The Sim

In 2381, six years after the Dominion signed the Treaty of Bajor, a political upheaval struck the Alpha Quadrant. Rumors that the Romulan sun would soon go supernova rippled beyond the Empire’s borders. Admiral Jean Luc Picard was appointed by Starfleet to initiate the largest humanitarian mission ever conceived - relocate billions from impacted sectors to nearby worlds. These efforts were equally applauded and condemned by factions left and right. Klingons spat at the doorstep of Federation Embassies. Ferengis inflated merchandise. Cardassians collected intelligence.

All good things come to an end, including the best of intentions. A rogue Romulan faction secretly conspired with Federation officials and hijacked the synthetic workforce at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, destroying the Federation’s primary manufacturing and construction facility. Starfleet’s reaction was an unequally opposite reaction, completely closing its borders and refocusing its still small Starfleet on internal growth and rebuilding. Romulans were left alone to fend for themselves, including the fledgling colonies planted by Admiral Picard and his Verity fleet.

The years passed and the Federation continued to focus on internal recovery, gradually withdrawing support, material, and personnel from its own border colonies and outposts along the Romulan, Klingon, Cardassian, and Dominion borders. These worlds, once thriving hubs of trade and diplomacy, now faced uncertainty. Their defenses weakened, they became tempting targets.

When the Romulan star went supernova in 2387, not a soul blinked an eye at the loss of billions of Romulans. The galaxy simply moved on, while the gaping hole that was once the Romulan Star Empire was slowly filled with unsavory types all looking for forgotten pieces to consume.

Ever vigilant, the Romulan Tal’Shiar detected the isolationist Federation’s growing vulnerability. Tal’Shiar agents infiltrated border worlds and slipped inside the Federation, gathering and weaponizing intelligence. Praetor Vrax, a cunning strategist, saw an opportunity. He believed that a shift, decisive strike could weaken the Federation’s resolve and expand Romulan influence – just so long as the Federation remained blind to his initiative.

The Tal’Shiar spun a web of deceit and false fronts, beginning with the establishment of the Romulan Free State, a hodge-podge of a government meant to unite the colonies of Romulus and Remus once more. The Zhat Vash harnessed the public visibility of the artifact and used the androids on Coppelius to distract Starfleet. Drug and labor trafficking were fenced through border colonies and worlds such as M’talas Prime and Stardust fed more false information while secret Romulan shipyards constructed new warbirds. New generations of Romulan soldiers were conscripted, led by promises of a better life.

Vrax slowly amassed his fleet along what remained of the Romulan/Federation border, an area of space once known as the Neutral Zone. Their crews trained for precision strikes. The Romulan Senate debated the morality of aggression, but Vrax’s faction prevailed. They believed that preemptive action was necessary to secure Romulan interests. All that mattered was finding the right moment.

In 2401, that moment finally arrived. A Borg and Changeling alliance launched a bold move during Frontier Day, rapidly assimilating young Starfleet officers in an attempt to destroy the planet Earth. Their effort was barely averted, but not before Starfleet lost twenty percent of its forced, with another thirty percent requiring repair and refit over the next five years. Vrax laid in wait for three months, allowing the Federation fleet to redeploy and reveal to him their new weaknesses along their supply lines, not to mention the reduced effectiveness and coverage of Starfleet vessels along the border.

On a fateful day in Summer 2401, the Romulan fleet decloaked near the Federation border worlds: New Rigel: A bustling trade hub, now defenseless. Tarsus IV: A colony known for its agricultural exports. Epsilon Indi: A scientific outpost studying subspace anomalies. Romulan disruptors fired. Orbital defense platforms fell. Ground installations crumbled. Civilians fled, and Starfleet personnel fought valiantly, but the odds were against them. The Romulans seized control of New Rigel and Tarsus IV swiftly. Epsilon Indi held out, but its shields wavered long enough for help to arrive. In its orbit, the USS Valiant held off a Romulan squadron while evacuation ships fled the planet.

Starfleet scrambled to reinforce the border. Diplomats pleaded for restraint, but the Romulans remained unyielding. The Romulan Empire had struck first, and the borders trembled.