The Verteron Array was a facility located on the planet Mars, and was designed to deflect and redirect comets in the Sol system with the use of verteron pulses.
In 2155, the array was taken over by the xenophobic Terra Prime group who used the array to attack Luna, and demanded that all non-Humans leave the system immediately. When the Enterprise (NX-01) attempted to thwart the groups attempt to attack San Francisco, the ship suffered damage but was thankfully not destroyed.
While the group were eventually defeated by the Enterprise crew, the array was still used to fire on Earth, but thankfully the beam was redirected to fire on the Pacific Ocean. (ENT episodes: "Demons", "Terra Prime")
After the incident with Terra Prime, a second array was constructed on the surface of Venus. This was done without letting Earth's allies know, and helped humanity win the Battle of Sol during the Earth-Romulan War. During the battle, the Mars array was destroyed by the Romulan Star Empire. (ST reference: Federation: The First 150 Years)
Alternate timeline[]
In an alternate timeline, Terra Prime's efforts were successful and they destroyed Starfleet Headquarters. Among those killed were the first wife and son of Takako Sulu's great-grandfather. The Isolationist Party took control of the Parliament of United Earth and in 2161, opted not to have the United Earth join in an alliance with the Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites. Instead, United Earth remained an independent stellar power well into the mid 23rd century and significant rival of the Interstellar Coalition, the union eventually formed by the coming together of the Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites and Denobulans. In this timeline, United Earth exploited ideological and philosophical differences on Halka and in the Rigel star system so as to continue its mining operations unopposed; the exploitation was the cause of much heated debate when Humans petitioned to join the Interstellar Coalition in 2264. (Star Trek: Myriad Universes novel: A Less Perfect Union)
External link[]
- Verteron Array article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.