The Phoenix

[Sonic Glitch]

I'm working on a story idea detailing Project Phoenix (you know, Cochrane and all) in the style of The Lost Era detailing what happened between WWIII and First Contact. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get information about WWIII, ie, when Data says "10yrs after the 3rd world war" does that mean the war ended in 2053 or started in 2053? How long did it last? When were the nukes launched? Etc.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Sionnach Glic]

Sounds interesting. I'll have a look around and see what I can dig up. I know a few sites that may be helpful.

[Sionnach Glic]

Got it. Stolen shamlessly from MA:

Rising from the ashes of the Eugenics Wars of the mid-1990s, the era of World War III was a period of conflict on Earth that eventually escalated into a nuclear cataclysm and genocidal war over issues that included genetic manipulation and Human genome enhancement. World War III itself ultimately lasted from 2026 through 2053, and resulted in the death of some 600 million Humans. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"; Star Trek: First Contact; VOY: "In the Flesh")


Q, as a soldier of one of the armies of World War III.The war was fought in an era where various factions were known to control their military with narcotics. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") Among the parties involved was the Eastern Coalition (also referred to as "the ECON"), whose direct attacks included those against the United States. (Star Trek: First Contact) In 2026 at the start of the war, Colonel Phillip Green led a faction of eco-terrorists that was ultimately responsible for the loss of 37 million lives. (TOS: "Bread and Circuses", "The Savage Curtain"; ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")

Some of this information, such as when the war started and its basic causes, comes from an historical archive screen seen in "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II". The death toll matches the "despotic" deaths mentioned by Spock in "Bread and Circuses" as being from WWIII. See the Eugenics Wars for a discussion of Spock's comment on the "last so-called world war" from "Space Seed."

Colonel Green as recreated by the Excalbians in 2269Colonel Green's activities during the war are often cited as "genocidal" and treacherous. He and his troops personally killed hundreds of thousands of individuals affected with radiation sickness and other "impurities," using as a rationale that it was necessary in order to prevent their passing on such traits to later generations. (ENT: "Demons", "Terra Prime") He was notorious into the 23rd century for striking at his enemies in the midst of negotiating with them. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain")

Despite an escalating and ongoing global conflict, manned space exploration continued into the early 2030s with at least one mission to Mars (VOY: "One Small Step"). The New United Nations was also founded during these early years of World War III, and was among the first attempts to rebuild humanity during this era; for instance, by 2036, it had declared that no Human being would be held accountable "for the crimes of their race or forebearers." But not everyone would heed or respect this decree and some parts of world would later "abolish all United Earth nonsense". (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")


Colonel Green in 2055Humanity eventually turned over a new leaf when a few courageous people began to realize they could make a difference. (ENT: "Judgment") The war finally culminated circa 2053, when several of Earth's governments met in San Francisco to declare a cease-fire, effectively ending the war. (ENT: "Demons") As a result of this world war, like the two that came before it, whole generations were nearly wiped out. (ENT: "Judgment") By that time, many of the planet's major cities and governments were destroyed, and 600 million people had been killed. (VOY: "In the Flesh") The subsequent use of nuclear weapons engulfed Earth with a immense dust cloud, which ultimately resulted in numerous nuclear winters. (TNG: "A Matter of Time") When it was over, Earth was irradiated with a detectably-heightened amount of radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere. (Star Trek: First Contact)

Two years later, Colonel Green gave an impassioned speech asking for the impure to be once again be purged from society. (ENT: "Demons")


A trial in an area heavily affected by World War IIIFirst Contact with the Vulcans in 2063 lead to increased recovery from the war for parts of the world. (Star Trek: First Contact) However, despite this contact, various parts of Earth were still affected by what became known as the "post-atomic horror". In 2079, for instance, one such culture reverted to a state of near-barbarism that followed the credo: "[Kill] all the lawyers," and "[Guilty] until proven innocent." (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") Due to these and other factors, parts of Earth continued to be in - as Captain Jean-Luc Picard put it in 2365 - "chaos" well into the early 22nd century. (TNG: "Up The Long Ladder")

The post-atomic horror gave way to the stirrings of new attempts at establishing various unified world alliances, including the European Hegemony in 2123. (TNG: "Up The Long Ladder") These alliances would eventually be instrumental in the establishment of the United Earth Government in 2150. (TNG: "Attached")

The legacy of the war was felt in many ways during the hundred years after its conclusion. It was the subject of many films during that time, and in 2153 one of these epics won a majority of movie awards. (ENT: "Home") In the early 22nd century, the philosophy of Neo-Transcendentalism was founded by Liam Dieghan; he advocated "a return to a simpler life" in response to the war's carnage. (TNG: "Up The Long Ladder") The war additionally influenced the powerful xenophobic movement of the mid-22nd century on Earth known as Terra Prime. Led by John Frederick Paxton, the organization drew inspiration from the war through adoption of Colonel Green's goals and teachings concerning a "pure" Human race. It also blamed the Vulcans for not stopping the war with their superior technology, and thereby saving the lives of hundreds of millions of people. This blame was then channeled into a general distrust of all non-Humans. (ENT: "Demons", "Terra Prime")

In 2372, Admiral Leyton described the threat of the Founders of the Dominion infiltrating Earth and its facilities as being "maybe the greatest danger it's faced since the last world war." (DS9: "Homefront")

[Sonic Glitch]

Ah, thank you sir. Now to trudge through all that and figure out which parts work and don't for my story telling purposes.

[Graham Kennedy]

I'm working on a story idea detailing Project Phoenix (you know, Cochrane and all) in the style of The Lost Era detailing what happened between WWIII and First Contact. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get information about WWIII, ie, when Data says "10yrs after the 3rd world war" does that mean the war ended in 2053 or started in 2053? How long did it last? When were the nukes launched? Etc.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Personally I find it very unlikely that World War III would last more than a week, let alone more than a year.

[Aaron]

Personally I find it very unlikely that World War III would last more than a week, let alone more than a year.

I have a hard time with them only killing 600 million, especially with nukes.

[Tsukiyumi]

Personally I find it very unlikely that World War III would last more than a week, let alone more than a year.

I have a hard time with them only killing 600 million, especially with nukes.

Maybe they had theatre anti-missile systems that actually worked...

[Sonic Glitch]

I'm working on a story idea detailing Project Phoenix (you know, Cochrane and all) in the style of The Lost Era detailing what happened between WWIII and First Contact. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get information about WWIII, ie, when Data says "10yrs after the 3rd world war" does that mean the war ended in 2053 or started in 2053? How long did it last? When were the nukes launched? Etc.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Personally I find it very unlikely that World War III would last more than a week, let alone more than a year.

I'm writing it as years of conventional war until the losing side let loose the nukes, then nuclear holocaust. I'm using info from The Sundered, the above Memory Alpha stuff, and Federation to kind of create my own somewhat logical(?) history of the war. The story starts in 2053 detailing the ten years until and including FC. Part II is the ten years after FC.

[Sonic Glitch]

I've added to the beginning

Star Trek: Phoenix
Into the Fire

Minus Ten: 2053

Five months previous on May 1st, the greatest tragedy in human history and the event most feared by the strategists of the late Twentieth Century finally came to pass. The Eastern Coalition, facing the overwhelming force of the Western Allies, and standing alone since the disappearance and apparent death of Adrik Thornson and his Optimum movement in 2044, unleashed their stockpile of nuclear weapons on the free world. The defense computers of the NATO and Western Allies responded automatically with the launch of their respective nuclear arsenals. Fortunately enough, not all missiles responded, which is how Project Phoenix had come to occupy the abandoned Titan silo in Montana. The situation never ceased to amaze Lily Sloane, and merely fed her cynicism. The Doc had petitioned various military and civilian agencies to support his research for years. Though the military had been preoccupied with other things, they were keenly interested in (and thus funded) the projects antimatter research; but it was from the civilian sector the project earned the most support. Vanguard Systems worked on reactor control systems, Roykirk Inc. developed computer systems for the project, and NicholCorp Tech worked on communication technology. Before the firestorm of the Mayday Horror, R&D for the project had been spread throughout the Western World, but now the only survivors of those companies were the people lucky enough to be assigned to the O'Neill colonies orbiting the Lagrange Point. From a massive endeavor involving Federal Funding and thousands of people at any one time, the Project had been reduced to the 36 people gathered in the Quonset huts of the ground-station and the roughly 5000 people in the asteroids and the contents of their pockets. That was the status of the Project as of November 2053.

"Hey Doc, look at this" called Lily. The radios were finally working reliably and they were the main source of news for the 5.4 billion Earth survivors.
"The San Francisco conference ended today with the remaining governments and delegates declaring a cease-fire. The war is over. We are awaiting more information on the precise state of global affairs, but we expect the withdrawal of forces and the reformation of governments all over the world."
"It's about time," was Cochrane's reply, "now we can begin to relax."
"I don't know, everyone in this camp has been out of contact with the outside world for nearly four months. All we know is what we hear from the O'Neill's and they may not even have the complete picture. Either way, the words 'Hell' and 'Hand basket' come to mind."
"True enough-but if the project manages to succeed, there'll be a lot of people looking to get off this rock; which translates to money for us." He crossed to the door, "time to see how things are in the Batcave." Across what was laughably referred to as "The Complex" was the heavy concrete steel door which lead to the silo and its control rooms, which was referred to as the Batcave. As always, Lily was amazed that such an incredible piece of technology could fail so fortuitously. All the military engineers she had ever met prided themselves in keeping their charges in perfect condition-what had gone wrong here she wondered. Regardless, when the Project had found it, the hole had been in need of massive repairs. For all the supposed advances in shielding, the computers were fried. Fortunately, the project did not lack for skilled computer technicians. In the past four months the crew had managed to scrape together a workable system.
"Dr. Cochrane," started Dr. Goldberg the head computer scientist, "we're about ready to test our realtime ground-to-Space communications."
"That's great news. Who are we trying for?"
"We're pointing in the general direction of the L-5 colonies and praying."
"Wonderful," replied Cochrane with more than a hint of exasperation.
"Excuse me sir," said Goldberg pointedly, "we're about to open a channel."
"Of course, my mistake. Carry on Jerry." The Doc moved away from the console.
"To any listening colonies...this is Project Phoenix, please respond." There was a silence that seemed to last an eternity, "I repeat: To any listening colonies this is Project Phoenix ground-station, please respond." The pause seemed, if possible, longer and then..
"Pro *static crackle* Vanguard repeating ..knowledge" the signal then gave out. The three shared a hopeful look.
"Was that-"
"That sounded like-"
"Vanguard "
"They said they were repeating-can you clean the channel up?'
"We're trying Doc."
"Project Phoenix this is Vanguard colony. We will be repeating until acknowledged."
Dr. Goldberg got back on the mike, "Vanguard Colony this is Phoenix ground. We hear you. Acknowledge."
"Phoenix Ground this is Vanguard. It's good to hear your voice."

[Graham Kennedy]

Personally I find it very unlikely that World War III would last more than a week, let alone more than a year.

I have a hard time with them only killing 600 million, especially with nukes.

Depends on the type of war it was. It's a myth that WWIII would automatically involve the deliberate mass slaughter of the civilian population. Anti-population strikes were certainly possible and one of the options, but they were far from being the only option.

[Sonic Glitch]

See above--conventional war until 2053. After the nukes is when the govt's realised "hey we need to put a stop to this."

[Sonic Glitch]

Alright guys, this is where I am, I'd like some help/suggestions where to go. I plan to include the story of the Vanguard asteroid colonies as we read in The Sundered and the events surrounding First Contact from the perspective of Dr. Cochrane as we saw in First Contact.

Star Trek: Phoenix
Into the Fire

Minus Ten: 2053

Five months previous on May 1st, the greatest tragedy in human history and the event most feared by the strategists of the late Twentieth Century finally came to pass. The Eastern Coalition, facing the overwhelming force of the Western Allies, and standing alone since the disappearance and apparent death of Adrik Thornson and his Optimum movement in 2044, unleashed their stockpile of nuclear weapons on the free world. The defense computers of the NATO and Western Allies responded automatically with the launch of their respective nuclear arsenals. Fortunately enough, not all missiles responded, which is how Project Bozeman had come to occupy the abandoned Titan silo in Montana. The situation never ceased to amaze Lily Sloane, and merely fed her cynicism. The Doc had petitioned various military and civilian agencies to support his research for years. Though the military had been preoccupied with other things, they were keenly interested in (and thus funded) the projects antimatter research; but it was from the civilian sector the project earned the most support. Vanguard Systems worked on reactor control systems, Roykirk Inc. developed computer systems for the project, and NicholCorp Tech worked on communication technology. Before the firestorm of the Mayday Horror, R&D for the project had been spread throughout the Western World, but now the only survivors of those companies were the people lucky enough to be assigned to the O'Neill colonies orbiting the Lagrange Point. From a massive endeavor involving Federal Funding and thousands of people at any one time, the Project had been reduced to the 36 people gathered in the Quonset huts of the ground-station and the roughly 5000 people in the asteroids and the contents of their pockets. That was the status of the Project as of November 2053.

"Hey Doc, look at this" called Lily. The radios were finally working reliably and they were the main source of news for the 5.4 billion Earth survivors.
"The San Francisco conference ended today with the remaining governments and delegates declaring a cease-fire. The war is over. We are awaiting more information on the precise state of global affairs, but we expect the withdrawal of forces and the reformation of governments all over the world."
"It's about time," was Cochrane's reply, "now we can begin to relax."
"I don't know, everyone in this camp has been out of contact with the outside world for nearly four months. All we know is what we hear from the O'Neill's and they may not even have the complete picture. Either way, the words 'Hell' and 'Hand basket' come to mind."
"True enough-but if the project manages to succeed, there'll be a lot of people looking to get off this rock; which translates to money for us." He crossed to the door, "time to see how things are in the Batcave." Across what was laughably referred to as "The Complex" was the heavy concrete steel door which lead to the silo and its control rooms, which was referred to as the Batcave. As always, Lily was amazed that such an incredible piece of technology could fail so fortuitously. All the military engineers she had ever met prided themselves in keeping their charges in perfect condition-what had gone wrong here she wondered. Regardless, when the Project had found it, the hole had been in need of massive repairs. For all the supposed advances in shielding, the computers were fried. Fortunately, the project did not lack for skilled computer technicians. In the past four months the crew had managed to scrape together a workable system.
"Dr. Cochrane," started Dr. Goldsmith the head computer scientist, "we're about ready to test our real-time ground-to-space communications."
"That's great news. Who are we trying for?"
"We're pointing in the general direction of the L-5 colonies and praying."
"Wonderful," replied Cochrane in a voice full of sarcasm."
"Excuse me sir," said Goldberg pointedly, "we're about to open a channel."
"Of course, my mistake. Carry on Jerry." The Doc moved away from the console.
"To any listening colonies...this is Project Bozeman, please respond." There was a silence that seemed to last an eternity, "I repeat: To any listening colonies this is Project Bozeman ground-station, please respond." The pause seemed, if possible, longer and then...
"Pro *static crackle* Vanguard repeating ..knowledge" the signal then gave out. The three shared a hopeful look.
"Was that "
"That sounded like-"
"Vanguard."
"They said they were repeating-can you clean the channel up?'
"We're trying Doc."
"Bozeman this is Vanguard colony. We will be repeating until acknowledged."
Dr. Goldberg got back on the mike, "Vanguard Colony this is Bozeman ground. We hear you. Acknowledge."
"Phoenix Ground this is Vanguard. It's good to hear your voice."
"Vanguard, we feel the same way about you. How do you read us on your end?"
"Ground we're reading you 5 by 5. Small amount of signal degradation but we're compensating. And you?"
"About the same Vanguard. What is your status?"
"Vanguard Colony is operating at peak efficiency, all things considered. Our computers were protected from EMP by the atmosphere. The design for the reactor was uploaded last week so it's set. Roykirk and NicholCorp colonies have the necessary data for their projects, but supplies are missing. It appears they're going to have to jury-rig the necessary components."
"Acknowledge Vanguard, we'll contact again when we can tell you more. If you need us, contact on this frequency on the hour. Use call-sign ground station."
"Acknowledged. Will call, Vanguard out." There was a click as the line disconnected.
"Well at least we know they're OK," said Lily.
"Indeed. Call the brain trust together Lily, we need to figure out where we're going," Replied the Doctor.

The meeting of department heads, or as some liked to call it, the brain trust met in the largest of the Quonset huts which also doubled as the camp kitchen. The question put to them was how best to deal with the fact that while Roykirk and NicholCorp had the correct data, they woefully lacked supplies. Unfortunately, the supplies they needed were destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the firestorm.
"Dr. Cochrane, we've carefully considered the problems of the colonies and have concluded that the best thing to do is wait. We need to evaluate the status of the Project to determine whether or not we should go forward."
"So what you're saying is: you have no idea what to do," asked Dr. Cochrane.
"Well it's not so much no idea as .not much of one yet."
"Uh-huh, well what would you have us do? For many of us this project is the only thing we have left. Our families got caught in the target zone; there are only about three dozen of us left. We know that humans survived elsewhere on the planet, when they recover they're going to want a way off this God-Forsaken rock!" there was a brief pause and then, "Ahem I uh apologize for my outburst." muttered Lily as she sat down.
"No apologies necessary Ms. Sloan, we all feel the same way." Replied Dr. Goldsmith, "but we must also realize there is precious little we can do in the middle of the woods! Our labs have been destroyed, our computers wiped. If anything, we need to start from scratch."
"And do that we shall as of today Project Bozeman has burst into flames. We need to rebuild from the ashes. And as such it should be renamed, we are now Project Phoenix." On that note, the Doc officially closed the meeting by exiting the room.