the Federation-Rihannsu War
an...@cris.com
Below you'll find the new Rihannsu history essay, "A Spirit
Untamed",
an examination of Rihannsu perspectives on the Federation-Rihannsu
War,
which led to the creation of the Neutral Zone.
The essay was written by me -- or rather by my "In-character"
personna
on Strange New Worlds, Alleish i-Gaehir t'Riuurren.
I hope you enjoy it.
Open skies and mnhei'sahe,
--Alleish i-Gaehir t'Riuurren
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A Spirit Untamed
A Study of the History and Galactopolitics of the First
Federation-Rihannsu War,
By: Galae'Enriov Alleish i-Gaehir t'Riuurren,
Senior Fleet Commander, Rihannsu Galae
--=<>=-- Galae Institute Press --=<>=--
Ra'tleihfi, ch'Rihan 2315
Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Too often, wars start by accident, or misinterpretation. Or just
by
plain lack of knowledge of another culture. When all three of these
are
involved, coupled with imposing one's own cultural values and ideals
upon
an unknown race, it's almost impossible for something bad _not_ to
occur.
When the USS Carrizal, under the command of Captain Antonio Dini,
violated Rihannsu space on a "discovery" mission that provoked the
Lloan'na war, he, by all accounts, had no idea what he was doing.
Yet
the Carrizal's unwarranted, and uninvited approach to the twin
planets,
ch'Rihan and ch'Havran, were in Rihannsu eyes, a blatant act of war,
calling for a vigorous defense of our homeworlds, against aliens who
had
utilized the same techniques as the Carrizal.
What Captain Dini and the crew of Carrizal didn't know, was that
the
Rihannsu had no interest in being "discovered". The last thing the
people of the twins wanted, was to have their new homeworlds intruded
upon by other spacefaring species. But Carrizal's arrival put an end
to
the isolation and galactic exclusionism of the Rihannsu people, that
had
been the only galactopolitical truth known to them for the 1700 years
since they had left Vulcan to find a new home.
Undoubtably, Captain Dini, the crew of the Carrizal, and
Federation
officials did not intend to start a war with the Rihannsu people.
But,
the arrival of Carrizal did indeed accomplish that. It is this
singular
fact that outworlders consistently fail to grasp. The Rihannsu
peoples
had no desire to be found. They had deliberately chosen to settle in
one
of the remotest parts of known space <circa 609 A.D. Terran calendar>
specifically to avoid outworlders, and live in peace <of a uniquely
Rihannsu style of course>.
Chapter I -- The Incursion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as the United Federation of Planets was starting to meld
into a
cohesive political entity, the USS Carrizal, on what they considered
to
be a routine exploration mission, approached the Trianguli star
system,
in a remote area of space. The Trianguli stars sat amongst dead
worlds
which had been dead for millenia. According to Federation records,
the
Carrizal had spent nine unsuccessful months in that area of space,
attempting to "discover" other life.
They found it.
The two inhabited planets of Trianguli are known to their
inhabitants as ch'Rihan <planet of the Declared>, and ch'Havran
<planet
of the Travellers>. The people who inhabit the twin planets, which
orbit
each other in the rough equivalent of an earth/Moon configuration
similar
to Terra, are known to themselves as Rihannsu. Having fled Vulcan
some
1800 years ago to found a new civilization based on the old Vulcan
ways,
they had established a heavily industrialized society, which
interestingly enough, maintained its compatibility with nature
The Rihannsu had established a space satellite defense system to
protect themselves from outworlders, if any should happen to incur
into
their home space.
Carrizal did just that.
The USS Carrizal approached the twin planets cautiously, but
violating Rihannsu space nonetheless, remaining outside the range of
the
satellite defense system, transmitting atomic ratios, binary counting,
pictures, what they classified as a "standard first contact sequence".
The Rihannsu made clear their desire to be left alone and live in
peace
by refusing to answer, sending no response to the Carrizal's
transmissions. Carrizal was aware the Rihannsu had heard the
transmissions, and were capable of replying, as Federation records
indicate, and planetary transmissions, which the carrizal had no way
of
translating at the time, by over 1000 percent.
The Carrizal took some readings, made some tests, remained
outside
the range of the defense satellites, and safely departed the Trianguli
system. In their eyes, they had made a startling discovery, one they
were anxious to report back to Starfleet about.
In the eyes of the Rihannsu, Carrizal had started a war.
Chapter II -- The Rihannsu Dig In
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 1600 years the Rihannsu had lived, in their version of what
passed for peace, on the twins. We fought, we killed, we loved, we
painted, and sculpted, we fashioned two worlds out of nothingness. We
built an incrediblly industrialized and technological society, all
while
maintaining the sanctity of our environment, because the elements
demanded no less of us.
With the arrival of USS Carrizal, many Rihannsu saw this
beautiful
civilization they had created, going up in flames, to be consumed by
the
element fire. Many a Rihana asked herself, "Perhaps we haven't been
as
kind to the elements as we thought".
Nothing less than a panic was set off by this unknown
encroachment
into the sanctity and isolationism of the Rihannsu. For to them, it
was
nothing less than an invasion.
Almost two milennia prior, Orion pirates from Etosha and Duthul
had
approached Vulcan in a similar fashion, transmitting binary codes,
atomic
ratios, scientific formulae, and other standard peaceful signals. The
tribes of Vulcan made contact with the Orions, who offerred peace and
trade, and prosperous friendly relations with an alien species. The
Vulcans accepted.
On the day of the meeting, almost every high Vulcan official was
present. The Orions landed on Vulcan, stunned and kidnapped all those
worth ransoming, and brutally massacred those not worth selling off to
the highest bidder.
So much for peace.
The founder of the Rihannsu nations, S'Task, was among those
kidnapped. As has been recorded numerous times, he led a rebellion of
the hostages which led to a bloody massacre of pirates and hostages
alike. But the pirates were defeated. The schism between S'Task and
Surak, his mentor, would never be mended, and would culminate in the
departure of the Rihannsu from Vulcan.
But Rihannsu have long memories, and oft bitter ones at that.
They
remembered the peaceful enticements of the Etoshans and Duthulites.
They
remembered the elegent simplicity of the "first contact sequences"
transmitted by these "friendly" vessels.
And then Carrizal invaded Rihannsu space, following the same
exact
approach, transmitting similar contact signals. The Rihannsu acted in
the only way they knew how. Fiercely, passionately, protecting their
newfound home as a mother would her child against a wild Thrai.
Rihannsu
do not frighten easily. But they were indeed scared. A frightened
Rihannsu is a dangerous thing. The twin planets were full of
frightened
Rihannsu.
The twins became a very dangerous place indeed to be a lloann'na.
Over the next year, the nations of ch'Rihan and ch'Havran united
and
acted as one -- something that is a rare occurrance on the twin
planets,
a rarity the rest of the galaxy should think twice about before doing
any
thing that might cause greater unity among the Rihannsu peoples.
The people of the twins built over 7,000 spacecraft armed with
beam
weapons and crude deflector shields. They were tiny vessels,
multicrew
fighters, but the sheer numbers and short time frame this feat was
accomplished in speak for themselves.
Of course, the Rihannsu had no idea whether the satellite defense
systems, or these vessels could stand up against this lloann'na
incursion
into their home space. But with their isolation gone, their peace
disturbed, their tranquility violated, the Rihannsu had no choice.
They were not going to go down without a fight.
Chapter III -- A Message is Delivered
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And fight the Rihannsu peoples did, and what a beautiful site it
was. The passion, the honour, the glory of defending one's home, the
mnhei'sahe, oh what a joyous time to be alive and be a Rihannsu.
Their
homeworlds threatened, the life they had come to know and love was in
jeopardy, the culture they had built over almost 2 millenia was at
risk,
and the passion flowed. The Rihannsu began to practice the greatest
of
all arts, and the one they were best at.
The art of war.
Three years after USS Carrizal had invaded Rihannsu space, the
Federation sent another exploration vessel, the USS Balboa. The
Balboa
approached the twin planets, carefully staying outside the range of
the
satellite defense weapons, transmitting messages of peace and
friendship,
just as the Etoshans did. Just as the Duthulites did. Only this
time,
the Rihannsu were prepared.
50 armed warships were dispatched to deal with the invading
Balboa,
and deal with it they did. The Balboa had no chance, and was quickly
and
quietly destroyed for invading Rihannsu space.
Such is the Rihannsu way.
It should be noted, this is what the United Federation of Planets
claims to be the start of what they incorrectly label "The First
Romulan
War". The label the lloann'na afix to this conflict is, in and of
itself, a misnomer, and typical of their lack of understanding of the
Rihannsu. We are not, never were, and never will be _Romulan_, we are
_Rihannsu_. Names play such a great role in Rihannsu society, and the
lloann'na continue to ignore this, at their own peril.
Of course, the destruction of Balboa did not start the
Federation-Rihannsu War. To suggest it did, is to practice a cultural
imperialism that claims the entire galaxy thinks and lives according
to a
set of standards and ideas that the member worlds of the Federation
have
established for themselves.
Which of course, is exactly what the Federation was doing. A
warp
engine, and artifical gravity, do not give a race the right to
interfere
in the culture, privacy, and life of a sentient people. The message
the
Rihannsu sent to the Federation the day they defeated the invading
Balboa, and we must keep in mind that the Balboa, just as the carrizal
3
years prior, was in _fact_ an invader, was that perhaps, just perhaps,
there were some people in the galaxy, that didn't want to be
"discovered".
The Rihannsu were one of those peoples.
Chapter IV -- The Tide Turns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is true enough that neither the Carrizal, nor the Balboa came
into Rihannsu space with guns blazing. Neither for that matter, did
the
Etoshans and Duthulites enter Vulcan space with guns blazing nearly
two
millenia prior. It is also true enough that the Federation are not
the
same people as the Orion bandits that attacked Vulcan. But, what were
the Rihannsu to do?
Having made little preparation for an interstellar defense, save
a
decaying and by lloann'na standards antiquated orbital defense system,
when confronted by an alien vessel transmitting peaceful intentions
just
as the Orion bandits had, and considering the only experience the
Rihannsu had with alien species from among the stars was with the
Orion
bandits, who had come preaching peace and trade, but brought barbaric
hostage taking and duplicitous death, the defensive reactions of the
Rihannsu are more than understandable.
khre'Riov <Commander-General> Arisian i-Gaehir tr'Riuurren, the
commander of the task force from ch'havran, put it best when he said,
"Our people were scared, and unsure of what would happen next. But we
knew there was no going back. Our homes and families were threatened
by
these lloann'na, and elements only knew if we could withstand their
invasion. But we had to try, mnhei'sahe demanded no less of us, and
our
families needed us."
With the stunning victory over the USS Balboa bolstering their
confidence, the ragtag fleet of non-warp capable vessels decided to
take
the war to the Federation, on their own terms. Riov Ereia i-Mhiessan
t'Rllaillieu led the first Rihannsu Deep Space Squadron Task Force,
composed of 23 of the ragtag small vessels, and went out seeking these
aliens, proving the truth of the old Rihannsu maxim, "the best
defense,
is a good offense."
What Ereia was seeking was information, technological information
about these lloann'na invaders, and what she found, would prove to
change
the balance of power in that part of the galaxy forever. Ereia's DSS,
led by the ChR Pennon, slowly, ponderously by Federation standards,
journeyed along the approach vector of USS Balboa, searching, seeking,
stalking their prey, a Federation starship, like the thrai stalking
hlai'vna home on ch'Havran.
Weeks after their journey began, Ereia's task force encountered
the
USS Stone Mountain, which had been summoned by a distress call from
the
USS Balboa. The Stone Mountain was encountered perilously close to
Rihannsu space, for remember, the Rihannsu were not yet warp capable,
and
even at warp speeds, the twin planets are weeks away from the nearest
Federation starbase.
The fleet of Rihannsu vessels, outclassed easily had there been
only
5 or 10 of them, proved to be far too much for the Stone Mountain.
Riov
Ereia, one of the newly formed Galae's best atmospheric pilots, used
her
precision fighter techniques to methodically attack the crew
compartments
aboard the lloann'na vessel, forcing it to surrender.
Once Stone Mountain surrendered, the Rihannsu fleet towed her
home
to ch'Rihan, and began disassembling the vessel, to learn, and more
importantly utilize, the alien technologies that gave the Federation
such
a large advantage in the first two combat encounters. Most notably
among
these technological advantages that fell into the hands of the
Rihannsu
was warp drive technology.
Until the capture of USS Stone Mountain, the Rihannsu Galae
vessels
were ponderously slow and were at a tremendous disadvantage to the
invading lloann'na ships. But within six months of the capture of the
Federation ship, Rihannsu scientists had adapted warp drive to Galae
vessels, and converted the 7000 existing warships with this new drive,
eliminating the lloann'na's greatest military advantage.
The nature of the conflict, and of Rihannsu-Federation relations,
was forever changed by this single event. No longer were the Rihannsu
a race to be "discovered" and have lloann'na "first contact" rules and
values applied to. No longer were the worlds of ch'Rihan and
ch'Havran, so aptly misnamed, insultingly so even, as Romulus and
Remus, subject to a culturaly elitist Greater Federation mentality.
Instead, what the lloann'na dubbed, again neglecting the importance of
names, "The Romulan Star Empire" was now a hostile force, more than
capable of defending itself, and now, with the very warp drive
technology of the Federation itself, and aware of the presence of the
Federation, the Rihannsu twin worlds posed a distinct and very real
military and political threat to Federation galactopolitical hegemony
in this part of the galaxy.
Chapter V -- The lloann'na View
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of course, the Federation didn't see this conflict quite the same
as
did the Rihannsu. From a lloann'na viewpoint, they were the victims
of
an unprovoked aggression by a hostile, militarist empire. The
Federation
viewed the Balboa as within its rights entering and exploring Rihannsu
space, just as they considered the Carrizal to have every right to
enter
Rihannsu space. To the Federation mind, it never occurred to them
that a
people wanted, and were entitled, to be left alone. It was as if the
galaxy were one big playground for the Federation, to explore and play
on
at will, under their rules, and their guidelines, regardless of the
desires of other sentient life.
One would think the Rihannsu had made their intentions clear to
the lloann'na from the start. It was, as transcriptions made public
later by the Federation show quite clearly, obvious to the officers of
USS Carrizal that the Rihannsu were _quite_ capable of responding to
this "first contact". The people of the twin worlds of Eisn desired
nothing but to be left alone to live on their worlds, raise their
children, practice their arts, the beautiful arts that every Rihanna
cherishes -- the art of the painter and the sculptor, the art of the
poet and the writer, the art of the mother and daughter, father and
son, and the arts of love and war.
But the lloann'na did not see this. They could not comprehend
that the Rihannsu are unlike any other people in the galaxy. The
Rihannsu exist not to fight, not to explore, not to interact with
other peoples, dhat, the Rihannsu exist to be Rihannsu. And to a
Rihanna of that time period, lloann'na were ruthless barbaric pirates
like the Etoshans and Duthulians.
What the Federation did see however, was an "empire" bent on
conquest, attacking their exploration vessels mercilessly, starting a
war with a peacefull Federation that sought to explore strange new
worlds and civilizations. The lloann'na sought to bring, what they
called --wrongly as it turned out-- the Romulan Star Empire, into
contact with themselves and the rest of the galaxy the Rihannsu had
sought to escape from.
To the lloann'na mind, it is perhaps incomprehensible that a
people as civilized and technologically advanced as the Rihannsu would
seek to be left completely alone, to have no interaction with other
races or cultures. For the lloann'na have an insatiable curiosity
about other cultures, that they often find impossible to overcome.
Even with their vaunted "Prime Directive", they still make the
assumption that other races and cultures are there for them to find
and explore. They just define, artificially, and without good reason,
which races they may directly contact, and which they may only
observe.
Perhaps this analysis of the lloann'na is cold. But they do exist
to seek and explore, to find and to investigate. They claim this is
the primary purpose of their Starfleet, and history has shown this be
the truth. But the truth, as most material elementals, has two sides,
and it is this second side which the lloann'na do not understand, or
even
attempt to understand.
The lloann'na view the galaxy as theirs to explore and discover,
without regard to the desires and self determination of the people
being discovered. Ie, it is true enough that the lloann'na have rules
which, to their credit, they attempt to assiduously adhere to. Thus,
in their eyes, they were committing no wrong when they repeatedly
violated the space of the twin worlds of Eisn. Nor did they
understand
why they were rebuffed, and then, engaged in combat by the fledgling
Rihannsu Galae.
If one attempts to think for a moment, as a lloann'na might, it is
not altogether inconceivable to understand how mystified the lloann'na
were. The notion that some peoples in the galaxy might desire to be
left alone, and were not theirs to be discovered, is utterly
incomprehensible to those who seek to "explore strange new worlds and
new civilizations". But there it was, the lloann'na meeting the one
notional civilizational concept that had escaped their reasoning for
so
long -- that if there are those who desire to discover and seek, there
conversely, if one acknowledges the entirety and wholeness of the
elements, logically must be those who will desire to be left alone,
and
remain undiscovered.
The lloann'na learned this lesson hard. Sufferring repeated
defeats
against a foe which gave nor asked for any quarter, but merely fought
until one or the other ceased to be able, the Starfleet was
encountered
with a situation it hadn't faced before in its youthful existence --
that
of being unable to defeat militarily, despite the superior resources
and
technology of its member worlds, a hostile power.
The lloann'na were certainly not unanimous about the conflict with
the Rihannsu, as if any one people could agree on any such serious
matter. While indeed, those on the "hook" for the embarrassing
defeats
at the hands of a technologically inferior power in the Starfleet were
determined to fight this war until total victory, or total defeat was
achieved, many lloann'na politicians sought answers in a less artistic
way than war.
The closest lloann'na world to the twin planets, was of course,
the
former homeworld of the expatriate Rihannsu, Vulcan. It was at this
point in its history, that Vulcan was negotiating to enter the
fledgling
Federation. The Vulcan admission was quickly achieved, and the
Vulcans
were confronted with a significant problem from their past. The
Travellers.
During the conflict, a few badly burned, decompressed Rihannsu
bodies
were retrieved by the lloann'na. They bore some vague resemblence, a
fact kept quiet by the Federation all these years from its citizenry,
to
the newly admitted Vulcans. This of course, should not be surprising,
as
the Rihannsu were, seventeen hundred years previously, Vulcans
themselves. But to Starfleet, and the Federation administration of
the
time, the questions became all the more obvious, and the newly
admitted
Vulcans were asked, quite directly, whether they knew anything about
these secretive people they had dubbed "Romulans".
It is a myth of course, that Vulcans do not lie. The word "lie"
itself is an imperfect formulation. The Vulcans are capable of, and
often employ, what can be called "selective truth". The Vulcans told
the
lloann'na that they were not sure who these people were. The Vulcan
Ambassador, a man reknowned for his articulateness and talent, despite
just recently starting his career, Storen of Vulcan, conveyed this
"answer" to the Federation Council in such a manner that the council
decided it would be best for everyone if the matter was no longer
pursued.
The young Vulcan Ambassador was not, however, finished. In one
impassioned <for a Vulcan> address to the chamber, Storen utterred
words
that Starfleet found difficult to swallow, but, proved to be
prophetic.
"Make peace with them, and close the door. Stop fighting.
You will probably never beat them," said the Vulcan Ambassador to a
stunned crowd, "But you can stop your ships being destroyed."
It took awhile, but eventually, as everything, administrations
change, and as military defeat after defeat mounted for the lloann'na,
and Vulcan quietly expressed its displeasure about continuing
Starfleet
attempts to pacify what was not an area of space crucial to Federation
security, the Federation finally sought peace, much to Vulcan's
relief.
For the Vulcans, unlike their Federation brethren, knew precisely
what battle they had just fought, and they knew that the Rihannsu
would
never stop fighting as long as they felt threatened. They also knew,
that a Rihanna does not tire of fighting, indeed, to a Rihannsu, war
is
the highest of all art.
What is saddest of all, is that the lloann'na did not learn what
needed to be learned from this period in their history. They
continued,
as might be expected given their lack of experience at this point in
their history with the Rihannsu, to apply their own standards and view
of
the galaxy to these obviously, quite different, people.. As typified
even
in their chosen mode of negotiating the peace, the Rihannsu demanded
it
be negotiated by subspace communication rather than face to face
meetings, the Rihannsu wanted what all Rihannsu desired -- to be left
alone to thrive and flourish, and practice their arts. To be, in a
word,
Rihannsu.
VI. Present Reflections on the Past
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In recent years, perhaps because of the renewed conflict with the
Orion pirates in 2307, and continued tensions with the
khell'oann-mhehorael <Klingons>, liberal factions in the Rihannsu
Fvillhae <Praetoreate or executive branch>, particularly former
Fvillha
S'teletham i-Aihai tr'Riuurren, attempted to build close ties to the
lloann'na, including a free trade treaty, and increased military
cooperation against an increasingly hostile khell'oann-mhehorael
threat.
While the free trade treaty has, despite increasing tensions, held
firm,
a newly blossoming conservative movement, including many of those who
played a large role in the rapproachment with the lloann'na,
including,
humbly this author, who have seen the lloann'na, have grown to know
the
lloann'na, and now look back to the past, and see their heritage,
culture, and fear the loss of their identity, and a growing acceptence
of
the lloann'na weltuanschuang.
No one makes the argument that the lloann'na are evil, for even if
that were the case, this is a history, not a political review. What
the
past does show us is that the lloann'na fail to grasp what it is being
Rihannsu means. From the misnaming of the Rihanna as "Romulans", to
the
application of lloann'na standards <lloann'na for those of you
curious,
means "them, from there" as oppossed to "us, from here". It is not an
attempt to misname the Federation, but merely a differentiation
between
"us", and others>. to the Rihanna without even considering that
sentient
beings have their own standards, morals, beliefs, and philosophies,
the
lloann'na have misunderstood the people of the twin worlds of Eisn,
and
the present, as as the history, may be irreparable because of it.
From the start, the lloann'na failed to grasp what the Rihannsu
were,
and what they wanted. The war dragged on, largely in part, because
the
lloann'na were unable to understand that the Rihannsu wanted to be
left
alone. To this day, the lloann'na still do not understand, that the
Rihannsu do not embrace the same standards and philosophy regarding
their
place in the galaxy as they do. Until the past is studied with an
open
mind, and a willingness to _not_ apply a universal philosophy to a
people
that have their own, until the lessons of the First lloann'na War are
learned, the present will be merely a reflection on the past.
AUTHORS NOTE-- Special thanks go to Diane Duane, the matriarch of all
that is Rihannsu, of which this historical work would not be possible.
Her fiction has provided the outline which has allowed me to write an
"historical work" and fill in some of the blanks. I, as all Rihannsu,
owe her our everlasting thanks. klinae arhem llhei.
--A.R.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR-- Alleish i-Gaehir t'Riuurren was born to a
prominent East Continent hfihar on ch'Havran. Disenchanted with both
liberal and conservative Rihannsu thought, she sought to make her name
in
the Galae, as is the tradition in her family. One of the foremost
strategic thinkers of the Galae, her career was slowed by her
sometimes
stubborn and thrai-headed refusal to assimilate conventional doctrine.
Her career took a giant step forward during the Orion Wars of
2306-2309
as she valiantly commanded ChR Ra'kholh in taking the war to the
pirates. From that point on, she rose spectacularly through the ranks
to
her current post of senior fleet commander in the Galae, and is a
deihu
from s'Riuurren in the Rihannsu Deihuit. This is her first book.