>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Starfleet General Computer Library Transmission <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

>>>> CLASSIFIED GRADE 2 >>>>
>>>> ADD CLSS EYES ONLY >>>>

So-Shen Confederation (SSC):

Homeworld:
 it is clear that there is no unique homeworld due to the
    heterogenous character of the species and historical development

known worlds (visited by starfleet officers):

 Ranaan: Class M, earthlike
         Base of 2nd Confederated Fleet
         Federal Embassy
         Seat of quadrant administration
         one of the oldest inhabited worlds of SSC
         also known as the portal to the Alpha quadrant
 Sabtaa: Class P, iceworld
         coldest native-inhabited planet known
 Tekkt : Class L, somewhat like Romulus
         Home of a unique vulcanoid species

 more information on this topic is available

Overview on political and military topics:

 The SSC consists of more than 120 species and subspecies. Unlike the
 Federation they are not organised in planetary and global councils but rather
 in so called clans, depending on activities (trade, military, science, etc.)
 They are linked in dependecies that make it unlikely that any of them will
 gain a superior position.

 Little is known about the physical dimensions of the SSC. They have borders
 with the Romulan and Klingon Empire. Several attempts of both races to expand
 into So-Shen space have been repelled. There is a peace treaty between the
 Rihannsu and the Confederation and a de-facto armistice between the Klinzhai
 and the Shen. The Shen are known to have vivid interest to keep their
 neighbours from forming alliances against them. They also support their
 independence if necessary.

 Smaller Shen ships are allowed to cross Romulan territory, a fact that caused
 discussions in intelligence circles.

 The SSC is not expanding in any direction of the galaxy that has yet been
 reached or heard of by starfleet.

 It is said that the Klingon Empire suffered horrible casualities when they
 tried to invade Ranaan 130 years ago. Therefore the Klingon code of honor
 demands bloodshed whenever they meet a Shen. All commanding officers should
 take this into account.

 The Shen are supposed to be the best trained ground combat force in the
 known galaxy. Their battlefleet is small by number but their dreadnoughts are
 considered to take out even Borg cubes by size, speed and firepower. None
 of them has been seen outside the SSC, though. Their smaller units are fast
 and highly manoueverable. Their motto seems to be: What we can't outgun, we
 can outrun. Their crews are smaller than ours, but based upon their high level
 of training, they seem to be of equivalent overall performance.

 Nothing is known about preferred strategies. Shen exchange officers are under
 order to keep those strategies to themselves, as well as our officers are kept
 away from those informations.

History:

 The beginnings of the SSC are lost in time. First informations date back more
 than 20000 years. Early Shen were known as skilled, nomadic pirates. There
 are still some homeships drifting through Shen space. Some of them are more
 than 2400 years old and have been visited by starfleet personnel.

 About 3700 years ago, they founded their clan-system that provides political
 stability, wealth and progress.

 First contact between Rihannsu and Shen dates back 260 years. About 70 years
 later first contact with the Klinzhai was made, starting the first of four
 border wars between Klinzhai and Shen. The Klingon Empire did not succeed
 in any of those confrontations. It is very unwise to mention that in presence
 of Klingons because a fight to death with anyone who does will have to take
 place.

 The first encounter between Federation and the SSC took place after a failed
 experiment involving the still classified Transwarp technology. Since the
 ship, the NX-4881 USS Forward was damaged beyond repair, the crew decided
 to stay, forming the core of a human colony that now counts more than 400,000
 heads. 28 years later, the first Shen ship reached the outer realms of
 Federation territory, revealing the unsolved mystery. Since then, several
 waves of emigration took place.

 Current human representant is the former Starfleet Captain Jeffrey Clayton
 who was born on Ranaan and - by coincidence - once commanded one of the
 successors of the USS Forward (x-reference: Battle at Toriok, Intruder
 Incident). There is a high reward on his head from the Cardassians who
 lost their military outposts in the Toriok sector after the battles there.

 There are official diplomatic relationships between the UFP and SSC since
 stardate 47416.1, conducted by Ambassador Jessica M'Dane-Clayton.

Exchange officers:

 At this time, 4 starfleet officers serve on Shen ships as well as 2 Shen
 serve in Starfleet. Classified data on all of them is available.


               In-depth information on all topics is available.


Starfleet Intelligence via
Starfleet General Computer Library

>>>> Inofficial in-depth analysis of current political situation:

 As you can learn from the Shen background information, the Shen are an old
 powerful spacefaring society, made up of many different races and cultures,
 not unlike in this aspect to the Federation, but with a different internal
 structure.

 They are goverened by an assembly of representatives from all the clans which
 are largely independent apart from their interrelations and providing the
 community their service; most of the policy is run by them unless the big
 picture requires coordination on a top level. This explains why the Shen are a
 stable society without the need or desire to expand beyond the territory they
 possess - a fraction aiming for expansion would most likely collide with the
 interests of another clan which quickly would yank them back through the web
 of dependcies between them. Clans are made up of mostly any race in the Shen
 Confederation, with some local concentrations.

 The most powerful clans are the N'gchai as the warfleet and troops, the Shamal
 as the diplomats and the T'kell as the traders of the Shen. Most clans do have
 armed forces as militia, often commanded by rented or retired N'gchai
 officers, just as Shamal are rented for negotiations by many other clans.

 The location of the Shen Confederation beyond the Romulan and Klingon
 territory - part of it still in the Beta Quadrant, part in the Alpha quadrant
 has allowed little information to get across those two strong military nations
 with an aggressive policy towards everyone to put his nose in their affairs,
 least to speak of the Shen who maintain a comparable attitude towards
 curiosity, facing the Tal'Shiar and others on other borders, lusting at the
 peacefully grown rich worlds of the Confederation.

 There are diplomatic relations between the Federation and the Shen for almost
 70 years, finding friendly support in the human population that lives in the
 Confederation and the interest of the N'gachai who naturally have a strong
 position near the Romulan and Klingon borders. There is some exchange of
 officers between them ever since, but much is under disclosure and not all of
 the territory has been allowed to be visited.

 Renewed tensions with the Klingons over the past years, them searching for
 challenges after the union with the Federation and unable to find them against
 the Romulans (due to the appeasement policy of the Federation) have led to
 some tensions with the Federation which have been eased due to the opening to
 the Gamma quadrant which allowed the Klingons to gain new challenges there.

 It was always the policy of the overall Shen government - and stabilized by
 the structure of their clan system - to put a strong emphasis on maintaining
 their territorrial integrity and live after their own rules within. This
 policy has been emphasized in the border wars with the Klingons and Romulans,
 preferring a honorable peace with buffer states over the expenses of
 maintaining armed forces to cover for the area, spreading them thin where they
 could be better used elsewhere and against stronger threats. Expansion outside
 the observable area cannot be confirmed, it is believed that if it takes place
 it is done slowly and aiming for a consilidation of the Shen's settlements and
 influence.

 The general relations with the Romulans are widely based on the silent
 agreement to leave each other alone (after the wars and apart from the
 activities of the Tal'Shiar and their individual counterparts) and not waste
 energy on upsetting a sleeping tiger on both sides, with the Romulans
 considering their other neighbours more suited for expansionist attempts. It
 is known that several oppositional Romulan officers made their way across the
 borders, though, serving in a number of clans. The Romulan government choose
 to ignore it where it wasn't possible to put in effective countermeasures.
 Needless to say those activities didn't raise the level of popularity of the
 Tal'Shiar or the Shen, for that matter. It is rumoured that the Shen have a
 secret base and ships in the Neutral Zone.

 The relations towards the Klingons are less friendly, there is no official
 peace treaty or border agreement accepted by the Klinzhai and occasional
 Klingon provocations usually end with casualities. It is due to the order from
 the Shen government that no further steps have been taken to end the
 annoyance, mainly based on the bigger threat of the Borg and the Federation
 influence on the Klingons, trying to solve the matter in a diplomatic manner.

 The Borg, threat to all civilisations, are still far away from the Shen
 borders, but just like the Federation or Romulans and Klingons, they are known
 to the Borg and that knowledge makes them a target. The fortunate location of
 a galactic abyss between territory inhabited by Shen, Romulans and the
 Federation and the 'deserted lands' on the other side that is being destroyed
 and mercilessly assimilated by the Borg prevented them from extending their
 reign towards the Shen, but doesn't prevent them from trying. It is supposed
 that the recent attack on the Romulans was launched across the abyss, but
 further towards the Federation side. The fact that the Rihannsu were not
 prepared at the first encounter is now history. Why the Shen didn't assist
 them is not entirely clear, but it is rumoured that the Romulan praetors
 decided to rather ask the Federation with their known experience than take
 chances with the Shen who are not that open for being evaluated. This also
 goes along with the opinion in Shen circles that expending lifes and ships to
 save Romulus from its stupidity would weaken the defenses needed for a second
 wave of Borg intruders and give away Shen technology that might either fall
 into the wrong hands if the N'gachai couldn't operate freely or beat it's
 purpose due to the destructive power it bears.

 With the secret of the new wormhole revealed to the Shen, the situation
 changed. It was now clear that the reports about the Dominion indicated a new,
 clear and present second danger for the Quadrant and the threat to have
 reliable and known flanking powers, potential allies against the Borg, like
 the Federation and Romulans either replaced or in dire need for military
 assistance to keep them alive and a protection from a long line border war
 against assimilation. It quickly became obvious that a realistic projection
 of the future would need them both to protect the Confederation and a quick
 and preferrably silent coalition with them would be an invaluable asset for
 future encounters with the enemy. Of course any indication about that would
 weaken the Shens' position in negotiations. It was decided to send an envoy.

 Special Envoy Seleek, one of the main negotiators in the triannual Ferengi
 trade talks and influental in assembly circles took a leading role on the side
 of the pro-alliance group. The intention of the Shen was to traditionally
 minimize both their out of-territory-involvement and expense to control the
 Dominion threat, keeping their military force concentrated on the undoubtable
 next onslaught of the Borg yet gaining access to the experiences and skills of
 the Romulan and Federation, maybe even Dominion to counter it. A fraction of
 the N'gchai was considering the option of destroying the wormhole or gaining
 access to the technology to use it against the Borg. There are other, extreme
 parties both entirely opposing Shen involvement or considering to break with
 the overcome tradition and invade the Romulan Empire to take control first
 hand in the hope the Federation and Klingons would join a front against the
 Borg for a share of the territory and the end to a threat.

 With the failure of these negotiations nothing can be said about the position
 the Shen will take in future encounters.

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(c) of this concept and document 1993-96 by Armin Lenz, soshen@fenris.inka.de