Post by Q on Nov 29, 2005 15:14:51 GMT
Opening Story
The Dominion War
From the beginning of 2373 to the end of 2375, the three-year-long Dominion War, the largest and bloodiest war ever recorded by the known species of the Milky Way Galaxy, ended with the final capitulation of the Dominion-Cardassian-Breen forces to the Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance. With the deaths of over seven billion sentient species, the war was costly to all involved.
For the Federation, the war had far-reaching effects. Starfleet lost over one-thousand vessels, over fifteen percent of their fleet, and the efforts to rebuild have taken years. In a rush to gain new allies, the Federation expanded rapidly, opening up membership to species that would not have normally been eligible, either because they had just barely discovered warp drive, or because their societies were contrary to Federation interests. It is these elements that begun to haunt the Federation for the coming years.
The Dominion's attempts to expand into the Alpha Quadrant failed entirely, resulting in a loss of manpower and equipment that they can not readily afford. They have returned to the Gamma Quadrant, though with the assistance of Odo, there is hope that the Founders have and will become a far more malevolent race.
After a brief war with their allies of four score, the Klingon Empire found itself allied once again with the Federation, and for a short while, the Klingon fleet was the only defense against the Breen weapons technologies of the war. The Klingon fleet had suffered worse than either of their two allies, losing not only thirty percent of their fleet, but also their Chancellor, Gowron, who wasted numerous Klingon ships and lives before meeting his death at the hands of Worf. When Martok took over as Chancellor, the Klingon Empire was once again faced with yet another Civil War over their leadership.
The Breen, always a reclusive race, had suffered less than most of the Galaxy's races, having immediately isolated themselves upon the loss of the war. While the rest of the quadrant began rebuilding, the Breen sat silently, watching, occasionally appearing briefly to remind the rest of the major powers that they are still quite dangerous.
After having been enemies with the Federation for well over two-hundred years, the Romulan Star Empire found itself allied with both the Federation and the Klingons against a common threat. One in every twelve Romulan ships sent into battle never returned, and the inhabitants of the twin worlds Romulus and Remus have grown tired of funerals. New names began to appear from within the populace and the military, crying for changes.
Bajor came out of the war far better off than was expected, considering a brief Dominion occupation of their space. Bajoran forces were mainly utilized in guarding their borders, and their relationship with the Federation improved so greatly that the planet finally became a member world of the UFP.
The Ferengi Alliance is now completely unrecognizable from the society of just ten years previously. While still merchants and capitalists, the Ferengi find themselves led by the unknown younger brother of a mediocre businessman, and many of Grand Nagus Rom's reforms are viewed with great hostility. Several Ferengi have continued to sell their services to the highest bidder, whether it conflicts with the goals of the Alliance or not
But by far the worst results of the war could be seen in the Cardassian Union. Cardassian Prime was scoured by Dominion troops in the final hours of the war, an act of revenge against the Cardassian resistance's success and the betrayal of the Dominion by the entire Cardassian fleet. Eight-hundred million civilians laid dead on Cardassia Prime alone. The once mighty military forces of the Cardassian Union are now virtually non-existent, and dozens of factions vie for power. The Cardassian Republic is the current name of the government - so long as it lasts. Alon Ghemor is it's chief executive.
The Rising Tide
Within the Federation, several small and quiet factions have begun to emerge, gaining followings, pushing either for change within the Federation itself, or the resignation of various member worlds. Starfleet usually knows little of these groups, if they even know they exist at all, and many factions begin to gain supporters within the fleet itself.
As the Romulan Star Empire begins to lose control over the native inhabitants of Remus, several Reman members of the Romulan military begin to gain notable power within the Romulan government. Of these, the most prominent of all is not a Reman at all, but turns out to be a clone of a human Starfleet officer. This man will eventually get so close to the Senate itself that he will find himself able to seize the reigns of power overnight.
Slowly, the gears of galactic politics turn, threatening each moment to explode. Whilst the Federation separatists are a nuisance, they do no real harm. It is the Cardassian separatists that cause the most damage, along with the occasional raids by Breen ships into the border sectors of both the Federation and the Cardassian Union. As the Cardassian Civil War continues, the Federation assists as they can, but their own rebuilding efforts often distract them from the task.
Eventually, the Federation and the Klingon Empire open diplomatic negotiations with the recognized governing body of Cardassia, the Provisional Detapa Council, in hopes that economic and diplomatic ties will help aid the ailing former imperial power. The man sent by the Federation is one of the rising stars in Starfleet, Juan Carlos Holmes, the twenty-eight year-old son of a Human Starfleet engineer and a Bajoran refugee. Having fought two years with the Bajoran resistance, Holmes has risen to the rank of Fleet Captain after a mere ten years in Starfleet, and commands his own task group of starships and starfighters.
Unfortunately, the negotiations break apart after one of the Cardassian governments top officials is revealed to be the former superintendant of one of the Bajoran concentration camps. Holmes abandons the negotiations, and Starfleet takes his task force and his rank, demoting him to captain and shunting him and his ship aside to the Federation back-waters of Starbase 521.
Federation and Klingon relations are somewhat strained over the Tezwa Incident, in which it was revealed that during the Dominion War, the Federation armed a colony on the Federation-Klingon border with devastating planetary-scale pulse cannons. In order to keep this fact secret, Federation President Min Zife, who led the Federation during the Dominion War, and his Chief of Staff, Koll Azernoll, resign, citing that they are not the right men for a time of peace. One month later, Governor Nan Bacco of Cestus III was elected President of the United Federation of Planets.
Around the same time, Shinzon, the clone of Starfleet captain Jean-Luc Picard, has, with the help of his Reman allies, assassinated the entire Romulan Senate and taken over the Romulan Empire, extending false peace initiatives to the Federation, and attempting to attack Earth before being stopped by combined Federation and Romulan forces. As a consequence, peace is achieved after negotiations by Captain William Riker of the starship Titan.
Meanwhile, in an entirely unexpected move, the Breen launch a twelve-ship assault force at one of the lest likely places; the undermanned, poorly defended Starbase 521. Numerous border skirmishes at this time take place with the Breen, something that continues for years - even to this present day.
There they meet a large taskforce of Starfleet and Romulan ships under command of Captain Elaithin Jii of the Miranda. Several Federation and Romulan outposts have been recently destroyed by Reman separatists, and they have been cornered at Galvanis III, where they have a massive Dominion-style shipyard turning out several of the large Scimitar-class Warbirds. After a prolonged battle, a team of Starfleet Rangers manages to infiltrate the station, and it is destroyed by explosives. The Reman force is forced to surrender, and after negotiations, the Reman people begin the independent resettlement to Galvanis. For the first time since the War ended, things seemed like they might be turning out bright.