Prominent Current Roles of Galaxy Class Ships

[C.E. Evans]

Those sailors of old thought almost everything was bad luck, but ships were actually commonly renamed throughout history. Even the very first real U.S.S. Enterprise (18th-Century) was a renamed vessel--originally she was a British warship named the George.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

So does anyone think we would/should see the AGT refit Galaxies in stories as the relaunch timeline progresses or did the variant belong only to the Enterprise and in that one timeline?

I tend to think the quadrant is a more dangerous place now than even perhaps it was in the anti-time future and the Galaxies could use the extra modifications. Heck, perhaps since Starfleet will be doing slipstream drive research with the Romulans, the Romulans will conduct cloaking research with Starfleet. But then, due to the events du to Voyager- slipstream technology, the borg invasion, etc, the possible alternate futures may diverge even more.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I really didn't care for the three-nacelled Enterprise-D in "All Good Things...," but I understood that it was necessary to depict a future version of the same ship. That being said, I think that should remain an anti-time thing and that the real evolution of the Galaxy-class be more subtle (more internally).

 

[F. King Daniel]

I could imagine one popping up in Destiny as part of the anti-Borg effort, but now the galaxy's in a state of cold war and there's no imminent danger, ships with insanely huge phaser cannons seem a little.... incongruous.

That said, I can see one cropping up in New Frontier. They'd fit with the comic bookish vibe of NF perfectly.

 

[JD]

It were was kinda fun as a way to get across that it was a future version of the ship, but I don't think it's something I'd want to have playing a role on a regular bases.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

Slipstream isnt about a third warp nacelle. Slipstreams about a streamlined design and a big deflector array.
That said, I thought the three nacelled dreadnought-style Enterprise was cool, in a fanwanky way. I'd get a kick out of seeing one like it on the cover.


Just out of curiousity, how does everyone imagine the bridges of these Galaxy-class ships in Treklit? The minimalist TNG series look, or the upgraded Generations version with extra stations and background crew? Or the variations we've seen in various alternate realities and possible futures?

I've pictured the Galaxy bridges as the updated versions, never was a fan of that bridge on Next Gen.

 

[The Wormhole]

I really didn't care for the three-nacelled Enterprise-D in "All Good Things...," but I understood that it was necessary to depict a future version of the same ship. That being said, I think that should remain an anti-time thing and that the real evolution of the Galaxy-class be more subtle (more internally).

I think Timeless takes place around the same time period as AGT (though maybe there's a five year gap between the two) and we see the Challenger didn't have a third nacelle added to it.

And yeah, I'm no fan of the Future Enterprise from AGT. Not just because of the third nacelle. That phaser cannon looked awkward and all those pods and antennae added to the hull make things look really cluttered.

 

[Christopher]

"Timeless"'s future was in 2390. AGT's future was "close to 25 years" after the crew last served together on the Enterprise, which would be 2395 if they disbanded immediately after season 7 in that timeline, so it's more likely to be a few years later. (Obviously Generations didn't happen or happened differently in that timeline, since the E-D wasn't destroyed in 2271.) So five years is the minimum gap between the two -- and of course they're in two different timelines anyway. (If the AGT future "happened" at all rather than just being an illusion created by Q.)

 

[Sci]

So does anyone think we would/should see the AGT refit Galaxies in stories as the relaunch timeline progresses or did the variant belong only to the Enterprise and in that one timeline?

The three-nacelled Enterprise was a fun "alternate future" design, but I wouldn't want to see other Galaxy-class ships so converted. The beauty of the Galaxy class is its peaceful aesthetic -- it looks like a powerful ship of state, like one built for a nation at peace. She reminds me of the elegance and stateliness of trans-Atlantic ocean liners, in a way. There's certainly something to be said for ships with a more combat-oriented aesthetic like the Sovereign or the Defiant classes, but I don't want to see the Galaxy class's aesthetic altered to the more militant design seen in "All Good Things...." That was reflective of that alternate future's darker politics, and I wouldn't want to see it replicated in the main timeline of the Destiny-verse.

I tend to think the quadrant is a more dangerous place now than even perhaps it was in the anti-time future and the Galaxies could use the extra modifications.

I mean, local space both is and is not more dangerous than it was in the early 2360s. On one hand, yeah, local space is essentially divided between the Khitomer Accords and Typhon Pact camps, and that's certainly a situation that has the potential for danger. On the other hand, both sides' fleets have in general been so decimated by the Borg Invasion that the likelihood of either side being willing to go to war unless there's just no other option is much lower than it was pre-Invasion -- neither side is strong enough anymore to feel like the cost/benefit analysis for war falls in favor of armed conflict.

So, you know, I think that local space may be more dangerous than it was in the early 2360s -- although even back then, the Cardassian-Federation Border Wars were going on -- but it's probably not as dangerous as it was circa 2365 to 2381.

Heck, perhaps since Starfleet will be doing slipstream drive research with the Romulans, the Romulans will conduct cloaking research with Starfleet.

Realistically, I don't see the Romulans being willing to hand over cloaking technology to the Federation. If nothing else, I imagine that would be vetoed by the other Typhon Pact members. I think a more interesting question is whether or not the Federation's treaty agreement to refrain from developing cloaking devices will still be honored now that the Romulan Star Empire is a Typhon Pact member state.

 

[captcalhoun]

why wouldn't it? the RSE didn't cease to exist just because it became part of the TyPac. that's stupid thinking, like thinking that because Britain joined the EC, the peace treaty ending the War of 1812 stopped applying.

 

[Sci]

why wouldn't it? the RSE didn't cease to exist just because it became part of the TyPac. that's stupid thinking, like thinking that because Britain joined the EC, the peace treaty ending the War of 1812 stopped applying.

Well, the Treaty of Algeron was signed in order to bring an end to the Federation/Romulan tensions that led to the Tomed Incident in 2311. It was a Federation concession made in order to obtain peace with the Romulans.

But tensions are rising again now. With the Khitomer Alliance, the Federation has essentially been given de facto access to cloaking technology through the Klingon Defense Force's willingness to put Klingon ships at Federation disposal, even if they aren't actually handing Starfleet cloaking devices; the same thing is happening with the Tzenkethi, Gorn, Tholians, Breen, and Kinshaya, who now have wide access to Romulan warbirds even if Ki Baratan isn't handing over cloaking devices themselves.

So how much is it being honored anyway? At what point will one side or the other decide that the terms of the old treaty no longer apply and abrogate them? It may well be that the Federation may decide that tensions have become so high that Romulus has de facto abrogated the Treaty, and that Federation security requires the development of cloaking technology.

On the other hand, maybe not. Maybe continued honoring of the Treaty of Algeron will be the key to bringing down tensions. I don't know. But it's an interesting question.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

If I remember correctly from DTI: Watching the Clock, the multiverse-continuum tries to dampen out differences between alternate universes so that when a divergence happens, the differences eventually minimalizes as the quantum differences between the universes try to return to alignment. (Or something like that, I really need to read WTC again).

We see examples of this recently in Rise Like Lions where political organizations similar to the Typhon Pact and UFP form and Picard becomes a starship commander in the Mirrorverse.

That being the case, certain major developments far in the future of some alternate universes can be expected in other universes. So it isn't unlikely that in the relaunch timeline Starfleet eventually begins using cloaking technolgy or makes certain other technological advances. After all, we have already seen the Klingons start using Neghvar warships which first appeared in All Good Things.

 

[Sci]

If I remember correctly from DTI: Watching the Clock, the multiverse-continuum tries to dampen out differences between alternate universes so that when a divergence happens, the differences eventually minimalizes as the quantum differences between the universes try to return to alignment. (Or something like that, I really need to read WTC again).

We see examples of this recently in Rise Like Lions where political organizations similar to the Typhon Pact and UFP form and Picard becomes a starship commander in the Mirrorverse.

I think you may be mis-remembering Watching the Clock. If I am remembering correctly and not misinterpreting: it's not that it tries to "dampen out" differences, but that when two divergent timelines "reunite," one timeline's history or the other eventually "overrides" one and a unified history is established.

Meanwhile, the Mirror Universe isn't a divergent timeline; it's an alternate, independently-existing universe that was never part of this one and wasn't created by time travel.

That being the case, certain major developments far in the future of some alternate universes can be expected in other universes. So it isn't unlikely that in the relaunch timeline Starfleet eventually begins using cloaking technolgy or makes certain other technological advances. After all, we have already seen the Klingons start using Neghvar warships which first appeared in All Good Things.

Well, I think it's a mistake to assume that something we see in a potential future will necessarily happen just because of temporal physics. There's also just the likelihood that something we see in an alternate future is just something that was likely to happen anyway because Bob down in R&D was still working on his pet projects in both timelines.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

Good ol Bob. Engineers make the future happen.

I remember that divergent timelines dampen out their differences before converging. I recall or maybe extrapolated that all realities are constantly trying to come back together, whether they be alternate or divergent.

As another example, there is Geordi as captain of the Challenger. This happened in 2 realities, even though the Timeless reality, I'm assuming, diverged only to end when Harry changed the past.