Macet Gul Macet was a Cardassian officer in the Cardassian military , and commanding officer of the warship " Trager " . Macet responded to the attack of a Cardassian outpost by the in 2367 . He found the outpost incinerated , and determined the attacker be a Starfleet ship , but lost track of it . He used the event as an excuse to attack the which was near their border at the time . He claimed they were at war , now , due to the attack on an unarmed science station . In reality , it was a military facility . However , his ship proved no match for the " Enterprise " - D , and he agreed to a truce after his ship was disabled . Due to a high - level diplomat ic exchange , Macet was brought on board the " Enterprise " - D as an observer along with Glinn s Daro and Telle as it tracked down the " Phoenix " . Captain Jean - Luc Picard brought him in on the information , seeing that the " Phoenix " was believed to have gone rogue under orders from Captain Benjamin Maxwell . Macet immediately believed that Maxwell was seeking revenge for the death of his family in the Setlik III massacre . He asked that Cardassian ships be given an advantage to disable the " Phoenix " before it destroyed more of their people . Picard relented , but the ship continued its rampage . In the interests of peaceful cooperation following the recently signed treaty ending the Federation - Cardassian War , Macet punished Telle when the latter was caught attempting to access secured systems aboard the " Enterprise " - D . Picard didn ' t press the issue , which seemed to please him . Macet said he was not a man who wanted war , and thought Picard wasn ' t , either . Ultimately , the " Phoenix " was located and returned to Federation space . However , Picard relayed Maxwell ' s allegations of a renewed Cardassian buildup to Macet , warning him , " " we ' ll be watching . " " ( ) Appendices . Background information . Macet was played by " Star Trek " veteran Marc Alaimo , who would later play a much more famous Cardassian , Gul Dukat . Macet was the first Cardassian seen in the " Star Trek " saga and the only Cardassian to ever appear with facial hair . Macet wears a different style of Cardassian uniform than most Cardassians seen later in " Star Trek " . The regular uniform has been established in time travel episodes and flashback sequences in as being used in the 2340s ( ) and the 2350s ( ) . This would seem to suggest that Macet ' s uniform indicates a separate branch of service rather than an older design , but there is no confirmation in episode dialogue to support or refute this . The only other Cardassians seen wearing this type of uniform were from the Cardassian Militia 41 . ( ) Apocrypha . Macet appeared in several of the novels , including the " " Deep Space Nine entry " Demons of Air and Darkness " , " Unity " , and " " . The similarities between Macet and Dukat were explained as being due to the fact that they were cousins . However , Macet was a much more honorable man than Dukat . The Pocket DS9 story " Fearful Symmetry " implies that he grew facial hair as a conscious effort to lessen this resemblance . Macet joined Damar ' s Cardassian Rebellion and fought against the Dominion – in " Demons of Air and Darkness " , it was established that he commanded the fleet which attacked Rondac III . In " Unity " , a parasitic being from tried to bond with him , but was unable to , because of a Cardassian immunity to such parasites . In the " " novels , his first name was established as Akellen . His mirror universe counterpart appears in the novel " Warpath " and the short story " Family Matters " contained in the anthology " Shards and Shadows " . He was the commanding officer of the Klingon - Cardassian Alliance vessel " Trager " during the 2370s .