Kazon

The Kazon are one of the most hostile races in the Delta Quadrant.  They are a tribalistic, humanoid species, somewhat larger than the average human, with ridged foreheads.  Their technology is limited, and they are politically divided.  Their ships have warp capability, and are armed with something very like a photon torpedo, but they do not have transporter, replicator, or related technologies.

Kazon culture is based on warrior ideals and is extremely violent.  Male children are initiated into warrior sects before puberty, and adults only survive by engaging in combat; most male Kazon live on large Kazon Raiders - ships which patrol the Delta Quadrant, skirmishing with their enemies and preying on the weak.  They are a deeply sexist race, and women have very little power or respect.  The Kazon are divided into a number of different sects, each of which controls different areas of space; many of the sects are enemies, and often find themselves in conflict.  Allegiances among them shift swiftly and unpredictably, so the exact number of sects changes regularly, but at one point in 2371 there appeared to be 18 distinct sects.

Many of the sects eke out a meager existence, and rely on stealing from other races and each other rather than developing their own natural resources; each sect has specialized goods that it trades with others.  The different sects vary in strength, combat capabilities, and style of dress, but they share a significant number of characteristics.  Each sect seems to adhere to the same tribal structure, that places a single male, known as a 'first maje,' in a position of supremacy above all others.

The first maje is a combination of gang leader, lawmaker, and starship commander.  He often makes first contact with other ships, and decides which sects should be considered allies and which enemies - and when this situation should change.  In short, he makes all the important decisions that affect the members of his sect.

Most sects have a number of lower-ranking majes serving under the first maje.  A lesser maje might be placed in charge of a Kazon warship such as their massive Predator-class vessels, a scout ship, or a smaller fighter-sized battleship, but the first maje acts as the sect's supreme commander.  If the first maje dies in battle, or is murdered by a lower-ranking member of the sect, his second-in-command will normally take his place.  Power does not pass directly to the warrior who killed him.  In some sects, the position of first maje appears to be inherited.  This is unlikely to be extend to a first maje's life expectancy, because in Kazon society assassination is an acceptable means of political advancement.  A Kazon crew often contains young boys who have not yet reached adolescence or made their first kill.  These children are trained to become warriors by the older Kazon, and rapidly become bloodthirsty killers who are devoted to the good of their sect.

At least one sect - the Kazon-Ogla - conducts a rite of passage ritual in which an adolescent has to complete a mission before becoming a 'man' and earning his 'Ogla name.'  To succeed, the boy is expected to kill an enemy, or die trying.  The leader of a ship or the first maje decides when a boy is ready to undertake this mission, which is often around the age of 13.  There is only one chance to succeed in Kazon society, and if the child fails he will become an outcast - which the Kazon call a 'Goven.'  He will have no status, and every time he encounters another Kazon sect they will cut one of his fingers off.

If a young Kazon-Ogla male successfully completes his task, he adds the word Jal to the front of the name given to him at birth.  A Kazon's name indicates his status, and often changes when he defeats an enemy.  For example, Jal Haliz of the Kazon-Ogla started life as Hali.  He earned the prefix Jal when he attained adulthood, and was given the name Halix when he killed a Kazon-Relora warrior with his bare hands.  Wherever possible, the Kazon keep trophies that demonstrate their victories.  It is not uncommon on Kazon Raiders to find a room filled with the debris of ships the Kazon have destroyed, and items of clothing taken from the bodies of their enemies.

The violent and divided nature of Kazon society can largely be explained by the Kazon's turbulent history.  They were once considered an advanced race, but they were then conquered by the Trabe, a 'highly evolved' species famed for their art and science.  The Trabe kept the Kazon in slavery, and forced them to live in restricted areas on the Trabe homeworld.  Trabe children were taught that the Kazon were little better than animals, and that they should keep away from them unless they wanted to be murdered.  The Trabe encouraged the Kazon to fight among themselves so that they would be easier to control, and the few races that knew how the Trabe treated the Kazon were reluctant to interfere for fear of losing highly valuable Trabe trade.  The Kazon's enslavement continued for many years, but by treating the Kazon as animals and fencing them into enclosed areas the Trabe unwittingly turned them into a merciless army that eventually rose up against them.

In 2346, a Kazon called Jal Sankur briefly united the Kazon sects, and together they overthrew their Trabe masters.  The Trabe stood little chance of containing the Kazon, and they were soon exiled from their home planet.  Today, the Trabe travel through space in scattered convoys of starships, persecuted by the Kazon, and grasping at any chance to find a new homeworld.  Although the Kazon managed to escape from slavery, they were ill-prepared for self-government.  All the sects prized the traits of strength and fortitude, and admired cunning and ruthless warriors.  They learned these characteristics in order to survive under the Trabe's rule, but they were so deeply ingrained in their society that they continued to value them after they had gained their freedom.  The Kazon's social structure is far from stable, and the alliance that Jal Sankur formed soon collapsed.  Since then, the Kazon sects have fought among themselves in much the same way that urban gangs fought once another in Earth's 20th century.

The U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656 had contact with seven sects; of these, the Kazon-Nistrim were the most determined to steal the ship's technology.  In 2371, the Nistrim were led by Jal Culluh; under his grandfather's command, the Nistrim had been a powerful sect, but their position deteriorated substantially after Culluh came to power.  The Kazon-Relora were the sworn blood enemies of the Kazon-Nistrim.  The Relora controlled a large number of starships and were considered to be one of the most powerful sects.  In 2370, the Kazon-Ogla were led by Jabin, then by Razik who was killed in 2371 and replaced by Jal Haliz.  The Kazon-Pommar were led by Jal Minnis, and could be distinguished by their dark, gray-green tunics; they were among the middle range of sects in importance within the Kazon hierarchy.  The Kazon-Oglamar were led by Jal Valek.  They dressed in distinguished brown leather garb, and wore long trenchcoats over tunics and pants.  Jal Loran commanded the Kazon-Hobil, who wore long red tunics that reached their ankles.  The Kazon-Mostrol could be identified by a distinctive uniform consisting of a gray-blue shirt and ridged pads that covered their shoulders and upper chest; they were led by Jal Surat.

There were at least 10 other sects in existence in 2371, including the Kazon-Sari, but as Voyager has now passed through Kazon space and continues to move further away it is unlikely that any more information on them will be forthcoming.  The years of infighting between the sects have diverted the Kazon's energies away from developing scientific skills.  As a result, they have become rather primitive.

Most of the technology and all the ships the Kazon control were taken from the Trabe, and the Kazon themselves have little understanding of them; they are certainly not capable of building new ships of their own.  The level of technological knowledge seems to vary from sect to sect.  For example the Kazon-Ogla settlement on the surface of the Ocampan homeworld did not even understand the technology needed to make water.  Despite this, the Kazon seem to be capable of maintaining their ship's relatively efficiently.  Since the Kazon have little time for technology or diplomacy, a sect's fortunes depend on the ability of its warriors; the strongest sect is the one with the most territory.  Accordingly, the Kazon defend their territory aggressively, and will automatically attack anyone who strays into their space without permission.

Life is far from easy for fully-fledged Kazon warriors.  The Kazon-Ogla train their men on purpose-built bases to improve their fighting skills; one of these is based on a rugged, inhospitable Class-M moon that they call 'Tarok.'  The location of their bases is kept secret from the other sects, who would relish the opportunity to attack them and destroy large numbers of their weapons.  On Tarok, intense radiothermic interference makes it difficult to establish and maintain communications, unless a dampening field to counteract the effect can be established.  The radiothermic emissions also provide excellent cover for the weapons hidden on Tarok's surface; the amount of firepower stored here would be enough to destroy the face of the planet.

The Kazon-Ogla consider the harsh conditions to be ideal for testing the skills of their warriors, and during training they use live ammunition.  Defending themselves against concealed weaponry, the Kazon trainees either learn to distinguish the dangers, or die by them.  The surface of a Kazon training world is littered with booby traps that kill indiscriminately; such weapons can be obtained from passing Talaxian traders, and include items such as proton dischargers whose emissions can vaporize an unsuspecting enemy.  The Kazon also use disruptor snares, forcefields, and bio-magnetic traps.  Not all the traps are lethal - specialized microgenerators can create small forcefields capable of containing up to six enemy soldiers.  Having better technology on hand to scan for these hidden weapons doesn't automatically guarantee safety; the Kazon have shielded some of the weapons from accurate sensor readings.  The Kazon-Ogla would rather destroy their weaponry than let it fall into another sect's hands, and the weapons are rigged so that a self-destruct command could be initiated from off the planet.

Although the Kazon are often fighting each other, they are united in their hatred of the Trabe, and refuse to allow their enemy to find a new homeworld.  Every time the Trabe ty to settle on a planet, the kazon drive them away, even if the settlement poses no direct threat to them.  As the Kazon see it, they are simply repaying generations of persecution.  The only known attempt at peace negotiations ended in disaster.  In 2372, the Trabe encountered the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656.  Mabus, a Trabe governor, convinced Captain Kathryn Janeway that the Trabe had learned their lesson about persecuting and enslaving the Kazon, and wanted to seek peace with them.  Janeway considered the Trabe's goals compatible with her own, and forged an alliance with them.

Janeway was aware of the Kazon's untrustworthiness, but she did not realize that Mabus and the Trabe were equally duplicitous.  During peace talks with the leaders of some of the Kazon sects, a Trabe ship attempted to assassinate the assembled first majes.  This infuriated Captain Janeway, who realized that the Trabe had purposefully exploited her good-will in order to commit murder.  The Trabe felt that their actions were justified because they thought violence was all that the Kazon understood.  They believe that they need to decimate the Kazon leadership in order to find a new homeworld and live peacefully.  In turn, the Kazon believe the Trabe will do anything they can in order to conquer and suppress the Kazon again.  Given this state of affairs, it seems unlikely that the two races will ever resolve their differences.  It seems equally unlikely that the Kazon will establish a peaceful society built on mutual gain; they are far more interested in fighting each other than in solving their differences.