"Concerning the Felisians and
Tzenkethi"
By Joseph Manno
The Felisians are, surprisingly, not
native to Felis Minor, but Tzenketh...
they evolved there in a manner similar to the Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon
relationship on Earth, occupying the planet side-by-side for some time.
The Felisian civilization reached a point of sophistication
approximating
Instead of attempting to hunt the Tzenkethi (who were larger, more
numerous and decidedly more vicious, but less intellectually endowed during
that period) into extinction, the Felisians somehow
emigrated from their home world—by means which have been shrouded in mythology
and superstition—to what humans call Felis Minor. The
cities of the ancients themselves are purported to have been "lifted like
an errant kit and carried to a realm without fear."1
There, they continued with the business of living.
When they eventually developed FTL space travel some tens of
thousands of years later, the Felisians explored
throughout the local stellar community, and reached planets like Terra, Tellar, Andor and Vulcan—where
their landings sometimes left lasting impressions on the peoples they contacted
(like the aforementioned Egyptians?).
They found Tzenketh early on in their
wanderings; their "cousins" had progressed on their own
technologically to a point approximating Earth in the late 20th
century. The Felisians couldn't resist the temptation
to play benefactor and contacted them with the express purpose of facilitating
their progress to the stars, where they could welcome them as brothers.
Unfortunately, the Tzenkethi had their own mythology about the
"ghost demons" who'd fought their ancestors with "a cowardly
cunning and magicks of deception"—and finally
been driven away by their legendary heroes. They reacted to the Felisians' landings with terror and anger, finding in their
coming the one thing that could end the blood feuds
and national conflicts: A common enemy.
The first Felisian/Tzenkethi War, fought around the time of
Earth's First Crusade, was brief and relatively painless: The Felisians simply retreated to where their kin, lacking FTL
technology, couldn't follow. Frustrated, fearful and furious, the Tzenkethi
threw themselves into developing their science,
weapons and spacecraft capabilities.
The Felisians, stung by the encounter,
withdrew much of their exploratory fleet from the galaxy and returned home,
thinking to live there in peace.
The Tzenkethi had other ideas.
The Felisian government, occasionally, would send agents to Tzenketh; this was both wise and foolish: It allowed them
to keep a better watch, true; but the odd agent that was found out
"proved" to their cousins that the "ghost demons" were
among them, attempting to spread poison and discord—and to destroy them from
within.
The second war, which took place at approximately the same time as
the American and French Revolutions, was a much more protracted and bloody
affair. While the Tzenkethi's first and second
generation warp-driven craft were no match for their opponents', they were far
more ruthless and unrelenting. Hundreds of their ships were destroyed in the
actions that were fought, and their relative powerlessness only fueled their
resolve to somehow overcome their foes eventually. The war is held by Felisian
historians to have ended when the Tzenkethi "Great Armada" was
destroyed by the Felisian Navy in the Earth year A.D. 1785.
Peace reigned; but it was the peace of the gun.
The Felisians were at a loss; they
couldn't bring themselves to either conquer or eradicate the Tzenkethi,
but they knew that their lack of action might mean that the next war would mean
their own defeat, and the coming of a darker day than ever they'd known.
Nervously, they watched the Tzenkethi laboriously improve their
technology and increase the size of their fleet—certain that the next war would
finish one side or the other. They still couldn't bring themselves to attack,
though, even knowing it might mean the end of their civilization.
Enter, at this critical juncture, ca. 2315, Earth and the
Federation.
Of course, while the UFP at the time believed this to be
"First Contact" with the Felisians, the
latter knew better; and were astonished at how quickly the humans and
their primate kin had developed high technology (higher even, in some limited
ways, than their own) and come out into the universe.
As a race, the Felisians decided they
very much liked the idea of the Federation, and quickly petitioned for
inclusion. They are, to this day, the race that progressed most quickly from
First Contact to full membership, their four years surpassing the Betazoids by two. This may have been motivated almost as
much by self-interest as genuine enthusiasm, however: A year-and-a-half after
they'd joined, the Tzenkethi attacked.
Their fleet was large and they were determined; they probably
would have defeated the Felisians in a long, bitter
war, making up for their slight technological lag with sheer weight of
numbers... but the "ghost demons" were no longer alone. Now they had
the "hairless monkeys" on their side.
Starfleet, in 2320, helped administer a sharp defeat to the
astonished and indignant Tzenkethi. Unfortunately, they had to do it three more
times: in 2326-27; 2334-36; and finally in 2345-8. Each defeat left the
aggressive felines even more resolved to exact revenge on their brethren for
their "cowardice" in "hiding" behind the Federation. It was
ironic that the genuine respect the Tzenkethi developed for the battle skills
of their alien foes left them even more resentful of the ones they were most
like—their Felisian kin.2
Oddly, the Tzenkethi chose to ignore what military strategists, in
hindsight, consider was their best opportunity to defeat the UFP: They
steadfastly refused to join the Cardassian/Talarian
Alliance during the First Cardassian War, saying that it would be
"dishonorable to attack like thieves in the night" while Starfleet
was otherwise occupied.
Finally, in 2363, the Felisian government proposed a radical
solution to the Tzenkethi "problem": Invite them to join the
Federation. While, on the surface, this seemed foolhardy, cultural analysts
realized that it would, if successful, be a brilliant stroke, allowing
Starfleet to divert the significant portion of its military forces used in
restraining Tzenkethi power to other hot spots in and along the borders of the
Federation. In addition, the ferocious, fiercely honorable Tzenkethi might
prove an excellent addition to the alliance.
The path wasn't to be an easy one. The main roadblocks were the
irrational Tzenkethi fear/hatred of the Felisians,
their resentment at nearly six decades of defeat at Starfleet's hands... and,
of course, the Star.
The Star was a ruby-like gem of tremendous size and beauty which
had, in ancient times, been discovered on Tzenketh,
and afforded a place of inestimable honor and regard in first Felisian, and
then Tzenkethi, folklore. It had mysteriously appeared and disappeared on
numerous occasions at critical times in both peoples' history. It was a source
of inspiration... and what turned out to be the last major bone of contention
between the two species.
When the Tzenkethi, who were so close to signing a treaty
of probationary membership in the Federation, learned in 2373 that a gem
fitting the Star's description could be found on Felis
Minor, they accused the Felisians of stealing it, and
began preparing for a war that would probably destroy them.
Thanks to the crew of the USS Liberty (and especially its
counselor, the Felisian M'Raav Hatshepsut), disaster
was avoided by the narrowest of margins.
Eventually, the treaty was finalized in 2374, again in no small
part to the cleverness and dedication of Lieutenant Hatshepsut; the Tzenkethi
were about to sign (in the very midst of the Dominion War, no less, as things
looked rather bad for the Federation) when the Cardassians and Founders warned
them of dire reprisals if they dared to do so. This, of course, was the
final motivation for their enthusiastic endorsement of the agreement.
The Jem'Hadar fleet which had been
positioned to take Felis Minor was met by the
Tzenkethi.
It wasn't pretty... for the Jem'Hadar,
that is. They'd at last met a foe whose savagery far surpassed their own. It
was the Dominion's first major defeat of the war, in part inspiring Benjamin Sisko's audacious plan to retake Deep Space Nine.
The Tzenkethi proved valuable allies during the conflict. Despite
some leeriness around their Felisian kin, they nevertheless deployed their
fleet to protect Felis Minor, and prevent any
Dominion aggression in the sectors surrounding their territory.
Whether a true rapprochement between these two extraordinary races
is possible remains a question to this day. Certainly the birth of Bagheer, the
first Felisian/Tzenkethi hybrid, and his place as a captain in the Federation
Starfleet lends hope to this possibility. It shows that both sides could, if
they chose, contribute to a whole greater than the sum of their peoples.
NOTES
1. Only now are the Tzenkethi willing to allow
Federation archaeological and anthropological teams on their world to research
the "Ghost Demon" period of their history. The intervening years and
unremitting hostility, though, have eliminated all but a few tantalizing traces
of that era.
2. The combats between Felisian and Tzenkethi
vessels and task forces during this period rank as some of the most vicious in
recorded Federation history. While Starfleet provided resources and a moderate
but significant number of ships during each of these wars, it was the Felisian
Space Navy that shouldered the bulk of the war effort.