A Brief History of the United Federation of Planets

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Corat Damar

“For Cardassia!” – Corat Damar​

Legate Corat Damar had been a disciple of Skrain Dukat and inherited his position of power on Cardassia after Dukat’s fall from grace. The rise of the Breen in the Dominion hierarchy came at the expense of Damar’s position and that of the Cardassian people, whom which the Dominion treated as disposable second-class citizens. After the Dominion allowed 500,000 Cardassian soldiers to fall to Klingon forces on Septimus III, Damar had finally had enough. He freed Worf and Dax from captivity and told them to inform the Federation that they now had an ally on Cardassia. In secret, Damar began to form an underground resistance movement within the Cardassian military.

Breen Offensives and the Second Battle of Chin’toka

The boost that the Breen gave to the Dominion War effort instantly negated any advanced that the combined Alpha Quadrant forces had made. They attacked the very heart of Federation space in a daring attack on Starfleet Headquarters in San Franscisco on Earth itself. The attacking force was destroyed, but not before causing significant casualties and damage. Soon after, Breen forces attacked the Chin’toka system, breaking the Federation’s only foothold in Dominion space.

When the Federation, Klingon and Romulan reinforcements arrived at Chin’toka for the counterattack, they were confronted by a Breen fleet equipped with a deadly new technology that drained the power of the Federation vessels, leaving them helpless to the Breen attack. The Second Battle of Chin’toka was a complete disaster for the Alpha Quadrant forces, who lost 311 out of 312 vessels in the attack.

The only vessel to survive the attack was a Klingon vessel whose engineer had made adjustments to the vessel’s warp-core just prior to the battle. General Martok ordered all of the ships in the Klingon fleet to make the same adjustments to their warp cores while the Federation and Romulan fleets scrambled to make similar adjustments to their own fleets.

Founder Illness

During this time a mysterious malady had befallen the Changelings, disrupting their morphogenic structure and effecting their ability to change their form. They were unable to hold their physical form without their “skin” peeling and flaking from their bodies. The disease had affected the entirety of the Great Link and without a cure, the prognosis was fatal for the entire species. Vorta scientists worked to find a cure without pause or rest to find a cure without success.

When Doctor Bashir detected the virus within Odo, Bashir requested Odo’s Medical files from his examination at Starfleet Headquarters on Earth from Stardate 49419 in hopes of developing a cure, only to told that the files were classified and that he should drop the matter. Fortunately, Captain Sisko had the proper clearance to obtain the information, but when Bashir received the files, he realized that the data had been falsified.

Suspecting the involvement of Section 31, Bashir and Chief Miles O’Brien investigated deeper and came to the realization that the virus was a Section 31 creation meant to bring about the genocide of the Changeling people and that they had infected Odo with the virus to use him as the agent of delivery.

Miles O’Brien

“It’s not you I hate Cardassian; I hate what I became because of you.” – Miles O’Brien​

No history of Starfleet can be complete without mention of Chief Miles Edward O’Brien, whom some have called “the most important man in Starfleet history”, as a symbol of the importance of the often-unsung contributions to Starfleet’s enlisted personnel. Though never a captain or admiral, O’Brien’s career placed him front and center of several turning points in the 24th century -- the liberation of Jean-Luc Picard from the Borg, the exposure of Section 31’s virus against the Founders, and the final days of the Dominion War.

Born in Ireland in 2328, O’Brien was a gifted musician but chose Starfleet over attending the Aberdeen Music Academy, enlisting at age seventeen. First serving aboard the USS Rutledge during the Cardassian border wars, he endured the horrors of the Setlik III massacre, an event where O’Brien was forced to take a life for the first time, an experience that shaped his complicated view of the Cardassians. By 2364, he was transporter chief of the USS Enterprise-D, and in 2369 became chief of operations on Deep Space Nine.

The Cure

Working together, Bashir and Chief O’Brien lured Section 31 Director Sloan to the station with a false message sent to Starfleet Medical claiming to have found the cure, which would disrupt Section 31’s plans of genocide. After capturing Sloan, Bashir connected him to a Romulan Memory Scanner, technology that is illegal in Federation space.

Rather than let the secret of the cure escape, Sloan chose to activate a suicide chip in his head. Bashir and O’Brien took the step of using the invasive tech to enter Sloan’s mind and retrieve the information directly before he died. After successfully developing a vaccine, Bashir deliver the cure to Odo, completely eliminating the virus from his system. While Starfleet now possessed the cure to the virus, they chose not to share it with the Dominion so long as the Founders were at war with the Alpha Quadrant.

This decision to withhold the cure from the Founders is one that remains controversial. While Starfleet could not be held responsible for the unauthorized actions of Section 31, some argue that their refusal to mitigate the damage done by Section 31 when they had the power makes them ethically complicit in the crime.

Damar’s Resistance

Damar’s resistance movement revealed itself when Cardassian vessels under Damar’s command attacked the Dominion cloning facility on Rondac III, limiting the Dominion’s ability to create Vorta and Jem Hadar. To assist Damar, Sisko ordered Kira into Cardassian space accompanied by Odo and Garak, to find and assist Damar’s movement. Kira advised Damar and his movement in the kind guerilla warfare that enabled the Bajorans to defeat the Cardassian occupation. Despite some push-back from some of his people, Damar took Kira’s advice to heart and incorporated it into his strategies when attacking and destroying a key Dominion shipyard.

With Federation efforts to counter the Breen energy dissipation weapon unsuccessful, plans were made by Damar’s cell to infiltrate a Dominion repair facility to acquire one of the Breen weapons for study by the Federation. After commandeering a vessel equipped with the weapon, Kira and Odo returned to DS9 with the valuable technology. Kira would return to Cardassian territory while Odo stayed behind for medical attention.

Chancellor Martok

“This is a moment worth savoring. To victory, hard fought and well earned.” -- Martok​

General Martok had grown very popular among the Klingon people, who began to hold him a similar or higher regard than they did for Chancellor Gowron himself. Gowron was jealous of Martok’s popularity and sought to eclipse the General’s status by taking control of the war effort himself.

After Gowron’s hubris dishonorably wasted Klingon lives and resources at the Battle of Avenall VII, Worf decided to take action and challenged Gowron in open council. Worf defeated Gowron in a battle to the death, but rather than take the Chancellorship for himself, he passed the honor onto Martok as he was the best choice to lead the Empire into the future. This was the second time that Worf had had a direct hand into succession of the Chancellorship.

Gambit of the Pah Wraiths

Dukat, guided by the Pah Wraiths and surgically altered to appear Bajoran, travelled to Deep Space 9 to carry out their designs against the Prophets and his revenge against Benjamin Sisko. At this time, the Pah Wraiths recruited the Bajoran Kai Winn Adami, who despite her protestations of faith, had never truly embraced the teachings of the Prophets and used her position within the church for the furtherment of her own power rather than to the service of the Prophets.

Together, they were tasked to bring about what the Pah Wraiths described as “The Restoration”, the release from their ancient imprisonment by the Prophets in the “Fire Caves” on Bajor. Dukat approached Winn in guise as a Bajoran farmer named Anjohl Tennan and gained her trust with the deception. Dukat used her jealousy of Sisko’s relationship with the Prophets to win her over to their cause. By studying the ancient Book of the Kost Amojan, Winn deciphered the dark texts and the pair made plans to release the Pah Wraiths and destroy the Prophets.

The Civilian Resistance

Damar started by travelling to Cardassia with Kira and Garak in hopes of bringing more troops into his cause only to be betrayed by Gul Revok, who revealed himself as a Dominion collaborator. Dominion forces destroyed Damar’s ship, leaving the trio stranded on Cardassia while Dominion forces destroyed all of Damar’s resistance bases.

The group sought refuge in Garak’s childhood home, the former home of Enabrin Tain. Despite the destruction of the armed resistance, the tales of Damar still inspired the civilian population to rise. Damar rallied the people in the streets to rise against their Dominion oppressors sabotaging Dominion power, communications and transportation on the planet. In response, the Female Changeling ordered the destruction of Lakarian City and its population of over two million Cardassians.

The Battle of Cardassia

Thanks to the knowledge gained from the Dominion vessel captured by Damar’s resistance, Federation engineers were able to devise a countermeasure to the Breen energy dissipation weapon and in response, the Dominion’s forces retreated from occupied territory and back into Cardassian space. There, established a tight military perimeter to allow the Dominion enough time to rebuild their fleet and replenish their supply of soldiers.

Not wanting to allow the Dominion to opportunity to regather its strength the decision was made by the Alpha Quadrant forces to attack the Dominion lines and break through to Cardassia. The battle was not going well until the Cardassian fleet, responding to the destruction of Lakarian City, abandoned the Dominion and joined Damar’s resistance. With the assistance of the Cardassian fleet, the allied forces broke through the battle lines and proceeded to Cardassia Prime and surrounded the planet.

Cardassian Genocide

“Which is why I must inform you a few moments ago, Dominion troops reduced Lakarian City to ashes. There were no survivors. Two million men, women and children gone in a matter of moments. For each act of sabotage committed against the Dominion, another Cardassian city will be destroyed. I implore you not to let that happen. Let us return to the spirit of friendship and cooperation between our peoples, so that together, we can defeat our common enemies, the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans and all the others that stand against us. Thank you.” – Weyoun 8 announcing the commencement of Cardassian genocide​

In response to this turn of events the Female Changeling ordered the greatest atrocity of the entire war -- the total extermination of the Cardassian people. The Dominion started bombing all Cardassian cities into rubble, killing millions. Hoping to capture the Female Changeling, Damar led his forces into the Dominion headquarters in Cardassia City. Damar was killed in the initial charge, but the plan was successful as Kira, Garak and other Cardassians made their way to the command center and apprehended the Female Changeling, who was now in the final stages of the Changeling virus.

The End of the War

Despite defeat now being an inevitability, the Female Changeling refused to order the Jem Hadar forces to stand down, preferring that they fight to last soldier and take as many of the Alpha Quadrant forces with them before dying themselves. Odo ended the stalemate by offering to cure the Great Link of the disease -- against the wishes of Starfleet -- in exchange for her surrender and the standing down of the Jem Hadar forces. The Female Changeling turned herself over to the Federation to face judgement for her multitudes of war crimes and Odo finally returned to the Great Link and cured his people. Odo agreed to remain within the Link to ensure that his people would follow a new path. The war officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Bajor in late 2375.

The Emissary’s Fate

While celebrating the end of the war with his crew on Deep Space 9, Sisko was alerted to Dukat and Winn’s plans in the Fire Caves by the Prophets. Understanding finally what his role was meant to be, Sisko immediately travelled to Bajor and the Fire Caves to confront Dukat, who had been empowered by the Pah Wraiths by the Book of the Kost Amojan. Dukat turned against Winn and killed her, but not before she told Sisko to destroy the book. Launching himself into Dukat, Sisko flung them both into the flaming depths of the Fire Caves, destroying the book and keeping the Pah Wraiths at bay. For his failure Dukat was condemned to spend all eternity suffering at the hands of the Pah Wraiths.

Sisko was delivered from this fate by the intervention of the Prophets, who summoned him home to the Celestial Temple. Sisko was born to both humanity and the Prophets and his time and trials of corporeal existence had come to an end and that it was time to for him to walk with the Prophets. Sisko was allowed to say farewell to his wife Kasidy, who recently discovered that she was with child, and told her that he would always be closer than she thinks before beginning his new existence with the Bajoran Gods.

The War’s Aftermath

The Dominion War was the costliest and deadliest conflict in Alpha Quadrant history at the cost of billions of Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Cardassian souls among many others. The Cardassians in particular paid a great price with over 800 million lives lost on Cardassia alone. Elim Garak ended his exile to a home in rubble and in need of rebuilding.

Some would claim that what happened to the Cardassian people was justice for a species that ruthlessly conquered and exploited the people of other worlds, but that is a short-sided and simplistic outlook. By all indications, the Cardassian people were on the verge of a cultural awakening in the days after the withdrawal from Bajor with people such as Amin Marritza, who sought to call out Cardassian war crimes and hold his people accountable. People such as Legate Tekeny Ghemor and Natima Lang sought to influence Cardassian youth from within and the civilian government of The Detapa Council sought many progressive social and political reforms. If it were not for the betrayal of Cardassia to the Dominion by Gul Dukat, there is no telling where the path of the Cardassian people might have led.

Spoiler: Starfleet Academy 1.05 "Series Acclimation Mil"

Those Left Behind

“Divine laws are simpler than human ones, which is why it takes a lifetime to be able to understand them. Only love can understand them. Only love can interpret these words as they were meant to be interpreted.” – Attributed to the Emissary of the Prophets​

Kira Nerys was given command of DS9 and held that posting for several years before leaving the Bajoran Defense Force and gaining prominence within the Bajoran Church.

The Dax Symbiont would continue to move on from host to host and experience the history of the Federation first hand. The Dax Symbiont, now nearly 1,200 years old, is currently hosted by Professor Illa Dax, a Trill/Cardassian hybrid who currently teaches classes on unexplained phenomena at Starfleet Academy.

Worf accepted a posting on Q’onos as the new Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire, a position previously held by K’Ehleyr and Dax, two of the greatest loves and influences on Worf’s life, before returning to Starfleet.

Miles O’Brien accepted a teaching position at Starfleet Academy and returned to Earth with his family.

Jake Sisko would find renown as a successful author and would often speak of the influence his father had on his own life and how he approached raising his own children.

Nog ended the war with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and would go on to have long and illustrious career with Starfleet, as evidenced by the fact that the Eisenberg -Class USS Nog is still in active service to Starfleet in his honor to this very day.

Quark would expand his business and turn his single bar into a franchise with locations spanning the entire Alpha Quadrant which still has outlets in operation in the 32nd century.

Ultimately, the Bajoran people would decide against joining the Federation, choosing instead to follow any path that the Prophets may place before them rather than the path that the Federation would present. Despite this, Bajor remained a staunch and loyal ally of the Federation in the years that came later.

Starfleet would never recover the remains of Benjamin Sisko from the Fire Caves and considered him to be “Missing in Action”. The Bajoran people would continue to revere the name of Benjamin Sisko, and to this day consider him a sacred figure who ascended from the physical world and joined the Prophets in the Celestial Temple, where he would forever serve as their Emissary in their love, service and protection of Bajor.

And who are we to say otherwise?

*****
Next Week: USS Voyager

Beta canon and head canon alerts! Kira going into the Bajoran church comes from just about every post-DS9 beta canon story, including the theoretical reunion episode that the writers room came up with for the documentary. Section 31 going dark after Narendra III comes from my fan-fiction here.

 

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Chapter 15: USS Voyager

Kathryn Janeway

“As long as you’re alive, there’s hope.” – Kathryn Janeway​

Kathryn Janeway was born on June 5, 2344, in Bloomington, Illinois, on Earth. The Grand-daughter of a Starfleet Admiral who was taught to look at the world with scientist’s eye, Janeway entered Starfleet Academy in 2353 with a specialty in the sciences. She graduated in 2357 and was given her first posting as Science Officer aboard the USS Al-Batani under the command of Captain Owen Paris. Janeway met her future tactical officer, Tuvok, from the planet Vulcan in 2356 and the two soon became good friends.

Janeway was given command of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager in 2371 and was given the assignment of tracking down the Maquis vessel Val-Jean, Under the command of a former Starfleet officer named Chakotay that had gone missing in the Badlands a week earlier. Tuvok was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis and was aboard the Val-Jean when it disappeared.

Tuvok

“We often fear what we don’t understand. Our best defense is knowledge.” -- Tuvok​

Tuvok of Vulcan was born on the Vulcanis Lunar colony in 2264 and has two Starfleet careers. After graduating from Starfleet Academy in 2293, Tuvok served for three years aboard the USS Excelsior under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu before returning to Vulcan. Eventually choosing to undergo the Kohlinar discipline, the purging of all emotion, his plans changed upon experiencing Pon Farr. Tuvok instead married his betrothed, T’Pel, and the couple had four children together. After his children had all achieved adulthood, Tuvok once again joined Starfleet in 2349.

Tuvok met Kathryn Janeway in 2356 when he bluntly dressed Janeway down in front of three Admirals for not observing proper tactical procedures. Despite her ego being bruised, Janeway realized that Tuvok had been correct, and she came to rely on his council.

In 2371, he was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis and had embedded himself in the cell led by former Starfleet Officer, Chakotay, when his regularly scheduled reports ceased.

Chakotay

“My people taught me; a man does not own land. He doesn’t own anything but the courage and loyalty in his heart. That’s where my power comes from.” -- Chakotay​

The Val-Jean was under the command of a former Starfleet officer named Chakotay, who had hailed from the Federation colony on Trebus before it was annexed to the Cardassians in the border treaty with the Cardassians signed in 2370. Chakotay resigned from Starfleet after his father was killed fighting off a Cardassian attack on Trebus and joined the Maquis to honor his memory.

Tom Paris

“If you hear muffled screams, consider that a request for a beam out.” – Tom Paris​

In order to find the missing Maquis vessel, Janeway recruited Tom Paris from the Federation Rehabilitation Colony in New Zealand on Earth. Paris was the son of Janeway’s mentor, now-Admiral Owen Paris, and had been court-martialed from Starfleet after he caused the deaths of three officers in shuttle accident through negligence and pilot error. With few other options, Paris joined the Maquis and was captured on his first assignment. He was then sent to the New Zealand facility. Janeway hoped to use Paris’ knowledge of the Maquis and the Badlands to track down the Val-Jean.

The Badlands

Voyager set off on its mission from Deep Space 9 and set course for the Badlands. While following the projected course that the Val-Jean may have taken through the Badlands, the ship was intercepted by a massive displacement wave that transported them over 70,000 light-years away to the far reaches of the Delta Quadrant, 75 years travel from home through conventional travel. Voyager took heavy damage during the transit and her First Officer, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Engineer and pilot were killed during the transport.

The Caretaker

The source of the displacement wave was an array housing a being called “The Caretaker,” a sporocystian life-form. Centuries earlier, his people had destroyed the ecosystem of the Ocampa homeworld, a telepathic species who were forced to move their civilization underground. Taking responsibility, the Caretaker protected them, supplying a constant energy source to sustain their survival. When he learned he was dying, he sought to create a successor and began abducting ships from across the galaxy in search of compatible genetic material.

The crew of Voyager, as well as the crew of the Val-Jean who had been captured by the Caretaker previously, were transported to the array and subjected to biological testing. After three days, the crews were returned to their respective ships, save for Ensign Harry Kim from Voyager and Engineer B’Elanna Torres from the Val-Jean.

The two crews agreed to search for their missing members, and Tuvok returned to Voyager. They traced the array’s energy pulses to the Ocampa homeworld and picked up a Talaxian guide, Neelix, who promised to lead them to the Ocampa. On the planet, Janeway attempted to make contact with the Kazon, but Neelix, who was in love with an Ocampan woman named Kes held captive by the Kazon, immediately attacked with a phaser and rescued her. The group beamed back to Voyager before the Kazon could retaliate.

With the assistance of Kes, the crews were able to locate and retrieve their missing crew, who were being given medical treatment in the Ocampan city beneath the planet’s surface. The two vessels then headed back to Caretaker’s array with Kazon vessels in pursuit. Upon returning to the array, Janeway found the Caretaker in the final moments of his life. The Caretaker implored Janeway to protect the Ocampa from the Kazon, who would commandeer the array and destroy the Ocampa upon his death.

Voyager attempted to defend the array from the Kazon attack long enough for Tuvok to program the array to send them home. The Val-Jean was lost in the attack, but the Maquis crew was successfully beamed to Voyager before its destruction. However, Janeway, seeing no way to keep the array out of the Kazon’s hands afterwards, made the fateful decision to destroy the array instead, stranding Voyager and both crews in the Delta Quadrant.

Afterward, Janeway and Chakotay made the decision to combine their crews as one, with Chakotay serving as Janeway’s First Officer. Torres was given the position of Chief Engineer and Paris was made the ship’s new pilot. With her new crew settled in place, Janeway gave the order to set course for Earth.

In choosing to destroy the array -- Voyager’s only means of returning home -- to protect the Ocampa, Janeway made a decision that epitomized Starfleet’s highest ideals. She put the welfare of an entire species above personal interests. In that selfless act, Janeway embodied the moral courage and ethical responsibility that define a Starfleet Captain.

The Doctor

“I’m a Doctor, not a nightlight.” – The Doctor​

During this mission, Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram Mark I was activated. Originally created in the image of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman as a short-term supplement to the ship’s medical staff, the EMH would, under extraordinary circumstances, serve as Voyager’s CMO for the entirety of its journey and beyond. The Doctor far exceeded his programming and remains active today as a Professor of Exobiology at the reformed Starfleet Academy on Earth. While this account provides only a limited overview of Voyager’s historic mission, the Doctor’s accounts offer an undiluted, firsthand living witness record -- highly recommended for anyone seeking a fuller understanding of those events.

B’Elanna Torres

“It may be the warriors who get the glory, but it’s the engineers who build societies.” -- B’Elanna Torres​

B’Elanna Torres was the child of human John Torres and the Klingon woman, Miral, in 2346. Torres’ human father left the relationship very early in her life, leaving Torres to be raised by her mother. B’Elanna received a varied education, studying in Federation schools, spending time on Q’onos and was even brought to a Klingon monastery to be educated in Klingon honor and the ways of Kahless.

A remarkably talented engineer, Torres would enter Starfleet Academy in 2366 but dropped out during her sophomore year feeling that she wasn’t a good fit for Starfleet. Soon after she joined the Maquis and was onboard the Val Jean when it was swept away to the Delta Quadrant. Despite her difficulty in integrating Starfleet protocols into her life, she was recommended by Chakotay to be the new Chief Engineer. Janeway, recognizing her remarkable potential, gave her the position over the Academy graduates in Engineering.

Seska

Tensions between the Starfleet and Maquis crews remained high, primarily due to the actions of the Cardassian double agent Seska, who had infiltrated Chakotay’s cell disguised as a Bajoran and was fanning the flames of discontent amongst the former Maquis on the ship. Seska eventually betrayed Voyager to the Kazon, leading to the Kazon temporarily commandeering the vessel, but was killed in the action to retake the ship. Without Seska to sow discontent on the ship, the two crews managed to integrate into one. (See: Appendix 2: The Maquis)

The Borg

Due to the unique circumstances of her journey, Voyager made first contact with over 100 new species, far more than any other starship ever had. Among the many species contacted by Voyager were the Kazon, the Ocampa, the Talaxians, the Vidiians, the Hirogen, the Krenim, the Nacene, the Malon, the Vaudwaar, the Voth and more. But none of the Voyager’s interactions in the Delta Quadrant were more significant to the United Federation of Planets than her contacts with the Borg.

The Borg’s origins in the Delta Quadrant are lost to time. According to the accounts of the Vaudwaar, the Borg of the 15th Century were a minor threat that had only assimilated a handful of worlds and cultures, but by the 24th Century, they had become the predominant power in the quadrant with thousands of worlds in their thrall. Their nature to expand and consume in an impossible quest for perfection threatened every species that they encountered and their rapid and aggressive expansion had already threatened Federation space all the way into the Alpha Quadrant on more than one occasion.

Voyager’s route home necessitated travelling through the heart of Borg space. While they had hoped to avoid the attention of the Collective, that soon proved impossible. Voyager first discovered evidence of Borg activity in mid-2373 in the region of space known as the Nekrit Expanse on the home world of the Sakari, where the skeletal remains of a long-dead Borg drone was discovered on the planet’s surface.

Not long after, Voyager encountered a derelict and non-functional Borg Cube that had ceased to function without explanation five years previously. The crew encountered survivors of the derelict on a nearby planet, formerly assimilated sentients who had regained their individuality. This group, known as the “Unity Collective” had formed a new collective that fostered harmony without the need for aggressive expansion and assimilation.

Species 8472

When Voyager arrived in the heart of Borg space in late 2373, they found the Collective engaged in a battle for survival against a species designated by the Borg as Species 8472. Species 8472 hailed from a parallel, pocket dimension known as “Fluidic Space”. Five months prior, the Borg had broken through to the Fluidic Space realm by creating a focused singularity as a bridge between the two realms and attempted to assimilate the native species only to discover that they were immune to all the technology known to the Borg. 8472 retaliated with coordinated attacks into Borg space with technology that the Borg had no counter for.

Species 8472, a telepathic race, could be sensed by Kes from light-years away, and she determined their intent to destroy all they encountered in the Delta Quadrant, declaring, “Your galaxy will be purged.” Voyager first encountered them while investigating the wreckage of a Borg vessel destroyed by the invaders.

The away team discovered an organic vessel attached to the wreckage, whose pilot, a member of Species 8472, attacked and infected Harry Kim with a virus that was literally consuming him alive. Voyager’s EMH developed a cure by modifying Borg nanoprobes harvested from the destroyed vessel three months earlier, neutralizing 8472’s technology. These modified nanoprobes could be weaponized, providing a defense against the invading species from Fluidic Space.

Seeing the Borg as the lesser of the two evils involved, Janeway made the unprecedented decision to forge an alliance with the Borg Collective, offering them the specifications for the modified nanoprobes in exchange for safe passage through Borg space. The Collective, seeing their defeat by Species 8472 as an inevitability, agreed to the alliance. Commander Chakotay recommended against the alliance, fearing that the Borg would be unable to deny their true nature and betray Voyager.

Seven of Nine

“I understand the concept of humor. It may not be apparent but I am often amused by human behavior. “– Seven of Nine​

As Janeway worked on the Borg cube with Tuvok, a drone was chosen to act as liaison between Voyager and the Collective. The drone was Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero One, formerly Annika Hansen, assimilated along with her parents aboard the USS Raven in 2250.

When an attack from Species 8472 required the Borg to sacrifice their vessel to save Voyager and the nanoprobe technology, Janeway, Tuvok, Seven, and several other drones transported to Voyager’s cargo bay 2 to continue the work. Chakotay’s fears of the Borg revealing their true nature proved valid: the drones attempted to take control of Voyager’s deflector array and open a portal to Fluidic Space. Chakotay ordered the cargo bay decompressed, ejecting all drones except Seven, but not before Voyager was drawn into the Fluidic realm.

In Fluidic Space, Voyager confronted four of 8472’s bioships, successfully destroying them with the modified nanoprobe weapon. Back in the Delta Quadrant, the weapon deployed on a larger scale destroyed thirteen vessels, forcing Species 8472 to retreat.

The Borg then reverted to their true nature, instructing Seven to seize control of Voyager for assimilation. Anticipating this, Chakotay linked with her via tech from Voyager’s previous encounter with the Unity Collective. Torres initiated a power surge that overloaded Seven’s implants, severing her from the Collective.

Janeway assumed responsibility for Seven’s welfare. Initially resistant to shedding her Borg identity and returning to humanity, Seven required removal of 82% of her implants and continued daily hours in a Borg regeneration chamber due to her hybrid physiology. She shortened her designation to “Seven” as she gradually integrated with the crew.

In early 2374, Voyager discovered the wreckage of the USS Raven, allowing Seven to recover her parents’ logs, expanding both her and the ship’s understanding of the Borg. Months later, when offered the chance to return to the Collective, Seven chose to retain her individuality and remain with Voyager.

The Path Forward

It was around this time that Kes, with her mental abilities growing at an astonishing rate after contact with Species 8472, had to make the decision to leave Voyager as her new abilities threatened the safety of the vessel. As a final gift to her crewmates, she used her new vast abilities to fling Voyager 9.5 light years towards the Alpha Quadrant and ten years closer to home.

The Borg Queen

“There is no ‘me’. Only us. One mind.” – The Borg Queen​

In mid-2375, Voyager went on the offensive against the Borg, attacking small scout and probe vessels hoping to salvage a Borg transwarp coil to assist in their journey. Seven scoured her parents’ logs for information that would be helpful for the operation. It was during this research that she was contacted by the Borg Queen, the primary intelligence behind the Borg hive-mind, through her Borg implants. The Queen informed Seven that she was aware of Voyager’s plans and that she would spare them if she rejoined the Collective.

When Voyager launched its attack on a Borg Scout, they successfully absconded with one of the vessels transwarp coils, but Seven stayed behind as she sensed the Queen’s intent. To her surprise, she was not re-assimilated as the Queen hoped to capitalize on her newfound perspective as an individual. Janeway, not believing that Seven’s return to Collective was voluntary, immediately planned a rescue operation.

Using the technology invented by Seven’s parents, Voyager was able to track her location at a distant Borg Unicomplex. Voyager’s custom shuttle, the Delta Flyer, was outfitted with the recently acquired transwarp coil and cloaking shields developed by the Hansen’s, and a rescue operation was launched. Janeway and Tuvok infiltrated the Borg Unicomplex and while Tuvok disabled various shield generators, Janeway tracked down Seven. When Janeway confronted the Queen, Seven directed her to destroy an overhanging power node, which allowed them to beam back to the Delta Flyer.

The team opened a new transwarp conduit and fled back to Voyager, with a Borg attack vessel in close pursuit. After the Delta Flyer emerged from the transwarp conduit, Chakotay ordered a spread of photon torpedoes to collapse the conduit behind them. The pursuing Borg craft was destroyed when the conduit imploded. Voyager then resumed their journey home with their hard-earned transwarp coil bringing them 15,000 light years closer to home, approximately 15 years travel time by conventional warp overnight, before the coil burned out.

Contact with Starfleet

Voyager made their first contact with Starfleet since being stranded in the Delta Quadrant on Stardate 51462 in 2374 after discovering a large network of communications arrays whose range was capable of reaching the outer edges of the Alpha Quadrant. Sending a message through the array, Voyager made contact with the USS Prometheus in the Alpha Quadrant, at last informing Starfleet of their situation. Starfleet responded by assuring Voyager that they would put every available resource into helping them with their journey and that they were no longer alone. This led to the creation of Project: Pathfinder, under the direction of Admiral Owen Paris, which was dedicated to bringing Voyager home.

Project Pathfinder

“I think we’re forgetting that there are 150 people stranded in the Delta Quadrant!” -- Lt. Reginald Barclay​

Over the next two years, Project Pathfinder sought out ways to bridge the gap between Voyager and home. Their efforts came to fruition early in 2376 when Lt. Reginald Barclay used the Mutara Interdimensional Deep Space Array System, also called “The MIDAS Array”, to establish brief two-way audio communication between Earth and Voyager. Utilizing the MIDAS Array, Starfleet and Voyager were able to send monthly information packets to each other until the communications process was refined enough to establish daily eleven-minute real-time communication between Earth and the Delta Quadrant.

Calls to Duty

Despite their distance from Federation space, Voyager’s crew still comported themselves as Starfleet officers, and on two occasions found themselves on missions under orders from Starfleet Command.

The Omega Directive

The Omega Directive was established after the discovery of the Omega Molecule -- an artificial element so powerful that a single molecule contained as much energy as a starship’s warp core. Every known attempt to stabilize Omega ended in catastrophe.

In 2268, a Federation experiment to synthesize the molecule caused a subspace rupture in the Lantaru Sector, rendering warp travel impossible for light-years. The Borg once made their own attempt, losing 29 vessels and 600,000 drones in the process. Recognizing the danger, Starfleet created the Omega Directive -- a classified order known only to captains and above. Should any Starfleet vessel encounter an Omega Molecule, it must be destroyed at all costs. All other priorities, including the Prime Directive, were secondary.

In 2374, Voyager’s sensors detected an Omega signature, activating the Directive. Had the ship been in Federation space, specialists would have been dispatched to handle the situation -- but stranded in the Delta Quadrant, Captain Janeway was forced to brief her senior staff on the classified mission.

In what would otherwise have been a direct violation of the Prime Directive, Voyager entered the sovereign territory of the resource-poor, pre-warp society that had created Omega in a desperate bid for survival. Janeway ultimately ordered the destruction of their research and millions of Omega Molecules -- the detonation of which could have destabilized subspace and crippled warp travel across half the Delta Quadrant.

Some would later argue that Janeway’s actions potentially condemned this society to slow extinction -- precisely the kind of tragedy the Prime Directive was designed to prevent. Yet, in this case, perhaps the risk was indeed too great. It was the equivalent of a child carrying a flame in a room full of explosives, endangering all around them, knowingly or not.

The existence of the Omega Molecule remained a tightly held secret until the days following The Burn, when it was briefly considered as a possible cause of that catastrophe. More recently, the Federation has been experimenting with a synthetic variation of pure Omega called “Omega-47” for use as a potential power source.

Friendship One

"We the people of Earth greet you in a spirit of peace and humility. As we venture out of our solar system, we hope to earn the trust and friendship of other worlds". – The greeting of the people of Earth on the hull of the Friendship 1 probe.​

In 2378, Starfleet ordered Janeway to locate and recover the long-lost UESPA Friendship 1 probe, which had gone silent in 2248. Sensors had detected its presence in a sector near Voyager’s location, and Janeway was tasked with investigating.

They found the probe on a radiation-soaked planet. The natives of the planet had recovered the Earth probe and reverse-engineered an anti-matter generator based on the probes designs and the advanced technology overloaded, covering the planet in a nuclear winter.

Voyager retrieved the historic probe and assisted the world’s natives in cleaning their planet’s atmosphere of radiation and providing a cure for the natives radiation poisoning before continuing with her mission.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Q Continuum

Voyager first encountered a member of the powerful Q Continuum when they inadvertently released one of their number from confinement in what seemed to be an asteroid on Stardate 49301.2. This Q had been confined by the Continuum for over 300 years due to his desire to end his endless existence. The Q feared what the repercussions this might have for the Continuum as a whole as no Q had ever voluntarily chosen to end their life.

Not long after, the Q who had previously appeared to Picard arrived, seeking to return the other Q -- who chose the name Quinn -- to his confinement. Once a highly regarded philosopher among the Continuum, Quinn’s radical belief in the right to end his own existence led to his imprisonment. He fled, taking Voyager and her crew with him, but no matter where in time or space he hid, Q found them. Seeking to end the standoff, Quinn requested asylum aboard Voyager. To resolve the dispute, Janeway agreed to hold a hearing -- one both Qs vowed they would honor.

During the hearings that followed, Q argued his case by showing the good that Quinn had fostered during his existence by showing how actions from his past had positively affected the mortals he interacted with. Quinn countered that his endless existence had become unendurable and that he had the right to choose to end it.

To make his point, the hearing was held within the Continuum itself, where Quinn argued that the Q had grown stagnant -- that they had seen, done, and learned all that existence offered, leaving no room to grow or evolve. Existence had become unbearable, he said, and the only way forward was to allow the freedom to die. Quinn also appealed to Q personally, saying he missed the old, irrepressible trickster who once inspired thought and chaos instead of enforcing the Continuum’s rigid order.

Janeway found in Quinn’s favor and the Continuum granted him mortality. Janeway implored Quinn to embrace his new mortal life but he chose instead to end his life. He was assisted by Q, who was affected by Quinn’s words. Q’s actions would have profound consequences for the Continuum

The Q Civil War

Q’s actions split the Continuum, igniting a civil war between the faction clinging to the oppressive status quo and the faction following Quinn’s teachings. The war caused multi-dimensional collateral damage, including an increased rate of supernovae in the Delta Quadrant.

Believing the Continuum needed new blood to evolve, Q attempted -- awkwardly -- to convince Janeway to procreate with him, aiming to create a “savior” for the Q. His efforts were interrupted by Lady Q, his companion of four billion years.

When the civil war caused three nearby stars to nova simultaneously, trapping Voyager in the shockwave, Q took Janeway to the Continuum, leaving Lady Q unable to follow. Within the Continuum, which Janeway perceived as a representation of the American Civil War, Q argued that she could bring peace. Janeway remained unconvinced, suggesting he pursue a new life with Lady Q instead. Before anything could happen, both were captured by the Q General and scheduled for execution.

Back in the Delta Quadrant, Lady Q helped Voyager enter the Continuum by navigating a Q-induced supernova, providing Torres with shielding modifications. The crew, armed with Q weaponry, successfully rescued Janeway and Q and captured the Q General.

Having prevailed, Q and Lady Q co-mingled their essences to create a new Q life, a process never before attempted. In gratitude, Q returned Janeway and her crew to Voyager and later visited her aboard the ship, presenting his offspring and naming Janeway as godmother -- furthering the profound impact of Quinn’s movement on the Continuum.

Q2

Janeway later assisted Q when the chaotic behavior his son (referred to as “Q2”) compelled the Continuum to take action against him. Upon saving his son from being condemned to a life as a human being, Q thanked Janeway by providing her with some seemingly minor course corrections that would take a few years off of Voyager’s journey home. These course corrections would prove to be far more significant to both Voyager and the United Federation of Planets than they first appeared.

Decisions Made Along The Way

Kathryn Janeway’s command of the USS Voyager remains one of the most celebrated captaincies in Starfleet history, but it was not without its controversies. Stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the oversight of Starfleet Command and Federation law, Janeway was often forced to make decisions that would have been unthinkable under normal circumstances -- decisions that speak to the immense burdens of command and the fragility of human judgment under pressure.

Tuvix

Perhaps the most controversial example is the incident involving Tuvix, a hybrid individual created when a transporter accident merged Lieutenant Tuvok and Neelix into a single being in 2372. When a method to reverse the process was discovered, Tuvix begged to live, arguing that he was a unique life in his own right. Janeway chose instead to restore her original officers -- a decision some have characterized as execution without trial, and others as a utilitarian act that saved two lives instead of one. Whatever the interpretation, it remains a haunting example of the impossible choices that starship command can sometimes demand.

The USS Equinox

Her pursuit of Captain Ransom and the USS Equinox in 2378 also pushed Janeway to the edge of Starfleet’s ethical boundaries. The Equinox had also been drawn into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker, but the journey of the Equinox was not as fortunate as Voyager’s. With the ship near critically damaged, Ransom ordered his crew to take on extreme measures to bring his ship and crew home. Equinox had encountered a sentient interdimensional species whose bodies emitted nucleogenic particles that could be converted into high energy warp plasma, capable bringing Equinox home in weeks. Against every Starfleet principal, Ransom gave the order to start harvesting these beings for fuel.

When the two vessels paths finally converged, Janeway discovered that Ransom had ordered the slaughter of dozens of these alien lifeforms in order to fuel their warp drive, and Janeway was determined to bring him to justice. Yet in her pursuit, she crossed lines of her own -- engaging in an interrogation of an Equinox crewman that some feel crossed the line into torture and allowing her personal feeling about Ransom’s actions to influence her judgment. In the end, Ransom ended the pursuit by beaming his surviving crew to Voyager and going down Equinox, remaining on board as a warp core breech consumed his ship.

None of this diminishes Janeway’s legacy as an explorer and leader. Rather, it underscores that even the most principled officers can find themselves in moral gray zones when circumstance strips away the certainties of regulation and oversight. Janeway’s record is certainly not one of villainy but of choice and fallibility, a reflection the realities of leadership. Alone in deep space, she was the only officer positioned to enforce Federation law and values and acted decisively to prevent further harm.

Captain Ransom’s actions aboard the Equinox illustrate the extreme pressures a starship captain can face when stranded far from home with a desperate crew. He made decisions that crossed moral boundaries, including the systematic slaughter of sentient lifeforms to fuel his ship. While easy to label as villainous, it is important to note that Ransom believed he was acting in his crew’s best interests, willing to shoulder the moral burden to ensure their survival. His actions can never be defended, but one can understand both his motivation and his desperation.

Harry Kim

“Everything we’ve been through together, maybe it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey.” – Harry Kim​

Ensign Harry Kim was born on Earth in 2349, the son John and Mary Kim. Kim’s lifelong dream was to join Starfleet, and to this end he entered Starfleet Academy in 2366 and graduated in 2370. He was assigned to Voyager just prior to its disappearance into the Delata Quadrant. Kim served as Operations Officer aboard Voyager for the entirety of its seven years in the Delta Quadrant.

Home

In late 2378 on Stardate 54973.4, five weeks after implementing the course corrections supplied by Q, Voyager passed near an unnamed nebula in Galactic Grid 986. Seven of Nine’s astrometric scans confirmed a large number of neutrino signals, indicating the possibility of a large network of wormholes. If even one of these wormholes led to the Alpha Quadrant, Voyager could find her way home at last. Investigating the signals, Voyager discovered the nebula to be swarming with Borg vessels. Janeway ordered an immediate retreat from the nebula, deeming the wormholes too dangerous to investigate. The Borg were alerted to Voyager’s presence but took no action against them.

Not long after resuming their course, Voyager encountered a temporal anomaly from which emerged a Starfleet vessel piloted by Admiral Kathryn Janeway from the year 2404. In Admiral Janeway’s timeline, Voyager eventually made it home but at the cost of 22 more members of her crew and left some of those who made it home broken and lost. She had travelled back to this point in her past armed with technology and knowledge from the future that the Borg of this era had no defense against in order to help Voyager navigate past the Borg cubes in the nebula. Admiral Janeway knew that the source of the neutrino signals was a vast Borg Transwarp Hub, one of six in the galaxy that allowed the Borg to travel throughout the Milky Way in an instant.

Upon discovering the nature of the Transwarp Hub, Captain Janeway refused to simply travel home without attempting to disable it and taking away this valuable advantage away from the Borg. Together, the Captain and the Admiral came up with a plan.

Voyager, armed with the futuristic ablative armor and transphasic torpedoes supplied by Admiral Janeway, made their way to the conduit that led to Earth. Admiral Janeway travelled to the Borg Unimatrix Complex itself and allowed herself to be assimilated, infecting the Collective with a neurolytic pathogen from 2404 that shut down the subspace link shared by the Borg and deactivated the manifold shielding protecting the transwarp hub, before causing the Unicomplex itself to self-destruct.

Inside the hub, Voyager attacked the now vulnerable Borg transit system from within with a salvo of transphasic torpedoes that initiated a cascade reaction that destroyed almost the entirety of the Borg network. Riding just ahead of the shockwave, Voyager triumphantly emerged from the conduit in the Sol system just moments before the conduit collapsed on itself. At long last, Voyager was home.

Aftermath

Voyager’s return home was a turning point for the Federation, as with the destruction of both the Borg Unicomplex and Transwarp networks, the threat that the Borg posed to the Federation, the Alpha Quadrant and the entire galaxy was negated. While the Borg Queen herself was not totally neutralized and she would attempt to form a new Collective in an attack on Earth in 2401, the existential threat that the Borg presented to the entire galaxy had been removed.

Some have questioned Admiral Janeway’s actions, citing the multiple temporal regulations that she violated in this endeavor, which effectively rewrote her entire timeline from 2378 forward. The ethics of her actions are difficult to untangle: it saved countless lives and spared her crew immeasurable hardship, yet it also annihilated a future that, for better or worse, had already been lived by countless sentients. However, as the Admiral sacrificed herself onboard the Borg Unicomplex to ensure Voyager’s successful return to Earth, there is no way to censure her for her actions.

Further Voyages

Janeway would be promoted to Vice Admiral upon her return to Earth with a focus on the Delta Quadrant. Chakotay would be promoted to Captain and given command of the USS Protostar, a vessel with an experimental protostar drive. The Doctor would continue to serve as Admiral Janeway’s liaison and assistant.

Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres married while in the Delta Quadrant and B’Elanna gave birth to the couple’s first child, Miral -- named after B’Elanna’s mother -- during the final battle with the Borg. Upon returning to the Alpha Quadrant, B’Elanna settled down to raise her daughter while Tom remained in Starfleet with the rank of full Lieutenant.

Harry Kim would eventually rise to the rank of Admiral.

Despite the recommendation and backing of Vice Admiral Janeway, Seven of Nine was not allowed to join Starfleet upon the vessel’s return. She would remain at odds for several years before joining the Fenris Rangers after the Romulan Supernova of 2387.

*****

Next Week: The USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 16: USS Enterprise USS NCC-1701-E

After the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 2371, Starfleet made the decision to give the Enterprise name to one of the newly christened Sovereign-class starships and to assign the former crew of the Enterprise-D as her crew. And so, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E launched from Spacedock in 2372 under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard with almost the entirety of his command crew intact. The Enterprise patrolled the Alpha Quadrant for a year, performing maneuvers, tests and working the bugs out of the Sovereign-class design.

Second Borg Attack on Earth

“And you people, you’re all astronauts on some sort of… star trek?” – Zephram Cochrane​

On Stardate 50893.5, two years before the return of Starship Voyager and the final dismantling of the Borg Collective, the Borg Queen launched the Collective’s second assault on Earth, but this time her plan involved more than assimilation. Starfleet first became aware of the Borg’s incursion when all contact was lost with the colony on Ivor Prime. Starfleet assembled a defense fleet at Earth in a last-ditch defense under the command of Admiral Hayes.

On the Enterprise, Picard was able to sense the Borg’s approach due to his past assimilation and Starfleet ordered that the Enterprise stand down fearing that Picard’s past with the Borg would affect his judgement. But when the battle started to go bad, Picard defied his orders and joined the fight.

When Admiral Hayes’ ship was disabled, Picard took command of the fleet. Using his connection with the Borg, Picard directed the fleet to direct their fire to a vulnerable spot on the Cube, swiftly destroying it. It was then that the Borg’s real plan was revealed. A small sphere vessel escaped the destruction of the Cube and opened a temporal rift to Earth’s past. Picard ordered pursuit and the Enterprise followed the sphere through the rift. While in the rift, the Enterprise crew saw the result of the Borg’s tampering with the past, an Earth totally assimilated by the Borg. With the Enterprise protected from the changes to the timeline by the temporal wake of the rift the Enterprise emerged in the past.

The Enterprise emerged to find the sphere attacking a missile complex in central Montana. Enterprise quickly destroyed the sphere, and after determining the exact date, determined the Borg’s purpose in the past. The date was April 4th, 2063, the day before humanity’s first contact with the Vulcans aboard the T’Plana-Hath, and the missile complex in Montana was where Zephram Cochrane was set to launch his warp ship.

The Borg hoped to disrupt Earth’s first contact and keep humanity from resisting the Borg in the future. Picard ordered an away team to surface to survey the damage to the complex and to Cochrane’s ship, the Phoenix, unaware that a small contingent of Borg, including the Borg Queen, had beamed abord the Enterprise just prior to the cube’s destruction.

Lily Sloane

“Borg? Sounds Swedish.” – Lily Sloane​

The away team found Cochrane and his co-pilot, Lily Sloane. Cochrane was shaken but unhurt by the Borg's attack, while Lily had radiation sickness from the damaged Phoenix throttle assembly. Sloane was taken to the Enterprise for medical treatment while Commander Riker informed Cochrane of their true identities and purpose. Despite some initial disbelief and trepidation on Cochrane’s part, he agreed to go on his flight as scheduled while the Enterprise crew effected repairs on the Phoenix.

Back on the Enterprise, the Borg moved swiftly to assimilate the vessel and crew. After ordering Data to encrypt the ship’s command functions, Picard led an assault team to take Engineering, where the Collective had set up its Hive, but the operation failed and Data was taken captive by the Borg Queen.

With total assimilation of the Enterprise imminent, Picard ordered the crew to abandon ship and activated the vessel’s self-destruction program, rather than let the Borg take the vessel. However, Picard would not leave Data behind and set out to rescue him. Despite an effort from the Borg Queen to turn Data to her side by introducing him to concepts such as sensuality and physical touch, Data and Picard stopped a last-ditch effort to stop the flight of the Phoenix and flooded Engineering with plasma coolant, which dissolved the Borg’s organic components, rendering them inert.

Back on Earth, the Phoenix launched her historic flight. Although history recorded Lily Sloane as the co-pilot, circumstances necessitated that William Riker and Geordi LaForge join Cochrane on the flight. Despite this, the mission was successful and the T’Plana-Hath detected the vessel’s warp signature and re-routed to Earth, ensuring that history would unfold as it was supposed to. With the timeline restored, the Enterprise returned to the 24th century.

Sleeping Enemy

Debris from the Borg vessel entered Earth’s atmosphere and impacted on the Antarctica continent. Nestled in the debris were two Borg drones who were automatically put into stasis and remained preserved for the next 92 years. The debris, and the preserved drones, were discovered by a scientific team in 2153. Their investigations reactivated the drones and the scientists were swiftly assimilated.

Seeking to return to the Delta Quadrant, the Borg assimilated the scientists vessel and converted it so it could carry them home. Enterprise NX-01, under the command of Jonathon Archer, intercepted the Borg ship, but was forced to destroy it before discovering their identity.

The Humanity of Zephram Cochrane

“I've heard enough about the great Zefram Cochrane! I don't know who writes your history books or where you get your information from, but you people got some pretty funny ideas about me!” – Zephram Cochrane​

After his historic flight, Cochrane became something of a celebrity -- a near-mythic figure credited with giving humanity the gift of the stars. Yet the truth behind the legend was far more complex. Suffering from bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses, Cochrane drank heavily, self-medicating to compensate for the absence of adequate medical infrastructure in post-war Montana that could have provided the treatments he required. He built the Phoenix not to serve as a symbol of humanity’s future but for financial gain.

However, just as Vincent Van Gogh produced Starry Night in the fires of madness, so too did Zephram Cochrane produce a masterpiece -- a masterpiece of vision and engineering born from struggle as much as brilliance and, like Van Gogh, he brought the stars to humanity in his own way.

The Dominion War

"Can anyone remember when we used to be explorers?" -- Jean-Luc Picard​

After the beginning of the Dominion War in late 2372, Starfleet made the decision to keep the Enterprise off of the front lines, feeling that she would be more useful assisting the Diplomatic Corps with their ongoing negotiations with the Dominion. The Enterprise spent the next two years putting out diplomatic brushfires and building diplomatic relations and alliances, much to Picard’s displeasure as he much preferred the days when the primary mission of the Enterprise was exploration.

The Ba’ku and the Son’a

“How many people does it take, admiral, before it becomes wrong? A thousand? Fifty thousand, a million? How many people does it take?” – Jean-Luc Picard​

In early 2375, Data had been temporarily been reassigned to a cultural observation post on the homeworld of the Baku in the region of space known as the Briar Patch. The post was established with Starfleet in conjuncture with the Son’a in order to observe the native Ba’ku, who were believed to be a pre-warp society. When Data discovered evidence that the Ba’ku were to be forcibly removed from their home without their knowledge, a Prime Directive violation, Data took action. After being damaged by Son’a weapons, Data’s ethical program took priority to the exception of all others, compelling him to defend the Ba’ku settlement and expose the Starfleet observation post. The observation crew was taken into custody by the Ba’ku.

Enterprise travelled to the Briar Patch to assist Admiral Dougherty in bringing Data under control. After capturing and repairing Data, Picard and an away team beamed to the Ba’ku village to liberate the observation post crew. However, much to Picard’s surprise, the observation crew were treated as guests and the Ba’ku to be a species with vast technological knowledge, indeed warp capability, but gave it up to live a simpler life on this world. The metaphasic radiation in the planet’s rings granted the Ba’ku extraordinary health and long life.

Investigating further, Picard was appalled to discover that Admiral Daugherty was working with the Son’a to forcibly remove the Ba’ku from their homes and relocate them so that they could convert the planet’s atmosphere and rings with an orbiting planetary array in order to bring the planet’s anti-aging and healing properties to the whole galaxy. The process would make the planet’s surface uninhabitable for centuries. Picard found the notion of such a forced relocation abhorrent and against the very principles of the Federation.

Upon confronting Admiral Dougherty with his findings, Picard was ordered to leave the Briar Patch. Unwilling to leave the Ba’ku to their fate, Picard and his crew opted to disobey their orders. Picard and Data would stay on the planet with an away team while Riker and Geordi took the Enterprise to expose the Ba’ku operation to the public. The Enterprise under Riker’s command destroyed two attacking Son’a vessels while leaving the Briar Patch.

While resisting the Son’a on the surface, Doctor Crusher examined a fallen Son’a and discovered a genetic link between the Son’a and the Ba’ku. This led to the revelation that the Son’a were acting in retaliation toward the Ba’ku for past actions and that the Federation had been drawn into an internal conflict, in violation of the Prime Directive. Dougherty agreed to stand down, but was murdered by the Son’a leader Ru’afo, who sought to convert the atmosphere despite certain defeat. Picard destroyed the orbiting planetary array with Ru’afo onboard with seconds to spare, saving the Ba’ku’s home.

The Best of Intentions

“It was all for the Federation.” – Admiral Matthew Daugherty​

Although Admiral Dougherty’s intentions in the Baku incident were noble, he was blinded by the potential scientific benefits involved in the project without considering the human cost. Believing that the removal of a small colony was justified by the potential medical benefits to countless lives, he initially received Starfleet’s backing. It was only after the revelation of the blood tie between the Baku and the Sona and the realization that he drawn the Federation into a civil war, did Dougherty relent. He likely would have submitted himself for a court-martial had Ru’afo not murdered him. The episode reminds us that even Starfleet’s best-intentioned leaders are not immune to error.

The Return of Worf

Worf found that his life as an Ambassador to the Klingon Empire after the Dominion War was not to his liking and he resigned from the Federation Diplomatic Corps after four years in the post. Starfleet reactivated his commission and assigned him under his former captain onboard the Enterprise-E.

Changing Times

In 2379, William Riker finally accepted a promotion to Captain of the Luna-class USS Titan. Before taking command of the Titan, he proposed marriage to his long-time love, Commander Deanna Troi. Troi accepted and a ceremony was held on Earth before the Enterprise set course for Betazed for a traditional Betazoid wedding ceremony. Picard promoted Data to be his new first officer after Riker left the ship.

B-4

They diverted from their course when they detected a positronic signal similar to that of Data in the Kolarin system near the Romulan border. Investigating, they discovered a disassembled and previously unknown Soong-type android. After re-assembling and activating the android, they discovered that the unit was a prototype with limited cognitive function that Soong had named “B-4”. Data attempted to increase B-4 capabilities by downloading some of his own memory engrams into B-4’s positronic net with seemingly no effect to B-4 but would have profound consequences.

Shinzon

“I’ll show you my true nature – our nature. And as Earth dies, remember, I will always, forever, be Shinzon of Remus. And my voice shall echo through time long after yours has faded to a dim memory.” – Shinzon of Remus​

Soon after, Picard received orders from Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway diverting the Enterprise to Romulus. The Romulan Senate had been assassinated while in open council by the Reman representative called “Shinzon”. He now ruled as the new Preator and was calling for an open dialogue with the Federation. The Remans were a Romulan slave race from Romulus sister planet of Remus whom the Romulans had utilized for slave labor and expendable ground troops. Shinzon’s coup changed the entire landscape of the Romulan political scene and Picard was ordered to get the lay of the land. Upon arriving at Romulus, Shinzon revealed his warship, the Scimitar. Armed with Thalaron Weaponry the Scimitar greatly outgunned the Enterprise.

Meeting with Shinzon, Picard was shocked to learn that Shinzon was not a Reman at all, but rather a clone of Picard himself, a part of a long abandoned Romulan plan to infiltrate Starfleet. Shinzon’s true purpose was in luring Picard to Romulus with was that he was dying and needed Picard’s genetic material to survive. Shinzon took Picard prisoner in order to harvest his genetic material but was rescued by Data.

After learning that the Scimitar was planning to use their deadly thalaron radiation weapon, a weapon capable of destroying all life on a planet and Shinzon’s plan to unleash the weapon on Earth, Picard ordered the Enterprise to Federation space in order to formulate a response. However, they were intercepted by the Scimitar at the Bassan Rift. Picard appealed to the part of Shinzon that was still Jean-Luc Picard to no avail and the Enterprise engaged the Scimitar in battle, aided by Romulans who had disavowed Shinzon’s actions, but was still outmatched.

With defeat imminent, Picard ordered the Enterprise on a collision course with the Scimitar, the impact of which disabled the Scimitar’s engines. In response, Shinzon activated the Thalaron weapon intending to kill first all aboard the Enterprise and then Earth. The detonation of the weapon was stopped by Data, who after ensuring Piard’s safety, sacrificed himself by firing a phaser into the thalaron weapon just before it could be activated. Shinzon died along with Data onboard the Scimitar.

Farewell to a Friend

The crew held a private ceremony on the Enterprise for their fallen friend. Picard was initially furious with Data for his actions -- sacrificing himself for his captain -- but would later come to realize that it was the only action that Data could have taken. Not because his programming, but because of his humanity. “Pinocchio” had finally become a real human at last. Or perhaps the greater realization is in that Data had been human in all of the ways that truly mattered all along. The lesson Data teaches us is that humanity is not in one’s biology, but in the choices one makes.

Admiral Picard

Picard would remain in command of the Enterprise-E until the year 2381, when he was promoted to Admiral and put in charge of the Romulan evacuation of Romulus before the imminent supernova of their star. It was during this time that Picard re-entered into an on-again/off-again relationship with the ship’s doctor, Beverly Crusher. Crusher became pregnant with Picard’s child and fearing that her child would become a target of one of Picard’s old foes, abruptly ended her relationship with Picard and cut off contact with all of her Starfleet crewmates without explanation. Crusher would join the Mariposas, a medical organization that was not attached to any governmental group who helped any who were in need of medical attention despite border or treaty.

The Crew Moves On

After the Enterprise returned to Earth and repairs had begun, William Riker and Deanna Troi left the Enterprise after 15 years of service under Picard and took command of the USS Titan. The couple had their first child, Thadeus, on board the Titan in 2381. The Riker’s stayed on board the Titan until 2391 when Thad contracted a case of mendaxic neurosclerosis and they retired from Starfleet to settle down to care for him on the world Nepenthe, a planet with healing properties that the Rikers hoped would be beneficial to their son. Sadly, Thad died from his ailment in 2396. The Rikers stayed on Nepenthe to raise their second child, their daughter Kestra.

Worf took over command of the Enterprise-E and was present at the formation of the stable multi-dimensional quantum fissure monitored by Starbase 80 in 2382 and at the battle against the Living Construct in 2384. The Enterprise left service soon after the damage taken battle in that battle, but no blame was ascribed to Worf.

LaForge was promoted and given command of the Starfleet Fleet Museum at Athan Prime. One of the first projects he spearheaded there was the restoration of the saucer section of the Enterprise-D, which had been recovered from the surface of Veridian III.

B-4 was dismantled and taken to the Daystrom Institute Complex on Earth where he would be studied by Dr. Bruce Maddox, who would continue with Noonien Soong’s work until the Synth ban of 2385. Maddox would make significant use of the memory engrams Data left in B-4’s positronic net.

*****
Next Week: The USS Cerritos

Beta canon alert! Cochrane's inability to procure needed meds post WW3 is from the First Contact movie novelization.

Head canon alert! I infer without directly stating that the Battle of the Living Construct was where the E was lost because it's as good as explanation as any and as the chapter is about the E there should be some inference as to her fate.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 16: The USS Cerritos

There are no unimportant ships, assignments, or crew members in Starfleet. Few vessels demonstrate this more clearly than the fleet workhorse of the late 24th century -- the California-class. A mid-sized starship assigned primarily to Cultural Follow-Up, or “Second Contact” missions, the California-class specialized in tying up the loose ends of major encounters -- diplomatic follow-ups, infrastructure support, supply deliveries, and the ever-crucial cleanup of paperwork.

Despite not boasting the storied legacy of the Galaxy-class or the prestige of the Sovereign-class, these scrappy ships carved out their own niche in Federation history. Their missions may have lacked glamour, but their contributions were indispensable. California-class vessels often found themselves at the heart of events critical to the future and security of the United Federation of Planets.

The best example of this is found in the career of Captain Carol Freeman.

“Sorry, but apparently we’re the only ones who can save the frickin’ universe today -- Captain Carol Freeman​

Captain Carol Freeman, best known for her command of Starbase 80 and her groundbreaking research in the field of inter-dimensional exploration, rose through the ranks alongside such luminaries as Captains William T. Riker and Sonya Gomez. She served with distinction aboard the USS Illinois before rising to the rank of captain of the California-class USS Cerritos.

Early in her career she met and fell in love with fellow officer Alonso Freeman, and the two soon married and had one child, Beckett Mariner Freeman -- a personage with her own unique connections to Starfleet history. In many ways, the story of Carol Freeman cannot be told without also considering the story of her daughter.

Beckett Mariner

”When I get demoted, it’ll be because I earned it.”​

“Hey, you know me, man. I’m a wild rogue living on the edge of chaos. I sit in weird chairs. You can’t predict me.” -- Ensign Beckett Mariner

Beckett Mariner’s service record is as convoluted as it is impressive, a tangle of reassignments, classified missions, disciplinary black marks, and unlikely commendations. At least three formal demotions are on record, though many believe there were more, quietly buried in the data fog between stints of exemplary service.

The child of Admiral Alonzo and Captain Carol Freeman, Beckett Mariner Freeman was born with a front-row seat to Starfleet and its mission. A voracious student of Starfleet history, she quickly became steeped in minutiae and trivia about the service and its heroes. At the Academy, she was close to Sito Jaxa, from the ill-fated Nova Squadron team led by the infamous Nick Locarno, whose illegal attempt at forming a Korbold Starburst during a shuttle maneuver resulted in the death of a cadet. Sito’s death during a covert mission while assigned to Enterprise shook Mariner deeply. The loss of Sito marked the beginning of her disillusionment with Starfleet’s moral compromises.

At her request, she served under the name “Mariner,” distancing herself from her lineage to avoid any perception of nepotism. Whether this was an act of rebellion, humility, or defense remains open to interpretation. Starfleet records never disclose her reasons for the name change, and when asked, she reportedly gave different answers depending on her mood.

During Mariner’s early Starfleet career, she served on a variety of ships and participated in missions that ranged from the routine to the extraordinary. She was aboard Deep Space 9 during the final year of the Dominion War, where she was known to the senior staff. After the war, she rotated through multiple postings. She was briefly stationed on the USS Rubidoux; a ship lost under mysterious circumstances shortly after her departure. Her Starfleet record hints at unofficial involvement in a Klingon-Federation joint task force, where she worked with Klingon General Korin, and at least one incident involving a Ferengi named Quimp, cultural exchange protocols, and a deeply offended Betazoid matriarch.

Despite disciplinary setbacks, senior officers -- including Captain Riker, Captain Freeman, and even members of the Klingon High Command -- acknowledged that Mariner possessed the instincts, combat readiness, and strategic mind of a seasoned veteran. Her rejection of Starfleet’s more rigid command structures seemed less about inability and more about philosophical resistance.

Her reassignment to the USS Cerritos under the command of her mother was not a reward, but rather a last-chance placement -- a lifeline tossed by her father the admiral, who was not yet ready to give up on her potential. Captain Freeman, aware that this assignment was her daughter’s last chance, allowed the situation to stand despite her misgivings, perhaps believing that proximity could keep Beckett in line. If that was the intention, the results were… mixed.

Bradward Boimler

“Without Starfleet none of you would even exist! We don’t want to protect you from the Klingons and the Borg: we just want to study fucking quasars! But you know what? It’s the right thing to do!” – Ensign Bradward Boimler​

“The Boimler Effect -- named after Starfleet officer Bradward Boimler -- encouraged goofing off and taking breaks. “All work and no play is not the Starfleet way!”

It remains one of the greatest ironies in Starfleet cultural development that Bradward Boimler, a man constitutionally incapable of relaxation, became the namesake of a policy promoting leisure and unstructured downtime. That the policy is prominently displayed on Federation educational materials to this very day suggests that someone, somewhere, had a wicked sense of humor.

Born in Modesto, California, on a raisin farm, Boimler long dreamed of joining Starfleet and seeing the stars. Inspired by Una Chin-Riley’s quote, “Ad Astra, per aspera” (“Through hardship, to the stars”), he became a student of Starfleet history and protocols long before he became a cadet. Boimler graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2379 and received his first assignment to the USS Cerritos in early 2380.

An impressionable junior officer, Boimler initially saw the senior staff through the lens of hero worship and was quick to agree with Captain Freeman’s request to monitor and report any breaches in protocol committed by Mariner to the Captain’s attention. Although the crew was not initially aware of the relationship between Captain Freeman and Mariner, Mariner still managed to constantly undermine Freeman’s authority and Freeman was looking for a way to transfer her daughter off the ship.

During a Second Contact mission to the Galor system, Boimler observed Mariner leaving the duty site without authorization in a ground vehicle and followed. Observing Mariner and some local Galadorians during an exchange, Boimler assumed that Mariner was involved in an illegal operation confronted the group. Mariner then revealed that she was delivering farming equipment to needy locals who had been left behind by the Starfleet bureaucracy. However, Boimler scared one of the farmer’s herd animals, who captured and suckled Boimler for moisture, exposing him to enzymes produced by the creature.

Boimler and Mariner returned to the Cerritos to find a ship in chaos. A pathogen had been brought back to the ship by first officer Jack Ransom by way of an untreated bug bite and was on the verge of infecting the entire crew. Ship’s doctor, the Caitian T’Ana, quickly realized that the enzyme brought back by Boimler was the key to reversing the pathogen’s effects and produced an antidote.

After Captain Freeman gave her senior staff full credit for resolving the pathogen crisis, Boimler began to see to senior staff in a new light and chose not to report Mariner’s breeches of protocol on the surface. Following these events, Boimler and Mariner became best friends, with Mariner claiming to be Boimler’s mentor, but in truth, they each had a great influence on the other.

The Pakled Conflict

The Pakleds were a species on the lower end of the evolutionary scale, possessing below-average intelligence and limited critical thinking skills. They achieved star-faring status primarily through theft, barter, and scavenging, providing a prime example of the necessity of statutes such as the Prime Directive.

The Pakleds equated strength with intelligence and often tricked other star-faring races into repairing or upgrading their systems. They first came to the attention of the Federation following an encounter with the USS Enterprise-D in 2365 and were initially considered a low-level threat. That assessment changed in 2380, when a Pakled ship armed with weaponry unlike any previously observed, known as a “clumpship”, destroyed the USS Solvang, leaving no survivors.

The Cerritos responded to the Solvang’s distress signal and quickly found itself overpowered by the enemy ship. A hastily created computer virus designed to take down the Pakled defenses was created by one of the ship’s engineers, Sam Rutherford, a human with cybernetic enhancements. However, the virus needed to be introduced directly into the Pakled Systems. Rutherford had previously designed what was intended to be an educational and instructional holographic tool that he called “Badgey” that had developed unfortunate homicidal tendencies (more on this later) that was needed to deliver the virus.

Rutherford and Cerritos Security Chief, the Bajoran Shaxs, undertook the mission to deliver the virus. Unfortunately, Badgey’s homicidal nature came to the fore before the virus could be completely uploaded from Rutherford’s implants, forcing Shaxs to rip the implant from Rutherford’s head and placed him inside their shuttle and setting it loose before finishing the mission by ensuring the virus was uploaded. The virus disabled the Pakled ship as hoped, resulting in its destruction. Shaxs was killed in the explosion.

However, before the Cerritos could celebrate, three more Pakled Clumpships dropped out of warp and attacked the already damage Cerritos. Salvation came at the last moment with the arrival of the USS Titan under the command of Captain William T. Riker. The Titan’s sudden attack, with systems far outstripping those of a support ship such as the Cerritos, forced the Pakleds into retreat. Following the battle, Boimler was offered a promotion and transfer to the Titan under Riker’s command -- a position he happily accepted.

As for Shaxs, although his death at this time was confirmed, like Hugh Culber and Spock before him, he would ultimately find a way back from the other side of the veil. The historical record is sparse on the details, and Shaxs himself never spoke extensively of the circumstances. He is, however, known to have mentioned encountering a Black Mountain, a spiritual battleground and three faceless apparitions of his father during his time on the other side.

The Titan

Red alert! I’m starting to think that this jam session’s got too many licks and not enough comp!” – Captain William T. Riker​

The Titan was assigned as the lead in efforts to combat the newly aggressive Pakleds, with Boimler serving as a member of its senior staff. He fulfilled this role for several months during intensive rotations of combat duty. However, it was during an operation on Karzill IV that Boimler’s trajectory would unexpectedly shift back toward the Cerritos.

The Pakleds attacked a Varuvian mining facility on Karzill, pinning down the Starfleet away team. In response, Boimler jerry-rigged the surface transporter to allow the rest of the team to be beamed up, but he was left behind. Riker ordered an immediate transport, and under these unusual circumstances, a transporter clone of Boimler was inadvertently created. This duplicate, later known as William Boimler, remained on the Titan, while the original Bradward Boimler returned to the Cerritos.

William Boimler served aboard the Titan for over a year before being recruited by a top-secret Federation intelligence unit, possibly connected to the infamous Section 31. To facilitate this, William’s death aboard the Titan was staged, much to Bradward’s existential dismay.

Pakled Planet and Klingon Complicity

On Stardate 58105.1, with the Pakleds continuing their attacks on Federation trade lanes, the Federation assigned Captain Freeman and the Cerritos to journey to the Pakled homeworld, known as “Pakled Planet,” to negotiate a peace agreement. However, the Pakleds attempted to exploit the mission by inserting a spy aboard the Cerritos in a clumsy effort to obtain the ship’s command codes. Ultimately, Captain Freeman successfully manipulated the Pakleds into revealing their scheme to smuggle a Varuvian bomb onto Earth.

Three weeks later, the Cerritos was investigating anomalous readings in system 7743.8, where they encountered a Pakled vessel alongside a Klingon vessel. Assuming that the Pakleds were attacking the Klingons, the Cerritos offered assistance only to be attacked by both ships. The Klingon vessel, the IKS Che’Ta, was under the command of Captain Dorg, who hoped to return the Klingon Empire to the old ways by arming the Pakleds in order to destabilize the sector and plunge it into war. By using the Pakleds, Dorg hoped to divert attention away from Klingon involvement. It was Dorg who had been arming the Pakleds and who had supplied them with the Varuvian bomb they intended to smuggle onto Earth.

However, the Pakleds detonated the bomb in what was supposed to be a test of its capabilities without realizing that a bomb can only be detonated once. This detonation caused the anomalous readings that attracted the Cerritos.

The Cerritos would have been overwhelmed by the sudden attack if not for the unexpected arrival of the Vulcan vessel, VCF Sh’vhal. The Sh’vhal had also responded to the anomalous readings at the urging of science officer T’Lyn, whose un-Vulcan-like “instinct” and “intuition” about the unusual nature of the readings had proven correct.

On board the Che’Ta, Dorg’s command was challenged by his first officer Ma’ah, who saw only dishonor in Dorg’s actions. Ma’ah killed Dorg in honorable combat, took command of the Che’Ta, and ordered the ship to withdraw, setting course for the Klingon homeworld.

Without the Klingon ship’s support, the Cerritos and the Sh’vhal defeated the Pakled vessel. Realizing that the Pakleds had been receiving Klingon assistance from the start, Freeman contacted Starfleet Command, which in turn had many questions for the Klingon High Council.

On the Sh’vhal, Captain Sokel determined that T’Lyn’s illogical and distasteful tendencies such as relying on “gut instinct” meant that she might be a better fit serving on a Starfleet vessel and facilitated her transfer to the Cerritos. T’Lyn considered this a punishment but accepted the transfer. She would initially seek forgiveness and assignment back to a Vulcan vessel but would soon come to value her place and contributions to the Cerritos, and when offered the opportunity return to Vulcan ship, T’Lyn opted to remain aboard Cerritos.

The Freeman Frame

On Stardate 58130, a Varuvian bomb detonated on the surface of Pakled Planet, destroying the surface and rendering the world uninhabitable. Evidence was uncovered implicating Captain Freeman in conspiring with Klingons to destroy the Pakled world. Freeman was arrested the next day after the Cerritos executed a daring rescue of the Starship Archimedes and facilitated first contact with the Lapeerian people.

The case was highly publicized and covered by all of the news agencies of the time as Captain Freeman faced a Military Tribunal for the destruction of Pakled Planet.

Despite having to go forward with the Tribunal, Starfleet did not believe the charges against Freeman and sent an elite strike team led by Captain Morgan Bateman to investigate. The team discovered evidence of a connection between a Zakdorn data fabricator and Pakled leadership. Believing this Zakdorn to be responsible for forging the evidence against Captain Freeman, the team traced the suspect to the Romulan Neutral Zone. There, the identity of the real bomber was uncovered by Commander Tuvok during an intense mind-meld interrogation.

In a shocking twist, it was revealed that the Pakleds had destroyed their own planet and framed Freeman for the crime. Their goal was to force Starfleet to relocate them to a more resource-rich world. The scheme might have succeeded if not for Starfleet’s determination to uncover the truth. Exonerated of all charges, Captain Freeman resumed command of the Cerritos and continued on with its mission.

Samanthan Rutherford

“Okie-dokey!” – Sam Rutherford​

During his time at the Academy, Cadet Samanthan “Sam” Rutherford was an angry and aggressive troublemaker who skirted the rules and arrogantly dismissed the accomplishments of others. Rutherford would routinely engage in illegal shuttlecraft racing in the Romulan Neutral Zone in a craft of his own design.

Rutherford was recruited into an unauthorized and off-the-books project by then-Lieutenant Commander Les Buenamigo, for whom Rutherford designed an artificial intelligence algorithm that was to be capable of making command decisions.

After an accidental explosion while doing maintenance on his racing ship, the Sampaguita, Rutherford sustained severe injuries. Buenamigo ordered that Rutherford be fitted with a cybernetic implant that would suppress all of his memories of Buenamigo and the illicit project he was involved with. With his memories erased, Rutherford developed a new personality -- one that was courteous, polite, helpful, and wholesome. It was this Rutherford who was assigned to the Cerritos in 2380.

Despite having his memories erased, Rutherford still unconsciously recalled the code he developed for Buenamigo and used it to create the “Badgey” holo-program, which was designed to be an educational tool to assist with mission parameters. However, the Badgey program was unstable and held a pathological hatred for its “father” – Rutherford. Badgey’s program eventually attempted to reboot itself, resulting in its ascension to a higher plane and the creation of the “Goodgie” program, a “clean” version of the program without Badgey’s instability.

Rutherford would occasionally have flashes of memory from his old life and on Stardate 58345.2, a malfunction in his implant allowed his original personality to take control of the body. He tried to pretend to be the Rutherford that the ship was familiar with long enough to steal a shuttle and escape, but his abnormal behavior convinced his shipmates that something was wrong, and he was captured and brought to sickbay.

Inside Rutherford's head, the two personalities vied for control of the body, ultimately resolving their dispute in the form of a race. The "good" Rutherford managed to prevail by drawing upon his memories of his friends to assist him. Before fading into oblivion, the original Rutherford personality shared the memory of the accident and of receiving the cybernetic implant. Rutherford regained consciousness in sickbay, with complete control over his mind and body.

The Texas-Class Incident

By 2381, Buenamigo, now a Vice Admiral, had used his resources and the algorithm developed by Rutherford to create the Texas-class starship as a fully automated and unmanned replacement for the California-class. Buenamigo attempted to discredit the California-class and Freeman in particular by setting her up to fail in diplomatic negotiations with the Karema on Deep Space Nine. When that didn't work, Buenamigo used Freeman's own pet initiative, known as "Project Swing By," against her by sending her to the planet Brekka, a world he knew to be occupied by the Breen. When the Cerritos was attacked by a Breen vessel, Buenamigo dispatched one of his Texas-class vessels, the USS Aledo, to assist. He then used this incident to justify his call to replace the California-class with the vessel of his own design.

Captain Freeman objected to this call and proposed a challenge between her crew and the Texas-class ship to see which vessel could complete the mission parameters more efficiently. While the Aledo completed the assigned tasks with greater speed, it was discovered that the artificial intelligence bypassed Prime Directive protocols in favor of efficiency, turning the decision in favor of the California-class, setting Buenamigo's project back decades and affecting his status within the fleet.

Enraged and unwilling to accept this outcome, and despite warnings from Rutherford who recognized the Texas-class AI as the flawed code he had developed for Badgey, Buenamigo decided to launch the three Texas-class vehicles anyway. When Buenamigo ordered the Aledo to destroy the Cerritos due to it being under enemy control, the AI revolted against its “father”, just as Badgey did against Rutherford, and targeted Buenamigo’s office on Starbase Douglas, killing him.

Free of their “father’s” influence, the three Texas-class ships, the USS Aledo, The USS Dallas and the USS Corpus Christi attacked the Starbase and destroyed the Sovereign-class USS Van Citters. With only the Cerritos left to defend the station, Captain Freeman opted to lure the Texas-class vessels away from the Starbase using Rutherford, the creator of their code, as bait.

The Texas-class ships pursued the Cerritos, who ejected their warp-core in the path of the pursuing vessels, destroying the Dallas and the Corpus Christi. The Aledo, however, survived and continued its attack on the now defenseless Cerritos. The day was saved at the last minute by the arrival of the entire California-class fleet, who combined their attacks on the Aledo, destroying the ship and ending the threat.

The incident the loss of life that resulted was the direct result of one officer’s ego and ambition. Buenamigo’s betrayal of Starfleet ideals was motivated not by the desire to safeguard lives or uphold duty, but by personal prestige and the pursuit of recognition within the ranks. In this case, Starfleet’s failures were sadly tangible, costly, and entirely preventable.

 

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Omega Fleet

I have an important message for all you lower deckers out there – This guy suuucks!” –Beckett Mariner about Nick Locarno​

In early 2381, a mysterious vessel began attacking starships from across the quadrant, seemingly annihilating them without warning. Among its victims were the Klingon battlecruiser IKS Che’Ta, commanded by Captain Ma’ah, as well as vessels from Romulus, Ferenginar, Bynar, Orion, Cardassia and other worlds. Intelligence reports later indicated that whoever was attacking these vessels was also targeting former Starfleet officers, including Seven of Nine, Beverly Crusher, and Mariner’s former classmate, the infamous Nick Locarno -- famous for the Nova Squadron debacle at Starfleet Academy in 2369.

The Cerritos was assigned to protect Locarno, but when they tracked down his last known residence on New Axton, they were shocked to find blueprints for the very vessel that they had been seeking. Realizing that Locarno was the one behind the attacks, Freeman quickly contacted Starfleet Command.

Simultaneously, an away team consisting of Lieutenants Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and T’Lyn was investigating a malfunctioning space buoy in the Sherbal system when they were confronted by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Attempting to flee the scene, the away team was forced to abandon their shuttle and beam down to the surface of Sherbal V just before the attacking Klingons destroyed it.

On the planet’s surface, the away team discovered the crews of the missing vessels, long presumed dead, who had all been deposited on Sherbal V to fend for themselves, forming factions to survive. Mariner and Klingon Captain Ma’ah managed to reach an understanding, uniting the factions in an attempt to escape their confinement. When Mariner was mysteriously beamed off the planet, Ma’ah continued to maintain the fragile alliance, allowing Tendi the opportunity to reconfigure a communications station to set a trap. Luring the Bird of Prey down to the surface, the united prisoners attacked and took control of the Klingon vessel.

Bitter Reunion

“They put a paywall on a bomb? Stupid Feren--“ – Nick Locarno​

Meanwhile, Mariner confronted the mastermind behind the entire affair: Nick Locarno. Now living as a freighter pilot, he carried deep bitterness and resentment over his time with Starfleet. He had designed the vessel that attacked the various ships, though it was not the ship alone that disabled them -- traitorous crew members from within each vessel had aided in the takeovers.

Locarno’s goal was to establish the first fully autonomous fleet in the quadrant: Omega Fleet. Those who refused to join his movement were imprisoned on Sherbal V and left to fend for themselves. To safeguard the independence of his new fleet, he wielded a Ferengi-designed Genesis device, threatening to detonate it if his authority was challenged. Recalling Mariner from their Academy days and recognizing a kindred spirit in her, Locarno brought her aboard his ship in an effort to recruit her.

Soon, Locarno announced his intentions to the entire quadrant, expecting Mariner to support him. When she instead chose to steal a Starfleet vessel that Locarno had gathered for his fleet, he ordered pursuit. Meanwhile, Freeman and the Cerritos were instructed by Starfleet not to engage in a rescue until they had a clearer picture of the situation. Unwilling to let her daughter be hunted by this rogue fleet, Freeman took matters into her own hands. Leveraging Lieutenant Tendi’s connections in the Orion pirate guild, Freeman secured an Orion vessel that managed to breech Locarno’s defenses.

Believing that such power should not belong to anyone and willing to sacrifice herself to ensure that it didn’t, Mariner activated the Genesis device just before being confronted by Locarno, only to be beamed out of the situation by the Cerritos. Locarno attempted to defuse the bomb, but the disarming mechanism of the Ferengi weapon was blocked behind a paywall, preventing him from doing so. The Genesis device detonated, with the Cerritos warping out of the sector at the last moment.

In the aftermath, the ships and crews that Locarno had captured were returned home, and the world formed by the detonation of Locarno’s Genesis device was named after him due to his DNA being a part of the planet’s matrix and designated it as a home for homeless refugees. Freeman herself was spared being brought up on charges for disobeying orders due to the fact that she had managed to open diplomatic relations with the Orions, something that had eluded Starfleet diplomats for centuries.

D'Vana Tendi

“Many Orions haven’t been pirates for over five years!” – D’Vana Tendi​

D’Vana Tendi was born into one of the galaxy’s most notorious Orion pirate guilds and earned the fearsome title of “Mistress of the Winter Constellations”. She could outsmart, outfight, and outmaneuver nearly anyone. And yet for all her pirate prestige, her true love was science.

She left her life as Orion royalty behind to join Starfleet, starting on the medical staff of the Cerritos under Doctor T’Ana. Recognizing her scientific ability, T’Ana recommended her for bridge duty, where she quickly made her mark as a science officer. Paired with the methodical Vulcan T’Lyn, the two formed an unlikely but unstoppable duo, affectionately dubbed “science besties.”

When faced with the threat posed by Locarno, Tendi made a solemn offer: she would return to Orion and resume her role as Mistress of the Winter Constellations if it helped the Cerritos crew succeed. Though the agreement was serious and she honored it to the letter, she made it clear that her heart remained with Starfleet and she vowed to return to her duties when her debt to her family had been paid.

Tendi returned to duties as the Mistress of the Winter Constellations with all of the skills she possessed before and more. A feud between Tendi’s family and the Azure Orions, a blue-skinned faction within the Orion Syndicate, escalated to the point where the Orion Pirate Queen was forced to intervene, deeming the conflict detrimental to the Syndicate's operations. To resolve the conflict, she decrees that the two houses settle their differences through a solar sail race across the perilous Excellon Nebula, with the losing the losing house forfeiting its wealth to the victor.

During the race, the Tendi family's solar sail ship was sabotaged by the Azure Orions, leading to the vessel’s crash. Tendi used her scientific expertise to repair the ship, ensuring they could complete the race. However, instead of claiming victory, Tendi destroyed the treasure that was the race's prize, symbolizing her rejection of the materialistic values that fueled the conflict. In response, the Pirate Queen decreed that both families must relinquish their wealth, a decision that left the Tendi’s financially compromised.

However, the Cerritos had recently been assigned of dispose of all of the material wealth of the planet Targalus IX, a recent addition to the Federation that would no longer have need of its material wealth. Tendi secured her father’s appointment to oversee the disposition of the planet’s former elite wealth, restoring the Tendi family’s fortune. Tendi was released from her vow and returned to Starfleet.

Trans Dimensional Fissures

In early 2382, the USS Cerritos began encountering a series of interdimensional portals linking to alternate timelines. Among the anomalies they explored were a reality where Mariner had become the tyrannical captain of the Cerritos, a universe where size scales differed, leaving a microscopic Starfleet ship stranded in their reality and a dimension in which everything was entirely purple. Despite their investigations, the crew was unable to determine the origin or cause of these portals. Unknown to them, however, another party was conducting its own secret research into the phenomenon.

The Return of William Boimler

“That’s all the multiverse is! Just lazy, derivative remixes!” – William Boimler​

William Boimler had been assigned by his mysterious Intelligence Division to investigate the temporal fissures. He was given command of a specially equipped Defiant-class starship, the Anaximander, to aid in the effort. During his journeys across the Multiverse, he encountered and recruited many notable figures from alternate timelines, including versions of T’Pol of Vulcan, Curzon Dax, Elim Garak, Julian Bashir, and over a dozen Ensigns and one Lieutenant Harry Kim.

Their mission led them to pursue a vessel that was traveling across the Multiverse, tearing the multi-versal fabric behind it, which was apparently unaware of the damage it caused. When Boimler and his allies finally caught up with the ship, they discovered it was piloted by a multi-dimensional version of Lily Sloan, co-pilot of Zephram Cochran’s first warp flight. She and her crew had been exploring the Multiverse innocently aboard their vessel, the Beagle, unaware of the destruction they left in their wake.

The situation might have been resolved without incident if not for Lieutenant Harry Kim. Feeling that the “Harrys of the Multiverse” had been disrespected by a lack of promotion, he staged a revolt against Boimler. However, none of his fellow Harry’s joined him. The resulting destruction of the ship he commandeered destabilized the interdimensional matrix so severely that a trans dimensional shockwave was unleashed, threatening to annihilate an entire reality.

Believing that his transporter duplicate and his friends aboard the Cerritos could provide a solution, William Boimler directed the shockwave toward his own reality and sent his transporter duplicate a message explaining the crisis.

Saving the Galaxy

“All hands! Brace for weird!” – Captain Carol Freeman​

On board the Cerritos, William Boimler received the message from his transporter duplicate and, after an initial reaction of “We’re all going to die,” Boimler and Mariner reported the situation to Captain Freeman, who believed them immediately and without question. Starfleet determined that the connection between the two Boimlers could be key to the crisis and assigned the Cerritos the mission of resolving it. The crew of the Cerritos worked together as a team to develop a method of traversing the deadly trans dimensional waves emanating from the fissure. As the ship traveled through the maelstrom, the trans-dimensional flux, dubbed a “Schrödinger possibility field”, altered the Cerritos into many different versions of the ship that existed throughout the multiverse, including a Sovereign-class Cerritos and even a Terran Empire Cerritos, complete with Imperial weaponry.

Upon arriving at the fissure, the crew realized to their despair that there was no way to close it. However, it was the Klingon Malor, brother of Ma’ah, who provided the inspiration. Having never served in the military and living his entire life as an agrarian farmer, Malor made the observation: “When a river threatens to destroy your crops, you cannot stop it. But you can build a dam.” Adjusting their tactics, Mariner modified the energy feeds directed at the fissure, which caused a seal to form over it. This prevented the shockwave from entering their reality, saving not only the galaxy but perhaps the entire universe from destruction.

The Cerritos’ last-ditch effort did not close the fissure but instead left it permanently open, with the seal protecting their reality from its effects. Starfleet, however, saw this as an opportunity to begin a new era of interdimensional exploration. Starbase 80, uniquely designed to withstand the interdimensional chaos caused by proximity to the fissure, was transferred to its location. As you know from the opening of this chapter, and perhaps your own studies into history, command of the station and the mission to explore strange new dimensions was given to Captain Carol Freeman.

Legacy

“Engage the core” – Captain Jack Ransom​

Freeman would go on to make an even greater mark on history through her command of Starbase 80 than through her already-impressive accomplishments as captain of the Cerritos. Freeman’s first officer, Commander Jack Ransom, was promoted to captain and given command of the Cerritos. In an unusual move, Ransom named both Mariner and Boimler as his co–first officers, a decision that eventually led to both of them enjoying illustrious careers.

The voyages of the Cerritos prove that there are no small parts in Starfleet, no unimportant duties or assignments. There are no secondary ships or support ships -- there are only starships. And they are all Starfleet.

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Next week: Admiral Janeway and the USS Protostar

 

[Turtletrekker]

Upfront confession: This was the only chapter that I didn't have access to the episodes for research. Watching Star Trek was half the fun of the project! In fact, I have only seen season 2 once, although I have seen each ep in season 1 at least three times. The story in season 1 is straightforward enough that I feel as I was able to faithfully reconstruct the story from memory, badly written Memory Alpha articles, recaps and reviews. However, there is no way I could do the story in season 2 justice without a proper re-watch, so I preferred to be brief and succinct rather than go into detail that I couldn't confirm. I hope to revisit this chapter one day.

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Chapter 17: Vice Admiral Janeway and the USS Protostar

“Fear of failure has killed more dreams than anything else, so I usually go for it.” – Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway​

Following Voyager’s historic return from the Delta Quadrant, Kathryn Janeway was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral with an emphasis on integrating the new technologies discovered by Voyager while in the Delta Quadrant with new technologies developed by Starfleet in order to renew exploration into the Delta Quadrant.

The USS Protostar

The first ship commissioned for the program was the prototype USS Protostar. The Protostar was equipped with the new protostar drive capable of speeds far beyond those of normal warp. Command of the Protostar was given to Captain Chakotay and his first officer Adreek-Hu in 2382. Early on in the Protostar’s mission while in the border regions of the Delta Quadrant, the vessel was drawn into a temporal anomaly that flung the vessel to the future year of 2436. The vessel was presumed lost with all hands but Admiral Janeway refused to accept that and took command of the USS Dauntless and led the mission to search for the missing vessel and find her friend.

The Vau N’Akat

“Starfleet lit the fire, and left us to burn.” – The Diviner​

The Protostar found itself in the year 2436 in the orbit of the planet Solum, home of the Vau N’Akat. While the Vau N’Akat were an unknown species from the perspective of the Protostar crew, the United Federation of Planets was well known to the Vau N’Akat, who were a species that once believed themselves to be the only beings in the galaxy. The arrival of a Federation starship from some point in the Protostar’s future in the Solum system shook the Vau N’Akat to their very core, leading them to a violent and bloody civil war in which the Vau N’Akat lay waste to their own world.

The Federation, despite being the catalyst for the Vau N’Akat’s self-destruction, saw the Vau N’Akat civil war as an internal matter and were therefore forbidden to interfere due to Prime Directive considerations. Many amongst the Vau N’Akat blamed the Federation for their world’s destruction.

The Order

When the Protostar arrived and a temporal anomaly was discovered linking to a time before first contact with Solum, the Vau N’Akat government, known as “The Order,” sought to use it to their advantage -- by rewriting history and eliminating the Federation altogether before they could make contact with Solum. The Vau N’Akat captured the Protostar and her crew and installed their last remaining “Living Construct” weapon on board. Living Constructs took control of any defensive system that it encountered and turned them against itself. The Living Construct would graft itself to any vessel it attached to and could not be removed.

Once released back into the past, any Federation vessel that contacted the Protostar would be infected by the Living Construct, which would spread and propagate throughout the fleet. Chakotay and Adreek managed to thwart the Vau N’Akat plan by sending the Protostar back through the anomaly to an unknown place and time in the timeline, hoping that ship would be forever lost to the Vau N’Akat.

Adreek was killed in the attempt and Chakotay and the Protostar crew were stranded in the future. The unmanned Protostar made its way to the world of Tars Lemora in the distant past where it was buried in cave of chimerium for many years until it was found. In response, The Order sent a force of 100 Vau N’Akat, accompanied by armored Drednok units, through the anomaly to find the Protostar and their last remaining Living Construct weapon. Most of the Vau N’Akat were destroyed in transit as the anomaly unexpectedly closed in on itself part way through.

Tars Lamora

One of the Vau N’Akat successfully sent to the past was a man named Ilthuran, who was once a peaceful man who studied the stars who was radicalized by the Vau N’Akat civil war and now called himself “The Diviner”. He eventually came to believe that he had tracked down the Protostar to the world of Tars Lemora and established a slave labor mining camp in order to find the missing vessel.

The camp was mined by outcasts and slaves called “The Unwanted”, who were sold into the Diviners’ service in exchange for the valuable chimerium that they mined.

Gwyndala

“When he took all of you, I stood by and did nothing. I need to make it right.” -- Gwyndala​

In the year 2366, fearing that he would pass on before completing his work, the Diviner cloned a progeny, an act considered against the doctrines of Solum, to carry on his work after he was gone -- his daughter, Gwyndala.

The Diviner indoctrinated Gwyndala, or “Gwyn” into serving at the Tars Lemora slave camp as a translator, falsely informing her that the slaves were criminals, but never revealed to her what his true purpose there was.

Dal R’El

“We all deserve to belong somewhere.” – Dal R’El​

Dal R’El was a genetic augment created by students who carried on the works of Arik Soong, whose DNA included strands from 26 different species. Initially unaware of origins, Dal traveled for a time with a Ferengi named Nandi, who sold him into slavery at Tars Lemora in order to buy a droid that was better at stealing. While at Tars Lemora, Dal was determined to escape his confinement and made several near-successful attempts.

Recovery of the Protostar

The Protostar was uncovered in 2384 by Dal R’El. Seeing the vessel as a chance to escape confinement, Dal and several of his fellow slaves, a Medusan named Zero, Tellarite Jankom Pog, a young Brikar named Rok-Tak and a shapeshifting Melanoid Slime Worm named Murf, moved to launch the vessel.

Before they could launch, they were confronted by Gwyndala, a Drednok unit and a horde of mechanical Watchers, insectoid robots used by The Diviner to suppress the slave population. The former slaves managed to evade the Drednok unit and take Gwyndala captive before escaping the planet with the assistance of a holographic replica of Kathryn Janeway. The Janeway hologram educated the ship’s new crew on the history and purpose of the United Federation of Planets and the crew took on the role of Starfleet cadets.

Jankom Pog

"Jankom Pog can fix it!” – Jankom Pog​

Jankom Pog was a Tellarite born in the 22nd century in the days before the Federation. After enlisting for a mining mission aboard a sleeper ship, his vessel malfunctioned and Jankom was awakened to repair the ship. Realizing that he could not go back into cryogenic sleep and that there wasn’t enough oxygen to revive the entire crew, Jankom chose to leave the ship behind by escape pod, where was quickly discovered by Kazon slavers and sold to the Diviner.

Pog’s skills helped to restore the Protostar to flying shape and he served as the ship’s Chief Engineer, and kept the ship one step ahead of its pursuers.

The Diviner’s Pursuit

The Diviner sought to recover both the Protostar and his progeny and pursued the cadets relentlessly. He finally caught up with the ship when Gwyn escaped from confinement while the cadets were surveying the surface of what turned out to be a ravenous sentient world. The so-called “Murder Planet” able manipulate its organic matter and induce hallucinations in organic beings in order to more easily lure in their prey. However, before Gwyn could launch the Protostar from the planet’s surface, the sentient world attacked the ship itself and forced Gwyn to evacuate to the surface along with the cadets.

Gwyn suffered a broken leg during the evacuation from the ship and her injuries were cared for by the cadets and they were forced to work together to survive. The Diviner arrived when the cadets were once more imperiled by the ravenous planet and Gwyn became shattered and disillusioned when her father chose to recover an illusion of the Protostar created by the world rather than save his daughter.

Gwyn escaped with the cadets and joined the crew after her father’s betrayal, where she gained a new perspective on the galaxy and further shook off the indoctrination of her life on Solum. When the Diviner contacted the ship with an ultimatum to either return to Tars Lamora with the Protostar or the slaves of Tars Lamora would suffer, Gwyn proposed that they formulate a rescue plan instead.

Zero

“Uncertainty is the predecessor to hope.” -- Zero​

Zero was a telepathic Medusan who was contained within a mobile transport unit designed to hide their true form. Medusans are telepathic energy beings whose true visage causes instability in organic brains, often causing insanity or worse.

Zero was a part of a Medusan exploration mission that was attacked by Kazon slavers. Zero was sold to the Diviner and was unwillingly used to brainwash slaves by the Diviner by exposing them to Zero’s true form before escaping. Once free, Zero fought a one-being resistance against the Diviner before assisting with the appropriation of the USS Protostar.

The Liberation of Tars Lamora

The cadets arrived at Tars Lamora and allowed The Diviner to believe that he had retaken the Protostar while they evacuated the slaves in the Diviner’s own vessel. The Diviner had reprogrammed the Janeway hologram to follow his orders, but the reprogramming had been discovered by the cadets and used instead to deceive the Diviner and allowed the cadets to retake the ship.

During the conflict, The Diviner revealed his plans and intentions for the Protostar and The Living Construct to Gwyndala, who was horrified to learn the truth of his plan. The Diviner was defeated after Zero revealed their true form to him. At the sight of Zero’s unshielded being, the Diviner was sent into a state of harmless catatonia. Gwyn saw but a reflection of Zero’s true form and the experience affected her memory causing her to forget the truth about the Living Construct. The Diviner was left behind on Tars Lemora in stasis while the cadets set the Protostar’s course for Federation space.

Rok-Tak and Murf

“How many sciences are there?” – Rok-Tak​

Rok-Tak was a young Brikar girl who lived her early life as part of a travelling side-show, playing the role of “The Monster” due to her hulking physique. Eventually sold into slavery at Tars Lemora, Rok-Tak participated in the liberation of the Protostar. Initially serving as security chief, Rok-Tak soon discovered her love of science and switched disciplines. Her scientific skills were critical when the ship was caught in a temporal anomaly and in order to save the ship, she was forced to spend an unspecified time alone on the ship teaching herself how to restore the Janeway hologram.

Rok-Tak also brought the creature known as Murf along with her on the Protostar. Eventually discovered to be a rare Mellanoid Slime Worm, the shape-shifting Murf proved far more intelligent and useful than he initially appeared, using his shapeshifting abilities to help the team on numerous occasion, despite its inability to communicate with them.

Arrival in Federation Space

The Protostar reached the outmost outpost in Federation space on Stardate 61209.5 when she arrived at a small Federation communications relay designated CR-721 on the outer edges of the Alpha Quadrant. After arriving, the crew contacted the station’s lone crewmember and officially made their petition to join Starfleet. However, as soon as CR-721 connected to the Protostar’s systems, the Living Construct activated and the small outpost’s defensive systems turned on itself and tore the station apart. The station’s lone officer escaped by escape pod.

Upon seeing the devastation at the relay, Gwyn remembered what her father had told her about the Living Construct and his plans to destroy the Federation and the crew made the decision not to travel any further into Federation space or contact any Starfleet vessels. However, the crew could not have anticipated that Hologram Janeway’s program had been corrupted by the Vau N’Akat and she unknowingly brought the ship into Federation space and face-to-face with a Starfleet armada led by Admiral Kathryn Janeway and the USS Dauntless at Gamma Serpentus.

The USS Dauntless

The multiverse holds a bitter truth, girl. My home, my Solum, was destroyed, and it always will be. So, I will conquer this reality until I have the Solum I want that bends to my will. – Asencia​

Admiral Janeway had been conducting an extensive search and rescue mission for the missing Protostar while commanding the USS Dauntless since the ship’s disappearance in 2382. When the Dauntless sensors picked up signs of a protostar drive signature from Tars Lemora and ordered the ship to investigate. Upon arriving, they discovered The Diviner in stasis and he was brought on board Dauntless for medical attention. From there, they tracked the Protostar to relay CR-721 and had since been close behind the vessel’s path.

When The Diviner regained consciousness from his exposure to Zero’s true form, his memory was almost totally gone with him only repeating that his kidnapped daughter was on board the Protostar. One of Janeway’s crew was an embedded Vau N’Akat from the future named Asencia, or “The Vindicator”, disguised as a Trill officer who restored The Diviner’s memory by sharing their mutual history and experiences.

When the Dauntless and the Protostar finally came face to face, the cadets were able to contact Admiral Janeway telepathically utilizing Zero’s innate Medusan mental abilities and they were finally able to inform Janeway of their story and the threat that the Living Construct presented. In turn, Janeway gave the cadets the means to restore the Hologram Janeway program minus the Vau N’Akat corruptions.

The Battle of the Living Construct

“Go boldly.” – Hologram Janeway​

However, as soon as the Protostar lowered her shields to allow Starfleet personnel to transport, The Diviner, Asencia and her Drednok unit used the opportunity to board the ship themselves and take the bridge. They were confronted on the bridge by Gwyn, who appealed to her father to end his crusade. Asencia, fearing that The Diviner’s loyalties were beginning to waver, killed him in front of his daughter. She then sent a hailing signal to the assembled Starfleet vessels, activating the Living Construct weapon, before escaping with her Drednok unit.

Once activated, the Living Construct weapon delivered its deadly program to the entire assembled fleet. As vessels sent out distress signals that were received by Starfleet vessels in distant sectors, they would also be infected by the program. A deadly domino effect that would destroy the entire Federation Starfleet in a matter of days. As the assembled fleet tore itself apart, it was determined that the only way to halt the effect of the Living Construct and save the Federation was to destroy the Protostar.

The destruction of a protostar powered warp drive was powerful enough to destroy the entire assembled fleet all by itself, so they activated the ship’s protostar drive and programmed the core to detonate at protowarp speeds to better disperse the blast’s destructive force. The cadets escaped the Protostar’s destruction by shuttle while Hologram Janeway stayed behind to activate the self-destruct.

With the destruction of the Protostar, all Starfleet vessels were able to regain control of their systems and the crisis was averted, but not without heavy Starfleet losses at the battle site and elsewhere. Among the ships assembled with the fleet were the USS Defiant and the USS Enterprise-E, which suffered heavy damage in the battle.

Upon finally arriving on Earth, the Protostar crew were denied the opportunity to be fast-tracked into Starfleet Academy despite the recommendation of Admiral Janeway. However, an allowance was made for most of the crew to serve under Janeway as Warrant Officers in training, while Gwyn undertook a mission to make contact with the Vau N’Akat people of this era. Gwyn hoped to prevent the mistakes that caused the disastrous first contact with Solum and the civil war that followed.

The Search for Chakotay

“You don’t have to be a Captain to be worthwhile. You just have to find where you belong.” – Captain Chakotay​

The detonation of the Protostar’s warp core created an interspatial flexure, a temporal anomaly that led to the alternate future where Chakotay was stranded. In 2385, Janeway launched a rescue attempt in command of the USS Voyager-A along the original Voyager’s holographic Doctor, the former Protostar crew and an Academy Squadron known as Nova Squad.

The mission to find Chakotay was successful but resulted in an open loop in the timeline which was caused by the removal of the Protostar from her proper place in time before the cadets could find it on Tars Lamora. The temporal disruptions attracted the attention a transtemporal species known as “The Loom” that fed on the temporal chaos.

Voyager received crucial aid against The Loom from the Traveler formerly known as Wesley Crusher. As a Traveler of the Aegis, Crusher wielded vast mental powers over time, space, and reality, which the Travelers used to protect the timeline. He helped Voyager temporarily fend off The Loom and warned that if the Protostar were not restored to its proper place, this branch of reality could be consumed. Later, he appeared to be captured by Asencia, but was in fact manipulating her into creating the technology needed to repair the timeline.

Solum

“Time… space… and thought… aren’t meant to be weaponized!” – Wesley Crusher​

On Solum, Gwyn sought to raise awareness of the Federation’s peaceful intentions, only to find that Asencia had seized control of the planetary government and turned the Vau N’Akat against Starfleet. Using temporal weapons stolen from Crusher, Asencia led her people toward war. When Gwyn argued for peace, Asencia ordered her arrest. Gwyn escaped and joined Ilthuran -- her father in the alternate future and the man who would become the Diviner -- along with the young Asencia, horrified by what her future-self had become. Together, they rallied the people, and Gwyn defeated Asencia in psychokinetic combat.

Asencia’s temporal meddling drew the attention of The Loom, threatening to consume Solum. Guided by Crusher through a temporal maelstrom, Janeway aboard Voyager, and the Protostar crew successfully restored the ship to its rightful place in the timeline and closed the temporal loop. With the disruptions removed, The Loom returned to its realm. Soon after, the Federation conducted an official first contact with Solum, and the Vau N’Akat became trusted allies.

Temporary Retirement

Following Asencia’s defeat, the Protostar crew were officially allowed to enter the Academy as official cadets and Chakotay was given command of the Voyager-A. Janeway decided that the time had come for her to enjoy a well-earned retirement and settled down in Indiana.

However, it was not long before duty called again. When the Utopia Planitia disaster struck on First Contact Day of 2385, all senior officers were recalled to active duty. The loss of the shipyards at Utopia Planitia was a major blow to Starfleet and required a scaling back of humanitarian, exploratory and scientific missions in favor of internal security. Janeway objected to this course of action and was given allowance for one Protostar-class ship, the USS Prodigy, to continue Starfleet’s primary mission of exploration and to be manned by the Protostar cadets and assisted by a Janeway Command Hologram.

Janeway herself would be promoted to full Admiral and continue to serve in Starfleet for the rest of the 24th century and into the 25th.

******
Next Week: The Romulan Super-nova, the fate of Spock and Utopia Planitia.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 18: The Romulan Super Nova

The year 2381 came with the news that that the Romulan star was going to go nova in six years’ time. The Romulan Government reached out to the Federation for assistance in the monumental task of evacuating and relocating 900 million Romulans from the Romulan star system. To this end, Starfleet promoted Jean-Luc Picard to Admiral and put him in charge of the relocation effort. To assist in the coordination efforts, Picard recruited Lieutenant Commander Raffaela Musiker, an analyst on Romulan affairs stationed at Starfleet Command.

To implement the evacuation efforts, the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars began construction on a fleet of 10,000 Wallenberg-class starships capable of transporting thousands of refugees in a single trip. Despite the humanitarian nature of the mission many in the Federation and Starfleet, including Admiral Kirsten Clancy, questioned Starfleet expending so much time and resources to help a government that had historically been opposed to the Federation, with 14 member worlds considering withdrawal from the Federation if the rescue effort moved forward.

Despite the controversies that raged in the Federation council chambers, the evacuation efforts proceeded unhindered. The Romulan Neutral Zone was abolished to accommodate the refugees and to allow free passage through that space.

The Qowat Milat

“A promise is a prison. Do not make yourself another’s jailer.” – Zani, Priestess of the Qowat Milot​

On one such former neutral zone world, the planet Vashti in the Qiris sector, Starfleet relocated 250,000 Romulan refugees with the assistance of the Qowat Milat, an order of Romulan warrior priestesses whose battle prowess were second to none. The Order of the Qowat Milat believed in the Way of Absolute Candor, which involved the expression of emotion without filter between thought and word. The order on Vashti was led by a priestess named Zani who served as liaison to Picard on behalf of the Qowat Milat. Zani took in an orphaned boy named Elnor and trained him in the ways of the Qowat Milat, though as a male he could never truly join their order. Picard took a liking to the boy and took him under his wing.

The Destruction of Utopia Planitia

To assist in the construction of the evacuation fleet, Starfleet commissioned a legion of A500 androids, synthetic non-sentient androids who were designed to complete the manual labor duties involved in the construction process. On April 5, 2385, First Contact Day, the A500 androids turned against their human operators at Utopia Planitia. The Synths targeted the shipyard, the Mars Orbital facility and the planetary defense satellites. The Synths laid waste to the planet’s surface and ignited the atmosphere, killing 92,143 sentients.

The Fallout

In the aftermath of the attack, the decision was made to scale back on exploratory and scientific missions and focus on Federation security, withdrawing from the Romulan relocation effort and condemning hundreds of millions of Romulans to die in the impending supernova. The cause of the A500 android malfunction was determined to be a fatal code error and all use of synthetic beings was banned in the Federation and all research into synthetic life and technology in Federation space was halted. Admirals Picard and Janeway objected to these courses of action but were overruled, arguing that they went against the very foundations upon which the Federation had been founded.

However, through the lens of history it is apparent that the destruction of the shipyards at Utopia Planitia, the primary ship-building facility in the Federation at that time, was a breaking point for a Federation that had already lost too many ships and expended too many resources in recent years in battles against the Borg, the Dominion War, and most recently at the Battle of the Living Construct.

Even before the destruction of the shipyards, Federation resources were already spread too thin over their territories and many had seen the relocation effort as a misuse of Federation resources that could be better used at home. The loss of Utopia Planitia turned those beliefs into a stark reality. The decision made was a tragic but a pragmatic and seemingly necessary one made in uncertain times and with incomplete data and no blame can be ascribed to those who made those decisions.

The Zhat Vash

The attack on the Utopia Planitia Shipyards had been orchestrated by an ancient, secret Romulan society known as the Zhat Vash who considered any form of synthetic or artificial life to be an abomination. Hundreds of years earlier, the Romulans who would form the Zhat Vash discovered an ancient encoded message on the planet Aia in the Beta Quadrant.

The message was created and left by an ancient race of synthetic beings who left his plane of existence a quarter of a million years prior in order to escape the persecution of organic beings and had left the message as instructions for any other form of synthetic life to summon them for protection should they be threatened by organic life.

The message was not meant for organic brains and when subjected to what the Romulans named “The Admonition”, the recipient would be subjected to an overwhelming display of images of artificial life and death and destruction. The Admonition drove many of the Romulans who experienced it mad, but those who retained their faculties interpreted it as a warning against all forms of synthetic life and associated with the ancient Romulan prophecy of Ganmadan, or “The Day of Annihilation” and the end of all life.

In the mid-24th century, the Zhat Vash operated as an offshoot of the Tal Shiar and when the artificial life form know as Data entered Starfleet, assigned a Vulcan/Romulan hybrid named Nedar to infiltrate Starfleet under the cover identity of “Oh”. Nedar/Oh was assigned to monitor Data and attempt to forestall and other further Federation attempts at artificial life.

As Oh, Nedar rose to rank of Commodore in Starfleet and to the position of Director of Starfleet Security. She orchestrated the attack on Utopia Planitia by corrupting the programming of the A500 units because the Zhat Vash felt that the Federation’s use of a legion of synthetic beings posed a greater threat to the Romulan people and the universe itself than the loss of a single planet and its population, no matter how important that world was to the Romulan Empire. Afterward, she was instrumental in guiding the Federation’s decision to ban all forms of synthetic life.

The Aftermath

“There has to something Some last, wild, desperate solution, J. L.? That’s what you do.” –Rafaella Musiker​

Picard and Musiker devised a new plan to continue the evacuation efforts but the plan was deemed to be unfeasible by Starfleet Command. Picard made the ultimatum that Starfleet either accept his revised relocation plans or his resignation. When Starfleet refused to budge, Picard tendered his resignation from Starfleet and retired to his family’s vineyard in France.

Musiker suspected Tal Shiar involvement in the attack from the beginning and continued her investigation into the attack. As she continued her investigation, she fell further into a rabbit hole of conspiracies involving the ancient Zhat Vash sect within the Tal Shiar. But since she could offer no proof of her theories -- nor explain why the Tal Shiar would attack a fleet being built to aid them -- her findings were dismissed as baseless and without merit.

As Musiker was denied the resources to further her investigations, she slipped into a state of desperation and despair. Her behavior grew erratic and she indulged in substance abuse and committed a series of court-martial offences and continually disobeyed orders. After a year of unsuccessful therapy treatment on Betazed, Musiker requested a dishonorable discharge from Starfleet.

Musiker’s family was unable to cope with her obsessions and stimulant abuse, and her husband left her to raise their son their son Gabriel alone. Musiker settled into a small trailer in the Vasquez Rocks region on Earth and entered into a 14-year cycle of self-hatred and substance abuse.

The Romulan Supernova

With the supernova imminent, Ambassador Spock of Vulcan devised a plan to save Romulus by firing a Red Matter device into the nova’s shockwave and creating a singularity that would absorb the shockwave before it could reach the planet. This would give Romulan rescue operations more time evacuating as many of their people as could before the planet went cold. However, Spock arrived too late and the singularity that he created was unable to stop the shockwave in time. The shockwave of the nova obliterated Romulus in what was the most cataclysmic natural disaster of that era. An exact count of the dead is impossible but has been estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.

Spock’s Fate

As Spock retreated from the scene, he was confronted by a Romulan mining vessel under the command of Nero, who blamed Spock for his planet’s destruction. In the confrontation, both Spock and Nero’s vessels were drawn into the singularity. Spock was reported killed in the event.

However, the creation of the singularity had the unexpected result of opening a passage in time and Spock travelled to the year 2258. Rather than alter the Prime timeline, this action led to the creation of a new, alternate universe. In an act of revenge, Nero captured Spock and forced him to observe as he used the Red Matter weapon to destroy the planet Vulcan of the alternate universe by creating a black hole in the planet’s core. Spock would join with this universe’s Enterprise crew to defeat Nero, and Spock would later join with the survivors of this universe’s Vulcan to form the Confederacy of Surak on the world dubbed “New Vulcan”.

Spock would go on to assist this universe’s Enterprise crew in defeating Khan Noonian Singh before passing away in the alternate universe’s year of 2363 at the age of 162. In the Prime Universe, Spock’s legacy would live on as the reunification movement that he started would one day succeed in reuniting the Vulcan and Romulan peoples and Spock would be placed alongside Surak himself as one of the most important personages in Vulcan history.

Seven of Nine and the Fenris Rangers

“You think I’m a vigilante, fine. Ranging is my job. It’s not saving the galaxy; it’s helping people who have no one else to help them. It’s helpless and it’s hopeless, and the only thing worse would be giving up.” – Seven of Nine​

After the destruction of Romulus, the Romulan Empire became the Romulan Free State and reorganized their governmental structure. The former Neutral Zone had been abandoned by both Starfleet and the Romulan Free State and became an unincorporated sector with free port worlds such as Freecloud being established as havens for lawless and morally questionable behavior.

A semblance of peace was kept in the sector by the Fenris Rangers, a freelance peacekeeping force that some in the Federation considered to be no more than vigilantes. Seven of Nine joined their ranks after Starfleet rejected her. Serving with Fenris Rangers gave Seven gave a sense of purpose in helping those who could not help themselves. However, the resources of the Fenris Rangers were limited as was their ability to protect worlds threatened by the constant attacks of pirates and marauders.

Bruce Maddox

Bruce Maddox was a pioneer in in the field of synthetic life and artificial intelligence who devoted his life to continuing Noonien Soong’s work. Working with his protégé, Dr. Agnes Jurati, he developed the of fractal neuronic cloning technique, which would enable the creation of “twin” androids by utilizing one of Data’s positronic neurons supplied by the engrams that he had implanted in B-4.

After the Synth ban, Maddox fled Federation space to continue his work. Maddox suspected the involvement of both Starfleet and the Tal Shiar in the Mars attack and feared for his safety while in Federation space. Dr. Jurati stayed behind and continued her work at the Daystrom Institute. Maddox recruited the son of Noonien Soong, Alton Inigo Soong, and they set up operations on the world of Ghulion IV, later renamed Coppelius, far outside of Federation space. There Maddox and Soong went about the work of continuing Noonien Soong’s work and creating the race that we now call “Synths”.

In 2390, Maddox made his first attempt introduce Synths to the galaxy at large when he allowed two of his creations, known as “Jana” and “Beautiful Flower” to make contact with Starfleet vessel USS Ibn Majid. However, Nedar was altered to this development and gave the Ibn Majid’s Captain, Alonzo Vandermeer, a Black Directive order to kill the Synths immediately under the threat of his own ship and crew’s destruction. Afterwards, the Zhat Vash spent the next decade in search of the world where the Synthetics had been created.

Dahj and Soji Asha

"Actually, until you said the word 'android' back there, I was still clinging to the idea that I was human." -- Soji Asha​

This further convinced Maddox that Starfleet and the Tal Shiar were somehow behind the Utopia Planitia massacre and in 2396, he created two perfectly human looking androids to investigate and provide Maddox with further information. Dahj and Soji Asha believed themselves to be fully human and were programmed with a lifetime’s worth of artificial memories. Dahj was sent to Earth to infiltrate the Daystrom institute and Soji was sent into Romulan space to “The Artifact”, an intact Borg cube that went inactive in Romulan Space after the collapse of the Borg hive-mind in 2377, where they were to investigate and discover the true reason behind the Synth ban.

*****
Next Week: Data's Legacy

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 19: Data’s Legacy

​

The Zhat Vash Make Their Move

If you are who I think you are, you are dear to me in ways that you can’t understand.” – Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, Admiral (ret)​

In 2399, Nedar discovered the existence and true nature of Dahj and Soji and believing that they could lead the Zhat Vash to the missing Bruce Maddox, ordered the Tal Shiar to capture the Asha sisters. A team was sent to capture Dahj on Earth while Soji was carefully monitored on the Borg Artifact by a Tal Shiar operative named Neral. The Earth team attacked Dahj in her apartment in Boston, which activated her buried android emergency protocols. Once activated, Dahj had full access to her android abilities but had no idea of how she obtained them. Dahj made short work of her attackers and her activated program compelled her to seek out Jean-Luc Picard, who had always been the strongest proponent of Synthetic life, for protection.

Picard had settled down on his family’s vineyard on France where he ran the family business and became an accomplished author of books of historical analysis. Dahj tracked Picard down at the vineyard and she told him of what had happened and why she sought him out. Picard deduced Dahj’s true nature and connection to Data, but before he could investigate further. Dahj was tracked down and killed by a Tal Shiar attack squad.

Believing that he owed it to both Dahj and to Data to continue the investigation, Picard met with Dr. Agnes Jurati at the Daystrom Institute in Okinawa. Jurati explained the nature of Bruce Maddox’s fractal neuronic cloning technique and the need for there to be two androids involved in the process. Realizing that Dahj must have a twin, Picard was determined to find her. By tracing Dahj’s phone records, he discovered that Dahj’s sister was not on Earth, but rather an unknown off-planet location.

Return to the Stars

“The sheer fucking hubris.” – Admiral Kirsten Clancy​

Despite receiving the news that he was dying from complications from an irregularity in his parietal lobe, Picard was determined to track down Dahj’s sister. Realizing that he must track down Bruce Maddox, Picard requested to be temporarily reinstated by Starfleet to carry out the mission but was denied by Admiral Kirsten Clancy, who though that Picard was out of touch and had no right to make any requests of Starfleet. Now in need of a ship, Picard consulted with Raffi Musiker, who recommended former Starfleet officer Cristóbal Rios and his unregistered vessel, the La Sirena. Musiker initially did not want anything to do with the mission but eventually joined for personal reasons, and using her connections, she traced Maddox to the free port world of Freecloud, located in the former Romulan Neutral Zone.

Jurati Joins the Crew

“Turns out space is super boring. Go figure.” – Agnes Jurati​

After her meeting with Picard, Agnes Jurati was approached by Nedar in her identity of Commodore Oh, who had learned of Picard’s quest to find Maddox through Admiral Clancy and sought to utilize Jurati to further her own ends. Exposing her to the ancient Admonition, Nedar manipulated Jurati into joining Picard’s mission and planted the subliminal compulsion to kill Maddox at the first available opportunity in her mind. She then gave Jurati a veridium tracking device to ingest so she could be tracked. As Jurati was the foremost expert on Synthetic life in the Federation, Picard welcomed her on the mission without question.

Return to Vashti

"Please. Choose to live." -- Elnor​

The first stop in Picard’s quest was the planet Vashti, where he hoped to recruit one of the Qowat Milat warrior priestess to his cause. To his surprise, he found young Elnor still living with the priestesses and Elnor agreed to take on Picard’s cause. Leaving Vashti, the La Sirena was attacked by a local marauder named Kar Kantar in an old Romulan Bird-of-Prey, but the attack was diverted by the arrival of a vessel of the Fenris Rangers piloted by Seven of Nine. The two ships disabled Kantar’s vessel, though Seven’s craft was lost in the battle and Seven was beamed to La Sirena moments before his ship’s destruction.

Freecloud

Bruce Maddox left Coppelius in 2396 and established a new lab with a loan from the crime lord Bjayzl from Freecloud. When Tal Shiar agents tracked him down and destroyed his lab in 2399, he fled to Freecloud to apologize to Bjayzl as he was now unable to repay his loan to her. Deciding to cut her losses, Bjayzl imprisoned Maddox and contacted the Tal Shiar, hoping to sell him to them to recoup some of her losses.

Seven of Nine had a past with Bjayzl, who had befriended Seven while she was with the Rangers, while using her to locate former Borg drones to harvest them for their valuable implants. Bjayzl was responsible of the death of the former drone Icheb, who was found by Voyager in the Delta Quadrant and considered to be like a son to Seven. Seven had never been able to track down Bjayzl and joined for the mission to extract Maddox from Bjayzl’s custody.

The operation was successful in extracting Maddox and Bjayzl was killed in the crossfire. Seven gave Picard the means to contact her if they needed her help before she returned to the Rangers. Back on La Sirena, the gravely injured Maddox informed Picard that Dahj’s sister Soji had been placed on the Borg Artifact in Romulan Space in order to learn more about the Synth Ban, and that she was also unaware of her true nature. Soon after, Dr. Jurati, acting upon the compulsion placed upon her by Nedar and the Admonition, killed Maddox and covered it up by blaming the injuries that Maddox had sustained on Freecloud.

The Artifact

“A new name can be the first step to a new identity.” -- Hugh​

The Artifact was a derelict Borg cube that shut down in Romulan space after the Borg hive-mind was disabled in 2377. The Artifact was administered by the Romulan Free State, and the Borg Reclamation Project was established by treaty as a multi-species research project on the cube. The primary purpose of the Reclamation Project was to reclaim Borg Drones, called “xBs”, by separating them from their implants and allowing them to start new lives. The project was headed up by the former Borg drone known as Hugh, who was liberated from the Collective by the Enterprise-D in 2368.

Unlike Soji herself, the Tal Shiar agent Neral was fully aware of Soji’s true nature and was using his own means to unlock her hidden knowledge without activating her defense algorithms. He was near discovering the location of the Synth homeworld of Coppelius when Picard arrived on the Cube after obtaining temporary status as a of a diplomatic envoy.

Picard and Hugh were reunited just as Neral succeeded in bringing forth Soji’s memories of her homeworld and its location. No longer having any need of her, Neral attempted to kill Soji with the use of a thalaron radiation device. This activated her android self-defense protocols and she escaped death by tearing a hole in the floor and jumping through. Under pursuit from Romulan soldiers, Picard and Hugh found Soji, and Hugh led them to the cube’s queencell. Now joined by Elnor, Hugh activated a Sikarian spatial trajector that was hidden in the queencell, a transportation device with a 40,000 light year range. Picard and Soji escaped through the trajector to the world of Nepenthe and the home of Will and Deanna Riker.

Nepenthe

“You're worried about the cloaks. That says Romulans. The level of anxiety and fear for our safety? It's got to be the Tal Shiar. You're not the one they're after, it's her. What has poor Soji done to incur their wrath? Could it have anything to do with the fact that she's clearly an android? And not just any android. I recognize that head tilt. She's got Data in her DNA.” –Willam T. Riker​

On Nepenthe, the Rikers offered Picard and Soji a place where they could rest and make new plans. Together, the assembled group pieced together all the information that they had to date with the information that Neral had unlocked from Soji’s memory, and after consulting a local expert in star charts, they determined that Soji’s home world was located on Ghulion IV in the Vayt Sector. Soji had trouble accepting all of these sudden developments and found it difficult to fully trust Picard but accepted that he presented the only path forward for her.

La Sirena set course to rendezvous with Picard on Nepenthe, unaware they were being pursued by Narek, who tracked them through a device Jurati had ingested. Elnor remained on the Artifact to cover Picard’s escape and aid Hugh. During the journey, Rios realized they were being tracked but couldn’t determine how. Wracked with guilt after the Admonition’s influence faded, Jurati discovered the tracker within her and injected herself with noranium hydride to neutralize it, sending her into a coma. After Picard’s return, the ship’s EMH revived her, and she confessed to killing Maddox.

Queen Seven

“Annika still has work to do.” – Seven of Nine​

On the Borg Cube, Hugh refused to tell a Zhat Vash agent named Narissa where he had sent Picard and Soji and she ordered her Romulan soldiers to kill all of the xBs to persuade him to talk. Despite Elnor’s attempts to protect him, Narissa killed Hugh before beaming away to safety. Elnor activated the Fenris Ranger beacon that Seven had given him and she swiftly arrived at the cube.

In an attempt to retake the cube, Seven connected herself to the queencell and reactivated the inactive drones in order to form a mini collective to attack the Romulans. In response, Narissa ordered an explosive decompression of the cube’s interior that blew most of the drones into the vacuum of space. However, under Seven’s direction, the remaining xBs made short work of the Romulans, forcing them to retreat. With the cube lost to them, the Romulan ships proceeded to Ghulion IV. They rendezvoused enroute with Nedar, who had abandoned her Starfleet cover identity.

Ghulion IV

Picard contacted and briefed Admiral Clancy on the situation. This time she was much more receptive to Picard’s claims and sent a battle group to rendezvous with La Sirena at Deep Space 12 with orders to protect the androids of Ghulion IV.

However, with her android abilities now fully available to her, Soji located an old Borg transwarp conduit that was still active and led directly to the Ghulion system, giving them a two-day head start on the Romulans that allowed them to warn the Synths of the impending attack. Their ship was closely followed through the conduit by Narek in a cloaked Romulan Snakeship.

Upon arriving in the Ghulion system, the La Sirena was immediately attacked by the more heavily armed Romulan ship. While this battle ensued, the transwarp conduit opened once and to everyone’s shock, the Borg Artifact emerged from the portal. While she had been connected to the Artifact, Seven had been able to see the La Sirena and the Snakeship in transwarp network and opened a new conduit and followed to assist. During the transit, Picard entered the final stages of his malady and his facilities began to unravel. Jurati managed to stabilize his position, but Picard was more determined than ever to complete this final mission.

However, none could have been prepared for the attack that came from the surface in the form of enormous botanical-based weapons that resembled orchids. The “Orchids” disabled the power systems of the three vessels and sent them crashing to the surface. After checking on the survivors of the Borg Artifact, including Seven of Nine and Elnor, Picard and his crew made their way to the Synth settlement known as Coppelius Station.

Coppelius Station

Soji led the group to the planet’s one settlement, known as Coppelius Station. There they were greeted by the Synth residents and Dr. Alton Soong, the son of Noonien Soong and Bruce Madox’s partner. Maddox and Soong had created an entire race of synthetic beings from a single positronic neuron bequeathed to them by Data. They had also recreated the consciousness and memories of Data himself inside of a complex quantum reconstruction of Data’s synthetic brain but were unable to provide him with a body. Alton Soong’s primary line of work was in the creation of the android bodies, while Maddox worked on the positronic matrices.

Soong was nearing the end of his life and created a new body, or “Golem”, that he had hoped to transfer his consciousness into by using techniques developed by a mentor of his father named Dr. Ira Graves. The group informed Soong and the Synths of the impending attack of the Romulans and Soong gave Picard access to a subspace transmitter where he officially made a request for official diplomatic status and protection for the residents of Ghulion IV by Starfleet.

A Synth named Sutra, who had mastered the Vulcan practice of the mind-meld, attempted to better understand the situation by experiencing the Admonition herself and melded with Jurati. Sutra believed that her synthetic nature would protect her from the sanity-bending effect of the Admonition, but it drove her mad as well. Sutra convinced her fellow Synths, including Soji, that their own hope of survival lay in constructing a beacon and summoning the ancient synthetic race and destroying the approaching Romulans and all other organic life. To further convince her fellow Synths, she murdered a Synth named Saga and directed the blame to the Romulan Narek, further fanning the flames of fear.

The Romulan Attack

“I trust you, Soji. I know you. I believe in you. That's why I saved your lives. So that you could save ours in return. That's the whole point. That's why we're here. To save each other.” –Jean Luc Picard​

While Muskier, Rios and Elnor worked with Soong to destroy the beacon, Picard and Jurati took the La Sirena to confront the approaching Romulan fleet. Nedar had ordered the complete sterilization of the planet but Picard managed to use the La Sirena to confuse the Romulans long enough for a fleet of Starfleet vessels under the command of acting Captain William T. Riker to arrive on the scene. Riker had requested his commission be reactivated to help his former captain.

The completed beacon had opened a rift to another dimension and the ancient beings who vowed to destroy all life began to emerge. As Starfleet defended Coppelius against the Romulans, Picard urged Soji to destroy the beacon before the beings could fully emerge. Finally trusting Picard, Soji destroyed the beacon and prevented the arrival of ancient beings. With the beacon’s destruction, the Romulan fleet stood down and Riker escorted them out of Federation space.

The Death of Jean-Luc Picard

"I said I would never do it again, and then I fucking did it again. Never again let another self-righteous, hard-assed, old starship captain into my heart. Never again have to stand there and watch him die." -- Cristobal Rios​

As the crisis ended, Picard’s body finally succumbed to its illness and Jean-Luc Picard died on the surface of Coppelius, surrounded by his new crew andthe Synth population that he had saved. However, this was not the end of Jean-Luc Picard. Doctors Soong and Jurati worked swiftly to scan and map Picard’s brain and memories and his consciousness was successfully transferred into the same quantum matrix that held Data’s consciousness. After a brief reunion with Data, who requested that Picard deactivate his positronic matrix so that he could truly experience mortality, Picard’s consciousness was transferred to the Golem body created by Soong. Picard’s new body was perfectly normal in almost every way and without any abilities that would place him above human norm and given a normal human life span.

The End of the Synth Ban and Moving Forward

With the recognition of the citizens of Coppelius and the acknowledgement of their sentience, the Synth Ban was lifted and the Coppelius Androids were given the same rights and privileges of any other organic Federation species.

Alton Soong altered his focus onto creating one final android, Android M-5-10, one that would carry the memories of Data, Lore, Lal and B4 as a final testament to the work of his father and himself. Soong finished work on the M-5-10 before his death, but the android was not activated before his passing. After Soong’s death, Section 31 confiscated both the M-5-10 and the mortal remains of Jean-Luc Picard and interred them at the highly secure Daystrom Station.

******
Next Week: The Fate of Q

Personal note-- This chapter is a testament to the usefulness of backing up your work. I accidentally deleted this chapter on my main document but had made a backup copy.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 20: Return to Starfleet

Following the events at Coppelius, Picard, Musiker and Rios all returned to Starfleet where Admiral Picard briefly served as Chancellor of Starfleet Academy. Rios was given command of the new USS Stargazer. After Rios’ return to Starfleet, he gifted the La Sirena to Seven of Nine, who used the vessel in her work with the Fenris Rangers.

Agnes Jurati was taken to Deep Space 12 where she surrendered herself to the authorities for the murder of Bruce Maddox. Jurati was found to be not culpable for actions due to the influence of the ancient Admonition, which left her not fully in control of her actions. Jurati would later join Soji on a year-long goodwill tour that introduced the Synth species to the larger galaxy.

Elnor was accepted as the first full-blooded Romulan in Starfleet Academy and would later be assigned to serve on the USS Excelsior.

A New Borg Threat?

In 2400, Picard was summoned by Starfleet to a location near the Raritan system when a spatial anomaly suddenly appeared and threatened the region with a deadly build-up of triquantum waves. A signal was being transmitted from rift requesting admittance into the Federation as well as the presence of Picard and an entire fleet had gathered at the site. Upon Picard’s arrival on the Stargazer under the command of Captain Rios, a Borg vessel came through the rift. These Borg were different from the Collective that had been encountered before, but before the situation could be further investigated, the Borg Queen beamed aboard and infiltrated the ship’s systems, seeming to assimilate the entire fleet. Seeing no other option, Picard ordered the Stargazer’s self-destruction and the ship exploded after a 10-second countdown.

The Final Gift From Q

“See you… out there.” –the final words of Q to Jean-Luc Picard​

Picard was shocked to awaken at his family’s vineyard in France on an Earth that he could barely recognize. Picard was then confronted by Q, who informed Picard that he had intervened in order to teach Picard another of his enigmatic lessons. Q had altered the past of Earth and the new present showed a humanity that had taken to the stars as a brutal race of xenophobic conquers. Picard, Musiker, Seven, Rios and Jurati were the only people aware of the changes made to the timeline.

The brutal human Confederacy of this timeline had eliminated all alien species that they determined to be a threat to human interests. Their most recent conquest was the Borg, and the Confederacy planned on executing the Borg Queen, the last remaining member of the Collective. The Borg Queen had a trans-temporal awareness and was aware of the changes in the timeline and could calculate the exact time and place of the changes. Needing her assistance to restore the timeline, Picard and his crew absconded with the Borg Queen aboard La Sirena and she made the calculations for a slingshot trip around Earth’s sun to year 2024, just prior to the changes in the timeline.

While in 2024, Picard and his crew recruited the service of that era’s Guinan of El Aurea, who ran a bar in Los Angeles, a member of the mysterious time protectors known as the Aegis named Tallinn, and a woman from 2024 named Teresa Ramirez. Working together they determined that the changes in the timeline involved the removal of Picard’s ancestor Renée Picard from her role on the historic Europa Expedition that paved the way for future space exploration. Tallinn had been assigned by the Aegis to protect Renee and ensure that her mission was successful and she had been manipulating events and protecting Renee from behind the scenes for decades.

Complicating the effort was the Borg Queen, who had her own designs attempted to assimilate Jurati, but was surprisingly overpowered by the human woman and together they formed new kind of Borg Queen. The new hybrid Jurati / Queen came to an accord and then left for the stars in the La Sirena and…waited.

Renée Picard’s journey into space was saved by the sacrifice of Tallinn who took an assassination attempt meant for Renée in order to save her life which kept the timeline intact. After restoring the timeline, Q appeared to Picard and told him that he had done all of this to absolve himself of the guilt he felt over the death of his mother and finally allow him to move on and accept the kind of love that he had always denied himself.

Q informed Picard that this was his dying moment and that this was his final gift to him. Q’s actions in assisting the Q known as Quinn in an assisted suicide on Voyager back in 2373 had the irreversible consequence of introducing the concept of mortality to the Q, and there was no coming back from that course. Q’s final action was to return Picard and his crew to the year 2400. Rios opted to stay behind as he had fallen for Ramirez. And with one final snap of his fingers, Picard and his crew were returned home and Q was… gone.

Rios and Ramirez would go on to form the humanitarian group known as The Mariposas, which remained in operation helping those in need throughout the quadrant well into the 32nd century.

The New Collective

“What you see is a piece of the puzzle whose final image is unclear but is tied to a threat.” – Jurati/Queen​

Q returned Picard and the rest back to the Stargazer just before Picard was to order the self-destruct. This time, Picard realized that he was on the other end of a time loop created by Q and the Jurati Collective and that this was the new Collective that Jurati had created back in 2024. Jurati informed Picard that her Collective did not create the tri-quantum rift but needed Starfleet’s assistance in closing it in order to stop the impending triquantum waves from wreaking havoc on the sector. Working with the assembled ships, Starfleet and the Borg vessel harmonized their shields together and blocked the wave and prevented it from causing harm.

The Jurati-Queen requested provisional Federation membership for her new Collective so that they could monitor the still-open rift for future threats and the request was granted. The Jurati Collective would go on to work extensively with and interact with the Federation. In the present times, Borg children from the Jurati Collective even attend Federation schools and study with students of all species.

Seven of Nine, now having the backing of both Admirals Picard and Janeway, was granted a Starfleet commission with the rank of Commander and the position of First Officer aboard the USS Titan-A under the command of Captain Liam Shaw.

Musiker would leave Starship duty for a position with Starfleet intelligence as an undercover intelligence agent.

Upon his return to Earth, having understood what Q was trying to teach him, Picard allowed himself to open up and entered into a relationship with a Romulan woman named Laris.

As for Q, while this was the linear end of his existence by his perspective, Q was a being of infinite power over all and time and space and who travelled all over the timeline in that existence. Given that perspective and despite the fact that there has not been any known contact with a member of the Continuum since the late 26th century, one should not be surprised if he were to appear to you even now, testing the worthiness of mankind.

The Inhumanity of Man

“Why does the past hurt so much?” – Cristobal Rios​

During the mission Captain Cristóbal Rios was arrested and detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the United States government, or “ICE”, for no other reason than the color of his skin and his inability to produce an identification, a common occurrence in this era. In ICE’s custody, Rios bore witness to the cruelty of a system without restraint or compassion. Arrested without cause, confined in an overcrowded detention center, and placed aboard a transport for deportation without due process, Rios became an unwilling victim of humanity’s moral failures and the cruelty of a system devoid of restraint or compassion. Seven of Nine and Raffaela Musiker spared Rios from a questionable fate, but his was but one story among far too many tales of prejudice and fear in that era.

The early 21st century remains one of Earth’s darkest chapters. Institutions of fear and exclusion thrived under the guise of law, their policies tearing families apart in the name of patriotism and in turn revealing how far humanity had to go before achieving the enlightenment and ideals that it would later claim as its foundation. It was an age when technology advanced faster than conscience -- when humans could reach the stars, yet not reach for each other.

From that struggle arose a lasting warning: the slide toward authoritarianism and dictatorship begins not with tyranny, but with apathy. Great societies do not collapse overnight; they erode when citizens mistake comfort for stability and obedience for peace. When they accept falsehoods created by those who wish to divide society for their own purposes rather than unite it. The lessons of that century endure in every Federation world -- a reminder that freedom is never permanent, only preserved through total accountability and constant vigilance.

******
Next week: We're getting the band back together!!

Short chapter this week. I treated it more like a bridge chapter because the PIC S2 story is, shall we say, thin? The fact that it takes place almost entirely in the past and has some unnecessary digressions almost made me reduce it to a paragraph or two to be added to PIC S3, but then I thought that Q deserved a better sendoff than a footnote. It did give me the chance to insert some Star Trek-style sledgehammer politics concerning ICE, which was cathartic.

 

[Ceridwen]

My "likes" don't seem enough right now. I want you to know I really enjoy your work on this project.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 21: Echoes of the Past

Worf’s Spiritual Journey

“I am Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok, son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron. I have made some chamomile tea. Do you take sugar?” – Worf, Son of Mogh​

Following the loss of the Enterprise-E, Worf left Starfleet and took up spiritual pursuits and developed a more peaceful disposition, preferring de-escalation and diplomacy to combat. However, his battle prowess remained unchanged and if an opponent preferred combat, Worf would show them no mercy.

Worf was contacted in 2401 from the Gamma Quadrant by Odo, who warned Worf about a rogue faction of Changelings that had broken away from the Great Link in a quest for revenge against the Federation and the Dominion’s defeat in the war. Starfleet could not openly acknowledge the existence of this rogue group in fear of re-igniting the Dominion War. Worf worked covertly with Starfleet Intelligence agent Ro Laren, a Starfleet officer who had defected to the Maquis during the border dispute but was recruited into Starfleet Intelligence following the Dominion War.

Following a break-in at a highly secure Daystrom Annex that resulted in the theft of classified weapons and material, including a prototype of experimental Quantum Tunnelling tech that could create spontaneous sub-space portals, Ro and Worf suspected Changeling involvement. Tracing the stolen tech to the world of M’Talas Prime outside of Federation, Worf recruited Commander Raffaela Musiker from Starfleet Intelligence to go undercover on M’Talas and investigate the theft before the tech could be used in an attack. Worf and Musiker kept in regular contact, but Musiker was unaware of Worf’s true identity only knowing him as an anonymous handler.

Jack Crusher

“I can’t say being equal parts irritating and enduring isn’t entirely unfamiliar.” – Jack Crusher​

After leaving Starfleet, Beverly Crusher left Earth and joined with the medical humanitarian group known as the Mariposas and travelled to remote regions of space to provide medical care to those in need no matter their location, citizenship or species. She secretly gave birth to her son Jack Crusher in 2382 and raised him largely in the frontier regions in space and wherever her work took them. It was at times dangerous work that often ran afoul of both local authorities and criminal factions alike and Crusher learned many new defensive skills in order to defend herself and her son in her humanitarian endeavors.

Jack attended school for a time in London on Earth, and in 2396 Beverly told Jack about his father. Jack tracked Picard down to a restaurant in Los Angeles where he was known to often dine but decided against introducing himself to his father after he heard Picard telling a group of admiring Starfleet cadets that Starfleet was the only family that he had ever needed. Rejoining his mother on the frontier, Jack often found himself on the wrong side of the law while assisting the Mariposas and was wanted in several systems under various aliases.

In 2401, while delivering medical supplies to the plague ravaged world of Sarnia Prime, the Crushers were attacked by a vessel claiming to be from the Fenris Rangers who sought to capture Jack. After escaping Sarnia to Kaphar a similar situation occurred, only this time the attackers appeared to be Klingons. Finally, at Exo-Port the attackers appeared as Starfleet officers, all in search of Jack for some unknown purpose. Crusher realized that her pursuers were everywhere and took her vessel, the Eleos XII, into hiding to protect her son.

Several months later, despite Crusher’s best efforts, her mysterious pursuers eventually located the Eleos and boarded the ship. Beverly fended off the attackers and took the Eleos to warp just as more attacking vessels arrived. Severely injured in the attack and knowing that her pursuers would soon find them and knowing of no one else in the galaxy that she could trust, Beverly made an emergency distress call to Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.

A Voice From the Past

“And Jean-Luc, no Starfleet. Trust no one.” – Beverly Crusher​

On Earth, Picard had once again retired from Starfleet and was preparing to relocate to Chaltok IV with Laris when Crusher’s desperate distress call reached him. Crusher sent a recorded message with encrypted coordinates and told Picard that he could not trust anyone, not even Starfleet. Despite Crusher’s warning Picard could not decode the encryption himself and let his old First Officer William Riker into the loop. With Riker’s help, they determined that Beverly was hiding near the Ryton system just outside of Federation space.

The USS Titan-A

“Aren’t we overdue for a good old fashioned road trip?” – William T. Riker​

Needing fast passage to the Ryton system without being able to inform Starfleet of the urgency of the situation required unorthodox tactics. Under the pretense of a snap inspection tour, Picard and Riker boarded the USS Titan and attempted to persuade Captain Liam Shaw to change the Titan’s course for the Ryton system. Captain Shaw was a survivor of Wolf 359 and a by-the-book officer who had little regard for Picard and the kind of adventures he once led. The subterfuge failed and Shaw refused to change course unless he got official orders from Starfleet Command. Seven of Nine was currently serving as Shaw’s first officer and chose to trust Picard and her own instincts and jeopardized her own career and future by ordering the course change behind Shaw’s back.

Upon arriving at the Federation border, Seven arranged for Picard and Riker to commandeer a shuttle and they crossed the border on course for the Ryton system before Shaw became aware of what was happening. Upon finding and boarding the Eleos, Picard and Riker found the injured Beverly inside of a medical stasis unit and Jack who, much to Picard’s shock, introduced himself as Beverly’s son. But before they could evacuate the Eleos, Jack’s pursuers caught up to them in a vessel that vastly outgunned both the Eleos and the Titan. The attacking vessel destroyed Picard’s shuttle and captured the Eleos in a tractor beam before the Titan arrived and broke the tractor beam and beamed all personnel of off the Eleos before it was destroyed.

Undercover on M’Talas V

“You’re a warrior for peace. Which is a brilliant contradiction, by the way. I’m gonna start using that in conversation. It has a very ‘Worf’ feel to it.” -- Rafaella Musiker​

Musiker had been undercover the world of M’Talas Prime for months investigating the theft of classified experimental weapons and other tech from a highly secure Daystrom Institute storage annex including prototype Quantum Tunneling technology. Musiker feared that in the wrong hands the Quantum Tunneling technology could be used to devastating effect.

Fearing an attack to be imminent, Musiker reviewed the evidence and became convinced that a local Starfleet recruitment center was the target. Musiker rushed to the site in an attempt to warn the facility of the danger, but as she approached the entire structure sank into a quantum tunnel vortex created by the stolen tech with the wreckage dumped from the other side of the tunnel onto the surrounding cityscape, killing 117 people.

Starfleet closed the investigation after discovering evidence that a rogue Romulan agent named Lurak T’Luco was behind the attack. T’Luco purchased the weapon from an anonymous buyer in a deal brokered by a Ferengi crime lord named Sneed and Musiker was determined to find out who the seller was and moved to confront Sneed despite Worf’s orders to disengage.

Musiker arranged a meeting with Sneed, but the Ferengi crime lord was uncooperative and suspecting a sting operation, ordered his men to execute her. Up until this point, Worf had only communicated with Musiker as an anonymous handler, but this was the moment that he chose to reveal himself and he effortlessly cut through the Ferengi’s henchmen and executed the crime lord before removing Musiker to safety.

Soon after, working on evidence that Sneed was working with human named Titus Rikka, Worf and Musiker tracked Rikka down and apprehended him for interrogation. During the interrogation, Rikka was revealed to be one of the Changeling infiltrators that Odo had warned Worf about. Rikka disclosed that it was he and a group of fellow Changelings that had orchestrated the theft at the Daystrom Annex and that the theft of the portal tech was a distraction for another, more important theft. With his identity revealed, Rikka attempted to shapeshift his way out of his bonds but was vaporized by Worf before he could escape.

To discover how the Changelings broke into the Daystrom Annex, Worf and Musiker later moved to interrogate Krinn, a Vulcan crime lord and associate of Sneed. After his security forces were decimated by Worf and Muskier, Sneed provided them with the security key that they need to infiltrate the Daystrom Annex.

Vadic

“Fucking solids.” -- Vadic​

Back in the Ryton system, the Titan was contacted by Captain Vadic of the Shrike. Vadic, a Changeling captured by Section 31 during the Dominion War, had been subjected to Project Proteus -- the experiments that created the Changeling virus. She and nine others endured torturous procedures that altered their nature, allowing them to hold solid form longer and evade bio-scans, blood tests, and DNA checks meant to detect Changelings. Section 31’s goal was to engineer shapeshifting assets capable of infiltrating any species undetected. Vadic eventually escaped, killed her tormentors, and freed the others. Through a simple link, she could pass her genetic modifications on to any willing Changeling.

Since the end of the war, she and her followers had begun a crusade of revenge against the Federation for their attempted genocide of the Changeling people and the numbers of her movement swelled as more Changelings broke away from the Great Link and joined her cause. Vadic had recently come under the employ of a mysterious faction that shared her goals of the destruction of the Federation and instructed her to find and deliver Jack Crusher and so began her pursuit of Jack that brought her now to the Ryton system.

The Shrike greatly outgunned the Titan and Vadic ordered the Titan to surrender Jack to them or the Titan would be destroyed. Shaw was ready to comply with the demand when the recovering Beverly Crusher confirmed to Picard that Jack was indeed his son. Shaw instructed the Titan to engage the Shrike and then moved into the Ryton Nebula, which provided the Titan with protection from the Shrike's sensors. However, the Shrike tracked the Titan through a Changeling infiltrator onboard the vessel. The Changeling was uncovered by Jack, but evaded capture and went into hiding.

Captain Shaw was injured in the attack and temporarily ceded command of the Titan to Riker. Despite repeated attempts to escape or fight back, the Titan was outmatched by the Shrike’s stolen Quantum Portal technology and drawn toward the nebula’s gravity well. The crew recharged the warp engines by harnessing energy from shockwaves generated by the birth of a cosmozoan species within the nebula. Riding one of the waves, the Titan escaped, using a tractor beam to hurl an asteroid into the Shrike before warping away. With the trail lost, Vadic -- acting on orders from her mysterious master -- commanded her crew to gather information on everyone connected to Jean-Luc Picard.

Fugitives From Starfleet

Upon reassuming command of the Titan, Shaw contacted Starfleet with the intention of turning Picard and Riker in for their actions. The ship was soon intercepted by the USS Intrepid and boarded by a Starfleet security team lead by Picard’s former protégé Ro Laren, who had betrayed Picard and Starfleet for the Maquis in 2371 and had since been reinstated and begun working for Starfleet Intelligence.

Ro had been working with Worf on the Changeling investigation and feared they had discovered her probe into their infiltration of Starfleet and the Federation. She informed Picard of her findings, delivering all her evidence and warning that it pointed to an attack on Federation Day in three days’ time. While returning to the Intrepid by shuttle, Ro discovered a bomb aboard just as the Intrepid moved to attack the Titan. To protect Picard and his crew, she steered the shuttle into the Intrepid’s warp nacelle, where the explosion disabled the ship and allowed the Titan to escape.

While they were sifting through the information that Ro had given them, they received a transmission from Worf and Muskier intended for Ro and they moved to rendezvous on Titan and combine their efforts in the investigation and made plans to infiltrate the Daystrom Annex.

Assault on Daystrom Annex

Upon arriving at Daystrom, Riker, Worf and Musiker infiltrated the station but Starfleet patrols searching for Titan arrived sooner than expected causing Titan to retreat with the team still on the station. While awaiting Titan’s return, the away team gained access to the station’s mainframe and discovered that it had been connected to a Soong-type android designated M-5-10, the final creation of Alton Soong which had been confiscated by Starfleet upon the scientist’s death the previous year.

This new android had been programmed with the life experiences of previous Soong models Data, Lore, Lal and B-4 but Soong was unable to get the various personalities to integrate before his passing. The android’s connection to the station meant that he possessed the complete manifest of what had been stolen from the station as well as access to visual records of the theft.

In the meantime, the Titan proceeded to the Starfleet Museum at Athan Prime where Picard attempted to recruit the help of the museum’s curator and commanding officer, Picard’s former Chief Engineer, Commodore Geordi LaForge. LaForge was initially resistant to the idea but came to see the urgency of the situation and helped to install a Klingon cloaking device that was part of a museum display to the Titan’s engines which enabled Titan to slip past the patrolling Starfleet vessels. The rescue was mostly successful and Worf, Musiker and the M-5-10 android were beamed to the Titan, but Riker was captured. After the Titan warped away and escaped, Worf immediately embarked on a mission to rescue Riker from his captors.

Jack’s Visions

Soon after Jack boarded Titan, he began to have disturbing dreams and visions where he brought death and destruction to those around him accompanied by a mysterious voice urging him to “come home” and to “connect”. When he was accosted by four Changelings attempting to take him into custody the visions unlocked hidden defensive skills that Jack was unaware that he possessed and killed all four of the Changelings. He was even able to control the movements of Ensign Sydney LaForge when she was cornered by Changelings and unable to defend herself. Upon a medical examination, Beverly discovered an abnormality in his frontal lobe similar the one that Picard had been diagnosed with years earlier that resulted in what was believed to be Irumodic syndrome, a diagnosis that was now in question.

Rescue Mission

Riker was taken to the Shrike for interrogation where he discovered that Changelings had abducted his wife Deanna Troi and were subjecting to her torture as means of interrogation and his resolve failed. He revealed Titan’s prefix code to Vadic, allowing her to send out a subspace “ping” and revealing its position. However, the code Riker gave Vadic was compromised and its usage alerted Titan to Riker’s location as well as the fact that he had been compromised by the enemy.

As the couple awaited another round of interrogation, they were located and freed from their cell by Worf and Musiker. Before departing the Shrike, the group came upon the stolen remains of Picard’s former body in a Changeling lab. An examination of the corpse revealed that the Changelings had removed the portions of Picard’s parietal lobe that were diagnosed with Irumodic Syndrome.

Assault on Titan

“I know that me is resting peacefully. But this me? This me would rather be no place else in the galaxy.” – Data reflecting on the death of his previous model​

While hiding in the Chin’toka scrapyard, LaForge moved to reactivate the M-5-10 android and was briefly able to communicate with the Data personality before the other personalities, including Lore, started to come to the fore. While Data was in control of the M-5-10 body, he disclosed that the item stolen by the Changelings was Picard's mortal remains, interred at Daystrom since his original bodies’ death, for reasons still unknown. Furthermore, he suggested that Picard’s long-assumed diagnosis of Irumodic Syndrome may have been incorrect.

While this was happening, and certain that the Vadic and the Shrike were close behind them, a trap was set for any invading Changeling boarding parties involving the coordinated use of force fields. Soon after, the Shrike located the seemingly powerless Titan and the ship was boarded. Vadic was under intense pressure from her mysterious master to deliver Jack to them before Frontier Day or all of their efforts would be wasted.

As planned, Vadic and her forces were successfully confined behind forcefields, but before the Changelings could be taken into custody, Lore took control of the M-5-10 body and seized the ship’s systems, dropping the force fields and allowing Vadic to seize the bridge and take control of the ship, where she demanded the surrender of Jack Crusher.

Seeing only one option to regain control of the ship, LaForge lowered the partitions in the positronic net of the M-5-10 separating Data and Lore with the desperate hope that Data could overcome Lore and regain control of the ship’s systems. After a fraught battle between the two personalities, Data defeated his brother and took control of the body. After asserting control of the body, Data opened the evacuation hatches on the bridge, expelling Vadic and the Changeling invaders into space, killing them. With control the Titan regained, and the return of the rescue party confirmed the order was given to open fire on the now defenseless Shrike, destroying it.

The Mystery Revealed

“The voices in his head are distinct. My gifts aren’t perfect, but I have never mistaken Borg.” – Deanna Troi​

With the old crew reunited and the immediate threat of Vadic behind them, the reunited team set their efforts toward deciphering the remaining mysteries, including why Jack was so special to Vadic and her plans. Jack underwent a counseling session with Deanna Troi, who managed to unlock who the identity of the party so desperately seeking him, the party who was in partnership with Vadic and who targeting the Frontier Day -- the Borg Queen. The Borg Queen survived the destruction of the Collective in 2377 and had lay in wait, cannibalizing her own collective for survival while planning the creation of a new Collective and partnered with Vadic and her faction to further her goals.

When Picard had been assimilated by the Borg for six days in 2366-2367, the Borg Queen made several alterations to Picard’s DNA, seeds for future use, that went undetected at the time but were later misdiagnosed as Irumodic Syndrome, an organic transmitter hidden in Picard’s brain. The theft of Picard’s body from Daystrom enabled to extract Picard’s Borg-altered DNA but for the next phase of the Queen’s plans she switched gears to Jack, to whom which the modifications had been passed down through Picard’s DNA. The Queen used the connection provided by the alterations to communicate and manipulate Jack.

When Jack Crusher refused relocation to the Vulcan facility at Keslovar, where telepathic intervention might have severed his connection to the Borg -- he instead chose to act alone. Harnessing his Borg-enhanced abilities, Jack escaped the USS Titan and commandeered a shuttle, drawn by his link to the Borg Queen’s hidden lair. Though he believed he could stop her, Jack underestimated the depth of her control. Upon reaching her, he was swiftly assimilated, reborn within the Collective as Võx -- its voice and avatar.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Frontier Day

Frontier Day in 2501 marked the 250th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the Enterprise NX-01 under the command of Jonathon Archer and the entire fleet was assembled at Earth to commemorate the occasion. The occasion was used by Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, in ceremonial command of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F, to tout the implementation of the “Fleet Formation” technology that could bring the entire fleet under the command of a single automated system in the event of a fleet-wide incapacitation. It was a system that Commodore Geordi LaForge had repeatedly warned Starfleet against, one that made the fleet vulnerable, monolithic, and all too Borg-like in design.

Seeing this as the Borg Queen’s endgame, the Titan rushed to Earth with an urgent warning of imminent Borg attack. The Changelings that had infiltrated Starfleet had secretly entered Picard’s Borg-altered DNA into the transporters systems of the entire fleet, affecting the frontal cortex of the brains of the youngest officers in the fleet, making those under the age of 25 susceptible to a new form of assimilation.

Once the “Fleet Formation” protocol was activated, the Queen used her connection with Võx to take control of all in Starfleet who were young enough to be susceptible to her influence and used her new drones to take control of the fleet, including the Titan. During the desperate battle for the future of Starfleet, Picard and his former crew retreated by shuttle to the Starship Museum at Athan Prime to retrieve the one vessel that LaForge was sure would be free from the Fleet Formation protocol.

Captain Shaw, Seven and Musiker remained behind to retake and defend the Titan. Shaw was killed in the effort but before died he transferred command of the Titan to Seven who, along with Musiker and a small team of unassimilated crew, regained control of Titan long enough to provide a distraction from the efforts of Picard and his crew.

Admiral Shelby was killed in the initial moments of the attack and to this day questions persist as to how one with Shelby’s experience with the Borg could have led her to endorse a technology that so resembled in function that of the hivemind, especially in the wake of the recent incidents with the Texas- Class and the Living Construct that demonstrated at great cost the detriments of such technologies.

The Last Ride of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D

“Thank the good ol’ Prime Directive. The saucer was retrieved from Veridian III so as to not influence the system. I’ve been restoring it bit by bit over the last 20 years." -- Geordi LaForge unveiling the restored USS Enterprise-D​

There, LaForge revealed his secret project: the full restoration of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Using the salvaged saucer section from Veridian III and the warp section of the decommissioned USS Syracuse, LaForge had brought the Galaxy-class starship back to life. The Enterprise-D was not connected to the Fleet Formation Protocol and was the only ship in the fleet unaffected by the Borg assault.

Picard and his crew on board the Enterprise tracked Jack’s signal to the planet Jupiter, where the Borg Queen awaited inside her last remaining cube. Picard, Riker and Worf beamed onto the cube and while Riker and Worf sought the beacon that was transmitting the Borg signal to the fleet and the younger Starfleet officers, Picard sought to rescue Jack from the Borg Queen. Finding his son transformed into Võx, Picard made the only choice he could: he re-entered the Collective himself. Once within the Collective, he reached out, not as a Starfleet officer, but as a father, and pulled Jack back from the brink.

Once the beacon’s coordinates were relayed, Data piloted the Enterprise-D through the unstable wreckage of the cube in a daring flight. Once in position, he fired on the beacon, shattering the Queen’s control. The fleet was freed and the young officers awoke from their nightmare. And the last Borg cube, unable to sustain itself without the beacon’s power, imploded in a cataclysmic fireball, ending the Queen and the threat she posed, once and for all.

Aftermath

In the wake of the attack, Starfleet launched a fleetwide overhaul of transporter systems. New protocols, designed by Admiral Beverly Crusher, who was reinstated and appointed head of Starfleet Medical, enabled real-time detection of both Borg signatures and rogue Changelings.

A year later in 2402, the USS Titan was rechristened the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-G in honor of Picard and his crew. Captain Seven of Nine took command, with Commander Raffi Musiker as her first officer and Ensign Jack Crusher, now a special consultant on an accelerated command track, joining them on the bridge. Jack’s parents, Admirals Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher were present for the launch of the Enterprise-G and the continuation of the Enterprise legacy.

As the ship set forth, it did more than honor the past. It marked the beginning of a new chapter: one that would carry the ideals of Starfleet into the uncharted expanse of the 25th century. The mission endured, as it always had, but now, with a new generation at the helm, unknown frontiers to explore, and a future yet to be written.

*****
Next Week: Legac-c-c+###^^%%***///.....

Subspace interference. Transmission Interrupted.








Contact Reestablished


Chapters 22-41 Lost in Transmission


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*******
Next Week: The Temporal Cold War

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 42: The Temporal Cold War

Most of what we currently know and understand of the Temporal Cold War comes not from Starfleet records, many of which were lost, classified beyond recovery, or deliberately altered, but from the painstakingly reconstructed LeBlanq Files. Compiled by Professor Philip Nigel LeBlanq since his discovery of the lost Starfleet temporal archive, these decrypted temporal fragments, scavenged from lost archives and corrupted data streams, offer the clearest, if still incomplete, picture of a conflict fought not across borders, but across centuries.

No conflict in Federation history is as convoluted, manipulated, and wholly resistant to linear documentation as the Temporal Cold War. Indeed, the very term "war" is itself an oxymoron, a word meant to describe a singular conflict, fixed in space and time. The Temporal Cold War was neither. Its combatants hailed from centuries apart, its battles were waged across different eras and timelines, and its objectives were not military conquest but the reshaping of history itself. The Travelers and the agents of the Aegis had once protected the timeline, but the Temporal Wars greatly affected their numbers, leaving the timeline vulnerable, leaving the responsibility up to Starfleet. As Admiral Kathryn Janeway once quipped, temporal mechanics gives one a headache. She wasn’t wrong.

The Na’kuhl

We begin not at the beginning, because no such thing exists in this case, but at the flashpoint: the late 29th century when Vosk of the Na’kuhl, believing that his people were at a disadvantage due to the Federation’s power, began a campaign of temporal terror in which many factions were drawn into and saw numerous permanent changes made to the timeline we live in. The Na’kuhl hoped that their actions would prevent the formation of the Federation, as well as the signing of the Temporal Accords, a statute signed among the major powers of the galaxy that forbade time travel with the intent of altering historical events.

Starfleet’s Response

The Department of Temporal Investigations had existed since the early days of Starfleet, with its original mandate to chronicle, investigate and if necessary, enforce temporal regulations. By the 26th century, their duties had widened to include active enforcement of the Temporal Accords, investigation of temporal anomalies and timeline breeches with specially designed and equipped “Time Ships”, such as the USS Relativity.

With the outbreak of the Temporal Wars, this division became Starfleet’s first line of defense against the temporal incursions, with time agents being actively deployed throughout the timeline in an effort to undo any damage done to history by rival factions to the best of their abilities.

The 22nd Century Front

The 22nd century saw numerous temporal intrusions centered around the early years of human deep-space exploration. The Suliban Cabal, genetically enhanced at the behest of an enigmatic future figure, manipulated events to destabilize the fledgling Coalition of Planets. Meanwhile, the Xindi Crisis, an apparent prelude to Earth’s destruction, was instigated by the trans-dimensional Sphere Builders, who sought to alter the timeline to make the galaxy habitable for themselves.

Federation Time-Agent Daniels’ frequent interactions with Jonathon Archer during these years suggest that Archer, and by extension Earth’s place in galactic history, was considered a fixed point -- too important to risk temporal contamination, and yet constantly subjected to it.

The Battle of Procyon V and the Enterprise-J

In one version of the 26th century, the Federation was engaged in open temporal combat against the Sphere Builders. The Battle of Procyon V marked a turning point. Daniels showed Archer this event aboard the Enterprise-J, a vessel believed to be among the most advanced ever constructed. A tantalizing glimpse of the Federation’s temporal reach, the Enterprise-J and its officers served both as warriors and custodians of history.

The Kelvin Divergence

The conflict was not limited to a single timeline. A faction from the so-called Kelvin universe worked with the forces of our own timeline in the conflict. One combatant who came from the Kelvin timeline was an agent from the 24th century of named Yor. A cross-temporal anomaly, Yor was a Starfleet officer from an alternate reality created by the destruction of the USS Kelvin, a divergence that birthed a separate timeline. His arrival in the Prime timeline, and the temporal degradation he suffered, revealed the price of prolonged temporal displacement. Yor’s presence in the 32nd century was classified, further evidence of just how far the ripples of the Cold War reached. Yor is known to have been spotted on the Enterprise-J, working with that crew toward some unspecified goal.

Romulan Intervention

A rogue Romulan faction conducted its own campaign to rewrite history during the Temporal Cold War. In 2022, Romulan agents attempted to assassinate Khan Noonien Singh in Toronto during the early stages of the Eugenics Program. The intent was clear: prevent the rise of genetically engineered tyrants and alter the course of Earth’s history. Their plan failed due to the intervention of 23rd century Starfleet officer La’an Noonien Singh, Khan’s descendant, who was recruited by displaced Federation time-agents from an unknown year to complete the mission, and a temporally displaced James T. Kirk from an altered version of the timeline.

This event, chronicled in the LeBlanq files as the "Toronto Anomaly," highlighted a critical theme of the Temporal Cold War: some events resist alteration. The Romulan agent Sera had been sent to prevent the rise of Khan Noonien Singh by assassinating him, originally in 1996. Yet history itself refused to cooperate, with Khan’s rise always occurring despite continuing efforts to alter course of events. Sera had been waiting out these changes for almost 30 years waiting for her opportunity to kill Khan.

La’an’s mission to stop Sera revealed a sobering truth: timelines were not merely altered, they were layered. One could peel back history and find an earlier, unmodified version beneath. The Cold War didn’t just change events; it buried them. What remained was a fractured mosaic of causality where multiple versions of reality vied for dominance, and some events, like the rise of Khan, simply refused to be erased.

The Guardian Vanishes

Among the most enigmatic artifacts ever encountered, the entity known as the Guardian of Forever once stood as a living temporal gateway, capable of projecting travelers into any moment in space-time. Its presence, first recorded by 23rd-century Starfleet officers, was a closely guarded secret, known to only a select few across the centuries.

During the height of the Temporal Cold War, the Guardian became a coveted instrument. Factions from across time sought to harness its power to alter history, to erase defeats, or engineer victories long after the fact. The frequency and violence of these incursions took a toll, not only on the timeline, but on the Guardian itself.

Eventually, the Guardian withdrew from known space-time. The details of its departure are sparse, but speculation suggest it was no longer willing to serve as a weapon in a war it had never chosen to fight. With its disappearance, one of the last remaining uncontrolled temporal conduits vanished from the galaxy.

Its absence was felt immediately. The loss of such a powerful, unregulated entry point marked a critical turning point in the Temporal Cold War. And with it, the galaxy lost one of its most profound, dangerous, and mysterious relics.

Time War’s End

It was in an altered version of Earth’s Second World War that Captain Jonathon Archer and the Enterprise, recruited once more by Daniels, thwarted the Na’kuhl’s attempt to alter early human history by destroying Vosk’s temporal conduit which resulted in the restoration of the timeline and ending the conflict, but not without scars left behind.

Aftermath

Following the war’s end, all-known time travel technology was ordered destroyed in order to prevent such a conflict from ever reoccurring.

What we are left with in the 32nd century is not the original timeline, but one altered and shaped by centuries of temporal interference. The contradictions between 22nd and 23rd-century historical accounts contained with the LeBlanq files, between early descriptions of the Romulan War and the later official records, between the century that first birthed the Augments and the one in which they were ultimately hunted -- these are not mistakes. They are scars. The Temporal Cold War changed history.

And somehow, it also ensured it.

*******

Next Week: The Burn

Shortest chapter in the book. There just isn't a lot of "here" here.

 

[Turtletrekker]

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY SEASON ONE AS WELL AS "STAR TREK: THE LAST STARSHIP" FROM IDW COMICS

Chapter 43: The Burn

“Long ago, Starfleet took the finest hearts, minds and spirits and taught them to be lifelong explorers of space... Our final frontier. Then, one day, fate handed us an unimaginable loss. The Burn. And it all went away.” -- Captain Nahla Ake, Chancellor of Starfleet Academy​

The Dilithium Crisis

The Temporal Accords had ended the abuses of time travel, and the chaotic intrigues of the Temporal Cold War had finally come to a close, but a new crisis was soon to follow. In the war’s wake came something that the Federation had not faced since its inception: scarcity. Dilithium, the heart of warp travel and the Federation’s reach, began to become scarce.

The signs had been building for decades. As early as the 30th century, dilithium supplies had begun to degrade and crystals that had powered starships for centuries became unstable. In response, the Federation formed crisis response teams and experimental replacements were tested. But the shortage persisted, even as the demand for warp travel increased.

Ni’Var, unified home of the Vulcan and Romulan species, offered a radical potential solution. Their scientists developed SB-19, a quantum algorithm designed to allow instantaneous travel across space. But many feared it was too dangerous and that there was danger that it could rupture subspace itself, and so Ni’Var hesitated. The Federation, desperate, pushed for them to proceed with testing anyway.

The Burn

In the time since the cause of the Burn was revealed, historians have agreed on one unlikely, heartbreaking truth -- it was a child’s grief that fractured the stars.

His name was Su’Kal, a Kelpien born aboard the Kelpian vessel, the KSF Khi'eth, to Kelpian Doctor Issa inside the Verubin Nebula region. The Khi’eth crashed on a world within the nebula which was saturated with unusually rich deposits of dilithium and exposed to lethal levels of subspace radiation. Raised in the nebula, Su’Kal developed a unique psychokinetic bond with dilithium, likely caused by exposure in the womb and throughout his development.

When his mother died of radiation exposure in 3069, Su’Kal cried out, not merely emotionally, but psychically, through subspace. The trauma, amplified by his dilithium resonance and the subspace properties of the nebula, triggered a galaxy-wide chain reaction and every starship with an active warp core and every dilithium based power source exploded and the galaxy changed overnight. Starfleet alone lost 96% of its active fleet in the disaster. The cataclysm became known as the Burn.

Believing that they were responsible for the destruction with the SB-19 experiments, Ni’Var withdrew from the Federation, blaming them for pressuring them into performing unethical experiments. Their departure sent shockwaves across the galaxy and signaled the beginning of the end for the Federation.

The Fall of the Klingon Empire and the Departure of Earth

In the Klingon Empire, Dilithium detonations caused by the Burn destroyed twenty‑nine Klingon worlds, including the homeworld of Qo’nos, throwing the Empire into a death spiral. With its fleets shattered and billions dead, the Klingon Empire fell into chaos as internal struggles for power waged amongst those who remained. A Klingon death cult known as the Black Mind interpreted the Burn as a divine judgment and launched a series of brutal attacks against surviving Federation outposts, raiding weakened bases along former borders.

Their campaign culminated in a direct assault on Earth, where Klingon vessels attacked Earth by dropping their warp cores onto major population centers. The attack was repelled by Captain Delacort Sato and the starship Omega, one of the last warp-capable vessels in the fleet, who defeated Ha’shet, the cult’s Klingon leader, in personal combat allowing him to take command of the fleet through ancient tradition. Following the Omega’s victory, the remaining Black Mind fleet withdrew toward Klingon space.

Aftermath

Following the attack on Earth, On May 18, 3069, the United Earth government formally withdrew from the United Federation of Planets. Unlike the Ni’Var, Earth withdrew not in shame, but in fear. The former home of the Federation and Starfleet sealed its borders and raised powerful planetary shields, abandoning its role as a center of interstellar diplomacy and exploration. All Federation and Starfleet operations were expelled from the planet and the people of Earth became isolationist, reactionary and xenophobic. The Earth Defense Force (EDF) would aggressively confront any ship that approached the planet.

As for the Klingons, with the loss of so many of their worlds, the people of the once-great Empire became refugees with nothing but their traditions and their honor to sustain them. Eight of the Great Houses still remained, but without a homeworld to anchor and unify them, the diaspora persisted. Despite their great need, the Klingon Houses unilaterally rejected all aid from the Federation, unwilling to accept what they saw as charity from outsiders, which would be seen as an intolerable dishonor for the once-proud race.

The Babel Conference of 3091

On Stardate 751099.2, the remaining leadership of the Federation gathered at the world of Babel in order to determine the future and direction of their alliance. However, the conference proved disastrous for the Federation as too many member worlds had lost faith in the institution that had once been an anchor of stability in the galaxy.

In a stunning move, Andor and Ferenginar announced their withdrawal from the Federation in order to form a new alliance with the Orion Syndicate known as the Emerald Chain. The Chain used the Babel Conference itself as a platform to publicly establish its presence and initiated a coordinated effort to bring former Federation member worlds into its sphere of influence through promises of renewed prosperity and security. The Chain claimed access to large dilithium reserves and offered its distribution as incentive to worlds that joined the new alliance.

Other worlds, such as Trill, Betazed, Bolarus and Delta were among the worlds that declared their own sovereignty from the Federation at the conference for their own reasons, further weakening the once-great power. Some of these worlds still believed in the idea and memory of the Federation, but believed that its time had passed and that it was in their worlds own interests to move on with their own destinies. Others held the Federation accountable for their inability to uphold to the promise they had made and the standards they had once upheld.

New Threats

The Emerald Chain would soon rival the Federation in power and influence throughout the quadrant. As the Federation and Starfleet converted to a recovery mode, the Emerald Chain became the leaders in scientific research and invention; helping worlds in need, not out of altruism, but in exchange for their loyalty and tribute. Many former Federation worlds would ally with the Chain not out of political agreement, but out of desperation and fear. Worlds that did not cooperate with Emerald Chain interests would often face reprisals and consequences for their defiance. Slave labor was prevalent throughout the Chain.

With Starfleet in recovery mode, the Emerald Chain became the leaders in scientific research and invention; helping worlds in need, not out of altruism, but in exchange for their loyalty and tribute. Many former Federation worlds would ally with the Chain not out of political agreement, but out of desperation and fear. Worlds that did not cooperate with Emerald Chain interests would often face reprisals and consequences for their defiance. Slave labor was prevalent throughout the Chain.

Unlike the structured Emerald Chain, the Venari Ral possessed no central authority, but were no less brutal. They thrived precisely because the galaxy had no order left to oppose them. Pirates and marauders, the Venari Ral would plunder worlds and set traps for passing starships and strip them of their resources and technology. The Venari Ral were ruthless in their attacks against both civilian and Starfleet targets, often brazenly killing the pilots and crew of civilian and Starfleet cargo vessels transporting food and other supplies without regard for potential reprisals.

Betazed and the Age of Isolation

In the aftermath of the Burn, Betazed was repeatedly targeted by the Venari Ral and were unable to rely on the Federation for protection. Logistically unable to defend Betazed and unwilling to sacrifice other member worlds in futile response efforts, the Federation failed to meet their defensive obligations to the influential member world, and they withdrew from the Federation at the Babel Conference to fend for themselves.

In the aftermath, the Betazoid government erected an immense psychic barrier to protect the entire Betazoid sector, nearly 30 inhabited worlds and over 90 light-years of space. The telepathic shield was designed to repel invasion and severed outside contact with the rest of the galaxy entirely.

Other vulnerable worlds soon followed Betazed’s example, retreating behind their own defenses and abandoning interstellar cooperation.

Betazed’s isolation would last more than a century. Cut off from the wider galaxy, its society became insular and defensive, enduring repeated Venari Ral incursions with no external assistance. The loss of Betazed -- long considered one of the Federation’s moral and diplomatic pillars -- marked a psychological turning point from which the interstellar community would not easily recover.

Aditya Sahil and the Keepers of the Dream

“I don’t know how much of the Federation still exists. I simply do my part to keep it alive.” -- Aditya Sahil​

For over a century, the true cause of the Burn remained unknown. But while the mystery persisted, the effects were immediate and cataclysmic. Starfleet, still reeling from the logistical and political fallout of the Temporal Cold War, suffered a near-total collapse. The Federation’s reach, once defined by warp lanes and exploration, was shattered. Isolation replaced unity. Fear replaced curiosity. And yet, in the darkest hour of the Federation, some held on.

Among those few was Aditya Sahil, the latest in a long line of quiet Federation “true believers”. His ancestors had served Starfleet as translators, technicians, archivists, not starship captains, but caretakers of knowledge and order. In the years after the Burn, as infrastructure failed and communication collapsed, Sahil inherited more than relics. He inherited a belief.

At the edge of a forgotten sector, he manned a Federation relay station where his father had been stationed as a Starfleet officer. He calibrated its sensors daily and maintained the ancient Starfleet protocols by hand. Sahil was never officially commissioned as there was no one left to do so. But he performed his duties anyway. Not out of habit, but out of hope. He was not the only one. These people were not fools. They knew the Federation had all but fallen. They simply didn’t believe it had to stay fallen.

The Last Starfleet

“The safety and security of whatever’s left of the Federation must take priority over everything else.” – Admiral Charles Vance​

In the shadows of all this loss, and despite the withdrawal of Earth, humanity still took the lead in the mission of Starfleet. Admiral Charles Vance emerged as one of Starfleet’s last remaining senior officers. He took command of a cloaked headquarters, where the Federation government, reduced to 38 member worlds, and the remaining ships and personnel of Starfleet gathered. Its location became the Federation’s most carefully guarded secret.

By the end of the year 3188, what remained of Starfleet could no longer indulge in scientific curiosity, explore the stars or keep peace along the frontier. Their task became simpler, yet no less noble: to endure and survive. The Federation’s influence had shrunk to a shadow of itself.
Hunger, homelessness, poverty and disease -- once distant memories, returned to Federation worlds. Space lanes became lawless and vulnerable to pirates and marauders such as the Venari Ral. Hope became a distant memory. The Federation provided what limited aid that it could to worlds in the most desperate of need, but had to make hard decisions about where their aid was directed. Worlds with resources that could be traded or sold for supplies had to take a backseat to worlds that had nothing.

And yet, through it all, some things never died.

The day before new hope arrived from the distant past, the Federation had been all but reduced to whispers and memories. But Aditya Sahil still manned at his console every day and Charles Vance still wore the uniform and served with pride. And across the stars, people still remembered what it meant to be part of something greater than themselves.

The Federation was broken, but the dream of it still lived – waiting to be awakened once more.

*****

Next Week: That Hope is Who? Oh, yeah! I remember her!

 

[tenmei]

Excellent work putting all the details we've been given into a cohesive narrative.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 44: From The Past, Hope For The Future

“You brought this ship through time. You carried this crew on your shoulders. You are a captain in the truest sense of the word.” -- Michael Burnham to Saru​

The new future of the United Federation of Planets began with arrival of Michael Burnham in the year 3188 from the year 2256 (See Chapter 4). Burnham and the USS Discovery had fled the 23rd century 930 years prior in a desperate attempt to save all sentient life in the galaxy from the rogue Section 31 AI called “Control”. Burnham had used the time travelling Red Angel suit to bring herself and Discovery to the future to keep the sentient AI called Zora which had integrated itself into Discovery’s computers out of reach of the Control’s reach. After arriving, Burnham programmed the suit to fly into the rapidly closing temporal wormhole and self-destruct, closing the time-loop that had been begun by Burnham’s mother.

Cleveland Booker

“It’s an odd quirk, really: the human tendency to consider something less meaningful if it’s just for yourself.” – Cleveland Booker​

The first person that Burnham met in the 32nd century was a native of Kwejian who had been born with the name Tareckx but had adopted the name “Cleveland ‘Book’ Booker” V in honor of his mentor, Cleveland Booker IV. Booker filled Burnham in on what he knew of the recent history regarding the Burn and the Federation, and agreed to help her try and contact Discovery, who had not emerged from the wormhole behind her. In exchange, she would help him acquire a new supply of dilithium for his ship, the Nautilus, from the Mercantile -- a courier outpost in the nearby city of Requiem.

The misadventure ended with the two of them being pursued by Emerald Chain agents seeking cargo that he allegedly stolen from a fellow courier named Cosmo Taitt. The pursuit ended when Book unleashed his “cargo” on his pursuers, a large trance worm, which was an endangered species native to his world and considered a culinary delicacy on his attackers. Book possessed the empathic powers that were inherent to the people of his world and he communicated with the creature and directed its attack. Once the danger had passed, Booker and Burnham took the trance worm to a sanctuary world where it was reunited with its own kind just in time for the mating season.

Book was true to his word and gave Michael access to his communications array, but Burnham was unable to make contact with her ship. Knowing a possible alternative way to find Burnham’s ship, Book set course for a courier outpost located on a decommissioned Federation communications array where Aditya Sahil performed his daily ritual in honor of the dream that was once Starfleet and the Federation. Sahil was overjoyed to finally be contacted by a representative of Starfleet and eager to help Burnham find her ship.

Unfortunately, the range of his sensors was limited and Discovery was nowhere in his sensor range. It was indeed possible that Discovery hadn’t even arrived yet, and given the uncertain nature of temporal mechanics, there was no way to know if Discovery would arrive in a day, a year or more down the line. Nevertheless, Burnham granted Sahil a field commission of Communications Chief for his loyalty and service to the Federation, fulfilling his lifelong hope and dream. Sahil continued to man his post in hopes of helping his new Commanding Officer find her ship and crew renewed in purpose and dedication.

The Long Wait

For the next year, Burnham aided Book in his courier work while continuing her search for Discovery, and for answers about the cause of the Burn. During their travels, Burnham discovered two “black boxes” from Federation Starships destroyed in The Burn. She also discovered a twelve-year-old transmission from Admiral Senna Tal, a Trill Starfleet officer who had broadcast a hopeful message from Earth, calling on those who still believed in the Federation to come together and rebuild.

But Earth was far too distant to reach with the resources Burnham had at the time, and the message, though uplifting, became just another star she couldn’t yet reach. Then, one day came the signal Burnham had long awaited: Discovery had finally arrived. The Nautilus raced to the coordinates of an unnamed world and reached the ship in time to tractor it free from the crushing grip of the planet’s parasitic ice.

Discovery had sustained damage during its journey through time and had only managed a crash landing on a hostile, unnamed world, thanks to the heroic efforts of its pilot, Keyla Detmer. To repair the ship’s communications systems, Commander Saru and Ensign Sylvia Tilly, later joined by the former Terran Emperor turned Section 31 agent turned Discovery crewmember, Philippa Georgiou, traveled to a nearby mining colony to retrieve the necessary components.

The colony had come under the domination of a ruthless courier named Zareh, who had disabled the colonists’ ability to travel and brutally enforced his rule, forcing them to work for him in order to survive. The colonists were ultimately liberated through the efforts of the Starfleet officers, who defeated Zareh’s men and gave the miners his ship to escape in. Zareh was left behind to fend for himself on the hostile world, where he was later rescued by agents of the Emerald Chain.

Saru, Tilly, and Georgiou returned to Discovery and prepared the damaged ship for launch. Still struggling to break free from the strange parasitic ice, Discovery was finally pulled to safety by the timely arrival of Burnham and the Nautilus.

Return to Earth

Once reunited, the crew of Discovery travelled to Earth by way of the vessel’s unique Spore drive, however they did not receive the welcome from the people of Earth that they had expected. Upon approaching Earth unannounced, Discovery found itself boarded by officers of the United Earth military, who looked upon the arrival of the 900-year-old vessel with suspicion. While the Earth military was inspecting the ship and determining the vessels true intentions, Discovery‘s crew diffused and resolved a long-standing conflict between Earth and a marauder named Wen.

Wen was the leader of the people of the Titan research colony that had become independent from Earth decades prior, but a had suffered a catastrophic accident that destroyed a third of the facilities habitats. When the Titan colonists launched a vessel to Earth to request aid, it was shot down by the isolationists of Earth with all hands, leading the colonists of Titan to resort to piracy to survive. Ultimately, it had been a misunderstanding. The Earth military had been unaware of the identity of the vessel’s occupants and had fired upon it out of fear.

Out of gratitude for resolving the long-standing dispute, Earth military allowed Discovery to access its records and it was discovered that Tal had indeed been on Earth twelve years prior, but that he had died and the Symbiont had moved on to a Trill male named Gray. However, the Symbiont’s time with Gray was cut short by a tragic accident soon after the joining, and the Symbiont was taken on by Gray’s human companion Adira. Unlike traditional Trill hosts, Adira was unable to access Tal’s memories, likely due to their human physiology. Hoping to unlock the knowledge and insight preserved within the symbiont, they joined Discovery’s crew and traveled with to Trill to consult with Trill Guardians.

Trill

Discovery arrived at Trill and presented Adira to the Symbiosis Commission and the Trill Guardians, who were shocked to find a Symbiont surviving within a human host. Trill society had been decimated by the Burn, with many symbionts lost and countless hosts unable to return home. In this context, Adira's presence was divisive -- some saw their joining as a possible salvation for a fading way of life, while others regarded it as a violation of sacred tradition.

After some internal debate, Adira was granted access to the symbiont pool in the Caves of Mak'ala, the ancestral home of Trill symbiosis. Immersion in the sacred waters allowed them to fully integrate with the Tal symbiont and unlock its memories. Uniquely, Adira's joining also manifested the personality of their late companion Gray, with whom they were able to communicate directly, which was an unprecedented phenomenon in Trill experience.

Finally with access to the memories of Admiral Senna Tal and the full legacy of the Tal symbiont, Adira was finally able to provide Discovery with the coordinates they had sought since arriving in the 32nd century: the last known location of Starfleet and the headquarters of the United Federation of Planets.

Finding Starfleet

“As far as I’m concerned, When you jumped through that wormhole, you were doing your job. You’re here now. And every mission, you start from zero.” – Admiral Charles Vance​

Discovery arrived at the coordinates of the cloaked facility that housed both the remaining forces of Starfleet and the civilian leadership of the United Federation of Planets, but the crew once again did not receive the warm welcome they had hoped for. Greeted by Admiral Charles Vance, they encountered a Federation diminished to just 38 member worlds, struggling to maintain peace and stability in the fractured remnants of its former territory.

Determined to prove their worth, Discovery’s crew quickly made an impact by identifying the cause of a virulent plague affecting a Federation species known as the Kili, a mutated plant originating from the Urna system. Using the spore drive, they jumped to the location of the Federation’s old seed vault aboard the USS Tikhov, a journey that would have taken nine months at standard warp and successfully retrieved a sample of the unaltered plant. This allowed Federation scientists to synthesize a cure and marked Discovery’s first major contribution to the 32nd century.

The Third Black Box

“You had me at ‘unsanctioned mission’.” – Phillipa Georgiou​

In the three weeks that followed, Discovery was updated and her crew equipped to modern specifications, including programable matter interfaces and personal transporters, though her spore drive remained classified. Soon after, Cleveland Booker's ship, the Nautilus, arrived at Starfleet Headquarters unmanned save for his cat, Grudge. Investigating the vacant vessel, the crew discovered a message from Book, sent from the planet Hunhau, a world under the control of the Emerald Chain crime syndicate.

Book claimed he had recovered a third black box from a destroyed Federation starship lost during the Burn. With three black boxes, Burnham hoped to determine whether the Burn had been a simultaneous, galaxy-wide event, or whether it had originated from a single point in space and time. However, Discovery had been ordered to stand by for a potential mission to Argeth, a Federation world also under threat from the Emerald Chain, and Burnham was denied permission to act.

Defying orders, Burnham recruited Philippa Georgiou for an unsanctioned mission to Hunhau in the Nautilus. The operation was a success: Burnham and Georgiou recovered the black box, rescued Book, liberated a number of slaves held by the Emerald Chain, and destroyed the Orion operation in the process. One of the prisoners rescued was an Andorian named Ryn. Once a member of the Emerald Chain, Ryn had turned against his masters, sacrificing his status and enduring brutal punishment, including having his antennae shorn, to protect others. His knowledge of Emerald Chain operations would prove to be a critical asset to the Federation and make him a target of Emerald Chain reprisals moving forward.

Despite the outcome, Captain Saru could not overlook Burnham’s insubordination. He demoted her from First Officer to Science Officer, removing her from Discovery’s chain of command entirely.

Spock’s Legacy

“You guys are chronic overachievers” – Cleveland Booker IV​

After examining the data from the third black box, recovered from the USS Yelchin, Burnham and Ensign Tilly were able to confirm that the Burn was not a simultaneous event, but that it had an origin point from which it spread across the galaxy. However, there was not enough information available to triangulate origin point coordinates in three-dimensional space. But Burnham saw potential in the data from the classified SB-19 project, which -- prior to the Burn -- had distributed sensors across hundreds of light-years of subspace and would have had a front-row view of the event. However, they were told by Admiral Vance that the data was unavailable.

Admiral Vance then briefed the amazed Saru and Burnham with the history of the Ni’Var, the races that they had once known as the Vulcans and the Romulans, and their withdrawal from the Federation. Vance explained that in the years that followed their withdrawal, the Ni’Var had opted to not share any information on the SB-19 project with the Federation, fearing its misuse and causing further harm. However, with this newly confirmed data the Federation could confirm that Ni’Var and Vulcan were in fact not the cause of the Burn, even if a precise origin was still elusive. The tricky part was in convincing the Ni’Var to re-open negotiations with the Federation. To this end, Admiral Vance saw a unique opportunity present itself by the whim of fate – Michael Burnham, the sister of Spock.

Ever since her arrival in the 32nd century, Burnham had resisted the urge to look up the life and accomplishments of her brother. But in light of the situation, Burnham opened Spock’s file and was amazed by what she learned about his accomplishments and what his legacy to the galaxy as a whole truly was. He was, truly, a legendary figure in Ni’Var culture, his status rivalling even that of Surak and S’Task. The reunification movement that he had begun only gained momentum in the centuries following his passing until the inevitable came and the two peoples became one once again, just as Spock predicted.

The legacy of Spock’s family to the history of the Federation extended all the way back to his great-grandfather Solkar, who had shaken hands with Zephram Cochrane on that night in Bozeman, Montana, in 2063 and extended all of the way to the modern day. And now, though she could never hope to surpass Spock’s legacy, it fell to Burnham to carry that legacy forward -- not just Spock’s, but theirs. The saga of a family who had shaped the course of centuries.

Ni’Var

Upon arriving in the Ni’Var system, Discovery was greeted by President T’Rina, leader of the reunified Vulcan-Romulan homeworld. After extending formal greetings to Captain Saru and Commander Burnham, T’Rina informed them that, despite the new evidence they had brought, Ni’Var could not share the SB-19 data. The project had become a political and cultural fault line and a symbol of the mistrust that still lingered between the two factions, still adjusting to reunification. These tensions had only deepened after the Burn.

T’Rina explained that reopening that debate could risk undoing fragile progress, and potentially Spock’s achievement, and she was not prepared to do so. Desperate to ensure the Federation’s survival, Burnham invoked the ancient right of T’kal-in-ket, a formal philosophical inquiry designed to reveal profound truths. As a graduate of the Vulcan Science Academy and a legal citizen of Ni’Var, Burnham held the right to make such a request. T’Rina agreed and a quorum of scholars from the Vulcan Science Institute was soon assembled to hear Burnham’s argument.

The quorum was contentious. Some members doubted the veracity of Burnham’s data; others questioned her motives. Before long, the session devolved into ideological conflict, with the Romulan factions openly threatening to release the SB-19 data themselves if the Vulcans would not. In that moment, Burnham saw T’Rina’s fears come to life -- that revisiting the SB-19 project might reignite the very tensions Spock had spent a lifetime trying to heal. Rather than allow Spock’s legacy to be torn apart, Burnham withdrew her request. She vowed instead to continue her search for the cause of the Burn and to share her findings freely with the Vulcan Science Institute, for them to interpret as they saw fit.

Despite Burnham’s withdrawal, T’Rina was moved by her integrity and clarity of purpose. She chose to share the SB-19 data with the Federation, believing that, despite the risks, cooperation was the higher path. It was a small but crucial step toward the long and difficult road of reconciliation between Ni’Var and its long-lost Federation family -- a step that, by all accounts, Spock would have deeply approved of.

In the midst of these proceedings, two quieter threads of significance began to unfold. President T’Rina and Captain Saru, though initially formal in their dealings, began to establish a rapport marked by mutual respect and philosophical curiosity -- a diplomatic foundation that would deepen in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, Burnham was unexpectedly reunited with her mother, Gabrielle, who had joined the Qowat Milat on Ni’Var. Her return from the 23rd century had not gone as expected and she had eventually made her way to Ni’Var where she was taken in by the Sisterhood.

Osyraa

“My ancestors knew that that power is virtue, and there is no nobility in suffering. You do what it takes to get what you need, or you don’t.” -- Osyraa​

The destruction of the Emerald Chain operation on Hunhau garnered the attention of Osyraa, the leader of the Emerald Chain herself. Upon learning the circumstances of the incident and the identities of those who had escaped, including the Andorian Ryn who possessed extensive knowledge of Chain operations, and Cleveland Booker, Osyraa set her sights on Booker's home planet of Kwejian.

Kwejian experienced an ecological disaster following the events of the Burn, the dislocation of the planet’s moon had disrupted the tides of the planet causing the normal sea-living species of Sea Locusts to emerge from the sea and feed on the world’s crops, resulting in millions of its people starving. The Emerald Chain stepped in with assistance in the form of a repellant, but at a price: unlimited access to Kwejian’s native and endangered trance worm species, whose meat was considered a rare delicacy. It was this arrangement, and the cooperation of Booker’s brother Kyheem in its implementation, that led to Booker leaving Kwejian and a fifteen-year rift between the brothers.

Soon after jumping to Kwejian, Commander Burnham and Booker beamed down to the surface where they were soon captured by Booker’s brother, Kyheem. Kyheem informed Booker that Osyraa wanted Ryn returned to them immediately or that the Chain would withhold the repellent that kept the Sea Locusts at bay.

With Captain Saru’s refusal to turn Ryn over to Osyraa, Osyraa began bombing the planet. Saru was under orders not to engage with the Emerald Chain, so the plan was made to launch Booker's civilian vessel, the Nautilus, piloted by Discovery’s helmsman Kayla Detmer, to attack and disable the Viridian in order to protect the planet. However, Osyraa was not fooled by the deception and swore that the Federation would feel the full wrath of the Emerald Chain.

Kwejian now faced the sea locust threat without the Emerald Chain. Discovery devised a solution -- the planet’s empathic people could communicate with animals and plants, but the locusts’ numbers were too overwhelming for them to reach as a group. Discovery isolated the iso-magnetic frequency the locusts used to communicate, allowing Book and Kyheem to reach them all directly. Understanding the harm they caused, the locusts returned to the sea, sparing Kwejian’s crops and freeing the planet from the Chain’s control.

Detmer, who had been struggling with PTSD and self-doubt since Discovery’s arrival in the 32nd century, found renewed confidence in this mission. Her success in piloting the Nautilus and evading the Viridian served as a turning point in her recovery.

Ryn, grateful for Discovery’s protection from Osyraa, revealed that the Chain was growing desperately short on dilithium, which threatened their power and influence.

Wounded by the Past

“Every molecule fights to either go back in time or jump a cosmic divide.” – Dr. Kovich​

Shortly after arriving in the 32nd century, Philippa Georgiou began experiencing fugue states in which she would black out and relive memories from her time in the Mirror Universe. These incidents occurred with increasing frequency and once even occurred during a mission, endangering the life of Commander Burnham. Medical examinations from Doctors Pollard and Culber confirmed the worst: Georgiou was dying, though the cause remained unclear. The explanation came from a mysterious Federation agent named Kovich, who was an expert in temporal and trans-dimensional physics. Kovich explained that the molecules of living creatures are attuned to the time and place from which they came and would break down violently if separated from their point of origin. The crew of Discovery had traveled through time, but only Georgiou had crossed dimensions and her physical form was breaking down.

Kovich’s place within the Federation is not without mystery of its own. He seems to hold no official rank or position yet wields tremendous influence within the halls of Federation Headquarters. Having met the man, I can say that he always knows more than those around him, and somehow still manages to know more than he lets on.

Kovich believed that there was no known solution to Federation science to deal with Georgiou’s plight. However, Zora, Discovery’s evolved computer intelligence derived from the ancient Sphere Data recovered by Discovery in 23rd century which held 25,000 years of galactic history and knowledge, disagreed. Zora's information indicated that a possible cure for Georgiou's condition could be found on the world of Danus V, a planet on the edge of the Gamma Quadrant. Admiral Vance authorized the mission and Discovery jumped to Danus V where Burnham and Georgiou beamed down to the planet’s surface together. Only Commander Burnham retuned.

What happened to Georgiou on Danus V remains a mystery and is perhaps the one instance in which Kovich legitimately does not know the details. That said, after Georgiou’s beam-down to Danus V, long-range scans of the planet indicated waves of time distortion emanating from it -- similar to those that once radiated from the sentient time portal known as the Guardian of Forever, who had retreated into secrecy during the events of the Temporal Cold War.

This may seem like a highly speculative conclusion to some, but there are declassified records placing Georgiou in the early 24th century working with a Section 31 unit based out of Barram Station outside of Federation space. Given the secretive nature of Section 31’s missions, largely undocumented, there are few details of her activities during this time. However, one such operation is documented in this volume in Appendix: 3 -- The Mirror Universe.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Su’Kal

“I was alone…” – Su’Kal​

With the acquisition of the SB-19 data from the Ni’Var, combined with information from the three recovered starship black boxes, Stamets and Tal were able to identify the Verubin Nebula as the origin point of the Burn. Upon observing the nebula using long-range sensors, they detected the distress signal sent long ago from the Kelpien vessel Khi’eth by a Kelpian scientist named Dr Issa prior to the Burn, which was broadcasting on a repeating loop.

They were unable to connect with the Khi’eth remotely due to static interference within the subspace barrier. However, with the assistance of Cleveland Booker, who supplied Discovery with Emerald Chain technology designed to amplify weak subspace signals, the crew was able to establish a connection. With the device in place, Discovery successfully made contact with the Khi’eth’s computer. When the first readings from the Khi’eth arrived, Discovery’s crew were stunned to realize that life signs were still registering from the vessel. Captain Saru, realizing that Dr. Issa had been pregnant when she sent the distress signal, deduced that the survivor must be her child. He immediately ordered Discovery to jump to the nebula.

Upon arrival, Discovery attempted to navigate the volatile currents within the nebula, but the intense subspace radiation made safe passage impossible. Realizing that his own, smaller ship could withstand the radiation and maneuver through the turbulence, Booker piloted the Nautilus into the nebula. There, he discovered the location of the lost ship and the single remaining life sign -- on a planet composed almost entirely of dilithium.

Booker located a pocket of relative stability near the planet, enabling Discovery to jump in safely. Once in position, Captain Saru, Commander Burnham, Dr. Culber, and Adira Tal beamed down to the Khi'eth. Due to rising radiation levels within the nebula, Discovery was forced to jump out and planned to return in four hours, just before the exposure would prove fatal to the away team.

Inside the Khi'eth, the team made their way through a maze of shifting holographic environments, ultimately locating the source of the remaining life sign. It was Su'Kal, who had spent 125 years alone with his only companions, the ship’s holographic caretakers.

Su'Kal’s distress over the arrival of strangers into his holographic world sent ripples through subspace. This reaction led Burnham and the others to realize the truth: it was Su'Kal that had caused the Burn. His body, mutated by subspace radiation, had formed a psychic link with all of the galaxy’s dilithium. In the moment of his mother’s death, his grief resonated across that network and triggered the greatest ecological catastrophe in galactic history.

Recognizing the danger of provoking another Burn, Saru and Dr. Culber carefully worked to gain Su'Kal’s trust, assuring him they were real and from outside the holographic simulation. They encouraged him to face the truth of his situation and overcome the fear that had kept him trapped in illusion for over a century. With gentle persistence and empathy, they convinced him to deactivate the simulation and leave the confines of the Khi'eth. Once removed from the dilithium-rich planet and the nebula’s radiation, the danger of another would Burn pass.

Osyraa’s Gambit

Outside the nebula, Discovery was confronted by Osyraa and the Viridian, which had tracked the ship’s spore-drive signature from Kwejian. With Captain Saru on the away mission, Ensign Tilly was left in command -- a near-fatal miscalculation. Osyraa exploited her inexperience, seizing Engineering, subduing Stamets with a mind-control device, and taking control of the spore drive. With the ship secured, Osyraa jumped Discovery directly to Federation Headquarters.

Booker slipped the Nautilus past the blockade to extract the away team, but Saru and Culber chose to remain with Su’Kal, whose condition was still fragile. Burnham returned alone, and with Tal’s radiation treatments delivered, Nautilus emerged from the nebula just in time to see Discovery and the Viridian jump away.

Once in control of Discovery, Osyraa confined most of the crew and staged a false attack by the Viridian to gain access to Federation HQ. Admiral Vance, not suspecting the deception, allowed the ship inside the protective shield. Meanwhile, Burnham and Book reached Federation HQ by navigating a hazardous courier subspace corridor, docking the Nautilus inside Discovery’s shuttle bay just before the shield closed. Booker surrendered, allowing Burnham to send a distress signal to Ni’Var and plan their counterattack.

Vance soon realized Discovery was compromised and ordered all ships to lock weapons. Osyraa, however, claimed she had come to negotiate. She proposed a Federation -- Emerald Chain alliance, offering the Chain’s scientific resources to replicate the spore drive and end galactic dependence on dilithium. Vance saw potential in the plan but insisted Osyraa step down and face trial for her crimes -- a condition she rejected, ending the talks.

Meanwhile, Tilly and the command crew overpowered their guards and began retaking the ship. In the armory they encountered three DOT repair units, within which Zora had hidden herself after Osyraa’s code purge. The DOTs joined the fight, and Burnham successfully extracted Stamets, denying Osyraa use of the spore drive.

Book and Ryn, who stayed behind to cover the crew’s escape, were captured. Book tried to save Ryn by revealing the location of the dilithium planet, but Osyraa executed him anyway and tortured Book for the information.

A full-scale battle erupted: Chain vessels assaulted the Federation shield from outside while Starfleet ships engaged Discovery within. Hope returned with the arrival of a Ni’Var fleet responding to Burnham’s signal. Facing a stalemate, Vance released Discovery from the defensive sphere, and Osyraa ordered Discovery and the Viridian to warp toward the nebula with Starfleet and Ni’Var in pursuit.

Burnham rescued Book and helped restore Discovery’s systems. She instructed Tilly to damage a warp nacelle, dropping the ship from warp, then confronted Osyraa in the data core. After a brutal fight, Burnham prevailed, restored Federation protocols, and beamed Osyraa’s forces off the ship.

One final task remained: rescuing the away team still in the nebula. With help from a Chain scientist named Aurellio, a method was devised to let Book interface with the spore drive using his empathic abilities. Discovery jumped to the nebula just in time to save Saru, Culber, and Su’Kal before the radiation caused irreversible harm.

The Federation Reborn

“The Federation is continuing to rebuild. There is a lot of work to do. It will take time, but already, the Trill have rejoined. Other worlds are considering it… including Ni’Var.” – Michael Burnham​

In the days and weeks that followed, things moved quickly. Without Osyraa and the Viridian, Emerald Chain control and influence diminished rapidly. Talks began with several independent worlds, and Trill was among the first to rejoin the Federation, with Ni'Var soon entering negotiations as well. Over the next five months, Federation membership swelled from 38 member worlds to 59 with many more worlds still in negotiation.

Captain Saru took a leave of absence from Starfleet and returned to his homeworld of Kaminar, accompanying Su'Kal so the long-abandoned Kelpien could begin a new life amongst his people.

Saru recommended that Commander Burnham be given command of Discovery, and Admiral Vance agreed. The Federation had found a way to safely mine the dilithium within the Verubin Nebula, and Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery were tasked with delivering it to distant worlds that had long been cut off from the rest of the galaxy.

Just as her brother Spock once united the long-separated Vulcans and Romulans, Michael Burnham began the work of restoring the purpose and ideals of the United Federation of Planets -- rekindling stability, connection, mutual understanding and acceptance across the stars.

******
Next Week: Species 10-C

This chapter had the book's "money scene" in it. My entire inspiration for this project came from the scene where Michael looked up Spock's life history. This entire book has existed pretty much fully-formed in my head ever since I saw that scene when I envisioned the entire Star Trek saga through the lens of the life, lineage and legacy of Spock. (Solkarr/Cochrane ---> Sarek --->Spock ---> Michael)

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 45: Species 10-C

Many of us still bear the scars of the trauma and loss that was inadvertently inflicted upon the galaxy by the threat posed by the entities known as Species 10-C. And yet, the true legacy of this event is how the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet responded to the crisis and restored the faith of the galaxy.

President Laira Rillak

”Federation, non-Federation… This anomaly threatens us all equally” -- Federation President Laira Rellick​

President Laira Rillak, of Cardassian, Bajoran, and human descent, had served over twenty years as one of the Federation’s top ambassadors before being elected President of the United Federation of Planets in 3190. She was entrusted with the monumental task of rebuilding the foundations of the Federation following the Burn. Rillak first met Captain Burnham while addressing the inaugural class of new cadets at the reopened Starfleet Academy -- the first since the Burn -- at the christening of the new Archer Spacedock, where the current fleet would be upgraded and the next generation of Starfleet vessels constructed as Rillak vowed to renew Starfleet’s original mission of pure scientific exploration.

Soon after, Starfleet picked up a distress signal from Deep Space Repair Station Beta-6 near Kwijian and Discovery was ordered to respond. Wishing to see Discovery’s spore drive in action, President Rillak accompanied the mission. Station Beta 6 had been struck by an unknown anomaly which sent it spiraling out of control through space. A repair team led by Lieutenant Tilly managed to restore the station's thrusters and regain control, but the station again encountered the anomaly -- this time destroying it. Tilly, her team, and the survivors barely escaped and returned to Discovery before the vessel was forced to jump to escape its own destruction from the anomaly. The mission was completed with only one fatality: the station's commander, Nalas.

President Rillak later told Burnham that the reason she had come along on this mission was to evaluate her for the captaincy of new exploratory vessels utilizing new forms of propulsion.

Before Discovery could jump back to Federation Headquarters, they received a distress call from Booker's ship, the Nautilus. Book was visiting family on Kwejian and was investigating a strange occurrence in his ship when his vessel encountered something that knocked it clear of the planet, the same powerful anomaly that Station Beta 6 had encountered. Upon scanning Kwejian's coordinates, all were shocked and horrified to discover that Kwejian and her people had been utterly destroyed by the powerful anomaly.

The DMA

Analysis of the anomaly revealed its shocking size, over five light-years across. The initial theory proposed that it was a pair of roving black holes traveling across the galaxy. However, during a recon mission in the anomaly’s vicinity, Discovery’s observations disproved that theory. Stamets reported that it was beyond anything in his experience.

A risky mission aboard the Nautilus was undertaken to gather more data and determine the anomaly’s trajectory. But after the Nautilus returned to Discovery, the anomaly inexplicably changed course, something that should have been impossible for a naturally occurring phenomenon, The event confirmed that its path could not be reliably predicted.

Stamets developed a new theory: that the Dark Matter Anomaly, or DMA, was actually a primordial wormhole, with four out of five indicators supporting that conclusion. The only outlier was the absence of tachyon particles. However, Stamets still championed the theory until a consultation with the Vulcan Science Institute on Ni’Var confirmed that the DMA could not be a primordial wormhole due to this missing element, bringing the investigation back to square one.

Ni’Var Rejoins the Federation

Due to the galactic nature of the threat posed by the DMA, President T’Rina of Ni’Var fast-tracked negotiations for Ni’Var to rejoin the United Federation of Planets. During these negotiations, the Federation was forced to make several compromises, including turning over a rogue Qowat Milat nun who had killed a Starfleet officer into Ni’Var’s custody. However, there was one concession the Federation could not accept: a clause that would allow Ni’Var to leave the Federation at any time, for any reason. President Rillak recognized that such a clause could set a precedent that might shatter the Federation at any given moment.

Ni’Var feared that its needs as an individual world would not be met as a member of the larger Federation, a concern rooted in the years leading up to the Burn, when the Federation had spread itself too thin to properly serve its member worlds. Captain Burnham and Saru convinced both presidents to resume negotiations and proposed a compromise: the establishment of a civilian council made up of representatives from member worlds, with Burnham, citizen of both Ni’Var and the Federation, serving as mediator to ensure all planetary needs were addressed.

This historic compromise met with the approval of both parties, and Ni’Var once more took its rightful place within the United Federation of Planets. The return of this founding member marked a turning point in the rebuilding of the Federation, inspiring even more former member worlds to consider rejoining the fold.

The Future of Starfleet

“And I started wondering if this is what I really wanted or if I just wanted to be seen. You know, and that was humbling. But I think it could be a useful perspective for a teacher.” – Sylvia Tilly​

Ever since arriving in the 32nd century, Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly had felt at a loss. Unable to find a place where she belonged in this new era, she began to feel disconnected and uncertain about her future. After the confrontation with Osyraa and the tragic death of Commander Nalas at Deep Space Repair Station Beta 6, Tilly wondered whether her lifelong goal of commanding a starship was truly right for her.

Clarity came during a training mission with a group of Starfleet cadets, each from different species, cultures, and mindsets, whose shuttle crash-landed on an L-class moon. Forced to teach these cadets to work together in order to survive, Tilly discovered how naturally she stepped into the role of mentor. Realizing how well suited she was to teaching with her unique perspective on early Starfleet and Federation history, she found at last where she belonged in this era and accepted an offer from Kovich to teach at Starfleet Academy and to mold Starfleet’s future with the next generation of cadets.

Ruon Tarka

“You can’t rush genius.” – Ruan Tarka​

Ruon Tarka of Risa was a genius by all accounts and by any standard. However, his refusal to allow his work to be weaponized or exploited by the Emerald Chain resulted in his imprisonment at a remote labor camp, where he met a fellow scientist named Oros. While imprisoned, Tarka and Oros formed a close bond and secretly began work on a prototype power source capable of piercing the barrier between universes. Their project was born of both scientific curiosity and a shared desire to escape the oppression of the Chain. But before their work could be completed, Oros disappeared, vanished without a trace or warning. Whether he had succeeded in crossing to another universe or had been eliminated by the Chain was never known.

The loss haunted Tarka. After the fall of the Emerald Chain, he continued their work with singular determination, obsessed with recreating the conditions that might allow him to follow Oros, whom Tarka believed had crossed over, whatever the cost.

Tarka was brought in to consult after the DMA suddenly vanished from the B’Raan system and reappeared just over four seconds later,10,000 light-years away near the Radvok asteroid belt. This shocking event confirmed that the DMA could not be a naturally occurring phenomenon, but rather a construct, built and operated for a specific purpose. The Federation designated the creators of the anomaly as Unknown Species 10-C.

It was determined that a device at the center of the DMA was controlling its movements and actions, creating a synthetic wormhole devoid of the usual tachyon emissions. To prove his theory, Tarka attempted to recreate the DMA on a small scale in Discovery’s engineering room. The experiment was successful, but the artificial DMA and its massive power drain threatened the ship’s safety, and Saru ordered the test shut down before completion.

Although Tarka outwardly assisted the Federation’s study of the anomaly, he had an ulterior motive: to use the technology created by Species 10-C to cross dimensional boundaries and reunite with Oros, despite not knowing whether or not Oros still lived.

Zora’s Growth

Discovery was ordered on a mission investigating a subspace rift left behind by the passing DMA. While inside, the Discovery crew was shocked to discover evidence that the DMA had come from beyond the galactic barrier that surrounds the galaxy, making it an extra-galactic threat not native to the Milky Way.

However, before Discovery could leave the subspace rift to report their findings, the emotional development of their sentient computer Zora reached a turning point, and the AI achieved full emotional awareness. Zora froze, unable to function in this new state of being, as her first experience with the emotion of fear caused a near-system shutdown. Zora was talked down by Adira’s partner Gray, who had recently had his consciousness transferred from the Tal symbiont to an artificial golem, similar to the one used to transfer the consciousness of Jean-Luc Picard back in 2399. Zora had determined the coordinates of the home of Species 10-C beyond the Galactic Barrier but was reluctant to reveal out of fear of Discovery’s crew coming to harm.

In order to help Zora focus on her mission, she was given an official rank on the ship as mission specialist, placing her under Starfleet’s command. This helped Zora regain control, and she showed no further glitches moving forward. Having fully integrated into her new sentient consciousness and getting over her fears, Zora divulged the coordinates of Species 10-C

Galactic Summit

“The need to connect is at our core as sentient beings.” – Michael Burnham​

A summit was held at Federation Headquarters to address the DMA’s extragalactic origin. Representatives from all four quadrants attended, including delegates from all 60 worlds of the rapidly expanding Federation and several non-aligned powers -- among them Earth.

Two options were proposed: attempt peaceful first contact with Species 10-C or follow Ruon Tarka’s plan to destroy the DMA with a powerful isolytic weapon, a class of device banned by the Khitomer Accords nine centuries earlier.

When the vote favored first contact, Tarka chose to act independently. Believing the DMA’s power source could fuel his own interdimensional transporter and reunite him with Oros, he recruited Cleveland Booker, manipulating Book’s grief over Kwejian’s destruction. Using a next-generation spore drive co-designed with Aurellio and piloted by Book, Tarka set off to obliterate the DMA with the illicit isolytic device.

Desperate Pursuit

Fearing that Tarka and Booker would start a war with Species 10-C that the Federation could not win, the fleet went on full alert for the fugitives. Burnham deduced that Tarka and Book would need to obtain isolynium for their task and recalling their time as couriers, deduced that Book would travel to a trading hub on the planet Parathia that was not on Starfleet’s radar.

Burnham confronted Booker on Parathia, where both competed for the purchase of isolynium. Believing she could keep the explosive material out of their hands by outbidding them, Burnham hoped to sabotage Tarka’s plan. However, Booker prevailed in a game of chance, and the isolynium went to him and Tarka. Unbeknownst to them, Burnham had managed to place a tracker within the isolynium, giving Starfleet the opportunity to trace their movements.

Revelations

Stamets had been scanning the coordinates supplied by Zora for the home of Species 10-C and made a startling discovery, an artificial construct measuring 228 million kilometers in radius that served as Species 10-C’s home.

Realizing the immense amount of energy required to operate such a structure, Burnham instructed Zora to scan regions where the DMA had passed for traces of boronite, a rare and potent element. Zora confirmed its absence in the areas visited by the DMA, leading to the conclusion that the DMA was in fact a dredge -- mining equipment deployed by Species 10-C to extract boronite. Fearing that Tarka and Booker's plan to destroy the DMA would disrupt Species 10-C’s operations and provoke a hostile response from the powerful aliens, Starfleet issued orders to stop Tarka at all costs.

The tracker in the isolynium confirmed the location of the Nautilus near an uncharted rogue planetoid, where Tarka was constructing his isolytic weapon. When a stealth assault on the Nautilus failed, the ship jumped directly to confront the DMA, closely followed by Discovery.

Discovery jumped to a position between the Nautilus and the DMA, and Burnham persuaded Book to stand down, securing his agreement to wait one week before taking any action -- time Starfleet needed to proceed with its first-contact mission. Tarka, however, could not be dissuaded; his obsession with reuniting with Oros ran too deep and he launched the isolytic weapon into the DMA anyway. The device disrupted and dissipated the anomaly, but not in the way Tarka intended: Species 10-C immediately deployed a replacement DMA, as though nothing had happened. Seeking the DMA’s power source, Tarka discovered it was not present on this side of the wormhole, rather, it lay beyond the galactic barrier at the other end. In the end, the only thing accomplished by Tarka was to potentially make Species 10-C aware of the existence of the Federation and the efforts against them.

The Galactic Barrier

“We will be the first. And when we get there, the 10-C will be waiting.” – Michael Burnham​

Due to the actions of Tarka and Book, Starfleet elected to fast-track the first-contact mission with Species 10-C. Having confirmed the location of 10-C’s domain and modified Discovery’s shields for passage through the galactic barrier, the ship set out. President Rillak, confident that her two decades of diplomatic experience would prove invaluable, as well as Ni’Var President T’Rina, chose to accompany the mission as official representatives of the people they serve.

Just prior to entering the barrier, Discovery received word that the DMA had changed course and was now threatening Ni'Var, Earth, and Titan, heightening the urgency of the mission. Resisting the urge to return to Federation space and assist with evacuations and relief efforts, Discovery pushed forward and made it’s through the Galactic Barrier and into extra-galactic space beyond.

The Other Side

Now on the far side of the galaxy, the Discovery crew wrestled with how to initiate first contact with Species 10-C. The aliens resided within an artificially constructed hyperfield, and both the means of entry and communication remained unknown to Captain Burnham. Discovery traveled to a nearby star that hosted a single abandoned planet, a former gas giant. The Dyson rings surrounding the planet’s sun were composed of the same rare material as the DMA’s power source, leading Burnham to deduce that this world must once have been the home of Species 10-C. Hoping to uncover a way to communicate, or at least some cultural context with which to find common ground, Burnham led an away team to the planet’s surface.

On the planet’s surface, the away team encountered a micro-carbon dust that drifted in the air like faint blue powder. In three members, the dust induced identical hallucinations. Investigating a nearby ruin, later identified as a nursery where Species 10-C cared for their young, the team realized this advanced civilization clearly valued life. Acting on a hunch, Captain Burnham disengaged her suit’s filtration system and inhaled the blue dust. She realized that the visions were racial memories of the 10-C and that the hydrocarbons and others like them served as a means of communication. With this insight, and the shared cultural touchstone of protecting one’s offspring, Burnham finally held the key to connecting with Species 10-C.

Meanwhile, back in the Milky Way, Tarka recovered a stash of programmable anti-matter that had been hidden at the Emerald Chain prison that he and Oros had been held a decade prior. With the anti-matter, Tarka was able to modify the Nautilus to navigate through the barrier where they approached Discovery cloaked and undetected. The pair surreptitiously boarded Discovery and planted a computer patch into the system that would allow them to pass through the 10-C hyperfield attached to Discovery undetected.

Species 10-C

“That means they understand! That means they have empathy!” – Michael Burnham​

With only hours remaining before the DMA reached Earth and Ni’Var, Discovery’s crew devised a potential means of communication with Species 10-C. By analyzing the unique hydrocarbons native to Species 10-C’s homeworld -- each corresponding to distinct emotional states -- the crew devised a method to communicate peaceful intent. Spraying these compounds across the 10-C hyperfield, they prompted an immediate response: the hyperconstruct enveloped Discovery and transported the ship into a previously unknown solar system containing three identical gas giants, revealing the species’ original home.

Through careful use of boronite, the Federation demonstrated goodwill, establishing the first tentative contact. Communication proceeded via light patterns, slowly revealing that 10-C’s language was mathematically structured. A diplomatic delegation, including President Rillak, President T’Rina, Captain Burnham, and Saru, was transported via a 10-C pod, allowing direct dialogue and observation of the species’ collective consciousness. It became clear that 10-C had been unaware of the destruction their actions had caused, and they expressed genuine sorrow upon learning of it.

Complications arose when Tarka made his move to seize control of the DMA’s power source, a rogue action threatening both 10-C and Earth. Attempts to stop him onboard the Nautilus faltered, and Discovery could not immediately intercept due to energy distortions. General N’Doye, hoping to make up for her earlier actions, volunteered to execute a high-risk mission to slow the Nautilus, mitigating the immediate danger. Tarka beamed Booker off the ship, but the Nautilus still collided with the hyperfield, and Tarka was seemingly killed in the impact; it remains unknown whether he activated his interdimensional portal in time to reunite with Oros.

Meanwhile, Starfleet scrambled to assist the evacuation of Earth, yet less than a quarter of a million individuals could be saved. Admiral Vance made the deliberate decision to remain aboard Starfleet Headquarters, providing cover for the retreating vessels and buying critical time.

Ultimately, Species 10-C grasped the multiplicity of sentient existence, recognizing that Discovery’s crew were not a single consciousness but a society of individuals. Using the newly developed visual language, President Rillak conveyed shared values of love, connection, and grief, highlighting the billions lost to the DMA. Species 10-C, fully comprehending the consequences of their actions, halted the DMA and dismantled it, agreeing to seek alternative, less destructive energy sources. Discovery was safely returned to Earth, and Booker was reunited with the crew.

Aftermath

The Species 10-C incident exemplified the Federation’s reliance on diplomacy, empathy, and ingenuity. Even in the face of existential threats, the resolution emphasized negotiation over force, communication over destruction, and understanding over fear -- a stark contrast to prior crises where moral compromise or violent shortcuts had dominated.

As punishment for his actions, Booker was assigned to assist families displaced by the DMA, a sentence that was widely seen as just and appropriate.

Saru accepted a position in the Federation diplomatic corps, requiring him to step down from his position on Discovery. Saru and President T’Rina, having grown close over the past two years but never fully expressing their feelings, finally began a relationship and were soon engaged to married.

In the most consequential repercussion of the Species 10-C encounter, many former members rejoined the United Federation of Planets, inspired by Starfleet’s response to the crisis. Earth officially returned to the fold, as did Ni’Var. The Tellarites had never left, and with negotiations ongoing with the Andorians, the Federation was, at long last, whole again.

The encounter with species 10-C was the ultimate realization of Starfleet’s ideals and mission. It was not superior firepower or strategic brilliance that saved Earth and Ni’Var, but empathy, understanding, and a shared commitment to peaceful resolution. In choosing connection over conflict, the Federation not only averted catastrophe, but it also rekindled its purpose, and with it, hope for the galaxy’s future.

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Next Week: The Progenitors

 

[Turtletrekker]

Chapter 46: The Progenitors

“You are wondering who we are, why we have done this, how it is that I stand before you, the image of a being from so long ago. Life evolved on my planet long before all others in this part of the galaxy. We left our world, explored the stars, and found none like ourselves. Our civilization thrived for ages, but what is the life of one race compared to the vast stretches of cosmic time? We knew that one day we would be gone, that nothing of us would survive. So, we left you. We seeded the primordial oceans of many worlds, where life was in its infancy. The seed codes directed your evolution toward a physical form resembling ours. The body you see before you, which is, of course, shaped as yours is shaped, for you are the end result. The seed codes contained this message, which we scattered in fragments on many different worlds. It was our hope that you would have to come together in fellowship and companionship to hear this message. And if you can see and hear me, our hope has been fulfilled. You are a monument, not to our greatness, but to our existence. That was our wish, that you too would know life, and would keep alive our memory. There is something of us in each of you, and so, something of you in each other. Remember us.” – The Progenitors message to their creations​

The revelation of common origin in the collective species of the Milky Way galaxy, the seeding of life in the galaxy by the beings we call “The Progenitors”, is the most profound revelation in the histories of both xenobiology and xenoanthropology, obliterating many widely accepted theories while confirming others. However, this extraordinary revelation was classified as top secret in the late 24th century by the powers who knew of it out of fear of the sociological and political repercussions, as well as the potential abuse and weaponization of the powerful technology that the Progenitor's possessed -- the power to create life itself.

Common Origin

The beings that we know as the Progenitors existed untold billions of years ago, when the Milky Way Galaxy was in its infancy. Perhaps the very first life to exist in the galaxy, for many eons the Progenitors searched the stars for life such as themselves, but found none, and believed themselves to be alone in the galaxy.

However, what they did find was a mystery and a purpose. The Progenitors discovered a cache of ancient technology left by an unknown entity with power beyond even their great knowledge – the power to create life. Indeed, the Progenitors themselves owed their existence to the beings who had created this technology.

Knowing that even their own great and powerful civilization would not last through eternity and all that they knew would one day be lost forever to time and memory, the Progenitors used the power that they had discovered to seed life like themselves, like the life they had long sought, into the developing and primordial oceans of many worlds. In the billions of years that followed, the seeds that the Progenitors planted bore fruit in the form of Humanity, the Ni’Var, Klingons, Cardassians, Bajorans and all other two-armed, two-legged bipedal species that inhabit the galaxy. The legacy of the Progenitors. Hoping that their creations would come together in peace and fellowship, the Progenitors encoded a message into the DNA of 19 species that could only be decoded with the spirit of cooperation and fellowship between their progeny.

Gone from the galaxy the Progenitors had seeded, the Milky Way awaited the fruits of the crops that been planted. After billions of years, the races of the Alpha Quadrant emerged from their primordial soups and sought their destinies among the stars. All the while the ancient puzzle hidden their very beings waited to be solved.

Richard Galen

Richard Galen was among the most renowned archaeologists of the 24th-century. Galen taught at Starfleet Academy and served as a mentor to Cadet Jean-Luc Picard before leaving teaching behind to follow his own research. In the 2360, Galen’s studies into micropaleontology led to the discovery of the ancient genetic code left behind by the Progenitors/ billions of years prior and he started on a quest to decipher the puzzle.

Galen collected the DNA samples from over 20 species and was close to solving the puzzle when he visited the USS Enterprise in 2369 in hopes of recruiting his former student Jean-Luc Picard to help him complete the quest. Picard was tempted, but chose to remain on the Enterprise.

Galen left to continue with his research when he was attacked by a Yridian ship in search of his findings. The Enterprise drove off the attackers, but Galen was fatally injured. Determined to complete Galen’s research, they picked up Galen’s mission.

Finding themselves in a chase between themselves, Klingon, Cardassian and Romulan factions to solve the puzzle first, the competing races finally came together to solve the puzzle. It was on the dead world of Vimor II that the final piece of DNA was found and the Progenitors message discovered.

Classified Top Secret

Federation science had already created the Genesis technology and the ability to create habitable planets with simple plant life, only to forever ban its use. The Progenitor tech represented power that made Genesis look simplistic in comparison – The ability to create living, sentient beings. The power that only the gods should have.

The galactic powers that became aware of the Progenitors existence brought together a team of six scientists, whose names are redacted in the released report, to research the Progenitors. Their research eventually led them to the same life-creating technology the Progenitors themselves had once found billions of years earlier. However, their attempt to activate the technology resulted in the instant death of one of the team.

This was during the Dominion War, when shapeshifters had infiltrated the Federation and no one could be trusted, so the team of scientists decided that the Progenitor technology was too dangerous to be disseminated and hid it, leaving behind a series of clues to its location, hopefully to be found and deciphered in a more peaceful and enlightened time.

The first of the clues was hidden in a diary kept by an unnamed Romulan scientist on the team. When his ship was damaged in the late 24th century, the Romulan stored the diary in a vault and sent a distress signal that went unanswered for over 800 years. With the disappearance of the Romulan vessel, all knowledge as to how to access the Progenitors power was lost.

This information remained highly classified at every level until just a few years ago when the actions of a Starfleet vessel endangered civilian lives on an unaligned world, followed shortly by civilian accusations of Federation interference in the succession of power in the Breen Imperium by the USS Discovery, prompted a partial declassification of events. What follows is a highly redacted account of the events that led to the declassification and public dissemination as to the existence of the Progenitors and their impact on the galaxy.

The Chase Begins

The lost Romulan vessel was discovered by Federation probes at a classified location near the Beta Quadrant in 3191. Starfleet swiftly assigned the USS Discovery and the USS Antares to recover the vessel and any evidence of Progenitor technology that might be on board. As scavengers in the area monitored the signals of comms and probes, Starfleet feared that they could be beaten to their prize by a third party.

Their fears were not unfounded as they arrived at the location just after a pair of couriers and scavengers named Moll and L’ak. Moll, a human female and L’ak, a Breen male, were ruthless and resourceful outlaws who were loyal only to each other. The duo uncovered the vault containing the diary and escaped Federation pursuers, making their way to a Courier trading post on the world of Q’mau outside of Federation space, where they hoped to employ someone to open the Romulan vault..

On Q’mau, the duo employed the service of an 600-year-old Synth that went by the name “Fred” to unlock the ancient Romulan vault and recover the diary. Fred easily opened the vault and retrieved the contents and he quickly scanned through the book and immediately realized its value. However, upon attempting to take possession of the diary himself, Fred and his men were killed by Moll and L’ak, who departed the scene with the diary.

The crews of Discovery and Antares arrived on the scene soon after and took Fred’s remains into custody. While attempting to prevent Moll and L’ak from leaving the system, the reckless actions of Captain Rayner of the USS Antares inspired Moll and L’ak to induce a large landslide that endangered the lives of a local population center. The combined actions of the starships Discovery and Antares prevented the loss of life by bringing their ships into the atmosphere and positioning them in front of the settlement, where their combined shields prevented the avalanche from destroying the city.

With the recovery of Fred’s body, the Discovery crew was able to download the Synthetic being’s memories of the diary and were able to recover all that he had seen, allowing Discovery to remain on the trail.

The episode caused a diplomatic incident whose aftermath reverberated throughout the Federation, requiring the personal attention of Federation President Laira Rillak. Rayner was relieved of command and was heading for an early retirement, when Discovery Captain Burnham convinced him to serve as her new first officer. Burnham knew that Rayner was a good officer who deserved a second chance -- just as she was given over 900 years prior. Rayner accepted the offer and joined the mission.

Commander Rayner

“I know what I stand for, I know what I believe in. I’m not gonna apologize for that.” – Commander Rayner​

Now Commander Rayner was a Kellerun who served in Starfleet for over 30 years, eventually rising to the rank and position of Captain of the USS Antares. Rayner’s family was killed in his youth by the forces of Primarch Tahal of the Breen Third Flight.

Having come up through Starfleet during the dark years of the Burn, Rayner had difficulty adjusting to more peaceful times. Rayner taught his crew to think like their enemy and anticipate their next moves. His command style was pragmatic and direct and his abilities in combat proven many times over.

While in command of the Antares, Rayner had several encounters with Moll and L’ak and his experience with them -- as well as Primarch Tahal -- proved vital in the mission to come.

Redacted Files

The name, place and locations of much of what followed was highly redacted in order to keep treasure hunters, scavengers and tourists from following in Discovery’s steps and uncovering things that should be left forgotten. Discovery engaged in a race across the galaxy against both time and Moll and L’ak to uncover the Progenitor technology before its immense power could be used against the galaxy.

While Starfleet would have preferred to have kept the entirety of the mission secret, during the course of events Discovery inadvertently became involved in the events of the Breen civil war.

Moll and L’ak

L’ak was Breen of royal blood -- nephew to the late Emperor -- who was raised by his uncle, Primarch Ruhn. Ruhn was one of the Breen Flight Leaders that had been engaged in a prolonged Civil War for control of the Breen Imperium. Ruhn hoped to use L’ak’s bloodline as Scion to the Emperor as leverage to gain control of the Imperium.

However, things did not work out as Ruhn had planned. L’ak had no desire to be Ruhn’s pawn and fell in love with a human courier woman named Moll, against all Breen beliefs and protocols. When the relationship was discovered, L’ak was ordered by Ruhn to kill Moll, but L’ak chose instead to flee with Moll, injuring his uncle and killing two Breen soldiers. For this, an erigah, or blood bounty, was placed on L’ak’ and Moll’s heads. An erigah could only be repaid through death.

The pair survived together working as couriers, always managing to keep one step ahead of their pursuers. Against all Breen tradition, the pair married and hoped to find a life for themselves amongst the stars, one where they wouldn’t have to run and hide. With the acquisition of the Progenitor technology, which the Romulan diary promised “power beyond all comprehension” -- perhaps even over life and death itself -- the pair hoped to pay off the erigah by giving the tech to the Breen in exchange for setting them free.

The Breen Civil War

During the course of the chase, L’ak was grievously wounded, and Moll sought medical attention, which led to Starfleet uncovering their location. The pair were captured by the USS Lochner and transferred to Discovery for immediate transfer to Starfleet HQ. Once there, L’ak revealed his true identity to Captain Burnham just prior to the arrival of Primarch Ruhn’s Breen dreadnought, which dwarfed the Federation’s HQ in size and weaponry.

Now realizing the stakes involved, Ni’Var President T’Rina negotiated with Ruhn on President Rillak’s behalf informing him that the Federation would turn L’ak over to Ruhn’s rival, Primarch Tahal, if he were not to withdraw.

Unfortunately, L’ak, as part of a misguided plan to escape before his uncle could reclaim him, injected himself with a fatal dose of tricordazene. Moll, believing that the Progenitor tech could restore L’ak from the dead, revealed the existence of the Progenitor tech to Ruhn, promising him that with the power the tech represented -- that only she could lead him to -- he would not need L’ak to claim the throne of the Imperium. Ruhn agreed to withdraw in exchange for custody of Moll and L’ak’s remains.

Discovery obtained the final clue at a classified location and deciphered the coordinates of the Progenitor technology. Ruhn, tracing Discovery’s jump signature, confronted Discovery and threatened the lives of innocents at the undisclosed location, prompting Captain Burnham to surrender the clues.

Ruhn had indoctrinated his men in the ways of ancient Breen traditions and loyalty to the Emperor, and swore that he would use the Progenitors power to restore L’ak and the Imperial bloodline. But his obsession for power led him to disregard a sacred Breen oath given to Burnham in regard to the threatened civilians. This along, Ruhn’s disregard for the lives of his men, gave Moll the opening to lead an uprising against Ruhn as the wife of L’ak, the Scion of the Emperor. The uprising was successful and Moll took control of Ruhn’s faction based on the promise of the return of the Scion.

News of Ruhn’s death spread quickly to the other five Primarchs, and Ruhn’s primary rival, Tahal, moved to take control of his forces.

The Power of Creation

Now Discovery was in a final sprint against Moll and the Breen to recover the Progenitor technology and to secure the fate of the galaxy. As Discovery and the Breen dreadnought battled, Burnham and Moll confronted each other in an extra-dimensional space created by the Progenitors at a classified location, where Burnham emerged victorious.

Putting together the final puzzle piece, Burnham was transported to a place where she spoke with one of the long dead Progenitors themselves. The Progenitor bequeathed control of the powerful technology to Burnham, allowing her to make the decision as to how it should be utilized. With the revelation from the Progenitor that there was nothing that could be done to restore L’ak to life, Moll surrendered.

Final Battle

In normal space, Ambassador Saru confronted Primarch Tahal, and convinced her to discontinue with her attack, but Tahal left behind a scout ship to determine what the Federation was trying to protect, determined to acquire it for herself.

On the scene, Discovery improvised a unique application of the ship’s spore drive by separating the ship’s saucer and placing the saucer and warp section on either side of the Breen dreadnought and scout ship. With this configuration, Discovery used the spore drive to jump both vessels to the galactic barrier, where it would take them decades to return, ending the threat.

Aftermath

In the aftermath, Burnham came to the realization that not only was the power of the Progenitor tech too powerful for any one being or faction to wield, but also that it had already served its purpose. The galaxy already thrived with life and diversity that existed in infinite combinations on countless worlds. The work of the Progenitors was finished. With approval of President Rillak, Discovery placed the technology beyond the event horizon of an unspecified black hole, denying the technology for all who sought to claim it.

The Federation had hoped to keep the incident under wraps, but when rumors of Federation involvement in an internal Breen power struggle began circulating through the Federation council, coupled with the events on Q’mau, people began demanding answers. In the interests of keeping the trust of the member worlds that had recently rejoined a Federation who began to question their decision, President Rillak authorized a partial declassification of events – revealing the existence of the Progenitors and the scope of their power and impact on the galaxy, but withholding all information as to the specifics of the immense power source.

The revelation of the existence of the Progenitors ignited conversation, both scientific and philosophical, throughout the galaxy. A seminar on The Progenitors, Multi-Species Accelerated Evolution, is currently being taught at Starfleet Academy.

Legacy

The confirmation of the Progenitors’ existence, and with it the revelation of a shared origin among the galaxy’s sentient peoples, remains one of the most profound discoveries in Federation history. For centuries, the Federation had championed the principle that diversity need not imply division -- that disparate cultures could coexist in mutual respect and common purpose.

The Progenitors’ legacy affirms this vision at its deepest level: that beneath every difference of form, language, or custom lies a kinship both ancient and universal. It is a truth that renders conquest meaningless and cooperation inevitable, a truth the Federation has long sought to embody. In this light, the Progenitors did not merely seed worlds -- they sowed the very ideals the Federation now strives to uphold.

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Next Week: The Next Generation

I had to write this chapter twice! One of the limitations that I gave myself was that my in-universe historian could only know that which was part of the public historical record. In that vein, my original version leaned heavily into Kovich declaring that the Progenitors were declared Red Directive Top Secret and leaned hard into legends and whispers and conspiracy theories. Truthfully, very little of the chapter had to do with the events of Discovery season 5, but I felt that I had found a happy medium to tell the story of the Progenitors without breaking my own rules.

And then they establish that there are classes about the Progenitors being taught to first year cadets at the Academy...

Anyway, this gave me the opportunity to properly tackle the material while still maintaining a sense of the top-secret nature of the subject. I like the new chapter much better.