STAR TREK: THE NEW ORDER
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, those awaiting transfer orders, and others given order modifications to stock the crew, 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.
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The concept of this roleplay comes from an attempted/aborted group RP I intended to do a few months ago. The idea never got much traction but I've been musing over resurrecting it in a 1x1 setting. I've looked far and wide for interest checks that have a pairing interest in Star Trek but I haven't had much luck, so I'm casting my line out here to see if anyone will bite. To better acclimate oneself to the world and the setting, I had a wealth (see: a fuckload) of supplemental material written for the group RP. You can find it here, and I would recommend reading through it to understand the setting.
Essentially, this roleplay will begin a week or so after the destruction of Romulus and Remus, and follow our characters aboard USS Vigilance, an aged starship brought out of certain fate of being pawned off to one of the defense forces/scrapped for parts, and its trip through the chaotic Romulan space. I did not particularly enjoy Star Trek: Picard (or Discovery, for that matter) so the canon that was established in that series should be considered not applicable to this roleplay. The lore for this was written well before the show came out in any regard, and in any case I felt like it simply wasn't up to snuff.
The Starfleet in this world is far more militaristic, far more willing to fight, than what we've come to see in The Next Generation and such. It's been a good amount of years since the end of the Dominion War, and most of the junior officers at the time are now leading starships of their own - and their viewpoint is now inherently different from that of the older class of officers, who served in peacetime. There's some modifications I've made as well, with enlisted ranks and other such things, but we can pretend that there were always enlisted folk running around. I can't imagine any butter-bar cleaning tubes for a living, I can tell you that. I'm in the US Navy myself and I've always hoped to inject that experience into a roleplay like this.
Now that all of that is aside, my idea for this is to utilize the character of Captain Strenn as my main. The other characters in that list will simply be side characters who have a more elaborate backstory than most. Since you'll be going in a little blind, and I think also to create some tension and dramatic flair, my concept for your character would be a junior diplomat attached to the ship from the Federation Foreign Office, sent to aid relations with the burgeoning Romulan Provisional Government.
My rules are pretty simple I'd say. I like realism and a dedication to the world that we're writing it, so that's pretty much a given. Don't make your character a perfect person or anything too ridiculous. Post size doesn't bother me as much as giving me something to write against, to add to, so I'm more of a quality-over-quantity guy. If you happen to drop off, let me know. I'm fully understanding. I'm pretty busy IRL as well so if I happen to drop off, I'll be sure to let you know instead of hanging you out to dry.
If you're interested, PM me and I can send you the character sheet and we can get cracking.