Dragon (Draco Sapiens)

"Just as how now we boldly explore the galaxy, so did the ones who came before us, and in their curiosity about our ways, they may have decided to come and dwell among us like either one of us, or playing with the primitive minds and be worshiped as gods. For any of these scenarios, those who visited our world and countless others, left little to no evidence to their influence, allowing their presence to fall into legend, if so wished our ancestors."

—Killian, Abigail. The History from Before Time, 2236

One of the oldest societies in existence and hinted to be one of the first to travel to the stars, the dragons are a race of humanoids with mammal, amphibian and reptilian traits, defying terran taxonomy and Darwin’s theory of species adaptation. In total having five subspecies, each with characteristic traits to them. They are technologically advanced despite the archaic look of many of their creations. It is one of the few conservationist societies, aiming to keep their legacy instead of losing all that they mean to an emerging intergalactic society or even conquer the galaxy by using their advanced technological prowess and intellect. They also have a fully theocratic government, something they pride themselves in having.

History

It is uncertain where is the home-world of the dragons or what has happened to it. Their history records begin when they already were a star faring people, with everything prior to that having been lost or erased. But they currently inhabit a former Class M planet, now Class K, called Venthur. Venthur is the third planet of its star system and the only inhabitable planet, with two natural satellites, Ni'rah and Feh-nesh. It is located on the edge of the Gamma Quadrant, much like Earth is on the edge of the Alpha Quadrant.

The Fall of Venthur

As the years passed, the star of Venthur started to dim, emitting less light and radiation, becoming a black dwarf. It started to affect the ecosystem of the planet quickly. Flora started to die with the insufficient light. Fauna started to disappear as there was no Flora for the bottom of the food chain. The planet’s temperature started to drop fast. With no Flora, no Fauna and the temperature drops, the climate of the planet also started to shift. Winds that would normally follow a natural path, often stopped by the trees and geology of the planet, no longer have a natural deceleration. Storms would frequently scorch the planet. Because of the inevitable fate of the planet, the dragons now face a dillema. Hold onto the planet and try keep it alive by using their science and technology, or abandon the planet and colonize another Class M one.

Determined to follow the first option, the dragons started to elaborate ways of keeping the planet alive for a little longer. By using the thermal energy from the core of the planet and increasing the atmospheric green house effects in a climate control center, they managed to control the storms to an extent, time enough to save samples of all the natural species from Venthur in environmental domes spread across the planet. One of the domes was called City of Venthur, built near a mountain where was located the center of knowledge of Venthur, the Dragon Academy and the Judicators’ Citadel, all inside the large mountain.

The Fall of the Dragons

As the years passed, Venthur became a barren planet, with fast winds that does not allow anything to grow or to survive. All life is kept inside the domes, samples of all animal life and vegetation, kept from extinction in simulated environments. This also started to affect some dragons psychologically, not being healthy for them to stay inside domes for this long, using recycled atmosphere, no matter how big the domes are. The subspecies Fire, Wood and Metal, in specific, felt a difference in fertility and lifespan. In about a thousand years, their lifespan was halved.

Seeking to reduce the toll on their own people, the Seven Judicators from Venthur agreed in starting a program of colonization. They would look for other planets with two criteria: First, a secure and isolated Class M planet to stay away from the expanding interstellar civilizations; Secondly, uninhabited by any form of sapient life, so they may come and not fight for survival with another civilization that has no fault in the dragons’ fate.

With the launch of the program, all dragons of the aforementioned subspecies embarked in twelve colossal arkships in order to hopefully find such a new home for them, while the remaining two subspecies, Water and Earth, were responsible for developing and building the arkships. A small population of about a hundred million dragons stayed on Venthur, all from Earth and Water subspecies, along with the seven judicators.

Dragon of the Seas

One of the twelve arkships was called Dragon of the Seas in rough translation. The original name is hardly pronounceable by non dragons. It was being escorted by a Heavy Cruiser called Udas Kazro, under the command of the dragon of Water subspecies, Se'thi, son of Odhur. Dragon of the Seas was the only one not having any of the Metal or Wood dragon subspecies. After many centuries of search, the other eleven arkships could not be contacted anymore, with Dragon of the Seas being the remaining of them. Now the dragons not only lost two of their subspecies but also all hopes of ever colonizing another planet again. In order to not risk more lives, Dragon of the Seas was ordered to not continue with their mission to look for a new home and return to Venthur.

On the way back to Venthur, Dragon of the Seas and Udas Kazro were attacked by a group of Dominion warships. Overwhelmed by the firepower and tactics of the Dominion fleet, the two drakean ships tried to send a message to Venthur, warning about the new threat to their very existence. But it seemed the Dominion fleet was jamming their communications, perhaps as an attempt to prevent the dragons from calling for help. The only other course of action they could take, was flee to the Bajoran wormhole and hope that the interstellar societies they were avoiding for so long, could help them to live another day. Udas Kazro was already badly damaged and couldn’t follow Dragon of the Seas for long, so they stayed back to buy them even if only a few seconds. The captain of Udas Kazro, Se'thi Odhur, were never seen since, deemed KIA to save the dragon people aboard Dragon of the Seas.

On the way to the Bajoran Wormhole, the Dominion fleet finally catched up with Dragon of the Seas’ ludicrous warp speed and restarted the attack. As the last line of defense for the civilians aboard Dragon of the Seas, the guard of Venthur, composed only by dragons of Fire subspecies, prepared themselves for any boarding party. As fierce warriors with well developed combat tactics, they stand against the dominion intruders, even though they were outnumbered by ten to one. Despite the clear disadvantage in numbers, the guard was successful in keeping the intruders at bay. Dragon of the Seas had become a battlefield of different technological and tactical approaches. Critical stations were protected and shields were strong enough to withstand all the firepower the dominion fleet could use against them, although Dragon of the Seas could not stand on its own in combat, being only a really big carrier with essential weapons, not a battle cruiser.

The Fire dragons were also formidable combatants, with physical strength and endurance unmatched by the Dominion forces, not to mention good strategy and defense to protect the civilians and the critical areas of the ship. Considering how it was built with a mix of Ancient and Contemporary technology, there was no hope for the invading forces to hack on the systems to continue their advance. And the dragons were also willing to do anything to stop the advance, even as far as sacrificing some of their own to protect the civillians. There was virtually no way of pushing through.

Water and Stone

As time passes, the dominion forces started to use more aggressive and brutal tactics to try push their way through. There had already been way too many sacrifices to keep them at bay and the fire dragon forces could not afford to lose any more brave people, men or women. This forced the commanding officer of the arkship to consider an evacuation plan. If their enemies wanted to take control of Dragon of the Seas so badly, they may as well blow it up with all of them inside but for that, all the civilians would have to evacuate. But how to do that without anyone to buy them time on the outside?

Seeing how the shields of Dragon of the Seas were, so far, enough to resist the fire from the fleet but nothing would stop them from calling for backup if they deem necessary. They had only one opportunity to cover for the escape. The commander then created a plan, but it was too risky. They would focus the energy of the Solar Core into the main photon lances. Usually those lances were designed to cut through asteroids but with enough power, they could become powerful weapons. The downside was that once they used the energy of the Solar Core, it would bring shield efficiency to the bare minimum, not able to withstand any attacks.

The Final Ember

With the plan set, they would fire on a very specific pattern that would damage the ships but for that, they had to be on a predictable pattern and not give them any impression of what their plan is. For that, they had to retreat and let the dominion forces in, taking the civillians to other places. With that done, the evacuation plan started.

The civillians were taken to escape shuttles, getting ready for departure. Once all of them were ready, the intruders were allowed to advance. This invited more of those troops aboard Dragon of the Seas. It was near one thousand troops, all pushing foward. When this was done, huge blast doors separated the warzone from the rest of the arkship. The combatant dragons were transported away from there and all the power was down, including life support and the artificial gravity. A few seconds later, the shields and airlocks were disengaged, venting all those troops into space. Sure there were a few that were teleported away in time but that action left the fleet open to attack. It was when the Solar Core's energy was directed to the photon lances. With the command given, photon beams were fired from Dragon of the Seas, literally slicing the enemy ships in formation and causing core rupture in others, destroying them.

This was the time they needed to launch all escape shuttles from the arkship while the minimal crew stayed behind to keep buying the shuttles more time to escape. They continued using the photon lance emitters while they still could. The enemy fleet was damaged but it didn't stop them from launching their own support ships. It was then up for every single of them to defend themselves.

The Ember, Put Out

With this act, the remaining dominion ships started firing on Dragon of the Seas. With no significant shields, the arkship started taking heavy damage. It was now time to give the dominion what they really wanted. The Solar Core was set to overload. The containment was being breached and the gravity of the core started dragging everything around it to its center. Even if the dominion troops tried to force the remaining crew to stop it, even killing several of them, those dragons knew that the price of survival was high and were willing to pay it. The escape shuttles had many families and children and many of the parents were members of the crew. All they wanted was to make sure their children would live. This eventually lead to Dragon of the Seas being completely absorbed by the Solar Core, with the remaining crew and their anemies, which then collapsed.

As for the escape shuttles, Dominion support ships were deployed to stop them. Because none of those ships had significant shields and no weapons, it was easy for the Dominion to beam in many of those ships. One of them was the one which had Sara, a little girl, and her mother, Keiko. Keiko fought the intruder to death, guaranteeing her daughter's survival. Hearing her mother's last words, that was the last time Sara has ever seen anyone of her family. The escape shuttle then went through the bajoran wormhole and found it self not too far away from Deep Space Nine.

With still dominion forces pursuing the shuttles they could, one of them went through the wormhole and aimed to destroy it but it was saved by USS Defiant. Sara was then brought to DS9 to receive medical care.

Government

The dragons are a theocratic people, relying on their God, referred only to as The Sovereign, as their leader. It is based on faith and prayers, as well as the Sacred Manuscripts, the interpretation of how their people will be moved forward. The Sovereign is many times compared to the God from Jewish culture on Earth, seeing how some laws and teachings have the same principles but with different circumstances.

Their economy is based on trades, derivative from their tribal origin. Capitalism, as well as communism or socialism are alien concepts for them. They also prioritize the well being of the population, giving equal and indiscriminate access to water, food and other basic needs. Even their leaders and important families are not given special treatment.

For solving disputes, seven judicators were called from among the dragons, each masters of specific areas of knowledge and representing the interests of the people. The judicators live in the Citadel of Venthur, located on top of the Academy, also being teachers in the Academy. Each of the judicators are:

• Master Se’thi: The youngest of the judicators. He is the fleet commander and commanding officer of Udas Kazro. He teaches Logic, Strategy and Math;
• Master Beth: She is the keeper of xenologicical knowledge and teaches Biology, Natural Technology and Languages;
• Master Alach: He is a scientist, medic, researcher and teaches Physics, Metaphysics, Chemics and Mechanics;
• Master Selara: The second youngest of the judicators. She is a Record Keeper and teaches History, Ethics, Ancient Technology, Martial Arts and Wellbeing/Health;
• Master Khaldras: The oldest of the judicators. He is a master of Psionics and energies of nature. He teaches Enerbending, a form of manipulating many forms of energy with your body as the conductor;
• Master Eldide: The second oldest of the judicators. She is a Judge in Court and teaches Philosophy. Sociology, Politics and Psychology;
• Master Arytol: He is a cook and teaches Aesthetic, Visual Arts, Music, Cooking and Entrepreneuership.

Master Khaldras is the only Fire Dragon among the seven, with the others being either Water or Earth Dragons. The Water Dragons are Se'thi, Beth and Eldide. The Earth Dragons are Alach, Selara and Arytol.

Society and Culture

The seven judicators are leaders for the dragons, a peaceful people of former starfarers. Believed to have influenced many alien species minimally and sometimes even seen as gods by some of them, although an undesired outcome. They are not gods or even titans. They all live in Venthur, a planet believed to have been initially one of the colonies they established, not being their actual homeworld. The culture of the dragons also resemble the Israel culture to an extent, including feasts, work cycles and many laws have the same principles.

The language of the dragons seem to have root phonemes with the Vulcan language, with several basic roots being shared. The language itself is referred to only as language, with no specific name. Many times, it is referred to as dragon language or dragon speech, to differentiate from other languages.

Another custom is closely tied to how they treat each other. The dragons see one another as either friends of family, with a strong sense of solidarity and selflessness. They practice what is written on their sacred manuscripts and it is the basis for their behavior and mindset. A curious side effect is how they have a very pure and naive view of others, even when it comes to sexual matters. There is equality for both men and women and none have privileges or disadvantages. There is no distinction between sex and gender, even less the idea of socially constructed gender roles, as everything is followed to the letter from what is in their manuscripts and they have no problems in doing that.

They are organized in families, or houses. Families are crucial for the base of the society, not being allowed any form of divergence from this system. A man or woman who is incapable of continuing their genetic lineage is seen as bad omen to that family and is quickly started an investigation to find the cause. Because their species is close to extinction, cases of sterility are unwanted and all dragons value fertility and fecundity in their families. One of the first subspecies disappear to low fertility and fecundity, were the Fire Drakeans. Those were affected by the inhospitable and unfriendly environment of Venthur.

Philosophy and Beliefs

The dragons are extremely conservationists regarding their culture and legacy, often seeing specific practices with frowned faces or even aggressiveness. One of the reasons of isolating themselves from the other interstellar societies is by fear their culture or way of life would disappear with the pressure of other cultures, such as human.

While a very rational and logic people, they hold onto their principles as fundamental rules of their existence, not believing in truth being defined by logic or science, saying that the science and logic may fail to explain but the truth is right in front of you all the time, not stopping from existing even if you judge it impossible.

Another dragon teaching is that you must be well in your relationship with the The Sovereign and trust his wisdom above all else, judging the self code of righteousness flawed and untrustworthy, after all, people may change while the principles of The Sovereign are eternal. Just like the universe follows the laws of physics, so your life must rely on the absolute. You may question, so your understanding is increased, as they shun the blind faith.

Technology

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

—Arthur C. Clarke

The dragons are very advanced technologically. Their technology is divided by two categories: Ancient Technology and Contemporary Technology. Sometimes the line dividing the two is not well defined, with pieces of technology mixing the two kinds, like the form of travel used aboard spaceships. The dragons of Earth subspecies are responsible for all their technological development, while the Water subspecies are responsible for building them.

Ancient Technology

This is the most advanced category but also the less used due to its dangerous nature. Its range spans across artifacts made out of rock, gemstones, wood and iron. Large batteries contained in a gemstone with self sufficient capacity as long as its energy output is not abused are an example. It is the kind of technology used for Enerbending.

Another example are stone panels. They could be seen as a regular stone wall but with carvings that glow and can light up fully functional displays over the surface with touch sensitivity.

Because of the reduced use of Ancient Technology, there aren’t many artifacts in use and the few there are, are of restricted access or fully prohibited.

Contemporary Technology

This is the most common kind of technology used by the dragons. It is similar to the technology used by the most notable species from Alpha and Beta Quadrant, including humans, but significantly more developed. It uses regular science and mechanics for its construction and consists of about 80% of all their technological abilities.

The most notable pieces of technology are the weapons, ranging from photon blades, firearms and spaceship weapons, to armors, energy shields, both for personal use and in spaceships. These weapons are an integral part of their combat training. Master Selara is known for using light armor and personal shields, along with a scythe-like photon blade in combat, while Master Se’thi uses heavy armor, personal shields and two bracers which light up two photon blades.

Biology

The biology of the dragons varies considerably depending on the subspecies. But for the shared traits, the dragons are stronger than the average humans, being compared to the natural strength of Vulcans, like Spock.

Water Subspecies

Merga, a Water Dragon supersoldier

Those are the Dragons with the highest variations in both size and appearance. The shortest adult dragon is 5’5” tall while the tallest can get 10 feet tall. They are also separated into three categories, all based on what kind of legs they have. The plantigrade can naturally augment their speed and dexterity. The digitigrade can also augment their jumping force and reduce landing strain. The ones with tentacles can levitate.

The water dragons also need to keep themselves hydrated at all costs, as it is vital for them. This amphibian trait of them allows them to breathe both in an atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen, as well as underwater, extracting oxygen from the water with their binary respiratory system through electrolysis. Their respiratory system also allow for more efficient oxygen extraction and transport in the blood stream as required for activities. But just as easy it can be extracted, it is to be used. Allied of the high metabolism, a Water Dragon may feel the effects of thin air faster.

They have horns on the head and fin shaped ears. The tragus gives place to a membrane that closes on the ear canal and controls the ear pressure in an easier way when underwater.

The skin of the water dragons is smooth and impermeable, not giving a rough and dry feel of a human skin, for example. It does not have pores to allow sweat to come out, instead letting the upper layers of skin flake off when dehydrated. This is natural to happen and does not pose health risks to the dragon unless severely dehydrated, which is when it would begin to open wounds due to the brittle skin. The skin also gets pale in these circumstances, becoming almost white. The natural skin color for water dragons is either turquoise, pink, purple or dark gray, with a shade of blue. The reason for such variations is for the fact it happens because of light refraction.

Earth Subspecies

Cordelia, an Earth Dragon princess

Those dragons are the subspecies with the least variation in size and appearance, with the adult ranging from 5’9” to 7 feet tall. They also don’t have the plantigrade and digitigrade separation, being all of them only plantigrade.

The earth dragons can live in extreme environments easier than water drakeans, also compared to vulcans and their reduced need for hydration.

Their horns are usually golden colored and cone shaped, with many horns. A typical earth dragon has from two to four pairs of horns, with one pair being on top of the head and the other pair coming from the jaw. Additional horns may be on the cheek or before the ears.

The skin of an earth dragon is dominantly an orange-ish brown, with very few exceptions being the rare albino and melanistic conditions. It is also rugged, having a structure of micro scales over most of the body, making the skin slightly more resistant to cuts. The micro scales does not cover the face, palms, feet and crotch, being a regular skin comparable to the one of humans.

Fire Subspecies

A fire dragon

The fire dragons are considered the most beautiful in dragon standards. They are usually stronger, with higher metabolism rate, higher even than the water dragons but not as well heat managed, resulting in higher body temperatures for the fire dragons but still being considered normal for this subspecies.

The epidermis is thick and resistant, similar to leather, and protects the body in situations of extreme environments, such as temperatures above 120°F or lower than -4°F. The skin is also highly cut resistant. Blades would be less effective against a fire dragon in combat, requiring much sharper blades, bullets or particle weapons to cause real damage. Less resistant areas of the skin still exist, those usually being colored light brown, while the rest of the skin is either red, dark brown (darker than for Earth Dragons) or black. Those less resistant areas of the skin cover regions such as chest, midriff and crotch, as well as feet sole, palms, lower jaw and neck. The rest of the body is covered in cut resistant skin.

The high body temperatures and the thermal sink that the skin is, keeps the Fire Dragons warm in extremely cold environments and only brings a minor inconvenience when in extremely hot environments. Only temperatures above 212°F and lower than -94°F can cause serious damage to the organism.

The muscle development is equally ready for extreme environments, having a natural toning on all members of the species, young and old. It is extremely rare for a fire dragon to be overweight or have a bit of a chubby look, unless it is conditioned to such situation. They are very strong, in the same levels as the water dragons, as the water dragons are considered the physically strongest subspecies of the five, although they may not be the most resistant.

Wood and Metal Subspecies

Little is known about the wood and metal subspecies, likely because of the historical void in their registries, starting from before they were extinct. They are still separated because of the genome that would bring to genetic illnesses if specific subspecies crossbreed with one another. The subspecies in specific are Earth and Water, Metal and Wood, Water and Fire, Wood and Earth, and Fire and Metal. Any other crossbreed of these subspecies would not result in genetic illnesses. The name of the subspecies were given based on the Wu Xing cycle, assumed to be one of the concepts the dragons left on Earth for the people from antiquity.

Reproduction

The dragons are all egg laying creatures. After sexual intercourse, it begins a period of nourishment for the mother. The mother’s hunger is increased by many times so the nutrients would be not only for her but the future newborn as well, being all deposited in the uterus. After the initial three months, the egg is fully formed and laid out. Until then, it looks like a regular human pregnancy set on fastfoward. There are no cases of multiples in a single egg as the genetic potential for this was lost. Also, for the size of the egg, the pelvic bone on females is slightly larger than for human females, as the egg needs to go through it without breaking.

After the egg is laid out, the hatching process begins and lasts for seven months. If for any reason, the temperature drops or the calcium shell of the egg shatters, the offspring cannot continue development and is deemed dead. The dragons are also considered very fecund, as after the eggbearing time of three months, the mother is ready to resume her normal periods cycle with no interval between conceptions, which is different from many viviparous species, including humanoid. The fecund nature allied with the high lifespan, allows a single dragon couple to populate an area in a relative short time, becoming a large tribe.

Known Instincts

Perception Boost

A unique moment when a water dragon’s perception is increased and augmented by their natural speed augmentation along with high levels of adrenaline. This is used as a defense measure when the dragon is at life risk by another living being and needs to take decisions as well as move fast enough to preserve oneself. Experts in Martial Arts are capable of triggering Perception Boosts to perform maneuvers fast.

The Perception Boost is comparable to the Ba’ku ability to sense time actually slower than its actual speed. Along with the dragon natural speed augmentation, it is as if time went slower for the dragon. For everyone else, the dragon is a beast of dexterity.

Roaring Soul Challenge

A psychological challenge performed by dragons among themselves. It is a test of wits in a stare, using the dragon instincts to trigger a response on the one the dragon challenged. Usually it only works with other dragons. It is performed first by a demonstration of strength. The first dragon immobilizes the second in some way and stares into their eyes. If the second is emotionally unstable and lacks confidence, very often the challenge ends with the second dragon lowering its guard and collapsing in tears. If none of the dragons are show this or another sign of inferiority, the second dragon considers it as a threat to their well being and a fight would start. Now if the second has practiced mental discipline, either through meditation or other means, this dragon may resist the Roaring Soul challenge and not fall to an aggressive stand for self preservation.