On Stardate 89265, an Orion raiding party of three corvettes encountered a vessel of unknown design in the Aldebaren sector. The Orions engaged the unknown ship in an attempt to disable and capture; none of the ships survived, but several Orion officers were able to escape via shuttle when the unknown ship's crew attempted to board the last corvette via dropship rather than outright destroying it. The battle lasted thirty-six minutes in total.
The surviving Orions fled to the safety of a nearby Corsair class cruiser, which was acting as mothership to several corvette groups. When they were debriefed, the survivors reported that the vessel they encountered was crewed by a new alien species. The aliens were described as taller than the average Klingon, with thick blue skin, forehead horns among the males, blonde scalp and facial hair, and reflective eyes. Great physical strength and fortitude were also noted. The surviving Orions also reported that the aliens seemed to be technologically inferior. The alien ship had relied on primitive hull-polarization and ablative armor technology for defense, while it had been armed exclusively with primitive compression-type particle turrets and torpedoes.
While the aliens' starship technology was clearly inferior to that of the Orions, boarding parties beamed onto the ship had met with a swift and gruesome fate, a factor which had contributed greatly to the Orions' defeat. While comm chatter indicated that the aliens had been surprised upon encountering personal shields, boarding parties had encountered a remarkably coordinated defense.
The cruiser captain, an Orion woman named Neyri, ordered that two raiding parties break from their current activities to track down, engage, and capture the aliens and their vessel. These two raiding parties, consisting of five corvettes, engaged the aliens on Stardate 89267.
After hours of fighting, two corvettes escaped this second battle intact. The reports of the corvette crews corroborated those from the survivors of the initial encounter, with the addition that the aliens had begun to make aggressive use of boarding parties, using turret and torpedo fire almost exclusively as a distraction while dropships grappled the corvettes one by one. It was also noted that the alien vessel sustained significant damage during the early fight, and it was only by swiftly capturing and gaining control of the Orions' own ships that the aliens were able to turn the tide of battle.
---
On Stardate 89270, the Orions traced the alien vessel's warp trail to an isolated system, whereupon the corsair and four corvettes engaged them in a final battle. Although the previously captured corvettes were not in evidence, the alien vessel appeared to have been fully repaired. Neyri ordered that the cruiser immediately power-down all weapons, and that all corvettes flee before sustaining critical damage or allowing themselves to be boarded. In short order, the aliens came to focus their attention on the cruiser itself, which feigned distress in response.
While the cruiser did not fire upon the alien dropships, Neyri ordered the use of tractor beams to keep the aliens at bay while she opened a hailing frequency and negotiated her surrender to the aliens. When negotiations closed, Neyri had ransomed her ship in exchange for gifts of technology, luxury goods, and slaves. The Orions beamed this ransom onto the alien ship before warping out.
The aliens set about disseminating their loot, with the technology being sent to labs for study, the luxury good being made available to all crew members, and the slaves—seven Orion women—divvied up among senior officers. None of the aliens seemed aware of the biochemical effect that the Orion women, each in reality one of Neyri's officers, were already having on them. The alien ship maneuvered into a nebula and began to study and sample their new technology and goods.
During this time, the Orion “slaves” learned much about the aliens. They called themselves Mehiri and claimed to hail from the Yages system. All Mehiri considered themselves to be soldiers, but most appeared to be engineering, exploration, operations, or science officers; very few Mehiri were dedicated exclusively to combat. The slaves were also able to infer, based on the number of labs and type of equipment aboard the alien vessel, that it was a science and exploration ship. The officer in charge, a male named Moranog, appeared to be a biologist of some sort, and the three senior officers—called “champions”—assisting him were divided equally among technological and investigative specializations, rather than any of them being combat specialists.
The Orion slaves were also able to observe how the Mehiri handled succession. The champions seemed to prefer leading from the front, which lead to the death of the engineering champion while examining a piece of Beta Quadrant technology. Interestingly, the next-highest-ranking engineer was not made champion. Instead, an officer of middle rank was promoted, and this promotion occurred so swiftly, and the other engineers accepted their new champion so readily, that the Orions concluded that matters of succession must be established well before-hand, and were probably automated.
The Orions were gratified to discover that the Mehiri also had a sensate, almost hedonistic, streak. They seemed to take particular pleasure in sampling new foods and music, as well as engaging in extensive physical sport and exercise. In fact, the Mehiri took great pride in both their bodies and their pedigrees, with most being able to recite their heritage to eight places—eight appearing to be a significant number in their culture. More importantly to the Orions, the Mehiri were pleasingly intrigued by the prospect of intimate relations with other sentient species.
---
On Stardate 89293, Moranog ordered a return to the Mehiri homeworld at the suggestion of his personal slave. The alien vessel set out immediately, plotting a course for the far edge of the Aldebaren sector. On Stardate 89294, a sudden catastrophic warp-core failure forced the entire Mehiri crew and all their slaves to abandon ship after salvaging as much material as they could. The Mehiri dropships escaped to a nearby moon before the ship was completely annihilated by its exploding warp-core.
With the loss of their ship and no warp capability on their dropships, the Mehiri fell into a dejected state. They began to explore the moon, but activity only continued—at much-reduced efficiency—at the insistence of Moranog and his champions. Finally, on Stardate 89302, Moranog took advice from his personal slave and ordered that a distress beacon be assembled with the assistance and under the instruction of the Orion slaves. The beacon was assembled, and the Neyri's cruiser warped to the moon's location shortly.
Negotiations between Neyri and Moranog were begun once again, this time bargaining for the relief of the stranded Mehiri. With the assistance of his personal slave, the Mehiri captain negotiated a deal wherein the Orions would furnish him and his crew with a Dacoit-class cruiser in exchange for the Mehiri serving Neyri until the price of the cruiser had been remunerated. Moranog also agreed to the stipulations that the Mehiri pay interest on the cruiser's value until it was fully paid-off, and that the cruiser be fully crewed; the original Mehiri crew numbered 513, and they insisted on maintaining that number for spiritual purposes. Although they were permitted to keep and use their slaves, Moranog and his champions were forced to recruit an additional 480 crew from the Orions and their allies, exacerbating their debt.
(( Me gusta ))
After receiving their new Dacoit-class ship from the orion pirate Neyri, the Mehiri made it their work to raid and pillage in an effort to recoup their losses until Moranog's personal slave suggested that a better path lay in working with the Imperial Klingon task force by name of Kargas. Moranog agreed, and the Mehiri approached the acting leader of Kargas, the klingon warrior Kul vav ghajbe, with the proposal.
Now, in a show of good faith, or perhaps obedience, the Mehiri crew of the recently-dubbed I.K.S. Nebulous have shared select medical information for their species with Kargas command and medical divisions.
Medical Profile: Mehiri
The mehiri are of above-average height for the Alpha Quadrant, with most standing between 7 and 9 feet tall. They have skin ranging from dark bluish-green to pale blue. Hair grows on the tops of their heads, above their eyes, and—in the case of men—along their jawlines and around their mouths. This hair comes in shades of blonde, is always straight, and does not grow anywhere else on their bodies. Mehiri have our fingers plus a thumb on each hand, five toes on each foot, and finger and toenails.
Mehiri have thick skins, although it is not especially tough compared to most Alpha Quadrant species. There are exceptions to this; some mehiri have a pseudocartilaginous layer of skin underneath layers of regular dermal tissue. This layer seems to exist exclusively for protective purposes, and is moderately effective against both physical attacks and directed energy weapons.
All mehiri have dark, reflective eyes, which make it difficult to determine where exactly a mehir is looking. In addition, all mehiri have a green spot in the center of their foreheads. This green spot is ridged and cartilaginous. However, this cartilaginous area coincides with a thin area in their skulls, and therefore constitutes a weak spot.
Male mehiri have two horns, which emerge from their foreheads. These horns curve back over the tops of their heads, are not sharp, and are covered with the same blue skin that covers the rest of their bodies. The horns are made of a bone core surrounded by keratin.
---
Internally, the mehiri are resilient and possess several physiological peculiarities of advantage. Mehiri cranial fluid is more viscous than in other species, making them unusually resistant to head trauma. Additionally, most mehir possess two hearts as well as other redundant organs. The second heart is full-sized, but most other redundancies consist of one fully-functioning organ and one smaller “auxiliary” organ. Mehiri also possess high muscle density and especially strong bone matter. In both of these, mehiri physiology resembles gorn physiology. Similar muscle and bone attributes appear in other large species, and similar muscle attributes are also known to appear in male orions and vulcans, but the specifics of these traits in the mehiri most closely resemble those of gorn physiology.
Beyond these core traits, there is a large amount of variation between mehiri. The possession of cartilaginous skin by some has already been noted. Others possess multiple, highly-developed liver-like organs throughout the body. Other variations include some mehiri possessing twice the normal metabolism of the species, the inclusion of a venom gland inside the necks of some mehiri but not others, and certain individuals' tactile nerves being capable of synesthesia-like decoding of sound and smell.
Mehiri breathe a standard oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and are able to digest almost all food regularly eaten by Alpha Quadrant species, including meat. Their metabolic systems are quite versatile and efficient, with the result that they produce little biological waste, although certain foods produce a higher-than-normal strain on their natural detoxification processes.
Now, in a show of good faith, or perhaps obedience, the Mehiri crew of the recently-dubbed I.K.S. Nebulous have shared select medical information for their species with Kargas command and medical divisions.
Medical Profile: Mehiri
The mehiri are of above-average height for the Alpha Quadrant, with most standing between 7 and 9 feet tall. They have skin ranging from dark bluish-green to pale blue. Hair grows on the tops of their heads, above their eyes, and—in the case of men—along their jawlines and around their mouths. This hair comes in shades of blonde, is always straight, and does not grow anywhere else on their bodies. Mehiri have our fingers plus a thumb on each hand, five toes on each foot, and finger and toenails.
Mehiri have thick skins, although it is not especially tough compared to most Alpha Quadrant species. There are exceptions to this; some mehiri have a pseudocartilaginous layer of skin underneath layers of regular dermal tissue. This layer seems to exist exclusively for protective purposes, and is moderately effective against both physical attacks and directed energy weapons.
All mehiri have dark, reflective eyes, which make it difficult to determine where exactly a mehir is looking. In addition, all mehiri have a green spot in the center of their foreheads. This green spot is ridged and cartilaginous. However, this cartilaginous area coincides with a thin area in their skulls, and therefore constitutes a weak spot.
Male mehiri have two horns, which emerge from their foreheads. These horns curve back over the tops of their heads, are not sharp, and are covered with the same blue skin that covers the rest of their bodies. The horns are made of a bone core surrounded by keratin.
---
Internally, the mehiri are resilient and possess several physiological peculiarities of advantage. Mehiri cranial fluid is more viscous than in other species, making them unusually resistant to head trauma. Additionally, most mehir possess two hearts as well as other redundant organs. The second heart is full-sized, but most other redundancies consist of one fully-functioning organ and one smaller “auxiliary” organ. Mehiri also possess high muscle density and especially strong bone matter. In both of these, mehiri physiology resembles gorn physiology. Similar muscle and bone attributes appear in other large species, and similar muscle attributes are also known to appear in male orions and vulcans, but the specifics of these traits in the mehiri most closely resemble those of gorn physiology.
Beyond these core traits, there is a large amount of variation between mehiri. The possession of cartilaginous skin by some has already been noted. Others possess multiple, highly-developed liver-like organs throughout the body. Other variations include some mehiri possessing twice the normal metabolism of the species, the inclusion of a venom gland inside the necks of some mehiri but not others, and certain individuals' tactile nerves being capable of synesthesia-like decoding of sound and smell.
Mehiri breathe a standard oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and are able to digest almost all food regularly eaten by Alpha Quadrant species, including meat. Their metabolic systems are quite versatile and efficient, with the result that they produce little biological waste, although certain foods produce a higher-than-normal strain on their natural detoxification processes.
Because the mehiri home system, referred to as the Yages system by the mehiri, has not yet been located by KDF forces, the relationship between the species and the Klingon Empire is currently restricted to the interaction between Strike Force Kargas and the only known mehiri vessel, the Nebulous. Furthermore, as Klingon Intelligence believes the Nebulous' commanding officer, Lieutenant-colonel Moranog, has been subverted by the orion agent Ilene, it is the stance of KDF officials that the mehiri do not yet have their own political standing with the Empire; instead, the activities of the recently-inducted I.K.S. Nebulous reflect on the private relationship between Kul vav Ghajbe, acting general of Strike Force Kargas, and the orion corsair Neyri.
The orion control over the Nebulous's crew is not absolute, however, and elements of a nascent political stance have emerged from the actions of numerous mehiri. These actions, and the stance communicated by them, focus on two political entities: the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Republic.
Threat Assessment: Mehiri
Regarding the Klingon Empire, the mehiri have shown great caginess surrounding the location of their home system. They have also, however, expressed courage, efficiency in combat, and a willingness to cooperate with Klingon interests. When pressed about their purposes, mehiri have revealed that they are engaged in an attempt to solidify a base of allies and respect within the Empire before instructing their planetary leaders to reveal Yages' location to Imperial officials.
Overtures have also been made toward the new Romulan Republic. It has been reported that Lieutenant-colonel Moranog requested that the Nebulous be sent as Strike Force Kargas' emissary vessel to the Republic. This request was granted, and the Nebulous was deployed to the Tau Dewa sector, where reports suggest they have been campaigning on behalf of both Kargas and themselves.
No known incidents exist of the mehiri making diplomatic overtures toward the Federation.
---
While the full extent of the mehiri military capabilities will not be knowable until Yages is located, their actions to date suggest that their military is not significant enough to pose a threat to the Klingon Empire. The extent to which the Mehiri seem focused on securing political connections with strong allies suggests the contrary: that their current military is weak enough to pose no obstacle to conquest by itself. This, in light of the observed combat-efficiency of mehiri bekks, would seem to corroborate reports that they are a technologically-inferior species. Several requests have been received for permission to send reconnaissance and invasion fleets past the Alderbaren sector to find and conquer Yages before any meaningful political connections render such a conquest unfeasible.
Due to the position of Strike Force Kargas as the primary point-of-contact between the Klingon Empire and all known mehiri, the reports and opinions of Kargas' leadership are expected to have the greatest influence on the future of mehiri-klingon relations.
The orion control over the Nebulous's crew is not absolute, however, and elements of a nascent political stance have emerged from the actions of numerous mehiri. These actions, and the stance communicated by them, focus on two political entities: the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Republic.
Threat Assessment: Mehiri
Regarding the Klingon Empire, the mehiri have shown great caginess surrounding the location of their home system. They have also, however, expressed courage, efficiency in combat, and a willingness to cooperate with Klingon interests. When pressed about their purposes, mehiri have revealed that they are engaged in an attempt to solidify a base of allies and respect within the Empire before instructing their planetary leaders to reveal Yages' location to Imperial officials.
Overtures have also been made toward the new Romulan Republic. It has been reported that Lieutenant-colonel Moranog requested that the Nebulous be sent as Strike Force Kargas' emissary vessel to the Republic. This request was granted, and the Nebulous was deployed to the Tau Dewa sector, where reports suggest they have been campaigning on behalf of both Kargas and themselves.
No known incidents exist of the mehiri making diplomatic overtures toward the Federation.
---
While the full extent of the mehiri military capabilities will not be knowable until Yages is located, their actions to date suggest that their military is not significant enough to pose a threat to the Klingon Empire. The extent to which the Mehiri seem focused on securing political connections with strong allies suggests the contrary: that their current military is weak enough to pose no obstacle to conquest by itself. This, in light of the observed combat-efficiency of mehiri bekks, would seem to corroborate reports that they are a technologically-inferior species. Several requests have been received for permission to send reconnaissance and invasion fleets past the Alderbaren sector to find and conquer Yages before any meaningful political connections render such a conquest unfeasible.
Due to the position of Strike Force Kargas as the primary point-of-contact between the Klingon Empire and all known mehiri, the reports and opinions of Kargas' leadership are expected to have the greatest influence on the future of mehiri-klingon relations.
Intelligence Report: Mehiri Culture
Mehiri culture appears to be dominated by three concepts: life as a constant struggle, the pleasure of physical experiences, and the “Armageddon Doctrine.” These three elements variously influence the attitudes and behaviors of individual mehiri as well as, inasmuch as Klingon Intelligence can gather, their political dispositions and societal organization.
Regarding the concept of life as a constant struggle, it should be known that this is the closest thing their culture has to the understanding of glory and honor in battle. These Klingon truths have proven foreign to the mehiri, although the crew of the Nebulous has made steps to appreciate them. What the mehiri do have, however, is an understanding that the galaxy is a hard, harsh place with no mercy for the weak.
This concept manifests itself in two primary ways. First, the mehiri are very accepting of life's unfairness. Opposition and setbacks are met with stoicism or joked about. Mehiri bekks generally will not complain about unfair details or harsh repercussions, although they will appreciate assistance and mercy where it is given. This understanding of unfairness and misfortune also seems to form the basis of mehiri humor, which centers around black, dry jokes and an appreciation for irony, and mehiri art, which focuses on the transitory nature of happiness. Mehiri bekks are on record as stating “whomever can laugh at himself will always be happy.” Second, the mehiri consider the world stacked against themselves, and the proper response—according to their culture—is constant self-improvement. This is, perhaps, the single most redeeming trait of the species.
Laudable attitudes toward adversity aside, the mehiri play as hard as they work, and their leisure activity focuses heavily on experiential learning and physical sensation. As was noted by the orions who made first contact with the species, the mehiri have a marked appreciation for food, drink, sport, and physical intercourse. The mehiri do enjoy music, listening to the lore-songs, and other forms of art, but good food, drink, and physical activity are elevated to a position above these. Klingon Intelligence estimates that this trait alone makes the mehiri manipulable, and they are especially vulnerable to orion subversion, as has already been demonstrated. However, it is noted that, upon integrating with the KDF, mehiri bekks have made combat training a favorite pastime.
---
Finally, the “Armageddon Doctrine” seems to be the driving force behind mehiri endeavors. The doctrine itself is simple and translates thus:
Armageddon Doctrine wrote:
“Sooner or later, something is going to emerge as the greatest threat our people have known. We cannot know what it will be, or how it will attempt to destroy us, but it will attempt to destroy us. We cannot prepare for it, for we do not know what it will be; all we can do is all we can do.”
The last portion, “all we can do is all we can do” is of great significance, as it gives the mehiri a direction, albeit an extremely vague one. The understanding, based on the examination of various sources among the mehiri, is that they can (and therefore must) bolster themselves against the inevitable Armageddon through a constant policy of aggressive, holistic progress and improvement. This dictates, among other things, their military doctrine.
On that note, the mehiri military apparently constitutes over half of their economy. While this seems promising at first, further investigations have revealed information that the mehiri “military” is itself invested in decidedly un-military endeavors to an unseemly degree. Resources say that only about 26% of the mehiri military budget is devoted to a standing military force—what the mehiri refer to as the “Tactical Corps.” 32% of the military budget appears to be devoted to the “Ancilary Bureau,” which is apparently devoted to such things as civilian infrastructure, education, and economic control. The remaining 42% of the “military” budget is given to the “Strategic Departments,” which we understand to be various scientific and engineering groups devoted to the technological advancement of the species. Analysts are examining the mehiri military structure for weaknesses now.
While we are discussing the mehiri military, a moment should be given to describing their rank structure as we know it. The crew of the Nebulous are apparently from the “Department of Exploring Space,” which is one of the aforementioned Strategic Departments, but in light of the apparent youth of that particular department, it is estimated as likely that their rank structure has been borrowed from other mehiri departments. All ranks have been translated.
- Spaceman - all mehiri appear to begin their careers within the department at this enlisted rank.
- Senior Spaceman
- Spaceman Chief
- Lieutenant - promising spacemen may receive a commission to receive training and achieve this rank.
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant-colonel - this rank is temporary, only existing when a dead or disabled colonel must be replaced.
- Colonel - this rank can only be given as an appointment by a general.
- General