"My people are an admittedly violent race, warriors whose fighting abilities are unequalled, but we do not quarrel without reason. The fact that you are a Vulcan, however, is an incentive..."

Klingons may have the bat'leth, but the Andorians have the chaka! From the frozen wastelands of the M-class moon Andoria, the chaka was an ice miner's tool. But as a millennia of civil war gripped their world, this primitive tool became a duelling weapon for warriors. It is a revered dagger, of honour and savagery, but it is considered more of a ceremonial blade today. It can be used for the Ushaan, a crucial part of the Andorian code of honour which demands a duel to the death as a means of personal vengeance. An enormous body of rules and regulations exists around this code, summing up to 12,000 amendments.

The chaka is Commander Shral's weapon of choice — a chaka attached to his right hand and a carbine to his left. He is among the rare few who have mastered its ancient, but elegant, fighting style known as Alnaav.

Basic chaka manoeuvres include:

1) cheenach - Side thrust with a sweeping motion.

2) jenac - Quick, deep, straightforward thrust with the forward blade.

3) kesh'jenac - Straight, powerful drawing thrust, typically with the short blades.

4) sal'shes - Hard, deep-driving slash.

5) kellash - Riposte, or parry.

6) epeeh - Lunge.

7) thaas - Block.

(Damnit, Jim! I'm an animator, not a straight-edge ruler! I hate technical drawings! Grrr! But with a little thing called Photoshop, it actually ended up reasonably well. And I'm shocked that it did! This is inspired by the specialised Indian dagger known as the katar.)

Medium - Photoshop, B graphite.

Chaka © Last Unicorn Games.
Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry.