Maquis

Group Name: The Maquis 
Created By: 
Ronald D. Moore
Number of Members: 
Unknown. Perhaps hundreds, perhaps thousands.
Nature of Members: 
Individuals who fight Cardassian tyranny and Federation apathy to try and carve a home for themselves.  Many Federation races are represented among the Maquis, as well as Bajorans.  
Organization: 
Cellular. No cells knows much about other cells to prevent members from giving away too much under torture
Game Role: 
A Source for angry, violence prone people who don't like to be ordered around.
World Role: 
A serious thorn in the side of the Cardassian Union
Relative Influence:
Large for their size.
Public or Secret?
Both.  They have a public face and public representatives who make their case to the galaxy at large.  Operational cells are as secret as they can be.
Publicly Stated Goal: 
To win freedom for the worlds of the DMZ
Relative Wealth: 
Compared to stellar nations, pathetic,  The Maquis struggle to keep light raiders operational.  Compared to an indivcidual, they always seem to have some scavenged or donated weapons and supplies to continue the fight.
Group advantages:  
Secrecy, mobility,  violence.  The Maquis can fade into the populations of the DMZ worlds and move around as much as any colonist there. They are not in the slightest bit shy about using violence both against the cardassians and the Federaytion when it suits their ends. 
Contacts:
The Maquis have a disturbing number of contacts among Starfleet and the Orion Pirates. Many Maquis are disaffected Starfleet Officers.
Special Abilities: 
A Plucky, can-do attitude mixed with high explosives. The Maquis specialize in doing the impossible with improvized materials and equipment.
Group disadvantages: 
The Cardassians slaughter them on sight, and capture the survivors to be tortured by some of the Galaxy's most expert torturers.  The Federation will return fire and arrest them.  A lot of people think they're violent loonies. 
Special Disadvantages: 
Many of them ARE in fact, violent Loonies.
Who belongs: 
Anyone who wanted to fight to throw off the Cardassian Tyranny.
Who doesn't belong: 
Anyone who doesn't want to fight, traitors and infiltrators.
Those who favor them:
The Civilians of the 14 DMZ worlds and Federation people who think they got a raw deal.
Those opposed to them: 
Cardassians.  Starfleet of Lawful Alignment. Civilians who think that violence is not the answer.
Area of Operation:
The Cardassian/Federation DMZ, the Badlands
Headquarters Location: 
None.  It would get bombed if there was one.
Public Face: 
Freedom Fighters or terrorists, depending on your point of view.
Notable Members:
Chakotay and the Crew of the Val Jean
Michael Eddington
Cal Hudson
Thomas Riker
===History of the Group:===
After a fairly brutal war in the mid 2350s, tensions between the Cardassians the Federation Simmered.  
In 2370, a Cardassian plan came to fruition.  They kidnapped Starfleet Captain JL Picard and massed a fleet for an invasion.
While Picard was captive,  Captain Edward Jellico took his place.
After revealing an Impending Cardassian Invasion, Jellico negotiated a treaty with the Cardassians.  This treaty created a De-Militarized zone which encompassed 14 Federation worlds.
The Federation ceded these planets to the Cardassian Union. Originally the colonists were to be removed from these worlds.  But after violence nearly broke out, Jean Luc Picard negotiated an additional protocol where colonists could stay on their worlds under the jurisdiction of the Cardassians.  The Cardassians solemnly promised to respect the rights of the colonists and treat them as equals under Cardassian law.
The Cardassians immediately reneged on these promises.  Violence, injustice and harrasment flowed from Cardassian Settlers and officials towards the Non-Cardaassian colonists. 
Starfleet launched "Official Investigations"  but refused to declare the Cardassians to be in breach of the treaty, since that would require military action to redress, something Starfleet Command was reluctant to do. 
In the end, resistance groups formed and began resisting the Cardassian tyranny, calling themselves the Maquis. The Cardassians immediately branded the resistance criminals and terrorists and demanded that the Federation help end their campaign.
The Federation dithered, until the Maquis were shown to have been raiding Starfleet supply depots.  the Federation reluctantly declared the Maquis outlaws and sought their capture.
This was wildly unpopular with the starfleet officers in the region and Federation Civilians near the DMZ.
===ST-OM: ===
The guerilla war raged for a year.  Soon it became apparent that the Klingons were aiding the Maquis in return for Intelligence and experience fighting the Cardassians.
In 2374 the Klingons invaded Cardassian Space and fought a grinding war with the Cardassians.
The Tsunami of 2375 put an end to that.  Klingon ships were withdrawn and all support ended.
The Cardassians counter attacked the Maquis as well as their Klingon Frontier and took the Maquis worlds and several Klingon worlds. The Cardassians discovered that brutal oppression requires manpower.  They were violent brutal towards conquored people, but only in spots.
In 2376, the Cardassian/Romulan treaty meant another huge drain on Cardassian manpower and oppression of the conquered worlds 
in 2378, the Cardassian Union attacked the Federation along the old DMZ, using ships upgraded with new Romulan and stolen Federation technology.
This time Starfleet responded quickly and decisively,  New weapons and shield technologies were used and the Cardassians were hurled back out of the Former DMZ.  A new treaty made a firm border at approximately the 2350 location.
The Federation absorbed the former Maquis worlds and Klingon worlds formerly under Cardassian occupation.
Much relief and reconstruction remains to be done.  The former Maquis worlds are discussing their options.  
Of the Maquis themselves,  few survive.  Many died fighting the Tsunami and many more died trying to resist the Cardassian "reconquest".
The survivors were the next thing to pirates preying on Cardassian backwater stations and ships.
A Number made the full transition and became pirates.
After the 2378 Cardassian/Federation War, surviving Maquis members were offered amnesty.  Most took it.
Currently the Maquis worlds are recovering from Cardassian abuse. Former Maquis are considered heroes, as are Klingon Guerillas and Orion Smugglers. 
Cardassian colonists are still present on these worlds as well.  The former DMZ is now an exciting, adventure filled place where Starfleet tries to keep order and the adventurous stay out of their way do what they were going to do anyway. 
Category:Groups
Category:UFP Space
Category:ST-OM