SPECIES: CARDASSIAN

The Cardassians are a humanoid race native to Cardassia Prime. Evolved from reptilian ancestors, they prefer a darker, hotter (90 degrees fahrenheit appears to be their room temperature), and more humid environment than humans. Their hearing isn't as acute as humans, but while their sensory organs aren't the sharpest of humanoids, their disciplined mind is an extraordinary feature of the race as a whole. Cardassians are known for their photographic memory and extraordinary ability to resist a Vulcan mind meld.  Externally, Cardassians are easily recognizable by their two thick vertical neck ridges that recede back to the crown of the head and an inverted tear shaped ridge in the center of the forehead. The ridge is thickest immediately above the eyes, protecting the eyes and making them look especially deep-set. Most Cardassian men have poker straight hair with jet black to dark brown shades that are slicked back as inconspicuously as possible while the women have more varying hairstyles. Cardassians value family and relations above all else. While orphans are shunned and left to die, households with several generations living together are considered an honorable establishment. Unlike humans, Cardassians don't avoid or try to slow the again process, instead welcoming old age and the power and wisdom it denotes. The education system implemented on Cardassia dictates that intellectual pursuits begin at the young age of 3 or 4. Every Cardassian is raised with an appreciation of fine arts and culture, though the government may not have always been so like minded in its policies. Educational attainment is regarded as a major source of social status and the source of creativity in Cardassian society. The Cardassians are known for their photographic memories and the ability to resist a Vulcan mind meld. They pride themselves on resourcefulness and often say of themselves:  There is no dilemma that cannot be solved by a disciplined Cardassian mind.

Men and women court each other with a show of outward irritability, a practice often misunderstood by offworlders, particularly humans. Women who are looking for a mate paint their forehead ridge with a bright blue tint instead of the usual, more sedate, aqua coloring and they offer their fertility as an incentive for marriage. The deceased are honored with elaborate rites that do not permit offworlders to view the body, as it would desecrate the dead.  Cardassian society has the most rigid and, to the Federation, incomprehensible, of all legal systems. All suspects are guilty before even appearing in court, their sentence already spelled out -- invariably an execution. No prisoner ever escapes the death penalty, and only very tempting incentives can change the sentence to a lifetime in a labor camp. The criminal is given a Conservator, equivalent to a public defender, only the Conservator is not supposed to win, but to prepare the criminal for a moving confession of guilt on the floor of the court. The Chief Archon, or judge, of the court plays to a televised audience, her duty not to judge the prisoner's innocence or guilt, but rather to give an emphatic display of the futility of crime in Cardassia and reinforce the public's trust in the justice system.

Cardassia's intelligence agency, the Obsidian Order, is an elite organization five centuries into its operation. The prime objectives of the Order is to amass information about enemy powers and sabotage any activity not favorable to the Cardassian government.  Such activities demand agents of the Order to be skilled in espionage, sabotage,and assassination. Another trait requisite of all agents is a smooth tongue, useful in delivering bald faced lies with conviction. Shadowy and covert as the Order is, their agents do not cooperate with other branches of the government, almost always choosing to work alone. However, the talents of the operatives within the Order are quite considerable, with a single agent able to infiltrate and collapse a government into anarchy in short notice.  Cardassians believe that knowledge is power. Lack of it warrants mistakes and failures due to ignorance. The Obsidian Order strongly believes in this doctrine, and makes it their business to know everything and anything. It is therefor reasonable to conclude that all mistakes are avoidable, therefor no agent of the Order is permitted to make a mistake, which would invariably result in dreaded consequences.  The Obsidian Order expects nothing more than complete loyalty to the cause of the Order, whose demands and existence will always take precedence to personal morality or beliefs. Though in law the Order reports to the Central Command, and later the civilian Depata Council, in practice, the Order usually works without the knowledge of the government. It is their supposed superiority, the conviction that the government of the Cardassian Union will lead the empire to collapse has prompted independent actions leading finally to the fiery death of the Order.  When the Federation made contact with the Dominion's Jem'Hadar and Vortas, the Order was alarmed by the reports of the Gamma Quadrant empire. Believing correctly that the Dominion was a grave threat to Cardassia, the Order took things into their own hands. Along with the support of their Romulan counterparts, the Tal Shiar, the Obsidian Order planned a preemptive strike on the head of the Dominion, the Founders, confident the Dominion will weaken with their leaders eradicated.  A combined fleet of some 50 Romulan and Cardassian vessels carried out the cooperative military strike in 2372. Their presence was detected by Deep Space Nine sensors when they decloaked and sailed past the Bajoran Wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. When informed about the situation, the governments of both the Cardassian Union and Romulan Empire denied any knowledge of the joint venture. Yet, they refused to recall their vessels, choosing rather to sit back and await the results.  The campaign proved to be disastrous, and ended with the obliteration of the fleet. 150 Jem'Hadar ships ambushed the unwary warbirds and overwhelmed the attackers within minutes. The best agents of both sides died in this battle, terminating the existence of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order.

Cardassia is the generalized term encompassing the territories and planets within the Cardassian Union. Its people have survived famine, military dictatorship, and the ravages of war throughout their tumultuous history. Having not only come through the crises of the past, but conquering many worlds to become a powerful empire within the Alpha Quadrant, Cardassians have risen to become the proud and self assured race it is today.
The early beginnings of the Cardassian race, with their tradition steeped culture, is legendary in the Alpha Quadrant. However, midway to present times, a burgeoning population outstripped what their planet homeworld could sustain, for Cardassia was resource poor, and even today relies heavily upon outside resources. The struggle for life turned violent, as millions died from famine and the remaining fought for crumbs. A new government rose to power from the chaos. The military, sickened by the weakness of their race, took over the executive powers of state, and soon began their campaign of outward expansion. They were convinced only the use of force will give order to Cardassia, and the conquering of offworld resources vital to self preservation.

Thus the relentless expansion began. From neighboring planets within their sector, the Cardassian military took world after world with overwhelming victories. Soon, what was once a lone planet became an empire of immense proportions. The society of Cardassians were proud once again, no longer groveling for food nor fighting for survival.
But the expansion never ceased. Farther out into space the Cardassians reached, and the grasping military powers eyed Bajor with greed almost upon the first identification of the M-Class planet. A peaceful, defenseless world rich in resources, it was a prime target. In the guise of offering help and assistance to a neighboring world, the Cardassians descended on Bajor with the best of premises. However, the true motives of the Cardassians became apparent when the alien beings took control of the government and began the forty years of Occupation.  Formal annexation came in 2339. As with all the other worlds conquered by Cardassia, a regional government comprising of Cardassian military officers was set up, implementing ruthless dictatorship while stripping the world of resources for use back home.
To strip mine resources even more efficiently, Cardassia built a mining station, Terok Nor, in Bajor's orbit for the purpose of ore mining and processing.  They established a presence upon the planet and instigated an authoritarian government with Cardassian Prefects at its head.  Many Bajorans were forced to resettle on other worlds and their religion was later banned.  Those among the Bajorans who were not content to rely on the assistance of the Prophets to end the Occupation gathered to form resistance cells in the mountains of Bajor.  They utilized guerrilla tactics, running through rough terrain, then shooting as the Cardassian soldiers caught up.  The relentless violence against the invading rulers would slowly change the stance of the Central Command back on Cardassia Prime.  Cardassian relations with the Federation had been hostile ever since 2346, when the Cardassians invaded Setlik III, believing it to be a base the Federation planned to use in an invasion of Cardassian territory.  A prolonged period of tension punctuated by hostilities resulted.  War broke out when the Federation would not yield, lasting for 20 years. An uneasy truce was reached when an armistice was signed in 2366. Many Federation officers had grave misgivings about this treaty, suspicious of the true intents of the Cardassians.  Heavy Cardassian military activity was occurring illicitly.  A new treaty was signed in 2367 between the Federation and the Cardassian Union, which agreed upon a neutral party overseeing incarcerations of either country's captives.  Cardassian presence on Bajor was driven out in 2369, after years of unceasing terrorist activity from the freedom fighters of Bajor finally came to a head.  The Occupation ended with a hasty withdrawal, and along with all the equipment left on Bajor itself, Terok Nor was abandoned as well.  The Cardassians would rue their mistake in such a hasty retreat when a stable wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant was soon discovered nearby. Terok Nor, renamed starbase Deep Space Nine by Starfleet, became a strategic location for commercial and scientific expeditions to the Gamma Quadrant, and later became a key defensive front against the Dominion.   A few months later, the Cardassia Union and the Federation agreed to redraw their borders, relocating citizens who were on the wrong side of the line. The agreement also included a buffer zone between the two powers, called the Demilitarized Zone.  Dissent among the Union's hard-liners ran rampant when the agreement was signed.  Soon, they started unprovoked attacks and sabotage operations on the colonies closest to the Cardassian side of the Demilitarized Zone, hoping to reclaim land lost in the deal. For the Federation colonists, already furious over what they saw as the betrayal of the government, it was the last straw. They retaliated by forming the Maquis, and began hard-hitting terrorist attacks on Cardassia itself.
The civilian Detapa Council staged a successful coup against the Central Command in 2372, when the dissident movement reached its peak. The military no longer had full control of the government, and it worked as an agency of the Union.  Paranoia ran high in the Alpha Quadrant following the exposure of several Changeling impostors at the highest political offices in the Quadrant.  Fear of the Founders gripped the Klingon Empire, the High Council believing the coup to be a ploy by the Dominion to replace the Council with Founders. In response, Klingon warships led by General Martok attacked Cardassia Prime, nearly eliminating the Council, which were rescued by Gul Dukat, who, with assistance from Starfleet, transported them to the safety of Federation space. After proving the Council members were not shape shifters, the Klingon attack was forced to cease.  Though unsuccessful in its mission, the Klingon invasion nearly fell Cardassia's industrial production base. For the first time in decades, Cardassia was weak and unable to provide for itself. Several of the outer colonies had been captured by the Klingons, and nearly every ship destroyed while defending the home world.  The war ceased, but Klingons still occupied some of Cardassian space.
In an effort to return Cardassia to greatness, secret negotiations to form an alliance with the Dominion were conducted.
Cardassia's alliance with the Dominion as finalized.  Soon after the Maquis were summarily slaughtered and the Klingons removed from Cardassian space by the Jem'Hadar fleet that came through the wormhole.  Dominion forces soon began building up inside Cardassian space, and the whole Quadrant could sense an impending invasion with the arrival of each additional Jem'Hadar convoy.
War broke out when the Federation blocked the entrance to the Wormhole.  The Dominion won victory after victory for the next three months.  The Cardassians suffered a major insult, and the subsequent massive sacrifice of Cardassian troops for Dominion causes showed the Dominion's lack of regard for Cardassia.  The Cardassians were now second class citizens within the Dominion, the Breen were favored over them.  The entire Cardassian fleet had turned against the Dominion and in response the Jem' Hadar began destroying Cardassian cities.   With the combined fleets of the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans and the Cardassians, the Dominion surrendered and agreed to sign a peace treaty and the Founder in command agreed to stand trial as a war criminal.
The Cardassians losses were great, 800 million dead and Cardassia Prime in ruins.  The conditions of the treaty that affects the Cardassians are:
The Cardassian Military will be disbanded and civilian defense force set up in place.  The Cardassian government will be returned to control of the civilian Detapa Council.  All Cardassian weapons and ships with war making capacity shall be destroyed.  Only ships with minimal defensive weapons will be allowed.  High ranking Cardassian officials will stand trial for crimes against the citizens of the Alpha Quadrant.  Cardassians agree to allow outside aide and construction teams to help repair damaged planets and provide medical assistance.  The central worlds of the former Cardassian Empire will become occupied by forces of the Federation Alliance.  Territory will be divided up into three divisions, each to be patrolled and monitored by either Starfleet, the Klingons, or the Romulans. This will last for a period of at least ten years.  A new border will be established between Cardassian space and Federation space. The previous Demilitarized Zone will no longer exist.