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This page details the history of the Cardassians and the Cardassian Union.
Early times[]
The Hebitian Age[]
In 2369, evidence came to light which suggested that a number of the humanoid races who dotted the galaxy were descended from a single civilisation known as the Progenitors. Around 4.5 billion years before such information was uncovered, these aliens had seeded many worlds with a DNA code to guide evolution to a form which bore some resemblance their own. Cardassians displayed evidence of these DNA sequences. (TNG episode: "The Chase") However, the first civilization to exist on Cardassia was that of the Hebitians. They were an advanced sophisticated culture on every level, they used solar technologies but also lived in harmony with nature, valuing the soil and living a sustainable self-sufficient life envied by the surrounding planets. Archeologists theorised that the star charts that had been used to map the system which Galor IV was located in came from a forerunner of the Hebitian culture. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time; Last Unicorn RPG module: Planets of the UFP)
The Hebitian society eventually fell when Cardassia suffered catastrophic climate change, the rainforests and grasslands transformed into desert and scrubland. Disease killed millions; and the survivors formed the militaristic and expansionist society known as the Cardassians. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
In the year 1345, the Great Starvation begins on Cardassia and saw the end of the Second Hebitian Period. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)
According to Gary Seven, the Cardassian Union was a peaceful religious plurality in the mid-23rd century. Not long after the destruction of Praxis however, the Union discovered the value of fascism and spread its influence to neighboring worlds within a decade of its discovery. (TOS - Year Five - Experienced in Loss comic: "Issue 23")
By the late 24th century, Elim Garak would look upon the pre-Cardassian Union time period as "dark ages." (ST website: The Path to 2409) Ancient members of the species were responsible for developing a version of directed-energy weapons, which was recognisable to those who were once affiliates of the future regime. (DS9 novel: Fallen Heroes)
First contact with Bajor[]
A Bajoran lightship is welcomed to the Cardassia system after its fulfillment of the original course which led to first contact between the two neighbours.
First contact between the Cardassians and their closest neighbours the Bajorans occurred at a time which historical accounts dated to being as early as the 16th century. Using their solar-sail lightships, Bajoran explorers traversed the space around their native homeworld and stumbled upon tachyon eddies, which accelerated them beyond the speed of light, taking them the five light years which separated them from Cardassia Prime. Though the future generations within Cardassian government voiced denial about the plausibility of this claim, an ancient crash site of a Bajoran lightship would be discovered on their capitol planet "coincidentally" at the same time Commander Sisko and his son re-enacted the same voyage in late 2371, thereby forcing the Cardassians to acknowledge the achievement as "a testament to the spirit of the ancient Bajorans who first ventured out into space". (DS9 episode: "Explorers")
Some years after this accomplishment, a jevonite figure was discovered in city of B'hala on Bajor in 2376. This find interested Prylar Eivos Calan a great deal, as the material had previously been believed to have been exclusive to Cardassia and quantum dating of the artifact proved it predated the Hebitians. (DS9 novel: Avatar, Book One) During that same year, Dominion shelling of Cardassia opened the oldest known tomb of the Hebitian Age. The artifacts and art at this site suggest that the first Hebitians were Bajoran, the later Hebitians being Cardassians influenced by Bajoran culture. (New Worlds, New Civilizations short story: "The Glories of the Hebitians") Cardassians would also develop an entertainment known as Cardassian pinochle, which spread out to become known and practiced across the stars. (VOY episode: "Meld")
Regardless of their heritage, connection between the two races continued. Around the time of the Trojan War on the planet Earth, a conflict arose light years away when the Cardassian and B'hava'el systems became the furthest targets for subjugation beneath the regime of the Karg Empire over the course of its expansion from a distant location outside the Alpha Quadrant. Refusing to kneel before their conquerors, the two civilisations united together and drove the Karg from their liberated homeworlds, triggering the subsequent downfall of the defeated empire, which was reduced to a fringe species, though the survivors swore revenge on those who had triumphed. At this point, relations between the victorious allies were amicable, though future centuries witnessed this friendship change to became one of tyrants and hatred. (DS9 - Ultimate Annual comic: "No Time Like the Present")
Cardassian Union[]
From feudal society to a military state[]
The Cardassian Union was officially declared as a single world government in the year 1591 with Urrent Gar becoming its first de facto ruler. By the year 1670, the Cardassian race had developed warp drive technology. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook) For centuries after their world was unified behind the First Republic, the Cardassians were known for its vibrant culture as population which boasted scholars, adventurers and artists who took to the stars with the desire to learn more about the existence of life on other planets. As heirs to a lineage which boasted the artistries of dreamers and philosophical thinkers who stresses values which emphasised benevolence, imagination and fair enforcement of their justice system, Cardassian literature from this era would focus on devotion to familial bonds and duties beneficial to the greater good of their homeworld, which were sentiments that their successors continued to recuperate. However, the Cardassians of the First Republic also emphasised the value of fairness and compromise that later faced to become abstract thoughts inside the future regime. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide)
According to a statement that Elim Garak made in 2385, early Cardassian society was dominated by very powerful families, which composed the supposed origins of the organisation which later became a modern incarnation known as the True Way. A feudal society, there was continual strife between the families. One family was the ancestors of Enabran Tain, who formed the origins of the movement which became the Obsidian Order. The Order was formed to end the strife of the families who ruled Cardassia. As Garak - who was the illegitimate son of Tain and thus another descendant of the same clan - later related to Jean-Luc Picard, the founders of the Obsidian Order had built the organisation to create equilibrium between the ruling bloodlines and eliminate their civil wars. Though its creators had belonged to one of these households themselves, their handiwork was intended to "become an instrument of the state: an organization that did not serve a single family but served them all". This was the agenda from which the force known as the Obsidian Order arose, but as the centuries progressed, it structured its ideas around the idea of devotion to the Cardassian state itself, forgoing ties with a single faction outside their own ranks to become an intelligence service and one of three branches assembled as a triumvirate intended to rule their species. (The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)
The official leader of this this triad, the Detapa Council, was formed in the year 1870. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook) In addition to this, Cardassian Central Command and the formal structure of the Obsidian Order were jointly established in the 19th century together forming what would eventually be known as the Cardassian Union. (DS9 episode: "Defiant")
The state as it formed was in perpeptual political conflict between factions - with the True Way placing its members in the Detapa Council, the Order and Central Command, to concentrate power in the hands of the great families. Nevertheless, the True Way was the natural enemy of the Order, which was the instrument created to secure the new Cardassian state. (The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow) Likewise, another faction which took form around the similar desire to maintain oligarchic influence over their nation came into existence as what became known as the Brotherhood. With surnames like the Dukat and Lomar families at their center, the Brotherhood claimed to be a friendly association which originated from elite dynasties that had traditional links to the peerage and the armed forces. Hosting sporting events and social occasions, in truth, members of the Brotherhood worked to maintain the status quo on Cardassia, pushing for agendas which were intended to disrupt the equilibrium which came to exist between the civilian leaders and the military command structure. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
Expansion[]
The Cardassian First Republic existed during the latter part of the 21st century. (DS9 episode: "Destiny")
Tret Akleen was remembered as the "father" of the Cardassian Empire; Akleen was a Cardassian from Ventani II. (DS9 episode: "Tears of the Prophets")
The Cardassians had entered space relatively near to future Federation space as early as the 2150s. One Cardassian became a victim of the automated repair station when he was captured and integrated into the station's computer. Prior to 2154 a Cardassian ship fell victim to a silicon-based virus whilst under observation by the Organians. (ENT episodes: "Dead Stop", "Observer Effect")
In 2167 a Cardassian farmer stumbled upon a Hebitian tomb. (ST short story: "The Glories of the Hebitians") By the year 2169, grave robbers stole many priceless artifacts from the Hebitian burial vaults. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook) At the time when the Great Houses of the Klingon Empire was reunited to declare war on the United Federation of Planets after the Battle of the Binaries, the Cardassian First Republic was reported to be in a state of turbulent decline. Where once their people had been focused on exploration and the arts, the nation had suffered from recent surges of hardship, destitution and austerities which became factors which drove civil unrest on Cardassia Prime. As a result of these disturbances, the Cardassians were driven into multiple ill-fated conflicts which pitted them against neighbours like the Breen Confederacy and the Tholian Assembly, as well as raiders from the Klingon species, who battled with the Republic as predecessors to larger conflicts which later broke out between the empire from Qo'noS and the one which had begun to assume form on Cardassia. Having failed to achieve favourable outcomes from these engagements, those who the First Republic grappled with were able to raze several important cities, leaving entire generations of the population to scavenge or starve, even as state leaders found themselves unable to support their people with basic provisions, such as food or clothing. The situation came to a time where even the scions of the old families like Madred - a future official of distinction in the Cardassian Guard - had been reduced to foragers living in the streets of Lakat. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide; DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time; TNG episode: "Chain of Command")
In the face of this crisis, the Republic struggled to maintain its dominion over the civilian populace and the military, where a sect of the command structure emerged to assume a stance challenging their government and declare frustration with the difficulties the civilisation had been forced to endure. Though the legitimate administration maintained their own forces which tried to stabilise the social turmoil, the Cardassian Orders proved to be a more successful at this task, adding credence to a platform where several legates argued that an interim government subordinated to the armed forces should be established to replace the democratic rule until a time where the financial crisis had been solved. The motion was fated to encounter opposition, but since the Central Command had been able to address environmental disasters and pacify dissenters on Cardassia with a more violent but effective approach than the one which the Republic offered, a growing number of the population welcomed this change. As internal fighting and the economic crisis reduced more of them to homeless victims, the directives of the Cardassian culture turned to evolve on militaristic lines which emphasised devotion to their state and younger generations were taught that their responsibilities were best performed through subservience to those in change. With rumours abound that the civilian-elected rule was on the brink of total capitulation to their stratocratic counterpart, the Cardassians were set towards a road that had the Republic reconstruct itself into a more imperialistic regime and turn eyes on nearby systems which became targets for conquests at the hands of the newborn Cardassian Union. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide)
The near bankrupt Cardassian government saw an opportunity and began to excavate other tombs and sell the valuables prizes they unearthed. With their growing riches they financed attacks on neighbouring worlds and won the resources of the worlds they conquered. The attacks rejuvenated the Cardassian people and distracted them from their world's ill state. More and more tombs were unearth and sold on the galactic market so that grave robbers could accrue the funds to provide for their families, all while Cardassian military grew in power. Remaking themselves with newfound values that dictated "might makes right", the new order on Cardassia was dedicated to a simple viewpoint that the strong were those who prospered, thereby making them eligible as rulers over the weak. . (ST short story: "The Glories of the Hebitians"; Star Trek Adventures RPG modules: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide, Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book)
Somehow, the Cardassians were once able to establish communication with a mysteries culture native to the Gamma Quadrant. Since this species refused to divulge its name, the Cardassians came to know them as the Bekkir, in reference to a reclusive native animal on their homeworld that hid inside their burrows, strike at those who ventured too near. Such a creature mirrored the nature of the aliens who were named after it, as the Bekkir were ruthless isolationists that rebuffed those who were not of their kind, which the Cardassians learnt to their own detriment after three starships that had been sent as emissaries to establish an alliance against the Klingons were demolished. After this savage refusal, the Cardassians withdrew from further interactions, but their limited contact left them with knowledge that detailed how the reasons to warrant an attack from the Bekkir was if this action was made in answer to efforts made to locate their home system or hold a member of the species captive. The Bekkir, likewise, were familiar with Cardassian language and even their ownership of the space station Terok Nor. Nonetheless, Cardassian folklore featured the Bekkir in a style reminiscent of boogeymen used to cow their children into submission hundreds of years later. During another event, a Cardassian torpedo attack inflicted substantial damage to an outpost named Durut Kun, inflicting destruction of a magnitude similar to the firebombed Dresden on Earth. (DS9 novel: Fallen Heroes) A relationship was also established between the Cardassian Union and the Breen, which allowed the former to establish an embassy on their namesake homeworld, though the rumoured low temperature made assignments there an unpopular one for most. Despite this, however, there were reports which detailed how both sides also embarked on piratical raids against the other, though the Obsidian Order were believed to have once contracted a Breen assassin to murder Lieutenant Korudos. (DS9 episode: "Return to Grace"; Last Unicorn RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book)
In the wake of the Betreka Nebula Incident in the year 2286, a Cardassian-Klingon War erupted which did not end until the year 2304. After the war, the Cardassians begin to establish a "peaceful presence" on Bajor in the year 2309. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook) At least one Cardassian resided on Vulcan as early as the 2240s. (DS9 episode: "Destiny")
- This conflicts with the novel continuity on both the occupation of Bajor and both the date as well as nature of the Betreka Nebula Incident.
By 2328, the Cardassians had been in conflict with the Lissepians, and had encountered members of both the Ferengi Alliance and Orion Syndicate. During that same year, the expansionism of the Cardassian Union brought them to Raknal V and became involved with the Klingon Empire in the Betreka Nebula Incident. Though this was neither the first nor the last time both empires clashed and Cardassians dismissed this as a minor skirmish, inside their opponents, warriors such Captain K'mpec and Dahar Master Kang earned substantial glories for their houses. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: The Klingon Empire Core Rulebook; TLE novel: The Art of the Impossible) However, over the next decades, the Klingons would continue to cast envious eyes on planets and outposts across the Cardassian side of their shared border, which some individuals thought were in close striking distance. (Adventures RPG module: Core Rulebook) Its also noted that in that same period, the Cardassians forcibly occupy Bajor. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)
Occupation of Bajor[]
- See main article: Occupation of Bajor.
Terok Nor hangs in the space above as a testament of the Cardassian fist.
Galactic neighbours who were separated by a mere five light years, in 2309, Cardassians first arrived at the planet Bajor, stating a desire to help the Bajoran people. They soon occupied the planet, and by 2328, had formally annexed it, establishing a puppet government that was said to have only ever been recognised by the invaders, who were able to secure a foothold there with assistance from the likes of Kubus Oak, an infamous collaborator who was sworn in as the Secretary for Planetary Affairs after the takeover was made official. Their occupation of the planet was notoriously cruel, as the Cardassians took the Bajorans' homes, and violated and tortured the people. While occupying the planet, the Cardassians were frequently targeted by terrorist attacks. Although the Federation was not an advocate of this occupation, they did not interfere, as Bajor was within the designated borders of the Cardassian Union. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro"; DS9 episode: "Emissary")
After spending decades stripping the planet of valuable resources (as well as eight of the nine Bajoran orbs), the Cardassians abandoned Bajor in 2369. As the Cardassians had severely impaired the Bajorans' self-sufficience, Bajoran territory, as well as the mining station Terok Nor, soon came under the protection of the Federation. (DS9 episode: "Emissary") Despite this being the case, the Cardassians did attempt to provide an excuse for a re-invasion of the Bajor system by using the leader of the Redemptionists movement to destroy Deep Space 9 leaving only Gul Gurney's starship the only survivor. In addition, their was an attempt to capture the last of the Bajoran Orbs but this was foiled by the station's Starfleet crew. When confronted about this matter, Gul Skrain Dukat claimed that Gul Gurney was acting without the authority of the Cardassian Union and that his actions were those of a rogue. (DS9 video game: Crossroads of Time) With the withdrawal from Bajor, an erect coined Supreme Directive 2645 was issued, which ordered that all Bajoran nationals imprisoned on their own world or throughout the larger Cardassian Empire be released from detainment. (DS9 episode: "The Homecoming")
The Union continued to suffer from Bajoran terrorist attacks, largely perpetrated by the Kohn-Ma faction. (DS9 episode: "Past Prologue")
Conflicts with the Federation[]
Time of first contact[]
By some accounts, first contact between the Federation and the Cardassian Union occurred circa 2321, on the human colony world of Juhraya. (VOY - The Brave and the Bold, Book Two novella: The Third Artifact) Accounting to the handbook that the intelligence-gathering arm of Starfleet issued to their members, however, the first contact was not made until 2325, though before these two parties - destined to wage wars that would reach into the next few decades - met, the efforts of SI had been able to secure reports from sources that were considered second or third-hand, which enabled them to even pinpoint the location of the Cardassian homeworld itself. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook) By another accounts, however, first contact stemmed from an incident where the USS Temple exchanged shots with a Cardassian patrol craft in 2335, which ignited suspicions that the Federation rushed to amend. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Price of Freedom) Decades before this, however, there was evidence to indicate a level of familiarities which extended back to before or around the same time as the war which ignited between the Federation and the Klingon Empire after the Battle at the Binary Stars. Before 2257, Captain Christopher Pike had for some reason been awarded the Legate's Crest of Valor and the Proficient Service Medallion, which were both recognised to be prestigious Cardassian commendations. (DIS episode: "Brother") Two years later, the Starfleet officer and linguist Ensign Nyota Uhura was familiar with the Cardassian language and considered it while trying to decipher the inscription on a time portal on Krulmuth-B after its activation displaced two members of the same organisation from the future. (SNW episode: "Those Old Scientists")
- This conflicts with Day of the Vipers, which states that the Cardassians were already engaged in "pointless, unresolved conflicts" with the Federation by 2318. This implies a first contact date sometime before or during 2318. According to Unspoken Truth, the Federation was already aware of the Cardassians prior to 2286, as the residents of the Iadara Colony were "toughened" by being so close to Cardassian space.
Though the Federation extended the hand of friendship to the Union on multiple occasions spanning from 2325 to 2347, the first official talks took place in 2327, however the Cardassians were using the talks as a pretense to disrupt relations between the Federation and Legarans to make Legara IV susceptible to annexation by the Cardassians. Fortunately, the plan was uncovered and the Federation placed extra Starfleet protection around Legara. (TOS comic: "Enter the Wolves"; Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook) At this point, the position which the Detapa Council occupied amidst the triumvirate of bodies that led the Cardassian Union had been reduced to little more than a formality. Though the other branches of the regime were theoretically answerable to a civilian-based rule, in practice, the leadership of the Empire was a quasi-stratocratic one with securocrat elements that maintained the Council to provide a rubber stamp for the Central Command to legitimise their rulings, leaving whoever bore the rank of Gul-tar as the elective ruler of the state. Even the elected leaders themselves were not immune to those who had little affection for the non-combatant cabinet, where the venerable Draban Lokar was a well-known critic of the civilian-run governance and firm supporter of the free-rein granted to Central Command, despite his own stature. (DS9 episode: "Defiant"; DS9 novels: Objective: Bajor, A Stitch in Time)
Meanwhile, the Obsidian Order lurked behind the scenes as an ever-vigilant enforcer of their own will; the mere mention of their names was enough to inspire terror in most who once lived behind the Cardassian border. Operating through semi-autonomous intelligence cells which fed information through a careful chain of command, the fearsome reputation of the Order was justified: people had been known to disappear for crimes less offensive than eating something which the organisation believed disagreed with the values of their nation. Even the Central Command was not immune to their investigations, and the Obsidian Order was prepared to launch operations against high-profile members like Chief Justice Procal Dukat, who was subject to interrogation about his links to the Brotherhood. Indeed, the fear that the final leader of the Order Enabran Tain inspired was so strong that even the Central Command never dared to question him, a fact which earned Tain no small number of bitter enemies. The one limit to the Order were laws which prohibited them from owning military hardware such as battleships, though their covert nature as an organisation which traded in secrets enabled them to evade such rules behind smokescreens. (DS9 episodes: "The Wire", "Defiant", "Improbable Cause", "When It Rains..."; DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
In the 2330s, a tense stalemate existed between the Cardassian Union and the Federation, especially in the "Oblivion" sector, where tensions between the two powers and the bordering Ubarrak Primacy were high. (STA novel: Oblivion)
Clouds of war[]
Versed in counterespionage, the Obsidian Order turns once-faithful members of Starfleet Intelligence into moles for Cardassia.
With philosophies built from values which bore fundamental differences, the diplomatic relations Cardassia shared with the United Federation of Planets were inflammatory and prone to spikes of fierce aggression, which were escalated because of the frequent attempts made to expand the domain of the empire across explored space. Though both sides allowed the other to dispatch liaisons, the true influence that the Federation had over the actions of the Cardassians were almost non-existent in most cases where the Cardassian Guard was concerned. resulting in the dismissal of diplomatic protests; an example of this was during the occupation of Bajor, to which the other government objected. However, the Cardassian Union maintained that the matter was an internal affair and though sympathies for the native resistance coloured the United Federation, the stipulations of their Prime Directive barred Starfleet from extending assistance to the Bajora. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro") Nevertheless, the formal annexation drew concern from Starfleet Intelligence, which filtered multiple surgically altered operatives into foreign space to investigate concerns that the Cardassians were making preparations for aggressive expansionism and build a profile on the culture, political structure and their motives. However, the Federation was ignorant to the existence of the Obsidian Order, which was able to uproot the spies in a short span of time and lured them into its clutches. Those outside the ranks of the intelligence guild might never know the exact circumstances which then transpired, but through a combination of torture, simulated holographic environments, drugs and psychological manipulations, it was able to manipulate the perspective of their captives until the Starfleet operatives were convinced that their own government was the real threat to galactic peace and became double agents for the Order, which laid down the foundation for a substantial career out of their unparallelled counterintelligence abilities. Likewise, the Order was able to intercept the agents which had been dispatched to assess the situation of Bajor for their adversaries and turned them to assist the misinformation supplied to Starfleet Intelligence which discredited the allegations towards offenses that Bajoran refugees relayed to the United Federation about the occupation. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook)
Instead, the brainwashed defectors supplied their handlers in Starfleet Intelligence with falsified records about the Cardassian Union, weaving illusions that depicted the internal situation as one which depicted the homeworld and its colonies as prosperous locations where the reptilian humanoids who founded the state lived in beautiful coexistence with the societies which fell behind their borders. From these reports, Starfleet was led to believe that the Cardassians even thought that the Federation nursed warlike objectives in comparison to the Empire, which concealed the true strength of its military forces through the turncoats who downplaying the manpower and the levels of manpower assembled for deployment. Though Starfleet Intelligence made an internal review of the operatives it had dispatched to infiltrate Cardassian space to confirm that none came from a background that might compromise their judgements after reports came as sharp contrasts to the images that Bajorans painted about the occupation of their homeworld, the duplicitous nature of these traitors remained hidden behind a mask of falsified truths. Because of the machinations of the Obsidian Order, Cardassia was able to maintain that its annexation of the B'hava'el was an internal matter that had been first depicted to the Federation from a Bajoran minority who were opposed to the motion and therefore described it from skewed lens. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook) The Zakdorn Defense Institute recommended that the United Federation assume a neutral stance in regard to the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, but later altered their stance to one which recommended that the government abstain from thoughts about having Starfleet reinforce the Bajoran Resistance, believing that the acceleration of Cardassian oppressive action would fuel the hunger for liberation until the rebellion succeeded. (Adventures RPG module: Core Rulebook)
Having been deceived, the intelligence branch of Starfleet recalled their operatives from Cardassian space and brought them back into the fold, still unaware that the Obsidian Order existed, let alone that it had been able to seize control of the entire intelligence network and turn its operatives into foreign moles. With intelligence supplied from servants now redeployed throughout the fleet, the Order also constructed their own cadre of hidden workers who were filtered into the United Federation without detection, while its whistleblowers secured themselves stations throughout Starfleet Intelligence wherefrom invaluable data on naval strengths, wartime resources and other clandestine missions could be stolen and transmitted back to their masters on Cardassia. With this information at their disposal, it became clear that while this government had the military strength to wage war, it desired harmonious coexistence with its neighbours, but the Obsidian Order considered this an exploitable weakness which left them open to attack. Armed with detailed information about the forces which Starfleet could field to defend its territories, the Cardassians who coordinated the intelligence guild believed that their nation might be able to expand its holdings to secure fresh territories from the Federation, provided it claim enough victories. With this belief, the Order pressed these government to declare war on the United Federation and backed their alarm with doctored evidence to suggest that Starfleet was massing to attack the border: if Cardassia did not strike first, the Obsidian Order warned, the Federation would. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook)
The war[]
- See also: Federation-Cardassian War.
As the Federation and Cardassia do battle, starships from the warring governments fight fierce space conflicts.
Eventually, hostilities between the United Federation and the Cardassians escalated to war, which began in earnest in 2355 and lasted for at least a decade. For their part, the Union was haunted from the scars of their historic starvation and thus looked towards the United Federation with envious eyes, riding authoritarian and militaristic values which drove them to reject at least one offer, made by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, to end the conflict diplomatically, arguing that claims that the Federation laid to worlds near to their shared border were intrusions on Cardassian soil. As a result, skirmishes across the border were frequent throughout the entire conflict and resentment towards Cardassians was stoked because of their policies about how captured colonies were treated, which often involved heavy-handed looting tactics. (TNG episode: "The Wounded"; TNG video game: Echoes from the Past; DFT - The Stars of Home comic: "Part 4"; Last Unicorn RPG modules: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Core Game Book, The Price of Freedom) With tactics which the renowned strategist Gul Engor devised, the forces of the Empire were able to secure a major triumph against Starfleet at Zaldon IV. (DS9 comic: "Friend and Foe Alike") On the other hand, when Cardassian forces attacked the USS Memphis, the stratagem of Lieutenant Edward Jellico after the death of the tactical officer enabled the Starfleet crew to secure a triumph over their opponents. In the earlier months of 2354, the now-Commander Jellico was promoted to become the first officer on the USS Cairo after his predecessor fell victim to a fatal ambush that Cardassians launch on him while on an away mission to one of the uncharted worlds found on their border with the Federation and later became captain after an attack from the "spoonheads" claimed the life of Ashford. (ST video game: Starship Creator) The starship Barbados was likewise destroyed over the course of the conflict, with the lost hands including cadet Logan. (TNG - S31 novel: Rogue) Between 2349 and 2355, the Federation made two successful efforts to liberate the Camor system after the Cardassian Militia occupied it, while Camorian space as a whole suffered from the war, which included at least one fleet action which occurred there. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book)
Soldiers of the Federation and Cardassian Empire battle amidst the brutality of the Setlik III Massacre.
One of the most infamous conflicts in the war was the Setlik III Massacre, which the Obsidian Order helped to initiate with a falsified report to the Central Command that verified the USS Rutledge was delivering weapons to its outpost on the planet which this event was named after, even though their field operative Elim Garak had made observations which invalidated these claims. With intelligence that the Order leaked to him, Dal Laen Enkoa of the strike vessel Lakar was motivated to launch a rogue assault on Setlik III to eliminate this supposed weapons cache before the stockpiled armaments could be used for an invasion of Cardassia. Though Jagul Hanno impeded the initial attack, the strike compelled the Cardassians to mount a full-scale annexation which left numerous civilians dead as collateral damage of the fighting, which boiled down to a battle waged between a detachment beamed down from the Rutledge and the invaders. Though this struggle reduced the fighters to a scattered few survivors, the tactical officer Miles O'Brien was brought face-to-face with a field commander who he recognised as responsible for organising the slaughter. Though the battle left the Cardassian with mortal injuries, as O'Brien loomed over him, the commander mocked the idea that the struggle for Setlik had been ended but was cut short when the Starfleet officer shot him through the head. The war finally ended with an armistice that the participants drafted in 2366 (circa stardate 43400). The treaty was signed, but the following years encompassed a perturbed peace where minor conflicts continued between both sides from time to time and the Cardassians upheld a strong military presence along the border, which included several innocuous-looking starships and facilities that were really serving covert purposes. For some time, it was not considered wise to "stay too long on a Cardassian border without making your intentions known". (TNG episode: "The Wounded"; TNG video game: Echoes from the Past; ST - 400th Issue comic: "Soldier On"; ST novella: The Slow Knife; DFT - The Stars of Home comic: "Part 4")
Around the same time that the conflict broke out, the Cardassians expanded their borders to encompass a multitude of different worlds that were either colonised or outright conquered. Though events on Bajor were remembered to be one of the most infamous examples of Cardassian occupation, the overall circumstances were not unique and there were some astronomical bodies which had the fortune to mount an opposition strong enough to expel their conquerors. One example was Xahea, a world that had been brought to the interstellar stage after one of its previous queens invented a dilithium incubator which enabled her to recrystalise the substance. Though this creation elevated the Xaheans to political relevance in the early 23rd century, the Cardassians invaded their homeworld, but dodged reprisal, since the subject of their conquest was never an official member of the Federation. Under occupation, the natives of Xahea were reduced to an enslaved labor force who were used to mine dilithium in a brutal fashion which reduced the planet to a hollowed shell. The Klingons later made comparisons which likened the expansionist phase which the Cardassian Union underwent as similar to the activities which their own empire committed itself to after the Hur'q invasion of Qo'noS. Even though both cultures incorporated militaristic sentiments into their core values, as a result of the war, Andorians known for their patriotic devotion to the Federation were often noted for their hatred towards the Cardassians, but there were so instances where members of their species were found to be operating as undercover operatives of the Empire. (DSC novel: Somewhere to Belong; Star Trek Adventures RPG modules: The Klingon Empire Core Rulebook, Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book; DS9 novel: The Long Night)
Responsible for manipulating Cardassia to war, the Obsidian Order (see insignia above) was a major participant in the shadow war on Starfleet Intelligence.
Despite usage of the term "war" as a means to describe the situation, the conflict never reached the level of action which the United Federation saw with several of their other historic conflict. Though there were an abundance of historic battles and significant actions taken and the two decades which the war encompassed featured periodic flairs of violence across the border, after the conflicting superpowers grew more familiar with the strength of their opponents, Cardassians and Starfleet leaders alike realised the casualties from a full-scale invasion would be a loss of life which numbered in thousands. If this was not enough, these same predictions anticipated that the attacking forces would also lose scores of its spacecrafts, depleting their fleets substantially. Unprepared to commit when the price was so high, the Cardassians faced an opponent that did not have designs on their territories and thus maintained a hostile stance but made no effort to pierce the heart of the Federation. Instead, the real battles were conducted from the enclosed halls of the intelligence services and for twenty years, Starfleet Intelligence and the Obsidian Order fought a secret war against one another. Though the residents of Federation worlds were oblivious to this "war of spies", at the earliest stages, their intelligence apparatus was under metaphoric fire while it tried to battle a superior foe. With its own established information network fixed into place, it took Starfleet Intelligence an entire lustrum to discover that the Obsidian Order and the spymasters on Cardassia ensured that another three years passed before a reliable espionage ring was established there. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook; TNG - Terra Incognita comic: "Issue 1")
As masters of deception and guile, the Order fielded double schemes which often involved the use of double or even triple agents as a means to trick their adversaries. One of their earliest losses came when Intelligence struck out to uncover moles that it now believed to be hidden within their midst, manipulating the situation to assist Cardassian interests. After around twelve months of hunting, Intelligence uncovered one of the former infiltrators that had been turned to the Obsidian Order while on Cardassia. Having been extracted before the war, like all the double agents, this male continued to feed his masters information, but after Starfleet discovered this mole, a link was established that enabled their loyal operative to determine who else was an accomplice for the Obsidian Order. Internal security divisions then began to feed its turncoat members with false information as an experiment to gouge a reaction from the Cardassian Union which confirmed that all the suspects were indeed crooked. Though the Cardassians were temporarily fooled, this triumph for Starfleet Intelligence was overshadowed by a fresh demonstration of the implacable ruthlessness of their foe: sensing that their network had been unearthed, the Obsidian Order transmitted fresh instructions to their implants, who were all discovered to have committed suicide within the next hour in accordance with the coded instructions. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook)
The Enterprise and the CDS Trager, in 2367
During the remainder of time which encompassed the Federation-Cardassian War, Starfleet Intelligence was able to improve their methods for counterintelligence to a level that brought it close to a balance with the Obsidian Order, exposing and defeating various operations, though both sides to significant casualties all the same, including several hundred captives who were operatives or informants for the Cardassians before their arrests. Indeed, a running joke inside the S.I. suggested that the organisation owed their skill was espionage to the lessons that it learnt from the Order's example, though it never lowered itself to tactics such as torture or assassination. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook) Hundreds of thousands of Cardassian citizens were also killed during the war, which had a very demoralizing impact on the people of the Union. The Union's food supplies were also depleted. (TNG episode: "Chain of Command") The Federation likewise suffered a death toll which included a high number of noncombatant functionaries. Innocent civilians on both sides were targets for brutal treatment, such as when Paola Calderon became a victim of both rape and murder at the hands of Cardassians on the Bajoran frontier, while the distinguished Gul Aman Evek lost two of his three sons. (VOY episode: "Learning Curve"; TNG episode: "Journey's End")
Unsteady peace[]
Earliest months[]
In 2367 (circa stardate 44400), an armistice was reached between the Union and the Federation; Edward Jellico was among those who helped to negotiate, which the human ambassador Michaela Marshall led. The armistice resulted in several disputed territories being ceded to both parties, with allowances for further negotiations. Another diplomatic resolution between the two powers was the Seldonis IV Convention, which related to the treatment of prisoners. (TNG episode: "Chain of Command"; Last Unicorn RPG module: The Price of Freedom)
Ambassador Karan of Cardassia meets with the Federation delegates to discuss border disputes.
Sometime after the initial talks were brokered to establish a cease fire, a second series of border discussions were organised to ensure that the currents relations did not break down while Starfleet was weakened from the losses inflicted to its numbers at the recent Battle of Wolf 359, where the Borg Collective inflicted significant losses in terms of both lives and ships. With Ambassador Karan as its lead negotiator, the Cardassian Union dispatched Gul Rakar to deliver their representatives to a rendevouz point with a Federation starship in the orbit of Telvina V, where the ambassadors and their companions would then board a shuttlecraft and venture to commence talks on the second planet of that same system, though the Empire demanded that both escorts then removed themselves from the area. While the USS Hood had been fielded to bear the Vulcan ambassadors Hendryk and Thonn to the Telvina system, a warp drive failure led to a last-minute substitution with the Enterprise, which Gul Rakar noted to Captain Picard at their first meeting. Despite raised tensions and the dismissive attitude which Karan expressed towards officers of Starfleet dispatched to accompany their parties, however, the talks continued as scheduled until the shuttle which carried the delegates was forced to make an emergency landing due to unexpected weather conditions, which left Thonn and the Cardassian aide Doran with minor injuries. Cardassian reaction to the sudden disappearance of Karan with swift and Daran contacted the Enterprise to inquire, inadvertently exposing the fact that his own vessel had been closer than claimed, while the ambassador revealed herself to be in possession of a disruptor that she used on the planetside in self-defence, but in violation of the agreements made to have the negotiating parties attended the discussions unarmed. Nonetheless, the hardship enabled a grudging respect to develop between the members of both sides and, by working together, the lead ambassadors and Counselor Deanna Troi were able to make it to the meeting site and summon assistance for their companions. (TNG - Terra Incognita comics: "Issue 1", "Issue 2") The Cardassians would be invited to interspecies discussions which the major powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants convened to discuss what threat the Borg posed, which the Union and the other attendees - in a near unprecedented case of agreement - believed were a clear danger to the populations of the universe, now that the Collective was aware of their existence. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: Core Rulebook) Sources inside the United Federation also believed that certain Nausicaan warlords wished to align themselves with either the Cardassians or another of the aggressive military powers, such as the Romulans or Klingons. (Last Unicorn RPG module: Planets of the UFP)
Shortly after the armistice was signed, two days before stardate 44429.6, the USS Phoenix destroyed a Cardassian outpost in the Cuellar system (sector 21505). Many Cardassians assumed this to be an undeclared rebirth of the war, and reacted accordingly. However, it was an isolated incident, which was resolved by Captain Picard and Chief Miles O'Brien of the USS Enterprise. During this incident, the Cardassians gained the ability to read Starfleet transponder codes; Starfleet was already capable of reading Cardassian codes. The Cardassian death toll from the actions of the Phoenix numbered over seven hundred. (TNG episode: "The Wounded") However, though the conflict was caught in the budding stage, the renegade attacks from the Phoenix disrupted the current truce of 2366, which was rendered defunct, leaving galactic relations floundering. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Price of Freedom)
Months later, on stardate 45076.3, Cardassian ships attacked a Federation colony on Solarion IV. The Bajoran terrorist Orta was implicated, and a Cardassian liaison met discreetly with Starfleet's Admiral Kennelly to discuss ways of eliminating Orta's threat. Two Galor-class warships intercepted the USS Enterprise in the Valo system while she was escorting a ship carrying Orta home; the Cardassians destroyed Orta's ship, only to find that the escort had been staged, and the ship empty. The Cardassians' duplicity was discovered, and they returned home. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro")
Despite tensions within their two societies, there were certain occasions where Cardassian renegades cooperated to undertake missions with confederates from Starfleet Intelligence, Federation Security Agency and the Science Council, which utilised them as "allied assets". (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Price of Freedom) The secret war between the Obsidian Order and their Starfleet counterpart continued, albeit with less drive, and both organisations continued to battle one another with counterespionage activities, such as when the former dispatched spies to infiltrate stations on Starbase 43. From the moment of their arrival, the would-be moles received false information that Starfleet Intelligence supplied them and the group vanished within five months. Likewise, Vice Admiral Boris Komarov became one of the few agents never to face exposure at the hands of the Obsidian Order while inside the domain of the Cardassian Union, where he pretended to be an antiques dealer named Orem Enevek. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook) On the other hand, though the reach of Starfleet even once extended to include the son of a counselor, this individual contact drew suspicion from others who believed that he intended to infiltrate and disrupt the Detapa Council from within and so dispatched Gul Madred, who was now a favoured member of the Cardassian Guard, to interrogate the traitor. Despite recommendations from those with knowledge of the situation, the style of questioning which Madred administered left his suspect dead before concreate evidence of treason could be discovered, triggering a political crisis that had threatened to alienate the civilian leaders from Central Command. Though Elim Garak suggested that Madred face punishment for his failure, ties which the gul had to those amidst the higher ranks enabled him to avoid the bulk of damnation and be reassigned to serve on Celtris III until the heat died down and his original prestige could be restored. (TNG novel: Pliable Truths) However, in compliance with the need to defend the fragile peace, Starfleet Intelligence refrained from activities committed with the intent to sabotage the Cardassian Union or encouraged internal discord. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The First Line: Starfleet Intelligence Handbook)
Affairs with Bajor and beyond[]
The Cardassian delegation to the Enterprise, in 2369.
After the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor in 2369, many forces were redeployed along the Federation border. The Union intended to take possession of several territories that had been ceded to the Federation by the armistice. On stardate 46358, a Cardassian delegation led by Gul Lemec of the Reklar met with Captain Jellico of the Enterprise to negotiate a Federation withdrawal from the border. A Cardassian fleet was stationed in the McAllister Nebula, waiting to attack should it become necessary. Meanwhile, the Cardassians carried off an elaborate ruse involving metagenic weapon signatures on Celtris III for the purposes of capturing Jean-Luc Picard, who would have a pivotal role in the Federation defense plans, should a conflict ignite. A team from the Enterprise surreptitiously mined the Cardassian fleet, and the Union was forced to withdraw and return Picard. (TNG episode: "Chain of Command")
The first Cardassian voyage into the Bajoran wormhole.
The Union had another close call with the Federation less than a week later, after the arrival of a detachment that Starfleet had dispatched to assume joint ownership of Deep Space 9, which had been Terok Nor before it was rechristened, after the provisional government filed a request for the Federation to assist the reconstruction of their ruined homeworld. Soon after the longtime enemies of the Cardassians made landfall on the former mining installation, a hitherto unknown wormhole was discovered in the star system. A ship commanded by Gul Dukat entered the wormhole to negotiate for Prophet technology, and was immediately lost when the wormhole disappeared. The Seventh Order, under the command of Gul Jasad, came looking for Dukat and was unwilling to believe the story of the wormhole's temporary existence. Jasad traded shots with Major Kira Nerys of Deep Space 9 before the wormhole reappeared. Although the system had once again become a valuable commodity, the Cardassians were ordered to depart after witnessing Dukat's ship saved by Commander Benjamin Sisko, unable to claim the priceless treasure which their people had handed back to the Bajorans without realising. (DS9 episode: "Emissary")
A Cardassian gul authorises the transfer of fresh armament to Bajoran extremists through Kressari intermediaries.
The discovery of the wormhole renewed the Union's interest in possessing Bajoran territory. In 2370, continued unrest on Bajor created from the internal struggle between different factions inspired a cadre within the Cardassian Guard that wanted to reinstall dominance over their former conquest. Though the occupational forces had been withdrawn from the Bajoran sector because the local resistance enflamed the situation until it was considered too difficult to maintain, since then, the conspirators believed that one wall stood to prevent their return to the system: the presence of Federation Starfleet, which was a matter of dispute to numerous Bajorans. Though a petition for assistance had been issued from the provisional government which authorised the Federation to establish a presence on Deep Space 9, heightened nationalism and the scars of the Occupation fuelled xenophobic sentiments that could be moulded to become unwitting tools for external sources. Recognising this, certain elements of the Cardassian Union began to smuggle equipment to arm the Alliance for Global Unity, an anti-Federation political movement on Bajor, with weapons, knowing that the isolationist policies which Minister Jaro Essa and his allies wanted to implement offered the perfect chance to strip the desirable sector of its strongest defence: the presence of Starfleet. Employing the services of Kressari trade vessels like the freighter Calondon to deliver armaments to the oblivious Circle, these elements of the Central Command established rendezvous locations where officers licensed the transference of the equipment with hand-held PADD devices encoded to recognise thumb scans from Cardassians like a gul who met with Captain Zef'No aboard the Calondon. (DS9 episodes: "The Homecoming", "The Circle", "The Siege")
Members of Starfleet and the Bajoran Militia work to free captives from Cardassia IV.
A danger to the scheme came when one of the Bajoran prisoners held in the secret labor camp at Hutet was able to convince a maintenance worker to smuggle evidence to Bajor which revealed the survival of the famed hero Li Nalas, who Kira Nerys and Miles O'Brien mounted a rescue attempt to save. Most of the labourers were extracted despite resistance from the garrison and the Cardassian Central Command was swift to respond to the exposure of the stockade. Within hours of the prison break, Skrain Dukat had contacted Commander Sisko to extend a formal apology from his superior and the captives left behind were ferried back to the homeworld, promising that the camp overseer Glinn Dakol would be chastised for his violation of Supreme Directive 2645. Meanwhile, the Circle mustered their followers to stage a coup d'état, unaware that the source of their weapons came from the greatest enemies of Bajor. Once this evidence was brought to light before the Chamber of Ministers and the news spread, motivating key supporters of the Alliance to withdraw support for the coup so that their political strength was undermined before total control was established, leaving the provisional government intact. (DS9 episode: "The Circle") When the Detapa Council discovered the machinations of Central Command, an investigation was launched beneath the oversight of Kotan Pa'Dar into officers related to the attempted coup, including Gul Dukat, who the Obsidian Order had found to be implicated in activities related to arms merchants on a previous occasion. (DS9 episode: "Cardassians")
Likewise, the administration offered linguistic support for a number of their citizens who turned to become pirates who plagued territories across the limits of Cardassian space, though it denied the accusations raised about contact between the official leadership and these supposed "renegades". In practice, however, the corsairs were often privateers with informal licences to conduct attacks on the borders of the Federation. Comprising washouts from the armed forces, in keeping with the Cardassian emphasis on protecting the state, those who lacked the means to assist their homeworld in an official manner were offered the chance to do so with serve outside the official chain of command. The Union also maintained a profitable stake for itself inside an underground arms market that thrived on Qualor II. However, freebooters were also threats to Cardassia and her adjacent territories, though these individuals lived dangerous existences, as the government was prepared to endorse extreme measures taken to eliminate the corsairs who were looked to as affronts to their rule. Nevertheless, despite such a ruthless elimination of buccaneers, the Union still faced attack from crews like the vicious DaiMon Fog of the Red Band, who launched their raids from the Vertana Nebula, and Vollost Greel, a corsair also wanted for crimes related to murder and theft inside the Cardassian border. (Last Unicorn RPG modules: Raiders, Renegades & Rogues, Planets of the UFP)
Sometime later, the Cardassian Empire had begun to embark on negotiations with a blue-skinned race to secure a mining contact that became the subject of debate at a conference on Deep Space 9. There, however, the discussions came to a standstill when Major Kira tried to deter the alien delegation, claiming that the Cardassians were not to be trusted. Naming the Occupation of Bajor as an example of the disregard that the Cardassian Union showed for other worlds, the major believed that Gul Dukat wished to commit the same "rape" of this new planet, inflaming a heated exchange between the two officers until Commander Sisko removed his first officer from the room, reassigning her to a working vacation on Zaria V. During her absence, several contractual issues arose which the parties were unable to resolve, thereby leading to a breakdown in the negotiations, which came under indefinite hold. Furthermore, Starfleet also established patrols through the desired area to ensure compliance from the Cardassians. (DS9 comic: "Working Vacation")
Not long after that, in 2370 the Revanche party came to power in Cardassia, they wanted to reoccupy Bajor. (DS9 novel: Betrayal)
Cardassian, Federation and colonists representatives discuss the fate of those who are now settled on the wrong sides of the new border.
Elsewhere, the Federation and Cardassia reached a conclusion in a series of difficult negotiations which had been conducted over the last three years. In that time, politicians from both sides were able to draft a conclusive settlement that included several colonies which fell behind the other side of the redrawn borders. A buffer zone was established between their territories which both the Cardassian Guard and Starfleet were forbidden from dispatching military resources into. However, there was substantial heat from the colonists on the ceded worlds and to monitor their own interests, the Cardassian Union appointed Gul Aman Evek - a prominent man inside the leadership - as the overseer who would lead their affairs inside the Demilitarized Zone. Hostilities related to the relocation of the settlers inflamed soon reared their heads, and Evek was soon drawn towards the fires of a potential conflict on Dorvan V, one of the first worlds that the Federation had slated for evacuated. Here, the local Native American colonists were unwilling to evacuate their homes and the volatile situation reached the tipping point after the Vetar made an unexpected arrival to the planet and beamed down Gul Evek and his team to commit premature surveys of the equipment and buildings left behind, though official colonisation was not scheduled for another six weeks. An exception from the would-be despots and battle-hungry careerists who dominated some elements of the Guard, Evek made it clear that he was determined to secure Dorvan V for the Cardassian Empire but tried to coordinate efforts with his counterpart Captain Jean-Luc Picard as both men tried to preserve a juvenile peace. Unfortunately, however, the arrival of the Cardassians drew a hostile reaction from the colonists and two soldiers were taken hostage, even inflaming a short firefight, although the Vetar withdrew its ground troops on the insistence of their commander. As a veteran from the recent war and a father that had lost children to it, Evek desired to avoid further struggle and later met to discuss a solution with Picard and the elder Anthwara. Steadfast in their desire to remain on Dorvan, the colonists decided to forgo their citizenship in the Federation and became subjects of the Cardassian Union instead. This decision was found to be agreeable and though Evek warned that he couldn't guarantee acceptance from all his people, the overall sentiments were one where no hostile actions against the humans, provided the colonists likewise make no effort to interfere with Cardassian affairs. (TNG episode: "Journey's End")
Onboard Deep Space 9, Kai Winn Adami and Legate Turrel draft the plans for a peace between their two peoples.
Attempting to reestablish relations with Bajor after the end of the occupation, elements within the Cardassians Union who favoured a peaceful settlement with their neighbours set themselves on working towards a treaty with the Bajorans, with Legate Turrel representing the Cardassians following the initiative of the esteemed Vedek Bareil Antos. Five months of secret discussions began between the two, from war reparations to ambassadorial exchanges, even with the chance that Cardassia would issue an official apology. Despite decades of terrorist strikes and offenses on both sides, a feeling of trust and respect formed between the negotiators which enabled the Bajoran speaker to secure numerous concessions from Cardassia. However, an accident caused Bareil to be injured on his way to finalize the conclusive treaty signed between Turrel and Kai Winn Adami in their first face-to-face encounter, which was relocated to Deep Space 9 in the wake of this event. With Captain Sisko as an observer to the negotiations, the two representatives discussed a number of different matters, including mining rights, Bajorans that the Justice Ministry continued to detain for crimes against the Cardassian state, war reparations to compensate Bajor for the destruction inflicted throughout the Occupation and the return of Cardassian equipment left behind. Kai Winn completed the negotiations, thus creating the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty. The first joint Federation-Bajoran-Cardassian effort under the new peace treaty, called the Wormhole Comm Relay Project, was to create a Gamma Quadrant relay station to aid communications through the Bajoran wormhole. A Bajoran vedek accused the participating Cardassian scientists, Ulani Belor, Gilora Rejal, and Nal Dejar, to be "three vipers that would destroy the Celestial Temple". Although Dejar was indeed exposed by Ulani Belor as an Obsidian Order operative, who, as it turned out, was not only tasked with surveillance but to undermine Bajoran-Cardassian relations by sabotaging the entire project, the Wormhole Comm Relay was successfully completed. (DS9 episodes: "Life Support", "Destiny")
Reconciliation talks between Bajor and Cardassia continue through representatives like Kira Nerys and the retired Gul Engor.
At the same time, the reconciliation effort between Cardassia and Bajor continued, despite resistance it received from critics inside both societies, though the former continued to remain cautious with the individuals sent to stand before others as the face of the Union. During one occasion, arrangements were made for the emeritus Gul Engor to visit Deep Space 9 for matters related to the improvement of the emerging relations. Once considered a marked target for the Bajoran Underground, despite his involvement as a strategist known to have organised the effort to counter the native resistance before his retirement, veterans from the Occupation remembered Engor as an honourable foe. Having retired to become a patron to the fence-menders who believed that there were commonalities for his people and their former enemies, the peacemaking effort was almost brought to ruin when a woman from a radical fringe of the Maquis attempted to assassinate the Cardassian delegate, though the station medics were able to save him. Despite this, the attack on their representative evoked a response from the Central Command, which dispatched Dukat and two battlecruisers that arrived at Deep Space 9 soon after, claiming that their presence was a mere testament to the esteem which Engor held with the Cardassian people. Starfleet and the new arrivals were both unaware that the latter was playing straight into the hands of the assailant, Aela, who intended to obliterate the space station with bombs installed throughout the starbase in a false-flag attack, programming the explosives to be detonated from a remote signal. With this attack, which appeared to have been activated from a Cardassian vessel, Starfleet would believe that the Empire had demolished Deep Space 9 to retaliate for the assault on Gul Engor and launch a counteroffensive in response, reinciting the former war. Before she could fulfil this plan, however, Aela was found and defeated thanks to the combined efforts of Miles O'Brien and his former shipmate Ro Laren, another follower of the Maquis who was opposed to the sectarian and her warmongering agenda. (DS9 comic: "Friend and Foe Alike")
After the fall of the Obsidian Order a civilian uprising wanted to change the government of Cardassia. Gul Dukat was called back to Cardassia Prime to be the final guard of the military. In the same time, the main fleet of the Cardassian military was destroyed by the Hive. (DS9 novel: Objective: Bajor)
Civilian uprising[]
In response to the fear of changeling infiltration sparked by initial contacts with the Dominion in 2371, the Cardassian Union sealed their borders. As a result, other powers in the region, such as the Federation and the Klingon Empire, had limited information coming from Cardassian space. However, reports that a civilian uprising had overthrown the Central Command to instate the Detapa Council as the ruling body did succeed in making it into Federation and Klingon hands.
Klingons destroying the CDS Prakesh.
The Klingons, already restless for battle, believed this insurrection to be due to the influence that the Dominion extended through infiltrators who had been able to replace members of the Detapa. They sent a fleet of vessels to Deep Space 9 with the intent of invading Cardassian space. Though the Federation condemned the action, they couldn't officially warn the Cardassians, though Captain Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space 9 leaked this information to them through Garak, and later rescued the leaders of the Detapa Council with the USS Defiant. Though the belief that the government had been infiltrated by changelings proved incorrect, it led to an increased state of tensions between the Klingons and Cardassians for the next year and a half. (DS9 episode: "The Way of the Warrior")
- For more information, see Klingon-Cardassian War of 2371.
Splintered from the larger Cardassian civilisation, the True Way vents their violent opposition to the Federation in a terrorist attack.
With the Cardassian Obsidian Order no longer functional to keep the population in line, the True Way surfaced to become a fanatical separatist group which began to unleash their frustration on the Federation and Bajor through terrorism and sabotage. Blaming the Federation for Cardassia's economic and political problems and strongly opposed to the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty concluded the prior year, the True Way made their presence known and, over the course of the next few months, its members were responsible for destroying the runabout USS Orinoco while she was on a course to return to Deep Space 9 with a majority of the senior crewmembers onboard, which would have resulted in their deaths, had the engineering staff not been able to integrate their genetic patterns into the holodeck. This event marked the first occasion where the True took credit for terrorist action, but as the months progressed, it was also responsible for assassinating two Bajoran officials as well as a failed attempt on the life of Shakaar Edon, the First Minister of Bajor, though Commander Worf and the security officers trained beneath Odo were able to intercept the alien operative sent to Deep Space 9. (DS9 episodes: "Our Man Bashir", "Crossfire") Despite these failures, this incarnation of the True Way was remembered to have been an effective outfit and though its actual numbers were small, it boasted several associates who were prepared to assist their activities. For example, Eldrom Karron allowed the organisation to rent bedrooms at his establishment in Gorana Tevar not because of he shared their ambitions for a Cardassia that had been returned to military rule, but because it offered him leks from the customers. In the same regard, Karron also offered shelter to the dissident movement for the same reasons. (DS9 - Worlds of DS9 novel: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower; Last Unicorn RPG module: Raiders, Renegades & Rogues)
The Shadow Group, as it seeks to disable relations between the Federation and Cardassia.
As the situation between Cardassia and the Klingon invaders continued to remain at a stalemate, the fragile peace between the Union and the United Federation of Planets came under threat from a new faction which had taken shape on Bajor: the Shadow Group. Committed to terrorism that it perpetrated to dismantle Cardassian relations with both the Federation and the various factions which dominated the administration of the Cardassian Union, though the organisation manufactured rumours to delineate itself as a radical fringe from the Maquis, its actual members were disenfranchised elements from both signatories of the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty. Disagreeing with the accord, though these sentiments were not unique to the Shadow Group, whereas other offshoots made independent ventures to sabotage the peace process, this organisation was coalition established between a remnant of the Circle and survivors from the Obsidian Order who banded together in opposition to Cardassia and her the current leaders. Whereas the Bajoran leader Zoal was a former resistance fighter who wanted to inflame a civil war which had the Cardassians divided, his counterpart Kalor was driven to create an incident so that the Detapa Council could be unseated. From a desert headquarters on Bajor, the subversives utilised Klingon material to bomb the Promenade on Deep Space 9 in a scare attack that targeted Tora Ziyal and targeting her with a hate letter. (DS9 comic: "The Shadow Group")
The Detapa Council remained in control of the Cardassian government until the Union joined the Dominion in mid-2373. (DS9 episode: "In Purgatory's Shadow")
Dominion War[]
Path towards restoration[]
- See also: Dominion War.
Dominion forces emerged from the Bajoran wormhole, bound for their new allies on Cardassia.
Due in part to continued hostilities with the Klingons, as well as Maquis activities in the Demilitarized Zone between Federation and Cardassian space, a cabal of leaders and dissatisfied councillors spurned the Detapa Council to enact secret negotiations with the Dominion with Gul Dukat at the head. Through their mediation, the Dominion surprised the Alpha Quadrant with an dozens of ships that soared through the Bajoran wormhole. The Federation was preparing for the worst, assuming the fleet was going to begin an interstellar war with an attack to seize or demolish Deep Space 9. However, the fleet immediately changed course and headed directly for Cardassian space, with the Klingon bird-of-prey that Dukat had captured behind them. Though the residents of DS9 first believed that Dukat had moved to launch a futile defence of the Cardassian border, the gul soon revealed that he had secretly negotiated an alliance with the Dominion over the past few months and made Cardassia an official member, only weeks prior to when the approaching fleet entered the Alpha Quadrant. Upon arriving, a broadcast with Dukat as the spokesman unveiled the admittance of Cardassia to the Dominion and faced the furious denial of Meya Rejal, who condemned the annexation for its direct violation of the Declaration of the Transference and Assumption of Powers made when democratic rule was restored. However, though Rejal encouraged her people to reject the unrecognised alliance which had been made, swearing to fight for the welfare of Cardassia, the legitimate government soon discovered that this declaration was futile, as the masses were behind Dukat and shouting his name. Alienated from republican rule because of its failure to fulfil the promises which Dukat vowed to complete, the population welcomed his coup d'état, which the Dominion enacted with support from militaristic families inside the upper-class, including Gul Madred. Though Rejal and Chief Archon Teretis Geyl tried to mount a resistance from a bunker underneath the ruling chambers, a majority of the Cardassian Guard revolted, abandoning the Detapa Council until their would-be defences were staffed with a scattering of loyal troops and the constabularies. Before the first bell had been rung, Jem'Hadar from the new arrivals stormed the building and dragged the aforementioned leaders out into the streets for immediate execution that was broadcasted for all to see. (DS9 episodes: "By Inferno's Light", "Blaze of Glory"; Decipher RPG module: Worlds; DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)
With the deaths of the Chief Executor of the Detapa Council, her administration ceased to exist with Cardassia formally annexed and Dukat was designated supreme leader of the Cardassian people. Dukat later justified his actions by stating membership with the Dominion would restore Cardassia to its former glory, promising to sweep every Klingon ship out of Cardassian territory and wipe out every Maquis colony in the DMZ until all that his people lost had been returned to Cardassia. Dukat made good on his promise, for within three days every Maquis colony was destroyed, with only a few members able to evade capture or death, and the entire Klingon invasion force was in full retreat. Though representatives from resistance colonies like Galion were able to arrange a summit on Tral Kliban, where the rebels tried to negotiate a neutral stance in the burgeoning conflict, it was for the most part unsuccessful, though the Cardassians offered the Maquis a chance to evacuate from targeted worlds without a fight. While some cells heeded the laced threat and fled in a course to neutral locations like Bajor, a major battle - one which was later seen as a marker to the beginning of the destruction of the insurrection - broke out between separate fleets loyal to the Maquis and Cardassia in the Dubhe system after the Dominion ambushed the rebels while their armada was on a course to Minos Korva and routed them. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice; STO mission: "Dubhe System Patrol")
Kotan Pa'Dar, the sole member of the Detapa Council to survive when Dukat claimed dominance.
Meanwhile, on the planet surface, a loyalty purge of the former leaders continued, beginning with those who had been essential members of the Rejal government. Though a few of the most beloved individuals inside the Civilian Assembly were given a lightened sentence of house arrest, all but one former member of the Detapa Council was brough before a predetermined trial that criminalised them for allowing the Cardassian Empire to weaken and condemned the accused to death. The same sentence was distributed to several high-ranking members of the Assembly who lacked the affection to protect them from execution or internment at the labor camps. The single exception to the general elimination of the Council was Kotan Pa'Dar, who was a popular representative before his resignation from office, which had been made to continue charitable initiatives. To maintain public goodwill, Kotan was sentenced to an informal state of house arrest where Jem'Hadar soldiers kept his manor under guard, even though he was theoretically allowed to leave his residence. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)
While the Jem'Hadar assumed responsibility for maintaining order inside the urban areas of Cardassia City, the local constabularies were dissolved and replaced with a civilian militia who were answerable to Dukat alone and Ithas Bamarek - the former chief commissioner - was shot. Likewise, the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau was absorbed as a component for the larger Dominion Intelligence, but despite the effectiveness of these agencies, Erek Rhemet and Alon Ghemor were able to escape and the former sought asylum inside Mathenite space, which became the headquarters for a dubious government-in-exile that had formed beneath Legate Tekeny Ghemor. The younger Ghemor, meanwhile, had been off world at the time of the overthrow and disappeared from the radar, but evaded capture. Others who were opposed to the admittance of Cardassia to the Dominion were relocated to one of the worlds that had been ceded to the Union when the Demilitarised Zone was established. There, dissidents like Letharna were granted the supplies needed to create what to outsiders appeared to be agricultural community, but though it lacked bars or cells, the colony was nonetheless a prison, as its residents had been subjected to genetic alternations which made them unable to eat food that had not been grown on their new home. With their numbers bolstered, the allied Cardassian and Dominion fleet launched a fresh campaign to exterminate seditious elements like the pirate scourge that ran unchecked since the Klingon invasion. With the Jem'Hadar hunter-seeker teams fielded to assist Cardassian worlds, even the fiercest buccaneers were returned to ashes and their vessels were laid to waste. In an ironic flare, the remilitarisation of Cardassia spelt the death of the True Way after the new leadership ordered the arrests of those who were known to be members of the terrorist cabal, though some were able to avoid death and continue to ensure that the organisation was salvageable for future restoration. (DS9 novels: The Never-Ending Sacrifice, Cardassia: The Lotus Flower; TNG - The Dominion War novel: Behind Enemy Lines; Last Unicorn RPG module: Raiders, Renegades & Rogues)
Skrain Dukat leads Cardassia into the waiting arms of the Dominion.
The Dominion proceeded to release all Cardassians it had detained inside facilities like Internment Camp 371, which had been where survivors from the ambush of the Omarion Nebula like Enabran Tain were imprisoned, though the retired head of the Obsidian Order died from heart trouble before the annexation. However, this also offered Dukat the opportunity to strike at his hated nemesis Elim Garak, who was held there after he and Commander Worf were captured during an attempt to find Tain. As a result, while all the other Cardassian inmates were returned to their home with congratulations on their new status as citizens of the Dominion, Garak remained there as a prisoner until he and several others escaped. Worlds under the rule of Cardassia were annexed to an existence beneath the Dominion, which enforced the occupation of Xahea and her counterparts. The resources ferried to Cardassia on the waves of fresh spacecraft enabled the new regime to address issues related to the civic infrastructure that was able to boast reliable services after decades of frequent electrical failures and mechanical breakdowns. Despite these boons, those who might have crossed Dukat before now looked at his sudden elevation with fear and the new leader utilised his position to wreak vengeance on his enemies through the forced conscription of their children into military service, which enlisted Rugal Pa'Dar and the older brother of Metok Efheny without or with their own volition. Nevertheless, for most Cardassians, the news of their annexation to become members of the Dominion was met with celebration and a monument dedicated to Dukat that was erected outside the gate to the Imperial Plaza. Believing that triumph for the Dominion would see their kind elevated as masters of the Alpha Quadrant, Cardassia rejoiced, oblivious to the years of hardship that awaited them. (DS9 episodes: "By Inferno's Light", "Blaze of Glory", DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice, TNG - The Dominion War novel: Behind Enemy Lines, DSC novel: Somewhere to Belong, DS9 reference: Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook)
However, several obstacles arose to block the restoration of Cardassia to her previous might. The new threat caused the restoration of the Khitomer Accords between the Federation and the Klingons, and brought together a joint Federation-Klingon-Romulan fleet at Deep Space 9. The Dominion was nearly successful in destroying this entire fleet when a changeling impersonating Dr. Julian Bashir tried to destroy the Bajoran sun. He was stopped by station personnel, however, and war was temporarily averted. (DS9 episode: "By Inferno's Light") Nevertheless, the Federation continued to face aggressions from Cardassia, including forays from so-called 'independent merchants' from the homeworld that Captain S'Rash of the USS MacDuff exposed to be nothing more than a front for military squadron sent on covert missions to launch raids which were intended to piece the heart of the areas of the galaxy which fell under the control of either the Federation or the Talarian Republic. Around the same time, the MacDuff was responsible for the destruction of four Galor-class vessels that were eliminated while claiming to be ferrying refugees from Cardassia. (Adventures RPG module: Lower Decks Campaign Guide)
Conflict resumes[]
Over the next few months, obstacles to Cardassians desire to expand their borders were removed as the Dominion signed nonaggression pacts with the Miradorn, the Tholian Assembly, and most notably the Romulan Star Empire. New fleets of Dominion ships also arrived from the Gamma Quadrant every week, bringing Cardassia back to its earlier strength.
In late 2373, the Federation finally decided to prevent the Dominion threat from gaining more strength, and mined the Bajoran wormhole. This marked the beginning of the Dominion War, as a Dominion-Cardassian fleet attacked and occupied Deep Space 9, but not before the minefield was in place. (DS9 episode: "Call to Arms")
Over the next few months, the Cardassians and Dominion won battle after battle against the Federation-Klingon forces. With reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant still unable to get through, they could not achieve the victory as quickly as they wished. This looked to change as Gul Corat Damar, an aide to Dukat, found a way to detonate the entire minefield. (DS9 episodes: "Call to Arms", "Behind the Lines")
The Federation attempted to prevent this by launching an attack toward the station in Operation Return, but the minefield was detonated before the fleet could arrive. The Dominion forces poured into the wormhole, facing only the USS Defiant. As the Defiant's crew prepared for a hopeless battle, the Bajoran Prophets contacted their Emissary, Benjamin Sisko, and destroyed the entire fleet to save Sisko's life. Without the reinforcements, the Federation Alliance fleet was victorious, and the Dominion and Cardassian forces withdrew into Cardassian space, which came under the leadership of Corat Damar, the right-hand man and devoted protege of Dukat. (DS9 episodes: "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels")
With the loss of reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant, the Cardassian ruling elite began operations in 2374 to find a means of producing artificial wormholes in order to re-establish their supply link to their Dominion allies. This resulted in numerous scientific missions to study Badlands-type phenomena in order to seek a means of creating a stable wormhole. (TOS novel: Spectre)
At the very end of the war the Cardassians turned on their Dominion overlords, thus turning the tides in the final battle of war, allowing the Federation allied fleet to make it all the way to Cardassia and end the conflict. Unfortunately in those final moments, the Cardassian's treachery also earned them Dominion retribution as the Jem'Hadar attempted to wipe them out, killing 800 million of the people and reducing Cardassia to a smoldering wreck. (DS9 episode: "What You Leave Behind")
Return from the ashes[]
Post-war recovery and allied occupation[]
Following the Dominion War, the Cardassian Union was occupied by the Federation, as well as the Klingon and Romulan Empires. The Federation was said to have assume responsibilities for the savaged remains of their former enemies and described as their caretakers, even as their government also endeavoured to coordinate the peacekeeping initiative with the state who unleashed this destruction, the Dominion. Whereas all borders inside the Alpha Quadrant had been reverted to before the outbreak of the war, the Cardassians were nonetheless forced to surrender a portion of their territories which was considered substantial. To assist with the transportation of relief supplies to various systems that were ravaged from the war, the Cardassians even made inroads with the Orion Syndicate, but this enabled the criminal empire to continue its own activities as pirates with little interruption. Though most were lost during the fall of Cardassia, several of the Excruciaters which the Obsidian Order had manufactured towards the conclusion of the war reemerged in the hands of the Collectors Guild or scavengers across the Orion Spur, despite the bans which the Federation and their allies imposed on such devices. (Adventures RPG module: Lower Decks Campaign Guide) Meanwhile, with encouragement from First Minister Shakaar, the Bajoran Republic designated Deep Space 9 to become the official coordinator for multi-societal relief efforts directed to assist Cardassia with her reconstruction efforts. (DS9 - Avatar novel: Book One)
Garak cultivates Edosian orchids amidst the ruins of Cardassia as it begins to rebuild.
On Cardassia life was hard and the initial months were cloaked in an ever-present twilight brought forth because of the constant dust clouds which hung above individuals as survivors of the decimations became scavengers for whatever provisions could be salvaged from the rubble and diggers for the hundreds slaughtered, who were taken from the streets and buried en masse. Despite the despair, however, the Cardassians paid tribute to the dead that had fought for their liberation and the Tarlak Sector hosted a memorial service for Legate Corat Damar. At the place were Enabran Tain's house once stood Elim Garak returned to make his home. There he built a memorial to his dead mother buried in the rubble which became an icon to the local people and the site of a flashpoint between growing political movements in the site; the democratic Reunion Project led by Alon Ghemor and the more traditionalist Directorate, a coalition of lead figures from certain elements of the armed forces and the political scene. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
Members of the Directorate like Gul Madred laboured to return the Cardassian Union to its long-held roots as a military power.
Established from conservative views, the Directorate believed that the situation on Cardassia needed to be handled through a remilitarisation to block those who sought to shape the dethroned nation into a state where their culture had been supplanted with ideals from the Federation had been integrated through the likes of Ghemor and Natima Lang. Amidst their formative months, the figureheads of the Directorate assembled to discuss the situation at the ruined home of Gul Madred, who had become one of their leaders. In addition to their host, the attendees of this discussion included faces from the military highlights of the latest decades: the Bajoran Occupation, espionage on behalf of the Obsidian Order, the struggles in the Demilitarised Zone, the Cardassian Rebellion and the more recent demands for rearmament. However, over the course of the discussions, a number of different voices were raised to debate how to combat the proposed democratic system and numerous adjacent matters, including the invitation that Madred extended to Elim Garak, which was met with an instant challenge from Gul Hadar - the former assistant of Prefect Dukat on Terok Nor - who recalled that his superior claimed that Garak had been a traitor. The grizzled veteran Aman Evek dismissed these charges and believed that whereas Dukat deserved to be labelled a traitor due to his collaboration with the Dominion, Garak had the right to voice opinion after fighting besides Damar to liberate Cardassia. Legate Parn — the official leader of the Directorate — proclaimed that the objectives of the movement was to ensure that the United Federation was unable to use the weakness of their enemies to drive the Cardassian Union towards its own democratic sentiments, which was an opinion that the former resistance leader Malyn Ocett recuperated, expressing fears about the risk that her people would be "absorbed" into a democratic hegemony which might eliminate the national identity. Also in attendence were a disfigured figure that Garak recognised as his old school friend, Pythas Lok, the last head of the Obsidian Order, and his aide Nal Dejar, who both remained silent for the duration of the meeting which Elim witnessed. With public figures like Korbath Mondrig appointed to serve as the frontmen appointed to become candidates in the Reunion Project, the Directorate sought to manipulate mass support for the democratic movement to elevate their puppets to the formative administration who would ensure that it became a reincarnation of the puppet Detapa Council. The two parties eventually agreed to compete in a ballot which the Reunion Project won, taking four out of the six sectors of Cardassia City. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
However, the hardship on Cardassia was nonetheless demoralising to a culture that once enjoyed a seat amidst the galactic powers but had been laid low with such a horrific massacre. As a consequence, some individuals decided to embrace a criminal life as privateers who continued to remain a persistent thorn, increasing this reemergent pirate threat. Cardassian raiders continued to strike locations throughout the Klingon Empire in sporadic but daring attacks which drew respect from individual Klingons, even though the High Council itself tried to eliminate these raids with zero-tolerance policies. At the same time, observations made on the capabilities of the Pakleds noted that their starships featured technologies which were identified as Cardassian by origin, fused besides components that had been acquired through trade or theft. Since the Union had believed that the Pakleds posed little threat to their activities, it was theorised that the Founders utilised the humanoids to deposit their spies into the territories of the Cardassians. Through the support that Klingon extremists like Captain Doug donated to their marauders as a means to weaken Starfleet, the Pakleds were able to acquire a number of Cardassian hulls which were utilised to construct Towwy Clump service vessels, which featured Galor-class battlecruisers at their core and had become an item of high demand after the owners bombed their own homeworld. The Tal Shiar also leant their support to several initiatives which were intended to exacerbate tensions which continued to exist between the Cardassians and their neighbours, including the Federation and Klingon Empire, which both exhibited their concern about how the economic crisis of their former enemies, which continued to deepen because the ruling administration lacked sufficient resources. Sensing weakness from the fallen empire, Cardassia became a popular target for raiders who launched their attacks on worlds without reprisal from a skeletal defence force, increasing the issues of the Union as it tried to protect itself while picking through the ruins of their civilisation. The Breen, disregarding all obligation to the alliance which motivated Corat Damar to rebel, were prominent participants in these fresh waves of strikes and their raiding parties became frequent, and dreaded, sights. (Adventures RPG module: Lower Decks Campaign Guide; Last Unicorn RPG module: Raiders, Renegades & Rogues)
In 2376 Cardassian Union forces attempted to negotiate with the Ferengi in order to gain access to the omega molecule. The endeavor was brought to an end when Romulan forces under Admiral Sela took possession of the molecule. (TNG video game: Armada)
Rogue Cardassian forces assemble to launch an insurrection and liberate their race from outside suppression.
The following year Gul Kentar, with the logistical support of the Romulan Star Empire secretly built up the Union's military forces. The forces under Kentar developed a new technology for Kulinor-class vessels allowing them to open a quantum singularity and summon a Species 8472 frigate into normal space.
Around the same time, the Borg launched a new incursion into the Alpha Quadrant, which Starfleet responded to by launching a counter strike that put the bulk of Starfleet forces in the Delta Quadrant. Kentar saw an opportunity and made his first strike, destroying the Federation reserve fleet stationed in the Pearl Nebula. The attack provoked the Klingon Empire to launch a campaign against Kentar's forces in revenge for his cowardly attack on their allies. The Klingon fleet took on Cardassian forces in a succession of systems and eventually learned Kentar's fleet was being supported by the Romulans - in response the Klingon obliterated Romulan supply convoys in the Mornaur system, weakening Kentar's ability to maintain his forces. The Klingons eventually pushed Kentar's rebellion back into Cardassian system and took control of Cardassia Prime. While the Cardassian leadership sought a truce with the Klingons, Kentar fled to his last stronghold in the Hurik system. Martok's forces followed and swiftly destroyed the remainder of the rebellion, including the quantum singularity research center and Kentar's vessel. (ST video game: Armada II) Despite this remorseless enforcement of the status quo on Cardassia, a number of Klingons condemned the Dominion for dishonouring itself with the effort to annihilate a people who been able to find the proper path after so long, though few were inclined to feel sympathetic towards the plight of their former enemies, although the Empire nonetheless made concessions in the Dominion War Accords which called for the signatories to furnish a level of aid to the Union. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: The Klingon Empire Core Rulebook)
Though their state had fought beneath the banner which the Dominion waved for the duration of the previous war, before 2378, the Cardassian Union had been added to the list of galactic powers who were considered members of the Federation Alliance, granting access to various hardware and technologies, which included the self-replicating mines which Chief Miles O'Brien and then-technician Rom had developed to blockade the Bajoran wormhole at the beginning of the invasion. With these items at their disposal, certain elements inside the Cardassian Guard established perimeters around worlds inside the Gamma Quadrant known to be members of the Dominion, leading to a death count with close to five thousand Karemma, T-Rogorans and Yaderans when combined with similar blockades that the Romulans and Section 31 had implemented. (DFT - The Stars of Home comic: "Part 1")
Cardassian Reclamation[]
- "My uncle... He was a fool. A puppet tyrant, ruling without power. And even he, the weakest of us, found the strength to stand. It cost us... immeasurably. But for true justice... there is no cost that cannot be paid. We will never be your utopian Federation. Nor would we ever want to be. But we will step into a future with heads held high... high enough to see that our pride is not all that matters in this universe."
- —First Speaker Barada Damar, to Benjamin Sisko.[src]
Rebuilt after the Dominion War, Cardassia City was still under construction in 2378.
Despite these militant insurrections, an independent Cardassia that was free to choose a future for itself was allowed to blossom without outside interference and though the reconstruction effort was one where the people struggled to survive, their new leaders committed themselves to a new era where artistic ventures and learning replaced the militaristic expansionism which had lain at the heart of the previous state. Because of their reevaluated directives, the Cardassian people enjoyed fresh waves of the artists and poets who were once suppressed. (Star Trek Adventures RPG module: Second Edition Core Rulebook) Furthermore, Cardassians remained a common sight throughout the Milky Way galaxy and there were members of their kind that could be found throughout a wide surplus of different communities, including Arendel, where Seven of Nine once saw a thin Cardassian woman who wore a white cocktail dress with stains stagger through the slums with her male Orion companion, even though she had lost one of her high-heeled shoes. Rana - a hybrid that bore mixed human and Cardassian ancestries - ventured to the Qiris sector, where she became a member of the Fenris Rangers who befriended Seven when the former Borg joined the vigilante organisation and later supported her renegade effort to liberate Soroya IV from the warlord daimyo Kohgish, though this insubordination and the disastrous consequences caused her to be reduced to the rank of Ranger, third class. (PIC novel: Firewall)
On Cardassia Prime itself, meanwhile, the reconstruction effort was led beneath an administration which renamed itself the Cardassian Reclamation, as the Cardassian people at large became disillusioned with their stratocratic traditions, this new order came into power amidst the reconstructed capital to achieve meaningful reforms. Spearheaded beneath a parliament congress, one of the earliest leaders of this movement was a nephew of the deceased Legate Corat Damar named Barada, who was the sole member of this familial line to survive when the Female Changeling ordered their extermination. Whereas most remembered the older Damar as a monumental figurehead to their liberation, the nephew believed that his elder allowed himself to be a puppet for outside masters and thought of him as a paper tiger, weak and foolish, but still able to find the strength to stand. However, despite his contempt, Barada took inspiration from the actions of his uncle all the same and believed that the concequences of the rebellion was proof that for true justice, there was no price to high enough not to be paid. Though the Cardassian Union was not, nor ever would desire to be, the utopian paradise of the Federation, their young leader was determined that his people would face their own faults and learn to be the sought-after change. Under his leadership as First Speaker, the Cardassian Reclamation focused their efforts on the construction of their government and cities. (ST - The Red Path comic: "Part 4")
In 2380, Cardassia Prime was to host a historic peace summit, with Captain Carol Freeman of the USS Cerritos mediating between the parties. However, the talks were relocated to Vulcan at the last minute, in part because, according to Admiral Wong, "nobody wants to go to Cardassia Prime." This revelation infuriated Freeman, who claimed to have devoted an amount of time and effort to learning how to bark out small talk in the Cardassian language, and furthered her opinion that the admirals of Starfleet Command judged the California class without the appropriate respect. (LD episode: "Temporal Edict")
A Cardassian commander and her officer stranded on Sherbal V.
The following year, a female Cardassian commander and her officer was one of the individuals that had been stranded on Sherbal V. These figures were all the leaders to crews that had become targets for the formative Nova Fleet established beneath Nick Locarno, who recruited the lower-ranking personnel onboard these starships to help appropriate their vessels. Like the others that had been subjected to secret mutinies and "disappeared", the Cardassian vessel and her crewmembers were not members of the United Federation and thus were not answerable to its laws. With assistance from Locarno, the traitors were able to overthrow their superiors in a bloodless coup, then travelled to serve within the independent coalition established inside the Detrion system, while their former leaders were left marooned on Sherbal until a team from the Cerritos found them caught in a struggle between crews from other hijacked spacecrafts until Lieutenant Beckett Mariner convinced them to banded together. (LD episode: "The Inner Fight")
After the Hobus star detonated, taking the capital planet of the Romulan Star Empire and a substantial number of its still-landlocked population with it. In the following weeks, the augmented mining vessel Narada launched attacks on several Cardassian vessels who were in close vicinity to the now-defunct border and demolished them, absorbing salvageable equipment to add to its own arsenal. (TNG comic: "Countdown, Number Three") With the exception of the Klingon Empire, Cardassia and the other allies of the United Federation agreed to donate support for the relief effort that had been established to succor the survivors of this catastrophic supernova. Though their own economic needs were still unfulfilled, the Cardassian Union agreed to dispatch supplies and starships bound to supplement the humanitarian work, which was a token contribution, but still accepted for its symbolism. (ST website: The Path to 2409)
Return of the True[]
See article: True Way Insurgency
While their homeworld rebuilt itself, the True Way (see insignia) emerged to renounce the democratic reforms made to its population.
Opposition to the democratic reforms on Cardassia were not confined to the political arena, however, and the resentment felt towards outsiders offered hideouts from the True Way the chance to rebuild their organisation. In secret, hardline revanchists were rallied together into a militant outfit which believed the new system was stonewalling the restoration of their homeworld through restraints on the relief work and stagnation of the governing process. Receiving essential assistance from the former Legate Korven, the organisation set its first strikes on locations which represented their original targets for attack, such as the renewed efforts made to encourage peace between Cardassia and Bajor. With the legate as a leading member, the faction slowly made moves to undermine the democracy. Though the reforms which Castellan Ghemor implemented had been popular and generally supported, some Cardassians continued to hold onto their traditions in thought if not in deed, and the True Way sought to gather support from these individuals across the empire. With his influence as a retirant from the Cardassian Guard, Korven reached out to establish unconclusive connections with Merak Entor. Despite his status as a councillor on the Technological Appropriations Committee, Entor was a former subordinate of Korven and felt similar to him on a number of topics, which made him favourable to their ideals. Appealing to feelings of loss and hollowness which survivors felt from the decimation of their entire world, these revivalists offered their followers a xenophobic viewpoint to ventilate anger at those who it decried to be aliens. Using propaganda to incite anger and fear, the True expressed its discontent in flairs of violence directed against the new government and their allies, collecting impressionable and disgruntled converts under a credo that Cardassia needed to "find its own, true way". (DS9 - Worlds of DS9 novel: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower)
Unbeknownst to the terrorists, the assistant Mev Jartek from the Ghemor administration had discovered their resurgence and the name of their leader. Realising that the insurrectionists could be manipulated to discredit the movement itself and like-minded opposition to the Castellan inside his administration, Jartek encouraged Korven to commit his followers to preemptive action with a combination of bribes and leaked information. On December 2, 2376, the True made a bid to destabilise the government and their intergalactic relations with a solo attack on the Andak Project, which was scheduled to host Vedek Yevir Linjarin for his visit on behalf of the religious exchange programme. There, a young recruit threatened to demolish a room with numerous staff and civilians inside unless a list of demands were met, including the expulsion of the alien presence on Cardassia and the dissolution of their so-called puppet government. Though Gul Akellan Macet mobilised forces to storm the hostage situation, the would-be suicide bomber - a child named Nyra Maleren - was talked down thanks to Vedek Yevir, who empathised with the manipulated youngster and the heartbreak that she had been forced to suffer amidst the carnage of the devastation inflicted to Cardassia and convinced her to surrender. Meanwhile, a review of the speech that Nyra caused Elim Garak to recognise the involvement of the True Way. Realising that the organisation had been rebooted, he suspected that Korven was once again at the heart of the sect and travelled to confront the legate in his residence in the capital, where the petrified leader of the True Way divulged his information about their activities and links with Councilor Entor to Garak after a short exchange. (DS9 - Worlds of DS9 novel: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower)
Into the 32nd century[]
Towards the end of the late 32nd century, at least one individual from the Cardassian species had come to begin serving in Starfleet, which included a female Cardassian as one of the captains who were present to attend a briefing given by Fleet admiral Charles Vance at the starbase which had become a headquarters for the interstellar armada since Earth seceded from the demoralised United Federation of Planets following the Burn, a catastrophic event that had thrown the universe into chaos. Together with a collection of fellow officers from numerous races who once battled her forebearers centuries before, the captain stood beside the Kelpien Saru, commanding officer onboard the newly arrived USS Discovery, which possessed a unique model of transportation that shocked the other attendees. Around that same time, a Cardassian was one of the numerous indentured labourers who were forced to work for the Emerald Chain crime syndicate at the salvage yard on Hunhau until Commander Michael Burnham and Philippa Georgiou triggered a prison breakout while extracting Cleveland Booker from similar confinement, allowing the other slaves to escape. (DSC episode: "Scavengers") By this galactic era, the objectives of the long peace initiatives between the Bajorans and the Cardassians had become fruitful as the two races were able to look beyond the scars and deeds of both sides and learned to grow and change together as neighbours and friends. (DSC episode: "All Is Possible")
In 3190, Laira Rillak a female hybrid that harboured Cardassian, Human, and Bajoran ancestries became President of the United Federation of Planets. As an individual with Cardassian blood, the leader of the Federation bore the distinctive spoon-shaped protrusion in the center of her forehead and traces of their ridges lined her brow. (DSC episode: "Kobayashi Maru")
Alternate realities[]
Captain Skrain Dukat of the USS Avery during the war between the United Federation and the Breen.
In a parallel universe visited by Worf in 2370, the Cardassian Empire was overthrown by the Bajorans. In this same universe, a Cardassian served as the conn officer of the USS Enterprise, suggesting an alliance between the Empire and the Federation. (TNG episode: "Parallels") During another continuation where the Federation had become embroiled in a conflict between Starfleet and the Breen, Skrain Dukat was captain of the USS Avery. (ST - Sons of Star Trek comics: "Issue 1", "Issue 2", "Issue 3", "Issue 4")
In an alternate continuity caused by the apparent death of Benjamin Sisko in 2372, the Cardassians entered into a mutual defense pact with the Bajorans, to defend against the Klingon Empire. (DS9 episode: "The Visitor")
In one alternate timeline, Bajor was never liberated from Cardassian control who managed to retain dominance over the Bajoran race through their station Terok Nor. Their extended control over the system led the Cardassian Union to discover the Bajoran wormhole and after discovering such a stable passageway that led to the Gamma Quadrant, they classified its existence to only their highest leaders preventing the other interstellar governments from knowing of its existence. Through their explorations and partnership with the Ferengi Alliance, they learnt of the Dominion and formed an alliance with the Founders who agreed to conquer the Alpha Quadrant. This began a covert campaign where Changelings were dispatched to take over high ranking positions in the Federation, Klingon and Romulan governments whereupon they used their identities to spark a war that would weaken all three powers allowing for the Dominion to easily conquer them. This was followed by increased Cardassian aggression on the Federation border as well as equipping a number of Cardassian ships with polaron based weaponry. However, their plans were discovered by the Federation when Bajoran terrorist Kira Nerys, Ferengi Quark and rogue Changeling Odo revealed the truth of the Dominion involvement. This was followed by the USS Enterprise traveling under cloak into the Bajor system and destroying the wormhole thus severing the Cardassian from their Dominion allies. (DS9 novel: A Gutted World)
In one alterate timeline set after 2375 which was created by the formation of the red wormhole and the star of the War of the Prophets; the Cardassian Union and its people would be destroyed by the Grigari and the Bajoran Ascendancy. The Hub worlds and the Union Territories would be destroyed and by the year 2400 there was nothing left of the Union beyond scattered groups of mercenaries, refugees and madmen. (DS9 - Millennium novel: The War of the Prophets)
Starved Cardassians seek aid from Vedek Kira in a divergent timeline.
Amidst a crisis which came about when the Karg temporal disruptor was unearthed on Bajor, several individuals had brief experiences with divergent timelines where Cardassians were present. In one such course of events, where Kira Nerys had become a vedek within the Bajoran religion, Cardassia had been brought low, leaving the priestess to stand in the centre of a chamber which housed ragged Cardassians who pleaded with her for assistance as their emaciated people starved. Offering them food from a bowl, Vedek Kira counselled the people to remember that the Prophets watched over them all, promising that the central figures of the faith would lead the Cardassians to prosper once more. Within another of these temporal divergences where Rom owned the bar on Deep Space 9, the Cardassian Empire forced the Klingons into submission after a campaign which Supreme Commander Dukat was credited for. Sometime after his success, Dukat travelled incognito to Rom's bar, where the owner rubbed shoulders with him and Grand Nagus Zek. (DS9 - Ultimate Annual comic: "No Time Like the Present")
General Skrain Dukat leads the combined Cardassian-Bajoran forces against the Karg.
During another alternate timeline, the alliance which had been established between the Cardassians and the Bajorans to combat the Dictatrix of Karg and their tyrannical regime had continued into the modern era, culminating in a battle where the combined forces of the two species struggled to expel their enemies from a stronghold with their commander General Skrain Dukat at the front. While the air echoed with his orders for the people of Cardassia and Bajor to perceiver onwards to secure a triumph for their civilizations, Dukat led their forces to capture the building and the temporal disruptor within it. Standing over the item with his men behind him, the general declared that with the loss of their weapon, the tyranny of the Karg had been brought to an end. (DS9 - Ultimate Annual comic: "No Time Like the Present")
Cardassia Prime under the rule of the Grand Eternal Matrix of Lore.
After Lore assumed the remnants of the Red Path cult to detonate the Orb of Destruction inside Plemora and the fabric of existence unravelled, a new universe was created from the various disintegrated realities which took form under the eventual reign of the Soong-type android. Inside this new timeline, Cardassia Prime was one of the numerous planets that fell within the domain of the totalitarian state known as the Grand Eternal Matrix of Lore. With a population of 4.1 billion residents in 2378, the homeworld of the Cardassians was designated for purposes related to labour and the Grand Matrix identified refined ore to be its principal export. (ST - Lore War comic: "Issue 1")
Connections[]
- Cardassian history article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.