Going into communications silence with an angry Starfleet Command, Captain Lakotda of the USS Dauntless mobilised his rag tag fleet and quickly moved to get as many as he could to the safety of Donatra’s territory.

When the disaster hit Romulus, only a small percentage of the population remained.

While Lakotda was publicly praised for his actions, he was condemned in silence by Starfleet Command. Reluctant to make anything public, they halted his promotions, gave him a diminished role within the fleet and began to pressure him into retirement.

Donatra offered resettlement for the homeless population of Romulus, but many were still wary of Donatra due to the propaganda of Tomalok and Sela, so they vowed to rebuild the Empire on their own.

While the Klingons wanted to extinguish their Romulan enemies, Martok supported Donatra’s offer of resettlement, hoping to make formal peace with the Romulans. The High Council propose an invasion of the crippled Empire which he objects to. When he returned to Qo’nos he found himself surrounded by opposition. Khal challenged his position in the Empire, killing him in combat to take control of the Empire.

The Klingons rejoice as Khal chooses to invade not only the remains of the Romulan Empire, but calls for war on the Imperials and the Remans. An act which the Federation President refuses to sanction, despite Starfleet being in favour.

Khal banishes all Federation citizens and ambassadors from Klingon space in retaliation. The MACO’s are sent in to show the flag and warn Khal off while they collect their citizens, showing the Klingons they are prepared to fight them if they push the Federation too far.

With the MACO’s becoming an intimidating presence to some, their threats towards the Klingons began to drum up some concern on Federation policy and in 2387 it gave several words the excuse they needed to part ways with the Federation.

Initially hurt over their lack of attention from the Federation after they were occupied by the Dominion, Betazed continued to become distressed with the Federations lack of involvement with the destruction of Romulus and more recently with the MACO’s acting like school yard bullies. While Cardassia was applying to join the Federation, with the surprising support of Bajor, Betazed announced confidential negotiations with several key worlds, including Bolius and Benzar which resulted in them officially retracting their Federation citizenship and forming their own alliance.

The Betazed Alliance further upset the Federation by enlisting the Gorn as their protectors after a series of successful campaigns in Klingon space while Khal’s forces were preoccupied with their takeover of Romulan space.

The Tholians soon join the group, aiding the Klingons and gaining the attention of the Breen who, while being a strong ally, were only concerned with annexing Klingon space.

With the Federation facing chaos, the President steps down.