One of the many plasma storms located in the Badlands.
The Badlands is a sector of space made up of intense plasma storms and gravitational anomalies spanning over 84 parsecs (or 5 light years) and are located in Sector 21305 along the Federation-Cardassian border. The Badlands were believed to have been formed around 500,000 years ago, and contains 2 stars, 17 planets, 43 moons, and a large asteroid belt. (novel: New Worlds, New Civilizations).
The first Federation contact with the Badlands was made by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in 2268, and was named the Badlands by the Enterprise's chief medical officer, Leonard H. McCoy, after the region located in South Dakota on Earth. During that first mission to the Badlands a Romulan Bird-of-Prey was destroyed, and shortly after the crew began exhibiting signs of radiation sickness. Unbeknownst to anyone at this time, the Bird-of-Prey was testing an experimental quantum singularity drive, and the singularity was still traveling around the Badlands. (TOS novella: Star Trek: The Badlands, Book 1).
The next major attempt to chart the Badlands was conducted in 2335 by the Oberth-class science vessel, USS Yosemite. The Yosemite became the first ship to penetrate the plasma storms and was subjected to a subspace incursion that disrupted its power systems. Captain Indul and her crew discovered the the ships warp engines had acted as a lightning rod in the Badlands. (TNG novella: Star Trek: The Badlands, Book 1).
During the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor during the mid 24th century, the Bajoran Resistance used the Badlands as a refuge from Cardassian patrols. The only drawback to using the Badlands as a refuge, was the poor sensor range, so they were often forced to use echo-location to evade the Cardassians. (DS9 episode: "Starship Down").
During the 24th century many ships became lost in the Badlands. During the 2340s and 2350s alone, the Cardassian Union lost many vessels, including the freighters Kamal and Ravinok. The remains of the Ravinok were later discovered on the planet Dozaria, and was found to have been attacked by the Breen. (DS9 episode: "Indiscretion" and novels: Avatar).
In 2368, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) was assigned to complete a full survey of the Badlands. The Enterprise is joined in their survey by Cardassian officers, Jos Mengred and Pakat. During the mission Commander William T. Riker was stricken by the same illness that had struck the crew of the original Enterprise a century earlier, thankfully he was cured. (TNG novella: Star Trek: The Badlands, Book 1).
Following the creation of the Demilitarized Zone in the Federation-Cardassian Treaty of 2370, the Maquis used the Badlands as a favored hiding place from Cardassian patrols, and a great place to stage attacks from, much like the Bajoran resistance before them. In one of their first major offensives, they kidnapped Gul Skrain Dukat and held him on an asteroid in the Badlands. (DS9 episodes: "The Maquis, Part II").
The Cardassian Galor-class warship, Vetar, entering the Badlands in 2371.
In 2371, the Badlands became a hunting ground for a being known as the Caretaker, who would snatch starships away and transport them to the Delta Quadrant. The ships that were taken included the Starfleet vessels USS Voyager and USS Equinox, the Maquis vessel Val Jean, and a Cardassian Galor-class warship. (VGR episodes: "Caretaker", "Equinox, Part I", and "The Voyager Conspiracy").
Three weeks before the disappearence of the USS Voyager, Maquis Captain Chakotay, commanding the Val Jean, was about to lead an attack force against the Montee Fass shipyards in the Oliv system. However, the attempt had to be aborted due to plasma storm activity in the Badlands. The mission was not a complete failure, as Chakotay was able to destroy the Cardassian station, Opek Nor. The attack drew the attention of Gul Aman Evek and the Vetar which pursued the Val Jean into the Badlands, where the Maquis ship disappeared, and the Vetar was badly damaged in the plasma storms.
The crew of the Vetar were rescued by the USS Voyager and the Cardassian warship, Prakesh. Always the scientist, Captain Kathryn Janeway, surveys the star charts and theorises that the Badlands anomaly is a free-floating quantum singularity that was travelling around the Badlands, and was released the the Romulan Bird-of-Prey in 2268. (VGR novella: Star Trek: The Badlands, Book 2).
In mid 2373, at the behest of Constable Odo, the USS Defiant entered the Badlands to track down the Badlands anomaly. Also at this time, Centurion Bokra of the Romulan Star Empire, was dispatched to the Badlands to retrieve the anomaly and use it against the Dominion. Bokra was successful in capturing the anomaly, but shortly after his ship was destroyed by two Jem'Hadar Attack Ships, and the anomaly was released again. Fortunately, the Defiant captured the anomaly and transported it 10,000 light years into deep space using a Romulan folded-space transporter. (DS9 novella: Star Trek: The Badlands, Book 2).
By the end of 2373, Cardassia had joined the Dominion, and the new alliance sent the Jem'Hadar to vanquish the Maquis. The Maquis decided to make their last stand on the planet Athos IV, located in the Badlands. The base was discovered, but thanks to the efforts of Captain Benjamin Sisko and Michael Eddington the remaining Maquis escaped. (DS9 episode: "Blaze of Glory").
Following the end of the Dominion War in 2376, the USS Enterprise-E was dispatched into the Badlands to confirm rumours that Breen forced were hiding in the Badlands and were awaiting to attack the Federation. While no Breen were found, the Enterprise discovered the Cardassian freighter Kamal, which contained the Orb of Memory, and transported it back to Bajor. (DS9 novel: Avatar, Book 1).
External Link
- Badlands article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.