A joint Klingon-Federation mission?

[F. King Daniel]

Hence the design kinda looking like the Enterprise and a Klingon battlecruiser had a baby, and the Klingons rumoured to be in continuing roles.

An attempt at a joint Klingon-Federation mission to do something vitally important and dangerous (hence all the phaser turrets, and a hanger bay full of those Klingon fighters we saw the concept art of). Major conflict among the crew throughout. Big idealogical differences. Maybe the entire mission is classified, explaining why nobody ever mentions it later.

But what kind of thing would make Klingons and humans build a combined ship and fly out together in the time of "The Cage"? Some weird anomaly that's been attacking both their ships, but leaving the rest of the galaxy alone?

 

[Ithekro]

Sheliak? Romulans? Any number of things.

 

[fireproof78]

The Gorn.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

The only way this makes an iota of sense, given the time period, is if the mission is completely top secret. Klingons and the Feds are not friendly to each other at this point. This has been established by any number of canon sources.

Now, it could be two competing missions -- both Starfleet and the Klingons are trying to get something first. That seems more likely. It can still be top secret, hence why no one ever mentioned it in TOS.

 

[RedAlert]

I would bet a Klingon/Federation adventure against Romulans....
just sayin'

 

[BJ Wagner]

I'd go for it, so long as we could get to see a Klingon science officer. I've always wanted to have the smartest crew member to be a Klingon.

 

[Ithekro]

"This formula is without honor".

 

[BJ Wagner]

"This formula is without honor".

I give him/her about fifteen minutes of working on a problem before going all Kylo Ren on the library computer.

 

[LtChange]

After referencing Balance of Terror I don't think it is a joint mission. I think it is more probable something that captured the attention of Federation and the Klingon Empire too. So they are racing each other to get there before the other one.

 

[jamestyler]

Thats my thought as well - a galactic race leading to a big stand off at the end of the first season, maybe.

That said, the idea of a Klingon Captain could be far more varied and diverse than the basic multi-ship approach. It could be a captured Klingon, a defector, an officer sent to represent the Empire (reluctant temporary truce?)... loads of different options available.

It'd be pretty cool if the Discovery rescues a sole Klingon survivor (the captain) from a wreck; find out HE was hunting this old alien artifact of doom, and Discovery go rogue against orders to destroy it for whatever reason (giant powerful thing in the wrong hands... etc - the usual).

 

[BillJ]

Hence the design kinda looking like the Enterprise and a Klingon battlecruiser had a baby, and the Klingons rumoured to be in continuing roles.

An attempt at a joint Klingon-Federation mission to do something vitally important and dangerous (hence all the phaser turrets, and a hanger bay full of those Klingon fighters we saw the concept art of). Major conflict among the crew throughout. Big idealogical differences. Maybe the entire mission is classified, explaining why nobody ever mentions it later.

But what kind of thing would make Klingons and humans build a combined ship and fly out together in the time of "The Cage"? Some weird anomaly that's been attacking both their ships, but leaving the rest of the galaxy alone?

But why would it have a Federation name and registry? And, if the mission is vitally important, why take the time to develop and build a brand new ship design, when both fleets have capable deep space vessels?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Good points. Let's hope the Discovery people thought of that too!

 

[Tenacity]

That said, the idea of a Klingon Captain could be far more varied and diverse than the basic multi-ship approach.

The first time a series primary top officer wasn't a Human.

And the Klingon Captain would not have to be a transfer from the Empire's fleet, they could be someone who was born and raised on a Federation planet (perhaps multi-generational) and has little or no personal interest with tradition Klingon culture.

 

[BillJ]

And the Klingon Captain would not have to be a transfer from the Empire's fleet, they could be someone who was born and raised on a Federation planet (perhaps multi-generational) and has little or no personal interest with tradition Klingon culture.

Wasn't Worf the first Klingon to serve in Starfleet?

 

[Ithekro]

A Klingon in Starfleet in the 2250s would be classified as a traitor to the Empire, and from what we know of the 2260s, unlikely to have happened unless it was part of the reason for the two powers to go to war shortly before being stopped by the Organians.

 

[Tenacity]

Wasn't Worf the first Klingon to serve in Starfleet?

The only thing we know from TNG is that Worf was the only Klingon serving on a "Human Starfleet vessel" at the time of the first TNG season.

That leaves a lot of room for Worf not to be the first.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

The only thing we know from TNG is that Worf was the only Klingon serving on a "Human Starfleet vessel" at the time of the first TNG season.

That leaves a lot of room for Worf not to be the first.

I don't think so. A Klingon serving on a Starfleet vessel in the 2250s would be like a Soviet officer serving on a US Naval ship in the Cold War. If the show wants to be in any way consistent with the timeframe in which it's supposed to be set, there's no way this can happen. At this time, the Klingons are the mortal enemies of the Federation.

If it were set post-TUC, that would be a different story.

 

[Spot261]

Unless of course there were in fact instances of cooperation which ran against the grain, were not reported widely or even at all and dealt with covert threats or concerns relevent to both parties

 

[Ithekro]

It would require explaining.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

In the same way Darvin wound up at K-7, or Kirk infiltrated the Romulan ship. Though it would be discovered at their physical...