AS FASTER WARP SPEEDS WERE BEING ACHIEVED THROUGHOUT THE 2140’S, A NEW ECONOMIC BOOM DEVELOPED. WITH MORE SHIPS, PEOPLE, AND GOODS MOVING ACROSS THE STARS, EARTH WOULD NEED FULLY-EQUIPPED, SELF-SUFFICIENT FACILITIES TO SERVICE AND PROTECT EARTH SHIPS, CREWS, AND TRAVELERS. TO MEET THOSE NEEDS, STARFLEET COMMAND REQUESTED AND RECEIVED FUNDING FOR THE STARBASE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (“SBDP”) IN 2148.​​
UNITED EARTH STARFLEET COMMAND’S FIRST EXTRA-SOLAR “STARBASE” WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO ORBIT PROXIMA COLONY, BUT A PUBLIC REFERENDUM ACROSS THE CENTAURI COLONIES REJECTED “AN EARTH MILITARY BASE WHICH THREATENS THE CONCORDIUM’S SOVEREIGNTY.” STARFLEET’S BACKUP LOCATION WAS AN M-CLASS PLANET IN THE BERENGARIA SYSTEM. THE PLANET, NAMED “SALEM” BY THE EARTH SCIENTISTS WHO’D DISCOVERED IT, HAD ONE OF THE MOST BIOLOGICALLY DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS IN THE SECTOR AND WAS LOCATED NEAR SEVERAL TRADE ROUTES.
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CONSTRUCTION ON STARBASE 1 BEGAN IN JANUARY, 2155. THE STATION’S FRAME WAS BUILT AROUND THE COMPONENTS OF UESPA'S COLONIAL-ERA TRANSPORT SHIPS. MAJOR CONTRACTS WITH DYTALLIX, YOYODYNE, COCHRANE AND THE EARTH CARGO SERVICE REINVIGORATED INDUSTRIES WHICH WERE IN DECLINE AFTER THE XINDI INCIDENT. THE STATION WENT ONLINE IN AN ELABORATE CEREMONY FOR ALIEN DIGNITARIES LED BY UNITED EARTH PRIME MINISTER NATHAN SAMUELS.
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AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS IN OPERATION, EARTH’S “GIANT STEP INTO DEEP SPACE” ENDED WHEN THE IMPERIAL ROMULAN NAVY ATTACKED WITHOUT WARNING. DESPITE A SPIRITED DEFENSE, THE STATION WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED ALONG WITH A CONTINGENT OF SHUTTLECRAFT, CIVILIAN CRAFT, AND THREE STARFLEET CAPITAL SHIPS. AFTER DESTROYING THE STATION, THE ROMULANS LANDED TROOPS ON THE PLANET BELOW AND SUBJECTED HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS TO MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS AND HARD LABOR - A TACTIC THEY'D REPEAT.
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AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO RESCUE SURVIVORS ON BERENGARIA, BUT OPERATION: DRAGON'S BREATH WAS A HUMILIATING DEFEAT FOR THE MACO WHICH ALSO RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF THE REMAINING P.O.W.'S.
IN XXXX, STARFLEET LAUNCHED A COUNTEROFFENSIVE AND DESTROYED THE ROMULAN GARRISON AT BERENGARIA. “REMEMBER SALEM ONE” WAS AN OFT-USED SLOGAN TO INSPIRE EARTH FORCES IN THE WAR EFFORT.
ONE OF THE FIRST OFFICIAL ACTS OF THE FEDERATION'S FIRST PRESIDENT WAS TO RE-CHRISTEN THE UTOPIA HABITAT COMPLEX LOCATED AT THE FARTHEST REACHES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AS THE UFP STARFLEET'S NEW "STARBASE ONE" IN MEMORIAM OF THE LIVES LOST AT SALEM ONE.
IN THE WAKE OF THE WEYTAHN INCIDENT, EARTH SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD UPON THE CEASE-FIRE THEY HAD NEGOTIATED BETWEEN THE VULCANS AND ANDORIANS BY CONSTRUCTING A FACILITY WHICH WOULD HELP KEEP THE PEACE BETWEEN THE FORMER ADVERSARIES.
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​ROSS 164, AN UNCLAIMED STAR SYSTEM ALONG THE VULCAN/ANDORIAN BORDER, WAS SELECTED AS THE LOCATION FOR "ASHOKA STATION," WHICH WAS NAMED AFTER AN ANCIENT EARTH WARLORD WHO TURNED TO PACIFISM. ASHOKA WOULD SERVE AS A NEUTRAL OUTPOST WHICH SERVED THE NEEDS OF THE VULCANS, THE ANDORIANS, AND VARIOUS OTHER ALIEN RACES WHO TRADED WITH THEM.
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WHEN WAR WITH THE ROMULANS BROKE OUT, STARBASE 2 WAS LOCKED DOWN AND BECAME THE FORWARD OPERATING BASE FOR THE COALITION OF PLANETS EXPEDITIONARY ARMY AND OTHER STARFLEET DEFENSE ASSETS*. HAVING STUDIED THE VULNERABILITIES OF SALEM STATION, THE VULCANS AGREED TO PROVIDE SHIELD GENERATORS. THE ANDORIANS COMMITTED TWO NAVAL SQUADRONS TO ASHOKA; ONE TO REINFORCE THE SYSTEM’S PERIMETER DEFENSES AND ONE WHICH RAN COMBAT MISSIONS AS PART OF THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. THESE PREPARATIONS WERE CRITICAL IN LATE 2159 WHEN A PAIR OF CLOAKED ROMULAN SHIPS SLIPPED INTO THE SYSTEM AND ATTEMPTED TO DESTROY THE STATION.
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DESPITE TAKING DAMAGE, ASHOKA WAS THE ONLY STARBASE TO SURVIVE THE EARTH-ROMULAN WAR. IN 2183, THE STATION WAS TOWED INTO ORBIT OF TERRA NOVA, WHERE IT BECAME THE HUB OF THE ARCHER FLEETYARDS FACILITY.
AFTER PRECIOUS METALS WERE DISCOVERED IN THE ASTEROID BELT BETWEEN KAPPA FORNACIS III AND IV, DYTALLIX CORPORATION BUILT A SERIES OF MINING STATIONS THERE. THE OPERATION AT 'DYTALLLIX-D' WAS SO PROFITABLE, THE COMPANY DECIDED TO TERRAFORM THE THIRD PLANET BY THROWING SURPLUS ASTEROIDS AT IT.
WITHIN A DECADE, DENEVA III WAS CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING LIFE AND BY 2146, OVER 72,000 PEOPLE WERE LIVING AND WORKING ON THE PLANET AND IN THE ASTEROID SETTLEMENTS. DENEVA GREW TO BECOME THE MOST ROBUST EXTRA-SOLAR HUMAN COLONY, SECOND ONLY TO THE ALPHA CENTAURI SETTLEMENTS.
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IN 2149, AFTER A SERIES OF RAIDS BY NAUSICAAN AND ORION PRIVATEERS, THE DENEVA COLONIAL AUTHORITY (DCA) REQUESTED AND RECEIVED A FORCE PROTECTION TASK FORCE OF STARFLEET CRUISERS. PERMITS FOR STARFLEET FACILITIES TO SERVICE AND SUPPORT THE PICKET FLEET WERE APPROVED SIX MONTHS LATER, FOLLOWED BY APPROVAL OF AN APPLICATION MADE BY THE STARBASE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT. CONSTRUCTION ON STARFLEET'S NEW FACILITY WAS COMPLETED BY THE END OF 2155, WITH THE PLANETARY BASE BEING DESIGNATED "STARBASE 3".​
DENEVA'S FATE WAS SEALED WHEN THE ROMULANS ARRIVED. AFTER DESTROYING THE STARFLEET AND COLONIAL PICKET FORCES, THE ROMULANS LAID SIEGE TO THE BASE FROM ORBIT. THE BASE HELD OUT FOR THREE DAYS, BUT WAS ULTIMATELY DESTROYED WHEN THE ROMULANS THREW ASTEROIDS AT IT.
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HUMAN SETTLERS WOULD NOT RETURN TO DENEVA III FOR ANOTHER 45 YEARS.
