Neutral Zone Incursion (alternate timeline)

In an alternate timeline, the Neutral Zone Incursion was an incident that took place in 2266 and led to a costly war between United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")

Origins

Captain Christopher Pike experienced an alternate version of the Neutral Zone Incursion when, in 2259, he attempted to save himself and several future Starfleet cadets from a delta radiation accident by warning them of the future disaster. To show him the dire consequences of changing the timeline, Pike was given a time crystal by a future version of himself, transporting him to an alternate 2266 in which he avoided his fate and remained captain of the USS Enterprise.

Overview

The Enterprise witnessed the destruction of Outpost 4 by the Romulan Bird-of-Prey and gave chase before being joined by the USS Farragut, captained by James T. Kirk. Pike hesitated in firing upon the Romulans after losing them in the tail of Icarus IV, resulting in the destruction of the Farragut and heavy damage to the Enterprise and its weapons systems. The Enterprise rescued Kirk and the survivors of the Farragut, and resumed pursuit of the Romulans.

Pike, still unwilling to adopt Kirk's more aggressive approach and risk a second Earth-Romulan War, opened hailing frequencies to the Romulans and offered a two-hour ceasefire, enough time for each vessel to make repairs and, hopefully, work towards a more lasting peace after the ceasefire's conclusion. The Romulan commander agreed to Pike's terms, against the wishes of his subcommander. Kirk, meanwhile, was granted the use of a shuttle to pursue a backup plan in the event that Pike's negotiations failed.

Escalation

At the two-hour mark, the Enterprise's engines were online, but weapons remained down, with Spock continuing to make repairs to the phaser array in a Jefferies tube. Upon resuming communications with the Romulans, the commander admitted to Pike that he, too, was tired of endless war, a sentiment that was almost immediately undercut by the sudden arrival of the Romulan armada, secretly summoned there by the Romulan subcommander. Realizing his subterfuge, the commander had the subcommander escorted off the bridge.

Leading the armada herself, the Romulan Praetor hailed Captain Pike, giving him one minute to accept an unconditional surrender. However, the Enterprise then detected multiple Federation signatures approaching at warp; Kirk arrived with a fleet of automated mining ships, gambling that, after one hundred years of no contact, the Romulans wouldn't recognize a Federation ship any more than they recognized the Romulans'. Pike used the ruse to negotiate with the Praetor, revealing his armada of "Delta-class attack ships," which the Praetor called an "act of unparalleled aggression." Pike responded by transmitting the sensor records of the Bird-of-Prey destroying Outpost 4, to which the Praetor ordered the culling of the Romulan commander and his vessel for being detected.

Decloaking and breaking formation, the commander hailed Captain Pike once more, and, like to Kirk in the prime timeline, refused his offer to beam aboard the Enterprise, replying that it was not their way. He told Pike that, "You and I are of a kind," and, "In a different reality, I could have called you friend." Pike asked what purpose it would serve to die, and the commander answered that he and Pike were "creatures of duty." With "just one more duty to perform," he told Pike not to be upset, as he had accepted his fate, and hoped his sacrifice would one day help end the conflict between them. Returning to his station, the commander and his bridge crew braced themselves as the Romulan armada opened fire, destroying the Bird-of-Prey.

The two fleets then engaged in combat after Pike once more refused the Praetor's request to surrender. With the Enterprise's warp drive suddenly unresponsive, Kirk used the drone fleet to cover the ship's escape. The Enterprise took heavy damage after a Romulan plasma torpedo destroyed a nearby drone, but Kirk was able to beam aboard and the ship able to warp away before being hit by another incoming torpedo.

The Romulans then issued a declaration of war against the Federation on all subspace channels, and Pike, upon learning that weapons control took a direct hit in the battle, ran to sickbay. There, he found that Spock had suffered massive injuries which, even at best, would leave him a changed man.

Aftermath

The future Pike later told Pike that the war was still ongoing in his own time, claiming millions of lives. Realizing the consequences of avoiding his future and remaining in command of the Enterprise, Pike used the time crystal to return to 2259, accepting his fate and restoring the timeline. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")