My take on Voyager
- Thread starter Anwar
- Start date
I'm kinda of stuck at this point in where to go next. Because I've got it plotted out in one way, while the guys I've been working with on this think I should go another way.
My original idea was for the VOY crew to end up helping the Vidiians in the Talax liberation by locating other Talaxian cells throughout the Periphery, and also help in the "Conclave" plot by finding other species in the Periphery who may be willing to join and fit the "criteria" for joining (IE, a world/species the Vidiians may think need protecting from future Fluidic attacks, worlds that offer something to the new organization and aren't just a bunch of freeloaders) but not just letting in anyone and everyone becuase then it'll just be a mish-mash. But at the same time they can't be as picky or idealistic as the Feds are becuase the area of space (I've named it the Deep-Beta Quadrant) is a lot less peaceful and is more hard-edged than the Alpha Quadrant (this is before the Dominion War). They make a name for themselves by defeating the remaining Kazon pirates and maybe getting the non-Pirate Kazon Sects to join the Conclave as they aren't violent nuts like the now-deceased Cullah. The League isn't really concerned with them and don't see them as a threat so they just leave them to their own devices. The Ocampa are allowed in at Kes' request so they can have some telepaths/telekinetics and Kes' people can be properly aided in surviving without the Caretaker. This causes tensions with the Devore Empire due to their anti-telepath stance.
Then after that, the Neo-Conclave succeeds in freeing Talax and forcing the Haakonians to withdraw from Talaxian territories, end of S3. The Neo-Conclave is then contacted by the Krenim Imperial Family in S4 who request their aid in stopping their civil war.
They decide to intervene when the Imperial Family tell them about who is leading the military revolt and what kind of power he wields:
The Krenim are a society who consider existence to be one big equation that they're always changing to better suit their ultimate future. They have this machine they found on ancient ruins of an extinct elder race that basically is a very accurate simulation predictor: It takes into account all available data on everything and shows you the most probable outcome. They use it to make the Krenim a powerful empire by identifying whatever variables can threaten them, then destroy those variables (alien races that may become future rivals, Krenim who can become dangerous revolutionaries, etc).
One of their best scientists, a military officer named Annorax studied the device and used the temporal knowledge to eventually develop temporal technologies and stuff that have made the Krenim a major power that most don't cross other than the unlucky guys who get conquered/defeated because they're "unstable variables in the equation".
Annorax's greatest acheivement is the timeship weapon, which can only be used sparingly (the core uses vast amounts of power and takes a long time to recharge for a full incursion) and he built it as an anti-Fluidic weapon to defend themselves with.
The Imperial Family tell the Conclave that Annorax eventually just become full of himself and started the military coup to take over the imperium, and he armed the forces loyal to him with temporal weapons he designed based on information he gained from the artifact, like the Chroniton warheads and stuff. So even though they are outnumbered from the forces loyal to the Imperial Family, they have superior weapons and are winning in battle.
VOY and the Concalve get involved due to the extreme danger the Timeship poses and what kind of damage it could do to the time-space continuum, but since the Talaxians are still rebuilding and the Vidiians are spread out thinly protecting Talaxian space and the other new worlds of the Neo-Conclave, VOY is almost on its own aside from the forces of the Imperial Family and what available Vidiian ships there are. The League might eventually get involved too.
This is the S4 "Year of Hell" where VOY is involved in fighting the Krenim coup guys with the Krenim Loyalists and the Vidiians. Things go okay for a while until Annorax "deletes" other races, chaning the timeline so now VOY and their side are getting trashed in continous battle until they manage to find a way to create temporal shields like they did in-canon, and give this information to the Krenim loyalists, turning the tide. They then encounter Annorax himself and his Timeship weapon capable of erasing whole things from time when fired at full power. VOY then learns the whole truth: Annorax originally did build the Timeship as and anti-Fluidic weapon, but under heavy pressure from the Imperial Family and polticians and the military he was forced into using it on the Rilnar, whom the Krenim were in a losing war with. He succeeded in erasing them and turning the Krenim Empire into a major power but it also erased his family and killed millions as in the original version. When he returned to the Krenim Imperials and told them of what happened (they didn't remember, as they were also affected by the time change) he begged them to let him keep using the timeship to try and restore his family and those lost, but the Imperials were horrified at the true power of the Timeship and ordered Annorax to cease.
In his grief he launched his coup to take over so that he could guide the Krenim destiny and restore what was taken from him and began erasing other races as well. So the Imperial family and their abuse of the Anti-Fluidic tech and the twisting of Annorax's good intentions is what really caused this mess to begin with.
In the end they succeed in destroying the Timeship, but VOY and the Imperial Flagship keep their time-shields up so they are unaffected by the change back to the original timeline. The Imperial Family remember everything and so do VOY (so whatever damage they took is still there, and whatever permenant injuries crewmembers took is still there, etc), Annorax is reunited with his wife and stuff only in the revised timeline he never built the Timeship, so the Krenim Imperium isn't the Megapower it was, but is still a great power due to the Temporal Weapons Annorax did build (Chroniton Warheads and stuff, still exist) and the deleted races are back.
The Krenim join the Conclave out of gratitude, but agree not to develop anything like the Timeship again, bruying such dangerous knowledge.
And The ancient artifact that they got their knowledge from and their civilization has been guided by is revealed in the end as the same "species" as the Guardian of Forever.
My original idea was for the VOY crew to end up helping the Vidiians in the Talax liberation by locating other Talaxian cells throughout the Periphery, and also help in the "Conclave" plot by finding other species in the Periphery who may be willing to join and fit the "criteria" for joining (IE, a world/species the Vidiians may think need protecting from future Fluidic attacks, worlds that offer something to the new organization and aren't just a bunch of freeloaders) but not just letting in anyone and everyone becuase then it'll just be a mish-mash. But at the same time they can't be as picky or idealistic as the Feds are becuase the area of space (I've named it the Deep-Beta Quadrant) is a lot less peaceful and is more hard-edged than the Alpha Quadrant (this is before the Dominion War). They make a name for themselves by defeating the remaining Kazon pirates and maybe getting the non-Pirate Kazon Sects to join the Conclave as they aren't violent nuts like the now-deceased Cullah. The League isn't really concerned with them and don't see them as a threat so they just leave them to their own devices. The Ocampa are allowed in at Kes' request so they can have some telepaths/telekinetics and Kes' people can be properly aided in surviving without the Caretaker. This causes tensions with the Devore Empire due to their anti-telepath stance.
Then after that, the Neo-Conclave succeeds in freeing Talax and forcing the Haakonians to withdraw from Talaxian territories, end of S3. The Neo-Conclave is then contacted by the Krenim Imperial Family in S4 who request their aid in stopping their civil war.
They decide to intervene when the Imperial Family tell them about who is leading the military revolt and what kind of power he wields:
The Krenim are a society who consider existence to be one big equation that they're always changing to better suit their ultimate future. They have this machine they found on ancient ruins of an extinct elder race that basically is a very accurate simulation predictor: It takes into account all available data on everything and shows you the most probable outcome. They use it to make the Krenim a powerful empire by identifying whatever variables can threaten them, then destroy those variables (alien races that may become future rivals, Krenim who can become dangerous revolutionaries, etc).
One of their best scientists, a military officer named Annorax studied the device and used the temporal knowledge to eventually develop temporal technologies and stuff that have made the Krenim a major power that most don't cross other than the unlucky guys who get conquered/defeated because they're "unstable variables in the equation".
Annorax's greatest acheivement is the timeship weapon, which can only be used sparingly (the core uses vast amounts of power and takes a long time to recharge for a full incursion) and he built it as an anti-Fluidic weapon to defend themselves with.
The Imperial Family tell the Conclave that Annorax eventually just become full of himself and started the military coup to take over the imperium, and he armed the forces loyal to him with temporal weapons he designed based on information he gained from the artifact, like the Chroniton warheads and stuff. So even though they are outnumbered from the forces loyal to the Imperial Family, they have superior weapons and are winning in battle.
VOY and the Concalve get involved due to the extreme danger the Timeship poses and what kind of damage it could do to the time-space continuum, but since the Talaxians are still rebuilding and the Vidiians are spread out thinly protecting Talaxian space and the other new worlds of the Neo-Conclave, VOY is almost on its own aside from the forces of the Imperial Family and what available Vidiian ships there are. The League might eventually get involved too.
This is the S4 "Year of Hell" where VOY is involved in fighting the Krenim coup guys with the Krenim Loyalists and the Vidiians. Things go okay for a while until Annorax "deletes" other races, chaning the timeline so now VOY and their side are getting trashed in continous battle until they manage to find a way to create temporal shields like they did in-canon, and give this information to the Krenim loyalists, turning the tide. They then encounter Annorax himself and his Timeship weapon capable of erasing whole things from time when fired at full power. VOY then learns the whole truth: Annorax originally did build the Timeship as and anti-Fluidic weapon, but under heavy pressure from the Imperial Family and polticians and the military he was forced into using it on the Rilnar, whom the Krenim were in a losing war with. He succeeded in erasing them and turning the Krenim Empire into a major power but it also erased his family and killed millions as in the original version. When he returned to the Krenim Imperials and told them of what happened (they didn't remember, as they were also affected by the time change) he begged them to let him keep using the timeship to try and restore his family and those lost, but the Imperials were horrified at the true power of the Timeship and ordered Annorax to cease.
In his grief he launched his coup to take over so that he could guide the Krenim destiny and restore what was taken from him and began erasing other races as well. So the Imperial family and their abuse of the Anti-Fluidic tech and the twisting of Annorax's good intentions is what really caused this mess to begin with.
In the end they succeed in destroying the Timeship, but VOY and the Imperial Flagship keep their time-shields up so they are unaffected by the change back to the original timeline. The Imperial Family remember everything and so do VOY (so whatever damage they took is still there, and whatever permenant injuries crewmembers took is still there, etc), Annorax is reunited with his wife and stuff only in the revised timeline he never built the Timeship, so the Krenim Imperium isn't the Megapower it was, but is still a great power due to the Temporal Weapons Annorax did build (Chroniton Warheads and stuff, still exist) and the deleted races are back.
The Krenim join the Conclave out of gratitude, but agree not to develop anything like the Timeship again, bruying such dangerous knowledge.
And The ancient artifact that they got their knowledge from and their civilization has been guided by is revealed in the end as the same "species" as the Guardian of Forever.
^^^ You've written a novel Anwar --- and you're posting it on a forum created specifically for ADD-riddled fans. 
(or maybe that's just me lol)
(or maybe that's just me lol)
Additionally, I'd get rid of all the holodeck episodes.
That bit in "Persistrence of Vision" where Janeway is in the Victorian Era thing would still happen though. Only in this version it would turn out it's all a dream she's having in an episode teaser. As the program "goes bad" she'd wake up and realize she fell asleep in her quarters after drinking tea and reading a classical book.
She then makes the log entry "Note to self, no more tea and classical books". It would serve as a joke and a subtle way of saying "This isn't TNG and she ain't Picard".
The "Captain Proton" thing would still happen at least once, only instead of it being Paris in the holodeck, it's Paris actually having a huge delusion/hallucination he has after he crashs/get shot down onto a planetoid and it's his way of his mind keeping him alive until someone finds him. It would be dark humor of him imagining himself as a 30s pulp hero with Harry as a sidekick and the othe VOY crew showing up as figures in his fantasy, but in reality he's dying.
That bit in "Persistrence of Vision" where Janeway is in the Victorian Era thing would still happen though. Only in this version it would turn out it's all a dream she's having in an episode teaser. As the program "goes bad" she'd wake up and realize she fell asleep in her quarters after drinking tea and reading a classical book.
She then makes the log entry "Note to self, no more tea and classical books". It would serve as a joke and a subtle way of saying "This isn't TNG and she ain't Picard".
The "Captain Proton" thing would still happen at least once, only instead of it being Paris in the holodeck, it's Paris actually having a huge delusion/hallucination he has after he crashs/get shot down onto a planetoid and it's his way of his mind keeping him alive until someone finds him. It would be dark humor of him imagining himself as a 30s pulp hero with Harry as a sidekick and the othe VOY crew showing up as figures in his fantasy, but in reality he's dying.
Holodeck episodes weren't bad. In fact, since the Doctor was holographic it actually made a lot of sense to include several of these types of episodes during Voyager's run.
Please keep in mind that holographic technology posed a great new outlet for exploring unconventional settings, characters, etc. without it necessarily having to be a time travel or reset-button episode.
Please keep in mind that holographic technology posed a great new outlet for exploring unconventional settings, characters, etc. without it necessarily having to be a time travel or reset-button episode.
I do like the association of the possible Krenim temporal device to the Guardian of Forever. It would be well within their capabilities to deploy such a device. It would also be a convincing link between the AQ & DQ, as well as provide some more background on the ancient civilizations of our galaxy.
Well, I have to agree that these were good reasons why the last two TNG-movies and ENT lost its appeal.
However, I do think that oversaturation is also a reason for the demise of Star Trek. People have come to take it for granted and there were too many series coming out at the same time. People simply are overwhelmed by the many series and don't even dare to enter the universe. I know plenty of such people.
I'd rather have a five year break between each Star Trek-serie. This way, it'd be more special.
Think about Star Wars. Had they made a movie every other year, it would have lost its appeal to viewers as well. But they only made three new movies and waited about twenty years to make them.
The hype could build up while Star Trek is taken for granted/getting on people's nerves. People do see that it's a cow being milked too much. ;-)
I did, and there are lots of "not real sci-fi storytelling" episodes in TOS as well, like "Balance of Terror" (excellent episode, but it's just a WWII submarine story in space) and "City on the edge of forever" (also great, but the Guardian comes off as more of a magical fantasy thing than sci-fi).
I'd take away the holodeck for the first seasons at least when they're trying to conserve power and stuff. But when they get help from the Neo-Conclave and things maybe it can be reactivated for limited usage.
Anywho, one other chnage would be that Tom would be involved with Kes eventually, instead of B'Ellana because I'd kill off B'Ellana at the beginning of the Conclave series arc.
Kes would also take over as a second Doctor on the ship, as Ocampa mature faster mentally than humans do (because of their shorter lifespan and faster aging) and she studied as the Ship Nurse long enough to take in Federation Medical knowledge.
She'd start out as a ten year old physically when she joins the crew, is a teenager in S2 and by S3 she's physically in her early twenties. Mentally she'd mature at a similar rate.
Her powers would grow so she's a full telepath and telekinetic by her adult stage to aid her as a doctor.
The crew would have to deal with the fact that the child they used to all see as a younger sister or even a daughter (in Janeway's case, for example) is now an adult just as mature and intelligent as them or even more mature and intelligent as them in some cases.
Tom would have to deal with his attraction to her because to him she was only a kid when they first met.
Kes would also take over as a second Doctor on the ship, as Ocampa mature faster mentally than humans do (because of their shorter lifespan and faster aging) and she studied as the Ship Nurse long enough to take in Federation Medical knowledge.
She'd start out as a ten year old physically when she joins the crew, is a teenager in S2 and by S3 she's physically in her early twenties. Mentally she'd mature at a similar rate.
Her powers would grow so she's a full telepath and telekinetic by her adult stage to aid her as a doctor.
The crew would have to deal with the fact that the child they used to all see as a younger sister or even a daughter (in Janeway's case, for example) is now an adult just as mature and intelligent as them or even more mature and intelligent as them in some cases.
Tom would have to deal with his attraction to her because to him she was only a kid when they first met.
TimelessTrek said:
That is all soooooo true!
Not really. It helps if you analyse the characters in relation to the complex situations they find themselves in, instead of simplistic observations based on casual reflections
My biggest complaint on VOY itself is that they seem to wallow in all the Trek cliches.
As far as plot:
* There's only one answer, the anwer Janeway ultimately picks. And in most cases it doesn't cost anything to implement. I think they need to be making major trade-offs, both ethically, and physically. Maybe it would mean accepting goods from an empire abusing human rights. Maybe it would mean that if they help species X with their problem, it would be a huge powerdrain that might hurt VOY's chances of survival. I don't think they'd be so noble if they had to choose between having sufficiant power for defense and helping someone.
* Never having to deal with the lack of something important. Or unimportant. They still have all the goodies -- holodecks, replicators, a big robust computer system, fancy astrometrics labs, etc. What would happen to the crew after 3 weeks of rations and power restrictions? What if they run out of (and can't replicate) drugs? Having to trade for basic needs or scavenge for power sources could be a source of conflict.
* Standard Trek-plots and solutions. How many times can the holodeck try to kill you before you hang up an Out-of-Order sign? How many ways are there exactly to use the Swiss Army Deflector Dish?
Personally, I'd aslo somewhat nerf the EMH. I wouldn't bind him to the sick-bay, but he seemed a bit too powerful. If you have something like him capable of downloading a file and becoming the Emergency Command Hologram as well, why bother risking the lives of the crew? Why waste the space and the life-support?
As far as plot:
* There's only one answer, the anwer Janeway ultimately picks. And in most cases it doesn't cost anything to implement. I think they need to be making major trade-offs, both ethically, and physically. Maybe it would mean accepting goods from an empire abusing human rights. Maybe it would mean that if they help species X with their problem, it would be a huge powerdrain that might hurt VOY's chances of survival. I don't think they'd be so noble if they had to choose between having sufficiant power for defense and helping someone.
* Never having to deal with the lack of something important. Or unimportant. They still have all the goodies -- holodecks, replicators, a big robust computer system, fancy astrometrics labs, etc. What would happen to the crew after 3 weeks of rations and power restrictions? What if they run out of (and can't replicate) drugs? Having to trade for basic needs or scavenge for power sources could be a source of conflict.
* Standard Trek-plots and solutions. How many times can the holodeck try to kill you before you hang up an Out-of-Order sign? How many ways are there exactly to use the Swiss Army Deflector Dish?
Personally, I'd aslo somewhat nerf the EMH. I wouldn't bind him to the sick-bay, but he seemed a bit too powerful. If you have something like him capable of downloading a file and becoming the Emergency Command Hologram as well, why bother risking the lives of the crew? Why waste the space and the life-support?
Well, to tell the truth I've never been a big fan of the "Voyage home" type shows, so I decided with this redo that I'd make VOY more about the VOY crew surviving in a more hostile environment without the comforts of the Federation, but not one where they're always on the move so the show would be able to better flesh out the races and organizations if they stayed in one area and wasn't always on the move.
Anwar , I really wish your ideas had been more what Voyager was like. I think you've created a brilliantly coherent scheme full of plot arcs and integrity for the show that surely UPN would have hated. I like that you stranded the crew without having them initially know where they are, through a logical means, and I like the idea of having the Neo-Conclave be a sort of 'Bizarro Federation.' I particularly enjoy the way you characterize the Krenim and Annorax. I would have loved to see Kurtwood Smith in that role! And Kes is brilliantly done too...
I think you've effectively taken ideas that the creators and writers may have had and taken them more in the direction that they needed to go
[/gush]
I would have really liked to have seen Voyager damaged more often, running low on power, running out of things... Consequences were something that seemed inherent to the plot, yet were ignored.
I think you've effectively taken ideas that the creators and writers may have had and taken them more in the direction that they needed to go
[/gush]
I would have really liked to have seen Voyager damaged more often, running low on power, running out of things... Consequences were something that seemed inherent to the plot, yet were ignored.
Well, actually the League and the Neo-Conclave are both "Bizarro Federations" with the League being what would've happened if the Klingon Cold War of TOS was like 100X worse and the Federation became fully militarized and dropped all their scientific and exploratory wings as time went on and how that would affect their normal society as well.
The Conclave is the "Fall of the Federation" type in that they were once a peaceful alliance of worlds destroyed in a horrific cataclysm (The Fluidic Wars) and are now recovering and trying to rebuild what they lost and trying not to make the mistakes of the past without losing the core of themselves: a peaceful organization that works for liberty and justice of all their worlds and aiding others in need.
As for VOY's supply problems, I'd have those in S1 and maybe a little in S2 but drop it by then because they'd have the League and the Neo-Conclave to go to for help. S4 they get trashed too but they get repaired by their allies and their new Krenim friends.
The Conclave is the "Fall of the Federation" type in that they were once a peaceful alliance of worlds destroyed in a horrific cataclysm (The Fluidic Wars) and are now recovering and trying to rebuild what they lost and trying not to make the mistakes of the past without losing the core of themselves: a peaceful organization that works for liberty and justice of all their worlds and aiding others in need.
As for VOY's supply problems, I'd have those in S1 and maybe a little in S2 but drop it by then because they'd have the League and the Neo-Conclave to go to for help. S4 they get trashed too but they get repaired by their allies and their new Krenim friends.
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