2382 (STO)

2382

• The loss of agricultural planets claimed by the Imperial Romulan State threatened Romulus with severe food shortages. Romulus' power plants and factories could not increase output without the heavy metals and dilithium that once flowed from Remus. To avert the looming civil crisis, Praetor Tal'aura reluctantly accepted food shipments from the Federation. But she refused the Federation's offer to facilitate negotiations between her and Empress Donatra, saying that the dispute was an internal Romulan matter. Tal'aura charged her proconsul, Fleet Commander Tomalak, with retaking the planets held by Donatra. Tomalak appointed Admiral Taris as his second in command and ordered her to reorganize and mobilize Romulus' remaining military forces. (Star Trek Online)

• Seeking to stabilize the homeworld, Tal'aura agrees to reform the Romulan Senate. A reorganization commission selected by Tal'aura votes to allow her to appoint senators directly rather than holding elections, and she packs the Senate with her supporters. (Star Trek Online)

• Leaders of the Romulan-Vulcan Unification movement petition Tal'aura for representation in the Senate for themselves and the Remans, but Tal'aura declines to respond to their request. (Star Trek Online)

• The makeup of the Romulan Senate angers Romulan nobles, who dominated the Senate prior to Shinzon's takeover but held only a handful of seats after the reorganization. Representatives of several of the noble lines argued that for centuries the Romulan Senate has been a partner with the praetor in governing the empire, something that a weakened body beholden to Tal'aura could not be. (Star Trek Online)

• The Line of Tellus denounces Tal'aura and withdraws its members from government service. (Star Trek Online)

• The Klingon Empire takes advantage of the weakened position of the Romulans to stage lightning strikes into Romulan space, retaking Khitomer and the sector surrounding it. The Federation Council criticizes the move, but Ambassador K'mtok responded that the empire was simply reclaiming territory that belonged to the Klingons by right. (Star Trek Online)

• These are the words of Mojog, General of the Klingon Empire: "It took months to convince Martok that the time was right to strike. He was concerned about the Federation, and whether this attack would challenge the alliance. It was none of their concern! We are Klingons! War is our birthright! The Romulans are our enemies! We swept across the borders in a wave of destruction, smashing their meager defenses and conquering all that we saw. Soon we reached Khitomer. The Romulans were weak and starving. They barely put up a fight. Hundreds of their soldiers fled like cowards before our warriors could even set foot on the planet. After almost forty years, the Romulans have finally paid for their sneak attack on our colony. The shades of the 4,000 Klingons killed in that massacre have their vengeance. Khitomer is ours again!" (Star Trek Online)

• Thwarted in their attempts to find a role in the Romulan government, the Unification movement, represented by Ambassador Spock, pressed its case with the Federation Council. The Council took up the matter of formally supporting the Unificationists, but was heavy influenced by Councilor T'Los of Vulcan, who stated that the result of the unification of the two races could not be predetermined, which the probable course of the Romulans and Vulcans remaining separate could be reasonably predicted. Therefore, her only logical choice was to protect the Vulcan way of life by opposing unification. The council did not reach a decision on whether or not to support the Unificationists, and voted to table the matter. The bill was not expected to return to the Council floor for debate again. (Star Trek Online)

• A legal issue of interest to analysts in the Federation was rights for artificial life forms. On Stardate 60334.46, Admiral Owen Paris of Starfleet Research and Development ordered the mobile emitter brought back from the Delta Quadrant by the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656 to be taken to Starfleet's facility on Galor IV for study. The Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) known as The Doctor filed a lawsuit to block the transfer of the mobile emitter, arguing that he was a sentient being who acted as a member of Starfleet during Voyager's time in the Delta Quadrant and that the mobile emitter was necessary to his quality of life and performance of his duties. The office of the Judge Advocate General issues an injunction against the transfer of the mobile emitter until it could study the case and issue a ruling. (Star Trek Online)

• The Bajorans and their allies continue to press for the Cardassians to surrender members of its government and military to stand trial for war crimes. But over the course of four months, 472 Cardassians wanted by the Bajorans disappear from Cardassia Prime. The Cardassian government reports it is attempting to determine the whereabouts of its citizens, but little progress is made. The Bajorans respond by accusing the Cardassian government of willingly assisting fugitives. (Star Trek Online)

• Ro Laren completes her time in Federation custody and returns to Bajor. She accepts a commission in the Bajoran militia and is appointed head of security for Deep Space 9. (Star Trek Online)

2383

• Intelligence operatives for Starfleet and the Klingon Empire continue to gather reports of unrest on Romulus. Praetor Tal'aura authorizes food rationing and strict limits on replicator use on the homeworld, saying that the empire's resources must be reserved to support the military's campaign against Donatra and the breakaway Imperial Romulan State. The shortages spark rioting in the capital of Ki Baratan, and the struggle continues for two days before the praetor orders troops to intervene. Observers on Romulus suggest that as many as 2,000 people are killed either in the initial riots or at the hands of Romulan troops. The civil unrest and resistance from Romulan nobles strains Tal'aura's command of the empire. She calls upon her allies in the Senate to help stabilize the government, and they respond by voting to expand the praetor's powers, giving Tal'aura the power to grant or remove noble titles, a privilege that previously only the emperor enjoyed. She also is granted the ability to declare war without Senate approval. (Star Trek Online)

• Ambassador Spock returns to Romulus to take his place with the Unificationists. Leaders of the movement say that although they did not win the support of the Federation, they will continue to "wage peace" on Romulus. (Star Trek Online)

• On Stardate 60900.31, Fleet Commander Tomalak attacks Donatra's fleet at Xanitla. Tomalak's forces are soundly defeated in the battle, and he is dealt a further blow when Admiral Taris and the twelve ships under her command defect to the Imperial side. (Star Trek Online)

• The Cardassians make some gains in their efforts to rebuild their war-ravaged planet, signing a new agreement for aid from the Federation and beginning reconstruction of Lakarian City. Excavation of several sites on the planet reveals Hebitian relics, and the publication of these finds sparks a resurgence of interest among Cardassians in ancient religious and cultural practices. The Oralians, a religious group dating back to the Hebitian civilization that was outlawed by the Cardassian Union, begin openly holding services and seeking adherents among the Cardassian population. The rise of this spiritual movement is opposed by the followers of the True Way, which continues to call for a return to the totalitarian practices of the Union. (Star Trek Online)

• In 2383, the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets are at odds over the Klingon takeover of Khitomer. In a narrow vote, the Federation Council decides not to formally censure the Empire for its military action. However, the fact that the matter went to the full Council for a vote is enough of an affront for Qo'noS to temporarily recall its ambassador to the Federation. Hardliners on the Klingon High Council demand that Martok eject Federation ambassadors from Klingon space. Martok refuses to do so, and then defeats Councilor Qolka in a duel of honor after he accuses Martok of being a "pet desperate for the approval of his Starfleet masters." (Star Trek Online)

• In legal matters, Rear Admiral James Bennett of the Starfleet Judge Advocate General's office rules that the "Data decision," referenced in The Doctor's legal arguments to keep the mobile emitter, is too narrow to be used in The Doctor's case. Bennett rules that the precedent can only be applied to prove that The Doctor is not the property of Starfleet, and not to decide whether or not he is a sentient being. The Doctor's counsel appeals the decision, and analysts predict that the case would continue for some time. The Soong Foundation, a group affiliated with the Daystrom Institute and dedicated to promoting the rights of artificial life forms, announces that it is beginning research to create a mobile holographic emitter of its own design, with the hopes that the technology could be adapted for civilian use. (Star Trek Online)

2384

• Federation analysts say that a shakeup in the Romulan power structure leaves the empire vulnerable to attack from within and without. Starfleet dispatches additional ships to the border of the Neutral Zone and considers the Romulan situation one of the main threats to Federation safety and security. (Star Trek Online)

• After Tomalak's defeat by Donatra and her fleet, Praetor Tal'aura removes him as proconsul, choosing Sela as her right hand and fleet commander. Sela, a Human-Romulan hybrid with extensive experience in the military and intelligence fields, was a part of several major Romulan operations, including a failed a attempt to invade Vulcan and coordinating support for the House of Duras's attempt to take over the Klingon High Council in 2367. As a gift to Tomalak for his decades of loyal service to the Romulan Star Empire, Tal'aura allowed him to "retire" to his rural estates on Romulus. (Star Trek Online)

• The Romulan defeat at Xanitla made open war with Empress Donatra infeasible. Praetor Tal'aura reluctantly agrees to negotiate with the Imperial Romulan State to determine new borders and the establishment of a neutral zone, but rejects the Federation's offer to mediate the talks. Donatra says that she would welcome the Federation's input, but that she would defer to Tal'aura's decision in this matter. She sends Admiral Taris to the Romulan capital as her representative. (Star Trek Online)

• On Stardate 61602.00, Tal'aura is found dead in her private chambers. Tal Shiar investigators report that the praetor was attacked as she slept. The Romulan capital erupts in a firestorm of rumors and accusations. Among the groups suspected of carrying out the assassination are a coalition of the noble houses, the Tal Shiar, and agents working for Empress Donatra and the Imperial Romulan State. Donatra denies having anything to do with the murder. "I face my enemies on the field of battle with honor," the empress announces in an address to her citizens, "not with a knife in the dark." Days later, Donatra recalls Taris from Romulus and orders her to prepare to defend Imperial holdings. At Tal'aura's funeral in Ki Baratan, Sela publicly blames the Remans and the Unification movement for the attack. "They claim to desire peace," Sela says, "but ally with the murderers and usurpers who terroized our planet and led us to the brink of destruction. The blood of one praetor was not enough for the Remans. Tal'aura was the victim of their thirst for destruction." (Star Trek Online)

• On Stardate 61829.83, the I.K.S. Quv is attacked by a Gorn ship. Two hundred and seven Klingons die in the battle. Representatives of King Xrathis of the Gorn claim that the commander of their warship was acting without orders, but refuse to surrender the surviving crew of the Quv to the Klingon Empire. In response, Chancellor Martok expels Gorn diplomats from Klingon space and orders ships to the Empire's border with the Gorn Hegemony. (Star Trek Online)

• Representatives of the Federation Council are pleased to accept Bajor's renewed application for Federation membership, and pledge to fast-track the planet's admission. The increased traffic and commerce expected to arrive with Federation membership prompts the Ferengi to open an expansive embassy and gift shop near Quark's on Deep Space 9. (Star Trek Online)

• Odo, acting as the Great Link's ambassador to the solids, meets with his fellow Changeling Laas on Koralis III. Odo invites Laas to return with him to the Gamma Quadrant. Laas refuses, choosing instead to continue to search for other changelings in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. (Star Trek Online)

• In late 2384, Starfleet transfers the Soong-type android B-4 to the custody of the Soong Foundation. The prototype android, with a less advanced positronic matrix than Noonian Soong's later androids Data and Lore, was deactivated after its discovery by the Enterprise-E in 2379. At the time of the transfer, Soong Foundation representatives said they hoped to restore B-4 to full positronic functioning. (Star Trek Online)

2387

• Romulus and Remus are destroyed by the Hobus supernova. Spock and Nero disappeared into a Black hole while using Red Matter to stop the wave and were presumed dead. (Star Trek)