Symmetrist

The **Symmetrists** were an eco-terrorist group that grew out of an earlier ecological movement originating on Vulcan in the 22nd century. They were believed to be disbanded by the mid-23rd century, however they had simply gone into hiding, operating in secret until the late 24th century. (*ST* novel: *Avenger*)

The birth of the Symmetrists was believed to have been a direct political response to the founding of the United Federation of Planets, though historians believed they had first existed as one of several Vulcan isolationist parties. These early members of the movement felt that it was only logical for the Confederacy of Vulcan and her colonies to remain independent from the Federation. The Symmetrists, however, were not driven by political motives but were rather more concerned about galactic ecology.

At the time of their creation, the Symmetrists were a small but vocal minority on the Vulcan homeworld who believed that the majority consensus on standardizing planetary environments was wrong. These early scientific forerunners of the movement instead believed that each planet was a link in the chain of life and had evolved according to the rhythms of the galaxy's own natural ebb and flow of matter and energy. Thus, to those who accepted their postulates, galactic ecology was perceived as a single organism which was indescribably vast and operated at a timescale where stars died and were born in an eyeblink.

When the newly-formed Federation began codifying the rules and regulations of an organized effort to explore the planets in the galaxy, it was on Vulcan where this strategy was challenged on a scientific basis. These individuals believed that all races needed to be stewards of galactic ecology and not exploiters. The early Symmetrists believed that every species had a duty and responsibility to recognize, as well as preserve, the symmetry of all things. The highest ideal of this symmetry was that the galaxy was no different from a living being. Thus, the Symmetrists believed that if the Federation accepted the individual's right to exist then naturally they must also accept the sanctity of all life within the galaxy. The movement at this time consisted of some of the most noted biologists and philosophers of the day and pleaded with the Federation to amend its charter in order for strict quarantine protocols to be observed on planets with a natural biosphere and that only worlds completely devoid of life should be terraformed.

The Federation Council rejected Symmetrist arguments as being both unfounded and unproven, and put forth that such strict guidelines could only limit space exploration and make it overly expensive to achieve. After they were rebuffed, the Symmetrist movement was officially created as a lose knit academic group that was committed to compiling information to prove their case to the Federation Council. Eventually they began to align with other scientific groups and the scope of their activities began to expand.

Gradually, the group's ideology shifted, growing more radical and willing to employ extreme measures to achieve their goal. This led to a hostage crisis at Deneva in the early 2160s, when a group of radical environmentalists from Alpha Centauri captured a the first colony ship destined for that world following the Earth-Romulan War. The terrorists planted explosives on on the transport, and parked in orbit over the colony. The Symmetrists demanded the Federation withdraw from Deneva, or they would detonate the explosives. The USS *Archon* sent an assault team to storm the vessel, which ultimately led to the deaths of four hundred and eight of the six hundred and fifty colonists aboard, all the radicals and thirty-two Starfleet personnel. A radical offshoot of the Symmetrists later claimed responsibility for the Deneva crisis.

Following the Deneva incident, the Symmetrists seemed to exist only as an underground community of scientists who tried to make their concerns known to the rest of the Federation. During that era, more extreme elements began to form among them who advocated acts of ecological terrorism against the Federation. (*ST* novel: *Avenger*)

The Symmetrists were secretly involved in the ecological crisis on Tarsus IV in 2246, using the planet as a testbed for a mutagenic virus. The colonists and the Federation remained unaware of the Symmetrists involvement, and the resultant fungal infection was blamed on cross-planted seeds brought by refugees from Epsilon Sorona II which were believed to have mutated in the Tarsian soil. Using this crisis, Adrian Kodos, secretly a Symmetrist himself, became the governor of the colony. Following a doctrine of eugenics, he ordered half the colony's population put to death, and some 4,000 colonists were executed in what history would remember as the Tarsus IV massacre. The involvement of the Symmetrists, and Kodos' adherence to their ideology, remained largely unknown and unproven until the late 24th century. (*ST* novel: *Avenger*; *DSC* novel: *Drastic Measures*)

Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan and his wife Amanda were Symmetrists, though they, their friend Tarok, and many others left the movement after Kodos' actions on Tarsus, when they realized their beliefs were being distorted and their influence misused.

Later records indicated that by 2248, the movement was thought to have disbanded as an organized group, having been discredited through the actions of those radical members. However, in actuality, the Symmetrists continued to exist as an underground movement that worked in silence, all the while recruiting members from other worlds throughout the Federation.

They remained hidden for over a century, only re-emerging in 2373 to deploy their refined virogen plague which targeted chlorophyll-based plantlife, in an effort to destroy the Federation and restore galactic symmetry. The USS *Enterprise* tracked the last of the Symmetrists were tracked to their stronghold on Tarsus IV. During the ensuing battle, fifty-two of the Symmetrists died, either killed by the *Enterprise* crew or by their own hand. Only twelve survived to be captured, too wounded to take their own lives, and they gave up their remaining compatriots on other worlds, seemingly to bring a final end to the Symmetrist movement. (*ST* novel: *Avenger*)

## External links

* Symmetrists article at ***Memory Beta***, the non-canon *Star Trek* wiki.