The Obsidian Order is a Cardassian intelligence organization in the Star Trek universe.

The Obsidian Order frequently clashed with Central Command ( the Cardassian military ), partly because even the highest-ranking Command officers are not immune from Order inquiries.

After Cardassia joined the Dominion, an organization similar to the Obsidian Order was formed, which was called the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau.

Prior to the Dominion War, the Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order secretly worked together to launch a pre-emptive strike on the Founder homeworld.

In 2371 the Romulan Tal Shiar intelligence agency and their Cardassian counterparts, the Obsidian Order, launched a preemptive strike against the Dominion ; their entire fleet of approximately 4 Warbirds and 12 Keldon class Cardassian vessels, however, was destroyed, and it was revealed that the Tal Shiar officer leading the attack was actually a Dominion agent.

Unlike other secret police organizations in the Star Trek universe, such as the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order, Section 31 is not an actual branch of government.

# REDIRECT Cardassian # Obsidian Order

Members of the Cardassian Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar intelligence factions plan to eradicate the Founders and their homeworld, but are themselves deceived by a shapeshifter and ambushed.

Following first contact with the Founders, the Obsidian Order – a covert Cardassian intelligence force – ally themselves with the Tal Shiar, their Romulan counterpart, and launch a secret, pre-emptive strike to destroy the Founders ' homeworld, hoping that the Founders and the rest of the Dominion will collapse.

In the third season of Deep Space Nine, during the joint Romulan / Cardassian attempt to destroy the Founders ' home world, Garak is given the opportunity to return home by proving himself to Tain as a trustworthy operative of the Obsidian Order.

Despite substantial evidence to suggest that he was an operative of the Obsidian Order, Garak on several occasions denies having ever been involved with the group, claiming he is just " plain, simple Garak, a tailor on the Promenade " and that his difficulties with the Cardassian government stem from tax evasion.

Quark tries to order a piece of Cardassian biotechnology, which turns out to be classified by the Obsidian Order.

Constable Odo explains that the Obsidian Order is " the ever-vigilant eyes and ears of the Cardassian Empire ", an intelligence service more ruthless than the Romulan Tal Shiar.

* First mention of the Obsidian Order, the Cardassian intelligence service.

* Obsidian Order, the fictional Cardassian intelligence agency from Star Trek

The Order kept very close tabs on all Cardassian citizens to ensure loyalty, and was greatly feared.

It was said that the average Cardassian could not sit down to dinner without the contents of the meal being noted and logged by the Order.

To this end, the Order began stockpiling a fleet of ships, albeit illegally without the approval or knowledge of the Central Command: according to the Cardassian governmental charter, the Order is expressly forbidden from developing or possessing military equipment of any kind, which includes warships and possibly starships in general (" Defiant ").

( Their lack of starships was noted when, in one DS9 episode, a high-ranking official from the Order had to " hitch a ride " with a Cardassian warship for transportation.

) The plan, originated by Tain, involved a fleet of cloaked Romulan and Cardassian vessels traversing into the heart of Dominion territory in the Gamma Quadrant where they would annihilate the homeworld of the Founders.

When the Romulan / Cardassian fleet arrived at the Founders ' homeworld, they bombarded it, only to realize that the planet was deserted except for a token beacon.

The Galor continued to act as the backbone of the Cardassian fleet throughout the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

As a result, the Cardassian fleet switched sides during battle and assisted the alliance, opening a hole in the Dominion lines and forcing the Jem ' Hadar and the Breen to establish a new defense perimeter around Cardassia Prime itself.

With the Cardassian fleet helping the alliance and the rebel's attack on the Dominion headquarters on Cardassia, the Dominion surrendered, ending the Dominion War.

Martok, leading the Klingon fleet ; Admiral Ross & Captain Sisko, leading the Federation fleet ; and the Romulans attacked and defeated the Dominion on the Cardassian homeworld.

The fight went badly, however, until a Cardassian uprising headed by the former leader Damar turned the Cardassian fleet against the Dominion.

In 2371, the combined intelligence organizations of the Cardassian Union and Romulan Star Empire attempted a strike into the Gamma Quadrant with a cloaked fleet, seeking to destroy the Founder's home planet and cripple the Dominion.

When word of that atrocity reached the Dominion fleet, in the middle of a fierce battle with Allied forces, the Cardassian ships switched sides and aided the Alliance fleet.

The Female Changeling orders the destruction of a metropolis to coerce the Cardassians back into line, but instead the Cardassian fleet defects, passing the advantage to the Alpha Quadrant alliance.

A more powerful Cardassian ship is the Keldon class starship ( which is similar to the Galor-class with more defined aft wings and a large trapezoidal pod atop the main hull ).

Known Cardassian starships include the Galor-class warship, a medium-sized cruiser which, throughout The Next Generation, was the most powerful vessel in Cardassian service.

After the Bajorans have liberated themselves from the long and brutal Cardassian Occupation, the United Federation of Planets is invited by the Bajoran Provisional Government to administer joint control of the station, which ( originally ) orbits Bajor.

The Cardassian overseers translated this into their own language as " odo ' ital ", which literally means " nothing ".

From a very young age, Cardassian children are trained in techniques such as photographic memory which allow them to retain vast amounts of information.

This is evident in battle, as evidenced in " Soldiers of the Empire " in which a Klingon speaks admiringly of Cardassian adversaries who always had " a plan within a plan within a plan leading to a trap ".

A popular Cardassian board game is Kotra, which, as Garak describes it, favors bold tactical maneuvers over defensive play ; hence Garak's criticism of Nog's attempts to regroup his pieces during a game they played in the episode " Empok Nor ".

The Cardassian Central Command uses a system of hierarchical ranks, which is the same for all branches of the service.

; Legate: Legate is a 24th century Cardassian officer rank title which is approximately equivalent to an admiral.

Of particular note is Bajor which was occupied for fifty years, and the end of whose occupation destabilized the Cardassian government and formed a key story-arc for Deep Space Nine episodes.

In January 2372 ( Stardate 49011 ) the Klingon Empire attacked the Cardassian Union, believing the Detapa Council of Cardassia ( which had just come to power in the wake of the Cardassian Central Command being overthrown, making it the first civilian government of the Cardassian Union with Gul Dukat as military advisor ) had been infiltrated by the Dominion (" The Way of the Warrior ").

In their 2002 paper ( which has been cited more than 280 times ), a footnote on the " Cardassian term " states:

According to the fictional storyline of the Star Trek universe, the Maquis were formed in the 24th Century after a peace treaty was enacted between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union, redesignating the demilitarized zone between the two powers, which resulted in the Federation ceding several of their colony worlds to the Cardassians.

Some of these colonists subsequently formed the Maquis to protect themselves from Cardassian aggression, although they received no official support from the Federation, who feared breaking the peace treaty with the Cardassians, which would lead to war.

The Romulan Empire signed a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion towards the end of 2373, which had gained a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant in Cardassian space shortly before the Dominion War broke loose.

His most successful attack, which disabled the planetary power grid on Cardassia, was met with brutal Dominion reprisal in the annihilation of a Cardassian city and all its inhabitants.

In 2328 the Cardassian Union, which had been taken over by a military dictatorship, invaded Bajor, occupying it for forty years, during which time they forced many Bajorans into slave labor, using them in their various mining operations.

In 2369, the Cardassian civilian authorities ordered the military to withdraw from Bajor, after which the Bajoran provisional government invited the United Federation of Planets to set up base on the former Cardassian mining station of Terok Nor, renaming it Deep Space Nine, and requesting membership into the Federation.