Terran Empire The Terran Empire was a repressive interstellar government dominated by the s from in the mirror universe . The Empire ruled by terror , its acting as its iron fist . In Starfleet , officer s promoted themselves by killing superiors that did not follow the rules of the Empire . Torture was a common form of interrogation . ( ; ) Culture . Going by rebellion sources , the Empire was a fascistic culture described as oppressive , racist and xenophobic , predicated on an unconditional hatred and rejection of anything and everything " other " . Michael Burnham summarized this information by identifying the Empire as the antithesis of the United Federation of Planets in every way . ( ) Humans of the prime universe could be violent , but violence was so ingrained in Terran culture that it self - propagated as an evolutionary survival mechanism , resulting in a strength that Michael Burnham described as " painted rust " - a facade intended to intimidate potential killers , who in turn were afraid of their potential target . From what she had heard of the Terran Empire , Katrina Cornwell came to the conclusion that , on the basis that prime universe humans would be unaccustomed to the barbarism commonplace on Terran starships , the prime universe ' s Gabriel Lorca could not have survived his trip to the mirror universe . ( ) History . Early history . In 2155 , Commander stated that the Empire had existed for " centuries " . ( ) One of the Empire ' s early outer space conquests was a landing on Earth ' s moon , Luna , where it planted its flag . ( ) Millennia ago , Terrans did believe in freedom , equality and co - operation but eventually abandoned these ideals as they found them to be destructive delusions that bred rebellion . ( ) 21st century . Humanity ' s first contact with an alien species in the mirror universe began exactly as it did in the traditional universe . Upon detecting ' s warp signature , landed in Bozeman , Montana , to make first contact with Humanity . Instead of welcoming the Vulcan s in a spirit of friendship and understanding , the mirror Cochrane killed the first Vulcan to set foot on Terran soil , with a shotgun , as the Humans boarded and ransacked the Vulcan ship after killing the first officer also . According to mirror Archer , the Vulcan first contact was considered a prelude to invasion . Instead of the Vulcans gradually releasing technology to Earth over time , the Terran Empire applied the stolen Vulcan technology to a policy of aggressive interstellar expansion . Because of this , the Empire was able to engage in technological research and development considerably earlier than its United Earth counterpart in the prime universe . ( ) 22nd century . By the 2150s , the Terran Empire had already conquered the Vulcan s , Denobulan s , Andorian s , Aenar s , Orion s , and Tellarite s and had launched attacks against the Klingon s , Rigelian s , and Xindi . The flagship of the Empire , the , under the command of Captain Maximilian Forrest , had a much more racially - diverse crew than its regular - universe counterpart , with numerous Vulcans and Tellarites serving as crew members . Due to the rapid initial expansion made possible by the captured Vulcan technology , the Empire ' s hold on its territories was initially weak . By 2155 , some of the worlds conquered by the Terrans were beginning to rebel against Terran rule , leading to a long - running conflict , and after a disastrous defeat at Tau Ceti , the Empire came to the brink of collapse . Propaganda , however , conveyed the message that things were going in the Empire ' s favor and that the war would be over soon . In that year , the , a Federation ship launched in the 23rd century of a parallel universe , was reported in Tholian space . The first officer of the ISS " Enterprise " , Commander Archer , reviewed this report and proposed a bold surgical strike at an asteroid base at which the Tholians were keeping the " Defiant " . Archer ' s proposal was quickly rejected by Forrest , causing Archer to mutiny against his captain and take control of " Enterprise " to retrieve the " Defiant " so its technology could be utilized against the rebellion . " Enterprise " arrived and dispatched a boarding party to gain all information they could about the ship , and destroy it to prevent the Tholians from being able to use it . Unfortunately , during the retrieval operation , the Tholians attacked " Enterprise " and destroyed it , stranding the boarding party aboard the " Defiant " . ( ) Following the destruction of the ISS " Enterprise " and the death of Captain Forrest , Commander Archer and his away team commandeered the USS " Defiant " . They proceeded to destroy the Tholian hangar in which the ship was being held and rescued a number of former " Enterprise " crewmembers , including , after apparent consideration of leaving their comrades stranded . Archer made a rendezvous with the , the flagship of Admiral Black . Archer vaporized the admiral and took command of both vessels . However , this coincided with Commander and Crewman leading the other non - Human crewmembers on board the " Avenger " in a mutiny aboard the ship . They attacked the " Defiant " in hopes of destroying it but the mutiny itself was destroyed after Commander reinitialized power systems that Phlox had attempted to disable . Commander Archer , acting as captain , then set a direct course for Earth , where he intended to declare himself Emperor of the Terran Empire . However , Hoshi Sato poison ed him with the assistance of his bodyguard , . The two then took control of the " Defiant " , and upon arriving at Earth , Sato declared herself Empress . ( ) Somewhere between 2155 and 2267 , the symbol of the Empire appears to have been altered . The earlier symbol closely resembled that of the United Earth government , depicting all of Earth ' s continents , though replacing a laurel of peace with an aggressive sword . However , by the mid - 23rd century , the symbol , while remaining essentially the same , depicted only the continents of Earth ' s western hemisphere . ( ; ) 23rd and 24th centuries . By the mid - 23rd century , the Terran Empire had conquered much of known space . However , it continued to be resisted by an alliance of non - human species , including Vulcan s , Andorian s , and Klingon s . Furthermore of the attempted a failed " coup " against Emperor . By 2256 or 2257 Starfleet engaged a rebel fleet at Porathia . ( ) The same year , the Imperial Intelligence located the headquarters of the resistance on Harlak , which was destroyed by the . ( ) In 2257 , Lorca was able to resume his " coup " against Georgiou , having escaped the mirror universe and manipulated his way back with a Federation starship , the . For a while , the " coup " was successful , but " Discovery " had been informed that Lorca was Terran by the prime Michael Burnham , who Lorca had become obsessed with due to his relationship with , and " Discovery " defeated Lorca . However , although Lorca was killed , not only was Georgiou deposed , but the " Charon " had been destroyed , and she had been brought to the prime universe , resulting in a power vacuum . ( ) The Empire encountered a Gorlan uprising , to which the , captained by , responded with the destruction of the rebels ' home planet . Other feats of Captain Kirk by 2264 included the execution of five thousand colonists on Vega IX and the annihilation of all remaining inhabitants of Talos IV . In 2267 , the Empire coveted the dilithium reserves of the Halkan homeworld and Kirk interceded to demand mining rights on behalf of the Empire . In that year , crewmembers of the ISS " Enterprise " , including Captain Kirk , accidentally switched places with their prime universe counterparts of the , who in the same time were transported aboard the mirror version of the " Enterprise " . Kirk believed that the mirror would one day become captain of the ISS " Enterprise " , and before returning to his own reality , he planted a seed of doubt about the inevitability of the Empire and whether violence was the only logical answer . Spock promised to consider Kirk ' s words , after realizing the Empire would only last about 240 years before being overthrown . ( ) As Kirk predicted , the mirror Spock later became the captain of the ISS " Enterprise " and eventually rose to become Commander - in - Chief of the Empire . He began instituting major reform s that were very popular , turning the Empire into a more peaceful and less aggressive power . Unfortunately , Spock ' s reforms left the Empire unprepared to defend itself against the emerging threat of a united Klingon - Cardassian Alliance , which managed to conquer the entire Terran Empire , turning the Terrans themselves into a slave race . The Bajoran s , a people conquered by the Empire , came to be a powerful voice in this Alliance . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Robert Hewitt Wolfe decided to give the Terran Empire some formidable enemies . " " Empires aren ' t usually brutal unless there ' s a reason . There are usually external or internal pressures that cause them to be that way , " " he commented . " " So I just thought that if the parallel was that brutal , there had to be a reason . And the reason was that the barbarians ( the Klingon s and the Cardassian s ) were at the gate . " " ( " " ) Wolfe based the Terran Empire ' s predicament on historical precedents . He further elaborated , " " My analogy was to the Roman Empire . The Roman Empire was as brutal and as nasty as it was because all around it , it had very aggressive barbarians that it was afraid of . The Chinese had the same thing , the Mongols were always there . So if you suddenly make the Romans nice guys , or the Chinese nice guys , well that ' s great and everything , but then the Mongols come across and it ' s all over . So that was kind of the idea . " " In the first draft script of , Benjamin Sisko described the Terran Empire as " corrupt , brutal , and doomed to collapse in any case . " Mirror O ' Brien , however , longed for the days when the Empire still existed and , later in the same script , suggested reestablishing the Empire once the Terran Rebellion succeeded , with Sisko as the head of the Empire . Sisko himself , though , was against that idea , commenting , " " The Terran Empire was every bit as corrupt as the Alliance . " " The Empire wasn ' t referenced at all in the final draft script of " Through the Looking Glass " . ( " " ; ) After the premiere of , screenwriter Jordon Nardino answered fan ' s questions through his Twitter feed . On the topic of the Terran Empire ' s relation to ancient Rome , Nardino stated that , " " Lots of discussion in the room about the origins of the Terran Empire . In terms of canon , as always , it ' s what ' s on screen and nothing more . Unanswered questions leave avenues for future seasons / iterations of " Trek " to explore . I do not know if MU ' s " point of departure " is a specific incident , or the entire history of the MU somehow darkly mirrors ours . Canon locks us into an origin no later than the 20th century . Georgiou ' s " millenia " could be construed as hyperbole . But I firmly do not believe the Terrans are merely a continuation of the Roman Empire . MU earth history should roughly ( but darkly ) mirror our history as much as possible . I think Rome never falling would diverge too much . Leaders with imperial pretensions have adopted the styles and titles of the Romans since . . . well . . . the minute Rome " fell " ! Napoleon took the title Augustus . So it ' s natural the Terrans looked back to Rome too . " " ( " After Trek ' Gives Details On Georgiou ' s Meal , Mirror Stamets , Terran Empire History And More " ; ) On the topic of Terran history and the meaning behind ' s elaborate title , Nardino stated : " " All Hail her most Imperial Majesty , Mother of the Fatherland , Overlord of Vulcan , Dominus of Kronos , Regina Andor , All Hail Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius . " " But what ' s it mean ? ? ! ? When we began digging into the Terrans last year , I had just read a newer history of Rome and was excited to use it as inspiration . ( " SPQR " by Mary Beard , check it out . ) Here ' s some of the titles Roman Emperors used : So into her titles : – Father of the Fatherland is easy , we turned that into Mother of the Fatherland ( even tho we de - gendered Emperor , it felt right ) – Overlord of : an early conquest of the Terrans , they see themselves as their protectors . It ' s paternalistic / delusional . – Dominus of Kronos : Terrans are very proud of conquering Qo ' noS . Dominus is a harsher title the Emperor at the time took as a result ( and Georgiou kept for herself ) . " We OWN them . " Qo ' noS mispronounced out of cultural chauvinism . – Regina Andor : Andoria is a jewel in the Terran crowd . Subjugated warrior race . Early Terran conquest , pre - Sato . The title was created to celebrate this achievement . Now as for Georgiou ' s many names . . . " Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius " Philipa Georgiou : her given name and her family name , just like Prime . Augustus : the Terrans see themselves as inheritors of the Roman Empire so their Emperors take the title of its first Emperor . ( " After Trek ' Gives Details On Georgiou ' s Meal , Mirror Stamets , Terran Empire History And More " ; ) Additionally , Nardino considered that Centaurius was the first system colonized by the Terrans owing to its proximity to Sol , thus resulting in the then - ruling Emperor taking its title in tribute . ( " After Trek ' Gives Details On Georgiou ' s Meal , Mirror Stamets , Terran Empire History And More " ; ) Apocrypha . In the game " " , part of the story involves going through a scavenger base composed of many species ' ships . One of these ships is an Imperial Starfleet vessel , apparently dating back to the 23rd century . It is populated by Humans , who behave typically for the mirror universe . How it came to be in " Voyager " s canon dimension is unknown . In the novel " Dark Mirror " – written and published before DS9 ' s televised visits to the Mirror Universe – the Terran Empire is depicted as still existing in the 24th century , with Spock ' s reforms having been cut short by his death , speculated by Captain Jean - Luc Picard to be the result of his assassination after he pushed the Empire too far , too quickly . The crew of the mirror " Enterprise " - D are assigned a new mission to devise a means of bringing a ship from the prime universe into the mirror universe and then return after replacing its crew , the Empire having run out of territory that it can easily conquer in its own universe , but the " Enterprise " crew of the prime universe manage to sabotage their efforts and devise a method of detecting future incursions . In the computer game " Star Trek Online " , by 2409 , the Terran Rebellion has succeeded in overthrowing the Klingon - Cardassian Alliance and restored the Terran Empire to its former status as a major power in the quadrant . The Terran Empire of the 25th century has also returned to the old ways , having engaged in a series of hostile incursions into the prime universe . The Empire attempts to invade that universe using a trans - dimensional portal in the Badlands , and later allies with the Temporal Liberation Front . Imperial ships have markings similar to those used in the 22nd century , albeit red instead of yellow . The mirror universe novella " Saturn ' s Children " identifies Andorians , Bolian s , Tellarites , and Denobulans as part of the rebellion . Whereas the success of the Terran Rebellion has led to the reinstatement of the Terran Empire in " Star Trek Online " , in the novels , the democratic Commonwealth is established .