Far from the center of Alpha and Beta Quadrant politics, the mysterious Breen species hailed
from a planet of the same name, developing a technologically advanced warrior culture
that greatly expanded their territory.
Reclusive and territorial, most of their neighbours had little knowledge about them, with even
official intelligence reports containing false information.
Always seen wearing refrigeration suits, many have speculated their homeworld and natural
environment must be a frozen wasteland, thus they required suits when travelling outside
their planet.
This would also explain their specialization in refrigeration technology.
Yet according to Weyoun, a high level official of the Dominion and ally of the Breen, the
temperature on their world was actually quite comfortable, deepening the mystery behind
the reason for their suits.
Refusing to reveal themselves, even to their allies, some have theorized that perhaps the
Breen were not humanoid or even a single species, and may in fact be several species that evolved
together and chose to create a uniform appearance when dealing with outsiders, thereby avoiding
discrimination or attempts to divide their unity.
As no one seemed to know what they look like, the common belief was that no one ever saw
the face of a Breen.
Yet there have been individuals killed in battle whose suits were then removed, leading
to yet another theory that their physical bodies disintigrated upon death, or the unauthorized
removal of their suit.
A physically strong, resilient species, the Breen had no blood or liquid circulatory system,
their thoughts and emotions could not be detected by empaths, and they endured pregnancy at
a young age, teaching and entertaining their children with intricate nursery rhymes.
Cunning, ruthless and aggressive, the Breen had little respect for the borders of other
states, allowing their privateers to raid the ships and colonies of neighbouring powers,
taking their goods and enslaving their people.
Fed a diet of algae paste, their slaves were sent to work in brutal mines and labour camps.
Fiercely territorial, they did not tolerate violations of their space, and so during the
Klingon Second Empire, when Chancellor Mow’ga sent a fleet of warships to conquer the Breen
homeworld, the expedition was never heard from again.
It is possible their people also had some sort of conflict with the Romulans, as the
two species seemed to share animosity, with the Breen specifically seeking the conquest
of Romulus during the Dominion War, while the Romulans had a saying, “Never turn your
back on a Breen.”
By the 24th century, their people were governed by the Breen Confederacy, a large isolationist
state with highly sophisticated technology that included organic ships and cloaking devices,
wielding type 3 disrupters and hand held canons, able to mobilize a large military force in
a short amount of time.
In addition to developing trade relation with the Ferengi, they supplied cold storage units
to the Maquis during their rebellion against the Cardassian Union, while maintaining limited
diplomatic relations with other Alpha and Beta quadrant powers, allowing a one of their
reputable pilots to participate in an interspecies Palio held at the Federation outpost Deep
Space 3.
For most of the 24th century, the only contact most ever had with the Breen, involved small
scale combat to defend against raids from privateers.
But everything changed in 2369, when the Federation discovered a wormhole near Bajor that allowed
near instant travel to the Gamma Quadrant, 70,000 light years away.
As the Federation and other started exploring this new region of space, the presiding gamma
quadrant superpower known as the Dominion, felt threatened by their arrival and so launched
a massive invasion of the Alpha and Beta quadrants.
Ruled by a species of highly advanced Changeling shapeshifters, the Dominion spent the next
few years engaging in a campaign of subterfuge to weaken and divide their enemies before
finally entering the Alpha Quadrant with their fleet in 2373.
In order to avoid an immediate conflict, the Dominion claimed to arrive at the invitation
of their new allies, the Cardassian Union, after negotiating a deal with their infamous
warrior Gul Dukat.
Unwilling to allow more Dominion ships into the Alpha Quadrant, the war officially began
when the Federation tried to mine the entrance to wormhole, prompting a military response.
For two years they fought, seeing the momentum shift back and forth thanks in part to the
Romulan Star Empire joining the Federation Alliance.
By 2375, the war had largely ground to a stalemate until the Founders revealed the Breen Confederacy
as their newest allies.
From the very beginning of the war, the Dominion Founders were well aware it might turn into
a longterm struggle, and so made contingency plans designed to pay off years down the line.
According to the official record, the Founders spoke to the Breen representative Thot Gor
for several months before forging their alliance.
However, the plan might actually have started years earlier, as a common tactic for the
Dominion was to send changeling infiltrators to secretly push forward their agenda.
As a result, there was a prison where the Dominion held important captives from various
species who were replaced with a founder.
One of these prisoners was a Breen who died during an escape attempt, killing two Jem’Hadar
guards before passing.
His presence, meant the Dominion may have sent an infiltrator early on to influence
the Breen Confederacy, laying the political groundwork for their eventual alliance.
And so in 2375, Thot Gor travelled to Cardassian space where they signed a treaty of alliance,
even capturing a pair of Starfleet officers while en route, presenting them as a gift
upon arrival.
Ever the aggressors, even in negotiations, the Breen were willing to follow the orders
of the Dominion, but in exchange demanded a high price, initially annexing a number
of Cardassian systems, then later expanding their requirements further by seeking control
of Earth and Romulus once the war was won.
Ready to demonstrate their ferocity and commitment, the Breen began with a direct attack against
Earth, capital of the Federation, specifically targeting Starfleet headquarters.
Although most of their ships were lost in the attack, the Breen did not fear death,
with Thot Gor remarking it was a small price to pay for such a great victory.
The Breen then led the Dominion to another victory in the Second Battle of Chintoka,
using their advanced energy dampening weapons to drain enemy ships, making them easy to
destroy.
Although many alliance ships were lost, including the famous USS Defiant, a single Klingon ship
survived, thanks to an engineer forced to make an adjustment to their warp core to deal
with a containment problem, which then had the unexpected secondary effect of making
them immune to the Breen weapon.
Desperate to stave off total defeat, General Martok ordered the entire Klingon fleet to
make a similar adjustment, so they might single handily hold the front lines while their allies
upgraded their ships to compensate for this new technology.
Even so the Dominion now had a distinct advantage, and might have pressed forward toward victory,
if not for the unexpected rebellion of Legate Damar, who succeeded Gul Dukat as leader of
the Cardassian Union.
Damar was furious with the generous terms given to the Breen while Cardassian interests
were ignored, even losing territory in the negotiations.
Launching several successful strikes against the Dominion, most of the rebellion was eventually
betrayed and destroyed.
But even so, these events succeeded in distracting the enemy long enough for the Federation Alliance
to rearm their ships for battle.
Having lost their momentum and advantage, the Dominion made a strategic retreat back
into Cardassian territory, returning the galaxy to pre-war borders, thereby shortening their
supply lines while extending those of the Federation Alliance, giving them a smaller
area to keep secure while they rebuilt their army and fleet.
Understanding that a prolonged stalemate would benefit the Dominion, the Federation, Klingons
and Romulans made a final push into Cardassian Space, seeking to end the war once and for
all.
Again, circumstances conspired against the Dominion, as their forces, led by the Breen,
stood a good chance of winning the Battle of Cardassia, were it not for Legate Damar,
who continued his rebellion on their homeworld, rallying citizens of Cardassia to openly defy
their oppressors.
Viewing this rebellion as terrorism, the Dominion enacted extreme collective punishment, killing
two million Cardassian citizens in the bombing of Lakarian city.
Rather than terrify the Cardassians into submition, it only further stirred them to anger, resulting
in riots in the streets as well as the Cardassian Fleet turned against the Dominion as the fought
the Battle of Cardassia.
The unexpected mutiny caused chaos among the Dominion, forcing their withdrawal to Cardassia
Prime for a last stand.
Fearless warriors to the end, Thot Pran, the Breen representative who replaced Thot Gor
as commander in the field, insisted that he and his men should go fight on the front lines.
With most of their defenders sent elsewhere, Dominion headquarters were left vulnerable,
allowing Damar’s rebels take the building and capture the Female Founder leading Dominion
forces.
Thanks to Odo, a changeling who sided with the Federation, they ultimately avoided a
final bloody confrontation over Cardassia Prime and negotiated an agreement that reinstates
prewar borders and sent the Dominion back to the Gamma quadrant.
Although the Breen were willing to die for victory, in the end they accepted the terms
of the defeat, even present for the formal end to the war when they signed the treaty of Bajor.