The Trabe once shared their homeworld with the Kazon, but kept most of the planet's resources to themselves while forcing the Kazon to live in separate areas. The Trabe were highly regarded by other races for their advanced technological and artistic skills. Few races in the Delta quadrant knew of the Kazon or how they were treated because of they way that the Trabe manipulated information concerning the Kazon. Those that were aware did not wish to offend the Trabe and lose trading privileges with them. In 2346 the Kazon revolted and took control of the planet under the leadership of Jal Sankur. The Trabe were forced to flee their homeworld in whatever means they could find, but were never able to settle on another world because of constant attacks by the Kazon, who would drive them from any planet they tried to settle on.
In 2372, after numerous attacks on USS Voyager by the Kazon, Captain Janeway decided to consider a possible alliance with the Kazon as a means of securing safe passage fro her ship. Neelix suggested that he could make informal contact with the Kazon-Pommar settlement on Sobras in order to see if the Pommar maje, Jal Minnis, would be receptive to such an alliance. Neelix then traveled to Sobras in a shuttlecraft and made contact with Tersa, a Kazon whom Neelix thought could contact Minnis and propose the idea. Tersa was unwilling to cooperate with Neelix, and Neelix was dragged away and imprisoned in a cave along with Trabe refugees captured by the Pommar. Neelix met Mabus, the Trabe leader, and was told that the Trabe expected to be rescued very shortly. Mabus was correct and a group of Trabe soon appeared and rescued Neelix and the refugees, taking them to a large Trabe convoy. This convoy soon encountered Voyager, which was searching for Neelix, and Mabus went aboard Voyager and eventually agreed to forming an alliance between the Trabe and Voyager. Mabus then proposed that peace talks be held between the Voyager/Trabe alliance and the Kazon sects. Neelix then arranged for the peace conference to be held on Sobras. In spite of Neelix's discovery that a Takrit mercenary had been arrested by the Pommar while making a sketch of the conference site, Janeway decided to go through with the meeting. Although Tersa had been unwilling to help Neelix before, he gladly took the responsibility of helping with the conference in order to be rewarded by his maje. Along with Mabus and a small contingent from Voyager led by Janeway, the other participants in the conference were the majes of the Pommar, Mostral, Hobii, Oglamar and Nistrim sects. The conference started off with numerous majes expressing their suspicions concerning the motivations of Voyager and the Trabe. A short time into the conference Mabus tried to get the Voyager officers to confer with him outside the conference room. Before they would leave the conference was attacked by a small Trabe ship which was forced to flee the area when barraged by torpedoes fired from Voyager. Janeway, having beamed back to Voyager before the attack could begin, was disgusted at Mabus' treachery and returned him to his vessel after ending the alliance with the Trabe. Voyager then left Sobras before the Kazon could retaliate.