A ship in space is its own world. To be the captain of a ship is to be the unquestionable ruler of that world and requires all of the leadership skills of a prince or minister.
-Starfleet Officer's Manual
2154
Archer returned to Earth a hero, and his crew was lauded after stopping the Xindi Superweapon. Some of the actions that had brought about the achievement, and the loss of crew in the process, had tempered the Captain even while he emerged as 'the go to man': Starfleet's living legend. It was a dent to the idea that the future would be free of the moral grey that had choked humanity in the lead up to the Third World War and, as crucially, in the minds of men it was a realisation that just because United Earth was at peace, it didn't mean the galaxy was peaceable. Archer was not one for the adoration he received on return, and played it all down at every opportunity; in the way Grissom had had to do after flying through the Relay only a couple of years before. For Archer and indeed humanity as a whole 2154 would be a year of significant developments; it had started with the end of the Xindi threat but already new challenges were on the horizon.
One sad but altogether human outcome of the Xindi crisis was an increase in xenophobia amongst the residents of Earth directed against non-humans. The isolationists in the Exodus Cluster experienced a second wave of migration many times more than their first, though in fact only a few million humans left Earth for the Cluster. This influx over the year of some six million new colonists mostly went to Eden and, though holding an anti-alien bias, many arrivals were not isolationist. They changed the dynamic of Exodus society, ending a relative man-power shortage and expanding the planet's agricultural sector. Morgan Industries welcomed the new settlers, because they brought capital that was immediately given up in their purchasing of company stock- the first step an individual had to take in the Cluster; as it then allowed them fuller access to what was actually rather basic service and support, advertised as 'privileges' . Holding stock earmarked a settler for boundless credit opportunities, and then through accumulation of a debt, bound Corporation and new settler together.
Humanity beyond the Relay was, at a rather rapid rate, moving away from mainstream Earth culture. Obvious explanations for this seemed to lie in the already held beliefs and prescribed opinions of permanent settlers to Exodus: which in a generation on Earth had already moved away from the progressive norm. Leaving Earth gave many the 'free air' in which to voice reservations about the engagement with aliens and rapid re-organisation of human society. In the distinct notion that within the Cluster man was alone, came the belief in it as a fresh setting for a totally new human society. The ideas of 'living space' or 'promised lands' in the 22nd Century still alluded to previous uses and as such should be avoided, but the mindset of many Exodus settlers was likely influenced by similar ideological promise. Exodus humans were in many cases those who felt 'left behind' in the sudden enriching and rebuilding of Earth, or had lost a position of fixed advantage as society effectively embraced egalitarian structures. At the time, while it was growing clearer that what was happening through the Relays was different to what was happening on Earth's other colonies, it did not lead to the feeling a disconnection was being worked. In 2154 it is easy to assume neither side truly wished something like that.
It is true though that the small MACO presence on each world in the Exodus began to seem less and less adequate to the situation on the ground, as more and more settlers came in. General Williams requested a number of men and women but was slow getting them. Since the onset of human activity in the Cluster there had been criticism, the effective corporate sector that had sprung up was loudly blasted on Earth, and more MACOs was seen as part of addressing Government distaste for the current state of affairs.
On Eden and Terra the loudest protests from Earth were ignored as part of a dialogue, and played to a change in sentiment among the isolationists about what isolation meant- that being separate was no longer a choice, but a necessity in order to live 'freely'. Coupled with an enhanced xenophobia this led to the popular idea within the Cluster that the region was to be a 'a preserve of human thought, ability and effort'. Morgan Industries didn't particularly care for the social developments occurring, but it did actively influence the level of imports on the back of an optimistic settler wish towards self-sufficiency.
As example of what self-sufficiency would mean to Morgan: he made sure the market was dominated by old Warp ships limited by the 'Warp 2 barrier', price was competitive but this was part of a plan to dissuade proliferation of a more capable long term design. Meanwhile he established a fabrication facility on Terra; designed to turn out Warp 3 engines in low numbers. Upgrade work a likely future income source. Morgan Industries wanted the Cluster to remain closed on the wave of popularity for self-sufficiency. It gave the Company time to promote a consumer economy that in a sense was inheriting the wisdom of the pre-Third World War deal. In this way Morgan Junior wished to use suggestive marketing principles, human psychology, economic theory and his corporations initial position to provide goods and have the market behave such that elsewhere what might be capital, was treated and so had the properties of consumer goods.
Morgan subsidiaries only had to compete with 'one-off trade caravans', and missions organised by the Earth Cargo Service which volume wise could not challenge the former's market position, and only created a momentary stir. The conglomerate made it clear that it would use aggressive pricing policies to sink any attempts by others to expand into the Cluster, and in that way dissuaded anyone from trying- allowing it a totally captive market which was being nominally associated with the business as shareholders. Morgan Junior personally partook in some discussions about the nature of an Exodus proto-identity, that Cluster communities found themselves caught up in, but only so far as to highlight the natural inclusion of his Conglomerate in any imaginings about a future Relay based community of humans.
Starfleet was hands off and used the Exodus Cluster as a springboard into further Relay activation, but by the beginning of the year had wound down efforts. Now more localised surveys were launched from these numerous new and active way-points. Grissom and the Captain of the Intrepid, a Captain Ramirez, were pushing out from both the far end of the Charos Relay and the main Relays in the Exodus Cluster, and returning findings on an area of space seemingly devoid of other life. Grissom did not go on record but had a habit of privately stating when asked that he did not believe such conditions would continue "It is only a matter of time and resources before an expedition of ours goes far enough to come across life not as we know it. The much anticipated First Contact through the Relays, that we are only momentarily disbelieving, will happen. It would be unlikely to think that something as easy to operate as the Relay system would not be found and used by others, like us, with a calling among the stars..."
The Relay program Starfleet ran was focused on exploration of the Relay network and out from it, so the thought was that managing those that followed in their wake would be a responsibility for others. In June, General Casey of the MACOs travelled to Eden and announced the future deployment of a battalion of troops. His intention was to establish a sure United Earth presence, and he tasked General Williams to lay the foundations; Williams began work on a large barracks and landing strip in an isolated area of the garden world. He concentrated the MACOs he had at Eden and left only small detachments at Shanxi, Terra, and another agricultural colony called Mindoir. On Eden with the largest concentration of settlers the most work and oversight was necessary; the smaller detachments placed elsewhere were not intended by Williams to be a policing force or garrison, but rather military observers. These detachments assisted in surveying areas of the world, and were scheduled to be among the first to get new 'eezo cored' IFVs and shuttles when deliveries would begin.
Williams supported a program for the training of local Security Forces but was vetoed by Casey who did not want any new service branch chartered in the Exodus Cluster. General Casey was not taking the initiative by moving about the Cluster; he was in fact acting on pressure from United Earth bureaucrat Anita Goyle. She was now charged with bringing a surer hand to the Relay network, and arrived with Casey to do so, with the excuse that she was preparing a report for the united government on the developments of humanity in the Cluster. She was on hand to nudge a chartered Mindoir and Shanxi into being, very much along the lines of Proxima Colony, loyal to United Earth. But on Eden and Terra Goyle found less traction for her efforts. United Earth still had an impressive group of young extra-solar colonies: Vega, Alpha Centauri, Deneva, Mindoir and Shanxi. Added to the Luna and Martian colonies, and the space boomer 'Human Diaspora' it showed that the people of Earth were taking to space rather quickly. It was inevitable then, with the speed of events, that United Earth's moves were as a reaction in cases. Situations grew out from projections more quickly then United Earth could allocate resources. While many expected Earth would have to react at Eden and Terra soon, that was secretly agreed to be a MACO concern.
The Relays were not decisively handled because of the influence of the Go Camp in Starfleet, and the constant appearance of new challenges in the Quadrant- which dominated Starfleet and United Earth attention, and took most of its resources to address. In May Archer found himself called on to deal with the emergence of an Augment threat, and United Earth came close to War with the Klingon Empire as a result of it. Off the back of that came a sudden crisis on Vulcan; here the Vulcan High Command was dealing with a Syrannite 'issue' domestically while aggressively seeking to settle its problems with the Andorians.
The Andorians were a passionate and militaristic people who had territorial disputes with Vulcan, and though Vulcan had a larger fleet and was more developed by a degree, they found themselves in a situation where escalation would lead to massive devastation for both.
Vulcan and Andorian relations were long strained, and Archer had already played a role in diffusing one flashpoint at P'Jem a couple of years earlier. But the resolution of the Xindi Crisis on Earth, with some dressing, gave the Vulcan leader V'Las the pre-text to go after the Andorians. He wished a decisive move to end the Andorian threat to Vulcan pre-eminence. V'Las bullied and manipulated High Command into accepting as fact the carefully crafted suggestion that Andoria was seeking to use a Xindi super-weapon on Vulcan itself. While in the Xindi Crisis this weapon had been destroyed, V'Las ignored the fact, using the ambiguity surrounding intelligence on the matter and mobilised a Fleet to battle the Andorians.
The Vulcan aim was to quickly capture Andoria; using surprise to achieve victory, control the planet with minimal expenditure of life and so bring about an end to the Andorian ability to agitate. High Command assembled a Fleet in the Regulan system for the raid while deceiving the Andorians into thinking a strike would be made at Paan Mokar. The situation surrounding the Syrannites on Vulcan in the meanwhile was also coming to a head.
The Syrannites were a group of Vulcans who professed to follow the teachings of Surak truly, while the rest of Vulcan society they believed had been corrupted by a technocratic force- which merely paid lip service to the guiding principles of Vulcan culture while actually acting in a self-serving manner. They suggested that the rational, logical utopia Vulcan's worked to had been hollowed and filled by a sophisticated tribalism of 'technical' elites- who used their specific expertise as the surest sign of their identity, and then sort to better the lot of themselves and those like them. Rational thought, beautiful logic and a contented life lived by it had been side-lined. Each Syrannite leader was said to be in possession of the katra of Surak himself. Such an assertion drew followers, but not nearly as easily as evidence of a doctrine of duplicity and distrust in Vulcan policy did, for Syrannite assertions. P'Jem, the lack of disclosure to allies, were seen as instances which supported Syrannite thought that Vulcan High Command was ignoring Surak's philosophy. To say this Vulcan group was a threat to the Government is no understatement, and when the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan was bombed it was used to justify an immediate crack-down.
The Syrannites were known for their anti-alien bias, and were the focus of an investigation into the bombing led by Jonathan Archer. Soval, Ambassador to Earth, had pointed Archer towards Vulcan's Forge and was now assisting Starfleet's efforts due in part to his own concerns surrounding the attack- and who in fact the perpetrator could be. Doubt stemmed from the accepted truth that the Syrannites were pacifistic. Soval had also passed on word of the Vulcan plan to strike Andoria to the Andorian commander Shran, in the hopes of avoiding the possibility of destructive conflict between the two worlds by removing surprise as the decisive Vulcan factor. Soval reasoned that with surprise removed and High Command war aims compromised, that his government would then stand down.
Shran quickly brought together a small fleet of Andorian ships to defend his Empire's capital while signalling for re-enforcements. He met the advancing Vulcan attack force fully intending to defeat it despite human hopes there would be a back down. The Earth ship Enterprise was also present and its temporary commander, Charles Tucker, asked the Vulcans to stand down as Soval had hoped with it now clear their plot was compromised. The Vulcans however refused and a brief battle began, Enterprise intervening on the Andorian side against its ally.
Concurrently on Vulcan Archer had contacted the Syrannites, spectacularly found himself in possession of Surak's katra and having helped rediscover the Kir'Shara. The Kir'Shara was a collection of Surak's teachings and an object that would legitimise Syrannite doctrine while reforming a corrupted High Command. Despite the bombing of the Syrannite base, Archer was able to reach the Vulcan capital with a leading Syrannite member T'Pau and present this great find of Surak's teachings to all Vulcans. This action effectively brought down the regime of V'Las and the Vulcan attack on Andoria was called off.
At Andoria the delaying action of Shran and the Enterprise had likely saved the Andorian homeworld from capture and occupation while the actions of Archer, his first officer the Vulcan T'Pol and the Syrannites had averted War, and brought about a massive development in Vulcan history. High Command moderate Kuvak and the Syrannite T'Pau headed a transition government while Vulcan society adopted Surak's teachings en masse. With the Kir'Shara years away from full translation in effect this meant Vulcan's adopted Syrannite interpretations of Surak's philosophy, and were more willing to accept Syrannite arguments. In regards to Vulcan-Andorian relations, the event led to the end of tensions. The Vulcans stood down along their frontier with the Andorian Empire who in turn moderated their own policy. With Earth the Vulcans dropped their objections to the pace of human development, removing a powerful block on the enterprising and exploring spirit of humanity.
For Archer the outcome would have been satisfying, realising a dream of unfettered movement towards the 'bright future' he saw for his world. But the cost was great, in the bombing of the Earth Embassy Archer had lost his mentor Admiral Forrest. Archer's own personal prestige was high, though on Vulcan his efforts would not be met with the enthusiasm and respect one might expect. This was due to emphasis on the teachings of Surak in the aftermath, and not the individual who had played a part in bringing them out into the open. Part of this was logic, though later human scholars controversially connected the Syrannites 'anti-alien tendencies' to what they saw as a distinct lack of public appreciation for Archer himself.
Soval and Udina modified agreements between their two worlds which saw a more open and cooperative regime for Element Zero collection and research. A shipping accident on Earth at Singapore in September was seen to mar the move, when a Spaceport incident led to the release of dust form Element Zero into the atmosphere. The ship in question was Vulcan and though an investigation found the cause and fault lay with Singaporean staff- but not before portions of Earth's press had already concluded otherwise. Goyle meanwhile, straight from her trip through the Relays, signed a technology sharing agreement with the Andorians who she was eager to bring information about Element Zero to- in exchange for other advanced technologies. Détente between Vulcan and Andoria allowed Earth to pursue relations with another advanced society and Goyle was keen to quickly do so. She also signed a trade agreement which together with the technology treaties saw an influx of ideas and products to Earth that connected it to the Empire of the Andorians.
In the wake of V'Las came a new regional dynamic which saw Andoria, Vulcan and Earth along with other nearby worlds far more conscious of one another and more open to building ties. Earth Minister Nathan Samuels was by this time saying "what we are seeing perhaps is a moment, Earth's moment, where-in the conviction of a generation to some bright and better tomorrow has taken hold of the stars- our planet and our people have risen in stature among our neighbours on the back of this noble idea. We have the opportunity to take up the feeling and the enthusiasm to install a peace brought about by understanding and engagement, connection with openness... ideals in coalition as much as people." Along with this was the thought that there could be instruments for regional cooperation that would be beneficial to all parties, a marked difference from the previous Vulcan method. The notion of an exportable ideal, really Earth's ideals, rapidly spread along the corridors of government...
AUTHOR NOTES
Answering some questions: Anderson will likely be seen during the Earth-Romulan War or First Contact War. A focus has been put on Udina and he has some prominence, despite him likely being quite young because it's easier for later on. No real emphasis was placed on cataloguing the findings in the cache, but the speed at which an Eezo style FTL system was made (the one Grissom flew) can hint at the nature of what was found. Humans and Vulcans see the usefulness of Eezo, but incorporating it into their TECH will need time. The Singapore accident was pushed back a few years so it could fit in with some other plot threads. United Earth has colonies and commitments within the Alpha Quadrant so the Relays have not been its main focus. As Earth's role in the Alpha Quadrant expands there will be the opportunity to look at how the Andorians and others are going/what they are up to.