Delta Quadrant

The Delta Quadrant is the common designation for one quarter of the Milky Way Galaxy. Its boundary is defined by a meridian passing through the galactic core and the Sol system, and a second meridian 90º perpendicular at the core. Its closest point to Earth is located approximately 30,000 light-years away.

Due to the immense distance between the Alpha and Delta Quadrants (an Intrepid class starship would take 30 years to reach the edges of the quadrant at its maximum warp velocity), the Federation knew very little about this region of space until 2371, when the starship USS Voyager was pulled into the quadrant by an alien force called the Caretaker. When contact was reestablished with the starship in 2374, hundreds of kiloquads of data on the region was received, increasing the Federation's knowledge of the quadrant immensely.

When Voyager returned to Earth from the Borg transwarp network in 2378, the Federation's knowledge of the quadrant was further expanded considerably.

Current political makeup.

The major power in the Delta Quadrant, until at least 2378, was the Borg Collective. Borg space to that point covered over two thirds of the quadrant in irregular arrangements, from the border with the Beta Quadrant out to the galactic barrier. However, after the destruction of the Borg transwarp network, and the effects of their war with Species 8472 it is unknown how much of their former territory they now control. Other alien species that control significant areas of the quadrant include, among others, the Vidiians, the Devore Imperium, the Kazon, the Voth, the Hirogen, the Hierarchy and the Malon. Species 8472 had also established a presence in the Delta Quadrant until they returned to fluidic space.

The past and alternate timelines.

900-1000 years ago, a species known as the Vaadwaur controlled many colonies and exerted influence across much of the Delta Quadrant, if not further, via a series of underspace corridors, until an alliance of species whom they had hostilities with destroyed their empire. In the more recent past, the Trabe controlled what is now Kazon territory, until the Kazon, whom were being used as something of a slave race, managed to stage an uprising. Prior to 2371, an entity known as the Caretaker, while not claiming any specific territory per se, was a major factor in the socio-political climate near the outer rim of the Delta Quadrant, in the midst of Kazon space. The Voth arrived in the quadrant millions of years ago and have had a presence ever since, but how far their space has extended, and if it has expanded or contracted at various times, is unknown.

Future of the political makeup of the quadrant.

While the future of the Delta Quadrant and the powers within it is unclear, and any attempts to outline the future is only speculation, a few important events will certainly shape things in the centuries after 2378. The blow to the Borg in 2378 may or may not affect the balances of power in the quadrant, but as the exact extent of the damage, if any, is unknown, it is unclear how this will affect things. The release and subsequent scattering of the remaining Vaadwauur is also likely to have an impact on the quadrant. While their technology was relatively out of date, they possess an edge in that they allegedly know many underspace corridors that were unknown to all but them. According to the Think Tank, the Vidiian phage was cured. The Vidiians were a technologically advanced species and without the crippling effects of the phage, they have the potential to become a formidable power.

See also: Alpha Quadrant, Beta Quadrant, Gamma Quadrant.