Son'a Society Post Insurrection

[Dingo]

In episodes of DS9 taking place after Insurrection I remember at least one Son'a outpost operational in the DS9 episode Penumbra.

If some of the Son'a hadn't returned to the Briar Patch I'd anticipate they'd have the following issues:

1) With their numbers reduced after the events of Insurrection and possible losses during the Dominion War I assume that they would deal with having less people to control the Tarlaac and Elora races that they enslaved.

2) Because they're sterile and can't replace themselves I figure the remaining Son'a would die off eventually.

Given that they're facing likely slave revolts and extinction and possess fairly advanced technology, to include weapons of mass destruction, I imagine they would resort to fairly desperate measures.

With that scenario above I may plug that into my Post Dominion War Alpha Quadrant for my fanfic Star Trek: Asymmetric Warfare Group.

 

[T'Girl]

2) Because they're sterile and can't replace themselves I figure the remaining Son'a would die off eventually.

There was no indication (that I can remember) that the Baku who left the ring world and became the Sona were sterile. The original Sona could have had multiple generations of descendants living on the worlds of their little empire, perhaps numbering in the several hundreds of thousands given the amount of time since they were exiled.

And the oldest generation of Sona could easily not be dying off at all, if the Federation Council decided to live up to their side of the original agreement they formed with the Sona, and continue with the operation to harvest the particles in the ring.

1) With their numbers reduced after the events of Insurrection and possible losses during the Dominion War I assume that they would deal with having less people to control the Tarlaac and Elora races that they enslaved.

The Sona only lose a single individual during Insurrection. The Dominion War loses would be harder to say. However, if the Sona had incorporated a portion of the indigenous population into the upper/ruling class, then their ability to control the remaining majority would be easier.

Given that they're facing likely slave revolts and extinction ...

Commander Riker referred to the Tarlac and the Ellora as a labor class, not specifically as "slaves."

The ability of the Sona to control their overall society, would depend in part on how how full, and happily, the Tarlac and the Ellora were tied into it.

 

[DarKush]

^
Some interesting points about Son'a society. I hadn't consciously thought of them as sterile, but I did get an impression from Insurrection that there were few Son'a left, and they were so obsessed with clinging to life that I wouldn't have had a problem believing that they perhaps had become sterile due to all their self-experimentation.

But the idea of generations of Son'a seems pretty intriguing.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I could imagine there could be reunification between the Ba'ku and the Son'a. There may be some Son'a who may decide to remain apart, though.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Would they be prodigal Son'a?

 

[The Wormhole]

There was no indication (that I can remember) that the Baku who left the ring world and became the Sona were sterile.

This is actually mentioned, but in a deleted scene. I think it's in the extended scene with Riker and Deanna in the Enterprise's library.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

1) With their numbers reduced after the events of Insurrection and possible losses during the Dominion War I assume that they would deal with having less people to control the Tarlaac and Elora races that they enslaved.

The Sona only lose a single individual during Insurrection.

It's been awhile since I watched Insurrection but didn't Enterprise destroy one Son'a ship and heavily damage the second ship?

 

[T'Girl]

^ I thought both were knocked out of commission only, but I could be wrong. I wonder how many of those ship's crews were Sona, and how many of their labor races.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

It's been a while since I read the Insurrection novel, but I think there was mention in it to them being sterile, though I can't be entirely certain. Watching the film though, that was always the impression I got about the Son'a.

As for the Ellora and Tarlac, they were primitive when annexed by the Son'a, so they could have been at a very early stage of development (similar to Bronze Age humans perhaps) so they may not have any notion of fighting back--they did appear very obedient--but then again anything could be possible (on the Silverfin I have an Ellora crewman onboard, though haven't yet worked out how he got there). Maybe the Son'a have implanted them with a device similar to the MU agoniser, or an explosive, something that could be triggered to ensure their obedience?

With there only being around 500 Ba'ku by the time of INS and no mention of how many had broken away and formed the Son'a, it would be difficult to say exactly how many were left. Ru'afo's ship only showed five (himself, the subahdar, a female and two other males), so perhaps all their ships have a small number onboard, so as to spread them around and increase their resources.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I thought both were knocked out of commission only, but I could be wrong. I wonder how many of those ship's crews were Sona, and how many of their labor races.

Ru'afo's ship appeared to have a bridge crew of mostly Son'a. IIRC, there was one Tarlac and one Ellora on the bridge. Don't know about the rest of the crew.

 

[T'Girl]

As for the Ellora and Tarlac, they were primitive when annexed by the Son'a, so they could have been at a very early stage of development (similar to Bronze Age humans perhaps)

In the episode City, McCoy indicated he though of the medical science of 1930's America as primative. So when Riker referred to the two species as primative he could have been thinking of peoples with 20th century society and technology. Spock spoke of 22nd century spacecraft and weapons as being primative, which might move the the Tarlaac and Elora up to that century of development.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^ Would they be prodigal Son'a?

Oh, no. Please tell me you didn't just say that.

 

[ILOVETREK1701]

I just assumed reunification with the Ba'ku.

 

[horatio83]

Beats staying in space and slowly dying.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Would they be prodigal Son'a?

Oh, no. Please tell me you didn't just say that.

Apologies if I seemed like a Son'afabitch.

 

[R. Star]

I just assumed reunification with the Ba'ku.

The original ones had been away too long for their "immortality" to be restored as stated in Insurrection. Even if they formed a colony on the Baku world, they'd still die naturally. So even the ones who did return there are gonna die. A small plothole the Insurrection movie didn't address.

Really the Baku are hard to sympathize with. Just how entitled do these people think they are? They expect Picard and crew to fight for them as a given. Even Anij's attitude when she just flops down on that raft and says "get rowing." And for enlightened pacifists, they believe in capital punishment as exiling the Son'a was basically a death sentence. Riiiight. And not once do they even -consider- if their immortality could be given up for the good of countless billions. No they're just entitled to it, no questions asked.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And not once do they even -consider- if their immortality could be given up for the good of countless billions. No they're just entitled to it, no questions asked.

Actually, they are entitled to it. It's their planet. They may not have originated there, but they found it first. That makes it theirs.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

The original ones had been away too long for their "immortality" to be restored as stated in Insurrection. Even if they formed a colony on the Baku world, they'd still die naturally. So even the ones who did return there are gonna die. A small plothole the Insurrection movie didn't address.

Actually IIRC, Admiral Dougherty told Picard that it would take years of normal exposure on the planet to begin to reverse their condition and that some of the Son'a didn't have that long.

 

[T'Girl]

It's their planet.

According to Picard, an advocate for the Baku, the planet is the Federation's.

... be given up for the good of countless billions.

Yeah, the Baku are heroes.

 

[C.E. Evans]

It's their planet.

According to Picard, an advocate for the Baku, the planet is the Federation's.

It's more of a case of an unincorporated planet within Federation space. The Federation likely contains many worlds that aren't officially members of the Federation (either because they declined/failed membership or were off-limits due to the Prime Directive), but are stll located within its borders due to its continual expansion across the Quadrant.