Topic: [ST:C] Kieran's Timeline

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

This is a revised timeline, covering all the changes to Kieran's background storyline I've made for the new version of the STU that I will henceforth be writing in. The version I'm posting, which is all I have so far, goes from Kieran's birth to 2288, shortly before the events of Civilizations, and deals only with events in Kieran's life or events that had an effect on said life, so you won't find any spoilers here. Let me know what you think, please.

Current version is unformatted; later versions will be formatted with all bold and italicized segments in the wordpad document also made so on the posted version.

January 13, 2254: Kieran Forester is born Kieran Khelthane to Ian Forester and Shaiyna Khelthane on Dantar IV. As he grows older, he will tend to form closer bonds with his father than his mother, which will prove to be somewhat of a point of contention between the two.

November 9, 2260: Kirsetaya Khelthane is born to Ian and Shaiyna. Kirsetaya will later prove to be in many ways Kieran's opposite, most notably in that she is much closer to her mother than Kieran was.

October 19, 2262: The Treaty of Smarba is signed between the Klingons and the Romulans. One aspect of the treaty is the sale of several dozen K't'agga-class battlecruisers to the Romulans for conversion to Romulan technology.

May 12, 2270: Kieran goes to live with Ian's brother Eric Forester and his wife, Caitrin, in London on Earth. This is done over Shaiyna's objections, who wanted Kieran to remain at home so he could begin taking a more active role in the politics of House Khelthane. Despite some initial problems adjusting to school and life on Earth, he enjoys the year he spends with Eric and Caitrin. Having always been exposed to and influenced by his father's human attitudes, he is even more so while on Earth, and upon his return, he is thought to have been confused and weakened by life among the humans.

December 27, 2271: Kieran returns to Dantar, just in time to see the beginning of a clan war between House Khelthane and House Drakiynar. Near the end of the conflict, Kieran is forced to kill Tormiya Drakiynar, the old kaan'kesar Drakiynar's daughter, in a knife duel. He later realizes the necessity of his action, but regrets it anyway. The guilt of Tormiya's death, along with his horror and disgust oover the actions taken by both sides during the conflict, finally lead Kieran to decide the life of a Dantari noble is not the life he wishes to lead. He announces his intention to return to Earth and apply to Starfleet Academy. Shaiyna disapproves, but allows him to do so anyway out of love for him and Ian. As Kieran is effectively renouncing his status as heir to House Khelthane by pursuing a life in Starfleet off Dantar, Kirsetaya becomes heir by default.

January 13, 2272: Kieran celebrates his 18th birthday alone on the Federation transport Asimov, en route to Earth.

January 24, 2272: Kieran arrives at Earth, where he is met by Eric and Caitrin. He stays with them in their London flat. His father, who is a retired Starfleet captain, and uncle Eric pull some strings and get him a job as a civilian as an administrative intern at Starfleet Headquarters until the Academy term starts.

February 28, 2272: Kieran recieves his official notice of acceptance to Starfleet Academy for the fall 2272 term. According to the results of his aptitude tests, he will be able to enter the command track if he wishes, which he does, choosing weapons operation and tactical studies as his secondary specialization.

August 13, 2272: Fall classes begin at Starfleet Academy. Kieran adjusts well to Academy life, and joins several extracurricular activities groups, including the track team and the Academy Theater Association. He nearly becomes the first freshman cadet to ever win the Delula II marathon later in the year, but is beaten in the last stretch by an Andorian senior.

August 10, 2273: The fall 2273 term begins. Kieran is now a sophomore, and Dane Kjolgaard, from Copenhagen, Denmark, enters as a freshman.

October 30, 2273: Kieran runs the Delula II marathon again this year, this time taking first place. He is one of only 7 sophomore cadets to ever win the marathon.

December 24, 2273: Kieran meets fellow cadet Dane Kjolgaard, then a freshman, at the Academy Christmas party. The two will later become fast friends.

March 12, 2274: Kieran is reprimanded for performing a forbidden maneuver while on an atmospheric flight training exercise. While details of the incident are not released, it is rumored that Kieran buzzed the Academy commandant's yacht while on maneuvers over the San Francisco Bay.

April 14, 2274:  Kieran and Dane, classmates in Commander Fischer's Principles of Biochemistry class, replace several tubes of liquid in one of his experiment with tubes of sugar water, ruining the experiment and causing a minor, nondangerous explosion the next day in class when Fischer attempts to demonstrate the experiment for the class.

May 30, 2274: The 2273-74 term ends. Despite slipping grades(and increasing instances of disciplinary action), Kieran is still doing very well at the halfway point of his Academy tenure. Kieran resolves to do better and calm down(somewhat) his junior year, which turns out to be rather uneventful, with one exception.

December 6, 2274: Trying to find a date for the Christmas party, Kieran meets Alexandria Morgenstern, a freshman. He uncharacteristically awkwardly asks her to the dance, and she gracefully accepts. Dane and Neal Anderson, another friend of Kieran's, use the event to poke fun at him, accusing Kieran of having a crush on the younger cadet. He doesn't deny it. In fact, the two will remain a couple for the rest of Kieran's Academy tenure.

June 1, 2275: While the younger cadets are departing on their summer break, and the graduating seniors are all en route to their first posting as Starfleet ensigns, the incoming seniors are all reporting to their cadet cruise assignments, where they will spend the two and a half to three months between their junior and senior years on board a starship in action, then return and prepare for the end of their final semester. Kieran's cadet cruise is on board Avenger-class heavy frigate USS Reliant(FH 1864).

August 18, 2275:  The new seniors arrive back to the Academy just in time for the start of the 2275-2276 term.

November 30, 2275: USS Alaric(DD 506) is officially listed as missing after not reporting in for almost three months while on patrol near the Klingon Neutral Zone. It is hypothesized that Alaric ran afoul of a Klingon Domis'avyi("guardian of the border") and was destroyed.

May 2, 2276: Kieran, with substantial help from Dane Kjolgaard, discovers the legendary "backdoor" into the Starfleet Headquarters computer network late his senior year. They decide to test it by finding out Kieran's first posting. They discover he will be assigned to the USS Belknap(CS 2501) upon graduation and successful completion of cadet cruise.

May 15, 2276: For his final project in Commander Minas Lujik's Advanced Xenosociology class, Kieran writes a dissertation on increased Klingon-Romulan aggressiveness in recent years. He hypothesizes that war, while possible and even increasingly likely, is still preventable. He goes on to make a withering criticism of the current Admiralty's policies, those of the Starfleet Commander in Chief, Admiral Catherine Montaine, in particular, for making no serious effort to either prevent a war or protect the Federation in case of a war, and lays out his own opinions about what could be done. The paper creates quite a controversy in the Academy, which is only intensified by the fact that Kieran used the backdoor in the Starfleet computer network to gain access to several confidential reports which he used as sources. The paper soon makes its way to Starfleet Headquarters, where one of its readers is Admiral Shannon Sorenson, a rival of Admiral Montaine and the pacifist bloc currently in charge of Starfleet and the Federation Council.

May 22, 2276: Admiral Sorenson visits Cadet Forester at the Academy, where she offers him an opportunity. She can take him on her staff as her adjutant and staff analyst, where he will help her make her case that Admiral Montaine and her cronies are mismanaging Starfleet and need to be removed. She was impressed by the knowledge and analytical abilities he displayed in his dissertation as well as the facts that he seems to be opposed as she and her allies are to Montaine's policies, as well as the initiative and pure moxie he showed in discovering the backdoor. To give him the rank to go with the authority he will have in this position, he will recieve an automatic promotion to Lieutenant as soon as he reports for duty to Admiral Sorenson's office in San Francisco.The one drawback is that he will have to, of course, forgo his assignment to the Belknap. He doesn't answer right away, but Admiral Sorenson tells him the offer is open until graduation day, May 28.

May 25, 2276:  Kieran decides to accept Admiral Sorenson's offer.

May 28, 2276: Starfleet Academy class of 2276 graduates. Immediately following graduation, Kieran reports to Admiral Sorenson's office at Headquarters, where his promotion to Lieutenant is officially logged. Kieran and Alexandria continue seeing each other while he is assigned to San Francisco. While liasons between cadets and officers are strongly discouraged, there is nothing officially forbidding it, since they are not in the same chain of command. The two of them, strongly in love by this point, are determined to make something work.

December 4, 2276: Kieran proposes marraige to Alexandria Morgenstern. She accepts.

December 9, 2276: Kieran and Alexandria discover she is three weeks pregnant. They are both shocked, but happy with the news.

September 14, 2277: Twins, Erik and Annika, are born on Earth to Kieran and Alexandria Forester.

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

September 15, 2277: The anti-pacifist group at the Admiralty makes its move. Several high-profile admirals level several devastating-if-true charges at the current leadership, and call for a full inquiry in-house by the Admiralty. As a result of the inquiry and several resulting revelations, the president is forced to remove Admiral Montaine. She is replaced by Admiral Sorenson's superior, Admiral Lars-Erik Valdemar. Admiral Valdemar will begin several programs designed to improve Starfleet readiness in the face of what is jokingly known in Headquarters as "Kieran's War," after Lieutenant Kieran Forester's xenosociology dissertation, including massive expansion of modernization and refit programs to many Class One starship types, most notably the Constitution/Bonhomme Richard/Achernar(CH 1700/1712/1732) -class heavy cruisers, which are rebuilt as Enterprise class ships, and the Surya/Coventry(FR 1850/1830) -class frigates, which are rebuilt as Avenger-class heavy frigates. Admiral Valdemar will also commission the design and construction of several new classes of dreadnoughts and perimeter action ships, as well as additional ships of the Belknap(CS 2501) -class strike cruisers.

November 3, 2277: With the inquiries concluded and things at the Admiralty beginning to calm down, Admiral Sorenson has Kieran reassigned. His excellent performance evaluation as well as Admiral Sorenson's newfound influence land him an assignment to USS Daran(FF 3201), currently attached to Third Fleet on the Klingon border, as tactical officer. His initial performance reports are shaky, due to a lack of shipboard experience. He resolves to improve, and relentlessly drills himself and his tactical section until they are one of the most finely honed in Third Fleet.

February 11, 2278: Kieran's months of drilling are put to the test when Daran is assigned as one of the ships to participate in Starfleet's "Balikatan" wargames that year. Kieran does not disappoint, as the tactical department performs near-flawlessly, racking up 4 "kills": USS Ardana(FH 1868), USS Enhance(FR 1943), and USS Eten(FF 3203)(twice), while managing to avoid being "destroyed" throughout the entire series of exercises that make up the wargames, a distinction only shared by two other ships of the 29 participants: USS Sovereign(CS 2505) and USS Hood(CH 1707). Daran and her crew are commended and decorated for their performance.

May 29, 2278: The class of 2278 graduates from the Academy. Newly graduated Ensign Alexandria Forester, a communications specialist, is assigned to Starbase 15 as a junior operations officer. She brings Erik and Annika with her.

October 2, 2278: While on patrol in the Klingon Neutral Zone, Daran encounters a Klingon warship, the Kom'va class light cruiser IKV Kom ka'des. Kom ka'des begins shadowing Daran as she embarks on her patrol.

October 5, 2278: Kom ka'des falls out of range of Daran's short range sensors; however, Captain Markus Schulte believes rightly that the Klingon ship is still out there, and long range sensor sweeps over the next few days confirm this suspicion.

October 13, 2278: Kom ka'des and Daran reestablish visual contact while Daran is conducting a drill in the Caleb system. There is a tense moment as Kom ka'des closes on what looks like an attack vector, but then the Klingon ship disengages right before entering optimal firing range.

October 16, 2278: Kom ka'des and Daran meet again, in the Lorthal system. This time, the two ships come much closer to blows, as each captain orders weapons drills using the other ship as the target. Daran is the ship to break off this time, heading to the Beta-IX system to continue its patrol after several hours of playing cat and mouse with Kom ka'des. This time, the Klingon vessel does not follow, evidently deciding to return to its own space.

July 20, 2279: Daran is ordered to put in to Star Station Indus for a long-overdue overhaul.

July 24, 2279: Daran arrives at Star Station Indus. Shortly after arrival, Kieran recieves orderes to leave the ship's company and report to the Belknap-class USS Haven (CS 2514) as that ship's tactical officer.

July 30, 2279: Haven departs Star Station Indus, with her new tactical officer, Lieutenant Kieran Forester, on board. Her orders are to resume patrol in the Mutara sector as the sector command ship.

November 10, 2279: Ensign Alexandria Forester is promoted to Lieutenant(junior-grade).

September 4, 2280: Kieran is promoted to Lieutenant Commander by Captain Andrea Prentel, his CO on board the Haven.

September 5, 2280: Haven recieves an extremely weak subspace signal emanating from across the Klingon neutral zone. Haven's comm personnel attempt to boost the signal, and clean up the message, but meet with little initial success.

September 7, 2280: Ensign Thesrev of Haven's comm section, working with science officer Lieutenant Alice Keenan, make a breakthrough on the mysterious message. Able to amplify the signal and track it back to its origin, they are able to report that it is coming from an emergency subspace transmitter from the USS Alaric, presumed destroyed five years ago. Haven's command crew is even more surprised when the message itself is played. In the message, the first officer of the Alaric reports that some of the crew survived and are being held by the Klingons as prisoners on the planet Khatora III. Even more shocking than that is the revelation that the Klingons are also holding at that location surviving crew of the USS Sheridan(CA 1491), the flagship of legendary Commodore Robert Knutson, captured at the Battle of Donatu V 38 years ago. In light of this discovery, Captain Prentel decides she can't wait for official approval from the Admiralty bureaucracy to mount a rescue operation. She orders Haven to cross the neutral zone and set a course for the Khatora system.

September 10, 2280: Klingon Kom'va-class light cruiser Kom ka'des suffers a near-catastrophic warp power failure. The crew is able to restore limited warp power, however, and the Kom ka'des limps at low warp to the nearest Klingon outpost to its patrol route: Khatora III.

September 11, 2280: Where as it would have been only a few hours away at maximum warp, a crippled Kom ka'des arrives at Khatora III. The cruiser's commander, Captain Kretagh, requests general shore leave for his men at the facilities, but strangely enough, he is denied. After continued pressure, the outpost commander, Brigadier Tovak, grudgingly allows small contingents of Kom ka'des' crew limited access to selected facilities on the planet. Kretagh is still confused at Tovak's reticence to allow his crew down to the surface, but defers to Tovak's higher rank and agrees to his conditions.

September 12, 2280: Haven enters Klingon space, and proceeds under full stealth protocols towards the Kla'est system.

September 14, 2280: The Khatora engineers announce repairs are completed on Kom ka'des' warp system. Kretagh orders his crew to prepare for departure. Lieutenant Khelorik, tactical officer of the Kom ka'des and ranking officer of the cruiser's personnel on the planet, begins gathering his people up to transport back to the ship.

September 14, 2280, 1324 EST: USS Haven drops out of warp near Khatora III and begins jamming the Klingon long range communications. The Khatora outpost and Kom ka'des immediately go to full alert, raising shields and arming weapons. Khelorik and the Kom ka'des crew still on the planet are stranded.

September 14, 2280, 1337 EST: Kom ka'des opens fire on Haven. Haven returns fire, and begins maneuvering into a position from where she can launch her flight of shuttles filled with Marines to land on the planet.

September 14, 2280, 1343 EST: Haven successfully reaches optimal launch postion, having placed herself between Kom ka'des and the planet. Covering fire from Haven keeps the Kom ka'des from attempting to intercept the shuttles, while suppression fire from Haven's aft phasers manages to disable the planet-based weapons. On board the shuttles is the majority of Haven's Marine complement, led by Marine Captain Kell Tavor and Lieutenant Commander Kieran Forester.

September 14, 2280, 1350 EST: The shuttles enter Khatora's atmosphere. Using what information the prisoners were able to send, the pilots scope out the pre-selected optimal landing sites.

September 14, 2280, 1354 EST: Both shuttles successfully land outside the Klingon outpost. Captain Tavor takes one squad of Marines, while Commander Forester takes the other. Captain Tavor's squad will attempt to gain access to a command center, while Commander Forester's squad will attempt to find anything that looks like the entrance to a prison complex.

September 14, 2280, 1419 EST: Commander Forester's squad encounters the group of Kom ka'des crew left on the planet. The surprised Klingons are pushed back with several casualties by the heavily armed and armored Starfleet Marines. Khelorik pulls his people back, keeping watch on the location of the Marines but ordering his people  not to engage the intruders. The Klingon lieutenant recognizes the movements of the Starfleeters as those of people that are looking for something, and he becomes curious about what they could be looking for.

September 14, 2280, 1422 EST: In orbit, continuous fire from Haven has damaged Kom ka'des' engines and weapons systems, but although Haven has only taken minor damage, Kretagh continues to fight. He attempts to remain in the engagement without having to close into the Federation ship's superior close-range firepower. Firing from the edge of optimal firing range, Kretagh attempts to keep Haven occupied with him-- although he knows his increasingly damaged ship can't provide a distraction for Haven much longer.

September 14, 2280, 1431 EST: Captain Tavor's squad encounters stiff resistance from the outpost crew, although they continue to advance, pushing Brigadier Tovak's people into a fighting retreat.

September 14, 2280, 1439 EST: Tovak finally calls for Khelorik's people to assist in the defense of the outpost. One of Khelorik's crewmen, a computer technician who hacked into the outpost's data system, discovers the existence of the Starfleet prisoners-- held without the knowledge or permission of the Klingon government.

September 14, 2280, 1440 EST: Lieutenant Khelorik refuses Brigadier Tovak's command. He then confronts the brigadier with what he has found, and demands he surrender and release the prisoners at once. Tovak refuses, denouncing Khelorik as a traitor. He orders the deactivation of life support and blanketing of all Klingon comm channels in that entire section of the outpost.

September 14, 2280, 1445 EST:  Khelorik attempts to contact Kom ka'des, but cannot penetrate the jamming. He finally decides to seek out the commander of the Starfleet squad bearing down on his position and request assistance.

September 14, 2280, 1451 EST: With life support beginning to run out, Khelorik and a small group of his people make contact with Kieran and his marines. They surrender peacefully to the Starfleet marines, and offer an exchange. Kieran uses the more powerful comm equipment the marines have with them to get Khelorik's crew out of here, and Khelorik will tell them how to find what they are looking for, as well as get the Kom ka'des to stand down. The Klingon officer goes on to explain what he discovered about their incarceration, and that it was not authorized by their government. Kieran agrees to his proposal, and after several minutes, is able to punch through the jamming and reach the Haven, which beams them up.

September 14, 2280, 1458 EST: Khelorik is as good as his word. He convinces Captain Kretagh to stand down, and then gives Kieran a datapad with all of the information his computer tech downloaded from the outpost computer. Most of Khelorik's crew returns to the Kom ka'des, although Khelorik and a few others volunteer to accompany Kieran to the surface to liberate the prisoners.

September 14, 2280, 1503 EST: Captain Tavor's men finally take the central command center of the Klingon outpost. They restore life support and communications to all sections of the outpost.

September 14, 2280, 1519 EST: Kieran's men rearm and transport back down to the Klingon outpost, accompanied by Khelorik and his men. They find the underground complex where the prisoners are housed, and begin taking them back up to Haven by transporter and shuttle.

With the prisoners secured, Khelorik and his men return to the Kom ka'des. Brigadier Tovak, wounded in Captain Tavor's final assault on the command center, is arrested on the authority of Captain Kretagh and confined on the Kom ka'des. The damaged Klingon ship will remain at the outpost undergoing repairs to damage suffered in the battle. With several Klingon warships detected heading for the system at high warp, Haven quickly departs and heads back for Federation space at maximum warp.

Fallout from the event is remarkably light. As Khelorik proved, the Klingon government neither knew or consented to the holding of the prisoners at Khatora, and was quite eager to simply offer up Brigadier Tovak as a sacrificial lamb and move on, pretending nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Starfleet also was reluctant to have the whole story released to the public, as it likely would have brought up questions the Starfleet brass would not have wanted to answer.

September 18, 2280: Haven arrives at Star Station Indus. Captain Prentel is almost immediately taken into custody, and charged with dereliction of duty in abandoning her post, gross misuse of Starfleet property in a nonsanctioned operation, as well as several treaty violations.

September 23, 2280: The court martial of Captain Andrea Prentel begins on Star Station Indus. The defense's strategy attempts to portray her as conscientious, brave, and uncompromisingly loyal to her fellow officers, whose only flaw is an impatience with the military bureaucracy of Starfleet. The prosecution, meanwhile, attempts to paint her as an impulsive, overzealous maverick whose disrespect for the chain of command could have gotten a lot more people killed, had she not been as lucky as she was.

September 26, 2280: Commodore Knutson offers to testify before the tribunal. He makes a stirring testimony and an impassioned plea on Captain Prentel's behalf, which in the eyes of many of the observers, turns the tide of the trial to the defense's favor. The final statements are delivered, and the proceedings are concluded; the tribunal announces that it will release its decision the next day.

September 27, 2280: The overseeing authorities in Captain Prentel's court martial announce their verdict in a closed session of the court. All charges but one, misuse of Starfleet property, are dropped. Her sentence for that conviction is as follows: reduction in rank to lieutenant commander, and immediate placement on half-pay status for no less than a period of five standard years, with an appropriate reduction in pay and benefits according to her new status as a lieutenant commander on reserve status.

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

October 12, 2280: USS Haven puts into dock at Starbase 15 for needed repairs and an overdue maintenance check under the temporary command of Haven's first officer, Commander Scott Lynch. Kieran uses the time on the starbase, his wife's posting, to spend time with her and their children, now three years old.

November 6, 2280: Commodore Knutson returns to Earth to a hero's welcome. He is immediately promoted to Admiral and given a posting at the Admiralty. All the survivors of both the Sheridan and the Alaric are very publicly given medals, and many of those who do not choose to retire are promoted.

November 29, 2280: Repairs are completed on USS Haven at Starbase 15. Commander Lynch is confirmed as Haven's new official commander, with a promotion to the rank of captain. Engineering chief and second officer Lieutenant Commander Petra Ostlund is promoted to the post of executive officer.

November 30, 2280: Captain Lynch and Lt. Commander Ostlund select Lieutenant Commander Kieran Forester, Haven's tactical officer, as the ship's new second officer.

December 4, 2280: Haven's new engineering chief, Lieutenant Boris Kurchatov, reports for duty.

December 5, 2280: Haven recieves her orders and departs Starbase 15 to resume patrol along the Neutral Zone.

January 17, 2281: Lieutenant j.g. Alexandria Forester is reassigned to the Akula-class destroyer USS Skal'tar(DD 3328) as that ship's communications officer. She sends her children, Erik and Annika, to live with her cousin, Lieutenant Commander Henrik Morgenstern, the operations officer on Starbase 29, for several years until the end of her term of enlistment in 2284, at which times she intends to leave Starfleet to pursue a civilian career and have a life in which her children have at least one parent with them all of the time.

February 3, 2281: Klingon Chancellor Lorak, citing increasing Federation aggression and unrest along the border, orders Klingon vessels along the neutral zone to take a more confrontational stance. No attacks are officially sanctioned, but Klingon warships are encouraged to more actively harass Federation ships, both civilian and Starfleet.

March 11, 2281: A Lyran destroyer attacks a Kzinti convoy transferring supplies to a colony in neutral space.

March 16, 2281: Several Kzinti warships retaliate for the earlier Lyran attack by destroying a Lyran science outpost also in the Lyran-Kzinti neutral zone. These and other events result in the beginning of an undeclared border war between the Lyrans and Kzinti.

May 8, 2281: Klingon Ambassador Thad Vak Kaleen and Romulan Ambassador Ldaern tr'Khellian sign a new treaty, ending previous Klingon-Romulan hostility and arranging for the sale of more Klingon ships to the Romulans to augment the converted K't'agga-class ships already converted and in Romulan service. Among the ships sold are additional K't'aggas, as well as several Hakask-class dreadnoughts, K't'inga-class cruisers, Kom'va-class light cruisers, Riskadh-class attack carriers, D'ama- and  K'hanakh-class destroyers, and B'rel-class attack ships.

June 23, 2281: While on patrol in the neutral space, the Lyran cruiser Kashaarath under the command of Prince Kazhomarzh is destroyed by an attack wing of Kzinti strike cruisers.

June 30, 2281: The loss of Kashaarath is reported by a Lyran patrol. Out of grief and rage over his son's death, the Lyran King-Emperor declares war against the Kzinti.

July 5, 2281: Honoring their mutual defense pact with the Kzinti, the Hydrans declare war on the Lyrans.

August 19, 2281: The Klingons invade both the Hydrans and Kzinti.

January 13, 2282: The Federation begins providing the Kzinti with clandestine support. Convoys containing supplies, food, money, and weapons are sent to the Kzinti, who are struggling to hold their lines of defense in the face of overwhelming opposition on two fronts.

July 27, 2282: A Hydran battlefleet is defeated at Hkarzha'zyax by a Lyran-Klingon assault group, the most crushing loss for either Alliance power to date. This defeat also opens the way for an advance on the Hydran homeworld.

September 1, 2282: Klingon and Lyran forces enter the Hydrax system and engage the royal defenses.

September 3, 2282: After a bloody, two day battle, Coalition forces are left with control of Hydrax. The Hydran king is dead and the surviving remnants of his fleet are in full flight towards the Old Colonies. Coalition forces begin asserting their hegemony over the system and the rest of the Kingdom. The fall of the Hydrans leaves the already-embattled Kzinti to fight on alone.

December 10, 2282: A Klingon-Lyran battlefleet invades the Kzintai system. However, unlike the Hydran homeworld, the Patriarch's defenses hold, and at great cost, the Coalition forces are thrown back, but not before they inflict terrible damage on several regions of the planet's surface.

January 4, 2283:  Pressure begins to build on Chancellor Lorak to defeat the Kzinti quickly. However, the Kzinti have solidified lines of defense around their homeworld, thanks largely to Federation supplies, money, and weapons.

January 18, 2282: Chancellor Lorak orders his admirals to begin planning an assault on the Federation, partially in an effort to end Federation support to the Kzinti but also due to elements within his government beginning for more action to be taken against what is percieved as their true enemy, the Federation.

April 13, 2283: Lorak approves a plan for the invasion of the Federation, its initial focus on the area near the Klingon-Kzinti-Federation shared border. The Klingons begin a subtle redeployment of their forces to prepare for this assault.

April 30, 2283: Klingon ships on the Federation border go from shadowing and harassing Federation ships to an all out attack. In the initial phase of the Klingon assault, centered on the Taal Tan sector, three merchant convoys are completely destroyed in the first several days, along with 26 Class One starships in the first month of the Klingon offensive, killing nearly 1000 civilians and over 10000 Starfleet personnel. Later dubbed the Taal Tan Offensive, this was the most devastating event to strike the Federation since the Battle of Donatu V of 2242, and is an even larger blow to morale.

May 3, 2283: The Klingon declaration of war on the Federation arrives at almost the same time as the news of the first Klingon attacks. "Kieran's War" had finally begun.

June 29, 2283: Using the Taal Tan sector as a staging point, the Klingons begin widening the scope of their invasion. Up and down the rest of the border regions, Klingon ships begin advancing and attacking the weakened Federation defenses.

July 10, 2283:  Kieran is transferred to the Enterprise-class cruiser USS Astrad(CH 1739) as the ship's tactical officer. Astrad is stationed at Starbase 29, the last Federation starbase in the Taal Tan sector not already neutralized or under immediate threat of attack.

August 23, 2283: Akula-class destroyer Skal'tar engages a pair of Klingon V'kar-class hunter-killers, the V'al'kon and the K'zhen, in the Taal Tan sector. K'zhen is destroyed, and V'al'kon is driven off with moderate damage, but Skal'tar is heavily damaged in the exchange. The destroyer hobbles back to Starbase 29, where it will have to spend several weeks in the repair dock. Skal'tar's communications officer, Lieutenant Alexandria Forester, will use the opportunity to spend time with her children, currently living on the base, as well as her husband, whose ship's home port is Starbase 29.

September 2, 2283: By this time, most of the Taal Tan sector has fallen to the Klingons. The only portion left in Federation control is the area surrounding Starbase 29. Admiral Klanth, commanding Klingon invasion forces in this sector, begins assembling a force and making a plan to destroy the starbase so the Klingons can secure the sector and hopefully make a breakthrough in their invasion of Federation space, which is beginning to lose its momentum.

September 28, 2283: Admiral Klanth executes the first stage of his plan. He dispatches two ships, the heavy destroyer Ahak and the hunter-killer Tarkan to make a false attack on the base, in an attempt to draw off the base's protecting cruiser, the Astrad. Klanth's task force-- the real attacking force-- begins proceeding towards Starbase 29.

October 1, 2283, 1019 EST: Klanth's diversionary attackers enter the system. They immediately go to alert status and approach the base on attack vector.

October 1, 2283, 1025 EST: The two Klingon ships close to firing range and open fire on the base causing, light shield damage. They also destroy the fighter squadron and patrol cutters launched to supplement the base's firepower. The base commander orders Astrad to launch and engage the Klingon warships.

October 1, 2283, 1032 EST: Astrad launches from the starbase and attacks the Klingon vessels.

October 1, 2283, 1048 EST: After several exchanges of fire, Ahak and Tarkan withdraw. Astrad's hotheaded captain, an Andorian named Shekev, decides to pursue. Klanth's bait has been taken.

October 1, 2283, 1304 EST: Klanth's warships arrive at Starbase 29. Realizing what has happened, the base sends a distress call to Astrad, which immediately disengages its pursuit and sets a return course, but there is no way they can return in time.

October 1, 2283, 1311 EST: Captain Menachem of the Skal'tar decides to gather what crew he can and take the still-slightly-damaged destroyer out into the battle and help the base's complement of fighters and patrol ships hold off the attackers long enough for the at least some of the base evacuation ships to get away.

October 1, 2283, 1325 EST: Captain Menachem gives the order to cast off all moorings and leave spacedock, only seconds before Lieutenant Forester arrives at the airlock. Unable to get aboard her ship, and unable to transport through the destroyer's shields, she goes back to her quarters, and personally takes her children to one of the evacuation ships. This time, she arrives right before the ship leaves, and the twins are able to squeeze aboard.

October 1, 2283, 1334 EST: The ship carrying Erik and Annika Forester, along with several hundred other civilians, leaves spacedock.

October 1, 2283, 1343 EST: The damaged and undercrewed Skal'tar, doomed from the moment she left dock, is finally destroyed by a disruptor volley from Klanth's flagship, IKV Hakkarl. However, the beleaguered destroyer occupies the Hakask-class dreadnought's attention long enough for the ship carrying the Forester twins and several hundred other civilians to escape the battlezone. With the last of the defense ships gone, the Klingon fleet turns its full attention to the base.

October 1, 2283, 1426 EST: After nearly 45 minutes of sustained disruptor and torpedo fire, Starbase 29 is reduced to an almost unrecognizable hulk. Killed in a Klingon torpedo salvo is Lieutenant Alexandria Forester, most of the base's personnel dead along with her. The Klingon ships return to Klingon-occupied territory.

October 1, 2283, 1432 EST: Astrad returns to Starbase 29, only to find it a ruin. Kieran is devastated upon learning of the death of his wife, and slips into a near-hysterical state, forcing Captain Shekev to relieve him. However, Shekev himself, extremely remorseful over his failure to defend the base and the Klingon duplicity which so easily fooled him, later will commit Andorian ritual suicide. Astrad sets course for Starbase 11, further inside Federation space.

October 4, 2283: With Starbase 29 destroyed, the Taal Tan sector is finally secured. Klingon warships pour into Federation space through the sector, and are able to attack Federation border fortifications from the rear in a massive flanking maneuver.

October 6, 2283: Astrad arrives at Starbase 11. Captain Shekev's replacement, Captain Lauren Winters, arrives on board. Kieran is still unable to perform his duties, still extremely distraught and unstable. Nearly catatonic one moment and hysterical the next, he is restricted to his quarters.

October 12, 2283: The Federation border falls, as the Klingon breakthrough in the Taal Tan sector and the resulting flanking maneuver is too much for the border forces to handle. With the fortifications eliminated, Federation forces are forced into a fighting retreat.

October 15, 2283: Kieran is allowed to return to duty, having finally gotten himself under control emotionally. However, he is still very withdrawn and moody, and secretly begins to want a transfer.

November 8, 2283: The LDR begins covertly sending support to the Hydran government in exile in the Old Colonies, mostly supplies and weapons in unmarked, non-Lyran built ships. The Hydrans, meanwhile, are able to get a major fleet shipyard operational in the Colonies, and begin producing new warships and fighters as quickly as possible for a campaign to retake Hydrax. By this time, the bulk of the Coalition war effort has turned to the Federation. The Lyrans and Klingons are diverting just enough resources from the Federation theater to keep the Kzintis hedged in and to keep occupied Hydran space fully patrolled, but otherwise, the might of those three empires is now focused on the Federation.

January 13, 2284: Kieran's 30th birthday is also his first birthday in 9 years without Alexandria there to celebrate with him.

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

January 20, 2284: The Day of the Eagle. The Romulan fleet, bolstered by Klingon conversions and new-technology Romulan-built ships, rolls across the Federation border in huge numbers, forcing the 6th Fleet quickly onto the defensive.

January 27, 2284: Kieran gets his wish, as he is transferred to the Knox-class frigate Seneschal. However, what he does not expect is his order to report to his new ship as its executive officer.

February 6, 2284: Kieran reports to his new posting on the Seneschal, near the Triangle. The cold, icy, withdrawn demeanor he has displayed since the death of his wife and seeming unconcern for everything about the crew except how the performance of their duties matches up with his increasingly impossible(in the crew's eyes) standards
earns him the nickname of "The Vulcan Taskmaster."

May 12, 2284: Seneschal, currently operating with the Belknap-class strike cruiser Sovereign(CS 2505) and Saladin(refit)-class destroyer Tamerlane(DD 510), engages a Klingon Hung nawlogh(patrol squadron) on a sweep through occupied Federation space, consisting of a K't'inga-class heavy cruiser, a Mas'to'gal-class light cruiser, and 2 B'rel-class hunter-killers. Seneschal is the most heavily damaged of the Federation ships, and after one Klingon salvo, Kieran is forced to take command when the captain is wounded. Taking command and helping fight off the Klingons, however, shakes something loose in Kieran's psyche, something that has been buried deep inside him since Alexandria's death. He begins to act, in the words of an anonymous petty officer in Seneschal's crew, "like a human being again, and a damn decent one to boot. Who knew the Taskmaster had it in 'im?" The Kieran Forester that took command of the Seneschal was a Kieran Forester that cared about the people under his command and whould do whatever he could to bring them out of the battle alive, and after the battle he was the Kieran Forester who would go up and down the corridors himself, checking personally on the crew and stopping to help where he could, even if it just meant providing an engineering crewman a third hand for a moment or providing another strong back and pair of arms for a few minutes in the cargo bay. The crew dramatically revised their opinion of their executive officer from that moment on, and Kieran in return showed them the officer he was before his wife's death brought a shield of cold, emotionless, but almost self-pitying isolation between him and the rest of the world. From then on, the name "Vulcan Taskmaster" was rarely heard among the ship's company, although it was rumored later aboard the ship that Kieran got a good laugh at his own expense several months later when he learned what the crew had been calling him when he first came on board.

August 26, 2284: The Klingons begin massing a fleet in the Taal Tan sector under the command of Admiral Klanth. This fleet's mission is to punch through the current lines of defense and open a path for the Klingon fleet to attack the Federation's core systems.

September 7, 2284: Several Federation scoutships on surveillance missions detect the Klingon buildup. Correctly hypothesizing that the Klingons are attempting to make a new breakout, Starfleet commander Lars-Erik Valdemar orders a fleet assembled to stop them. However, with the piecemeal fashion in which Federation ships are deployed across the border, the Admiralty is prvately unsure if they will be able to assemble a large enough fleet before the Klingons move.

September 16, 2284: The fully assembled Klingon fleet departs the Taal Tan sector. The fleet numbers 136 ships, led by Admiral Klanth personally from the bridge of his flagship Hakask.

September 19, 2284: 87 Starfleet Class One starships, including the USS Seneschal, are gathered at Starbase 18. This fleet is commanded by Admiral Erich Selye from his flagship, Federation-II-class dreadnought USS Konkordium(DN 2106). They will attempt to intercept the advancing fleet at the Halka system.

September 21, 2284, 0435 EST: The Federation fleet arrives at Halka and begins to stake out defensive positions. They use the heavy ionic interference in the system to mask their energy signatures from enemy sensors.

September 21, 2284, 0612 EST: A Klingon advance force drops out of warp in the Halka system. Detecting nothing on the system's outskirts, they advance inwards to get a clear scan of the system's center.

September 21, 2284, 0658 EST: The heavy destroyer K'heratak detects an intermittent sensor signal coming from the vicinity of one of the system's commonplace ion storms. K'heratak alerts its consorts, which change course to investigate.

September 21, 2284, 0724 EST: Seven Federation ships, using the ion storm as cover, suddenly power up and open fire on the Klingon ships. Three are destroyed outright, and the K'heratak and its other surviving wingman, the destroyer D'esta'khe, are heavily damaged and unable to penetrate the ion storm's interference to warn the fleet. They are destroyed in short order. The Federation ships prepare for the rest of the Klingon fleet to follow shortly.

September 21, 2284, 0903 EST: The main Klingon fleet enters the Halka system. Detecting no sign of any Federation ships, they begin advancing towards the center of the system.

September 21, 2284, 0939 EST: The Klingon fleet passes the seventh planet of the Halka system, where they are ambushed by the Federation fleet. Admiral Selye had ordered the fleet to hide in the shadow of the planet, shielded from detection by both the planet and ionic interference from a nearby ion storm. Initial Klingon losses are heavy.

September 21, 2284, 0946 EST: The Klingons recover from the initial shock of the assault and begin a counterattack. They push the Federation forces back with sheer numbers, inflicting heavy losses among the outnumbered Starfleet ships.

September 21, 2284, 1002 EST: The two battle lines begin to stabilize. So far each side has suffered near-equal losses, giving the advantage to the more numerous Klingons.

September 21, 2284, 1010 EST: The Federation battle line pulls back slightly, turning more towards finesse tactics such as cut-and-thrust movements, hit-and-fade attacks, and fighter attacks in an attempt to cause maximum enemy casualties and destabilize the enemy battleline. The Federation fleet, with its larger ships and higher-quality weapons, have the advantage in this kind of fight, and Admiral Selye presses it to the best of his ability. Waves of fighters and smaller warships make quick and hit and run attacks on the Klingon lines, in an attempt to keep the faster Klingon ships from advancing within effective weapons range of the Starfleet capital ships. Casualties are substantial-- even the smaller ships such as destroyers and fighters are fairly easy prey for Klingon hunter-killers-- but the Klingon forces take even more casualties, as the Federation fleet takes full advantage of its capital ships' much longer-ranged firepower as they hammer away at the Klingon battleline, scoring multiple hits at what is extreme range for Klingon weapons and successfully .

September 21, 2284, 1023 EST: Realizing he will certainly lose if he continues to allow the Federation ships to peck away at his strength, Admiral Klanth orders his fleet to advance at flank speed towards the Federation lines. Caught off guard, several ships are caught behind the Klingon lines as they suddenly accelerate. One of those ships is USS Seneschal, which takes two torpedo hits amidships from a K't'inga-class cruiser. The torpedoes breach the hull and cause internal damage. On the bridge, Lt. Commander Forester is severely wounded when a console next to him overloads and explodes. His entire left side is horribly scarred, with shrapnel lodged in his left arm and left leg, and his left eye is blinded.

September 21, 2284, 1027 EST:  The Klingon fleet closes to within point-blank range of the surprised Federation fleet, firing as they advance. All semblance of order in the battlelines dissolves. The battle turns into a huge, desperate dogfight, as ships engage the first enemy they see on sensors. Losses on both sides are heavy and mount quickly with each passing minute.

September 21, 2284, 1054 EST:  USS Seneschal's luck seems to run out. Having fought for its very survival over the last half hour, the crippled frigate is finally engaged by no less than the Klingon dreadnought Hakkarl, Klanth's flagship. A megaphaser blast from Seneschal's single surviving megaphaser causes only shield damage, and Hakkarl prepares to fire its own weapons. However, a torpedo volley from the dreadnought Konkordium knocks out the Klingon ship's forward shield before it can close for the coup de grace, and also killing Klanth and several of his bridge crew. Concentrated fire from Konkordium, Avenger(FH 1860), and Raan(CS 2519) soon destroys Hakkarl, killing all aboard.

September 21, 2284, 1059 EST:  Klanth's death produces an unexpected result. A succession struggle erupts on Hakkarl and several other ships, as several of Klanth's jealous squadron commanders each try to take command of the fleet. This allows the Federation fleet to regain its balance, regroup, and counterattack. The counterattack has a devastating effect, and is ultimately the death blow to the Klingon hopes for victory. Unable to agree on a single leader, each Klingon squadron commander retreats individually.

The Battle of Halka is the largest single battle of the war to date. 51 of the 87 Federation ships were destroyed or heavily damaged, and approximately 18,970 officers and crewmen were killed. On the Klingon side, a staggering 89 of the 136 Klingon ships were destroyed or crippled, with approximately 35,760 warriors lost. Every ship on both sides that managed to survive the battle had been damaged to some degree, as well. While the Federation had the advantage in terms of tonnage lost vs. tonnage destroyed, neither side was truly able to call Halka a victory. The current Federation lines of defense would be even more sparsely defended with the loss of 51 Class One starships, and the Klingons had lost their momentum and had taken a huge blow to morale with the destruction of Hakkarl and the loss of Admiral Klanth, as well as the news of the internal fighting that caused their ultimate defeat in the battle.

September 25, 2284: The survivors of Admiral Selye's fleet return to Starbase 18. The seriously wounded, including Seneschal's Commander Forester, are transported to the starbase's medical facilities. A team of surgeons operate on Kieran, attempting to repair the damage. They are able to heal the burns on his face and extract nearly all of the shrapnel from his leg and arm, although his left eye could not be saved and they are forced to perform major reconstructive surgery on his left arm and leg in order to give him eventual full use of those limbs again. The starbase sends a request to Starfleet Medical along with Kieran's genetic profile to see about the possibility of cloning the lieutenant commander a new eye.

September 27, 2284: Kieran awakens in Starbase 18's main medical facility, where he learns the outcome of the battle and the extent of his wounds. He is ordered to remain in bed for several more days, after which he learns that the injury to his leg, even though it is repaired, has still caused enough damage to temporarily confine him to a hoverchair.

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

September 30, 2284: Kieran is informed that as a result of his injuries, he is temporarily ineligible for starship duty. He is ordered to Earth, where he will undergo physical therapy at Starfleet Medical, as well as prepare for his next assignment: a teaching post at Starfleet Academy. He is slated to teach the Advanced Starship Command Tactics class for the 2285-2286 term, although his orders after that are not yet specified.

October 12, 2284: Kieran arrives on Earth. He is given quarters at Starfleet Medical, and meets the doctor who will be taking him through his therapy, Lieutenant Caitlin Denning.

October 14, 2284: Kieran begins his physical therapy sessions with Lieutenant Denning. His progress is slow at first, but Dr. Denning warns him that progress will be slow initially, and all they are trying to do at that point is help him regain strength in his limbs and get his nerves back working properly. Meanwhile, he will have to undergo followup operations to continue repairing the damage to his leg and arm.

November 3, 2284: As the result of a failed sneak attack on Gorn space, the Gorn join the war on the Federation's side, invading Romulan territory. The Romulans are forced to begin diverting resources away from the Federation front to hold off the Gorn.

December 24, 2284: Kieran's new cloned eye is finished at Starfleet Medical, and he undergoes the surgery to have his old dead eye removed and the new one implanted.

February 3, 2285: Kieran walks on his own two feet for the first time since the Battle of Halka. His movement is still restricted, as the damage is still not totally repaired, but he is close to a full recovery, according to Lieutenant Denning.

March 19, 2285: Lt. Commander Forester is promoted to full Commander.

July 14, 2285: Exactly nine months after beginning his physical therapy, Kieran is pronounced fit to return to active duty. He reports to Starfleet Academy, where he meets the commandant and his fellow tactical instructors. He also begins to familiarize himself with the brand new simulators his advanced class will be using and to develop a training schedule and curriculum for his classes.

 August 18, 2285: The 2285-86 term at Starfleet Academy begins. Kieran teaches both the Advanced Starship Command Tactics class as well as several basic tactics classes.

April 29, 2286: USS Haven(CS 2514) returns to Spacedock in Earth orbit for scheduled 6-week refit and overhaul. Captain Lynch is reassigned to command the Exeter(CH 1706), and Commander Ostlund is promoted to Captain and takes his place as Haven's commander. Commander Kieran Forester is informed that he will take the executive officer's position on Haven as soon as the current Academy term is ended. He tries to keep his reassignment a secret, but soon finds out that the Academy rumor mill works as well as a starship's, as he is congratulated by scores of well-wishing cadets from his classes.

June 1, 2286: The 2285-86 Academy turn ends. Kieran has his things packed up and sent to the Haven, and he himself reports to Captain Ostlund on the ship later that evening.

June 12, 2286: Haven departs Spacedock and proceeds to her assignment, the southern sector of the Federation-Klingon theater.

July 20, 2286: By this time, the Federation has pushed the Klingons most of the way back to the border, thanks in large part to Starfleet's tenacity and the Federation's superior industrial base. The Klingons agree to send an ambassador to see if any headway can be made in negotiations, but neither side agrees to a ceasefire, only guaranteed safety for each other's ambassadors. Ambassador Kamarag is dispatched to Earth, and arrives safely several weeks later. However, as negotiations drag on, no ground is made. Further progress is hampered by the Federation's refusal to turn over Admiral James Kirk for trial in regards to the incident on the Genesis Planet, in which Admiral Kirk and his crew hijack a Klingon B'rel-class hunter-killer under the command  of Commander Kruge. In one particularly heated session of the Federation Council, the negotiations seemed to hit a wall when Ambassador Kamarag angrily announced, "There can be no peace.... as long as Kirk lives!"

November 11, 2286: The Hydran Royal Navy begins Operation Crusade, an operation to retake Hydrax and put the new King, H'drax'ath XII, son of the late H'krie'thax XV, on the throne. The rebuilt Hydran battlefleet storms out of the Old Colonies and begins attacking Lyran and Klingon targets in occupied Hydran space.

November 15, 2286: Starfleet begins planning Operation Wedge, an operation designed to drive through the southern flank and sever all direct contact between the Klingon and Romulan empires. Starships are covertly redeployed in preparation for H-hour.

December 12, 2286: Operation Wedge commences. Initial progress is substantial, as neither the Klingons nor Romulans expected an attack of this magnitude in that sector.

January 23, 2287: By this time, the only line of contact for Klingon and Romulan convoys to each other's space is a thin band of neutral territory in the Triangle just outside of Tholian space. This is especially worrisome for the Romulans, whose KR series ships rely on shipments of parts from the Klingons to be kept running. Attempts by Klingon and Romulan forces to reopen the area are rebuffed by the heavy fortifications Starfleet has set up in the captured territory. In order to stay out of range of Federation raiding squadrons, some convoys begin skirting through Tholian space.

February 8, 2287: The Tholians begin to notice the violations of their territory by Coalition convoys. They begin systematic elimination of any convoy caught violating Tholian borders--which is nearly every convoy, due to Tholian vigilance.

April 26, 2287: In an attempt to forcibly open a new route between the two powers, the Klingons and Romulans invade the Tholian Holdfast.

May 17, 2287: As the Coalition forces advance further into Holdfast space, the Tholian Assembly requests military aid from the Alliance, which agrees. Federation ships begin pushing south once again, and help the Tholian fleet start to push Coalition forces out of its territory.

May 23, 2287: Hydran forces defeat a Klingon-Lyran fleet at Hy'khorza. This opens the way for the resurgent Hydran fleet to advance to Hydrax.

June 2, 2287: The Kzinti unveil a newly constructed battlefleet in the Kzintai system, which immediately attacks Coalition targets in occupied Kzinti territory.

June 9, 2287: The Second Battle of Hydrax. A ferocious Hydran assault wipes the system clean of Coalition forces, and Hydran forces land on Hydrax to a massive celebration. H'drax'ath XII is officially crowned King of the Hydrans. The Hydran fleet pauses briefly to regroup and plan its next moves in the continuing liberation of Hydran space.

June 10, 2287: With the Gorn beginning to push into Romulan space, and Starfleet continuing to push the Romulans out of occupied Federation territory on the Romulan front, Alliance commanders begin a plan which will, if successsul, force the Romulans to rethink their continued participation in the war. A combined Federation and Gorn fleet, along with several squadrons of ships provided by the Tholians and Kzinti, masses near Romulan space.

June 28, 2287: Operation Remus commences. The Alliance battlefleet smashes through the Romulan border defenses at several carefully selected weakpoints and hurtles at full speed towards the Romulan home system. The bulk of the Romulan fleet is out of position to intercept the Alliance ships, but nevertheless, the Romulan high command recalls what ships they can for the defense of the homeworlds.

July 17, 2287: The Alliance fleet arrives in the Romulan home system, known as Eisn in their tongue. They launch an attack on the planets of ch'Rihan and ch'Havran, only to find a hastily gathered Romulan fleet waiting for them in orbit of ch'Havran, the fleet's first target. A fierce battle ensues, one which the Alliance fleet has the upper hand until a swarm of Romulan PFs makes a suicidal attack on the supercarrier Ariel(SC 2200). Ariel suffers catastrophic damage in the attack, including the loss of attitude control. Helpless and unable to maneuver, Ariel is caught in ch'Havran's gravitational field and pulled down. The supercarrier suffers a matter/antimatter reactor meltdown upon impact, which, coupled with the physical impact of an object the size of a supercarrier moving at that speed, lays waste to huge portions of ch'Havran, killing millions, and irradiating millions more. The effects will still be felt generations later, as many children of the survivors are born with horrifying birth defects, which will later turn the Havranssu into second-class citizens of the Empire.

The destruction of the Ariel is a shock to the Alliance fleet, and costs them their momentum as the Romulans begin a ferocious counterattack. The Alliance fleet withdraws, but not before causing major damage to the military infrastructure--shipyards, bases, and the like-- in the system.

August 5, 2287: One of the recalled Romulan fleets encounters the retreating Alliance forces, and a battle ensues. The Romulan fleet nearly eliminates the survivors of the Operation Remus fleet, but not before suffering tremendous casualties themselves.

August 15, 2287: As the Federation hoped, the damage inflicted on their infrastructure, one of their largest battlefleets, and the unintentional catastrophe on Remus/ch'Havran forces the Romulans to announce their disengagement from the war. They propose a ceasefire which would restore everything to the prewar status quo, which the Federation quickly accepts. With the withdrawal of the Romulans, the Federation's full attention shifts to the Klingon front, where a new Federation offensive will retake all remaining occupied Federation territory and even carry out several probing strikes against targets in Klingon space by the end of the year.

January 7, 2288: With the Romulans out of the war, the Federation poised to attack Klingon space, the Hydrans continuing to retake lost territory at a frenetic pace, and their Lyran allies bogged down in the quagmire that is the Kzinti front, the Klingon ambassador finally proposes a ceasefire, in which all parties will retreat to their prewar borders until a permanent treaty can be agreed upon. The Alliance powers, after heated debate, agree. Nearly seven years of destructive total war are finally brought to a close.

March 23, 2288: USS Haven returns to Earth for crew rotation and reassignment. Upon arrival, executive officer Commander Kieran Forester is given a promotion to Captain by Captain Ostlund on behalf of Starfleet Command. He is informed that the USS Cyane(FH 1890) is currently in spacedock waiting for him to assume command. As many of the command crew positions are still open, Kieran submits requests for several officers to be transferred to the Cyane to fill those spots, including: Lt. Commander Dane Kjolgaard, who will be his executive officer, and is promoted to Commander upon reporting to the Cyane; Lt. Commander Boris Kurchatov, who will assume the post of chief engineer; Commander Sarevok, assuming the post of science officer; and Lt. Commander Caitlin Denning, who will become Cyane's chief medical officer. 

[Mentat Jon]

 

[Scottish Andy]

Nice timeline, Kieran!

I see you, like Jaeih and I, have a fascination and warm place in our hearts for The Ships of the Star Fleet series. I just gave this a quick once over and I'll be back to read it more throughtly later, but I noticed something:
Captain Markus Shulte of the USS Daran? Is that from Jaeih's Markus Bertschinger and my own Katrin Schulte?
*grin*

Keep up the good work. I want to see more!

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

You know what, Andy, it could very well be. I had been reading some of the stories on Starbase 23 at the same time I was writing the timeline, so when I tried to think up a name, those two names must have still been fresh in my mind.