CONTEST ENTRY - Jellico's Warship

[Oddish]

As most of you who have read my previous work know, I love "what if" stories. And as I was thinking about "what if Jellico had kept the Enterprise", or "what if the Federation was willing to build warships", and rewatching the end of DS9's second season... well, this one kind of wrote itself.

--- JELLICO'S WARSHIP ---

Julian Bashir stared out the viewport at the Starfleet vessel that had just docked at the station. It was an impressive sight, to be sure: nearly three-quarters of a kilometer in length, forty-two decks from bridge to keel, capable of sustaining Warp 9 for days on end, and heir to a name that had a history running all the way back to the days of wooden sailing ships. "So, chief," the young doctor said. "That's where you served before you came to Deep Space 9?"

Miles O'Brien was also staring at the ship, possibly with even more interest than Julian. To an untrained person, she would have looked like any other Galaxy Class, but Miles could see the subtle changes that indicated the vastly transformed nature of the USS Enterprise. "Yes," he said. "But she didn't look like that when I served aboard her."

"What happened?" Julian queried.

"The Cardassians happened," Miles replied grimly. "Followed by the Borg. You heard about Captain Picard, right?"

"Of course," Bashir said. And indeed he had: everyone knew the tragic story of the intrepid Starfleet captain who had been taken by the Cardassians shortly before the Minos Corvo incident. The Cardasian fleet had been chased from the disputed system with an invitation not to return, but not before Jean-Luc Picard had died at the hands of one of their torturers. Many people had refused to believe the Cardassian narrative that Picard had been engaging in terrorist operations, and had called for retaliatory action after the incident, but cooler heads had prevailed.

"From what I hear," Miles expalined, "after Picard was gone, a new guy took over the ship. His name was Edward Jellico. I only knew him by reputation, but unlike Picard, he was a soldier, not an explorer. And then, three months later, there was that mess with the Borg, led by Commander Data's brother."

"I heard about that," Bashir said. "How many ships were lost in the fighting?"

"Too many," Miles said grimly. "Thanks to Commander Data, the Enterprise survived, but it was blasted to hell. And when they got back to the shipyards, Captain Jellico convinced his superiors to let him rebuild the ship his way. 'The Federation flagship should be Starfleet's strong right arm, ready to project a show of strength' or some such thing. I'm sure Jellico was far more eloquent, when he worded his proposal."

"I guess I heard about that as well," Bashir mused. "After he and his people had saved the Federation from two separate existential threats, they bought into his theories."

"He wasn't completely wrong," Miles said. "The Federation's long had the strongest tech base in the quadrant, but we won't build warships, we won't develop our own cloaking tech, though we have the ability. It makes sense on paper, but..." he shook his head. "It's like we're trying to lose."

Julian Bashir was young and idealistic and had not seen combat, so he still believed in Federation doctrine. However, he was wise enough to choose to agree to disagree here. He indicated the Enterprise. "What about all the civilians onboard?"

"A lot of the civilian infrastructure was lost in the fight with the Borg," Miles explained. "Most of the schools, including the nursery where Molly went, half the science labs... all of it gone. Even Ten Forward was gutted."

"The children?"

"They were moved to emergency shelter areas, so most of them were fine. Of course, when one of the shelters took a direct hit..." Miles didn't continue. He didn't have to.

"But there aren't children on the Enterprise anymore."

"No, the civilian structures that weren't trashed were taken out during the refit. In their place... I don't know what-all, the changes were classified. But I know that the Enterprise is now the closest thing the Federation has to a proper warship. That's why they moved the Odyssey from the Cardassian border last month and had the Enterprise take her place."

"I thought the Federation didn't believe in rattling its saber that way."

Miles's face hardened. "Let me tell you something, Julian. When you're dealing with the Cardassians, a little saber-rattling..."

The voice of Major Kira on the comm interrupted his reply and ended the incipient disagreement. "All senior officers, report to ops," it instructed. With Sisko off the station and missing, she was the one calling the shots, and you did not want to ignore an order she gave you. Both men quickly headed for the turbolift.

When the two of them arrived in ops, Kira was speaking with a stern-faced captain with gray hair. Neither of them knew him by sight, but he was flanked by two men Miles knew well: one was Data, Starfleet's one Soong-class android member; he had been second officer of the Enterprise when Miles was onboard. The red uniform top and three pips on his collar suggested that he had gone from second to first. Worf, Starfleet's first (and currently only) Klingon member, still wore gold, but his collar had sprouted a pip as well.

Seeing them, Kira indicated them both to the man she had been talking to. "Oh good, you're here. This is Edward Jellico, the Enterprise's captain. Captain, Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir."

"O'Brien, yes, the engineering crew were still talking about your work when I arrived," Jellico said. "I believe you know my first and second officers.

"Oh course," O'Brien said. "Commander Data and Lieute... excuse me, Lieutenant Commander Worf," he amended.

"And I've met Commander Data as well," Bashir volunteered.

"Indeed," Data said. "The doctor assisted me on a... very illuminating project about a year ago."

"We'll have time to catch up later," Captain Jellico cut in. "For now, Starfleet has ordered all traffic through the wormhole suspended until the Enterprise investigated the Jem'Hadar's threat."

"What about Benjamin and the others?" Dax queried.

"I have been instructed to make Commander Sisko's return a high priority," Jellico stated evenly.

"If you're going to try to rescue them, we're coming with you," Dax responded.

"I would advise against that," Jellico said. "Your two remaining runabouts are unlikely to tip the balance all that much."

"Even so, you could use all the help you can get," Kira stated.

Jellico scowled. "You're not under my command, major, so I won't stop you from coming along in your own ships. However, I advise that when the shooting starts, keep your distance."

"We'll keep that in mind."

"I've been outfitting the runabouts with extra banks of photon torpedoes," O'Brien said. "They should be ready within a few hours."

"It should take at least that long to offload all nonessential personnel from the Enterprise," Dax said. "You were planning on doing that, weren't you?"

"Lieutenant, this ship offloaded its nonessential personnel almost a year ago," Jellico said. "So if you're coming, you'll want to expedite your work."

Commander Data spoke up. "Perhaps Commander Worf and I could assist the chief with his modifications to the runabouts."

Jellico scowled again, but he was a warrior, and understood the desire of those like him to reconnect with former comrades, as well as aid them in time of need. And in any case, the Enterprise was as battle-ready as its crew could make it, and he would need neither officer. "Very well."

*~*~*

As they walked along toward the runabout pads, O'Brien spoke up. "So, Commander, how's the Enterprise crew been holding up? I mean, since Captain Picard..." he trailed off.

"In addition to the considerable grief that everyone felt, there was a period of readjustment for most of our personnel," Data said. "Captain Jellico's command style was very different from Captain Picard's. A number of crew requested reassignment."

O'Brien addressed the elephant in the turbolift, given Data's obvious advancement. "Commander Riker among them?"

"There was considerable friction between the two of them, due to their respective personalities," Data admitted. "It took time, but they ultimately grew to respect one another."

"However, when it was announced that the Cheyenne was in our sector and had urgent need of a captain, Commander Riker applied for the position," Worf put in, then added in a slightly aggrieved tone: "Counselor Troi chose to accompany him."

"Well, then I guess congratulations are due to all of you," the chief replied. "Especially you, Commander. The red uniform suits you."

"Thank you, Chief. It has been... very educational, adjusting to my new duties. Thankfully, Geordi has remained aboard, and has helped me a great deal."

O'Brien turned to Worf with a smile. "Do I even have to ask how you've been doing?"

"It has been a great honor, working with Captain Jellico and Commander Data to create such a... capable vessel," Worf said. Despite his trademark gruffness, he fooled exactly no one; even Data had known that the Klingon had enjoyed his work greatly.

"I'll bet," Miles said. "Well, I hope you won't have to test it against the Jem'Hadar, but I know that if you do, you'll do yourselves proud."

To be continued...

 

[Oddish]

Here's the rest. Sorry, 25,000-character limit and all.

The modified Galaxy Class emerged into the Gamma Quadrant in a flash of light, with the two diminutive runabouts flying in its wake like two mice scurrying along after a lion. All three vessels frantically aimed their sensors in as many directions as possible, aware that with no way to scan before their emergence into the Gamma Quadrant, the mouth of the wormhole was a perfect spot for an ambush. However, they quickly realized that their caution had been unnecessary.

Captain Jellico hailed the runabouts. "Nothing detected on long range scanners. But that doesn't mean the Dominion doesn't have cloaking technology."

"We'll keep our eyes open," Dax assured him from the Mekong.

"Lieutenant, I've got something," O'Brien said. "Single ship, Starfleet, flying erratically." He typed some commands and checked the readout. "It's the Rio Grande."

"Captain, we've sighted the missing runabout," Dax reported.

"Understood, lieutenant," Jellico reported from the Enterprise bridge. "Go pick it up. We'll cover for you."

Data watched the sensors and calmly reported what was going on as it happened. The Rio Grande had been intercepted successfully, and come to a full stop while the chief beamed aboard. It then fell into formation with the Mekong and Orinoco, flying much more smoothly with an experienced pilot at the helm. "Jake Sisko and Nog have been secured, along with the ship," Data stated. "The station crew report that Commander Sisko and one other civilian are still missing."

"Do they know which planet they're on?" Jellico queried.

"Yes, sir."

"Tell them to proceed to that location and rescue him if they can, then get back to the wormhole," Jellico commanded. Hopefully, with the commander retrieved, the runabouts would return home. Jellico had read the specs on the vessels the Jem'Hadar reported having destroyed, and many of them were a lot more combat capable then the beefed-up shuttles the station crew were flying. He had known better than to try to order around people who weren't in his chain of command, but seeing them in harm's way made him nervous.

Dax's acknowledgement was cut off by a shrill proximity alarm, followed by Worf's deep baritone. "Captain, we're detecting three incoming ships in attack formation."

"Red alert. Activate shields and charge all weapons," Data calmly instructed, and the alarms sounded through the ship's forty-two decks as hundreds of personnel raced from quarters, mess hall, or yellow alert stations to initiate their various comabt duties.

"Mekong, Orinoco, stay with the damaged runabout," Jellico ordered. "We'll try to draw them away from you."

"We can help you, captain," Kira protested.

"The Rio Grande is damaged. If those ships go after it instead of us, it'll need your help more than we will," Jellico ordered tersely. "Mr. Worf, lock phasers on the lead ship. Stand by quantum torpedoes and photons as well."

"Weapons ready," Worf assured him, and Jellico could hear the eagerness in the Klingon's voice. Starfleet had never fielded a proper warship before, not in his lifetime anyway, and he was eager to break some new ground.

The lead Jem'Hadar ship did not disappoint the big Klingon by retreating or trying to negotiate. It activated a fierce polaron beam that sliced through the Enterprise's shields like they weren't there. However, the ship's refit had included a defenseive upgrade as well as an offensive one, and the devastaing stream of ionized polarons slammed solidly against a thick layer of duranium-based ceramic ablative armor. The Jem'Hadar weapons could pierce energy-based shields easily, but were not designed to phase through physical barriers. The sturdy armor tiles quivered and fractured and a few were blown off (the way ablative armor is supposed to), but the hull behind them remained unscratched.

"Full phasers!" the captain barked. "Fire at will." Instantly, Worf's finger jabbed the Fire button.

A year and a half before, Jellico had demanded that the Enterprise's phasers be powered by four other ship's systems instead of three, wanting to be, in his own terms, "loaded for bear". The ship's refit, however, had included two small but mighty auxiliary antimatter reactors, designed to do nothing except service the phaser array. The ship's phaser power was limited only by what the emitters could channel without overloading. If the Enterprise had been loaded for bear before, courtesy of allowing it to scavenge power from other systems, having its own dedicated weapon power source had left it loaded for elephant. Fierce orange beams sprang from the multiple emitters and drilled unerringly into the hulls of the three incoming ships. The lead ship shuddered as the central and most powerful beam drilled into its hull, and then there was an orange flash to its rear as the phaser penetrated its superstructure and punched out through the other side to waste its remaining energy on the vacuum behind. The mortally wounded vessel went tumbling off through space and exploded as the cascading plasma surges overwhelmed its damage control abilities.

With the fire at will command given, Worf needed no further commend to pound the enemy ships. Noting that the other two had lost their shields, he commanded a full barrage of torpedoes. The Enterprise's main torpedo launcher now dispensed the new quantum torpedoes, but that didn't mean she was done with the older weapons: she still had what was known as the photon array, which Worf had designed and the shipyard's crew of engineers had refined into a working reality. A long row of simple torpedo tubes had been inset along the ventral surface of the saucer section. There wasn't space for magazines or reloading mechanisms, so the tubes took the better part of an hour to reload. This vastly reduced both the space required and the structural weakness that torpedo tubes often came with. As a downside, it made them only good for a single shot in a battle... but it gave the Enterprise a devastating first strike capability. Properly deployed, it could end a battle before it began. And that was what happened here: four quantum torpedoes and sixteen photons went screaming into the two remaining ships. One or two missed, but it didn't matter. The Jem'Hadar ships were already weakened by withering phaser fire, and the remaining shots were more than enough to finish the job. Both crews were blasted directly into whatever afterlife awaited their kind as their vessels disintegrated one after the other.

From the protective position they had taken next to the Rio Grande, the station crew eyed the carnage in disbelief. Tactical analysis on the incoming ships had shown them to be large and powerful, but they hadn't had a chance.

"Runabouts, you're clear to get to the planet," Jellico's voice came through the comms. "When you have your commander back, return to the Alpha Quadrant as quickly as possible."

"What about you, sir?" O'Brien queried from the Rio Grande.

"Our orders were to investigate the threat," Jellico said. "We've won the first encounter, but it won't be the last."

"Sir, additional ships have been detected," Data said calmly. "Two squadrons of three, appraoching on opposite vectors."

"Reload quantum tubes, and charge all weapons," Jellico ordered. "Jellico to stingships, deploy now."

Silently, two hatches on the bottom of the ship slid open, and four small parasite ships emerged, then hung in space eagerly awaiting the command to engage. The new arrivals did not look like most Federation ships, because they neither had nor needed warp drives. Like planes on an aircraft carrier, their purpose was to travel within the Enterprise, and launch when needed. Lightning fast and incredibly maneuverable, the little ships were designed to be hard to hit and pack a considerable punch, thanks to their nose-mounted pulse phaser cannons. They provided both a welcome boost in firepower to their mothership, and the ability to deliver it where needed. In a pinch, they could even be left behind for short periods of time, to guard a static location.

Jellico had wanted to have more of them onboard, and an even more advanced weapon suite as well, but the simple truth was that the Enterprise D had been designed more as a floating small town than a vessel of war. There had only been so many changes he could make.

Jellico took advantage of the lull in the combat to ask his first officer a relevant question. "Mr. Data, do we have a shield frequency that will stop their polaron beams?"

"Not at this time, sir," Data said imperturbably. "I tried all bandwidths that the shield generator can produce. Nothing worked. I have used sensors to gather data on the beams, but it will take time for us to properly analyze their weapons, and gain the ability to shield against them. If indeed that is possible."

"Well, let's see if we can get you a little more data, Data," Jellico said, the closest thing he ever came to making a joke. "Mr. Worf, all stingships, you are free to engage. Attack pattern echo."

Upon command, the four stingships flew at and tore into the two ships coming in from below, where the Enterprise had the lightest armaments. They would have had little or no chance against the heftier vessels in even combat, but they had a two to one advantage, and the Enterprise did have one weapon that could fire in that direction. After seconds of whirlwind flight maneuvers, one of the fragile little ships had been destroyed, but the other three had reduced both Jem'Hadar vessels into utter confusion. One of them came too close to the turret on the Enterprise's belly, which mounted a pulse phaser cannon. Pulse phasers were designed for short-range flighting: they lost most of their power at a distance, but were several times stronger than continuous beam phasers were up close, which is why the Enterprise had emitters of both types. One of the two Jem'Hadar ships exploded as the vicious pulsing beam punch into its warp core and obliterated it, and the other jetted away, as its attackers pummeled it from behind with their weapons.

The other four attacking warships did little better. Even without the opening barrage of photons that had claimed their fellows, the Enterprise's phasers had gouged through them, and its quantum torpedoes from the primary forward tube (which could be reloaded) had blasted two of them from the heavens. Now, three ships stopped at a distance, as if to regroup. All were spitting fire and smoke and atmosphere into the void, indicating severe damage, but none were disabled. The Enterprise faced the trio of vessels dead on, despite obvious damage in multiple places, Sizable chunks of her armor had been blasted off, and there was minor damage inside. The ablative armor had been designed to supplement the shields, not take the place of them.

"Should we continue to fire on them?" Worf queried, his hand poised over the torpedo launch button.

"Hold up," Jellico said. "Let's see if our friends are ready to call it a day."

Almost as one, the ships gave their answer, aiming themselves squarely at the Enterprise and going to maximum power. Their rapid acceleration and the nature of their course made their intent clear.

Jellico barked the order to fire, but there was no need, Worf and Data had seen what was coming, and were already firing weapons and maneuvering the ship as they had through countless battle drills. The first would-be kamikaze had a quantum torpedo slam into its main reactor, and the blast removed it from the universe. The second had almost reached its destination when the Enterprise's main pulse phaser turret found it. Seven of the eight turrets on the ship had only one cannon on them, this one had two, and it flung terajoules of energy right into the ship's face, and all it managed to do before coming apart was pummel the Enterprise with flame and chunks of molten hull. But the third ship managed to get through, and it slammed into the Enterprise's hull with a fearsome crunch.

Under normal circumstances, not even the heavy ablative armor that covered the ship would have been enough to stop such a brutal, devastating impact. However, Worf had strongly lobbied for the installation of a double layer on the ship's frontal area, and Jellico had acquiesced largely to shut him up. This decision would save them all from joining their enemies in death: The disintegrating vessel gouged an cavernous hole in the top of the saucer section, killing over a dozen ship's personnel and gutting several key systems and venting a huge area of the hull to space. One of the two antimatter reactors was forced into emergency shutdown, but its heavily shielded antimatter reservoir remained intact. A hull fragment the side of an escape pod slammed into the armored bubble over the bridge, but only managed to knock a few ablative tiles loose.

However, multiple overloads from within had reduced the ship's bridge to a whirlwind of flame and sparks and exploded consoles. Several crew were down, and from the look of things, one wasn't going to get up again, at least not until after a long stretch in sickbay. "Report!" Jellico shouted.

Data spoke louder to be heard over all the screams and other sounds, but his voice remained calm. "Heavy damage throughout the ship. Multiple systems failures. Shields are completely offline."

"One torpedo tube operational. We can still fire phasers, but one antimatter reactor is offline. I would advise against further combat until we can make repairs," Worf said.

"Sir, I believe that the Jem'Hadar ships are probing us," Data reported. "Sending increasingly powerful groups against us. At current rate, it is logical to suggest that we will face either nine or twelve enemies next time. In our current condition, I am not sure we could even defeat one."

That had been Jellico's assessment as well. With it confirmed, he wasted no more time. "All right," he said. "Let's retrieve the stingships, then get to the wormhole before the next wave arrives."

"Captain, we have no power to the hanger doors," Data reported. "Commander LaForge estimates several hours repair time."

"Very well. Beam the pilots back to the ship, and set the stingships to autodestruct," Jellico instructed. "Are the runabouts through the wormhole?"

"The Rio Grande and Orinoco have passed through," Data said. "The Mekong is still at the entrance. They were probably intending to report on the battle."

"Tell them to go through," Jellico said. "We'll be right behind them."

*~*~*

It was a strange mixed mood on Deep Space 9 that night. On the one hand, there was a strong sense of horror an the revelations presented by both Eris and the cruelly arrogant Jem'Hadar third who had visited earlier. The Dominion had introduced itself, not by sending envoys or issuing communiques or other civilized means, but rather via several shocking and barbaric acts of mass murder. The hundreds of civilians lost on what had once been New Bajor were the worst atrocity, but the crews of the destroyed ships tallied up to a shocking sum. Judging by the amount of organic matter scattered in the wreckage of the nine Dominion warships, between 350 and 400 Jem'Hadar soldiers had perished with their vessels, but revenge wouldn't bring back those lost. And, while the Enterprise had been the last ship standing, it was the only thing the Federation had that resembled a warship, and it would require months in a repair yard before it could hope to head into the Gamma Quadrant for Round Two.

On the other hand, they had gotten what they had come for, given the enemy a black eye, and only lost one stingship pilot and fifteen other crew. And when warriors won a victory, that victory was to be celebrated. Worf and Chief Engineer LaForge had joined Chief O'Brien at one of the tables in Quark's for a bottle of blood wine; from the look of things it wasn't their first. Commander Sisko and several others had joined Captain Jellico at another table, and they were consuming liquor at a considerably slower pace.

"I'm sorry that you had to leave behind all of your stingships," Sisko was saying to his counterpart. "I hope it won't be difficult to acquire new ones."

"It won't be," Jellico assured him. "We actually have enough spare parts in storage, we could build new ones in a week or two. They were designed to be easily replaced."

"You must have a difficult time finding pilots for them," Sisko stated.

"Just the opposite," Jellico said. "I know, it sounds strange, but we have more volunteers than we know what to do with. Back on Earth, about 400 years ago, it used to be called a 'fighter jock mentality'."

Kira and Bashir exchanged knowing glances at that statement. Kira had flown missions in ships like that one in her days in the resistance, and Bashir still had enough wanna-be hero left in him to find the idea of piloting one of those ships almost irresistable.

"Well, I know that the Federation council had a lot of concerns about your modifications to the Enterprise," Sisko said. "They weren't too happy when we built the Defiant, and that was right after Wolf 359."

"I think that we may have proved the concept of the Federation dreadnought," Jellico affirmed. "And if not yet, I think the Jem'Hadar will give us many more chances. They might even let us build the next one from the ground up."

Sisko nodded. Though he had been on Deep Space 9 for a year by the time the Borg crisis occured, he had seen the plans for proposed Galaxy-sized warships that Jellico had drawn up in its wake. Data's precision and analytical skill, combined with Worf's Klingon mindset and piggybacked on the considerable research that Ben's team had put into the Defiant Class, had made for impressive work. Design A had left out the stingships, but vastly increased the amount and variety of weapons: gatling phasers, gravitic mines, and higher-capacity photon arrays to name a few. Design B had subbed in huge amounts of hangar space, increasing the number of stingships to twenty. Design C was most interesting of all; it had fewer stingships, but added in a larger impulse-only parasite vessel obviously based on the Defiant.

Starfleet had its hawk-types like any other military-based organization, and they were always suggesting such things, but they rarely got built. That might be about to change, given the Dominion threat.

Commander Data entered the bar, and approached his commander with a padd in his pale hand. "Captain, I have analyzed the ionic signature of the polaron weapons used by the Jem'Hadar. I think that there might be a way to remodulate the shields against them."

"That would eliminate their biggest advantage," Sisko commented.

"Indeed," Jellico said. "Well done, commander. Make sure you communicate your findings with Starfleet. They might have some ideas as well."

"Already done, sir," Data assured him.

Sisko watched as the android, apparently oblivious that he had delivered the first good news of the night, headed over and joined his shipmates. His own mind was running at Warp 9. Many of the weapon systems that the Enterprise had used to such devastating effect that day were ones that he had developed for the Defiant, during the experimental warship's construction. Due to design flaws, the ship had been mothballed and put in storage in an isolated orbital dock. The only still-operational warship in the fleet had been sitting there gathering space dust ever since.

Maybe, he decided, it was time for that to change.

--- THE END ---

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Alas that it would take the demise of Jon Luc Picard to unleash the full brilliance of Edward Jellico. I've been a fan of Jellico's leadership style ever since he was introduced. There's a time for Jacques Cousteau. The Dominion War is a time for Oliver Hazard Perry.

Have to agree with Miles - it's like they've been tying to lose.

Overall very satisfying story - well done! rbs

 

[Oddish]

Alas that it would take the demise of Jon Luc Picard to unleash the full brilliance of Edward Jellico.

Not just Jellico... give him a crew of Data's and Worfs and a Federation dreadnought built from the ground up, and he'll thrash the Dominion singlehanded.

 

[MikeJaffa]

I have two huge problems with this. First, this is 180 degrees from Star Trek's ethos. In "Yesterday's Enterprise," Guinan told Picard the Enterprise was meant to be a ship of peace, not a ship of war. These are usually the kind of actions Star Trek leads oppose, yet here, the DS9 characters are anywhere at least approving, at most eager.

On a meta level, the whole point of the Dominion was to give DS9 a threat to deal with in/from the Gamma quadrant. If the threat had been neutered in the first episode, who would have been the bad guys for the next five seasons? There's no jeopardy if the Federation can blow away anything in its path with ease.

Well written, but I don't like it very much.

 

[Gibraltar]

Loved this whole concept, and how great a job you've done of detailing this alternative history. Every choice you've made here has been logical and in keeping with the internal continuity of the Star Trek universe.

Well done!

 

[Oddish]

Loved this whole concept, and how great a job you've done of detailing this alternative history. Every choice you've made here has been logical and in keeping with the internal continuity of the Star Trek universe.

Thanks. I did try to make it make some degree of sense.

First, this is 180 degrees from Star Trek's ethos.

And I appreciate the observation, because... well, that was kind of the point of the story. Starfleet has the strongest tech in the Alpha Quadrant, but it builds ships for research and exploration, with weapons added on as an afterthought (kind of like USN research vessels, or NOAA ships). They hold their own in combat only because of that tech edge. So what if another close call with the Borg led them to try a more pugnacious approach?

These are usually the kind of actions Star Trek leads oppose, yet here, the DS9 characters are anywhere at least approving, at most eager.

O'Brien was a combat veteran, Kira was a guerilla fighter, and Sisko built a warship. So yes, I think they would have approved. Or at least understood.

Well written, but I don't like it very much.

Thanks for your honest feedback.

 

[MikeJaffa]

And I appreciate the observation, because... well, that was kind of the point of the story. Starfleet has the strongest tech in the Alpha Quadrant, but it builds ships for research and exploration, with weapons added on as an afterthought (kind of like USN research vessels, or NOAA ships). They hold their own in combat only because of that tech edge. So what if another close call with the Borg led them to try a more pugnacious approach?

Then it runs the risk of not being Star Trek anymore, especially if no one steps up and says something like, "But what about our principles? Is this what Starfleet stands for now?"

Starfleet had another close call with the Borg in Star Trek: First Contact. They also had close calls with the Xindi weapon, the Klingons in Discovery S1 (episode 10 opened with the Klingon fleet closing to attack Earth), V'Ger, and the probe sent to find whales. None of those situations made Starfleet say, "Enough with the exploration and diplomacy! Let's build warships and blow stuff up." Little morality plays have always been at the heart of Star Trek. What's the moral of this story?

O'Brien was a combat veteran, Kira was a guerilla fighter, and Sisko built a warship. So yes, I think they would have approved. Or at least understood.

O'Brien and Kira wanted to put the violence in their pasts behind them. Sisko got the Defiant out of mothballs not to annihilate the Founders but so that if his mission to make contact with the Founders and convince them the Federation was not a threat went sideways, he and his crew had a fighting chance of making it back to DS9.

Thanks for your honest feedback.

You're welcome.

 

[Oddish]

What's the moral of this story?

The Jem'Hadar are arrogant, murderous pricks and need a good hard punch in the mouth.

And if that doesn't work for you, vote for one of the other stories.

 

[FredH]

I have two huge problems with this. First, this is 180 degrees from Star Trek's ethos. In "Yesterday's Enterprise," Guinan told Picard the Enterprise was meant to be a ship of peace, not a ship of war. These are usually the kind of actions Star Trek leads oppose, yet here, the DS9 characters are anywhere at least approving, at most eager.

On a meta level, the whole point of the Dominion was to give DS9 a threat to deal with in/from the Gamma quadrant. If the threat had been neutered in the first episode, who would have been the bad guys for the next five seasons? There's no jeopardy if the Federation can blow away anything in its path with ease.

I don’t think I agree — and this will sound weird coming from me, since just the other day on one of the other discussions I made an impassioned argument about how central it is to Star Trek that you always try to think your way out of a conflict first, and find another way. But the thing is, once in a while there really is no other way, and they really are just coming to kill you and aren’t going to listen. Star Trek generally isn’t about those situations, and would be ruined if they became the norm; but it’s not a betrayal to once in a while have the tough case like this, where there’s basically no way not to fight the Dominion — in which case, yeah, you do what you have to.

Obviously a story like this would have radically altered DS9, probably shortening the conflict. Fine by me! You just find other Star Trek stories to tell. They don’t have to be constantly under military threat; used to be they weren’t anyway. (In TOS, the Klingons were around, but one just dealt. There was almost never any sense the Federation was under serious threat. That’s only one kind of drama.)

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

For 70+ years we have enjoyed the Pax Americana. If we don't shoot our country in the foot and manage to preserve our democracy, there is no reason we can't continue the Pax Americana throughout nearly the remainder of the century. Of course, other people haven't enjoyed it so much. But even with all the brush fire wars and civil wars, the human death toll due to war has plummeted to almost nothing by historical standards. (Steven Pinker, the Better Angels of our Nature.)

The Pax Americana is the product of the deadliest military the world has ever seen, backed by a series of treaties with nations with militaries that use similar doctrine and joint training. When added to the already massive American war machine, the military and economic power of NAtO, SEATO and CENTO dwarf the abilities of all of our collective adversaries together. The purpose of this massive military industrial complex is not to win wars. Its job is to prevent them.

I'm a fan of Roddenberry's vision, but after enough wars, and given available alliances along with the technological edge, there would be many, highly placed advocates for a Pax UFP.

Of course, the fly in the ointment is that even our vaunted democracy is vulnerable to authoritarian takeover - and we stand on the brink of handing all that muscle to a would-be strong man. And that's a storyline Star Trek has barely touched on...

 

[MikeJaffa]

For 70+ years we have enjoyed the Pax Americana...

Robert, it seems you are either rewriting history or embracing someone else's rewrite of history to argue that Paramount should have fired Patrick Stewart, replaced him with Ronnie Cox, abandoned Star Trek's ethos, and radically overhauled the franchise just to give the Jem'Hadar "a punch in the mouth."

I will be 60 this September. The more I thought about, the more I realized the "Pax Americana" you talked about it never existed. We spent 40 of those 70 years in a cold war with the Soviet Union, ready to annihilate each other. Even then, American soldiers still died in Korea and Viet Nam. We backed the fighters in Afghanistan when the Soviet Union invaded. Star Trek mirrored this with the Klingons as the "cold war rival" of the Federation, and "A Private Little War" was an allegory for Viet Nam. When Roddenberry and others wrote about World War III or post-Apocalyptic worlds, they weren't whistling dixie.

The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed. But today our relationship with Russia is as fraught as ever. Although there was no change in Russia's nuclear posture as of last May, Putin still rattles his nuclear sabers as he prosecutes the largest land war in Europe since WW2. There's also an ongoing war in Israel. Meanwhile, 911 happened after the Soviet Union collapsed, and that led to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The families of the 6,927 US soldiers killed in those wars would not consider "the human death toll...almost nothing." It was enough for us to want to pull out of both countries in spite of our "technological edge."

Where's the peace? I don't see it. "Almost nothing by historical standards" is not zero.

If Pax Americana never existed, then the notion of a Pax Federation achieved and maintained by abandoning exploration and converting all Federation starships into warships is a flawed concept. It wouldn't work. Militarily overpowering the Dominion in the first encounter wouldn't be the end of the problems they could cause. The Founders would simply change tactics and switch to asymmetric warfare. If they kept sending Federation officers home in body bags, the peoples of the Federation would want Starfleet to withdraw from the Gamma Quadrant. That sounds like a recipe for the Federation's progressive withdrawal and ultimate decline. Is giving the Jem'Hadar a black eye really worth that?

And then we come back to the question: If Starfleet stops exploring and doesn't meet any civilizations that could pose an existential threat, then what is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine about? What do people tune in for after you write out all the reasons they had up to that point? I can't think of one.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Robert, it seems you are either rewriting history or embracing someone else's rewrite of history to argue that Paramount should have fired Patrick Stewart, replaced him with Ronnie Cox, abandoned Star Trek's ethos, and radically overhauled the franchise just to give the Jem'Hadar "a punch in the mouth."

It has been some time since someone presented me with such an egregious Straw Man. I would very much appreciate it if, instead, you were to "Steel-Man" my position. That is to say, to be certain you are arguing about what I actually said instead of putting words in my mouth.

I think the franchise overall did a great job with Roddenberry's vision. However, given the mythos and history of the Federation, I would expect a very strong faction within the population advocating for a more aggressive positioning of Star Fleet - which is why I enjoyed this storyline - because it explores that idea. Not to punch anyone in the mouth, but to better represent human nature. We are a very adaptive species. In a universe as hostile as the moment in the franchise at the outset of the Dominion War, which follows a number of devastating wars including the borg incursions, a somewhat more militarized stance seems more believable. None of that would keep those storylines from presenting an existential threat.

It's really a matter of degree. Certainly the idea of winning the war by genocide against the changelings is a powerful storyline - what would we do in such an extreme moment? Something petty damn dark.

"Almost nothing by historical standards" is not zero.

True. People have been dying all over the planet - and no shortage of them American soldiers. But for the past 70 years, really for the first time in history, the great powers have not engaged in open warfare. As horrible as this moment in Ukraine is, by historical standards it is a brushfire war. As were Korea and Vietnam.

Large historical arguments of this nature go well beyond what I could write in the space available here and could easily become unreadable. I will simply refer you to a blog-post I wrote on this issue: Angels

And then we come back to the question: If Starfleet stops exploring and doesn't meet any civilizations that could pose an existential threat, then what is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine about? What do people tune in for after you write out all the reasons they had up to that point? I can't think of one.

Thank you for providing me an opportunity to flog Star Beagle Adventures - a storyline in which, in response to the Dominion War, Star Fleet re-focuses on deep space exploration with a greater emphasis on peaceful contact with new species and new civilizations.

And my apologies to Oddish for taking up so much room in his thread (and flogging my own thread from within his.)

Thanks!! rbs

 

[MikeJaffa]

It has been some time since someone presented me with such an egregious Straw Man. I would very much appreciate it if, instead, you were to "Steel-Man" my position. That is to say, to be certain you are arguing about what I actually said instead of putting words in my mouth.

My apologies. You did not advocate those things. However, Oddish's story has Picard killed off, Jellico taking command of the Enterprise, and Riker and Deanna leaving. For this to have happened on the show, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Marrina Sirtis would have left the show, either voluntarily or by being fired.

I think the franchise overall did a great job with Roddenberry's vision. However, given the mythos and history of the Federation, I would expect a very strong faction within the population advocating for a more aggressive positioning of Star Fleet...to better represent human nature...

Except Roddenberry's vision is that humans move beyond reacting that way.

...People have been dying all over the planet - and no shortage of them American soldiers...

Which means the "pax" isn't really "pax." "Pax Americana" is a lovely catch phrase, but no one would have been terrified of the prospect of World War III if they'd believed it existed at the time.

 

[Oddish]

Oddish's story has Picard killed off, Jellico taking command of the Enterprise, and Riker and Deanna leaving. For this to have happened on the show, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Marrina Sirtis would have left the show, either voluntarily or by being fired.

And those things of course weren't going to happen, nor should they. That's the joy of the alternate universe story... you can make changes that wouldn't work under normal circumstances... and see what shakes loose.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Which means the "pax" isn't really "pax." "Pax Americana" is a lovely catch phrase, but no one would have been terrified of the prospect of World War III if they'd believed it existed at the time.

Similarly the Pax Romana (for which the Pax Americana is named.) They are extremely analogous. An argument can be made for a similar Pax Britannica in the brief moment between the Napoleonic Wars and WWI. The Gauls found the Pax Romana galling. The many cultures of India and Africa were less than enthused about Pax Britannica. And the entirety of Asia Minor would consider Pax Americana to be some sort of sick joke.

Steven Pinker regards the impact of Pax Americana with some enthusiasm. Chalmers Johnson uses the term disparagingly. Neil deGrasse Tyson observes that the moon landing was a direct product (and weapon) of the Cold War. And that our 50-year absence from the moon is due to the apparent American hegemony (or Pax Americana.)

All of them are correct. Pax Americana is a dirty, grinding thing. But a lot of people aren't dead as a result. They have been dying by the tens of thousands instead of dying by the tens of millions.

Thank you for the apology - it is very much appreciated. Thanks!! rbs

 

[Oddish]

All of them are correct. Pax Americana is a dirty, grinding thing. But a lot of people aren't dead as a result. They have been dying by the tens of thousands instead of dying by the tens of millions.

So was the Pax Romana. They got rid of bad local governments... but sometimes the Roman governors weren't much better. And most of the roads and waterways were free of robbers and pirates, but this was done by sending soldiers to slaughter them, and then crucifying the survivors.

 

[MikeJaffa]

...Chalmers Johnson uses the term disparagingly..

I just looked him up on Wikipedia, and I can't say I disagree with him. But all this talk of "Pax Americana" is long after the fact. Up until 1989, when the Soviet Union fell, I don't remember anyone saying or writing anything about how wonderful Pax Americana was. With Reagan floating the idea of "winnable nuclear war," and with wars in Nicaragua and El Salvidor, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, anyone touting the benefits of "Pax Americana" in the 1980s would have been laughed out of the room. Remember, this is the time period that produced the original Mad Max movies. Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody thought we were living under "Pax Americana" at the time. This is a little editing of history after the fact.

As for Pax Romana...

Pax Romana - Wikipedia

'The Pax Romana (Latin for "Roman peace") is a roughly 200-year-long period of Roman history which is identified as a golden age of increased and sustained Roman imperialism, relative peace and order, prosperous stability, hegemonic power, and regional expansion. This is despite several revolts and wars, and continuing competition with Parthia...'

"Relative peace and order"? Not "peace and order" but peaceful and orderly compared to something else? "Revolts and wars"? Sounds like Pax Romana also wasn't totally pax-ful. Imagine my lack of surprise. In fact, this was the time when Jesus lived, and if memory serves, the Israelites did not like living under Roman occupation. The siege of Mosada also happened during this period. "It was peaceful, except for this, but we're going to act like it doesn't count." Let's not forget the dialog about the Roman Empire in "Bread and Circuses." Seems more like the kind of hustle Quark would pull. "You didn't mention this QUark--" "Because it's inconsequential. A few slips of latinum of day is all it would take." And the Roman Empire ultimately fell. Sounds like "Pax UFP" would be a bad idea in the long run. I'm still not buying it.

...Thank you for the apology...

You're welcome.

 

[MikeJaffa]

...most of the roads and waterways were free of robbers and pirates, but this was done by sending soldiers to slaughter them, and then crucifying the survivors.

And this is what Starfleet should do now?

How is that Star Trek? "We come in peace. We just slaughter people in self-defense." Um...

Oh, and the Roman Empire fell.

 

[Oddish]

And this is what Starfleet should do now?

How is that Star Trek? "We come in peace. We just slaughter people in self-defense." Um...

Oh, and the Roman Empire fell.

Reread the previous conversation. RBS said that "Pax Americana" was a "dirty grinding thing". My response was that so was the "Pax Romana", and I said why. The Roman Empire kept order, but they did it via oppression and brutality. The obedient were kept fed and distracted; the problematic were made examples of. That's not how the Federation treats its citizens.