The Power of Fear

Posted on Mon Apr 25th, 2011 @ 6:29am by Vice Admiral Iluvar

[[Ready Room, USS Pandora, Prior to Mission Day 01]]

BEGIN LOG:

As the Pandora prepares to depart Deep Space Five for her patrol along the Federation border, I find myself reflecting on the events which have transpired in the past few months. We live in difficult times, there is no denying. It has been over a decade since the Federation and her allies defeated the Dominion. We have worked hard in that time to maintain the peace that so many fought and died for. Yet we find ourselves facing perhaps the greatest threat our world has ever encountered...fear.

It is no secret that fear was a major driving force in all of our interactions with representatives of the Elyshan Empire. Even from the earliest encounters, there was already some indiciation that the Elyshans were a xenophobic people who had little desire to develop a greater role on the galactic stage. Tensions continued to escalate as a result of the fear which existed on both sides until they resulted in the failed assaults upon Starbase 386 and Starbase Gatekeeper. Now the Elyshans have withdrawn once again, focusing inward toward their struggle with issues of power and control. Yet the possibility that we might one day find some measure of common ground upon which to stand still remains.

There is certainly an element of fear involved in the mysterious attacks which continue to persist near the Black Cluster. We still have no better understanding of the reason for these attacks or who might possibly be behind them. Starfleet Command has brought an abrupt halt to investigations of the attacks before any conclusion could reasonably be drawn, despite the fact that our investigations thus far have yielded more questions than answers.

The unrest which has been growing within the Romulan Empire since the incident involving the USS Enterprise-E and an attempted coup of the Romulan government continues to be driven by an element of fear. Relations between the Romulan Star Empire and the Romulan Imperial State, which had appeared to be at an impasse, were thrown into utter chaos by the destruction of the Hobus star. Perhaps the greatest ecological disaster in the history of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers, the Hobus Supernova has wrought destruction and devastation, the true extent of which remains unknown.

There are those who wish none of this would have happened, as do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. Now, more than ever, we must reach out to one another in the spirit of mutual cooperation or risk allowing ourselves to succumb to fear.

END LOG