Tzenkethi

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Tzenkethi
Four Letter Code	TZEN
Federation Status	At War
Planet of Origin	Ab-Tzenketh
Encountered	The Adversary, DS9
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N
List of Named Tzenkethis
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"Inferiority surrounds us. We will not allow ourselves to be polluted by it."

a Tzenkethi saying.

The Tzenkethi are a unusual species that considers themselves to be superior to others and goes to great lengths to encourage this belief by the use of government controlled propaganda.

Home System

• Quadrant: Alpha
• Location: Tzen Poga Sector (coordinates A24-0003-1300) This is located between (the Sol system and the Badlands) and the (Cardassian Union and the Ferengi Alliance).
• Proper Name: Tzen Kivan system
• Star: It orbits a class M (Red) dwarf star
• Distance from Star: its orbit is approximately 59 million km
• Companions: It is the only planet in the system
• Moons: it has 3 moons.

Home World

• Proper Name: Ab-Tzenketh
• Diameter: 22,400 km (13,919 miles)
• Gravity: 0.98 standard gravity with a density of 3.1
• Axial Tilt: 7.6%, with minor seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 418 days
• Rotational Period: 26.7 hours
• Classification: M
• Surface Water: 47%
• Atmosphere: 0.98% is a standard pressure with 73% nitrogen, 25% oxygen, 2% trace chemicals
• Climate: Mainly a very warm temperate planet.
• Terrain: It has large rough hilly zones, forests, rolling plains and large rain forests.
• Population: Just over 13 billion on their home world but with another estimated 29 billion scattered among their colonies.

Tzenkethi (Ithassa Region)

As unusual as it seems there are 2 groups of Tzenkethi over 9 sectors apart. They have the same basic appearance, language and biology. However they seem to have never had any physical contact and have evolved into completely different societies.

Certain experts with in the Federation have examined all the available data and have come to the conclusion that at some point in their past a large number of them were transported from their original home world to the Ithassa Region.

History

Klingon Ambassador Kage considered the Tzenketh capable of building metaweapons as early as 2311, also demonstrating that the Coalition was known to the Klingons and the Federation by at least this date.

The Federation had arranged a summit on Tzenketh in 2312, but this early overture does not appear to have gone well. The Tzenkethi would later respond to the Federation's efforts to encourage trade by starting a war.

Tzenkethi were known to raid other nation's space, and were engaged in acts of piracy in Cardassian territory as early as the 2310s. In the mid-2320s, Skrain Dukat arranged an elaborate conspiracy to fake a Tzenkethi attack on Bajor, in order to encourage the Bajorans to accept Cardassian aid.

The Tzenkethi tried to invade the planet Bactricia at least three times prior to the mid-24th century. A fourth attempt was repulsed when the Bactricians appealed for intercession by the Federation. The Tzenkethi and the United Federation of Planets waged war again some years later.

In 2371, the Dominion attempted to spark a new war between the two powers in order to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant.

The Tzenkethi were briefly considered as the possible culprits behind a series of malfunctions aboard Deep Space 10 in 2376 and 2377.

In 2380, a two-year-old Tzenkethi named Zormonk, the son of Tzelnira Zaarok, was diagnosed with cal-tai and covertly sent into Federation space for treatment. However, the disease was too far advanced, and the child died in surgery.

The Tzenkethi propaganda machine was delighted to have evidence of the dead body of a Tzenkethi child in Federation hands. They insisted he had been kidnapped, and tortured in medical experiments. The Coalition recalled its ambassador soon afterwards. Ironically, this ambassador, Emra, was actually rather forward-thinking for a Tzenkethi official and had previously attempted to open trade with Federation member worlds such as Nasat. His attitude made him unpopular, presumably why he was given the job of ambassador to the Federation, a posting the Coalition did not take seriously.

The Tzenkethi Coalition was a founding member of the Typhon Pact in 2381. They demonstrated a willingness to secretly interfere with the other members' governments, manipulating matters in the Romulan Star Empire to ensure the rise of a Praetor favorable to the Coalition's goals.

In the 24th century, the Tzenkethi fought a war with the United Federation of Planets. Amongst the starships involved was the USS Okinawa, under the command of Captain James Leyton and first officer Benjamin Sisko, who had fought against a number of Tzenkethi raiders. During the war, the Okinawa pursued three Tzenkethi raiders into an asteroid belt.

Several members of the Okinawa crew died during the war. Doctor Rebecca Emmanuelli was captured by the Tzenkethi during the war and held as a prisoner for four years. The Tzenkethi War had ended by 2364.

Because of her medical skills, the Tzenkethi listed her as dead after the armistice to avoid returning her to the Federation. After the civilian group Liberation Watch discovered evidence she was in fact alive, Starfleet dispatched the USS Saratoga to investigate. Facing renewed hositilites, the Tzenkethi released the doctor.

Nanietta Bacco's son-in-law was a civilian relief worker during the war.

In late 2371, a Founder posing as Federation Ambassador Krajensky informed Captain Benjamin Sisko that the current Tzenkethi Autarch had been deposed. He ordered the USS Defiant to the Federation-Tzenkethi border to reinforce the Federation presence to the new leading faction.

However, the entire mission was actually engineered by the Dominion to incite another war between the two powers; there never was a coup d'etat. After his identity was exposed, the changeling commandeered the Defiant and attempted to attack the Tzenkethi settlement on M'kemas III, though he was stopped before the Defiant reached the planet.

The Helaspont Nebula is an interstellar gas cloud located near the Federation-Tzenkethi border, twenty hours away from Barisa Prime at maximum warp.

In late 2371, Captain Entebe and the USS Ulysses conducted a study on protoplanetary masses in the Helaspont Nebula.

Elim Garak once conducted a mission on Tzenketh while an agent in the Obsidian Order. During the operation he was trapped when a room's walls collapsed on him, causing an attack of claustrophobia.

Government

The Tzenkethi government is called the Tzenkethi Coalition. The government is headed by the Autarch of the Tzenkethi Coalition, under whom serve a number of appointed ministers, or Tzelnira. The Coalition appears to spend a great deal of its time making a scapegoat out of the United Federation of Planets, twisting all intergalactic news to make the Federation appear ruthless, dangerous and immoral.

The Tzenkethi homeworld is called Ab-Tzenketh by the natives and simply Tzenketh by their allies. The world has two moons. The seat of the coalition's government is reported to be on one of the orbiting moons. This would make sense given the strict class hierarchy among Tzenkethi; the ruling caste literally looking down upon the populace on the planet below.

The Tzenkethi Embassy on Earth was the permanent diplomatic mission of the Tzenkethi Coalition to the United Federation of Planets. It hosted the offices of the Tzenkethi Ambassador to the Federation.

The Barisa system is a star system located near Tzenkethi space. It has at least one Federation colony, located on Barisa Prime.

The M'kemas system is a star system controlled by the Tzenkethi, near the Federation border. M'kemas III was the third planet of the M'kemas system. It was the site of a Tzenkethi settlement.

Description

Tzenkethi skin tones range from pale green, through yellow and orange, to bright red. In addition, they give off a faint glow, thought to be a natural phosphorescent effect of the skin. They have ovoid-shaped eyes, voices that sound like bells, and are described as being very tall and visually attractive to most other races, even non-humanoid ones. Their skin carries a slight electric charge, giving other individuals a tingling sensation upon physical contact. This charge can be intensified at will to painful levels for the receiver. They are also capable of carrying and transmitting diseases to others while remaining unaffected themselves.

Language

Both species of Tzenkethi use a language that they call Tzikaa!n. For the most part they are very similar with only minor differences. However the Coalition Tzenkethi version also includes dialects for different castes. This is not true of the Ithass Region Tzenkethi.

Physiology

Their physiology is externally humanoid, but internally quite different. Their skeleton is made up of several fluid-filled sacs, which can be contracted and expanded at will. This allows an unusual flexibility for a humanoid body. Their customary sitting position involves wrapping the legs around the main body, giving them the appearance of having been cut in half.

There are a few slight differences between the genetic makeup of the 2 different Tzenkethi species. Experts agree that the main reason for this would most likely be as a result of at least 15,000 years of development under different planetary conditions.

Psychology

Tzenkethi also have an innate discomfort with open spaces, preferring to work in small, enclosed rooms. They use artificial gravity envelopes to make use of all surfaces within a room. It is a frequent practise for people to live and work on what humans would consider the ceiling of a room, referred to as the "superior deck," as compared to the inferior and anterior decks (the floor and walls, respectively). Using only the floor of a room is considered wasteful and uncomfortably vulnerable.

Religion

Currently there are no data files anywhere that might shed any knowledge on this field of study.

Mythology

Currently there are no data files anywhere that might shed any knowledge on this field of study.

Society

Bioluminescence is also common on the Tzenkethi homeworld.

Tzenkethi society is based on strict classifications for all individuals. They balk at the characterisation of being a caste-based society, seeing that as implying unjustified discrimination. Rather, all Tzenkethi individuals are genetically tested while still in utero, and then assigned to an "echelon" based upon their genetic disposition. For example, individuals best suited to work in the sciences are raised in that discipline, and those best suited for diplomatic work likewise.

Citizens are constantly re-tested in the course of their everyday activities. They do not see this as invasive, but rather as an opportunity to prove themselves. Movement between the echelons is possible if a citizen's regular test results suggest it would be appropriate, although the initial tests are accurate enough that it rarely happens.

Culture

Almost nothing is known at this time regarding their cultural specifics. In fact there are no records available to show that any outsiders have ever been allowed with in their home system. There have been a few recorded instances where outsiders have been allowed onto one of their ships or even one of their colonies.

Those that have gone have returned with stories of and in a few rare cases examples of extremely unusual 3 dimensional bioluminescence paintings and carvings. The complexity of the visual light spectrum used in these works of art are in many ways far beyond what many species can truly recognise or understand.

Customs

Tzenkethi naming conventions involve four segments - a given name, the individual's job, their echelon, and their level of accomplishment within that echelon. The Coalition's ambassador to the Typhon Pact was named Alizome Tor Fel-A, with "tor" indicating a position as special agent to the Autarch, "fel" being her membership in the "problem-solver" echelon, and A indicating the highest proficiency in that role. These names are changeable in a given situation - for example, when Alizome dealt with the Typhon Pact she was known as Alizome Vik Tov-A, indicating a speaker of the government echelon. When she went undercover on Romulus as a trade representative, she became Alizome Nim Gar-A. She suggested to her Romulan counterpart that Tzenkethi naming conventions were a matter of privacy and mild embarrassment, although it was implied that this was a lie to cover her multiple identities.

The full name of the Tzenkethi Autarch in 2381 was Korzenten Rej Tov-AA - "rej" being a very small category of individuals suitable to serve as Autarch, and AA indicating the best possible proficiency in that role. The Tzenkethi government considers the Federation's method of government dangerously chaotic - to allow all citizens of the state, however uneducated or uninformed, an equal vote in electing someone to the leadership position is unthinkable to them. On Ab-Tzenketh, only those genetically most suited to the role even have a chance to rise to such a position.

Technology

Their planet-bound architecture uses similar principles to that of their war ships. The Autarch's residence actually changes shape from time to time, challenging visitors each time to track down the new entrance, thus proving their worthiness to enter.

The Tzenkethi are technologically advanced and are technically the equal of most Federation member worlds.

Economy

For the most part they are completely self sufficient, relying on their colonies and allies for those rare resources they do not have available or in large enough quantity.

Military

Tzenkethi (Coalition) warships are teardrop-shaped, presenting seemingly unbroken, featureless surfaces that then iris open to reveal weapons, sensors and other devices.

Their most numerous and most used war ship is their raider class which is roughly considered to be a destroyer in size and ability. This is used primarily to raid enemy shipping, infiltrate and attack enemy positions and to harass enemy facilities and occupied space. They normally operate in small groups.

While they do have a number of larger class war ships these are normally reserved for major battles and defensive roles.

Federation Intelligence Files

Based on numerous conflicts between the Federation and both branches of the Tzenkethi, Starfleet Intelligence has determined that they are both about equal when it comes to threat level.

Regardless of the many, minor differences between these 2 groups they both tend to allow frequent raids of nearby systems and other harassing activities. This has resulted in them normally being either at war or in a heightened state of aggression with someone.

They do not seem to seek out or value long term peace with anyone.

See Federation Intelligence files # DS9-2371-0562, DS9-2371-6427 and DS9-2372-4720 for more information.

Sources

Both memory alpha and beta were used in the compilation of this data. Information was also taken from the following TV episodes, DS9: The Adversary, DS9: Paradise Lost and DS9: By Inferno's Light.

Also used were the reference book Star Trek: Star Charts, and the novel Articles of the Federation. They join the Typhon Pact, an alliance of non-Federation powers, in the novel A Singular Destiny. Other books used are the Star Trek: Typhon Pact novel Rough Beasts of Empire. ST - Destiny novel: Mere Mortals. DS9 short story: Infinite Bureaucracy. ST novel: The Fire and the Rose. ST novel: Day of the Vipers. DS9 short story: The Music Between the Notes. CoEe Book: Troubleshooting. DS9 short story: Requital. TTN novel: Orion's Hounds.

SDC

This file was updated and approved by the SDC on 3 April 2013

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 Memory Alpha

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