Gateway (planet)

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Gateway is a L-class planet located in sector 90.4 of the Beta Quadrant, and is the location of the Guardian of Forever. (TNG short story: "Orphans")

The Guardian was constructed on the planet around 5 billion years ago by an unknown race, but it was not until a few hundred thousand years that Gateway gave rise to its own intelligent species, who would become known as the Originators. They constructed large cities all over the surface of the planet. One of the largest cities was named Oyya, which spanned over 2,000 square kilometers, and was constructed around the Guardian.

Eventually, the Originators disappeared and their cities turned to ruins, yet the Guardian still continued to exist at the center of the ruins, and awaited to be asked a question again. (TAS novelization: Yesteryear, and TOS novel: Yesterday's Son).

Note: It is possible that the Originators were meant to be the initial builders of the Guardian, however from statements from "The City on the Edge of Forever" and other sources, we know this can't be possible because the Guardian has existed for billions of years.

In 2267, the USS Enterprise was passing near Gateway, when they detected temporal waves emanating out across the sector. After three days charting their way through the waves the Enterprise reached the planet. Following an incident aboard ship, Captain James T. Kirk led a landing party down to the surface and discovered the Guardian. (TOS episode: "The City on the Edge of Forever").

Following the Enterprise's discovery of the Guardian, Gateway was declared a Federation Protectorate and all information about Gateway and the Guardian was classified and on a need-to-know basis. In addition the sector was continuously patrolled by a starship, but the crew had no idea what they were defending. The Ellison Research Outpost was also established on the planet to study the Guardian, however the research teams had fairly sporadic success with getting the Guardian to answer their questions. (TOS novel: Yesterday's Son).

In 2269, the Enterprise returned to Gateway with Dr. Grey and her associate, Aleek-Om, in an attempt to communicate with the Guardian and allow them to observe Orion history through the Guardian. (TAS novelization: Yesteryear).

In 2270, Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Dr. McCoy returned to Gateway so that they could travel to Sarpeidon around 5,000 years previously and rescue Spock's son, Zar.

A few months later, a Romulan invasion force attacked Gateway. While the Enterprise and the USS Lexington kept the bulk of the forces at bay, Tal and his advanced guard were stopped from destroying the Guardian by Kirk, Spock, and Zar. (TOS novel: Yesterday's Son).

Note: The planet that the Guardian of Forever is located on has different names in different books, Forever World in "Imzadi" for example. This may be due to the fact the existence of the Guardian is a highly classified secret, and so the planet doesn't have an official designation.

In 2374, Dominion forces captured the Gateway planet and stationed Jem'Hadar troops to guard it. However, the Jem'Hadar were unable to activate the Guardian as it did not recognize their altered DNA. Soon after this, Section 31 sent Admiral Erik Pressman and Doctor Julian Bashir to recruit super-soldiers from Angosia III to aid them in recapturing the planet. After reaching the Guardian, Roga Danar asked the Guardian what it desired. When it said it wanted freedom, Roga granted it permission to leave the Gateway planet, which it then did. (TNG short story "Orphans")

[edit] Connections

• Gateway (planet) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.