Krim

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“The sard are bad,” said Romki. “The krim were worse. The reeh are worse again, and many times more powerful than the krim and sard at their very height combined.” (D-32)

description of species

krim hive, black eyes

• The krim world was fairly close to human space
• Krim evolved in volcanic atmosphere in underground lava caverns
• vicious, hive-minded, filthy
• black eyes, with no iris (CV-22)
• a swarm species, like the sard (KV-16)
• supported by Tavalai and exterminated by humans

Tavalai and Krim

• More than a thousand years ago, Krim were supported into the space-age by Tavalai foreign affairs department (humans call it state department). (R-11) Tavalai Fleet disagreed with this decision. (KV-12)

• State Department gave the krim advanced technology and control of Sol System, apparently ignorant of planet Earth and ten billion humans.

“Developing relations with the krim, much of Fleet were opposed to. But State Department meddles, and expands, and thinks like great empire-builders without a thought to the unpleasant business of those who must carry out the building. It got Fleet into a war with the humans when State Department told us to impose the peace, between you and the krim. It was only a little war by tavalai standards, but many in Fleet recall it bitterly. Some even say it was our very worst moment, fighting the victims of a terrible aggression, to force them to accommodate their invaders, mostly so that State Department could save face.” (KV-12)

Krim Poisons Earth

• Given control of Sol System, the krim were vicious overlords. War between krim and humans broke out. Krim’s Tavalai benefactors in foreign affairs (Tavalai state department) took krim’s side.
• Paris was bombed first. “They called it the City of Light. The krim bombed it a hundred and fifty six years after First Contact,” Shilu said coldly. “In retaliation for the resistance. Several million dead, right there. The tavalai responded by trying to force the Landorf Accord onto us, at gunpoint, in the name of peace.” (KV-16)

• “State Department had backed the krim, made them powerful, then failed to anticipate the consequences for Earth. Realizing their mistake, they’d tried to correct by enforcing a peace that would have amounted to continued human slavery beneath their krim masters, and even joined the krim in fighting humans to enforce it. That had also failed, and in giving up in disgust, State Department had all but given krim the green light to kill what had been, at the time, the only planet upon which humans lived and thrived, and everyone upon it.” (KV-18)

• Tavalai eventually washed their hands of krim and the entire matter, abandoning humans to krim, further endangering Earth.

• The krim then poisoned planet Earth, 1,000 years ago, killing 9.9b humans. Only the humans in space survived, with seedlings and embryos from earth, stasis-bound plant and animal life

“Nine point nine!” the others replied. Ten billion souls in Sol System when the krim hit Earth. Nine point nine billion dead. It had been humanity’s battle cry for the past thousand years, and the hacksaws weren’t the only ones who talked in numbers.(R-11)

Krim Homeworld Destroyed

• In retaliation for poisoning Earth , 700 years ago a Fleet freighter ship captain, Lien Wang, decided to boost speed and power in order to v-dump the Krim homeworld, resulting in planetary meltdown and worldwide krim extermination.

• Thus the idiomatic expression for destroying or attacking, “Give it the old Lien Wang”

• The galaxy frowns on genocide of any species, even the creepy genocidal krim

Earth in Recovery

• Humans cannot live on moribund Earth, so they live on other planets, moons, and space stations, like the new Homeworld in Balise System, with the city Shiwon, home to Erik Debogande and Fleet HQ (Renegade). See Places and Human
• Earth is slowly recovering from worldwide environmental toxins but restoration will take a very long time

“Earth was being recovered by endlessly patient and nostalgic people in heavy-duty environment suits, setting up huge terraforming structures that would eventually filter the poisons from the air, to be followed by genetically modified algaies that would do the same for the soil. In another thousand years, it was said, Earth could be repopulated with the genetic material of the original species that had been smuggled offworld. Another few hundred years after that, it might even be habitable again by humans. But of the krim homeworld, there would be no recovery, ever." (KV-27)

Krim Extinct??

Hoping to exterminate every last Krim, Lien Wang v-dumped the krim homeworld, with help from chah'nas technology, 700 years ago.

• Just in case some Krim were off-world at the time, Fleet ordained Order Four
• “Order Four” requires every marine and spacer to be alert to possible krim hiding places in space, and root them out (R-11)

Rumors and whisperings:

In all those seven hundred years there had been no official sightings of living krim, but always there were the rumours, through Fleet and merchanters, of things kept quiet." (R-11)

• Captain Pantillo said krim are extinct, according to Erik Debogande:

“What did happen to the krim stationed at the Tsubarata?” Shilu wondered. “They went home when they were losing badly,” said Erik, peering back under the desk to give the AR glasses a good look at the processor mechanism. “There were always rumours of tavalai-based krim getting away, or the tavalai hiding them so the species wouldn’t die out. Captain Pantillo said it was unlikely —— krim don’t travel well and they’re a swarm-species, like the sard. They have a herding instinct, they all head back to the pack when they’re in trouble. I don’t trust Fleet on much, but the Captain said Fleet were pretty sure they got them all, and on this I believe them.” (KV-16)