Shoals: Difference between revisions

The '''Shoals''' is a region of space at the border between the [[Federation]] and the [[Tholian Assembly]]. Rich in {{ma|dilithium}}, {{ma|benamite}}, and other natural resources, the hazardous area itself cannot be traversed at high warp or by quantum slipstream due to the treacherous and shifting {{ma|tetryon}} fields that are scattered throughout the region, a danger similar to that of the [[Hekaras Corridor|Hekaras sector]]. Over five hundred ships have been lost in the region, earning it the nickname, "The Graveyard of the Federation."

*Travel in the Shoals is restricted to a maximum factor of warp 4 except when traveling along the Mother Road.

*Travel along the [[Mother Road]] is restricted to warp 5.

Both high warp speeds and quantum slipstream are unavailable in the Shoals. Top warp speed varies throughout the Shoals and over time due to the ever changing locations and intensities of the tetryon fields that give the Shoals its name, but the highest possible speed is warp 4. At warp 4, it takes 18 days to cross five light years and 2 months to cross the length of a sector.

Because of the threat of piracy and other navigational hazards that had plagued the colonies since their founding, a historic route least affected by the tetryon fields was mapped out in 2303 to connect the worlds of the Coalition with each other and to the Federation and Esperance. This non-fixed route is known as the [[Mother Road]]. Along the Mother Road, ships are able to reach warp 5, effectively cutting travel times in half (9 days to cross five light years and 1 month to cross a sector).

The Klingons established a small group of colonies of their own in the Shoals in the 23rd century during the height of the Cold War with the Federation. After the Treaty of Organia and the Khitomer Accords, improved relations with the Federation diminished the threat posed by a Klingon presence so near other Federation colonies, and a gradual disarmament was implemented by both sides over the next century. The Dominion War greatly strained both the resources and the centralized power of the Klingon Empire, which spent the next decade rebuilding and has yet to fully recover to its pre-war strength. The weakened Klingon High Council no longer has the hold it once did over the various competing Houses. In recent years, some of the more aggressive Houses and factions have taken their own initiative to strike rather than remain stagnant from "too much peace." While the central governments of the Federation and Klingon Empire remain staunch allies (as marked by this year's joint celebration of the Khitomer Accords centennial), the High Council continues to be consumed with infighting, and rogue elements have taken the opportunity to attack worlds bordering the Empire, raiding colonies and supply runs.