Cardassian Union
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- INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION: SECRET for ship specifications; OPEN ACCESS for all else
- RELIABILITY CLASSIFICATION: C (information gathered through repeated exposure by multiple relaible sources but is significantly out of date)
INTRODUCTION
Once a spiritual and peaceful people, the population of Cardassia Prime grew to a point where the planet could no longer the civilization. During this time, the military gained strength. To gain the resources needed to maintain the standard of living on Cardassia Prime, the military embarked on a series of wars of conquest and greatly expanded the terriroty of the Cardassian Union. The planet Bajor was annexed in 2328, making the greatest extent of Cardassian expansion. The United Federation of Planets fought the attempts of the Cardassian Union to expand past Bajor and into the Federation Treaty expansion territory.
Finally in 2366, the Federation and Cardassians entered into a truce ending open hostilities. A terrorist organization consisting largely of those displaced by the Cardassians and Federation citizens unhappy with the truce, the Maquis, continued to create problems along the border for decades. A combination of Bajoran resistance activities and the inability of the Cardassian government to sustain war activities led to a withdraw from Bajor in 2369.
Later political upheaveals brought many changes to the Cardassian political system which culminated in the Cardassian-Dominion Alliance which soon led to the Dominion War.
After the war ended, as part of the peace treaty, the Cardassian Empire was banned from producing new types of warships for forty years.
Although there have been numerous challenges to the stability of the truce from both sides, it has held and relations between the Federation and Cardassians remained peaceful for a long time.
In 2421 it was found out that a hard-line splinter group of the Obsidian Order, called the Shard, had been preparing to usurp power in the Union. After the Dominion War, the Shard had been hiding a number Founders that were cut off of contact with the Dominion, and quietly used them to replace planetary leaders. In secret shipbuilding facilities, they had prepared a fleet that fused Dominion technology into Cardassian ships.
Lady Kaltaren, wife of the leader of the Union, sought refuge from the federation and revealed the plot. This forced the Shard to act sooner than they planned and make an attempt to take over an ancient starkiller weapon hidden within the Argolis Cluster.
With the advance warning, the Federation was prepared to fight the Shard, and was joined by Cardassian commanders loyal to Lady Kaltaren. The Shard was beaten back into Cardassian space, where it had to face the loyalist forces in a brief but bloody civil war. It was not defeated though, the Shard had solidified control in the farther away fringes of the Union. In effect, the Cardassian Union was split in two roughly along the Simperia-Sarpeidon-Vitar line.
Lady Kaltaren assumed leadership of the Cardassian Union. Under the Shard threat and to repair the damages done in the civil war, the Cardassian Government decided to end the isolationist politics and asked for Federation assistance.
In 2424, the Cardassian Union is in the process of joining the Federation.
DATABASE OF SHIPS
- Heavy Cruiser
- Patrol Ship
OUTSIDE LINKS
Notes
- The Cardassian pages were developed for BATA and OSFI by Jeffrey Jenkins. They have been edited by Scott Lusby.
