Created by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane on Aug 16, 2016 @ 2:30pm

THE DOMINION

THE DOMINION is a major interstellar state in the Gamma Quadrant. It has been in existence for over two millennia, and to date the Federation has fought two costly wars against it.

The Dominion was founded by the race of gelatinous shapeshifters known as the Founders in order to protect themselves from 'solid' lifeforms and to impose their version of suppressive order upon the galaxy. The Founders used their shapeshifting ability to infiltrate and manipulate many societies into their thrall, and also genetically engineered servitor races like the Vorta and Jem'Hadar in order to carry out their will. They carved out a large empire in the Gamma Quadrant in the nineteen centuries between the Dominion's formation and First Contact with the Federation.

The Founders became aware of the existence of the Bajoran wormhole and its easy route to the Alpha Quadrant where the Federation was the dominant power. A cold war between the two began in 2370, with the Founders infiltrating the Klingon government in order to put strain on the Khitomer Accords and forming an alliance with the Cardassian Union. The inevitable war broke out in 2373, raging for almost three years and pulling in the Klingons, Romulans, and Breen. Finally, with the Founders being ravaged by a morphogenic virus, the Federation-led alliance was able to achieve both a military victory and a peace of sorts with the Founders, who retreated to their homeworld in the Omarion Nebula.

The Dominion made First Contact with the Kem D'Neel in 2409, but they did not reveal the Enforcers' existence to anyone else. It is unknown why, and it is also unknown what, if any, losses were suffered by the Dominion when the Kem D'Neel genocide began.

Peace reigned between the Federation and the Dominion for several decades, and in order to protect its shipping interests in the Gamma Quadrant, the Federation constructed Gateway Station on the far side of the wormhole. Gateway came online in 2414, but its mere presence in the Gamma Quadrant was deemed to be a threat to the Dominion. The Founders moved to politically isolate Gateway before launching an attack upon it in 2422, sparking the Second Dominion War. This short but bloody conflict ended after almost two years of fighting, in which Starfleet managed to both hold on to its access to the wormhole and successfully defend Gateway from siege by the Dominion. The Treaty of Denorius brought this conflict to a close, restoring the status quo ante bellum.

Since the ending of the Second Dominion War, the Dominion has remained quiet. There were fears that the Founders would use the Neo-Essentialist crisis to make another attempt to besiege Gateway, but nothing untoward has occurred. A true peace remains a distant dream, however, and it may be that the Domininon is merely biding its time before launching a third attack. The Great Link, after all, has the patience of millennia.