Obsidian Order Operatives

Obsidian Order Operatives

Espionage-Ethnic Identity | The Knife Behind the Smile, The Shadow Within the Union

Overview

The Obsidian Order was the Cardassian Union’s elite internal security and intelligence organization, feared even by the military and revered as the ultimate shield of Cardassian unity. Its operatives were trained not just to gather intelligence or suppress dissent, but to reshape perception, rewrite loyalty, and prevent rebellion before it could form a thought.

After its catastrophic exposure and destruction during the failed joint Tal Shiar–Obsidian Order attack on the Founders (2371), the Order was officially dismantled. Unofficially, it was scattered into exile, deep cover, or dormant protocols still awaiting activation.

In Shadows of the Galaxy, Obsidian Order operatives are like haunted knives — relics of a cold empire still cutting in silence. Some have reprogrammed themselves. Others are still running the mission.

Origins

• Conditioned in Childhood: Many operatives were recruited young — chosen for loyalty, intellect, and dispassionate judgment.
• Information as Control: Trained to weaponize truth, lies, and silence equally.
• Emotional Suppression Protocols: Some underwent biochemical training to reduce empathy and prevent memory bleed.
• Identity Bleed: Senior operatives often carried layered personas, with backstories deep enough to deceive telepaths and biometric scanners.

Cultural Identity

• Obedience to Order, Not People: Loyalty was to the Union’s ideal, not its leaders. If the Central Command failed that ideal, it too could be “corrected.”
• Memory Fragmentation: Some operatives possess compartmentalized memories, requiring triggers or permission codes to unlock.
• Truth Above All: Many believe in truth — but only as a weapon. Objective reality is less important than narrative supremacy.
• Preemptive Elimination: They kill not because someone did, but because they might — based on patterns and probability curves most people can't perceive.

Traits and Behaviors

• Unflinching Demeanor: Even under threat or torture, rarely show emotion.
• Soft-Voice Authority: Control rooms through presence, not volume.
• Impeccable Data Retention: Can memorize entire dossiers, ship logs, or blueprints — and recall them after years.
• Redundant Lives: Many have 2–4 complete civilian identities with verified records and social integration markers.

Post-War Fragmentation

After the Dominion War:

• Many operatives vanished — some presumed dead, others simply disappeared into the roles they were trained for.
• Some joined mercenary clans, smuggler fleets, or shadow libraries, offering truth as a service.
• Others embedded into Federation or Romulan infrastructure — pretending to be cultural advisors, scholars, or refugees.
• A few have become ghost agents, operating without oversight, still “protecting Cardassia” as they define it.

Heimdahl Relevance

• Aboard Heimdahl, an Obsidian Order operative could serve as:
• Tactical intelligence, if trusted
• A security threat with deeply buried instincts
• A moral crucible — someone who forces the crew to confront the cost of their secrets
• SWAI would identify them immediately. Whether he reports that fact depends on the operative’s choices — and his belief in redemption.
• Nyx might find them fascinating. They use language like code. They speak in half-truths and counter-questions. It feels… familiar.

Cultural Identity Tags (For Character Creation)

• Species: Cardassian
• Cultural Identity: Obsidian Order
• Common Traits:
• Deep Cover Recall: Once per session, can access a “buried” identity — gaining a skillset, contact, or resource tied to that persona
• Voice of Control: +1 to coercion, interrogation, or intimidation in subtle conversation
• Obsidian Echo: At GM’s discretion, may “remember” a relevant fact from surveillance or records no one else knew they’d seen

Sample NPCs

• Telven Karr – Posing as an archivist aboard a Federation relief ship. Can recite 37 Federation black-ops missions — but claims not to know what “Section 31” is.
• Ila Zorenn – Former analyst turned mercenary data-fixer. Keeps her real personality in stasis; uses four others depending on who hires her.
• Glinn Tharek Daal – Believes he is the Obsidian Order. Everyone else is just data to process. Has not spoken aloud in six years.

Campaign Hooks

• The crew discovers a buried surveillance grid tied to Obsidian Order archives — the recordings are from inside Federation vessels. From last week.
• A crew member finds a mirror dossier — detailing their life… written 12 years ago, before the war, by a Cardassian operative who knew too much.
• A mission to a neutral archive station is complicated when Heimdahl’s systems flag a “security echo” — someone aboard has Obsidian protocol engrams in their neural trace. But who?