Bajorans, refugees of Star Trek

The Bajorans were first introduced into Star Trek as a species of refugees, their homeworld having been taken over by the reptilian-like Cardassians. What was the Federation, that all-inclusive beneficent civilization in part founded by enlightened human beings seeking to do no harm, doing while the Cardassians were strip-mining the Bajoran homeworld for decades and enslaving its people? Nothing. You see, the Federation has this policy of non-interference (called the Prime Directive) that forbids them from interfering in the affairs of other species, particularly if that species is less-technologically advanced. That seems reasonable, as otherwise we might have situations where we’d be equipping the Mongol warriors of 1000 A.D. with Abrams tanks, grenade launchers, and machine guns.

But in some ways, the Prime Directive seems like the ultimate coward’s way out. As Burke and some others said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” How often have we been guilty of just that? Standing by and letting something we know to be wrong go on? Why? Perhaps because we fear we are ourselves wrong.

Below is just one type of ship used by the beleaguered Bajorans.

• Bajoran Assault Ship

 

Life and Lack of Updates

So life has once more gotten busy for me. This means, as some of you may have noticed, a decided slowdown in the number of updates on this site. Hopefully I’ll have time and inspiration to update the site this weekend!

Fantasy update – Dragonlance

Check out the Dragonlance page for a brief overview of why I always return to this fantasy fiction series.

Starship update – Vidiian Warship

The Vidiian Warship

The Vidiian Warship is a small, fast starship used by the Vidiians to harvest organs from other species. Check out the starships page for more Vidiian starships, as well as starships from throughout trek lore.

The Vidiians – Plagued by the Phage

Not exactly the pretty boys of the Delta Quadrant.

The Vidiians are a tragic species in Star Trek. For millenia they were a peaceful people renowned for their art and philosophy. Then the plague-like disease, the Phage, began striking them. In short order, all the Vidiians would be afflicted with this disease, which besides slowly causing organ failure was also horribly disfiguring. In the historical blink of an eye, their culture transformed into one obsessed with reaching a cure for the Phage. Vidiians now explored the galaxy in ships like the Vidiian Battle Cruiser not to share their art and philosophy, but to harvest the healthy organs of those species compatible with their physiology, and always, always, searching for the ever elusive cure.

How would our own society react to a disease that was so terrible? Would we lose elements of our culture that make us who we are? The Vidiians eventually were cured, and their culture transformed back into what it was before the Phage struck. Would they ever really be able to forget the horrible things they did to reach that cure? Would we?

Hirogen, Holograms, Life, and Faith

Iden, a Bajoran hologram created by the Hirogen.

Another update to the starships page with another Hirogen starship, this time the Hirogen Destroyer. The destroyer was used by Iden in the holographic rebellion against their Hirogen creators.

Star Trek has raised this issue several times, namely, what qualifies as “life”? In the case of Iden and these other holographic creations, is it really life if they are merely acting out their programming? Aren’t we biological creatures also programmed in our own way? Aren’t humans programmed from childhood to believe in certain things and act in certain ways?

An interesting facet of the character Iden is that he was programmed with the Bajoran belief in the Prophets. This begs the question, is his belief any less valid because it was programmed into him? Is religion something that many of us are programmed with? If a child is brought up in one church and knows only of the teachings of that one church, is that one child’s (now an adult) faith any less valid than someone that has discovered a religion as an adult?

So many questions, so few answers.

Hirogen update

I’ve added the Hirogen Venatic-class warship to the starships page. Unlike the smaller Hirogen Hunter-class warship, the Venatic is only used by the Hirogen (aka Star Trek’s version of the Alien Predator) when they are hunting “worthy” prey. In this case, that worthy prey ends up being the Starship Voyager.

The above episode of Voyager is one of the more interesting ones, as it deals with the fallout of some of Captain Janeway’s meddling with other species, in this case through giving the Hirogen holographic technology. Perhaps those old fogies in Starfleet Command knew a thing or two when they created the Federation’s highest directive, to not interfere with the natural development of another civilization (aka the Prime Directive). Janeway effectively did the 24th century version of giving a knife to a kid that liked poking himself with a sharp stick.

Hunter and Prey

Hunter and Prey

The Hirogen are Star Trek’s version of the alien Predators from the sci-fi franchise of the same name. When they first popped up on Voyager, these aliens were unique in Trek for several reasons. One, they hunted down intelligent species for the sheer joy of it, and because of their cultural prerogative. Two, they were BIG (see the above picture). The first interesting aspect did last, but unfortunately the second did not. As it turns out, it was rather hard finding actors that were 6’6″ or taller! The Hirogen aren’t the first alien species from another science fiction franchise to work their way into Trek. There were the Bothans of Star Wars as well, though admittedly they only shared the name.

You won’t find any stats for Bothan starships on this blog (yet), but you will find some for the Hirogen Hunter-class warship.