The Krill-Planetary Union conflict was a long-standing hostility between the Planetary Union and the Krill. According to Captain Ed Mercer, the conflict started well before he was born and hundreds of thousands had died as a result.[1]
While no official state of war was ever declared by the Union,[2] the conflict was marked by at least a century of military battles and Krill raids on Union colonies from the 24th century[n 1] until early 2421.[1]
The conflict was temporarily suspended by a ceasefire agreement signed in February 2421, shortly after the Battle of Earth, and solidified by the signing of the Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3 a month later. By July, parties had entered treaty negotiations.[3] Whilst the Union strove for a permanent peace, the Krill Ambassador maintained that the ceasefire would last only so long as the Kaylon threat remained.[4] Despite this, in 2422, the two parties were in final talks for a more formal treaty. These negotiations, however, were shattered by the election of Teleya to the position of Supreme Chancellor. She immediately executed the previous Supreme Chancellor, Korin, and attempted to do the same with the Union President, Alcuzan, placing the two powers firmly back on war footing.[5]
Following the expulsion of Moclus from the Planetary Union, representatives from the Moclan government approached Teleya regarding the possibility of an alliance between the two governments. Around the same time, the crew of the USS Orville developed a super-weapon capable of utterly decimating Kaylon vessels. They used the weapon to force the Kaylon to cease hostilities, but Admiral Perry, believing the weapon should have been used to completely destroy the Kaylon, turned it over to the new Krill/Moclan alliance in the hope of accomplishing this aim. Ultimately, the Planetary Union with the help of Kaylon forces succeeded in capturing and neutralizing the weapon, as well as capturing Supreme Chancellor Teleya. The Planetary Union and the Kaylons then formed an alliance against the combined Krill/Moclan forces, with the Kaylons being granted a provisional seat on the Planetary Union Council and the possibility of full membership into the Union if they behaved in good faith.[6]
Notable battles[]
- Battle of Outpost 73
- Battle of Epsilon 2
- Rescue of the USS Druyan
- Battle of Kastra 4
- Raid of Chara 3
- Battle of Earth
- Battle of Krill
- Battle of Draconis 427
Early conflict[]
The Planetary Union came into conflict with the Krill at some point by the mid-24th century. Over the following decades, hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost in the conflict.[1][n 1]
The earliest known clash was the Battle of Outpost 73. In 2401, the Krill launched a surprise attack on Union Outpost 73, where young officers Gordon Malloy and Lieutenant Orrin Channing were stationed. Orrin was able to save the lives of Gordon and several others when they were caught in the wreckage, but lost his wife Sophie and newborn daughter Leyna. While Gordon made it to a Union hospital, Orrin was captured by the Krill and taken to a prison camp, where he would spend the next 20 years.[1]
2419[]
In 2419, a Krill destroyer attempted to steal a quantum accelerator device from the science station on Epsilon 2. Their efforts were thwarted when the USS Orville triggered the device aboard the destroyer, causing it to break apart and explode.[7]
A Krill destroyer attacked the colony transport USS Druyan, forcing the Orville to leave its watch at the Bio-ship to intercept them. The enemy vessel was destroyed with only minor casualties inflicted on the Druyan.[2]
The Kakov attacked the Union colony planet of Kastra 4 but was defeated by the Orville.[2]
The Yakar destroyed the Union planet of Chara 3. Several months later, its Captain, Haros, received orders to bomb the colony planet of Rana 3. The ship was infiltrated by Union spies, Captain Ed Mercer and Helmsman Gordon Malloy, who sabotaged the ship's lighting system and killed the Krill crew. The two piloted the ship into Planetary Union space for capture. A lone adult survivor, Teleya, was taken prisoner.[2]
Over the course of the next few months, xenoanthropologists led by Doctor Darden begin studying the Anhkana, the Krill holy text. They quietly convert to the Krill religion.[8]
2420[]
In early 2420, Blavaroch, a Horbalak smuggler, stole about 20 crates of Krill Plasma Rifles, but a trio of Krill destroyers probably recovered them.[9]
Sometime in 2420, Teleya escaped prison, rejoined the Krill, and served aboard a ship. Meanwhile, the Orville captured Doctor Darden and his team who attempted to enter Krill space. The team tricked the Orville's navigational array into entering Krill space anyway, and Teleya's ship nearly captured them, but the Orville managed to escape.[10]
Teleya volunteered for the mission and underwent transcellular micrografting to adopt a human appearance to fool Union bioscanners. Adopting the identity of "Lieutenant Janel Tyler,"[11] Teleya was assigned to the Orville in July as its dark matter cartographer. Ed and Janel began dating.[12]
In late 2420, Janel betrayed Ed, and the Krill captured him. However, Ed managed to escape after a Chak'tal attacked the ship. In a sign of good intentions with the Krill, Ed opted not to re-capture Teleya and returned her to the Krill in perhaps the first peaceful contact between a Union and Krill vessel.[11]
At some point before she was transferred to the Orville, Talla Keyali served on a ship that had their "butts kicked" by the Krill; though her vessel escaped destruction, it was crippled and required a passing Janisi ship to retrieve them.[13]
The Kaylon conflict and steps toward peace[]
A fleet of Krill destroyers enter the Battle of Earth.
The Union actively pursued an alliance with the Kaylon to aid in their conflict with the Krill for years. The Orville visited Kaylon 1 in January 2421, but the Kaylon rebuffed their advances and began constructing a large armada. The Kaylon seized the Orville and launched an attack on Earth in a surprise war on all biological life.[14]
While the Kaylon force was en route to Earth, First Officer Kelly Grayson and Helmsman escaped - hotly pursed by an Interceptor. Three Krill ships led by Captain Dalak captured the Union escapees. Though Dalak was skeptical of an imminent invasion, he was convinced when the Kaylon Sphere arrived and destroyed two sister ships.[15]
The Krill agreed to join the upcoming Battle of Earth out of a mutual interest to stop the Kaylon. Dalak led a fleet numbering dozens of Krill destroyers and myriad Marauder-class fighters to the solar system. Though numerous Krill and Union ships, the unlikely alliance defeated the Kaylon. After, the surviving Krill returned to their territory.[15]
Ceasefire[]
The first significant step to ending the Krill-Planetary Union conflict was a ceasefire signed immediately after the Battle of Earth and the emergence of the Kaylon threat.[1]
Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3[]
In March 2421, both sides signed a lak'vai pact - a sign of good faith toward a future peace treaty - at Tarazed 3.[1]
Treaty talks[]
By July 2421, Krill and Union leadership were in the midst of treaty negotiations.[3]
The Orville intercepted an eight-destroyer fleet trespassing into Union space, a fleet led by Captain Kratok.[3] Kratok attacked the "Construct," a large quantum shifter built by the Alibar, and was even joined by the Orville for a moment until the Orville fled the quantum shifting to a new universe.[16]
A peace shattered[]
In 2422, the Krill and the Union leadership were in final negotiations for a treaty. These were led by the Krill Supreme Chancellor, Korin, and Union President Alcuzan. Hosted by the Orville, the group proceeded to Krill for the signing of the treaty. At the time, Korin was up for re-election. His opponent was Teleya, who after being released by Captain Ed Mercer, returned to Krill and re-styled herself as a politician, preaching a fiery rhetoric that advocated a return to the core principles of Avis and renouncing all ties between the Krill and heretical species.
Teleya was believed not to be able to win, due to being inexperienced. Korin led a landing party of Planetary Union delegates down to Krill, inviting him to his personal offices. There, they all watched the election results and were stunned as a Teleya pulled off a narrow victory. Though Korin tried to contest the election, Teleya personally led a team which stormed his office. She executed him by stabbing him in the heart, then later had his head mounted in the planet's capital, Dalakos. She then ordered the Union party, including Ed Mercer, captured pending their own execution, and tried to have Krill forces seize the Orville in orbit above.
Teleya later had Ed brought before her. He tried to convince her of the madness of her methods. Though unconvinced, she secretly let him go free. A splinter group then brought him before a child named Anaya, whom they explained was actually his own child with Teleya. They felt that the child could be the key to a lasting peace between their two peoples, but warned that Ed would have to personally convince Teleya to reveal the child, or else another autocrat would simply rise to take her place if they tried to use the child's existence again her. Ed returned to Teleya, but was unsuccessful in convincing her and this time she saw to it that he was returned to the Union party.
Teleya had the Union group brought before her, but only succeeded in non-fatally stabbing President Alcuzan before a rescue team from the Orville freed the group. The team then managed to escape Krill and the Union forces gathered above quantum-jumped away from the planet. The peace, however, had been shattered, the two great powers now once again on war-footing with each other and vulnerable to a Kaylon attack.[5]
New alliances[]
Later that year, the Planetary Union expelled the Moclans from their ranks after members of their government tortured and nearly killed Topa, daughter of Bortus and Klyden, in order to get her to reveal her secret contact in Heveena's underground resistance to smuggle Moclan women. As a result, the Moclans then approached Supreme Chancellor Teleya regarding the possibility of an alliance between their governments against the Kaylon threat. Teleya agreed with the alliance in theory, but objected to the Moclans' demand that they be the one to lead the alliance. Stating that their battle strategies were blunt and maladroit, she demands that all decisions be shared equally and they agree.
At around the same time, Ensign Charly Burke and Isaac of the Orville developed a new quantum weapon which had the potential to completely wipe out the Kaylon. Rather than doing so, however, the Union instead chose to use the weapon to sue for peace, demonstrating its power and then demanding that the Kaylons stand down, lest they use it to wipe them out completely. Seemingly left with no choice, the Kaylons did so. However, Admiral Perry, believing that it was too dangerous to allow the Kaylons to live, delivered the weapon into the hands of the Krill-Moclan alliance. He was then killed by them to prevent the discovery of what he had done from being made too soon.
Upon learning of Perry's treason, the Union approached the Kaylons, explaining what had happened. They proposed an alliance between the two of them in order to either recover or destroy the weapon before the Krill and Moclans could use it to decimate them. The Kaylons agreed and the two groups' forces proceeded to Draconis 427, where a famed Moclan scientist was working to activate the weapon. There, a pitched pitched battle began above the planet while a ground team of combined Orville and Kaylon forces infiltrated the planet.
Once on the planet, the group proceeded to the weapon. They faced heavy fire, but Commander Kelly Grayson engaged in a one-on-one fight with Supreme Chancellor Teleya while Charly Burke, Isaac and Kaylon Primary successfully infiltrated the control room. As Charly worked to disable the weapon, Kelly succeeded in neutralizing Teleya. She then proceeded to the control room, where Charly revealed that she would not be able to disable the weapon and would have to destroy it. She explained that when it blew up, it would take out the outpost and a good chunk of the planet with it. Kelly ordered her to set up a timer delay and leave, but Charly told her it wasn't that simple. Kelly told her they would figure out another way, but Charly replied that there wasn't one. She told Kelly that her orders were to disable the weapon by any means necessary and everyone else needed to step away unless she was countermanding those orders.
Charly succeeded in destroying the weapon, but at the cost of her life. In the aftermath, Kaylon Primary questioned why she would have done so. Isaac told him that it was what he had been trying to explain to him all along: that the members of the Planetary Union were not like the Builders, that they were his friends and worthy of preservation. Kaylon Primary then agreed that they had perhaps been incorrect in their assessment. The Kaylons were then granted provisional membership into the Union in the face of the continued Krill-Moclan threat, with the possibility of full membership based on their actions. Supreme Chancellor Teleya was captured and was to be taken back to Earth to face judgment for her crimes.[6]
Trivia[]
- In October 2419, the Calivon fabricated an attack on the false USS Bleriot by a Krill destroyer to lure humans from the Orville. By this time, their Calivon Zoo included Krill and Union species as captives.[17]
- Pria Lavesque claimed to the Orville crew that outrunning a pursuing Krill battle cruiser drained her ship, the Horizon, of its power. However, her story was likely made up.[18]
- Ed and Gordon were supposed to speak at a tactical conference at Outpost 23 in June 2420 regarding their experience aboard Yakar. However, they were diverted by a distress call that led them to the Chog homeworld.[19][20]
- During a Planetary Union Council dispute over "The Sanctuary," a colony for Moclan females, Ambassador Dojin of Moclus threatened to secede from the Union and form an alliance with the military power of Krill over the Union. Ultimately, the dispute was resolved with the Moclans content to allow the colony to remain with no official ties to the Union.[21] Ultimately, however, after the Moclans were expelled from the Union and the Sanctuary colony placed under Union protection, such an alliance did indeed come to pass.[6]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In Blood of Patriots, Ed Mercer notes that the conflict between the Union and the Krill has lasted for longer than either him and Ambassador K.T.Z. have been alive.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Episode 2x10: Blood of Patriots
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Episode 1x06: Krill
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Episode 2.5x01: Launch Day, Pt. 1
- ↑ Episode 3x02: Shadow Realms
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Episode 3x04: Gently Falling Rain
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Episode 3x09: Domino
- ↑ Episode 1x01: Old Wounds
- ↑ Episode 1.5x03: The Word of Avis, Pt. 1
- ↑ Episode 1x11: New Dimensions
- ↑ Episode 1.5x04: The Word of Avis, Pt. 2
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Episode 2x04: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes
- ↑ Episode 2x01: Ja'loja
- ↑ Episode 2x05: All the World is Birthday Cake
- ↑ Episode 2x08: Identity, Pt. 1
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2
- ↑ Episode 2.5x02: Launch Day, Pt. 2
- ↑ Episode 1x02: Command Performance
- ↑ Episode 1x05: Pria
- ↑ Episode 1.5x01: New Beginnings, Pt. 1
- ↑ Episode 1.5x02: New Beginnings, Pt. 2
- ↑ Episode 2x12: Sanctuary