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 THE THIRD PLANET IN ALPHA CENTAURI A, 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 SCIENTISTS WHO’D SETTLED 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 MASSIVE COMPONENTS OF OLD UESPA COLONIAL TRANSPORTS. MAJOR CONTRACTS WITH THE DYTALLIX CORPORATION, YOYODYNE HABITAT SYSTEMS, THE EARTH CARGO SERVICE AND DOZENS OF OTHER FIRMS REINVIGORATED INDUSTRIES WHICH HAD BEEN CRIPPLED AFTER THE XINDI INCIDENT. THE STATION WENT ONLINE WITH AN ELABORATE CEREMONY AND A TOUR FOR ALIEN DIGNITARIES LED PERSONALLY BY 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 GHASTLY MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS AND HARD LABOR BEFORE EXECUTING THEM.
THREE YEARS LATER, STARFLEET LAUNCHED A COUNTEROFFENSIVE AND DESTROYED THE ROMULAN GARRISON AT BERENGARIA VII. “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 SOL 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 FORCE. HAVING STUDIED THE VULNERABILITIES OF SALEM STATION, THE VULCANS AGREED TO PROVIDE SHIELD GENERATORS TO ASHOKA ALONG WITH A SQUADRON OF PATROL CRUISERS. THE ANDORIANS COMMITTED TWO SQUADRONS - ONE TO REINFORCE THE SYSTEM’S PERIMETER DEFENSES AND ONE THAT 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, UNSUCCESSFULLY, TO ATTACK THE STATION.
ASHOKA STATION WAS THE ONLY U.E. STARBASE OF THE THREE IN THE SBDP CONTRACT TO SURVIVE THE EARTH-ROMULAN WAR. IN 2183, THE STATION WAS TOWED INTO ORBIT OF TERRA NOVA, WHERE IT BECAME THE HUB OF A NEW FEDERATION SHIPYARD.
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, WHICH WAS DEMANDING MORE FROM THE WORKFORCE TO RECOUP ITS INVESTMENT. 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 ABOUT HOW TO RESPOND, 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, EARTH, AND MARS.
DESPITE THE THAW IN RELATIONS BETWEEN THE COLONISTS AND THE CORPORATION, MANY DENEVANS WERE CONCERNED THAT DYTALLIX WOULD RESORT TO ITS OLD WAYS WHEN THINGS SETTLED DOWN. FOR THAT REASON, AND TO ASSUAGE CONCERNS ABOUT PIRACY IN THE REGION, THE GOVERNOR AND THE DCA REQUESTED A PERMANENT STARFLEET PRESENCE ON DENEVA. THE REQUEST WAS APPROVED AND CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON A MODERN STARFLEET FACILITY NEAR THE RIVER OF INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT 2. 'DENEVA STATION' WAS COMPLETED BY 2150 WITH OVER 10,000 STARFLEET OFFICERS, THEIR FAMILIES, CONTRACTORS, AND NATIVE DENEVANS LIVING THERE.
THE COLONY THRIVED SINCE ITS INCEPTION, BUT THE FATE OF STARBASE 3 WAS SEALED ONCE THE ROMULANS REACHED IT. 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.
IT WOULD BE NEARLY A CENTURY BEFORE HUMANS WOULD RETURN TO REBUILD DENEVA STATION.
