Rigelian

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Rigelian
Four Letter Code	RIGL
Federation Status	Members
Planet of Origin	Rigel V
Encountered	TOS: Journey to Babel
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N
List of Named Rigelians
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"While we may not be brothers of the blood we are of the spirit."

a Rigelian statement.

The Rigelian are a not technically a single species. The term is used to refer to all of the species that come from the Rigel system. Over time they have all kind of blended into a single united community which is reflected by their joint political outlook.

Home System

• Quadrant: Beta
• Location: Kappa Minorius Sector (coordinates B26-0001-1300)
• Proper Name: Rigel
• Star: It orbits a class A (White) star
• Companions: There are 14 planets in the system. They have terraformed and settled colonies on 4 more worlds not listed below and 7 moons within this system.

Rigel III

• Distance from Star: it's orbit is approximately 44 million km
• Moons: it has 3 moons.
• Diameter: 11,248 km (6,989 miles)
• Gravity: 0.93 standard gravity with a density of 5.8
• Axial Tilt: 8.6%, with minor seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 337 days
• Rotational Period: 22.1 hours
• Classification: M
  • Surface Water: 48%
  • Atmosphere: 0.95% is a standard pressure with 72% nitrogen, 25% oxygen, 3% trace chemicals
  • Climate: Mainly a tropical jungle world.
  • Population: Just over 7 billion

Rigel IV

• Distance from Star: it's orbit is approximately 49 million km
• Moons: it has 5 moons.
• Diameter: 12,672 km (7,874 miles)
• Gravity: 1.03 standard gravity with a density of 5.7
• Axial Tilt: 15.3%, with normal terran seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 359 days
• Rotational Period: 23.5 hours
• Classification: M
  • Surface Water: 55%
  • Atmosphere: 1.07% is a standard pressure with 73% nitrogen, 24% oxygen, 3% trace chemicals
  • Climate: Divided between tropical and temperate zones.
  • Population: Just over 11 billion

Rigel V

• Distance from Star: it's orbit is approximately 54 million km
• Moons: it has 4 moons.
• Diameter: 14,351 km (8,917 miles)
• Gravity: 1.06 standard gravity with a density of 5.2
• Axial Tilt: 13.7%, with normal terran seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 389 days
• Rotational Period: 24.4 hours
• Classification: M
  • Surface Water: 51%
  • Atmosphere: 0.99% is a standard pressure with 74% nitrogen, 24% oxygen, 2% trace chemicals
  • Climate: Mainly a temperate planet with a few mountain ranges.
  • Population: Just over 13 billion

Rigel VII

• Distance from Star: it's orbit is approximately 61 million km
• Moons: it has 6 moons.
• Diameter: 11,563 km (7,185 miles)
• Gravity: 0.90 standard gravity with a density of 5.5
• Axial Tilt: 6.6%, with minimal seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 402 days
• Rotational Period: 25.7 hours
• Classification: M
  • Surface Water: 46%
  • Atmosphere: 0.93% is a standard pressure with 71% nitrogen, 26% oxygen, 3% trace chemicals
  • Climate: Mainly a cooler temperate planet with large arctic zones.
  • Population: Just over 6 billion

History

The Rigelians were one of the splinter civilizations of Vulcans that formed after the philosopher Surak spread his philosophy of peace and logic. During the time of the diaspora from the Vulcan homeworld, the Debrune fleet passed the Rigel system in 453 AD. A splinter fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Torek broke off and approached Rigel V. Rather than be subject to his comrades, Torek decided to conquer the primitive Kaylar -populated world with his own forces and rule it himself.

It did not go as well as he planned, however, as the native Kaylar were armed by the Orions, who did not desire the competition from an expansionist empire. The Kaylar lost in the fields but remained firmly entrenched in the jungles and mountainous areas. A century of conflict engulfed the world before the Debrune eventually succeeded in conquering the southern continent, which they named Han-shir after the continent of the planet Vulcan, their former homeworld. The colder northern parts of the world were left to the Kaylar. They negotiated new trade deals with the Orions and avoided further interference from them, and a time of stability followed. From that point forward, the Debrune offshoot became the Rigelians, who developed their own civilization on their new homeworld.

By the 11th century, Rigelian civilization was at its height, represented by the city of Ancient Grace, which had great many-storied buildings with huge white columns and porticos standing upon its hills. But the Rigelians of this time were described as being distrustful, possessive, and highly competitive. The numerologists warned the Rigelian race to change their ways.

Subsequently, a plague spread through the population and decimated their number, leaving the cities in ruins while the native plant life flourished. After the plague had run its course, the survivors formed a new society that was more rural and decentralized, with new family units that possessed many members, to prevent them from being so decimated again. In addition, their culture shifted to living in the present, rather than focusing on the future or the past. Rigelian society became less inclined to violence as they further adapted to their homeworld.

This shift to a near-agrarian lifestyle meant that the Rigelian people remained poor compared to other worlds, though their forests gave them some biological and medical products which they sold. However, they had no fleets and no trade agreements, which severely restricted their civilization.

Rigelians maintained relationships with several Alpha and Beta Quadrant species. By the 2150s, it was not uncommon to find a Rigelian visiting Earth.

In 2154, an Andorian and two Rigelians were attacked on Earth in a wake of xenophobia after the Xindi incident.

In mid-November, 2154, a heavily armed Rigelian scout ship was attacked by a Romulan telepresence drone ship disguised as the Earth starship Enterprise (NX-01), as part of a Romulan plot to drive their governments against each other. The scout ship managed to damage the drone and transmit a distress call and footage of the attack before it was destroyed. The Rigelians' Trade Commission demanded compensation and the arrest of Captain Jonathan Archer for the crime

On November 27, three Rigelians from a Rigelian freighter visiting Earth kidnapped Doctor Phlox of the Enterprise, from the streets of San Francisco. Hoshi Sato could understand Rigelian, but was knocked unconscious before she could make out what a pair of Rigelian kidnappers were saying about their plot to kidnap Doctor Phlox. They did this on behalf of Klingon General K'Vagh, and were secretly aided by Section 31 interference. They later transferred him via a Rigelian freighter to a Klingon ship and the Rigelian kidnappers and their ship were then destroyed by the Klingons.

On January 19, 2155, a pair of Rigelian ambassadors were present on Earth to participate in talks regarding the formation of the Coalition of Planets with Humans, Tellarites, Andorians, Coridans and Vulcans. During the negotiations, six of the Earth universal translators experienced a "glitch" and started confusing the Rigelian language with Andorian. A fact Minister Nathan Samuels later reported to Captain Jonathan Archer.

However, the terrorist threats from Terra Prime scared the Rigelian government into withdrawing from the talks.

Rigel V became a member of the Federation in 2184, after the Rigel Accords were signed and made into law.

Rigellian serpent-charmers were part of the circus of Vladimir Kossenko, which toured the Federation in 2118 SFC (c. 2192) as part of the Galactic Cultural Exchange project.

Circa 2264, the Tellarite criminal Muso ordered his people to collect a 10,000-credit bounty on a certain Rigellian, dead or alive.

In the mid-23rd century, doctors on Rigel V developed an experimental drug, a stimulant that increased production and replacement of blood in Rigelian test subjects, though it strained the spleen and liver. Doctor Leonard McCoy successfully utilized this drug on a Vulcan, Spock, in 2268.

In 2293, a Rigelian trade delegation representing the Heart Clan were involved in negotiations with the Federation on Earth, due to them being suspected of being involved in illegal activity such as prostitution and animal skin trading. This round of discussions took three weeks before the members of the clan were collected by the USS Enterprise and escorted back to Rigel V. However, during this time, Rigelian Ambassador Denker was assassinated by criminal elements and the truth of the event was revealed, through a mind meld with Teska, who served as a witness.

This led to the revelation that there was a wide spread criminal element actively engaged in many criminal acts, the worst being child slavery on Rigel V. As a result the Federation council held a discussion and a vote that resulted in the Rigelians being expelled from the Federation. This resulted in a series of reforms in order for the Rigelian government to comply with the Federations laws. Once they had managed to make the changes needed and were able to prove that they were complying with all Federations laws they were allowed to apply to be readmitted to the United Federation of Planets.

In 2297, the Federation met, debated and voted to allow them to be readmitted to the Federation. However after being readmitted, the Rigelians were noted as being somewhat reclusive, with them sending few youngsters to Starfleet Academy and they seldom took part in conferences or trade talks. The one area in which they did contribute to the Federation, however, was in the field of medicine.

In 2359, a Rigellian ambassador was scheduled to visit the Federation embassy on Betazed with only forty-eight hours’ notice. The head of the embassy, Mark Roper, indicated that it was typical Rigellian paranoid behavior to make such late arrangements, and feared that the ambassador wouldn't show up anyway

In the 2360s, Rigelians led by Administrator Pahtel were involved in a joint venture with a group of Kaylar to establish a new Federation colony on the planet Votar VII. The Kaylar were contracted to provide construction and repair services for suitable compensation, though in 2368, the Rigelians attempted to renegotiate their contract with the Kaylar laborers and tried to force a lower rate of compensation upon them. The Kaylar refused the terms of the new contract and in response launched an attack on a dam and a power planet, "repossessing" the facility, and cutting the power it provided, plunging the colony into darkness.

The Rigelians believed that the Kaylar would destroy the dam if their demands weren't met, and prepared to abandon the colony. As Votar was a strategically important location to the Federation, Starfleet sent the USS Enterprise-D to mediate the dispute. The Rigelians had convinced the Kaylar that the Federation would side with them and force the Kaylar out, and lied about Kaylar threats to destroy the dam. Once these facts came to light, Worf threatened to abandon the Rigelians to it and to cut future Federation contracts with the Rigelian group. This brought both sides to the negotiation table to find an amicable resolution to their dispute

In 2369, a Rigelian freighter docked at Deep Space 9 before traveling through the Bajoran wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. Flying a runabout, Odo shadowed the freighter to avoid Ah-kel, a Miradorn, while transporting Croden, a Rakhari fugitive, to the Gamma Quadrant.

In 2370, there were Rigellians present for the trade negotiations at Deep Space 9. The Rigellian ambassador was injured when a bomb exploded in Pylon 4 (Lower Pylon 1)

Government

Originally each species and sub-species had their own form of government but as they expanded, developed and established contact with one another this began to change. Sometimes this resulted in war, other times it resulted in peaceful negotiations. Regardless as time passed they slowly started to coalesce into one chaotic mix that identified themselves simply as Rigelian.

Now Rigelian society is governed by a monarchy and consists of a neat and interlinked aristocracy, which is based on factors such as land tenure, service and psionic gifts.

Their society didn't have many governmental bodies, but instead made use of local prefects and the Rigelian Assembly, which met twice a year. The legal system was based around a Citizen's Court, an inquest where a panel of twenty six men and twenty six women were entitled to ask questions and served essentially as prosecutors. The Trade Commission was an important body within the Rigelian government

Description

Rigelian or Rigellian is a designation given to the various races and cultures native or transplanted to the Rigel star system. There are at least six distinct species known as Rigelians or Rigellians, some with sub-species:

• The Rigelians from Rigel V who participated in negotiations for forming the Coalition of Planets in 2155. With their faintly animalistic appearance, apparent focus on trade, and role in negotiations for the Coalition of Planets, these Rigelians bear a resemblance to the rat-like Rigellians, who also have a focus on trade and were involved in negotiations for the foundation of the Federation.

• The Rigelians, a vulcanoid race that settled on Rigel IV and Rigel V. They were descended from seven theocratic groups that lived in Gol on the Vulcan homeworld when Surak began spreading his message of logic. Similar to the proto-Romulans, these theocrats refused to accept his message and used a psychic gateway to escape to Rigel V in order to build their numbers and conquer their home world. However, warfare broke out between the seven kingdoms and the psychic gateway technology was lost leaving the natives to develop on their new homeworld. Whilst this was the case, the species still retained the use of several psionic technology such as slave collars which they used to tame the Kaylar and used them as a form of trade with the Orions.

• The Rigellians and their warrior-caste subspecies, the Kaylar, primitive human-like races native to Rigel VII.

• The Rigellian, also called Chelons or Chelarians a sabre-toothed turtle-like species from Rigel III

• The Rigelians, a red-eyed and silver-skinned humanoid race native to Rigel IV. They had silvery skin, three-fingered hands, red eyes and ridges on their brow and temples. Most Rigelians preferred the company of their own kind and interacted little with other cultures.

• The Rigellians, a rodent-like race of wise, reclusive traders from Rigel IV

Physiology

Rigelians are believed to have four or five genders, according to information obtained by Doctor Phlox. They are known to share a similar internal physiology with Vulcans and Romulans. These similarities, notably to Vulcans, include similar blood chemistries. Rigelians also shared a similar neurology to Vulcans and Romulans, as they too are susceptible to the neurological disease known as Tuvan Syndrome. Their existence does give much weight to the "lost colony" theory.

The Rigelians were a vulcanoid race, indistinguishable from Vulcans native to the homeworld. Even sensors were incapable of telling the difference between Vulcan and Rigelian life signs. They had a very similar physiology, but different enough that certain drugs and treatments could not automatically be assumed to work as well on both races. They had the same physical features, olive-green blood and a similar level of strength. However, as they did not repress their emotions, they tended to be more charismatic.

They also kept the psionic abilities and disciplines of their Vulcan ancestors, and maintained them through breeding and study. A noted difference, however, was that the Rigelians did not demonstrate any appreciable telepathic abilities. They apparently possessed an uncanny sense of direction, possibly deriving from their psionic skills .

Mind Meld states that Rigelians have no telepathic ability, while Worlds mentions their training in unidentified "psionic gifts". Given the two, it seems likely that Rigelians possess psionic abilities that do not involve telepathy. A good sense of direction may or may not be one of them.

Rigelian gene therapy

Rigelian gene therapy was a unique treatment developed in the 22nd century that was capable of curing medical conditions such as Taggart's Syndrome and was the only known medical treatment for Taggart's Syndrome, a neurological disorder that affected Humans. Without this treatment, sufferers of the syndrome usually died by the age of twenty. The therapy did not cure the disease, and if a person stopped using the treatments they would eventually die from Taggart's Syndrome.

John Frederick Paxton, leader of the extremist xenophobic group, Terra Prime, suffered from Taggart's syndrome, and took regular injections. Commander T'Pol later pointed out Paxton's hypocrisy in utilizing the treatment, which conflicted with his views of Human purity.

During the mid-2260s, an experimental chemical stimulant designed to speed up reproduction and replacement of blood in the bodies of certain species was developed that was successfully tested in Rigelian test subjects on Rigel V. Although the side-effects included tremendous strain on the spleen and the liver, it was later discovered by Doctor Leonard McCoy to be a viable treatment for producing Vulcan T-negative blood.

Rigelian Kassaba fever

Rigellian Kassaba fever may be the same disease as Rigelian fever, or it may be a fictional illness altogether. It was used as a diagnosis by Doctor Leonard McCoy to explain the feigned symptoms of Spock in order to help gain control of the USS Enterprise from the invading Kelvans.

Rigelian fever

Rigelian fever, or Rigellian fever, also known as R-fever, was a deadly disease which originated from the Rigel system. By their names, origins and apparent symptoms, this disease may be the same as or related to Rigellian blood-burn fever and Orion blood fever. The only known cure for this fever was the rare mineral ryetalyn.

Overview

It was similar to the bubonic plague of Earth, though with a faster incubation period. The disease damaged glandular systems in humanoids, which caused the victim to swell as it wreaked havoc with the body's temperature regulation mechanisms and "cooked" the victim from within. Even when treated, the fever could leave behind serious neurological or organ damage.

Rigelian fever was a cross-species disease, and had been known to severely affect many non-Rigelian races, including humans. There were at least five known strains of R-fever, with the penultimate strain being R4b, which was capable of mutating into two separate strains called R4b1 and R4b2. Of the two, R4b2 acted as a host virus which was potentially capable of causing multiple mutations if grafted onto certain other viruses with a similar hydrogen chain configuration.

It was noted as being "gram positive". This information appeared on a computer display, together with images of cells. The term "gram positive" implies that Rigelian fever is a gram-positive bacterium, though Catalyst of Sorrows describes it as a virus. It is possible that the Rigelian fever virus has infected the gram-positive bacteria shown in the image.

History of the Fever

Ancient records leftover from early Orion Empires showed outbreaks of diseases similar to Rigelian fever. Some even indicated that Rigelian fever may have been created by them as a biological weapon.

Rigellian fever once spread to the world of Nolth, where it wiped out the native Hathine race.

At some point in the distant past, the planet Rigel IV was first affected by the disease which had a devastating impact on the world. Some of the inhabitants of Rigel IV for political reasons abandoned their home and emigrated to neighboring Rigel V where their physicians helped in the development of a vaccine against the illness. Whilst it was eliminated, some of the old families secretly keep cultures of Rigelian fever amongst themselves.

In ancient times, Rigelian fever devastated the population of Rigel V.

In modern times, it first appeared in the city of Sathura on Rigel IV in the 2120s, and killed 100,000 people. Outbreaks occurred every few generations on Rigel IV, and sometimes transmitted to starships through their crews.

In 2152, Crewman Fisher came down with Rigelian fever after a visit to Tessik Prime, causing Phlox to inoculate the entire Enterprise crew before an outbreak occurred. This would eventually save the life of a crew member, though not in the way intended: after Travis Mayweather was kidnapped by an Automated repair station hoping to use his brain functions to enhance its capabilities, throwing the crew off by creating a near-perfect "dead" replica, the complete absence of the vaccine in his bloodstream (the supposed cause of death would've actually strengthened it) proved that the corpse in sickbay was not the real Mayweather, allowing Archer and T'Pol to rescue him before the brain damage incurred by the station was irreversible.

In 2154, Cold Station 12 kept a sample of Rigelian fever, one of the most lethal diseases kept there. Malik, an Augment, transferred the samples, along with those of three others, to his stolen Klingon bird-of-prey for use as a biological weapon. He later attempted to use these diseases against the Klingon Qu'Vat colony, but the attack was foiled.

In 2269, there was an outbreak aboard the Federation starship USS Enterprise leaving three dead and most of the crew infected. With her entire crew imperiled, the ship went to the planet Holberg 917G for its natural ryetalyn deposits. These however were laced with irillium, which if not removed negates the antitoxic effectiveness of ryetalyn. The former immortal Flint, master of Holberg 917G, was told of this fever's similarity to Bubonic plague and recalled the horror at Constantinople in 1334.

By 2339, there had been no known cases of R-fever reported and therefore the disease became an artifact amongst medical schools which were studied but not in detail. During the Gnawing incident of 2360, it was believed that Cartos Thanmos had managed to mix the Romulan Gnawing disease with Rigelian fever thus creating a new and deadly pathogen which had infected several worlds.

As a child, Harry Kim was exposed to Rigellian fever while playing with Orion children from an Orion diplomat's entourage. He was placed in quarantine for three days, but never developed symptoms.

After Betazoid explorers brought Rigelian fever to Betazed in the mid-23rd century, Betazoid doctors were able to develop a vaccine, though it proved too powerful for children under age six. During the Dominion occupation of Betazed in 2374 and 2375, there were numerous outbreaks of Rigelian fever among Betazoid children.

Psychology

Each of the species that make up the collective whole known as Rigelians have unique physiologies and also phycology. However due to medical advancements they have been able to find cures for almost every known mental illness that once afflicted each individual species.

As a result all of the different species that make up the Rigelians as a whole tend to be fairly level headed, calm and well adjusted.

Religion

Originally each species had their own beliefs and practices but as they slowly grew together into a single people so too did their individual beliefs. They merged together into a melting pot of ideas that slowly evolved into unique new concept. One where physical and mental health became the ideal spiritual goal for everyone.

They believed in the importance of exercise of the entire body for optimum health. A central part of their “exercise” was regular sexual activity, which they believed reduced their destructive urges and made people happier and heal faster. Therefore, they typically added sex to therapy to help the healing process and considered it unnatural to go without. Sex also helped them grow their clans and create new ones.

Mythology

As with their new belief in physical and mental health being the path to spiritual happiness so too did their individual mythologies undergo a profound change as they slowly blended together to create a new universal collection of tales, fables, myths and legends.

Society

Since most of Rigel V is uninhabitable, the Rigelians live deep in subterranean caves filled with an ancient system of atmospheric force-fields, oxygen recyclers and heating systems. Their technology is sufficient to maintain their habitat.

Their society was arranged into clans, such as the Heart Clan, the Truth Clan and the Forgiveness Clan. Clans were families consisting of a large number of individuals, though when a clan grew too large to sustain it typically split into two separate clans. Rigelians also practiced group marriages – a woman could possess multiple husbands, even as many as sixteen.

However, due to their large families and high birth-rates, Rigelian communities produced more children than they were capable of supporting. To lower numbers and prevent inbreeding, they sold children to other clans, which typically resulted in them marrying adults. Lone and clan-less children were in danger of being kidnapped and sold, or forced into child prostitution.

Rigelians were deeply rooted to an agrarian lifestyle, and enjoyed the outdoors and environment. Advanced technology and weapons were typically discouraged on Rigel V. This seemingly primitive existence meant that they had no quarries, mines, power plants or pollution, and only a few industrialists. They didn’t have much of an economy; what there was based on precious metals. The clans were divided into a number of rural craft guilds, which were involved with various aspects of trade.

Their homes were typically based in lodges that were spread out and connected through solar transporters.

Rigelians lived primarily on Rigel V, their adopted homeworld, but some also dwelled on other worlds of the Rigel system, such as Rigel II and Rigel IV. They tended to stay within the Rigel system.

Despite their desire for a low-technology lifestyle, Rigelian medical techniques were renowned. This was because of the colonists' initial need to adapt their Vulcan biochemistry to their new homeworld and to the Rigel system. This led Rigelian medical researchers to pioneer many advances and useful techniques in a number of fields, particularly hematology, nephrology, and oncology. Many biologists and doctors were raised to the level of aristocracy, prompting wealthy families to arrange marriages to promising young medical students. Rigel V traded its medical equipment and medicines, including biological and medical products harvested from its forests.

The Rigelians retained the psionic skills of their Vulcan ancestors by breeding, study and exploration of their own inner mind's psionic and emotional aspects. These skills were important enough that Rigelian aristocrats achieved status through their psionic talents and gifts. Many of the ancient psionic disciplines of the Vulcan mind lords were kept alive in the Monastery of Gol.

Culture

Rigelians commonly wear elaborately beaded necklaces, while their faces feature colourful patterns.

They were a superstitious people, and numerology played an important part in Rigelian culture, with many number-based rules and guidelines enshrined in the Doctrine of Lollo. These rules determined the structure of government, number of spouses and children in each clan, practices involving food, specified colors and styles of dress, and various omens of ill fortune. Rigelians swore to truth on the primary numbers or wished good tidings by informing another that they had good combinations. Numerologists were an important class in Rigelian society, and even used their techniques to investigate crimes.

Rigelian candigal

Rigelian candigal was a type of musical composition that was perpetuated by the Rigelian civilization, known in and around the Federation around the time of the 23rd century.

Customs

Unlike their vulcanoid kin, the Rigelians did not repress their emotions, lacked the discipline common to both Romulans and Vulcans, and weren't afraid to look foolish, making them somewhat similar to Humans. Rigelian children did not undergo the deep studying that Vulcan children faced and even made physical displays of affection to their parents. In fact, the Rigelians were noted to be culturally more similar to the Romulans, but they were not as warlike and lacked the restrictive aspects of that society. This was attributed to the countering influence of the Orions and, later, Humans, who shared the Rigel system and provided the Rigelians with more liberal views for their culture. Thus they were tolerant of many different forms of lifestyle. However, they had a fiercely independent streak.

Where Vulcans controlled their violent urges by suppressing emotion and Romulans surrendered to them, the Rigelians instead expended their energies with physical exertion. When a Rigelian was upset, they typically either fought or had sex. This lead them to experience the grief frenzy, such as when mourning the death of loved one, in which they fought another until the frenzy burned out the grief. It was possible to hire another to battle for this purpose.

Technology

As a collective whole they tend to be easily with in the bottom quarter of Federation member worlds when it comes to technological ability. While this is true of just about every aspect of their culture it does not apply to their medical knowledge or skills. In this regard they are easily rated as being with in the top %25 percent.

Economy

Rigelian commerce was regulated by the Rigelian Trade Commission during the 22nd century. Rigelians are noted as being industrious and highly intelligent. They conducted a number of economic and business ventures, and used the profits to live in the luxury to which they were accustomed.

In 2154, a Rigelian scout ship fell victim to an attack by a Romulan drone-ship disguised as the Earth starship Enterprise in order to destabilize the sector. Recognizing the vessel, the Trade Commission contacted Starfleet to demand compensation for the loss of their vessel and the arrest of Jonathan Archer.

The Rigelians continued to independently operate their own freighters during the 24th century. In 2369, one of these freighters docked at Deep Space 9 prior to its mission to the Gamma Quadrant.

Rigelian Trade Commission

The Rigelian Trade Commission is a Rigelian agency responsible for regulating trade. During the mid-22nd century, the Trade Commission utilized Rigelian scout ships.

Following the destruction of a scout, the Trade Commission recognized the attacking vessel, and demanded compensation from Starfleet and the arrest of Jonathan Archer, the Enterprise's commander, for the loss of their vessel.

Rigelian freighter (22nd century)

The Rigelian freighter was a type of freighter that served as the backbone of the Rigelian Trade Commission during the 22nd century.

In 2154, a group of Rigelians kidnapped Dr. Phlox from Earth aboard a Rigelian freighter. Their flight plan logged their destination as being the Proxima colony, however, its trajectory was, in fact, on a course near Klingon territory for a transfer-rendezvous. The freighter made the rendezvous with a Klingon starship, and was subsequently destroyed.

At the same time, the freighter 's warp trail was being tracked by the Enterprise, which was several hours behind. When the Enterprise arrived at the rendezvous coordinates, it discovered the freighter had been destroyed, a number of Rigelian bodies were discovered in the debris. Due to a deception made on behalf of Section 31, it was initially believed that the ship was attacked by Orion raiders based on the weapons signatures, but its destruction was later determined to be caused by Klingon disruptors.

Rigelian freighter (24th century)

A 24th century Rigelian freighterRigelian freighters were a type of cargo freighter operated by the Rigelians during the 24th century. These Federation vessels were of a completely different, and presumably more advanced, design, than their 22nd century counterparts.

In 2369, a Rigelian freighter was docked at Deep Space 9 prior to its mission to the Gamma Quadrant. It was used to shadow the Starfleet runabout, taking the fugitive Croden back to Rakhar, while attempting to avoid a Miradorn raider that was scanning all ships leaving DS9, as both ships traveled through the Bajoran wormhole.

Military

Rigelian border frigate

A Rigelian border frigate was a starship in use by the Rigelian people either during or prior to the mid-23rd century, characterized by its squat, boxy shape, and by a series of distinctive marks on their hulls.

A Rigelian border frigate was among the many vessels found stranded in an interdimensional rift in the Delta Triangle region by the USS Lovell in 2269. It is not clear which of the different groups identified as Rigelians this vessel would have belonged to.

Rigelian scout ship

The Rigelian scout ship was a heavily-armed starship with a crew complement of 17 that was used under the authority of the Rigelian Trade Commission during the mid-22nd century. As scouts, these starships had small crew compliments of around seventeen.

In late-2154, a Rigelian scout ship was attacked by what appeared to be the United Earth starship Enterprise. The scout ship was able to inflict moderate damage on its attacker, and transmit a distress call, before being destroyed.

Following the incident, the Rigelian Trade Commission recognized the attacking vessel, and demanded compensation from Starfleet and the arrest of Jonathan Archer, the Enterprise's commander, for the loss of their vessel.

It was later determined that the attacking vessel was actually a Romulan drone-ship holographically disguised as Enterprise.

Rigelian scout ships also existed in the mirror universe. One of these vessels was destroyed by the ISS Enterprise sometime prior to 2155.

Federation Intelligence Files

Rigelian chocolate

Rigelian chocolate are a well-known and popular confection from the Rigel system. Rigelian chocolates were Kira Nerys' favorite confection. In 2375, Odo bought a small box of Rigelian chocolates as a present for Colonel Kira.

Rigelian flamegem

A Rigelian flamegem is a precious jewel from the Rigel system. They were illegal in the region of space near the Mutara sector. In an alternate timeline, Yerdrin Lek claimed to be a dealer in flamegems that had jettisoned his cargo when captured by the NX-01 Enterprise in 2165.

Rigelian yak butter

Rigelian yak butter was a type of food ingredient; a butter made from the milk of a Rigelian yak and was well known to the Federation by the 23rd century.

James T. Kirk was fond of Rigelian butter and spread the ingredient on his quadrotriticale sandwich. This was also a favorite cooking ingredient in the Sisko family kitchen.

Rigelian comfort

Doctor Leonard McCoy pours himself some Rigelian Comfort in 2287. Rigelian Comfort was a reddish brown-colored alcoholic beverage. In 2287 Doctor Leonard McCoy enjoyed a glass of Rigelian Comfort while visiting James T. Kirk 's San Francisco apartment.

Rigelian memory cotton

Rigelian memory cotton was a type of material, a cotton-like fabric grown or manufactured in the Rigel system. It was used as a material for bed pillows. By the name, a Rigelian memory cotton pillow seems likely to hold its shape when molded.

Lieutenant Elizabeth Shelby used a pillow made from a stiff roll of Rigelian memory cotton in her quarters on the USS Yosemite in 2366

Rigelian winged raptor-wolf

A Rigelian winged raptor-wolf was a type of fierce predatory animal lifeform, presumably native to the Rigel star system.

Lieutenant Burgoyne 172 included a Rigelian winged raptor-wolf in hir holographic battle program aboard the USS Livingston in the year 2368.

Rigellian ox

The Rigellian ox was a mammal (possibly) native to the Rigel system. It was known to be extremely healthy, which likely was the origin of the proverb "healthy as a Rigellian ox."

Rigelian flatworm

The Rigelian flatworm was an invertebrate lifeform native to one of the worlds of the Rigel system. While held captive by Vulcan dissident Sered in 2296, Leonard McCoy reflected that the older man would regard a Rigelian flatworm with more respect than shown for him.

Sources

Both Memory Alpha and Memory Beta were used, the TOS movie: Star Trek: The Motion Picture as well as the following TV episodes ENT: Broken Bow, ENT: Cogenitor, ENT: Cold Station 12, ENT: Twilight, ENT: Dead Stop, ENT: United, ENT: Home, ENT: Affliction , ENT: The Augments, ENT: Demons, ENT: Terra Prime, ENT: In a Mirror, Darkly, TOS episode: The Cage, TOS: Journey to Babel, TOS: By Any Other Name, TOS: Requiem for Methuselah, TNG: The Schizoid Man, DS9: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, DS9: Vortex and DS9: Chimera.

The following books were also used; ENT novel: The Good That Men Do,

TOS novel: Mind Meld, TOS novel: The Final Reflection, TOS novel: Vulcan's Forge, TOS novel: The Rift, ST - Myriad Universes novel: A Less Perfect Union, ST novel: Starfleet: Year One, STA novel: Oblivion, TNG novel: Imzadi, TNG novel: The Battle of Betazed, DS9 novel: Betrayal, VOY novelization: Caretaker, TLE novel: Catalyst of Sorrows, SCE eBook: Where Time Stands Still, NF - No Limits short story: "Oil and Water and NF - No Limits short story: All That Glisters...

The following comics were used as well: TOS comic: The Return!, TNG comic: A Matter of Dates, EV comic: Our Dearest Blood and the ST comic: Alien Spotlight: Orions.

The following reference books were used as well: ST reference: Spaceflight Chronology, ST reference: The Worlds of the Federation, ST reference: Star Trek Cookbook, Decipher RPG module: Worlds, FASA - The Orions module: Book of Common Knowledge and the The Orions: Book of Deep Knowledge.

SDC

This file was updated and approved by the SDC on 3 March 2014.

Content from this article may have
come partially, or entirely from
 Memory Alpha

		SPECIES PROFILE UPDATED This profile was revised by the Species Development Committee.		REV 239112.07
		Please add any new information discovered during the course of a mission or shore leave.
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