Typhon Pact Concept

[TerraUnam]

When it comes to examining the WHY of the Typhon Pact and how that it got started, I think Paths of Disharmony might shed some light on the subject. It is supposed to deal with the Andorians and the Tholians, so there is plenty of opportunity to examine how the Pact started while comparing it how the Federation started, and how the Federation worked out for Andoria two centuries later.

I think that having the Andorians compare/contrast the Federation and the Pact is the most entertaining exposition that could be reasonably arranged by the editors and writers.

 

[ProtoAvatar]

It would be nice if the Typhon pact were comprised of some lesser established races too.I would really like to see a race like the Caldonians become the "intellectual"members of such an alliance.Make the Typhon pact so much more than a group of moustache twirling villains.

Well, that was the point of including the Gorn. Remember, the whole point of "Arena" is that the Gorn were not the vicious predators they were initially assumed to be; that despite their fearsome appearance, they were merely defending their territory. And aside from The Gorn Crisis graphic novel, in which a militant fringe sect overthrew the sitting government, there's no indication that the Gorn have ever subsequently been hostile toward the Federation. The whole point of having them join the Pact was to give it at least one member that has historically been neutral rather than hostile toward the Federation.

It's true that Seize the Fire focuses on a similarly militant branch of Gorn society, but it also establishes that the Gorn have other castes such as scientists and artists. It would be a mistake to characterize them as "moustache-twirling villains."

About 'Arena' - if the point was to depict the gorn as NOT vicious predators, then it utterly failed in that regard:

The gorn knew the Cests III colonists were not aware they're in foreign space; they knew most colonists were non-combatants; they knew the colonists had no chance of effectively defending themselves.

And the gorn massacred everyonne in that colony - man, woman, child. That's an obvious war crime, comparable to Oradour-sur-glane (France, WW2) or My Lai (Vietnam).

Subsequently, the gorn showed no remorse whatsoever about the massacre. Apparently, being in their space is reason enough for being killed with as little pity/remorse as a man feels for eating an incecream, regardless of not even knowing you're in their space or clearly being no threat to the gorn.

And this is supposed to paint the gorn as NOT being vicious predators, as actually giving a damn about alien sentient life?


There seems to be no moderate faction within the Typhon Pact.
All the powers that compose it have been shown to be xenophobic towards everyone else - which makes the speed with witch the Typhon Pact was formed credibility stretching - and highly agressive towards the Federation/Klingons, in recent times no less - even the gorn, in 'The gorn crisis', where the gorn military had no hesitation in attacking the Federation, following orders from a militant faction that just killed their government; indeed, these orders were given to secure the allegiance of the gorn military.

 

[flandry84]

I was just asking that the power base of the Typhon pact be broadened a little.TBH We have already seen some posters on this board predicting the TP/Federation war.And you have to say...it's hard to blame them,Romulans,Tzenkethi,Gorn(not that pacifistic IIRC)...

I thought that by bringing in races that would add legitimacy to the TP,races whose membership of the TP would baffle and give the Federation pause,that could only add to the storytelling potential.

 

[Christopher]

I thought that by bringing in races that would add legitimacy to the TP,races whose membership of the TP would baffle and give the Federation pause,that could only add to the storytelling potential.

Oh, I agree. What I disagree with is lumping the Gorn into the category of warlike enemy races. That's misunderstanding the whole idea behind "Arena." The Gorn are (or at least were intended by Keith and Marco to be) the "legitimate" member, the power whose relations with the Federation have historically been mostly positive or at least neutral. No, they're not "pacifistic," but neither are the Klingons or Andorians.

I mean, let's look at the record of prior stories involving the Gorn, in canon and literature (and discounting the Mirror Universe). In approximate chronological order:

"Arena": The Gorn appear to be invading Cestus III, but are ultimately learned to be defending their territory against what they perceive as invaders -- a misunderstanding rather than the result of Gorn aggression.

"The Time Trap": A Gorn is serving on the peaceful Elysian council.

"The Dying of the Light" (Marvel Comics, Star Trek Unlimited #1): A Federation archaeologist desecrates a Gorn cemetery world. The Gorn respond with belligerence, but Kirk recognizes they've been wronged and makes peace by respecting their sense of honor and tradition. The beginnings of a new understanding are forged.

Dreadnought!: The lower-decks characters who are the focus of the novel include, in a minor role, the first Gorn to graduate from Starfleet Academy.

"Alien Spotlight: Gorn" (IDW Comics): A Gorn crew, seeking to "balance the scales" for Kirk's act of mercy in "Arena," sends a party to rescue a crashed shuttlecraft from the Reliant. There are misunderstandings that almost lead to conflict, but the mutual good intentions of both sides are eventually established.

Requiem: A militant faction within the Gorn Hegemony seeks to undermine the sitting government and declare war on the Federation, but Picard's negotiations preserve the peace between the UFP and the Hegemony.

DS9, various: Cestus III is now a prosperous Federation world. Despite the fact that the Gorn had a legitimate prior claim, they ceded it to the Federation. Hardly evidence of intractable hostility.

The Gorn Crisis (Wildstorm Comics): A militant faction overthrows the sitting government and launches a war on the Federation, but Picard and Data defeat the militants and reinstate the sitting dynasty, thus restoring peace between the UFP and Hegemony.

Doors Into Chaos: Picard convinces the Gorn to join the task force to deal with the Gateways crisis.

A Time to Heal & seq.: The Gorn are shown to have normal diplomatic relations with the Federation.

Destiny: The Gorn join the Federation's allied force against the Borg.


Now, granted, not all these stories are necessarily in continuity with one another, but there's an undeniable pattern. On the whole, the Gorn have been portrayed as either neutral or guardedly friendly toward the Federation. Any hostility has been either the result of misunderstandings, a justifiable response to provocation, or the act of a militant fringe that opposed the sitting government's nonhostile stance toward the UFP. There is simply no historical precedent in Trek canon or literature for perceiving the Gorn as a "bad guy" race. So I don't understand why anyone would expect the Gorn to default toward warfare with the UFP.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Perhaps the Gorn are the Czechoslovakia of the Typhon Pact, the most Federation friendly of the powers. Of course, we remember what happened in 1968.

Joining the Federation agains the Borg is pretty much a no-brainer. They had the most experience dealing with them and had the largest force. I wouldn't take that as evidence of good feelings towards the UFP. To a lesser extent that applies to the Gateways crisis as well.

The Soviet Union had normal diplomatic relations with the west as well. That doesn't make them friendly by any means,

The Federation got Cestus III but what did it give up in return? Perhaps they got ten earthlike planets while the Federation of a barren outpost. After all, the UFP did settle in Gorn space first. Cestus III may be surrounded by Gorn worlds with a narrow access way back to the main Federation worlds.

Everyone was peaceful on the Elysian council, even a Klingon and a Romulan, two races that haven't made peace yet. It's hardly evidence that the Gorn are somehow special.

 

[flandry84]

I accept those points about the Gorn.TBH I thought I was pretty well versed in Treklit but half of those references were new to me.
My point stands though,a little broadening out of the Typhon pact membership would be nice.Perhaps revisiting some earlier TNG episodes and rescuing some alien races from "one entry obscurity".I would like to see a more 'cosmopolitan'aspect to the galaxy,that the Federation does have borders and outside those borders it's influence is minimal at best.
The reason I mentioned the Caldonians in an earlier post was that I happened to catch that episode "The price"today and the competing alien races didn't seem too in awe of Federation interests.They struck me as perfect material for the TP.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

I was just asking that the power base of the Typhon pact be broadened a little.TBH We have already seen some posters on this board predicting the TP/Federation war.And you have to say...it's hard to blame them,Romulans,Tzenkethi,Gorn(not that pacifistic IIRC)...

I thought that by bringing in races that would add legitimacy to the TP,races whose membership of the TP would baffle and give the Federation pause,that could only add to the storytelling potential.

I hear the Sheliak were invited to be the seventh member of the Pact, but the other governments wanted to finish the treaty while still in the 24th Century.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

I thought that by bringing in races that would add legitimacy to the TP,races whose membership of the TP would baffle and give the Federation pause,that could only add to the storytelling potential.

Oh, I agree. What I disagree with is lumping the Gorn into the category of warlike enemy races. That's misunderstanding the whole idea behind "Arena." The Gorn are (or at least were intended by Keith and Marco to be) the "legitimate" member, the power whose relations with the Federation have historically been mostly positive or at least neutral. No, they're not "pacifistic," but neither are the Klingons or Andorians.

I mean, let's look at the record of prior stories involving the Gorn, in canon and literature (and discounting the Mirror Universe). In approximate chronological order:

"Arena": The Gorn appear to be invading Cestus III, but are ultimately learned to be defending their territory against what they perceive as invaders -- a misunderstanding rather than the result of Gorn aggression.

"The Time Trap": A Gorn is serving on the peaceful Elysian council.

"The Dying of the Light" (Marvel Comics, Star Trek Unlimited #1): A Federation archaeologist desecrates a Gorn cemetery world. The Gorn respond with belligerence, but Kirk recognizes they've been wronged and makes peace by respecting their sense of honor and tradition. The beginnings of a new understanding are forged.

Dreadnought!: The lower-decks characters who are the focus of the novel include, in a minor role, the first Gorn to graduate from Starfleet Academy.

"Alien Spotlight: Gorn" (IDW Comics): A Gorn crew, seeking to "balance the scales" for Kirk's act of mercy in "Arena," sends a party to rescue a crashed shuttlecraft from the Reliant. There are misunderstandings that almost lead to conflict, but the mutual good intentions of both sides are eventually established.

Requiem: A militant faction within the Gorn Hegemony seeks to undermine the sitting government and declare war on the Federation, but Picard's negotiations preserve the peace between the UFP and the Hegemony.

DS9, various: Cestus III is now a prosperous Federation world. Despite the fact that the Gorn had a legitimate prior claim, they ceded it to the Federation. Hardly evidence of intractable hostility.

The Gorn Crisis (Wildstorm Comics): A militant faction overthrows the sitting government and launches a war on the Federation, but Picard and Data defeat the militants and reinstate the sitting dynasty, thus restoring peace between the UFP and Hegemony.

Doors Into Chaos: Picard convinces the Gorn to join the task force to deal with the Gateways crisis.

A Time to Heal & seq.: The Gorn are shown to have normal diplomatic relations with the Federation.

Destiny: The Gorn join the Federation's allied force against the Borg.


Now, granted, not all these stories are necessarily in continuity with one another, but there's an undeniable pattern. On the whole, the Gorn have been portrayed as either neutral or guardedly friendly toward the Federation. Any hostility has been either the result of misunderstandings, a justifiable response to provocation, or the act of a militant fringe that opposed the sitting government's nonhostile stance toward the UFP. There is simply no historical precedent in Trek canon or literature for perceiving the Gorn as a "bad guy" race. So I don't understand why anyone would expect the Gorn to default toward warfare with the UFP.

Thanks for the Trek History lesson re: the Gorn...but the fact remains that in Seize The Fire, they ARE depicted as being incredibly warlike. Both "warrior" Gorn factions are prepared to sacrifice the inhabitants of the planet with few (if any) second thoughts. They are totally focused on Ecoforming the planet so they can have the ideal hatchery...never mind that such action would eradicate the planet's existing populace.

To me, genocide is pretty warlike. Never mind the fact that the Gorn are incredibly aggressive toward the Titan (a UFP ship) throughout much of the book.

 

[David R. George III]

...I don't know if these original intentions for the Typhon Pact have carried over to the actual execution of the concept in the first three books (yes...I just finished Rough Beasts of Empire).

BE WARNED: THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ROUGH BEASTS OF EMPIRE

....

The third book does give additional depth to the motivations of the Tzenkethi and Romulan Star Empire. However...I don't see any of the parallels which you have suggested to the founding of the Federation. Rough Beasts of Empire emphasizes, if anything, the attempts of the Tzenkethi and Romulan Star Empire to strengthen THEMSELVES in relation to the Federation. The Romulans want to reunite their divided empire (which is also a goal of the Tzenkethi) to make the Pact a much stronger balance for the Federation.

Well, this is not entirely the case. As there are numerous factions vying for power within a united Romulan Empire--Praetor Tal'Aura and Empress Donatra chief among them--there are numerous motivations. Tal'Aura sees entry into the Typhon Pact as, amongst other things, a means of not having to accept Federation largesse.

More specificually, the Romulans want to be the pre-eminent power within the Typhon Pact...to give them a foundation for future conquest. No matter how you spin it...this is not a similar motivation to the powers who formed the Federation.

Yes, this is what some Romulans want, but Tal'Aura is not clamoring for the destruction of the Federation, although other Romulans do seek such an end. Tal'Aura sees benefit for Romulus in joining the Pact, and as a Romulan chauvinist (which oftentimes seems redundant), she expects that her people should be the preeminent power within the alliance, and wants to ensure that happens.

In addition, according to Enterprise, it took years for the Federation to come together. The Typhon Pact books gloss over the whole "coming together" process --- it makes it appear that these very dissimilar powers had a few meetings and then all was good. Rough Beasts of Empire spends basically ONE PAGE (p. 97) describing a summit meeting where the Typhon Pact members came to quick agreement on incredibly contentious issues such as: mutual defense; use of a common currency; and the sharing of weapons, defensive systems, agricultural advances, machinery, food, and medical provisions. Even if several meetings preceded the one depicted on page 97, these are MAJOR areas which would take YEARS of negotiations and brokering to bring six disparate and very ALIEN cultures to common understanding and agreement. This is how it happened with the Federation. In contrast, the formation of the Typhon Pact is handled much too superficially and quickly -- for no other purpose (at least that I can see) than to provide an expedient storytelling adversary (cold war, hot war, or otherwise) for the Federation in it's weakened post-Destiny state

The meeting depicted in Rough Beasts of Empire is the final meeting of the powers prior to formalization of the alliance. I actually had a bit more on the formation of the Pact that got cut because my interpretation of how the powers came together differed from the initial concept. It remained unresolved whether or not that initial concept ever got explicitly written into any of the previous books, though I believed that it hadn't.

Anyway, none of the Typhon Pact novels really deals much with the formation of the alliance, in particular because they all for the most part occur after the alliance has come into existence.

By the end of Rough Beasts of Empire, it is very apparent that a Cold War type status quo/competition/balance/ adversarial relationship will be the new norm between the Typhon Pact and Federation. Of course, this reflects the deliberate intention to mirror the Warsaw Pact/NATO relationship of the second half of the 20th Century. It also brings to mind the balance of power between the Klingons, Romulans, and Federation during Kirk Prime's time.

I actually don't see this at all.

Spoiler: why DRGIII doesn't see this.

With a new, moderate Romulan leader, it seems to me that the Empire is going to be far less bellicose.

It does seem clear, though, that the Tzenkethi are all for keeping the Federation in check, especially given that they believe the UFP to be, essentially, evil--or at least dangerously unsophisticated and ignorant.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

Thanks for your reply David. Although I choose to disagree on some of your points, I appreciate the additional background information you provided.

I do feel that the Typhon Pact series has suffered due to the lack of attention to how and why the powers joined together --- sounds like you tried to add some additional exposition in this area but it was cut. That is too bad in my opinion -- the whole series would have been stronger if this additional texturing had been part of your book.

Regarding my comment that a Cold War-type status quo now exists between the Typhon Pact and the UFP --- I inferred this from pg. 360 of your book:

"Although the bellicose Klingons actually seemed disinclined to commence a shooting war -- probably because of the considerable firepower of the Typhon Pact nations -- there had been indications that Romulus and its new allies might be plotting different forms of combat: diplomatic, economic, intelligence-related."

To my mind, this scenario mirrors the Cold War-era relations and interactions between the USA and USSR -- or NATO and the Warsaw Pact. I then made the analogy/extension of this "balance of power" situation to the UFP/Klingon/Romulan context from Kirk Prime's era.

 

[David R. George III]

^ You're going to use my own words against me? Sheesh.

Actually, I'm glad you quoted the passage you did because I can point out that the context in which it occurs is important. First of all, that quote reflects one individual's opinion. Second, and of greater importance, it occurs before a major event in the book. After that event, circumstances are drastically changed, and changed in such a way that one can readily infer a significant shift in the political landscape.

Spoiler: the major event DRG III is referencing.

I am of course talking about the new leadership that takes over the reunited Romulan Star Empire. The new praetor cuts a very different figure than the position's previous occupant, and therefore should impact the political situation in a very different way.

 

[ProtoAvatar]

The question whether there's a cold war situation between the Typhon Pact and the Federation is conclusively resolved in 'Zero Sum Game':

Top Federation admirals refer to the situation as a 'cold war'.
The Federation president advisor says the same, adding that the only reason the Typhon Pact hasn't started a hot war was because slipstream negated the disadvantage the Federation was at, due to its losses to the borg.
Bracco, the Federation president, at the end of the book, establishes that the situation with the Typhon Pact is similar to the situation with the klingons from a century ago - a cold war very close to becoming hot.

All these persons are in positions to be extremely well informed about the political/military situation.
None of these persons have an agressive mind-set, nor do they tend to generalisations.

And 'Zero Sum Game' takes place after 'Rough beasts of Empire'.

"Arena": The Gorn appear to be invading Cestus III, but are ultimately learned to be defending their territory against what they perceive as invaders -- a misunderstanding rather than the result of Gorn aggression.

There was no 'misunderstanding' involved:

"About 'Arena' - if the point was to depict the gorn as NOT vicious predators, then it utterly failed in that regard:

The gorn knew the Cests III colonists were not aware they're in foreign space; they knew most colonists were non-combatants; they knew the colonists had no chance of effectively defending themselves.

And the gorn massacred everyone in that colony - man, woman, child. That's an obvious war crime, comparable to Oradour-sur-glane (France, WW2) or My Lai (Vietnam).

Subsequently, the gorn showed no remorse whatsoever about the massacre. Apparently, being in their space is reason enough for being killed with as little pity/remorse as a man feels for eating an incecream, regardless of not even knowing you're in their space or clearly being no threat to the gorn.

And this is supposed to paint the gorn as NOT being vicious predators, as actually giving a damn about alien sentient life?"

 

[Christopher]

Thanks for the Trek History lesson re: the Gorn...but the fact remains that in Seize The Fire, they ARE depicted as being incredibly warlike. Both "warrior" Gorn factions are prepared to sacrifice the inhabitants of the planet with few (if any) second thoughts. They are totally focused on Ecoforming the planet so they can have the ideal hatchery...never mind that such action would eradicate the planet's existing populace.

To me, genocide is pretty warlike. Never mind the fact that the Gorn are incredibly aggressive toward the Titan (a UFP ship) throughout much of the book.

Granted, but my point is that the Gorn have not usually been portrayed as an "evil" race, so it surprises me that some posters here seem predisposed to stereotype them that way. As for StF, the book does focus on the warrior caste of the Gorn, and under circumstances in which they feel their very existence is threatened. Thus it's understandable that they might be more extreme in their reactions than the Gorn population as a whole would be in more normal circumstances. I'm not saying that the Gorn have never been portrayed in a bellicose way, just that if you look at the overall history of portrayals of the Gorn, it proves that they have not been traditionally or routinely portrayed as villainous or evil, whatever their tendencies toward aggression.

Again, the examples of the Klingons and the Andorians should make it clear that there's a difference between a species that's prone to aggressive behavior and a race that's an evil, monstrous enemy of the Federation. The UFP has been shown to have good relations with a number of "warlike" civilizations -- not just those two, but others such as Capellans, Elasians, Betelgeusians, etc.

And we've seen stories in which militant factions within allied races have been the villains: Klingon renegades in "Heart of Glory," Andorian rebels in Alien Spotlight: Andorians, even militant Vulcan revolutionaries in "Gambit." Not to mention the reactionary human militants in "Demons"/"Terra Prime." So the existence of a story about a bellicose faction within a species doesn't reduce that entire species to "villain" status.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

"About 'Arena' - if the point was to depict the gorn as NOT vicious predators, then it utterly failed in that regard:

The gorn knew the Cests III colonists were not aware they're in foreign space; they knew most colonists were non-combatants; they knew the colonists had no chance of effectively defending themselves.

Did they? I don't recall that. Besides, the Federation has a very bad habit of violating other civilzation's territories without checking, and then getting pissed when the locals defend their territory -- the First Federation, the Melkotians, the Gorn, the Dominion.

And the gorn massacred everyone in that colony - man, woman, child. That's an obvious war crime, comparable to Oradour-sur-glane (France, WW2) or My Lai (Vietnam).

The set-up for Arena seems modeled on Westerns, with the Gorn as Indians and the Enterprise as the cavalry, which I'm not inclined to compare with My Lai. If the Wampanoag had attacked the Plymouth Colony, would you call that a war crime or foresight?

 

[Christopher]

I never said the Gorn weren't portrayed as vicious predators; I said they haven't been portrayed as a habitual enemy or aggressor against the Federation. They're a race that reacts violently when it feels provoked, but which nonetheless has historically remained on good or neutral terms with the Federation. Heck, the Klingons are vicious predators, yet they're staunch allies of the Federation. So it's bizarre to equate "vicious predator" with "implacable enemy" or "evil monster."

There has never been a story in which the sitting Gorn government has been portrayed as plotting to invade or conquer the Federation. We've seen them react violently in what they believed was self-defense. We've seen them challenged by militant factions that did want war, but Picard helped preserve or restore the sitting government and its peaceful standing toward the UFP. We've seen them portrayed as a reasonable, neutral government engaged in normal diplomatic relations with the UFP. We've even seen a Gorn crew volunteering to rescue a crashed Starfleet shuttle. That's what we've seen in the fiction. Yes, the Gorn are obviously dangerous when provoked, but they're not an enemy state like the Romulans or the Breen or the TOS-era Klingons. Most writers have consistently followed Gene L. Coon's lead and told Gorn stories in which mutual prejudice and fear between human and Gorn threatened to provoke conflict but saner heads on both sides ultimately prevailed. So there's simply no precedent in canon or literature for interpreting the Gorn as moustache-twirling monsters out to destroy the Federation. I don't understand where that perception comes from.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

I was never making this argument. I was referring to the Gorn factions depicted in STF.

On a different note...I wonder if fandom's view of the Gorn as a "villain" species is partly shaped by the fact that they are reptilian? Ironically, the tendency of humans to innately fear such species is a theme explored a bit within STF...

 

[Christopher]

On a different note...I wonder if fandom's view of the Gorn as a "villain" species is partly shaped by the fact that they are reptilian?

I think that's probably the case where some people are concerned, and that's sad, because they're missing the whole point of "Arena," and indeed of Star Trek in general. We were supposed to think the Gorn were horrible monsters because of their acts of violence and their scary appearance, but then be humbled, as Kirk was, to discover that they believed they had been invaded and were simply defending themselves -- that the two civilizations had simply misunderstood one another because of their alienness.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Federation has a very bad habit of violating other civilzation's territories without checking, and then getting pissed when the locals defend their territory -- the First Federation, the Melkotians, the Gorn, the Dominion.

The Federation has never engaged in the kind of mindless mass slaughter that the Gorn did in "Arena".

I do not, and never will, buy the explanation that the Gorn were simply defending themselves in that episode. Their attack on Cestus III was brutal in the extreme. As has already been pointed out, the Gorn gave no warning, showed no mercy, allowed no surrender. If the Gorn really *had* been defending themselves, they would logically have allowed the colony to defend ITself. The Gorn attack on Cestus was not a military conflict under any of the rules of war. It was mass genocide of civilians (did Cestus even have a defense force of any kind?). That is not self defense.

If a robber breaks into my house and I shoot him dead, that is self defense. If I kill his entire family with a butcher knife, that is not.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

^ You're going to use my own words against me? Sheesh.

Actually, I'm glad you quoted the passage you did because I can point out that the context in which it occurs is important. First of all, that quote reflects one individual's opinion. Second, and of greater importance, it occurs before a major event in the book. After that event, circumstances are drastically changed, and changed in such a way that one can readily infer a significant shift in the political landscape.

Spoiler: the major event DRG III is referencing.

I am of course talking about the new leadership that takes over the reunited Romulan Star Empire. The new praetor cuts a very different figure than the position's previous occupant, and therefore should impact the political situation in a very different way.

Very true...and by the way I really liked the new Praetor -- seems to be a very interesting and rich character.

But...the very last line of the book infers a Cold War-type situation since the UFP and Typhon Pact are more evenly matched now.

"Rather...it is the Federation who should now fear us."

Granted this phrase is uttered by the Tzenkethi Autarch -- but he is referring to the changed state of affairs, and the strengthening of the Typhon Pact, now that the Romulan Empire has been reunited. To me, this creates a Cold War-type scenario between the UFP and Typhon Pact.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

the very last line of the book infers a Cold War-type situation since the UFP and Typhon Pact are more evenly matched now.

"Rather...it is the Federation who should now fear us."

Granted this phrase is uttered by the Tzenkethi Autarch -- but he is referring to the changed state of affairs, and the strengthening of the Typhon Pact, now that the Romulan Empire has been reunited.

Reunited? So no more Imperial Romulan State, then? (I haven't read any of the Typhon Pact novels)

To me, this creates a Cold War-type scenario between the UFP and Typhon Pact.

Reminds me of what the Tholian ambassador said to President Bacco in an earlier novel - "it is YOU who is now surrounded by a heavily armed hostile power" (or something like that). Sounds like a threat to me...