The Dominion War
In 2375, the two-year-long Dominion War, the largest and bloodiest war ever recorded by the known species of the Milky Way Galaxy, ended with the final captulation of the Dominion-Cardassian-Breen forces to the Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance. With the deaths of over seven billion sentient species, the war has been costly to all involved.
For the Federation, the war has had far-reaching effects. Starfleet has lost over one-thousand vessels, over fifteen percent of the fleet, and the efforts to rebuild could take years. In a rush to gain new allies, the Federation has expanded rapidly, opening up membership to species that would not have normally been eligible, either because they have just barely discovered warp drive, or because their societies are contrary to Federation interests. It is these elements that will begin to haunt the Federation in the coming years.
The Dominion's attempts to expand into the Alpha Quadrant have 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 will become a far more benevolant 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 has 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 takes over as Chancellor, the Klingon Empire is once again faced with yet another Civil War.
The Breen, always a reclusive race, have 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, occassionally 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 begin to appear from within the populace and the military, crying for changes.
Bajor has come 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 has been improved so greatly that many now predict the day when Bajor joins the United Federation of Planets.
The Ferengi Alliance is now completely unrecognizable from the society of just five years previously. While still mercheants 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 can 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 lie dead on Cardassia Prime alone. The once mighty military forces of the Cardassian Union are now virtually non-existant, 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 inabitants 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 sieze 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 occassional 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, assasinates the entire Romulan Senate and takes 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 negotations 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 least likely places; the undermanned, poorly defended Starbase 521. The only protection the small base has are an aged Oberth-class Science Ship McCullough, and Holmes' Akira II-class Icarus. The McCullough and the starbase are both lost, but not before Holmes manages the evacuation of hundreds of station personnel and the retreat of the Icarus.
After a summary court-martial of Holmes is convened by members of the Admiralty looking for a scapegoat for the loss of the starbase, Holmes is cleared at the orders of Starfleet's Commander-in-Chief, Fleet Admiral William Ross, and the Icarus is reassigned to the Twelfth Fleet, newly formed under the flag of Fleet Admiral Irene deMercereau. The Icarus and the Twelfth Fleet flagship Relentless recieve immediate orders to rendezvous in Romulan space, near the Galvanis system.
There they meet a large taskforce of Starfleet and Romulan ships under command of Captain Eliathin 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 tunring 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 independant resetlement to Galvanis. For the first time since the War ended, things seemed like they might be turning out bright.
October 1st, 2379
On October 1st, 2379, the Federation sufferes one of the worst attacks of its history. In a matter of hours, no less than a dozen attacks occur within Federation space, all by internal separatists. Among the attacks are the bombing of the Vulcan Science Academy, a bombing on Andor, and a plague released on Alpha Centauri. The worst attack of all, however, is the complete destruction of Starbase One, along with the consequent loss of several starships and civilian vessels, and severe damage to numerous ships, including the Icarus.
Several starships respond immediately at the orders of Fleet Admiral Irene deMercereau, Twelfth Fleet commander. The result is the discovery of over one-hundred thousand dead.
Over the next several months, Starfleet's vessels scour the Federation, trying to hunt down the terrorists. Only weeks after the bombings, the Federation member world Xanthi erupts into revolution, the oppressed lower classes rising up against the capitalists who control the government. The Miranda and the Arizona, along with an entire division of Starfleet Marines, head to the planet to quell the uprising - and end up assisting in the installation of a new democratic government.
The Miranda's later mission to the Gamma Quadrant has the distinction of being one of the most abnormal in Starfleet record, including the discoveries of two long-missing Starfleet ships, the Ambassador-class USS Chisolm and the original Miranda, NX-07, a long-lost human colony calling themselves the Arkedians, action against a Borg cube, and the discovery of the destroyed USS Alabama, flagship of Admiral Steven Ramsey. Due to the actions of one of Ramsey's officers, and forgeries of several Starfleet communique's, the Miranda nearly destroys the Founder Homeworld without cause, though this action is prevented by Captain Eliathin and his staff, preventing a second Dominion War.
The Icarus, in the meantime, has returned to the Alpha Quadrant, and is ordered by Twelfth Fleet command to assist a Romulan fleet in retaking a Romulan member world embroiled in a bloody civil war, in the interest of helping reinforce the Titan Accords. Upon arrival at Norkania, Captain Holmes discovers that the Romulan governor is a steadfast believer in the old guard, and that troops under his guidance have committed acts of genocide, murdering hundreds of thousands of Norkanians, all in the name of "workforce purification."
Despite orders from Starfleet Command to remain merely an observer, Holmes offers assistance to Admiral Sela of the Romulan Third Fleet, and, with the help of Commander Donatra of the warbird Valdore, succeeds in arresting the Romulan governor and restoring a stable government on Norkania.
Captain Rian of the new Titan-class Arizona is sent on a survey mission of the Black Cluster, the first ship to do so in several years. At the same time, the Federation suddenly recieves a message from the Breen Government, requesting peace talks. Suspicious of the Breen's newfound pacifism, Starfleet dispatches the starships Galaxy and Miranda to Breen, while simultaneously ordering Fleet Admiral deMercereau's Twelfth Fleet to perform a full-scale training exercise conveniantly close to the Breen border, just in case.
The Twelfth Fleet turns out to be very much needed when the sitting Breen government is overthrown by one Thot Gor, who takes the title Aval ("Protector"), and reveals himself as part of a powerful alliance; the Breen have joined with the T'Kith'kin, whose rumoured destruction turns out to be entirely false, and the Hydrans, long absent from Galactic politics. There is also a fourth power, though none yet know of its existance. As it stands, though, the three powers attack the Miranda and Galaxy in the Havras system, leading to a battle that costs both ships heavily in damage and personnel.
Saved only by the timely arrival of the Twelfth Fleet, the two starships are towed back to Starbase 212. The Relentless, too, is damaged, and all three ships are put into drydock for massive refits. Aval Gor, in the meantime, is revealed to have been behind the terrorist attacks eighteen months before, though this fact is classified by the Federation Council.
It is at this point that the Arizona, too, returns heavily damaged, and reports a harrowing story; there is a fourth power in the Breen/T'Kith'kin/Hydran alliance, the heretofore unknown Yanek Imperium, and Captain Rian has had a disaterous first contact with ships awaiting her arrival. The Arizona, too, is placed into drydock for refit.
This is the galaxy as it stands in 2381. Starfleet is still recovering from the Dominion War, and, with the help and activation of the local and reserve fleets, they are hunting down the separatists who attacked the Federation, and it is up to Starfleet's captains and crews to protect the citizens of the Federation from further destruction, with or without the help of the Federation Council. Captains like Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise, William Riker of the Titan, Eliathin Jii of the Miranda, Frank Thierren of the Relentless, Juan Holmes of the Icarus, Rianiassastranara'Cessk of the Arizona, Eva Paige of the Atlantis, Seamus Murdock of the Anduril, Rebecca Weber of the Texas, Stanley Prescott of the Tornado, John Westmoreland of Starbae 212, and Daren Runako M'Kantu of the Galaxy, all have a duty to defend the Federation, and will continue to do their duty - or die trying.
