W O R L D S - Fan Modules - Free

worldS
and comforted their brethren with the knowledge that
Betazoids held a cherished place in the scheme of life.
Of course, this peaceful civility meant that Betazoids
had little impulse to move beyond their homeworld.
It wasn’t until a religious schismatic named Dainara
proposed the formation of a separate, secular government
that Betazoid industries started to evolve beyond
their religiously-ordained roles. Even the discovery of
other worlds and of space travel wasn’t enough to put
the nail in the coffin of theocratic authorities.
Betazoid history took a turn with the discovery of
nearby Terab IV. The Terabians at first seemed amicable
humanoid neighbors, but later proved to be suspicious
of the Betazoids’ telepathy. The non-telepathic
Terabians eventually took to scapegoating Betazoids
and even interring them based solely on suspicion of
the telepaths. Conflict erupted between the Betazoids
and Terabians, until Betazoid diplomats succeeded in
negotiating a peace. As a result the Betazoids embraced
a Code of Sentience, developed by Dainara, to outline
the limits of their dealings with non-telepathic species.
Hand-in-hand with this Code, the Betazoids initiated
the difficult process of migrating power out of the
hands of the clergy (who made it difficult to negotiate
with outsiders due to their extreme position of the
Betazoids as “blessed” or “chosen” people) and into
the hands of local, then global, secular authorities.
Shortly after the Terabian incident, the Betazoids
encountered the Federation. While at first the Betazoids
feared another dispute—with the realization that a
great many other species weren’t telepathic and, as
a result, were predisposed to suspicion and dishonesty—the
nascent Federation did have a positive out-
Illustration by Blake Beasley
958
look. Vulcans, while wildly different from Betazoids
on an emotional level, could deal with other telepaths.
Human optimism and compassion, combined with
the drive and loyalty of other Federation species, won
over the Betazoids, who finally dissolved the remaining
religious requirements of their matriarchal world
government and joined the Federation.
Betazed stayed a peaceful background member
of the Federation up until the Dominion War in the
late 24th century. While Betazoids served in Starfleet
as counselors and occasionally in other positions,
the overall proportion of Betazoids traveling offworld
remained low. Unfortunately for them, the Dominion
decided to conquer Betazed as a staging ground for
attacks against the core worlds of the Federation, and
as a sign of strength—the ability to penetrate deeply
and take even important worlds. Betazoid’s outdated
and minimal planetary defenses were not enough to
fight off the occupation, and millions died from the
orbital bombardments and Jem’Hadar assaults. This
tactic came back to haunt the Dominion, though.
While the Betazoids were not violent by nature, their
innate telepathy made it impossible for Founders to
infiltrate or cause terror. The ability to sense incoming
troops and read battle plans made it also nearly
impossible for the Founders to blockade the system
without exhaustive resources, and thus failed to keep
Betazoids from being able to leave and supplement
Federation resources elsewhere. Most tellingly, the
fall of Betazed galvanized Captain Benjamin Sisko
in a risky scheme to falsify evidence that eventually
brought the Romulans into the Dominion War on the
side of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers.
1
-
-
11 -
00
22 -
- 2
1+
-