Basic idea, set it between TOS and TNG, 2324. To avoid the trapping of a supposed sequel set it on the far side of the federation away from all the main federation plot lines.
This far away edge of the federation is found to have unique properties. Solar sales can be used to travel 100s of light years. As a result this region of space becomes a refuge for humans wishing to flee federation technology, federation law and federation politics.
Large diverse caravans of humans arrive all with various motivations. Some reject federations post scarcity economics, some reject what they feel/project as the federation's tendency to be anti religion, or more commonly the idea that the federation is too accepting and too reliant on advanced technologies like warp drive.
For many the main objective is invoking the prime directive, by first colonizing this region of space and then ridding themselves of warp drive, to make their colonies worthy of isolation. Keeping in mind they attempt to invoke the prime directive they aren't necessarily successful.
We've see variants of this idea throughout trek both from the prime directive side and the tech side. Maquis and the DMZ being hte most obvious frame of comparison.
In addition to the human presence we have aliens, with one key feature that links everything together. We have a native race or series of races of aliens already occupying this space, and they carry a unique genetic history. They have a kind of polygenetics that allows them to naturally breed with both humans klingons and vulcans/romulans. This creates a narrative of a possible ancient alien connection where deep in the past their genetic lineage was linked to both races by ancient aliens. In addition these supposed ancient aliens appear to have been monothiests who apparently on some level resemble biblical angels. As a result monothiests muslins/christians/jews flood into the area, but so do monothiestic romulans/klingons/vulcans in mass. With Kahless and Surak being projected as messiage christlike figures.
Of course this opens the door to social commentary and cultural exploration. We're searching for ancient aliens, dealing with fringe religious groups, our federation ship/protagonists of course get into violent conflicts along the way. Add to that this corridor of space also appears to cause unique physical phenomomonon, like the Delphic expanse.
While it might sound like a more contentious political drama, our ship is a humanitarian mission helping humans settle and terraform new worlds. So it would be more a straight up return to the TOS form. All of the background elements are there, but they don't control the show. It's fundamentally a series of caravans. Bringing us back to the old days of settling the west where you had all kinds of people including jews and mormons settling the old west.
The main value of the world building, is that it allows for episodic story telling. Where each episode stands alone, while the lore of these new worlds creates a larger story arc. Each episode/world is a piece of the puzzle, but is never pieced together on screen. It's up to the fans to see all the interlinking parts. It also allows for non linear story telling where one can watch the series out of sequence, where there's various machete like orders for watching the series, enhancing rewatch value.
Some of the more fun elements are caused by the ludditism of some of the settlers. Including a valid reason for having sword fights//space fighter battles etc.
Our protagonists are a mix of young officers. Some are incredibly homesick, some wish to leave the federation and go with the new settlers, while a solid mix are just enjoying the mission. Basically mirroring the cast of voyager. Keeping in mind there are stand alone episodes where you can have different "guest crews" i.e. like the Equinox where an entire cast can be killed off in season one and have them show up in season 2 as a prequel for that episode.
This would obviously have heavy DS9 features, the outpost in a land of religions and political conflict, while maintaining diplomatic exploration of TOS and TNG, with a homesick crew very much like voyager.
This far away edge of the federation is found to have unique properties. Solar sales can be used to travel 100s of light years. As a result this region of space becomes a refuge for humans wishing to flee federation technology, federation law and federation politics.
Large diverse caravans of humans arrive all with various motivations. Some reject federations post scarcity economics, some reject what they feel/project as the federation's tendency to be anti religion, or more commonly the idea that the federation is too accepting and too reliant on advanced technologies like warp drive.
For many the main objective is invoking the prime directive, by first colonizing this region of space and then ridding themselves of warp drive, to make their colonies worthy of isolation. Keeping in mind they attempt to invoke the prime directive they aren't necessarily successful.
We've see variants of this idea throughout trek both from the prime directive side and the tech side. Maquis and the DMZ being hte most obvious frame of comparison.
In addition to the human presence we have aliens, with one key feature that links everything together. We have a native race or series of races of aliens already occupying this space, and they carry a unique genetic history. They have a kind of polygenetics that allows them to naturally breed with both humans klingons and vulcans/romulans. This creates a narrative of a possible ancient alien connection where deep in the past their genetic lineage was linked to both races by ancient aliens. In addition these supposed ancient aliens appear to have been monothiests who apparently on some level resemble biblical angels. As a result monothiests muslins/christians/jews flood into the area, but so do monothiestic romulans/klingons/vulcans in mass. With Kahless and Surak being projected as messiage christlike figures.
Of course this opens the door to social commentary and cultural exploration. We're searching for ancient aliens, dealing with fringe religious groups, our federation ship/protagonists of course get into violent conflicts along the way. Add to that this corridor of space also appears to cause unique physical phenomomonon, like the Delphic expanse.
While it might sound like a more contentious political drama, our ship is a humanitarian mission helping humans settle and terraform new worlds. So it would be more a straight up return to the TOS form. All of the background elements are there, but they don't control the show. It's fundamentally a series of caravans. Bringing us back to the old days of settling the west where you had all kinds of people including jews and mormons settling the old west.
The main value of the world building, is that it allows for episodic story telling. Where each episode stands alone, while the lore of these new worlds creates a larger story arc. Each episode/world is a piece of the puzzle, but is never pieced together on screen. It's up to the fans to see all the interlinking parts. It also allows for non linear story telling where one can watch the series out of sequence, where there's various machete like orders for watching the series, enhancing rewatch value.
Some of the more fun elements are caused by the ludditism of some of the settlers. Including a valid reason for having sword fights//space fighter battles etc.
Our protagonists are a mix of young officers. Some are incredibly homesick, some wish to leave the federation and go with the new settlers, while a solid mix are just enjoying the mission. Basically mirroring the cast of voyager. Keeping in mind there are stand alone episodes where you can have different "guest crews" i.e. like the Equinox where an entire cast can be killed off in season one and have them show up in season 2 as a prequel for that episode.
This would obviously have heavy DS9 features, the outpost in a land of religions and political conflict, while maintaining diplomatic exploration of TOS and TNG, with a homesick crew very much like voyager.
