Aeon of Chaos
Prologue.
It has been twenty years since the arrival of the Shan forced two former enemies – the United Earth Directorate and the Cardassian Union – to unite. Before then, the two powers often found themselves in conflict, with peace being only a time to re-arm and prepare for the next war. The Third Earth-Cardassia War was the longest, and the most brutal. It lasted thirty-five years, and saw the deaths of seventeen billion people. Like the previous two wars, this one indecisive. It seemed as if the two interstellar nations and their inhabitants would only know war.
However, this was not to be. Twelve years after the Third War ended, a new alien race, the Shan, arrived. Looking like pigeon-sized insects, the Shan attacked both the UED and the Cardassians at once, and proved to be far more sadistic than the worst of either Earth's or Cardassia's war criminals. Even the depictions of enemies shown in the most ridiculous pieces of propaganda thrown around on both sides during the Earth-Cardassia Wars was nothing compared to the sheer depravity of the Shan.
In face of this new threat, Earth and Cardassia put aside their differences, and stood united for the first time since the two worlds first made contact with each other. The tide of war began to turn, in favor of this new alliance. Despite this, the war was far from over, and the Shan's viciousness ensured that each battle would be hard-fought and bloody, each victory a Pyrrhic one. In an attempt to ensure victory, and prevent the alliance from falling apart, Earth and Cardassia signed the Treaty of Tau Ceti. In an eye blink, the United Earth Directorate and the Cardassian Union ceased to exist, and the Earth-Cardassia Alliance was formed. No longer having to worry about interstellar squabbles, or dividing up conquered territory between the two of them, the ECA was far more efficient than either of its predecessors, and within two years, the Shan's homeworld of Shaggai fell to the ECA.
Now, the ECA stands ready to embrace the future. We can only hope that it will be a bright one.
- Taken from the journal of Dr. Abraham Melbourne, October 22, 2503.