Son'a

Symbol insignia of the Son'a.

The Son'a, meaning Science Movement (TNG novelization: Insurrection), were a faction of the virtually immortal Ba'ku people who left the planet Ba'ku in the 2270s when their rebellion against their technology-eschewing elders failed. These renegade Ba'ku became hedonistic and aggressive due to losing their immortality, establishing a small but powerful empire in the Beta Quadrant which practiced slavery and illegal genetic tampering, used banned subspace weapons and supplied armaments and narcotics to hostile powers.

In a bid to reclaim their lost youth and fertility, the Son'a attempted to harvest their former homeworld's life-giving properties with Federation assistance, but were stopped by the crew of the USS Enterprise-E. While some Son'a decided to rejoin their Ba'ku brethren, others sided with the Dominion and rogue Romulans during the Dominion War.

History

Origins

Ru'afo, the leader of the Son'a.

The Son'a were originally second-generation Ba'ku born on the planet of the same name who had never witnessed the wars that lead to the downfall of their Ka'bu ancestors. Like all Ba'ku, they were raised in a pacifist, agrarian society that rejected advanced technology, and were biologically virtually immortal thanks to the planet's metaphasic radiation keeping them perpetually youthful. Nevertheless, they were kept ignorant of their people's true origin. (TNG novelization: Insurrection)

One Ba'ku youngster, Gal'na, discovered a computer detailing the history of the Ka'bu and, together with his friend Ro'tin, resolved to introduce advanced technology to the Ba'ku. They called themselves "Son'a", Ba'ku for "Science Movement", and rallied other young Ba'ku to their cause, adopting new names taken from historical Ka'bu figures. (TNG novelization: Insurrection) From approximately the year 2275, Ro'tin, now known as Ru'afo, became the leader of the Son'a. (ST website: StarTrek.com)

In an event known to the Ba'ku as the Time of Sorrows, the Son'a attempted a peaceful takeover of the colony, but were convinced by Sojef to put their proposals to a vote. The Son'a were overwhelmingly outvoted and condemned to exile, but had the possibility to return if they changed their ways. Eighty of them refused, and built a starship in the desert, using it to leave the planet. (TNG novelization: Insurrection)

Exile

Following their departure from the Briar Patch, the Son'a began a brief flirtation with space colonization, settling on a class K planet in the Beta Quadrant in 2275, which they named Son'a Prime. Further colonies were established in the outlying areas near Cardassia and the Bajoran wormhole. (ST reference: Star Charts; TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection, okudagram)

The Son'a subsequently became nomadic, and soon earned a reputation for extreme aggression. During their travels, they visited many planets and took whatever materials they needed to indulge in their hedonism. They were also known to enslave weaker races, as in the case of the Tarlac and the Ellora in 2325. (TNG novelization: Insurrection)

In 2328, the Son'a provided weapons to the Cardassians that would later be used to annex Bajor. (ST - Terok Nor novel: Day of the Vipers) Following the outbreak of the Dominion War in 2373, the Son'a began producing ketracel-white for the Dominion. (TNG novelization: Insurrection)

Ba'ku crisis

The Son'a soon realized that, without the life-prolonging properties of their homeworld's metaphasic radiation, their bodies were subject to the same aging process experienced by other races. In desperation, they entrusted Gal'na, now known as Gallatin, to replicate the radiation's effects, but the attempt resulted in all Son'a becoming sterile. (TNG novelization: Insurrection) Son'a children were subsequently almost never permitted to leave their homeworld. (Adventures RPG module: Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook)

A century after the Time of Sorrows, many Son'a had died of old age and disease, and simply re-settling on Ba'ku was deemed to be ineffective, as it would have taken a decade of normal exposure to the planet's metaphasic radiation to reverse the Son'a's chronic conditions, with many being unlikely to survive that long. This prompted Gallatin to build a collector ship capable of harvesting the radiation from Ba'ku's rings, which would however have rendered the planet uninhabitable for generations. (TNG novelization: Insurrection) Ba'ku, however, was now under the jurisdiction of the Federation, which made first contact with the Son'a in 2374. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

Because of the Son'a's practice of slavery, illegal genetic tampering and possession of subspace weapons, the Federation Council initially imposed several sanctions on them, outlawing any trade between the two powers. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection, okudagram; Adventures RPG module: Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook) In 2375, however, Son'a leader Ahdar Ru'afo entered an alliance with Starfleet Admiral Dougherty, who convinced the Federation Council to approve a scheme to harvest the metaphasic radiation. The Son'a agreed to follow Starfleet procedure and relocate the existing Ba'ku population beforehand, using a hidden Federation holoship. The plan began to unravel when Lieutenant Commander Data from the USS Enterprise-E uncovered the holo-ship. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)

The crew of the Enterprise rejected Dougherty's claims that the relocation of the small number of Ba'ku on the planet was worth it compared to the billions who would be helped by the subsequent advances in medical technology, as they felt that the moral cost that would be paid in the destruction of the Ba'ku culture was too great. Captain Jean-Luc Picard threatened to expose this to the Federation, by sending Commander William T. Riker and the Enterprise to the edge of the Briar Patch to contact the Federation Council, while he and a number of his officers took the captain's yacht to the surface to help the Ba'ku. In response, Ru'afo sent Son'a battle cruisers to intercept the Enterprise and ordered the Ba'ku to be removed by force, though his efforts were impeded by the Enterprise crew. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)

Unwilling to wait any longer, Ru'afo decided to commence with the next stage of the operation, without relocating the remaining Ba'ku. When Dougherty objected to this, Ru'afo killed him and deployed the metaphasic collector. Fortunately, Picard was able to stop its activation and trigger the auto-destruct sequence, with help from Gallatin. Soon the Federation Council withdrew their support for the project, with new information from the Enterprise. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)

Post Ba'ku crisis

Following the defeat of Ru'afo, a number of Son'a lead by Gallatin were allowed to peacefully establish a separate colony on Ba'ku. (TNG video game: Hidden Evil) Others refused to relenquish their wealth and territories, and either joined the Dominion or became traders of illicit goods. (Adventures RPG module: Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook)

Nine months later, some of the Son'a on Ba'ku, under the leadership of U'rano, rebelled against Gallatin and allied themselves with Romulan admiral Ratok, in a bid to seize control of the entire planet and gain access to the Progenitor technology hidden beneath it. The plan was put to a halt by Picard, Data and Ensign Sovok. (TNG video game: Hidden Evil)

During the Dominion War, the Dominion-alligned Son'a started producing ketracel-white for the Jem'Hadar at several facilities, including Devos II. (DS9 episode: "Penumbra") They made up only a small portion of the Dominion's armed forces, but compensated with their fanatical hatred of the Federation for ruining their chance at immortality. (Adventures RPG module: Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook)

After the Dominion War ended, rogue members of the Son'a would continue to attempt to forcibly take over their former homeworld, but these would be repelled by Starfleet, who made sure to keep the world under their protection. On one occasion, the defense of the planet was commanded by Commander Worf. (ST video game: Armada)

Culture

"We Do What We Must." - Son'a value. (Adventures RPG module: Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook)

Son'a were considered a narcissistic and materialistic people. They put great value in precious metals, rare jewels, and other materials, the desire for which was thought antiquated by Federation standards. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection, okudagram) They were highly thanatophobic, not tolerating the presence of even a single wrinkle and only speaking about death in hushed euphemisms. (TNG novelization: Insurrection)

Nevertheless, the Son'a were highly praised for their accomplishments in the arts, the high quality of their vinting and their "hospitable" attitude towards personal relationships. While a race of hedonists, they were well educated and curious, possessed of a strong desire to learn. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection, okudagram)

By 2375, the Son'a were considered second to none in terms of technological advancement, possessing superior weapons to the Federation and medical technology that the Federation at that time could not replicate. (TNG novelization: Insurrection)

Known individuals

• Belath'nin
• Frenil
• Gallatin
• Jol'hi
• Lutonin
• Natirim
• Pa'rena
• Ra'eb
• Rae'alin
• Ru'afo
• Sam'po
• U'rano

Starships

See Son'a Sodality starships.

External link

• Son'a article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.