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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. HAVING STUDIED THE VULNERABILITIES OF SALEM STATION, THE VULCANS AGREED TO PROVIDE SHIELD GENERATORS TO BOLSTER ITS DEFENSE. THE ANDORIANS COMMITTED TWO 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.
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, THE PLANET WAS CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING LIFE AND BY 2136, OVER TWO THOUSAND DYTALLIX EMPLOYEES AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO LIVED THERE BEGAN TO DEMAND MORE PRIVACY AND INDEPENDENCE FROM THE COMPANY. IN 2137, LABOR DISPUTES ESCALATED INTO VIOLENCE. THE WORKERS FORMED A UNION, WENT ON STRIKE, AND THE COMPANY HIRED A PARA-MILITARY SECURITY FORCE TO DEAL WITH STRIKERS RATHER THAN NEGOTIATE. POLITICAL LEADERS ON EARTH WERE GRIDLOCKED, BUT THE MATTER WAS SETTLED WHEN ALPHA CENTAURI THREATENED TO REVOKE DYTALLIX'S OPERATING LICENSE INSIDE CONCORDIUM SPACE. MARS FOLLOWED SUIT AND THE CORPORATION WAS FORCED TO NEGOTIATE WITH WORKERS AND RECOGNIZE THE DENEVA COLONIAL AUTHORITY. THE DCA PASSED A CONSTITUTION, HELD ELECTIONS, AND BY 2140 WAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY ALPHA CENTAURI, MARS, AND UNITED EARTH.
DESPITE THE THAW IN RELATIONS BETWEEN THE COLONISTS AND THE CORPORATION, MANY DENEVANS WERE CONCERNED THAT DYTALLIX WOULD RESORT TO ITS OLD WAYS. FOR THAT REASON, AND TO ASSUAGE CONCERNS ABOUT PIRACY IN THE REGION, GOVERNOR NECHAYEV AND THE DCA REQUESTED A PERMANENT STARFLEET PRESENCE ON DENEVA. BY 2150, OVER 10,000 PEOPLE LIVED AND WORKED THERE AND A FULLY-EQUIPPED STARBASE 3 WENT ONLINE.
DENEVA'S FATE WAS SEALED WHEN THE ROMULANS ARRIVED. AFTER DESTROYING THE STARFLEET PICKET FORCE, 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.
HUMANS WOULDN'T RETURN TO DENEVA'S SURFACE FOR ANOTHER 65 YEARS.
