SPECIES: GORN

The Gorn are a reptilian race of the Alpha Quadrant, from planets with greater gravity than Earth and with a harsher climate, which accounts for their greater endurance.  The Gorn prize physical strenght and endurance over intellect.  The Gorn evolved on the planet S'sgarnon, a temperate, warm class M planet with a local gravity of 1.4 G. The government of the worlds controlled by the Gorn is called the Alliance.   The Gorn Alliance is controlled by two Autarchs, one who represents the Gorn home world and the other representing the colony worlds.
No state of war exists betwwen the Federation and the Alliance, thanks to negotiations after the initial contact.  Peace negotiations have progressed on Clanhaven, a Gorn world close to the frontier.  The Frontier Accord limits the buildup of military shipping in the disputed space, and a joint commission has been working to create a n agreeable boundary.
Negotiations progress slowly because the Gorn are split between those who would negotiate peacefully with the Federation and the faction that believes in direct confrontation.  Both factions agree on the premise that the Federation must not hinder Gorn expansion and the fulfillment of their Manifest Destiny.  The passion that once drove them to explore and conquer the stars has gone out in their hearts, and their society has begun to atrophy as a result.  This does not, however, make them easy opponents.  Any overt attempts to seize their holdings by force will result in the awakening of their military juggernaut.  The source of their degradation is a lack of strong leadership.  The Gorn King is old and has delegated the responsibilities of running the government to several vassals.  Unless a strong leader emerges from their political mire, the Gorn Alliance will continue its decline if it does not tear itself apart in civil war.

Despite the Alliances political weakness, the Gorn military is well maintained, well desciplined, and a worthy adversary.  Gorn vessels are designed for endurance and surviviblity not speed.  Though they have weaker shields their hulls are capable of withstanding enormous amounts of punishment.  Gorn vessels are equiped with a variety of weapons, many of which are based on modualated gravimetric field technology.  The Gorn have created homing torpedoes similar to Romulan design.  Gorn plasma torpedoes have a slightly higher nominal yield but are less stable over time restricting their range.  The Gorn also use their mastery of gravity in such weapons as the quantum-carrier wave beem, the gravitic harmonic resonace cannon, and the gravity density distortion sphere.  All of these weapons have a wide range but the affectiveness of these weapons is limited due to the lack of speed of Gorn ships.

The Gorn Alliance and the Tholian Assembly have had many violent skirmishes as of late involving the colony at Beta Scorpii III.  Recently the Gorn Alliance has liberated this system back into its controll.
Because the Federation has very little contact with the Gorn and their internal political strife keeps them well removed from intra-galactic affairs, they are considered a secondary enemy.