Vulcan Civil War

The NX-01 was assigned to investigate the bombing. They discovered DNA on the bomb fragments which indicated that it had been planted by T'Pau, a member of a Vulcan faction known as the Syrrannites. The Syrrannites believed that the High Command were following a distorted version of Surak's teachings; their own philosophy stressed pacifism as a central tenet of Vulcan life. [1]

During the investigation T'Pol received an IDIC symbol from her mother which contained a map showing a route into the Forge, a desert region on Vulcan. The Syrrannites were known to inhabit the T'Karath Sanctuary in the Forge, and T'Pol and Captain Archer decided to follow the route in an attempt to contact the group. A natural dampening field in the region prevented most forms of technology from working, making it an ideal hiding place for the rebels. [1]

Whilst Archer and T'Pol were away, further analysis of the bomb debris revealed that in fact the DNA evidence had been planted. Ambassador Soval performed a mind meld on one of the badly injured survivors of the bombing and was able to see an image of the bomber - none other than Stel, the Chief Investigator of the Security Directorate. The ship was unable to communicate this information to Archer due to the dampening field in the Forge. Archer, meanwhile, encountered a man named Arev in the Forge. Arev was mortally injured in a storm; before dying he mind melded with Archer, speaking the Vulcan word "remember". [1]

Archer and T'Pol subsequently located the T'Karath Sanctuary and were captured by the Syrrannites. T'Pau denied any knowledge of the bombing, claiming she had not left the Forge in over two years. T'Pau admitted that Arev was in fact Syrran, leader of the Syrrannites. He had been carrying Surak's katra - the sum of his memories and personality - which he had discovered in 2137 residing in a katric arc on Vulcan. Syrran had used the mind meld to transfer the katra to Archer, giving him memories of the Great Awakening nearly two millennia before. T'Pau attempted to remove the katra from Archer, but was unable to accomplish this. [2]

On Enterprise V'Las, Chief Administrator of the High Command, revealed that evidence had been found linking Stel to the Syrrannites. Commander Tucker was dubious since he was beginning to suspect that the entire bombing had in fact been arranged by V'Las. Soval revealed that V'Las had long been planning a full scale war against the Andorians, and it would be highly advantageous to him to be able to discredit a political faction which advocated pacifism in the run-up to the war. Enterprise attempted to retrieve Archer and T'Pol from the Forge, but the ship was forced off by Vulcan vessels after a brief fire fight and retreated from the planet. Disobeying an order to return to Earth, Commander Tucker set a course for Andoria. [2]

As soon as the ship was clear of the planet V'Las ordered a full scale bombing of the Forge. Archer, acting under the influence of Surak's katra, led T'Pol and T'Pau to an underground chamber containing the Kir'Shara, an ancient Vulcan relic. As he brought the artefact back to the T'Karath Sanctuary the High Command's bombers zeroed in, destroying the Sanctuary and killing many of the Syrrannites, including T'Pol's mother T'Les. [2]

Enterprise travelled to Andorian space where they located Commander Shran's task force and informed him of the impending Vulcan attack. Shran was disbelieving, and under orders from his superiors he kidnapped Ambassador Soval from the ship and tortured him for further information. Soval was able to convince Shran that he was telling the truth, and Shran led a force of Enterprise and six Andorian warships to meet the Vulcan attack. A brief but fierce battle between the two sides resulted. [3]

Back on Vulcan, Archer was attempting to reach the capital city with the Kir'Shara. Although T'Pol was captured by Vulcan forces Archer and T'Pau were able to contact her husband Koss and get the security access codes to allow them to beam into the High Command. There Archer activated the Kir'Shara - and the device projected a holographic image of the original teachings of Surak in his own words. V'Las attempted to destroy the device, but the rest of the High Command turned on him and he was removed from office. The Vulcan fleet was ordered to stand down, ending the battle with the Andorians. [3]

The civil war was a relatively brief affair with little actual fighting - and the majority of the fighting that did occur was against the Humans and the Andorians rather than between the Vulcans themselves. However, the consequences of the war were profound. V'Las was removed from office, and shortly afterwards the High Command itself was dissolved. One of the first actions of the new leadership would be to greatly reduce the "supervision" of Earth, allowing Humanity to stand alone for the first time since First Contact. Although it would take years to translate the teachings of Surak, this would eventually result in a profound change to Vulcan culture. [3] T'Pau herself would go on to become one of the most important leaders on Vulcan, and the first person ever to refuse a place on the Federation Council. [4]

Colour key

References