![]() If I made a Star Trek Series...
Submitted Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 3:28:44 AM by Klaitu
You know, I got to thinking.. today I missed a new episode of Enterprise. Completely missed it because I really haven't been paying much attention. I meant to watch it, but it was not to be.
Now, I also have been playing a Trek video game for PS2.. Star Trek Shattered Universe. It's a horrible game with a blah storyline, but it features Captain Sulu, and it takes you through the Original Series.. with a couple twists. I found the storyline for this lame and predictable video game to be better than what the "actual" TV trek offers anymore.
So then, I got to thinking.. What kind of Star Trek series would I make? People actually ask me this question from time to time (which proves that I am a bigger nerd than you are).
Well, it would be much more involved than previous Treks, and much more like Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5 in that the storyline would involve how individual characters respond to events that can affect entire empires.
So here's what I'm thinking:
It's about a year after the events in ST: Nemesis. The Enterprise is back off in the Bajoran Sector, and Riker and the USS Titan are trying to sort out things with the Romulans.
The Romulans are having internal problems since Shinzon killed the entire Romulan Senate. The new Romulan government (still based off rome) is favorable to an alliance with the Federation (similar arrangement to what the Klingons have with the Federation now).
The head of the Tal'Shiar has been killed at some point before Nemesis (you will remember that he was a Section 31 operative in DS9) and replaced with someone more militant. This new leader secretly plans to subvert the Federation's efforts.
There is a peace conference at Nimbus III (ST5). In attendance here are: Federation President Jaresh Inyo (ds9), The new Romulan Praetor, A Klingon Representative (Martok wouldn't attend because he hates meetings) and various other assorted VIP's.
The prestigious number of VIP's on Nimbus III warrants a great deal of security. Each empire has its own contingent of defending ships. For the Federation, there is a group of 4 ships.. one of which is the Titan.
The Titan is a new class of starship, and one of a kind. Since the Federation expected the Dominion War to last for decades, work on it was nearly completed at the end of the War. Since the war ended, some of its design was changed at the last minute to fulfill science missions. Starfleet completed production of this one ship, but scrapped plans to build others of the class as the need for them was over.
The Titan is hunormous.. 4 times the size of Enterprise. It would have been a good match for the Scimitar. It is not a fast ship, maximum speed is Warp 8, and it does not have a cloak.
It is, quite simply, a battleship. It outclasses everything at the conference.
Of course, you see where this is going.. the peace conference is attacked by unidentified, but well prepared ships. They have fire-while-cloaked technology, and Tricobalt devices. Orbital chaos ensues.
Most of the defending ships are destroyed in the opening volleys.. what with the ships being caught unsuspecting by tricobalts. The Titan survives the initial assault nearly unscathed, since Riker has trained his crew, and they put the shields up in time.
Riker is forced to take the Titan out of orbit to maneuver.. while in orbit he is a sitting duck for heavy weapons. This is the part where you get to see the sheer and awesome firepower of the Titan as it attempts to defend the other ships, who are in turn defending the conference. The Titan easily shreds any ship it is able to find (since they're cloaked).
Amid the confusion, a ship decloaks. It's a never-before-seen ship of Romulan origin. It begins to charge a large plasma torpedo which is aimed at the conference site on the planet's surface.
Of course, Riker and crew are all over that, so they rush to stop the ship from firing. This is where you'd put in all sorts of cool SFX shots.
Meanwhile, Riker is wholloping on the Torpedo cannon ship, and doing a fair amount of damage. An extraneous but well-respected crewman reports that while the ship will be destroyed, they can't destroy it before the cannon discharges.
During this section, there is one of the 4 Federation escorts.. probably an Akira class which zips over to the planet in an attempt to beam up the peace delegation.
With knowledge of this, Riker maneuvers the Titan into the firing path of the cannon, just as it fires. The Plasma torpedo hits, knocks down the shields, and knocks out Life support, communications, the engines and the transporters.
That Akira class that went to beam up the delegates is destroyed when they drop shields for transport. With the escorts destroyed, disengaged, or busy fighting out of transporter range of the planet.
So, the Titan is out of control, hurtling toward a planet blind as a bat. It's easy target practice for some of the cloaked ships, who do their best to carve up the ship.
Riker's Engineer can't repair the impulse drive or the shields, but he reports that he can establish a limited Warp Field.. though it won't last for long and will probably tear the ship apart as well. Riker tells him to do it, and also orders someone down to the shuttlebay to use one of the shuttle's transporters to beam out those delegates. Troi volunteers.
Of course, you'd intercut this sort of thing with scenes from other perspectives.. the people on the planet.. maybe some nefarious henchmen on one of the cloaked ships.
By now, the Titan is just barely beginning to get into the atmosphere of the planet. Troi is trying desperately trying to get to the shuttlecraft, she reaches it, and punches some obligatory buttons.. just as on the bridge Riker has a "I cant wait any longer" moment, and hits the button to go to warp (because the helmsman was killed) There's a flash of light and...
COMMERCIAL! (see I have that commercial thing down). I'm thinking that this would pretty well cover the first 30 minutes of a 2 hour series pilot. It would have to be pretty concise, but it's doable I think.
So, when we come back from the break we are at.. Starfleet Academy. Peaceful, tranquil Starfleet Academy. There's a classroom with miscellaneous students, a couple of whom will become main characters on the show. The Instructor is Miles O'Brien, who, when informed by a "whisper in the ear" person, inturrupts his instruction with news of the attack at Nimbus III. This is a civilian news report done by Jake Sisko.(exposition provides some details about the attack.. the Federation believes that the delegates on the planet were killed, and indeed, we don't know if Troi beamed them out in time)
The class ends, and the cadets file out. Our 3 main characters discuss the issue amongst themselves, one of them ponders what Starfleet is planning on doing, and how the Romulans will respond.
Cut to..
Starfleet Command Headquarters. As in ST4, Giant Screens dominate the room, on one of the giant screens is a sensor analysis provided by the USS Promethius (one of the 4 ships, and the only one to survive.. that Starfleet knows about). More exposition goes here about the cloaked ships, who they might be, and what Strafleet Intelligence thinks of the Torpedo Cannon ship (which fired another shot after the Titan intercepted the first one, and destroyed the complex). The Romulans, of course, are denying all knowledge of it, and point out that their delegation and ships were destroyed as well.
A peon reports that there's an important communication from the Klingon homeworld. The second of the 3 ginormous screens then lights up with the visage of Chancellor Martok. He announces that he is going to send ships to investigate (and has declared some Klingon revenge whatnot.. blah blah). The Starfleet Commander in Chief (a recurring character played by Dean Stockwell.. in my dreams) orders half the 7th fleet into the system to investigate. Janeway is subordinate here, and promptly turns to leave the room and carry out those orders.
Back to the Academy, the 3 students discuss how hard it is to concentrate on their studies, and relate some stories about how they dealt with the 2 Borg Scares and the Dominion Attack on Starfleet Command.. it all leads them to why they joined Starfleet in the first place, and thus provides character development.
Cut to:
Starfleet Command headquarters again. The CnC is surrounded by some Admirals. The Computer (the master computer for all of Starfleet.. hoot!) pipes up and intones that an anomaly has been discovered in the Nimbus System. One of the giant screens flutters to life and displays sensor logs that are clearly from USS Promethius (it says so in the corner) The CnC wastes no time in hailing the Promethius's captain, who appears on the screen beside the analysis. The Captain reports he is moving in for a closer look. Over time, the analysis gets more detailed, and before too long the display switches to a positive identity of the Titan, and begins to report the damage of the ship.
(insert Commercial Break)
We're at.. the Promethius Bridge. The Promethius science officer lists some of the damage, but reports that the Titan's life support is operational, but that's about it. There are lifesigns aboard, and so the Promethius captain orders relief teams beamed aboard. The ship is half-immersed in the rings of a gas giant, and is being constantly pelted with little chunks of debris.
They find Riker working with an Engineering underling to keep the life support working. Occasionally, you hear bangs and thuds as particles from the ring bounce off the ship's hull. The rescue crew are curious to know what happened to the delegation, so Riker leads them to the shuttlebay. Oh, the particular relief crew that talks to Riker includes the Captain of the Promethius.
In the shuttle they find the Federation President.. or rather, his remains. He is half-materialized into the bulkhead of the shuttlecraft. You can see his face, arranged in horror. The Klingon Delegate is here as well, and has met with the same fate. There is also the stub of an arm stuck in the wall. The relief crew is shocked by the sight of this. Riker informs them that the Romulan Praetor survived, minus his arm. He went unconscious from shock and was taken to sickbay.
Promethius Captain asks Riker about other casualties. Riker spouts off a significant number that belies his feelings, as Troi is one of the casualties. The means of her death are left unknown at this point. Promethius Captain consoles him, as the two captains have some history.
The next technicalities are montaged into a Captain's Log.. wherein there are shots of Titan getting tractored out of the ring, scenes with engineers working in engineering, and scenes where the Titan is towed away at warp speed by two large ships (Galaxies, Nebulas, Sovereign's)
Jump to: An Orbital Shipyard, a few weeks later
The cadets are here, as well as O'Brien, who explains that the Upperclassmen with Engineering Specializations are going to be working on an incoming ship. We know, of course, that this is the Titan.. but that dosen't mean that we can't have a gratuitous special effects shot of the ship being pulled into the station. The Cadets watch this from an observation point on the dock.
Jump to: Riker's Ready Room
Riker is sitting in his desk chair, reading a written letter which you can clearly see is from Captain Picard.. it is presumably regarding the death of Troi. The door chime sounds, he turns off the PADD. In walks O'Brien. Riker laments the death of his wife without being too sappy, and O'Brien reacts in his characteristic way. The subject changes around to business, and through exposition we learn that Riker has lost most of his senior staff (except his doctor) and that not only does the ship need repair, but he needs a whole slew of replacements. O'Brien tells him not to worry about the ship part, that he will take care of that. Riker mentions that he has been ordered to go to Starfleet HQ and report to the CnC.
Jump to: Bowels of the Titan
2 of the cadets one main character, one not, are in the Jeffries tubes, utterly lost. One (the main character) knows where they are, but the other one won't listen to him. They turn a corner to an undamaged portion of the ship. There is a panel missing. Curious, the two investigate. There is a small alien device here, attached to some Starfleet wiring. The "lost" cadet reaches to tap his communicator, but gets shot from offscreen and dissolves (phaser set to kill). The other cadet jumps on the assailant and he drops the gun. They tussle, the cadet's communicator is ripped off, and the assailant gets ahold of his gun again. The cadet jumps down a ladder shaft just in time. We reveal that the assailant is a romulan in Romulan military garb. He peers over the edge of the shaft, and sees noone. He pulls out a Romulan tricorder and starts slowly down the shaft.
Jump to: Starfleet Briefing Room (ST6)
Admirals sit around the table, with Riker at the podium. The Admirals ask him questions about his actions. At first, it seems as if Riker might lose his starship, but then you come to realize that they are just analyzing the situation. The CnC is impressed with Riker. The meeting concludes, and as Riker walks out, O'Brien comes over his communicator reporting a strange energy discharge with a non-starfleet signature from within the ship (the romulans disruptor shot) Riker says he'll be there as soon as he can get a shuttle. The Starfleet CnC, who was eavesdropping stops Riker, calls someone on his own communicator, and has them beamed directly to the Titan.
Back in the bowels:
Our hero cadet is scrambling through jeffries tubes, just ahead of the Romulan assailant. He turns a corner, and looks down the hall. You can see the Engine room in the distance, but it's a pretty long hall. The Cadet scrambles for the exit as fast as he can. The romulan turns the corner and takes aim, the cadet hears him round the corner and rips a panel off the wall, with which he blocks the Romulan's shot. The Romulan messes with his disruptor, presumably to put it on a higher setting. When he looks up, there's only the panel on the floor. The Cadet has escaped into the Engine Room. The Romulan looks at his tricorder, grunts begrudgingly, and goes back the way he came.
On the Bridge:
O'Brien is in the middle of telling Riker and the CnC about the second unexplained energy discharge. He surmizes that it's Romulan, just than our hero cadet calls into the bridge and tells about the Romulan and the device. Riker sounds an intruder alert, the Starfleet officers in Engineering and the surrounding area stop what they're doing and start hunting for the Romulan. This leaves the three main cadets in Main Engineering.
Miscellaneous hallways:
The Romulan assailant ninja's various redshirts, killing all of them. He isn't using his disruptor, but does take a Starfleet Phaser. He enters main Engineering through a panel on the second level, where he phasers the three cadets. One of them is hit in such a way that he is killed. The other two are stunned. The romulan makes his way down and fires his phaser into the warp core, which causes the computer to spout an alarm and all sorts of klaxons to go off. It dosen't breach because it's not turned on, but he will eventually breach the containment of the antimatter here.
Main Engineering:
Riker pops in from an unlikely place upstairs as well. He aims and shoots at the Romulan, but the Romulan barely dodges in time. A gunfight ensues, during which one of the Cadets sort of moans into consciousness.. this is the "shy cadet". Meanwhile, Romulan shoots out the glass under Riker, and he comes tumbling down, but as he does, he tags the Romulan in the shoulder with his phaser.
Now comes the obligatory fisticuffs scene.. using part of his jo-whatever (martial arts his father taught him) and his training with Worf, Riker is able to keep up with the Romulan's most deadly moves, but the Romulan obviously outclasses him. In the end, the Romulan pushes Riker away, gets ahold of a phaser on the ground, and fires it... but nothing happens. Riker football-tackles the guy over the edge of the railing on the Warp core, where he falls 2 or 3 stories and breaks his neck. Turns out the "Shy Cadet" had disabled the Phaser from an engineering console (like in TNG).
(commercial)
New Scene: The Titan Briefing room
Exposition revealing that the Romulan was a top agent of the Tal'Shiar.. (a regular Romulan James Bond). The device he had was designed to tap into the Federation communication network and monitor top secret whatnot. He was also presumably there to assassinate anyone that Titan managed to beam aboard.. which begs the question "why not just blow up the Titan while it was helpless in the rings"?
Then the two remaining main cadets and O'Brien are called in, and the CnC is willing to offer them an acting commission (seeing as how they are only a semester away from graduating, and the fact that they saved everyones butts). Riker agrees to have them aboard the Titan. At this point, Riker is almost back to his old self.. somewhat charming, maybe crack a smile...
The last scene is set in Riker's Quarters. He takes off his jacket, sits down on the bed and glances over at a chair with something white draped over it. He runs his hands down his face as the camera defocusses him, and focusses the chair, revealing a woman's white satin nightgown (the one troi wore in Nemesis).
Cut to credits.
Okay, so I got to rambling, but it's good! no? Star Trek fans, let me know what you think.
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Let us start our study of 28 Days Later by examining the box.
