Race Relations
Federation:
The Gorn and Federation
had first contact almost 25 years ago. This first
meeting was disastrous. The Gorn had discovered the
planet Cestus III along their borders a number of months
before. When they finally got a ship sent to the planet,
they discovered that another race had inhabited the
planet.
To the
Gorn all humanoid races look basically alike, so they
assumed that the race they had found was a Romulan
outpost. Fearing it was being setup for an attack, the
Gorn Commander destroyed the colony. He then radioed for
reinforcements to hold the system.
A
Federation starship was dispatched to discover what had
happened to the colony. Seeing it had been destroyed the
federation officer also acted rashly and attacked the
Gorn vessel. The Gorn Commander thought he was seeing a
new Romulan design and so ran for home to be sure he
could report this new weapon. At this point Federation
historians want you to believe that the Gorn and
Federation kissed and made up, such was not the case.
The Gorn
returned to Cestus III a few days later, reinforcements
had already been in route. The Federation had also
dispatched other vessels. A short running battle took
place, with the smaller Federation fleet being forced to
flee. The Gorn then occupied Cestus III and dug in for a
long war.
What
followed was almost 6 months of border raids and minor
battles as both side prepared for war. That is until the
Kraagera Incident. A Gorn Commander reasoned that this
conflict might be a mistake and that proper
communications was needed. In a daring raid he drew a
Federation patrol into battle and managed to kidnap
about 15 crew members, including the Captain of the USS
Loki. For the next 10 days the Kraagera ran for Gorn
space with federation ships in close pursuit. However
the two Commanders where finally able to work through
the language barrier and begin a meaningful dialog.
A few
weeks later the Romulans succeeded where peace talks
where stalling. A Gorn Ca had been caught by Romulan
forces along the border. the CA turned to run and the
closest available ships was a small federation patrol.
The Gorn Commander ran for the Federation border, hoping
the Rom would turn off or the that Federation and
Romulans would be so busy with each other he could slip
away. The federation Commander however rushed to the aid
of the Gorn vessel, risking destruction of his own ship.
The Gorn where so impressed by this that talks began in
earnest. Within a month the treaty of Cestus III is
signed, officially ending many months of hostilities and
forging an alliance between these tow races.
To this
day the Gorn/Federation alliance seems to be the only
such pact based on mutual trust and respect. There are
still factions that consider the federation a threat and
the same holds true within the federation. Both sides
keep small but capable fleets along their mutual border.
Border
skirmishes are now an extremely rare thing. They do
still occur but 1 every 6 months is considered a lot. On
the whole peace is complete between these two powers. So
complete that they have mutually settled the Cestus III
system and formed a joint colony.
Romulans:
The Gorn and
Romulans first met almost 140 years ago. The initial
contact was peaceful with the Romulans withdrawing from
the area after a brief communication. However two weeks
later the Romulans arrived back to the same sector in
force. The result was a war that last almost 3 years.
The entire war was fought in and over the Shima
system.
The
Romulan and Gorn settled to an uneasy peace that the
Romulans again broke when they attempted to steal the
Gorns first true warp powered ship. With a few warp
powered vessels available the Gorn where able to out
flank Romulan forces and drive them from the Shima
system.
At this
point the Gorn could have driven the Romulans all the
way back to Remus, but for reason that will be explained
in the next relations section they chose not to drive to
deep into Romulan territory.
For almost
20 years the Gorn enjoyed peace along the Romulan
border, however it was not to last. the Romulans, with
their newly developed cloaking device attacked deep into
Gorn space. The cloak effectively neutralized the
advantage that warp drive had given in a strategic
sense, the Gorn now had to guess where the Romulans
would strike. For six years this war raged and finally
the Romulan withdrew, having suffered to many loses to
sustain the fight.
The
Romulans continued to stage minor raids into Gorn space
but no major battles took place. However after almost 25
years of this minor skirmishing the Romulans struck a
nerve when they raided and destroyed a clutch of 1000
eggs being transported to Ghdar to be blessed by the
Mistress of Fertility. The Gorn where outraged and
launched a massive offensive. The Romulans were able to
hold the Gorn offensive down with a numeric advantage
but not until they had lost a great deal of territory.
This particular war lasted for almost 5 years. A treaty
was negotiated but was never actually signed by the
Romulans.
This
history shows a trend that has been a bother to the Gorn.
While there have been lulls in total warfare, in truth
the fighting never has stopped, only slacked off. The
Romulans pose a constant threat and the Gorn 3rd Fleet
is on constant military alert.
Rumors
abound in the 3rd Fleet control area that Romulans
capture Gorns for use in hunting sports. They treat the
Gorn prisoners like animals. Federation and Gorn
Intelligence Agencies deny this practice exists, however
the Gorn military is actually glad the rumor abounds.
this keeps the fear of the Romulans high and makes it
easier for Space Command to request new ships for the
3rd Fleet.
Paravians:
This piece of
Gorn history is little known and most outsiders have
never heard it. The Paravians where an avian based race
that existed core ward of the Gorn home worlds, about 5
light years distance. The Gorn first met the Paravians
about 20 years after the start of unification. First
contact was peaceful and talks where opened quickly.
Discussions revealed that, like the Gorn, the Paravians
had been planted on their planet. Examinations revealed
that the Paravians appeared to be a genetic mutation of
the Gorn species.
During
these discussions a number of prejudice views where
exhibited by the Gihadr. Similar views where also being
stated on the Paravian home world. In fact the Paravians
had legends of lizard based creatures that where demons
that plagued their race. Paravians religious leaders
whipped the race to a frenzy and they began a jihad
against the Gorn.
Luckily both races did not
have much in the way of FTL ships so the war was slow
starting. The Gorn fell back at first, shocked at the
viciousness of the attack. However the three Gorn worlds
where able to produce a more abundant
military and soon the Paravians where being driven
back.
The Gorn
attempted on a number of occasions to negotiate a
peaceful settlement but the Paravians would hear none of
it. Finally the Gorn drove them back to their home
world. They could easily be destroyed but the Gorn where
determined not to be the monsters the Paravains thought
they were. Rather than destroy them, the Gorn eliminated
all Paravna vessels and held them captive on their
planet with a small garrison. This worked for almost 20
years, during which time the Gorn constantly tried to
negotiate a peace, but the Paravians would not talk of
peace.
This whole
affair should have been over, but a tragic ending was in
store. A Sunsnake entered the Paravan system. Gorn ships
tried to stop it as it drove toward the Paravan sun. The
Paravians where warned but dismissed it as Gorn lies.
The sun went nova as the Sunsnake dove into it. The
entire Paravan race was destroyed.
This has
caused a deep and permanent racial shame in the Gorn.
They feel as if it was their fault that an entire
species was lost. The truth is the Paravian anger and
racial bigotry destroyed them. To this day the Gorn have
pulled back each time they could rid the Galaxy of the
Romulans. They are worried the Romulans would fight to
the death rather than surrender and destroying another
race is something the Gorn will not allow to happen.
(The details of the Paravians can be found in SFB
Captains Module 6)
Orions:
As mentioned
in the section about the Guardians Errant. The Gorns
have a decent relation ship with most of the Orion
Cartels. However one Cartel operates in Gorn space and
openly defies the Gorns attempts at communications. As
such the Gorn have a much less cordial attitude.
With the
Cartels that operate in other Kingdoms, the Gorns
maintain a good working relationship through the
Guardians Errant. Providing weapons and manpower in
return for information. Publicly the Gorn are actively
against the Orions.
The one
Cartel operating in Gorn space is another matter. The
Gorns are at active war with this Cartel and destroy
their ships on site. Gorn pleas to the other Cartels are
met with resistance, however the Gorns need their
intelligence network so they cannot provide too many
sanctions.
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