Vaadwaur

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Vaadwaur
Four Letter Code	VAAD
Federation Status	Neutral (formally Hostile)
Planet of Origin	Delta Quadrant
Encountered	VOY: "Dragon's Teeth"
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	Advanced in the arts of medicine (especially suspended animation), possess torpedoes that can move through standard Federation shields and skilled in the creation of Underspace, but otherwise approximately four hundred years behind the Federation.
List of Named Vaadwaurs
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The Vaadwaur are a warlike humanoid race originally from the Delta Quadrant. The ridges on their faces give them very sharp features. They are known for their cunning, their courage and their warlike natures. They originated in the Delta quadrant, but in 2387 made a shock appearance in the Ithassa Region where they attacked and occupied Deep Space 17 for several months.

In a peace negotiated between Marari and Fleet Captain Mar, the Vaadwaur now call Devinon V home.

Vaadwaur

Home System

• Quadrant: Delta (currently: Alpha)
• Proper Name: Unknown

Home World

• Proper Name: "Nisel".
• Diameter: 14,857km (9,232 miles)
• Gravity: 1.0 standard gravity, equivalent to Earth.
• Classification: L
  • Atmosphere: 72% nitrogen, 16% oxygen, 8% radon, 4% carbon dioxide
  • Climate: Nuclear winter. No animal or plant life survives on the surface. The planet has been rendered incapable of supporting humanoid life, and it is impossible to walk on the planet's surface outside of an environmental suit.
  • Population: Estimated to be no more than six hundred, but in all likelihood due to the Turei siege they are all dead.

Current World

• Proper Name: "Devinon V".
• Alternate Name: "Nisel IV".

History

The Vaadwaur were at one time widely known as a race of conquerors, whose influence spread far and wide across the Delta Quadrant, and into some other areas of the galaxy. Many races came to know them as untrustworthy, and the name of their species was adopted by races such as the Talaxians to mean "foolish". This did not, however, reflect an intention to label the Vaadwaur as intellectually challenged, moreover it was used to denote someone who had been fooled by an individual with hidden intentions.

Using a network of naturally occurring subspace tunnels which allowed faster-than-warp travel, the Vaadwaur were able to establish colonies over an extremely large area. During a fateful meeting between the Vaadwaur scientist Gedrin, and Captain Kathryn Janeway in 2376, the extent of the distance spanned by these tunnels became apparent due to evidence presented by Neelix, who realised that the two species had met, despite the thousands of light years of distance between their home worlds.

In 1484 the Vaadwaur's expansive and hostile nature became their undoing. A coalition of species led by the Turei, who saw them as a growing threat to their safety, took decisive action and bombarded the Vaadwaur homeworld, destroying their civilization and plunging their planet into nuclear winter. Foreseeing the attack, a battalion of Vaadwaur soldiers entered cryogenic suspension along with the scientist Gedrin and his wife, Jisa. They were joined by the scientist Marari, Battalion Leader Sedrin and others. They had intended to awake after a period of 5 years, but due to a malfunction in the automated release system they lay dormant for around 900 years. Gedrin's pod was activated by Seven of Nine after the U.S.S. Voyager was forced to land on the Vaadwaur homeworld after a Turei attack.

Historical Government

In the period of time since 2376 the Vaadwaur have had little time to construct a government. Some Vaadwaur remain on their home planet, although their status is unkown. After the U.S.S. Voyager left the planet in 2376, the Turei had been alerted to the reawakening of the Vaadwaur (compared to the legend of Dragon's Teeth by Commander Chakotay), and it is likely that they either garrisoned the world for a time, or destoryed its remaining inhabitants. However, the Vaadwaur who left in 2376 have continued to extend their influence throughout the Delta Quadrant, and are operating under a military structure in which the battalion leader has overall control of the Vaadwaur species.

Description

Vaadwaur have small ridges on their chin and two horizontal ridges just above their nose. A large fin like crest runs across the center of their foreheads and gets wider as it reaches the top of their skulls. Their hair grows from around the mid-region of their skull, just were their fin ridge ends. Neck ridges extend from their ears, along down along their neck and onto their shoulders where the ridges curl towards the center of their chest. This gives the neck ridges an cobra-like appearance overall. These ridges are much less pronounced on female Vaadwaur, running in a straighter line, with a kink close to the collar bone.

Physiology

Little information is available on Vaadwaur physiology, as contact with the Federation was brief. Now that the Vaadwaur are calling the Ithassa Region home, however, more information is coming to light; as previously speculated the species evolved from reptiles, in a similar way to the Cardassians and Gorn.

Psychology

From an early age, Vaadwaur children are conditioned to be brave and fearless, not just as warriors, but in every day life. Vaadwaur children are encouraged to fall asleep each night thinking of a different way in which they could die in order to abate the fear of death. Grace and a cool head under fire are also valued. In 2376, Gedrin asked Janeway how she would react in heavy rain: would she run from doorway to doorway in a vain attempt to stay dry, all the while getting wet, or would she walk through the rain with her head held high.

One thing is for certain - the Vaadwaur are a ruthless species. They have displayed an unwavering urge for conquest and expansion, beginning with their old colonies, but then extending further into the galaxy. A typical Vaadwaur will always be considering ways to defeat his enemies, either through force, or through subterfuge. Many a species has been fooled into allowing the Vaadwaur into their home, only to find that they are betrayed moments later.

Despite these general traits, some Vaadwaur have been known to exhibit more honourable behaviour, Gedrin being a notable example, although this was recorded in the face of deception to conceal the true nature of his people from Captain Kathryn Janeway.

Depending on who you ask, Marari displayed similar behaviour to Gedrin- the man was vicious and had absolutely no problem with killing Starfleet personnel, and on his orders all telepaths or empaths on Deep Space 17 were executed without trial. However, he went to great effort to avoid harming any children during the occupation of Deep Space 17 and forbid the Vaadwaur from assaulting female prisoners taken during the occupation. He attempted, twice, to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict between the Federation and the Vaadwaur and was instrumental in negotiating the Vaadwaur settlement of Devinon V with Fleet Captain Mar.

Culture

Vaadwaur culture is based around the warrior's code, although their ethics seem to be less honourable in nature than, for example, the Klingons. In many ways Vaadwaur culture can be said to be somewhere between 23rd Century Klingon and present day Borg, in that they are deceptive warriors who are bent on conquest by any means necessary.

Technology

During the final exodus from their homeworld in 2376, the Vaadwaur were centuries behind the more advanced races in the galaxy in terms of technology. However, Kathryn Janeway theorized that due to their lust for conquest and their resourceful nature, the Vaadwaur would adapt to become a threat. This proved to be true when the U.S.S. Voyager became trapped in an anomaly known as the void only a few months later - a heavily modified Vaadwaur ship was picked up by the ship's sensors, implying that the crew had been able to capture a more advanced ship through superior tactics and cannibalize its technology.

The primary weapons of Vaadwaur ships are phase cannon, which fire a distinctly purple-coloured energy pulse. Recent intelligence shows that the Vaadwaur have expanded their arsenal to include photon torpedoes, and more worryingly a weapon dubbed as phase torpedoes. These weapons phase in and out of normal space, rendering deflector shield technology virtually useless as a coutermeasure against them. In addition, they create an electromagnetic pulse to drain power from a ship. In 2387, such weapons were used against Deep Space 17, the U.S.S. Independence-A and the U.S.S. Challenger-A to devastating effect.

Military

As of 2376, the Vaadwaur military was comprised of only around 200 members. However, modern intelligence shows no record of whether the Vaadwaur have enslaved less advanced or conquered species to act as subordinate members of their military in a similar way to the Son'a and the Founders.

During the Vaadwaur occupation of Deep Space 17, it was revealed that they employed sophisticated physical/electrical, chemical and psychological brainwashing to control a certain subset of the population and use them as soldiers.

Federation Intelligence Files

Through contact with the Turei and the Vaadwaur a network of subspace tunnels known as underspace was discovered. Due to the hostile nature of the Vaadwaur it was not possible to explore this phenomenon, and as a result it is not known how far the network reaches. However, the only two pieces of intelligence/data that were recorded by the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager show that a starship at warp passing close to a weakened area of one of these tunnels may well be drawn into underspace. Once inside, it is possible to use a resonance pulse from a starship's deflector to force another vessel back into normal space.

In 2376, Doctor Julian Bashir classed the Vaadwaur as a potential future threat to Federation security after reviewing data from the Pathfinder Project. In 2387, his fears became true when the Vaadwaur attacked and (briefly) occupied Deep Space 17.

Notes

After the results of Operation Bright Star this profile underwent significant revision.

Sources

• Star Trek: Voyager ("Dragon's Teeth")
• Memory Alpha Vaadwaur, Vaadwaur Homeworld
• Vaadwaur at Memory Beta
• http://www.star-trek-voyager.net/lforms4/species_vaadwaur.htm

Content from this article may have
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 Memory Alpha

		SPECIES PROFILE UPDATED This profile was revised by the Species Development Committee.		REV 239008.14
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