Neyel

The Neyel are a race of bipedal humanoids that possess a thick gray skin and a tail. An amazing aspect of their evolution that is interesting is that their thick skin allows them to survive in the vacuum of space for a limited amount of time.

Origin
The Neyel were originally humans from Earth during the years of Zefram Cochrane where they lived on O'Neil asteroid colonies in Earth's orbit. The ancestors of the Neyel were known to aid the scientist during his early warp experiments that were conducted outside the Sol system however during one such experiment, the entire colony was propelled out of Earth's orbit.

They colonists later made first contact with the Nausicaans which resulted in many deaths at the hands of the brutal race. This would eventually shape the Neyel into the survival concept of 'kill or be killed' when facing threats from outsiders.

Eventually, in time, the survivors resorted to using genetic alteration to survive in their new home. The genetic change allowed them to function within the zero gravity environment (as artificial gravity had not been developed at this time) and the thick skin allowed them to withstand whatever radiation they would face.

The next development the species would make would be the creation of an interstellar empire known as the Neyel Hegemony which was both militaristic as well as expansionistic. This empire was intent on conquering all other worlds and forcibly absorbing them into the Hegemony. This may have been due to the psychological factor of the hard years they faced when first contact with the Nausicaans occurred.

Language
Neyel language seems to be a derirative of English with common words being:
 * Auld Aerth - the Neyel name for their original home planet and is a derirative version of 'Old Earth' in English.
 * Clade - an evolution of the word 'Clan' and signifies a Neyel family unit.
 * Desig - derived from the English word 'designation' and is the Neyel's personal name.
 * Drech'tor - evolved from the title of Director which was the administrative leader of the O'Niel colony and became the title of the Neyel starship commanders.
 * Efti'el - an acronym of FTL (faster-than-light travel).
 * Klomter - derived from a kilometer and is a unit of measurement to signify a distance.
 * Mennet - derived from minute, it is the Neyel's way of determining time measurement.

(Star Trek: The Lost Era novel: "The Sundered")