The Cataclysm

At 16:54 Galactic Centre Time on Monday, 7 July 2997, Sagittarius A* was struck with an Omega-type weapon of mass destruction with an estimated gravitational subspace distortion of 2.8 gigaCochranes. The event resulted in a reversal of Sgr A*'s gravitational polarity. The resulting expulsion of matter caused the largest disaster in recorded galactic history. High intensity shockwaves of matter ruptured space-time in incalculable patterns, spreading to all four quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy. An estimated 745 billion humanoid individuals lost their lives within the territory of the United Federation of Planets alone, with the majority of that coming from planetary systems that were entirely ravaged by the shockwaves and matter expulsion. For those that survived, the subspace distortions were so significant that warp-type travel became impossible, trapping billions of individuals across the Federation's wide network of warp lanes. This event and the resulting geo-social & political implications became known variously as the Cataclysm, or the Burn.