Season Eight OOC

[Geekyfanboy]

I wanted to start a thread for the next Season of the RPG game.

Remember once the current season, season seven is over we will be taking a month off and then start back up with season eight.

Jen and I, along with many of you, want to do a mirror universe next season.

I figure I would start this thread and hear some of your ideas on what you would like to see. We plan on setting up a skype call to discuss it, but that might not be for a few weeks.. so let's discuss it here.

Chris (Just X), Jen and I have been emailing back and forth today and I think we have some really AWESOME ideas for next season.

Let's hear what you guys think...

[X]

Well, I think that at some point we should gather as many of the usual suspects as possible into a skype room.

If the current season isn't over we could discuss how to end it and then move to fleshing out the A and B stories of the next season and the different acts of the season.

I really love the mirror universe idea and I think that we can come up with something great. I also think that those former players that might be getting the bug to play again could revive their old character as a mirror universe person. Even if they are dead in the normal universe, they could be alive in the mirror one.

I think that this will also give people a chance to really expand their writing chops. The universe is a big place and it would be wonderful to see how the mirror universe characters deal with each other.

[Jen]

This is really long, but I wanted to share it with you guys... maybe it will generate ideas on how this season (season 7) should end, and how the next should begin.

Emails on July 9, between Jen, Just X and Kenny:

Jen:

Should we discuss this together at some point, and then present it to the writers in a future Skype meeting?

I think it would be awesome if there was a power struggle and David Locke was in control of the Empire. Sevryll is not his wife in the Mirror Universe, but a concubine  That's as far as my plans have gone...

J
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Just X:

As for the Mirror Universe. I do love the idea of the Mirror Borg. I think Aeric and Aria would make cool Borg and given the nature of the mirror Borg, they might fit in perfectly.

Or he and aria could have been assimilated and then seized control of the cube they were are part of because of their abilities. Kind of like a rogue king trying to build a new hive founded on the Borg of the cube and the connection to Unimatrix Zero.


I think I like the idea of a separate and visually different faction in the Borg that might be a little pissed at the main body. They start using the same tactics as the Borg to increase their own numbers, but they focus more on nanoprobe enhanced Drones with internal implants as opposed to the more robotic limb drones of the larger collective.


Seizing a psychic as powerful as Quinn would prove to be a good asset in increasing the range of this smaller collective. Perhaps they had a Quinn before or the other collective did and he died. They might have tried before and grabbed the first captain by accident. They might see themselves as the only way to insure peace in the galaxy is by crushing all possible resistance. Unity prevents internal war.



If the smaller collective gets Quinn they can seize more of the other cubes, as they use telepathy and cyberpathy to overwhelm other cubes.


The larger collective might see Quinn as a serious threat.

The non-borg might see Quinn as a bargaining chip to make inroads with the alternate Borg. Avoid assimilation by given Quinn to the Borg rebels in hopes that both groups turn their attention towards each other.

This basically a stream of consciousness flow of ideas that haven't been thought out at all. BUT it is getting my imagination flowing and that's a good thing.

So that's my first round of ideas based on Jen's email. As always, ignore anything that doesn't make sense.
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Kenny's Reply:
Hey Guys, I haven't had time to read all this mirror universe stuff but I love the idea of the mirror borg.. I think we should develop our main story around them.

Kenny
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Jen's Reply:

Awesome ideas. ;)

We're still going to have "resistance" and "alliance" force right? We have to figure our writers in and I think these groups should be around for the  Borg to attack. Maybe some of us with alternate characters to play, can have some killed off or assimilated. That's a good way for us to do things that we can dismiss in our own universe... our characters are still alive back there.
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Just X's Reply:

Yeah, I think having the Alliance and the resistance will be core to any story that's told.

Logistically, we can have a group with the Alliance. ( The klingons on the ship) then with the Terran resistance. ( Humans and vulcans). And then we have the Primary Borg and the Alt Borg.

Quinn would be the lynchpin in the story as decisions are made as to what to do with this telepath.

The alternate Borg are still a threat because they do assimilate, but people enter a Harmony as opposed to a collective. The alt Hive is seductive because they are what remains of the El Aurians. They could function as mostly individuals, but there are millions(?) of minds interconnect that makes the individual greater.

The first attempt at enhancing the Primary Borg against the threat of the alt Borg brought the wrong person over. Like any good Borg, they didn't attempt to do it again once they failed the first time. This time, (Insert party here) brings Quinn over because he could be a pawn in the negotiations with either faction of the Borg.

So that's one way we could do things.

A second way involves the Quinn being pulled over to use some ancient Vulcan Psi weapon against the Primary Borg by the resistance. The Alliance would want to control him because of that and using the same motivations, the Alt Borg would want him as a part of their Harmony for the psi ability he would bring to their collective. The Primary Borg would just want to see him dead.

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Jen's Reply:

Great... Let's just say that the two Borg factions want Quinn in their collective to sharpen "the one voice" that is not yet as powerful as it could be with his abilities incorporated into their collective.

Captain Bell, during Season One of our RPG, was taken when the Iconians popped him into the Mirror Universe in trade for something they wanted from the Borg (up in the air as to what that is)...they purposely delivered the wrong man (they were supposed to deliver Quinn) to keep the balance in check in the Mirror Universe and returned the original crew of Tiberius back to their ship rather than toying with them further.

Maybe when Captain Bell arrives in the Mirror Universe, the Borg is attacking the Resistance, Alliance and Empire ships during a huge battle. Bell materializes in the middle of it all. It's chaos... There are people being assimilated right and left.  He is instantly grabbed by and escorted to the Borg Queen. She calls him "Quinn" he says he's "Bell". They test his psi abilities in a painful manner and realize he's not the man they were told would be delivered to them. She orders her drones to assimilate him and she sets to work on a plan to pluck Quinn from the alternate universe, without the Iconian's help.

Let's say Mirror Universe David Locke manages to beam onto the cube and inadvertently beams out with the newly assimilated Bell in tow. Locke is Alliance, and a contender for power over his people... He's been kidnapping "Borg" for his own twisted reasons. They have no idea who Bell is, nor do they care... he's their newest Guinea pig and that's all that matters.   He and several doctors and engineers (enslaved Aliens and Terrans) are working on manipulating his technology. Maybe they're in the process of creating a program that they could to send through  their captured Borg to turn the Hive into a vast cyborg army, bent on breaking the back of the Resistance and ensuring Locke's place at the head of the Alliance.  Sevryll is his concubine. She is also a spy for the Resistance and she's feeding information to the enemy.

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Kenny's Reply:

Wow.. I'm loving this idea...

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Just X's Reply:

All of this looks good. Two things. The Borg in the Mirror Universe seem to have a King not a Queen.

Second thing is what happens in the almost decade since we last saw the Resistance fighting the Alliance in DS9. Are they back to being a power and less a resistance or are we keeping them a resistance?

I suggest that a new Empire has risen from the ashes that is in direct opposition to the Alliance. Neither group has made much progress in this stalemate and then the Borg arrive on scene.

Before the last email, I was thinking that Locke might have wormed his way into becoming the new Emperor, but if you want him working for the Alliance, that works too.

Here is what I see:

The story opens on the Bridge of the Empire Flagship Prometheus moving towards a space station. Quinn has just been transported from the Regular universe as a pawn to negotiate with the Harmony Borg. He's willing to give them Quinn in exchange for their assistance in destroying the Alliance and the Hive Borg.

He has also been working on a way to destroy both Borg so that the sector belongs to him.

Alexander Martok, the leader of the Alliance, has his hands full fighting the Empire and the Borg and discovers rumor of the Empire's plan. He sends his own Agents after Quinn to be the one to cut the deal with the Borg.

Both Borg want Quinn and the Primary Borg have no problems with destroying everything to get what they want. The harmony Borg, with their sub dermal implants are more insidious in their movements, but both are a danger because they don't give up.

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Jen's Reply:

When I said David Locke was "Alliance" I thought I was talking about the Empire. He's not a good guy... well, he's not exactly good in our universe either, but in the Mirror Universe he's twisted and evil.

You said "Quinn has just been transported from the Regular universe as a pawn to negotiate with the Harmony Borg. He's willing to give them Quinn  in exchange for their assistance in destroying the Alliance and the Hive Borg." Who is willing to exchange Quinn for assistance in destroying the Alliance?

Is there a way to combine the two ideas? If Locke is the Emperor, then his henchmen would be collecting Borg for their push to "assimilate the assimlaters".

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Just X's Reply:

Yeah that's what I was trying to get at. Sorry if I was unclear. Locke leads the rebuilt Empire and is a real Bastard that swept away many of Spock's reforms in the name of planetary security. He is doing the whole build a borg army of his own at the same time that he's pretending to make nice with one of the Borg factions.

So we'd have a potential 4 way war with lots of backstabbing and plotting against each other.

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Jen's Reply:

Backstabbing = FUN!!! In stories that is...
I can't wait to wrap up this season and work on the ins and outs of the next.

Is there some way we can possibly end this upcoming season by reporting to Quinn that we have the scientists and then switching the scene to Quinn on the bridge disappearing or something? We need a REALLY good cliff hanger.

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Just X's Reply:

Hmm I would say that in the final scene when they are beaming out the scientist and such, at the same time Quinn can vanish.

Something like Quinn says engage transporters and then the scene pans to the ops officer and when he turn back to Quinn he says " All members recovered Captain. Captain?!" or something on suddenly noticing that Quinn is gone.

To add further conflict ... we could discover that while proximity to the planet prevented them using the transporters, when the problem corrected, that allowed Quinn to be abducted.

We could further add depth to the story to learn that the billions of voices that Quinn heard wasn't from the planet as he thought but the other version of himself being assimilated. He was killed by his allies  before the Borg fully took him, but for a moment he touched those voices and the makeup of the planet allowed that mental signal to traverse the universes and overwhelm Quinn.

These are things that can be discovered on the B story back in the normal world or something, but the story has already created opportunity that we could take advantage of as foreshadowing to the next season.

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Jen's Reply:

"We could further add depth to the story to learn that the billions of voices that Quinn heard wasn't from the planet as he thought but the other version of himself being assimilated. He was killed by his allies  before the Borg fully took him, but for a moment he touched those voices and the makeup of the planet allowed that mental signal to traverse the universes and overwhelm Quinn." I like that!

Still need to work on the bridge between seasons, but we're on a roll here I think...

[X]

LOL it was long. I feel like a Staff Writer now. I've been listening to various TV show podcast and I love how in Doctor Who for instance they tell the writers "We need <Blank>, <Blank>, and <blank> to happen in the story." Then the writer sits down and writes a story that incorporates what RTD needs while still telling a good story.

If we decide what NEEDS to happen, the flesh can be applied to the bones of the story and that's where the individual actions take place. Kinda like the DM having what needs to happen but the players actions dictating how that happens.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I love the idea of where this is going.  Definitely has possibilities....

I just wish I could incorporate an idea I had.....but it would detract too much I'm afraid. 

King

[X]

I love the idea of where this is going.  Definitely has possibilities....

I just wish I could incorporate an idea I had.....but it would detract too much I'm afraid. 

King

What's the idea you had? If it's a solid idea, there might be a way to make it work.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I love the idea of where this is going.  Definitely has possibilities....

I just wish I could incorporate an idea I had.....but it would detract too much I'm afraid. 

King

What's the idea you had? If it's a solid idea, there might be a way to make it work.

I'll have to think about it because you guys are using Borg.  I'll let you know via-PM this weekend, if I feel its worth even considering, my idea. 

King

[wraith1701]

Hey gang.  Since the next season will take place in the Mirror Universe, I thought that I'd take a second to jot down some backstory to make sure that everyone is up to speed on the history we are playing with.  What follows is based on the mirror episodes of Enterprise, TOS, and DS9, as well as some material from a couple of Trek Mirror Universe books I've read over the last month or so.

Rise of the Terran Empire

After killing Capt. Archer, Hoshi Sato returns to earth with the Defiant, a Constitution class starship from an alternate future.  With the aid of the ship's advanced weaponry, she usurps the throne of the Terran Empire and declares herself Empress.



Empress Sato weds an Andorian warlord named Shran, binding the Andorian people to the Terran Empire and greatly expanding her fleet.  With the aid of Denobulan scientist Phlox, they conceive the first Human/Andorian hybrid.

Shran aspires to be more than just The Empress' Husband.  Planning to rule on behalf of his half human / half Andorian child until the heir reaches maturity, Shran attempts to remove Sato from the picture.  His plans are complicated, however, when Sato is kidnapped from by the Vulcan underground.  The Vulcans make her stand trial for the crimes of the Terran Empire against the other races of the galaxy.  The outcome is a forgone conclusion- after the trial, they plan to execute her. 

With Sato out of the picture, Shran secretly increases his hold on the Terran Empire.  Claiming to act on the behalf of his kidnapped wife, Shran slowly places fellow Andorians into key Imperial Fleet positions.

A former member of Archer's crew, T'Pol, follows in her mother's footsteps and joins the Vulcan resistance.   She eventually becomes an aid to its leader, T'Pau.   T'Pol's loyalty to the Vulcan resistance is shaken, however, when she uncovers an unsettling piece of T'Pau's past.

T'Pol discovers that her mother and T'Pau had differing views on how to handle the Terran Empire.  In an effort to silence her dissenting viewpoints and to hold the resistance together, T'Pau had T'Pol's mother killed.  With this revelation, T'Pol's tightly controlled emotions get the better of her; she decides to take revenge on T'Pau.

While a captive of the Vulcans, Sato has an epiphany; she decides that the Vulcans would make much better partners to the Empire than the Andorians, and that they could strengthen her Empire if they were viewed as more than just slaves. 

Convinced of Sato's sincerity, and convinced of the illogic of the Vulcan resistance's current strategy for overcoming the Empire, T'Pol begins conspiring with Sato.  The women come to an understanding-- If T'Pol can free Sato, Sato will alter the Empire's stance towards Vulcan, welcoming the Vulcans as partners in the Empire.

Aided by information leaked out by T'Pol, Travis Mayweather, Captian of the I.S.S. Defiant, stages a raid on the Vulcan's hideout and rescues Sato.  During the raid, T'Pau is killed.  Sato holds up her end of the bargain she made with T'Pol:  In return for swearing loyalty to the Empire, Vulcan is raised in status, becoming a Partner.  With the heart (and military might) of the Terrans, coupled with the logic of the Vulcans, the Empire becomes even stronger than ever.  As the Terran Empire grows into the most powerful entity in the known galaxy, the Romulans, Cardassians, and Klingons withdraw to quietly fortify their borders.  And wait.

The Empire's decline

Decades later, the I.S.S. Enterprise, commanded by James Tiberius Kirk and his First Officer Spock, makes contact with the same universe that gave birth to the starship Defiant.  Several Starfleet Officers from the other universe (including an alternate Kirk), trade places with their Imperial counterparts.  The switch is reversed, but not before the seeds of an idea are planted in Spock's head by Kirk.  Kirk's parting words have huge repercussions:

"Be the captain of this Enterprise, Mr. Spock!  ... in every revolution, there's one man with a vision."

Driven by these words, and by a glimpse into the Federation of the other universe (thanks to a mind meld), Spock becomes convinced to take action.


Spock strangles the Kirk of his universe in his quarters, and assumes command of the Enterprise.   He also melds with the former captain's woman, and after determining that they are kindred spirits, weds her.  With the aid of the Tantalus device, an alien machine with the ability to locate and remotely eliminate opponents, Spock quickly rises in the Empire.  He slowly builds a network of supporters among the Vulcans, and methodically destroys his enemies.  He also begins to give voice to unorthodox views; concepts like "democracy" and "freedom" slowly begin to be associated with him.  Alarmed at Spock's quick rise to power, his revolutionary ideas, and his growing popularity, Empress Sato III decides that he must die.  She summons him to the imperial court with the intention of executing him.  Instead, Spock's protege Savvik uses the Tantalus device to kill the Empress and her court.  Spock declares himself Emperor.

After consolidating his power, Spock begins a long-term plan to dismantle the Empire.  His goal:  To replace it with a democratically run Federation.  Over the next few decades, Spock slowly places more and more power into the hands of the people.  Simultaneously, he slowly dismantles the Empire's war-making capability.  Of course, this earns him many enemies- the officers and warlords who flourished under the old system are reluctant to give up their power.  Many assassination attempts are made on Spock and his Empress, Marlena. 

The Klingons, Cardassians, and other war-like societies are baffled by Spock's weakening of the Empire, and begin to encroach on its boarders.  But there is a method to Spock's madness. He believes that the fall of the Empire is inevitable, but if he gives its citizens a taste of true freedom, they will struggle to regain it if it is lost.  Once Earth and Vulcan fall, the idea of freedom will live on, and eventually lead to a revolution. 

He also believes that by invading and conquering his fledgling republic, the Klingons and Cardassians will be ensuring their own eventual destruction, and at the same time guaranteeing the rebirth of a new, stronger free republic. 

Shortly after the Empire is dissolved and replaced by the free republic, it is conquered by the Cardassian-Klingon Alliance.



To be continued...

[wraith1701]

The following is from DS9, Memory Alpha, and several Trek Mirror Universe books-

The Terran Resistance and The Borg
After Spock's reforms, the former Empire is conquered by the Cardassian/Klingon Alliance.  Most Terrans are reduced to a slave race filling the mines of various Alliance planets.  A select few are given limited freedoms.  One of these is a Terran named John Luc Picard.

Estranged from his former lover Vash because of her connections to the Terran resistance, Picard works as a runner for his Cardassian master, Gul Madred.  Driven by his love of archaeology, Picard devotes his life to hunting down ancient artifacts for Madred.  To aid him in his hunt, Picard is given his own beaten-up shuttle, which he names Stargazer. 

Picard's routine is broken one day when Vash introduces him to a scientist named Noonien Soong.



Driven by an odd fascination with artificial life forms, Soong is tracing clues to a mysterious, half organic / half synthetic race called The Borg.  Vash believes that this race, rumored to be responsible for the extinction of the El-Aurians, might be a powerful ally in overthrowing the Alliance.  Against his better judgement, Picard joins the pair in their hunt for the fabled Borg.

Their search finally pays off when they discover the Borg on the Romulan border.  Unfortunately, the Borg are not interested in politics, only in assimilating new cultures and technology into their collective.  Soong and Vash are captured by the Borg.  Vash is turned into a mindless drone, while Soong is remade into Locutus, the voice of the collective.  Picard manages to escape, and flees to find some means to combat this new threat.


Led by Soong/Locutus, the Borg attack Klingon space.  Picard returns to the scene with an ancient Iconian probe.  The probe infects the Borg ship with a virus that renders them helpless, facilitating their destruction by the Klingons. 

Before the destruction of the Borg ship, the Borg King , protected from the pathogen by ego buffers, transmits his consciousness to Unimatrix One.  His last thoughts before the destruction of his current corporeal form are "We will return."



To be continued...

[wraith1701]

The following is courtesy of Memory Alpha-

The Terran Resistance (cont.)

The Bajorans became a major partner in the Alliance in the later 24th century, after their liberation from the control of the Terran Empire. However, the Bajoran rule would end up leading to one of the greatest threats to Alliance control.



On station Terok Nor, a bizarre accident in the Bajoran wormhole brought a Federation runabout from "our" universe into the mirror universe. The runabout's crew, Kira Nerys and Julian Bashir, were only aboard the station for a few days, but their presence incited a rebellion among the Terrans, led by Benjamin Sisko. (DS9: "Crossover")

The Alliance tried (futilely) to crack down on the Terran Rebellion, but the rebels managed to elude the Alliance at almost every turn. Although Captain Sisko was killed by the Alliance in 2371, the rebels continued to fight on. By taking refuge in the Badlands, the rebels were able to avoid a confrontation with the Alliance fleet almost constantly. (DS9: "Through the Looking Glass")

In 2372, the Alliance suffered a humiliating defeat when the rebellion managed to capture Terok Nor. Regent Worf personally led the assault fleet that attempted to recapture the station, but that fleet was defeated thanks to a powerful new warship the rebels had hurriedly constructed. (DS9: "Shattered Mirror")

As if the rebels' initial victories were not humiliating enough, the Alliance suffered a further defeat during an operation in which Worf attempted to obtain a cloaking device from our universe. Regent Worf himself was captured along with the Alliance's flagship by the rebels and taken to Terok Nor in chains. (DS9: "The Emperor's New Cloak") The final fate of the Alliance after Regent Worf's capture is unknown...

[Jen]

Great information Eric. Thank you for putting that all together. The Borg info will come in handy, since our RPG takes places in the future. :)

[Rico]

Just a quick comment.  I'll be covering the DS9 episode, "Shattered Mirror" on the podcast this coming weekend.  I believe this was the last of the DS9 Mirror Universe episodes.  I also plan on covering the 2-part Mirror Universe Enterprise episodes sometime very soon as well.

[wraith1701]

Just a quick comment.  I'll be covering the DS9 episode, "Shattered Mirror" on the podcast this coming weekend.  I believe this was the last of the DS9 Mirror Universe episodes.  I also plan on covering the 2-part Mirror Universe Enterprise episodes sometime very soon as well.

Sounds cool!!!  When it comes to a DS9 podcast, I'm like a Ferengi- "all-ears".  Shattered Mirror was one of the coolest episodes of season four, but it wasn't the last DS9 alternate universe story.  I think that honor belongs to season seven's The Emperor's New Cloak.

Great information Eric. Thank you for putting that all together. The Borg info will come in handy, since our RPG takes places in the future. :)

No problem.  Really looking forward to the start of the next season (after a bit of a break to let my imagination recharge).

[Meds]

Man you guys have been working so hard, well done. I'm getting pretty excited about this idea. I feel this is going to be complex so we should definatley have a structure to work around (great point with the Dr Who writers template).

[X]

After seeing some of the initial ideas floating about, I'd just like to let everyone know that this coming season looks like it's going to be fantastic.

I'm looking forward to seeing where all the ideas go and if anyone else has any ideas, start listing them now.