Kobali

The Kobali were a humanoid species from the Delta Quadrant. Their most distinctive feature was their mode of reproduction. Unable to breed biologically, the Kobali depended on reanimating and transforming alien corpses into new Kobali, or face extinction. 

Biology
The Kobali were hairless humanoids of average height with grey, blue and purple skin. Their brains consisted of six lobes. 

History
The Kobali originated on the planet in the Vyntadi Expanse, Sector 41741. 

At some point, the Kobali experimented with their genome and accidentally became sterile. They developed a retrovirus to turn alien corpses into living Kobali, but the technique would only work once on any given corpse. 

On stardate 53679.4 (2376), official first contact was made between the Kobali and the United Federation of Planets when the former Human Lyndsay Ballard, now the Kobali woman Jhet'leya, contacted the starship USS Voyager from Grid 2369. Jhet'leya retained the memories of her former life and briefly returned to the existence of Ensign Ballard aboard Voyager for a time. However, the Kobali physiology proved to be dominant, and Kobali forces demanded Jhet'leya's return. When she returned to her people, the Kobali and Federation parted in peace. 

The Kobali led a nomadic existence until 2400, when they found a former Vaadwaur colony in the Kotaba sector. Three hundred tubes of hibernating Vaadwaur were hidden underground. Only some of them had failed in the past 900 years. The Kobali colonized the world and named it Kobali Prime. With so much raw material, the Kobali believed to have escaped extinction. 

In 2409, the revived Vaadwaur Supremacy began attacking Kobali Prime to retake the planet and end the Kobali's practice of reviving Vaadwaur and transforming them into Kobali. Kobali convoys came under attack from the Supremacy as well and sought help from outside. In early 2410, the Alpha Quadrant Alliance, unaware of the specific source of the conflict between the Kobali and the Vaadwaur, brought the Kobali into the Delta Alliance and traveled to Kobali Prime to fight back the Supremacy. The AQA decided to continue to aid the Kobali after an away team led by Captain Harry Kim found the Vaadwaur stasis storage facility beneath a fake temple. 

Ranks
The senior-most officer in the field was General Q'Nel in 2410. Lower ranks included the umare - the common soldier, and hancheons, medium-ranked officers.