Maquis

Maquis

TheMaquis (pronounced mah-KEE), otherwise known as theMaquis Resistance, or simply the Rebellion, were aresistance group that consisted ofFederation-borncolonists and discontentedStarfleet officers who organized against theCardassian occupation of their homes in theDemilitarized Zone after their colonies were ceded to theCardassian Union byFederation Cardassian Treaties in the late2360s and early2370s.Starfleet Command considered members of the Maquis to betraitors, whileCardassia considered the Maquis to beterrorists.

TheKlingon-Cardassian War of2372 left the Maquis virtually unchecked during Cardassia's brief democratization, allowing them to consolidate strength to the point of becoming a quasi-state. The Maquis wished to formally declare their secession from the Federation as an independent state, but in2373, they were destroyed by Cardassia's new overlord,Dukat, theDominion, and its powerful army ofJem'Hadar, before their plans materialized. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory";VOY: "Hunters")

History[]

Origins[]

The roots of the Maquis insurrection could be traced back to the2350s during theCardassian wars. The Federation and the Cardassians settled a large number ofclass Mplanets in close proximity to each other, and the issue of ownership of these colonies – as well as their security – became the causes of war. Although the Federation relinquished claims to all planets occupied by Cardassian colonies, the Cardassians sought toannex several crucial worlds along the border, includingMinos Korva andSetlik III. (TNG: "The Wounded", "Chain Of Command, Part I")

Despite the risks of settling on worlds close to the Cardassian border, many Federation citizens, especiallyHumans, chose to settle on the fertile worlds in the region. (TNG: "Journey's End", "Preemptive Strike";DS9: "The Maquis, Part I", "The Maquis, Part II";VOY: "Caretaker", "Tattoo", "Dreadnought") Colonies includingVolan II,Volan III,Soltok IV,Umoth VIII, and others became thriving outposts of Federation civilization, but also became targets for the Cardassian military. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I")

By the mid-2360s, the wars had settled into an effective stalemate, with neither side gaining advantage in terms of firepower or territory. Finally, in2366, a ceasefire ended the long conflict between theFederation andCardassia. This truce enforced an end to active hostilities but left unresolved many of the major questions of the conflict, such as the fate of both colonies and colonists along the Cardassian border andDemilitarized Zone. (TNG: "The Wounded")

Seeds of resistance[]

In2367, theUSSPhoenix, a Starfleet ship captained byBenjamin Maxwell attacked and destroyed an allegedly unarmed Cardassianscience station in theCuellar system. Maxwell explained toCaptainJean-Luc Picard, who was sent to put a stop to Maxwell's actions, that the Cardassians were in fact arming again and that the so-called science station was actually a military supply port. Even though he could not prove it, Maxwell knew of the strategic importance of a military transport station in an area of space where Cardassians essentially had a jumping off point into three Federation sectors. Maxwell expressed his frustration with Federation bureaucrats who, had he notified them, would have just sat around for six months, reading reports trying to figure out what to do, all while Cardassians were arming up against the Federation. He considered the peace treaty a ruse to give the Cardassians room to regroup. Determined to preserve the peace no matter what the cost, Picard insisted that what the Cardassians did was irrelevant.

After Maxwell was apprehended, it turned out that he was right all along; Cardassians were carrying weapons to the science station and cargo ships were running with high energysubspace fields that jammed sensors. Picard confrontedGulMacet with the evidence, telling him that while he did not allow Maxwell to board a Cardassian cargo ship in the interest of preserving the peace, "We'll be watching." (TNG: "The Wounded")

It took another three years for a final peace treaty to be negotiated, and although the questions of territory were finally settled, neither side was entirely happy with the solution. The Treaty of 2370 established a new Demilitarized Zone (also known as the DMZ), from which all large warships belonging to either side were excluded.

Much more controversial, however, was the exchange of colonies which was to take place. The treaty stipulated that each side would transfer ownership of certain worlds. The inhabitants of those worlds would be resettled elsewhere beforehand. Despite the vehement protests of many colony leaders, theFederation Council signed the treaty.Starfleet was given the task of evacuating the colonists from their homes and transporting them to other worlds.

One of the first worlds slated to be evacuated wasDorvan V, a colony settled in2350 by a group ofNative American colonists. The Native Americans claimed that they had a special, spiritual connection to their world, and refused to be evacuated.USSEnterprise-D captain Jean-Luc Picard attempted to negotiate an agreement with the settlers, but they steadfastly refused to leave. Violence nearly broke out when Picard attempted to evacuate the settlers by force.

Ultimately, an agreement was reached whereby the Dorvan colonists were permitted to remain in their colony under Cardassian jurisdiction. The arrangement was approved by GulEvek, the Cardassian official in charge of affairs in the Demilitarized Zone. (TNG: "Journey's End")

Following the Dorvan agreement, colonists on many other worlds also refused to abandon their homes and demanded to be permitted to stay on their colonies. Both the Federation Council and theCardassian Central Command acquiesced for the time being.

Civil unrest[]

Despite success on the surface, the reality of the situation proved rather different. Although Starfleet assigned an attaché,Lieutenant CommanderCalvin Hudson, to theDemilitarized Zone to help the colonists function under the terms of the new Treaty, resentments began to fester as hardships mounted. People who had worked all their lives to build these colonies were suddenly asked to either leave or stay behind under the rule of an uncertain and unscrupulousmilitary power. Although the Cardassian government had officially pledged to leave the Federation colonists alone, a wide campaign of oppression began at practically the same time. Foodreplicators were poisoned, mobs were organized, and generalharassment of the Federation colonists made life difficult at best. It was clear, to Hudson and the colonists, that the Cardassians had no intention of allowing the colonists to stay; they were either going to force them out or kill them. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I", "The Maquis, Part II")

During a visit toDeep Space 9, Hudson expressed his frustration with the treaty between the Federation and Cardassia toBenjamin Sisko. He pointed out that the Treaty was essentially imbalanced in favor of Cardassia, as it had thrown the colonists, who had not really been given a choice, into the hands of the Cardassians who had all but good intentions with them. He considered what the Federation had done to the colonies abandonment and was angered about the many concessions that were made for the sake of peace; a peace that came at the expense and livelihood of the colonists who had worked hard to make a new life for themselves. He suspected theCardassian High Command had armed their own colonists to the teeth with the intention to harass the Federation colonies until retreat and surrender. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I")

Resistance builds[]

Hudson's suspicions proved to be true; by shipping the weapons through intermediaries such as theLissepians, they managed to avoid the attention of Starfleet. The Cardassian colonists mounted the weapons – includingGalor-classphaser banks – ontoshuttlecraft-sized vessels and used them to attack Federation interests.

The Federation colonists did not accept these attacks passively. While Starfleet conducted "official" investigations into the situation, the colonists decided to take matters into their own hands and banded together into underground paramilitarycells, acquiring weapons of their own through the black market. These weapons were mounted on Federation-designed shuttles and couriers and used to defend against the Cardassian colonists' attacks. The Demilitarized Zone was becoming very militarized.

Hudson, who was one of the first Starfleet officers to turn away from Starfleet and lead the Maquis, justified his decision by stating that maybe the Federation could turn its back on the colonies, but that he and the colonists could not. For them, out on the frontier, without the power of the Federation to back them up, a treaty was only a piece of paper that ultimately failed to solve the plight they were facing. He insisted that nobody wanted peace more than the Maquis, but that it could not be achieved with the Cardassians secretly supplying their colonies with weapons while the Federation felt obligated to stand by and watch without taking action out of fear that it might compromise a peace, which – as far as the Maquis were concerned – was based on an unjust and inequitable basis. In the eyes of the colonists and the Maquis, the Federation had abandoned them, expecting that they take care of themselves; which was exactly what they were doing by standing up to the Cardassians. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II")

Open conflict[]

The first open attack by the Maquis, as the Federation guerrilla groups came to be known, was against the Cardassian freighterBok'Nor at outpostDeep Space 9. TheBok'Nor was suspected of running weapons to the Cardassian colonists in the DMZ. Maquis memberWilliam Samuels planted an implosiveprotomatter device on theBok'Nor's hull, causing a catastrophic overload in thefusion reactor, destroying the ship.

Barely a week later, Gul Dukat was abducted from Deep Space 9 by Maquis operatives, and taken to a class-Masteroid in theBadlands. DS9 commanderBenjamin Sisko pursued, and discovered that the Maquis cell involved was led byCalvin Hudson, the Starfleet attaché and a personal friend. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I") Sisko was eventually successful in rescuing Dukat from the Maquis.

Sisko attempted to dialogue with the Maquis, suggesting that, now the Cardassian Central Command had been implicated in arming Cardassian colonists, political pressure could be used to deescalate the tensions in the DMZ and a better peace treaty could be made. Hudson, speaking for the Maquis, said it was too late for that, that they considered themselves already in a war, and that they had to finish what they had started.

Based on intelligence obtained fromSakonna, a Maquis member who had been influential in purchasing many of the group's ships and weapons bought from thePygorians throughQuark, Sisko determined that the Maquis were planning to attack a suspected weapons depot onBryma, a former Cardassian colony. In order to prevent the possible outbreak of a new full-scale war, Sisko intercepted the Maquis attack (which was led by his friend Hudson) and forced them to retreat.

Meanwhile, after the shipments of weapons to the Cardassian colonies were exposed, the Central Command officially denied all involvement in the matter.LegateParn placed the blame on Dukat (who was in the custody of the Maquis at the time) and a small cadre of "misguided" officials. Dukat later observed that he was simply used as a scapegoat to deflect the blame for the violation of the treaty away from the Central Command. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II")

At this point, Starfleet's leadership underestimated the seriousness of the Maquis - they were considered a nuisance, "a bunch of irresponsible hotheads", inAdmiralNechayev's words, who could be corrected with a simple reminder that they were Federation citizens. However, although full-scale war was avoided thanks to Sisko and Dukat, the Demilitarized Zone was quickly becoming a hotbed of conflict – something which Sisko, with more experience on the ground, worried was inevitable. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II") Now that both sides' civilian colonists possessed advanced weaponry, an underground war broke out without any direct involvement from either the Cardassian or the Federation fleets.

Growing problem[]

Late in2370, the Cardassians launched an elaborate scheme to attempt to discredit the Federation's policies and to establish grounds to invade the DMZ to eliminate the Maquis. They attempted to portray the Maquis as "savage, Federation-born killers" who were operating with secret but official sanction fromStarfleet Command. Using anundercover operative who had assumed the guise of former Starfleet officerRaymond Boone, the Cardassians planted a cache ofphoton torpedo warheads stolen from Deep Space 9 aboard arunabout piloted byMiles O'Brien, DS9'schief of operations. When the runabout was subsequently intercepted by a Cardassianpatrol ship, the photon warheads provided sufficient grounds to arrest O'Brien and charge him with attempting to smuggle weapons to the Maquis. The Cardassians staged an elaborate trial under theirtraditional laws, loudly proclaiming O'Brien guilty of anti-Cardassian crimes and sentencing him to death. In the meantime, while trying to prove O'Brien's innocence, the DS9 staff began to suspect Boone of being a Maquis agent, until an actual Maquis agent clandestinely met with Dr.Julian Bashir to deny any involvement with the warheads or Boone, leading to Boone being discovered as an impostor. Sisko would then take the impostor Boone toCardassia Prime just asConservatorMakbar was about to pronounce O'Brien's sentence. Rather than risk theCardassian Central Command becoming publicly embarrassed with all of Cardassia watching, Makbar was forced to release O'Brien into Federation custody to save face, foiling their plot to quickly wipe out the Maquis. (DS9: "Tribunal")

By the end of the year, a precarious stalemate had developed inside the Demilitarized Zone. However, the Maquis continued to gain strength, and continued to launch attacks against Cardassian and neutral shipping in the region. In one of their boldest offensives, a Maquis cell launched a massive attack against Gul Evek's flagship, theVetar, crippling it before being driven off by theEnterprise-D. (TNG: "Preemptive Strike")

As critical as the Maquis' offensives were, even more embarrassing were the continued stream of Starfleet officers who resigned their commissions in the Federation to join the Maquis in their fight against the Cardassians. The Maquis saw themselves as victims, betrayed, abandoned, carelessly given away by the Federation authorities to the Cardassians in the name of peace; a peace they and their families never experienced. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I", "The Maquis, Part II") Those who did not have any personal stakes in this insurgence, did it because they could no longer reconcile their conscience with the atrocities they were witnessing.Thomas Riker, who was one of the Starfleet officers to resign, toldMajorKira Nerys that he had joined the group because people were dying in the Demilitarized Zone and Starfleet wasn't doing anything about it, though Nerys observed that Riker was also driven by the desire to distinguish himself fromWilliam Riker, his identical counterpart. (DS9: "Defiant") In addition to Riker, other Starfleet officers such asCalvin Hudson,Ro Laren andChakotay resigned or deserted their posts to fight "the good fight". (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I", "The Maquis, Part II";TNG: "Preemptive Strike";VOY: "Caretaker", "Tattoo", "In the Flesh")

The advanced tactical knowledge of those officers often gave the Maquis a distinct advantage in combat against Starfleet opponents. (TNG: "Preemptive Strike";VOY: "Ex Post Facto";DS9: "For the Uniform") The Maquis also served as a haven for those disgraced and outcast from Starfleet and the Federation, such asAdmiralOwen Paris' sonTom Paris (VOY: "Caretaker") andB'Elanna Torres. (VOY: "Parallax", "One") Others were simply seeking an outlet for violent tendencies, likeLon Suder, while yet there were those, such asKenneth Dalby, who sought revenge and wanted to kill as many Cardassians as possible after they saw loved ones brutally murdered by them. (VOY: "Learning Curve", "Meld") Eventually, the Maquis included members of theHuman,Vulcan,Bajoran,Betazoid,Bolian, andKlingonspecies.

However, the Maquis were not satisfied with the delicate and armed stalemate that had developed. Thanks to the influx of personnel and unofficial support, the Maquis began expanding their operations to include larger targets. Thanks tosympathizers, they also managed to evade almost every trap that Starfleet laid for them outside the Demilitarized Zone. And also thanks to the treaty, both Starfleet and the Cardassians were unable to send in sufficient armaments to eradicate them. They developed new techniques and tactics to evade pursuit, such as usingthoron particles to rendertricorders useless. (VOY: "Basics, Part II") Another advantage was their familiarity with theBadlands, which was used to contain munition bases and to outrun enemy vessels. (VOY: "Caretaker", "Dreadnought") In2370, they captured a defective Cardassian weapon calledDreadnought, then reprogrammed it to attack the Cardassian fuel depot onAschelan V, althoughDreadnought disappeared in the Badlands under mysterious circumstances before it reached its target. (VOY: "Dreadnought")

By2371, there were thousands of Maquis. (VOY: "Hunters")

The Orias assault[]

One of the Maquis' most daring assaults occurred in early2371. Former Starfleet officer Thomas Riker posed as hisdoppelgängerWilliam T. Riker and boarded Deep Space 9. Using his counterpart's passwords and access codes, Riker gained access to theUSSDefiant, one of Starfleet's most powerful warships, then assigned to DS9. Using a fakewarp core breach as a diversion, Riker beamed aboard several Maquis personnel from the station, hijacking the ship.

Once theDefiant escaped into the Demilitarized Zone, the Maquis launched an elaborate offensive against Cardassian military outposts along the border. However, the purpose of the attacks was simply as a diversion – using theDefiant'scloaking device, Riker piloted the ship past the border patrols and launched a series of random attacks against the interior of Cardassian space.

The Maquis' true objective was as surprising as it was unconventional. Riker's cell had received intelligence reports that a faction of the Cardassian government was secretly building a fleet in theOrias system, outside of the authority of the Central Command. Believing the renegade force to be intended for an "unofficial" assault against the DMZ without the knowledge of the Cardassian leadership, the Maquis sought to destroy this new force before it could be used against them.

However, Riker had not anticipated the presence of warships to be actively operating out of Orias. As theDefiant approached Orias, pursued by tenGalor-class warships, it was confronted by sixKeldon-class heavy cruisers emerging from the system. With both his advance and retreat blocked, Riker opted to surrender. In a deal brokered by Commander Sisko and Gul Dukat, Riker agreed to stand trial on Cardassia, while the remainder of the Maquis were turned over to Federation authorities, and theDefiant returned to Starfleet control. (DS9: "Defiant")

However, the secret fleet in the Orias System – which was being built by the CardassianObsidian Order – was not intended to fight the Maquis at all, but rather was aimed at launching asurprise attack against theDominion with the intention of destroying theGreat Link and killing theFounders. (DS9: "Improbable Cause", "The Die is Cast")

Chakotay's cell and the USSVoyager[]

Former Starfleet officer Chakotay was one of the Maquis' most valued leaders, and it was for this reason Starfleet attempted to capture him in2371. They installed an undercover operative,Tuvok, aboard Chakotay's ship, theVal Jean. (VOY: "Caretaker") The Cardassians were also interested in Chakotay, and placed one of their own operatives,Seska, with Chakotay's crew around the same time. (VOY: "State of Flux") Unknown at the time, aBajoranvedek namedTeero Anaydis, ejected from the Maquis for his controversial experiments with mind control, knew of Tuvok's real loyalties, and used a surgical technique based around amind meld to implant subconscious instructions in his mind. If necessary, Teero could transmit a message to Tuvok which would have him attack the Maquis crew members, mind-meld with them, and bring them under Teero's control. Teero was not able to implement his plan at the time, since Chakotay's raider was lost in the Badlands shortly thereafter. (VOY: "Repression")

Following a battle with the Cardassian warshipVetar, theVal Jean was pulled to theDelta Quadrant by the entity known as theCaretaker. The Caretaker wanted to examine the Maquis to determine whether or not they weresporocystian lifeforms as he was, since he was dying and needed a lifeform similar to himself to care for theOcampan people. Just one week later, theIntrepid-classUSSVoyager, under the command of CaptainKathryn Janeway, left Deep Space 9 to pursue Chakotay's ship. It was also transported to the Delta Quadrant, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Captain Janeway invited Chakotay aboard; although he was angered to learn that Tuvok was really Janeway'ssecurity officer, he cooperated withVoyager to search for B'Elanna Torres, his Maquis engineer, andHarry Kim, the Starfleetensign assigned tooperations aboardVoyager. The two crewmembers were found, butVoyager and theVal Jean were attacked by theKazon-Ogla, a sect of theKazon race which claimed theOcampan homeworld as its territory. Outgunned, Chakotay decided to transport his crew toVoyager and ram one of theKazon carrier vessel with theVal Jean, inflicting serious damage and tipping the battle in favor ofVoyager. The Caretaker died around the same time, leaving hisarray open to plunder by the Kazon. Rather than use the array to transportVoyager home, Captain Janeway ordered it destroyed in order to protect the Ocampa, which Chakotay agreed with. (VOY: "Caretaker")

Because of this decision, she offered the Maquis provisional Starfleet commissions. She and Chakotay agreed the two crews would need to cooperate and learn to trust one another in order to return to theAlpha Quadrant. Chakotay became herfirst officer, asVoyager'soriginal first officer had been killed, and Chakotay already had Starfleet and command experience. However, Janeway was hesitant to assign senior positions to any of the other Maquis, especially those who had not previously completed Starfleet training. The first conflict was seen when Chakotay recommended the ill-tempered B'Elanna Torres, aStarfleet Academy dropout, to replace the deceasedchief engineer over LieutenantJoe Carey, who was the assistant engineer and next in line for promotion. Janeway balked, believing that Torres was too untrained and hostile for the position. Some of the Maquis indicated a willingness to rebel against Janeway and take over the ship, although Chakotay immediately chastised them. However, Chakotay challenged Janeway's authority by calling for Torres inengineering during a crisis. Later, Torres showed her great skill after working with Janeway to develop a resolution to the crisis, and Janeway decided that promoting Torres over Carey was an important sign of trust. Carey grudgingly accepted Torres as the new chief engineer, but he was gracious, congratulated her and pledged the entirety of his skill under her direction, which was an important early step in the Starfleet-Maquis cooperation aboard the ship. (VOY: "Parallax")

Any residual hostility between the two crews quickly vanished, and confrontations were isolated. Tuvok began development of aholodeck training simulation calledInsurrection Alpha, which would train his Starfleet security officers to deal with a possible Maquis mutiny, but he abandoned work on theholoprogram only a few weeks afterVoyager became stranded in the Delta Quadrant; the crews were integrating so well together that he feared his program would spark off the very mutiny he was trying to prevent. (VOY: "Worst Case Scenario") Some Maquis crewmembers were still unused to working in a Starfleet environment, and with Chakotay's support, Tuvok designed a training regimen to make them accustomed to Starfleet protocol, although it took a near-death experience to encourage them to work together properly. (VOY: "Learning Curve") Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay became close friends and confidantes; by2373, she felt he was the most invaluable member of her crew. (VOY: "Scorpion") Despite the cooperation, Starfleet still believed that the Maquis were a liability, and requested their "status" onceVoyager began receiving and transmitting data streams to the Alpha Quadrant thanks to thePathfinder Project. Janeway was stunned and felt a little insulted on behalf of the Maquis part of her crew, as she considered them full members of her crew rather than untrustworthy passengers, although Chakotay assured her these attitudes would be common and an issue thatVoyager would eventually need to confront. (VOY: "Life Line")

Their trust in one another was not without its tests; in2376,Voyager crewmember and formerBorg droneSeven of Nine began experimenting with acortical processing subunit to increase her efficiency in processing information. The device malfunctioned, and Seven began to link random events together into an extravagant conspiracy theory. One theory, revealed to Chakotay, involved the Federation and the Cardassians cooperating to establish a military presence in the Delta Quadrant, using atetryon reactor taken from the Caretaker's array and acatapult designed by an alien namedTash. Another theory, told to Janeway, implicated Chakotay as the leader of a resurrected Maquis rebellion which would use the catapult to strike Federation and Cardassian targets. Janeway and Chakotay began to regard one another with suspicion, but after examining Seven'salcove and her data, they realized that her claims were far-fetched. They mutually decided not to make mention of their temporary paranoia in their logs. (VOY: "The Voyager Conspiracy")

Consolidating strength[]

Back in the Alpha Quadrant, the Maquis managed to not only survive, but to expand their influence and consolidate their position inside the Demilitarized Zone in the two years following the Orias incident. The Maquis' good fortune came in large part thanks to massive upheavals inside the Cardassian Union. Following the destruction of the Obsidian Order the previous year (DS9: "The Die is Cast"), theCardassian dissident movement managed to overthrow the Central Command and place power in the civilianDetapa Council.

The situation in the Demilitarized Zone changed drastically with the sudden onset of theKlingon-Cardassian War in early2372. TheKlingon Empire launched a major assault against the Cardassian Union, acting under the belief that the recent revolution had been engineered by the Dominion. The Klingon invasion led to the occupation of more than a dozen outlying colonies, the destruction of a large portion of the Cardassian fleet, and massive damage to the Union's industrial infrastructure. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior", "Rules of Engagement")

With the Cardassians' eye turned inward and their military reduced to a third-rate power, the Maquis had nearly free rein in the DMZ. Additionally, the Klingons formed a secret, informal alliance with the Maquis. Aside from providing material assistance, the Klingons also provided the Maquis with thirtyclass-4 cloaking devices to mount on their ships. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory")

Leadership of Michael Eddington[]

The Maquis' greatest victories came under the leadership ofMichael Eddington. Eddington was a former Starfleet officer, a lieutenant commander assigned to command the Starfleetsecurity detachment stationed on DS9. In late 2372, Eddington defected to the Maquis, taking with him a shipment of 12industrial replicators that were part of a Federation relief shipment bound for Cardassia Prime. In executing his plan, Eddington exploited the pro-Maquis sympathies of the crew of the freighterXhosa under the command ofKasidy Yates, using a smuggling run that theXhosa was engaged in to distract Starfleet from Eddington's true purpose. (DS9: "For the Cause")

With Cardassia reduced to a third-rate power after the Klingon invasion, combined with the able leadership of Eddington, by early 2373 the Maquis were actively planning to openly declare their colonies an independent nation within the territory of the DMZ. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory")

In2373, the Maquis attacked twoBolian freighters carryingselenium andrhodium nitrite. Using the materials from those captured cargos, the Maquis created a large cache ofcobalt diselenide – abiogenic agent deadly to Cardassians. Eddington attacked the Cardassian colonies onVeloz Prime andQuatal Prime, poisoning the biospheres and making the planets uninhabitable for Cardassians. The Maquis announced their intention to "reclaim" those planets for themselves, and to launch similar attacks against all other Cardassian colonies inside the Demilitarized Zone.

At the same time, Starfleet was vigilantly but fruitlessly pursuing Eddington, seeking to bring him to justice for histreason. Eddington attacked and disabled both the USSDefiant and theUSSMalinche in separate engagements. Thus retaliated, Captain Sisko launched his own offensive inside the DMZ, in an attempt to capture Eddington, plotting to exploit his hero complex. In retaliation for the Maquis's destruction of the Veloz and Quatal colonies, Sisko attacked the Maquis colony onSolosos III, usingtrilithium resin to poison the planet'satmosphere and make it uninhabitable for Humans for the next fifty years. Sisko then announced his intention to poison every single Maquis colony in order to end the Maquis threat. Horrified, Eddington turned over the remaining biogenic weapons and surrendered himself to Starfleet in order to prevent such an attack. Subsequently, the colonists from both sides of the DMZ relocated to the planets their counterparts were forced to abandon, stabilizing the region for the time being. (DS9: "For the Uniform")

Sudden death[]

Barely a month later, Gul Dukat made the startling announcement that the Cardassian Union had agreed to become a part of the Dominion. The Cardassian military was immediately augmented by a large fleet of Jem'Hadar warships that entered theAlpha Quadrant through theBajoran wormhole.

Dukat, as the new leader of Cardassia, announced a grand offensive against all of Cardassia's enemies, primarily the Klingons and the Maquis. Dukat vowed not only to kill every Klingon in Cardassian territory, but also to eliminate every last Maquis colony inside Cardassian territory within the space of three days. With the Jem'Hadar as allies, the Cardassians made good on that threat. Ignoring the treaty's restrictions, they launched a massive invasion of the Demilitarized Zone, rapidly and efficiently wiping out every Maquis colony. The Maquis attempted to put up a valiant fight, but the small raiders and fighters they possessed were hardly a match for the fearsomeJem'Hadar attack ships. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light")

In the aftermath of the Cardassian and Dominion offensive, only small pockets of Maquis remained, isolated and completely impotent. Aside from those Maquis who had been captured by the Federation and imprisoned, the largest group of survivors were from Eddington's former cell onAthos IV – and even then, only a few members managed to survive, usually ending up in Federation prisons. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory";VOY: "Hunters") In regard to the Athow IV survivors:In regard to the fate of the last of the Maquis still alive... no ending is given as to whether they still resolve to continue their cause; if Starfleet imprisoned them or if they were resettled. [Note although 12 are shown to be still alive, at least 1 was killed in the escape and only about 5-7 are shown in the Runabout (impplying a some of the remainder do not escape as well}

The only large group of (former) Maquis remaining were aboardVoyager. When Seven of Nine learned how to use an ancientHirogen communications network to contact the Alpha Quadrant in2374, they learned that all the Maquis had been slaughtered, and that they and a few in Federation prisons were the only remaining former Maquis who survived. One of Chakotay's old friends,Sveta, wrote him a letter from prison explaining the situation. (VOY: "Hunters") The news was met with mixed emotions. Engineer B'Elanna Torres discovered that she felt no overwhelming pain over the death of some of her closest friends, and began running dangerous holodeck programs without thesafety protocols in order to inflict physical pain on herself in order to assuage her feelings of guilt. She eventually dealt with the feelings by helping theVoyager crew on a daring mission to rescue amulti-spatial probe aboard the newly-builtDelta Flyer. (VOY: "Extreme Risk")

Some former rebels in the Alpha Quadrant escaped capture, includingTeero Anaydis. Teero refused to let the idea of the Maquis die, and discovery ofVoyager safe in the Delta Quadrant gave him an opportunity to try and resurrect the rebellion through his mind control plan from six years prior. In2377, Teero intercepted a message from Tuvok's son,Sek, and implanted a subliminal message which forced Tuvok to recall Teero's experiments. Tuvok began attacking the Maquis crewmembers and gave them subconscious instructions from Teero through a mind meld. The Maquis eventually took control ofVoyager and nearly stranded its Starfleet crew on a planet in the Delta Quadrant. However, Tuvok was able to regain mental control and use another mind meld to remove Teero's influence from the Maquis crew. (VOY: "Repression")

Legacy[]

Reputation[]

In2381, upon learning that a group ofensigns fromDelta shift sought to alter theUSSCerritos's computer in order to gain a prestigious room, EnsignBeckett Mariner complained, wishing they would"go join the Maquis," suggesting that they should godie horribly. (LD: "Room for Growth") Later that year, followingNick Locarno's introduction ofNova Fleet as "the first totally independent unaligned fleet in the Alpha Quadrant!,"Brad Boimler muttered, "Um, the Maquis would like a word." (LD: "Old Friends, New Planets")

Re-integration[]

Many Maquis were considered redeemable. In2382, the crew of theUSSReseda were all reformed Maquis. (LD: "Of Gods and Angles")

In2384, Chakotay toldDal R'El about his service with the Maquis while comforting the young Starfleet hopeful who was worried about finding his purpose. Chakotay revealed that he'd joined the Maquis in an attempt to find his purpose after losing it along with his father, and his heritage. However, Chakotay never truly belonged until he became the first officer ofVoyager. (PRO: "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part II")

By2401, the Maquis were no longer considered an enemy of the Federation.Ro Laren, who had surrendered to Starfleet authorities sometime after joining the Maquis and would later be recruited toStarfleet Intelligence after an intensive rehabilitation program. When she later reunited with Admiral Picard on theUSS Titan-A, the latter still held bitter feelings over her past betrayal before later reconciling prior to her subsequent death. (PIC: "Imposters")

Maneuvers and tactics[]

With inferior ships and technology compared to the Cardassian Union and Starfleet, the Maquis frequently had to devise creative workarounds with limited resources.

WhileChakotay considered feigning damage to draw an enemy in an"old Maquis trick," Captain Janeway acknowledged it as"a very old trick" that wouldn't have fooled her in a similar situation. In the Maquis, Chakotay and Torres luredtworunabouts nearTeluridian IV, blowing out theirdorsalphase emitters and cutting engines to simulate damage before attacking and jumping toimpulse. They used this trick again onVoyager in battle with theNumiri in 2371, noting that"out here in the Delta Quadrant, every old trick is new again." (VOY: "Ex Post Facto")

Lon Suder noted that using a portablethoron generator to neutralizetricorder sensors was an old Maquis trick, which he also used against theKazon in2372. (VOY: "Basics, Part II")

Looking for a way to mask theirwarp signature and fool Borg sensors in2375, B'Elanna Torres volunteered"a few Maquis tricks up [her] sleeve," including remodulating theirshields. (VOY: "Dark Frontier") Chakotay would later use this aboard theUSSProtostar in2385 during theBattle of Solum to fool theVau N'Akat sensors, a tacticHologram Janeway identified as an old Maquis trick. It allowed the ship to get close enough toSolum to beam anaway team through the planet-widetransporter scramblers, but Hologram Janeway warned Chakotay that his old Maquis tricks wouldn't work for very long against the Vau N'Akat. (PRO: "Ouroboros, Part I")

Members[]

• See:List of Maquis personnel

Ship classes used by the Maquis[]

• Apollo-class (stolen)
• Bajoran interceptor
• Bajoran raider
• Defiant-class (stolen)
• Federation attack fighter
• Galador freighter
• Maquis fighter
• Maquis freighter
• Maquis raider
• Peregrine-class

Ships used by the Maquis[]

• Alpha Seven
• Alpha Nine
• Val Jean
• Unnamed Maquis ships

Maquis worlds[]

• Marva IV
• Quatal Prime
• Veloz Prime
• Tracken II

Appendices[]

References[]

A list of all references to the Maquis (excluding the regular appearances of former Maquis onVoyager):

Background information[]

The notion of the Maquis was conceived by the end ofJuly 1993. They were originally imagined as rebellious "misfits" who partly made up the crew complement of the (not yet named) USSVoyager and were "stuck with" the Starfleet officers on board. (Star Trek: Voyager - A Vision of the Future, pp. 174-175)Ronald D. Moore noted, "The Maquis were definitely created forVoyager." (AOL chat,1997)Jeri Taylor offered, "We knew that we wanted to include a renegade element inVoyager, and that the show would involve [...] these idealistic freedom fighters that the Federation felt were outlaws." Hence, the creation of the Maquis proceeded from theVoyager creators' goal "to have some people who are quite different from the Starfleet Human types we see all the time," in the words ofMichael Piller. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 134) In fact, Moore said, "The initial idea forVoyager was that the Maquis who joined the crew would not put on the Starfleet uniforms. Michael lost that fight." (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 352) Additionally, Moore clarified, "The whole premise of the Maquis was that it was attracting legitimate, upstanding officers." (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 28, p. 14)

TheMaquis were named after theFrench resistance group duringWorld War II. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 290;Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 18;Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 134) Their insignia was designed byJim Magdaleno. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine issue 1, p. 67) Incidentally, some ofVoyager's Maquis crew were later forced into aHirogenholodecksimulation of the resistance.

The decision to establish the Maquis inStar Trek: The Next Generation andStar Trek: Deep Space Nine was soon made. "In order to avoid having some burdensome backstory and exposition inVoyager's pilot, we decided we could plant the idea of the Maquis in the shows that were already on the air," related Jeri Taylor. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 134)

The origins of the Maquis can be traced toTNG: "Journey's End". (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 28, p. 12) That episode was originally to have included TNG's first reference to the Maquis by name. Eventually, however, the group became a colony of American Indians, with the idea of including the direct reference to the Maquis being dropped. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 3rd ed., p. 290) Ronald D. Moore commented, "When I was working on 'Journey's End', Michael [Piller] told me quite explicitly about their plans for the role of the Maquis onVoyager and that he wanted 'Journey' to show the roots of the Maquis even though they would later be named on DS9." (AOL chat,1997)

The process of installing the Maquis intoStar Trek: Deep Space Nine was initiated by Michael Piller. "Michael said do the Maquis [on DS9], and we started doing them," recalled writing stafferIra Steven Behr. Shortly thereafter, establishing the Maquis became the inspiration for the writing of aDeep Space Nine two-parter. Piller himself commented, "This turned out to provide a wealth of story material for us onDS9 in the second half of thesecond season." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 72) The group made its bona fide on-screen debut in the first half of the two-parter, the eponymous DS9 episode "The Maquis, Part I".

Upon devising theDS9 Season 3 installment "Defiant", the DS9 writing staff was inspired by the notion of the Maquis becoming somewhat improved. "Early on [in the year] we had played with the idea [...] that we would suddenly notice that the Maquis was getting a lot better out there and kicking some serious butt," explained Ronald D. Moore, who wrote "Defiant". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 87) He also said, "The initial notion was that the Maquis were getting tougher, but we didn't know why." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 190) The answer was that the Maquis were being led and tactically bettered by recently defected former Starfleet officerThomas Riker, who was their general. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 98;Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 87) After Ira Behr suggested an addition to the story might involve Tom Riker visiting Deep Space 9, Moore asked himself what the Maquis might want there, quickly deciding on them stealing the starshipDefiant. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 190)

In "Caretaker", the Maquis aboard the USSVoyager donned Starfleet uniforms, due to Michael Piller having lost the debate over whether they should do so. "Depending on your point of view," Ronald D. Moore pointed out, "[that] was or wasn't a huge mistake." (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 352) It was clear that, in Moore's opinion, the rapid assimilation of the Maquis into the USSVoyager's crew started the vessel seeming to become essentially identical to any other ship in Starfleet. "By the end of the pilot, you have the Maquis in those Starfleet uniforms, and – boom – we've begun the grand homogenization," he critiqued.[1]

Aside from the Maquis onVoyager being personified in the main characters ofChakotay andB'Elanna Torres, theStar Trek: Voyager Bible proclaimed, "We assume that some twenty more have come on board and can be used from time to time in stories."[2] AlthoughStar Trek: Voyager initially featured tensions motivated by the Maquis on board the ship, no long-term plans were made for developing the Maquis on the series, with each of their appearances instead dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Also, the Maquis were soon written in such a way as to no longer cause friction or question the authority aboard the ship. "The people who were doing that began to sound like whiners," complained Jeri Taylor. Ultimately, the potential conflict posed by the Maquis onVoyager wasn't made a vital part of the series. "When we couldn't find a fresh way to develop it," Taylor remembered, "then we decided it was time for it to go away." Piller added, "Personally I would have liked to use it for longer, but it seemed pretty clear from the get-go thatRick (Berman) and the studio felt that the fans were unhappy with the amount of conflict onDeep Space Nine, and they would be more welcoming into their homes of crew members who got along rather than were in constant conflict." (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 28, pp. 15 & 16) Regarding Berman, Ron Moore reflected, "He really thought thatGene (Roddenberry) wouldn't have liked the whole Maquis story line. I know that Michael and Rick had a lot of arguments about that – the whole thing with the rebellion against what the Federation was doing with the Bajorans and the colonists and the Cardassians. Michael really liked it." (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 352) In addition, Moore observed, "From the get-go they (the Maquis) are supposed to be the anti-Starfleet people. They behave exactly like the Starfleet people with the occasional nod towards B'Elanna (Roxann Dawson) making a snide remark about Starfleet protocols, or Chakotay (Robert Beltran) getting a little quasi-spiritual." Moore even imagined that, if the starshipVoyager returned toEarth prior to the conclusion of the series, "All the Maquis people [would] take regular commissions in Starfleet."[3]

Arguably, the Maquis were focused on more inDeep Space Nine than inVoyager, despite having been conceived for the latter series. Michael Piller said, "DS9is the true inheritor of the Maquis since there is no long-term benefit to them onVoyager." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 72)

InDS9 Season 4 offering "For the Cause", the Maquis were further developed, revealing that recurring characters Michael Eddington and Kasidy Yates were members of the group. "We wanted to remind people that the Maquis are still around, because they're part of our franchise," explainedRobert Hewitt Wolfe. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 119)Mark Gehred-O'Connell, who devised the story of "For the Cause", elaborated, "The series hadn't done anything with the Maquis all season, and the producers wanted to reintroduce them. This seemed like a good episode for that." During the episode's development, Ronald D. Moore wanted to reveal that the Maquis were now in cahoots with the Klingon Empire, though this subplot was later dropped. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 340) Moore, who wrote the script of "For the Cause", counted the fact that the installment simply "brought the Maquis back into the show" as one of the episode's merits. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 62) Similarly, Ira Steven Behr commented, "I thought it made the Maquis interesting." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 119)

Ira Behr chose to bring an end to the Maquis because he felt there were too many open story threads leading intoDeep Space Nine'ssixth season. In hindsight, he explained, "We were just desperate to finish something off. We had to finish a threat. It was necessary. So I told the writers, 'We are going to end something and not hear about it again.'" Behr actually wanted to officially kill off every single member of the Maquis, apart from those aboardVoyager, in DS9's fifth season with "Blaze of Glory". Rick Berman disallowed their complete decimation in case the creative staff ofStar Trek: Voyager wanted to use them again later. Nonetheless, as far as the DS9 writers were concerned, the Maquis story arc was finished. (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 28, p. 17) "'Blaze of Glory' is [...] although they don't want us to say this onVoyager, the death knell of the Maquis [....] [The VOY writing staff] don't want us to say that the Maquis are utterly and completely destroyed," commented Robert Wolfe. "The only Maquis left by the end of this show are basically the ones who are off in the Delta Quadrant. We put in a little line at the end saying that there might be more Maquis out there, who knows? They just didn't want us to say that the Maquis had been wiped out to the last man. I can understand that they have characters who are Maquis who believe in something, and that they don't want to say that they have nothing left at home. Part of it is that they're trying to get back to fight for their cause." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 29, Nos. 6/7, p. 51) Ultimately, almost a year after "Blaze of Glory", theVoyager writers acknowledged the death of nearly all the Maquis in the episode "Hunters" with Chakotay's letter from the Alpha Quadrant, which reveals that only a handful of the Maquis are still alive and the few survivors are in prison.

Concerning Federation policy with regard to the Maquis, Ronald D. Moore explained:

"All Human colonists were supposed to evacuate certain worlds in the DMZ as part of the treaty between the [Federation] and the Cardassians. Some colonists not only elected to remain behind, but also began a terrorist campaign against the Cardassians, which then prompted retaliatory strikes from Cardassia which in turn threatened to ignite a new war between Cardassia and the [Federation]. The Cardassian strikes were hitting innocent Human settlements in addition to Maquis military camps, which forced the Fed to intercede. While not all the Maquis were living in Cardassian space, (some were in the DMZ and some were even on Federation worlds) the Cardassians certainly blamed the [Federation] for the Maquis raids just as the Feds blamed the Cardassian government for attacks perpetrated by Cardassian colonists.

"That's the official rationale for the Fed campaign against the Maquis, but Eddington's statement that the real problem is that the Maquis have left the Federation and thatno one leaves the Federation, has more than a kernel of truth in it. There's a sense of betrayal associated with the Maquis in the minds of the people in the Federation, regardless of whether that's an irrational feeling or not. Add to that sense of betrayal the fact that the Maquis have harassed and attacked several Federation targets over the years and you begin to see why the Feds refuse to turn a blind eye to this group." (AOL chat,1997)

"I know you. I was like you once, but then I opened my eyes. Open your eyes, captain. Why is the Federation so obsessed with the Maquis? We've never harmed you. And yet we're constantly arrested and charged with terrorism. Starships chase us through the Badlands and our supporters are harassed and ridiculed. Why? Because we've left the Federation, and that's the one thing you can't accept. Nobody leaves paradise. Everyone should want to be in the Federation. Hell, you even want the Cardassians to join. You're only sending them replicators because one day they can take their 'rightful place' on the Federation Council. You know, in some ways you're even worse than the Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You're more insidious. You assimilate people and they don't even know it."

-Michael Eddington – "For the Cause" –Listen to this quote^{file info}

JournalistLou Anders described the Maquis as "one of the most ambiguous, uncomfortable, and interesting elementsStar Trek has ever produced" as well as "a bold choice that paid off big." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, issue 0, "Across Four Seasons")

Apocrypha[]

In the"Voyager relaunch"novelsHomecoming andThe Farther Shore, it was revealed that most of the Maquis contingent on the ship had accepted a Federation offer of full amnesty, and had opted to rejoin Starfleet and assist in the massive recovery operations needed after the war against the Dominion. Further, Admiral Paris mentions that during the Dominion War, the surviving resistance members of the Maquis were offered and accepted amnesty due to the shortage of experienced officers because of causalities suffered during the war. Consequently, these individuals were accepted back into Starfleet.

External links[]

• Maquis atMemory Beta, the wiki for licensedStar Trek works
• Maquis atWikipedia