THE STATE OF EMPIRE, 2387
Peace reigns in the Quadrant. A triumphant Federation has destroyed the mortal enemy of Freedom, the Dominion, and sent it back across the wormhole from where it came, and now stands as the predominant power in the region. Their century-long enemy, the hardfought foe of Cardassia, has been brought to heel and, with an allied - cynics might say puppet - government, they are no longer a thorn on the side of Starfleet. Relations with the Klingon Empire, disregarding the usual border disputes and brazen acts of individual privateers, have never been higher. Even the Romulan Empire, shrouded behind the veil of the Neutral Zone, has been making overtures of peace and reconciliation. Optimistic scholars say that reunification with Vulcan is possible within a generation. And all of this is to the direct benefit of the Federation, which in the wake of the Dominion War has swelled to a size never seen before. In other words, the Federation stands unchallenged in its corner of the Galaxy. It seems that the Eternal Peace, which billions of men and women gave their lives for in dozens of star systems and fleet actions, was a dream that was worth fighting for. It is now not only a dream, but a reality made possible by their sacrifice. Post-War prosperity rings in good times throughout the Federation, as Starfleet returns to its normal mission of exploration after being on war footing for almost ten years. It seems that life, after such chaos and destruction, is finally returning to normal.
But it is soon all about to change.
Disjointed and oft contradictory reports begin flooding the listening posts along the Neutral Zone, the officers manning the post not used to such activity from the usually secretive and paranoid Empire. Not much is able to be made out of the chaotic transmissions, except visions of an Apocalypse drawing near. As more reports fly in, the picture comes into focus. The worst fears of Starfleet are confirmed when a Romulan Warbird decloaks on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone, asking for asylum for their crew:
Romulus has been destroyed, and the Romulan Empire is disintegrating by the minute.
The various client states and slave races once kept in check by the military might of the Emperor are unleashed upon the dying Empire. The Remans, not having tasted independence since Man discovered fire on Earth, raise up the standards of their ancient Kingdom. But there are many claimants to the Obsidian Throne, each with their own men to draw upon. The Nausicaans, the Vronnuks, the Troknai, and the thousand other slave races once subject to oppressive Romulan rule too raise their banners in rebellion, but only time will tell if their struggle for independence will succeed.
The Romulan Government, having been decapitated by the loss of Romulus, scrambles to find itself in the swirling mess of the Empire. A Provisional Council, set up along Federation ideals of representative democracy - or at least a Romulan conception of it - is formed and quickly finds itself in contact with the Federation, seeking aid in the coming civil strife. Elsewhere, warlords with their squadrons roam the Empire, a headless army without a leader or a mission. They tear through star systems, looking for purpose but finding only loot and bloodshed. Rumors roll throughout the remnants of the Romulan Star Navy that, somewhere deep in Imperial space, the Empire continues on with a relative of the last Emperor on the throne, and is preparing itself for the restoration of the Empire.
It is clear to all the powers in the region that the vacuum caused by the destabilization of the Empire can only mean one thing. War is coming. The Klingons mobilize their military forces and begin sending punitive expeditions into the fractured and weakened Imperium, exacting revenge for crimes done onto their people. Squadrons of birds-of-prey and cruisers fly from their bases, bloodlust in their eyes as they descend upon the defenseless Romulan colonies.
Frantically, the 12th Fleet - normally kept in reserve for anti-piracy operations, is deployed to the Neutral Zone to deal with the incoming refugee crisis and, ostensibly, to keep the peace. One of these ships, practically rushed out of the drydock, is the USS Vigilance, an aged Ambassador-class starship in drydock for extended repairs. The crew is picked from those on temporary duty assignment and, with a brief shakedown cruise to the Neutral Zone the only thing to prepare them, are sent out to enforce the Federation's ideals of Freedom, Democracy, and Liberty.
Or, at least, that is what they believe. For the dawn of a New Galactic Order is peaking over the Milky Way Horizon, and it can be stopped by no man.
The Meat of IT
Hello all! Thanks for reading that little blurb but I wanted to set the scene for all of you "in-character" before I set about expositioning. So basically, the story picks up right where the first reboot movie leaves us, with the destruction of Romulus. Instead of fleeing to an alternate universe, we take up the story and pursue it to the end here. I don't really have a full thorough plot planned out except in generalities (that I won't show my hand to just yet!) but the idea is that there will be episodic-like missions that grow into a whole story arc. Nothing in this roleplay will be self-contained, but rather every mission our characters go on will affect things. So that means your decisions will impact my idea of the plotline! How exciting.
I anticipate this to deal with a lot of themes that are commonplace in history and today: the cutting of the cake of a dying Empire by stronger powers, the clashing of Empires for their spheres of influence, an uncontrollable refugee crisis, and everything in between. This story may be a little "dark" for Star Trek but I believe that it's something that is topical and definitely something that would occur. The destruction of Romulus, and the fracturing of their Empire, is a tantalizing subject that I believe can yield a lot of story potential.
I am in the Navy myself so I will try my best to inject my subject knowledge onto Starfleet, and I hope that all of you can bear with me as I may slightly alter some things that otherwise would be considered "non-canon" or unspoken of. One of these will be enlisted personnel. You will see more of this later in this post when I talk about characters I need filled, but we will see the whole level of the crew lined up to what a real-life Navy ship has. A ship cannot run without its chiefs or its petty officers, and I believe a starship is no different. We will pretend as if Star Trek always had visible enlisted personnel. That means no more Ensigns doing the work that Seamen would normally do.
I'm willing to take in everyone's suggestions for where to take this story, like "episodes" that you would want to see played out. Remember this is your story too. I will take the role of not only the Captain, but also of the "Narrator" who will occasionally drop information pertinent to move the storyline along. This may be unorthodox but I want to make sure the story moves towards a conclusion, as I've done roleplays in the past that, for the lack of a better word, meander. And, finally, I will avoid sticking to any EU (STO and/or novels) on their vision of the Trek post-Nemesis/Romulus destruction. I will take some notes and cues from them, but this story is self-contained. It allows for more freedom of movement.
Finally, I expect people to have some subject matter knowledge on Star Trek and the ability to write in the universe and also with a military bearing on it. I know Star Trek doesn't have this but the world post-Dominion War, I imagine Starfleet to be far more militarized than what we've seen. As far as posting, I want to emphasize quality over all else. A length of a post, as long as it's a paragraph or two, doesn't matter as much to me as the quality of it. Proper grammar, descriptive words, all that good stuff. Expect this to be held to a "High Casual" standard.
Essentially we will be controlling senior officers and their respective departments. There will a slight deviation from RPing orthodoxy on characters in this RP, as all of the characters already are written up by me. Essentially you as the RPer will pick a department (Sciences, Combat, Operations) and control the two senior officers there and their respective departments. I will be controlling the Command Staff (CO, XO, and CMC). If enough people show interest, I'll post the OOC with the characters and fact-sheets.
