#starfleet command: orion pirates

[grayrazor]

When I was a kid, my parents bought me Starfleet Command II in a big box from Sam’s Club.

The game had a bad CD key and was unplayable. The dev had just gone defunct, so there was nobody to reach out to for support.

However, that game had a standalone expansion, so we ended up playing that instead.

A game company’s crappy anti-piracy measure drove me to play the pirate game instead.

[allstartrekgames]

Star Trek: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War

Original Release: 2000

Developer: Taldren

Publisher: Interplay

Platform: PC

Version played: Orion Pirates v2.564

In order to get this to work, I had to play a version of the standalone expansion Orion Pirates, released in 2001. This version has all the content from the base game added, but also some graphical enhancements – but the important thing is that it’s still the original gameplay.

For the most part, it’s the same game as the first. People who know the game extremely well will probably notice various balance changes and additional features, but the game is so in depth that it’s still beyond my understanding. The second game does introduce some new races (including one originally created for the Star Fleet Battles board game) and a new campaign mode.

In the campaign mode, you explore hex tiles until you encounter missions, some are optional while others you must play before moving on. It all looks very impressive, with different hubs for your race and other races, ships moving around and races that are allied with you, but almost all of this is fluff to make it appear interesting and doesn’t impact the game: you just move around and encounter random missions.

For people who like the depth of the combat in this, this version is definitely a really good version to play. You can pick scenarios, modify them or accept the campaign for what it is and have fun with the random missions.

[redhatmeg]

I don’t know how much of it was intentional, but I find it interesting that this mini-crossover with Deep Space Nine was also an “Orion epiosde” (if you can call it like that).

I’ve realized long time ago that the Star Trek shows are often delving into cultures of certain ST races, due to supporting or reaccuring characters coming from said races. These characters helped to make those cultures a bit deeper. We never saw Klingons the same way again after commander Worf; and we certainly looked differently at Ferengi after all those “Ferengi Episodes” of DS9.

I was kind of hoping that Lower Decks will do the same for Orions, because of Tendi... but so far we keep on repeating the same theme of Tendi not wanting for her culture to be associated with piracy and thievery, even though (aside from the holoprogram in the pilot) we only see this pirating and thieving side of  Orion.

But see, in today’s episode we meet Mesk, an Orion who was raised by humans and all his knowledge of Orion culture was taken from holonovels. He is proud of his culture and tries to have some kind of connection with it... but he has very shallow view on it. So much so that Tendi - who wants to distance herself from this part of her heritage - is slowly growing annoyed by it.

Now, TVTropes compares it to Worf’s situation, because he was adopted by humans too and tried to maintain connection with his Klingon roots. However, I would argue that we can also compare it to Quark’s situation (at least to some extend).

Because what’s Quark’s situation on DS9? He, his brother and nephew are far away from Ferenginar, on a station currently ran by Federation. Often, throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he tries to maintain old Ferengi traditions, especially in regards to Nog, but he keeps on finding himself acting very human-like, i.e. against his better interest. It also gets him in trouble with FCA, because for Brunt Quark and his family are cultural traitors.

At face value, Ferengi culture displayed and maintained by Quark is very stereotypical - it’s all about profits and business and opportunities, with shades of ruthless capitalism and misogyny. However, with each “Ferengi Episode” we get to see non-stereotypical actions and deeds from Quark, Rom, Nog and other Ferengi. We get to see them not as just greedy gremlins; and see some nuance in their culture. 

Now, let’s get back to Mesk. He is enamored by this stereotypical depiction of Orion, but he didn’t have much opportunities to interact with other Orions who have better view on their own culture and can teach him about it. Maybe he knows some Orions in Starfleet Academy but there is no Orion diaspora on Deep Space Nine. Tendi is the first Orion who actually gets him a taste of Orion pirate culture. Interestingly enough she actually wants to run from it. It also helps her understand that she doesn’t have to be ashamed of it.

[thelongestway]

It's finally Thursday! So: Lower Decks Liveblog time!!

Who is the narrator's voice this time? The director, perhaps? :P Starfleet Academy!! That moment when you know it before the text comes on. And Sito!! Aw, Wesley!!! Aw, baby Mariner, kiddo!!! And the one name nobody remembers. :P Also god, those kids and the four-way friendship... Back in the present, Locarno, so much bullshit, considering how you've treated her before... Oh you fucking asshole, 'junior member'?!?! Soo, how the fuck did you steal all those ships. A fucking D'Deridex, those are HUGE. Tell us about V'ger. C'mon. Oh god please tell me Freeman is trusting Mariner on this. Please tell me this is what last season's finale was the set up for. The Tom Paris line is a bit much, esp. 2 times in a row; "the Maquis would like a word" is great though! Holy shit, Mariner, way to go!!! Aw, T'Lyn! Good anthropologist!! And the depts checking in! Annnd we're pirating, right, Tendi? :P U.S.S. Passaro, stealing your mom's command codes, Beckett? :P Barter by combat, hehehe ^^ And Migleemo, I KNEW IT, he was so out of place in that lineup and had like exactly one moment to shine all season! MARINER DIPLOMANCY FOR THE WIN OFC YOU KNOW THE FERENGI! Like even with the fail, legit good try!

also damn, the "one weakness" plan failing? :P And way to raise the stakes, writers. The ship can't stay in Orion hands, but Tendi?.. Y'know, if any Trek could pull this off well, it's yours. Also not too extremely likely, but hell, who knows? ...The D'Deridex in hiding, you can always count on cloaks! Ooh, Livik comeback, and T'Lyn, lol! ...how long did that LARP take? also Boimler must've told her? Ah, Nova 1, enjoy the ion storm. What chain of command? Holy shit, that's a good excuse for putting Boimler in the captain's chair. The senior staff is making that destroyer battle-worthy; the Cerritos has glorified tractor beam duty... But MAN does it make for a good moment. (yeah, yeah, there's tons of people in the chain of command before him; I imagine he volunteered and Freeman let him because it's his best friend they're saving). OHH even better. Full command away team. AHAHAA the Captain's yacht!!! Someone knows their STO. :P PAYWALL BOMB. Which lieutenant, I wonder... I'm wondering if Starfleet won't want to give up D'Vana and are planning some other sort of barter now that relations are open? "Everyone, shut up, myself included" is one of my favorite turns of phrase. <3 Also "ohh there you are", Boimler, way to go! And Boimler and Mariner ribbing each other in the honest-to-goodness most affectionate way possible! Yeah, T'Lyn, maybe outright ghosting Sokel wasn't the best way of handling it. :P Also, science besties? Why the change of heart?

...yyyeah I was thinking that might have been a warning on a private channel.

But no, that's just D'Erika. And oh man, Tendi's face in the window. That's the face of someone who is code switching into "I am going to have to thoroughly break some bones around here, aren't I." Tl;dr: dammit, Lower Decks team, well done and thank you for doing this, you're amazing! I goddamn cannot wait for season 5, and like for the first time in a while - if I can get my hands on merch, I will buy it to support y'all. Like, you're getting priority in my "life across multiple countries" situation, that's how good y'all did.

[clockworkdragonffxiv]

This is partly - okay entirely - me rambling about Star Trek, and it might be a spoiler so I'm throwing it behind a spoiler wall. But you want to know a plot I'm tired of because it always plays out the same way?

Starfleet Command is once again infiltrated top to bottom with Evil Alien Infiltrators. Could be mind-controlling bug monsters, could be changelings, could be Romulans, whatever. Doesn't matter. It just gets to the point it feels like a bigger surprise when Starfleet Command isn't being run by aliens being bastards again. I mean, no wonder so many admirals go insane. They're either alien infiltrators or the traumatized survivors of multiple purges from the last three times half the General Staff had to be vaporized because their brains had been cored out by nanobots from Kalaforp VI.

You know what story I'd love to see? A ship where it turns out the entire crew are the alien infiltrators, and they've gone native. Turns out there's something really appealing about the Starfleet ideology and they've honestly lost interest in whatever evil plan they had at the start of it once they discovered that Starfleet are really just a bunch of nerds (and grumpy doctors). That and a lot of these species just turn out to have horrific social anxiety issues and no real sense of propriety. The infiltrators aren't from any one conspiracy, no, they're from every conspiracy. They're all of course unaware of this.

Of course, this being Star Trek, you get that dramatic moment where the crew's backs are against the wall and the infiltrator-gone-native realizes they care more about their crew and captain than they do about their secret. Sure, they might be killed or sent to jail/an all expenses-paid rehabilitation center in New Zealand to think about what they've done, but damnit, this is their crew. Sometimes your only option is the sacrifice play.

Everyone else on the ship just came to the same decision. And that's when the bad guys discover wrong fucking ship as the Botany Department is actually a pack of Orion pirates wearing holo-masks, the nebbish little ensign in Stellar Cartography tears off her skin and erupts into an enraged man-spider thing, those two idiots in security start performing a Terminator/Predator teamup as android and chameleoid, the fungal hive mind in Engineering is demonstrating that the only thing worse than a Starfleet engineer is six Starfleet engineers who are also the same one, and the captain is starting to float with glowing eyes and a very unhappy expression on her face after the flight officer from Ohio dived in front of a disruptor bolt and is bleeding green on the deck.

Wrong fucking ship.

So after the dust clears and everyone is looking around, you get the obvious question:

"So is anyone here real?"

"From where I'm sitting, Ensign 8X97-R, all I'm seeing are Starfleet officers."

That's episode one. The rest of the story is them boldly exploring space while trying to keep Starfleet Command from discovering that they're all, y'know, technically alien infiltrators/androids/fungal hive minds/green skinned space pirates who REALLY like plants/some sort of evolved quasi-energy human thing who isn't really sure herself what her deal is but might be analogous to a Q the way a tree shrew is to a human and really isn't sure how to feel about that.

Starfleet Command, meanwhile, knew the whole time and figured this was the best way to keep them out of their hair. That and they were too busy finding new Admirals after the last batch turned out to be three raccoons in a trenchcoat.

[revrads]

Star Trek: Amphibia

Aka the Star Trek x Amphibia crossover AU that nobody asked

Meet the Ensigns!

The story (still) centers around these three! It still follows the same Amphibia plotline but set in Star Trek! Set around the year 2373, when the Dominion War was still going on and when Voyager were declared Missing in Action and no one noticed they’re in the Delta quadrant

It begins with the three of them being childhood best friends. Anne was raised by a traditional betazoid parents back on Betazed, there she met Sasha, whose parents were visiting Betazed on a diplomatic mission, and Marcy, whose parents moved to Betazed as part of a medical aid. The three became instant friends

The first time Anne actually felt them, she felt strong emotions from the two and knew they were emotionally driven people, to the point she'd rely on that as a drive for her to get the upper hand on them and know their conditions even before they do. Anne is a pretty strong betazoid telepathic-wise and she really showed it during her earlier years. But after awhile, for some reason, Sasha and Marcy started putting mental barriers and she found it hard to believe that she no longer knew her friends. She started believing her abilities have decreased and decided to tinker with machines more than organic beings. Thus came her newfound love and respect for Engineering

They went to Starfleet Academy together!

Marcy's parents informed her that they were called to move back to Vulcan for a new research opportunity. The only reason she wasn't in the Vulcan Science Institute was cause she didn't want to. Her parents kept forcing her to leave the Academy but she ran away and continued on with her life on Starfleet

Fast forward after the Academy, they’re assigned to serve on different places at first; Anne served on Deep Space Nine for awhile, Sasha on the exploration vessel the USS Washington, and Marcy on the science vessel USS Australis. 

Sasha moved from ship to ship cause of several behavioral complaints from the captains she served under; she’s rude, condescending, doesn’t take orders well, and very much disliked by everyone on the crew. But none of the captains were willing to kick her out cause they knew she’s a very competent tactical officer, her mastery over strategic projectile usage are well beyond her years, also she’s the daughter of Admirals, so no one dared to touch her

2 years later, they’re halfway through their ensign years and finally sent to work on the USS St. James, a newly commissioned exploration vessel. They go about their days as normal and the three of them got closer. While Sasha and Marcy were ecstatic that they’re together again, Anne couldn’t feel the same way. Being around her friends made her feel even more inadequate as a betazoid but in the end she gave up trying to read them and just trust them. Because she couldn’t read them, it was easy for them to get her to do stuff on the basis of friendship. As an engineer and acting Chief of Operations, she gets to do more stuff than the rest of them could on the ship.

A year into their assignment on the St. James, there was a disaster. Anne was sent on her first solo away mission to a newly colonized planet requesting for aid and an invitation to the Federation due to her nature as a betazoid and her role as acting Chief of Operation. She took a shuttlecraft and while away, the ship was attacked by Orion Pirates, killing all of the crew except Marcy and Sasha, who were ejected in escape pods and landed on different factions entirely; Sasha found herself imprisoned by the Maquis while Marcy was “aided” by the Cardassians. At first, Sasha was about to be used for information and discarded by the Klingon commander, Grime. But after her show of physical prowess, Grime offered her a place on the Maquis and she accepted as her deep-rooted dislike for Starfleet showed. Marcy was at the mercy of the Cardassians who aided and cared for her, earning her full trust on the moment notice. Their leader, Gul Andrias, told her that in Cardassia, everyone’s accepted on their own terms and that she could lead whatever adventure she wanted, and it toyed with her mind and need to be accepted and separated from the Vulcan norm, so she joined with the Cardassians, unaware of their manipulation

Meanwhile, Anne, receiving a distress call from the ship, decided to turn back but a weird “ionic storm” formed around her path. At first, she tried to break through the storm and went deeper, but when she tried to escape, she was pulled into the storm. She discovered it wasn’t just a strange ionic storm on space, it was a wormhole and she was sucked in. When the wormhole dissipate, she realized that she was no longer on the Alpha quadrant, but on the Delta quadrant. She crash-landed on the planet Talax on the region of Wartwood, lost her only means of communications, limited to universal translations. There, she met the Plantars, simple talaxian farmers who adopted her the moment she told her story. After that, she was determined to go back and the Plantars agreed to help cause they’re family. The entire time, Anne discovered that Voyager was missing in the Delta quadrant from claims by the Kazons and was declared “taken over” by them and their captain “dead” (see episode ‘Basics pt. 1 and 2′ for reference)

Unlike Voyager, she was lucky. Anne began tracking a mystery she thought was a myth; An Iconian gateway found on a deserted planet near the Kazons. She constantly snuck in without notice, kept track of the gateway’s change and when she found it shifting to what appeared to be Deep Space Nine, she bid the Plantars farewell before being discovered by the Kazons and them tampering with the gateway, sending both her and the Plantars to god knows where

As it turns out, she and the Plantars were stranded on a very small and hidden planet the Maquis used as a base for operations. The four of them were found by Sasha and were taken in as guests. But the Maquis had other plans as they discovered the Plantars were, in fact, talaxians. They planned on studying them from inside out (meaning science experiment via mutilation) and Anne fought with Sasha who decided to join the Maquis in helping them overthrow the Federation. She won and escaped with the Plantars in a stolen freighter. She was pursued by them and attacked. Before they could get her, a Cardassian ship appeared and attacked the Maquis in return, saving her. It turns out, Marcy was chief science officer on the ship. Anne told Marcy about what happened with Sasha and asked her if she could be let go to try and find a way to send the Plantars back to the Delta quadrant. Marcy insisted they go to Gul Andrias and told Anne that he’s one of the nicer Cardassian commander. Andrias had the same cheery exterior and said he offered aid in tracking down an Iconian gateway. Due to Anne’s previous knowledge of iconians and their technology, Anne and Marcy set out to look and study one. Sasha came in the way as she kept track of them as well.

When the three of them found the gateway, Gul Andrias revealed he wasn’t interested in helping, but rather needed Anne’s prior knowledge to activate and manipulate the gateway. Marcy knew about this but agreed cause she thought if they were to go with his plans, they’re forced to always stick together. Her motivation angered both of her friends as she broke down before them. It became a gateway straight to Earth space dock and the Cardassians began raiding with full army and full use of the Iconian gateway. The Maquis also took advantage and when they clashed, a full war broke out. Anne, Marcy, Sasha, and the Plantars could only watch as the quadrant crumbled. 

Anne, in frustration, and overwhelmed by the wave of mental and physical pain and suffering and just emotional trauma from the people around her (that she FELT, by the way), ran off to get to somewhere quiet and found herself and the Plantars sucked into another wormhole and stranded on the Delta quadrant again. After a few days, weeks, even months of silence, she decided she wanted to make things right. So, she tried to get some allies to help her in fighting off the Cardassians and Maquis. First she fought with the Kazons again, who protected the gateway. They tried their best to balance between fixing the tampered gateway while fighting off other Delta quadrant aliens who wanted to take advantage of this Iconian gateway. 

Meanwhile, the Maquis fell back and Sasha and Grime were sent to a penal colony by the ruling Cardassians. From there, the two of them devised a plan to take Marcy back and run. They ended up on Bajor in the end and a few of the higher ranking bajorans thought they could trust Sasha because of Anne, as Anne was a very good friend to the bajorans when DS9 sent her as a diplomatic representative. Sasha wanted to make things right and thought to protect and train the bajorans.

Marcy was still in the hands of Gul Andrias, who has taken over the main center of Starfleet command. Two cardassians, Olivia and Yunan, tried to break her free and join the resistance made by the bajorans and Sasha. But Gul Andrias didn’t want to let her go. And with modified cardassian technology assimilated with borg technology, she became his personal borg drone

To be continued...

[ichayalovesyou]

Personnel File J'tk T'zai Evaris

Position: First Officer and Intelligence Officer aboard the U.S.S. Tubman Rank: Lieutenant Commander Species: Vulcan Gender: Male Date of Birth: 2344 Age: 36 Place of Birth: Intersectional Colony Aquarius 12 Height: 1.75 meters Weight: 66 kilograms Eye Color: Green Hair Color: Brown Family: J'tk T'zai Neras (Father, Deceased 2344), J'tk T'zai T'Pava (Mother, Deceased 2344), J'tk S'zhr T'Wan (Grandmother), Gavvrok Son of Ghir (Spouse, Married 2375), Aquarius Commune 4-E (Hadi, Akiron Zadit, Jason O'Hara, Agara Daughter of Bator, Gofibidanpova, Nasir Xiangling, M'tr P'met T'Minva, all legal parents of the Officer and thus required listing). Education: Starfleet Academy (Class of 2366), Starfleet School of Intelligence (Class of 2368)

Service Record: [CLASSIFIED] Ensign (designation "Informant Remus") aboard Deep Space 9 (2371), Lieutenant (designation "Federation Attache") on Qo'nos during the Klingon-Cardassian War (2372). [DECLASSIFIED] Lieutenant as Intelligence Consultant aboard Khitomer Orbital 3 (2379), Lieutenant Commander U.S.S. Tubman (Present)

Background Story: Born (and orphaned) on ISC Aquarius 12 by pirate raiders, raised by parents' unorthodox multi-species "group marriage" commune, exposing officer to many cultures alien to his own at a young age. An invaluable and insightful operative in numerous debacles regarding Klingon, Romulan, and Orion diplomatic procedures and intelligence acquisition throughout the 2370s. Moved on to less immersive work post-marriage to Doctor Gavvrok, both have transferred from Khitomer Orbital 3 to the U.S.S. Tubman. [CLASSIFIED] Officer has received instructions to discreetly keep a watchful eye out for Maquis activity. As well as to report significant shifts in politics indicated by refugee rumor mills.

Personality Profile: The only species this Officer struggles to get along with is his own. It is not that he disregards his heritage and Surak's teachings, but rather has a markedly nuanced interpretation of them. There is a noticeable malleability to the way the commander engages with other species, subtly adopting their mannerisms without showing his hand. However, the commander struggles to seek out necessary help. He has displayed symptoms of Vulcan PTSD and Cleithrophobia in the past, but his husband (and concurrently, Chief Medical Officer) has reported improvement since the transfer. It is to the relief to officers who personal know him that he has married a Doctor.

Addendum: The commander would like it to be known he considers Admiral Sulu a personal hero, and has a fascination with pirates of all eras and cultures, aesthetically, not ethically.

Physical Profile: Short by Vulcan male standards, unusual haircut and choice in facial hair (colloquially known as "The Riker") compared to the Vulcan mainstream but well within Starfleet safety codes.

Special Notes: Caution, has a reputation in Vulcan purist circles for "V'tosh Ka'tur" in behavior. Repeatedly forced to refute accusations of being a Romulan agent by both Vulcan and Klingon governments. This is made more difficult as Starfleet Records indicate the Officer is in fact one-quarter Romulan. We have recommissioned former Starfleet Counselor T'Wan, the only living candidate possibly responsible, to serve aboard the same ship. In the hopes that he will decipher the nature of that relationship and report to Starfleet Intelligence for his own, and T'Wan's, safety.

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 9 Easter Eggs & References

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for Episode 9. You can read our review here.

If you started watching new Star Trek in the past ten years, that means your introduction to the franchise might have been the J.J. Abrams reboot films. From 2005 to 2017, there wasn’t any new Trek on TV, making the movies the only representatives of new stories set in the Final Frontier. This was also true for a big chunk of the 80s, before The Next Generation debuted in 1987. Arguably, without the success of the Trek films — either in the ‘80s or in the ‘00s — subsequent renaissances of Trek on TV wouldn’t have been possible. The latest episode Star Trek: Lower Decks is fully aware of this fact, and in episode 9 of season 1 — “Crisis Point” — the show tips its hat to the larger-than-life cinematic voyages of Starfleet. 

Along the way, there are references to all 13 Star Trek feature films, at least two versions of Star Trek that were never made, and one iconic shout-out to Aliens. Here’s all the Easter eggs and references we caught in Lower Decks episode 9, “Crisis Point.”

They’re eating those guys!

The lizard aliens Mariner is trying to liberate seem to be oppressed by an alien that looks suspiciously like an Antican. In the TNG episode “Lonely Among Us,” the Anticans were self-described carnivores who kind of looked like dogs. In that episode, the Anticans were rivals with a reptilian-like species called the Selay. These lizard people don’t look like the Selay, but the reference seems clear. 

This is the ‘80s!

Mariner complains about how she doesn’t need therapy because “this is the eighties!” She’s right! Lower Decks takes place in 2380 and depending on how much time has passed in Season 1, we might be in 2381. This also seems like a reference to the fact that even though we think of TNG as a ‘90s show, it debuted in 1987. 

Mariner’s therapist is Paul F. Tompkins

The bird-like therapist (maybe an Aurelian?) is played by Paul F. Tompkins. In our universe, Tompkins is the co-host of the current official Star Trek Podcast; The Pod Directive, along with Tawny Newsome, the voice of Becket Mariner. 

Da Vinci on the Holodeck

When Mariner enters the holodeck, Tendi, Boimler, and Rutherford are all shooting skeet with Leonardo da Vinci. This references da Vinci’s appearances as a holodeck character on Star Trek: Voyager, as played by Jonathan Rhys-Davies. However, this is also, possibly a reference to an unused script idea for a TNG feature film that was never made. Because this entire episode is about movie-versions of Trek, it seems possible that this is a slight nod to a script called Star Trek: Renaissance, which was developed shortly before First Contact became the second TNG film. In that unfilmed script, Data would have traveled back in time and become da Vinci’s apprentice. Really!

Boimler’s simulated crew

Boimler creating an entire holographic version of the Cerritos crew has several precedents, but the most on-the-nose episode being reference is probably the Voyager episode “Worst Case Scenario.” In that one, Tuvok created a holonovel that simulated a situation in which the Maquis tried to retake the USS Voyager. The simulation even meant that Tom Paris encountered his holographic self at one point, which is exactly what happens with Mariner later in the episode. 

Opening credits

The opening credits to Mariner’s “movie,” are mostly reminiscent of the opening credits to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, although the warping streaks behind the letters recall a brief title style used by The Next Generation during the season 5. The way the letters are flying past the Lower Deckers might reference the opening credits to the original Christopher Reeve-starring Superman film from 1978.

“You were kind of a Xon, to be honest”

Mariner says that in her movie, Boimler would be “kind of a Xon,” and that he might not make the final cut. This references David Gautreaux’s Vulcan character Xon, from the unmade ‘70s series Star Trek Phase II. Xon was intended as a kind of replacement for Spock because, at that time, it was unclear if Leonard Nimoy would return for the role. David Gautreaux does appear in Star Trek: The Motion Picture as a human named Commander Branch. 

Artistic license

When the Cerritos is sent to track down a mysterious imposter starship, Boimler says “If this was actually happening, they’d send the Enterprise, but you know, artistic license.” This references the Enterprise itself, obviously, but also the idea that in several Trek movies, the Enterprise is bizarrely the only ship available to respond to a distress call or strange situation. In The Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise is sent on a dangerous mission involving a top-secret project. In Generations, the Enterprise-B is the “only ship in range” to assist refugee ships caught in an energy ribbon. In both cases, it feels odd that the Enterprise is the only ship that can help out, but you know, artistic license. 

The long approach via shuttlecraft

Think it took a long time for the shuttlecraft to land on the Cerritos? This is an extended joke that references the loooong wordless scene in The Motion Picture in which Kirk and Scotty lovingly stare at the newly refitted Enterprise until, eventually, docking and getting on the ship. In TMP,  the reason why Kirk and Scotty make the long approach via shuttlecraft (rather than just beaming over) is that the transporters aren’t actually working. But, in subsequent Treks, from TNG’s “All Good Things…” to “Caretaker” in Voyager, people tend to take shuttles to get onto big starships, even if it makes zero sense. Perhaps the only scene like this that makes actual sense (other than TMP) was in the first episode of Enterprise. In 2151, the transporters weren’t reliable! 

Lens flare

The bridge of the Cerritos is bathed in lens flare, referencing the extensive use of this camera technique in the J.J Abrams-directed, 2009 Star Trek reboot film. 

Warp Me!

Captain Freeman saying “Warp Me!” references her workshopping a catchphrase in the earlier Lower Decks episode, “Envoys.” In that episode, she wondered if “It’s Warp Time!” was a good thing to say before ordering the ship into warp.

The “movie” warp speed effect

When the Cerritos jumps into warp, the effect is way more bombastic than on the show. This references the warping effect in Star Trek Into Darkness, but also the rainbow warp speed effect from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

“Our revels now are ended”

As Vindicta, Mariner says “Hell is empty and the devils are here” and also, “Our revels now are ended.” Ransom asks, “Is she quoting The Tempest?” The answer is yes, which not only references The Tempest by William Shakespeare but also the fact that General Chang (Christopher Plummer) said “Our revels now are ended, Kirk!” as he was attacking the Enterprise in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. More recently, Picard quoted The Tempest during Data’s “death” in the season finale of Star Trek: Picard, “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2.”

Mariner’s energy weapon 

The super-destructive phaser used by Vindicta/Mariner has a similar vaporizing effect as lasers used in the TNG “As Loud as a Whisper.” 

The pah-wraiths and Jax’s giant phaser

In the Cerritos bar, Jax says “When you get to hell, tell the pah-wraiths that Jax sent you; special delivery from Bajor!” The pah-wraiths are the “evil” versions of the Bajorian prophets, which first appeared in the DS9 episode “The Assignment.” Jax’s giant phaser seems to be a reference to a huge weapon Guinan busted-out in the bar in the TNG episode “Night Terrors.” The design of this phaser rifle also seems a lot like one of the giant weapons used by Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Star Trek Into Darkness.

The Pirates Orions

Tendi pushes back against the stereotype that all Orions are pirates and slavers. The Orions were first established in TOS episodes “The Cage,” and “Whom Gods Destroy,” and later in the TAS episode “The Pirates of Orion.” It wasn’t until the Enterprise episode “Bound” when it was revealed that certain Orion “slaves” were actually manipulating their “masters” to create an illusion of who has the real power. Tendi isn’t the first Orion we’ve seen serving in Starfleet — Uhura’s roommate Galia (Rachel Nichols) Star Trek 2009 was Orion — but it’s never been fully explained the relationship between the Orions and the Federation. In TOS, TAS and in the Short Treks episode “The Escape Artist,” we get the general idea that every aspect of Orion society is connected to crime and pirating. Tendi points out this isn’t true, and that some Orions haven’t been pirates for “over five years!” So, it sounds like some kind of Orion reform happened in 2375!

The destruction of the Cerritos 

When the Cerritos burns up in the atmosphere of the planet, the effect is similar to the way the Enterprise burned up in the atmosphere of the Genesis planet in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. But, when the saucer crashes on the planet’s surface, that references the saucer crash of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: Generations. The Enterprise’s saucer also crashes on the surface of a planet in Star Trek Beyond.

Weird movie beaming

Rutherford says he uses a “a rapid repeating transport sequence” to beam the entire crew to safety. Billups is utterly confused as to how this is possible, and Rutherford says “No, it’s a movie you can beam whatever- you can do all sorts of beaming stuff in a movie!” This references several times that beaming tech in Trek film has been downright miraculous, as opposed to the slightly more reasonable beaming in TV series. In Star Trek: Generation, Scotty is able to beam 47 people off of one ship with a touch of a button. In Star Trek (2009) Spock helps Kirk and Scotty beam from a planet and onto a moving ship traveling at warp. In Star Trek Beyond, Scotty converts a cargo transporter so it can beam up dozens of people at the same time. In The Voyage Home the crew beam up some humpback whales. You get it.

Get off my mom, you bitch!

Holographic Mariner’s battlecry against Vindicta is not a Trek reference! This line is a reference to the climax of Alien in which Ripley said “Get away from her, you bitch!”

Toby Targ on Halloween

Mariner apparently dressed as “Toby the Targ” when she was a kid for Halloween. A targ is a type of Klingon pet that kind of looks like a dog crossed with a pig. The educational children’s character “Toby the Targ,” comes from Voyager. B’Elanna Torres owned a plush Toby the Targ, and the Doctor was familiar with the publisher of the “Toby the Targ ” stories, Broht & Forrester.

Rickety catwalk

Throughout the episode Mariner is obsessed with having a fight on a “rickety catwalk.” This probably references the ending of Star Trek: Generations, in which Kirk and Picard fight Dr. Soren on a series of rickety catwalks. But, Riker and his duplicate, Thomas Riker, also have a big confrontation on a rickety catwalk in the TNG episode “Second Chances.”

Do you like turtle necks or just standard uniforms?

Boimler absent-mindedly asks Captain Freeman if she likes “turtlenecks or just standard uniforms.” This seems to indicate that the DS9-style turtleneck uniforms might still be in service in some parts of Starfleet in 2380. Either that, or Boimler is wishing those uniforms could make a comeback.

Mariner is buried in rocks

Captain Freeman buries the body of the holographic Mariner in a strange grave made of rocks. This references the ending of Star Trek; Generations, where Picard buries Kirk in the exact same way. Why did Picard not wait to have Kirk’s body taken back to a starship? Why would Freeman have her daughter buried on a random planet? It’s a movie! Don’t ask questions!

Vindicta’s return

Before being shot by da Vinci, Vindicta rises out of a photon torpedo tube. This references the ending of The Wrath of Khan, which shows that Spock’s casket landed on the Genesis Planet. During the filming of the The Wrath, this scene was actually filmed at the last minute, and was overseen by Robert Sallin because director Nicholas Meyer was opposed to hinting that Spock was still alive. In other words, the photon torpedo casket was a small retcon inside of The Wrath of Khan, which is why it’s fitting to have it as the coda in this episode. Just when you think it’s over — somebody’s gonna rise from the dead. 

Da Vinci shooting Vindicta with a shotgun could be reference to the very first episode of Enterprise — “Broken Bow” — when a farmer shoots a Klingon with a shotgun in the first scene.

Signatures at the end 

At the very end, all four of the Lower Deckers sign their names in spacey blue ink across a starfield. This references the ending of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in which all seven cast members of the original series sign their names over the ending credits. This concept is interestingly used for the ending of Avengers: Endgame, probably because Marvel president Kevin Feige is a self-professed Star Trek fan. So, is this a reference to the TOS crew and the Avengers? It’s an episode of Lower Decks, so it seems like you can totally have it both ways.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks will air its Season 1 finale next Thursday on October 8. 

The post Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 9 Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3jfTenf

[plethoraofocs]

so the origins of my first star trek ocs

so, i watched aos first. and i loved it because it was my introduction to star trek and the characters and i recently realised it’s v problematic and stuff so i watched tos. and this is a super long and needlessly complex explanation of how my first three star trek ocs (dottie, clarke, and taylor) came to be! more on them as individuals to come :) (i did give the broad strokes of their backstories in here so it’s a long post. i’ll put the basic parts in bold so you can skip the boring bits that i just rambled in

my first character, i made for the aos timeline, but shifted her over to the tos timeline without much hassle. 

her name is dorothy (dottie) jane negga, and she was born on the lunar colony to her human parents, as their third child born on the moon (one brother, one sister). they moved back to earth (specifically the greek countryside, which i need to do more research on, sorry) where they started an olive farm (neither of her parents come from greece nor do they have a background in farming, but her oldest brother took a horticultural course on the colony so he gets it up off the ground). she has a supportive and wholesome background (which was difficult for me to write because there was so much opportunity to give her a Tragic Backstory but i need to stop doing that so much lmao), two younger siblings (another sister, and a non-binary sibling). of the five siblings, she is the only child who didn’t want to work full-time on the farm, and the family helped put her through starfleet academy, where she took the command route with various piloting qualifications before being assigned to the enterprise as ‘ensign dorothy negga’ due to her exceptional academic success as well as her fantastic interpersonal skills. 

next up was my second star trek oc, someone i had a vague impression of while watching aos but fleshed out and named while watching tos. her name is s’on ahkhu clarke (i don’t know how vulcan names work i’m so sorry), and she is half-vulcan, half-romulan. in my tos timeline, her father (a weaver of cloth on vulcan) was tricked into thinking her mother (a notorious romulan captain attempting to infiltrate the vulcan high council) was an ambitious young vulcan with no social standing trying to work her way up. he fell in love, she went with it. they had a child together, her mother using it to further secure herself in vulcan society, but she was found out shortly afterwards and escaped back to romulus. clarke’s father raised her alone until she was eight years old, when her mother began correspondence with the vulcan high council over custody of the child. eventually, her father was forced to let her travel to romulan space every other year for a year to stay with her mother. her mother was, by then, captain of a mixed-species, all female, space equivalent of a pirate ship. while she found the practices of stealing, torturing, and murdering not only illogical, but deplorable, her mother told her that if she did not assist in running the ship, she would not permit her to return to vulcan. eventually, she joined starfleet academy during one of her years where she was supposedly ‘on vulcan’, and she managed to partially cut ties with her parents. she was just shy of being legally an adult on vulcan when she arrived at the academy, and was put in accommodation with the equally young cadet dorothy negga. the two became oddly co-dependant despite their wildly different personalities, and their symbiotic study relationship assisted them both in getting grades good enough to be assigned to the enterprise upon their graduation. clarke is a redshirt, but is exceptionally skilled with various types of defensive and offensive attacks from her time spent with her mother, so don’t worry, she’s safe. also : no-one is sure whether or not they were doing the do on the regular in the academy or not, and they won’t comment on the discourse.    

last, and definitely not least (lowkey my favourite of the og 3) we have taylor jones. taylor is... pretty weird, im not gonna lie. so i came up with her in pretty much the same way as i did clarke, a vague idea during aos that solidified during tos, she just took longer to nail down. the enterprise is in full swing by the time she gets introduced during a typical ‘away mission gone wrong’ type situation. she’s quite animal-like, she can’t speak, she’s afraid of everyone (except clarke and spock because telepathy and shit), she is telepathic and empathetic, but doesn’t seem to understand language. she’s in bad nick, and she’s the only survivor of a life-support systems failure of a starfleet-scientist-gone-off-the-rails’s illegal experimentation subterranean lab on a class-m planet. turns out he’d been deliberately inter-breeding species (humans, vulcans, orions, romulans, betazoids, ect) in order to create species perfectly designed to suit various jobs he needed doing to sustain himself on the planet. taylor was designed as basically a poorly treated PA, engineered for and trained to anticipate and fulfil his needs through a combination of telepathy, empathy, and a scarily fast learning and adaptation ability. with the help of clarke, they manage to get her aboard the ship and into medbay, where she (for some reason) practically imprints on dr.mccoy. dr.mccoy nurses her back to health (she won’t let any of the other medical staff near her) and begins to teach her how to communicate verbally, while clarke refuses to leave her side as she takes her time to teach taylor how to control her telepathy and how to refine telepathic communications. when they found her, she didn’t have a name, so they assigned her the name ‘taylor jones’. as well as this, leonard and clarke have to try and untrain her from her need to assist everyone on every little thing. she went missing for the first week she wasn’t locked in medbay as she raced around the ship frantically trying to meet everyone’s smallest whims, only being recovered when kirk was feeling mildly thirsty and she showed up on the bridge with a glass and a pitcher full of water (she got the hang of replicators and other technologies pretty fast, it was what she was genetically predisposed to do, after all). she proves to be quite useful on away missions, as she develops an interest in science (much to mccoy’s disgust, he’d enjoyed teaching her about anatomy and first aid, and is loathe to share her with spock), and kirk appoints her to the role of ‘acting ensign’.    

now this is where my inexcusable surplus of star trek ocs kicks in.

i realised that it’d be pretty dope to make my own starship crew, like, a whole ass crew. but i dont know enough about star trek too avoid continuity errors and shit. so i decided to start my own star trek “series” set approximately fifty years after whatever star trek series is the furthest in the future (so, like, picard, right? idk the timelines im a Bad Fan). the basics for these three are the same, except they start out on another enterprise namesake (enterprise-j) as the flagship of starfleet, where the senior officers (i’ve yet to flesh them out fully) are NOT (obviously) the og bridge crew. eventually, taylor decides to travel to earth to get her qualifications from the academy while the other two girls finish out their ‘explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations’ mission. taylor graduates the academy just as that mission ends, and is assigned to a research vessel that will be doing more in-depth research on planets/phenomena encountered by the enterprise-j as ensign jones, under captain dorothy (she insists on being called dottie) negga. clarke gets the position of cheif of security. there are many more charcters on board this ship. i still have more i need to make because i want to make an oc for as many of the people needed onboard as possible. 

[defconprime]

Cover for Star Trek videogame Starfleet Command Volume II expansion "Orion Pirates," 2002.

[frasier-crane-style]

Let’s talk about Treks baby

The One Where Riker Stars In The Grey.

When Riker is reassigned to go over a terraforming colony bedeviled by pesky, genetically engineered wolves, a new first officer is assigned to the Enterprise. And he’s kwazy.

The irritatingly named Quintin Stone is sort of the Nick Locarno to Peter David’s later Mackenzie Calhoun. Brooding rogue, troubled past, gets the job done, you know how it goes. It’s a pretty unabashed power fantasy/Mary Sue in New Frontier, but there the whole thing is so over the top and tongue in cheek that you really can’t take it too seriously. Quintin, on the other hand, is more played for drama--for most of the story, there’s a question as to whether he’s outright homicidally insane. Luckily, Troi is on top of things, checking on his mental well-being and also kinda being his love interest, like a literal version of this gif.

Spoiler alert: It turns out he’s deeply traumatized by a not wholly believable incident in his past*, so good on ya for catching that one, Troi. 

Looking back on it, this book would almost seem to count as a deconstruction of the ‘broody antihero’ trope, showing that the character type just doesn’t work in TNG. He infuriates most of the cast and doesn’t get the girl, while those who are taken in by him are presented as saps (yup, Wesley). 

Speaking of New Frontier, with the self-aware jokeyness and tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of Trek’s campier elements, would it be fair to say PAD was ahead of the curve in predicting the modern incarnation of Trek? Its take on Star Trek would definitely fit in with the Kelvinverse movies and especially with The Orville, which is pretty much the people’s choice for Trek these days.

*Okay, I get the interpretation of the Prime Directive as not interfering or revealing yourself to alien cultures until they develop warp drive, at which point they’re going to figure out you’re there anyway. And if you can stop an asteroid from wiping them out without them knowing about it, fine. Cool. I get that. But I don’t get Star Trek stories where the PD means you can’t interfere with the Romulans’ development, even though they’re showing up on your doorstep every other week and shooting at you. It’s like saying if Hitler 2.0 showed up in Germany and started amassing power, the US shouldn’t try to discourage that shit or, I guess, engage in any diplomacy whatsoever. It’s mindbogglingly isolationist. And isn’t it arguable that part of a culture’s natural development is interacting with other cultures? Like the back and forth between America and Japan driving forward the medium of animation?

The One Where Picard Nearly Bangs Guinan’s Sister

This one has a bit of nontroversy attached to it, because it came out while Star Trek was still kind of hashing out the Borg, so there’s a disclaimer at the beginning basically going

The gist of it is that Borg aren’t supposed to have gender (a bunch of people with blue hair just had their ears perk up, didn’t they?), but PAD here has a drone that gets detached from the Collective and is a girl. It seems pretty self-evident to me--Picard gets assimilated, they get him back, he’s still a dude, so why wouldn’t it work that way with a chick? But this is back when assimilation wasn’t the Borg’s m.o. the way it would later become. They assimilate a Ferengi in this book (yup) and it’s kind of a big deal. Oh, and as you might’ve guessed, Girl Borg bears a few similarities to Seven of Nine, who would show up later in the franchise, although PAD’s take on it is more “we rescued a girl from a serial killer’s basement after ten years and she’s totally catatonic,” less “what is this human emotion you call ‘kissing’?”

Good thing we have Deanna Troi, a counselor, to ease Girl Borg through the healing process. Oh, wait, she basically takes one look at GB and goes

Thanks for the help, Troi. I guess this subplot is supposed to prove that it’s pointless to try to save any assimilated person other than Picard, because mentally they’re already dead, so might as well just have a bunch of fun guiltlessly blowing them away

(And that goes for you too, audience.) But still, bit of a downer. At least Spock would’ve tried a mind-meld.

There’s also this chick Delcara, who in a pretty XXtra Flamin' Hot narrative choice is like Picard’s soulmate and he’s sort of in love with her slash obsessed with her after having a psychic vision of her in Starfleet Academy and y’know? TNG might’ve opened the door to this by having Crusher bang a ghost, but we should close that door. We should close it right now.

(By the way, in case you’re wondering if this Guinan’s sister business means Picard is down with the swirl, it turns out she’s Guinan’s adopted sister, so is it just me or is that weirdly ambiguous? She’s a beautiful black woman and Picard wants to do her. You can come out and say it, book. No one minds.)

Anyway, Delcara is piloting one of dem planet-killers from back in TOS--in hindsight, it’s weird that the Abrams movies never did anything with the one big Death Star-y thing that actually is canon to TOS, isn’t it? They gave Khan and Nero ridiculously super-sized ships, but the one kaiju that’s actually in continuity, nothing--on a vendetta against the Borg, who basically killed her family twice over. Man, if only there were some kind of psychologist on board the Enterprise to help her through that trauma.

I sense she feels great bitterness, Captain.

Yeah, why does she get a seat next to the Captain again? Let Worf have that seat. How is it fair that he has to stand around all day, he actually does stuff!

Anyhoo, as you might’ve guessed from the opening set on a holographic rendition of Don Quixote, with a Data Discussion(tm) of quixotic endeavors... and the fact that Delcara intends to totally wipe out the Borg, gosh, I wonder if she’ll succeed--this one’s something of a downer. It does give the promised Planet Killer on Borg Cube action for those fanboys who’ve wondered who would win in a wrassling match, and Picard learns a valuable lesson about not pursuing suicidal vendettas against the Borg, which he definitely takes to heart...

(Wow, he did that one-handed? What kind of gains does Sir Patrick have?)

But still... bit depressing.

The One Where Bones Becomes A Space Pirate

Another giant novel, I’m surprised this one never got raided for parts in any adaptation. Even on the page, it’s pretty breathtakingly cinematic, and yet, the only part of it that’s really been used is, if you squint, Bob Burnham in Discovery being a disgraced Starfleeter.

The premise is that, some months ago, the TOS Enterprise crew was involved in a breaking of the Prime Directive that resulted in the destruction of a world and the ‘Enterprise 5′ of bridge officers blamed for the tragedy being shunned and hated wherever they go (ah, that utopian Star Trek future, predicting an entire population that’s politically engaged). 

Now, with the command crew scattered, everyone’s trying to get back to the planet where it all happened to find out what tf went down for reals. In a bit of a stretch, this is really hard for them--no one seems to be able to call in a favor or hire Han Solo to take them there or anything, which I suppose is in keeping with Star Trek 3′s similar situation six years prior. They don’t have to go so far as to steal a Constitution-class this time. I suppose it’s fitting for the wild and woolly TOS era. In TNG time, they’d probably be able to dial a Space Uber. (As it turns out, it seems like if they’d just coordinated their plans, they all could’ve hitched a ride with Spock, but then there’d be no book, much less a Giant Book.)

Anyway, Kirk’s been court-martialed and is working as an asteroid miner, Chekov and Sulu fall in with Orion pirates, Spock is challenging the whole thing in court, and Uhura’s in jail........oh. It’s like that, huh, Starfleet?

Like I said, most of the plot involves the crew going off on all their separate adventures, eventually getting the band back together and figuring out what went down. Apparently, the book was criticized for its nonlinear structure, but I think it worked out really well. Starting months after the incident, with everyone disgraced, gets you pumped to find out what happened. Then when they flashback to the shit going down, there’s a great sense of foreboding because you know something is going to happen, just not what exactly. 

If I can make a criticism, it’s that after some great build-up, the ending seems a bit anticlimactic. The nature of the threat requires some unbelievable Hollywood Evolution to buy (nothing new for Star Trek, admittedly, and this is a crew that’s fresh off meeting Apollo and Abraham Lincoln) and while it is fitting that they’re able to resolve the situation without blowing up anything or punching anyone (Star Trek loves to talk the talk about how anti-military it is, then end their movie with some Klingons getting blasted), it still seems a little... dry. You’re not going to have Kirk hang off of anything, story? Not even a little? Okay. I still had fun. 

And you’ll note that once again, Deanna Troi was of no help whatsoever. Geez, woman, you’re oh for three here!

[mateushonrado]

Actors who appeared in both Star Trek and Star Wars – X of X

Status Post #8680: Tara Strong

Star Trek – Various roles (represented by Susna) in Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates

Media: Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates (2001)

Star Wars – Risha Drayen in The Old Republic (2011)

Media: Star Wars: The Old Republic (2001)

[emotionalties]

In this novel: Quark totally embarrassing himself in front of a Starfleet Commander, feeling lonely because there’s no one* to vent to - and now probably about to get into big trouble with Orion pirates.

That’s more I like it.

*No Rom or Dax to talk to although he didn't admit that specifically 

[janeykath318]

Free To A Good Home 8

[guildwarsstartrekskyrim]

The difficulties in crafting a crossover; ships!

Previously I discussed rewriting history by adding in the Romulans, creating the connection by making the caitian and ferasan species a descendent of the charr, and evening the playing field by taking some things away.

But this is a Star Trek story as well as a Guild Wars story.  So that means the one thing that most everyone wants to talk about are the ships.  Any time that a new Star Trek series starts or a movie is announced, the discussion always turns toward “what’s the ship gonna look like” or “what ship design is being used.” Discovery had it with the repurposing of the old Motion Picture and Phase 2 designs of the Enterprise as well as creating a new vessel.  And each subsequent series had that discussion as well.

So here we are!

There’s four ships I’m toying with.  One of them is very easy.  The starship commanded by Admiral Srassi Starseeker.  Admiral Starseeker was always a scientist first and her vessel reflects that.  But she’s also the leader of the Star family clan which is under the umbrella of the Clan of Blood, traditionally a warrior caste among caitians and ferasan.  Thus, the ship, while being a science vessel, reflects the toughness of Blood.

The Intrepid class starship is a long range science vessel made famous with the U.S.S. Voyager for returning home after being lost for seven years in the Delta Quadrant.  Admiral Starseeker’s vessel would be a refit design called the Pathfinder class.

The Pathfinder class was named for the mission to relay communications from the Beta Quadrant to the Delta Quadrant and allow Starfleet to guide Voyager home.  Admiral Starseeker’s vessel would be named the U.S.S. Battleford.

While Admiral Starseeker would be the commanding officer of operations in the sector of space surrounding the Tyrian star system, there’s still cargo services which take place.  This is often done by Bajoran transport, Earth cargo services, or Bolian freighters. Due to the relationship between the charr and caitian/ferasan people, that contract is handed to the S.S. Kestrel under the command of Captain Ret Starrunner.  Ret is the daughter of Srassi Starseeker, and some have complained favouritism was given, but it was Ret and her crew (mostly ferasan, though there are two Romulans and an android who appears Romulan)... and one of the Romulans is a liberated Borg). Starrunner’s ship happens to be one that was seen in The Next Generation in the first part of the Unification storyline.

Classified as a smuggler’s vessel, the Kestrel is heavily armed to protect itself against Orion pirates and Nausican smugglers (Ret has a history against Nausicans which includes a massive bar fight at Drozana Station).

This vessel can carry 2500 metric tons of cargo as well as containing crew quarters (crew compliment of 17) and passenger quarters (4 passenger bunks). As far as offensive capabilities, the ship has two forward cannons, forward torpedo launcher, top mounted phaser cannon, two aft phaser turrets and an omni directional phaser.  During her stay on Tyria, she’d primarily be used for cargo transport to and from areas such as Lion’s Arch to Amnoon, the Silverwastes to Lion’s Arch and toward the Black Citadel and Divinity’s Reach.  The ship would run in conjunction with already existing air ship cargo runs on Tyria.

Next up is the Romulan warbird which will be the main contact for the Romulan Tyrians.  Almost a throwback to the original ships which crash landed on Tyria, Commander T’Apollo’s vessel is a T’Varo class warbird.

The design of the T’Varo is very similar to the T’Liss Warbirds that crash landed in the Crystal Desert 250 years ago.

There were two T’Liss warbirds that crashed, one commanded by Sub-Commander Flavius Apollo (before committing to settlement on Tyria, his last name was Tr’Apollo, the Tr prefix was dropped to mix in more with the human population). Those two warbirds were stripped down and eventually was lost in the sands.  Years later, the Sunspears began using the hulls as a sanctuary, as a small opening was found leading into the interior of the ships.

As for T’Apollo’s T’Varo warbird, she’s called the R.R.W. Vindicator.

The fourth and final ship is actually the first ship which appears on Tyria and that one I’m torn between several designs.  One of those designs is the more nimble Defiant class warship, which is a call back to Deep Space Nine and fitting considering I’ve set the Tyrian system in the Alpha Quadrant only two sectors away from Bajor.

The other idea is a heavier cruiser, which would make this the largest of the ships and would never actually land but hover above the surface or spend most of it’s time in orbit while Captain Borgcrusher and her crew would take runabout shuttles to the surface.

Pictured: Avenger Class Battlecruiser.

Pictured: Concorde Class Battlecruiser

The only other ship design I’ve thought would be fitting would be a redesign of a TOS styled Battlecruiser from Star Trek Online.

The Ranger class Battlecruiser, a smaller vessel which has both forward cannons and phasers, but with the mobility of the Defiant class warship. Just have to update the design in order to match 25th Century ships.

Granted, the Ranger class already looks like the design of the Concorde class.  Still, the ship, no matter what class she is, will bear the name U.S.S. Ocelot.  Named for the flagship of the Pacific Theatre of Operations during World War II, the Ocelot would be the second in the post-Federation era, the third if one includes the NX-45 Ocelot.

[thelordofthepenblog-blog]

My name is Sadin Rosque, and I am a pirate. I am also a SOLDIER. I am also the most wanted man in the post-war Imperial Order. I am many things, hold many titles. They say that I am an impossibility. The Orion Alliance says I cannot exist, for there are no deserters from the ever-loyal SOLDIER program. The Imperial Order denies my existence, for I strike at every weak point in their supposedly invincible armada. But here I am, doing both. It greatly amuses me that I continue to defy the beliefs of the little folk, the ones that go about their ignorant little lives on their ignorant little colonies. If I were to approach one and ask if they have heard of Sadin Rosque, I will doubtlessly be met with blank stares and confused questions. My crew is loyal, however. Men and women and others from across many races, people tired of living under the yoke of the Alliance or the Order or any of those other little organizations that lurk on the fringes of known space. I even have a suuuurndar under my command. A suuuurndar! Can you believe it? What do I do? Why, I make myself rich! I steal priceless military tech right from the bases they sit in. I kidnap the rich and hold them for ransom. I've ruined lives, and have a large sum of credits to prove it. Have they tried to apprehend me? Why of course! It would not be fun if they did not try, yes? But I am an ex-SOLDIER. I am smarter and stronger than most human beings. Therefore, most opposition thrown my way is quickly thrown back. I could hide from an entire Imperial starfleet right under their noses. Of course, sometimes I miss my former comrades in SOLDIER. Fine men and women, every one of them. But that camaraderie wasn't enough to keep me around. Still isn't enough, honestly. Ah, here comes my second in command with the reports on the Imperial fortress we're about to hit. There's supposed to be an encryption key there that some rebel cells are very interested in acquiring. But rather than risk their own asses, they send us. Well, doesn't matter. So long as Sadin Rosque is paid, he doesn't care about the job. Besides, that's what makes it fun. Best get ready, recruit. You're about to see gods of war in action.