TEXT: 2009 EDITION
  
  This manual is published by the STARFLEET Marine Corps, a component of STARFLEET, 
  the International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc., and released under the Creative 
  Commons 
  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 
  3.0 
  License 
  (http://creativecommons.
  org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). You may freely copy, distribute, display, and perform 
  this manual, but all other uses are strictly prohibited unless written permission is 
  received from the Commandant or Deputy Commandant, STARFLEET Marine Corps. 
  The STARFLEET 
  Marine Corps holds no claims to any trademarks, copyrights, 
  or 
  other 
  properties 
  held 
  by 
  Paramount, 
  other 
  such 
  companies 
  or 
  individuals. 
  Published: October 2008
  STARFLEET MARINE CORPS
  Xenostudies 
  Cardassian Manual
   
  2009 Edition
  
  XC Manual
  Part 1 - Introduction ��������������������������������������������������������1
  Copyright and Disclaimer ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
  Pronoun Disclaimer ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 
  Acknowledgements ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 1 
  Reporting Authority ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
  Part 2 - The Cardassian Union ������������������������������������������2
  Cardassia Prime ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2
  Cardassian Solar System ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
  Cardassian Union ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
  Part 3 - The Cardassian People ���������������������������������������12
  Physiology ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12
  Personality ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 13
  Cultural Facts ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 14
  Part 4 - The Government ������������������������������������������������17
  Detapa Council ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17
  Local Government ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 20
  Underground Movements ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21
  Part 5 - The Military �������������������������������������������������������23
  Military Ranks ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 23
  The Central Command ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 24
  Military Orders ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24
  Militia ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 28
  Labor Camps �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30
  Part 6 - Weaponry ����������������������������������������������������������33
  Part 7 - Ships �����������������������������������������������������������������38
  Part 8 - The Obsidian Order ��������������������������������������������51
  Recruitment ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52
  Training ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 53
  The Structure of the Order ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 54
  Known Agents ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57 
  Known Operatives ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58 
  The Bajoran Occupation - Help from the Order ���������������������������������������������������� 59
  Omarion Nebula Incident - The Failed Mission ����������������������������������������������������� 60
  About the SFMC Academy �����������������������������������������������63 
   
   
  Contents
  
  1
  XC Manual
  Part 1 - Introduction
  Copyright and Disclaimer
  This manual is published by the STARFLEET Marine Corps, a component of STARFLEET, the 
  International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc., and released under the Creative Commons 
  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/
  licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). You may freely copy, distribute, display, and perform 
  this manual, but all other uses are strictly prohibited unless written permission is 
  received from the Commandant or Deputy Commandant, STARFLEET Marine Corps. 
  The STARFLEET Marine Corps, STARFLEET, the International Star Trek Fan 
  Association, Inc., holds no claims to any trademarks, copyrights, or other 
  properties held by CBS Studios Inc., other such companies or individuals.
  Reference works used in creation of this manual;
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardassian
  1. 
  Star Trek Star charts, © 2002 paramount, Geoffrey Mandel
  2. 
  Star Trek: Terok Nor Day of the Vipers, Night of the Wolves, and Day of the 
  3. 
  Eagles , 2008
  A Stitch in Time by Andrew Robinson, 2000
  4. 
  ST:ENT, ST:TNG AND ST:DS9 episodes
  5. 
  http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/
  6. 
  http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/
  7. 
  http://www.startrek.com
  8. 
  http://www.ditl.org
  9. 
  Pronoun Disclaimer
  In this manual, “he”, “him”, and “his” are used following the standard English-
  language grammatical  convention to use these forms for gender-nonspecific 
  pronouns. No sexist bias is intended. The convention is used merely for 
  ease of writing and reading. There have been and hopefully always will be 
  plenty of female members in the SFMC, and no slight to them is intended. 
  Acknowledgments
  This manual would not have been possible without the help of the countless people 
  who have worked on the source material, this and previous manuals.
  Reporting Authority
  The governing authority for Xenostudies Branch information is the Commanding 
  Officer, Training Command (COTRACOM). Send questions, comments, or suggestions 
  concerning Support to: tracom@sfi.org
  
  2
  XC Manual
  Part 2 - The Cardassian Union
  Cardassian Prime
  The Cardassian homeworld, Cardassia Prime (also 
  known simply as “Cardassia”), is the sixth planet 
  of its system.  
  The planet’s climate is more humid and warmer than 
  that preferred by Humans.  (Humans and Bajorans, 
  among others, make comments throughout Star 
  Trek: Deep Space Nine’s run about Cardassians’ 
  preference for heat, while characters like Elim 
  Garak complain about the uncomfortably cool 
  temperatures preferred by non-Cardassians.) 
  To the Cardassians, the home world is wonderfully 
  hot and humid.  Shallow oceans cover 40% of the 
  planet’s surface.  The thick heavy atmosphere 
  holds in the heat and moisture, so there is little 
  relief even at night except in the mountains.  
  There is little climactic variation about the planet due to the blanket effect of the 
  atmosphere and low axial tilt.  However temperatures can vary up to 10 deg. 
  Celsius by latitude.
  Once lush and fertile, the land is poor in trace minerals and desert-like due to 
  centuries of over-farming and industrialization after a dramatic climate change.  
  There are some isolated pockets of vegetation centered around water, but most 
  moisture tends to remain suspended in the atmosphere.  So foods that cannot be 
  grown on the soil of the homeworld are imported from off-world colonies.
  Higher elevations give rise to barren, sere landscapes.  
  Only the hardiest of vegetation and small creatures live 
  there.  A few mountain tops are as high as 10,000m 
  but most of the highlands are between 2000m and 
  4000m elevation.
  The early Hebitian civilization lived in harmony with 
  the planet and lack of industrial metals did not affect 
  them.  However, a climatic shift changed the planet 
  to a wasteland and the early Hebitians were beset 
  by plague and starvation.  When the invaders came from space and began to 
  intermarry with the Hebitians, the emerging civilization moved rapidly towards 
  industrialization.  They soon depleted what few minerals Cardassia possessed.
  As desolate as the planet has become, the Cardassian 
  people will not leave their home for a more resource-
  rich planet.  Instead, they have annexed planets for 
  their resources and made those colonies extensions of 
  Cardassia Prime.  Their territorial nature makes them 
  loathe to leave “home” and It is only out of a sense 
  of duty do Cardassians leave the planet to serve the 
  Union on starships,  colonies and outposts.
  Cardassia as seen from high 
  orbit.
  
  3
  XC Manual
  Before the devastation of the Dominion forces on Cardassia Prime, the capital City 
  of Lakat proudly boasted a large governmental complex, the Imperial Plaza, the 
  Lakarian amusement Park, and the University of Culat.
  After the Dominion War, the Cardassians resolutely began to pick through the rubble 
  to save every stone, every precious object in order to rebuild again.
  Cardassian Solar System
  Sun: Cardassia
  Type: Single
  Spectral Class: K0V (Orange main sequence star somewhat cooler than Sol.)
  Absolute Magnitude: -1.1
  Number of planets: 8
  Other: 2 asteroid belts
  I:  Class B (partly molten)
  II: Class B (contradicted in the Terok Nor trilogy, where it is implied as Class M, 
  being host to an orphanage.)
  Asteroid Belt
  III: Class M Where Orb of Wisdom was hidden till Zek obtained it.
  IV: Class M (Hutet) home to Hutet Labor camp
  V:  Class M (Cardassian Minor) Home of a museum
  VI: Class M (Cardassia Prime) One moon
  VII: Class Q (variable due to eccentric orbit)
  Double asteroid belt
  VIII: Class I (gas super-giant) with rings
  
  4
  XC Manual
  Cardassian Union
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  The Nature of the Union
  The Cardassian Union lies on the mid and south western border of the Federation 
  near Betazed and Trill.  The Breen, Ferengi and Tzenkethi territories lie to the north, 
  and the Talarians lie to the south.  Note that these are arbitrary map directions 
  based on looking down on the flat disk of the Milky Way with the Sagittarius Arm 
  in the south position.
  The Cardassian Union was once a trade alliance of colonies and newly discovered 
  worlds centered around Cardassia Prime.  At first Cardassia sent civilian 
  representatives to negotiate a trade agreement with the governments of the 
  resource-rich planets.  They offered superior technology and system security for 
  mineral rights on the planets and/or its moons and neighboring planets.  Such 
  alliances were amicable and reciprocal for the most part, each side gaining what it 
  wanted from the agreement.
  If the government were reluctant, however, the Obsidian Order would quietly 
  engineer an internal and/or external threat to convince the locals that they needed 
  the Cardassian Military to protect them.  An example of this tactic was the occupation 
  of Bajor.  Over a ten-year period of time, the Bajoran government was “persuaded” 
  of the need for an alliance with the Cardassians for their own protection.  By 2328, 
  Bajor was totally controlled by the Cardassian Military. 
  If the world were on disputed space between Cardassian and neighboring alien 
  space, the Cardassians simply took the world by force.  The government was 
  replaced by a Cardassian prefect backed up by the military.  A Prefect was a leader 
  or governor of a planet, a colony, a local precinct or something as important as the 
  Detapa Council.  The inhabitants of the occupied world found themselves under 
  strict Cardassian rule, many of them working for meager wages and poor working 
  conditions in the mineral mines.
  
  5
  XC Manual
  Over several centuries, the Cardassian Union became more like an Empire, its 
  holdings enforced by Central Command and fleets of ships.
  Even as aggressively as the Cardassian Union annexed planets, it is still the 
  smallest of the great galactic powers.  The Cardassian leaders feel threatened 
  by this situation and need to prove themselves in the arena of galactic power. 
  Some Federation political analysts attribute Cardassian aggression and feelings 
  of persecution to this cause, however, and forget that to the Cardassians, larger 
  powers represent a greater threat to the Union.  That other powers could be friendly 
  without dominating them is an alien concept.  The concept of altruism is not a 
  natural part of the Cardassian mindset.
  The History of the Union
   
  Early History 
  The ancient Hebitians were a spiritual and peaceful civilization which thrived on 
  Cardassia Prime for centuries.  They lived in harmony with the land and the planet 
  was lush with forests.  Archeologists reported that the Hebitian burial vaults were 
  magnificent and filled with many jeweled artifacts made of jevonite.  
  Due to a climatic change and the planet’s scarcity in natural resources, the 
  impoverished society suffered from famine and disease, leading to millions of 
  deaths.  The frail population was taken over by aliens with a militaristic ideology 
  thus ending the Hebitian way of life.
  First Contact  
  First contact between the Cardassians and Bajorans occurred as early as the 16th 
  century.  Using their lightships, Bajoran explorers traversed the space around Bajor 
  and stumbled upon tachyon eddies, which took them all the way to Cardassia 
  Prime.   
  Cardassian Union 
  The Detapa Council (1872), Cardassian Central Command and Obsidian Order 
  were jointly established in the 19th century, together forming what was eventually 
  known as the Cardassian Union. 
  First Republic 
  The First Republic was established in the late-21st century and featured an era of 
  excellent literature such as the works of Iloja of Prim. 
  By the mid-22nd century, Cardassians began to explore space.  Cardassians and 
  Humans also traveled in the same area of space as early as 2154. 
  Modern Empire
  Having assumed a militaristic philosophy after the Hebitian society perished, 
  Cardassians relied heavily on the military’s expansion into the galaxy to obtain the 
  natural resources which were scarce on their homeworld.  The military colonized 
  numerous worlds to obtain the resources for their population and in return had 
  almost complete power over the people. This arrangement satisfied both the 
  military and the civilian population for many years. 
  However, as the Cardassian Union continued to expand over the decades, so did 
  the military’s requirements. Eventually the military was consuming the majority of 
  
  6
  XC Manual
  the obtained resources and leaving only scant remnants to Cardassian citizenry. 
  This led to a period of social discontent, as famine and disease once again struck 
  Cardassia, as it had with its ancient civilization.  To compensate, the military 
  conquered neighboring planets and forced their native people to work as forced 
  laborers. 
  2328 - The most well known of these occupations was that of Bajor in 2328.  The 
  Occupation effectively ended in 2369 due to political pressure from the Federation on 
  top of the constant terrorism and guerrilla warfare from the Bajoran Resistance.  
  The Reklar and USS Enterprise-D met in the DMZ over the dispute of Minos Korva.  
  Eventually their expansion brought them into conflict with the Klingon Empire 
  causing the Betreka Nebula Incident. 
  2328 - Contact with the Klingon Empire in the Betreka Nebula.  The Betreka 
  Nebula is a nebula located between the Klingon Empire and the Cardassian Union. 
  The Betreka Nebula Incident began an 18-year-long cold war between the Klingon 
  Empire and the Cardassian Union.  
  2347 - The Cardassian Union attacked Setlik II, killing over 100 Federation colonists. 
  Federation/Cardassian War begins.
  2351 - Construction of Terok Nor is completed.
  The date of first contact between the Federation and the Cardassian Union has 
  never been established, although most fans assume that it was sometime in the 
  first two decades of the 24th century due to the lack of any Cardassian mention in 
  23rd century back stories.  Conversely, the Cardassian Iloja of Prim was in exile on 
  Vulcan during the lifetime of Tobin Dax, i.e. before 2245. 
  2354 - Starfleet drives Cardassian forces out of Federation space.
  2367 - Truce between the Cardassian Union and the Federation.
  2369 - Withdrawal of Cardassian troops from Bajor.  The Bajorans invited the 
  Federation to administer Terok Nor, and they rechristened it DS9.  The Enterprise 
  was sent into Cardassian space upon suspicion that the Cardassians were developing 
  a metagenic weapon.  Picard was captured and interrogated by Gul Madred, and 
  much information about the Federation was gained from this interrogation.  Picard 
  and Crusher were returned alive into the custody of Captain Edward Jellico, who 
  had negotiated the Cardassian-Federation armistice of 2367. 
  2370 - Treaty finally signed by both the Federation and the Union. The Demilitarized 
  Zone (DMZ) is established.  The layout of the DMZ also contributed to the tensions.  
  Due to the change in borders some Federation worlds became Cardassian territories 
  and vice versa.  Many of the people, whose worlds were turned over to the 
  Cardassians, did not wish to leave and were granted permission to remain on their 
  worlds.  Disgruntled by the treatment they received from the Cardassians some of 
  the citizens decided to revolt.  This gave birth to the Maquis. 
  After exhausting much of their resources during the Federation-Cardassian War 
  the Cardassian Union was in no shape for renewed conflict with the Federation so 
  soon after the peace treaty.  To make matters worse the Maquis were located in the 
  Demilitarized Zone, preventing the Cardassian military from launching a full-scale 
  invasion to wipe them out.  This enabled the Maquis to carry out numerous acts of 
  
  7
  XC Manual
  sabotage and small military engagements against the Union.
  As the Maquis grew in size and strength tensions increased between the Federation 
  and the Cardassian Union with neither side having a concrete solution to the 
  problem.  The Central Command secretly armed their citizens in the DMZ to combat 
  the Maquis while the Maquis procured weapons by raiding various vessels as well 
  as receiving materials from the Klingon Empire in later years.  
  The Central Command attempted to deal with the situation in the DMZ by discrediting 
  the Federation and providing evidence that they not only sanctioned the Maquis’ 
  actions, but were providing them with weapons to combat the Cardassians.  Their 
  undercover operative secretly developed evidence that Miles O’Brien was shipping 
  photon torpedoes to the Maquis from Deep Space 9.  The plan was foiled when 
  Central Command’s agent was discovered by the station’s senior staff, and the 
  evidence against O’Brien was proved to be fabricated.  
  Another failed attempt by Central Command was to wipe out the Maquis’ munitions 
  base in the Badlands with the creation of their ATR-4107 missile (which was later 
  renamed Dreadnought).  While the ATR-4107 effectively acted as a missile, it was 
  also a fully autonomous warship capable of warp speeds and carried a wide range 
  of defensive weaponry.  The Dreadnought had successfully made it to the Maquis 
  munitions depot after fighting its way through every Maquis defense.  However, 
  due to the Cardassian’s use of an outdated kinetic detonator, the Dreadnought did 
  not detonate as planned, but instead drifted in orbit of the planetoid.  
  There, the Maquis reprogrammed the super weapon to attack a Cardassian fuel 
  depot on Aschelan V.  Dreadnought inexplicably disappeared in the Badlands while 
  on the way to its new destination, only to be found by the USS Voyager two years 
  later.
  2370 - Enter The Dominion:
  The discovery of a large, hostile empire in the Gamma Quadrant proved to be one 
  of the most devastating events for the Cardassian Empire.  By 2371, no major 
  Alpha Quadrant power was willing to commit to a firm solution to the threat of a 
  Dominion invasion.  Enabran Tain, the retired leader of the Obsidian Order, with the 
  help of the Tal Shiar, was able to develop his own small fleet in the Orias system 
  which he would use later that year in an attempt to wipe out the Dominion’s rulers; 
  the Founders.  His plan was ultimately foiled by a Changeling infiltrator, resulting 
  in the disastrous Battle of the Omarion Nebula.  The battle caused the Obsidian 
  Order to completely collapse, allowing for the Cardassian dissident movement to 
  overthrow the Central Command’s authority the following year.  The movement saw 
  the restoration of the Detapa Council and civilian rule.  
  2371 - Kai Winn Adami negotiated the Bajor-Cardassia Treaty with Legate Turrel 
  while Benjamin Sisko mediated their discussion in 2371.  Attempting to reestablish 
  relations with Bajor after the end of the occupation, the Cardassians secretly 
  worked out a treaty with the Bajorans.  Legate Turrel represented the Cardassian 
  Union and Vedek Bareil initiated the talks and worked out the details.  Five months 
  of secret discussions began between the two, from war reparations to an official 
  apology from the Cardassians.  However, Bareil was injured on his way to Deep 
  Space 9 to finalize the treaty so Kai Winn completed the negotiations, thus creating 
  the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty. 
   
  
  8
  XC Manual
  2372 - Klingon Attack On Cardassia:
  In the aftermath of the Omarian Nebual Incident, the civilians rose up and overthrew 
  the Central Command.  The Detapa Council regained control of the government. 
  Klingons believed this change of power proved that Founders infiltrated Cardassia 
  and they tried to capture Council members.
  In actuality, Chancellor Gowron was influenced by an actual Changeling, and the 
  Klingon Empire launched an unprovoked and abrupt invasion of the Cardassian 
  Union, thus initiating the brief Klingon-Cardassian War.  The war devastated the 
  Cardassian infrastructure and crippled a large portion of their fleets.  The Detapa 
  Council, with the help of Gul Dukat and the Federation, was able to obtain asylum 
  aboard Deep Space 9.  This drug the Federation into a war with the Klingons. 
  Also a short war, the Second Klingon-Federation War (2372-2373) further depleted 
  resources of both powers.  After the Klingons were successfully driven away from 
  DS9, the war became a stalemate, with Klingon ships able to roam freely throughout 
  Cardassian territory.  
  Later that year, Dukat was able to procure a Klingon vessel with the help of Major Kira 
  Nerys.  Despite the substantial information he obtained from the ship’s computer 
  logs and status reports, the Detapa Council chose to find a diplomatic solution to 
  the war as opposed to using the information for launching a new offensive.  Dukat 
  then began a one-ship war against the Klingons with his captured Bird-of-Prey. 
  2373 -  Cardassia joined the Dominion.  Dukat becomes ruler of Cardassia.  
  Dominion War begins.
  The Detapa Council became completely powerless when the Dominion appointed 
  Dukat as the designated leader of the Cardassian people.  Dukat later “justified” 
  his actions by saying the alliance with the Dominion would restore Cardassia to its 
  former glory, promising to push every Klingon ship from Cardassian territory and 
  wipe out every Maquis colony in the DMZ.  Dukat made good on his promises, 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.  
  With the Cardassian Union’s borders returned to their pre-war state, Dukat had 
  successfully raised the Union to be a first-rate power in the Alpha Quadrant.  However, 
  Dukat’s personal ambitions, combined with the Founders desire to bring order to 
  the galaxy, meant that an interstellar war was inevitable.  Since the Dominion 
  required constant reinforcements of ships, supplies, troops and Ketracel-white 
  from the Gamma Quadrant to be able to conquer the entire Alpha Quadrant, the 
  Federation decided to mine the entrance of the wormhole to prevent the movement 
  of Dominion ships through the wormhole. 
  This move was the provocation the Dominion needed to start a full-scale war against 
  the Federation without coming across as the aggressors.  The Dominion then sent 
  a fleet of ships to capture Deep Space 9 and stop the completion of the mine field. 
  Dukat retook the station and the Dominion War began. 
  For the first few months of the Dominion War, Cardassia and the Dominion were 
  unbeatable, forcing the Federation and Klingon Empire to retreat.  The utter failure 
  of the Federation’s Seventh Fleet at Tyra was one of the many engagements 
  resulting in complete victory for the Dominion.  It was only a matter of time before 
  Earth and the rest of the Federation would be completely conquered.  
  
  9
  XC Manual
  A bold attack lead by Captain Benjamin Sisko saw the first allied victory.  This 
  victory was possible because of the help of the Bajoran Prophets who destroyed 
  all 2,800 Dominion ships inside the wormhole before they could enter the Alpha 
  Quadrant.  This sudden turn of events, combined with the death of his daughter 
  Tora Ziyal, caused Dukat to have a mental breakdown.  Soon after, Cardassians 
  began to lose their status as equals with the Vorta and Jem’Hadar. 
  Puppet Government and Rebellion
  2374 -  After Dukat’s subsequent capture, Damar was appointed the new leader 
  of the Cardassian people.  However, Damar’s position gradually became nothing 
  more than a formality, with the Female Changeling and Weyoun running a de facto 
  government.  Shortly after the Federation retook Deep Space 9, Damar was forced 
  to call for peace by Weyoun, despite his personal objections.  Over time, Damar 
  was forced to obey Weyoun on almost all political and military decisions, including 
  the order to reinforce the Son’a outpost on Devos II as opposed to perusing the 
  Defiant, as Damar had initially ordered. 
  2375 - Damar gradually realized that he was simply running a puppet government 
  under Dominion regime and that Cardassians were becoming second-class citizens 
  within their own territory.  When the Female Changeling negotiated with the 
  Breen to join the Dominion in 2375, she made territorial concessions on behalf 
  of Cardassia. Damar, forced to sign the negotiations as the designated leader of 
  Cardassia, realized his power had been completely usurped.  It was then that 
  Damar began his rebellion against the Dominion oppressors. 
  Gul Revok betrayed Damar’s resistance and provided the Dominion with the 
  information necessary to locate their bases.  However, Damar learned upon arriving 
  back on Cardassia Prime that he had more of an impact on all Cardassians than 
  he had thought.  The entire civilian population eventually joined Damar’s rebellion 
  and was able to cause a planet-wide blackout during the Battle of Cardassia.  The 
  confusion and lack of communication with their main headquarters enabled the 
  allies to defeat the Dominion forces, forcing them to retreat to Cardassia Prime 
  for one final stand.  When the Dominion destroyed Lakarian City in retaliation for 
  the blackout, the remaining military forces switched sides, helping the Federation 
  Alliance defeat the Dominion once and for all. 
  By the end of the Dominion War, Cardassia Prime had been devastated by orbital 
  bombardment and Jem’Hadar raids by the Dominion, who wished to wipe out the 
  Cardassian species for their betrayal.  Over 800 million men, women and children 
  were slaughtered in the planet-wide genocide.  Cardassia Prime had once again 
  become a planet plagued with famine, death, disease and destruction, leaving the 
  remaining Cardassians to rebuild.
  
  10
  XC Manual
  The Demilitarized Zone
  The Demilitarized Zone (sometimes referred to as the DMZ) was a buffer zone 
  established between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union, 
  by the terms of the Federation-Cardassian Treaty of 2370.  According to the treaty, 
  neither side was permitted to deploy armed starships, or establish military bases 
  in the Zone.  In addition, the border between the two powers was redrawn, such 
  as that ownership of several colonies was exchanged both ways - some Cardassian 
  colonies were transferred to Federation control, and vice-versa.  The colonists 
  on the affected planets were given the option of resettlement, though most 
  refused.  Dorvan V was one of the Federation colonies that was turned over to the 
  Cardassians. 
  However, many civilian colonists on both sides of the border objected to the 
  transfer of control and secretly armed themselves, violating the peace terms that 
  established the DMZ.  The Cardassian Central Command began secretly shipping 
  weapons to their colonists in the DMZ so as to oust the Federation colonists, using 
  neutral species such as the Xepolites as intermediaries.  In response, the Federation 
  colonists banded together and called themselves the Maquis, dedicated to freeing 
  themselves from Cardassian control.  Although the Maquis gained no official support 
  from the Federation, many in the Federation (including Starfleet) were sympathetic 
  to their cause and covertly provided aid. 
  However, by late 2370, to help reduce illegal shipments, the Federation had 
  established a series of checkpoints and sensor buoys along their side of the border. 
  Any ship that crossed anywhere other than a checkpoint would be investigated by 
  Starfleet. 
  For the next three years, the DMZ was a hotbed of small-scale warfare as the 
  Cardassian and Federation colonists conducted terrorist operations against each 
  other.  Eventually the Cardassian military became directly involved in the Maquis 
  conflict on their side of the DMZ.  However, in 2372 the Cardassians were forced to 
  divert the majority of their attention to defending against the Klingon invasion in 
  the Klingon-Cardassian War, leaving the Maquis practically unchecked in the DMZ.  
  By 2373, the Maquis had been so successful that the Federation colonies were 
  considering declaring themselves an independent state. 
  The Demilitarized Zone was quickly overrun by the Jem’Hadar in 2373, shortly after 
  the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion.  As the Dominion moved towards open 
  warfare with the Federation, the Demilitarized Zone effectively ceased to exist. 
  Planets In/Near the DMZ
  Alpha 441 
  Nivoch 
  Umoth VIII 
  Aschelan V 
  Panora 
  Valo I 
  Athos IV 
  Portas V 
  Valo II 
  Bryma 
  Quatal Prime 
  Valo III 
  Dorvan V 
  Ronara Prime 
  Veloz Prime 
  Gamma VII 
  Soltok IV 
  Volan II 
  Hakton VII 
  Salva II 
  Volan III 
  Juhraya 
  Solosos III 
  Marva IV 
  Tracken II 
  
  11
  XC Manual
  Disposition of Adjoining Worlds
  The Federation had a couple of problems coming to the aid of outlying worlds near 
  Federation space.  Worlds actively being mined for resources fell in the category 
  of belonging to another power.  The Prime Directive forbade the Federation from 
  interfering in what was an internal Cardassian problem.
  Ownership of worlds that had been mined out and abandoned within the demilitarized 
  zone were subject to negotiation between the Federation and Cardassian Union. 
  Even space around abandoned worlds were jealously guarded as Cardassian 
  Territory, although both powers regularly trespassed into the demilitarized zone.  
  The Federation would attempt to bring aid to the abandoned worlds and the 
  Cardassians would challenge the Federation ships, seeing them as a threat to their 
  territorial boundaries.  Giving up space under a treaty was difficult for the territorial 
  (reptilian) mindset of the Cardassians.  So there was a long period of hostilities 
  between the two powers in the early 24th century.
  With the aid of Dominion forces, more worlds along the Federation border were 
  annexed for wartime materials.  But after the Dominion was defeated, leaving a 
  devastated Cardassia behind, many worlds lay abandoned and in desperate need 
  of remediation.  As Cardassia rebuilds with aid from the Federation, it remains to 
  be seen how these former worlds will be addressed: as belonging to Cardassia, 
  as candidates for Federation membership, or as independent worlds under the 
  protection of the Prime Directive and/or another treaty with the Cardassian 
  Union.
  
  12
  XC Manual
  Part 3 - The Cardassian People
  Physiology
  Two factors contribute to Cardassian genetics and 
  ultimately to body structure: the DNA of the reptilian 
  ancestors and the infusion of Preserver DNA, which was 
  mammalian, into the reptilian population.  This led to a 
  combination of a humanoid body structure with remnants 
  of its ancestral template.  Because of this mixed DNA, 
  Cardassians are sexually and genetically compatible 
  with a goodly number of species, both mammalian and 
  reptilian.
  The skeleton being bipedal and completely upright, the 
  internal organs are stacked upon each other as in other 
  humanoids rather than hanging in the belly cavity as 
  is the case with four-legged animals.  The Cardassian 
  has the same analogous organs that Humans do, and 
  internal organs are placed roughly in the same areas.  However, there are some 
  size and structural differences, even though their functions are the same.
  Cardassians have no body hair except on the head, and that is thick, black, and 
  straight.  Cardassian scales are raised patterns on the skin rather than overlapping 
  scales as in a fish.  Skin coloration varies from dark gray to an umber-gray, 
  depending on race.  The pattern of scales, dominant on their corded necks, fades 
  noticeably on the belly, soft parts of the face, and buttocks.  Scales are heaviest 
  in the bony or muscular areas of the body, such as the neck, forehead, lower jaw, 
  upper torso, spine, hips, and outer joints (knees, elbows, etc.)  The ridges on the 
  face, neck and chest are cords of muscle, not bone or cartilage.  Cardassians have 
  a spoon-shaped crest on their foreheads and on their breastbones.  Female crests 
  have a light blue tint to them, and females will cosmetically color them a darker 
  blue when they are seeking a mate as a sign of their fertility.
  Cardassian bone structure is heavy and thick and mature males tend to be broad 
  shouldered with small waists and hips.  There is almost no body fat on a fit Cardassian 
  male and young females have about 10% body fat.  Older Cardassians put on body 
  fat because of slowed metabolism, and those who indulge in too much alien food.
  Cardassians are most comfortable in hot and humid climates.  Their lower body 
  temperature makes them feel cool to the touch.  When in dry and/or cooler 
  environments, they will seek out saunas, hot springs, or hot showers to relax in 
  after duty hours.  Temperatures that are in the temperate to cool range for Humans 
  cause a Cardassian’s metabolism to slow and his mental processes to become 
  sluggish.
  Cardassians have a heightened sense of sight and they tend to notice details that 
  humans miss.  Their visual spectrum is similar to humans, however.  Their senses 
  of smell and taste are less acute, and they tend to spice their food and create 
  highly decorative meals to compensate.
  Reptilian characteristics are most evident in the Cardassian urinary and reproductive 
  organs.  The kidneys are low in the abdomen with short ureters, which empty 
  directly into a common sac, a cloaca, leading to a single opening from the body. 
  
  13
  XC Manual
  The cloaca also receives solid waste from the intestines and in females, acts as a 
  birth canal for the child.
  In addition to the cloaca, males have internal testicles and a penis.  From the 
  exterior, no reproductive organs are evident, and the pubis of the male and female 
  look similar with the male pubis slightly enlarged into a pouch.  The pubis is covered 
  with soft scales and is completely hairless.  The testicles lie directly above the penis 
  within the body cavity.  The penis lies within the pouch until erection.  Males are 
  fertile their entire lives.
  Cardassian females have mammary glands to nurse their young.  Males have 
  rudimentary nipples that may or may not produce nourishment for offspring, 
  depending on need and the particular hormonal balance within the male.  These 
  glands and nipples are located as they are in humans, that is, over the pectoral 
  muscles.
  Cardassian females have seasons in which they are fertile, though they engage in 
  sexual activity year round.  Females only produce one egg a year and twinning is 
  extremely rare.  They have two ovaries that deposit the egg into oviducts that lead 
  to the uterus.  The uterus connects to the cloacae by a short tube analogous to a 
  cervix.  The egg in which the embryo grows is flexible and rubbery, and like a thick 
  amniotic sac, it is broken during delivery.  Normally the father delivers the child, 
  but if he is off planet, a relative will tend to the birth.  Only in emergencies will a 
  female give birth at a medical facility.  It is rare for a female to produce eggs after 
  the age of 40.
  Males and females share child-rearing duties, except when the male is called away 
  to duty off planet.
  Personality
   The same two factors that contribute to the reptilian-
  mammalian body also contribute to the Cardassian 
  mindset.  The Cardassian mind perceives the 
  environment in instinctive and reptilian ways.
   
  “A Cardassian remembers everything on every level 
  all the time.  For us, past and present are not neatly 
  separated.  We live with everything in the moment, 
  including the nightmares.”  (Elim Garak in a message 
  to Dr. Bashir during the reconstruction of Cardassia)
  What this means is that Cardassians make associations 
  and draw conclusions from past, present and future 
  memories at once, not in a linear, logical and often 
  selective manner like humans do.
  “ In Cardassian society, we are taught from an 
  early age to mask all feelings and thoughts, to deflect all outside perception and 
  observation.” 
  “Cardassians come into this life with an awareness of their protected perimeters, 
  what the doctor calls ‘our reptilian brain dominance,” and die defending them.” 
  (Elim Garak to Captain Sisko)  They are territorial and seek to rise in stature 
  
  14
  XC Manual
  within their group and the group at large.  Posturing is evident in their fondness 
  of speechmaking and witty conversation, laced with sarcasm.  Cardassians are 
  very competitive and will jockey for power in society through their many contacts, 
  collectively known as vesala, in order to call in favors, such as placement into a 
  higher position or obtaining a sponsor for their children.  One’s struggle for his 
  place in society is thus an extension of their territorial mind set.
  They are meticulous and ordered, preferring set rules to live by rather than the 
  total freedom of free will.  To the highly ordered mind of a Cardassian, democracy is 
  chaotic.  Everything must be in its place and everyone must be in his or her class. 
  From early childhood Cardassians are evaluated, trained for, and placed in the work 
  they will do throughout life.
  They are tenacious and single-minded not only by nature, but by training.  Any 
  task given to a Cardassian will be carried out by any means possible. Faced with a 
  mental challenge, such as getting information out of someone, all avenues will be 
  used, from mental intimidation to outright torture, until the information is gotten.  
  Faced with a physical challenge, a Cardassian will keep going until his body or his 
  mind gives out.
  They are xenophobic.  Being a Cardassian is more than cultural identity, it is their 
  entire existence.  Exposure to foreign ideas, aliens, and mixed-breeds upset the 
  natural order of things and threaten to taint the Cardassian way of life.
  They love ritual.  Even their meals are eaten with ritualistic enjoyment.  They eat, 
  drink, fight, make love, and raise their children with single-minded focus, following 
  rituals, rules, and cultural patterns passed down for a hundred generations. 
  As a species, the Cardassians prefer to remain on the homeworld near their families 
  and their social group.  You will not find many Cardassians willing to go on long-
  term deep space missions.  Being away from family and one’s social group is like 
  being in exile, a traumatic existence for any Cardassian.
   
  Cultural Facts
  Cardassians love good conversation and good food, and will linger over a finely 
  prepared and attractively served meal, engaging in lively conversation with a dining 
  partner.  Cardassian Guls personally entertain guests traveling aboard their ships, 
  acting as gracious hosts.  
  Freighter Captains take a percentage of the cargo for themselves. 
  Cardassians do not engage in team sports.  One-on-one combative competition 
  serves the purpose of survival and fitness, not sport. 
  Cardassians exhibit irritability between sexes as part of the mating process.  
  Touching palms is a form of kissing.  Females who are actively looking for mates 
  will paint their forehead crests a bright blue.  Females who can produce young are 
  highly prized.  Females who cannot produce young are considered unsuited for 
  enjoining (marriage.)
  Cardassians revere their aged members for their wisdom and family units tend to 
  be multi-generational.  
  The same cannot be said for orphans.  Without a family, an orphan has no vesala, 
  
  15
  XC Manual
  and so no place in Cardassian society.  They are placed in orphanages and unless 
  they manage to befriend someone with influence in society, they seldom find a way 
  to become productive members of Cardassian society.  Orphans who have come 
  of age, if they don’t become a part of the homeless or criminal element, may try 
  to find a way off planet, perhaps finding a life on a colony or ship outside of the 
  Cardassian system.
  Cardassians are very protective of their dead.  It is considered a dishonor to the 
  dead if an alien views a Cardassian corpse.
  Cardassians need to be a part of a group.  They are fiercely loyal to family, to duty, 
  and to the Cardassian Union in that order.  Family, the Union, and traditions all 
  contribute to the Cardassian sense of belonging.  Being a Cardassian is more than 
  cultural identity, it is their entire existence.  An outcast Cardassian is a miserable 
  Cardassian.
   
  Spirtuality
  Before the Central Command rose to power, the Cardassians were a spiritual people 
  and valued art of all kinds.  One of the religions described in texts was the Oralian 
  Way, which was outlawed along with all religions in the Cardassian Union by the 
  Central Command.  
  Oralius was a winged reptilian non-corporeal being worshipped by the Hebitians. 
  The religion taught that all life was interconnected at the spiritual level, and that 
  by remaining connected, they would nurture one another and experience love and 
  peace.  Oralius was referred to both as a “she” and a “he” over the ages, but 
  the teachings, written down in ancient Hebitian scrolls known as “the Writings” 
  remained unchanged.
  When the climate of Cardassia Prime changed and mass starvation and disease 
  decimated the Hebitians, invaders from the sky descended on the planet, conquered 
  the beleaguered Hebitians, and interbred with them, becoming the Cardassians.  
  The hardship of adjusting to the changing climate caused the Cardassian leaders 
  to forsake religion, even to the point of forbidding its practice, in favor of the 
  relentless pursuit of resources. 
  Savagely persecuted and nearly exterminated during the occupation of Bajor, the 
  Oralian Way slowly came out of hiding during the reconstruction of Cardassia at the 
  end of the Dominion War.
  Education
  Cardassian children are taught at an early age to mask their emotions behind 
  a secretive calm mask to allow their senses to perceive the truth about their 
  surroundings.  They are trained to remember every detail of what they see or hear, 
  enhancing their natural tendency towards an eidetic memory.  They are taught to 
  focus completely on a problem and to use all resources and methods at hand until 
  an answer is found.  These learned behaviors make the Cardassians seem cunning, 
  devious, and ruthless to humans.
  Children receive a basic six-year year education which is followed by an Emergence 
  Ceremony, which generally coincides with puberty and is the passage into 
  “adulthood.”
  
  16
  XC Manual
  During this schooling, students of all classes are watched for special aptitudes, as 
  the adults in charge begin recommending each child for the actual job within his 
  class will do. 
  Based on thorough testing, both physically and mentally, and observation, each 
  student is taken from his parents after the Emergence Ceremony and enrolled in 
  the appropriate Institute for his social class.  Students’ educations are paid for by a 
  sponsor who will monitor, encourage, and ensure their performance in the selected 
  Institute.  Most students will follow their parents’ training and careers. Students 
  that show unusual aptitude may be chosen for careers higher than their class and 
  even for the secretive and prestigious Obsidian Order.
  Institutes are run by a First Prefect and Docents teach the subject matter, assisted 
  by upper level students.
  Females tend to dominate the sciences, the judicial system, and intellectual 
  professions.  Males tend to dominate the physical professions and their military is 
  almost completely male.  This is not a gender bias.  It is the way their brains are 
  hardwired.  There are exceptions, of course, but as a species, the tendency holds 
  true.
  Holidays, Celebrations, and Ceremonies
  Burial Ceremony
  It is forbidden for aliens to view a Cardassian corpse.  Cardassians bury their dead 
  and then conduct a memorial with chants for the departed.
  Emergence Ceremony
  When a student completes the 9 years of schooling at his Institute, a ceremony is 
  held at the school.  This also represents passage into adulthood.
  Gul Minok Celebration
  On the eve of the day when Gul Minok defeated the Samurian Invaders, Cardassians 
  begin the longest period of festivities in the year.
  Founding of the Union
  Cardassians honor the day Tret Akleen founded the modern Union some centuries 
  before.  It was ironic that on this day of remembrance, the popular vote was 
  conducted, by the people to decide between the “party” that wanted to go back to 
  the old days and the “party” that wanted to move forward with democracy.  
  
  17
  XC Manual
  Part 4 - The Government
  Detapa Council
  Composition
  The Detapa Council is the civilian lawmaking body of 
  the government.  It is composed of 11 members. 
  These members are elected by the people in their 
  respective districts.  As individuals, Detapa members 
  are well-known and powerful people not only among 
  the locals they represent but also with the citizens at 
  large.
  The Council is presided over by a Prefect elected by and 
  from the members of the Council. 
  Some council members may have the rank of Legate, 
  which is equivalent to a Starfleet Admiral.  Legates, 
  though retired from military service, command Jaguls 
  who in turn command military Orders.  Thus the 
  military has considerable influence over lawmaking, 
  appropriations, and decisions affecting the Cardassian 
  Union.  “You can take the soldier out of the military, but you can’t take the military 
  out of a career soldier.”
  Vesala and Elections
  Although Council elections are conducted by popular vote, the voting is heavily 
  influenced by the candidates’ vesala,  his network of influential people.  In the past, 
  Central Command (working through the Council) nominated candidates, which the 
  people then voted on.  So long as Central Command controlled nominations, they 
  were ensured of Council members who would maintain the status quo.
  Cardassian politics, like most of Cardassian society, runs on favors.  It’s who one 
  knows and what favors influential people would do for the candidate that made him 
  popular with the people in his district.  Of course the candidate is also supposed to 
  grant favors to his voting public, such as sponsoring a child’s education, securing 
  a job for a person, putting pressure on another’s superiors for a rise in status or a 
  better posting.  All this and more constituted vesala.
  Ministries and Agencies of the Detapa Council
  Cardassian Ministry of Justice
  The Cardassian Ministry of Justice is a government department in the Cardassian 
  Union, responsible for dispensing justice through the courts . In 2371, Dukat talked 
  to the Ministry of Justice about not having Thomas Riker executed for his attacks on 
  Cardassian targets using the USS Defiant.  Commander Benjamin Sisko later noted 
  that convincing the Justice Ministry took “some” doing. Several weeks later, Legate 
  Turrel admitted that there were still Bajorans being held by the Ministry, detained 
  for “crimes against the state”, who had not been released after the Occupation of 
  Bajor ended. 
  
  18
  XC Manual
  Cardassian Supreme Tribunal
  The Cardassian Supreme Tribunal is the highest court of justice in the Cardassian 
  Union.  It is presided over by the Chief Archon.  Tekeny Ghemor gave Kira Nerys 
  information about the Supreme Tribunal during his shri-tal in 2373. 
  The justice system is based on the verdict of guilty.  Authorities establish evidence 
  against the criminal before an arrest is made.  Upon arrest, the prisoner is assigned 
  a counselor, who tries to reason with the accused to confess.  Some prisoners are 
  interrogated until a confession is exacted from an unwilling criminal.
  Trials are held in public and broadcast to the populace.  What passes for a trial is 
  a statement of charges from the Archon (judge), a statement of remorse for one’s 
  crimes from the prisoner or his counselor and then an execution, which may or 
  may not be public and may or may not be swift depending on the cooperation of 
  the accused.
  Central Prison
  Central Prison is a detainment facility on Cardassia Prime.  In 2370, Miles O’Brien 
  was taken there after having been arrested by Gul Evek on a charge of giving 
  weapons to the Maquis. Due to the nature of the judicial system, it may be assumed 
  that prisons were temporary holding facilities until the justice system was done 
  interrogating the subject or using the accused as a political pawn.  Only accused 
  with very powerful vesalas ever escaped the justice system.
  Cardassian Finance Ministry
  The Cardassian Finance Ministry is a government department in the Cardassian 
  Union, responsible for the Union’s finances and economy.  The Finance Ministry 
  controls taxes, and is apparently capable of exiling people who refuse to pay them.  
  Elim Garak claimed to be exiled by the Finance Ministry because of his failure to 
  pay his taxes. 
  Cardassian Intelligence Bureau
  The Cardassian Intelligence Bureau was a Cardassian intelligence agency which 
  replaced the Obsidian Order following its destruction in 2371.  Following the 
  annexation of Cardassia by the Dominion in 2373, the CIB operated under their 
  auspices.  In early 2374, Elim Garak pretended to be a member of the CIB, Kamar, 
  when captured by Keevan’s Jem’Hadar troops. 
  Cardassian Ministry of Trade
  The Cardassian Ministry of Trade was an economic agency on Cardassia that deals 
  with trade within and outside the Cardassian Union.  A member of the Ministry of 
  Trade was stationed on Terok Nor during the Occupation of Bajor.
  Cardassian Science Ministry
  The Cardassian Science Ministry was a government department of the Cardassian 
  Union responsible for scientific research and exploration. It was part of the 
  Cardassian military. One of the maxims of the Science Ministry was to not to make 
  any project appear too dangerous. Ulani Belor and Gilora Rejal were both working 
  for the Ministry. 
  Surviving Bajoran orbs, retrieved by the Obsidian order,  were being studied by the 
  Ministry during the Occupation of Bajor.  Miras borrowed the Orb of Prophecy from 
  the Obsidian Order archives and received a vision of her place in the Oralian Way: 
  as a conduit through which Oralius could be manifest to her followers.  
  
  19
  XC Manual
  Personnel serving the Ministry on Bajor during the Occupation were:
  Miras Vara 
  Kalisi Reyar 
  Ulani Belor 
  Gilora Rejal 
  Kotan Pa’Dar 
  Crell Moset
  Loyalty Investigation Board
  The Loyalty Investigation Board was a Cardassian organization in operation in 
  2370. Exactly what this organization’s function is, is not known. However, judging 
  by the name, it could be a group that investigates people’s allegiances, and/or 
  cases of treason. Whether this organization was always a part of the Cardassian 
  government, or just the Revanche government is not known.  
  Cardassian Bureau of Identification
  The Cardassian Bureau of Identification is a government agency that collects 
  personal information on all inhabitants of the Cardassian Union.  All Cardassians 
  are required to give the Bureau their first molar. This usually occurs at age ten. 
  Cardassian Central Archives
  The Cardassian Central Archives stored historical information on the Cardassian 
  Union. According to Tekeny Ghemor, the Central Archives included a section devoted 
  to Bajoran Major Kira Nerys. 
  Cardassian Communications Service
  The Cardassian Communications Service (also known as the Cardassian Information 
  Service) is an agency that controls and operates major communication systems in 
  the Cardassian Union.  Natima Lang worked for the service while she was living on 
  Terok Nor in 2363. 
  Orbital Traffic Control
  Orbital traffic control was a Cardassian agency that dealt with starships approaching 
  and leaving orbit of Cardassia Prime.  In late 2375, Damar’s Jem’Hadar attack ship 
  was hailed by orbital traffic control, who asked for their security clearance.  Elim 
  Garak was able to get clearance from the agency to let them enter standard orbit. 
  History of the Council
  The Detapa Council is the civilian governing body of the Cardassian Union.  The 
  Council was formed in 1872 (Earth calendar), and was by law in control of the 
  Central Command and the Obsidian Order. 
  Although the Detapa Council originally held power of the government, once 
  Cardassia developed space flight and the military discovered other planets rich in 
  the natural resources Cardassia so desperately needed,  the Council found itself 
  gradually loosing power to the military as it demanded more resources to build 
  more ships, train more soldiers and send more Cardassians into space.
  The Obsidian Order worked with the military to gather intelligence on these 
  new worlds, and helped “convince” the governments of those worlds to ally with 
  Cardassia.  This strengthened the political position of the military, and the Central 
  Command came the major power in the Union.
  
  20
  XC Manual
  Eventually the Detapa Council was reduced to passing laws and making appropriations 
  at the whim of both the Central Command and the Obsidian order.
  Following the fall of the Obsidian Order in 2372, the Council, along with the 
  Cardassian dissident movement, overthrew the Central Command, and established 
  control over the government.  Gul Dukat served as chief military advisor to the 
  Council following the revolution.  
  The Klingon Empire believed the coup to have been engineered by the Dominion, 
  and used it as a reason to invade the Union in the Klingon-Cardassian War.  During 
  the initial invasion, the Council was evacuated from Cardassia Prime aboard the 
  Cardassian warship Prakesh, and given temporary shelter aboard the Federation 
  space station Deep Space 9. 
  Dukat talked to the Detapa Council later that year, after having captured a Klingon 
  Bird-of-Prey.  Although the council members were impressed by his accomplishment 
  and offered him his old post, they also told him they would not use the data 
  obtained to launch an offensive against the Klingons.  
  Dukat used that power to negotiate an alliance with the Dominion.  The influence 
  of the Council waned again as Dukat became supreme ruler of Cardassia in the 
  Dominion’s name.  When Dukat went mad and disappeared from public view his 
  aide, Gul Damar, assumed his position.  Damar turned against the Dominion and 
  was killed fighting to overthrow them.
  After the Dominion War was over, a new Detapa Council was formed from the 
  surviving members, plus capable Cardassian citizens.  Some retired Cardassian 
  legates returned to the homeworld to offer their wisdom and assistance in the 
  rebuilding process.  The Council now seeks to build a newer, stronger Cardassia and 
  to put aside the mistakes of the past.
  Legate Damar would have been assured the position of Prefect, despite his military 
  background, had he survived the rebellion against the Dominion.  The Council’s 
  Prefect is now Legate Turrell, an elder statesman with strong civilian support.
  In spite of the emergence of underground movements, Cardassians still are 
  hierarchical in nature, and will most likely return to a more centralized government 
  as they struggle to bring order the chaos of their world.
  Local Government
  Planets and Colonies
  The Cardassian concept of vesala extends to the local government as well.  Local 
  government authorities, such as planetary and colonial governors, are also known 
  as prefects.  A prefect is supported by an extensive bureaucracy that handles 
  the day-to-day matters of governing, including representatives from the major 
  ministries of the Cardassian government.
  The majority of prefects in the Cardassian Union were also military officers, so they 
  had the authority of Central Command backing up their appointments.
  As Prefect of Bajor, Skrain Dukat was criticized for being too lenient on the 
  “ungrateful” Bajorans, but his considerable vesala gave him the power to call the 
  
  21
  XC Manual
  shots as he saw fit and to remain in his position.  He also commanded the Exarches 
  of Bajoran settlements and the overseers of the Bajoran labor camps, though there 
  was no love between himself and them.  Exarch Kotan Pa’dar was a personal and 
  political enemy of Dukat, strongly opposing Dukat’s handling of Bajor. 
  Cardassian settlements on Bajor were governed by civilian exarches. The term 
  probably also refers to any village or city governor in charge of a settlement of 
  Cardassians, whereas military officers took charge of alien encampments, work 
  forces, or colonies.  The Tozhat Resettlement Center on Bajor was headed by 
  Kotan Pa’Dar.  The settlement housed orphans of Bajoran, Cardassian, and mixed 
  heritage.
  Civilian Assembly
  The Civilian Assembly seems to have been around even during the height of power 
  of Central Command.  One may assume that local citizens assembled to discuss 
  issues of importance to the populace in the cities and to let their representative in 
  the Detapa Council know their opinions.  After the Cardassians chose Democracy 
  over the old system, it was the open and free expression of everyone’s opinion, 
  that made Garak ask Bashir how anything got done in a Democracy.
  Underground Movements
  Dissention within the ranks
  Within the military itself, there was dissent about the continued mining of Bajor 
  as mineral deposits were depleted, the workers sickened and died, and production 
  began to fall below quotas.  Economically, Bajor was sucking up maintenance and 
  medical resources that could be used at home.
  Among these dissenters within the military ranks was Dalin Gaten Russol, who led 
  a group opposed to the occupation of other worlds.  They also opposed the wasteful 
  trade agreements that were not economically wise in the long run for Cardassia. 
  In spite of the opposition, Dukat saw much untapped potential for not only mining, 
  but food production.  He felt that Central Command was ignoring the long-term 
  benefits of occupation, instead going for a quick retrieval of minerals, then moving 
  on to the next planet.  He dreamed that Bajor would supply Cardassian’s needs for 
  generations.
  Legate Corat Damar, once a loyal follower of Dukat, led the rebellion against the 
  Dominion, taking like-minded soldiers from the Second and Ninth Orders with him. 
  He had always been a traditionalist, and abhorred the control the Dominion had 
  over Cardassia.  He became a martyr for the cause when the Dominion executed 
  him.
  The True Way
  With the Cardassian Obsidian Order no longer existing to keep the population 
  in line, a fanatical separatist group known as the “True Way” began to unleash 
  their frustration on the Federation and Bajor through terrorism and sabotage in 
  2372.   Blaming the Federation for Cardassia’s economic and political problems, 
  and strongly opposed to the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty made the year prior, the 
  True Way was responsible for destroying the runabout USS Orinoco as well as a 
  failed attempt at the life of Shakaar Edon. 
  
  22
  XC Manual
  The Oralian Way – Beaten Down but not Dead
  Another dissenter was Glinn Sa’krat, a secret member of the Oralian Way.  As 
  brutally as the members of the Way were exterminated during the takeover of Bajor, 
  the surviving members had to meet in secret places: basements, underground 
  grottoes, and caves, moving when the detection grid and foot patrols found them 
  out.
  The Oralian Way, however, managed to survive and came out into the open during 
  the reconstruction of Cardassia.  The Way re-opened a long-forgotten path of 
  spiritual understanding and healing for the beleaguered Cardassians.  
  The Concept of Democracy – The Reunion Project
  When the Central Command was in power, some citizens formed an underground 
  movement with the express goal of turning the Cardassian Union into a non-
  militaristic democracy.  Known as the Reunion Project, the movement’s members 
  included not only civilians (such as well-known leaders Rekelen, Hogue, and 
  Natima Lang) but also some legates and members of the Detapa Council.  One such 
  member, Legate Ghemor, was uncovered by the Obsidian Order in 2371 and forced 
  to flee Cardassia.  He has since returned to lend his efforts to the reconstruction.  
  Other well-known proponents of the Reunion Project were Dr. Parmak, Pythas Lok, 
  Elim Garak, and some members of the Obsidian Order.
  Some Federation observers argue in favor of supporting the movement; others 
  believe it must succeed on its own if it is to have any lasting effect on Cardassian 
  culture.
  The Directorate
  The Directorate, led by Gul Madred, Procal Dukat and several powerful military 
  leaders, had a strong following among the military.  Their movement wanted to 
  break all ties to the Federation and to enlist the Romulans against the Klingons and 
  then the Federation.  They felt the only way to rebuild was through military might. 
  Their political goal was to take back power from the Detapa Council and the Civilian 
  Assembly.
  They set up a “Restoration Cadre” in every sector and tried to intimidate the citizens 
  into voting for their candidates.  They pressed for their candidates to be elected to 
  the Detapa Council and thus secure military power over the civilian population.
  Well-known members of the Directorate were Procal Dukat, Gul Hadar, Gul Evek, 
  Legate Parn and Gul Malyn Ocett.  These military leaders had fought the Dominion 
  to throw off their yoke but felt the Federation was out to absorb them into their 
  hegemony and therefore lose their own identity as Cardassians.
  The elite military men in the Directorate referred to themselves as the “Brotherhood” 
  and were the top organizers and decision makers of the organization.
  Aftermath
  When faced with the choice of violence and peace among themselves, the Cardassian 
  people voted for peace and the Reunion Project.  They were tired of war and their 
  homeworld was badly decimated by the final punitive actions of the Dominion.  
  They rejected the very attitudes that had gotten them to this desperate state.
  But Elim Garak thinks there is too much endless discussing of things and not near 
  enough action,  One of the drawbacks of Democracy!
  
  23
  XC Manual
  Part 5 - The Military
  The Cardassian Military was divided into at least twelve Orders and several militias, 
  including Cardassian Militia 41. 
  Military Ranks
  Garresh (Fifth through First rank) (Recruit and 
  Enlisted), 
  Gil (Second Tier & First Tier) (Ensign)
  Glinn (Lt.)
  Dalin (Lt. Cmdr)
  Dal (Commander)
  Gul (Captain.)
  Jagul ( Rear or Vice Admiral)
  Legate (Admiral)
  The Cardassian military has a strong respect for the 
  chain of command, which reflects the Cardassian cultural 
  respect for authority.  Cardassian troops are fiercely loyal 
  to their superior officers and their Orders, usually citing 
  the name of their Order along with name and rank.  A 
  popular officer gains much support from his soldiers, 
  and by extension, strengthens his vesala.
  All new recruits start at garresh rank.  Garresh make up the vast bulk of the 
  military. They are individually ranked on a scale of Fifth to First Rank.   These are 
  roughly analogous to enlisted ranks in Starfleet.
  The commissioned ranks are gil, glinn, dalin, dal, gul, and jagul.
  Gils are ranked at Second Tier then rise to First Tier with loyal service.
  Officers must generally hold a rank of at least glinn to be given command of a 
  department on board a starship or within a unit.  Larger vessels and units require 
  dalin or dal level officers.  Guls are the rough equivalent of Starfleet captains.  Guls 
  command starships and bases, and serve as prefects and planetary governors 
  throughout the affiliated worlds of the Union.  Many guls are quite influential, 
  building up extensive vesala networks.  Jaguls are the equivalent of Starfleet 
  admirals, commanding entire Battalions and Orders.
  Legate is both a military and civilian rank.  Many Legates serve in the Detapa 
  Council, but exert considerable influence over their military orders through their 
  extensive vesalas.
  An officer who shows aptitude for leadership, problem solving and loyalty to his 
  superior officer and to the Central Command will rise more quickly up the ranks 
  than a run-of-the mill officer.  Within this strict framework, creativity in getting the 
  job done is rewarded.  But mavericks who go off on their own and disregard the 
  chain of command are soon reassigned to less favorable postings.
  
  24
  XC Manual
  The Central Command
  The Central Command is the formal name of the leadership of the Cardassian 
  military.  It is composed of the heads of the twelve military orders.  In theory each 
  Jagul has an equal voice in the Central Command.  It is through vesala, resources, 
  and size of each fleet that one or more Orders is more powerful than the others, 
  and so receives the lion’s share of funding, ships and materiel.
  The Central Command supports several training Institutes on Cardassia Prime 
  and on neighboring planets in the system.  Students with strength, stamina, and 
  militaristic tendencies are enrolled into the Military Academies upon completion 
  of their basic education.  Most of these students are children of military, and 
  predominately male, although the occasional female might be allowed to train as 
  a soldier.
  Central Command controlled all of its forces from a “war room” on Cardassian Prime.  
  This facility was equipped with the best observation and strategic equipment in the 
  Union.  It was linked to Cardassia’s border through a system of outposts which 
  transmitted data on space traffic to the control facility.
  In the centuries of Central Command rule, advanced technologies were developed, 
  either from within or by reverse engineering of alien technology.  A number of 
  methods were used to enhance troop performance, including drugs and suspended 
  animation.  Drugs were effective in the short term, but the soldiers became 
  uncontrollable, suffering severe side effects that more often than not were 
  permanent.
  After the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion, Dukat controlled the Cardassian 
  and Dominion fleets, with Weyoun at his side overlooking his decisions. After the 
  Second Battle of Deep Space 9, Dukat lost his status as leader of the Cardassian 
  people.  His successor, Legate Damar, had limited control over the Cardassian 
  Guard, since Weyoun and the Female Changeling would often override his military 
  decisions.  When Damar decided to rebel against the Dominion oppressors, Legate 
  Broca was appointed leader of Cardassia.  Unlike the two who held that position 
  before him, Broca allowed Weyoun and the Female Changeling to control the 
  Cardassian military at their discretion, simply carrying out their orders.  
  With the end of the Dominion War, the Central Command retook control over what 
  was left of the Cardassian Military but did not regain political control over the 
  Civilian government.
  Military Orders
  The Cardassian military is divided into Orders, each of which serves or patrols a 
  specific region of space and includes both space and militia troops assigned to that 
  region.  A soldier’s Order is one of the most important factors in identifying him 
  and his duties, and most Cardassian officers use their Order as part of their title, 
  such as “Gul Jasad, Seventh Order.”  The highest ranked Orders are the oldest and 
  most prominent, wielding the greatest influence in Cardassian affairs, and holding 
  correspondingly greater responsibilities.  This section identifies the known Orders.
  
  25
  XC Manual
  First Order
  The Third Battalion of the First Order was a Cardassian unit known for their 
  fanaticism. Their motto was “death to all.” 
  Three members of the Third Battalion were left on the Cardassian space station 
  Empok Nor in stasis when it was abandoned. They were test subjects of a failed 
  psychotropic drug designed to heighten their xenophobia. Only two of the three 
  were released when the Starfleet personnel entered the station, the third was dead 
  due to a broken stasis chamber. 
  During the Dominion War detachments from this order, according to Damar’s 
  speech at the start of the Cardassian Rebellion, attacked the Dominion outposts 
  and cloning facility on Rondac III. 
  Second Order
  Members of the Second Order made first contact with the Federation, and identified 
  Starfleet as a potential threat to Cardassia.   The Federation, being much larger 
  with more powerful ships at its command, made the Cardassians feel like the 
  underdogs in the quadrant,  They expected that the Federation would seek to 
  conquer Cardassia just as Cardassia had conquered its neighbors. 
  Gul Dukat was head of the Second Order, the most influential Order in the Cardassian 
  Union, during the Occupation of Bajor 2346 through 2371.  He took over Terok Nor, 
  the orbital ore processing unit that refined ore from its base rock so that freighters 
  could take it back to Cardassia Prime.  Dukat felt that capitulating somewhat to 
  Bajoran workers’ needs and wants, he could get them to appreciate what Cardassia 
  was doing for their own good.  His methods seemed brutal by Federation standards, 
  but they were downright lenient by Cardassian standards.  
  The Second Order conducted the raid against the Federation outpost at Setlik III, 
  believing it to be a staging point for an attack against the Union.  Although this 
  proved incorrect, the Second Order used the Federation’s aggressive response as 
  proof against the Federation, and became a strong voice in favor of war against the 
  Federation.
  For decades, the Federation and the Cardassians engaged in skirmishes along their 
  shared border.  For the Federation, they were to protect their outermost colonies. 
  For the Cardassians, who had decided to claim these areas for themselves, the 
  skirmishes served to hold back the enemy who threatened their resources.
  A student of Cardassian Studies must understand these skirmishes from the 
  Cardassian point of view.  The Federation was bigger and stronger, and the speeches 
  of peace and democracy were alien to them.  Of COURSE the Federation was out to 
  invade Cardassia.  And the skirmishes only increased animosity between the two 
  powers.
  The Second Order also made first contact with the Bajor system, and oversaw the 
  Bajoran occupation with the help of the Obsidian Order. Gul Dukat was the military 
  prefect of Bajor at that time. The resources mined from Bajor gave the Second 
  Order considerable vesala throughout Central Command.
  When Central Command chose to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation and 
  withdraw from Bajoran space, officers of the Second Order (including Gul Dukat) 
  strongly protested. 
  
  26
  XC Manual
  The Dominion alliance placed the Second Order in charge of the Central Command, 
  although still secondary to the will of the Dominion.  Damar’s rebellion against the 
  Dominion drew many soldiers of the Second Order with him.  
  Third Order
  In 2375, Legate Damar sent a priority communiqué to Gul Yaltar 
  of the Third Order. 
  During the Dominion War, detachments of this order, according to 
  Damar’s speech at the start of the Cardassian Rebellion, attacked 
  the Dominion outposts and cloning facility on Rondac III. 
  Fourth Order
  When Gul Jasad from the Seventh Order requested reinforcements for a confrontation 
  with Deep Space 9 in 2369, units of the Fourth Order were the closest ships, 
  approximately one day away. 
  Gul Aman Evek was a prominent commander of the Fourth Order during the 2370s.  
  His primary responsibilities were in dealing with the Maquis near the DMZ and the 
  Badlands. 
  In 2373 the Fourth Order was commanded by Gul Trepar. At the time, Trepar’s aide 
  was Glinn Borven. 
  In Grathon Tolar’s forged holo-recording, the Fourth Order was assigned to protect 
  the flank of the 23rd Jem’Hadar Division as it advanced through the Glintara sector, 
  in the planned Dominion invasion of Romulan space. Gul Dolak’s statement that he 
  represented the Cardassian Militia 41 (which was distinctly pronounced as “four-
  one”) could be taken to mean that the militia was attached to the Fourth Order, 
  First Battalion. 
  They suffered some of the heaviest losses during the Dominion War, although not 
  at the hands of their enemies.
  Along with the Second and Third Orders, the Fourth Order saw the most action in 
  and around Bajor, both during and after the Bajoran occupation. 
  Fifth Order 
  The Fifth Order was known for their sophisticated military encryption codes, which 
  used a recursive encryption algorithm, and was comparable to Elgol-red and 
  Courier Code 5-9.  Fifth Order Military Codes were among the military codes ruled 
  out as belonging to the communiqué received at Deep Space 9 from the Gamma 
  Quadrant. 
  We may assume, then that the Fifth was the Intelligence Order of the Cardassian 
  fleet, providing counterintelligence  (false messages) to their enemies.
  
  27
  XC Manual
  Sixth Order
  In 2371, the Sixth Order maintained Outpost 61 and Outpost 47 in the Almatha 
  sector, under the command of Gul Toran. 
  Seventh Order
  Gul Jasad was a commander in the Seventh Order, and was stationed near the 
  Bajoran border in 2369. Three ships from the Seventh Order, lead by Jasad’s 
  starship, later approached Deep Space 9 while investigating the disappearance of 
  Dukat’s starship. 
  Eighth Order
  Gul Benil was a commander in the Eighth Order in 2371 when he was under orders 
  of the Central Command to stop and search all ships entering Cardassian space due 
  to increased Maquis activity in the sector under his jurisdiction. 
  Ninth Order
  The Ninths Order’s Heavy Weapons Unit, Third Assault Group maintained a base 
  near Tempasa during the Occupation of Bajor.   Kira Nerys led a raid on this base, 
  and the Order destroyed her father’s village in retaliation. 
  During the Dominion War detachments from this order, according to Damar’s 
  speech at the start of the Cardassian Rebellion, attacked the Dominion outposts 
  and cloning facility on Rondac III. 
  Tenth Order
  Eleventh Order
  The Cardassian Eleventh Order was a military division of the Cardassian Guard that 
  was, according to Klingon General Martok, a reserve unit that was composed of 
  “old men and walking wounded.”  They were stationed on Septimus III during the 
  Dominion War. 
  In 2375, all 500,000 members of the Order were sent on what turned out to be a 
  suicide mission by the Dominion when Septimus III was attacked and conquered 
  by the Klingons.  The Eleventh Order provided a diversion to cover the Dominion 
  withdrawal from the Alpha Quadrant.  In spite of promises of backup, reinforcements 
  never came and the Order was completely wiped out.  
  The brave last stand of the Eleventh sparked the beginnings of rebellion against the 
  Dominion among the military.
  Twelfth Order
  During the Dominion War, the entire Twelfth Order was headquartered at Sarpedion 
  V, making it one of the most heavily fortified planets in the Cardassian Union in 
  2375.
  
  28
  XC Manual
  Militia
  The officers and enlisted of the powerful ships of the Union got all the attention in 
  the episodes.  It is the Gul on your forward screen that challenges you when you 
  “accidentally” cross into Cardassian Space.  It is the Gul occupying a planet who 
  you verbally fence with when he is holding one of your undercover officers.
  But it falls to the thousands of ground troops who secure and hold the planets and 
  colonies, who fill the ranks of security and order, who board and take down the 
  enemy on a captured ship or installation.
  Training
  Cardassian youth suited for ground troops are spotted early in their basic education 
  years.  Usually sons of militia follow in their fathers’ and grandfathers’ traditions. 
  The families of soldiers who have made a name for themselves in service to 
  Cardassia have vesalas that can extend clear into the Detapa Council.
  All future soldiers go through first year at one of the many military institutes 
  stationed on Cardassian Prime and habitable planets in the system.  Militia training 
  is necessarily brutal, for soldiers may have to endure the harshest of conditions 
  in the field or in the hands of the enemy.  They master hand-to-hand combat and 
  learn expertise in a number of energy weapons.
  Obedience and respect for authority is ingrained into all Cardassian youth from 
  the time they can understand orders.  These early lessons are honed into strict 
  obedience to their superiors and each student is trained to be a necessary member 
  of his unit.  
  Those students who are obviously brighter and more tactical minded than their 
  classmates are chosen for command within the militia.  In their second level of 
  studies, such students will be given instruction in leadership, in tactical and troop 
  management, as well as continuing their rigorous physical training.
  Life in the Cardassian Militia
  Being a soldier is a proud tradition in many Cardassian families.  Soldiers take pride 
  in their profession and strive to serve their units, their superior officers and the 
  Cardassian Union with unquestioning loyalty.  Loyal service also brings pride and 
  honor to their families, who are well-taken care of.  A loyal and dependable soldier 
  can rise quickly in the ranks.
  Even after basic training, discipline is harsh.  Should a soldier get himself into 
  trouble, the entire unit is punished.  Once the official punishment is meted out, it 
  is a certainty that the punishment he gets from his unit members will be worse.  
  These are the people he has trained and fought with, the people he belongs to.  To 
  bring disgrace on the unit is intolerable.
  And yes, soldiers will be soldiers no matter what the species.  Idle soldiers on long 
  boring assignments occasionally get in trouble with the civilian population or harass 
  the locals.  Some may seek out bars and companionship that is inappropriate.  
  But their unit mates will extricate him before their superior finds out.  After all, a 
  certain amount of … recreation …. Is expected!
  
  29
  XC Manual
  Soldiers used to be under the scrutinization of the Obsidian Order.  Usually there 
  was an Obsidian Order “observer” on each vessel or each militia unit.  The Order’s 
  agent not only kept an eye on the troops’ movements, but also the loyalty of those 
  troops.
  Engagement!
  A soldier in the militia lives for engagement.  It is what he was trained for, it is his 
  reason for existing.
  “Minimum force” is not a concept in the Militia.  They fight to win at any cost.  Their 
  weapons are set to kill, not stun.  The mission is to clear out the enemy and secure 
  the area or vessel for Cardassia.  Once set on a target, soldiers will not quit until 
  the mission is accomplished or they are dead.
  During the height of the Central Command’s power, prisoners were taken only 
  to interrogate for questioning and perhaps to publicly display on trial for political 
  purposes.  Only in this case were the guards weapons set to stun to avoid accidentally 
  killing an important prisoner before Interrogation was done with him.
  Cardassian warships on a mission of occupation or battle would have troops assigned 
  to it.  The units would take on the name of the Order to which it was assigned and 
  a unit number, which became a part of every soldier’s identity.
  Once landfall was made and the planet or colony secured, the surviving soldiers 
  would become the security force of the facilities occupied.
  Most of the ground forces believe in the Directorate doctrine.  They see Federation 
  treaties and ideals as soft and a threat to their identity as Cardassians.  It is no 
  surprise that due to their fierce loyalty, they follow the political leanings of their 
  superiors.  Many of them still tell tales of the days of glory, yearning for their 
  return.
  Project Guardian
  Following the signing of the Cardassian-Federation Treaty and the Cardassian 
  withdrawal from Bajor, Central Command was forced to abandon or mothball several 
  facilities along the Federation border and inside the new Demilitarized Zone.  Rather 
  than destroy the facilities entirely, Central Command chose to strip them of their 
  useful components, leaving the rest intact in case the Cardassian Union should ever 
  need them again (the resource-poor nature of their homeworld makes Cardassians 
  quite frugal).
  In order to protect these facilities from foreign powers, pirates, or others, Central 
  Command chose certain members of the militia of the First Order and placed them 
  in cryogenic suspension within the facility.  Sensor systems could revive the soldiers 
  to deal with any threats to the security of the facility.
  A series of psychotropic drugs enhanced the already fearsome abilities of the 
  commandos.  These drugs heightened feelings of xenophobia and caused extreme 
  paranoia in Cardassians, making the soldiers into cunning and efficient killing 
  machines while dealing with non-Cardassian invaders, but did not make them 
  dangerous to their fellow Cardassians.
  Federation personnel encountered Cardassian commandos from the First Order 
  in cryogenic freeze on the abandoned space station Empok Nor.  It is a virtual 
  
  30
  XC Manual
  certainty the Cardassian Union has similar soldiers stationed throughout the Union, 
  particularly in border areas like Bajor Sector.  After the Dominion War, Central 
  Command lost track of where they stationed some of these commandos, providing 
  potential threats for Cardassian and Federation personnel alike.
  Support of the Military
  Civilian ministries lend support to the Military as a whole.
  The Ministry of Science set up facilities on annexed planets to assay the minerals 
  and to study what the planet had to offer in the way of resources.  It’s personnel 
  would recommend a course of action to their superiors in the Detapa Council, who 
  would then allocate the funds for the operations to continue.
  Medical facilities were set up to treat Cardassians and to diagnose and treat disease 
  among the native workers.
  Research labs would be set up in conjunction with Science and Medical to 
  reverse-engineer any native technologies and to conduct research on the alien’s 
  physiology.  During the Bajoran Occupation, Dr. Crell Moset earned a hated and 
  feared reputation among the Bajorans for his medical experiments on sick and 
  dying Bajoran workers.
  Labor Camps
  Batal Labor Camp
  Batal was the location of a labor camp operated by the Cardassians on Bajor during 
  the Occupation in the mid-24th century.  In 2366, Bajoran slave Anjohl Tennan died 
  in the camp. 
  Gallitep labor camp
  Gallitep was a forced labor camp on the planet Bajor that was run by Gul Darhe’el 
  during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Conditions in the camp were considered 
  to be brutal and hostile. Among those who worked there was Aamin Marritza, a 
  file clerk.  Darhe’el was one of the most brutal overseers of any labor camp on 
  Bajor. Innocent Bajorans were executed on a regular basis, but not before they 
  were tortured and humiliated.  Mothers were raped in front of their children as 
  their husbands were beaten beyond recognition, and the elderly who were unable 
  to work were buried alive.  In many cases, Bajorans were forced to dig their own 
  graves, literally.  As his reign of terror continued, Darhe’el’s hatred of the Bajorans 
  and his zealous view that his actions were justified in the name of the Cardassian 
  Empire led to outright genocide.  On more than one occasion, he gave his men very 
  simple orders: to kill Bajoran scum.  When they returned, they were covered in 
  blood, but in his eyes they were dead. 
  A mining accident at Gallitep caused toxic gases to be released, resulting in Kalla-
  Nohra Syndrome, a unique condition identifiable by the damage to the respiratory 
  system and other areas of the body.  As Darhe’el was on Cardassia Prime at the 
  time, he was unaffected, but Bajorans and Cardassians alike who were present at 
  the time became terminally ill.
   
  The camp was liberated by the Shakaar Resistance Cell (of which Kira Nerys was a 
  part) in 2357. The Bajoran survivors became a symbol of strength and courage to the 
  rest of the Bajoran people. Marritza, posing as Darhe’el, says that he was enraged 
  during the evacuation of Bajor, and ordered his overseers to begin slaughtering all 
  
  31
  XC Manual
  the Bajorans in the camp.  This would imply that the camp was re-opened later by 
  the Cardassians, although this has never been stated on screen. 
  In 2372, when war was briefly declared between Ferenginar and Bajor, Quark and 
  Rom were interned at Gallitep, where they endured hideous treatment at the hands 
  of the camp’s insane warden, Colonel Mitra. 
  Hutet labor camp
  The Hutet labor camp was a labor camp on Cardassia IV, under the command of a 
  Cardassian Prefect.  The compound was surrounded by a standard Cardassian force 
  field, which could be operated by a hand-held remote control.  It was one of the few 
  places that still held Bajoran prisoners of war in 2370, a full year after the end of 
  the Occupation of Bajor.  Prisoners held there were assigned the task of collecting 
  rocks in baskets. 
  That year, Boslic freighter Captain Rionoj visited the camp, where she was given 
  a Bajoran earring by a Bajoran maintenance worker, that belonged to Li Nalas.  A 
  short time later, Kira Nerys and Miles O’Brien traveled to Cardassia IV aboard a 
  runabout to search for Li, only to discover around a dozen Bajoran prisoners held in 
  the camp.  After a daring rescue attempt, several of the prisoners were released. 
  Following the runabout’s escape from Cardassia IV, in an attempt to cover up the 
  incident, Gul Dukat relayed a message from the Cardassian High Command stating 
  that they had issued a formal apology to the people of Bajor.  Dukat claimed that the 
  High Command had no idea that Bajoran prisoners were still being held at Hutet. 
  Those prisoners left behind were to be transported back to Bajor; meanwhile the 
  camp Prefect would be chastised accordingly. 
  Ravinok
  The Ravinok was a Cardassian prison transport in service during the 24th century, 
  that was under the general command of Dukat.  It was partially composed of a 
  uridium alloy.  In 2366, the Ravinok and its crew of 18 were assigned to transport 
  32 Bajoran prisoners to a labor camp.  En route, it was scheduled to rendezvous 
  with a freighter, bound for Lissepia, to transport two civilians that were also aboard 
  the ship, Tora Naprem and Tora Ziyal.  The transport was attacked by two Breen 
  warships and forced to crash-land on Dozaria.  Twelve of the persons aboard died 
  in the crash, while the rest were forced to work in a nearby Breen dilithium mine. 
  The Cardassian Central Command never learned what had happened to the 
  Ravinok, until 2372 when Bajoran smuggler Razka Karn obtained a fragment of the 
  transport’s forward sensor array.  Major Kira Nerys mounted an expedition to find 
  the transport, since her friend Lorit Akrem was one of the prisoners.  Legate Dukat 
  joined her, to find Tora Naprem and his daughter Ziyal.
  Singha refugee camp
  The Singha refugee camp was a labor camp where Bajoran refugees were forced 
  by the Cardassians to work during the Occupation of Bajor.  Kira Nerys and her 
  family were held at this camp.  Nerys’ mother, Kira Meru, was believed to have died 
  there of malnutrition in 2346.  In fact, she spent her remaining years as a comfort 
  woman for Gul Dukat in order to ensure decent food and lodging for her family and 
  to keep them out of the mines.
  
  32
  XC Manual
  Tozhat Resettlement Center
  The Tozhat Resettlement Center was a facility in Bajor’s Tozhat Province where 
  orphans, Cardassian, Bajoran and mixed ancestry were housed.  It was governed 
  by an exarch.  Officials there included Jomat Luson and Deela, while Cardassian 
  orphans who lived there included Asha. 
  In 2362, during the Occupation, Gul Dukat had a female officer take Kotan Pa’dar’s 
  son Rugal Pa’Dar to the Center. 
  Julian Bashir and Elim Garak visited the Tozhat Resettlement Center to investigate 
  after Rugal became the center of a political scandal.
  
  33
  XC Manual
  Part 6 - Weaponry
  Hand-Held Weapons
  The pistol and rifle units issued to Cardassian soldiers rely on a set of tightened 
  focusing beams to carry the total weapons discharge.  The emitter crystal is 
  reinforced with a rodinium collar and is held by a split wave guide which adjusts 
  the beam with and intensity through the weapons controls.    Aft of the emitter are 
  the accelerator, bam generator, and power cell.
  The energy contained in the isotolinium ampoule is rated at 3.2 x 10 7 megajoules 
  in the pistol and 9.8 x 10 7 megajoules with added cells in the rifle.
  The only danger inherent in isotolinium for weapons use is that the charged liquid, 
  if released in a single burst, can vaporize an unshielded mass equivalent to four 
  cubic meters of tritanium.  No recorded accidental detonations of a Cardassian 
  weapon have been recorded.
  
  34
  XC Manual
  Anti-changeling weapon
  This table top device combats the shapeshifting ability of the Founders, by emitting 
  a quantum stasis field, preventing the alteration of biomolecular structure.  
  Developed by the Obsidian Order.
  
  35
  XC Manual
  Orbital Defense Platform and Grid
  Type: Orbital weapon system
  Unit Run: 1,400 built in total. 600 have been lost in all.
  Commissioned: 23741 - 2375, class remains in service
  Dimensions: 
  Diameter: 46 m
  Height: 40 m
  Mass: 25,000 metric tons
  Crew: None
  Armament: 
  3 x High Power disrupter cannon, total output 60,000 TeraWatts
  1 x Triple fire plasma torpedo tube + 1,000 torpedoes
  Defense Systems: 
  Regenerative shield system, total capacity 4,320,000 TeraJoules
  Light Kelindide Single hull.
  Low level Structural Integrity Field
  Docking Facilities: None
  Warp Speeds: (TOS scale):  Not capable of independent movement; attitude 
  control and/or orbital adjustment only.
  Strength Indices: (Galaxy class = 1,000) 
  Beam Firepower: 1,200
  Torpedo Firepower: 400
  Weapon Range and Accuracy: 250
  Shield Strength: 1,600
  Hull Armor: 1.88
  Speed:  NA
  Combat Maneuverability:  N/A
  Overall Strength Index: 791
  Expected Hull Life: 27
  Refit Cycle: Minor: 1 year
  Standard: 1 year
  Major: 9 years
  
  36
  XC Manual
  Notes: In some respects the design of these orbital weapon platforms is typically 
  Cardassian.  Like the Dreadnought class heavy penetrators the ODP’s are an 
  interesting and innovative system in many ways, but are badly let down by a single 
  aspect of their design. In the case of the Dreadnought it was the detonator; in the 
  case of the ODP it is by the power system.
  The platforms are one of the first Cardassian systems produced entirely under their 
  membership of the Dominion.  The alien influences are apparent in the power of 
  the platforms.  Even though they are considerably smaller than a Miranda class 
  starship, each one holds a regenerative shield generator, three heavy phaser 
  banks and no less than one thousand plasma torpedoes.  This makes every single 
  platform more than the equal of a standard Galaxy class starship.  However, 
  although the Cardassian designers have clearly used their new technology to the 
  fullest, their attitude to design seems to have remained firmly fixed in the past.  
  Cardassian philosophy has always been shaped by the need to face down foes who 
  are considerably larger and more powerful than themselves.  To this end they have 
  employed various tactics to wring every last ounce of combat capability out of a 
  given design.  In the case of the ODP’s, they chose to power the entire system 
  from a central reactor unit which would be located on an asteroid or other suitable 
  body within the network.  This allowed both reactor and fuel to be removed from 
  individual platforms, making them significantly smaller.  This in turn allows a more 
  compact field geometry, which increases the effectiveness of the shields.  Building 
  one large reactor is also considerably more efficient than many small ones of equal 
  overall output.
  This over-emphasis on weapons has often proved to be the undoing of Cardassian 
  designs, and never more so than in the ODP.  Although the Cardassians were 
  confident that the asteroids own regenerative shields would protect it from all 
  but the most determined and costly attack, they underestimates the ingenuity of 
  Starfleet personnel.  During the attack on the Chin’toka system the USS Defiant 
  was able to imprint a Federation warp signature on the asteroid, causing all nearby 
  platforms to open fire on their own power system.  That the ODP’s controlling 
  computer system could allow this to happen is, of course, another glaring deficiency 
  in the design.
  Once the platforms destroyed their power system, the entire network was useless 
  and the Allies were able to destroy most of the remaining platforms with ease.  Three 
  were deliberately left intact, however, and once the initial planetary landings had 
  proved successful, one platform was returned to each of the Allies for research.
  Correcting such a fundamental weakness in the design was difficult for the Dominion 
  given their shrinking resources by this point in the war.  The Dominion appears to 
  have made little effort on the project after Chin’toka.  Apparently the Founders 
  began to lose faith in the Cardassians after this point, a trend which increased 
  rapidly as the war progressed towards it’s conclusion.  The Cardassians decided to 
  press ahead with deployment of the system without modification, but provided each 
  network with several independent power sources.  A network of these platforms 
  was employed around Cardassia itself during the latter stages of the war, although 
  the Allied fleet did not engage the system due to the political settlement reached 
  with the Founders.
  Seen only in the episode “Tears of the Prophets”, the battle against the defense 
  platforms was in four basic stages.  The initial scenes involved all the platforms 
  being off-line.  In this state they were unable to defend themselves at all, and 
  several were destroyed fairly easily.
  
  37
  XC Manual
  The second stage involved the platforms becoming operational.  Here they were 
  pretty fearsome.  Once active, we didn’t see so much as a single platform even 
  sustain visible damage, let alone get destroyed.  For their part, they were blasting 
  Starships to hell with apparent ease.
  Stage three revealed a crucial flaw in the design.  The platforms turned out to all be 
  powered entirely from a central generator located on a nearby asteroid.  This also 
  proved to be virtually impossible to destroy by conventional attack from the fleet, so 
  the Defiant imprinted a Federation warp signature onto the asteroid.  Recognizing 
  it as an enemy vessel, the platforms opened fire on their own power source and 
  destroyed it.  This is a really strong indicator that the system operated entirely 
  automatically.  It’s hard to believe that even a fairly low key level of management 
  by a Dominion operator wouldn’t have prevented such an attack.
  Once the power system was destroyed we had the final phase, in which the 
  platforms were destroyed by the remaining fleet unit.  Again, it seemed fairly easy 
  to do this.
  The most obvious question is just how big a problem is this flaw?  There are two 
  ways to look at it.  On the one hand, it’s highly likely that the system could be 
  reprogrammed to ignore its power unit as a target no matter what.  Put a few 
  dozen platforms around the power system at the same time, and you should have 
  a system which is pretty hard to beat in theory.  On the other hand, the system is 
  dependant on a single link - no matter how strong you make that link, it’s a bad 
  idea in principle to have a whole system totally reliant on one part.  You may be 
  able to make the power system all but invulnerable to conventional attack, but 
  Starfleet has demonstrated an incredible ability to find sneaky ways to get around 
  such obstacles in the past.  And they only have to succeed once to make .
  Detection Grid
  Members of the Ministry of Science devised a detection grid on Bajor during the 
  occupation that detected adult Bajoran lifesigns.  Any adult Bajoran who strayed 
  outside of proscribed areas (camps, villages, mines) triggered an alert that was 
  soon followed by foot soldiers to apprehend the Bajorans.  The grid was controlled 
  from Terok Nor and  transmitted by towers on the planet’s surface.
  
  38
  XC Manual
  Part 7 - Ships
  Galor Class
  
  39
  XC Manual
  Type: Destroyer - Type 3
  Unit Run:
  Aldara
  Kraxon
  Prakesh
  Reklar
  Trager
  Vetar
  plus 844 others built in total. 668 have been lost in all. The class remains 
  in production.
  Commissioned: 2343 - present
  Dimensions:
  Length: 371.88 m
  Beam: 192.23 m
  Height: 59 m
  Decks: 15
  Crew: 300
  Armament:
  1 x High Power phaser bank
  8 x Medium power spiral wave disrupters, total output 13,000 TeraWatts
  3 x Model 2 photon torpedo tube + 150 torpedoes
  Defense Systems:
  Standard shield system, total capacity 729,000 TeraJoules
  Heavy Kelindide Double hull plus 7 cm High density armour.
  Standard level Structural Integrity Field
  Warp Speeds: 
  Normal Cruise: 6
  Maximum Cruise: 8.9
  Maximum Rated: 9.2 for 8 hours.
  Notes: The Galor is the mainstay of the Cardassian fleet, making up over half 
  of their total Naval forces. When it first entered service in the 2340’s the Galor 
  was intended to oppose smaller and older vessels such as the Miranda, Excelsior, 
  Norway and New Orleans classes.  Initially the Cardassians wanted to also develop 
  a much larger, more powerful design to oppose the Ambassador and Akira and 
  the upcoming Nebula design, but this proved to beyond their resources and the 
  project was dropped in its early stages.  Instead it was decided to build a very large 
  number of Galor class ships and operate ‘hunter packs’ of two or three together 
  against the more powerful Starfleet ships.
  The Galor is a rugged, sensible design. The engineering section is mounted at 
  the forward end of the single hull structure, a move which puts the drive systems 
  well forward of the centre of gravity. This makes the design inherently stable in all 
  flight regimes, greatly simplifying many of the control systems - although it does 
  reduce the vessels maneuverability somewhat. The single high power phaser bank 
  is located directly ahead of the engineering area, reducing the length of conduit 
  between the warp core and the weapon which increases the system’s resilience 
  to battle damage. The control spaces are directly above the blades on the vessels 
  centerline, while the long narrow hull projecting aft from them holds the fuel tanks, 
  habitation areas and other less essential systems.
  The Galor is a rugged, sensible design. The engineering section is mounted at 
  the forward end of the single hull structure, a move which puts the drive systems 
  well forward of the center of gravity. This makes the design inherently stable in all 
  flight regimes, greatly simplifying many of the control systems - although it does 
  
  40
  XC Manual
  reduce the vessels maneuverability somewhat. The single high power phaser bank 
  is located directly ahead of the engineering area, reducing the length of conduit 
  between the warp core and the weapon which increases the system’s resilience 
  to battle damage. The control spaces are directly above the blades on the vessels 
  centerline, while the long narrow hull projecting aft from them holds the fuel tanks, 
  habitation areas and other less essential systems.
  The use of a powerful phaser bank was intended to allow the Galor to blast through 
  the shields of an enemy vessel in just a few bursts, a philosophy which has proved 
  somewhat optimistic over the years. The phaser is roughly equal to a Starfleet Type 
  IX model, which is very powerful for a ship the size of the Galor. But the single 
  installation gives the Galor a relatively poor firing arc for this weapon, something 
  not improved by the ship’s low maneuverability. The medium power disrupter banks 
  are roughly equal to a Type VII phaser, which is more in line with the Galor’s size.
  Originally it was planned to use burst fire torpedo systems but as with the Romulans, 
  the Cardassians have had great difficulty developing this technology to the point 
  where it can be used safely and effectively.  The Galor thus has three standard 
  torpedo tubes, two forward and one aft. The extra room this left over allowed the 
  torpedo complement to be increased from a planned 160 to 200.
  The Galor has generally proved a useful enough vessel for the Cardassian military, 
  but it is not really a serious competitor with the Federation Nebula class or Klingon 
  Vor’Cha. The planned run of three thousand or more ships never materialized, 
  and only eighteen hundred have been built, less than a thousand of them of the 
  better Type 3 model. When the Klingons invaded Cardassia in 2372 the Cardassian 
  fleet’s inferiority was shown; some three hundred Galor class ships were destroyed 
  within less than a week at the hands of the Klingon fleet. The chaos caused by that 
  invasion has severely disrupted the resources of the Cardassian military, already 
  stretched thin during the revolution on Cardassia.  When Cardassia was a member 
  of the Dominion, its fleet did not receive a lot of support from the Dominion.  The 
  fleet’s ability to conduct operations beyond its borders was seriously compromised.  
  The Galors suffered heavily at the hands of the allies during the war.
  
  41
  XC Manual
  Hideki Class
  Type: Patrol craft
  Unit Run: 1,200 built in total. 892 have been lost in all.
  Commissioned: 2345 - 2370, class remains in service
  Dimensions
  Length: 85.78 m
  Beam: 60.14 m
  Height: 12.43 m
  Decks: 3
  Crew: 30
  Armament:
  4 x Medium Power spiral wave disrupters
  1 x Medium Power spiral wave disrupter, total output 3,750 TeraWatts
  1 x Model 1 photon torpedo tube + 20 torpedoes
  Defense Systems:
  Standard shield system, total capacity 94,500 TeraJoules
  Standard Kelindide Double hull plus 2 cm High density armour.
  Standard level Structural Integrity Field
  Warp Speeds: 
  Normal Cruise: 5
  Maximum Cruise: 7
  Maximum Rated: 9.5 for 1 hours.
  Notes: The Hideki class is one of the most important ships in the Cardassian 
  fleet, if only due to their high numbers. The Cardassians have always sought to 
  produce simple, easy-to-build ships which pack a heavy punch for their size and 
  in the Hideki they have accomplished just that. Although these ships are generally 
  compared - unfavorably - to the Klingon B’Rel class Bird of Prey, in some ways this 
  is unfair. Cardassian policy emphasizes that these ships are intended for largely 
  border patrol or system defense duties, keeping Cardassian space defended in 
  order to free up the larger ships for offensive duties. The B’Rel, on the other hand, 
  is intended to be a fully capable attack vessel in its own right, albeit a light one. 
  While the Hideki is not as capable as the Klingon vessel, it is thought to take almost 
  one third of the resources to build and run - and three Hidekis would certainly be a 
  match for a single B’Rel class.
  The Hideki is thought to have a long term cruise speed of Warp 5, about right for a 
  ship which will not be expected to cover large distances unsupported. The Armament 
  is capable of dealing with pirate and mercenary type vessels that the Hideki might 
  encounter on patrols and is sufficient to allow the Hideki to act in support of major 
  fleet actions or operate as a light scout unit - although the relatively low speed is 
  a limiting factor in this role.
  The Hideki has been built in very large numbers, and as is inevitable with a class 
  this size several variations have been fielded. The Type 1 is the basic Hideki class 
  described above; the Type 2 is four meters longer; it has extra fuel and a greater 
  
  42
  XC Manual
  degree of automation to reduce the crew to 32, giving a higher accommodation 
  standard and allowing this variant to undertake longer patrols. The Type 3 has 
  a more advanced sensor suite than previous models and is equipped with a new 
  model of warp core which increases efficiency. The Type 4 is a new model which has 
  added high density armor and a third phaser bank, although this is accomplished 
  at the cost of lower maximum speeds and reduced range.
  In service the Hideki has proved a solid, reliable design which is popular with 
  its crews. In combat the type is well tested against lightly armed conversions of 
  civilian ships common to pirates and other such bandits; the Hideki’s major debut 
  in a fleet action came when thirty four of these ships fought with the Dominion 
  fleet which captured Deep Space Nine. Against a modern heavily armed defense 
  system the Hideki did not fare so well; fourteen of the ships were destroyed and 
  nine heavily damaged. During the Dominion war the Hideki did not taken part 
  in offensive actions, but was instead operating in its old border patrol mission. 
  Although Klingon B’Rel class ships took something of a heavy toll on these ships 
  in the early days of the war, the Hideki’s later operated in packs of three or more, 
  sometimes with a Jem’Hadar fighter craft in attendance, since which time they held 
  their own.
  
  43
  XC Manual
  Freighter
  Type: Freighter: General purpose cargo carrier
  Unit Run: Groumal plus 649 others built in total. 437 have been lost in all.
  Commissioned: 2341 - 2371, class remains in service
  Dimensions:
  Length: 255.65 m
  Beam: 55.13 m
  Height: 63.21 m
  Decks: 4
  Crew: 30
  Armament: 4 x Spiral wave disrupter banks, total output 50 TeraWatts
  Defense Systems:
  Standard shield system, total capacity 13,500 TeraJoules
  Light Monotanium Double hull.
  Low level Structural Integrity Field
  Warp Speeds: 
  Normal Cruise: 5
  Maximum Cruise: 6
  Maximum Rated: 6.5 for 4 hours.
  Notes: The Cardassians use these useful craft as general purpose cargo carriers. It 
  is a modular design, with a power system and warp and impulse engines in a stern 
  section and the crew quarters, computer systems and bridge in the bow section. 
  Between the two is anything from one to five cargo sections, each of which carries 
  six storage pods. The standard pod is capable of carrying normal cargo items, but 
  pods designed for bulk ores, liquids, and frozen items are also available.
  Although most cargo vessels are unarmed, the Cardassians chose to equip this ship 
  with a light disrupter cannon in order to defend against low intensity threats such 
  as mercenaries and raiders. The ship has only light shielding and no armor of any 
  kind.
  To date the most notable achievement of the cargo ship has been the capture of a 
  Klingon bird of prey by the Groumall, under the command of Gul Dukat. Dukat, with 
  the assistant of Major Kira of the Bajoran militia, mounted a system five disrupter 
  cannon on his ship and waited for the Klingons to attempt to steal his cargo before 
  firing on them. He beamed on board the Klingon ship while its shields where down, 
  and used its own transporters to beam the Klingons onto his own ship, which he 
  subsequently destroyed.
  
  44
  XC Manual
  The cargo ship is now out of production, and although many were destroyed during 
  the war over two hundred remain in service and it is likely to be a common sight 
  until well into the next century.
  The cargo ship is now out of production, and although many were destroyed during 
  the war over two hundred remain in service and it is likely to be a common sight 
  until well into the next century.
  
  45
  XC Manual
  Dreadnought
  Type: Dreadnought: Automated drone weapon
  Unit Run: The class remains in production.
  Commissioned: 2370 - present
  Dimensions:
  Length: 100 m
  Beam: 15 m
  Height: 6 m
  Decks: 1
  Mass: 100,000 metric tons
  Armament:
  Various beam armament, total output 32,500 TeraWatts
  2 x Model 3 quantum torpedo tube + 20 torpedoes
  Defense Systems:
  Standard shield system, total capacity 1,836,000 TeraJoules
  Heavy Duranium/Tritanium Double hull.
  Standard level Structural Integrity Field
  Warp Speeds: 
  Normal Cruise: 6
  Maximum Cruise: 7
  Maximum Rated: 9 for 12 hours.
  Notes: Prior to becoming a member of the Dominion the Cardassian military 
  had never really been capable of projecting forces well beyond its own borders 
  in sufficient numbers to seriously threaten the core worlds of the Federation or 
  Klingon Empire. The Dreadnought project was an attempt to rectify this situation 
  by fielding a heavy-duty automated drone weapon. This craft was to employ 
  advanced computer technology in order to operate completely autonomously under 
  all situations. It was to have advanced tactical analysis and response systems 
  and would be fitted with heavy duty shielding and defensive weaponry in order to 
  enable it to penetrate almost  any standard level of defenses.
  Once at the programmed target Dreadnought would detonate its main warhead - 
  a two thousand kilogram matter/antimatter device with a 45,000 Megaton yield. 
  This would be used against ‘high value’ targets such as shipyards, Starbases and 
  planets - although Dreadnought was also technically capable of engaging ship sized 
  targets if required.
  The Dreadnought project was approved in 2364, and from the first suffered many 
  
  46
  XC Manual
  problems. The Cardassians had intended to have the first missile ready by 2367, 
  but a combination of technical difficulties caused many delays. These problems 
  centered around the computer core and the warhead; the former was always going 
  to be a highly ambitious effort for the Cardassians, who have little experience 
  with self programmable computer systems. The warhead was also the largest 
  the Cardassians have ever fielded, and many problems were experienced in its 
  development. Eventually the Cardassians decided to use a kinetic detonator unit in 
  order to overcome these problems.
  The first prototype Dreadnought was finally ready in 2370. After several months of 
  tests with a dummy warhead - nearly half of them unsuccessful - the Cardassians 
  decided to expend the prototype in a live fire test. It was launched against a 
  Maquis munitions facility at Alpha 441 in the Badlands in order to give it a combat 
  workout while not subjecting it to a high threat environment. Unfortunately for the 
  Cardassians, the Dreadnought vanished without trace. Assuming that it had failed 
  in even this relatively simple mission, the Central Command ordered the project 
  cancelled.
  Had the Cardassians known the truth they would have been more than alarmed; 
  the Dreadnought had in fact penetrated the Maquis defenses but then failed to 
  detonate. The Maquis recovered the missile and re-programmed it to attack a 
  Cardassian shipyard on Aschelan V, but after launch the missile was swept into 
  the Delta quadrant by the Caretaker. Dreadnought, now suffering malfunctions to 
  several systems, subsequently locked onto Rakosa V, an inhabited system in that 
  quadrant. USS Voyager made several attempts to stop the missile, but this time 
  Dreadnought performed exactly up to specifications. Eventually Voyagers chief 
  engineer managed to phaser a hole in the warp core, destroying the missile just 
  short of its target.
  
  47
  XC Manual
  Keldon Class
  Type: Heavy Cruiser (Type 2 shown above) 
  Unit Run: Koranak, plus 404 others built in total. 250 have been lost in all. The 
  class remains in production.
  Commissioned: 2365 - present
  Dimensions:
  Length: 371.88 m
  Beam: 192.23 m
  Height: 70.13 m
  Decks: 17
  Crew: 500
  Armament:
  1 x High Power phaser bank
  14 x Medium power spiral wave disrupters, total output 24,500 TeraWatts
  4 x Model 2 photon torpedo tube + 225 torpedoes
  Defense Systems:
  Standard shield system, total capacity 1,188,000 TeraJoules
  Heavy Kelindide Double hull plus 8 cm High density armour.
  Standard level Structural Integrity Field
  Warp Speeds: 
  Normal Cruise: 6
  Maximum Cruise: 9.2
  Maximum Rated: 9.6 for 4 hours.
  Notes: The Keldon class is the most powerful vessel in the Cardassian fleet. 
  Essentially an upgraded Galor class vessel with an additional hull section added to 
  the dorsal surface, the Keldon class is an improvement on its predecessor in almost 
  every respect. The secondary armament has been boosted from twelve to fourteen 
  disrupter banks, while the primary phaser has been upgraded to put it on a par 
  with a Type X phaser array. The photon tubes are capable of firing at more than 
  twice the rate of the Galor class tubes, and the Keldon includes a great deal of new 
  sensor and computer equipment designed to increase its ability to target vessels 
  under cloak or capable of a high level of maneuverability. The shield system has 
  been heavily upgraded, while the hull beneath has received a layer of high density 
  armor plate.
  While these measures put the Keldon class significantly above the Galor, they still 
  do not rank with the larger, more sophisticated ships that the larger alpha quadrant 
  forces can field. The Cardassians planned to produce the Keldon in huge numbers 
  to compensate for this - over three hundred were planned, but the difficulties 
  suffered by Cardassia in the last few years have made this more a fond hope than 
  a realistic plan.
  
  48
  XC Manual
  Nor Class Space Station
  Type: Orbital refinery and starship support base
  Unit Run: Terok Nor, Empok Nor, 1 has been retired from service.
  Commissioned: Terok Nor Built during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Taken 
  into Starfleet service 2372.
  Dimensions:
  Diameter: 1,451.82 m
  Height (core): 368.8 m
  Height (overall): 969.26 m
  Decks: 260
  Crew: 500
  Armament:
  6 x Type XI phaser banks
  6 x  Pulse fire photon torpedo tube
  Defense Systems:
  High Capacity shield system, total capacity 8,640,000 TeraJoules
  Standard Kelindide Single hull.
  Low level Structural Integrity Field
  Docking Facilities:
  6 Pylon docking ports
  12 Docking ring ports
  6 landing pads
  Sub-impulse only:
  Acceleration: 0.01 m/s/s
  Delta Vee: 64,800 m/s
  Endurance: 1,800 hours
  Limited motion available on thrusters only
  Expected Hull Life: 150
  Notes: One of the most unique installations under Federation administration, 
  Deep Space Nine started life as a Cardassian space station in orbit of the planet 
  Bajor. Built in place by Bajoran slave labor during the Cardassian occupation of that 
  planet, Terok Nor - as it was then known - served as a major administrative center 
  for the Cardassian forces as well as housing a large ore processing facility manned 
  by Bajoran workers. The station has no Warp or Impulse drive and is not suited 
  to towing; it was therefore considered essentially a fixed orbital base with a very 
  limited ability to maneuver in space. When the Cardassian occupation ended, they 
  therefore had to abandon Terok Nor and its sister station Empok Nor in place.
  Life Pod
  
  49
  XC Manual
  Subspace Relay Station
  The Felton Prime Relay Station mentioned in DS9: “Once More Unto the Breach”. 
  During the Dominion War, the planet held a military base and relay station. General 
  Martok destroyed the base before the defense forces could react.  
  Repair Station
  The Kelvas repair facility was a Cardassian space station located in the Kelvas system 
  in the 24th century.  In 2375, Breen engineers were installing energy dampening 
  weapons aboard Jem’Hadar attack ships at the repair facility. A five-person team 
  from the Cardassian Rebellion was able to infiltrate the station and steal one of the 
  retrofitted attack ships, bringing the weapon back to the Federation for study. 
  
  50
  XC Manual
  Ship yard
  Many structures are linked together to form a shipyard. At the bottom is the skeleton 
  of a Galor-Class vessel.  In 2375, a Klingon fleet attacked the shipyards but failed 
  to destroy them, suffering losses of over thirty percent in the process. Shortly 
  after, General Martok and Commander Worf successfully destroyed the shipyards 
  using just the IKS Rotarran, by triggering a solar plasma ejection from a magnetic 
  instability on the Monac sun.
  Moon Base
  A Typical Cardassian moon base during the Dominion war.  Note the Orbital defense 
  platforms firing at a Federation ship (seen in aft view) above the base.
  
  51
  XC Manual
  Part 8 - The Obsidian Order
  The Obsidian Order was formed in 1872 of the Earth 
  calendar under the auspices of the Detapa Council.  The 
  Order was supposed to report to the Prefect of the Council 
  and to be subject to the laws, financing, and regulations 
  of the Council.
  At first it was, but gradually the Order took upon itself more 
  authority, and when funding was diverted more and more 
  to the Military, it found its own funding and developed its 
  own internal organization.  Eventually it was completely 
  autonomous, not because the Council changed the laws, 
  but because anyone openly against the Order tended to 
  disappear, be blackmailed into compliance or just plain 
  scared into doing the bidding of the Order.  The Order was 
  above the law.
  The Obsidian Order was a civilian agency, therefore not a 
  true military order.  But the name “Obsidian Order” instilled at least a small amount 
  of caution, if not downright fear, into any Cardassian, civilian or military.  As a 
  civilian entity its offices were located underneath the Assembly building. 
  The Obsidian order was forbidden to own any weapons or ships, but they had the 
  authority to place an “observer” on every vessel and to co-opt ships and personnel 
  to carry out its missions.  Due to its secretive nature, the Order accumulated its 
  own wealth and constructed a number of secret bases and a shipyard in the Orias 
  System, which they defended against all ships, including those of the Cardassian 
  military.
  The Obsidian Order was responsible for matters of security and espionage.  The 
  Obsidian Order and the Central Command frequently came in conflict with each 
  other, particularly since the Obsidian order often did not share intelligence that the 
  Central Command could have found vital to their own missions.  
  The Obsidian Order was analogous to the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Federation’s 
  Intelligence Department.  As in many intelligence agencies around the known galaxy, 
  certain operatives carried out clandestine operations that even the government 
  would not officially approve of, nor would it claim any knowledge of should the 
  operation be traced back to the Order.  Assassinations, abductions, and sabotage 
  all were a part of achieving the goal my any means possible.
  As the Government of Cardassia lost political power to the military, the Obsidian 
  Order became more powerful and more invasive into the private lives of the citizens.  
  At the height of the Obsidian Order’s control, it had on record the DNA of every 
  single Cardassian born on the homeworld from a tooth extracted at age 10.  It 
  also had undercover agents embedded throughout the military and government 
  to report any hint of disloyal activities.  Its database was unmatched by even 
  the Tal Shiar or Starfleet Intelligence, containing detailed information on all its 
  citizenry and all aliens the Order came in contact with. There is a famous saying “A 
  Cardassian citizen can’t sit down to a meal without each dish being duly noted and 
  recorded by the Order.”  
  
  52
  XC Manual
  Cardassians suspected of any anti-governmental activity, speech, or sympathetic 
  leanings would disappear into the interrogation rooms in the lower levels of the 
  Order’s complex beneath the Assembly Building and “interrogated” until  they 
  confessed.  Though the Order’s main concern was the loyalty of its citizens, its 
  agents also went off planet  to gather information on its alien neighbors, to conduct 
  acts of theft of valuable artifacts, to kidnap an alien for questioning or to extract a 
  formerly embedded undercover agent.
  After the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion, the Obsidian Order’s role was 
  assumed by Dominion security and the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau, who by all 
  accounts were just as efficient. 
  The Order acted with impunity until the Omarian Nebula Incident.  After that 
  disastrous failure and the Dominion’s retaliation upon the Cardassian Homeworld, 
  the Order was nearly wiped out., its agents who would not bow to the Dominion 
  were executed or fled off planet.
  At the end of the Dominion war, and Cardassians resolutely began to rebuild, with 
  the Detapa Council in control of the government.  Meanwhile, the remaining Obsidian 
  Order agents bided their time, and began to work from within the Government 
  under another name, Cardassian Intelligence Agency.
  However, there will always be Cardassians who crave the control, the secrets, and 
  the power of the former Obsidian Order.  The Order may officially be gone, but the 
  agents are still there, slowly manipulating their government to bring about the rise 
  of the Obsidian Order once again. 
  Recruitment
  In Cardassian society, a citizen does not go looking for a job.  The caste system 
  pretty much lays out a person’s career from the time he is born, the particular 
  area of expertise being determined by observing the child during his years of basic 
  education.
  Young students were chosen from the ruling elite who demonstrated the qualities 
  the Order demanded in its trainees.  Occasionally an exceptional student from the 
  serving ranks would be singled out and monitored for suitability.  After the student 
  finished his basic schooling and his ceremony of emergence, around the age of 
  puberty, a person who had been keeping track of him would step forward as his 
  sponsor, approach his parents, and claim the child.  The child would then leave his 
  parents for nine years, entering the Bamarren Institute for State Intelligence.
  Occasionally, the Order would approach an alien adult, but only to force that 
  person into becoming a double agent.  Usually the reluctant alien was abducted, 
  being released only after chemical, physical, and mental conditioning.  Many times 
  the double agent was totally unaware of his treasonous actions against his own 
  government, but operated subconsciously, followed by periods of amnesia erasing 
  his actions from memory.
  
  53
  XC Manual
  Training
  All new recruits attended the Obsidian Order’s elite training facility, Bamarren 
  Institute for State Intelligence.  It was located in the highlands adjacent to the 
  Mekar Wilderness, a hot and arid area with impressive rock formations and an 
  endless network of subterranean caverns.  It was headed by the “First Prefect” 
  but first level students were trained by upper level students and only saw an adult 
  Docent during lectures. 
  The complex had one guarded main gate at the front and an entrance on the north 
  side that lead to walled off training areas and a garden which was in stark contrast 
  to the bleak environs of the Institute.  There were several training areas  walled off 
  from each other.  The pit was an outdoor arena with a few benches surrounding it 
  where first level students received their physical training and upper level students 
  honed their skills.  Both males and females were required to go through this training. 
  Students trained in the pit during the hottest time of the day, testing their mental 
  and physical endurance to their limits.
  The barracks were spartan, each section housing a group of ten students, under 
  the care of an older student of the third level.  Upon arrival, new students were 
  separated by gender, striped of personal possession, then given a uniform of 
  scratchy swamp green and black.  First and second level males and females were 
  housed apart from each other to avoid distractions as they became sexually mature 
  and began to respond to their hormones.  They did share lectures and some training 
  facilities, however, so there was some contact between them.
  Each group was known by a codename, and each student was given a number. 
  That student would be known only by his group name and his personal number, 
  for example, Elim Garak was known as Ten Lubak.  Presumably the numbers were 
  given according to ability, but children of prominent families generally got the 
  lower and more prestigious numbers, even if they demonstrated a lack of talent for 
  intelligence and espionage.
  Training was split into three levels of three years each.  The first level consisted 
  mostly of physical training.  Second level students got proportionally more classroom 
  training.  Third level students were called Interns.
  Every part of the day was regimented.  Students were variously assigned cleaning 
  duties or as part of a punishment for failing a session in the Pit or Wilderness.  If 
  the students  were out in the Wilderness, they carried survival rations and ate 
  when they could.  In the evening students would be gathered for Assembly, where 
  presumably there were lectures and speeches.
  Physical sessions in the pit consisted of “stratagems,” a series of martial arts and 
  meditative exercises designed to focus one’s senses and test endurance to its limits 
  and beyond.  Should an agent find himself in a situation where he had to defend 
  himself or eliminate an enemy, he could use any number of methods to kill or 
  severely disable an alien.
  Another lesson besides perfect control of the physical body was “keeping one’s 
  place,” that is, one’s sense of the moment, no matter the hardship or distractions. 
  Another lesson students picked up without it having to be said was to achieve the 
  goal by any means without divulging to others how one achieved it.  The fierce 
  competition between groups and members within one’s own group forced students 
  to find ways to achieve their goals, and keeping the secrets of how they succeeded 
  
  54
  XC Manual
  gave them advantages over their competitors.  And of course, the ability to keep 
  secrets was a necessary attribute among future agents of the Order.
  The desolate terrain of the Mekar Wilderness was used to train and test the student’s 
  survival skills.  Groups would engage in “hunts”, the goal being to avoid capture 
  by the older students.  For the older students these “hunts” were to practice their 
  ability to search out and retrieve a targeted victim.  The hunts lasted until all those 
  hunted were found, and so could go on until nightfall.
  Classroom instruction included methods to sabotage equipment and computers, 
  information on how to subdue an alien or kill it quickly and quietly, and methods of 
  interrogation and torture.
  The Archival Center
  The Archival Center was a library like facility for student research. First Levels were 
  only permitted to enter use the facilities of the center with the special dispensation 
  of a member of staff. 
  The Structure of the Order
  The Obsidian Order is organized into “branches,” each specializing in a particular 
  aspect of intelligence work.   It is assumed that the Order has branches and divisions 
  analogous to Starfleet Intelligence, but to date, only a few have been mentioned in 
  episodes, movies, and novels. 
  Known Branches
  Applied Science Directorate
  The Applied Science Directorate was a branch within the Obsidian Order of the 
  Cardassian Union that was charged with making experiments on new technology. 
  During the Occupation of Bajor, the Bajor Division of the Applied Science Directorate 
  was responsible for two thousand Bajoran deaths through the use of medical 
  implants. 
  Bajor Division - The Bajor Division was a branch of the Obsidian Order’s Applied 
  Science Directorate that were charged with operations on Bajor during the 
  Cardassian Union’s Occupation of Bajor. 
  Special Investigations Unit 
  The Special Investigations Unit was a branch of the Obsidian Order.  Garak claimed 
  that a member of the Special Investigations Unit came into his shop for a suit and 
  taught him some special interrogation techniques. 
  Agents involved in field work were separated into semi-autonomous cells, which 
  were insulated from each other so that the capture of any particular operative had 
  a limited potential to compromise the organization.
  The mission of the Special Investigations Unit was to identify, target, investigate, 
  disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations and individuals engaged in disloyal 
  activities against the Cardassian Union.  Once the evidence was collected by the 
  agents in the field, the criminals would be apprehended.
  
  55
  XC Manual
  Research Department
  This department developed all the Obsidian Order technologies.  The head of the 
  Department is an aged scientist named Mindur Timot..  The Order also placed its 
  own research agents into the civilian Science Ministry to watch for and claim any 
  alien technology and scientific discoveries that could be used by the Order.
  Internal Affairs
  Internal affairs “took care” of the folks at home.  It aided the Detapa Council in 
  maintaining order and law.  At its height, the Order held sway over both the Detapa 
  Council, the courts and Central Command.  
  In its archives, it kept files on every single Cardassian born on Cardassian Prime 
  for centuries.  It had DNA obtained from a tooth extracted at age 10 from every 
  citizen.  When possible, it also had DNA extracted from aliens.  Among the alien 
  artifacts stored in the archives were 6 of the Bajoran Orbs.  
  Its fanatical mission to root out dissident or treasonous citizens kept all Cardassians 
  in a state of fear, for some people charged by Internal Affairs mysteriously 
  disappeared into the Obsidian Order complex, never to be seen again.
  After the Order’s humiliation in the Omarian Nebula Incident and the civilian 
  takeover of the government, Internal Affairs no longer has the far-reaching power 
  it once did.
  The Invisible Cadre
  The agents brought into the “Invisibles” had no families, no social connections and 
  no set base of operations.  These were hand-picked by Enabran Tain himself to 
  operate under total anonymity.  They would conduct illegal interrogations, perform 
  delicate sabotage, or carry out high-level assassinations.
  Command Branch (Speculative)
  If we assume that the office of the Director of the Obsidian Order is analogous 
  to command branches in Terran Intelligence agencies, we can assume that the 
  Director had a complete staff with department heads that received reports from 
  the various branches of the Order.  Such positions would be highly sought after by 
  aging field agents, for one seldom retired from the Obsidian Order.  There were too 
  many secrets at stake to allow former operatives to rejoin the general population 
  as retirees.
  The Command branch would oversee all functions, though not necessarily 
  micromanage.  However, if the Prefect of the Detapa Council or the head of Central 
  Command would make a “request” of the Obsidian Order, it would be passed down 
  to the appropriate people for action.  No one cared how the request would be 
  carried out, only that the goal was achieved.
  The current head of the Obsidian Order is Corbin Entek who took over when Pythus 
  Lok , the successor to Enabran Tain (2348 - 2368), was gravely injured in the 
  Dominion attack on Cardassia prime.  
  Enabran Tain, being the most famous of the Order’s directors, was the only director 
  who lived long enough to retire.  Even after retirement, he kept his hand on the 
  Order through his vesala,  getting the Order to approve his scheme to destroy the 
  Founder’s homeworld in what would be called “The Omarian Nebula Incident.”
  
  56
  XC Manual
  Other Branches (Speculative)
  It is assumed that the Obsidian Order (now operating under the name Cardassian 
  Intelligence Bureau) has an internal organization every bit as detailed and 
  bureaucratic as any other Intelligence Agency in the known Galaxy.  The following 
  is a brief explanation of possible branches and their functions.
  Analysis – Analysis is charged with analyzing and compartmentalizing information 
  that comes in from the field.  Being that the amount of information is very large, 
  there would be divisions or bureaus devoted to single races or topics, even certain 
  important people.  Information thus processed would be stored in the Archives.
  Assassination – Assassins are highly trained to take out specific targets by a 
  number of ways such as obscure poisons, genetically engineered viruses,  engineered 
  equipment failures and accidents.  They are also trained not to be seen or to get 
  caught.
  Counterintelligence – Counterintelligence is creation of false intelligence.  Its 
  agents construct cleverly woven stories with enough truth to be believed and untruth 
  to send the enemy on a wild goose chase.  They also work with cryptography to 
  broadcast false messages back to the targeted groups.
  Cryptography – Cryptography is the art of coded messages.  The Cardassians 
  have the best encryption and decryption algorithms known to the Federation.  They 
  are impossible to break, except by a trained Cardassian, again because of his 
  renown memory and aptitude for mathematics.
  They are masters at breaking codes and often keep that information to themselves 
  so as not to alert foreign powers that their messages are being intercepted.  They 
  can also send out forged messages (in concert with counterintelligence) to track 
  foreign movements and locations. 
  Infiltration - The Infiltration Branch of the Obsidian Order is responsible for short-
  term penetration, infiltration, and extraction missions.  Their main types of missions 
  are reconnaissance, theft, and extraction of personnel.
  Penetration missions are for collecting intelligence, that is reconnaissance, with the 
  field agent remaining hidden. Sometimes the agent was tasked with sabotage.  He 
  was to penetrate the facility/ship, disable the equipment to fail later in an apparent 
  malfunction, and get out without being seen.
  Infiltration may be into a Cardassian dissident group or as a citizen in a crowd on 
  a Federation space station.  Generally such a mission was requested by the Special 
  Investigations Unit.  This type of agent is “seen but not seen” and is tasked with 
  reconnaissance.
  An extraction mission is to bring a long-term undercover agent back to Cardassian 
  Space, to steal a piece of equipment, data or artifact (like a Bajoran Orb), or to 
  abduct an alien of interest to the Obsidian order. 
  Undercover – Undercover agents carry out long-term infiltration of societies and 
  organizations.  They may undergo enhancements to help them avoid detection.
  Some agents undergo surgical alteration to resemble the populace they are 
  infiltrating.  They also may have an implanted device that masks their Cardassian 
  
  57
  XC Manual
  lifesigns from tricorders and medical scans. (Seksa aboard Voyager)
  Some agents undergo chemical and psychological treatments to implant false 
  memories of the person they are taking the place of.
  Other agents going in as Cardassians may have a device implanted to give pleasure 
  under torture or a suicide chip or pill to suicide with in case of capture.  Suicide 
  drugs killed quickly and disintegrated the body to prevent identification.  
  Interrogation – Every intelligence organization has an Interrogation branch, and 
  the Obsidian order was no exception.  Its agents were masters at questioning, 
  psychological manipulation and physical torture.  
  During the Bajoran Occupation, military specialists in torture would mutilate (Orta) 
  and torture to death Bajoran detainees (Ro Laren’s father) in order to extract 
  information about the resistance.  They often bragged to their victims about the 
  merits of this or that pain-giving device and felt that torture was an art form of 
  which they were very proud.
  However Obsidian Order interrogators were more skilled in instilling fear by 
  psychological means.  The Order didn’t appreciate the brutish and clumsy way 
  the militia interrogated political prisoners.  Elim Garak got information out of Dr. 
  Parmak, Enabran Tain’s personal physician, by simply staring at him for four hours.  
  The poor man broke down and confessed to being a part of an illegal political group, 
  he was so unnerved by Garak’s intense reptilian and unswerving gaze. 
  This is not to say the Order didn’t use physical torture, but it was more refined 
  than that of the Military.  The pain-giving device that Gul Madred used on Captain 
  Picard was of Obsidian Order design.  The anti-changeling device was designed to 
  induce pain on a shapeshifter by interfering with his shifting abilities.  As the need 
  for a shapeshifter’s regeneration came closer, the emissions of the device became 
  more painful.
  Known Agents
  Heads of the Order
  Surjak – noted as a previous head of the order and a former associate of Enabran 
  Tain.  Since Tain spoke of Surjak on his deathbed, it may be assumed that Surjak 
  was Tain’s immediate predecessor.
  Enabran Tain -  from 2348 till his retirement in 2368. He held the distinction of 
  being the only Director to live long enough to actually retire from the position.
  Pythas Lok – From Enabran’s retirement through the Dominion decimation of 
  Cardassia.
  Corbin Entek – After Pythas was badly injured near the end of the Dominion 
  War.
  
  58
  XC Manual
  Known Operatives
  Elim Garak - son of Enabran Tain,  served as a spy for Cardassia during his exile 
  on DS9.  He was demoted from head of his cell to probe (beginner) when he would 
  not give up his relationship with a married woman. 
  Iliana Ghemor - Obsidian Order operative variously rumored to be dead or in hiding 
  on Bajor as a deep undercover agent.  Daughter of Tekeny Ghemor, a prominent 
  member of the Reunion Project. 
  Pythas Lok  - became Director of the Order after Enabran Tain.  He attended the 
  Bamarren Institute at the same time as Garak.  Prior to becoming Director, he was 
  one of Tain’s “Invisibles.” 
  Corbin Entek - An administrative agent in the Command Branch who became 
  Director of the Order after Pythus Lok.  Entek also attended the Bamarren Institute 
  when Garak was there. 
  Yeln - “Bajoran” man who confirmed sharing a Cardassian prison cell at Elemspur 
  Detention Center with Kira Nerys during the occupation. Yeln was later exposed as 
  an Obsidian Order operative and Cardassian.
  Maladek - The Obsidian Order code name of an operative who was a former 
  student at the Bamarren Institute for State Intelligence where his designation was 
  One Ramaklan.  At the Institute he was the leader of the third level group who were 
  defeated by One Charaban’s forces in the institute’s mock battle competition. They 
  had agreed to end the competition at a stalemate to share the glory but Charaban 
  betrayed him.  This defeat tainted him as he left the institute with his reputation 
  tarnished.
  As an Obsidian Order operative Maladek was assigned to the same cell as Elim 
  Garak, they were sent along with the operative Oonal to the planet Tohvun III 
  in a mission to undermine peace talks with the Federation in the Frontier Wars.  
  However Maladek’s disgrace got the better off him and he attempted to expose the 
  operation and Elim Garak’s (who was the tactician in Charabans team) identity as 
  an operative to the Federation. Garak (unbeknownst to him by the will of higher 
  powers in the organization) disgraced Maladek in the eyes of Federation operatives 
  assessing Maladeks reliability.  In disgrace Maladek committed suicide. 
  Oonal – Led the mission to Tohvun II to undermine Federation Peace Talks. (see 
  Maladek)
  Limor Prang - Obsidian Order administrator in charge of new agents. 
  Mindur Timot - Obsidian Order scientist who installed Garak’s wire.  Head of the 
  Research Department. 
  Nal Dejar - In 2371 Dejar attempted to sabotage a joint Cardassian-Bajoran 
  scientific effort to place a subspace relay in the Gamma Quadrant.  The Obsidian 
  Order, angry at the recently signed Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty, sent Dejar to Deep 
  Space 9 to sabotage the attempt, posing as a third scientist. She sabotaged the 
  USS Defiant’s main emitter coupling. When the ship fired at a comet that was about 
  to destroy the Bajoran wormhole, it shattered the comet instead of vaporizing it as 
  planned 
  
  59
  XC Manual
  Korinas - Operative from the Obsidian Order intelligence branch during Benjamin 
  Sisko and Gul Dukat’s joint search for the U.S.S. Defiant after it was stolen by 
  Maquis operative Thomas Riker in 2371. She was unsuccessful in concealing the 
  secret Keldon class warships that the Order had constructed illegally in the Orias 
  system.  
  Yteppa - a Kobliad woman who assisted the Obsidian Order in kidnapping Kira Nerys 
  in 2371.  Yteppa abducted Kira on Bajor while enroute to the Elemspur Detention 
  Center, as records showed Kira had been there though she didn’t remember.  Yteppa 
  later assisted Corbin Entek on Cardassia, where she participated in the failed arrest 
  of Tekeny Ghemor. 
  Allo Glessin - was a Cardassian male who served as a medic in the Cardassian 
  military.  While doing so, he met another Cardassian who was a medic on Terok Nor. 
  Glessin had finished his mandatory tour in the military by the 2370s and began to 
  study biology under a person who was actually a member of the Obsidian Order. 
  The teacher recommended him to the Order, who assigned him to the Keldon class 
  starship Danasket.  The ship was stationed in the Orias system for the joint Obsidian 
  Order/Tal Shiar attack on the Founders’ homeworld in 2371. 
  After the Cardassian and Romulans believed they had eliminated the Founders, the 
  Dominion fleet secretly stationed there began their attack.  A young soldier forced 
  Glessin into an escape pod, which managed to avoid detection by the Jem’Hadar. 
  Rhan Ico - Obsidian Order control assigned to oversee the undercover operations 
  of the occupation of Bajor.  The agents in the filed regularly reported their progress 
  to her in the mission to create internal strife between the Bajoran followers of 
  the Prophets and the Cardassian followers of Oralius.  In the ensuing chaos, she 
  beamed out the surviving orbs and stored them in the Obsidian Order archives.  
  Pasir Ketin - Undercover operative posing as a cleric of the Way of Oralius. He 
  killed and took Vedek Ranjen Osen’s place after a skimmer crash.  
  The Bajoran Occupation – Help from the Order
  When the Central Command determined that Bajor was worth occupying for its 
  resources, the Obsidian Order orchestrated a number of circumstances that opened 
  the door for the Military to take over.
  The Order saw an opportunity to take care of two problems, the members of the 
  outlawed Oralian Way and the reluctance of the Bajorans to trust these new reptilian 
  aliens.
  The Order sent clergy from the Oralian Way and some prominent scientists with 
  one ship, the Kornaire, to begin First Contact negotiations.  This was a two-pronged 
  approach to cause dissention between the Bajoran Assembly and the followers of 
  the Prophets.  The Oralians were encouraged to find commonality with the Bajoran 
  religion while the civilians were to negotiate with the government for a tradeoff of 
  technology for mineral rights.
  With the Bajorans showing a reluctant front,  The Order sent Cardassian agents 
  posing as Oralian followers to Bajor.  Meanwhile, the Order incited the Cardassian 
  government back home to begin persecuting the Oralians, forcing them to flee to 
  Bajor in the hopes of finding safe haven there.
  
  60
  XC Manual
  The undercover Oralian agents began to incite dissention between the two religious 
  groups.  One of the agents arranged the death of an elder follower of the Prophets 
  and took his place.  His surgical enhancements and masking device fooled everyone, 
  as he slowly began to change the message of unification of the two religions into 
  dissention between them.  This was phase one of the attack on Bajor.
  Phase two was the engineering of a fake attack on a stolen Bajoran freighter by 
  the neighboring Tzenkethi, who in reality did not have the means to attack anyone, 
  much less the Bajorans.  The Order planted evidence against the aliens then 
  arranged for a demonstration of Cardassian superiority in space to protect Bajor 
  from invasion.  This also gave the Cardassians an excuse to punish the Tzenkethi, 
  with whom they had ongoing hostilities.
  Suffering chaos on the planet and chaos in space, the Bajorans reluctantly signed 
  the agreement.  Very soon afterwards, the military built facilities on Bajor for the 
  sake of planetary security, had a fleet of ship permanently stationed in the system, 
  and had begun building an orbital ore processing unit, Terok Nor.
  The Oralians who were not wiped out in the purge fled the planet with a large 
  number of Bajorans to establish a colony elsewhere.
  The Obsidian Order had done its job.
  Omarion Nebula Incident – The Failed Mission
  The Battle of the Omarion Nebula was the first major armed engagement between 
  forces of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and the Dominion, as well as the only major 
  engagement to take place in the Gamma Quadrant.  In the battle, a combined 
  Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar fleet attempted to launch a preemptive strike on the 
  Founders’ homeworld in the Omarion Nebula, only to be ambushed and completely 
  destroyed by the Jem’Hadar.  This disastrous defeat has been likened to the 
  Federation’s defeat to the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359.
  Prelude
  The year 2371 was an anxious time for the various powers of the Alpha and Beta 
  Quadrants, as the threat posed by the Dominion on the other side of the Bajoran 
  wormhole loomed ever closer.  The Jem’Hadar offensive of 2370, which had claimed 
  amongst others the USS Odyssey, and the subsequent encounter between the 
  USS Defiant and the Founders, had revealed a ruthless, technologically advanced 
  enemy determined to impose their version of order on the chaotic galaxy.  Although 
  a full-scale invasion did not follow the initial appearance of the Jem’Hadar as was 
  feared, war seemed to be only a matter of time.
  Immediately the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire began 
  preparations for a Dominion incursion, including the fortification of Deep Space 9 
  and the investigation of methods to combat changeling infiltration.  The Romulan 
  Star Empire, ever cautious, loaned a cloaking device to the Federation (installed 
  on the Defiant) in exchange for intelligence Starfleet gathered on the Dominion, 
  but refused to send ships of their own to the Gamma Quadrant.  The Cardassian 
  Union, occupied by its own internal and external concerns, also remained relatively 
  uninvolved.
  Secret Alliance
  At this time, the Cardassian Enabran Tain was living out his retirement on Arawath, 
  as the only head of the Obsidian Order to survive long enough to do so. Frustrated 
  
  61
  XC Manual
  by the Central Command’s complacency in the face of the Dominion threat and 
  wearied by his three-year absence from power, Tain drafted a plan to destroy 
  the Dominion in a single decisive move.  To accomplish this he contacted the 
  Romulan Tal Shiar, and proposed a joint venture, executed independently of either 
  organization’s parent government.  However, unbeknownst to him, his counterpart 
  in the Tal Shiar, Colonel Lovok, had been replaced by a changeling.  The Founders 
  saw in Tain’s plan their own opportunity, and did everything they could to carry it 
  forward.
  Through the Romulans, Tain had access to all the information gathered on the 
  Dominion by Starfleet over the past several months.  He learned of the Founders’ 
  control over the Jem’Hadar via their addiction to Ketracel-white, and the location 
  of their homeworld inside the Omarion Nebula.  Tain concluded accurately that a 
  massive attack directed towards the Founders’ homeworld, eradicating the Founders 
  and with them the supply of white, would cripple  the Dominion irreparably.
  In great secrecy, the Obsidian Order began building a fleet of Keldon-class 
  warships in the Orias system, even though Cardassian law specifically prohibited 
  the organization from operating military spacecraft of any kind.  The fleet was 
  equipped with cloaking devices provided by the Tal Shiar, which had been modified 
  to avoid detection by Dominion scanners.  Meanwhile, the Tal Shiar assembled its 
  own force of several D’Deridex-class Warbirds.  Numbering twenty ships altogether, 
  their combined firepower was sufficient to obliterate the crust of the Founders’ 
  homeworld in one hour, and the mantle in five.  Apart from those directly involved 
  in the operation, the only individuals who knew of the Tain’s plan were Elim Garak 
  and Odo, who had been captured and held aboard Tain’s flagship while investigating 
  the deaths of several former Obsidian Order operatives.
  Launch
  Near the end of 2371, the combined Cardassian-Romulan fleet left the Orias 
  system and headed for the Bajoran Wormhole.  As they passed Deep Space 9, 
  the ships decloaked and transmitted parallel messages to the Cardassian and 
  Romulan governments.  In the Cardassian message, Tain explained his motives 
  as that of defending Cardassia, and advised the Cardassian fleet to be on alert for 
  any Dominion reprisals.  Both governments denied any knowledge of the mission, 
  though despite the possibility of open war they elected to wait and see whether 
  Tain would succeed.
  Starfleet also chose not to interfere with the attack, admitting that Tain’s plan had 
  a fair chance of success.  Vice Admiral Toddman ordered the civilian evacuation of 
  Deep Space 9 and sent a task force of nine starships to reinforce the Bajor system.  
  Meanwhile, Commander Benjamin Sisko disobeyed orders and took the Defiant into 
  the Gamma Quadrant in the hope of rescuing Odo and Garak.
  The Battle
  As the fleet entered orbit of the Founders’ homeworld, they found the planet 
  completely undefended, the Founders in a liquid state on the surface -- apparently 
  they had achieved the element of surprise.  Tain confidently ordered the fleet to 
  decloak and attack, with the words “so much for the Dominion, open fire.”  Thirty 
  percent of the planet’s crust was destroyed in the opening volley, but something 
  was amiss: there was no change in the number of life-forms on the surface.  They 
  soon realized that the Founders had already evacuated the planet, leaving behind 
  only an automated transponder to send out false sensor readings.  The entire 
  operation had been a trap.
  
  62
  XC Manual
  Mere moments later, a massive fleet of 150 Jem’Hadar attack ships emerged from 
  the nebula, completely surrounding Tain’s fleet.  The Jem’Hadar’s phased polaron 
  beam weapons tore through the shields of the Cardassian and Romulan ships just 
  as they had the Odyssey less than a year before, inflicting heavy damage in a 
  matter of minutes.  Amidst the chaos, Lovok helped Odo and Garak escape, telling 
  them that “no changeling had ever harmed another.”  The two fled Tain’s warbird 
  in the runabout USS Mekong just before it exploded, and were picked up shortly 
  after by the Defiant.
  Outgunned with no hope of retreat, the remnants of the Cardassian-Romulan fleet 
  fought to their annihilation.  As the Jem’Hadar ships continued to focus on the 
  fleet, the Defiant fought its way out of the battle zone and escaped back to Deep 
  Space 9.  A few members of the fleet, including Tain, survived the battle and were 
  detained at Internment Camp 371 until their rescue by Garak and Commander 
  Worf in 2373.
  Aftermath
  The Battle of the Omarion Nebula was a catastrophe for the Romulan and Cardassian 
  forces resulting in destruction not seen since The Battle of Wolf 359.  The Tal Shiar 
  suffered a severe setback from which it would not recover from for years, and the 
  Obsidian Order officially ceased to exist altogether.  The Founders had identified 
  both organizations as a definite threat due to their efficient and ruthless natures, 
  and had exploited Tain’s plan to wipe out both of them in a single stroke.  Their 
  victory had been so overwhelming that the Dominion had essentially eliminated 
  two of the major powers in the Alpha/Beta Quadrants from challenging them in the 
  short-term; after their losses neither the Cardassians nor the Romulans would be 
  very willing to wage war against the Dominion.
  The destruction of the Obsidian Order also had more far-reaching consequences, 
  which in time the Founders would also exploit to their advantage.  Without the 
  constant presence of the Order ensuring loyalty amongst the population, the 
  Cardassian Underground was finally able to topple the Central Command.  This 
  in turn led to the Klingon-Cardassian War and the Second Federation-Klingon War 
  in 2372-2373, weakening the Alpha and Beta Quadrants as a whole and nearly 
  destroying the Federation-Klingon alliance, the last remaining bulwark against the 
  Dominion.  In addition, the humiliation and damage suffered by the Cardassians as 
  a result of the Klingon attack would ultimately lead them to their alliance with the 
  Dominion, sowing the seeds for the most devastating conflict in modern history, 
  the Dominion War.
  
  63
  XC Manual
  About the SFMC Academy
  The Starfleet Marine Corps Academy was established by Commander Starfleet in 
  2164 when it was determined that Starfleet Academy could no longer adequately 
  meet the needs of both services. The historical home of the United States’ Navy 
  and Marine Corps academies, Annapolis, was selected as the new home of the 
  SFMCA. The head of the Academy, known as Director SFMCA (DCO - Academy), 
  is still headquartered at the main campus in Annapolis. 
  The motto of the SFMCA is “Facta Non Verba” or, in Federation Standard, “Deeds 
  not Words.” This is reflected in the more informal academy slogan, “We lead by 
  example... whether we mean to or not.”
  The Director SFMCA reports to the Commanding Officer of the Training Command 
  (COTRACOM) who, in addition to the SFMCA, oversees branch schools, enlisted 
  personnel training, advanced technical schools, and periodic skill re-fresher 
  courses. Most of these courses are held either at one of the SFMCA facilities, 
  or at one of the many training facilities in the New Valley Forge system which 
  is home to TRACOM. These facilities, together with an Oberth-class spacedock 
  serving as TRACOM headquarters, comprise Station Valley Forge. 
  Today, the SFMCA consists of 5 campuses, 8 training worlds, and 42 ranges and 
  field courses throughout the UFP. Together with Station Valley Forge, the SFMCA 
  comprises one of the largest and most advanced military training organizations 
  in the known universe.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Star Trek RPG/novels/Trek Nonfiction & Reference/Reference Materials/Alien Cultures/SFMC Xenostudies/Cardassian Manual (2009 edition.pdf