Star Trek Online/Codex/The Path to 2409/2397

An era ended when Geordi La Forge left Engineering for Command. La Forge was dividing his time between ship design and his duties with Starfleet for several years, but when the opportunity arrived to take his own command he could not turn it down. La Forge was promoted to captain of the U.S.S. Challenger, and recommended Commander Nog to be chief engineer of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E.

The promotion gave the first Ferengi in Starfleet another record. He was the first Ferengi to serve on Starfleet's flagship. Nog's example inspired other Ferengi, and the 2396 class at Starfleet Academy included four Ferengi cadets.

"We're seeing a dramatic change in the Ferengi culture," said Talsa Gray of the University of Alpha Centauri. "Commerce and profit still play a huge role in who the Ferengi are, but the social reforms of Grand Nagus Rom and the example of his son are showing younger Ferengi that they can make their own choices. If you don't have the lobes for business, do something else."

Chancellor J'mpok reluctantly agreed to a third round of peace talks between the Klingon Empire and the Gorn Hegemony. His decision put him in opposition to a large bloc on the High Council. These opponents favored war against the Gorn, and there were rumblings in the halls of Qo'noS that J'mpok was catering to the Federation just as Martok did.

For his part, J'mpok said that it is only wise to explore all options. And on Stardate 74461.35, he silenced many of his critics in a most dramatic fashion.

The I.K.S. Kang, missing since the previous year, reappeared long enough for Ja'rod to announce that the House of Duras was allying with the House of J'mpok.

The alliance with Duras gave J'mpok's house the support of many of the oldest and most influential of the Great Houses, and J'mpok quickly reminded many on the High Council that debts owned to Duras were now owed to him as well. The move also fully returned the House of Duras to legitimacy, as J'mpok used his powers as chancellor to wipe away past rulings against the house.

The shakeup in the Klingon political scene now meant that most of the Great Houses were beholden to either the House of Duras or the House of Martok, and observers said that the polarization of the Empire would only continue.

Following the announcements, the I.K.S. Kang cloaked and disappeared again. However, data from Klingon sensor stations placed the Kang near the M'Char system, which is near the border between the Klingon Empire and the Gorn Hegemony.

Starfleet Intelligence reported that Hassan the Undying moved his base of operations to the former Orion homeworld. Observers did not believe that this was a sign of a break between Melani D'ian and her greatest ally, but suggested that Hassan was still acting on her orders.

"There's no reason for Melani to toss Hassan aside," said Blix Brol, an investigative reporter for the Federation News Service. "If anything, the Emerald Empress wants someone that she trusts implicitly running Syndicate operations outside of Klingon space while she stays safe behind a wall of warriors."

In Romulan space, the government of Kevratas,, which was decimiated by a plague of Bloodfire and the subsequent Romulan quarantine, declared its independence from Romulan rule. "They've given us nothing but death and offered nothing but more pain," said Kevatran leader Kito. "We owe Taris no allegiance."

Praetor Taris ordered General Tebok to put down the insurrection with force, but the general refused to order his troops to fire on civilians. He instead negotiated a settlement with Kito, agreeing to give the Kevatran leaders safe passage to Nova Roma to present their grievances to the Romulan Senate and ordering that relief supplies and medical personnel be sent to Kevatras immediately.

In response for his insubordination, Taris ordered Tebok to resign his position as head of the Romulan military. Tebok refused and instead appealed to the Senate, which overruled Taris.

"In the old days of the Romulans, Tebok would have ended up on the wrong end of an honor blade," said Emal Kotay of the Trill News Service. "Now, not only is he alive, he's still in charge of the fleet. The cracks are appearing in Praetor Taris' rule, and if she doesn't do something soon she won't last."