A sample encyclopediea of sorts, the Database is seperated into two parts because of the size of each one. The topics listed are things that you will most likly come across as you read the other pages on this site.

Q Continuum:

First appeared: Stardate 41153.7 / "Encounter at Farpoint, part I" [TNG]

Type: Extradimensional

The Q Continuum is an extradimensional domain in which the immensely powerful race known only as Q exists. Although they possess almost godlike powers, they also exhibit a child-like petulance and sense of playfulness. This makes them a huge nuisance, and sometimes a threat, to the United Federation of Planets, and its starships.

The first recorded contact with the Q Continuum was made in 2364, when Q detained the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, and enacting a courtroom drama in which Q accused the ship's crew of being "grievously savage".

Members of the Q Continuum also seem to be able to harness and control vast amount of energies, and even reshape space-time to their own liking. As far as anyone knows or has been able to find out, members of the Q Continuum are practically immortal. Besides this, very little is known of the Q.

Every remember of the Q Continuum is called Q, but especially one has been know to cause trouble and mischief to the crews of the starships U.S.S. Enterprise-D and U.S.S. Voyager, as well as the crew of the space station Deep Space Nine.

One example of how dangerous the Q can be was seen in 2365, when Q transported the U.S.S. Enterprise-D some 7,000 light years beyond Federation space to System J-25, where first contact was made with the powerful and extremely dangerous Borg. This lead to the Borg discovery of the Federation, which in turn has caused untold numbers of Federation citizens to be killed and/or assimilated by the Borg.

First appeared: Year 2216 / "Balance of Terror" [TOS]

Type: Humanoid

The Romulans are a passionate, aggressive, and highly honorable warrior race from the planets Romulus and Remus. They are an off-shot of the Vulcan race that left Vulcan over a millennium ago, in rebellion against Surak's philosophy of logic and pacifism. Capable of considerable tenderness, the Romulans can also be violent in the extreme. Also, the Romulans have been characterized as having great curiosity, while maintaining a tremendous self-confidence that borders to arrogance.

In interstellar relations, the Romulans have generally preferred to react to actions of a potential adversary, rather than committing themselves beforehand. A bitter war between the Romulans and Earth forces around 2160 resulted in the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone, which is a region of space approximately one light-year across, and where violations were considered an act of war. The neutral zone remained un-violated until 2266 when a single Romulan ship crossed into Federation space in a test of Federation resolve.

Very little is known about the political structure within the Romulan Empire, but it seems that the Empire is ruled by a Praetor (emperor). Below the Preator is a Proconsul, whom in turn presides over the Imperial Senate. How a Romulan citizen becomes a member of the Senate, or even how the Proconsul comes to power is still unknown.

The Romulans entered into a brief alliance with the Klingon Empire around 2268, when an agreement between the two powers resulted in the sharing of military technology and spacecraft designs. By the mid-2280s, Klingons were using ships described as Birds-of-Prey (a traditionally Romulan term) that were equipped with cloaking devices very similar to those developed by the Romulans.

Then in 2311, the Romulans again went in isolation, and did not emerge until 2364, when early indications of Borg activity were detected.

The Elite Romulan Imperial Intelligence service, the Tal Shiar, is a secret, often brutal, and sometimes extra-governmental agency that enforces loyalty among the Romulan citizenry and military. Tal Shiar agents carries broad discretionary powers and are able to overrule field military commanders with little fear of reprisal from the government. Some elements of Romulan society, including members of the military, feels the Tal Shiar's tactic to be unnecessary brutal, but such opinions are rarely spoken publicly for fear of retribution that includes having family members simply "disappear".

Starfleet is the deep space exploratory, scientific, diplomatic, and defensive operating authority for the United Federation of Planets, and was chartered by the Federation in 2161 with the mission 'to boldly go where no-one has gone before'. The most visible part of Starfleet is it's interstellar Starships, among which the U.S.S. Voyager are the newest and most technologically advanced. Additionally, Starfleet maintains a far-flung network of Starbases to support it's operations, of which space station Deep Space Nine is the latest addition.

Starfleet Command:

The operating authority of Starfleet is the Starfleet Command. The primary control hub is located in San Francisco on Earth, but other secondary command facilities are also located on various Starbases throughout Federation space. Starfleet Command stays in touch with its starships by means of a subspace radio communications network, but even with this faster-than-light medium of communication, interstellar space is so vast that it is not uncommon for ships on the frontier to be completely out of touch. As a result, starship captains are frequently granted broad discretionary powers to interpret Federation policy as best they can in the absence of immediate instructions from Starfleet Command.

Starfleet Academy:

The Starfleet Academy, founded in 2161, and located at the Presidio of San Francisco on Earth, is the center for the four year training course which all Starfleet personnel has to undergo. The Academy's motto is "ex astris, scientia", meaning "from the stars, knowledge".

The Prime Directive:

The Starfleet General Order Number One, is its Prime Directive. This Order mandates that Starfleet personnel and spacecraft are prohibited from interfering, by any means, in the normal development on any society, and that any Starfleet vessel or crew member is expandable to prevent any violation of this rule. Adopted relatively early in Starfleet history, the Prime Directive was a key part of Starfleet and Federation policy toward newly discovered civilizations, but it was also one of the most difficult to administer. In most cases, the Prime Directive applied to any civilization that had not yet developed the use of warp drive for interstellar travel.

The Bajoran Wormhole is an artificially generated stable subspace "short cut" through the structure of time and space itself, which works like a tunnel, between the Denorios Belt in the Bajoran star system in the Alpha Quadrant, and the Idran star system in the distant Gamma Quadrant. This tunnel, which was constructed long ago by unknown aliens, was formed by particles called 'verterons' that allows a space vessel to pass through on impulse power.

Most wormholes are either naturally occurring or the result of dangerous warp drive malfunctions. Such wormholes tend to oscillate wildly across time and space, thus making them useless for normal interstellar commerce. The Bajoran Wormhole is currently the only known stable wormhole in existence (See illustration below).

In the Bajoran religion, the Wormhole is the Celestial Temple -the home of the Divine Prophets whom sent The Orbs to the people of Bajor. In 2369, Commander Benjamin Sisko and science officer Jadzia Dax discovered the Bajoran Wormhole and came in contact with aliens occupying the space inside. The space station Deep Space Nine was then moved to the mouth of the Bajoran wormhole to secure the claim to it, before the Cardassians claimed it.

One travels almost 90,000 light-years when travelling through the wormhole, from the Alpha Quadrant to the Gamma Quadrant. It would take a Federation starship almost 600 years to travel this distance at warp factor nine, but by passing through the wormhole, it takes mere minutes.

First appeared: Stardate 42761.3 / "Q Who ?" [TNG]

Type: Enhanced Humanoid

The Borg are an immensely powerful race of enhanced humanoids from the Delta Quadrant of the galaxy, which implant themselves with cybernetic devices, giving them great technological and combat capabilities. Different Borgs are equipped with different hardware for specific tasks, and all of them is tied together into a sophisticated subspace communications network, forming the Borg Collective, in which the idea of the individual is a meaningless concept. The Borg Collective seems to be organized into a massive social structure, which is composed of several social hives with both drones and a Borg Queen. The Queen does not appear to be truly self-aware, or possessed of a sense of individuality, but instead maintains an awareness of the Collective above that of any ordinary Borg.

The sole purpose, it seems, of the Borg is to find and assimilate all other intelligent species, and by doing thus, the knowledge and experiences of the individual(s) assimilated is added to the collectives own. Also assimilation is for the Borg is a means to gain knowledge of other races, cultures and technologies, as well as the means of reproduction, since new drones are solely created by assimilation.

Assimilation is achieved by injecting nano-probes into the bloodstream of the subject, which are programmed to attack and assimilate the blood cells throughout his entre body. The probes work together to form a large network that effectively lays the groundwork for connection to the collective, as well as bio-technological interface with the Borg cybernetic implants and attachments.

The first known contact between the Borg and the Federation was in 2265, when Q transported the U.S.S. Enterprise-D out of Federation space and into the flight path of a Borg vessel heading toward the Alpha Quadrant. Following this first contact, Starfleet began advance planning for a potential Borg offensive against the Federation.

The anticipated Borg attack came in late 2366, when a Borg vessel entered Federation space, heading for Earth. Starfleet tactical planners had expected at least several more months before the Borg arrival, and thus were caught unprepared. Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D was captured by the Borg at the beginning of the offensive, and he was assimilated into the Borg collective consciousness and became known as Locutus of Borg, providing crucial guidance to the Borg in their attack. Starfleet massed an armada of some 40 Starships in hopes of stopping the Borg ship at Wolf 359, but this resulted in the terrible loss of some 39 ships and 11.000 lives. The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D were able to rescue Capt. Picard from the Borg ship, and a last-ditch effort was successful resulting in the destruction of the Borg ship in Earth orbit.

Since the battle at Wolf 359, at least three more Borg ships have entered Federation territory, with the most disturbing incident being the latest recorded. Here, a long Borg cube journeyed to Earth, and after dodging a Federation attack, again led by Capt. Picard, burrowed back though time in an attempt to assimilate Earth at the point of First Contact (where humans first demonstrated successful faster-than-light travel abilities). However, the U.S.S. Enterprise-E was able to follow the Borg ship back through time and thwart the attempt.

The Dominion are the most dangerous star-faring coalition of races so far encountered by Starfleet. It is a huge and extremely powerful business empire, and a ruthless military regime.

With its hundreds of worlds and species, the Dominion was created long ago by the Changelings, or the Founders, a group of shape-shifters. The Changelings once lived among the other races of the Gamma Quadrant, but everywhere they went they were hated, and some places even hunted down and killed. Eventually, they founded the Dominion in order to protect themselves from other "solids". The Dominion empire kept expanding, and is now the most powerful force in the entire Gamma Quadrant.

The Dominions military is largely made out of their most ferocious soldiers, the Jem'Hadar, which is a race of tall lizard-like beings genetically engineered by the Changelings, and bred only for combat. The administrative side of the Dominion empire is managed by the Vorta, which coordinates relationships between the Changelings and the membership worlds.

A long and bloody war between the United Federation of Planet and the Cardassian Union was finally settled when a peace treaty was signed in 2370. In order for the peace treaty to become successful, both sides conceded territory which has become known as the Demilitarized Zone, and thus, the Federation colonies inside this zone felt like they had been abandoned by the government. So, from the petty squabbles between the settlers and the Cardassians, an insurgent group of Federation colonists named themselves The Maquis, and began to wage a terrorist campaign against all Cardassians.

Members of the Maquis had often been victims of violence directed toward them by the Cardassian military, and they felt the intention was to force them from their homes, so many of them chose to fight rather than to leave. Also, a number of Starfleet officers were sympathetic to the Maquis situation, and either provided them with weapons, or left Starfleet to join their ranks.

There are constant skirmishes between the Maquis and the Cardassians, and this is costing the Cardassians a lot of energy and effort. The Maquis are also deemed outlaws under Federation law, and are thus their enemy too, although they often receive help from a lot of Federation officials.

Origin: The Bajoran wormhole. Non-corporeal, non-linear telepathic race who built the wormhole adjoining Bajor some 10,000 years ago and worshiped by the natives there as "The Prophets" because of it and the orbs they sent out as contact probes. They viewed humanoids as aggressive, malevolent, and adversarial corporeals at first: use of the wormhole disrupted their own existence, and they initially found humanoids' tactile sensation, emotions, and linear existence of past, present and future inconceivable. In their first contact with the Federation, they took on human forms from Ben Sisko's memory to communicate and understand linear corporeals. Their irritation over the wormhole's use was short-lived, since the contact with Commander Sisko leads to an historic agreement allowing Bajor oversight of the Gamma Quadrant tunnel. Because of this exposure, they viewed Sisko as their "emissary" to the Bajorans and in 2374 preserved his life -- and the entire Alpha Quadrant's independence -- by defeating the entire invading Dominion fleet that would have overrun it.

First appeared: Stardate 44821.3 / "The Host" [TNG]

Type: Symbiotic humanoids and subterranean invertebrates

The Trill are a joined species comprised of a humanoid host and a small vermiform symbiont that resides in an internal abdominal pocket of the host body. When joined, the Trill incorporates personal traits from both the host and the symbiont, to create a wholly new and unique personality. This personality differs from prior combinations of the symbiont, which is the longest living part of the joined Trill species.

Trill hosts enter voluntarily into their association with the symbiont, and in fact there are is rigorous competition among the potential hosts to determine who will be accorded this honor. Once joined, though, the host and the symbiont becomes biologically interdependent, and after about 93 hours, neither can survive without the other. Also, in the event of danger to the joined Trill, the host will usually be sacrificed in order to save the symbiont.

A Trill symbiont can live for more than 300 years, usually outliving many host bodies. The knowledge and experience of its past hosts, however, is not lost, since the symbiont retains most of it. The body of a Trill host is of a somewhat cooler temperature then that of a normal human, and the brains of the two parts work in combination as one.

The symbionts reproduce in a series of interconnected underground breeding pools that span many kilometers beneath the surface of the Trill home world.

The United Federation of Planets are an alliance which was founded in 2161, and contains approximately 150 planetary governments and colonies. These united governments are united for mutual trade, exploratory, scientific, cultural, diplomatic, and defensive endeavors. Federation members include Earth (humans), Vulcans, and numerous other planetary states.

The Federation is governed by the Federation Council, which is composed of representatives from various member planets, that meet in the city of San Francisco on Earth. The Council itself is led by a Federation Council President, whose office is in the city of Paris on Earth.

Although the Federation, and its deep space exploratory, scientific, diplomatic, and defensive operating authority, Starfleet, have done an extraordinary job of maintaining a generally peaceful climate in this part of the galaxy, the Federation and its member planets have been involved in a number of armed conflicts over the years. One of the major conflicts where with the Klingon Empire, a conflict that lasted for over a century until the Organian Peace Treaty where formed, and later the Khitomer conference in 2293. And still unresolved are conflicts with the Romulan Star Empire, and the Tholian Assembly. Another bitter conflict where with the Cardassian Union.

First appeared: Stardate 47987.5 / "The Jem'Hadar" [DS9]

Type: Humanoid, telepathic

The Vorta are telekinetic humanoid race, which are genetically engineered or enhanced by the Founders, and they are also the administrative arm of the Gamma Quadrant business power called the Dominion. They are basically the link between the Founders, or the Changelings, and the rest of the Dominion.

In addition, the Vorta are also often in charge whenever the Dominion elite soldiers, the Jem'Hadar, are out on a ruthless mission. In fact, there are usually a Vorta stationed on the Jem'Hadar Attack Crafts along with 42 Jem'Hadar soldiers, and several are believed to be stationed on the larger Jem'Hadar Battle Cruiser.

When an important Vorta dies, the Founders simply clone another one, which continues the work of it's predecessor. This is quite in ingenious way of becoming almost immortal. Also they are immune to most poisons, which comes quite in handy when out on a diplomatic mission.

Their telekinetic abilities, enables them to send out a blue glowing sphere, capable of sending someone hurling towards the ground.

First appeared: Before Year 2266 / "The Cage" [TOS]

Type: Humanoid, telepathic

The Vulcans are a peaceful humanoid race native to the planet Vulcan. Once, Vulcans were a passionate and violent people, whose civilization was torn by terrible wars. Then, some 2.000 years ago, the ancient philosopher Surak, known as the revered father of Vulcan civilization, led his people to reject their emotions in favour of a philosophy that embraced pure logic. Now, Vulcan society is based entirely upon logic, and any trappings of emotion are considered to be of extremely poor taste. One group of Vulcans did not accept Surak's teachings, and instead they left Vulcan to found the warrior-like Romulan Star Empire.

Certain elements of Vulcan prehistory suggest that the Vulcan race may once have originated with colonists from another planet some 500.000 years ago.

In the distant past, Vulcans killed to win their mates, and even in the present, they revert to ancient mating rituals. This is apparently the price these people must pay for totally suppressing their natural emotions. When Vulcan children are about seven, their parents select a future mate, and the two children are joined in a ceremony that links them telepathically.

When the two children come of age, they are compelled to join together for the marriage rituals. The time of mating, Pon farr, is when the stoically logical Vulcans pay for their rigid control by experiencing a period of total emotional abandon. In Vulcan adults, Pon farr comes every seven years.

Because the planet Vulcan has a higher gravity than Earth, and its atmosphere is thinner, Vulcans in an Earth-normal environment demonstrate greater physical strength and more acute hearing than humans do. The intensity of the Vulcan sun also caused the Vulcans to evolve a secondary eyelid to protect their retina, and this inner eyelid involuntarily closes when the eye is exposed to extremely intense light.

Vulcans also have a telepathic capacity, as practiced in the Vulcan mind-meld. This is an ancient Vulcan ritual in which two persons are telepathically linked together, and sharing each other's consciousness. To Vulcans, mind-melding is a deeply personal experience, providing an intense intimacy.