New Maquis
The New Maquis are a Federation violent extremist movement organised in the Former Demilitarized Zone dedicated to rejecting Cardassian Union influence in the region. Claiming to follow in the footsteps of the Maquis of the 2370s, the New Maquis have embraced insurgency tactics of espionage, sabotage, and guerilla warfare to target believed Cardassian military or Obsidian Order infrastructure in the DMZ or over the border. Formed in mid-2401, their ranks so far are drawn from locals of the DMZ distrustful of the Cardassians and Federation alike. Their equipment is drawn not only from what has been salvaged or stolen from Central Command or Starfleet, but the considerable body of local security infrastructure developed in the Former DMZ over the years since the Attack on Mars and Starfleet's withdrawal.
History
Nearly the entirety of the original Maquis were killed by the Dominion in 2373. Survivors consisted solely of those who had already been incarcerated by the Federation, a select few the Cardassians had captured before their alliance with the Dominion who survived to be freed after the war, and the Maquis crewmembers of the USS Voyager. This lack of survivors, and the return of the former DMZ to Federation hands after the war, made the Maquis effectively fade into history as well-intentioned but ultimately misguided.
By the late 2380s, however, discontent was rising again in the Former DMZ. Starfleet had withdrawn most of its border support since Mars, focusing on security only and not considering the Cardassian Union to be a sufficient threat to dedicate significant resources. Local governance took responsibility for most law enforcement and safety in the region, leading to a rising mentality of self-sufficiency and restoring the independent streak among the locals. Over the next decade, the tale of the Maquis took on a more mythic quality, and they became remembered as martyrs who had fought for an independent, self-sufficient DMZ in the face of those who would enslave them or abandon them.
In 2399, the Cardassian insurgents the True Way began to strike at the Former DMZ, with the clear goal of disrupting local governance enough to drive out the Federation and allow the Union to recover the territories. While Starfleet, reforming its policies after discovering the truth of Mars, responded to the True Way by dispatching ships and resources, they found the locals wary and often uncooperative. They had been self-sufficient for nearly fifteen years and old distrust in Starfleet remained. There was considerable concern among the populace not only that the Cardassian Union - through the True Way, as was the local belief - were trying to recover these territories, but also that the Federation, continuously distracted by problems elsewhere in the galaxy, would fail to prioritise their safety and sovereignty. Some even voiced suspicions that if the Union flexed its growing military might, the Federation might capitulate, repeat their betrayal of the peace treaty of the 2360s that led to their original displacement, and sell them to buy a peace because they had not the will to defend their own citizens.
The most discontented of these residents of the DMZ formed the backbone of what would become the New Maquis. Not expecting Starfleet to protect themselves, and anticipating the Cardassian Union to only step up its interference in the region, they began to arm and organise themselves. Starfleet suspects this to have been a long process, with little evidence of how they acquired many of their munitions and equipment. It was possible they would have prepared for a threat that might never come, until the destruction of Outpost C-91, a Starfleet station in the region, for which not only the True Way were believed responsible - but, through them, the Union.
Days later, the New Maquis struck, targeting the communications hub on the Cardassian-inhabited DMZ planet Forstar. Planted explosions destroyed the comms station and killed several workers, and was followed soon after with a proclamation transmitted across the region. The New Maquis claimed responsibility, insisting their target was being used as a surveillance outpost for Central Command and the Obsidian Order, and that many Cardassian residents of the DMZ were nothing more than spies for their government. The Union, they insisted, had designs on the DMZ, and every time they set foot in the region, the sovereignty and freedom of its Federation residents was threatened. Some day, the Union would launch an offensive, and Starfleet would abandon them as they had done before.
Operations
The New Maquis's operational priority is to make it untenable for the Cardassian Union to act in the DMZ. To do this, they target especially Cardassian military assets in the DMZ, such as patrol ships or military vessels answering requests for aid, and engage the True Way whenever they have the chance, seeing themselves as the protectors of the region against these Cardassian invaders. They also target the infrastructure of any Cardassian settlements they deem could provide support to the military. It would appear that the Maquis is not of one mind in determining whether Cardassian residents and their homes are a threat; some cells appear to see any settlement as a location that could offer resupply to a military ship, while others focus on infrastructure that has a clear military goal. Civilian targets are, however, clearly their lowest priority.
They are prepared to launch operations over the border into Cardassian territory, both to disrupt military assets that might threaten the DMZ, but also to divert Cardassian resources. So far, the Maquis have not gone out of their way to target Starfleet, preferring to evade rather than engage. If cornered, or if Starfleet try to disrupt their operations, they have shown little restraint in using violence to escape or complete their missions. Other operations serve to secure equipment and material for the movement. This can consist of stealing from Starfleet, but local law enforcement and border security forces have also been targeted, their ships and weapons stolen by the Maquis.
Tactics and Organisation
At present, the Maquis are the quintessential insurgent group. They employ guerilla warfare, identifying targets through discreet surveillance and often employing covert means to carry out an attack. The strike at Forstar, for instance, was likely carried out by less than half a dozen individuals planting explosives. This kind of operation is typical of the Maquis at present. If they strike in force, either on the surface to ambush Cardassian soldiers or in space to intercept ships or Cardassian freighters, they employ hit-and-run tactics, rigging the scenario in their favour before launching an attack with a clear goal. It is rare for them to engage in complete slaughter; perhaps this is ideological, but it is also very difficult for them to completely destroy, for instance, a Galor-class ship. For them, the success in a strike against such a ship would be to damage it so badly it cannot easily complete its mission, or is, ideally, forced to return to Cardassian space.
They operate in a traditional structure of loose cells, with members of one cell possessing little to no knowledge of the activities of any other group of the Maquis. No clear leaders or figureheads have yet to establish themselves.
When not on missions, members of the New Maquis fade back into their old lives. They live and thrive among the people of the Former DMZ, who may or may not know their clandestine activities - and are more likely to protect them from Starfleet, and especially the Union, than hand them over.
Equipment
The New Maquis has secured an impressive array of small arms and armaments for use in the field. Over the past fifteen years, civilian governments and organisations, not Starfleet, have been responsible for the lion's share of security operations in the region. Most of the Maquis's material appears to be from these groups, either stolen or handed over by those sympathetic to their cause. From them, they have secured hand weapons, explosives, and other important supplies that may not be the most up-to-date technology, but are good-quality and reliable.
In space, their operations are more discreet. Many travel through their personal ships, relying on discretion to move about the DMZ. They have, however, a small but growing fleet of small ships, such as Phoenix, Aerie, or old Ju'day-class ships, which they are increasingly arming and upgrading to use in their space combat operations.
In Play
- The New Maquis style themselves as successors to the canon organisation, with similar - but different goals. The people they represent have not been displaced, but they fear the Federation will abandon them if the Cardassian Union places political pressure on them. Where the original Maquis's goals were responsive, the New Maquis's agenda is pre-emptive - to stop the Union from being in a position to claim the former DMZ.
- They do not have the arms and equipment to engage in open warfare. They plant bombs, sabotage facilities, ambush soldiers, and launch hit-and-run missions in space that are intended to disrupt a starship's operation or force them out of the region. They do not fight to the bloody death.
- There are no confirmed reports so far of Starfleet officers joining their ranks. The New Maquis do not have the same grievance to peddle as their predecessors.
- While their priority target is the Cardassian military and the True Way, the Maquis are clearly not all of one mind when it comes to other targets. Some cells refrain from targeting Cardassian residents of the DMZ, and some only engage Starfleet if they have no other choice. Others may be more resentful of their Cardassian DMZ neighbours, and some believe it is more effective to strike first against Starfleet.
- The locals of the DMZ do not all support the Maquis - but many, perhaps most, do not trust Starfleet more. Captains will have a very hard time getting the help from locals to hunt down the New Maquis, even if these locals are not directly supporting the organisation.