Chilling Along the Romulan Neutral Zone

[Dan Stack]

Icarus players beware and read no further... Paging Sir Sig - given this deals with government borders it may be of interest to you.

Hmm, I wonder if as all-powerful moderator I can make certain threads invisible to my players....
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The Icarus-campaign relaunch has at last taken place, bringing us to the late 2270's.

One of my players has a character with a very interesting background which begs for me to use Romulans as frequent adversaries (hence my sudden partiicpation in all these funky Romulan threads and starting my own).

The thing I'm trying to wrap my brain around is how to blend a primarily exploration-based game with Romulans as the main adversaries (as opposed to TOS, whichj used Klingons as the main adversaries). With Klingons in TOS, there is the Organian Peace Treaty, which has both parties competing for the same planets, allowing tons of contact between the Federation and Klingons.

On the other hand, the Romulans have this here Neutral Zone separating them and the Federation. So how to feature the Romulans frequently? (Though not in every adventure or even the majority.)

I have a few ideas, depending on how I interpret the Neutral Zone. Curious how others think of them, both in if they feel right for Trek and if they lend themselves well to funky cool adventures. Additional options are of course welcome.

One idea involves assuming that the Neutral Zone is, for all intents and purposes, unlimited in length. The borders are set in stone. This seems to be how most people picture it. This means that a Federation and Romulan ship should never meet (doesn't mean they won't, just that it is prohibited by treaty.) The game itself takes place in a frontier area. This means not a lot of explored planets in either government's sphere of influence. Probably a lot of border outposts along the Neutral Zone. To use Earth as an example, suppose that the Rio Grande River separating America and Mexico was a Neutral Zone and also assume that Texas is largely unexplored. You can have forts on the river but still have lots of Texas unexplored. Need to go East for civilization. In the same manner, these sectors of space would be unexplored, but the border patrolled. Not as well as it would be closer to Earth and Romulus. What would the Romulans do? Probably try to sabotage Federation exploration - bias worlds against the Federation through the use of the Tal Shiar, through mercenaries like the Breen (could be why the Romulans don't trust them in the 24th century if it doesn't go well) and the Nausicaans (which we know have been client states of the Romulans).

A second option I am considering is making the Neutral Zone more fluid. There could be a point where it "ends" if the sphere of influence of the two governments ends. In such a case the Neutral Zone would extend as more worlds become part of the two governments. This could give a region of space which is unexplored and both governments can send ships to. The ships can often meet each other, the crews can compete with one another. This second option seems easier to write adventures for but I'm not quite certain it "feels" right for the portrayal of Romulans and the Neutral Zone, as seen on the various Trek shows.

A compromise option would be to have the Neutral Zone only separate the "core" of the two governments. Like the English Channel between England and France. Call that the Neutral Zone, but both goverments settled islands in the Caribbean and competed for the Americas. This goes along with an "islands" view of Star Trek, where the cores of various powers become like continents and are contiguous, but beyond those cores various governments compete for individual planets.

[reimero]

According to the map in The Way of D'Era (which I never remember what gets capitalized... oh well) there really isn't an unlimited border between the Romulans and the Federation. The Romulans occupy the area of space around 38 Trianguli, and I want to say are bordered by the Klingons on the lower-right and right, the Federation on the lower-left and left, the Breen and the Taurhai Unity (in what order I don't remember, but the Taurhai Unity does not border the Federation.) In other words, Romulan exploration is practically nonexistant and the only way they can expand or colonize is through conquest or disputed border territories.

Having said that, I do know the Romulan government would stop at practically nothing to prevent the Federation from gaining knowledge of and contacting the Taurhai Unity because they'd almost certainly form an alliance, and that's the last thing the Romulans need.

[Dan Stack]

I'm not sure about the non-existent part - Way of D'era (or whatever gets caps ) does mention some exploration, though it was far less important than the military.

That said, the game itself actually takes place between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and ST:II so there's quite some time until the Taurhai show up.

Part of my mentally debating the structure of the zone is a desire to avoid space being totally 2-dimensional contiguous governments. That's where my island theory comes form.

[Phantom]

Most of the Romulan Exploration Program is through the Empty Frontier, a portion of space at the top of the Way of D'era map that is bracketed on one side by Breen Space and the Taurhai Unity on the other.

So, there is still a fairly large option for exploration. Especially when one considers the Empty Frontier leads to the Gamma Quadrant.

[SIR SIG]

The way I see it in 2277 is this:

The 'classic' RNZ, is a swathe of a borderline that cuts across 3-5 sectors app. 65 lightyears from Earth. This IMO is where the Romulan War went down and is the closest points between the two governments.

Now after the many years since that war. The zone would have been fortified such as the 12 outposts along the RNZ map from TOS. Even more fortified when the Romulans reappeared in TOS.

With time as the 2 powers competed the RNZ would be treasied to be extended that couple of sectors more (specifically in the alpha quadrant).

So that by TNG times the RNZ probably snakes across 10's if not 100's of sectors.

I don't have time right now but I could graph this out in a quick map if anyone wants a graphical represenation of what I'm saying.

[Dan Stack]

Just watched TNG's "Face of the Enemy".

It had a Romulan Warbird going to the Kaleb Sector to smuggle some dissidents onto a frieghter which would then go on to Federation space.

Later in the episode Picard mentions how close it is to Federation space and Enterprise travels to the Kaleb Sector as well. Meanwhile, much to the chagrin of the Romulan Commander, Troi, posing as a Tal Shiar agent, orders them to cloak and head into Federation space.

The two ships meet. Neither captain barks how the other is trespassing, something they always do when treaty violation takes place. This indicates to me that there is indeed "unclaimed" or neutral space between the two governments.

What I would propose is this...

I would imagine the initial Romulan Neutral Zone (RNZ) separated Terran and Romulan territories. After the Federation was founded and the passage of decades, it remained patrolled but it wasn't a big deal - not a peep out of the Rommies during that time.

Then, in 2266 a major incident between the Romulans and Federation - "Balance of Terror". We get the feeling that the RNZ is reasonably far away from Earth - it isn't till the end of the episode that Enterprise gets a reply from Starfleet Command regarding violating the RNZ. That implies a delay of several hours, maybe a day, judging by the events of the episode.

In 2268 we have "The Enterprise Incident". It deals with a RNZ violation but this time a reply from Starfleet Command will take weeks. This gives me the impression that with Romulans re-entering the galactic scene, the RNZ was extended to the more modern borders between the two powers. Perhaps it even gets constantly renegotiated every so many years - maybe once per decade. I have visions of the Light Cycles in Tron, with the two governments trying to claim the most space. Hmmm... Perhaps that could even be a cause for the Tomed Incident in 2311 - the two governments could not come to a decision regarding the borders. The Treaty of Algeron could have redefined the RNZ, favoring the Federation's claim but in turn the Federation agrees to forsake cloaking technology.

One would also get the impression (from "Face of the Enemy")that the two governments , even in places not covered by the RNZ, still consider certain areas sovereign and not to be intruded upon.

[Phantom]

I asked a the same question in a thread on the subject a couple of months ago. IIRC the train of thought was that there are "openings" in the RNZ, areas of space not claimed by either government...Its the only way that I can think of as to how a Fed. and Rom. ship could meet each other and not start arguing about who violated what.

[jahn]

In my campaign the Neutral Zone is a hard though not endless line with some star systems falling in the Zone. Romulan ships and agents constantly cross the Neutral Zone (they have cloaking technology after all) and occasionally Starfleet ships cross it the other way (always with very good reasons). As long as no major harm is done, nothing much other than formal protests are ever done. It is understood by both governments that there will be incursions and neither side is going to push a few incidents into full-scale war. Amazing how many military warships end up on the wrong side of the Zone because of "navigational malfunctions" or because they were "answering a distress call"...

Another thing to note is that many Romulan episodes probably don't involve Romulan ships. In-place Romulan secret agents and saboteurs abound throughout the sectors bordering the Neutral Zone, hence why Starfleet Intelligence is sometimes a bit too overzealous in their counter-intelligence role. It is much easier for a government to say that one or a small group of people were "acting on their own" when that group *doesn't* have a warship at their beck and call.

[pesterfield]

Something you should consider is what seems to be a Fed/Romulan alliance during that period. In Undiscovered Country the Romulan ambassador stayed in the UFP presidents office while they discussed the rescue plan for Kirk and McCoy.

That plan could have easily turned to full war, and it appears the Romulans would have been expected to side with the Federation.

[ghosty]

For me the Romulan Neutral Zone is like the De-Militarized Zone in the Korean Peninsula, a no-man's land between two powerful empires to keep them from butting heads. On both sides are a series of fortifications, starbases and minefields to prevent a surprise attack. That's the impression you get from Balance of Terror.

Entering the Neutral Zone is an act of war unless it is done with the permission of the other side usually with a shadow nearby to keep an eye on the intruder.

There seems to be inconsistent practice over the entire run of TNG which I put down to the usual inconsistencies that creep in without tightly controlled scripting. But overall the above is how I handle the Neutral Zone in my game.

Pesterfield...you're right in suspecting a Romulan alliance with the Federation during Undiscovered Country or at least both powers had a vested interest in keeping the Klingons in line after the Praxis disaster. But it still does not explain why Ambassador Nanculus was in the President's office when they laid out the plan to rescue Kirk and McCoy after all its a covert operation and I doubt the alliance was close enough for them to tell all to the Romulans.

[Dan Stack]

Good thoughts all...

With regard to alliances... I remember back in the days pre-TNG, one always got the imprssion it would be the Romulans, not the Klingons, who would become allies with the Federation. I'd view the relationship between the Romulans and the Federation as similar to that of China and the United States during the 70's. Far from allies, but playing a common foe. Indeed, China played both sides, engaging with both the U.S. and U.S.S.R., much like the relationship between the Romulans, Federation, and Klingons.

As to the definition of the border. I'm balancing between realism, the needs of the game, and the impression given by Star Trek. From Star Trek, with some contradictions, there is the impression that it is definitely meant to be the entire border between the governments, with exceptions like "Face of the Enemy". I'd say that there is some limited commerce through the zone, some legal, much illegal. After all, would an Orion be bound by it? (I suppose he would if faced with disruptor-fire, but it seems the type of thing which might be ignored in the interests of commerce.) And given there are some ambassadors exchanged, it seems it can be crossed, but only at prearranged time at the agreement of both parties. Indeed, the two Koreas have had contact with each other through their DMZ. How else would there be a Romulan Ambassador in STVI or Romulans appearing on DS9?

I'd imagine the zone does not separate the whole galaxy between the two powers. But with memories of a brutal and horrible war intact, it seems reasonable that the two powers would constantly extend it beyond the spheres of influence between the two powers.

So for purposes of my 2279 (between TMP and STII) game, I'm leaning towards not having "unclaimed space" but rather having it take place in Federation space along the coreward portion of the zone. The Federation and Romulans explore thier sides of the zone - only the portion within a light year or two has really been mapped out, the rest being a wild frontier. Nothing prevents ships from going beyond the area bounded by the Zone, aside from political considerations (like the US developing missile defense - the other side may feel very threatend by it) and practical considerations - one must be carry not to over-reach - there are supply lines, communications, etc. What good is it establishing a colony 500 light years from the nearest Federation world? How much would it take to protect it, to protect commerce around it, etc.

So where is the danger? This is where it gets tricky, but perhaps rewarding. It allows espionage to be added to an exploration game. The Romulans, via the Tal Shiar (which I presume existed in the 23rd century - we got a taste of Romulan politics in "Balance of Terror") try to sabotage Federation exploration efforts. Tries to stop worlds from siding with the Federation. Why? The less success the Federation has, the harder time they will have at the negotiating table determining the newest borders of the Zone, which is designed to separate the two powers. "Well, we've explored three sectors further coreward, with three Starbases and eight new members of the Star Empire. What do you have, just a K-class Station?" A good reason for visiting ships from the other side, to verify the progress of the other side, much like the U.S. and U.S.S.R. exchanged monitors even during the Cold War.

And beyond sabotage, there are agents. Orions smuggling illegal Romulan goods. Nausican mercs and pirates, raiding Federation shipping. And turnabout - the next adventure involves infiltrating Romulan space - it is the 23rd century and "cowboy diplomacy" is the rule.

We'll see how it goes, but I think it may prove interesting, certainly a change from the traditional rivalry with the Klingons (23rd century) or Cardassians/Dominion (24th).

"It's always a game of chess with the Romulans."

[pesterfield]

Another thing to consider is how the zone is defined. A book I read had the zone defined by magnetic field lines. The magnetic flux of the galaxy can be easily measured and is constant over long periods of time.

Perfect to mark fixed points when stars and planets move.

Though they neglected to consider ion storms, which occasionally change the flux thereby moving the border.