Federation/Romulan Neutral Zone
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The Romulan Neutral Zone was an area of neutral space between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire that was established after the end of the Earth-Romulan War. Entry by either side into the Zone constituted an act of war. There were, however, several breaches, most in the late 24th century.
- It has also been stated that if a Federation starship was caught in the Zone, the Romulans could seize and impound the vessel; to contravene would mean war. This, however, seems to only apply to the Federation and not the Romulans; it also seems to be void in cases of a stalemate.
After the war, at least eight Earth Outpost Stations were built on asteroids along the Zone. In 2266, four of these outposts were destroyed by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey. Commander Hansen was in command of Earth Outpost 4 until its destruction.
In 2311 the Neutral Zone was reinforced and redefined in the Treaty of Algeron. Deanna Troi recalled this fact when she discussed the USS Pegasus with Commander Riker.
In 2365, the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D was ordered to investigate the Neutral Zone to solve a mystery concerning the disappearance of a string of Federation outposts. It is later presumed that the outposts were decimated by the Borg due to a signature obliterative technique unique to their kind. A crew member aboard the ship, Worf, describes it: "The outpost was just not destroyed, it's as though some great force just scooped it off the face of the planet". Later that year, the Enterprise-D encountered a Borg cube that presumably obliterated several other populations in uncharted space in the same fashion.
In 2373, the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E was ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone during the second Borg assault on Earth, as Star Fleet Command felt that Jean-Luc Picard's experience with the Borg would make him a risk during the battle to defend Earth.
Before the Romulans joined the Federation/Dominion War in late 2374, the bulk of their fleet was deployed along the Neutral Zone.
The USS Cairo disappeared and was presumed destroyed by the Dominion near the Neutral Zone. It was believed that the Dominion ships had crossed from the Romulan side of the Zone to attack the Cairo, something they were allowed to do as per their nonaggression pact with the Romulans.
