The Earth-Romulan War, Part 2

The 1st refit of the NX-class.

In a prior post, many months ago, I discussed the Earth-Romulan War. In that first interstellar conflict between Earth and Romulus, humanity found itself at a decided disadvantage against a mysterious and hostile species bent on humanity’s destruction. In the various Star Trek television and movie series, this event was always just a backdrop. However, pocket books released two novels in the Romulan War series that detailed the war in depth, heavily featuring the United Earth NX-class refit. All well and good, but the recent reference book, the Federation – The First 150 years, further muddies the matter by contradicting events in the Romulan War series. Both of these sources are contradicted by the Star Trek: Legacy computer game!

All of this to say, that there are things in life that are perhaps best left as purely backdrop elements, memories not to be forgotten, but also not the focus or constantly at the forefront of people’s minds. Perhaps we’d have less conflict in our world today if people left the muddied past where it belongs, in the past, and instead focused on the here and now.

The Eugenics Wars

Khan Singh, genetic superman.

In Star Trek lore, the Eugenics Wars were a series of conflicts in late 20th century Earth that was precipitated by the creation of genetic supermen. These genetically superior human beings launched a plan to take over the world from non-genetically enhanced humans. The results of their plans led to millions of deaths and a ban of all such genetic enhancements not just on Earth but throughout the entire Federation.

Now scientists have taken one step closer towards genetic enhancement by breaching an ethical taboo and modifying genes across generations. They are doing so for good reasons, namely the prevention of inheritable genetic disease, but we all know the saying about the road paved with good intentions. It will be fascinating to see where this will lead in the years to come. Will it remain relatively benign, or will we have a case of the financial elite genetically modifying their children to be physical and mental elites?

Speaking of modifying the rules … here’s an update to my Expanded CODA Rules for the Star Trek Roleplaying Game.