STELLAR REGION
Alpha-7190 Sector, Alpha Quadrant
Note: The Great Black Hole is currently declared a no-travel zone. No Starfleet vessel shall visit the region in any circumstances, under penalty of reprimand for the commanding officer and all non-objecting members of the crew.
The Great Black Hole was first known to the Federation in 2355, though not by that name. Originally the region was only labelled as a 'Hazard Zone' on Cardassian starcharts obtained by Starfleet Intelligence from enemy ships destroyed in the Federation-Cardassian War. Due to the instability of the Alpha Quadrant at the time, the area would remain unexplored until 2396.
In 2396, the Trill Science Academy determined that the last known location of a Trill expedition which disappeared over 200 years ago was near the border of the Minos Korva and Alpha-7190 sectors. The USS Oberon ferried a Trill science team to the general area, where they learned that several neighbouring civilizations in the Dubhe, Minos Korva and Betazed sectors avoided the region and referred to it as the Great Black Hole, believing it to be untraversable. While no sign of the Trill expedition was found, the Trill scientists managed to determine that this 'Great Black Hole' was in actuality a field of quantum filaments that either surrounded or covered a vast amount of space, encompassing at least three systems (which was the number detected by the Oberon's long ranged sensors).
For two decades the region would once again remain unstudied as there was no way for ships to pass into the anomaly zone. In 2416, Dr. Athena Ved of the Trill Science Academy, who had developed a prototype countermeasure against quantum filaments, chose the site for the field test of her technology. The USS Fearless, parasite craft of the USS Gainsborough, successfully entered the Great Black Hole and discovered that it only surrounded the area. Within the anomaly zone was an area of space inhabited by a spacefaring civilization which demonstrated xenophobic tendencies, engaging the Fearless in combat. The Fearless eventually came to an agreement with the natives, the EereE, agreeing to leave their space and respect their desire for isolationism.
Later that year, the USS Gainsborough briefly crossed into the anomaly zone once again to rescue a fleeing refugee trapped in the filament field. The individual recovered, Mana-Arshai Dos Sndoi'Ihaie'Vaie Nos Indoi-Ihai, provided much more information on the region beyond the anomalies. According to Mana, the area was controlled by the EereE Order, a civilization which willingly subjected themselves to be ruled by a network of artificial intelligences called the Overseer. Abiding by a strict isolationist and non-expansionary ideal, the Overseer generated the quantum filaments as an advanced minefield around their space. Within EereE space, the Overseer held dominion over three species- the avian EereE, the humanoid Arshai and the insectoid Vu'Lez.
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A search for Great Black Hole/EereE Space brings up the following results/reports:
- AAR: Prototype Testing: Starfleet's first exploration inside the Great Black Hole.
- AAR: Signal Intercept: The Gainsborough's recovery of Mana and subsequent learning of the political situation of EereE space.
- Compendium of Information on the Arshai Species: An updating archive of information on the Arshai, one of the species within EereE space.
- Dossier: Mana-Arshai Dos Sndoi'Ihaie'Vaie Nos Indoi-Ihai: Federation dossier on Mana, the first and to date only resident of EereE space encountered by Starfleet.
Template adapted from Kermit's Itrin post and Beylara's Isep Xedi post, Image from Kermit's State of the Galaxy post