Gorn

Gorn
Planet of Origin:	Gornar
Government:	Gorn Hegemony
Affiliation:	Klingon Alliance (2410)

The Gorn were a reptilian species from the planet Gornar in the Beta Quadrant. Their interstellar government was the Gorn Hegemony.

History

The Gorn began as three genetically similar species from three separate worlds in the Gdhar system of the Beta Quadrant. After they achieved space travel, the three races discovered one another and learned of their genetic similarity. It was later discovered through fossil records that none of the three planets were any of their original homeworlds. Embracing their similarities, the three races joined together in a single political unit called the Gorn Confederation. The new government later migrated en masse to the nearby world of Gornar.

The three races intermixed and eventually became a single species. Their government also underwent significant changes and was renamed the Gorn Hegemony.

Although unconfirmed at the time, the first encounter between Humans and the Gorn occurred sometime within in the 2230s or 2240s, when the colony ship SS Puget Sound was captured and the entire ship's complement was deposited on a planetary nursery.

According to La'an Noonien-Singh's accounts, the Gorn would eat some of their captives alive, while other captives would have their bodies slit open and used as "breeding sacks,” and some captives would be hunted as a sport before being fed to infant Gorn. In accordance with some sort of ritual, the final survivor would be spared, only to be placed in a life raft and abandoned in space.

First contact between the Gorn and the United Federation of Planets took place in 2259 – An attack on colony Finibus III that the USS Enterprise dealt with in that year – but they hardly ever left survivors and were therefore still listed as never officially encountered due to both military classification and the technical fact that no individual Gorn crew was physically encountered or visually communicated with during the entire incident.

It was also seen from this incident that these Gorn forces had Bio-Resin hulled large battleships. However, they did not have the strength, durability, or shield strength for extreme environmental pressures compared to 2250s refit Constitution class ships.

Later in the same year the crew of the Enterprise while rescuing the crew of the wrecked USS Peregrine discovered the ship was disabled and used again as elaborate bait to attract other ships to use the trapped crews as both reproductive and food stock. The offspring of these Gorn had biological traits similar to Xenomorph physiology with host-based embryo gestation, rapidly developed speed, strength, and intelligence, and the ability to spit corrosive venom. The hatchlings were neutralized by the Enterprises landing rescue party.

This second incident was also classified and Later that year, another Gorn attack ship was identified near the Galdonterre system, causing Admiral Robert April to fear that a war between the Federation and the Gorn was coming.

The first publically recorded contact was in 2267 when the Gorn attacked the Federation colony on Cestus III. These Gorn however had more basic mechanical technology-based ships and their crew a more basic humanoid reptilian appearance. The Gorn saw the strike as a preemptive move since they regarded the Cestus system as part of their territory. Due to the intervention of the Metrons, a tentative peace was established between the Federation and the Hegemony.

After decades of relatively peaceful relations between the two powers, the Hegemony was toppled by a coup d'etat in 2374. The new Gorn leadership then launched a new offensive Federation space, starting at Cestus III. The crew of the USS Enterprise-E managed to end the conflict and convinced the Gorn to join the Federation Alliance in the war against the Dominion.

At some point during the 2380s the Gorn government and military became heavily infiltrated by Species 8472 who began planting seeds for conflict among the powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. In 2384 a Gorn starship attacked the IKS Quv in the neutral space between the Hegemony and the Klingon Empire, killing 207 Klingons and capturing many others. When the Gorn refused to hand over their prisoners, Chancellor Martok broke off diplomatic relations, expelled their diplomats, and ordered Klingon Defense Force ships to the border.

War broke out in 2386 when the Klingons attacked and captured Gila IV, a Gorn colony. Over the next three years hostilities quieted as the Federation attempted to mediate between the two powers, but the negotiations failed and in 2389 open war erupted once more in the Gamma Orionis system. King Slathis negotiated with groups of Nausicaan mercenaries to fight for the Hegemony. Despite this, the Gorn were slowly driven back, and Gornar eventually fell to the Klingon Empire in 2403. Slathis agreed to swear fealty to the Empire and was given a non-voting seat on the Klingon High Council.

In their capacity as a client state, the Gorn took part in the Third Federation-Klingon War on the side of the Klingon Empire. However, not all Gorn stayed with the Hegemony. Some Gorn rebelled against their overlords, staging attacks on Klingon starbases. Another group settled in with the Orion Syndicate on Nimbus III. And yet more would join with the Federation and serve within Starfleet.

Known individuals

• Krall
• Rrit
• Skkan
• Slathis
• S'taass
• Xrathis
• Yyzzr
• Drash
• Thraak

External links

• Gorn article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Gorn article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• Gorn article at Star Trek Expanded Universe.
• Gorn article at The Star Trek Online Wiki.