For the producers of Deep Space Nine, the Maquis was the ideal title for the group of paramilitary Federation renegades they hoped would shake up the cozy and morally stark Star Trek universe.

The Maquis is the local name given to the dense scrubland that covers much of Corsica. It is also the name adopted in German-occupied France by groups of young men who hid in the hills and forests to escape forced labour in Germany. Organised into resistance groups, they played a crucial part in the national rising against the Germans on and after D-Day.

Introduced in the snappily-titled Deep Space Nine two-parter 'The Maquis', the rebels are composed of ex-Starfleet officers protesting against the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone. They formed around the colonies directly influenced by the border changes caused by the Federation-Cardassian Treaty of 2370.

The Maquis argue that the Federation have sacrificed the wellbeing of their own people in order to attain peace. Automatically disqualified from being viewed as Federation citizens, the Maquis' principled but belligerent stance has put them on the blacklist of Starfleet's apparatchiks.

Nevertheless, the appeal of the Maquis is seductive to many Starfleet officers. They have introduced an intriguing new dimension to what the supposedly squeaky-clean Federation was always meant to stand for. Maquis characters are arguably more interesting than run-of-the-mill Federation types: compare Voyager's Chakotay, Tom Paris and B'Ellana Torres to, well, most of the other central players. Bar Janeway and Seven, it's not hard to argue who has more dramatic clout.

A similar syndrome occurred in the Next Generation, where Ro Laren - played by Michelle Forbes - outshone some of her more homogenous co- stars. Eventually joining the Maquis, the character of Ensign Ro represented an attempt to shift away from the 'family' atmosphere perfected in the Next Generation and introduce the sense of hostility and tension which were to underscore Deep Space Nine.

Voyager's Maquis - led by Chakotay - appear to have meshed surprisingly well with the rest of the Federation crew, although their eventual return to the Alpha Quadrant is bound to re-awaken old political wounds.

Key Maquis episodes: Pre-emptive Strike (TNG), The Maquis Parts 1 and 2, (DS9), For the Cause (DS9) Caretaker (Voyager).