Suliban The Suliban were a largely nomadic warp - capable humanoid species . They were notable during the mid - 22nd century for their involvement as foot soldiers in the Temporal Cold War , which set them into conflict with several other civilizations including United Earth . Biology . The physical capabilities and tolerances of natural Suliban were comparable to those of Human s . Their respiratory system contained three bronchial lobe s . ( ) Suliban of the Cabal received extensive physical enhancements via genetic engineering . These enhancements varied among individuals and could include greatly increased flexibility in all parts of the body , the ability to cling to walls and ceilings , the ability to alter the color and texture of their skin for camouflage or to mimic other humanoids , compound retinas granting enhanced vision , increased numbers of bronchial lobes with modified alveoli clusters for processing different atmosphere s , and the ability to tolerate vacuum . An ex - Cabal agent , Sarin , could measure trust by physical contact – a seemingly passionate kiss , in the case of Jonathan Archer . ( ) History . The Suliban homeworld , located in Sector 3641 , became uninhabitable in the 1850s . Most Suliban adopted a nomadic lifestyle , while some settled in the territories of other species , such as in the Tandar sector , and assimilated into the local populace . ( ) At some point , a group of Suliban came into contact with a mysterious figure from the 28th century , who represented a faction in the Temporal Cold War . This individual offered physical " evolution " and advanced technology to the Suliban in exchange for their service . These Suliban formed the Cabal and began to carry out clandestine attacks designed to destabilize various powers in the region , such as the Klingon Empire and the Tandaran s . ( ) The Cabal opposed various other factions in the Temporal Cold War , including the Tholian s , the Sphere - Builder s , and the Na ' kuhl , whose leader Vosk once attempted to disrupt the evolution of the Suliban into a sentient species . ( ) In April 2151 , two Suliban agents pursued the Klingon courier Klaang to Earth in an attempt to prevent him from carrying intelligence about Cabal activities to the Klingon High Council . During the ensuing Broken Bow Incident , they were killed in an explosion caused by Klaang . The Suliban subsequently attacked the starship but were ultimately unable to prevent the craft from delivering Klaang to Qo ' noS . ( ) The Suliban Cabal encountered " Enterprise " on several subsequent occasions ; for example , in 2152 , they attempted to frame the ship ' s crew for destroying a colony on Paraagan II and fought " Enterprise " to acquire a . ( ) The activities of the Cabal soured perceptions toward the Suliban people as a whole . Some began to see all Suliban as potentially dangerous monsters , due to the modifications of Cabal soldiers . These sentiments stirred resentment in uninvolved Suliban toward both the Cabal and their former neighbors of other species . After Cabal attacks began in 2144 , the Tandarans began to inter their resident Suliban in detainment camps , ostensibly for their " protection . " ( ) Some Suliban actively opposed the activities of the Cabal . ( ) In the mirror universe , the had acquired a Suliban cloaking device by January 2155 . ( ) Technology . Until their contact with the Cabal in 2151 , the Vulcan s regarded the Suliban as relatively primitive and non - threatening . ( ) However , the Suliban Cabal was able to obtain various advanced technologies from their benefactor from the 28th century , including cloaking device s and genetic engineering techniques . Genetic enhancements could be given to or removed from individual Suliban at will for reward or punishment . The Cabal operated from massive space station s called helixes and had available large numbers of small , stealthy armed with high - yield particle weapon s . Some Suliban ships were powered by tricyclic plasma drive s . Cabal soldiers wore a biomimetic garment that could change in appearance , complimenting the soldier ' s own shapeshifting abilities . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Depicting the species . The name " Suliban " was coined by Rick Berman , after the , months before the . According to Berman , the " " Taliban was just a mysterious , exotic name to me . Several years ago , I went to Afghanistan . I used to make documentary films and traveled around the world , and the Taliban regime was just getting a stronghold there . To me , there was something incredibly dramatic about the name Taliban . It was like something out of a story . " " ( " TV Guide " , May 5 - 11 , 2002 ed . ; ) According to internal documents , the Suliban were originally planned to appear in ' s sixth season , in preparation for their appearance in ENT . A backstory was even planned involving the Borg decimating their homeworld in the 23rd century , forcing them to relocate to the Delta Quadrant , helped by mysterious time travelers . When the Suliban were introduced in the script of " Broken Bow " , they were referred to as " a genetically engineered species with an unusual dappled texture to their skin . " Similarly , in the final draft script of , they were introduced with the description , " " Their skin has a familiar texture , dappled and hairless . " " Due to having to determine the skin tone of the Suliban , the species turned out to be the most challenging for veteran " Star Trek " Makeup Supervisor Michael Westmore to create in ENT Season 1 . " " I was given a photograph of a computer - generated image from a magazine of what [ producers ] Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were interested in , and I had to try to develop this skin tone , " " Westmore remembered . " " It took about a week and a half of experimenting to figure out how to do it . If you sat down and tried to sculpt something like that , it would have taken a year to try to do all that little work . " " ( ) Eventually , a solution for creating the dappled Suliban skin was discovered . " " We figured out a way of making these thin , pebbly skins and laying them over the basic clay structure , " " explained Michael Westmore . " " Then we went and made molds by taking these skins and laying the molds in for lips , eyelids , ears , chins , backs of hands , fingers – every part of the body . So the make - up was done in sections , and each [ body part ] had a different mold that we ' d pour rubber into . Even in pouring the rubber into the molds , there was a lot involved . " " ( ) Concerning the Suliban makeup , Silik actor John Fleck stated , " " Your eyelids and the bottom of your eyes and your chest is all glued down . " " The makeup also involved contact lenses . ( ) The shapeshifting abilities of the Suliban were made possible by CGI . ( text commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD / Blu - ray ) At least for " Broken Bow " ( if not also other episodes ) , Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry created these effects . ( " Broken Bow " audio commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD / Blu - ray ) There was definitely a standard way of naming Suliban , so much so that , in the final draft script of " Detained " , Tandaran Major Klev remarked that the name Malcolm " doesn ' t sound like a Suliban name . " To depict the Suliban in " Detained " , nineteen makeup layouts were required , an unusually heavy workload for the make - up department to create for the Suliban . Michael Westmore therefore needed to bring in extra help . Near the end of that first season , the make - up for another sixteen Suliban was called for . Owing to the sheer quantities of Suliban as well as other aliens , Westmore had to hire an additional twenty - five crew members to assist his regular make - up staffers , of whom there were four . ( ) According to ( p . 45 ) , the sixteen Suliban were to appear in the season ' s penultimate installment , . However , the Suliban do not appear in that outing and are merely referenced therein , their next appearance being first season finale . In the final draft script of " Two Days and Two Nights " , Keyla Terrana likened the Suliban to rat s , saying they could " writhe through tiny cracks like rats . " At the conclusion of ENT ' s first season , Brannon Braga believed " a lot about the Suliban " had been revealed in " Detained " and he remarked , " " I think the Suliban turned out to be a very interesting race . " " ( ) The Suliban were ultimately featured a lot less than they originally were intended to be . Stated production illustrator John Eaves , " " The Suliban were a strange race and they were to be so prominent in the new series , but by season 2 they had pretty much faded away . " " In fact , the Suliban seemed to have settled down by the 23rd and 24th centuries , as they are not mentioned in any series other than " Enterprise " . Early in the series ' development , the creators hinted that the audience would learn the fate of the Suliban species ( and why they never appeared outside the prequel series ) , but that too must have been changed when the Temporal Cold War arc was prematurely ended in " Enterprise " s fourth season . Trivia . A letter from Danik ' s wife to he himself was , as evidenced by the final draft script of , meant to be written in the Suliban language . However , the contents of the letter cannot be clearly seen in the episode ' s final edit . A sheet with Suliban script remained in Hoshi Sato ' s quarters aboard " Enterprise " . The sheet was part of a bulletin board which was sold off on the " It ' s A Wrap ! " sale and auction on eBay . Also sold at the same sale and auction were a Suliban interrogation device , seen in and , , a Suliban wall panel , and a special effects make - up head wrap . According to " " ( p . 60 ) , the home system of the Suliban was named Suliban . This star system was located in the Beta Quadrant . The system ' s primary was a red dwarf .