Metron
The Metrons are a powerful, enigmatic race, encountered within the Beta Quadrant, though it is unknown whether they are native to that region, or even to the Milky Way Galaxy.
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History and Politics
The central government unit of the Metrons is called the Metron Consortium. It is suspected by theorists that the Metrons occupying the region of space claimed by the Consortium are all members of the same central government, and there hasn't been and evidence to suggest otherwise. There have only been two known contacts between the Federation and the Metrons.
First Contact with the Federation
The Metrons were first encountered by the United Federation of Planets in 2267. Captain James T. Kirk and the USS Enterprise were pursuing a Gorn vessel that had destroyed the observation outpost located on Cestus III, when the Enterprise was scanned from the uncharted solar system at 2466 PM.
The Gorn vessel inexplicably slowed and stopped. Thinking they planned to fight, Kirk prepared to engage – and then the Enterprise likewise slowed and stopped. Both ships were being held in place from the solar system at 2466 PM; not by tractor beams, but rather by "an unidentifiable power". The Metrons, declaring both species savages, prepared a planet and removed the captain of each ship to it. There, they were to fight to the death, and the outcome of this contest would determine which ship survived, and which was destroyed.
Eventually, Kirk won the fight, but elected to spare his helpless opponent. This demonstration of mercy surprised the Metrons, whose analysis of the situation did not lead them to expect it. A Metron appeared to Kirk, and suggested that, although the Federation was still half savage, there might be hope for it in a few thousand years. The Metrons then returned Kirk to the Enterprise and transported the ship 1,600 light years away from their space.
A Test of Civility
In 2386, the Metrons made an unusual move and actively contacted the since-developed full colony on Cestus III, and offered an arm of diplomatic friendship. No further details were given, other than a series of coordinates and a stardate. Vice Admiral Sanchez, the commander of the newly-reformed 11th Fleet stationed on Cestus, boarded the USS Endeavour and ordered the ship to the coordinates, on a tight deadline to make the trip on time.
The Endeavour was left waiting at the specified coordinates for over an hour, with nothing visible within sensor range, before it began to move forward, not under its own engines, but under the same unidentifiable power that effected the Enterprise over a hundred years prior. The ship was pulled at speeds higher than the vessel's top rated warp velocity, until it was orbiting a blue-green globe, seemingly perfect for humanoid habitation. Immediately upon reaching orbit, a Metron appeared on the viewscreen and announced their desire for 'the leaders' - Admiral Sanchez and Commander Byrne to come down to the planet's surface, before removing them there, using the same technique that they used upon Captain Kirk and the Gorn captain during the previous contact incident.
The Metrons informed the two that Byrne and the Endeavour were to take a 'test', before returning the commander to his ship and transporting them to another galaxy, into the middle of a conflict between two races - the Arktina and the Obrinkhan Imperium. The Metrons had also transferred a pregnant starfleet officer - Lieutenant Hannah Edroski to the region in a shuttlecraft - who was promptly captured and interrogated by the Obrinkhans. Though the crew managed to retrieve the Lieutenant, instigate a friendly dialogue with the Arktinans and bring the two species together to begin to mediate the dispute, Byrne was forced to use a phaser to stun the Obrinkhan representative to prevent him from killing his Arktinan counterpart, seemingly bringing the test to its conclusion.
Being transported back to Metron space, Byrne was informed that, though he had managed to decipher the nature of the test, his crew had failed to resolve the dispute without violence, and that they had failed the test. Byrne countered that the test itself was barbarian by nature, and Admiral Sanchez turned the Metron's own comments a hundred years ago back on them, announcing that the Federation would not wish ties formed with such a barbaric race, and that they should talk again once the Metrons had become more civilised.
Physiology
In the two known contact incidents, the Metrons have appeared almost identical to humans, but it is unknown whether this was an illusion, or an effect of the Metrons advanced abilities.
Metrons have long life spans; the representative that met Kirk was approximately 1,500 years old, despite appearing as little more than a boy. His comment to Kirk suggests an interest in the political and sociological geometry of the galaxy spanning thousands of years - it is possible that this perspective is a consequence of this long life span.
The Metrons have demonstrated the ability to manipulate forms of energy unknown to Federation science: To perform comprehensive scans at great range, to transport matter great distances instantly, and perhaps to rapidly terraform planets to specific requirements. All of these feats are well beyond what even 24th century Federation technology can accomplish. This suggests their science and technology is hundreds or thousands of years more advanced than that of the Federation.