Andorian

Homeworld - Andoria

One of the ringed gas giant Procyon VIII's moons, Andoria is the home of both the Andorians and their elusive Aenar subrace.

There is a controversy regarding the point of origin of Andorians, since many of them refered to Epsilon Indi IV and VIII as their Homeworld (called Fesoan in native language) . In fact, those were very early colonies stated as birthplace and mistaken as the race's point of origin. Like Humans, Andorians tend to name new places in relation to their old ones (ie. Terra Nova for Terrans). This confusion, and the peculiar biology of Andorians, have made some to speculate that they may origin from even farther, outside of what is actually known as Andorian space altogether.

Appearance

Relatively tall, slim humanoids, averaging between 1.7 and 2.1 meters, with a pair of antennaes protruding from their earless heads. Their shape and position and skin tone defines of which of the region the individual hails from.

Thallassan: Darker, with knobby antennae from the rear parietal lobes. The most numerous of all the sub-species (60%), mostly coastal dwellers and fond of technology.

Thalish: Grayer with flimsy, stalk-like antennae from the front parietal lobes, they are less numerous than either the Thallassan or the Bishee.

Bishee: Lighter-skinned with straight antennae rising from just above the forehead. They are the second most numerous "ethnicity " (30%). They tend to live more inland, are still semi-nomadic and more tradition-bound.

Aenar: White-skinned with small flimsy antennae like the Thalish. They are an offshoot of the Bishee and were considered a myth until the 22nd century when a small colony was found surviving at the poles. Born blind typically (their eyes move around and they can see colors) and powerfully telepathic, they are very pacifistic in nature. They are so secretive that even most Andorians never see them in the flesh.

The Andorian cellular physiology is based as much on cobalt as iron. This gives them a skin tone ranging from cerulean to a blushing purple. Their hair is white, ranging from silvery to platinum. They also blush purple when embarrassed. A protenous dye (HZB-41) comparable to melanin in Humans, is responsible for their spectacular coloration.

Physiology

The Andorians are Ghelnoid, which is a unique blend of mammalian (endothermal, inner skeleton, viviparous) and insectoid biology (chitin, antennae and osmosis circulatory system). Andorians are the only known sentient race in that unique category apparently exclusive to Andoria. The average Andorian body temperature is about 29º C, a consequence of their evolution in their incredibly harsh arctic-like planetary environment.

The heavy cobalt base to an Andorian's blood and tissue make them most compatible, on a cellular level, with Bolians, whereas both race's blood would be incompatible with a Vulcan's, for instance, and require great effort to make it compatible with Humans.

The race has a genetic disposition towards violent behavior. Imminent danger causes a biochemical reaction resulting in a increase in physical and emotional responses and in sensory input levels, which in turn enhance analytical and reasoning skills. Andorians do not succumb easily to pressure and actually get calmer in a crisis... until they become violent.

Despite their misleadingly fragile appearance, Andorians are almost as strong as Vulcans, able to lift at least twice their own body weight because of their denser bone and muscle tissue.

They are also at least as tough as Klingons. They have a higher cartilage-to-bone ratio in their skeletal structure, and a chitin-like cartilage-bone fusion; internal ridges of this quasi-chitin also compartmentalize organs from gross physical trauma. All of these make them more resistant to pain, injury, and soreness. Andorians take impact differently, and their more efficient circulatory system means they rarely get sore or stiff from over-exertion and never suffer numbness from a cramped posture; they do not experience discomfort from high humidity nor suffer frostbite or hypothermia in cold weather.

They in fact resist with ease extremes of coldness that could kill other humanoids outright. They also require sleep only for 3-4 hours over the 32 hours of the Andorian day. Neither diurnal nor nocturnal, they function equally well at any moment of the day.

Born ambidextrous, they are also natural marksmen because of their superior depth perception coming from their most unique and spectacular feature:the antennae. Their reaction time and speed is slightly above human norm due to their higher metabolism.

They do not have an efficient cooling system since their environment never required them to face heat (when they do sweat, they give out a fruity scent). Because they also have a higher metabolism than humans they are very susceptible to high temperatures. An Andorian could lose 10% of its body weight in as little as 2 days in climates near the boiling point of water.

Their diffuse circulatory system is extremely vulnerable to toxins. Entire cottage industries exist in some Orion Syndicate-controlled systems brewing poisons and drugs that work best on Andorians. Andorians require intramuscular injections (hyposprays do not penetrate their chitin) but injected medicines will also work quickly through their natural osmosis.

Andorians are more prone to shock than humans, even from minor injuries, and are more easily exhausted due to their higher metabolic rate. They can get infected, sometimes mortally if not properly treated, by phaser or disruptor damage.

Because their bones have the tensile properties of cartilage, they break messily (although it requires about 3 times the force necessary to break human bones); any injury which breaks an Andorian's bones will require a great deal of healing time, and cause severe pain.

Although none of the Andorian sexes is truly male or female as humans define them, they do accept male or female pronouns to ease interactions with the various two-sex species that dominate the universe, and to avoid unwelcomed questions about their biology, wich they do not discuss with offworlders.

The Antennea

The Andorian antennaes are unique organs literally functioning as a living multisensor array.

They act as an added pair of eyes (giving them quadriscopic vision, thus higher depth perception). The Andorian retina is composed entirely of intensity sensitive rods and is incapable of discerning color. Color comes through the antennae which feature a complex matrix of light-sensitive cones covering the spectrum of color visible to Terran eyes, even beyond, into limited infrared wavelengths.

they serve also as unidirectional ears effective from infrasonic to ultrasonic ranges.

They can additionally perceive variations of temperature and pressure, display definite aural sensitivity and provide a prodigious sense of smell.

All of this make them able to detect even shrouded Jem'Hadars. Some Andorians can also recognize familiar footfalls and heartbeats close-up, but this is a skill which takes as much practice as it takes for a human recognizing a friend by his after-shave.

The antennae also convey much more emotions than their few, rigid facial muscles:

Curving forward: polite attention or interest
Rigid and quivering: excitement or fear
Drooping: weariness or depression
Wringing and lashing: confused or upset
Slow writhing; sexual arousal
Wobbling wildly: intoxication or disorientation
Flattened: rage
Facing each other: shrug (slightly) or amusement (almost touching)

Andorians kiss by touching antennaes; when mating, a telepathic link is achieved and a deep bonding ensues, deeper than that of Vulcan mates. Not only can they sense each other over immeasurable distances afterwards, but the death of one causes such a shock that most Andorians do not survive the death of a spouse.

Psychology

Andorians regard themselves as a passionate, aggressive, even violent race. However, their character is much more complex. At first glance, they appear intelligent, even intellectual humanoids, deadpan and emotionless, very calm, rational and logical like the Vulcans. But in truth, their emotions can emerge with intense psychological and physical reactions.

Andorian history is one of conflict, though they do not battle without reason. The martial spirit is still very much alive in Andorian culture. Andorians are extremely disciplined, possessing a strong sense of duty and personal honor, and so they make excellent military officers.

Though they are stoic and largely unsentimental, they do respect, even revere, family ties. Andorians have little nudity taboos. Non-Andorian visitors will see much blue skin. Although not known for their charity and have few sympathies, they place their highest value on family.

Andorians are fond of technology, but insist on its use with respect for nature. For this reason, even their early wars of conquest were fought with a regard for planetary environment, and so the Andorians avoided much of the ecological devastation suffered by Terrans and many other cultures. Weapons of mass destruction were unknown and the very idea is still considered most barbaric.

They are hard-working and serious, often incorrectly viewed as humorless and irritable. Andorians have a complex set of propositional grammars to express humor; thus they do not tend to find human humor amusing, nor do non-Andorians tend to get theirs.

The harsh history of early Andorian civilization left a strong taboo against frivolity or wasted effort and so they feel uncomfortable when invited to purely recreational activities. Their curt refusals often make them seem prudish or unsociable, while in fact they simply have a strong cultural pragmatism.

Andorians are also reluctant to enter deep (romantic) relationships outside their immediate Keth (or quad), a tradition from the time of Krotus the Conqueror. This lack of a social skill reinforces the sense of isolation and distance that others perceive between them and other races.

Because of the importance of their antennae, Andorian psychology is deeply related to it. Offering antenna jewelry is a gift of deep friendship, if not courtship. The Andorian version of the wedding ring is worn on the left antenna rather than on a finger.

On the other hand, fear of damaging one is deeper than fear of castration to human males; loosing one equates blindness, deafness, castration and disfigurement all at once. They will regenerate within nine months - half that time with proper treatment of cranial massages and electro stimulation. Meanwhile the wounded Andorian will be handicaped; no color vision, reduced depth perception, deafness, and 48 hours loss of balance. Any hit will cause intense pain to an Andorian. Touching one uninvited is inexcusable rudeness, and threat or attack against it is legal ground for assault.

Their relative rigidness make Andorians almost deaf from behind and unable to catch an odor from their back. From this stems their deep aversion to duplicity and treachery; attacking from behind is the foulest form of dishonor and cowardice to them. Thus, they do not respect much cloaking-using cultures like Klingons and Romulans.

Mating

Andorians are able to reproduce only for 5 years after puberty; they are unique for having completely retractable sexual organs and 4 sexes; the males Chan and Thaan each have ¼ of the chromosomes; the female Shen has 1/2 of the chromosomes and a transfering organ for the female Zhen who carries the pregnancy within a marsupial like pouch with four teats inside it to nurture the embryo. Twins, triplets and quadruplets were more common in ancient times.

Females are generally taller than males and sexually much more aggressive. All subspecies are sexually and genetically totally compatible between themselves... but, because of their unique ghelnoid biology and reproductive mode, not at all with other humanoids... unless drastic and complex genetic manipulation would be involved in the manufacture and developpement of the embryo.

Andorian marriages traditionally were pre-arranged affairs between clans, with genetic profiling from birth as the basis for the future union of all the four partners, with all the social and political side-effects associated with such practices in most cultures, like on medieval Earth, or as it is still practiced on Vulcan. Although still strongly encouraged by society, today's modern way of life as a spacefaring culture allows it now to starts out like a human's would: Boy meets girl, they fall in love and want to get married. From there however it takes the peculiar Andorian twist: The couple must go and find another appropriate couple with which to form a complete, viable Quad. Andorian marriage bonds are stronger than just about anything. To an Andorian, the remaining three adults of the quad are life mates, even more important than children born to the quad. An Andorian forced to choose his spouses over his children in a medical emergency, or forced to duel his own father to defend the honor of his wife, will do so with little hesitation.

Because of this peculiar mode of reproduction, the Andorian species is decreasing in number with each generation. Today the danger of extinction is very real.

Recently, it was discovered that secret genetic resequencing research has been ongoing, unsanctioned by the government, that would reduce the 4-gender species to just 2, thus hopefully making the species viable. There is also a philosophical and political movement supporting this that has found a voice within the government despite the outrage voiced by the traditionalist segment of Andorian society, calling blasphemy this monstrous altering of what is considered the very essence of Andorian life and culture.

Diet

Although omnivorous, they have a mostly carnivorous diet because of the high level of complex protein their high metabolism requires. Lack of it will show in a noticeable discoloration of the skin.

Andorians have unique senses of smell and taste. For example, salt is spicy to them, and macho Andorians like to eat hearty Andorian, Terran, or Klingon meat dishes sprinkled liberally with salt. Some Andorian Starfleet officers drink highly salted Margaritas or Bloody Marys once introduced to them by humans. Other favorite drinks include sweet Agranu wine, as well as the earthy/rich ales brewed by Keth Endilev, and famous to non-Andorians as 'Andorian ale'.

Andorian Foods

Saysha: a barely edible beetle delicacy served on orbital stations to offworlders.
Impararay: a red bat meat served with tarrid.
Tarrid: a common beverage.
Hari: a bread.
Katheka: a coffee.
Fridd: like the chicory plant.
Srjula: a tea.
Talla: is a common drink made from bark.

Tuber roots are served in salad or in a pie; Andorian Flat Root is a vegetable; Ale comes in several varieties from blue (strongest) to yellow (foamy).

Common caffeine, even from chocolate, is almost poisonous to them and alcohol is highly intoxicating due to their osmotic circulatory system.

Andorian Language

Andorian language evolved from music. This gives a very melodic and mathematical quality to Andorian speech and thought, explaining much of their strange combination of deep passion and strict discipline. It is soft and somewhat eerie to other races due to the peculiar range of their earing apparatus. Some undertones are not easily perceived by other humanoids. Their ability to sense vibration and pitch is what turned music into language in the first place.

The Andorii Language (Graalek) reflects much of the highly stratified social system (clan, lodge, keth, individual), so firmly entrenched in the culture of Andoria, as well as Piin'tel, Aad'hozh, Em'phur, and their other colonies. The Andorian psyche is prevalent in all aspects of the language as much as their physiological peculiarities.

Writing came about much later and now exists in 2 form of scripts: symbolic and phonetic, the symbolic one is amazingly almost virtually identical to standard musical writing but without standard partitions.

Andorian Word List

Naming Conventions

Today, an Andorian's name is made of a first name followed by the family name,then finally the clan's name (i.e. Kheren Kalel Reiji). Some clans still make use of the traditional style, a combination of contracted paternal names, the gender designation, then a combining of the contracted maternal names, with the Keth-name at the end (i.e. Kheren Kalel Th'Ch'Lelleryll Keth Reiji). All of it being also part of the namesong. The clan name ending is not used anymore by most since the founding of the Federation, except in Parliament sessions and traditional ceremonies like marriage. When dealing with off-worlders, only the first name is used to ease contact and avoid insulting and disgraceful mispronunciations (i.e: Captain Kheren).

Andorian names are harsh sounding, often very long affairs, literally an entire song, difficult for foreigners to master. In their full traditional form, they are as much an identification system as a poetic description of a moment of great significance to the naming parent, similar to Japanese Haiku; with offworlders, Andorians simply go by the first word in their Namesong.

Sample Andorian Names

Keth names: Aniri, Claness, Endilev, Ghorev, Hrisvalar, Idrani, Kor, Raioth, Reiji

Male Names: Akeen, Akoval, Igrilan, Keval, Shran, Shras, Sorjei, Thalev, Theb, Theleb.

Female Names: Jaylas, Imaru, Lissan, Lyaas, Lyrya, Neruu, Schel, Tara, Tala, Tyvya.

Andorian Society

Originally a violent and warlike people, Andorians have now a surprisingly peaceful if strict, stable democratic society evolved from a clan-family system where artistic and martial values are both strongly emphasized. Although not unknown, obesity is despised because of this as a sign of laziness and weakness of both body and mind unworthy of a warrior. They do retain a strong dueling tradition and males and females shares equal rights, although motherhood is particularly revered, giving the impression of over protectiveness and nobility of the Sh'en sex and consequently showing more males within the military.

As might be assumed on a planet where weather conditions are severe and predators abound, Andorians evolved a clan-based social structure which has not yet been discarded. Andorians live communally in of 3 basic social structures, from largest to smallest:

Kethni (singular: keth), a clan. The biggest 300 kethni form the ruling council of Andoria, and clans come and go under strict rules. A keth is ruled by an atlolla, or 'chieftain'. Kethni do interrelate and intermarry. Andorian culture is based on the Clan. A Clan today is about 60 to 100 families banding together to pool resources and abilities. It tends now to grow around single lines of endeavor or related centers than just blood ties and location as in the past. More recently, Andorians have been able to transfer from keth to keth, but it is a long drawn-out legal affair. Some more-traditional Keths oppose this new way.

'Lodge', or temporary-but-stable community living amongst non-Andorian majorities. In a Starfleet's station, ship, colony, or outpost, it will combine several living quarters where all Andorians live. Families sometimes do not; but it is very rare for any single adult Andorian to live outside The Lodge, a formal term with deep significance. Andorians in lodges do sleep and dine communally, even in modern ones with side chambers for private use.

'Quads', or marriage structures. Often, once the quad has created offspring, they separate to pursue their own interests.

There are 4 traditional rituals among the Andorians.

The Nutak (Birth) is a ceremony held when a new Andorian is born - usually in triplets or quadruplets, or even in quintuplets - there is a four day “welcome” ceremony. They celebrate arriving to this world. In the last day, it receives a blessing from Keth's historian.Moments after birth, the child's genetic structure is mapped to match with the most compatible mates.

The Remali'y is the Andorian “turning age” ritual. It is a three day ceremony to celebrate adulthood. first day is alone with a mentor (preparation); second day is alone (meditation); the third day, a formal ceremony of acceptance among the adults(consumption).

The Fomel is the Andorian wedding. The Time of Knowing is when bondmates become aware of each other for the first time during their mid-teens. They each contribute a strand of hair to each other to be intertwined into a pendant or locket called a Shapla. Then they are taught The First Truth:

“One alone cannot be Whole. What one chooses, is chosen for all, what befalls one, befalls all. Their lives are yours... My life is theirs."

The wedding proper is a 10 day ceremony, involving the families, friends and more distant relatives. The 4 mates are in constant contact with all the people and unable to consummate their union. The first three days, they don’t even see each other, as they participate to “preparatory rituals”. A priest marries them all on the fourth day; the fifth and sixth are used for meditation, and then they have 3 days of celebration.

The Whole Vessel Law, legally allows bondmates to separate before reproducing through the shelthreth.

The Sending is a ritual performed as a funeral. Andorians see death as natural, but they believe in life after death. They don’t mourn so much, as they believe that the spirit is finally free. They have special places to bury their dead. All the pieces of the deceased's life are re-assembled through family and friends before sending them on. Involves several days of remembrance, eating, and dancing. There is included a Rite of Memory, a ritual performed by those closest to the one who has died when they record their memories of the deceased onto a crystal called the Rite of Memory.

They also wear a Mask of Grief, created by each individual attending the deceased's Sending, it is a mask representative of their feelings.

Education and Art

Andorians thinks highly of knowledge, culture, work and nature. They do not value recreation and sports, with exception of martial arts. The educational level in Andoria is very high; all villages have schools, and universities are in almost all cities. The high level of Andorians universities is known in all of the Federation. From age 3 to 12, it’s obligatory to attend primary school. There is a secondary school, that goes from 13 to 18, and upon graduation, university. Although only primary school is mandatory, barely 1.5% of Andorians don’t finish their university studies.

Art is another important factor in Andorian life. They cultivate their art, and value their artists. Their Academy of Arts is said to be the greatest of all the Federation and collector from all over covet their creations, from ceramics to music.

Andorian sense of community and team-effort show in their few sports and games. Andorians prefer team play to solo play; sports include kochek, a cross between hockey and jai-alai played between 3 teams wearing spiked footwear on ice, as well as team-based dueling and martial arts competitions. A warrior culture, their fencing and unarmed martial arts styles are embraced by all Andorians.

The most common Andorian blades are the chaka, an unwieldy three-bladed hand-weapon similar to the Klingon bat'leth and serving a similar honor-blade function, too heavy and awkward to carry in day-to-day use and reserved mostly for ceremonies; the hrisal, a lightly curved short-sword used most for duty functions; dueling however is done with a crescent-shaped serrated blade, the ushaan-thor which was originally an elaborated icepick used by miners for work and movement.

Andorians practice a devastating kick boxing art known as kharakom and a brutal wrestling art known as hleshvalath.

The 12000 rules of the Andorian dueling code is called the Ushaan. Duels are fought traditionally on white linens over ice floors, so that blood can be seen clearly and the duel ended at the appropriate time. Starfleet regulations allow Andorian officers and enlisted to participate -death in the ushaan is legally considered suicide. The ushaan consists of the duelists, 3-5 neutral representatives of the governing body or appropriate law enforcement agency at hand, and 2 professional 'recorders'. Starfleet regulations state that the Commanding Officer of a Starfleet ship or installation is to be one of the 'judges', regardless of race and ignorance of the code; by tradition, the CO should choose at least one neutral Andorian as one of the judges as well.

Because survival was the chief activity of the clan, religion, art and education were shaped by their relevance to it. Education, particularly technological, took precedence over art, which in turn took precedence over religion. Wandering neuters transmitted information in the same order; the result was that technological change spreads quickly, artistic innovation more slowly and religious development hardly at all. Thus, Andorian culture presents the peculiar mixed spectacle of space-age technology, medieval artistic development and religious forms of the Late Stone Age.

Andorian science began with advances in animal husbandry, ecology, veterinary medicine, defensive architecture, military engineering, and weapons technology. Such advances gave their discoverers advantages over their neighbors and thus spread rapidly, by conquest or taught by wandering neuters. This insured evolutionary direction toward greater intelligence, higher creativity and further technological progress.

The Andorian word for art derives from the ancient words for family amusement and ancestor glorification and it is not surprising that Andorian arts are somewhat limited in scope. The plastic arts are primarily decorative (including tapestried blankets and hangings, colorful pottery, intricate jewellery and embellished weapons and utensils), or functional (such as religious idols and icons, commemorative statues, family portraits and educational illustrations of clan histories).

Literature is limited to historical drama (popular mainly in urban areas), literary poetry (written and read primarily by wandering neuters) and song (usually folk ballads meant for the edification and amusement of clan gatherings). Andorian drama bears a strong resemblance to early Elizabethan theater of Earth in its length, complexity, structure, subject matter, language, and luridness; reviewers often complain that by the 5th act, the players are having difficulty moving about because of the numbers of bodies littering the stage. Literary poetry, although comparatively free and innovative in form, tends to confine its subject matter to mood pieces, usually love songs. Sung poetry is primarily of the sing along ballad variety.

A crucial part of Andorian tradition since Antiquity is the ushaan, a code of honor demanding a duel by someone for personal vengeance or honor retribution. However, there are over 12,000 amendments to the rules; among them a right of substitution, allowing each combatant to put up a replacement for themselves. Furthermore, each married combatant could postpone a duel indefinitely if there were no children to continue his claim. Additionally, the fight is called off if one combatant is disabled so that he can not continue the duel to it's pre-ordained conclusion (first blood, submission, death etc)

Government

Andorian society is balkanized into a single government with various parties represented. Before 400 years ago,the largest social structures where the multi-clan walled cities, until the last several centuries brought the notion of a central planetary government: first as an Empire, then back to a democratic oligarchy in the 22nd Century just before the founding of the Federation.

The Andorian Confederation is ruled by the Parliamentary Council, made of representatives of the keths.The main congregation of representatives is the Enclave (also found in all clan Keeps).

The Parliament is formed by representatives from the clans, and the number of representatives from each clan is proportional to the number of people from each clan. There are 64 electoral provinces represented, and all is overseen by the Presider, even though Andoria is still legally a Constitutional Monarchy, despite the fact that no single ruler had reigned over the planet in centuries. Thalisar the Last, who first united her people centuries ago, had deliberately died childless—but not before implementing the parliamentary system that she had created to succeed her, and which has governed Andoria ever since.

The Visionary Party and Modern Progressive Party are the largest parties currently residing in government. The Progressive Party currently rules Parliament. A new party, the Revisionists, is now heard in parliament, promoting the genetic alteration of the Andorian race to save it from extinction. They are forcefully opposed by the Traditionalists.

The Andorian military has no specific political power but it is well developed and influential. Definitely a militaristic warrior race, war is serious business to them, as underscored by the fact that, prior to helping found the Federation, their weapons had no stun setting, service in the Andorian Imperial Guard is considered most honorable. Military ranks have a great influence on social reputations.

Religion

With one exception, all Andorian religions view marriage as a secular social contract, honored but not promoted by the religious hierarchy. However, some fringe sects of Borvaism, a semi-idolatrous, philosophical warrior-religion referred to colloquially by some wags as 'Andorian Buddhism', promote 'hexes', or 6-person marriage for odd religious reasons. Most of these folks are considered 'fruitcakes' by other Andorians, as respected as Borvaism itself is.

Other Andorian religions include Eila Clahd, a back-to-nature faith decrying technological advancement; Emasha Yul, a polytheistic faith which is to Borvaism what Hinduism is to Buddhism; Hastra Bei Hastra, a very common non- idolatrous faith combining beliefs in reincarnation, purification of the soul, and strict scholasticism, with one wild high holiday a year to allow for a break from its relative asceticism; and Umarinism, a popular modern religious construct advocating the duty of Andorians to keep their passionate warrior nature alive and strong to set a holy example for the less passionate races of the Federation.

Andorian religion is simple, practical and utterly without theological speculation. Andorian "gods" are deified spirits of heroic ancestors or personifications of natural and psychological forces - or both. They have straightforward and practical functions (guiding their descendants, promoting fertility, protecting herds, etc.), and seen as having the attributes and limitations of their worshipers. For example, the war-goddess Larashkail is depicted as armed, embattled, enraged, and pregnant - the epitome of a fierce Andorian warrior.

The Breaking Myth

Relations to the Federation

A founding race of the Federation, Andorians are often credited for the more militaristic aspects of it, in counterbalance with Vulcan pacifism while Humans strike the perfect balance between the two.

Upon joining the Federation, Andorians,as the other founding races, reserved one starship of every 'flagship generation' to be crewed mostly by their own kind. Since the 2240s, the USS Eagle has been the name reserved for her, due to the similarities of the Terran Eagle to a similar Andorian bird, the Athilrith, symbolic of honor and nobility and the warrior spirit.

The original USS Eagle NCC 956 was a Constitution class explorer which served from 2247 to 2307 with regular refits; the USS Eagle NCC 956-A, a Constellation-class Exploratory Cruiser, lasted a similarly long 56 years until it was replaced by the USS Eagle NCC 956-B, an Ambassador-class Explorer, in the 2340's. When the Eagle-B was destroyed at the height of the Dominion War, there was a short but intense debate as to what class of ship would supply the Eagle-C. Some fought for the luxurious Andoria-class Explorer, meant for long-term deep space missions, and in fact pointed out that the Andoria class was designed explicitly to provide such a replacement. However, needs of the war led the more heavily armed, less luxurious, thinly disguised battleship that is the Sovereign-class Heavy Explorer to be the model of the new Eagle NCC-956-C, launched in 2374. The next 25th century version, USS Eagle-D, was expected to be of the upcoming NX-91001 class; but the scrapping of the design in favor of the newest 3 classes of starcruisers prompted the Andorians to request those designs to be made available for their next flagship.

Within the Federation the Andorians became well known for their efficiency in ship construction, Andorians winning many lucrative Federation ship building contracts, especially when more specialized warship classes were commissionned. The Andorian military have traditionally used bleeding edge technology. The designs produced for Starfleet use by the Andorians tend to be much more subdued than what they use in their planetary defense forces. Pure Andorian fleets tend to maximize available heavy weapons mounts at the cost of taxing the ship's reactor. It was because of this propensity for overpowering their ships that early Andorian designs were able to hold their own against their more advanced FTL-capable contemporaries.

Although a part of the Federation, Andoria continues to design and build its own ships for it's own planetary force, still calling it by it's ancient traditional name: The Imperial Guard. Most Andorians joining Starfleet have at least served a term within the Imperial Guard. Andoria also maintains the Andorian Starflight Training Institute for training the crews on its own ships. The flagship of the Andorian Force is always named Kumari in honor of the first ship to circumnavigate Andoria.

Outside of the Andorian system and its colonies, the Andorian ships and crews work under the control of Starfleet Command.

Modern Development

Although always involved in various ways, mostly in military or artistic aspects, more Andorians are now joining Starfleet since the apprehended extinction of the race motivates many to seek a solution in the vastness of the universe. The recent Dominion Wars and the impending danger of war with the Klingon Empire and a possible renewed Borg invasion has also stirred their martial spirit. This generation is undoubtebly the most prominent one to be seen applying for Starfleet Academy.

Other Pages

Andoria - Andorian Word List - Andorian History - The Breaking Myth