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What would have happened if Kirk were unable to bring back whales to respond to the probe (this has to be one of the sillier sentences I've written!)? According to Admiral Cartwright, Earth would not have survived, and the UFP would have been decapitated without any losses by the Romulans/Klingons. Starfleet would be rendered a collection of ships devoid of an organizing power. This could spell doom for the UFP.

In this event, how would the Klingons/Romulans respond? What would become of the scattered Startfleet? How would the Alpha Quadrant look in the wake of this calamity?

The Romulans and Klingons would begin picking the UFP apart. Starfleet would gather for one last stand at Vulcan or something...fail and then then Klingons and the Romulans would begin killing each other.

The Klingons would attack, and then whichever side won would've been destroyed by rhe Romulan fleet.

Why d'ya think i'm proud of Being Romulan. They know how to get Results....

The Romulans and Klingons might go to war over the remains of the UFP. Starfleet might be able to come together, but how much harder would coordination be without the resources of Earth? The member planets of the Federation, would face still harder challenges in coordinating without the discipline and command structure of Starfleet already in place. They may break apart and look to join invading powers to regain stabilty. Starfleet would be weakened without the resources of Earth and gradually lose power. If member worlds can't stay together, Starfleet would lose their resources as well and could simply face decay as much as destruction.

ChakatBlackstar wrote:The Klingons would attack, and then whichever side won would've been destroyed by rhe Romulan fleet.

That would be a very Romulan tactic. Member worlds would have an added incentive to resist, since Klingon rulers wouldn't treat them very well. I'm wondering how well the Klingons would be able to deploy any (surviving) captured resources against the Romulans?

Very badly. Simply put. They know how to fight. But not how to reverse engineer, not how to Occupy and not how to manage Economy

The amount of resources left in the former Federation would depend on how quickly the Federation falls to the Klingons, how effectively the scattered worlds could organize. These, then, would face another danger when the Romulans come. Whoever ends up in control could face a major rebuilding project.

Captain Picard's Hair wrote:The amount of resources left in the former Federation would depend on how quickly the Federation falls to the Klingons, how effectively the scattered worlds could organize. These, then, would face another danger when the Romulans come. Whoever ends up in control could face a major rebuilding project.

But with the other major powers eliminated there would be no one to stop them or attack.

The lose of earth would be the end of the UFP as we know it. The remainder of the fleet would most likely retreat to Mars as that is the nearest safe colony. Starfleet at this time is still better organized then what we have now. The other worlds would be required to pull together far more then they ever had to before. Though, I would bet that the UFP as a whole would survive. This is before Starfleet had disarmed and before stupidity took over. This is also during the start time of the peace talks between the UFP and the Klingon Empire. Beginning we see some sign of in STIII and ending in STVI with the peace that would last up until today. I think Gorkon wouldn't allow a war, or if there was war then Gorkon would strike at the Romulans. It would be a perfect time to strike in surprise as everyone would be looking at the UFP and not thinking about their own borders.

That's an interesting thought, Deep. We've been assuming the Klingons are hostile baddies that want to conquer the Federation. This happened during Gorkon's reign; would he have been more concerned with maintaining stability in the AQ rather than allowing it to fall into chaos? The one thing we do know is the Romulan mentality; they're always seeking to expand their power and influence. If a major calamity happened to a capital city on earth, we can expect that the response would be to send aid. Is the "cold war" of the original 5-year mission TOS era still relevant at this point ?

The AQ in this time is a triple threat.

The Starfleet of the UFP.
The Klingon Empire.
The Romulan Star Empire.

All three are maintaining a balance of power that the Klingons are slowly finding more to their disliking. The UFP have proven themselves to honorable and trustworthy were as the same cannot be said about the Romulans. Should the UFP fall then the Klingons will be left on their own against the Romulan Empire. Not a very nice thought. It would be a safer bet that the two sides would come even closer together. Remember that if earth was lost then the UFP would be in a desperate position and the most deadly of enemies is a desperate one. Whether the Klingons are willing to admit it or not, they have grown fond of the Federation as a safe neighbor and I don't see them giving that up. Plus it would give them the excuse to finish off the Romulans if they ever did attack the UFP. Also think about it as in STVI the Starfleet believe that they could defeat the Klingon Empire within a year. That's saying something. The Starfleet wouldn't be broken by the loss of earth. It would be hurt but not broken and with the life span of UFP ships they wouldn't notice it for some years. By then new ship yards could be up and running. If anyone attacked the UFP at this moment they would be in for a very rude welcome.

What would be the most immediate concern is not the strength of Starfleet so much as it's ability to coordinate with SFHQ knocked out. If a major attack were launched immediately, before Starfleet were able to regroup, how would Starfleet respond? Given time, a new command would form, but could a quick strike disrupt Starfleet's ability to form a new command? Once a new Command is established, the balance would favor Starfleet. The explosion at Praxis only capped off a growing straining of th Klingon economy, or so it is implied.

The crumbling Klingon economy itself is another factor to consider. An astute leader like Gorkon would realize that a prolonged war could ruin the Empire and that even a victory could be a Pyrrhic victory with the Romulans waiting by. He would be inclined to look at this as an opportunity to jump-start the peace process, a few years ahead of the catastrophe that ultimately did just this - and he overruled the more hawkish elements in his own government.

I agree - and as Deep indirectly mentioned, the innate instinctive hatred of Klingons for Romulans goes far deeper than that for humans.