Trekipedia

Son’a

The Son’a were a technologically advanced humanoid race with extremely questionable morals; in the course of a century, they conquered other species, developed illegal weapons, and produced quantities of the narcotic ketracel-white. The Son’a were also a very materialistic people: their clothes were encrusted with jewels, and one of their leaders, Ahdar Ru’afo, sat on a large, richly-decorated couch on the bridge of his ship. The Son’a entered into a brief alliance with the Federation, but the Son’a had little respect for interstellar law; their vessels were fitted with illegal isolytic subspace weapons, which were outlawed by the Second Khitomer Accords. These devices generated a subspace tear that was attracted to an enemy vessel’s warp core. Subspace weapons were banned because they were so unpredictable, and there was no single tactic that was guaranteed to counter them.

The Son’a had their origins in a much more peaceful and spiritual culture. They were an offshoot of the Ba’ku, a people who rejected modern technology and abandoned the rest of their species in 2025 in order to establish a new homeworld. The Ba’ku eventually settled on a planet in an area of space known as the Briar Patch. The unusual concentration of metaphasic radiation in the planet’s rings continually regnerated their genetic structures, arresting the aging process in adults, effectively making the Ba’ku immortal.

The Ba’ku chose to isolate themselves from the rest of the galaxy, but in 2275 a group of young Ba’ku decided that they wanted to follow the “ways of the offlanders,” and attempted to take control of the colony. When they failed, the other Ba’ku made the decision to exile them, and they were forced to return to normal space, where they began to age normally. These rebels became the Son’a, and gave themselves new names—for example, Ro’tin became Ru’afo, and Gal’na became Gallatin.

In 2325, the Son’a conquered two primitive races—the Tarlac and the Ellora—and integrated them into their culture as a labor class. By 2375, the Son’a controlled their homeworlds. In Son’a society, the Tarlac and Ellora carried out menial tasks while the Son’a issue orders.

At some point after leaving the Ba’ku homeworld, the Son’a developed a genetic anomaly that prevented them from reproducing. As a result, the Son’a only numbered in the hundreds and were slowly dying off by 2375. They refused to accept this situation, and became desperate to extend their lifespans by any means possible. Son’a medics resorted to genetic manipulation and surgical techniques to preserve their bodies. The Son’a made regular visits to “body enhancement facilities,” where their skin was stretched tight, and dangerous toxins were removed from their bodies. The Son’a needed these procedures just to stay alive, but they were also a vain people, and they pursued the appearance of youth as much as their health. However, illness and repeated surgery made them increasingly grotesque. The medical procedures succeeded in extending the Son’a’s lifespans, but by 2375 many of the older Son’a were on the verge of death.

Over the years, the Son’a developed a plan to return to the Ba’ku planet and harvest the lifegiving metaphasic radiation. The plan involved constructing a massive science vessel that would inject the rings around the Ba’ku planet with a substance designed to start a thermolytic reaction. The science vessel would then be able to collect the metaphasic radiation, which could be used to restore the Son’a’s youth. Unfortunately, the procedure would have left the Ba’ku planet uninhabitable for generations.

By this time, the Briar Patch was in Federation-controlled space. The Son’a were not confident enough to “attack” a Federation-protected planet, so, concealing their relationship with the Ba’ku, they persuaded the Federation Council to enter into an alliance. The combined Starfleet and Son’a forces were commanded by Son’a Ahdar Ru’afo and Starfleet Admiral Dougherty. They planned to relocate the Ba’ku without their knowledge, by transporting them onto a holoship while they slept. In the holoship, the Ba’ku would have lived in a holographic recreation of their own village while they were relocated to another planet. The scheme failed when Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E revelaed the existence of the holoship to the Ba’ku.

Ahdar Ru’afo was consumed with bitterness and anger, and prepared to harvest the metaphasic radiation while the Ba’ku were still on the planet. This proved too much for Subahdar Gallatin, who joined forces with Picard and enabled him to destroy the science vessel, killing Ru’afo. Following this incident, at least some of the Son’a re-established contact with their families among the Ba’ku, but it remained unclear whether the two races would ever be completely reconciled.^[1]

Notable Son’a:

• Gallatin^[1]
• Ru’afo^[1]

References

• ^[1]ST-09: Star Trek: Insurrection