordinary galaxy, but is located inside a cluster of stars.
The Van'Gu Cluster is reputed to be very old, and exists of a large formation of dust cloud, in where a large number of new stars have been born over the many centuries.  Yzakia being one of the few planets with an atmosphere inside this tight cluster, raises many questions as to how life was able to come into existance under such circumstances.
The planet does not know a standard orbit around a sun, as is the case with most star systems, but it knows a rather complex labyrinth of orbits around various nearby stars, even though some stars are closer or further than others.  This complex orbit system around various stars is the result of the gravity the planet and the stars force upon each other.

This has very unusual consequences to the planet itself.
Yzakia does not know a blue sky, like most Class M planets, but a bright brown one, as a result of the cluster's reflection.  Also, "day" and "night" comes very irregular on Yzakia.  This goes even to the extreme that a bright day can turn into a dark night in a matter of minutes only, depending on the location of the planet opposite the stars, and the local formation of the dust cloud.  This has also tremendous consequences on the weather conditions.  Temperatures can drop and rise in a minimum of time.  A cluster is known to be an extremely cold place, cooling off the planet's atmosphere with it, but as the planet moves closer to some star in its complex orbital system, temperatures may rise to extremes, resulting into many forest fires.  There are no seasons as they are known in the standard way, since they switch much faster, and usually without steady pattern.
To live on Yzakia, means to get used to walk through the snow and to see it melt beneath tropical temperatures in less than an hour.

Scientists believe that this planet is one of the oldest formed objects of the Van'Gu Cluster, theorizing that life and atmosphere on this planet was born when the cluster itself was yet very small, and there were less stars and dust cloud formations.  Only after life had been established on Yzakia, the Van'Gu Cluster would have grown to become the giant it is now, slowly influencing the atmosphere of the planet itself as well.  No proof has yet been found to confirm this theory, however.

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/artoftrek/unknown-alien-tng2.jpg" border="0">
Example of a male Yzakian.

THE EMPIRE
Though the Yzakians do call their region of space an "empire", it does not stretch very wide.  In fact, it basically exists of their homeworld only.  Yet, since most of the Van'Gu Cluster is uninhabited, they have always known the freedom to roam through this cluster unnoticed and undisturbed, automatically seeing the whole cluster as their own realm.  They are aware, however, of the existance of other alien species in the universe, and have noticed that some have shown scientific interest in the Van'Gu Cluster.  In most cases, the Yzakians keep to themselves, not seeking contact with alien species, though from time to time they do practice their generous hospitality and invite a stranger to visit their homeworld, if they deem this stranger to be trustworthy.

There are no planets, apart from their homeworld, known to be occupied by Yzakians, showing that they clearly have never been interested in colonisation or power.  It is because of their hidden location in the Van'Gu Cluster, undetectable by scanners and sensors, that they have been able to establish a peaceful community.

Though they do have the whole Van'Gu Cluster for themselves, they do not show much interest in interstellar travel.  They did develop warp speed technology, and have used this to map the Van'Gu Cluster as detailed as possible, but they rarely leave the cluster's borders.  Their ships carry no weapons, and weapon technology does not exist as it was never developped, nor was it ever necessary.
The captain of an Yzakian space ship is known as the "Prime Officer".

YZAKIAN HISTORY

To have a better understanding of their present society, it is important to look into their history, especially their most recent one.

When the Yzakians reached the industrial era, they created technology that heavily polluted their atmosphere.  Knowing of no other options, this polluting industry grew stronger, having to supply for all technology to keep the inhabitants safe from the weather conditions.  Technology had to be able to resist extreme heat, as well as extreme cold temperatures; and even more, the sudden switch from one to the other.

This industrial age must have lasted over at least a century, rapidly polluting the whole planet.  This was combined with the flair of an economic-based society, very much comparable to the Malon, though far more peaceful.  Economists were in charge, and cared more for their own profits than for the welfare of the world and its inhabitants.
This had nearly proven fatal to the Yzakian homeworld, as things had become so bad that the inhabitants were forced to wear oxygen masks when outside, that there was no clean water available in the larger cities, and most part of nature and animals were  extinct.

It was at this point, that the government saw its error, and despaired.  Warp technology, though also based on a polluting system, was recently developped, and the Yzakian community placed its last hope in a crew that set out into the Van'Gu Cluster, with the intention of finding either help, or another source of power supplies that would not pollute their homeworld any further.
Fortunately, they did return with a solution.  Deep inside the Van'Gu Cluster, they found a raw material called Validium, very powerful.  A few small particles were enough to supply almost the whole planet.  Little did they know about the destructive force of this material, but their hidden location in the Van'Gu Cluster has kept it safe from unwanted interest for the many years they have used this power source.
A small space station was built, to orbit the planet, containing the validium storage to supply the whole planet, without creating the least of pollution.  The former industrial and economical community system faltered and a more peaceful reign began, until first contact was made with the U.S.S. Skytoucher, under command of Captain Tomas Göransson.  Much of what truly happened on this encounter is either classified, or unexplainable.  Either way, the Validium supply ended up being destroyed  together with the small space station that held the storage, even though there were no recorded hostilities between the U.S.S. Skytoucher and the Yzakians.  As a compensation, Starfleet has offered anti-matter technology to the Yzakians, to replace their power source for their planet.  Ever since, contact between Starfleet and the Yzakian government has been on good terms.

SOCIETY
Yzakians are, unlike most species of the Delta Quadrant, a very peaceful race.  As explained before, their hidden location in the Van'Gu Cluster, out of sight from possible intruders and enemies, has probably contributed to this peaceful behaviour.
Their main form of respectful greeting appears to be done by putting both hands on your head and bowing, while saying "Live in Harmony".  Meditating is a daily custom that is practiced among the whole Yzakian population.

Though little is known on how society may have been before it reached this level, and little evidence was ever found, Yzakian legends claim that once their homeworld was thrown into chaos by constant destructive wars.  At one point, the population had developped to a higher consciousness, where they understood that war would not solve their problems, and a society not unlike the present one was born.  Weapons of all forms were destroyed and banished forever.  Forgiveness became one of the highest virtues.

The Yzakian idea of peace goes much further, even.  One can safely say that Yzakians are very much pacifists.  The ideal they strive to reach is to create peace in the whole universe, and banish weapons completely.  This project they call the "Universal Peace Plan".  Yzakians believe that violence can only create even more violence.  This vicious circle will endure as long as species all over the universe continue to distrust each other, and keep carrying weapons out of fear that the other may attack them.  "Peace starts in your own heart," is a typical Yzakian quote of some ancient legendary peace leader of many centuries ago, and they believe that only if you lay down your weapons first, you can ask another to do the same.  One cannot discuss peace with the other while having a weapon pointed at each other.

The Yzakian's idea of Universal Peace is that all species lay down their weapons, and begin respecting and trusting each other without the need of violence.  Even just carrying a weapon, may already be enough to create violence around you.  Because when one carries weapons, another will carry stronger weapons, and yet another will create even stronger weapons.  This will bring society only further away from peace, instead of closer.  This is also passed on from generation to generation, when a child grows up in a society where weapons are a normal thing to exist, even if it is for defense.  If, on the other hand, children grow up in an environment of peace, they will not even know what the word "weapon" means, and weapons will be forgotten in the long term, as peace will have a chance to last forever.  As the legendary Yzakian peace leader proclaimed: "Violence, as well as peace, begins in one's mind and heart.  If children can grow up in an environment of peace, not surrounded by weapons, it is peace that will be in their hearts, instead of violence."

YZAKIAN TECHNOLOGY

Yzakian technology is known not to be very advanced, compared to Federation standards.  Most of their technology was strongly polluting, though recent Starfleet intervention has helped them to begin using anti-matter technology, even though it may be considered a breach of the Prime Directive.

They have been able to develop warp drive technology, though not extremely advanced, and they also developped food replicator technology for use on board of their ships.  Their space fleet is not large, however, as there was never need for it.  Their most supreme technology goes to the development of the sensors, having found a way to penetrate the vast dust cloud of the Van'Gu Cluster, where not even Federation technology is able to scan clear readings.
Yzakians are not familiar with any form of transporter technology, nor are their ships equipped with any form of weaponry, since they see weapons as unholy and unacceptable, even if it is for defense.  It is obvious that the Yzakians do not have any form of battle strategy, and it is thanks to their hidden location in the Van'Gu Cluster, that they have never needed it.