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[Zach]

Cryptic Studios have posted the latest update to the Star Trek Timeline which covers the year 2384.

Star Trek Online is going to be set in the year 2409 and the Timeline updates are designed to advance the Star Trek Universe from the end of "Star Trek Nemesis" up to 2409.

In past updates, we have learned that the Romulan Empire is facing difficult times, Starfleet has launched a new array of exploration ships and the Klingon Empire is taking advantage of the Romulan Situation to regain old territory.

Here is the latest update:

Federation analysts say that a shakeup in the Romulan power structure has left the empire vulnerable to attack from within and without. Starfleet is dispatching additional ships to the border of the Neutral Zone and considers the Romulan situation one of the main threats to Federation safety and security.

After Tomalak’s defeat by Donatra and her fleet, Praetor Tal’aura removes him as proconsul, choosing Sela as her right hand and fleet commander. Sela, a human-Romulan hybrid with extensive experience in the military and intelligence fields, has been a part of several major Romulan operations, including a failed attempt to invade Vulcan and coordinating support for the House of Duras’ attempt to take over the Klingon High Council in 2367.

As a gift to Tomalak for his decades of loyal service to the Romulan Star Empire, Tal’aura allows him to “retire” to his rural estates on Romulus.

The Romulan defeat at Xantila has made open war with Empress Donatra unfeasible. Praetor Tal’aura reluctantly agrees to negotiate with the Imperial Romulan State to determine the new borders and the establishment of a neutral zone, but rejects the Federation’s offer to mediate the talks. Donatra says she would welcome the Federation’s input, but that she will defer to Tal’aura’s decision in this matter, and sends Admiral Taris to the Romulan capitol as her representative.

On Stardate 61602.00, Tal’aura is found dead in her private chambers. Tal Shiar investigators report that the praetor appears to have been attacked in her sleep.

The Romulan capitol erupts in a firestorm of rumors and accusations. Groups accused of responsibility for the assassination include a coalition of the noble houses, the Tal Shiar or agents working for Empress Donatra and the Imperial Romulan State.

Donatra denies having anything to do with the murder. “I face my enemies on the field of battle with honor,” the empress announces in an address to her citizens, “not with a knife in the dark.” She recalls Taris from Romulus and orders her to prepare to defend Imperial holdings.

At Tal’aura’s funeral in Ki Baratan, Sela publically blames the Remans and the Unification movement for the attack. “They claim to desire peace,” Sela says, “but ally with the murderers and usurpers who terrorized our planet and led us to the brink of destruction. The blood of one praetor was not enough for the Remans. Tal’aura was the victim of their thirst for destruction.”

But the upheaval in Romulan space is not the only potential war that Starfleet is monitoring. On Stardate 61829.83, the IKS Quv is attacked by a Gorn ship and 207 Klingons die in the battle. Representatives of King Xrathis of the Gorn claim that the commander of their warship was acting without orders, but refuse to surrender the surviving crew of the Quv to the Klingon Empire. In response, Chancellor Martok expels the Gorn’s diplomats from the empire and orders ships to the Klingons’ border with the Gorn Hegemony.

Representatives of the Federation Council are pleased to accept Bajor’s renewed application for Federation membership, and pledge to fast-track the planet’s admission. The increased traffic and commerce that could arrive with Federation membership prompts the Ferengi to open an expansive embassy and gift shop near Quark’s on Deep Space Nine.

Odo, acting as the Great Link’s ambassador to the solids, meets with his fellow changeling Laas on Koralis III. Odo invites Laas to return with him to the Gamma Quadrant. Laas refuses, choosing instead to continue to search for other changelings in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

And Starfleet decides to transfer the Soong-type android B-4 to the custody of the Soong Foundation. The prototype android was deactivated after its discovery by the Enterprise-E in 2379, but foundation representatives say they hope to restore his full positronic functioning.

[Zach]

Very interesting update but I hope they stop focusing so much around the Romulan Empire.  I want to hear about Starfleet !

[amb]

Tal'aura is dead... I think this ancouraged Donatra's faction so much is just a matter of time until the old RSE will break down. The thing which is bothering me most is the strange feeling Cryptic is going to make the Rom. Emp. State an ally to the Federation. Donatra is the woman one from Nemesis who left the bioactive weapon in the Senat and killed all of them.. or am I wrong? If this is the case then I think my guess has won a chance.

[Amasov]

I get the feeling that Tomalak and Sela are up to their usual scheming tactics, it seems obvious that they're responsible for Tal'aura's death. I don't think we'll be seeing a "friendly" Romulan Star Empire in the future at all.

[General Kras]

Very interesting update but I hope they stop focusing so much around the Romulan Empire.  I want to hear about Starfleet !

I agree.  I'm hoping that all the Romulan focus is a set up for the later galaxy, and soon they will really start sharing news about both Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.  Why no Klingon logo to include in these posts, btw?