Prologue: The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: Star Trek and the boys belong to Gene Roddenberry, who I am not. I am only borrowing them with the greatest respect, and promise to return them in (mostly) pristine condition.

"Remember this: Nothing is written in the stars. Not these stars, nor any others. No one controls your destiny."
— Gregory Maguire (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West)

"Some of our stars are the same." -Hannibal Lecter

Ironically enough, it is not Nero's actual attack that changes the universe. Yes, two very brave men are lost, but at the end of the day the loss of two men are hardly enough to merit the change that follows, as brave men die every second and the only thing that results is tears. So no, it is not the two men that die in Nero's attack that change history, but instead the seven men and women that make up the surviving bridge crew of the USS Kelvin that do.

And it is such an inauspicious place that it all starts to fall apart; not the bright and daring majesty of space where heroes are born, but rather a tiny lobby in Starfleet headquarters where no windows are to be found and the walls are painted an unassuming beige, as it is there that those seven officers are asked to sit before their debriefing. And it is there that one of them, so guilty an angry at the loss of their Captain his First Officer, and with the memory of Winona Kirk's tears and George's little son's screams fresh in their mind says the one sentence that starts off the cascade that changes everything.

"All of the those Romulan bastards have to pay."

And it is in the silence that follows the angry declaration that those seven individuals experience what can only be called a serendipitous moment, as in that instant they all make the exact same decision without a word to each other in conformation; the decision that seals not only their fate, the fate of the entire universe.

And so, one by one they are called into the tiny room where they are asked to provide a detailed debrief on what has happened. And it is in that room that they all, one by one, once a certain question is reached, raise guileless eyes to their questioner's face and lie, secure in their righteous anger that what they are doing is right.

The question?

Did the Romulan vessel identify itself as a member of the Romulan Empire, making this an official attack by the Empire on the Federation?

Their answer?

Yes.

However it quickly becomes apparent that it might not have been the right thing to do as it turns out that the Federation was really only itching for a real reason to take on the Rolumans (one of the only real threats to their power in the universe) and with their little white lie the crew of the Kelvin have given them just that. It barely takes even a day for the Federation to declare war on the Romulan's, citing the deaths of George Kirk and Captain Robeau as their justification, their true intentions now hidden safely behind a sleek coat of righteous indignation and sorrow and the Romulan's, who are clearly not adverse to the idea of killing Federation members don't deny it.

No, in fact the Romulan response comes in the form of a Federation Starship falling out of the sky as a result of a Romulan torpedo blast and landing with a rather spectacular bang in Mexico, killing a grand total of 15,037 people. And after that; well then it's on.

War however is never clear cut; never black and white and as it turns out, not all of the Allied members of the Federation decide that they want to play this game. Vulcan immediately announces their intention to mimic Sweden and remain neutral, citing that war is illogical and that passive beings such as themselves abhor the use of violence. It's safe to say that trade relations with Vulcan deteriorate after that; hell, it'd be safe to say that if the Federation wasn't so busy trying to blast Romulan's into little pieces they go after the Vulcans, but they are and so they simply remain estranged and bitter.

And of course as the war rages on there are other planets that decide not to fight; others that decide to simply wait in the wings and then kiss the hems of the winners and the divide splits the universe in ways that no one could have ever imagined. The Federation, stretched thin and bleeding from their fights and angry at the lack support they are receiving does the only thing they can think of; they create new laws prohibiting contact with these planets. Trade, travel and even marriage quickly become cause for treason and although there aren't exactly a lot of surplus ships to enforce the laws people are caught and punished in ways that make them examples, showing exactly how serious the Federation is. After that planets become insular, turning into themselves because there is no acceptance to be found when they look outwards and hatred develops and in it's true nature breeds like rabbits, until the shining unity that the Federation once presented is nothing more than a memory.

However not all of their allies feel that way; several of the more violent planets are unsurprisingly eager to cause pain and death and so despite the loss of the Vulcans and the several other planets that are more content to let the two sides bleed out and then align themselves with the winner the war rages on, the two sides relatively evenly matched in both troups and hatred.

By the time it hits its 25nd anniversary the war has begun to wind down; neither side ready to hold hands and make up, but Starships don't rain down from the sky anymore. Well, in the interest of specificity, it still happens occasionally, but after so many years of constant carnage it's considered a victory. The hatred still remains though; the divides in the universe only growing during the time and so despite the fact that the war winding down should be a joyous occasion it isn't because it's then, with an increase in personal the Federation decides to go after those who have slighted their ego, citing the violation of laws regarding treason as the justification for their new campaign.

And that in its self becomes another war, because while the Federation was too busy blasting Romulans to do anything else, smuggling has become the new favourite pastime of every planet that didn't get their hands bloody in the name of the Federation's "good fight," and even some of the ones that did (Earth has a remarkable amount of smugglers; with the money to be made it surprises no one really). And so, the nearly victorious Federation (although it can hardly be called that anymore) turns their attention to punishing the deserters and the neutrals, controlling and manipulating space and lives in a way that those seven people never could have imagined as they sat in that little room and lied.

In retrospect, it's almost funny how one little three letter world can change the world.

No one's laughing though.