The Edge of Midnight

The system remains to this day an entrepot linking the UFP and Orion trade networks to the deep alpha Quadrant.

Skygowan, despite lying at the far edge of explored space in the 2260s, still saw an attempt at both Federation and Klingon political infiltration during this period. Neither party saw much success due to an inability to engage with with the planet's theocratic political culture.

TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY: The Wescott Era, 2262-2268

"Rendezvous in the Federation Phalanx" - advertisement by Vickers-Armstrong, 2261.

Despite the end of monetary capitalism, non-state engineering companies - closer to cooperatives than their pre-modern namesakes - still played a vital role in Starfleet contracting and construction.

Chapter Twenty One " 90% of conservations with a Federation Ambassador will leave you wondering if T'Kuvma had the right idea."  - Lorna McClaren "' The Premier says war with the Federation will end in immediate,...

"90% of conversations with a Federation Ambassador will leave you wondering if T'Kuvma had the right idea." - Lorna McClaren

Federation and Empire prepare for the worst: one striving for peace, the other for survival.

CHAPTER 11 OF THE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT: THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM IS AVAILABLE NOW

Later versions of the pamphlet, issued in April and May 2267, also included the notorious postscript from Admiral Ch'Shukar, which was condemned in the Assembly Council as alarmist.

Issued after the breakdown of the Rigel Talks, this pamphlet aimed to lay down clearly the Federation government's position on the Klingon Empire as a general war became a certainty.

"IF WAR SHOULD COME" Information Pamphlet, 2266-67.

(thanks!) John C

Chapter Twenty One " 90% of conservations with a Federation Ambassador will leave you wondering if T'Kuvma had the right idea."  - Lorna McClaren "' The Premier says war with the Federation will end in immediate,...

"90% of conversations with a Federation Ambassador will leave you wondering if T'Kuvma had the right idea." - Lorna McClaren

Federation and Empire prepare for the worst: one striving for peace, the other for survival.

CHAPTER 11 OF THE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT: THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM IS AVAILABLE NOW

Though the Admiral denied the allegiations, and was defended by the Vulcan government, his prospective retirement honours were revoked by the Wescott government.

Admiral Pasalk, 2261. Pasalk would retire as head of the Judicial Office in late 2261, citing health concerns. Leaked correspondence in 2263 revealed that he was asked to resign by the JAG after multiple concerns about pro-Vulcan bias were verified through trial records.

render by @pundus.art

D9 "Pocket Battleships", 2261. Designed in the late 2250s, the D9 was a failed attempt by the Imperial Navy to create a independent raider capable of outgunning Starfleet capital ships. It would later find a role as a supporting vessel in the battle line alongside the B1, B2 and B10 battleships.

"Conn, Sonar. Crazy Kor!"

"We won't break the Klingons because we have better ships and bolder captains. We don't. We'll beat them because we strike fair deals and keep the trade lanes open, and they don't."
- Nilz Baris, 2275.

(art of Barreuco by @mousbones.bsky.social)

Book One The Edge of Midnight Book One: The Business of Risk  covers the opening moves of the cold war, detailing the political and social state of the Federation and Empire in the aftermath of the 2256-57...

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BARREUCO IN CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 OF THE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT: THE BUSINESS OF RISK

Barreuco would be removed after the Convoy PD-14 disaster in spring 2258, in the first No Confidence motion in Federation history. The snap election - sometimes called the "redshirt election" saw her lose to Byss Th'rhahlat, her once ally and leader of the Outer Systems and Frontier Party (OSF-P).

Unable and arguably unwilling to come to grips with the necessities of a wartime presidency, Barreuco's crisis of inaction "filtered like a fungus" through Federation Central and Starfleet, preventing any serious mobilisation against the Klingon threat.

Erica Barreuco, 16th President of the United Federation of Planets (2254-58). Sometimes consider the "last of the Archerites", Barreuco's strong position on infrastructure expansion and internal trade reform was wiped out by her poor leadership during and after the 2256-57 Klingon War.

A rural Klingon is being shown around the first city by his brother, who is trying to impress him with his wealth.

First, they go to the chief market, where the city brother buys the finest clothes for his nephews and nieces. The rural brother is unmoved. "How will they wear this in the fields?"

USS Singapore firing a warning shot, Summer 2262. The Qingdao class 'fast cruisers' were a pre-war class of patrol ships, ostensibly designed to replace the Pioneer with Tactical Command. Fifteen were built between 2254 and 2263.

M'Talas Prime - a corruption of the old Orion name, Ma'talk Elas - is a last vestige of the Orion Empire. The former "treaty port" stood at the boundary between Orion territory and the Vegan Tyranny; by the 23rd century, however, it slumped into uncomfortable but profitable neutrality.

a TOS era starfleet ship with a pod, based on the unidentified ship in SNW S3 opening

just me manifesting TOS Nebula

April was criticised at the time for acting without Tactical Command support, though recent historiography has also critiqued his and Captain Pike's decision to conduct offensive actions against the Gorn against the orders of Starfleet Command.

The Gorn Demarcation Line, 2261.

The Parnassus Crisis (April-mAy 2261) was the last time a 1st Fleet Officer (Admiral Robert April) led a task force in the field.

The only visible member of the Draylaxi still at the conference, Thimur Wross, sat in mourning for the first day after her death, but then returned on the 19th. “Were she here, you all know she’d tell me to cry when I’m dead. There’s work to be done.” - Thimur Wross

Despite it's closeness to the Capital world, Starbase One rarely sees a large number of vessels present on station: the Centennial Fleet Review was a exception that drew large numbers of rare exploratory craft, include all of the remaining Crossfield-class testbed vessels.

Elements of Starfleet's 1st Fleet assemble for the Centennial Fleet Review, August 9th 2261. Visible Here are the Nimitz Class USS Hawkins, Bellephron Class USS Sukran, Larson (I) class USS Threllvia & Gortash mer Vora, Hermes Class Henry Archer and other scouts assigned to the Home Fleet.