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An Empire in Star Trek: New Age II
The Story so Far...
In the beginning there was war. There was always war, there had been war since the beginning of history, and there was no end in sight. This war was different, however, for the first time we were not fighting just ourselves, but invaders. The aliens who came, came in peace, arms outstretched. For a brief moment the war that had been raging since the dawn of time hiccuped. We were shocked, we were not alone in the galaxy, we accepted the alien peace offer with open arms and invited them to Vulcan.
The Orions came armed with weapons of destruction and treachery. Our anger was great! We fought them and they were shocked by the fierceness of our rage, and eventually left our world. After the Orion war, we were once again left amongst ourselves. A great divide between our peoples was felt and two great teachers emerged from the ruins, Surak and S’Task. Surak taught that through logic and passivity we could achieve what could not be achieved through war. We were to repress our emotions in favour of this discipline, of logic and a search for knowledge. This would be the driving force of the Vulcans.
S’Task represented an alternative view of the galaxy. Unlike Surak, S’Task believed the galaxy to be a hostile place and the beings within could not be trusted. He advocated protecting ourselves by expanding and arming ourselves against further intruders. He felt the followers of Surak were naive and foolish to see the universe as a logical place that would respect their passivity.
The followers of S’Task eventually decided that the foolish followers of Surak could wait for another invasion for all they cared, and took to the stars in droves. Calling themselves “The Declared,” the Romulans eventually settled in a new system of two terrestrial planets and began what was later to become the Romulan Star Empire. Following the teachings of S’Task, the Romulans became warlike and suspicious of their neighbours. The Orions had taught them a valuable lesson in life and would never fall for the same thing again.
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With the destruction the Borg laid on the twin system of Romulus and Remus, many advocated reunification with the followers of Surak. And so seeking refuge from this destruction and loss, several Vulcans and Romulans formed a society, that would enable the once prodigal sons of Vulcan to rejoin them in what would become the Mnhei’sahe Protectorate. Forged in the once termed “neutral zone” this society would become an empire, that was based on both the teachings of Surak and S’Task.
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