Draka 294890 225168239 2008-07-12T06:57:00Z 70.51.8.222 {{confused|Drake|Dragon|Draken}} {{Confusing|date=October 2007}} [[Image:Draka42.png|thumb|right|260px|The Draka world in 1942]] [[Image:Draka48.png|thumb|right|260px|The Draka world in 1948]] The '''Draka''' are the main villains/heroes in [[S. M. Stirling]]'s [[The Domination|Domination]] trilogy (depending on one's point of view). ==History== ===Origins=== The world of The Domination diverges from our world at the time of the [[American Revolutionary War]], when the [[Netherlands]] declares war on the [[United Kingdom|UK]], resulting in the loss of its [[Cape Colony]] to the British. After defeat in Revolutionary War, the [[United Empire Loyalists|Loyalists]] who historically went to Canada are instead resettled in the new Crown Colony of Drakia (named after [[Sir Francis Drake]]) in [[South Africa]]. The [[Crown Colony]] of Drakia (later, the [[Dominion]] of Draka) is an aggressive [[militaristic]] slave-owning society reinforced over the course of the 19th century by [[Iceland]]ers, [[France|French]] [[House of Bourbon|royalist]]s, defeated [[Confederate States of America|American Confederates]] and other [[reactionary]] refugees. Its [[capital]] is known as Archona, on the site of our own world's [[Pretoria]]. ===The nineteenth century=== The Draka take over [[Egypt]] and [[Ceylon]] from the French during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], and over the course of the 19th century, the Draka gradually conquer and enslave the entire continent of [[Africa]]. The last areas to be conquered were the jungles of the [[Congo Basin]], due to the danger of [[tropical disease]]s. Technological development is faster than in our own history, as the Draka put the wealth derived from their vast [[gold]] and [[diamond]] deposits to effective use by offering large grants to [[scientist]]s and [[inventor]]s who settle in their territory and develop new inventions. These include [[Richard Trevithick]], inventor of the [[steam locomotive]], who settles in Virconium (equivalent to our own world's [[Durban]]) in 1796, [[Richard Jordan Gatling|RJ Gatling]], who settles in Diskarapur in 1850, and [[Louis Pasteur]], who discovers [[malaria]]'s mosquito vector in the 1860s while working for the Shahnapur Institute of Tropical Medicine. The [[United States]] is also much more expansionistic than in our own timeline - it [[annexation|annexes]] [[Canada]] after the [[War of 1812]] and [[Mexico]] after the [[Mexican-American War|Mexican–American War]]. [[William Walker (soldier)|William Walker]]'s Southern adventurers conquer [[Central America]], and [[Cuba]], [[Hispaniola]], [[Hawaii]] and the [[Philippines]] are annexed in 1854. During the [[American Civil War]], the Draka supply massive amounts of aid to the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], including [[steam engine|steam-powered]] [[armored car (military)|armored car]]s. However, the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] still wins the Civil War (with the help of large numbers of Mexican conscripts), and annexes Walker's Central American empire. [[Cuba]], [[Hispaniola]], [[Hawaii]], and the [[Philippines]] are granted statehood in 1898, with the Central American territories following later. The United States eventually has 62 states in total. The Empire of [[Brazil]] seizes control of [[Bolivia]], [[Paraguay]], and [[Uruguay]] in the 1870s, the same decade which sees [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] uniting [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]] as the Dominion of Australasia, and the emergence of [[Gran Colomb]]. This exemplifies the trend in the series of fewer and fewer [[nations]] appearing in the world. In [[China]], the [[Taiping Rebellion]] is successful, resulting in a China which is even more incapable of successful modernization than in our own history. The Japanese victory in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (which in the Draka timeline occurs in 1899) is even more decisive, with Japan not only annexing [[Taiwan|Formosa]], but also [[Korea]], [[Hainan]], and several Chinese coastal cities. After victory in the 1905 [[Russo-Japanese War]], Japan annexes [[Manchuria]] and establishes a protectorate over the weak Taiping Dynasty. ===The Great War and its aftermath=== The Dominion of Drakia joins the Allied side in the [[Great War]], and conquers the [[Ottoman Empire]]. It subsequently declared its independence from Britain and renamed itself the Domination of the Draka. The Domination then takes advantage of the [[Russian Civil War]] and seizes the rest of the [[Middle East]], much of [[Central Asia]], and [[China]] west of [[Xian]] and [[Wuhan]]. Up to 500,000 Janissaries die in pacification campaigns during this time in the Domination's new territories. Sixty-five percent of the population of [[Afghanistan]] is exterminated in retaliation for the fierce resistance of that nation's "Badmash" rebels. In 1921 the [[Empire of Japan]] deposes the Taiping Emperor and annexes all Chinese territory not in Draka hands. After the death of [[Lenin]], a second civil war further weakened the [[Soviet Union]], which is won by a faction led by [[Joseph Stalin]]&mdash;who subsequently orders a "hermit kingdom" ([[isolationist]]) policy. ===Draka development of world domination ideology=== Under the influence of Draka philosophers such as Elvira Naldorssen, the traditional Draka [[white supremacy|white-supremacism]] is replaced by Draka-supremacism, with the Draka viewing all of non-Drakan humanity as their cattle. Elvira explains the ideology of the Domination, the utter amorality of which will lead enemies of the Draka to refer to them as 'Snakes': : "...so the Draka are not different from other peoples because they violate the Golden Rule or Bentham's derivative idolatry 'the greatest good for the greatest number'. Everyone does. We do not violate them, we reject them. : "Others have conquered and ruled; we alone conquer for conquest's sake and Dominate for no other purpose than Domination itself; the name we half-consciously chose for our state is no accident. We and we alone have spoken aloud the Great Secret; that the root function of all human society is the production and reproduction of power&mdash;and that power is the ability to compel others to do your will against theirs. It is end, not means. The purpose of Power is Power. : "The Draka will [[World domination|conquer the world]] for two reasons; because we must and because we can. And yet of the two forces the second is the greater; we do this because we choose to do it. By the sovereign Will and force of arms the Draka will rule the Earth, and in so doing remake themselves. We shall conquer and beat the Nations of the Earth into the dust and reforge them in our self wrought Image; the Final Society without weakness or mercy, hard and pure. Our descendants will walk the hillside of that future, innocent beneath the stars, with no more between them and their naked will than a wolf has. THEN there will be Gods in the Earth." ==Society== ===Citizens and "serfs"=== Citizens, who are free and can vote, comprise only a small fraction of Draka's population. Over 90% of the population are [[slavery|slaves]] (officially referred to as '[[serfs]]', as the Draka maintain the fiction of obeying the [[British Empire]]'s ban on chattel slavery). In fact the entire Drakan society, from sex to the economy, is based on slavery. Almost all Draka citizens own at least a few slaves. Because the Draka are so heavily outnumbered, meaning that a general [[slave rebellion]] could well mean their extermination, the Draka are utterly ruthless. [[Impalement]] is the favoured Draka method of executing rebellious slaves. Nonetheless, many Draka, especially those who are central characters in the novels, aim to create an idealised, "rural community under a lord" feel on their lands. Such an idealistic image is often spoiled, however, when punishment - always severe - has to be enacted. ===Draka Military=== The Citizen Draka army known as the Citizen Force is made up of [[shock troops]], meant to be used as the arm of decision in [[maneuver warfare]]. Citizen children receive military training as part of their schooling from ages 5 to 18. All Citizens begin military service at age 18, with a normal peacetime enlistment of four years. Leadership candidates are identified during the first year and qualification testing is used for NCO ranks. Officers are promoted from within the ranks and receive additional advanced training. After leaving active service most Citizens do two months' reserve service per year, being transferred to second-line formations after age 40. For attritional warfare the Domination uses [[Janissary]] slave soldiers, who make up 60% of the Draka army. Draka soldiers neither ask nor give quarter &mdash; all captured enemies are killed or permanently enslaved. Draka are never captured alive. In the books, Draka equipment - from tanks to tank-busting aircraft- seems delibrately evocative of late-20th century military equipment, enhancing the otherworldliness and superiority of the Draka in technological as well as purely physical sense. The submachine guns used by Draka citizen-soldiers feature intregal bipods and telescopic sights, while support weaponry includes nerve gas grenades and magazine-fed mortars. Descriptions of the Draka Hond tanks evoke images of modern tanks such as the [[Abrams]], while one particular aircraft - right down to placement of the engines - resembles an [[A-10 Thunderbolt II|A-10]] 'Warthog' tank-killer. When placed alongside the [[Gewehr 98]] bolt-action rifles, [[Panzer IV]]s and Focke-Wulf [[FW 190]]s of the [[Third Reich]] it is easy to feel sorry for the inevitably doomed Nazis. In a similar vein, flashbacks involving some of the older characters reveal that the Draka had a large dirigible air force capable of strategic bombing during the First World War. From 'Under the Yoke' onwards, Draka equipment takes an even more science-fiction turn. Genetically-modified gorilla shock troops, starfighters and pain-inducing irremovable bracelets for troublesome slaves make tantalising appearances. While in 'The Stone Dogs' the Protracted Struggle is still primarily a [[Cold War]]-esque arms race of nuclear capability, modified, genetically-targeted diseases and advanced computer viruses also make an appearance. ====Military ranks==== Commanding ranks in Citizen's Force (where free Citizens serve)<ref>Information from ''Marching through Georgia''</ref>: * '''Monitor''' (no equivalent) commanding a Stick of 4 * '''Decurion''' ([[Sergeant]]) commanding a Lochos (Squad) of 8 * '''Tetrarch''' ([[Lieutenant]]) commanding a Tetrarchy (Platoon) of 33 * '''Centurion''' ([[Captain]]) commanding a Century (Company) of 110 * '''Cohortarch''' ([[Major]]) commanding a Cohort (Battalion) of 500 * '''Merarch''' ([[Colonel]]) commanding a Merarchy (Regiment) of 1,500 * '''Chiliarch''' ([[Brigadier General]]) commanding a Chiliarchy (Brigade) of 4,500 * '''Strategos''' ([[Lieutenant General]]) commanding a Legion (Division) of 13,000 * '''Arch-Strategos''' ([[General of the Army]]) commanding larger units, at the Corps level It should be noted that a full-strength Legion has about 9,200 Citizens and about 3,000 serf auxiliaries, who are unarmed support personnel in noncombatant functions. The Janissary units are commanded by Citizen officers and for the serf soldiers use the traditional ranks from Private to Master Sergeant, the highest rank available to subject race personnel. ===Culture and ideology=== During the 1790s the Draka trade extensively with [[India]], which leads to a fad for [[Mughal]] artwork. Some new Draka cities are also given Indian-style names including Diskarapur ([[Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal|Newcastle]]) and Shahnapur ([[Maputo]]). From early in the Nineteenth Century the Draka develop a craze for [[Classical Antiquity]] and draw from it much of their military and political terminology. Antiquity provides the Draka with a ready-made model of "colour-blind slavery". The ancient Greeks and Romans saw no problem in enslaving people of the same skin colour as themselves, and even of the same language and culture - though with them, unlike the Draka, the wholesale enslavement of a defeated enemy was the exception rather than the rule, and their slaves could and frequently did gain [[manumission]] (see [[Slavery in antiquity]]). ==="Anti-America"=== The Dominion draws substantially from the ideology of [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] and similar philosophers and can be viewed as an "Anti-America," in the sense that like the [[United States]], the Draka nation started off as a British settler [[colony]], but evolved along diametrically opposite lines. While the United States had slavery, even slave-holders had to pay lip-service to the [[American values]] of liberty and equality, and the contradiction was eventually resolved in part by the [[American Civil War]]. The Draka, on the other hand, view themselves as a [[master race]] (and, eventually, the creators of a ''new'' master race) and unlike the [[Nazism|Nazis]] (who believed that their mere racial heritage made them superior), are keenly aware of the effort they must make to maintain this status; in the manner of ancient [[Sparta]], all Draka citizen children attend sex-segregated [[boarding school]]s with an extreme emphasis on military prowess. While the United States during the later decades of the 20th century increasingly set for itself the goal of equality for all regardless of race, the Draka worked to enslave all non-Draka humans, also regardless of race. ===Government and economy=== Politically, the Draka state is described as '[[aristocracy|aristocratic]] [[republic]]' with a [[parliamentary system]] of government. The [[Archon]] is the head of state appointed for a 20-year term by a parliament (elected in free and fair elections among the Draka citizens). In ''The Stone Dogs'', though, the Archon is referred to as elected for a seven-year term. Draka citizens have a considerable degree of [[free speech]], but fundamental criticism of the slave system is forbidden. The Draka economy is heavily dominated by [[cartel]]s known as Combines, with ownership split between the state and the Landholders' League (Citizens can only own the right to use land, not the land itself, which can be confiscated in the event of neglect or misuse). There is also a considerable small-business [[private sector]]. The Draka economy is on the [[gold standard]], with the basic unit of currency being the [[auric (currency)|Auric]]. ==The Eurasian War== The first book of the series ''[[Marching Through Georgia (novel)|Marching Through Georgia]]'' is a war story set during the Eurasian War, the Domination timeline's equivalent of [[World War II]]. In this war, the Nazis utterly crushed the Soviet Union, with only a Siberian rump state beyond the Urals surviving under a [[military junta|junta]] led by [[Semyon Timoshenko|Marshal Timoshenko]]. The Nazi success derives from the Soviets suffering two recent, devastating civil wars, and needing to defend a long southern border with the Domination. Additionally, the [[Lend-Lease]] between the United States and the Soviets was rendered ineffective by Nazi [[U-boat]]s effecting a powerful blockade in the Atlantic, Japanese naval hegemony in the Pacific, and the Domination's refusal to allow lend-lease supplies through its territory. The Domination entered the war just before the Nazi invasion of Russia and conquered [[Italy]] with the Nazis' tacit consent. The Draka then attacked the [[Third Reich]] in the [[Caucasus]] region, attempting to cut off a large part of the German army. Much of the story is told from the point of view of the Draka centurion Eric von Shrakenberg and the American journalist [[William L. Shirer#Fictionalized versions of Shirer|Bill Dreiser]]. The German [[Wehrmacht]] is somewhat more advanced than historically, with a fully mechanized supply train and [[Panther tank|Panther]] and [[Tiger tank|Tiger]] tanks used as standard rather than the older [[Panzer IV]]. The [[Waffen-SS]] units facing the Draka Citizen Airborne unit the novel centres around are also in possession of numerous 'hybrid' armoured vehicles made from German and captured Soviet parts, but they are still no match for the Draka army. The Draka citizen soldiers, female as well as male, are honed killing machines, each equal to several of their enemy on the battlefield. The Draka also have superb weaponry, including 14,000 Hond III tanks with armor, engine size and gun caliber approaching those of the actual present-day [[M1 Abrams]], and a ground attack aircraft similar to the [[A-10 Thunderbolt II|A-10]] (albeit without jet power). By 1944, all sides are widely using [[nerve gas]], jet- and rocket-powered [[fighter aircraft]] and [[ballistic missile]]s. The United States is forced into the war when the entire [[U.S. Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] is wiped out at [[attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]]. Japanese forces occupy the U.S. States of Hawaii, the Philippines and the Panama Canal Zone. Additionally, Japan occupies northern [[Australia]], raids California, and the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] shells [[Acapulco]]. Consequently, the United States cannot open a second front in [[Europe]]. Alliance with the Nazis against the Draka is also impossible, due to the influence of the [[Jew]]ish lobby and a Draka threat to supply Japan with [[nuclear weapon]]s-related materials in the event of U.S.-German peace. In 1943, the Alliance for Democracy is formed&mdash;comprising the [[military alliance]], [[free trade area]] and [[monetary union]]. This Alliance includes the [[Americas]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[India]] and unoccupied Australia. The United States turned the tide against Japan with victory in the Battle of the [[Sea of Cortez]], in which jet [[fighter-bomber]]s armed with [[guided bomb]]s played a crucial role. Hawaii was liberated in late 1943, and half of the surviving [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] was destroyed in a nuclear [[cruise missile]] attack on the [[Truk]] naval base. In late 1944, [[Tokyo]] was destroyed by a nuclear cruise missile&mdash;killing over 150,000 people including the Imperial Family. A fanatical military government takes over Japan. The Draka overrun Europe as far as the [[Pyrenees]], with the decisive blow made with five [[atomic bomb]]s against the industrial areas of the [[Ruhr]]. One of the most powerful and horrific aspects of "Marching Through Georgia" is that many readers may actually feel sympathy for the Nazi regime, which attempts in vain to defend Europe against an enemy whose atrocities dwarf that of Hitler's Third Reich. Adolf Hitler himself, it is revealed in later flashbacks, was assassinated by a cadre of generals in 1942. Without his meddling, the German [[Wehrmacht]] puts up much more stubborn and effective resistance than it did historically against the Soviet Union, but the memory of Hitler means that the rest of Europe is loathe to unite behind the Germans to halt the Draka. Numerous Draka characters credit Hitler's memory as a key factor in ensuring Draka victory in Europe. In 1945, the Draka completed its conquest of Europe by using its remaining stockpile of 12 atomic bombs to force the Pyrenees&mdash;finally defeating a communist Spain (following a different outcome to reality's [[Spanish Civil War]]). The United Kingdom remained free and was inundated with refugees. The Draka then turned its attention to the Far East, attacking Japanese-occupied China. Despite the rapid Draka conquest of Eastern China and Korea, the loss of the remaining Japanese naval units in the Battle of the Philippines, the nuclear destruction of [[Osaka]], and the [[Operation Olympic|Alliance invasion of Kyushu]], Japan continues a bitter resistance, only surrendering to the Alliance in July in fear of a Draka invasion of the [[Home Islands]]. The Eurasian War claimed some 200 million lives, over three times the death toll of our own World War II. The liberated South-East Asian Federation and Indochinese Republic become members of the Alliance for Democracy, as does a reconstructed Japan in 1954. The Domination and the Alliance thus control the entire world between them. ===Europe under Draka rule=== The second book, ''Under the Yoke'', is a horrific vision of Europe under Draka rule. Tanya von Shrakenberg established a [[plantation]] in formerly-French Touraine Province. Her slaves include Marya Sokolowska and Chantal Lefarge, formerly a [[Poland|Polish]] [[nun]] and a [[France|French]] [[Communist]] respectively. (Note that Skłodowska is the maiden name of [[Maria Sklodowska-Curie|Marie Curie]]; it is not clear whether the fictional character is intended to be an alternate-history version of the chemist, but from the description of her intelligence, it seems likely). Chantal Lefarge is raped by her master, and impregnated with twins. Later, she escapes to the USA on a submarine. In New York City, she gives birth to Fred and Marya Lefarge (named after her rescuers), who will later become key intelligence assets for the OSS during the Protracted Struggle. Fred Kustaa, agent for the Alliance secret service (the [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]]), attempts to keep a [[resistance movement]] alive in Europe. He smuggles weapons to guerillas in [[Finland]], and later attempts to smuggle the German professor Ernst Oerbach, who has vital knowledge on [[nuclear fusion]]. Marya Sokolowska is Fred's contact in this second mission. Fred Kustaa's American perspective on precedings in the Domination cuts through the pretenses of Draka rule much more effectively than the occasional, self-aware and arrogant statements of Draka characters and brings home to the reader the sheer horror of Draka society, especially in regard to the blinkered and mildly sociopathic mindsets of the serfs who wish to simply get on with their lives, the resistance characters are an intense breath of fresh air as the minds of both Draka and serf become more and more alien to the reader. Eventually, the Draka ruthlessly crush all resistance in Europe. Finland is almost completely depopulated (by 1947 the Finnish guerillas estimate that there are less than 250,000 Finns left in the entire country; many having died by their own hand rather than let the Draka use them as hostages) and, in 1952, when a rebellion takes over the city of [[Barcelona]], the Draka respond with a [[nuclear weapon|thermonuclear bomb]]. Ukraine suffers a massive population loss in the wake of the initial Draka invasion, not because of a deliberate policy of genocide, but because the civilian population means nothing to them until they're properly 'domesticated', along with the typically Draka calculation that many of the survivors will be more likely to accept The Yoke if that's the only way to get fed. This total disregard for non-Draka life carries through as the Draka advance further into Europe, with mass-starvation everywhere behind their lines leading to the deaths of tens of millions. By 1945 Europe has been reduced to the kind of barbarism that the Draka are specifically experienced in exploiting, and the task of breaking the will of the survivors begins in earnest. ''Under the Yoke'' contains a deliberately horrific description of the impalement of several guerrilla soldiers, disgusting even the Draka who ordered it&mdash;who nevertheless considers it a necessary means of impressing upon the slaves that resistance is futile. Thus, they will obey more willingly, making it possible for the Draka to be less harsh&mdash;giving rise to even further willingness to obey. The Draka have been slavemasters for two hundred years, and have applied modern science to the problem of breaking human wills; they are extremely good at it. Indeed, this feeds further into their ideology of the Draka as a master race, capable of enforcing their will with no other tool than raw willpower. ===The Protracted Struggle=== The third book, ''[[The Stone Dogs]]'', tells the story of the Protracted Struggle &mdash; the ultra-nasty [[Cold war (general term)|Cold War]] between the Domination of the Draka and the Alliance for Democracy. There is a far more intense [[Space Race|space race]] in this world, with pulse-drive interplanetary spaceships and colonies and military bases established on the [[Moon]], on [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] and in the [[asteroid belt]]. Over a period of several decades, the Alliance secretly constructs an antimatter-driven starship for transporting 100,000 people to [[Alpha Centauri]]. The Draka employ the policy of "No peace beyond Luna," leading to frequent skirmishes in the [[inner solar system]]. The third book also details the life of Eric von Schrakenberg's niece, Yolande Ingolffson. Eric later becomes the Archon during the "Final War." ===The conquest of India=== In the 1970s, there is a major setback for the [[Free World]]. An OSS covert operation, designed to discredit a [[Hindu]] nationalist party and keep India in the Alliance, backfires. As a result India secedes from the Alliance &mdash; and is conquered and enslaved by the Draka within weeks (except [[Burma]], which counter-seceded back to the Alliance). After the 'Indian Incident' the Alliance for Democracy is formally converted into a single superstate. During the Draka conquest of India, Marya Lefarge is taken prisoner. She becomes a serf to Yolande Ingolffson, who after torturing her repeatedly with a neural weapon, forces her to become a "brooder" (i.e. a [[surrogate mother]]) for her offspring, Gwendolyn. Yolande also swears vengeance on Fred Lefarge after he kills her lover, Myfwany Venders, during the Indian Incident. The much larger free population of the Alliance gives it an edge in [[physics]] and [[computer]] technology, while the Domination gains the upper hand in the [[Biology|biological]] sciences allowing them to perfect their [[genetic engineering]] techniques by using their slave population as test subjects. They finish the [[Human Genome Project]] and are performing significant genetic alteration on mammalian organisms, including humans, by the mid-1970s. Both sides develop super-weapons with which to launch the first strike of the inevitable final war. However, both sides recognize that the long-term trends are in the Alliance's favor. Due to its much-larger economy and free population the Alliance's lead in overall scientific progress slowly grows, with the stagnant Draka increasingly dependent on espionage and Alliance [[defector]]s for new innovations. ===Draka victorious=== The war finally breaks out in 1998 when the Draka, about to lose the secrecy of their superweapon, decide to use it preemptively instead. Drakan advantages in bioscience allowed it to create a bio-psychological virus, "The Stone Dogs" (implicitly derived from [[HIV]]). This virus lies dormant but causes the host to go violently insane when activated by precisely modulated [[radio]] waves. The Alliance counterpart, a [[computer virus]] designed to disable Draka systems, works well but is not as effective at disabling whole military hierarchies. Information technology is generally not as well advanced as the real Earth's, and so the computer virus works relatively slowly. Due to the Stone Dogs virus, Draka forces ultimately succeed&mdash;if barely&mdash;in wiping out all significant Alliance populations and military forces in the Earth-Luna sphere, suffering approximately 15 percent total casualties; they also succeed in wiping out the government of the Alliance via the same virus. Some Alliance populations on Earth survive this assault (''The Stone Dogs'' mentions the Draka facing partisan resistance upon starting to "pacify" North America); however, others destroy either themselves or Allied targets (such as London); Japan bombs itself and Korea. Alliance forces prove victorious in the asteroid belt. What could be a standoff is defused by the Archon, who offers Draka citizenship to spaceside Alliance survivors (though without voting rights for themselves, though their descendants will be fully equal). As part of the deal, the holdouts are able to launch their starship. This will allow the Draka to concentrate their resources on pacifying and rehabilitating Earth. Ultimately, the [[Solar System]] belongs to the Draka. The war itself proves to be devastating to Earth. The planet's ecosystems were pushed nearly to the breaking point, with a nuclear winter lasting for several years (there are references to ice forming in the [[Adriatic Sea]])&mdash;despite the near exclusive use of 'clean' fusion weapons and kinetic weapons. ===Near-extinction of "Homo Sapiens" on Earth=== At some intervening period, before the next book in the series, the Draka produce a genectically altered new serf race, [[Homo Servus]], which is psychologically incapable of rebelling. Thus they can dispense with the brutal repression needed earlier, and entrust serfs with sensitive positions such as theoretical physics. The "right" of Drakas to have sex (both heterosexual and homosexual) with any Homo Servus which catches their fancy is taken for granted; such sex cannot lead to pregnancy, since Draka and serfs are now two separate species, specifically designed to be incapable of propagating offspring together. There is no mention of how the "changeover" was managed - presumably, either by the sterilization of male serfs and impregnating female ones with genetically engineered Homo Servus embryos or by sterilizing the old serfs of both genders and producing the new ones in laboratories. By the standards of our timeline, both would count - even if the "Old Model" serfs were allowed to live out their lives - as a huge act of [[genocide]]. Of [[Homo Sapiens]], only a few scattered "feral humans" survive precariously on Earth, mainly in North America, having been quite literally bombed back into the Stone Age and being hunted "for sport" by the Draka. ===The struggle continues=== ''[[Drakon (book)|Drakon]]'' takes place in the distant future, where the Domination is pitted against the Centauri world of [[Samothrace]], which is populated by the descendants of the Alliance's peoples. A failed experiment intended to research wormholes for FTL travel causes a single genetically-engineered Draka, Gwendolyn Ingolfsson, to be sent into an alternate universe almost indistinguishable from ours. The Samothracians rush to counter the impending invasion by sending one of their own agents, [[cyborg]] soldier Kenneth Lafarge, a distant descendant of Chantal LeFarge, to stop her. The showdown between the Draka and the Samothracian agents culminates in an epic clash in [[New York City]]. At the same time in the Domination's home timeline, the Samothracians attack the Earth via a series of wormholes they'd laid between [[Alpha Centauri]] and [[Sol]]. The end result of the clash is that both Kenneth and Gwendolyn are killed. Their technology falls into the hands of NYPD cop Henry Carmaggio, who according to the frame story of "The Domination" patents and licenses it, becoming "the richest man in the world" within twenty years. Back in the Domination's home timeline, the Draka defeat the Samothracian assault, barely. However, Gwendolyn's baby daughter, into whom she has transferred her knowledge, survives. The struggle will no doubt resume in the future . . . ==Draka in popular fiction== In 2000, Stirling edited ''Drakas'' (ISBN 0-671-31946-9), a collection of short stories by other authors who develop plots based on the Domination premise. In addition, Draka-based [[fan fiction]] can be found in various places on the Web. ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Human-derived fictional species]]