Brekkian
Intelligent Lifeform Index |
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Brekkian | |
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Four Letter Code | BREK |
Federation Status | Tense[1] |
Planet of Origin | Brekka / Delos IV in the Delos system |
Encountered | By the USS Enterprise-D (TNG: Symbiosis) |
T/E Rating | T0/E0 |
Current Tech Level | F |
List of Named Brekkians | |
Full ILI Gallery • Permitted Species Gallery | |
- "I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement. We have plenty of felicium for sale."
- a Brekkian greeting.
- "I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement. We have plenty of felicium for sale."
- The Brekkian are a species that knowingly exploited those on their sister planet, the Ornarans, converting a simple medical cure with a mild addictive effect into an extremely addictive drug that they continued to sell long after the disease it was being used for was cured.
Home System
- Quadrant: Alpha
- Location: Jov Parom Sector (coordinates A23-0001-1296)
- Proper Name: Delos system
- Star: It orbits a class B (Blue-White) star
- Distance from Star: its orbit is approximately 41 million km
- Companions: It is the 4th of 6 planets in the system
- Moons: It has 1 moon.
Home World
- Proper Name: Brekka, also called Delos IV
- Diameter: 19,608 km (12,184 miles)
- Gravity: 0.95 standard gravity with a density of 3.4
- Axial Tilt: 11.9%, with normal seasonal changes
- Orbital Period: 382 days
- Rotational Period: 25.8 hours
- Classification: M
- Surface Water: 56%
- Atmosphere: 1.06% is a standard pressure with 73% nitrogen, 25% oxygen, 2% trace chemicals
- Climate: A warm planet with high temperatures and few icecaps - rarely encounters rain storms or high winds.
- Terrain: Features deserts, mountains and swamps.
- Population: Just over 5 billion
History
The recent history of the Ornarans and the Brekkians has been intertwined, but for centuries, the two cultures developed independently.
At one time, the Ornarans were a more advanced society, diverging from the development of Brekka approximately 2,000 years ago. Two centuries ago, the Ornarans technology reached the point of progressing space travel.
Technologically, Brekka lagged behind Ornara, but the potentially devastating effect of a plague on both cultures in the 22nd century, provided the means for the Brekkians to achieve dominance over their neighbors.
A cure was discovered on Brekka through the refinement of felicium; this was rapidly used as a curitiave for the entire Brekkian population, and space travel permitted the felicium to be passed on to the Ornaran population. Unfortunately, the plant resisted all attempts at cultivation on Ornana.
In addition to its curative effect, felicium also has highly addictive properites. The Brekkians avoided consumption once all traces of the plague had been eradicated on Brekka, but, fully cognizant of its narcotic qualities, they were quite happy to continue supplying the felicium to the inhabitants of Ornara, who believed themselves dependent on regular supplies of the drug to prevent a recurrence of the plague.
The Brekkians modified and improved the refining process, and also developed a device that transformed the pill into a substance that enables it to be administered by injection. The euphoric and soporific effects were almost instantaneous, causing a mental laxity as the Ornarans interact on a detached basis.
The advent of the plague has shifted the balance of culture and technology between Brekka and Ornara. Brekka's entire scientific and technological resources are geared to producing felicium pills, which are then traded with Ornara for all necessities and the additional comfort that allow the Brekkians to live a pampered life.
While this comfortable standard of living gives the Brekkians a veneer of sophistication and refinement, it barely masks the arrogance and contempt they have for the people they exploit. It has also resulted in a stagnant society, where there is no reason to progress from a situation where all their requirements and wishes are provided by others.
Generations of drug addiction resulted in loss of intelligence and technical knowledge, and by 2364, the Ornarans no longer had the ability to maintain their interplanetary freighters that they needed to transport felicium from Brekka to Ornara. As a result, the freighter Sanction was destroyed above Brekka when a drive-coil malfunction made it impossible for the ship to maintain a stable orbit. Although the malfunction was fairly minor, the Ornarans' technical ignorance made the problem disastrous.
The Ornarans, along with the Brekkians, requested Federation assistance in repairing their remaining ships, but USS Enterprise-D Captain Jean-Luc Picard declined to render aid, citing Prime Directive considerations.
Soon after the Enterprise-D left, the last supply freighter failed in 2364. As a result their economy failed and Ornara was able to break their addiction to felicium.
Since then the Brekkian society suffered and their economy has been in a depression. Without the Ornaran race to supply them with the technology they wanted/needed, they would, technologically, be at a standstill. Many of the Brekkians started taking felicium just to force depression away.
At first the only transportation to and from Brekka was that of visiting Ambassadors and other scientists and there were not that many of those who visited them.
However eventually they made a few contacts with certain business concerns that were not that fussy about what they bought and sold. As a result the only successful business on Brekka, is the selling of their narcotics illegally to other worlds in exchange for supplies or equipment.
Government
The founding of the overall governments is surrounded by controversy - various tales and rumors admit to a certain lack of cohesion between citizens and officials, so when the exploitation of the Ornaran people began, they'd adopted the Ornaran governmental structures to varying degrees of failure and success, though aside from an obvious overall change of the system, any evidence of this has been lost in time.[2]
Currently, Brekka is still divided, though one central government is in place around a select few countries and provinces of which controls external trade, its primary interest being the continued trade of felicium, despite it being an illegal substance. Over the last five years, however, there has been repeated attempts to reform this, in hopes of purging corruption and focusing instead on technological progress. Certain areas of the world still face poverty, famine, and interstate conflicts. Because of this, external relations with the Brekkian governmental system can prove to be difficult - once in diplomatic talks to avoid myths of a potential upcoming war, Ornaran officials found it difficult to work with 23 Brekkian ambassadors, all representing different areas of Brekka.[3]
Description
Brekkians are distinguished from humans by a distinctive nasal bridge that contains no dip, remaining flat between the eyes. As children, they can be a lot shorter than the average height for a human child, growing a little faster once they've hit puberty.
Physiology
As with most intelligent humanoid species, they have a very complex system with specialized organs, and unique hormones, chemicals and enzymes. Brekkians have a coboglobin-based blood chemistry, their blood an amber colour.[4]
With a higher body temperature, they are typically more comfortable in warmer climates - many of those having left home, complain about the colder room temperatures, often layering clothing to stay comfortable.[5] In the rarer cases, a Brekkian may frequently suffer from the common cold if exposed to lower ship-board temperatures for too long.
Electrical Discharge
The Delos system's sun is relatively unstable and is prone to periodic violent magnetic field changes producing gigantic and intense solar flares. It is speculated that the proximity of the unstable magnetic field is responsible for the innate ability of the Brekkians and the Ornarans to produce electrical charges. They are generated by a "the Hunter's organ", located within a Brekkian's upper arm, and electroshocks are released as a current through nerves within the forearm and wrist.[6] These discharges are easily capable of stunning humans - and is suggested by Starfleet Medical to have the potential to be lethal[7] - although races with similar abilities seem better able to withstand the effects. Brekkians typically have a complete mental control of this ability, though constant use proves to be hazardous to the individual Brekkian's health.[8]
Psychology
Considered by other cultures to be a rather 'selfish' race both psychologically and emotionally, Brekkians have a very independent mentality. When faced with difficult decisions, Brekkians tend to weigh the benefits to themselves as an individual, rather than a group of people as a whole. Lifestyles are built on profit to oneself, be it emotional or material gain.[9] Most individuals desire complete control of their own faculties. As such, working as a cohesive team may be difficult for Brekkian individuals, and rarely will small groups of Brekkians complete a task without conflict among one another of some kind.[2]
Traveling away from the relative familiarity of their homeworld can be daunting for young Brekkians sent on their way. It's generally found that newly off-world Brekkians cluster together for support whenever they locate one another.[10]
Religion
Although many Brekkians seem to have come to terms with the fact that gods and goddesses aren't real, there are several gods and goddesses that they once worshiped and which a small percentage of the population still do worship. One of these is the goddess, Noree, who is the most popular of them all and she even has her own star dedicated to her which is the brightest of them all.
Mythology
There are numerous data records detailing the entire history and legends of their gods and goddesses. Once in high demand, they are now slowly being erased from those data systems in which this data is now considered to be a waste of resources. Fortunately a small fringe element of the population has gone to great lengths to ensure that none of these records are ever lost.
Society
With entire governments corrupted and dedicated to felicium trade, the Brekkians are currently suffering from a stagnant society, focusing not on moving forward, but long to return to the 'glory days' of their lives of luxury. Because of this, the different Brekkian cultures already divided before their manipulation of the Ornaran people was discovered by Starfleet only grew further apart. This has almost lead to civil war on repeat occasions, many citizens looking to migrate away from the blackened world hoping to start a new life.
The Brekkian relationship with Ornarans is equally unstable. Diplomatic ties have been severed, the two species only interacting when it is absolutely necessary. Many older Brekkians blame the Ornarans for their technological fall and unstable society, with many desiring to return to a time where they dominated the Delos system. There have been repeated attempts to blame Ornara for terrorist attacks on major Brekkian cities in an attempt to cause conflict between the two planets - so far, none have been successful.
The criminal aspects of Brekka's world seems to be categorized by either drug trade or domestic terrorism of their own home. Drug cartels have since expanded past Brekkian territory, and have become a surprisingly viable option for livelihood. However, members of specific cartels are required to learn more subtle techniques of intimidation, in hopes for a bigger payday.[11]
Culture
They are a decadent people, one that loves luxury, relaxing, parties, good drink, overly sweet food and elegant clothes. Work is to be avoided if at all possible and music, art and other forms of artistic expression are to be enjoyed. Everyone tries to impress everyone else with how much they have and how little they have to do to maintain their way of life.
Brekkians do not have a concept of modesty due to the generally hot climate of their planet - casual nudity provokes no reaction and a Brekkian will simply go about their day as if nothing has occurred. As such, most Brekkians are self-respective and comfortable in their own skin.[12] Meeting a heavily-clothed Brekkian is akin to meeting a wealthy or important figure of other cultures.
Young children remained close by to their parents, often sleeping in close quarters with them, until they are at least five years old before attempts to create personal space between them are made.[13]
Customs
Parents may bestow a middle name to their children in honor of those they appreciate or owe after being rendered aid.[14]
Certain cultures around the Brekkian globe clasp their hands together in thanks.[15]
Technology
At the time of the plague, Brekka was technologically behind Ornara. Today, much of their technology is geared toward refining felicium. That has not really changed and while they have been able to purchase some new technology with the proceeds of their drug business they are still well behind that of most other species who have achieved space travel. One of the technologies that they have managed to purchase are replicators and over time they have learned how to build them as well.
Economy
For centuries the entire Brekkian economy was entirely built around supplying the narcotic felicium to Ornara. When the Ornarans last supply freighter failed in 2364, their economy failed and Ornara was able to break their addiction to felicium.
Since then the Brekkian economy has been in a depression. The only successful business on Brekka is the selling of their narcotics illegally to other worlds in exchange for supplies or equipment. This has resulted in their establishing long term trade deals with a number of unsavoury business concerns including the Orion Syndicate.
Military
Since parting with Ornaran society, they have developed an on-planet military, though it seems to be primarily for the protection of unified government officials.[16]
A few small armed vessels that are used to transport and when needed smuggle felicium off world and to what every buyer is offering the highest price currently.
Federation Intelligence Files
In 2370, Odo accused Quark of possessing Brekkian narcotics.
On stardate 239105.01, excessive use of militant force during a civilian riot in Kekorna, Seritona, resulted in the death of twelve people, including a Starfleet officer who had been on leave with his family.[17]
Before returning to its region of operation, the USS Veritas approached the Delos system to pick up officers on leave in 2392. Despite not entering Brekkian territory, the Brekkians took great offense to a Starfleet vessel being nearby the area. The ship was ordered to leave immediately, and was required to await the return of its officers in a neighboring star system.[18]
Drug trade by Brekkians has been a consistent problem on Ornara, and by 2392 the trade had expanded out of the Delos system and into Federation space.[11] Reports from Operation Safe Harbor suggest that a number of Brekkian cartels were responsible for a small percentage of illegal drug trade within the Shoals, utilizing more potent version of felicium. The Veritas has single-handedly decimated such trade within its current areas of operation.[19]
References
- ↑ "Son of the 20th House", A.Eislas, USS Veritas, SD 239605.20
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Nature vs the machine", LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239401.23
- ↑ Peace talks between Brekka and Ornara end with a fistfight between planetary ambassadors", Vian Nova, FNS
- ↑ "Amber stained.", LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239411.17
- ↑ "The cold., LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239401.04
- ↑ "Slow Burn", LtCmdr N.Ryan, USS Veritas, SD 239410.09
- ↑ Symbiosis, Star Trek: The Next Generation
- ↑ "When memory loss isn't remotely helpful.", LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239410.04
- ↑ "Cognition.", LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239703.10
- ↑ "Bonds of Love", N.Darros, Starbase 118 Ops, SD 239202.09
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "VonHusan Vs Sparrow", V.VonHausan & G.Sparrow, USS Doyle-A, SD 239212.20
- ↑ Skills., LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239507.05
- ↑ "Real fear.", LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, 239505.29
- ↑ "From nothing to something." (Part 2), LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239601.11
- ↑ "A Place Onboard", M.Riordan, USS Doyle-A, SD 239209.20
- ↑ "Uncontrollable Urge", Shiarrael, USS Doyle-A, SD 239306.25
- ↑ "Life for some's a little out of reach." (Part 2), A.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239602.27
- ↑ "Acceptance." (Final), LtCmdr S.Blake & Maj H.Parker, USS Veritas, SD 239410.03
- ↑ "My place is not home.", LtCmdr S.Blake, USS Veritas, SD 239403.15
Both Memory Alpha and Memory Beta were used as references as well as the TV episode, TNG: Symbiosis. Also used was the article from Star Trek Fact Files, File 18, Card 92 and the DS9 novel: Fallen Heroes.