Star Trek Online/Codex/The Path to 2409/2406

The war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire heated up when the Klingon fleets invaded the Archanis Sector.

Long-desired by the Klingons, the sector was relinquished to the Federation in the mid-23rd century. Klingon forces invaded it in 2372 during the last Federation-Klingon war, and the area had been hotly contested by both factions ever since.

"We took it back once," said Commander Akira Sulu. "We can do it again. I have utmost faith in the abilities and courage of my fellow Starfleet officers."

Military observers predicted that the fight for the Archanis Sector will be a long one. "The forces there are evenly matched," military strategist Sona of Vulcan told the Federation News Network. "The Klingons and their allies are fierce fighters, but Starfleet has never lacked in courage or tenacity. There is an 82.47 percent chance that this struggle will continue for at least one year."

One thing that was expected to help Starfleet was an advance in power cell technology developed by the research teams at Memory Alpha. The new cells made personal shield generators feasible for Starfleet officers on away teams.

"This new technology will keep our officers safe," said Starfleet spokesperson Loris Brex. "It is just one example of what the Federation can do. There is no problem that we cannot solve."

The first shield generators were issued to special teams on ground assaults in the Archanis Sector. Once the technology was adequately tested, Starfleet expected to provide it to all of its members. Three companies announced that they were working on variations of the technology for commercial use.

"Forget the shields, give us the power cells," said Soong Foundation researcher Alexander Baker. "If we had access to the cell technology now, it could cut months of our timetable to release a mobile emitter for holographic lifeforms who aren't in Starfleet."

Starfleet medical ships, including the U.S.S. Pasteur, U.S.S. Comfort, U.S.S. Curie and U.S.S. Fleming, were diverted to the Federation colony in the Carnegie system to combat a highly-virulent plague that reports said was affecting more than 80 percent of the population.

Information about the situation on Carnegie was extremely difficult to obtain, as subspace transmissions off-world were being blocked by Starfleet for "strategic reasons." Ships appraoching the Carnegie system were turned away, and no Carnegie vessels were allowed to leave the system.

"We're at war, and at the same time we're dealing with a virus that is devastating a colony that has factories and replicator facilities that supply goods to much of the Federation," Starfleet spokesperson Loris Brex told reporters when asked about the secrecy. "Not every detail of every situation needs to be on the nightly newsfeed."

There were widespread rumors that the plague was not biological in origin. Federation President Aennik Okeg refused to comment on these rumors when asked, saying only that Starfleet needed time and resources to treat the population and stop the spread of the contagion.

In one Starfleet promotion of note, Admiral Chakotay was named the new head of Starfleet Intelligence. Chakotay promised to bring more openness and accountability to what traditionally had been a very reclusive post.

In one of the Admiral's first briefings to Starfleet Command, he laid out what he saw as the current Undine situation in the Federation. Chakotay admitted that Starfleet Intelligence believed that there were at leaset 30 Undine infiltrators in Starfleet or high-level Federation posts.

"We're in trouble," Chakotay said. "There could be an Undine in this room, and we wouldn't know."

While Starfleet Intelligence did not have a foolproof method of detecting Undine in humanoid form, it was working on new technology to make this more feasible.