Cardassian - Obsidian Order

Obsidian Order

The Obsidian Order is a Cardassian intelligence organization in the Star Trek universe. Security Chief Odo of Deep Space Nine remarked that it was one of the most brutally efficient organizations in the galaxy, being even more ruthless than the Romulan Tal Shiar. 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. Odo also noted that the Order caused people to disappear for even less than eating something of which the Order did not approve, although this statement may have just been an exaggeration for effect. The Obsidian Order's agent training program is so advanced that they are made immune to most forms of interrogation, including Vulcan mind melds.

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. Elim Garak was a member of the Order, before being exiled from Cardassia to Deep Space Nine by his father, Enabran Tain. Tain had retired for a time, the only director to ever live long enough to do so. Garak became an ally of the Federation who used his knowledge to aid them in the war against the Dominion.

In 2371, under the leadership of Tain who believed that the Central Command was being too complacent about the threat of the Dominion, the Obsidian Order and their Romulan equivalent, the Tal Shiar, allied in an attempt to destroy the Dominion. 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.

The Founders soon learned of the plan, via a Changeling who impersonated Colonel Lovok of the Tal Shiar, and saw it as an opportunity to eliminate the two dangerous organizations. 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. Moments later, the Dominion sprang the trap they arranged and a fleet of 150 Jem'Hadar fighters emerged from hiding in a nearby nebula and proceeded to wipe out the fleet. At least a few Romulan and Cardassian officers survived to be taken prisoner. Tain himself survived for two years in a Dominion internment camp before dying of heart failure.

The disastrous results of this attack crippled the Tal Shiar but more importantly (and perhaps through fear that the Order had clearly become too independent) it led to the downfall of the Order. The elimination of the Order is thought to have contributed to a political shakeup that led to the renewed empowerment of the civilian Detapa Council which proceeded to overthrow Central Command. This in turn paved the way for invasion of Cardassia by the Klingon Empire and eventual Dominion membership. After Cardassia joined the Dominion, an organization similar to the Obsidian Order was formed, which was called the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau.