The logo of the Yzakians.

The Van'Gu Cluster, home to the Yzakians.

Yzakia, the homeworld of the Yzakians inside the Van'Gu Cluster.

A male Yzakian.

The Yzakians are a very peaceful species and live on an M-class planet called "Yzakia", hidden in the Van'Gu Cluster. Since the giant dust cloud of the Van'Gu Cluster blocks most ships' sensors, this planet has not been mapped by many other species, which has kept the Yzakian homeworld safe from harm.

The planet Yzakia is not an ordinary Class M planet. It is not a part of the rest of the galaxy, but is located inside a cluster of stars.

The Van'Gu Cluster is reported to be very old and exists as a large formation of dust, in where a large number of new stars have been born over 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 follow a standard orbit around a sun, as is the case with most star systems, but instead has a rather complex labyrinth of orbits around various nearby stars, even though some stars are closer or further than others. This complex orbit system is the result of the gravity of the planet and of the stars upon each other.

This has led to very unusual consequences to the planet itself. Yzakia does not have 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 irregularly on Yzakia. This allows for a bright day to turn into a dark night in a matter of minutes, 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 amount of time. A star cluster is known to be an extremely cold place, cooling off the planet's atmosphere with it, but as the planet moves closer to a star in its complex orbital system, temperatures may rise to extremes, resulting into many forest fires. There are no seasons as they are known to most species, since they change much faster and usually without steady pattern.

To live on Yzakia means getting used to walking through the snow and to see it melt beneath tropical temperatures in less than an hour.

Scientists believe that Yzakia 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 still very small and there were fewer stars and dust cloud formations. It is also believed that only after life had been established on Yzakia that the Van'Gu Cluster grew to become the giant it is now, slowly influencing the atmosphere of the planet as it did so. No proof has been found to confirm this theory, however.

The Empire

An Yzakian ship patroling through the Van'Gu Cluster.

Polluted Yzakia as it was before the discovery of the Validium.

Though the Yzakians do call their region of space an "empire", it does not stretch very far. In fact, it mainly consists of their homeworld only, but since most of the Van'Gu Cluster is uninhabited, they have always had the freedom to roam through this cluster unnoticed and undisturbed, leading them to eventually see the whole cluster as their own realm. They are aware of the existance of other alien species in the universe however 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 colonization 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 society.

Though they do have the whole Van'Gu Cluster for themselves, they do not show much interest in interstellar travel. They did develop warp technology and have used this to map the Van'Gu Cluster as accurately as possible, but they rarely leave the cluster's borders. Their ships carry no weapons since weapon technologies do not exist as they never needed to be developed.

The captain of an Yzakian space ship is known as the "Prime Officer".

Yzakian History

Yzakian city after the impact of the destruction of the Validium Core.

Yzakian Energy Supply Station, in orbit around Yzakia's upper atmosphere, was originally built for the Validium supply, but after it was destroyed and replaced by anti-matter cores, a new similar one was built to hold the anti-matter supplies instead.

A Validium reactor core, built inside the orbiting Yzakian Energy Supply Station to maintain and control Validium and extract its energy.

After the Yzakians industrialized, decades of pollution devastated Yzakia. It took a century before the government realized its error and despaired. Luckily, warp technology, though also based on a polluting system, had recently been developed 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 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, which was a very powerful material. A few particles were enough to supply almost the whole planet. However, the Yzakians did not 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 in Yzakia's orbit, containing the Validium storage to supply the whole planet, without aggravating the pollution problem. The former industrial and economic 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 unaccountable. Either way, the Validium supply ended up destroyed, along with the small space station that held the Validium, 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 many species of the Delta Quadrant, a very peaceful race. As mentioned earlier, their 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 its current stage and little evidence has ever been found, Yzakian legends claim that once their homeworld was thrown into chaos by constant destructive wars. At one point, the population had developed 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 banned forever. Forgiveness became one of the highest virtues.

The Yzakian idea of peace goes on much further. One can safely say that Yzakians are pacifists. The ideal they strive to reach is to create peace in the whole universe, and eliminate weapons completely. They call this project the "Universal Peace Plan". Yzakians believe that violence will only create even more violence. This vicious cycle will endure as long as species all over the universe continue to distrust each other and continue carrying weapons out of fear that others 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 for violence. It is their belief that even just carrying a weapon may already be enough to create violence around an individual, since once one person begins carrying weapons, another will carry stronger weapons, and yet another will create even stronger weapons. These views are then passed on from generation to generation, so that a child could grow up in a society where weapons are a normal thing to possess, 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 eventually be forgotten, so that peace would 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 Sensor Array Station, inside the Van'Gu Cluster.

Closer view of the Yzakian Sensor Array Station, with one Yzakian ship visiting.

Yzakian ship departing from the Sensor Array Station.

Yzakian Technology

Yzakian technology not known to be very advanced, compared to Federation standards. Most of their technologies produce large quantities of pollution, 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.

The Yzakians have been able to develop warp technology, though not extremely advanced, and they also developed food replicator technology for use on board their ships. Their space fleet is rather small as there was never need for a large number of vessels. The technology that the Yzakians are most noted for however is their sensors. Having found a way to penetrate the vast dust cloud of the Van'Gu Cluster, where even Federation sensors are unable to get clear readings, Yzakian sensors are superior to most species. The Yzakian sensors are able to scan through the dust with the help of a Sensor Array Station they built near the borders of the Van'Gu Cluster. This Sensor Array Station is manned by a handful of Yzakians, but is fundamental for their ability to travel through the Van'Gu Cluster, as well as monitor any activity outside the cluster.

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 for defensive purposes. The Yzakians do not have any form of combat tactics and it is thanks to their hidden location in the Van'Gu Cluster that they have never needed them.

Yzakians and the Delta Alliance

The Yzakians were, along with the Talonions and the Nygeans, one of the founding members of the Delta Alliance. First contact with the Talonions was made shortly after the Yzakians became a space faring species, when they needed to search for alternative power sources. It is the Yzakian pacifistic idea that has strongly influenced the way the Delta Alliance works even now. Additionally, even though the Delta Alliance has developed its own rank system and such, the Yzakians have retained their own rank system, which is especially used when they are active inside the Van'Gu Cluster.