Tomorrow’s Enterprise (An Star Trek ATL)

[gtrof]

Tomorrow’s Enterprise

This is based on the ST:TNG episode, Yesterday’s Enterprise. In that episode the Enterprise-C traveled through a temporal rift and met the Enterprise-D. An unexpected result of this event was the creation of an alternate timeline where the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war.

Originally the Enterprise-C was to have been destroyed protecting a Klingon outpost from a Romulan attack their sacrifice promoted a new cooperation between the Klingon Empire and UFP. By traveling to the past, that never occurs and as a result an ATL was created.

Eventually Picard agrees the Enterprise-C must be returned to its own time. A battle with the Klingons occurs and the Enterprise-D is heavily damaged however they by enough time for the Enterprise-C to return through the rift and restore the timeline.

This timeline though will look at what might have happened if the Enterprise-D from the ATL was forced to travel back with the Enterprise-C.

2366 CE (Alternate Timeline)

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) a Galaxy-class Battleship detects an unusual sensor reading as they return from the battle at Archer IV. Strange radiation readings lead the Enterprise to discover a temporal rift in space. From this rift emerges the USS Enterprise, registry NCC-1701-C, a ship believed lost twenty years earlier. It is established that a battle between the Enterprise-C and Romulan Warbirds at the Klingon outpost of Narendra III is responsible for the creation of the temporal rift. Guinan an El-Aurian with a special sense of time feels this event has caused the timeline to skew. Although it takes much convincing, Captain Picard of the Enterprise-D agrees that the Enterprise-C must return through the rift. He hopes that its return and resulting destruction of the Enterprise at Narendra III will restore the original timeline sensed by Guinan and prevent the horrible war with the Klingons from occurring.

A raid by a Klingon Bird of Prey leads to the two Enterprises being discovered. Three Klingon battlecruisers attack as the Enterprise-C attempts to return to the rift. In the battle the Enterprise-D manages to destroy one of the Klingon warships, however it has suffered heavy damage and is unable to escape to warp. The Enterprise-C proceeds through the rift but then, nothing happens. According to their theory, history should have instantly corrected itself following the return of the Enterprise-C. Captain Picard seeing that his ship will either be destroyed or captured by the Klingons, orders that they proceed through the rift the only means of escape.

2344 CE (Original Timeline)

The Battle at Narendra III has picked up nearly when it left off. To the Romulan Warbirds, the Enterprise-C has only been off their sensors for a few seconds. While they are puzzled by the strange rift that has appeared near the Federation ship they are too focused on the battle to give it much thought. Quickly the Enterprise-C is hammered by Romulan disruptor fire, weakening their shields. They manage to damage one of the Warbirds with photon torpedoes but as predicted are unable to take on the three Warbirds at once. The Enterprise-C is heavily damaged and loses shields. As the Romulans move in to board the Enterprise-C, the second Enterprise appears. With its advance weapons the Enterprise-D is able to destroy three of the four Warbirds. The Romulans’ remaining ship manages to cloak and escape. During the battle the temporal rift closes.

In the next few hours repairs are made to both ships. Causalities aboard the Enterprise-D are heavy. Commander Riker, Lt. Commander La Forge (who will be awarded the Federation Medal of Honor posthumously for preventing a core breach), Ensign Crusher and many others were killed during the battle with the Klingons. Dr. Beverly Crusher is swamped with causalities from both ships. Four hours after the last shot was fired Klingon ships are detected approaching Narendra III. Captain Picard orders that both ships return to Federation space. Although in the current timeline the Federation and Klingon Empire are in peace talks, he doesn’t want to risk the Enterprise-D falling into Klingon hands. The Enterprise-C sends a message to the Klingons to inform them of what’s happened, leaving out the true nature of the Enterprise-D.

After arriving at the closest Starbase, Captain Picard begins a lengthy debriefing with the commander. News of the alternate future Enterprise quickly reaches Starfleet Command and the Federation president. Shocked by the news, Starfleet quickly orders the Enterprise-D back to the Sol System. The Enterprise-C will escort them back. It takes two weeks for the ships to return to the Solar System. In that time a special dock is prepared at Utopia Planita in orbit of Mars. The Enterprise-D is docked there while the Enterprise-C takes a normal berth for extensive repairs. Captain Picard and the surviving senior officers are transported to Starfleet Command to begin extensive debriefs on the next twenty years. The nearly 6,000 crew compliment of the Enterprise-D, many troops the ship was transporting, are berthed at a facility on Mars.

As Starfleet begins to examine the Enterprise, the Klingon Empire is trying to determine what the Federation is hiding about the incident. The Klingon Chancellor thanks Starfleet for the defense of their outpost; however the official explanation of what occurred leaves Klingon intelligence with questions. All the Federation will say is that another cruiser assisted the Enterprise-C in the response. However after reviewing their border scans, the Klingons know that no other Starfleet vessels were in range to assist the Enterprise-C. The question of this mystery ship is further coupled with intelligence reports of something strange occurring on the human world, Mars. There is a whole dry dock under lockdown along with a Starfleet base on the planet. There is an increase of meetings between senior Starfleet and Federation officials on Earth. Finally several of the Federation’s better scientists have dropped out of the public eye in the weeks since the incident at Narendra III. The lack of information from the Federation comes at a critical time inside the Klingon Empire.

Inside the High Council, one group of powerful families is in favor of a growing relationship with the Federation. Ongoing discussions between the UFP and Klingon Empire are looking at expanding the Khitomer Accords into an actual alliance. This mutual defense treaty will tie the Empire and Federation together in a way not even believed at the signing of the accords in 2293. Many Klingons are unsure of such an idea and as a result a number of other houses are sitting on the fence. The Chancellor also is quiet to his own position, waiting to see which way the debate will swing. The other faction of houses against the expansion of the accords is led by the Duras Family. They instead have been arguing in favor a renewed relationship with the Romulans.

The House of Duras argues that a new Klingon-Romulan Alliance would secure the Klingon Empire’s position for the rest of century. Of course the unspoken part of Duras’s argument is the eventual war by the Romulans and Klingons against the Federation. However news of the attack on Narendra III and the fact the Romulans were behind it has damaged Duras’s position. His only hope is to somehow to discredit the Federation’s role in saving the outpost. Duras focuses his arguments on the presence of this mystery ship and demanding that the Chancellor presses the Federation for answers. In the meantime negotiators with the Federation are given orders to slow the pace of the talks, while the council decides what to do.

Most astounded by the events at Narendra III are the Romulans themselves. It takes two weeks for their surviving Warbird to reach a Romulan outpost along the Neutral Zone. Its sensor logs and reports shock the Romulan Navy. The unexplained appearance of the other Federation ship named Enterprise coupled with its advanced weaponry leads the Romulan Naval Intelligence (RNI) to conclude that the second Enterprise was from the future. This information is shared in a closed meeting of the Romulan Continuing Committee.

This executive council is led by the Praetor, senior members of the Senate, and the chairman of the Tal Shiar. Specially invited to this meeting by order of the Praetor is the CINC of the Romulan Navy. News that the Federation is in possession of a warship from the future shocks the Committee. The implications of this are disturbing to say the least. Besides the issue of the Federation getting unknown technological and historical knowledge, there is the issue of the raid on Narendra III itself. The House of Duras is not just supporting the idea of a Romulan/Klingon alliance because of galactic politics, but also because the family has been a long time asset of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan Intelligence Service. The Duras family is part of a Tal Shiar effort to gain de-facto control of the Klingon Empire. With Duras as their puppet, the Romulan Star Empire will be the most powerful faction in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, ensuring Romulan supremacy over the Federation.

To further Duras in this goal, the Tal Shiar works on weakening his enemies. On Qo’nos the Klingon houses measure their strength through a mixture of territory, family fleet strength, and battlefield achievements. The various houses compete with one another sometimes through force. Duras while powerful can’t risk too many of his ships and men to gain influence over the other houses. This is where the Tal Shiar steps in. Using Romulan Navy ships as needed the Tal Shiar launch attacks against rivals of Duras’s territory and ships. The attacks are conducted with complete surprise, with the Romulans suddenly de-cloaking and firing at close range leaving no evidence as to who committed the attacks. These houses opposing Duras now find themselves in a weaker position with the lost of their outposts and ships. Duras claims the credit for defeating them. Now in a weaker position this forces the rival house to be subservient to Duras. The interference of the Federation in this plan has now brought this issue back to the Committee.

The Praetor approved these missions with the requirement they remain secret. They were opposed by the Romulan CINC who now uses the failure at Narendra III to bring the issue back up for debate. The Tal Shiar Chairman argues that things have not changed and their goal to take control of the Klingon Empire should still be their policy especially now, in light of the Federation’s temporal windfall. The CINC naturally disagrees and argues that now the pro-Federation forces on Qo’nos will finally win the debate in the High Council. Their best course now is to prepare for this eventuality and move to find new ways to weaken the impending Federation/Klingon alliance. In the end the Praetor agrees to suspend the covert attacks. When the Federation and Klingons come demanding answers, the Romulans will simply blame the incident on rouge elements of the Navy who will be dealt with harshly. The Tal Shiar uses the excuse to arrest several of the more outspoken Romulan commanders.

Inside the Federation, work on the Enterprise-D’s technology continues. Picard and the other surviving crew are growing restless with their confinement on Mars. Even with several weeks passing following their arrival, Starfleet and the Federation are unsure what to do. Starfleet doesn’t want to keep the crew confined or under guard, but they also want to keep the secret of the Enterprise-D for as long as possible. Others in the Federation government argue that it will be impossible to keep things secret for much longer. The Klingons are asking questions, the Romulans know what happened even if they hadn’t commented publically, and now Federation reports are starting to inquire about the events at Narendra III plus the strange security lockdowns on Mars.

Negotiations with the Klingons have slowed due to the recent events and the information learned from the alternate timeline. Starfleet is unnerved by the idea of a forty year war with the Empire even if it was in an alternate timeline. Some in the UFP government and Starfleet argue that the alternate war is proof an alliance with the Klingons won’t work. Opponents say that they have to use this moment now to prevent a war, by bringing the UFP and Klingon Empire closer together. The Federation President finally settles that they will continue negotiations with the Klingons, but at a slower pace than before till the UFP as a whole can agree on a policy. He also decides that the information regarding the Enterprise-D cannot be kept secret forever. An announcement is made and the whole Alpha Quadrant learns about the time travel incident six weeks after it occurs.

More to come soon!

[ripcontrol]

Well .. I really enjoyed it...

should be interesting because the enterprise -d also knows of the romulan involvement I believe.... with the duras family involvement....

[Colonel Healy]

Yesterdays Enterprise is one of my favorite Star Trek episodes ever. I look forward to further updates on this

[archangel]

Subscribed, gtrof!

[gtrof]

Thanks for the positive feedback gentlemen! We will continue with the rest of 2344 and keep going. I want to show how the Enterprise-D's arrival and combat knowledge changes things up. At the moment I want to reach the first conflict with Cardassia which will go much differently this time around.

[Chris]

Great piece of work! I love it.

Chris

[gtrof]

2344 CE

Starfleet’s Plans for Overhaul

News of the Enterprise-D’s arrival is amazing to the citizens of the Federation. At first Starfleet tries to keep the exact details of the future the Enterprise came from compartmentalized but that proves impossible. Eventually it leaks that this future ship comes from a time of terrible war with the Klingons. Starfleet Command does manage to keep the news that the Federation was losing to war from the general public. Public reaction to this news is a mix of denial, demands for increase defense requirements by Starfleet, and renewed pacifism. Many people are able to acknowledge that the timeline the Enterprise-D came from will no longer exist; its mere arrival in the past has changed that. However some see the alternate future as a warning to not cut Starfleet’s defensive mission.

Ever since the end of the Cold War with the Klingon Empire in the late 23rd Century, a new sense of pacifism and disarmament had been growing in the Federation. Some of the most radical followers of this belief called for the majority of Starfleet’s ships to be disarmed with only a token defense force to remain in operation. Most of Starfleet’s senior commanders thought such an idea was unrealistic given the threat posed by the Romulans and other yet to be discovered species. Even they though acknowledged the change reality of the Federation’s position in the Alpha Quadrant, and many of the newer designs being proposed by ship designers, de-emphasized the weapon systems aboard starships, giving most the bare minimal in phasers and torpedo systems.

The arrival of the Enterprise-D ends this mindset in Starfleet. It’s clear based on Captain Picard’s debriefings and the military history of the campaigns against the Klingons in the alternate timeline that these lighting armed ships failed in combat. Although no one wants to turn Starfleet into a military force, Starfleet Command and the Federation Council agree that the fleet’s defensive responsibilities cannot be lost. Starfleet’s design and engineering planers are ordered to begin rethinking upcoming starship designs. In addition a number of older vessels (Excelsiors, Mirandas, the remaining Constitution refits) will not have their Cold War-era systems removed during their overhauls. In fact they will be later refitted with new technology.

For the men and women of the Enterprise-D, they find themselves spilt up and dispersed through the Federation to work on spreading their knowledge. Captain Picard is placed in charge of the research effort at Utopia Planita and working with Starfleet Command to rethink Starfleet’s overall security strategy. Dr. Crusher teaches at Starfleet Medical where she has a very awkward meeting with her younger alternate self. Many of the Enterprise-D crew will suffer through such reunions with either their younger selves or their families. Data however finds it most fascinating to meet his ‘younger’ self, fresh out of Starfleet Academy.

Four months after the Enterprise-D’s arrival the Enterprise-C completes its overhaul and repairs. Replacements for those lost at Narendra III include the captain and senior officers. Many of the surviving crew request transfers to work with members of the Enterprise-D. During their time together the two crews grew close through their shared experience. Starfleet agrees to almost all of these requests, using the old Enterprise-C crew as liaisons in a number of positions. One such officer, Lt. Commander Richard Castillo (Lt. Castillo was promoted for his work taking control of the Enterprise-C following Captain Garrett’s death and working with the Enterprise-D) is made Captain Picard’s liaison officer. The Enterprise-C with its new crew sets out on a mission to patrol the Neutral Zone.

At the time of the Enterprise-C’s return to duty, Starfleet Command has finalized its proposals to the Federation Council and President on how to incorporate what has been learned from the Enterprise-D. The councilmen are surprised about the scope of Starfleet’s proposals both organizationally and geopolitically. Starfleet Command’s recommendations fall under three main categories,

Starfleet has Military Responsibilities: The Federation in the alternate timeline was within six months of defeat when the Enterprise-D traveled back in time. It clearly shows that current UFP beliefs as to role of Starfleet are a recipe for disaster. Starfleet will always be dedicated to exploration and peace, however the report acknowledges, that the ability to enforce peace if necessary needs to be held by Starfleet. The report recommends that all future starships be equipped with weapons and trained crew to operate them, even if it comes at the cost of scientific equipment/personnel. Next generation phasers and photon torpedoes based on the ones aboard the Enterprise-D will be developed, along with a new project that being researched in the alternate timeline, the Quantum Torpedo. Starfleet also wants to keep its current fleet levels concurrent with the size of the Romulan and Klingon fleets with a decent reserve of mothballed ships. The final part of the report recommends that several types of pure military vessels be developed.

Creation of Proper Ground Forces/Units: While planetary conflicts will ultimately be decided by who controls the high orbitals above planets, Starfleet concludes that better and proper ground forces are necessary. The Enterprise-D’s records point to the development of better planetary shielding in the next twenty years by all the major powers, limiting the use of orbital attacks. In ground combat situations during the Klingon War, the Federation suffered heavily. Some improvements were made resulting in the Federation Marines Corps (FMC) aboard the Enterprise-D but it was too little too late.

Starfleet says they need to begin a training program to first, improve the few units they currently have. Instructors from the FMC troops will be critical in doing this. The eventual long term goal is to create two branches of ground forces. A Federation Marines Corps which would be the quick reaction/ship based force and Federation Land Forces which would be deployed to worlds for permanent bases and use in a conflict. Along with the creation of these units, new phaser rifles, body armor, and AFVs will be developed over the next few years.

Prevention of the Klingon War: While this fact is clear to everyone in the Federation government, Starfleet gives its opinion on how this can be prevented. Despite misgivings from some Admirals and senior field commanders, Starfleet’s top brass endorses the expansion of the Khitomer Accords. By becoming closer to the Klingons they can prevent the slide of relations that led to war. If the approach to the Klingons fails however, it does at the very least by time to get Starfleet ready for a possible conflict.

Numerous other items go along with the Starfleet recommendations to the council. Scientists working on replicator technology lay out their development program, hoping to have the first generation of replicators ready in the next few years. The functional ones on the Enterprise-D will be removed and sent to a few R&D centers for both testing and producing products. Another report outlines how to approach the species encountered in the alternate timeline that have not had first contact with the Federation yet. Most hotly debated in the council meeting and among the president’s staff are Starfleet’s proposals.

Many of the opponents to the plan are those who have trumpeted Starfleet’s role as a non-military organization. Others are from the core pacifists who want to dismantle Starfleet’s military abilities completely. The council though is mostly made up of realists. With the vision of a future with over 40 billion dead because of mistakes made by the UFP, they realize change is needed. The vote is close but the Federation Council approves the changes to Starfleet and Federation policy. Over a dozen Starfleet officers, several of them admirals, and some councilmen resign as a result of the vote.

Klingon High Council Debates

News of the Enterprise-D reaches Qo’nos not long after the general public in the UFP hears of it. The debates within the High Council are thrown into chaos when the implications of this event become clear. Military leaders recognize the technological boost that Starfleet has gained. Political ones fear the information that might be known about them in the ship’s memory banks. Duras is particularly nervous at first as he has no idea if his house’s connection with the Romulan Empire is known in the future. His fears are abated though when it is learned that apparently this future Enterprise came from a different time. As much as the Federation tried to keep the exact details of the war with the Klingons hidden, the information reaches Qo’nos.

The knowledge that the Empire was at war with the Federation and doing quite well causes many of the houses to wonder if they can repeat the alternate history. Closed debates between the Chancellor and the most powerful families on the High Council occur over the period of a week. Duras argues that the time is now to strike. If history shows they can win the war with the Federation, why hesitate? When others argue that Starfleet has the Enterprise-D and will no doubt be improving their technology, Duras takes the argument and uses it to support himself. He argues they need to strike now before the power of the future ship can be utilized. Duras’s true motivation is to use the war to further his own position. If things go well and they defeat the UFP, his house will have played a significant role in it. It could make him the next Chancellor. If things do not go well and they are forced to negotiate a peace, then he can weaken his enemies’ houses in the campaign. When the time is right following the war, Duras can secure control through force if necessary.

Duras’s suggestions have strong opposition however from the House of Mogh. A long history of bad blood and struggling for political power in the Empire has left the two houses in a feud lasting nearly a century. Mogh opposes Duras for these reasons and because he is a supporter of the pro-Federation faction in the High Council. The House of Mogh has an interesting history with the Federation. Mogh’s father, Worf defended James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy following the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon. After the conspiracy to derail the Khitomer peace talks was exposed, Worf was given a position on the negotiating team. He became one of the first Klingons to have extensive contacts with Starfleet. Mogh’s father while not liking everything about humans found them far more acceptable than his peoples’ traditional enemies. The House of Mogh dealt with the Federation throughout the early 24th Century. Mogh appreciated the UFP’s help in developing the atmospheric screeners which cleaned Qo’nos’s air of the toxins released by destruction of Praxis.

Mogh argues to attack the Federation is foolish. What happened in one timeline is not guaranteed to happen in another. Especially now that the Federation will certainly become more technologically advance as the conflict goes on. The Klingon military industrial complex is a shadow of its former self he points out. Much of the resources and manpower dedicated to it went to correcting social and infrastructure problems across the Empire. Many older ships that should have been retired are being taken for lengthy overhauls as the Klingon Defense Force (KDF) doesn’t have the resources to build but a dozen new ships every year. As the conflict goes on the Klingon logistical system will be need to catch up. Mogh doubts their ability to do this while the Federation’s logistical system will produce new and better ships as time goes on.

He also points out how much the Federation had aided the Klingon Empire. While the High Council doesn’t like to hear it, or even admit it publically, the UFP was necessary for its continued survival. The Khitomer Accords, restoring Qo’nos’s atmosphere, and providing security promises to the Klingons were all acts that allowed the Empire to deal with the changes from the 23rd to 24th Centuries. Mogh points out the Romulans could have taken advantage of the Empire’s weakness during that time, if not for the Federation promise that it would protect the sovereignty of the Klingon Empire during that time. After such acts, betraying and attacking the Federation would be the ultimate act of dishonor.

Duras and Mogh go through several fierce debates inside the closed meeting of the High Council. The balance of power inside dangerous tilts between the two with each meeting, Duras having more support one day, Mogh the next. Towards the end of the week Duras manages to secure the loyalty of several large houses. The united front calling for war starts to convince the Chancellor. Mogh facing defeat than makes the most unexpected move in Klingon history, he tells the council that if they decide to attack the Federation than he will take his forces and fight with Starfleet. The Chancellor and others are shocked by this declaration. Duras accuses Mogh of being a Starfleet puppet but Mogh responds that if this is the course they wish to take, one of dishonor and greed than he wants no part of it. Duras’s support quickly wanes as the more traditional houses side with Mogh. The Chancellor seeing which way the wind is blowing, also sides with Mogh.

Duras’s calls for war are defeated. In frustration, he makes plans to contact the Romulans.

[Colonel Healy]

I enjoyed the latest update espically the debate between the house of Mogh and the house of Duras.

[archangel]

The House of Duras lust for power will only weaken the Klingons.

Keep it coming, gtrof!

[NomadicSky]

I never understood why the Federation agreed not to work on cloaking technology hopefully in this alternate timeline they do.

[gtrof]

Originally Posted by NomadicSky

I never understood why the Federation agreed not to work on cloaking technology hopefully in this alternate timeline they do.

IIRC the TNG episode the Pegasus says that the Federation signed The Treaty of Algeron. This is where they agreed not to develop cloaking technology. The paticular detials of this treaty are never fully explained or what led to it. Since in the Pegasus it was a major diplomatic incident I'd hazard a guess the treaty was signed at a time of crisis. Picard mentions how the treaty has helped keep the peace.

I'm not sure what I'll do about cloaking technology in this ATL, but of course even if Starfleet itself doesn't offical pursue it there is always...Section 31.

Working on the next update where I promise the fireworks will start to go off in the Alpha Quadrant

[Chris]

Great update. I like!

Chris

[Sargon]

This is really interesting. You've taken one of the best TNG episodes and done an intriguing follow through on things. Consider yourself to have another subscriber.

Ah yes, Section 31. One can do a lot of sneaky things with them.


Sargon

[gtrof]

The Tal Shiar’s Gamble

Three weeks after the final debate in the Klingon High Council, Duras’s message reaches the Tal Shiar on Romulus. He is requesting that they attack the House of Mogh’s colony at Khitomer. Mogh has returned to the colony to see his family following his time spent of Qo’nos. When Mogh is gone, Duras will now hold the power inside the High Council. He will be able to swing the Empire in whichever direction he wants thanks to the weak Chancellor. Duras does not know about the orders given by the Praetor to suspend these attacks. This puts the Chairman of the Tal Shiar in a dangerous position.

In recent Romulan history, a chairman of the Tal Shiar going against the Praetor or doing something without his knowledge is not uncommon. However the outcome of these decisions is mixed. Some chairmen were able to get away with their actions either thanks to their own power, the decision benefitted the Romulan Star Empire (RSE), or the Praetor and Romulan government never learned of their actions. Except there were enough chairmen who suffered for their decisions, either being removed, causing the power of the Tal Shiar weaken inside the government, or they died of ‘natural causes’.

The Director of Operations for the Tal Shiar is in favor of supporting Duras. He argues that the prime goal of the agency had been to gain control of the Klingon Empire. Some are not so sure. Head of the Tal Shiar’s analytic section warns that failure will come with a heavy price. First the Klingons themselves might choose to retaliate, which could lead to a war. Even if the RSE isn’t forced into a war, the political embarrassment suffered by the Praetor will lead to a purge of the Tal Shiar. At best they are forced into retirement, or more likely they will be eliminated. Even if the agency itself is not purged they will lose power to the Romulan Navy. Since the early days of Romulan politics, it has been the fleet which had given the Praetor much of their power. In fact the fear of losing something in the power game with the Romulan Navy is more disturbing to the Chairman than his own possible death.

Despite the risks too many of the top Tal Shiar leaders have invested in their long term strategy to gain control of the Klingon Empire. The Chairman agrees that they will attack Khitomer and kill Mogh. Duras is told to expect the operation to occur within the next few weeks. Unlike the previous attacks, the Tal Shiar will not be able to simply acquire a Romulan Navy vessel. It will take some time to gather the ships and crew needed without raising the fleet’s suspicions.

Starfleet’s R&D Effort Begins

The process of developing new ships at Utopia Planita had begun even before the news of the Enterprise-D was made public. A number of vessels already under construction are halted so changes can be made to their designs. Many of these types saw service in the alternate timeline, and the future records show their weaknesses and strengths. Modifications begin to make these ships more survivable. Captain Picard and several others from his crew are asked to help with the design of new Starfleet Defense Ships. In reality they are warships, but the name is used to appease some of the loopier peace elements of the Federation.

Picard and his officers suggest a series of ships from their time that could be developed. Projected estimates for the completion of the various prototypes range from three years to seven. The designs range from frigates to heavy cruisers. A few of the purposed designs are,

Nebula-class Cruiser: In Picard’s time the Nebula was a configuration of Galaxy-class sections that could be quickly assembled. Its saucer section couldn’t separate and it carried a large multipurpose module above and behind the saucer. Originally that multipurpose module was designed for a signal torpedo launcher and scientific equipment. Once war broke out however, Starfleet engineers redesigned the pod to contain multiple torpedo banks and phasers. The weapons module will now be the standard design on the ‘new’ Nebula-class.

Other refinements to the original Nebula design made by Picard and others eliminate the spacious living quarters and other ‘niceties’ carried by the ship. Officers get fall smaller quarters, enlisted personnel share quarters, the extra space freed up in the design taken over by combat sensors, power generators, phaser power couplings, and photon torpedo storage. This will be repeated in the other ship designs as well.

The lower hull is redesigned to allow the Nebula to carry nearly 400 Federation Marines and their equipment. Only a single holodeck will be aboard, used for training purposes. Visually the Nebula will not look all that different from the original of Picard’s day, however most of the windows are gone. This ship is designed not for exploration, but going toe to toe with a Warbird or Klingon Battlecruiser.

NOTE: I didn't draw these images, they come from Ex Astris Scientia's I simply altered them in a photoshop program




Akira-Class Cruiser/Assault Carrier: The Akira is one of the latest ship designs produced in Picard’s time. Only a handful had entered service but they were proving very effective in combat. The Akira’s strength was its torpedo capability with multiple automated rapid fire torpedo systems. In addition to its heavy firepower the Akira had superior maneuverability compared to Klingon vessels.

Another version of the Akira that will be produced is an assault carrier. The design of the Akira leaves room for large shuttle bays and hanger space. Although the carrier version of the Akira will lose some of its firepower, it gains room for fighters, assault shuttles, and FMC equipment. Weaknesses in the original Akira design are weeded out by Picard’s design team.


Intrepid-class Frigate: The Intrepid is designed to be a fast running hit and run type vessel. During the late stages of the Klingon War, the Intrepids took over convoy duties, recon missions, and raids on Klingon targets. Being a lighter class than the Galaxy, Nebula, or Akira, Intrepid-class ships can’t go toe to toe with heavier ships. Tying in with this the Intrepid doesn’t have as much firepower either. Despite these issues the Intrepid-class has more firepower than a contemporary Starfleet frigate.



Experimental Frigate/Destroyer: Being a senior officer, Captain Picard knew of a number of Federation projects. One he feels is worthy of development now is a new ship that just leaving the drawing boards back in his time. Starfleet needed a ship that was fast and maneuverable which packed heavy firepower. It would incorporate new ablative armor and shield systems. Its weapons package featured new rapid firing pulse phaser cannons. These combined with the Quantum Torpedoes in development would have made this Heavy Frigate/Destroyer one of the most powerful ships for its size.

There were however a number of design problems with the ship. Efforts to give it maneuverability and firepower led to an overpowered and over gunned craft. One test Picard knows of nearly saw the ship ripped apart by its drive system. Part of the issues in testing stemmed from the fact that it was a rush job, now there is time to properly design and build the ship, codenamed the Defiant by one of designers in Picard’s time.




Raising an Army

Starfleet engineers and designers find creating new ships and modifying existing ones with technology based on the Enterprise-D’s systems far easier than the larger task of others, creating new ground forces and their equipment from scratch. Federation ground forces at time lack heavy equipment. They had no tanks, no armored assault craft, nothing like the integrated units that make up the Federation Marine Corps. Starfleet asks Colonel Th’yal Shorn the commander of the 15th Marine Response Unit (MRU) aboard the Enterprise-D to lead their efforts. Shorn is an Andorian, his people’s disciplined military traditions combined with his experiences during the Klingon War, make him an excellent choice. If anyone can complete the task, Picard tells Starfleet, it’s him.

Shorn with his subordinates, work out how to begin their project over a series of meetings with Starfleet. First all the current ground units in the Federation will be reviewed for their effectiveness, organization, and equipment. Only those with the best ratings in those categories will be brought into the Federation Land Forces. Everyone in the current units will undergo a repeat of basic training. This time however they will be working under drill instructions from the 15th MRU. Shorn and his people have designed a grueling basic training course based on the lessons learned in forty years of war with the Klingons.

While his NCOs and junior officers get to work training their contemporary counterparts, Shorn and his senior staff work out the organizational details of the new FLF units and the new contemporary FMC. Land Forces will be organized into battalions attached to brigades. Brigades will be used to form divisions. The FMC will be organized almost exactly as it was in the Enterprise-D’s time. Marine Regiments will give their units to form battalion sized Marine Force Units for deployments on starships. The MFU is designed as a rapid reaction force capable of performing a variety of missions. In a larger combat situation the FMC would send Marine Assault Brigades. A MAB would consist of one or two regiments with attached armor and fire support units (battalion or regiment as needed). MABs would be used for planetary assaults, designed to land, fight, and hold ground.

The Federation press pays close attention to the training and creations of the new ‘Army’ and ‘Marines’ of Starfleet. While some media services are neutral in their presentation of the FMC and FLF, others are not so kind. The more active pacifists protest at the bases for Shorn’s Marines and where is instructors are at. Others camp out at the door steps of engineering and ship design companies. Although a minority is horrified of what is happening, many Federation citizens support the measures. On Andor, young Andorians fill recruitment centers for the FMC and FLF. While the planet has become far less enthralled with their military traditions since the end of the Earth-Romulan War and the foundation of the UFP, many Andorians are excited to be part of the new units. Earth’s response is higher than expected as well. By the end of the year the FLF and FMC recruiters will actually be turning people away.

Arms and Armor

Although the Enterprise-D was not carrying Federation heavy units at the time of its arrival, an experienced AFV officer was on board. Lt. Colonel Patrick McDonald had been wounded during the fighting for Beteazed. He spent several months at Starbase 248 before being taken aboard the Enterprise-D. Fully recovered from his wounds, McDonald found himself now the only expert on mechanized warfare from the Klingon War. When Captain Picard asked McDonald to take the job of creating the FLF’s heavy units, the man complained why it had taken Picard this long to ask him. While waiting for the Federation to make up its mind about what to do with the crew and soldiers aboard the Enterprise, McDonald had already begun a report on the strengths and weakness of current Federation designs.

The problem for both the current Federation ground units and those that began the war with the Klingons in the alternate timeline is they were geared far too much for peacekeeping. Federation Security Forces or Militia were lighting armed, didn’t have proper body armor or protective gear, all means of ground transport were designed to take low energy small arms not vehicle mounted disruptor cannons or missile weapons. The ‘troops’ were trained for war; they were trained to be a police force. This is why, McDonald argues, they took such heavy losses in the war. Only after years of brutal warfare did the Federation begin to learn its lessons and by then it was too little too late.

McDonald comes up with a set of basic requirements for a new generation of AFVs to be used by the Federation Land Forces. They are as follows,

Crew Protection: Is the first design criteria for the new vehicles, whether it’s a lighter scout unit to a main battle tank. There should be a mix of armor, shielding, and if possible emergency transporters for the crew to escape. If transport inhibiters are in use by the enemy, then the AFV’s crew needs hatches to physically bail out of the vehicle.

Firepower: The future vehicles will have a mix of weaponry. Heavy phaser cannons for tanks, point-defense pulse phasers, and plasma missiles. At the start of the Klingon War, UFP vehicles were under armed, again stemming from their peace keeping focus.

Mission Focus: Like its starships, the Federation had a habit of designing their ground equipment to do too many jobs. McDonald makes it clear that engineers should be designing a mission specific vehicle. If it’s a tank, it’s a tank meant for taking ground, shocking the enemy through firepower and speed, and being survivable.

McDonald’s force he wants to develop will take time. As a stop gap measure, he makes a number of suggestions for improvements to the current stock of Federation equipment. These will be easier to complete within the next year.

The quickest area the Federation will be able to improve in their forces is their personal equipment and small arms. A number of officers assist in these efforts from both the Enterprise-D and the 15th MRU such as Lieutenant Tasha-Yar. Their number one theme is the fact hand-held phasers and phaser rifles are weapons. Originally it was hoped that phasers could not only be used as a defensive weapon but a tool as well. Yar and others state that this made phasers more complicated and not useful battlefield weapons. Starfleet was currently developing the Type III Phaser Rifle. It is quickly redesigned to make it more reliable and powerful. The initial production run of the Type III will be the only one of that variant. Yar and the weapons team are already working on a new rifle designated the Mark II. In addition to phasers, work begins on a better series of heavier small arms such as photon grenade launchers, man portable plasma missiles, and rapid pulse phaser units.

Federation Security and Land Forces will also be getting a whole new set of uniforms and equipment to ensure better protection for its members. The first goal of the FSS and FLF is to copy the body armor and powered helmets used by the Enterprise-D’s units. Fears of making their people looking too much like ‘soldiers’ lead to unnecessary causalities in the beginning of the Klingon War. Helmets with multiple sight options (thermal/NVG/holographic) and personal armor that can resist energy and projectile weapons are easy fixes. The ultimate goal for the development teams is to equip soldiers with personal force fields. Even the uniforms for use by security and FMC/FLF personnel will be upgraded. They will incorporate better protection against plasma burns and environmental controls for harsh temperature planets.

Numerous other improvements some small other large are planned by Starfleet and the new commanders of FLF, holographic camouflage, refined emergency medical techniques and equipment, extensive use of armored assault craft for planetary landings, transporter artillery, and someone even comes up with the idea for holographic EMTs or even doctors. Much of this R&D will take years, and some worry that the Federation will come under serious attack before the deficiencies in their defenses can be corrected. To the surprise of Starfleet, they will get the time.

The Battle of Khitomer

The Tal Shiar continues forward with their plan to attack the House of Mogh on Khitomer. Over a period of weeks the intelligence agency acquires five Romulan Warbirds that had been taken in for overhaul and repair work. Through a mix of bureaucratic paper twisting and intimidation of lower ranking Romulan Navy officers, the Navy will not miss the ships during their mission. The Tal Shiar quickly repairs and readies the ships for action. To avoid detection by both the Klingons and their own forces, the Tal Shiar ships will skirt the edge of the Neutral Zone to avoid Romulan sensors.

Most Romulan military historians cite the decisions to share cloaking technology with the Klingon Empire during their brief period of alliance in the mid 23rd Century to be greatest strategic error made by the RSE in its history. The collapse of the said alliance meant that both the Klingons and the Romulans were forced to develop ways to detect cloaked ships. This effort was further hindered by the fact Romulan and Klingon cloaking systems took different routes of development following the spilt. By 2344 each had managed to deploy systems which while not prefect could possibly detect a cloaked ship.

Prior to suspension of the raids the Tal Shiar would simply enter in territory controlled by Duras. While this is still the plan, the Tal Shiar cannot risk detection by their own government’s sensors. To avoid this they will leave Romulan space by entering the Neutral Zone. The Tal Shiar knows that Federation sensors meant to track cloaked ships are nowhere near the quality of their own or even the Klingons. The Chairman of the Tal Shiar and Director of Operations believe that their force can travel the Neutral Zone without detection by Starfleet. Unknown to the Tal Shiar the Federation does indeed have the means to track their ships.

While much of the development being undertaken by Starfleet will require months or even years, some things required less work. A huge amount of information was downloaded from the Enterprise-D’s computer banks. Whole teams of Starfleet analysis were tasked with sorting through things that could be immediately used in the fleet. One item that was deemed important enough is on detecting cloaked vessels. Means of detecting contemporary Romulan/Klingon vessels requires only a few program upgrades to Starfleet’s ships. The system itself is not perfect; however it is better than anything currently in use by the Federation. One of the first ships upgraded is the Enterprise-C.

On patrol of the Neutral Zone, the Enterprise-C is conducting a shakedown of its refitted systems. It also is a shakedown for a mostly new crew, including its captain. Captain Jennifer Holland was given command of the Enterprise despite the fact it is her first. Holland knows she has big shoes to fill in the wake of the late Captain Garrett. For the first weeks of their deployment things go well. While it takes some time to work out all the issues with the ship, the crew quickly blends together. Some are as fresh as the captain, others Starfleet veterans but serving for the first time aboard the Enterprise, and the remaining people are from the original crew. Together they are operating as a precision team when their sensors detect the possible signatures of cloaked ships in the Neutral Zone.

Holland makes use of new long range sensors to track the possible cloaked contacts. Based on their movements, speeds, and course it is highly probable they are Romulan Warbirds. The Enterprise-C reports its findings to UFP Outpost 1. The Enterprise is to shadow the Warbirds without entering the Neutral Zone while Starfleet decides how to respond. Luckily for the Enterprise, there is a comet passing through the sector at the time. It gives them the cover they need to not arouse the Romulans’ suspicions. The trick fools the Warbirds who give no thoughts to the Enterprise as they make their final course changes towards the Klingon Empire. The Enterprise notices the change in course and signals Starfleet once again.

It is clear another raid is about to occur however it will take time to get a response from Starfleet Command. Outpost 1 leaves the decision in Holland’s hands. Captain Holland debates whether they should warn the Klingons with her senior staff. Some argue that it’s Starfleet’s call not theirs. Others point out that in order to avoid the future the Enterprise-D came from they need to improve relations with the Klingons. Sitting back and watching another attack against them would not be the best place to start. Captain Holland makes the most important decision of her career and orders a message be sent to the Klingons warning them about the approaching Romulan ships. She then orders a pursuit course.

Based on their latest sensor readings, the Enterprise-C determines Khitomer is the target and sends a message to the colony there. Mogh himself answers the call and at first doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t believe the Romulans would be so foolish. Captain Holland forwards the sensor data to him. Seeing this Mogh realizes that they do not have long to meet the attack. Unfortunately, the only ship on hand is his. Mogh’s D7 Mark VI is the latest upgraded version of the old venerable battlecruiser, but it is not a match for multiple Romulan Warbirds. Before he can ask Captain Holland informs him they are coming to assist.

The battle begins as the citizens of the Klingon colony including Mogh’s own family rush for shelters. Mogh’s D7 manages to catch the Romulans by surprise decloaking and firing at point blank range. The sudden barrage of photon torpedoes damages a Warbird. The others however quickly focus on Mogh’s ship. It doesn’t take much pounding by their disruptors and torpedoes to weaken Mogh’s shields. Nether less the D7 is still fighting when the Enterprise-C arrives. Unlike their last engagement against the Romulans, the Enterprise is functioning at near a hundred percent and has more firepower than before. New phaser banks and additional torpedo launchers (both still based on contemporary designs not those of the Enterprise-D) give them a greater firepower punch.

The Enterprise puts these to use immediately. Another Romulan Warbird is damaged and the Tal Shiar ships are forced to spilt their attention between the two vessels. In addition to the starships, the ground defense stations on Khitomer fire. One of the Warbirds targets these installations and destroys them from orbit, at the cost of weakening its shields. Mogh’s D7 takes advantage of this, destroying the Warbird with a torpedo spread. The Enterprise-C takes damage at it draws the attention of two Warbirds. Captain Holland makes use of the new rear firing torpedo launchers and her additional phaser banks, destroying one of the attackers.

With three remaining Warbirds, one of them damaged heavily the other lightly; the Romulans cloak and begin launching quick attacks. The upgraded Enterprise sensors have trouble keeping up with the quick hit and run assaults. Soon both ships take damage. Mogh’s battlecruiser loses one of its warp nacelles the Enterprise a torpedo launcher and their shields. Captain Holland manages to finish off the most weakened Warbird, but the other two now focus on eliminating her ship. As the first hull breaches occur on the Enterprise-C’s saucer section, more Klingons arrive.

Three Birds of Prey from the House of Mogh decloak and pound the Romulans. Now with the tables turned, it’s the Romulans who quickly lose their shields and are heavily damaged. One of the Bird of Prey commanders beams warriors over to one of the Warbirds to capture it. Mogh makes sure to send orders to ensure the senior Romulans are spared, he wants to interrogate them. He doesn’t issue any orders however to spare the lesser crew aboard the vessel. As the one Romulan ship is captured, the other self-destructs to prevent it from suffering the same fate.

Captain Holland checks in with Mogh and asks if he needs assistance. Mogh wonders if Holland’s ship is in need of some as well. As the Klingons capture the Romulan Warbird and the Enterprise begins repairs, the damage from the attack on Khitomer is measured. The only weapons fire directed against the surface was at the orbital defense stations. These stations were close to the major Klingon population centers. Luckily most of the Klingons had taken shelter. Losses though among the ground force and those who did not reach safety are still high, nearly a thousand dead. Mogh admits though it could have been much worse if they had been caught by surprise.

Interrogation of the surviving Romulans is quick and brutal, as most Klingon interrogations are. None of the surviving officers among the Romulan crew are from the Tal Shiar. They activated suicide implants when it was clear that the Warbird could not be destroyed. As a result the remaining Romulans are less than inclined to keep their mouths shut now that they have been abandoned. It doesn’t take long to learn the ship’s mission and not much longer to learn who the mission was meant to benefit. Mogh is enraged not only at the fact Duras wanted to murder him and his family, but the fact that Duras has betrayed the Empire to the Romulans! He shares the information with Captain Holland. While she’s upset at how Mogh got the information, it explains a great deal about the attack on Narendra III months earlier. Mogh then surprises her again asking the Enterprise-C to follow them to Qo’nos.

This time Holland knows she needs to get permission from Starfleet. After a few hours she receives her orders. The Enterprise-C will journey to Qo’nos and share its sensor information with the High Council. Mogh takes one of the Birds of Prey and with the Enterprise they travel to the Klingon homeworld.

[archangel]

The Romulans are going to face the federation and the (weakened) Klingons.

Keep it coming, gtrof!

[gtrof]

A Traitor Exposed

News of the attack on Khitomer reaches Qo’nos before the battle is even over. The High Council is enraged that the Romulans would attack them twice in so many months. Duras is on edge but hides it. He never counted on the Tal Shiar failing so publically. He knows that the Empire will seek some form of vengeance on the Romulans for the attack. Duras though doesn’t appear shaken in front of the council; he knows that the Romulans would never let themselves be taken alive so his secret is safe. News of the captured Warbird is not shared among the High Council. The Chancellor knows the truth and Duras’s treachery, but keeps it hidden. He like Mogh wants to make an example of Duras in front of the whole of the council.

The Enterprise-C and Mogh’s ship arrive at Qo’nos a day after the Battle of Khitomer. Mogh and Captain Holland beam down to meet with the High Council. In front of the whole council Mogh plays the recordings of the confessions of the various captured Romulans. Duras immediately claims that they are Starfleet fabrications. Holland seals Duras’s fate by showing the sensor logs of the Enterprise-C. The tracking information shows the cloaked Romulan Warbirds from their journey through the Neutral Zone to Klingon space, entering in Duras controlled territory on their way to Khtitomer. Duras with nothing left to lose charges Mogh and is killed in close quarter combat. With Duras dead the Chancellor orders all the lands of Duras seized and his house to be stricken of its honor and name.

Holland then is allowed to watch as the High Council quickly debates on what to do next. Duras was a puppet being used by the Tal Shiar to gain control of the Empire. Such interference will not be tolerated by the council. Mogh is in favor of attacking a Romulan Navy base close to the Klingon frontier. Much to his dismay, the council is thinking in more grandiose terms. They wish to declare war on the Romulans and take all the contested systems along the border. Mogh expresses his apprehension that engaging in war now will upset the balance of the Empire. Others assure him though that they can make increases to military production with minimal disruptions to the civilian sectors. Mogh is still concerned a war with the Romulans could lead to the Empire overextending itself. Mogh’s concerns are acknowledged but generally are disregarded.

The High Council sees this as a chance to strengthen the Empire and their houses’ power. Orders for the mobilization KDF are sent. Captain Holland is given a message to take back to Starfleet about Klingon intentions. As the Enterprise-C leaves the system, the Klingons declares war on the Romulan Star Empire.

The Klingon-Romulan War

The Klingons waste no time in launching their assault on Romulan space. A task force of 50 battlecruisers and Birds of Prey attack Romulan sensor outposts in three systems along the border, while a second force of twenty-five ships destroys the space-docks and orbital facilities at a major Romulan Star Navy base. Raiding parties of cloaked Birds of Prey move through the gaps in Romulan sensors and begin search and destroy missions for Romulan convoys in the area. The attacks are carried out by the Klingon 3rd Fleet. This fleet is one of the Category-A units of the KDF, available for immediate operations and stationed opposite the Romulan frontier.

On Romulus, the Praetor and Senate are caught off guard by the Klingon declaration of war. While they expected retaliation for the attack on Narendra III, all out war is way overblown even for Klingons. News of the attack on Khitomer and the exposure of Duras as a traitor finally give the Romulan government its explanation for the war. The Praetor is furious with the Tal Shiar for being so foolish, disobeying him, and dragging the RSE into a war it doesn’t need. Immediately with the Senate’s approval he orders a purge of the Tal Shiar. The Chairman, Director of Operations, and others are arrested. In response the power of Romulan Naval Intelligence (RNI) grows and the Tal Shiar will now be weaker for the next few years.

CINC of the Romulan Fleet, Admiral Decius, responds to the Klingon attack by reinforcing the 6th Fleet which is responsible for the border with the Klingons. The Romulan Star Navy (RSN) squadrons in the area are forced on the defensive by the surprise attacks. In the initial Klingon attack, forty Romulan Warbirds are destroyed along with a dozen freighters and supply ships. The Klingon 3rd Fleet loses far fewer ships, a mere 15. Admiral Decius must work quickly before the Klingon forces can bring their full weight against the contested border systems. Luckily the 6th Fleet is well trained and nearly two-thirds of it is mobilized and in position before the end of the first week of fighting.

Klingon forces launch their main offensive against the Rubicon System. Originally the only Class-M planet in the system had been controlled by the Klingons several centuries earlier. A devastating comet strike forced the abandonment of the planet by the Empire. During the time the planet was without a claim, the Romulans secured it. A Klingon attempt to retake the planet in the 22nd Century was repulsed by the RSN. Since than the system has been site of many raids and brief border conflicts between the aggressive empires.

The Klingon 3rd Fleet commits 200 ships and 50 transports carrying four divisions worth of Klingon ground troops to an attack on Rubicon. With their forces still mobilizing the Romulans have only 110 ships on hand to defend the system. However the Warbirds are backed up by orbital defenses and ground based planetary defense batteries. The Klingons try and take out the orbital and ground based defenses by approaching under cloak. Romulan sensors pick up traces of the Warbirds and are able to sound warnings to most of the installations. Three Birds of Prey and two battlecruisers are lost in the effort to destroy the Romulan defenses. One of the Romulan orbital stations is eliminated along with three ground batteries.

Having failed to take out the defenses, the Klingons do take heavier losses when they launch their assault on the planet. The Romulans focus their attacks on the heaviest Klingon warships, their K't'inga-class Battlecruisers. Groups of Warbirds team up on the heavily armed descendants of the D7 class, de-cloaking and unleashing volleys of disruptor and torpedo fire before cloaking again. Ten of the battlecruisers are lost to these pop-out attacks. Romulan losses mount as the day wears on. Half of the Romulan units on hand are destroyed or forced to retire due to damage. The 6th Fleet commander decides he cannot hold Rubicon and orders a retreat.

It is a heavy victory for the Klingons with over 75 of their ships destroyed and another 45 damaged. Klingon ground forces begin landing on the planet under the cover of orbital fire from their ships above. Romulan planetary shields and transport inhibitors prevent direct assaults on their cities on the planet but a number of outlying installations and the remaining planetary defenses are eliminated. As Klingon ground units move towards these cities they are engaged in small ambushes by elements of the 5th Legion. Many of the civilians in the colonies are beamed to hideouts in the various mountain ranges around the planet, as the 5th Legion prepares to defend the settlements and hope for reinforcement.

The Battle for Rubicon enters its ground phase when two Klingon divisions attack the cities of Tu’peck and Joanek. Romulan forces are from the 5th Legion and Planetary Guard Forces (PGF), with the 5th giving two brigades to defend each city. The Klingons attack largely on foot as their Assault Vehicles are less use in an urban fight. Romulan Centurions make effective use of the cityscape to inflict heavy causalities on the Klingons. Klingons do have more of advantage in close quarters combat, which they are better at than the average Romulan. Klingon tactics involve storming buildings with disruptors and bat’leths in hand. The Centurions make extensive use of booby traps such as photon-grenades with bio-sensors. In two days of heavy fighting the Klingons control half of Tu’peck but only a fourth of Joanek. Klingons are further hassled by Romulan stay behind units, attacking their supply bases and headquarters.

The withdrawal from the Rubicon System is considered a ‘temporary retrograde’ by the Romulan Navy. Admiral Decius plans to launch a counterattack on the Klingon forces in the system, as soon as possible. As the 6th Fleet concentrates its strength additional units are called in from other sectors. Cautious of what Starfleet might do, the Neutral Zone Fleet units remain in place. Decius plans on smashing the Klingon penetration of Romulan space quickly and decisively. He hopes an early and heavy defeat of the KDF can force some sense into the Klingons and make them take a seat at the negotiating table.

While the Klingons work on taking Rubicon, they also launch attacks against Romulan installations and colonies along the border. Some of these attacks are raids by Birds of Prey; others are full attacks by Klingon task forces. The KDF hopes to confuse the Romulans as to their next major move, forcing the RSN to spread the 6th Fleet thin and send their reinforcements from other sectors to the wrong place. Not all the attacks work out as the Klingons plan. The worse failure of these deception operations is the lost of fifteen ships in a battle for the RSN starbase at Delavn II, several of them battlecruisers.

Both sides engage in sneaking cloaked ships behind the lines to prey on convoys. Klingon efforts are far less coordinated than Romulan attacks. Lone Birds of Prey roam the convoy routes attacking ships at will. RSN convoy raiders are far more directed and controlled from Romulus. Most operate in wolf packs of three to four Warbirds. They are directed by the RNI as to the location of valuable Klingon convoys. Using a mix of SIGNET, operatives of the Tal Shiar, and code breaking, the RNI is able to send their wolf packs against several critical shipments of parts, weapons, and food moving to the frontlines. The KDF is forced to dedicate more ships to convoy protection and anti-cloaking sensor sweeps behind the frontlines.

By the end of the first week, the Klingons fortify their position in the Rubicon System with orbital defenses and the strong presence of most of the 3rd Fleet. The system is the main launching point for Klingon raids on Romulan territory. Every RSN probe into the system has been repulsed. Although control of the ground on Rubicon is still contested, the High Council feels it is in a strong enough position to launch an attack on their next target, the Sel’ta System.

This second offensive will not be as easy as the first now that the Romulans are expecting an attack. The First Battle of Sel’ta results in a draw. Klingon forces can’t break through the Romulans in the system. The Romulans use their ships and cloaked weapon platforms to ambush Klingon squadrons as they attack. Klingon warships however are usually more heavily armed than a Romulan vessel, resulting in the Klingons using firepower to break through said attacks. Neither side gains a decisive advantage in Sel’ta, and shifts their attention elsewhere.

Four weeks after the initial landings on Rubicon, the 5th Legion is forced to abandon the main settlements. Klingon forces manage to knock out one of the planetary shield generators, opening up the Romulan ground forces to orbital strikes. The 5th Legion’s commander, General Remeck orders his men into smaller combat units and adopts a guerrilla strategy. Klingon units will spend the next ten months going on search and destroy missions for Romulan troops in the countryside and mountains. The High Command considers the planet secure enough to begin establishing bases and other defenses.

[Chris]

Cool update! Which side will the Federation take? There might be some support for waiting and attacking the winner once the war is over...

Chris

[Sargon]

Good stuff once more. Given the Federation are rather friendly with the Klingons right now, perhaps they may come in on their side. But perhaps they need more of a public reason to do so.

If the Romulans win, they are probably going to suffer so much attrition that they won't be much of a threat for some time. Same for the Klingons maybe. Either way, the Federation usefully benefit whoever wins.


Sargon

[gtrof]

Originally Posted by Chris

Cool update! Which side will the Federation take? There might be some support for waiting and attacking the winner once the war is over...

Chris

While taking their defensive role more seriously Chris, this UFP is still the good guys more or less. Knocking off the Klingon or Romulan Empire isn't their style.

Good stuff once more. Given the Federation are rather friendly with the Klingons right now, perhaps they may come in on their side. But perhaps they need more of a public reason to do so.

If the Romulans win, they are probably going to suffer so much attrition that they won't be much of a threat for some time. Same for the Klingons maybe. Either way, the Federation usefully benefit whoever wins.


Sargon

Thanks Sargon, will go more into the fallout as we finish 2344. Things will probably go a little faster in the TL now that the big pieces are laid.

[luis3007]

Great timeline, I always hoped someone will write one that was more than a plotline.
Hope you can post an epic timeline

[gtrof]

Note I've included an edited verision of some stuff which I already posted. A few new bits of information in them, then everything else is new.

A Traitor Exposed

News of the attack on Khitomer reaches Qo’nos before the battle is even over. The High Council is enraged that the Romulans would attack them twice in so many months. Duras is on edge but hides it. He never counted on the Tal Shiar failing so publically. He knows that the Empire will seek some form of vengeance on the Romulans for the attack. Duras though doesn’t appear shaken in front of the council; he knows that the Romulans would never let themselves be taken alive so his secret is safe. News of the captured Warbird is not shared among the High Council. The Chancellor knows the truth and Duras’s treachery, but keeps it hidden. He like Mogh wants to make an example of Duras in front of the whole of the council.

The Enterprise-C and Mogh’s ship arrive at Qo’nos a day after the Battle of Khitomer. Mogh and Captain Holland beam down to meet with the High Council. In front of the whole council Mogh plays the recordings of the confessions of the various captured Romulans. Duras immediately claims that they are Starfleet fabrications. Holland seals Duras’s fate by showing the sensor logs of the Enterprise-C. The tracking information shows the cloaked Romulan Warbirds from their journey through the Neutral Zone to Klingon space, entering in Duras controlled territory on their way to Khtitomer. Duras with nothing left to lose charges Mogh and is killed in close quarter combat. With Duras dead the Chancellor orders all the lands of Duras seized and his house to be stricken of its honor and name.

Holland then is allowed to watch as the High Council quickly debates on what to do next. Duras was a puppet being used by the Tal Shiar to gain control of the Empire. Such interference will not be tolerated by the council. Mogh is in favor of attacking a Romulan Navy base close to the Klingon frontier. Much to his dismay, the council is thinking in more grandiose terms. They wish to declare war on the Romulans and take all the contested systems along the border. Mogh expresses his apprehension that engaging in war now will upset the balance of the Empire. Others assure him though that they can make increases to military production with minimal disruptions to the civilian sectors. Mogh is still concerned a war with the Romulans could lead to the Empire overextending itself. Mogh’s concerns are acknowledged but generally are disregarded. The Chancellor promises to use Duras’s former lands and holdings to help finance the war.

Captain Holland had been given some guidelines prior to leaving for Qo’nos by Starfleet Command. If it looked like the Klingons were considering a large scale retaliatory strike or war, that she had permission to pledge Federation neutrality. The Federation President and Council also allow Holland to inform the Klingons, with the condition it is kept secret, that the neutrality will be one of support for the Klingons. Starfleet will maintain a strong presence on their side of the Neutral Zone. This will hopefully tie down some of the Romulan Fleet. Federation trade of non-military items will continue and with Klingon permission, these supply ships will be escorted by Starfleet. The High Council agrees, knowing it will prevent those convoys from being raided by the Romulans. It also will free up KDF ships from escorting the UFP ships. Orders for the mobilization KDF are sent. Captain Holland is given a message to take back to Starfleet about Klingon intentions. As the Enterprise-C leaves the system, the Klingons declares war on the Romulan Star Empire.

The Klingon-Romulan War

The Klingons waste no time in launching their assault on Romulan space. A task force of battlecruisers and Birds of Prey attack Romulan sensor outposts in three systems along the border, while a second force destroys the space-docks and orbital facilities at a major Romulan Star Navy base. Raiding parties of cloaked Birds of Prey move through the gaps in Romulan sensors and begin search and destroy missions for Romulan convoys in the area. These are private ships belong to the different Klingon Houses and not delegated to KDF duties. The main attacks are carried out by the Klingon 3rd Fleet. This fleet is one of the Category-A units of the KDF, available for immediate operations and stationed opposite the Romulan frontier.

On Romulus, the Praetor and Senate are caught off guard by the Klingon declaration of war. While they expected retaliation for the attack on Narendra III, all out war is way overblown even for Klingons. News of the attack on Khitomer and the exposure of Duras as a traitor finally give the Romulan government its explanation for the war. The Praetor is furious with the Tal Shiar for being so foolish, disobeying him, and dragging the RSE into a war it doesn’t need. Immediately with the Senate’s approval he orders a purge of the Tal Shiar. The Chairman, Director of Operations, plus the other members involved are arrested and made to fall on their swords. In response the power of Romulan Naval Intelligence (RNI) grows and the Tal Shiar’s influence will now be weaker for the next few years.

CINC of the Romulan Fleet, Admiral Decius, responds to the Klingon attack by reinforcing the 6th Fleet which is responsible for the border with the Klingons. The Romulan Star Navy (RSN) squadrons in the area are forced on the defensive by the surprise attacks. In the initial Klingon attack, forty Romulan Warbirds are destroyed along with a dozen freighters and supply ships. Romulans fight desperately to keep the Klingons from pushing deeper into their space, trying to hold their outposts and bases at any cost. Admiral Decius knows these measures must be taken so the Klingon forces cannot bring their full weight against the contested border systems. 6th Fleet is still mobilizing. The sacrifices of the border patrols and outposts allow for two-thirds of the fleet to be mobilized and in position before the end of the first week of fighting.

Klingon forces launch their main offensive against the Rubicon System. Originally the only Class-M planet in the system had been controlled by the Klingons several centuries earlier. A devastating comet strike forced the abandonment of the planet by the Empire. During the time the planet was without a claim, the Romulans secured it. A Klingon attempt to retake the planet in the 22nd Century was repulsed by the RSN. Since than the system has been site of many raids and brief border conflicts between the aggressive empires.

The Klingon 3rd Fleet commits 200 ships and 50 transports carrying four divisions worth of Klingon ground troops to an attack on Rubicon. With their forces still mobilizing the Romulans have only 110 ships on hand to defend the system. However the Warbirds are backed up by orbital defenses and ground based planetary defense batteries. The Klingons try and take out the orbital and ground based defenses by approaching under cloak. Efforts to soften up Rubicon for the landing of Klingon ground forces are part of a larger conflict between the commander of the 3rd Fleet and General Kmetkov, the ground forces commander. General Mutek the 3rd Fleet’s CO wants the main goal of the attack to be the elimination of the Romulan ships in the system and their defense platforms. Kemtkov however believes their goal should be to conquer the planet above all else. He argues such a blow so early in the war would demoralize the Romulans. The High Council doesn’t help matters, agreeing that eliminating both the Romulan ships and landing troops on Rubicon are equal goals for the campaign.

Mutek sends a cloaked force of ships to try and take out the planetary defenses. However as he feared the Romulans expected such an assault. The Romulan sensors pick up traces of the Klingon ships and are able to sound warnings to most of the installations. Three Birds of Prey and two battlecruisers are lost in the effort to destroy the Romulan defenses. One of the Romulan orbital stations is eliminated along with three ground batteries. A gap now exists in the planet’s defenses to land troops. In the ship battle, the Romulans focus their attacks on the heaviest Klingon warships, their K't'inga-class Battlecruisers. Groups of Warbirds team up on the heavily armed descendants of the D7 class, de-cloaking and unleashing volleys of disruptor and torpedo fire before cloaking again.

Ten of the battlecruisers are lost to these pop-out attacks before the Klingons regroup. The 3rd Fleet flies its battlecruiser squadrons later in the day with lighter escorts, usually Birds of Prey. They are able to beat off the RSN ambushers with these tactics. As a result the Romulans change strategy again. As the Klingons gather their forces to begin landing troops with transporters and landing craft, they launch attacks on the Klingon ‘flanks’ picking off the stationary ships. As the day wears on though, Romulan losses begin to not be worth the damage they are inflicting on the Klingons. Half of the Romulan units on hand are destroyed or forced to retire due to damage. The 6th Fleet commander decides he cannot hold Rubicon and orders a retreat.

It is a heavy victory for the Klingons with over a third of their ships destroyed with another quarter of them damaged. Klingon ground forces begin landing on the planet under the cover of orbital fire from their ships above. Romulan planetary shields and transport inhibitors prevent direct assaults on their cities on the planet but a number of outlying installations and the remaining planetary defenses are eliminated. As Klingon ground units move towards these cities they are engaged in small ambushes by elements of the 5th Legion. Many of the civilians in the colonies are beamed to hideouts in the various mountain ranges around the planet, as the 5th Legion prepares to defend the settlements and hope for reinforcement.

The Battle for Rubicon enters its ground phase when two Klingon divisions attack the cities of Tu’peck and Joanek. Romulan forces are from the 5th Legion and Planetary Guard Forces (PGF), with the 5th giving two brigades to defend each city. The Klingons attack largely on foot as their Assault Vehicles are less use in an urban fight. Romulan Centurions make effective use of the cityscape to inflict heavy causalities on the Klingons. Klingons do have more of advantage in close quarters combat, which they are better at than the average Romulan. Klingon tactics involve storming buildings with disruptors and bat’leths in hand. The Centurions make extensive use of booby traps such as photon-grenades with bio-sensors. In two days of heavy fighting the Klingons control half of Tu’peck but only a fourth of Joanek. Klingons are further hassled by Romulan stay behind units, attacking their supply bases and headquarters.

While the Klingons work on taking Rubicon, they also launch attacks against Romulan installations and colonies along the border. Some of these attacks are raids by Birds of Prey; others are full attacks by Klingon task forces. The KDF hopes to confuse the Romulans as to their next major move, forcing the RSN to spread the 6th Fleet thin and send their reinforcements from other sectors to the wrong place. Not all the attacks work out as the Klingons plan. The worse failure of these deception operations is the lost of fifteen ships in a battle for the RSN starbase at Delavn II, several of them battlecruisers.

General Mutek submits a plan to the High Council to change up their strategy. He wants to eliminate the Romulan 6th Fleet and their reinforcing units first before conducting more landings on the M-class planets the Klingons have their eyes on. Only be eliminating the Romulan ships can the KDF ensure they control the border systems and force the Romulans to cede them as part of a peace deal.

For the Romulans, the withdrawal from the Rubicon System is considered a ‘temporary retrograde’ by the Romulan Navy. As the 6th Fleet concentrates its strength additional units are called in from other sectors. Cautious of what Starfleet might do, the Neutral Zone Fleet units remain in place. Decius argues to the Praetor and Continuing Committee that the Federation would not launch an attack across the Neutral Zone. Better for them to sit back and let their two biggest rivals hammer away each other. However the Committee isn’t as sure. Thanks to the knowledge of the future Enterprise, the UFP is already changing their strategy. Something in those records might motivate Starfleet to attack the RSE. They decide to leave those units in place for now.

Admiral Decius does get the council to agree to his battle plans to resist and then repel the Klingon invasion. Rather than smashing the Klingon penetration of Romulan space, he wants to lay back and concentrate his ships at several strong points along the border. These strong points using a mix of orbital defenses and RSN squadrons will bleed the Klingons as they attack. Decius wants the KDF to smash itself against the Romulan strongholds and then when they are at their weakest he will launch a devastating counteroffensive which will smash the Klingons and send their ships running back to their Empire. The Praetor approves the plan along with the Senate.

As both sides make their plans and gather their forces, the RSN and KDF engage in sneaking cloaked ships behind the lines to prey on convoys. Klingon efforts are far less coordinated than Romulan attacks. Lone Birds of Prey roam the convoy routes attacking ships at will. RSN convoy raiders are far more directed and controlled from Romulus. Most operate in wolf packs of three to four Warbirds. The crews are highly disciplined and unlike the private ships being used by the Klingons, not engaging targets at a whim. They are directed by the RNI as to the location of valuable Klingon convoys. Using a mix of SIGNET, operatives of the Tal Shiar, and code breaking, the RNI is able to send their wolf packs against several critical shipments of parts, weapons, and food moving to the frontlines. The KDF is forced to dedicate more ships to convoy protection and anti-cloaking sensor sweeps behind the frontlines.

By the end of the first week, the Klingons fortify their position in the Rubicon System with orbital defenses and the strong presence of most of the 3rd Fleet. The system is the main launching point for Klingon raids on Romulan territory. General Mutek gets approval of his strategy to focus on eliminating the Romulan fleet. However his task has now become far more difficult. Admiral Decius and the RSN have completed its fortifying of the surrounding systems. Now the RSN units are concentrated where their defenses are strongest. Mutek will be forced to send his ships in to get them. As a result the campaigns from here on out will prove much more difficult.

The First Battle of Sel’ta begins as the Klingons attempt to destroy the RSN power in the system. Sel’ta is a mere ten light years from Rubicon and an important Romulan staging area. General Mutek knows destroying the RSN there will divide the Romulan 6th Fleet and force the Romulans to counterattack if they wish to maintain their shortest lines of communication and supply. The Romulans use their ships and cloaked weapon platforms to ambush Klingon squadrons as they attack. Klingon warships however are usually more heavily armed than a Romulan vessel, resulting in the Klingons using firepower to break through the ambushes. The concentrated power of the RSN combined with their orbital defenses forces the Klingons back.

Four weeks after the initial landings on Rubicon, the 5th Legion is forced to abandon the main settlements. Klingon forces manage to knock out one of the planetary shield generators, opening up the Romulan ground forces to orbital strikes. The 5th Legion’s commander, General Remeck orders his men into smaller combat units and adopts a guerrilla strategy. Klingon units will spend the next several months going on search and destroy missions for Romulan troops in the countryside and mountains. The High Command considers the planet secure enough to begin establishing bases and other defenses despite the ongoing guerilla campaign.

The Last Days of 2344

News of the Klingon-Romulan War is taken with some relief at Starfleet command. With the Klingons involved with the Romulans, they cannot launch a successful attack on the Federation. Captain Holland’s message that the Federation will have friendly neutrality with the Klingons is part of the effort to slowly bring the Klingons into an alliance with the UFP. Starfleet begins dispatching ships to escort Federation and neutral flagged merchantmen across Klingon space. Starfleet believes the risk of conflict with the Romulans is minimal. Starfleet Intelligence is confident the RSE cannot take on both the Klingons and the Federation at the same time. As a result Romulan commerce raiders will stay away from those convoys to prevent an incident. However the Federation Council is not yet willing to aid the Klingons with military supplies. The Federation diplomatic core offers to meditate the conflict but the Klingons are uninterested and the Romulans not willing to talk without active Klingon participation. A secondary reason the Romulans aren’t willing to talk yet is they want to ensure they are in a better military position when peace talks begin.

For the Federation the last months of 2344 are spent continuing their research plans and working out the organization of the new Starfleet units. Colonel Shorn’s plan to have three Federation Marine regiments formed by the end of 2346 with them ready to form a division if necessary by 2347 is approved. The first unit, the 1st Marine Regiment will begin its training in January of 2345. Shorn is pleased by the high turnout among the citizens of the Federation to join the new ground forces. It allows the recruiters to skim the best of the bunch giving the units the best of the best. The new advance starship, ground equipment, and other technologies shown by the Enterprise-D begin their official design processes.

The Klingon-Romulan War sees a series of battles that gain territory at the expense of weakening the Klingons. Romulan forces save their assets and begin planning for a counteroffensive. Following the First Battle of Sel’ta, the Klingons regroup and reinforce their 3rd Fleet. Additional units from the 5th and Federation Frontier Fleet arrive on the front over a period of three weeks. With these new and fresh units on hand General Mutek feels confident to launch a second effort to destroy the Romulan forces around Sel’ta. For the Romulans reinforcements are slower in arriving. With the Senate and Praetor not allowing units to be pulled away from the Neutral Zone, the RSN has to make do with what units it can spare from other sectors. The frontier with the Gorn cannot be weakened in the slightest, as the Gorn have a long history in attacking Romulan outposts along their contested space. Most of the reinforcements for the Klingon Front come from the Breen and Cardassian sectors.

Klingon forces also launch attacks on other border systems which while having no M-Class planets they allow the Klingons to take more Romulan territory and launching points into the deeper more populated sectors of Romulan space. Battles occur in nearly a dozen systems with some falling to the Klingons, like Kordus, while others like Yaxon remain in Romulan hands. In these systems both sides deploy senor and other intelligence gathering platforms. Each side of course tries to eliminate the other’s equipment. Worried about attacks from these Klingon occupied systems; the Romulan Navy is forced to deploy units which could be better used elsewhere.

The Second Battle of Sel’ta results in a Klingon victory. Using numbers the Klingons blow their way through the Romulan defenses. The 6th Fleet falls back on Devan III and prepares for the next Klingon attack. Although a defeat, the offensive against Sel’ta has now caused the Klingon 3rd Fleet to be at only 59% of normal strength. The 5th and Federation Fleet units, four task forces in all, take lighter losses. Despite the victory, General Mutek is chastised by the High Council as they did not expect such heavy losses in men and material. Admiral Decius’s strategy of bleeding the Klingons on Romulan defenses is working. However he too is coming under pressure from his superiors. Decius is ordered to launch a counterattack on the Klingons in Sel’ta over his objections.

Despite the best efforts of the RSN units involved, the Romulan attack on Sel’ta fails. This time it was the Klingons that were able to use their defenses to bleed the Romulans. Ambushes by Birds of Prey and cloaked battlecruisers, combined with fire from defensive platforms inflict 20% losses on the attacking Romulan task forces. They receive permission to withdraw rather than simply losing ships for no gain. Although the attack was a failure, it discredits those in the Senate who pushed for the attack. Decius uses this to gain more direct control of the campaign. He informs the Praetor and Continuing Committee that he intends to build up Romulan fleet strength, increased pressure on the Klingons by conducting more attacks inside their territory, and take units away from the Neutral Zone. The Committee agrees but limits the amount of ships and men that Decius can strip from the Neutral Zone. A series of Starfleet maneuvers near the border has the Senate and Praetor wondering what the Federation is up too.

Decius’s new strategy begins with an encouraging victory. A Romulan raiding force destroys the shipyards, orbital weapons plants, and supply facilities over Kempa II. The planet is an important link to the supply chain feeding the Klingon war machine. Due to losses on the Romulan front, the defensive fleet around Kempa was reduced. Its defense thus fell to the House of Korla. Many of the Korla’s ships and defensive systems were outdated. The only reason the military facilities were on Kempa II was due to a deal the Korla Family had struck decades earlier with the High Council. The Romulan Warbirds which attacked the planet outclassed the ships on hand in every way. Only a suicide run by one of the Kola ships destroyed one of the Romulan attackers. This humiliating incident angers the High Council which levels heavy punishment on the Korla. Rebuilding the facilities will take nearly a year.

The loss of the facilities at Kempa II puts more strain on an already stretched Klingon logistical system. Many facilities are still re-tooling for war production. The Klingon merchant fleet is a collection of very modern fast ships, and slower older ones. Romulan raiders have made quite a dent in the older ships’ numbers. Even with KDF ships freed up by Starfleet escorts, they cannot cover every ship. Another problem suffered by the Klingons was a slow adoption of a convoy system. Many early Romulan kills came from preying on merchantmen traveling alone in ‘secured’ space.

Following the victory at Sel’ta, the Klingons worked on securing more of the border region. From captured systems they attacked RSN outposts and naval bases. The results of these raids are mixed. While the RSN suffered losses, the Klingon attacks usually failed to get and significant gain. An attempt to inflict a ‘Kempa’ on the Romulan production centers in Alpha Maxius fails, with two thirds of the Klingon attack force destroyed. Some Klingon success during these attacks included the destruction of several Romulan communication relays and an intelligence platform deployed in the Yaxon System.


2345CE: New Friends, Enemies, and Opportunity

A Shift in Momentum: The Klingon-Romulan War

The New Year starts out with a failed Klingon offensive against Devan Like Sel’ta the Devan system was heavily defended. A major Romulan naval hub, it was critical for them to hold the system. General Mutek knows that the RSN won’t so lightly abandon the system. He hopes that the Romulans’ determination to keep Devan will force them to fight even if it becomes more logical to withdraw. He convinces the High Council that this is a chance to smash Romulan naval power in the contested region once and for all. The 3rd Fleet is left to guard the Sel’ta System while the now reinforced task forces of the 5th and Federation Fleets conduct the attack.

Much to the amazement of the Klingons when they arrive in the system, it turns out to be lightly defended. Cautious of a trap, the bulk of the Klingon forces stay back while scouting units probe ahead. Wary of a Romulan trick, the task forces turn back to Sel’ta. Along the way they are ambushed by the Romulan 6th Fleet. Although things did not going fully according to the Romulan plan, they inflict enough damage on the Klingons to make the attack worthwhile. One of the task forces is destroyed and another suffers heavy losses. The 6th Fleet’s losses are light, and they fall back to Devan. General Mutek is embarrassed by the failure which following the raid on Kempa, further boosts Romulan morale. Members of the High Council begin calling for his replacement. Mogh, whose own personal power has grown following the fall of Duras, defends Mutek. Mogh’s political support keeps the General in command for the moment. However the High Council demands that Devan fall to the Empire and soon or Mutek will be replaced.

Admiral Decius continues to build up his own forces as the Klingons lick their wounds. Reinforcements from other sectors and the Romulan Home Fleet begin to arrive in strength not long after the Battle of Devan. He manages to convince the Continuing Committee to leave the frontier systems, lightly defended; concentrating their main effort against the Klingon efforts to captured the habitable systems along the border. Decius now has on hand 85% of the 6th Fleet, six squadrons from the 2nd Fleet along the Breen Frontier, half of the Home Fleet, and finally two squadrons from the Neutral Zone Fleet. With recent Klingon losses, currently the RSN has a 2:1 advantage in the sector. Knowing more Klingon reinforcements are coming, he orders an attack to retake Sel’ta before the KDF can get their forces into position.

The Romulan plan uses a multi-stage assault, first attacking the Klingon picket units outside the system, drawing them away. Several task forces then move in under cloak into the system. They open fire on the Klingon defense platforms at point blank range, giving them little time to react before they are hammered with volleys of disruptors and photon torpedoes. The defenses take a heavy toll on the Romulans but all of the platforms are destroyed. Outside the system the Romulans destroy the Klingon scouts as the main attack against the remaining KDF ships in the system begins. The Klingon survivors fall back to the Rubicon System.

Knowing that an attack on Rubicon would too badly weaken his forces, Decius launches a series of campaigns to secure the border region. Throughout February the Klingon and Romulan fleets do battle at Kordus, Yaxon, Pollus, and Trianna. Through these battles, the Romulans regain control of a third of their original border. The Klingons concentrate their forces at Rubicon and other systems they’ve fortified. Since these systems fell to the KDF, the Klingons have been garrisoning them with weapons platforms and extensive ground defenses. Thanks to the defeats in the early winter of 2345, General Mutek is replaced by General Yung. He has orders to go back on the offensive but knows his first duty will be to hold the captured systems against the Romulan counterattack.

In February serious talks finally begin between the Klingons and the Romulans. They are conducted on Earth in Beijing. Federation Ambassador Sarek represents both the UFP and acts a mediator between the volatile powers. His long career is filled with many notable achievements, such as helping open talks with the Klingon Empire following the disaster at Praxis. Sarek’s experience along with his Vulcan logic makes him an excellent choice to lead to the negotiations. Both sides begin with near impossible demands. The Klingons want to keep nearly all the areas they’ve taken. They also demand that the RSE pay reparations to the Klingon Empire for the damage inflicted at Narendra III and Khitomer.

The Romulans are also steadfast in their demands. A withdrawal of all Klingon forces to pre-war lines. They also want a Demilitarized Zone between the Klingon Empire and the RSE. To insult the Klingons, the Romulans demand reparations from the Klingons to repair the damage inflicted upon their space. It is only thanks to Sarek’s skill as a peacemaker, that the Klingons are kept at the table. During the first week of the peace conference, Sarek works both sides, getting them to soften their positions. At the next face to face meeting, the Romulans withdrawal their demand for reparations. They however insist that KDF forces must withdrawal to pre-war lines.

The Klingons of course don’t want to give up the territory they have gained in the campaign. In his counteroffer, the Klingon Ambassador offers to return nearly all the Romulan frontier seized by the Klingons except for the Rubicon, Indus, and Beta Koros Systems. Sarek informs the Federation Council and president that he believes the Klingons don’t intend to keep all three systems. It’s logical to assume that they are waiting to see the outcome of the Romulan counterattack on these systems before altering their position. The outcome of the Romulan offensive will determine the tone taken by the empires in the next set of meetings.

A Romulan counterattack begins in late February. The first target is Indus where a bitter fight begins. Klingon units in the system have deployed numerous anti-cloaking sensor systems. Some being of the newest models out of Klingon R&D centers. These prevent the Romulans from using their usual ambush tactics. The Romulans suffer nearly 40% casualties and lose a third of their attacking Warbirds. Despite the heavy price paid the Romulans succeed in taking the system. The victory at Indus is followed up with attacks on the other Klingon occupied systems. By mid March, the Klingon Empire is left only with the Rubicon System which itself becomes a warzone. Neither side gains a distinct advantage in the system. As a result numerous battles occur as ships come in, beam down troops, and then retreat. The Klingon forces on Rubicon itself, a total ten divisions find themselves up against an equal force of Romulan Legions. Heavy fighting in space is mirrored on the planet, as Romulan Centurions and Klingon warriors, battle for the key points on the planet. All the while, both sides attempt to take out the others’ planetary shield generators, in order to call upon orbital strikes. General Yung is killed on Day 36 of the battle, when his battlecruiser was destroyed in an engagement with two Warbirds.

With the momentum of the war swinging in their favor, the Romulans become more arrogant and stonewalled at the negotiations. Sarek is unable to get the Romulans to budge from their newest demand. An immediate withdrawal of all Klingon forces from RSE space, and agreements to surrender several areas of disputed space to them. The Klingons naturally refuse, only amending their offer to leave them in control of the Rubicon System, which has not fallen. The Romulans break off all talks, concluding that the Klingons are not serious about peace. With the breakdown of the talks, it is unknown if the Romulans will continue the war beyond a mere restoration of their borders. The continuation and possible expansion of the war leaves the Federation in a very curious position.

In a way the war was a small blessing for the Federation. With their two largest rivals engaged in a nasty border war, neither the Klingon nor Romulan Empires are able to attack the UFP. Both sides are weakening their military forces in the campaign another benefit to the Federation which will soon be full involved with an overhaul of its own forces. Some in the Federation Council argue they should continue to let the Klingons and Romulans beat on each other. Others are not so sure. The pro-alliance members of the Federation and Starfleet want to get the war over with and focus on making the Klingons a partner of the UFP. They believe that the war will once and for all shatter any notions of a Klingon-Romulan Alliance, and push the High Council into seeking a better relationship with the UFP. Those against the treaty argue though that the militaristic nature of the Klingons will inevitably lead the Federation to choose between supporting the Empire sometime in the future in a foolish endeavor or break the alliance.

Two strong voices in the Federation end up helping decide the UFP’s policy. One is Ambassador Sarek. He says that it would be foolish to allow the opportunity to establish an alliance with the Klingons pass. While there are risks in the alliance, the long term benefits for the Federation outweigh the possible problems in the future. Sarek is joined in his opinion by his own son and famous former Starfleet officer Ambassador Spock. Spock, who was one of the first to meet with Chancellor Gorkon following the destruction of Praxis, joins his father in pushing for the Federation to side with the Klingons. He makes many of the same arguments as his father, and adds that other nations are starting to take advantage of the ongoing war. A weakened Klingon Empire could become a target for another hostile power, such as the Gorn or Cardassians. Together these elder statesmen of the Federation convince the council and president to begin more active measures to bring the war to an end.


The Opportunists

Spock’s mention of the instability caused by the Klingon War to the Federation Council is inspired by the ongoing expansion of several old and ‘new’ powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. The first is the Gorn Hegemony, who has launched several attacks on Romulan space. Each raid had been defeated by the Romulan fleet stationed opposite their border, but the Gorn rarely launch so many attacks in such a short period. With the Romulans occupied, the Gorn hope to take two disputed worlds long contested by the two powers. The battles for the systems and their M-Class planets are harsh and short. While the Romulans posses the advantages of cloaking technology and more maneuverable ships, the Gorn rely on sheer firepower and defenses. In their attacks the Gorn are unable to break through the defenses and land troops on either world, much to the relief of the Legions stationed on them.

The other power taking advantage of the war is the Cardassian Union. Compared to the other galactic powers the Cardassians are a fairly new addition. Industrial and technological development of Cardassia Prime (the Union’s homeworld) over the centuries has taken a heavy toll on the planet. The lack of natural resources and a growing population was one of the primary motives behind Cardassian efforts to reach space. Although they achieved space and later warp flight on their own, the Cardassians sacrificed much to achieve this. Cardassian society suffered from lack of resources and unrest grew over the decades. Eventually the Cardassian Central Command seized power in a coup. Desperate to improve their economy and reverse starvation the Central Command, the Cardassian’s military ruling body, launched invasions of nearby worlds and systems. One of these was Bajor, was slowly absorbed into the Union starting in 2319 and being completely annexed in 2323.

Since the Cardassians were late arrivals to space travel compared to the Klingons, Romulans, and Federation, the Union found itself boxed in by the others. Expansion was difficult against these major powers. While not inferior, Cardassian military technology of the early 24th Century was not quite on par with the other major powers. One area of conflict between the Cardassian Union and Klingon Empire was the Betrka Nebula. For the resource hungry Cardassians, the nebula offered a treasure trove of elements needed for the military and civilian industries. The Klingons, having other gas mines and processing centers didn’t value the nebula for its resources, but still laid claim to it. A Cardassian effort to capture the Betrka Nebula in 2328 begins an off again on again border skirmish between the Klingon Empire and the Union.

The Cardassian Central Command sees the Klingon-Romulan War as the prefect opportunity to finally take control of the system. Gul Udar commanding a force of 30 Cardassian ships attacks the nebula in March. The few Klingon forces on hand are easily swept aside and the Cardassians begin securing the nebula. Even with the war going on the Klingons send a force to deal with the Cardassian penetration. Gul Udar lays a trap for the Klingon task force of 60 ships. Using a mix of sensor decoys and his own units, Udar leads the KDF force into an area of the nebula where sensors and shields are less effective. Here the Klingons encounter a minefield which destroys ten of their ships and damages another 20. The follow up attack by Gul Udar’s forces, destroys another 19 ships, forcing the Klingons to leave the nebula. A protest is made by the Klingon Ambassador on Cardassia Prime. His protest is ignored by the Central Command, instead sending the ambassador to talk to the powerless Detapa Council, the one remnant of civilian authority. The Klingon High Council considers attack again but their military intelligence shows the Cardassians are working quickly to fortify Betrka. For now, the Klingons continue their diplomatic protests only.

The success at Betrka encourages the Central Command to try the same thing with the Romulans. Although sharing a smaller frontier with the RSE than the Klingons, there are several systems the Cardassians would like to annex. They attempt an attack against Beta Tomok, a system rich with rocky hard planets including an M-Class. Two million Romulans live on Tomok II, but the Cardassians aren’t interested in occupying them, the Bajorians are bad enough in the Central Command’s eyes. When they take the system, the Central Command plans to allow the civilian population to leave, as a sign of good faith.

Just as March ends, the Cardassians attack. A thin Romulan guard force is quickly overwhelmed and Cardassian soldiers begin beaming down on Tomok II. A brief bloody battle begins with the Romulan Centurions and the Cardassian invasion force, but they are defeated in a few days. Unlike the occupation force on Bajor, the Cardassians on Tomok are under strict orders to maintain their composure and treat the civilians with firm but gentle control. The few cases of abuse by Cardassian soldiers against civilians are treated harshly by the Glins and Guls in command, with several Cardassian soldiers being executed. Most Romulans choose not to engage in outright rebellion, trusting a secret message sent over the intranet of the planetary governor assuring that the RSN will be returning soon.

His comments are actually truer than the Romulan colonists realize. With their success on the Klingon front the Continuing Committee agrees that forces can be spared to push the Cardassians out. They placate the Cardassians by pretending to engage in talks with the Union’s ambassador on Romulus. While the Senate stalls, a task force is sent to retake the Tomok System. Cardassian defenses in the system are lighter than those they deployed in Betrka. This is partly the fault of the Obsidian Order, the Cardassian Union’s intelligence and internal security arm, which has misjudged the Romulan response. They informed the Central Command that the Romulans could spare few ships to launch a counterattack and with the beginning of talks between the ambassador and the Senate, the Order assures the military that a chance of an attack on Tomok is low.

Thanks to this intelligence report, the Romulans catch the forces in Tomok by surprise. Although the Cardassians had experience dealing with Klingon cloaking devices, the Romulan systems are far more sophisticated. Warbirds are able to ambush and catch Cardassian warships off guard. After suffering heavy losses the space forces withdrawal, leaving their ground troops abandoned on the planet. The Romulan 12th and 22nd Legions are transported and landed on the surface. They give the Cardassian 10th Order the option of surrendering or being destroyed. Gul Dumon in command however knows he can’t just give up without a fight. Not wanting to destroy the colony the Romulans opt not to bombard the planet from orbit. Gul Dumon does allow the Romulan civilians to be evacuated prior to start of hostilities. The ground battle is brief but violent, with the 10th Order being outnumbered 2:1. Even with their advantage the Romulans take heavier than expected causalities. Eventually they abandon the exclusion on orbital strikes and use precision attacks from orbit to destroy the heaviest fortified positions of the Cardassians. Gul Dumon, wounded finally gives the order to surrender. Nearly half of the 10th Order is killed in the battle.

With Tomok II retaken, the Romulan Senators negotiating with the Cardassian Ambassador make their final point clear. The RSE is willing to regard the border incursion as an isolated incident. They thank the Cardassians for the conduct of their troops during the short possession of the planet and inform the ambassador that this is the only reason the 10th Order survivors are being returned to the Cardassian Union. The RSE Senators then warn the Cardassians that if they ever try anything like this again in the future, the full weight of the Romulan Star Empire will fall on their space. The Central Command is upset at not being able to lay claim to the Tomok System, but agrees that they shouldn’t press their luck.

Some begin suggesting they look for new territories from the Klingons in the future, if their war with the Romulans continues to go badly then further annexations of their territory may be possible. Another group however looks at the Federation as a possible target. A number of habitable and resource rich planets lie in Federation space on their frontier with the Union. The Central Command’s top Legates and Guls decide not to continue any expansion at the moment. They agree to discuss the possible targets of Cardassian expansion at a later date, choosing instead to focus on their current gains.

[Silver]

Another great gtrof. Man, those Cardassians are thinking of conquering and annexing a number of planets in Federation space in the future. It will be very interesting when the Cardassian forces meet the new and improved Federation armed forces for the very first time. Something tells me that it will really go very badly for the Cardassians.

[Sargon]

I agree - this is bloody good stuff. Really absorbing and a believable campaigns going on here. The Romulan strategy was pretty good at turning thins around there.

I've always had a soft spot for the Gorns. I seem to remember from one of my FASA starship combat games years ago that they were described as getting on well with the Federation after an initial misunderstanding and were amused by the humans using dinosaur terms when referencing various things about them. Their ships were unsubtle though. Loaded with blasters and looking like flying bricks, and pretty slow in comparison to other races, they definitely preferred the brute force approach and their lack of more subtle tactics could land them in trouble. Let them get close enough though...

Nice to see Spock appear. It's hard not to agree with the logic of him and his father about the long term benefits. After all with the Borg and Dominion yet to show up, unknown to them at this point they're really going to need that alliance.

Keep up the good work. Definitely looking forward to more.


Sargon

[archangel]

The Cardassian threat may lead the Romulans to become more friendly to the UFP, joining the Klingons as a prospective ally (and perhaps a member in the future).

Keep it up, gtrof!

[astrogay4999]

what a great timeline, fantastci, the cardassians are going to have a nasty surprise subcribing