State of the Federation

Recent News:

Federation Council to convene emergency session to address the Bok’Nor Pact. Federation President Shezor Ell to give statement later today.

The following is a timeline of events up to and through the beginnings of the Federation Civil War, leading up to the starting point of Star Trek: Above & Beyond’s story.

2371

The USS Tempest investigates an anomaly in an uncharted system near Pacifica. It is listed as Missing in Action shortly thereafter, and assumed destroyed.

November 2394

The Second Tzenkethi war ends. As the peace treaty is being signed, rogue Tzenkethi attack the ceremony. United Federation of Planets President Shezor Ell is presumed dead. Ronan Karn, then-Federation Security Chief, is sworn in as the Federation mourns.

December 2394

Starfleet’s elite Special Tactics and Reconnaissance (STAR) team leads a raid on Sigma Rho Station near the Tzenkethi border to expel the last of the Tzenkethi from Federation space. Damage to the station is extensive, but the STAR team is successful.

July 2395

The USS Bremen, following the urging of Tactical Officer Andrew Harlan, investigates Twissel, a planetary disaster site. Its twelve billion inhabitants were wiped out by a nova event of their parent star, several years ago. Harlan reveals his true identity as Cix Jordaïn, an El-Aurian AWOL Starfleet Admiral and former Section 31 operative who explains that Twissel was shifted into subspace as a result of secret weapon tests by Section 31, interacting with a regular coronal castoff by the planet’s star. A reclusive, yet highly advanced people, the Twisselians were percieved by Section 31 as a guaranteed future threat to the Federation. After a failed attempt at controlling the planet through political infiltration, Twissel aithorities expel all UFP representatives and declares a state of defense. Section 31, desperate to cover up their failure and intent on preventing escalation, decide to eradicate the Twissel people altogether, covering their genocidal actions under the inherent instability of the system’s star. After some debate, Captain Sara Sumner consents with Jordaïn’s plan to recreate the incident in order to rescue the people of Twissel. The plan is a success, but the Bremen is heavily damaged in the process.

Captain Sumner allows Jordaïn, technically a fugitive, to escape with a shuttle.

After the rescue, a ceremony is held in the Bremen’s honor by Admiral Elsbeth Bantree.

August 2395

The USS Hyperion is sent on a diplomatic mission to Vintaki, an unaligned Romulan colony under pressure by the Romulan Empire to return to the fold. With tensions between the Empire and the Federation rising over the Federation’s support of the Romulan Republic, Captain Jonathan Rome is chosen to find a peaceful solution that would check the Empire’s aggression while also easing tensions.

En route to Vintaki, the Hyperion is alerted to a breach of the quarantine around the Vendor system and ordered to investigate. They find a damaged shuttle with a single occupant who claims breaking quarantine was accidental. In a private conversation, the man reveals to Captain Rome that he is a Section 31 operative on an important mission related to Vintaki. Knowing Captain Rome’s history with the shadow organization, the operative feels that only honesty would convince Rome of the mission’s necessity.

Shortly after, during inspection of the shuttle, a Vendorian attacks Commander Danann, the Hyperion’s Navigation officer, and takes her form. The chaos is short-lived, however, as the Operative informs the crew that the Vendorian is scared and otherwise friendly.

Displeased with the deception, Captain Rome nevertheless continues to Vintaki, where he attempts to negotiate with the Commander of the Imperial vessel in orbit of the planet. After several attempts, it is clear that the Romulan Commander will not budge, and will begin landing troops on Vintaki to take it by force. Desperate to prevent it, Captain Rome allows the Operative to carry out his original plan to replace the Commander with the Vendorian in order to end the takeover.

Elsewhere, a massive ion storm threatens a Federation colony, and the USS Bremen is sent to the Delta Leonis system with a desparate plan: detonate the star in order to divert the storm. The colony will not be evacuated in time, and with two-hundred million lives at stake, the Leonis plan is seen as the only option. Upon arrival at Delta Leonis, an M-class planet is discovered, one that is not listed in official records of the system. 

Further, a primative, pre-warp civilization numbering nearly two-hundred thousand are detected by scans, along with one human lifesign. The Bremen rescues the human woman, but Captain Sumner is faced with a difficult choice. If the Leonis star is not destroyed, the nearby Federation colony will be obliterated. If it is, the pre-warp civilization will be destroyed as well, an extreme violation of the Prime Directive. The choice weighs heavily, but Sumner reasons that two-hundred million lives are worth more than two-hundred thousand, and orders the star destroyed. Later, after lengthy analysis, Chief Science Officer Raqiin sh’Hruvek discovers the ion storm is a direct result of the rescue of Twissel.

Captain Sumner addresses these issues with Admiral Bantree, and is told that no records of the civilization or the cause of the storm can be kept. She orders all information related to the storm or the civilization be erased from the Bremen’s computer. Shaken by the realization that her actions were responsible for the tragedy, Captain Sumner loses confidence in her ability to lead. Making matters worse, Admiral Bantree intends another award ceremony for saving another colony.

During the ceremony, Bajoran separatists calling themselves the Order of the New Kai detonate several explosive devices in the station where it is being held. Several of Sumner’s crew are gravely wounded, including Lieutenant sh’Hruvek, who loses parts of both legs. In the chaos of the attack, the woman rescued at Delta Leonis gives a member of the Bremen crew a datarod and uses the confusion to disappear. After some technical difficulties, the datarod is deciphered. Among the information contained within is evidence suggesting that Admiral Bantree is involved with Section 31.

Incensed, Captain Sumner takes the evidence to Bantree and demands an explanation. After a conversation with a tired-seeming Bantree, Captain Sumner makes a decision. Sumner conspires with the recovering Lieutenant sh’Hruvek to recreate as much of the information about Twissel and the ion storm as they can and leak the information to the Federation News Network. Sumner’s initial plan is to clandestinely give the information to a reporter on the station, Alexandra Lincoln. However, Lincoln disappears shortly after, and Captain Sumner is forced to come up with a new plan.

Sumner contacts her brother Henry, a former Starfleet officer and Starfleet Intelligence operative, and arranges an in-person meeting.

February 2396

After several months of waiting, the information about Twissel leaks. Copies of the report are simultaneously uploaded to all public information sources thanks to a virus created by the USS Bremen’s former Chief Engineer, Tony Adalberto, and initiated by Henry Sumner. Starfleet attempts to remove the reports as quickly as possible, but the mass distribution has its intended effect: too many people see it before it can be removed.

The report has little in the way of hard evidence, as the sensor logs were erased from the Bremen’s computer, but the report both fits the known facts and explains a few missing ones. It takes a few weeks, but journalists from FNN and other news agencies begin following up, questioning both Starfleet and Captain Sumner personally. For a while, Captain Sumner plays ignorant, but as the questions mount, she eventually confirms the report. Starfleet Command is flooded with requests for comment, and scrambles to try and explain.

While they can’t prove it, Starfleet Command suspects Captain Sumner of leaking the report, and the Bremen is ordered to Sigma Rho to await inquiry.

At this time, the Sigma Rho station has completed its repairs and begins a series of upgrades to the aging station’s systems. In the process, several communication logs from the Tzenkethi occupation of the station are discovered. The logs indicate that members of Section 31 conspired with the Tzenkethi separatists to assassinate Shezor Ell, likely in order to install Ronan Karn as Federation President. This information comes at the worst possible time for Starfleet Command, and what had been a series of nagging questions becomes an unprecedented scandal. Accusations are made of treason, and several members of the Federation Council demand that Ronan Karn resign.

Back at Sigma Rho, further communication records indicate that the rogue Tzenkethi intended to betray Section 31 by keeping Shezor Ell alive for future blackmail. Faced with the possibility that President Ell may still be alive, Captain Sumner asks for volunteers to disobey orders and take the Bremen on a rescue mission. Nearly every member of the crew volunteers. Captain Sumner sends an encrypted message as the Bremen departs.

Meanwhile, Admiral Martin Walker, who had been forcefully retired, contacts the Hyperion and Captain Rome. Starfleet Intelligence has discovered a fleet being constructed in secret by Section 31, and Walker wants Rome to investigate and find a way to neutralize the fleet. As the communication logs are being discovered aboard Sigma Rho, the Hyperion travels to the reported site of the fleet and finds that the reports are accurate. Section 31 is constructing a fleet inside a small nebula. More than that, they are constructing replicas of current ships, including the Bremen and Hyperion. 

As Walker and Rome contemplate a course of action, the news about the communication logs hits, as do reports of the Bremen heading into Tzenkethi space. Before the Hyperion can stop it, the secret fleet mobilizes and splits in two as it leaves the nebula. The Hyperion pursues the larger portion of the fleet, which heads to Sigma Rho.

The Bremen arrives at the location of the rogue Tzenkethi stronghold where President Ell is supposedly being held. The system is swarming with smaller Tzenkethi craft and a few larger ships. The crew determine the likely location of the holding facility, and attempts a desperate plan – fly to the facility, locate the President, and rescue him before they are destroyed by the Tzenkethi. It doesn’t go well, and soon the Bremen is fighting for its life. As things begin to look hopeless, more Tzenkethi ships arrive, led by the Tzenkethi Autarch, whom the Bremen had aided in the war with the rogue Tzenkethi. The Autarch’s forces provide enough relief for the Bremen to rescue Shezor Ell and escape back to Federaton space.

A brief standoff occurs at Sigma Rho as the secret fleet prepares to assault the station. The Hyperion arrives and enters Multi-Vector Assault Mode, and a skirmish ensues. The Hyperion fights valiantly, but is outnumbered and outgunned until the arrival of Admiral Walker with some backup – the Defiant-class USS Vonnegut and the experimental Sovereign-class prototype USS Melbourne. Together with the station, they are able to repel the Section 31 fleet.

The Bremen returns, and once confronted with proof that Shezor Ell is alive, elements of Starfleet Command and the Federation Council attempt to restore him to power. They are surprised, however, to find nearly half of all Fleet Admirals siding with Ronan Karn. Similarly, scores of Federation worlds, primarily in the Beta Quadrant, refuse to recognize Shezor Ell, and pledge allegiance to Karn. Federation ships soon find their weapons trained on each other as chaos erupts amidst Starfleet leadership, and it becomes apparent that Section 31 has been engineering this potential outcome for years, perhaps even decades.

As small skirmishes erupt throughout the Federation’s core, Admiral Walker, who had been working with elements of Starfleet Intelligence to expose Section 31, takes command of Starfleet forces loyal to President Ell and organizes a rapid response. After days of heavy fighting, Section 31’s ships are expelled from Earth, Vulcan, and Andoria. Ronan Karn and his administration are exiled. Starfleet and the Federation now face civil war.

March 2396

After more than 25 years, the USS Tempest reports in to Starfleet Command at Pacifica, seemingly experiencing a temporal event after discovering the USS Paris. As the ship and crew await a visit by Temporal Affairs, Pacifica experiences a massive earthquake which flattens much of the planet’s capital. Much of the bridge crew are briefly trapped in a building on the surface, but are soon rescued by Starfleet and planetary personnel. As the only Starfleet ship in the vicinity, Admiral Glenn, who had been on vacation, utilizes the Tempest to coordinate emergency relief efforts.

Once the immediate chaos has passed, the Tempest crew investigates the cause of the earthquake and discovers that plasma-based explosives have been detonated in the seabed. The investigation leads to the discovery of the Naradra, relatives of the native Selkie who had been persecuted millennia prior and forced to live deep in the planet’s oceans. The Naradra view the Federation presence as an act of aggression, and promise war. However, after speaking with representatives of the Naradra, Captain Savage learns that the Naradra are on the brink of extinction. After some negotiation, the Naradra call off their attacks and agree to speak with the Federation’s Diplomatic Corps.

The sense of success is short-lived as agents from Temporal Affairs arrive and begin to question the crew about the events thought brought them into the future. Deep dysfunction within the crew is discovered, primarily between First Officer Sullivan Derringer and Chief Tactical Officer Johnny Cleveland, who suspects Commander Derringer of being responsible for the event. In the chaos, Chief Medical Officer Elianna Kestran reveals that the ship did not in fact jump forward in time, but that the medical information she’d gathered suggested they’d all been in stasis.

As accusations against Commander Derringer mount, the beleaguered First Officer lashes out and draws a weapon, but is shot by Temporal Affairs agent Jonson before he can use it. Following the incident it is determined that the crew requires additional analysis, but given the state of the Federation, it is decided that the crew be allowed to reintegrate.

Meanwhile, Starfleet continues to root out and expel every element of Section 31 it can find.

May 2396

As the last elements of Section 31 are chased out of Starfleet, Ronan Karn calls a meeting of a provisional council comprised of the 61 former Federation worlds within Section 31-held territory. After several days of debate, a vote is called to determine whether Ronan Karn will turn himself over to the Federation, or if the systems that support him should officially secede from the United Federation of Planets. The resolution to secede passes, and the True Federation is founded.

All told, nearly half of Starfleet joins Karn and the True Federation, and those that remain loyal to Shezor Ell find themselves stretched thin. A ceasefire is called as Starfleet forces pull back from the new border. Starfleet widely believes the ceasefire can only be temporary, and begins aggressively recruiting new members and constructing new ships in anticipation for war.

The USS Tempest is given surprising orders by Admiral Walker: their ship is to relocate to Odyssey Station in orbit of Aldebaran, and Captain Savage is to become the station’s Commanding Officer.

Meanwhile the Federation’s split has a destabilizing effect on the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, and seemingly every major power either suffers discord, or seeks to take advantage of the instability of others.

June 2396

A substantial force of Klingon vessels launches a surprise assault on the True Federation world Archanis, long a point of contention between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The planet is occupied for two weeks before the True Federation can direct enough ships to retake the planet. The Klingon High Council disavows the attack, but makes no steps to discourage further assaults, stating that ‘if the True Federation cannot defend itself, the High Council will not defend their worlds for them.’

There is substantial argument amongst the Starfleet Admiralty about whether to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Klingons, but Admiral Walker and President Ell decide against it, citing continued hope that the conflict between the Federations can be ended peacefully.

July 2396

The Romulan Star Empire renews their effort to bring the worlds of the Romulan Republic to heel. Bound by treaty, the Federation is forced to send ships to protect several key Republic worlds in order to dissuade the Empire from initiating open war. A tense standoff follows.

Hopes that the True Federation might show the same restraint the Federation showed during the Klingon raids is dashed as TF forces launch a number of assaults against Federation worlds. The heaviest fighting takes place in orbit of Aldus as the True Federation seeks to gain a foothold among the core planets. Starfleet’s forces are supplemented by Vulcan and Andorian militia ships. After nearly a week of heavy battle, the True Federation is forced to retreat.

Elsewhere, the True Federation lays siege to Risa and moves against Ba’ku. The Federation Council sees these assaults as particularly egregious due to Risa’s lack of strategic value, and Ba’ku only being a protectorate of the Federation. Starfleet Command is forced to recall several fleets from the Alpha Quadrant to re-secure Risa and Ba’ku.

August 2396

Calls for a full invasion of the True Federation are renewed in the wake of the assaults on Risa and Ba’ku, but continued tensions with the Romulans means the Federation no longer has the resources to do it. President Ell is forced to declare a Federation-wide state of emergency, the first since the Dominion War. Production of new ships is prioritized, and conscription is briefly considered by the Federation Council before being forcefully refuted by President Ell and Starfleet Command.

Recruitment increases dramatically anyway, as the images of the assaults on Risa and Ba’ku become effective propaganda against the True Federation.

September 2396

The Romulan Star Empire is forced to withdraw from Republic space following a series of Klingon raids on Imperial systems. The Federation leaves a token force of ships to defend the Republic, but redeploys most to reinforce the core planets, giving the Federation a distinct advantage. Despite President Ell’s reservations, he approves a plan by Starfleet Command to launch an assault against Zavijava, the True Federation world closest to Earth.

October 2396

The Federation meets heavy resistance at Zavijava as Section 31 forces spring a number of surprises. A large number of enemy ships have had their transponders removed, their hulls replaces by dark, sensor-absorbant materials, and have been fitted with cloaking devices, all in violation of interstellar law. While Starfleet has a numbers advantage, they suffer heavy casualties due to these modifications. After three days, Starfleet is forced to withdraw or leave themselves vulnerable to counterattack.

Upon reviewing the data from the failed assault, Admiral Walker raises a worrying possibility – with the modifications they’ve seen, the True Federation could have ships deep in Federation territory. A number of special task force fleets are assembled to begin searching for these potential marauders.

November 2396

Klingon raids into True Federation space increase in frequency, and attempts to question the High Council’s involvement by Federation diplomats are met with threats of withdrawal from the Khitomer Accords. The Federation stands down from its inquiry, but relations between the Federation and Klingon Empire cool significantly.

Now faced with fighting on two fronts, representatives from the True Federation approach the Federation Council with an offer of ceasefire. Despite the reservations of Starfleet, President Ell urges the council to accept the terms of the ceasefire, and an indefinite truce is called.

January 2397

Tensions between the Tzenkethi Coalition and Breen Confederacy erupt in open warfare, stemming from the Breen’s support of the attempted coup that lead to the Second Tzenkethi War. The initial fighting is fierce and chaotic, and despite warnings from the Federation Council, several Federation worlds are threatened as the war ignores the Tzenkethi and Breen borders.

The Federation colonies of Free Haven and Dreon become literal battlefields, and Starfleet is forced to intervene, sending a fleet led by the USS Hyperion to expel both powers from the area. This angers the Tzenkethi Autarch, but she agrees to take greater control of her forces in exchange for raw materials. After much deliberation, the Federation Council agrees.

April 2397

After months of raids, the True Federation launches an assault of their own into Klingon space. President Karn insists the Klingon High Council is responsible for the raids, which the High Council denies. The High Chancellor requests aid from the Federation, but President Ell is hesitant to break the ceasefire, as the Federation’s resources remain stretched thin. The Federation Council ultimately votes against intervention. As a result, the Klingon High Council expels all Federation diplomats and withdraws from the Khitomer Accords.

Criticism of President Ell mounts from both Federation member worlds and Starfleet Command.

A sizable Breen force of 200 ships launches an invasion of the Free Haven colony in response to the Federation’s material support for the Tzenkethi. The USS Hyperion mounts a valiant defense with less than fifty vessels at its disposal. The defending fleet manages to keep the invasion at bay long enough for a fleet from Deep Space Nine to arrive, but the Hyperion is destroyed in the process. Fortunately, loss of life in minimal, but the crew watches helplessly from escape pods as the three modules burn in Free Haven’s atmosphere.

June 2397

The True Federation launches a series of raids against the Federation, breaking the ceasefire. The raids target smaller groups of ships in transit, seemingly designed to weaken Starfleet’s logistical network.

The USS Bremen is ambushed near the Betreka Nebula, and is believed destroyed for nearly a week. A small search and rescue fleet picks up a primitive signal from within the nebula, and the crew is rescued. The Bremen, however, is unsalvageable. 

July 2397

Admiral Niriel Tan orders her fleet to launch a raid against Starbase 12 near Deneva against orders from President Ell. Starbase 12 is heavily damaged in the attack, and Admiral Tan is court-martialed. In statements to the Federation News Network, the Admiral justifies the raid by claiming that President Ell is unfit to lead the Federation, and that his inaction has allowed the separatist forces to cause significant damage and loss of life.

Starfleet Command affirms its support of President Ell in response, but public support for President Ell plummets. Starfleet Command quietly arranges a meeting with President Ell to discuss the situation.

August 2397

Despite rumors that President Ell may resign, he instead announces that he will not seek reelection in 2398, and that he will recuse himself from decision-making regarding the conflict with the True Federation. Starfleet begins a significant buildup of forces along the True Federation border, and it is believed that a major offensive is imminent.