Star Trek: 10 Ways The Romulan Supernova Impacted The Multiverse

10. You're Gonna Need The Biggest Boat

Just how do you evacuate a planet, an entire civilisation, when there is so much blood in the water? Very old enemies, lots of new ships. 900 million Romulans, 10,000 warp-capable ferries (Wallenberg class), probably several round trips, and only about six years' advanced warning. A great galactic politico-logistical headache, and that was before the time travel!

Help of such large scale proportions must at least give pause for reflection. The Federation needed such a moment when a foe called to ask for the 24th century equivalent of Operation Dynamo, if you prefer Jean-Luc's historical analogy over his interviewer's. "Many felt there were better uses for our resources," the Federation News Network (FNN) reporter pointed out, after the fact. 

As a direct consequence of the Romulan evacuation effort, and the damage to the fleet previously caused by the Vau N'Akat Living Construct, Starfleet was "already spread too thin" by 2384, as Admiral Jellico noted to Admiral Janeway in Ascension, Part I. The Voyager-A was out there, but they could hardly expect reinforcements. Federation member worlds were being kept afloat by A500 androids, and on Mars, the sharks were circling.