A mixed crew of mercenaries commanded by Arctus Baran, who looted archaeological sites for fragments of an ancient Vulcan weapon and unknowingly took Picard and Riker into their ranks.
Baran's mercenaries are a band of hired raiders drawn from several species, among them the Romulan Tallera and the crewmen Narik and Vekor. Baran keeps them in line with neural servos fixed to their necks, which let him inflict pain from a control he carries.
They appear in the two parts of Gambit. The Enterprise crew believe the gang has killed Picard, but he has joined it under the name Galen, a smuggler with a knowledge of artefacts. Riker is captured on Barradas III and plays the part of a disaffected officer, while the two quietly turn the crew against Baran.
The pieces the raiders are collecting form the Stone of Gol, a psionic resonator. Tallera is really T'Paal, a member of the Vulcan isolationist movement, who intends to use it on Vulcan until Picard shows that it has no power over a peaceful mind.