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Star Trek: Adelphous - A Fan Series Premise

CJCade

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
First, let me say that I'm not sure if this is appropriate for this forum or not. It seemed the most logical spot to post it, but if it would be better placed somewhere else, please move it and accept my apologies.

I've had the bare basics of an idea for a fan series for a some time now. I've began fleshing it out more on paper and what I present is a bullet point series of events that are the setup for the series. I will point out, this is a working list for the concept and may change at some point. And yes, it begins amid the events of the Destiny storyline from the books.

Star Trek: Adelphous is a working title, simply because my first choice (Aurora) is already being used. I've got a few other title ideas that I will list at some point if anyone is interested in them.

That is about it, so here it is.

***

Star Trek:Adelphous Premise Setup

2381

The destruction of two planets is followed by a message.

“We are the Borg. You will be annihilated.”

Continuing attacks soon lead to a full scale Borg Invasion into the Alpha and Beta Quadrants resulting in the Federation entering into a multi-world alliance to battle them.

As the Borg attack planet after planet, ships from the Federation Alliance are sent to prevent the attack and destruction of an Independent world on the fringes of Federation space.

Adelphous IV

Shortly after Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, this has been the location of a top secret joint project between the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Cardassian Union to develop a prototype ship to use against the Borg.

Unfinished, the prototype ship is unable to assist in fending off a calculated Borg attack and the fleet is nearly destroyed.

Before the Borg cubes are able to destroy the world, an anomaly appears and the planet begins to disintegrate. The planet, surviving ships, and debris of the destroyed are sucked into the anomaly.

Unknown Galaxy

Adelphous IV reforms in orbit of a class K star in a galaxy beyond the known universe, along with ships and debris in orbit.

Some debris from wrecked ships is caught in the planets gravity as it reforms and rains down to the surface creating a ship graveyard planetside along with the one in orbit.

Surviving ships are heavily damaged and require varying amounts of repair to be operational, limiting travel to only shuttles.

For the most part, everything on the surface survived undamaged.

***

That's it.

As for the actual start of the series, there are two options I am considering.

Picking up right where the setup ends or...
Jumping forward a century or so.

Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Both have a lot of potential while offering two very different takes on what the series would be. I will make another post later covering some of my thoughts on both scenarios. It could end up coming down to which is the most realistic to film.

Feel free to tell me what you think. Tell me what you like or dislike. If you have suggestions, I'm open to hearing them.

One thing I may have jumped the gun on (I tend to like to get everything in place really early for projects) is I've contacted and obtained permission to use the uniform design Jamie Takahashi came up with and posted at Deviant Art. Click here to see it full size.

2por69w.jpg
 
It's not clear to me what you mean by a series. This forum would be the place for a film or audio series. If you want to write prose, there is another forum for that.
 
That's OK. Live action or animation? (I admit the first time I met somebody producing a prose series I didn't understand it. But the creators of fan fiction do call their stories 'series,' too.)
 
I always cut to the chase: what's the series about?

What you have above is a setup and maybe a backstory, but there's no clue about what this show would be about. Building a ship to get home? Discovering what the anomaly was? Surviving with no hope of ever getting home? What? What's the premise?
 
Barbreader, that's fine. I've heard fan fiction prose referred to as series as well. What I envision is live a live action series of two or three episodes per year. Probably aiming high, but should always do that, right?

Maurice, I agree, all I have set out is backstory or setup for the premise. As I started writing down the two options for a premise, I realized I'm not sure how to get what is in my head onto paper properly. So, I have been working out the best way to present it so it would be thorough and make the most sense. I'll post it as soon as I get it done.
 
Many people have been convinced that world-building is an essential first step. I tend to disagree with that. My approach is to come up with a story I want to tell, figure out what kinds of characters I need, and after working that out, then figure out what events/backstory best set that up.

Look at the original Star Trek, there's almost zero backstory as the show began. The show format is a cruiser going from place to place and adventure to adventure, out on the frontier doing work ranging from military to purely scientific. They didn't bother knowing how many ships there were or what precipitated the five year mission or even if said mission were commonplace or rare. They just started doing adventures and backfilling history as they went and as required by each story.

So, I suggest figure out a what kinds of stories you want to tell and what setting/situation is ideal for that. Devise characters that will help you best tell those stories. You can than figure out what events set all of that up.
 
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This seem quite interesting. Personally I think building a basic universe is an important first step prior to creating a story within it.

Shortly after Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, this has been the location of a top secret joint project between the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Cardassian Union
It would seem to me that by the time Voyager returned, the Cardassian Union would have basically ceased to exist, they certainly wouldn't be in a position to assist in any large war.

And the "military mission" uniforms, while fine for creeping around at night, out in the open in daylight they would stand out like a searchlight. Maybe something that adapted to the wearers surroundings instead? Smart cloth.

At some point you'll need to explain why the Borg switched over to simple destruction.

The question of live action or animation was asked, each has their pros and cons, which did you have in mind?

A somewhat simply computer generated cartoon might be best depending on your resources.

Please expand upon your ideas.

.
 
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Sound advice, Maurice. The writer in me knows that, yet I find myself struggling with too many details on this. I began with something very simple and direct that I need to keep in mind...

One World, One Ship, An Unknown Galaxy, A New Federation
 
As I stated in my first post, there are two options for approaching the series. It is serialized, which may or may not be a good thing considering there is no guarantee of the continuation of fan made productions. Here is the first.

Series Option A

The series begins immediately after the events described in the setup I posted above. For me, this is the most appealing of the two but would also be the most unrealistic for a fan production to cover for what I envision it being.

The mystery of the anomaly and who or what is responsible for it is at the forefront of the first season (three episodes if possible). They have hope of finding a way home but it is tempered with the realization they could be stuck there forever.

The damaged ships limit the exploration to the range of working shuttles.This instills an urgency to repair the ships. There is also the possibility of the prototype ship that is near completion in a construction facility beneath the planet's surface.

The mixture of powers on an independent world creates a possible struggle for power. What shape will a new government take? What would a new federation look like as it raises from a memory of the one that came before?

What inhabited worlds are nearby? If any, they offer a chance for assistance if not hostile. What technology may they offer and will it be accepted/traded for or will the idea of a Prime Directive survive?

These are just a few of the things I can see being explored. I have many more that would be played out over the course of the series as we watch the development of this new Federation, if it is even called that.
 
The mixture of powers on an independent world creates a possible struggle for power. What shape will a new government take? What would a new federation look like as it raises from a memory of the one that came before?

That's your story.

Begin there. Tell a story about the people on this planet who've been blasted into some unknown reality and whom are struggling to decide what to do and how to survive. Let them be like the audience, wondering what the hell happened that got them there. Some characters will be trying to piece together an answer to what happened and how to get back, while others will accept the hand they've been dealt and decide they have to figure out how to live with each other in this forbidding new place. These two groups can have conflicting goals over limited resources (we have to use these ships to build a means to get home vs. we have to use these ships to build a means to defend ourselves or build a new civilization). Conflict = drama.

If you can successfully make that one film and feel up to making more, you can eventually always flash back to show events prior if you really want to.
 
This seem quite interesting. Personally I think building a basic universe is an important first step prior to creating a story within it.

Shortly after Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, this has been the location of a top secret joint project between the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Cardassian Union
It would seem to me that by the time Voyager returned, the Cardassian Union would have basically ceased to exist, they certainly wouldn't be in a position to assist in any large war.

And the "military mission" uniforms, while fine for creeping around at night, out in the open in daylight they would stand out like a searchlight. Maybe something that adapted to the wearers surroundings instead? Smart cloth.

At some point you'll need to explain why the Borg switched over to simple destruction.

The question of live action or animation was asked, each has their pros and cons, which did you have in mind?

A somewhat simply computer generated cartoon might be best depending on your resources.

Please expand upon your ideas.

.

Thank you for taking time to offer your thoughts. I really appreciate it.

My setup/backstory uses some events from the Destiny story line from the book series. While the joint project I mention is my own creation, the alliance between the Federation and many other worlds/powers within the Alpha and Beta Quadrant is part of that story line. The Cardassian Union is included as well, so they have survived to some extent. When deciding which races to include in my project, I imagined the Cardassians eager for the chance to help to garner some favor with the Federation.

I like the idea of the smart cloth. I'll ponder the possibilities for a while and see how I could make it work within the story.

The Borg switching to simple destruction is, again a part of the Destiny story line. It basically boils down to the inhabitants of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants being such a nuisance that it justified destruction over assimilation for them.

I have considered animation but I really want to see this as live action. To tell the story, though, I'm willing to keep the option of animation open.

Again, thank you for taking the time to read and share your thoughts.
 
The mixture of powers on an independent world creates a possible struggle for power. What shape will a new government take? What would a new federation look like as it raises from a memory of the one that came before?

That's your story.

Begin there. Tell a story about the people on this planet who've been blasted into some unknown reality and whom are struggling to decide what to do and how to survive. Let them be like the audience, wondering what the hell happened that got them there. Some characters will be trying to piece together an answer to what happened and how to get back, while others will accept the hand they've been dealt and decide they have to figure out how to live with each other in this forbidding new place. These two groups can have conflicting goals over limited resources (we have to use these ships to build a means to get home vs. we have to use these ships to build a means to defend ourselves or build a new civilization). Conflict = drama.

If you can successfully make that one film and feel up to making more, you can eventually always flash back to show events prior if you really want to.

Those are actually the possibilities I found the most fascinating to explore. To me it offers the chance to see the birth of the Federation (albeit a new one) and how it may evolve from essentially five groups (the Federation, Klingons, Romulans,Cardassians, and Adelphous natives) as well as any friendly species they may encounter and align with.
 
As I stated in my first post, there are two options for approaching the series. It is serialized, which may or may not be a good thing considering there is no guarantee of the continuation of fan made productions.

Generally, audio productions work better for serialized stories, since it is realistic to create 4 episodes a year (Outpost has produced as many as 11 episodes a year.) Here is my listing of Star Trek audio dramas: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/247.html

Solarbaby did a great serial with animation, but at the time Go!Animate provided a suite she could just use. Since then she developed her own suite, but the quantity of her output is notably less. I could guess why (and I'd guess it's because she also have to develop and maintain the suite) but she sometimes comes by this board and may have some useful advice.

Here is her dedicated page (with links to her Star Trek Fan Film work) at Star Trek Reviewed Go!Animate: http://startrekreviewed-goanimate.blogspot.com/2011/10/solarbaby.html

I suppose you could consider Star Trek: Nature's Hunger a serialized story as well, and that's live action. http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/44.html

I leave it to others to decide if that describes Hidden Frontier's various series.
 
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