Mirror Universe
This parallel universe was first recorded as visited by James T. Kirk and several officers from the USS Enterprise in 2267. This parallel universe coexists with our universe on another dimensional plane. The universe was so named because many people and places seemed to be the exact opposites of their "normal" selves in "our" universe, but with numerous "good" aspects now "evil", and vice versa. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
Although the universe as a whole has, as exhibited by the experiences of Lieutenant Worf, an infinite number of parallels, (TNG: "Parallels") the mirror universe appears to be somehow interconnected with the "standard universe" to the point of almost everyone from the standard universe having a counterpart in the mirror universe. This is despite the wildly divergent histories of the two, which would normally render the probability of the same individuals existing and being born on the same dates to the same parents throughout infinitesimally small. (DS9: "The Emperor's New Cloak")
The Terran Empire
The Terran Empire was the repressive interstellar government dominated by the Terrans from Earth and the mirror universe counterpart of the United Federation of Planets.
The Empire ruled by terror, with its Imperial Starfleet acting as its iron fist.
Early History
It is not clear when the Empire began. Commander Jonathan Archer once stated that the Empire had existed for "centuries" as of 2155. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly") Archer did not mention how many centuries, but by his statement, the Empire can be traced back to at least 1955, suggesting that it was a Terran (Earth) political party or movement before it became an interstellar empire. At some point an astronaut planted the flag of the Terran Empire on Earth's moon, Luna.
- The precise historical origin of the Empire is a subject of much debate and speculation among fans. If the opening credits of the two Enterprise MU episodes are any indication, the time of the Empire's formation can be pushed farther back than the above mentioned 1955.
- A cut scene from (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly") has Archer invoking the blessings of "the gods", hinting that the Empire may be a continuation of or successor to the Roman Empire. Marlena Moreau's mention of Kirk becoming a "Caesar", would add support to this notion.
- The mirror Phlox researched and compared some of the great historical works of literature in both universes and found significant differences in nearly all of them, calling their protagonists "weak, and... compassionate". He noted an exception in Shakespeare, however, saying that his works were "equally grim in both universes". This might be considered to indirectly support the idea that the Empire had a relatively "ancient" origin.
- The salute used by officers is also reminiscent of the roman soldiers' and gladiators' salute to Caesar. This salute has the performer closing his fist over his heart and then extending his arm in front of him, while saying "Long live the Empire"
First contact
Humanity's first contact with an alien species in the mirror universe began exactly as it did in the traditional universe. Upon detecting Zefram Cochrane's warp signature, a Vulcan scout ship landed in Bozeman, Montana to make first contact with humanity. Instead of welcoming the Vulcans in a spirit of friendship and understanding, however, the mirror Zefram Cochrane killed the first Vulcan to set foot on Terran soil, as the Humans boarded and ransacked the Vulcan ship. (This may have been wise, as according to remarks made by the Mirror Archer, the Vulcans were landing not in friendship but as a prelude to invasion, though this may also have been merely Imperial "revisionist history")
Instead of the Vulcans gradually releasing technology to Earth over time, the Terran Empire applied the stolen Vulcan technology to a policy of aggressive expansion. Because of this, the Empire was able to engage in technological research and development considerably earlier than its traditional counterpart. Thus, the Starfleet of the mirror universe was somewhat more advanced than its counterpart. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
22nd century
The Empire's hold on its territories was initially weak. In the 2150s, some of the worlds the Terrans had conquered were rising up against them, leading to a long-running conflict in which the Empire came to the brink of collapse. Propaganda, however, conveyed the message that things were going in the Empire's favor and that the war would be over soon.
By 2155, the Terran Empire had already conquered the Vulcans, Denobulans, Andorians, Orions, and Tellarites and launched attacks against the Klingons and Xindi. However, the flagship of the Empire, the Enterprise, under the command of Captain Maximilian Forrest, had a much more racially-diverse crew than its regular universe counterpart, with numerous Vulcans and Tellarites serving as crewmembers.
In that year, the USS Defiant, a Federation ship launched in the 23rd century of a parallel universe, was reported in Tholian space. The first officer of the ISS Enterprise, Commander Archer, reviewed the reception of this distress call and proposed a bold surgical strike at the asteroid base at which the Tholians were keeping the Defiant. Archer's proposal was quickly rejected by Forrest, causing Archer to mutiny against his Captain and take control of Enterprise to retrieve the Defiant so its technology could be utilized against the rebellion. Enterprise arrived and dispatched a boarding party to gain all information they could about the ship, and destroy it to prevent the Tholians from being able to use it. Unfortunately, during the retrieval operation, the Tholians attacked Enterprise and destroyed it, stranding the boarding party aboard the Defiant. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
Following the destruction of the ISS Enterprise and the death of Captain Forrest, Commander Archer and his away team commandeered the USS Defiant. They proceeded to destroy the Tholian hangar in which the ship was being held and rescued a number of former Enterprise crewmembers, including Hoshi Sato, after apparent consideration of leaving their comrades stranded. Archer made a rendezvous with the ISS Avenger, the flagship of Admiral Black. Archer vaporized the admiral and took command of both vessels. Commander T'Pol and Crewman Soval led a mutiny of the non-Human crewmembers on board the Avenger and attacked the Defiant in hopes of destroying it. They were destroyed after Commander Charles Tucker reinitialized the power systems that Phlox had attempted to disable. Commander Archer, acting as Captain, then set a direct course for Earth, where he intended to declare himself Emperor of the Terran Empire. However, Hoshi Sato poisoned him with the assistance of his bodyguard Travis Mayweather. The two then took control of the Defiant, and upon arriving at Earth, Sato declared herself Empress. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")
- It remains unclear as to whether Sato actually established herself as Empress, or if the Defiant played any further role in the Mirror Universe.
- Somewhere between 2155 and 2267, the symbol of the Empire appears to have been altered. The earlier symbol closely resembles that of the United Earth government, depicting all of Earth's continents, though replacing a laurel of peace with an aggressive sword. However, by the mid-23rd century, the symbol, while remaining essentially the same, depicted only the continents of Earth's western hemisphere, suggesting the seeds of the Empire were sown in that hemisphere.
23rd and 24th centuries
In 2267, crewmembers of the USS Enterprise, including Captain James T. Kirk, were accidentally transported to the mirror universe aboard the mirror-version of the Enterprise, the ISS Enterprise. Before Kirk left, believing that the mirror Spock would one day become captain of the ISS Enterprise, he planted a seed of doubt about the inevitability of the Empire, asking Spock if violence was the only logical answer. Spock promised to consider Kirk's words, after realizing the Empire would only last about 240 years before being overthrown. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
As Kirk predicted, the mirror-Spock later became the captain of the ISS Enterprise and eventually rose to become Commander-in-Chief of the Empire. He began instituting major reforms, turning the Empire into a more peaceful and less aggressive power. Unfortunately, Spock's reforms left the Empire unprepared to defend itself against the emerging threat of a united Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, which managed to conquer the entire Terran Empire, turning the Terrans themselves into a slave race. The Bajorans, a people conquered by the Empire, came to be a powerful voice in this Alliance. (DS9: "Crossover")
Enemies
In the mirror universe, the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance was the historic union of the Klingons and the Cardassians, two former enemies, in the face of aggression from the Terran Empire. Following a series of reforms by Spock, the leader of the Empire, the Alliance conquered the Empire, enslaved Terrans and Vulcans, and became the dominant power throughout most of the 24th century.
A Regent led the Alliance, delegating authority to various Intendants who administered individual sectors of Alliance territory.
It is unclear whether the Alliance had a central location of government, on either Qo'noS, Cardassia or elsewhere.
Bajor became a sovereign planet in the Alliance by the late 24th century, after the Alliance liberated Bajor from the Terran Empire.
In the latter half of the 24th century, a Terran rebellion against the Alliance was created due to interference from individuals from the primary universe. (DS9: "Crossover")
The Imperial Union of Planets (IUP)
The Imperial Union of Planets ("Union" or "Imperial Union" for short) was a mirror universe equivalent of the United Federation of Planets. It was commonly referred to as "the [new] Empire" in honor of the old Terran Empire, upon which it was styled in policy and attitude, as it was seen by its populace as a resurrection of that entity.
Founded by the Terran rebellion which sprang up against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance in the 2370s, the IUP toppled the Alliance by 2385, "reclaiming" the Terran Empire's heritage as the dominant power in the known galaxy. (Star Trek: New Empire)
History
No one is certain exactly how or when events led to the IUP's founding. The date of its beginning was never revealed, although it had to occur no earlier than 2375, when the Terran rebellion was still fighting the Alliance. Sometime shortly thereafter, or perhaps as early as 2371, the rebels declared their independence from the Alliance.
This may have happened in fact, as the rebels who had freed themselves were no longer under Alliance control; or it may have been a retroactive declaration--an interpretation of the victors rewriting history.
What is known is key factors which established it as a political power in the years immediately afterwards. Among these was the development of the spiral warp drive, in the form of a captured extradimensional vessel that possessed the techology. SWD instantly made the former rebels a power to be reckoned with, and through the gained tactical advantage, enabled a blitzkrieg drive to victory over Alliance forces.
Another key factor was the involvement of the Overlords, a mysterious group of unseen benefactors to the fledgling rebellion, recruited by Stephen April to assist them. April believed that the former slaves (himself included), widely lacking formal education, military discipline, or the firm hand of Alliance overseers to keep them in line, would run amok and threaten their new empire with power struggles and selfish interests. April also feared a repeat of "Spock's folly", the peace-minded reforms and disarmament initiated by Spock in the 23rd century which led to the Terran Empire's destruction, and believed that the Overlords would help to avoid this course. Agreeing to April's request, the Overlords usurped power and ruled the IUP from behind the scenes, in order to safeguard the "new Empire" from both itself and external threats.
With a new fleet of starships at its command (designs for which were obtained from spys sent to the normal Federation universe), the Imperial Union swiftly expanded over the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, conquering and occupying many former worlds of the Terran Empire, while simultaneously wearing down the Alliance. In late 2408 the Alliance reorganized and began a series of vicious counter attacks against the IUP.
Government
Although ostensibly a cooperative democracy, inspired by the Federation (upon organizational aspects of which it was patterned), the IUP was in reality a military dictatorship, where Starfleet held the real power. Starfleet's power was somewhat limited, in that it depended upon Imperial Union member-planets for personnel and resources, thus preventing wanton or wide-scale destruction of any planet resisting Imperial rule. Political machinations and avarice, in the Cabinet (the main IUP governing body) and the Imperial Council of representatives from member-worlds, compensated for this, often through "sponsorship", supporting select officers in command of starships, starbases or other key facilities.
Races
Many races and planets in the known mirror universe, once belonging to the Terran Empire and/or the Alliance, joined the IUP, willingly or by coercion. Following is a list of some of the known "members".
- Andorian / Aenar
- Ardanans
- Bajoran
- Bartok (tributary)
- Betazoid
- Bolians
- Cygnians
- Ferengi
- Orions
- Romulans
- Tellarites
- Terrans
- Trill
- Vulcan
Individuals of the following races have been seen in Starfleet service on Star Trek: New Empire, usually on the ISS Rosenante. This does not automatically indicate their membership in the IUP, however. They may have been slaves or conscripts.
- Arcturians
- Denobulans
- Gorn
- J'naii
- Vissians
