Ba'ku System

The Ba'ku System is an inhabited star system in the Alpha Quadrant located in Sector 441. It is located within a gas cloud, containing dangerous space matter, known as the Briar Patch. Starships travelling through the Briar Patch have to travel at less than one-third impulse to avoid overheating the impulse manifolds; to travel any faster through the gas cloud requires specially retrofitted impulse engines. The Ba'ku System is a unary star system consisting of a K-class primary star and at least two M-class planets, including the planet Ba'ku. This planet has been adopted by an agrarian colony of people known as the Ba'ku, who have sworn off advanced technology. The planet's rings produce a unique form of metaphasic radiation that grants prolonged youth and health to the planet's inhabitants. It has been called a "fountain of youth."

Overview

The Briar Patch is an astronomical region within Sector 441 that contains dangerous space matter, including false vacuum fluctuations, metaphasic radiation, and life-threatening radiation from supernova remnants. It is also known as Klach D'kel Brakt by the Klingons. Starship travel through the Briar Patch is extremely hazardous. Located within the Briar Patch are the stars SNC 461206, UFC 8177, and the Ba’ku System. The planet Ba’ku offers a temperate climate, a variety of flora and fauna, and a mountainous region rich with transporter-inhibiting kelbonite. The planet’s rings generate metaphasic radiation. This form of metaphasic radiation regenerates the genetic structures of living beings, reducing illness, injury and even the ageing process. Legend says the radiation can provide eternal life.

The planet Ba’ku was settled in 2066 by humanoid refugees who have come to call themselves the Ba’ku. They have sworn off all forms of advanced technology, instead devoting themselves to the arts and an agrarian lifestyle. The Ba’ku are pacifists who refuse to use weapons, even in self-defence. Relying on its remoteness within the hazardous Briar Patch, the planet Ba’ku has no planetary defences. By the late 24th century, there were approximately six-hundred Ba’ku located in a single settlement on the planet. The Federation Council authorised the relocation of the Ba’ku with the intention of mining the metaphasic particles, which would have rendered the planet uninhabitable. Before this process could begin, the Federation Council ceased the operation.

In Play

The Briar Patch offers an interstellar navigational hazard akin to a ship passing through a hurricane or a tempest. The limitations to travelling at partial impulse can offer logistical obstacles for your crew, unless the mission parameters allows for the forethought to retrofit the impulse engines. Even then, warp travel in the Briar Patch is all but impossible.
The planet Ba’ku is largely an untouched natural wonder, aside from the singular agrarian Ba’ku village. It is extremely isolated, given the sprawling Briar Patch beyond the Ba’ku System itself. The Ba’ku’s pacifist nature means they would always require Starfleet assistance if the temptation of their metaphasic radiation rings once again became too tempting to outside forces.

External Information

Ba'ku (System) at Memory Alpha
Ba'ku (Planet) at Memory Alpha
Briar Patch at Memory Alpha