Rediscovering the Iconians

As time passed, Humanity ventured into space. In 2365 on the Earth calendar, the planet Iconia was discovered by the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), who destroyed the gateway on the world. But at the same time they disputed the characterization of the species as being “Demons of Air and Darkness.” The Iconians also possessed territory in the Gamma Quadrant, such as Vandros IV and its surrounding territory, thus proving the nature of the far reaching network.

During the Gateway crisis of 2376, the Petraw species masqueraded as the Iconians and activated the gateway network as part of a demonstration in order to sell the technology to the highest bidder. This led to a number of disasters, such as the dumping of Theta radiation through a gateway that threatened the Europa Nova colony. Captain Picard, who met with the Sentries, found a means of shutting down the system by locating the thirteen Resonator Keys. The Sentries then recovered the Keys and went once back more into the realm they now inhabit.

At some point in the late 24th century, the Iconians realised that the younger races were now fighting over their technology and something had to be done. They managed to manipulate the Undine, or species 8472, into believing the inhabitants of the Milky Way had again invaded their territory.

When sent back to the Battle of Wolf 359 to save the U.S.S. Saratoga, Q told the Captain of the Saratoga “there is an enemy far more powerful than you have ever imagined, and the ‘demons of air and darkness’ have waited and plotted, but now they have returned.”

In the midst of a battle with a Borg armada, Federation ships saw a vessel of unknown design effortlessly destroy the Borg fleet. The ship sent a short threatening message and then disappeared. It is speculated that this is the first documented encounter with an Iconian vessel.

The Undine found an Iconian artifact capable of creating a Gateway after an attack on their territory. Once they recognized that the device was from the Milky Way, they started to wage a campaign against the peoples of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Employing infiltration tactics, they set up the major powers to fight amongst themselves. The breakdown of the Khitomer Accords and the rise of Empress Sela were a direct result of Undine agents sabotaging the governments in our dimension. All the while, the Undine—species 8472—were manipulated by the Iconian people.

A New Iconian War?

Reman resistance leader Obisek claims that “the Tal Shiar no longer serves the Romulan Star Empire, but rather the demons of air and darkness.” An enemy he’s never seen, but he claims they whisper in the night for chaos and despair, hungering for revenge for being driven from their homeworld.

After finding an Iconian gateway, the Federation then confirmed that Hakeev of the Tal Shiar was directly working for the Iconians. Multiple Iconian gateways were discovered. As the Federation gained the upper hand on Sela and her forces, a ship similar to that seen in Borg fleet action showed up and towed Romulan Empress Sela’s ship I.R.W. Leahval to an unknown location, through a gateway. The question remains as to whether Sela was rescued or abducted. Federation Admiral T’nae and the Klingon Temek suspected that Iconians have been behind many of the recent conflicts, including the war between the Federation and Klingon Empire, and that their arrival could change everything.

Obisek wonders openly about the looming Iconian threat to the galaxy. Dubbed by history as conquerors, their use of a highly advanced galactic-wide transporters allowed their empire to flourish.

Then the following message was received:

“We have waited in the shadows, existed in realms beyond your understanding. Our Emissaries will seek out many species on many worlds. We will find strengths and weaknesses, our technology and weapons are thousands of years ahead of anything in any part of the Galaxy. But we are patient, we will wait, we will play as you humans call it the long game. But we are back and our vigilance is now turned to you, the young races.”

What the future holds, no one truly knows.