Taurus Reach in the 24th century

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Mage, Oct 6, 2012.

  1. Mage

    Mage Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm almost done re-reading Storming Heaven, and I was wondering if (except for the mentioning of some Vanguard-related issues in PoD) there has been any mentioning of the Taurus Reach and its current status in 24th century novels. Sofar it hasn't been mentioned in the 24th century novels released after Storming Heaven, but perhaps I have missed something in either those novels, or older novels.
     
  2. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    It's still mostly held by the Federation, but they underplay its history, for reasons that will of course be obvious to anyone who read the series. :) Pacifica is located deep in the Taurus Reach (this first mentioned in Reap The Whirlwind, if not evident beforehand from the Star Charts) and of course that's an active Federation member which is mentioned all the time in Trek lit. Never is there mention of trouble or tension in the area - characters pop back and forth to Pacifica all the time, quite casually. So apparently at least that part of the Reach is very settled now, part of the great peaceful mass of Federation space. Cestus is located on the far boundary of the Reach, and that's another system casually mentioned and travelled to - the Reach is evidently open for business and quite safe to move though. The Ravanar System is still held by the Federation - in fact, it was first mentioned in A Time to Kill, prior to Vanguard being launched. The Breen were snooping around and Starfleet Special Ops captured one of their ships (this ship later showed up in Zero Sum Game).

    I suppose the Klingons kept the parts they'd conquered - having the Star Charts at hand while reading Vanguard certainly supports that assumption, but the majority seems to have remained or become Federation territory.

    Between what we learn in Paths of Disharmony about the Federation downplaying the history of the region - referring to "Gariman Sector" in particular rather than the Taurus Reach as a whole - and the fact that a "Reach" in Trek terms seems to be an unexplored region into which ships and colonists are just starting to push (Cygnus Reach, Scorpius Reach and Orion Reach have all been mentioned in 24th century Trek lit), and the Taurus Reach isn't a frontier anymore, it seems likely that the term "Taurus Reach" doesn't get used in the 24th century. The systems are stil there, of course, but the Reach is perhaps no more. And the Federation wants the whole thing forgotten.
     
  3. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The Tholian opinion on the matter being another thing entirely, of course. What's public knowledge amongst the Tholians was actively suppressed by UFP Starfleet Command to the extent that several UFP presidents were kept in the starless dark about the whole matter.
     
  4. Sto-Vo-Kory

    Sto-Vo-Kory Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    In the Destiny trilogy, I believe the Tholian ambassador mentions "the crimes of the Taurus Reach" as one of the reasons the Tholians refuse to aid the Federation against the Borg. It's been a while since I read those books but I think he used that exact term -- Taurus Reach.
     
  5. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    She did. And yes, she did indeed say "crimes of the Taurus Reach" rather than "crimes of the Shedai Sector"; perhaps a pointed reminder that not only have the Tholians not forgotten or put it behind them, they're not going to ease up on who holds the responsibility for what happened...
     
  6. rfmcdpei

    rfmcdpei Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    To be honest, especially after Storming Heaven I sort of understood where the Tholians were coming from. Even for a non-xenophobic species, having a neighbouring superpower experimenting with the very beings who uplifted your species into sentience as slaves to build superweapons would be intolerable. Having each use of the technology be accompanied by a horrific prolonged mental rape of the Tholian collective consciousness ...
     
  7. Judith Sisko

    Judith Sisko Commander Red Shirt

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    Yes, and it will interesting to see if...
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    ::leaving plenty of space because it might be considered a story idea::

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    Starfleet admitting that they handled the Shedai situation all wrong, which will help bring a paradigm shift of sorts to the Typhon Pact/Federation Cold War.
     
  8. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    *thoughtful silence*
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2012
  9. Mage

    Mage Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I forgot all about those systems, but know that you mention them I remember.
    Thanks for the reminder. :D