Vulcan System

The Vulcan System, also referred to as 40 Eridani A, is the home system of the Vulcan race, key founders of the United Federation of Planets. The 40 Eridani system is a trinary star system, consisting of the primary, A, and a binary pair, B & C, orbiting at an average of 400 AU from the primary component. The planet Vulcan has served as an anchor for the system’s infrastructure and population since the advent of Vulcan spaceflight, making 40 Eridani A effectively the entirety of the Vulcan System.

Overview

Governed by the Confederacy of Vulcan, the planet Vulcan is well known as the homeworld of the Vulcan species, one of the founders of the United Federation of Planets. The world is also renowned for its educational and research facilities, helping to keep Vulcan at the leading edge of galactic research.

Vulcan is one of the harsher M-class planets on record, with a thinner and warmer atmosphere when compared to Earth. Large mountain ranges and windswept deserts dominate significant portions of the planet's surface, broken only by small seas that serve as anchors for the limited hydrosphere. The deserts, prompted by their dry nature and constant winds, give rise to impressive electrical sandfire storms.

Vulcan plays host to the 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards, which makes it a vital strategic asset, outside of being a founding member world. During the Dominion War and even more so after the destruction of the Utopia Planitia, this shipyard has become critical to maintaining Starfleet’s readiness levels, by providing a highly capable, well-maintained and well-staffed shipbuilding complex in the heart of the Federation. So important is Vulcan that the entirety of the Fifth Fleet was assigned to the defense of Vulcan early in the Dominion War.

Vaadwaur Invasion and Counteroffensive

In 2402, the Vaadwaur Supremacy launched a surprise invasion of the Vulcan system, their assault coming as both Vulcan and Starfleet forces were still largely unaware of the extent of the Blackout that had blanketed the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. The opening conflict saw the Vaadwaur overpowering much of the outer defense platforms arrayed throughout the Vulcan system, allowing them the reach the 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards and the planet Vulcan itself with relatively few casualties during their advance. Starfleet forces fought hard to protect the dry docks while the forces making up the Vulcan High Command's defense fleet focused on keeping the planet from being assaulted. Despite both fleets' efforts, many of the docks were destroyed and several major cities were bombarded in the attack. The worst of the damage to Starfleet assets came in the form of boarding actions that crippled many of the defending vessels before the Vaadwaur retreated back to Underspace.

Following the initial attack, Starfleet made a desperate gamble by sending a lone scout vessel into the Underspace rift that had allowed the Vaadwaur to infiltrate the Vulcan system in an effort to reveal any details that might tip the scales in the Federation's favor. While the scout mission was ultimately successful, the information that was gleaned from the mission presented the defenders with a choice that would cost many hundreds of lives should they chose to take action. A massive, fortified station had been uncovered within the Underspace network, and projections suggested that destroying it would cause whatever subspace interference that was preventing the system from contacting the rest of the Federation to disappear.

A combined task force composed of Starfleet and Vulcan ships entered the Underspace corridors within four hours of receiving the intelligence on the Vaadwaur station, opting to seize what little surprise they could in their counteroffensive against the Vaadwaur. The ensuing battle proved to be the costliest, both in terms of lives and vessels lost, but the Federation forces did manage to break through the Vaadwaur defenses and destroy the station. The remaining enemy fleet managed to escape Federation pursuit as the Underspace corridors in the area began to destabilize following the destruction of the station.

The 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards is now focusing much of their attention and resources to repairing the damaged Starfleet vessels while also rebuilding the dock facilities that were destroyed in the fighting. Vulcan has begun the process of clearing the rubble and tending to the wounded and dead in the aftermath of the brief but brutal orbital bombardment it suffered.

In Play

Vulcan is one of the founders of the Federation and was an important regional power in the Alpha Quadrant prior to the formation of the Federation. It is an important cultural and strategic world for the Federation.
As a core world, the system has a bustling infrastructure base supported by a robust defense system, held over from the Dominion War and modernised after recent threats to the Sol system.
The B/C components of the 40 Eridani system are significantly removed from 40 Eridani A as to essentially be another star system, but any attacks there would merit a response as they threaten Vulcan directly. The B/C pair are roughly 10 times further away from Vulcan than Pluto is from the Sun.
Vulcan’s cultural, technological, intellectual, diplomatic and political contributions to the Federation, and the course of Alpha and Beta Quadrant history, especially over the last 500 years, can not be ignored. Vulcan’s impact on the region has swung wildly from gross to subtle, but Vulcan’s fingerprints can be found on most major events over the last couple hundred years.

External Information

Ni'Var at Memory Alpha
40 Eridani A at Memory Alpha
40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards at Memory Alpha