After the Destiny events, The Typhon Pact and future novels

[PrimeDirective]

When you have about 7,431 Borg vessels coming into your metaphorical backyard, you need to be a bit more forceful in your approach to diplomacy. Sure, before the massive Borg invasion of 2381, a tactic like the one President Bacco used with the alliance members would've been improper. But you have to realize that when the fate of billions of sentient beings depends on what you do and say, it's necessary to point the "gun" in someone's face to make them realize the gravity of the situation.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Yeah, but here's how the "real world" works: You might've gotten your way this time, but payback's a bitch.

Typhon Pact: Paying it Back.

 

[Saito S]

In their defence, the Federation had their forces at the Azure Nebula smashed to ribbons too. If somehow the Federation fleet was convieniently delayed and missed the battle things might have appeared much, much worse.

Oh man... just imagine the political fallout that would occur if THAT had happened.

And how about, if that had happened, combining that with the fact that only Federation ships were present to witness the whole Caeliar assimilation thing.

"Hey guys, sorry about every ship in the Azure Nebula being steamrolled. Who could have predicted that, huh? And who coulld have predicted that our ships would have been delayed by that ion storm, thus being the only ones to not get steamrolled? Oh, and as for the Borg, they're gone now. No, totally gone. A super advanced race called the Caeliar absorbed them all. I know it sounds far-fetched, but take our word for it. We have three Starfleet captains who will all swear that that's what happened."

Anyway... While the gist of what the Typhon Pact is had been vaguely hinted at in some stuff I accidentally glanced at before I read A Singular Destiny (browsing Memory Beta can be dangerous business), it was still fascinating to see the whole thing slowly come together as this unfolding mystery, culminating in that awesome scene with Bacco and the Tholian ambassador. "When were you going to tell us!?" Great stuff. And very interesting, politically, going forward, this whole pact idea. Especially with the Romulans. If the UFP and its allies were to find themselves facing armed conflict against the Pact, that would but the Romulans (on both sides) in a very interesting, very difficult position.

Gha, now that I've read both ASD and Losing the Peace, I find the idea of waiting till the end of the year to find out what happens next to be less than pleasant. Damn you guys and your awesome writing skills, and your damn set-ups and plot twists and cliffhangers.

Plus! I'm really jazzed about the prospect of getting to read about Captain Dax and the Aventine again. I'm still hoping for an Aventine series at some point, but for now, I'll take one more book.

Of course, this all presents a weird challenge for me, as well. As I've mentioned before, I have my own Trek story ideas. I didn't work on them much for a while, but readings all these books has gotten me interested in them again. Thing is, they take place in the 2390s (with some really important backstory stuff set between 2382 and 2390). I like the novels of this continuity more than enough to incorporate many of the events within them into my backstory. But now, I have to make some decisions about how things went between ASD and the beginnings of my stuff. How long does the Pact last? Was there ever a war between one or more Pact members and one or more UFP allies? What happened to the two Romulan governments when Romulus was destroyed in 2387? How long does the moratorium on Trill symbiont joining last? How quickly does slipstream tech reach the point where it's becoming standard and supplanting warp drive?

Unless I'm just going to wait to write anything until the end of 2010 (yeah, right), I'm going to have to just decide with much of this stuff. Then, as more books come out, I may discover that there is a divergence between my ideas and the books. Oh well... I suppose, if that happened, then - were I ever to publish - my stories would just have to be yet another alternate continuity. There are already like six of them, so what's one more?

 

[PrimeDirective]

I don't think that the Typhon Pact members are going to attack the Federation first, they're going to wait until they themselves are strong enough politically, militarilly, and economically to take any significant move against the Federation.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I don't think the Pact will openly attack the Federation at all. I expect a cold war with a few skirmishes to keep things spicy.

Untill the Federation brings down the Pact by replicating insane amounts of those gemstones the Pact uses for money and destroys their economy. War over. Fall of Soviet Union (in space). Famine (again). Disease (again). Misery (again).

Then, seven years later Hobus explodes. Romulus, Remus and god-knows-what else dies. Vulcans get in trouble for inventing Red Matter (which is like a far worse version of that illegal Son'a weapon from Insurrection). Mad surviving Romulans build Space Octopus. Lots more suffering.

...something tells me poor Picard never will get back to exploring.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Untill the Federation brings down the Pact by replicating insane amounts of those gemstones the Pact uses for money and destroys their economy.

This is the greatest method of underhanded petty pre-emptive attack on another nation ever.

I'm picturing bug-eyed paranoid Section 31 agents obsessively hijacking replicators and pouring out tons of gemstones all day, totally ignoring all over concerns: "Can't feed you today, Andor- busy replicating cash. Oh, and we'll need to shut down your hospitals because we're tapping the power grid for more replicator power. For the good of the Federation, you understand".

And soon both the Federation and the Pact have collapsed and the galaxy is simply an economic wasteland filled with piles of gemstones.

Anyway...

 

[KRAD]

Anyway... While the gist of what the Typhon Pact is had been vaguely hinted at in some stuff I accidentally glanced at before I read A Singular Destiny (browsing Memory Beta can be dangerous business), it was still fascinating to see the whole thing slowly come together as this unfolding mystery, culminating in that awesome scene with Bacco and the Tholian ambassador. "When were you going to tell us!?" Great stuff.

Thank you. That scene was incredible amounts of fun to write, and I'm glad it was effective. Especially given how risky it was to have the climax of the novel a) be two people in a room, talking and b) not involve the novel's primary protagonist.

 

[PrimeDirective]

I think you're right "King Daniel", the Federation will be(when it recovers enough to stand on its "own two feet"), in a cold war with the Pact for a long time to come. Another thing that you mentioned which I also agree with (mostly, lol), is that it'll be a good long while before Captain Picard or any starship commander or captain(except for the Luna and Vesta-class ones), go back to fulfilling Starfleet's main mission of scientific exploration.

 

[Sci]

When you have about 7,431 Borg vessels coming into your metaphorical backyard, you need to be a bit more forceful in your approach to diplomacy. Sure, before the massive Borg invasion of 2381, a tactic like the one President Bacco used with the alliance members would've been improper. But you have to realize that when the fate of billions of sentient beings depends on what you do and say, it's necessary to point the "gun" in someone's face to make them realize the gravity of the situation.

Sure. I never said that what she did was wrong. As I said, it was completely justified because everyone was being too stupid to look after their own interests without being forced to.

But, the fact remains that she put pressure on these guys. She pretty much forced them to do what she wanted to do. And now, they're inherently gonna be, if not pissed at her -- which some of them are almost certainly going to be -- wary of the amount of power the Federation demonstrated it can wield over its neighbors. They're going to want to set up something to balance that out in the future.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I don't think the Pact will openly attack the Federation at all. I expect a cold war with a few skirmishes to keep things spicy.

Untill the Federation brings down the Pact by replicating insane amounts of those gemstones the Pact uses for money and destroys their economy.

Michael Elphick should, of course, be "cast" as the Section 31 agent doing that; Ensign Schultz.

 

[DBall]

Now that ya mention section 31, it would make sense that this pact would see a resurgence of their activity. A book series fully devoted to Section 31 in this time frame would be absolutely magnificent.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

Hmmm a new cold war style era? I could see a flurry of Bond-style Treks books.

From Tzeneketh with Love or how about the classic Latinumeye or Planteoidraker!!!

 

[PrimeDirective]

Do you guys think that the Federation will change its focus dramatically, due to the formation of the Typhon Pact, or remain stedfast in its core commitment to scientific exploration and defense of its territory and allies?

 

[JD]

I really don't see the Pact having that big of an impact on the Federation's goals and ideals. At least not anymore than any of the other major galactic powers they have come into conflict with. If anything I would think that they would be more determined to stick to those ideals now that there is another power out their. If I were the part of the Federation government, I would want to show everyone that despite what is happening and what just happened we are still the same UFP we have always been.

 

[PrimeDirective]

I think that the Federation would be very wise in showing the galaxy that they are never going to waver from their founding ideals, no matter what happens. I think that an example of their stedfast commitent to scientific exploration is having the Luna and Vesta-class starships out there in the galaxy, "going where no one has gone before". An example of their commitment to the safety and protection of their allies, is having Starfleet starships helping out on planets that belong to their allies(i.e. Qo'nos), making sure that things get started on the road to something resembling normality. If the Federation keeps this up, with time, they'll be as strong as they were before the Borg invasion of 2381.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I think the fact that over 40% (or was it 60%?) of Starfleet was destroyed might have an impact.
Surely all the mundane stuff like protecting borders is more important now then flying off to parts unknown is? The simple fact is they probably don't have enough ships to do both anymore. If I lived on a dumpy fled.gling border world, can tell you I would rather my border patrol.

 

[Sci]

I think the fact that over 40% (or was it 60%?) of Starfleet was destroyed might have an impact.
Surely all the mundane stuff like protecting borders is more important now then flying off to parts unknown is? The simple fact is they probably don't have enough ships to do both anymore. If I lived on a dumpy fled.gling border world, can tell you I would rather my border patrol.

Which is fair enough... to a point.

On the other hand, the only reason the Federation survived the Borg invasion was that the U.S.S. Titan was off exploring the Beta Quadrant and discovered New Erigol.

Surely that proves that exploration can be vital to Federation security, too?

I can certainly see the majority of Starfleet's resources being diverted to re-building, refugee resettlement, and border securement. But I think that it's important for Starfleet to keep, at the very least, a highly-publicized minimal exploration fleet. Which is exactly what the novels have Starfleet doing -- most ships are back at home, but the Luna-class starships are still out there, and the Project: Full Circle fleet is exploring the Delta Quadrant again.

 

[Christopher]

I really don't see the Pact having that big of an impact on the Federation's goals and ideals. At least not anymore than any of the other major galactic powers they have come into conflict with. If anything I would think that they would be more determined to stick to those ideals now that there is another power out their. If I were the part of the Federation government, I would want to show everyone that despite what is happening and what just happened we are still the same UFP we have always been.

Indeed, the best way for the Federation to respond to the Pact would be not to treat it as an enemy. The Pact formed as a defense against UFP bullying and imperialism, so if the UFP acts hostile toward it, that'll just create tensions that don't need to exist. What the UFP needs to do is reassure the Pact that it isn't a threat to them.

Indeed, what the Pact represents is the success of UFP values. What these six species are doing is the same thing Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, and Andoria did two centuries before, or at least it has the potential to be the same thing. So if the UFP treated it as a threat, that would be hypocritical, and it would risk undoing the positive potential of the Pact by forcing them into a defensive footing.

So you're right -- the UFP needs to stay true to its values, including its value of respect for other cultures' self-determination. It needs to show that it and the Pact can coexist, if not as partners in a common goal, at least as neighbors independently working for compatible goals of prosperity and security.

 

[Cybersnark]

I'm more interested in the (yet-to-be-confirmed) broadening of the Khitomer accords.

I expect there'll be a deepening of relations between the UFP and the Klingons, perhaps leading to Klingon forces taking an active role in defending UFP interests (in return for the Starfleet ships that died to defend Klingon holdings during the Invasion). Some border worlds might lose their Starfleet patrols, but gain a Klingon outpost --and consider this a good trade. (What would Kirk have thought?)

Assuming Bacco's expansions go through and the Romulan State, Cardassians, and Ferengi join, I can see the IRS taking a similar tact (though being less trusted than the Klingons, at first, except perhaps on Ardana). The Cardasians aren't really in a position to provide much aid (IIRC most of their remaining fleet was at the Azure Nebula). The Ferengi would no doubt take a major role in the reconstruction (there's profit to be made in the form of favours and salvage). Races who were at each others' throats just a few years before are now going to be relying on one another.

This isn't just a temporary alliance as in the Dominion War. This is potentially the start of something permanent. Regardless of what the Pact does, the Federation is going to be a very different, and perhaps better, place.

 

[JD]

I'm wondering if perhaps this could end up being the very, very early first step to these races eventually becoming UFP memers. Now, I'm not saying I expect this to be happening anytime soon, I'm thinking more like 20-50 years from now.