Neyel

The Neyel are a civilization descended from Earth's humanity that, through genetic enhancements, possessed a thick gray skin, hand-like feet with opposable thumbs, and a tail. An amazing aspect of their enhancement is that their thick skin allows them to survive in the vacuum of space for a limited amount of time. Their home was located in the satellite galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud.

History

Genesis

In the year 2031, in one of the last major acts of international cooperation before World War III, asteroid fragments heading for Earth were diverted, leading to the nickname "The Year We Dodged A Bullet". Even better, the effort was able to capture six of the fragments, eventually moving them to Earth's L-5 point, where they were eventually hollowed out and converted to O'Neill-style space habitats: Vanguard colony, Colony Roykirk, the Moss-Offenhouse colony, the NicholCorp facility, the Brynner Asteroid, and the Starling Habitat.

By 2053, all six colonies were sufficiently self-sustaining that they all survived the nuclear exchanges and subsequent chaos. In 2058, in cooperation with Zefram Cochrane at "Earth Station Bozeman", the colonies participated in a test to generate a stable subspace field. However, due to an unknown error during the test, all six colonies vanished and were presumed destroyed.

In fact, Vanguard colony was not destroyed but flung some 200 light years from Earth, with nearly 827 survivors (nearly 98%). About a month after the accident, Vanguard was boarded by Nausicaan raiders. The "tuskers" killed 252 before they were driven off. This would eventually shape the Neyel into the survival concept of "kill or be killed" when facing threats from outsiders. They treated all future visitors as invaders and drove off or killed them without hesitation.

After almost 100 years in this location relatively near Earth, in 2155 the colony encountered a spatial interphase rift that deposited them a thousand times farther from home--in the Small Magellanic Cloud, 200,000 light years from the Milky Way Galaxy.

Eventually, in time, the survivors resorted to using genetic alteration to survive in their new home, which was fraught with radiation and other hazards from local phenomena and the still-developing interphase rift. Skeletal and muscular enhancements allowed them to function within the low-gravity environment (as artificial gravity had not been developed at this time, gravity on the asteroid was generated by its spin) and the thick skin allowed them to withstand whatever radiation they would face. This ability was later enhanced so far as to allow survival even in the vacuum of space. (TLE novel: The Sundered)

The Hegemony

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.

They would encounter numerous species which they enslaved once they took control of the planet Oghen which served as their "Coreworld". The Vanguard colony was gradually abandoned but remained a holy site in Neyel religious beliefs, adopting the name "Holy Vangar". Neyel domination within "M'Jallanish" space seemed secured until subspace rifts opened which allowed Tholian ships to begin an active invasion of Hegemony space. This would be the start of the Devil Wars which would end once a diplomatic negotiation was made between the Tholian Assembly and the Neyel Hegemony which was conducted by the USS Excelsior as well as Federation ambassador, Aidan Burgess. She would remain with the Neyel while the subspace rifts closed as part of the peace pact.

Sleepers awaken

Neyel society would gradually shift greatly thanks to the efforts of Ambassador Burgess who became a revered figure among the Neyel race. This resulted in the slow dismantling of the Neyel Hegemony Navy as more peaceful ways were preached which changed Neyel slaves into second class citizens. This would be a turbulent time as the other half of the Neyel race would actively fight this change and culminated in the assassination of Ambassador Burgess. However, this had the opposite effect and resulted in her becoming a martyr as well as a hero to the Neyel people.

A cult would also form during this time known as the Seekers After Penance which consisted of both Neyel and native alien races who believed in the Sleeper; an entity that would purge the Neyel race of their sinful slave making past.

The next development in Neyel history would be the formation of the Riftmouth which the Seekers After Penance believed was the physical manifestation of the Sleeper. They did not know that the anomaly actually was a subspace rift that connected their galaxy to the Milky Way Galaxy's Great Bloom. A Hegemony Neyel fleet was sent to arrest the cult when a fleet of Romulan ships suddenly appeared and devastated the Naval fleet; who did not know that the Sleeper had actually taken control of the Romulan Star Empire vessels. Numerous other events were occurring at this time as spatial disruptions in the Small Magellenic Cloud by the emerging protouniverse resulted in the disappearance of entire planets. Oghen itself was assaulted by the spatial anomalies and the world as well as its inhabitants might well have been destroyed if not for the efforts of Captain William Riker and the crew of the USS Titan who were assisted by Romulan Commander Donatra and her newly reclaimed fleet.

Evacuation procedures were made that transported over 2 million of Oghen's native to Holy Vangar - i.e. the Vanguard colony, the 10 kilometer long asteroid where the original Neyel colonists lived. The Romulan fleet would transport the asteroid colony to the Riftmouth where half the Romulan fleet detonated their warp cores in an attempt to move the Red King entity into De Sitter space. Donatra's fleet managed to return to the Milky Way where they deposited the asteroid colony at Federation space who took custody of the colony.

It was discussed that the Vanguard colony may have been placed within the Sol system; either in orbit around Earth or around Saturn as the Neyel and the other Oghen natives adjusted to the change.

The fate of the Neyel in the Small Magellenic Cloud is unknown as there was no way to determine if the protouniverse was displaced or not. It was determined that, even with the use of subspace telescopes, that it would take years to determine if the act was successful or not. Currently, the only known Neyel are those refugees who are now attempting to make a living for themselves as they determine whether they should return to the old militant ways or adopt a new future. (TTN novel: The Red King)

Culture and society

The Neyel are a xenophobic species that see themselves as superior to other forms of life which they subjugate under their rule. Those races that are defeated, are brutally subjugated and watched over by Neyel overlords.

With their society, there exists several groups that exist in the Hegemony one of which is a clergy and the other is the Neyel Intelligentsia. The latter serves as a sect of scientists who discuss and develop new theories, some of which might be discussed with the clergy.

After the initial encounter with the Tholians and the crew of the Excelsior the Neyel began to have a dramatic shift in their culture. One of which was the development of a group known as the Seekers After Penance which wished to seek forgiveness for their old ways of slavery. (TLE novel: The Sundered)

Military

Some Neyel military ranks are:

• Drech'tor - Rank typically held by the commanding officer of a starship. Derived from the English word 'director'. (TLE novel: The Sundered)
• Sub-drech'tor - Another senior officer rank, immediately below a drech'tor. A sub-drech'tor can also command a smaller Neyel vessel. (TLE novel: The Sundered)
• Subaltern - Junior Neyel officer rank. Derived from the English word. (TTN novel: The Red King)

Language

Neyel language seems to be a derivative of English with common words being:

• Auld Aerth - the Neyel name for their original home planet and is a derivative of 'Old Earth' in English.
• Ceeteematter - antimatter, derived from the obscure English term 'contraterrene (or CT) matter'.
• 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 - derived from the title of Director which was the administrative leader of the O'Neill 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.
• Metrik - derived from metric and is a unit of measurement equivalent to a meter.
• Oh-Neyel - derived from O'Neill, is how the Neyel refer to their ancestors.
• Neyel - derived from the Neill of O'Neill, is the name by which they call themselves as a race/sub-species.
• Pars'x - based on parsec, a unit of distance measurement.

Known Neyel

• Frane
• Gherran
• Harn
• Nozomi