In the teaser, yes, at the auction of Nog's things where Worf buys the tooth sharpener, and in Ops when they clear the Ferengi shuttle for departure and Sisko jokingly laments that no-one warned Earth that they're coming.
That sounds fun. But maybe, instead of destroying Earth (what did all of the other lifeforms on Earth do to deserve being destroyed?), just wipe out all of the Homo sapiens everywhere all at once. That would make for a good alternate Mirror Universe plot, actually. We know there's at least one non-Q being who could do it (a Douwd male from the TNG episode "The Survivors"), so there are probably more.
The Scotty-centric TNG-era book "Engines of Destiny" explored one - though not by any means the only option - for how a "No Humans" timeline could shake out.
I'd give it a shot. It probably won't attract mass audiences without some amazing hook, but if it did work it'd be a tie-in to get people to check out DS9... the more people who did that, the better IMHO. Maybe get some Breen in there as well. I only recall the Breen mentioned in name ("Generations") and then there was one in costume as a limited-dialogue side-role (DS9?) and it looked like Princess Leia in ROTJ with the big squarish mask with blinking LEDs and all that... universe expanding never hurts. ((Now that also leads to a fascinating if not frightening thought in that the Breen are actually a Star Wars race, which Leia is either a member of (before being abandoned on Aldebaran, why not) or Leia was just impersonating as one to get past Jabba the Hutt in his hut to get at Han. Okay, that's more frightening, I'll agree...))
^ Depending on just where the Nyberrite Alliance are located the Breen could be a recurring foe, or they may face off against a whole new batch of enemies. Of course, there is the possibility one of the ship's crew could be a Breen, maybe serving as Helmsman, someone the new human Security Chief doesn't trust from day one.
Depends on how connected a "Nyberrite Alliance" show is to DS9, as opposed to the Star Trek universe in general. If I had never seen DS9, but did see the pilot of Voyager, I don't think that would have made me want to check out DS9.
Star Trek has always been a "Swashbuckling naval adventures in space" show, even DS9, a tradition that goes back to Jason and the Golden Fleece, and the Odyssey, even Horatio Hornblower. Starfleet is inherent in that premise and if it gets too far from it, its not the same show at all and loses its purpose. It can venture outside of that zone once in awhile, sure, give the audience something a little different but not too often. I think Enterprise has the best chance to move a bit off-center with that premise by being so early it was Pre-starfleet and became more of a NASA/ESA type show with the UESPA, but the showrunners of that time avoided those risks.
Yes please, although some way would have to be found around Humanity only having warp one for several decades. The Nyberrite Alliance have no formal military service of it's own, they buy ships and hire mercenaries (like the Dorsal) from outside their culture. Maybe they're inheritly weak. Or They have alway been peaceful and they have no history of warfare, but they now realize as they move out into the galaxy that their peaceful ways are a form of cultural suicide.
There were (and are!) ways around that by doing bits of the show as long term adventures of ECS crews in an anthology sort of premise. It looks as though the ECS was out there having fun long before Starfleet. The rest could have been dealing with colonizing the solar system, initial encounters with pirates, political intrigue with non United Earth factions, etc. Doesn't matter as it didn't happen. I don't think that opportunity will be looked at again. "Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy. " -Niccolo Machiavelli. I don't see the Nyberrite Alliance being too stable
I'm more interesting in committing to something that has staying power, not a one-shot storyline with a reset switch where everything goes back to normal. The way I see it, if you destroy Earth, you're committing more to the diverse galaxy of Star Trek because the one thing that a lot of Star Trek writers dub the most important part for humanity is now gone. How do you write high stakes when there's no Earth to defend? How does Humanity fit in with a large diverse galaxy when their prized home has been destroyed?
Niccolo Machiavelli was a ambitious political opportunist, who was blind to the real people inhabiting the world around him. The Nyberrite Alliance wouldn't be defined by the hired hands brought in to help protect it. During the American revolutionary war, part of America's forces were German mercenaries, promised money and (in the event of a American victory) parcels of land. The Vatican Swiss Guard, who protect the Pope, is a mercenary unit,
Machiavelli was one of the greatest minds of the Italian renaissance, and he has been proven right over and over again. Actually the Papal state's forced reliance on mercenaries and the losses it incurs is why all that remains is a tiny parcel of land and the Swiss Guard. Niccolo was right, again.
I've always thought of the Nyberrite as being one of the oldest races of the galaxy, eons before even the Vulcans they explored space, colonised worlds, and studied their ever changing surroundings, but after a time such exploits no longer engaged them as they once had so over time they stopped expanding and withdrew to a smaller region of territory. Even as the number of races capable of warp travel increased the Nyberrite's drive to explore and contact others didn't return to its previous heights, they traded and engaged in peaceful discourse, but remained politically neutral and out of whatever conflicts and wars were going on. Over the centuries, the people began to lose interest in space travel instead wanting to focus on their own culture and develop new arts and sciences, at which point they opened the doors of their space service to others to fill the ranks for matters of trade and policing their borders.
somewhat like china. their explorers reached the east coast of africa. and maybe the west coast of america. their trading fleets were huge. the silk road began in china. and then they stopped. stopped exploring. stopped trying. focused inward. their choice to make. but just think of where they'd be today if they had never stopped. alpha centuri?
Historically China has had these technological improvements (mass produced swapable parts in the bronze age, gun powder, rocketry, the compass, etc) but has generally favored stability over capitalizing on the gains. Others take those improvements and run with them. If the Han Empire had made it to the Americas they most likely would not have set up a Spanish New World style empire. They'd never shown that much impetus to colonize. It's doubtful they would have made their own Grab For Africa, either, and they would have been in competition with the Arab world for trade posts along the cost, there. Europe on the other hand, was unstable, ravenous, and had been for nearly a millennium. The Spanish had had the conquest of the Canaries as a training ground for genocide (combined with the Reconquista) and the ground rules were set, even if the other team wasn't quite aware of them. I think the same thing would have largely happened if the Romans or Ptolemys had sent ships west across the Atlantic. Not much. I do think there is something to cultures that reach a certain point of development and then look back. The UK launched its very own satellite Prospero, on an innovative rocket, the Black Arrow, in the early 1970's, than became the first and so far only nation to give up its own indigenous space program. It's troubling that no one has gone forward since Apollo either, though Apollo might have been an outlier, it may have happened a little too soon.
Oh, but I'm talking about something permanent as well. Anyone who tries to bring back the humans gets erased, too.
Given how many time Earth has been targeted, wouldn't Starfleet Command and the Federation Council take a moment to reconsider having both on the planet? Establish the new Starfleet Command on Andor and the Federation Council on Tellar and they'll be very safe, no one ever goes after them. On Earth the old HQ building can become a novelty pub whilst the Council chambers are turned into flats/apartments.
That would make sense. Alas, Terran hegemony over the other races in the Federation is far too strong.