Already on this journey, the U.S.S. Voyager has encountered new life forms, discovered a mysterious phenomenon, and has joined forces with a militant group. You may learn about these encounters by viewing abstracts from the Voyager Mission Library. Ocampa This alien species, mysteriously protected by the Array, has a life span of only nine Ocampa years. Several hundred thousand Ocampa reside miles underground a hot, desert planet, where they have lived for over a thousand years. Their below-the-surface habitat originated when the mysterious global warming began, and their planet turned into a desert. It was at this time that the Caretaker ordered the Ocampa to leave the surface to find refuge and an abundance of water underground -- with strict instructions never to return to the surface again. Talaxian From a part galaxy never explored before, The Talaxians and the Haakonians had been at war for some time when the Haakonians used a weapon called the Metreon Cascade to wipe out the entire Talaxian moon of Rinax. The Talaxians were conquered by the Haakonians in 2356. Kazon The crew members of Starship U.S.S. Voyager first encounter this sinister new race on the surface of the planet-turned-desert. They are warriors who have made frequent attempts to invade the tunnels leading down to the Ocampa, in search of water. The Kazon Collective is made up of a number of sects, one of the most violent of which is the Kazon-Nistrim. Kazon-Nistrim ships travel to various parts of the Delta Quadrant. Maquis A militant group formed when a new treaty dividing territory between the Federation and Cardassians left several Federation colonies caught along the border in the newly established Demilitarized Zone. Rather than move their entire community into Federation territory, many colonists chose to stay and reside within the jurisdiction of the Cardassian Empire, without the protection of Starfleet. Thus, the inception of the Maquis -- a group of resistance fighters considered outlaws by the Federation and Cardassia. With several small ships for pre-emptive strikes and retaliatory raids against the Cardassians, the Maquis welcome all volunteers. These fighters range from colonists, to former Starfleet officers who believe in their cause, to those who have been dismissed from Starfleet and seek consolation from the Maquis. Some call the Maquis heroes, others accuse them of adding to the mounting tension in the region. Called the "Caretaker" by the Ocampa, the array is a mysteriously active piece of space hardware that pulls the Starship U.S.S. Voyager to the edge of the galaxy, hundreds of thousands of light years away from home. It orbits the solar system while sending out a variety of energy and energy pulses at measured intervals that are impenetrable by Starfleet sensors. Sikarians A race of humanoids known throughout the Delta Quadrant for their hospitality, the Sikarians were visited by the U.S.S. Voyager on Stardate 48642. The Sikarians have an evolved view of the importance of the quality of life, and to that end, they value stories above all else, considering them to be a crucial part of every being. The Sikarians have a device called a spatial transponder that folds space to send people or objects up to 40,000 light years away. But their Canon of Laws states that they cannot share this technology. Konar Trianic-based energy beings, the Konar are non-corporeal life forms that extract the neural energy of other beings to sustain themselves. They live in a dark matter nebula in the Delta Quadrant. On Stardate 48734, a Konar took over Tuvok's body in an attempt to lead the U.S.S. Voyager into the nebula to extract the crew's neural energy. Vidiians The Vidiian Soldality is a race of aliens who are affected by the phage, a virus that destroys the Vidiians genetic codes and cellular structures, consuming their bodies. To combat the phage, the Vidiians have developed advanced medical technologies enabling them to extract organs from other beings and incorporate those organs into themselves. The Vidiians also capture beings to use as workers to dig tunnels on various planets and planetoids which the Vidiians inhabit. These slaves are used because the phage makes the Vidiians too weak to do the work themselves. When the workers lose their strength, the Vidiians extract their organs for their use. The Vidiians have encountered members of the U.S.S. Voyager crew on two occasions, Stardates 48532 and 48784. Vhnori A race of humanoids whose belief system centers on the fact that they enter the "Next Emanation," a higher level of consciousness, when they die. They believe that they will be reunited with deceased loved ones. Vhnori leave this life for the Next Emanation voluntarily. The person is placed in a cenotaph which transports the body through a subspace vacuole to a different area of space. On Stardate 48623, the U.S.S. Voyager determined that the bodies release neural energy after passing through the vacuole, and that energy becomes part of an ambient electromagnetic field, supporting the Vhnori concept of the Next Emanation. First encountered in "Emanations" Romulans The Romulans are an Alpha Quadrant warrior race from the planets Romulus and Remus. The Romulan Star Empire does communicate with the United Federation of Planets. On Stardate 48579, the U.S.S. Voyager used a collapsing wormhole to contact Romulan scientist Telek R'Mor. But the wormhole was a gateway through time as well as space, so the U.S.S. Voyager was speaking with Telek R'Mor from 19 years in his future. Baneans A race of people who live in the Delta Quadrant, the Baneans are at war with another race, the Numiri, even though the two races once co-existed on one planet. Baneans have the technology to extract memory engrams from the dead, providing an account of how they died. The engrams are used in murder trials. Banean punishment for murder is an implant which causes the killer to repeatedly experience the event through the victims eyes. Numiri Although the Numiri once co-existed on the same planet with the Baneans, the two Delta Quadrant races are now at war. Numiri patrol ships regularly intimidate visitors to the Banean homeworld, and Numiri society is considered to be very covert. Numiri patrols engaged the U.S.S. Voyager in 2371 while that ship was visiting the Baneans. Haakonians The Haakonians counquered the Talaxian homeworld in 2356. The day after the Haakonians initiated a Metreon Cascade on the Talaxian moon of Rinax, Talax surrendered unconditionally.