Cardassian Union
- Notes: The following is built upon (and originally comprised of) the unpublished Ash & Iron: The Cardassian Union, written (and provided) by Steve Kenson for Last Unicorn Games.
The Cardassian Union is an interstellar nation that has gone from a peaceful enterprise to a ruthless totalitarian state run by the military to an "ally" and puppet of the Dominion. Now, following the Dominion War, the future of the Cardassian Union hangs in the balance. Its leaders and its people will determine the sort of nation the Union becomes.
Member Worlds
The Cardassian Union encompasses several dozens star systems in the Alpha Quadrant, located on the spinward border of the Federation, roughly opposite the Romulan Empire. Although it holds dozens of inhabited and inhabitable planets, and trillions of beings, the Union is still smaller than the Federation or the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Cardassians often consider themselves the "underdogs" in the Alpha Quadrant because of this; they feel other interstellar powers look down on them, and wish to prove themselves in the interstellar political arena. Federation analysts often attribute Cardassian aggression and feelings of persecution to this cause.
Cardassian worlds are notoriously resource-poor, particularly in rare and valuable minerals like dilithium, pergium, uridium, and others. Richer worlds found along the Cardassian-Federation border, and in regions like Bajor Sector, are centers of conflict, since the Cardassians sought to claim their resources for themselves. Many resource-poor planets joined the Cardassian Union to gain access to resources from other worlds, while many other worlds were annexed to secure the resources to satisfy these needs.
Becoming a Member
It is widely believed outside the Cardassian Union that worlds become members of the Union solely through conquest. This is not the case. Conquered worlds are not members at all, but "clients" of the Union (see below). True member worlds join the Cardassian Union in much the same way worlds join the United Federation of Planets, they apply to the Cardassian government for membership, and undergo a process of examination to determine if they are a fit addition to the Union.
Originally, the Cardassian Union gladly accepted any world willing to submit to its laws and requirements. These generally involved restrictions on things like weapons, warships, and standing armies. The Cardassian military accepted responsibility for the protection of member worlds, obstensively so they could devote their own resources to other matters, but also to ensure a military monopoly, and to protect themselves from internal threats and rebellions.
Unlike the Federation, the Cardassians have no non-interference directive, so many of the worlds contacted by early Cardassian explorers were primitive in comparison to Cardassia Prime. They gladly joined the Union to gain access to advanced technology, although the Cardassians always restricted this to non-military technology. There was also the unspoken threat of powerful Cardassian warships in orbit above a pre-warp civilization. Did they dare risk saying "no"? Most worlds chose not to find out.
The Union evaluated potential member worlds based mostly on their resources and potential trade. Things like cultural exchange (except in the case of trade items like art or entertainment) were considered largely irrelevant. If a world could contribute to the economic health of the Union, it was generally accepted. If it could not, it was ignored, or possibly conquered in order to make it "useful" through colonization or strip-mining of the world's resources. Candidates for membership in the Union in the last century often scrambled to find things of economic value they could offer, since winning membership was preferable to being conquered.
The more the Cardassian Union expanded, the more Central Command relied on military power and conquest, rather than negotiation, to expand the empire. Many of the outermost worlds of the Union were conquered rather than becoming formal members. This has led border worlds to throw off the yoke of their Cardassian oppressors following the Dominion War. Whether or not the Cardassians will attempt to re-take these worlds (or negotiate some other arrangement with them) remains to be seen.
Currently, the Union's massive internal problems have brought the incorporation of new worlds down to nothing. The member worlds are focused entirely on re-construction, establishing a new government, and repairing damage done by the war. The Union may adopt a more egalitarian membership policy in the future, but for now, no other worlds are interested in joining.
Privileges of Membership
Compared to membership in the Federation, or even in the Romulan Empire, membership in the Cardassian Union originally meant little more than the opportunity to avoid outright military conquest by the Cardassians. Member worlds were extremely limited in their individual rights within the Union. They were particularly restricted from having their own military or security forces, or military vessels of any kind. The Cardassian Central Command maintained order throughout the Union. Member worlds were also restricted in their trading relationships with other worlds. The Cardassian Union sought to keep valuable trade and resources inside its borders, rather than trading heavily with outside civilizations.
Still, member worlds did receive certain benefits. The first and foremost was the protection of the Central Command. Piracy and other forms of aggression were not tolerated and the Cardassian military ruthlessly rooted out any threats to the public order. Member worlds contributed to support the Central Command, but they were able to turn some resources towards civilian concerns as well. This was particularly important to worlds along the Klingon border, which valued the protection the Union offered them against Klingon warriors and renegades.
Member worlds also received preferential trade status within the Cardassian Union, based on their seniority. Generally, this meant Cardassian worlds received the best goods, but many other member worlds reaped the benefits of client worlds like Bajor, which were stripped of their resources. At its height, citizens of the Cardassian Union enjoyed a reasonably high standard of living, comparable to the Romulan and Klingon Empires, although still inferior to the core worlds of the Federation.
Lastly, member worlds shared the fruit of Cardassia's advanced technology. Although the Central Command restricted access to certain technologies (mainly military-grade weapons and shields) considerable technology, from warp-drive to replicators, found its way into the hands of member worlds. Since they had no equivalent of the Federation's Prime Directive, the Cardassians often gave technology to species barely out of the Bronze Age, although they always made sure their technology would not be used against them. To these member races, the Federation appears a stingy civilization, protecting its technological monopoly in order to dominate less-developed species.
In the wake of the Dominion War, all these benefits are in doubt. The Cardassian military is weakened, their economy in shambles, and their technology generally inferior (although some surviving examples of Dominion technology offer some interesting possibilities). It is possible some member worlds of the Union will look to secede, petitioning to join the Federation or the Klingon Empire, or striking out on their own. The first challenge of the new Cardassian government is keeping the Union together. Fortunately, for the time being, the member worlds are best served by remaining in the Union and helping to rebuild, rather than going it alone.
Affiliates
A number of planets in and near Cardassian space hold "affiliate" status with the Union. This is intermediate status between independence and membership. The world signs a mutual treaty of alliance with the Cardassian Union and gains certain rights and privileges, in exchange for trade concessions and agreements to respect Cardassian space and right of passage. The inhabitants of Klaestron IV are one example. After a Federation representative failed to mediate their civil war some years ago, the victorious Klaestron government signed a treaty with the Cardassian Union to trade for the materials and technology to rebuild.
Generally speaking, affiliates are worlds the Cardassians desire relations with, but choose not to become members of the Union for various reasons, and are too difficult or costly to conquer outright. Klaestron IV, for example, is actually a member of the Federation. Since it could not join the Union, and the Cardassians could not annex the planet without provoking reprisals from the Federation, affiliate status provided the most mutually beneficial relationship.
Affiliates of the Cardassian Union receive favorable trading status, but not the military protection of the Central Command. By the same token, affiliates are entitled to maintain their own planetary defense forces, although the operation of these forces is severely restricted within Cardassian space. They are generally limited only to the affiliate's own system or space.
Affiliate status sometimes leads to a world becoming a full member of the Union at a later time. Unofficially, the Cardassian Union also used affiliated worlds to create "buffer zones" between the Union and other interstellar powers, like the Klingon Empire. The Dominion showed no compunction about turning these buffer zones into battlefields during the war, souring the Union's relations with many of its affiliates.
Some affiliates are found along the Federation/Cardassian border, mostly Federation worlds willing to trade with the Cardassians. These relationships were suspended during the Dominion War, when many affiliates sided with the Federation or did their best to remain neutral. More affiliates are found along the Klingon/Cardassian border, usually worlds that prefer to trade with the Union rather than the Empire. The remainder are found along the spinward border of the Union.
Client Worlds
A large number of "Cardassian worlds" in the Union are actually client worlds, which are not members of the Union at all, and enjoy none of the benefits, but provide the vital resources the Union needs. Client worlds are nearly always resource-rich, although that term is relative from the point of view of resource-poor Cardassia. They are also weakly defended, making them easy prey for the Cardassian military machine.
The standard Cardassian approach to annexing a client world was similar to acquiring member planets; a gul or other commanding officer approached the planetary government (or the largest and most powerful government on the planet) and offered membership in the Union, including "assistance" from the Cardassians in matters of technology and "resource development." The standard agreement included trade with other worlds in the Union. Planetary officials were clearly informed that refusing the honor of membership could cause them problems with their Cardassian neighbors. This alone was enough to cause many worlds to capitulate.
Those worlds that did not accept this reasonable proposal were invaded and conquered outright. Other worlds were conquered more slowly, as Cardassian "advisors" gathered up the reins of power until they were ready to abolish the local government and place power in the hands of a Cardassian Prefect. Conquests were carried out with ruthless efficiency; Cardassian commanders did not hesitate to execute civilians in order to force compliance with their directives.
Once a client world was taken, the Cardassians methodically began looting its resources, treating the client as nothing more than a source of raw material for the rest of the Union. The Cardassians used slave labor, strip mining, looting, and other immoral or dangerous practices to extract everything of value from the client world, which was abandoned once its resources were exhausted. The fate of the Union's client worlds often encouraged other planets into becoming member or affiliate worlds, if only to avoid a similar fate.
The most famous example of Cardassian client world policy is Bajor, which the Cardassians annexed in 2328, under the guise of "assisting" the peaceful Bajorans in "utilizing their world's resources." Bajorans were forced into labor camps, or allowed some degree of freedom if they cooperated with their Cardassian overlords. The Bajoran religion (a source of rebellion) was banned, and religious leaders were arrested. Over the next several decades, the Cardassians systematically stripped Bajor of its resources, which were shipped to other worlds in the Union. One of the prime reasons for the Cardassian withdrawl from Bajor in 2369 was the exhaustion of many of the planet's resources.
The disposition of Cardassian client worlds has long been a touchy subject for the Federation. Before a client world is annexed, the Federation is forbidden to interfere in its society or government. After a client world is annexed, it is a part of the Cardassian Union, therefore the Federation remains forbidden to interfere in what is, technically, the affairs of a foreign power. In practice, of course, the Federation does what it can to assist worlds annexed by the Cardassians. Federation assistance proved vital in Bajor's recovery from the occupation, and in preventing the Cardassians from re-taking control of the planet later on.
The Dominion War placed greater demands on Cardassia's resources than ever before. Cut off from the Gamma Quadrant, the Dominion needed new cloning facilities, shipyards, weapons plants, and ketracel white facilities, and the materials to build them came from the Cardassian Union. This led to increased production quotas for client worlds, and the need to take additional worlds to mine for resources. With the aid of the Jem'Hadar, the Cardassians were easily able to annex additional worlds along the former DMZ and their spinward border, stripping them clean like a school of hungry pirhana.
Since the end of the war, the fate of the remaining Cardassian client worlds is undecided. The Cardassians abandoned many such worlds near the war's end, focused on protecting and rebuilding the core of the Union. Many former client worlds are little more than dead husks, stripped bare of every useful resource. Others are doing their best to rebuild. The Federation has offered humanitarian aid, but their resources are also stretched thin, leaving many worlds on their own, and at the mercy of pirates, raiders, and other predators.
Some of the areas belonging to the Union include: the Algira Sector; the Almatha Sector; the Altenek Nor Shipyards; Amleth Prime (a planet located within an emission nebula; the Central Command maintains a station there); Arawath Colony; the Argaya system (near the DMZ border); the Aschelan system (a fuel depot exists on Aschelan V); the Celtris system; the Chin'toka system (once a key component of the Cardassian defense structure); the Cuellar system; the Dopa system; the Kelrabi system; the Kora system (Kora II is the location of a Cardassian military academy); the Lamenda system; the Lazon system (Thomas Riker is imprisoned at the labor camp on Lazon II); Loval (the site of a weapons research facility); the McAllister C-5 Nebula; the Monak system (former site of the Monak IV shipyards); the Omekla system (Omekla III is the site of a major Cardassian shipyard); the Orias system (controlled by the Obsidian Order, which has a base and illegal shipyard on Orias III); the Penthath system (near the Cardassian-Klingon border); the Pullock system; the Rakal system (a subterranean base exists on the fourth moon of Rakal III); the Valo system (located between Bajoran and Cardassian territory); and the Volnar system (home of the Volnar III mining colony).
History
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