Hello and welcome to another episode of Truth OR Myth Beta Canon, a Star Trek web series that dives into a the history of any given topic using Beta Canon sources and my own imagination to fill in the gaps. In today’s episode, we’re taking a look at the state of the Federation from 2380- 2400, and how events within Galaxy would not only reshape Starfleet Command and the federation but the Alpha and Beta Quadrants as a whole.
Because this IS a Beta Canon video, all information relaid should pretty much be taken with a grain of stardust, and only considered a little bit of Star Trek Fun! And so, with all that out of the way, let us begin.
The latter part of the 24th Century would see major changes through out the Galaxy and with in the Federation itself. And today, we’ll discuss some of those major events and how they would impact the Alpha and Beta Quadrants…
By the Early 2380’s the Romulan Star Empire was a mess.
2379 had seen Shinzon of Remus succeed at a coup d’etat against the Praetor of the Empire and almost the Entire Romulan Senate. Fueled by Revenge, Shinzon would begin to execute a plan to destroy Earth using a Super Reman Battleship which itself contained an outlawed Thalaron Weapon that would be able to wipe out the population of Earth in one fowl swoop.
The U.S.S. Enterprise – E, Under the Command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, would be successful in stopping Shinzon, when Commander Data of the Enterprise destroyed the Reman Battleship, sacrificing his own life for the Federation and the crew he had served with for over 15 years.
With Shinzon’s deaths, the Romulan Star Empire was thrown into Chaos, as suddenly there was a power vacuum that several factions within the Empire intended to fill. One faction, which would become known as the Free Romulus Faction, would assume power for a short time and make an overture of peace to the United Federation of Planets, feeling that with Federation backing, their own power would be solidified, thereby legitimizing their new governmental body.
The United Federation of Planets at this time, was experiencing a golden age of sorts.
Having won the war with the Dominion, along with Several Battles against the Borg Collective, Starfleet had been making leaps and bounds in technology and starship designs, creating one of the most impressive fleets of starships the Galaxy had ever seen, and for the Federation, peace with the Star Empire, would basically be the cherry on top of this new golden age sundae, and so they sent one of their newest starships, the U.S.S. Titan under the commander of newly promoted Captain William T Riker, to Romulus to begin initial peace negotiations with the Empire.
All seemed to be going well. Ambassador Spock, who had been pushing for reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan peoples was heavily involved in the negotiations.
However, midway through 2380 would see that all fall a part once again after a devastating attack on the Romulan Empire.
The Borg Collective, though having been dealt a crippling blow by having one of their Transwarp Hubs destroyed by Captain Kathryn Janeway and the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager while returning to Earth, would attempt to build up their collective by invading not the Federation but the Star Empire instead. Sending a fleet of their Cubes into Romulan Space from the edge of the Delta Quadrant, the Star Empire massed almost all their starships in an effort to stop the Armada, while the U.S.S. Titan would attempt to convince Starfleet and the UFP to send its own starships to assist the Romulan Empire.
Though slow to respond at first, the Federation would begin to send large armadas of Federation Starships into Romulan Space and eventually, with the help of the Klingon Empire, the Cardassian Union, the Breen Confederacy and Even the Tholian Assembly, the Borg were beaten back and the Star Empire was saved. Instead of solidifying the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, however, the Star Empire once again fell into disarray when the Tal Shiar picked that vulnerable moment to attempt a coup and take the Romulan Empire for themselves.
As a result the Star Empire would once again close it’s borders while these issues were sorted out.
The Romulan Star Empire was no stranger to these types of events, and the closure and disappearance of the Empire from Galactic Politics were fairly commonplace, leading most powers within the Quadrants to expect a lengthy absence by the Romulan Empire.
The Federation was then shocked when less then 2 years later, the Star Empire would send a desperate plea to the Federation for assistance.
A star within the Hobus Star System, a system very close to the Romulan Home Worlds own system, entered an extreme and sudden period of Solar Activity, and Romulan Scientists deduced that the Star was suddenly in its final stages of life and in relatively short order, would go SuperNova destroying Romulus and threatening several nearby star systems within the Star Empire. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Flagship Enterprise E, would plead with the Federation to assist the Romulan Empire and was eventually successful in convincing the council to aid the Romulans.
This was not an easy feat, as several member worlds, including Vulcan, as against assisting the Empire as time and time again the Romulans had attempted to destabilize the Federation with several failed plots against them. And some of these failed plots had a lasting effect on several Federation Member Worlds, however, when Captain Picard spoke, people listened, and presenting the Council with a clear and logical plan for Romulus and its surrounding systems evacuation clinched the deal and the vote to assist the Star Empire would pass, even though by only a slim margin.
Captain Picard’s plans was simple and involved 3 distinct efforts by Starfleet Command.
The First part, was the recall of almost all of Starfleets Starships, almost 2000 starships in total.
These ships would be sent to Utopia Planitia for refit, Utopia Planitia itself being expanded for this project.
These starship would have all unnecessary amenities removed, living quarters converted to bunk style accommodations, their life support systems improved and reworked to allow for maximum possible occupancy aboard the starship and their command and control systems automated to allow for a minimum crew to pilot these vessels.
Simultaneously, Part 2 of the effort would also commence.
Part 2 seeing all resources of Starfleet diverted to the construction of over 8000 Wallenberg Class transports, again specially modified for the evacuation mission.
And the final Effort would see Ambassador Spock return to Vulcan and head up a special team at the Vulcan Science Academy charged with finding a way to either stop the Romulan Sun from going Nova, or to prevent it from doing any damage outside the Romulus Star System.
Promoting Captain Picard to the rank of Admiral and giving him command of the U.S.S. Verity, These efforts were going quite well, and by early 2385 the joint venture was far ahead of schedule, though 14 member worlds that still opposed rendering aid to the Star Empire were having constant battles within the Federation Council, then, on April 5th, 2385 Utopia Planitia and its shipyards would be attacked by Starfleet’s own Synths who would be successful in destroying almost the entire fleet of 10000 starships and Utopia Planitia itself and set the surface of Mars a Blaze.
Admiral Picard would return to Earth to put forth a new plan for the Federation and Starfleet to implement for the evacuation of Romulus.
This plan would see several older starships, decommissioned over the centuries of Starsfleet’s History pulled from decommission yards, upgraded and quickly refit with new technologies and accommodations and then sent post-haste to Romulus. What Admiral Picard however didn’t know, was the Romulan Question had already been decided before he had arrived.
The Federation Council, immediately after the Synth Attack on Mars, had been called in to emergency session and had agreed and voted on 2 major points. The first being the ban of all synthetic life in the federation and the 2nd being the cessation of any and all efforts to assist the Romulan Star Empire with it’s evacuation.
It isn’t difficult to understand the federation and Starfleet’s position.
Due to the surprise Synth attack, Starfleet’s forces were suddenly cut by 3/4 as most of the recalled starships that had been receiving their refit and upgrades had been destroyed or severely damaged in the attack, leaving Starfleet and the Federation quite vulnerable, and so it had come down to preserving the federation with what forces Starfleet had left, or helping the Star Empire and risk several member worlds succeeding from the Federation.
The vote was almost unanimous.
Upon his arrival, Admiral Picard would be shocked and dismayed to discover the Federation no longer intended to assist the star empire but would still present his plan to the council in an attempt to reverse the decision, but he was unsuccessful, and in a last-ditch effort to change their minds, Admiral Picard would threaten the Council with his resignation, something he felt, that especially now, the federation could not afford, but he was wrong.
Starfleet Command and the Federation Council accepted his resignation and Admiral Picard left Starfleet a deflated man who no loner believed that Starfleet was living up to it’s ideals that had been set forth long before he had joined the organization.
Though Starfleet and the federation no longer intended to help the Romulan Empire, this change of heart did not affect Ambassador Spock and his team working on the problem and continuing their work, by 2387, the Vulcan Science academy had felt they had a solution to the problem, though not a perfect one… By using a substance known as Red Matter they had developed, they could essentially create a small black hole that would envelop the supernova before it reached the Romulan Home star, thereby saving Romulus and its people.
But, the Vulcan High Council, once informed of the red Matter breakthrough, forbade its use in the matter until the Federation Council could vote on whether to utilize this new technology to assist the Star Empire.
Normally, this silly bureaucracy could be forgiven, however, due to the fact that the Hobus Star could now go SuperNova at any moment, there simply wasn’t any time to waste, and so, Ambassador Spock would steal the Red Matter and the fastest Vulcan Starship ever created known as the Jellyfish and set course for Hobus… He was too late. By the time he reached his destination, the star had already gone supernova, somehow having its destructive energy travel through subspace and had destroyed the Romulan Home World and its star system.
Using the red Matter, however, Ambassador Spock would be successful in saving the surrounding star systems, but Ambassador Spock would be lost in the attempt. With the Romulan Homeworld destroyed and the Romulan fleet having been decimated by the earlier Borg Invasion, the Romulan Star Empire collapsed.
Several Subjugated worlds rebelled and forced the Occupying Romulan forces off their homeworlds, while the Reunification, free Romulus faction preached freedom for all remaining Romulans. Though some of the remaining Romulan Starships would engage in minor battles to hold their empire together, this effort would prove unsuccessful and unpopular.
With seemingly no one to back them any longer, the Tal Shiar would withdrawal to several Romulan Colonies along the Delta Quadrant borders, and they themselves would closing off these borders and cutting all contact with the former Star Empire worlds and the Federation.
A New Organization known as the Fenris Rangers would take up the task of restoring law and order to areas formally known as the Neutral Zone, but their success would be limited.
The Klingon Empire for its part, would accept several former Romulan Worlds along their border as protectorates and members of their own Empire but would refuse to help the Free Romulan Faction re-establish power within the borders of their old empire, and left with no choice, the Free Romulan faction would once again turn to the Federation for assistance, but this time with their hat in hand for the very basics of survival.
Knowing the position of their own fleet was vulnerable, and fearing the remaining Romulan Forces might attack the federation, the Council agreed to assist the Free Romulan Government and sent aid immediately to the new leader of what remained of the former Star Empire, D’Tan, an original member of Spock’s reunification disciples.
No one new what to make of this unexpected alliance, and many believed it would fail, however, after a dead Borg Cube was found in Romulan Space, and D’Tan had immediately brought it to the Federation Councils attention with an offer of a joint scientific venture upon the cube, Starfleet and the federation began to feel more at ease, as over time the 2 governments would form a long lasting relationship which would eventually lead to a lasting bond between them.
Starfleet would begin to rebuild its forces almost immediately after the Synth Attack, though instead of simply building all the starship designs it once had, it chose instead to take an experimental starship design and construct it on mass, this design would become known as the Inquiry Class.
And by 2399, Starfleets forces had been completely rebuilt up to strength, and Starfleet had once again begun to construct several other new classes of a starship with new technologies developed and specific mission profiles in mind.
Currently, the Galaxy is experiencing a relatively peaceful time within its confines. No one has seen hide nor hair of the Borg Collective, the Klingon Empire has been fairly silent maintaining its peace treaty with the Federation.
The Cardassian Union has formally declared its intention to join the Federation. The Gorn Hegemony has sent peace feelers to the federation, the Tholian Assembly and even the Orion Syndicate has remained relatively quiet.
All seems well, but there are those elements within the Federation that are simply not buying this moment of peace, waiting for the other shoe to finally drop and are preparing for that eventually.
However, for now, the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet Command have begun to explore the cosmos once again, creating starships classes the likes of which no one had ever seen, seeking out new life and new civilizations, expanding the knowledge and diversity within the Federation. Boldly going, where no one, has ever, gone before…
Thank you for watching today’s episode of Truth or Myth Beta Canon, How do you feel about the state of the Federation and the surrounding governments heading in to the 25th Century? Do you like the story I’ve laid out here and want to see more videos like this one? Well leave your comments in the section below and don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel
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