Exploring Beta Canon – Star Trek Universe Post Nemesis – Pt6

Exploring Beta Canon – Star Trek Universe Post Nemesis – Pt6

Our last instalment covered the resurrection of Data, the christening of the new Deep Space Nine, and the uncovering of Section 31’s numerous nefarious acts.  Today, we’ll explore some Cardassian intrigue and a significant crisis for the Andorians, as well as some major trouble at home for the heroes of Starfleet.  We will also catch up with Captain Ro Laren, Dr Katherine Pulaski and a few more of our beloved characters.

Note: these events chronologically take place before the unravelling of Section 31.  Apologies for any confusion, but we thought Part 5 flowed better that way.

Let’s fly!

Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust by David R. George III
Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust – By David R. George III
Cardassian Intrigue

During the christening of the new DS9, the Enterprise is on station at Cardassia preparing for Starfleet’s withdrawal from the planet, set to be finalized by a ceremony with President Bacco after the dedication.  The withdrawal is opposed by Cardassia First, with an associated politician planning to stand against Castellan Garan in the next election.

The situation turns dire following word of President Bacco’s assassination, with Bajoran councillor Ishan Anjar, named president pro tempore until a new election is held in sixty days, postponing Starfleet’s withdrawal.  This leads to riots in the streets and Ishan’s order for Starfleet personnel to remain in their compounds and expel Cardassian nationals.

Elim Garak, by this time a prominent politician on Cardassia, discovered that the True Way, a Cardassian dissident group, was behind Bacco’s assassination.  Further investigation revealed that not only was the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau aware of the True Way’s role in the assassination but that they and Castellan Garan had been actively covering up this fact.  Garak sends a message to Jean-Luc Picard detailing this information, but his skimmer is destroyed soon after.

A Cardassian constable investigating the recent murder of a Bajoran Starfleet officer found that some of her fellow officers were behind the murder and linked to the True Way.  At the same time, Garak is revealed to have survived the explosion with Picard’s help and he begins a purge of the constabulary and intelligence bureau of personnel linked to the True Way.  Following this, he convinced Garan not to stand for re-election and then stands for Castellan himself, winning the election.

Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow - By Una McCormack
Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow – By Una McCormack

Ishan then decided to proceed with the withdrawal, although Captain Picard and Admiral Leonard James Akaar, commander in chief of Starfleet, are not sure how the president pro tempore would react to news of Cardassian involvement in the assassination and choose to keep quiet about that fact.

The Andorian Crisis

Research has continued on Andoria into a resolution of the reproductive crisis, but the coalition government headed by the hardline Treishya party has actively been preventing the efforts from coming to fruition until they themselves can take credit, withholding much of the Taurus meta-genome data supplied by the Tholians.  Thirishar ch’Thane, former science officer of Deep Space Nine and one of the chief genetic researchers on the project, smuggled a message to Julian Bashir asking for his help. 

This is made challenging by President Ishan’s hardline stance regarding the Andorians, which has manifested in a trade embargo and Starfleet blockade. Bashir received the message and resolved to help the Andorians in whatever way he can.  He assembles a group of doctors and genetics experts, including Dr Katherine Pulaski, on Bajor in secret to research the meta-genome using data acquired from Section 31 by his lover, Sarina Douglas. 

The team successfully created a cure, but a rogue Starfleet Intelligence operative sent word to President Ishan of the team’s existence, and he orders Captain Ro Laren to shut down the project.  By the time Ro’s officers arrive at the compound, Bashir is gone, having injected himself with the cure and escaped Bajor.  The Aventine is ordered to intercept Bashir in his civilian ship and succeeds in doing so in Andorian orbit.

Bashir then requested political asylum on Andoria, but the reigning Presider, who is also the leader of the Treishya, ordered the Andorian ships in orbit to turn Bashir over to Starfleet. ch’Thane makes the Presider’s actions public, which turns popular opinion against the Treishya and allows the Progressive Caucus to take power, then beams aboard Aventine to help Bashir escape.

 Star Trek: The Fall:  Ceremony of Losses - By David Mack
Star Trek: The Fall: Ceremony of Losses – By David Mack

Ishan sent Starfleet ships as reinforcement for Aventine, but Captain Dax prevents them from taking the escaped doctor into custody; she also covers Bashir as he and the Andorian research team transmits the cure’s information to sites all over the planet where mass production can begin without the Treishya or Typhon Pact being able to take credit.  Following this, Bashir and Dax surrender to Starfleet, and the Andorians apply to rejoin the Federation, with their application fast-tracked by the Federation Council. 

Progressive leader Kellessar zh’Tarash announced her intention to stand for election against Ishan, while Admiral Akaar, dissatisfied with Ishan’s willingness to use Starfleet as a political tool, resolves to oppose him.  The first two children conceived following the cure’s dispersal are named for Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax.

Trouble at Home

The USS Titan is recalled to Earth from its exploration mission in the Gum Nebula following Bacco’s assassination.  Upon arrival, Will Riker is promoted to admiral by Admiral Akaar, who informs Riker of the True Way’s role in the assassination and President Ishan’s ignoring of this fact in favour of souring the relationships with the Pact and the Andorians.  Commander Tuvok, who had served as Riker’s tactical officer on Titan since 2379, is recruited into a special operations outfit called Active Four along with Nog and Thomas Riker and tasked with tracking down the Tzenkethi responsible for the assassination.

The team soon discovered that their targets were actually Cardassians affiliated with the True Way after capturing four of them; instead of taking them to Earth for trial, Active Four is ordered to a secret Klingon Imperial Intelligence facility staffed by mercenaries where the team leader, Starfleet Intelligence officer Jan Kincade, begins torturing the captives to death.

Star Trek: The Fall : The Poisoned Chalice - By James Swallow
Star Trek: The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice – By James Swallow

Tuvok, Nog, and Tom try to get the Cardassians out of the facility, but they are killed in a firefight with the mercenaries.  Then the Titan and two Klingon ships raid the facility, and in the confusion, Nog kills Kincade before he and the rest of Active Four are rescued by the Titan.  rThe Klingons proceed to destroy the entire facility to keep their involvement unknown.  Titan then returns to Earth and Admiral Riker learns that Ishan’s chief of staff, who had been behind Active Four’s mission, had taken full responsibility for the incident and been arrested, while President Ishan got off scot-free.  Riker resolves to prevent Ishan from gaining further power, and he and Deanna Troi contact Jean-Luc Picard for help.

Since its mission at Cardassia, the Enterprise had been tasked with routine assignments, including monitoring trade talks with the Typhon Pact, and patrolling the Neutral Zone; Picard and Riker felt the flagship was being kept out of the way of events unfolding in the Alpha Quadrant.  Enterprise diverts to Deep Space Nine under the pretext of delivering Beverly Crusher to the station to take over temporarily as Chief Medical Officer.  Crusher then meets with a Cardassian doctor on the planet Jevalan; the doctor has uncovered evidence that Ishan Anjar is not who he appeared to be, and that the real Ishan had died some years earlier.

After the doctors meet with Tom Riker, sent by Will to help, they are attacked by another special ops group but uncover the true identity of the president pro tempore: Baras Rodirya, a Bajoran who had provided the Cardassians with information on resistance activities during the Occupation.  The real Ishan Anjar had been executed and Baras had been impersonating him ever since.

Star Trek: The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward
Star Trek: The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward

Enterprise discovered the mission on Jevalan after encountering a distressed Andorian freighter rigged to explode by the same special ops group that attacked Crusher and set off to rescue the doctor and her cohorts.  By the time they arrive, the special ops team had captured Crusher and her team, and the USS Tonawanda had been dispatched to retrieve the captives.  Tonawanda fired on Enterprise but stood down after its first officer relieved its captain, allowing Crusher and her team to overpower their captors and escape to Enterprise.

Soon after, Baras is arrested in the Federation Council Chambers on a combination of evidence provided by Crusher and testimony from Baras’ former chief of staff, who proved willing to turn against the president pro tempore when threatened with his own execution.  In addition, Castellan Garak announced the capture of the leader of the True Way who had conspired with Baras to assassinate President Bacco.

In the election that followed, Kellessar zh’Tarash is elected president.  Captain Picard requests a mission of exploration and sets off.

In the time it’s taken to write and post this series, the Coda trilogy has begun its release schedule, with books one and two available now and book three available November 30.  I’ve begun reading the trilogy and I intend to add a summary of those tumultuous events as the final part of this series. 

It should be online sometime in January so everyone can have a chance to read the books themselves.  The next instalment of Exploring Beta Canon will describe the Alpha canon events as referenced in Star Trek: Picard season one and as depicted in several works of tie-in fiction, including novels and comics.

Read The Novels That Cover These Events…
Read The Complete Beta Canon Series

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