Babel Crisis The Babel Crisis was a series of events in November 2154 that brought together the founding species of the United Federation of Planets for the first time . The crisis was also a precursor of the Earth - Romulan War , and a foreshadowing of things to come . Prelude . Discovery of the Aenar . Around 2104 , the Aenar , a blind Andorian subspecies of ice - dwellers were found living in Andoria ' s northern hemisphere . Prior to their discovery , the Aenar were considered to be simply an Andorian myth , due to their highly secretive nature . However , the Andorians soon learned that the Aenar were a pacifist group of telepaths , who didn ' t wish their distant relatives any harm . Andorians and Tellarites . In the past , the Andorian and Tellarite species had disagreed over trading arrangements . To resolve this dispute , a conference on the neutral planet Babel had been organized . In the months preceding November 2154 , the Andorians lost six freighters along the Andorian / Tellarite border , which they believed were destroyed by Tellarite vessels . Romulan mission . In 2154 , a warrior race known as the Romulan s hoped to cause political discord between the races of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant s . In the Romulan Senate , Senator supported a mission to construct a series of drone ships which could effectively assume the appearance and weapons signature of a diverse range of other vessels . Admiral Valdore was made responsible for the success of the mission , under Vrax ' s supervision . Valdore had been Vrax ' s friend in the Senate , but had lost his place when he made the unforgivable mistake of challenging the precept of unlimited expansion . With guidance from Vrax , the prototype drone ship was built on Remus . The vessel used telepresence to successfully be controlled from a remote location on Romulus . However , the Romulans required a telepathic pilot to operate the drone ship . Capturing a member of the Aenar , Gareb , telling him he was the last of his kind , the Romulans launched the first drone ship from the Reman homeworld . First strike . The drone ship was first used to destroy two Andorian vessels which were heading toward the conference on Babel . The Andorian ambassador was traveling aboard one of these vessels when it was destroyed . The other vessel was the warship " Kumari " , under the command of Shran . When the drone ship attacked , assuming the disguise of a Tellarite vessel , the ambassador ' s ship was instantly destroyed , while nineteen members of the " Kumari " s crew , including Shran , were able to flee their vessel in escape pod s . Commander Shran vowed to make the Tellarites pay for destroying his ship . Meanwhile , the starship traveled to Tellar Prime , where the crew welcomed Tellarite Ambassador , his aide , Naarg , and the rest of the Tellarite delegation aboard . Since Babel was on the far side of Andorian space , " Enterprise " was assigned to provide transport for the Tellarite delegation . If the conference was unsuccessful , the captain of " Enterprise " , Jonathan Archer , feared the outbreak of war between the Andorians and Tellarites . At first , Graal was suspicious of the Human s who would attend the Babel conference , as the Andorians had helped to save Earth during the Xindi Crisis . However , Archer assured him that Starfleet ' s intention was to establish peace between the disagreeing species . Detecting a distress call from the " Kumari " , " Enterprise " proceeded to the source of the signal . After two hours , the starship arrived at the debris field which was all that was left from the attack . By this time , the " Kumari " had also exploded . Fortunately , " Enterprise " detected the occupants of the escape pods , who were brought on board the starship and provided medical treatment . Shran told Captain Archer that the Andorian ships were attacked by an Tellarite vessel and was angered to learn that " Enterprise " was carrying a Tellarite delegation to Babel . Later , Lieutenant Malcolm Reed analyzed hull fragments that were found in the debris field and discovered that the damage was consistent with Tellarite weapon s . T ' Pol recovered the " Kumari " s data recorder , which showed a Tellarite vessel attacking the Andorian warship . The evidence seemed conclusive . However , as " Enterprise " changed course for Andoria , Tellarite Ambassador Gral refuted the claims that his species was responsible . He theorized that the sensor logs from the Andorian data recorder may have been fabricated and that the Andorians may have destroyed their own ship . Second assault . Posing as an Andorian craft , the Romulan drone ship intercepted " Enterprise " . On the bridge of the Starfleet vessel , Commander Shran unsuccessfully attempted to call off the attack and announced that Andorian officers were aboard " Enterprise " . Lieutenant Reed fired the starship ' s phase cannons at the disguised drone ship , but no damage was caused . When Reed fired torpedoes at the drone ship , the Romulan vessel retreated . Apparently , the Andorian warship had taken damage to its power grid , although that section hadn ' t been targeted in the conflict . Shran and Gral . Later , a meeting between Archer , Shran and Gral was held . Gral suspected that the Andorians had transmitted a fake distress call from the " Kumari " , luring " Enterprise " into a trap . Shran argued that the drone ship ' s shield matrix had a completely different configuration to the shields on board an Andorian vessel . This fact led Shran to suspect the attacking craft may have been an Andorian ship that the Tellarites had stolen and upgraded . With both the Andorian commander and the Tellarite ambassador believing that the other species was responsible , Shran and Gral ' s verbal arguing soon erupted into a physical fight . However , Archer and a pair of MACO s intervened , with the captain shouting that Shran and Gral would be arrested if they continued to fight . When Gral returned to the VIP quarters on G deck , some members of the Tellarite delegation believed that Archer had sided with Shran . On the starship ' s bridge , T ' Pol showed Commander Shran evidence that the same ship had attacked both the Andorian ships and " Enterprise " , although Shran found the evidence hard to accept . The Andorian commander wanted " Enterprise " to continue to Andoria , so that the remaining members of his crew could receive medical treatment from Andorian physicians . However , having located the drone ship ' s warp signature , " Enterprise " instead tracked the Romulan ship . Meanwhile , Captain Archer experienced lingering doubts about whether the Andorian and Tellarite dispute would ever be settled . He questioned the fact that Starfleet had become involved in the situation and wondered whether the Vulcan s would have made better mediators . He found it difficult to see any common ground between the Andorians and Tellarites , although T ' Pol reminded him that similar statements had been made regarding the Vulcans and Human s . Things would get even more complicated when Shran and his companion Talas burst into Gral ' s quarters to make him confess the attack . Archer cooled the dispute , but Naarg wounded Talas with a MACO phase - pistol . The wound proved mortal , and eventually Shran would challenge Naarg to the Ushaan , a traditional Andorian mortal duel . Archer , fearing the collapse of the fragile Andorian - Tellarite - Vulcan alliance , would invoke the right to substitute for the Tellarite . The duel would end when Archer lopped off Shran ' s left antenna , rendering him defenseless . ( ) Repairing the drone ship and deployment of sensor grid . On Romulus , Nijil , a Romulan scientist assigned to the drone ship mission , discovered that " Enterprise " was nearing the drone ship . As malfunctions continued to plague the telepresence unit on Romulus , Nijil informed his superior , Valdore , of " Enterprise " s position . By this time , " Enterprise " had followed the drone ship ' s warp signature to its source . However , the crew were surprised to find that the Romulan vessel was no longer disguised as an Andorian ship and were unable to identify the craft . The drone ship ' s primary systems were deactivated as " Enterprise " approached , so Captain Archer ordered Ensign Hoshi Sato , the starship ' s communications officer , to hail the alien vessel . Of course , her attempt to contact the drone ship went unanswered . From her station , T ' Pol reported that her scans of the ship had failed to detect bio - signs . Conducting an analysis of the vessel ' s exterior , she learned that the ship ' s hull was lined with subspace transceiver s and multispectral emitter s . The captain ordered Lieutenant Reed to take a team of MACOs aboard the drone ship , but the security officer reported that the vessel ' s life support system was off - line . Consequently , Archer asked Reed to accompany Chief Engineer Charles Tucker aboard the drone ship in the hope that the engineer would be able to repair the damage . Wearing environmental suit s , the away team beamed into a depressurized area aboard the drone ship . On Romulus , Valdore became impatient with Nijil ' s repairs to the telepresence unit . He instructed a Romulan officer to prepare an overload of the warp core . Although Nijil was shocked to hear the instruction , Valdore explained that he would rather destroy the drone ship than allow Starfleet to acquire the advanced technology . Meanwhile , Commander Tucker contacted " Enterprise " and informed Archer that he had discovered a computer interface . Acting on advice from T ' Pol , the engineer uplinked his scanner to the control panel . The drone ship suddenly became activated , attacking the Starfleet craft . It then jumped to warp and attacked a Rigellian ship , posing as the " Enterprise " . The Rigellian Trade Commission was outraged and demanded Archer ' s arrest . It became apparent that the drone ship ' s mission was to destabilize the entire region . T ' Pol developed a method of locating the drone ship ' s warp signature but it would require a large sensor grid , maintained by at least 128 ships . Starfleet sent every starship available to " Enterprise " ' s location . However , even at maximum warp , it would be weeks before most of them arrived . The Vulcan High Command was only able to dispatch 23 vessels . The only way to complete the sensor grid was to include Andorian and Tellarite ships . Despite their previous conflicts , the four species reluctantly agreed to cooperate in a joint operation to locate the drone ship that had threatened them all . Since Humans were the only species on friendly terms with all the others , " Enterprise " was made the command ship . On board the drone ship , Malcolm Reed managed to sabotage its warp matrix . Valdore then had it disguised as a Vulcan ship . Archer was not fooled and attacked it . Also , six ships , all Vulcan , Tellarite and Andorian arrived , chasing off the drone . With the reconciliation between Andorians and Tellarites , Valdore became determined to destroy " Enterprise " . Seeking the Aenar . Afterward , Shran and Archer concluded that the Aenar might have had something to do with the events . So he and Shran journeyed to Andoria , heading for its north pole . After some difficulty , including Shran ' s injury , they met the Aenar , who provided medical assistance . Despite all that had happened , the Aenar refused to interfere because of their pacifist beliefs . Luckily , they found Jhamel who was no other than Gareb ' s sister , determined to save her brother . The Aenar tried to stop them , preventing them from finding the exit . Archer tried to convince them that Jhamel was acting of her own conscience but they believed she was just a child . By sharing a telepathic connection , the Speaker Lissan let them go . A telepresence unit was installed on the " Enterprise " in order to make it possible to telepathically reach Gareb . T ' Pol was unsuccessful and for Jhamel it proved too hazardous and they had to get it off her . Soon afterwards , both drone ships departed their base on Remus and attacked " Enterprise " . Jhamel then used it again without anyone ' s knowledge . She told her brother to destroy the drone ships and he caused them to fire upon each other , destroying one drone ship . Seeing this , in fury , Valdore killed him . With the surviving drone ship now vulnerable , it was destroyed with three photonic torpedo s by the " Enterprise " . Aftermath . The Romulans achieved the opposite of what they intended . Rather than destabilize the region and incite conflict , the four species were brought closer together . The task force of 128 ships that formed the sensor grid was a historic first joint operation between Earth , Vulcan , Andor and Tellar . It was the first step in ending years of hostilities between the four powers and brought them closer towards forming the Coalition of Planets , and eventually the Federation . ( )