Star Trek Online/Codex/The Path to 2409/2408

The Klingon and Gorn invaded Cestus III, and Starfleet massed a fleet to defend the planet and its population.

"This area has been on the Gorn's list since the days of James T. Kirk," said Pike City Mayor Jae Aaron. "But we're not afraid of the Gorn, or the Klingons, or anyone else for that matter. No one's leaving the stadium until the final inning."

Starfleet officials tried to convince the colonists to evacuate for safety reasons, but the vast majority of them refused to leave. The residents of Cestus III vowed to stay and defend their homes.

"We appreciate the spirit of the Cestus III residents, but we implore them to consider evacuating. At least send the young and ill to safety," said Starfleet spokesperson Loris Brex. "This is a war. We can't promise a happy ending."

On Stardate 85365.28, years of instability and infighting in the Romulan Star Empire seemingly came to a close with the coronation of Empress Sela. The new empress would not have a praetor, and the Senate would serve at her pleasure.

"Security has clamped down in the capital," a Starfleet Intelligence source inside Romulan space said. "The Romulans say that they have reason to believe that there may be an assassination attempt on the empress, but I think it's more than that. This is the first time Sela can show just how much control she has."

Observers at the coronation of Empress Sela said that it proceeded with as much pomp and circumstance as the recovering Romulan Star Empire could muster. Sela called for a return to the traditions of old, including the carrying of honor blades and blood oaths.

In fact, before taking the crown the empress used a jeweled blade to cut her own palm. As the blood dripped down onto a rug of white fur, Sela took an oath to uphold and preserve the empire with her life.

"Tradition is very important in this new order," the SI source said. "Sela is consciously recalling a golden age on the old homeworld, and using those memories to inspire the people. They're talking about mnhei'sahe again, and a lot of people have started referring to Nova Roma as Mol'Rihan, which is 'New Romulus' in High Rihannsu."

After Starfleet lost contact with Starbase 236 in late September, it sent the U.S.S. Enterprise-E to investigate.

"This could be related to the war. It could be something else. It could be a simple equipment failure," Brex said. "Our primary concern is the safety of the starbase crew." And a Starfleet committee determined that because of retirements, deaths and the increasing demands of the Klingon war, Starfleet faced a severe shortage of qualified command personnel.

The committee recommended revising rules on away teams to encourage more officers to seek command positions, increasing enrollment at Starfleet Academy and revising the command structure to allow for the best use of experienced personnel.

"I think we're past the point where you need to spend twenty years as an officer before you can be considered for command," said committee chairman Admiral Jorel Quinn. "We need to promote exceptional officers quickly. We need our captains leading away teams. Starfleet needs to look at our whole command structure and do what works now, not what worked 30 years ago."