Star Trek-31st Century!

[Red Ranger]

People,

I know there's some opposition to merely setting a future ST series further in the future. So naturally, I expect some to weigh in with negative comments. That's OK.

My idea is simple: A series about exploring and colonizing another galaxy, as part of a plan to (a) expand the Federation, and (b) a partnership between the Federation and an Intergalactic version of the Federation -- let's call it the Galactic Alliance.

I'd set it exactly 1,000 years in the future -- if it launches in 2010, set it in 3010, kind of like how ENT was set exactly 150 years in the future.

The reason this Alliance taps the Federation to join is that by the 31st century, every sentient species has joined the Federation in the Milky Way galaxy -- a prerequisite for any galaxy's population joining the Alliance.

Red Ranger

 

[Temis the Vorta]

How would anything in your new galaxy differ from the places and species we could see in the Milky Way?

 

[Red Ranger]

Temis the Vorta said:
How would anything in your new galaxy differ from the places and species we could see in the Milky Way?

Temis:

I'm glad you asked. I draw my inspiration for the following from a series of issues of the Fantastic Four during John Byrne's run, back in the 1980s, where they explored the anti-matter universe known as the Negative Zone. In that group of stories, they were confronted by unexpected life forms that organized themselves in different ways. Their assumptions were turned upside down, in most cases.

You could establish this new, largely unexplored galaxy, while still in our universe, doesn't completely follow all the rules of physics or evolution as other parts of the universe. So the life forms they'd encounter would be much stranger than those we're used to.

Another idea is perhaps we could establish that there are still separate powers in the Milky Way galaxy and that the Federation and perhaps one other remaining Milky Way superpower are in a competition to see who can best develop their respective claims to this new galaxy -- the prize being membership in the Galactic Alliance I proposed earlier.

This competition would be somewhat reminiscent of the Organian Peace Treaty from TOS as shown in the development of Sherman's Planet in "The Trouble With Tribbles," but that's an idea that wasn't explored much further, and I think still has merit.

To make it even more interesting, it could be a three-way competition among:

-the Federation, including the Cardassians, and maybe establish the Feds have established footholds in all four quadrants, so as to not make it a contiguous power, kind of like the British Empire;
-a warrior-oriented Empire composed primarily of the old Romulan and Klngon empires, an alliance formed after both reach a rapprochment, with other like-minded species; and
-the Dominion, composed of Gamma and Delta Quadrant races, perhaps even with the Borg as members.

Red Ranger

 

[Temis the Vorta]

That sounds interesting - a lot of times, people come up with ideas that are basically, "meet the funny forehead aliens in a new galaxy." But upending the laws of physics IS a fundamental change that justifies the new setting.

Just throwing the known Trek powers (Cardies et al) into a crazy milieu with new rules to get used to could be a lot of fun, as they compete for power and territory. Whoever adapts fastest, wins.

I also find the idea of a future Borg civilization intriguing. What would they eventually evolve into? They seem to be meeting with a lot of resistance from powerful entities like the Feds, but if the Borg were more insidious and less obviously threatening, could they be more successful?

Could the future Federation even be part-Borg if the Borg were "tame" enough to merit membership? A "tame" Borg civilization would certainly offer the Feds a lot of advantages. And how "tame" would a civilization have to be to get into the Federation? After all, the Feds are so accepting and all, they might assimilate the tame Borg without realizing quite what they'd got themselves into.

 

[Red Ranger]

Temis the Vorta said:
That sounds interesting - a lot of times, people come up with ideas that are basically, "meet the funny forehead aliens in a new galaxy." But upending the laws of physics IS a fundamental change that justifies the new setting.

Just throwing the known Trek powers (Cardies et al) into a crazy milieu with new rules to get used to could be a lot of fun, as they compete for power and territory. Whoever adapts fastest, wins.

I also find the idea of a future Borg civilization intriguing. What would they eventually evolve into? They seem to be meeting with a lot of resistance from powerful entities like the Feds, but if the Borg were more insidious and less obviously threatening, could they be more successful?

Could the future Federation even be part-Borg if the Borg were "tame" enough to merit membership? A "tame" Borg civilization would certainly offer the Feds a lot of advantages. And how "tame" would a civilization have to be to get into the Federation? After all, the Feds are so accepting and all, they might assimilate the tame Borg without realizing quite what they'd got themselves into.

Temis:

I like your idea of a "tame" Borg. Maybe in the future, there might be a split even among the ranks of the Borg into factions -- one that remains committed to assimilation, and another that that has a "big picture" agenda where they might join forces with the Federation, one of the few powers to prove that resistance isn't futile. After all, Janeway in VOY managed to have a truce with the Borg, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility they might join forces.

Given the Dominion's reverence for order over chaos, I can see them being more natural allies for the Borg, though. Perhaps the Founders would allow themselves to be assimilated by the Borg in order to become shape-shifting cyborgs. Imagine that!

Red Ranger

 

[Kaziarl]

Overall i like this idea. There are several paths one could take to a tame borg civilization. One of which being that the simple fact of several non-collective cultures kicking tail so easily made the next logical step to segregate the ranks a bit. As for the laws of physics... I'm a little hesitant to change that without going into another dimension. The whole thing about the relativity constants. Even the enterprise has to push itself into a different layer of space to achieve FTL propulsion.

 

[bryce]

Remember, our galaxy is mostly made of humanoid races because it was seeded by humanoids (and for budget reasons) imagine another galaxy where the laws of evolution were left to run wild. (And with modern CGI...)

Still, I like to see a version where *our* Federation helps found a intergalactic Federation, not just joins a pre-existing one.

 

[Plecostomus]

Perhaps the damage done by Janeway causes the Borg to revert to an earlier form of programming. Instead of being hell-bent on assimilating everyone at any cost they revert to a more friendly/peaceable/social state.

*ding-dong* "Hi, I am Elder 14 of 37 and this is my traveling companion Sister 29 of 128. We represent the Borg Collective. Have you heard of the bliss that Assimilation can offer individuals such as yoursel? No? Well then allow me to leave these holo-pamphlets with you for your review. Have a great day and my the Collective shine upon you."

 

[Red Ranger]

Plecostomus said:
Perhaps the damage done by Janeway causes the Borg to revert to an earlier form of programming. Instead of being hell-bent on assimilating everyone at any cost they revert to a more friendly/peaceable/social state.

*ding-dong* "Hi, I am Elder 14 of 37 and this is my traveling companion Sister 29 of 128. We represent the Borg Collective. Have you heard of the bliss that Assimilation can offer individuals such as yoursel? No? Well then allow me to leave these holo-pamphlets with you for your review. Have a great day and my the Collective shine upon you."

The Borg as Jehovah's Witnesses! Hilarious! -- RR

 

[Red Ranger]

bryce said:

Remember, our galaxy is mostly made of humanoid races because it was seeded by humanoids (and for budget reasons) imagine another galaxy where the laws of evolution were left to run wild. (And with modern CGI...)

Still, I like to see a version where *our* Federation helps found a intergalactic Federation, not just joins a pre-existing one.

Bryce,

Not a bad idea. I think that if a series takes place in the 31st century and involves travel to another galaxy, that would certainly be a great development!

Or maybe a race they meet in this other galaxy wants to join the Federation and together, they come up with the idea of expanding the Federation to other galaxies.

Red Ranger

 

[Plecostomus]

Red Ranger said:

Plecostomus said:
Perhaps the damage done by Janeway causes the Borg to revert to an earlier form of programming. Instead of being hell-bent on assimilating everyone at any cost they revert to a more friendly/peaceable/social state.

*ding-dong* "Hi, I am Elder 14 of 37 and this is my traveling companion Sister 29 of 128. We represent the Borg Collective. Have you heard of the bliss that Assimilation can offer individuals such as yourself? No? Well then allow me to leave these holo-pamphlets with you for your review. Have a great day and may the Collective shine upon you."

The Borg as Jehovah's Witnesses! Hilarious! -- RR

Actually I based that upon my missionary work in the LDS church. Same idea.

 

[Red Ranger]

Plecostomus said:

Red Ranger said:

Plecostomus said:
Perhaps the damage done by Janeway causes the Borg to revert to an earlier form of programming. Instead of being hell-bent on assimilating everyone at any cost they revert to a more friendly/peaceable/social state.

*ding-dong* "Hi, I am Elder 14 of 37 and this is my traveling companion Sister 29 of 128. We represent the Borg Collective. Have you heard of the bliss that Assimilation can offer individuals such as yourself? No? Well then allow me to leave these holo-pamphlets with you for your review. Have a great day and may the Collective shine upon you."

The Borg as Jehovah's Witnesses! Hilarious! -- RR

Actually I based that upon my missionary work in the LDS church. Same idea.

MORMONS IN SPAAAAACCCCEEE! Shades of Mel Brooks! -- RR

 

[Plecostomus]

Actually the original BSG was loosely based on the Mormon's trek from New York to Utah IIRC... the original series creator himself was Mormon.

So it's been done.

 

[Red Ranger]

Plecostomus said:
Actually the original BSG was loosely based on the Mormon's trek from New York to Utah IIRC... the original series creator himself was Mormon.

So it's been done.

I didn't know that. Very interesting! Although I was just having some fun with you -- I was referencing the end of Mel Brooks' "History of the World, Part I," and the skit, "Jews in Spaaaaacceee!" -- RR

 

[Jack Bauer]

Will Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl play a role?

 

[Plecostomus]

Alot of people are surprised to learn the LDS/BSG connection, I always wonder if that had something to do with it's demise... more political than anything there are alot of people who don't understand the LDS based on all the weird rumors floating around.

Anyway, back to trek.

If you're of the inclination you could create a Star-Wars tie-in this way. The galaxy-hopping drive could initially have a time-bending component to it. Once it's corrected and you're done playing Starfleet Vs The Deathstar you can go back and visit the "modern" Star Wars universe set way way in the "future" instead of "Long Ago."

 

[Red Ranger]

Jack Bauer said:
Will Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl play a role?

Very funny! Special guest appearances by Mon-El, Chameleon Lad, and Colossal Boy, too! -- RR

 

[hellsgate]

I like the idea but without challenges to overcome, it would die a quick death. I'd stick with the late 24th / early 25th century.

I'd deal with a Federation facing crisis. People are scared, but rebuilding while keeping a wary eye skyward. Odo has returned to The Great Link & there are machinations going on there. I'd introduce the feelings that your characters have about using experimental BUG's..(Bio Utility Grafts.)

The Federation may lose planets to the Cardassian Union, Klingon Empire or the Romulan Star Empire. General confidence in the Federation & Starfleet is teetering on a political precipice.

[*] The Department of Temporal Investigations in the 31st Century is keeping a hawk-like eye on the flow of the timestream & any that might suddenly intersect with this period. Keeping rival factions from steering future-history as they know it off-course, & attempting to re-write a pivotal period in future-history in their own image.

[*] Rom as Grand Nagus of The Ferengii Alliance.

[*] The (believed) loss of Captain Riker of the U.S.S. Titan with all hands while en-route to Romulus, when it was pulled out of the milky way by Forces Unknown.

[*] Captain Janeway's controversial decision to bring home Annika Hansen.

[*] The Baku Forced Relocation Scandal.

[*] The Battle Of The Bassen Rift & the subsequent loss of Commander Data.

[*] In addition to Picard's Scandal pertaining to his use of the Enterprise-E's weapons @ Rashanar (from the "A Time To" Trek Lit. mini-series.)

(Enter the idea suggested by Plecostomus, of some Borg reverting to an earlier operating format downloaded from V'Ger, & deciding from V'Ger's instructions that a more benign approach to collecting data about the universe & returning the data to the Creator would be far more cost-effective.)

How would a terrified set of Quadrants now equipped with hostile Borg technology deal with reformatted Borg showing-up & hailling a Federation communications' network with a benign invitation to indulge in cybernetic "bliss"?

Vulcan & Romulus, Cardassia. (Think post-Communism Collapse Russia.)

The Jem Hadar are fractured & confused. The Founders are Gods to some - to others, not so much. The Vorta are scrambling to regain order from chaos as some of the Jem Hadar have died & others successfully risen from beneath the wreckage of the homeworlds of the Omarion Nebula despite the addition of the enormously painful cost of Ketracel White withdrawal & Starfleet Medical's "interference" in internal matters in the process.

The Borg are still around & racing against their own sects of survivors from the Nekrit Expanse. Killing some, reassimilating others, in addition to gingerly, achingly-slowly rebuilding their transwarp routes & keeping an eye on the Alpha & Beta Quadrants, aliens that encountered the Borg & infected their vinculums with insanity viruses in the Delta Quadrant. In addition to the Dominion perpetually taking considerable victories at the Collective's back door in the Gamma Quadrant.

 

[Red Ranger]

Hellsgate,

Some interesting ideas. I think we wouldn't want to tie it too much into too many of the already existing races. I think you'd want to have room for stand-alone stories featuring never-before-seen races, or dealing with races we don't know that much about, like the Breen or the Sheliak, for example.

Red Ranger

 

[hellsgate]

Of course, & others such as The Hur'q from "Star Trek: Invasion". It would all be in there. There would be flashbacks about the lives of (believed to be extinct,) races during TNG-style archeological digs & shore-leave / away missions that go awry & cause all kinds of interesting chaos.