Name: Neelaa
Homeworld: Neelaan Cwi (HIP 56948)
Status: Coalition Enemy, Orion Arm Superpower
History: With a written history going back almost ten thousand Earth years, and a space presence for nearly a thousand, the Neelaa are one of the most advanced species in known space. For most of their history they were a passionate people with a wide variety of cultures, languages and religions, not dissimilar from Earth. They spread out among the stars and as of 2543 control over sixty solar systems.
However, approximately four hundred Earth year ago, the Neetanii Order of Emotional Purity, a religious order, took over the government after their seventeenth world war. Enforcing a strict philosophy of emotional control and suppression, they became popular at first because Neelaa emotions had led more than once to global conflicts, as a result of their physiology. Medical efforts were problematic at best, and had bad side effects. However, the Neetaanii had devised meditation and mental manipulation techniques that allowed for almost total control and suppression of emotion, and the philosophy spread.
However, it was not until the discovery of the space warp drive that the Neetaanii Order's philosophies spread to the outer colonies. At first it was peaceful, but the majority of them rejected the philosophy. This led to the Order demonstrating why it was logical by using their emotions against the colonists. Acts the Coalition would call crimes against sentients and terrorism were allowed to be used against populations without emotional control, the idea being to show their people the futility of fighting without total emotional control. This strategy worked well, but resulted in thousands of refugees departing for other parts of space.
The first refugees reached Coalition Space in the 2510s, giving the Coalition their first ideas of what they might be facing with the Neelaa. However, nothing could have prepared them for their first contact. The Neelaa had already met other species in the past, and had offered them the chance to embrace the Order's philosophy. Some had, others hadn't. Those others were conquered, with their native cultures edited and altered to better fit with the philosophy. After initial assessment, the Neelaa would offer membership to the species they met. If refused, they would immediately declare war, as they maintained a technological and numerical superiority over all other species they had met.
The Coalition, however, was a surprise. Their initial predictions were that the war would last a mere six months. The Coalition managed to drag it out three years, but only began to put up a real fight with the discovery of the Otherspace drive. The Neelaa, however, were determined to crush the Coalition, as their continued success and victories against them were seen only as delaying the inevitable logic of their vistory. They had to break off overt hostilities with the entry of the Tur-Han into the war, and agreed to a treaty, placing them in a state of cold war with the Coalition. However, the Neelaa are patient, and continue their efforts to one day undermine and conquer the Coalition, even as numerous defectors and refugees swarm to escape their "perfect" society.
They kept three Coalition worlds following the war, one a human colony that willingly joined, a Birrin colony that the Neelaa would not let go of, and a Jii'ka world where the inhabitants committed mass suicide rather than allow themselves to be held captive by the Neelaa.
Physiology: The Neelaa are among the most human-like of any lifeform the Coalition has encountered, a significant reason for their interest in the Coalition. Their blood is composed of methemoglobin, a variety of hemoglobin that is the reason for their skin color of blue. It is also responsible for mood swings and light-headedness in humanoid-like beings, an explanation for their attempts to control their emotions so strictly.
The Neelaa evolved from arboreal ancestors and enjoy a considerable strength, speed, and agility advantage over humans, aided by their long, prehensile tails and large ears which help them with balance. They have very good eyesight in twilight conditions but only slightly better than humans at night or day. They have a fondness for insects and fruits above most other foods but are fairly adaptable in their diet. Their lifespans, thanks to their more advanced medicines, are in the range of 400 years, though there are reports of 500 year old members of the species still living.
Non-Order Neelaa practice a variety of body art traditions, either in the form of tattoos or skin carvings. Order Neelaa have no such tradition, which is a good way to tell the two apart.
Captain Constance Giiresbee, a Neelaa native-born on Earth and serving in the USNS.
A typical Neelaa starship in deep space.