TOS VETERANS FLEET storytelling guidelines
(TOS VET FLEET BIBLE)
0.5. PREAMBLE:
“Most people have never heard of Section 31 even thought it was part of Starfleet's original charter over 200 years ago. Section 31 exists to identify anything that might threaten the Federation - and deals with it, efficiently and quietly.
But the laws and principles that Starfleet officers of the line are sworn to uphold can hamstring them in certain... ethically grey situations. Section 31 has no such encumbrances. And that autonomy protects the ethical integrity of Starfleet's mainline officers and Federation's leaders. Its agents answer to internal superiors, who, in turn, implement the decisions that other Federation operatives cannot. Section 31 exists to make sure that mistakes that are made can be corrected. That the dangers which threaten the Federation's existence - and those who are naive enough to expose the Federation to those dangers - are neutralized. Sometimes agents have to step outside the rules to help keep the Federation's true best interest in the forefront.
Section 31 is not above the law. Beneath it, perhaps. You might think of the bureau as the bulwark that makes the Federation's ideals possible in the first place. Its operating authority stems from a provision of the Starfleet charter —Article 14, Section 31, from which its name is derived —that makes allowances for "bending the rules" during times of extraordinary threats.
Accountable to no-one, Section 31 focuses on external threats, and pursues those it identifies by whatever means it sees fit.” --Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin, Section 31. Rogue
1. LOGLINE
In a desperate attempt to turn the tides of the Klingon/Federation War of 2409, factions within Starfleet, including Starfleet Intelligence, the Department of Temporal Investigations, and the mysterious Section 31, implement Project: Christopher – A top secret temporal extraction protocol with the express purpose of “enlisting” Command candidates from Starfleet's past in order to win the war at all costs.
2. SYNOPSIS
The main worldview and premise of TOS Veterans Fleet is that of STO, with the unique caveat that the Federation is in danger of losing the war with the Klingons within 6 month's time due to heavy losses, and a lack of seasoned officers to replace those already lost in the war.
After the Klingon and Gorn invasion Cestus III, a Starfleet Committee chaired by Admiral Jorel Quinn passed a motion to explore all options and possibilities for recruitment of replacement personnel and to commission new ships. "We need to promote exceptional officers quickly. We need our captains leading away teams. Starfleet needs to look at our whole command structure and do what works now, not what worked 30 years ago." Quinn tasked Section 31 operatives known only to himself and Admiral James Bailey with taking any steps necessary to ensure the Federation would not fall to the Klingon advance.
Admiral Jorel Quinn Admiral James Bailey
With no candidates ready for command within the 6 month window, and not enough ships able to be constructed in time, Section 31, in conjunction with the the Department of Temporal Investigations, devised the framework for what would become known as Project Christopher, named after John Christopher, the air force captain from Earth that was beamed aboard the USS Enterprise during an accidental temporal infraction which threw the ship back in time to the year 1968.
Captain John Christopher aboard the USS Enterprise.
It was decided that a temporal extraction protocol would be put in place to bring captains and promising command candidates to the year 2409 for the express purpose of fast tracking them to full combat readiness. It was hoped that by targeting the extraction date of 2269 forward, that Starfleet could begin to regain something of the maverick spirit of those by-gone days, in which a seasoned Captain named James T. Kirk was Starfleet's best and brightest. Also, 2269 was a time of war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire (the Organian Peace Treaty notwithstanding). This played a major roll in the decision to set the extraction threshold to the year 2269. These were officers who had known no peace with the Klingons in their lifetimes, which was considered a major factor in the Project's success. However, other time periods would also be considered for extraction based on known historical data pertaining to lost ships and personnel. A full extraction window of 2269 - 2380 was mandated in order to take full advantage of the situation. These "next generation" veterans would be tasked with helping their 23rd Century counterparts acclimatize to their new time period.
In order to ensure the integrity of the timeline, the Project's mandate was to only extract “casualties” or those listed as “missing”. No one of lasting historical significance (Kirk specifically) was to be considered for extraction. Only ships listed as “missing” or ships that were "lost" in battle that could be properly masked using holo-technology were to be brought forward for retrofit due to the increased risk of doing damage to the timeline. In the case of "missing" ships, it was surmised that some of these ships could have already fallen victim to temporal anomalies that had displaced them from their original temporal start-point. A Temporal Investigations Liaison would be utilized in these situations to determine cases of pre-existing temporally displaced ships in order to retrieve them for active duty.
(It was due to recurring fears of damaging the timeline beyond repair that more radical temporal infractions were not considered, such as the assassination of key Klingon political leaders in the past to stop the war from happening to begin with)
The protocol as set up by Project: Christopher consisted of sending back an extraction team to the target time using the slingshot maneuver (light-speed breakaway factor) days or weeks in advance of the “event” that was to befall the target for extraction. This would allow for sufficient preparation time and intelligence gathering to ensure that no major violations of the Temporal Prime Directive occurred.
The slingshot maneuver (light-speed breakaway factor)
In cases where only personnel were to be targeted for extraction, 1 Defiant class ship equipped with cloaking device was sent back in order to retrieve the target and then return to 2409 again utilizing the slingshot effect.
Defiant Class Starship
Where the extraction of an entire ship was to be attempted, up to 3 Defiant class ships would travel back in time via the slingshot effect. These ships were equipped with cloaked holo-emitter probes and Borg modifications to their defector dishes which allowed the ships to generate a temporal vortex much like the one used by the Borg to travel to Earth's past in 2373.
The cloaked probes would provide sensor cover, while the ships would generate a vortex that would allow the target ship to travel to 2409 without being detected. If any debris had been noted in the historical record, sensor logs from the 2269 - 2380 temporal window were used to replicate this debris which would then be jettisoned from the cloaked ships to complete the deception. The cloaked ships would then monitor the situation for a number of days to ensure that the mission was successful before again slingshotting to the future once more. During one of the first Temporal incursions to the 2269, a group of 23rd Century Klingons infiltrated the USS Exeter, under the command of Richard Allan Cleary, as it was being temporally displaced to 2409. This disastrous turn of events has jeopardized the entire Project and may yet spell disaster for the Federation.
3. FORMAT
The storytelling format For TOS Veterans Fleet (including TOS Qan Mang and TNG Veterans) will include (but not be limited by)
- Written “Fleet Backstory” episodes of varying length
(written with fleet feedback by the Chief Archivist and Historian (CAH)
- Character Bios to be posted on the Fleet Website
(written by individual fleet members or by the CAH with member input)
- Foundry missions written with the Backstory as a backdrop
- Foundry missions written to “re-enact” Official fleet backstory episode or Character Bios.
4. AUDIENCE
The Audience for the storytelling activities of TOS Veterans Fleet, TNG Veterans and TOS Qan Mang are the respective Fleet members and alliance Fleet members where deemed desirable.
5. SETTING
The Setting of TOS Veterans Feet is the Prime Star Trek universe of 2409 with “temporal incursions” to the time period of 2269 where story progression dictates.
6. WORLD + BACKGROUND
The World + Background section outlines the world of your series, going beyond the Where and When to encompass the Why - the circumstances, rules and given principles of the world your story plays out in. Consider:
- The Events that have lead to the current ‘situation’:
The fear that the war with the Klingons will be lost within 6 months leads to the defining
caveat of the storytelling, that of the attempt to bring forward in time officers from the 23rd
century to help turn the tide of the war.
- The Back-story of the characters:
The characters that are native to 2409 should act without hesitation to carry out the
mandate of Project Christopher. They may at times of great stress seem desperate, but
they are seasoned Starfleet officers who know how to perform their duty without question.
Characters native to the 23rd Century will have an innate rebelliousness to their character,
tinged with a growing mistrust of their 25th century “benefactors”, due to the fact that
they have no choice but to participate in the Project. These officers no longer have a past
to return to, so they must find a way to work within the Project's mandate. Despite the
tensions that the situation causes, the 23rd Century officers live up to their duty to
Starfleet.
- Rules that govern the Tone of the story (certain types of humour, language, inflections):
The tone of storytelling can be as diverse as that of the 5 Star Trek series, from tense war
drama to comedy. (The storytelling tone should emulate the canon series as much as
possible, but it doesn't have to – Good storytelling is just that! Experimentation results in
some great possibilities, but can also stray too far from what most people think of as Trek)
7. SERIES OUTLINE
Veterans of the War:
Episode 1: The Die is Cast
Episode 2: Intentions in the Dark Matter Not
Episode 2.5: Off and Running
Episode 3: Romulans, Vulcans and Ghosts...Oh My!
Episode 4: The Rise of the Qan Mang
Episode 5: All's Quiet on the Eridani Front
8. MAIN CHARACTERS
Section 31 Liaisons and Officers:
Admiral Jorel Quinn
Agent Victor Frankenstein
MrJoelleC of Unimatrix 12 Temporal Investigations Liaison.
Vexashen
TOS Veterans Fleet:
Jeffery Clayton Cutter
K'Ral B'Koth
Spencer
TNG Veterans Fleet
19 of 70
Claudia Thundercloud
T'El
Yeda
Dervin Kratz
TOS Qan Mang:
Gorkan:
K'lee:
Korag:
Kronk:
Klang:
Slisis:
J'ole Son of M'rell:
B'Ranna:
Kurg:
9. KEY LOCATIONS
The Key Locations are located in the Star Trek Prime Universe itself as well as any and all Parallel Universes and various and sundry Dimensions, Continuum and time-lines, antimatter or otherwise.
Locations of note:
Mariner 10 Space Station– Located in the Comardie Nebula in The Delta Volanis Sector (can it displace itself in space and time using Project Christoper Technologies? That is classified information!
Jupiter Station (Museum of 23rd Century Earth) Below the decks of the Starfleet museum in a fixed orbit outside of the planet Jupiter in the Sol System. Project Christopher has a temporal monitoring system that close enough to scan ESD as well as all of the inhabited planets in the Sol System.
Earth Space Dock (ESD)
Starfleet Academy
Deep Space K7
Deep Space 9
Qo'noS
10. LOOK AND FEEL
The Look, Feel and Style of the visuals for the storytelling are pure STO, with a nostalgic nod to Late 23rd Century styling and Fashion (Dax would be in hog heaven...)
For TNG Veterans and TOS Qan Mang, era-appropriate equipment and styling are a go! (also with a nostalgic nod!)
11. GLOSSARY
'Temporal Prime Directive'
All Starfleet personnel are strictly forbidden from directly interfering with historical events and are required to maintain the time-line and prevent history from being altered. It also restricts people from telling too much about the future, so as not to cause paradoxes or alter the time-line The Temporal Prime Directive is directly related to the Prime Directive.
'Prime Directive'
The Prime Directive, also known as Starfleet General Order 1, is one of Starfleet's most important binding principles about noninterference in another culture's internal affairs, natural development and progression. The Prime Directive forbids Starfleet officers from interfering with the social order of any planet. (TNG: "Half a Life") Violation of the Prime Directive is generally considered a court martial offence followed by severe punishment unless sufficient justification can be made for the violation. Even though there have been incidents where Starfleet personnel have decided on strong ethical grounds to ignore the Prime Directive, on the whole it is believed to do a lot more good than harm. (TNG: "Justice", VOY: "Prime Factors")
'Starfleet'
A deep-space exploratory and defence service maintained by the United Federation of Planets. Its principal functions included the advancement of Federation knowledge about the galaxy and its inhabitants, the advancement of Federation science and technology, the military defence of the Federation, and the practice of Federation diplomacy.
'A temporal vortex'
An artificially-generated rift in the space-time continuum. Allowing for travel from one point in space-time to another, temporal vortices have been known to have been used by species such as the Devidians and the Borg.
'The United Federation of Planets' (abbreviated as UFP and commonly referred to as the Federation)
An interstellar federal republic, composed of planetary governments that agreed to exist semi-autonomously under a single central government based on the principles of universal liberty, rights, and equality, and to share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation and space exploration.
'Temporal mechanics'
The study of the workings of time and its effects on the space-time continuum. It is particularly relevant when dealing with time travel.
'The Department of Temporal Investigations'
A section of the United Federation of Planets, tasked with ensuring that time travel events which occurred under Federation jurisdiction were handled within guidelines established to prevent contamination of the time-line. James T. Kirk had the biggest file on record in the Department, with seventeen recorded temporal violations.
'The slingshot effect' (light-speed breakaway factor)
was a method of time travel through the use of an artificially-created time warp. This maneuver was performed by travelling at an extremely high warp factor towards a stellar body with a high gravitational attraction, such as a star. After allowing the gravitational pull to accelerate the vessel to even faster speeds, the vessel would then break away from the stellar body, creating a whiplash effect which could transport the vessel through time. Performing this maneuver required extremely precise calculations to be made, such as availability of fuel components, acceleration, and mass of a vessel through a time continuum.
'Time warp'
A phenomenon which can allow temporal displacement. Usually only formed through great expenditures of energy, a time warp can be created both naturally and artificially
'Borg temporal vortices'
A Borg vessel travelled back in time from 2373 in an unsuccessful attack on Earth in 2063. (Star Trek: First Contact) Drones which survived this defeat were discovered and reactivated by Human scientists in 2153, and transmitted a subspace message to Borg space before being destroyed by the Enterprise (NX-01).
'The gravitational slingshot'
A method of utilizing the gravitational pull of a large interstellar body as a means of propulsion. This technique is achieved by flying in a steep parabolic partial orbit around the body. It often appears as if the object being propelled will crash into the body.
'Anti-time'
A concept in temporal mechanics, conceived in the 24th century, positing the existence of a phenomenon which has a relationship to time analogous to the relationship that antimatter has to normal matter. Consequently, if time and anti-time were to collide, they would annihilate one another, creating a rupture in space.
'Anti-time Eruption'
A multiphasic temporal convergence in the space-time continuum caused by a breakdown in the subspace barrier separating time and anti-time.
'Alternate time-lines'
Different versions of a single universe. However different versions also sometimes coexist as parallel universes. Most active temporal anomalies allow interaction between different time-lines for a moment, making them parallel realities in relation to one another.
'Alternate Reality'
The new reality created by a temporal incursion of the Narada from the year 2387. Accidentally travelling back to the year 2233, Nero, the captain of the Narada, destroyed the USS Kelvin, killing George Kirk and Richard Robau. Spock arrived in the alternate reality in 2258 and was captured by Nero, who used red matter to destroy Vulcan. However, Nero's attacks united the crew of this reality's USS Enterprise years earlier, to foil his attempt to destroy Earth.
'Temporal Wake'
An energetic phenomenon that can be created as a byproduct of a temporal vortex, insulating anything caught inside from an alteration of the time-line
'Intelligence Agency'
An organization responsible for conducting espionage on other governments or for preventing other governments' espionage attempts (i.e. counterintelligence). During a time of war, intelligence agencies are primarily tasked with ascertaining enemy positions, home front industrial capabilities, and weaknesses within defence perimeters.
'Project Christopher'
This project was named for Captain John Christopher(serial number 4857932). Christopher was a Human military officer who served in the United States Air Force in the late 1960s. He was the father of Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, the leader of the first Earth-Saturn mission. Because of a temporal mistake, the crew of the 23rd century USS Enterprise beams Captain Christopher aboard, thus altering the timeline in a significant way. Christopher was eventually returned and the timeline restored. The agency named for him was set up by the United Federation of Planets and Section 31 of the 25th century in order to rescue Captains from the past in the moments before their demise and send them to the future to fight in the Klingon War of 2408, without causing disruptions of the established timeline.
'Starfleet Intelligence'
A branch of Starfleet responsible for gathering and analyzing information concerning neighbouring powers in the galaxy, and for carrying out covert investigations regarding possible threats to Earth and, later, the Federation.
'The V'Shar'
The Vulcan intelligence and security agency responsible for maintaining internal affairs on Vulcan and external affairs in Vulcan space during the 24th century. After the founding of the Federation, the V'Shar became responsible for internal affairs on Vulcan and external affairs outside the normal operations of Starfleet Intelligence.
'Section 31'
The name of an officially-nonexistent clandestine organization within Starfleet Intelligence that claimed to protect the security interests of Starfleet and that of the Federation.
'Temporal anomaly'
A disruption in the space-time continuum which can be related to time travel. Temporal anomalies can take many forms and have many different effects, including temporal reversion, the creation of alternate time-lines, and fracturing a vessel into different time periods.
Temporal anomalies:
Anti-time eruption
Energy vortex
Causality loop
Nexus
Temporal displacement
Temporal distortion
Temporal explosion
Temporal inversion
Temporal fracture
Temporal fragment
Temporal flux
Temporal rift
Factors:
Chronitons
Temporal mechanics
Time
Effects:
Alternate time-line
Temporal causality loop
Temporal paradox
12. TERMS
The following category includes all non-living aspects related to time travel.
Anti-time
Anti-time eruption
Antichroniton
Atavachron
Bio-temporal chamber
Biotemporal field
Bio-temporal flux
Black hole
Black star
Chroniton
Chroniton radiation
Chrono deflector
Chronokinetic surge
Chronometric distortion
Chronometric particle
Dali paradox
Department of Temporal Investigations
Elementary Temporal Mechanics
Energy vortex
Exogenic field
Grandfather paradox
Guardian of Forever
Harry Kim wormhole
Interphase
Interspatial flux
Janeway Factor
Kerr loop
Lazarus' spaceship
Metreon
Moebius
Nexus
Ophidian
Orb of Time
Pogo paradox
Predestination paradox
Quantum fissure
Singularity
Slingshot effect
Spatial rift
Subspace corridor
Subspace fracture
Subspace fragment
Synchronic distortion
Tachyon
Temporal Accord
Temporal Cold War
Temporal Integrity Commission
Temporal Prime Directive
Temporal agent
Temporal anomaly
Temporal aperture <
