Oooooo zombie thread.
(I'm right this time
)
And yes, we need more Myriad Universes.
(I'm right this time
)And yes, we need more Myriad Universes.
Star Trek: Myriad Universes - follow up(s)?
- Thread starter Little_kingsfan
- Start date
Thank You, Good Author, for sharing your works with us in the first place!
I actually liked your story so much one decided to take notes about details like IU member species, uniform details etc for the sake of inspiring future commissions; I recently stumbled onto a good TREK artist and have started trying to work out which ideas one would like to see visualised first (I have a number of ideas relating to your own work, A LESS PERFECT UNION and Mr Bennett's RISE OF THE FEDERATION novels but will need to work very hard indeed to scratch up the necessary cash to afford ALL of them).
Hopefully one will be able to post at least some of them in 2020.
I wonder if that respect will survive the early reverses suggested by the relative inexperience of the IG at the start of the Klingon War apparently precipitated during the period covered by THE TEARS OF ERIDANUS?
A-hah! I thought it must be something like that; 'Exploratory' definitely makes sense. I suggested 'Expeditionary' because that word was more ambiguous (is the expedition Military, Scientific or downright punitive?).
One should also add that I rather liked the use of a 'Regnal number' to indicate that AAN-2000 was the second Kumari to serve with the Interstellar Guard since its foundation; one has to admit to toying with the idea of applying Mr Bennett's tripartite registry format to ships of the Interstellar Guard (since they would logically draw many of their traditions from the Imperial Guard who comprised the earliest recruits to the Andorian Guard of Starfleet), mostly because this would allow me to make the IUES Enterprise I (Charter-class) AAN-17-01.
I'm also intrigued by the question of what a Charter-class starship looks like; logically it's an approximate counterpart to the Constitution-class, but that begs the question of how close to the original that design should come (I can't quite decide if it should follow the layout of known Andorian vessels or represent a newer, more human-led approach to building Guard starships).
Also, I'm not going to lie, the fact that the Ice-Moon origins of Andorians give me a cast-iron excuse for naming Guard vessels for icebreakers from Humanity's past (Erebus, Endurance and of course Discovery) is a significant part of the reason I enjoy this timeline (it's the sort of little joke I love to jot down in my notebook ... which may be a warning sign where my sense of humour is concerned).
I actually drew up a speculative hierarchy of Marshal>Vice-Marshal>General>Captain>Commander>Sub-commander>Lieutenant>Sublieutenant>Cadet (with Marshal, Vice-Marshal and Captain being positions rather than permanent ranks - Captain here being more closely equivalent to Commodore in Starfleet terms); thank you for sharing your own versions of things.
I do have to admit that 'Field Marshal' always leaves me a little perplexed when applied to an officer with Interstellar responsibilities (although one could, in all mischief, suggest they're referring to FORCE FIELDS rather than the sort of fields you walk through); I've considered 'Fleet Marshal' or 'Guard Marshal/Marshal of the Guard' as possible alternatives.
Thank You again Stevil2001 for taking the time to reply to a fan!
Well, if it happens, obvs I would love to see.
I do like that!
I don't know this. Is it from Rise of the Federation? Haven't got there yet.
The "regnal numbers" are just inspired by the occasions where the novels would do this for some reason. Vulcan's Forge used "Intrepid II" and Ship of the Line "Bozeman II." One of those oddities that has always stuck with me.
In my mind, the Excelsior class was to Shran's Kumari as the Prime Excelsior was to the Constitution. Same general silhouette, but sleeker and more high-tech (and maybe with a belly like a pregnant guppy?). The Charter was a more exploratory ship (as opposed to the Excelsior's general-purpose design) with a predominantly human crew, so yeah, I think it would look more Starfleet-y.
Heh, I like it.
Well, there have to be ensigns because Demora is one! We extrapolated from the onscreen ranks; obvs the two "sub" ranks weren't used on screen, but it seemed like the writers were making the Andorian structure parallel to the Vulcan/Romulan system, where COs are ranked "commander," not "captain," so we filled in similarly. I think we stuck with "ensign" at the bottom because it was less clunky than "sublieutenant", and you don't want clunky for a rank you're going to use a lot because it's held by a POV character.I actually drew up a speculative hierarchy of Marshal>Vice-Marshal>General>Captain>Commander>Sub-commander>Lieutenant>Sublieutenant>Cadet (with Marshal, Vice-Marshal and Captain being positions rather than permanent ranks - Captain here being more closely equivalent to Commodore in Starfleet terms); thank you for sharing your own versions of things.
Field marshal is used in the book, so you have to accept it. to be honest, I'm surprised I didn't do "Space Marshal"!
Sector Marshal?
Stevil2001, please pardon me for only getting back to you now; I spend weekends away from the Internet and am prey to distraction even when Real Life does not stoop to conquer!
I will be pleased and proud to share any illustrations, when one can afford them.
Thank You most kindly for the compliment; having looked up my original notes, I actually DID note down 'Interstellar Union Exploratory Ship' as one of the possibilities, so clearly our tastes in acronyms aren't too far apart!
In fact it is; Mr Bennett's rather excellent novels are a major reason I stumbled onto this website in the first place and his decision to frame an entire novel around an Andorian vessel from the early years of Starfleet is a not-significant reason for my love of the series (I'm also heartily impressed by his construction of calendars for those Department of Temporal Investigations novels; hopefully he won't develop the capacity to draw superb maps, otherwise he might well and truly turn my head).
Part of the reason I really like it is that this makes an excellent, subtle way of hinting at the Andorian investment in Clan and presumably a corresponding sense of lineage (not to mention helping readers keep track of WHICH starship of a given name this happens to be, which is much appreciated).
It actually occurred to me that one way of marking out 'Earthly' Interstellar Guard vessels from their in-universe 'Andorian' stablemates and from prime-timeline Starfleet vessels would be to employ a Daedalus-style globe in place of the Andorian 'spearhead' or the Starfleet disk.
You know it's quite fascinating to wonder what a Kumari-type design would look like with elements of post-WRATH OF KHAN production design worked in; the STAR TREK ONLINE Kumari gives an impression of an 'upgraded' incarnation, but doesn't quite work for me as a 2280s vessel.
Continuity is a Mistress almost as harsh as a Klingon Dominatrix!
On a more serious note, I really should have remembered that the younger Sulu was ENSIGN Demora; I would plead an excuse, but that excuse would be more miserable than a dentist at a Diet Coke factory!
Now getting away from half-witty similes, part of the reason I looked up those notes was to track down references to Interstellar Guard uniforms; you quite clearly describe them as black & leathery (although not actually leather) in the proud tradition of the Imperial Guard (with piping to mark the various divisions).
Would I be correct in imagining an evolved version of those uniforms, with perhaps a few elements from the Reliant-pattern Starfleet uniform that debuted in WRATH OF KHAN for inter-timeline synchronicity? (my guess was that piping would be visible as a stripe on the legs, as a cuff-ring on both sleeves and possibly as 'epaulettes' on the shoulders).
From what I can recall you specified that the Medical division used light blue as their colour designation; my guess is that the command division would use the same green colour (I've seen it described as 'avocado') visible on Commander Shran's uniform in ENTERPRISE - may I please ask if this deduction is correct?
Also, I believe that you mention Security, Engineering, Intelligence and Sciences divisions in the course of your novella; it seems reasonable to interpolate yellow ochre for Engineering & grey for Sciences from the Reliant-pattern uniforms, though Windsor green as the divisional colour for security might be a little too close to avocado for instant distinctions to be made; one imagines white as the division colour for Intelligence in the Imperial Guard purely because the colour would suggest snow & ice to the Andorian mind (a not-inappropriate association for a service almost as ubiquitous & chilling!).
May I please ask if my logic holds up?
By the way, please allow me to apologise if I am a little too inquisitive - the chance to pick the creator's brain is a slightly intoxicating prospect and one hopes I have not abused it! Thank You again for your patience and for your toleration.
I will be pleased and proud to share any illustrations, when one can afford them.
Thank You most kindly for the compliment; having looked up my original notes, I actually DID note down 'Interstellar Union Exploratory Ship' as one of the possibilities, so clearly our tastes in acronyms aren't too far apart!
In fact it is; Mr Bennett's rather excellent novels are a major reason I stumbled onto this website in the first place and his decision to frame an entire novel around an Andorian vessel from the early years of Starfleet is a not-significant reason for my love of the series (I'm also heartily impressed by his construction of calendars for those Department of Temporal Investigations novels; hopefully he won't develop the capacity to draw superb maps, otherwise he might well and truly turn my head).
Part of the reason I really like it is that this makes an excellent, subtle way of hinting at the Andorian investment in Clan and presumably a corresponding sense of lineage (not to mention helping readers keep track of WHICH starship of a given name this happens to be, which is much appreciated).
It actually occurred to me that one way of marking out 'Earthly' Interstellar Guard vessels from their in-universe 'Andorian' stablemates and from prime-timeline Starfleet vessels would be to employ a Daedalus-style globe in place of the Andorian 'spearhead' or the Starfleet disk.
You know it's quite fascinating to wonder what a Kumari-type design would look like with elements of post-WRATH OF KHAN production design worked in; the STAR TREK ONLINE Kumari gives an impression of an 'upgraded' incarnation, but doesn't quite work for me as a 2280s vessel.
Continuity is a Mistress almost as harsh as a Klingon Dominatrix!
On a more serious note, I really should have remembered that the younger Sulu was ENSIGN Demora; I would plead an excuse, but that excuse would be more miserable than a dentist at a Diet Coke factory!
Now getting away from half-witty similes, part of the reason I looked up those notes was to track down references to Interstellar Guard uniforms; you quite clearly describe them as black & leathery (although not actually leather) in the proud tradition of the Imperial Guard (with piping to mark the various divisions).
Would I be correct in imagining an evolved version of those uniforms, with perhaps a few elements from the Reliant-pattern Starfleet uniform that debuted in WRATH OF KHAN for inter-timeline synchronicity? (my guess was that piping would be visible as a stripe on the legs, as a cuff-ring on both sleeves and possibly as 'epaulettes' on the shoulders).
From what I can recall you specified that the Medical division used light blue as their colour designation; my guess is that the command division would use the same green colour (I've seen it described as 'avocado') visible on Commander Shran's uniform in ENTERPRISE - may I please ask if this deduction is correct?
Also, I believe that you mention Security, Engineering, Intelligence and Sciences divisions in the course of your novella; it seems reasonable to interpolate yellow ochre for Engineering & grey for Sciences from the Reliant-pattern uniforms, though Windsor green as the divisional colour for security might be a little too close to avocado for instant distinctions to be made; one imagines white as the division colour for Intelligence in the Imperial Guard purely because the colour would suggest snow & ice to the Andorian mind (a not-inappropriate association for a service almost as ubiquitous & chilling!).
May I please ask if my logic holds up?
By the way, please allow me to apologise if I am a little too inquisitive - the chance to pick the creator's brain is a slightly intoxicating prospect and one hopes I have not abused it! Thank You again for your patience and for your toleration.
I think you've put more thought into it than I did! Michael may have put more into it; he likes thinking about uniforms more than I do. It's a little tricky because the Andorian uniforms in Enterprise weren't very, well, uniform. I do think I imagined something more standardized for the Interstellar Guard.
No problem! It's fun to think back on this stuff. It's unlikely I will ever get the chance to do more Star Trek, and Tears of Eridanus is the work from my brief career of which I am most proud.
Hi, guys, I'm reviving this thread rather than start a new one to ask: what the hell happened over in A Gutted World? I just finished rereading this story last night and I'm amazed at both how cool - and how devastating, casualty-wise - it was. I started running a tally just to see who all died...and realized it would probably be easier to list those who survived! (I've listed the major and/or recurring characters of the novel-verse as of 2008 who weren't explicitly killed off)
I may or may not be missing some.
Again, I may or may not be missing some.
With that said, what happens next? Oh, and in what timeframe did this story take place? There was references made to at least six months, if not a year or two, but other than saying it started around when First Contact finished (I believe Data said that they returned from 2063 - by the way, Happy First Contact Day! - approximately seven minutes after they'd left and then they jumped immediately into this story) there was no other direct mention of time.
Anyways, that's what I've got. Thanks for writing such a great story, @KRAD !
P.S.: I just realized that this story was published just a couple of months before Star Trek: Destiny (August 2008 vs. September through November 2008), and I do believe that there was more devastation in A Gutted World than during the Borg Invasion of 2381 (at least for the Federation!).
- U.S.S. Enterprise-E
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
- Cmdr. (Dr.) Beverly Crusher
- Lt. Cmdr. Ro Laren
- Lt. Miles O'Brien
- Lt. Miranda Kadohata
- Lt. Linda Addison
- Ens. Kell Perim
- Mission Specialist Odo
- U.S.S. Defiant
- Capt. Worf
- Cmdr. Ben Sisko
- Capt. Montgomery Scott
- Lt. Cmdr. Michael Eddington
- Lt. Sariel Rager
- Lt. Padraig Daniels
- Lt. Domenica Corsi
- Dr. Simon Tarses
- Mission Specialist Kira Nerys
- U.S.S. Excalibur
- Capt. Morgan Korsmo (during the Battle of Sector 001)
- Capt. Elizabeth Shelby
- U.S.S. Voyager
- Capt. Kathryn Janeway
- Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Cavit
- Lt. Tuvok
- Lt. Veronica Stadi
- Lt. Joe Carey
- Ens./Lt. (j.g.)-select Harry Kim
- U.S.S. da Vinci
- Capt. David Gold
- Cmdr. Salak
- Lt. Cmdr. Kieran Duffy
- SCE contingent
- U.S.S. Lexington
- Capt. Gilaad ben Zoma
- Starbase 375
- R-Adm. Eric Hahn
- Cmdr. Erika Beteen
- Lt. Jadzia Dax
- Lt. Nidani Ledrah
- F-Adm. James Leyton (during the Battle of Sector 001)
- Pres. Jaresh-Inyo (replaced by a Founder)
- Terok Nor
- Gul Dukat (replaced by a Founder)
- Dalin Damar
- Elim Garak
- Rom (& possibly Nog)
- Qo'noS and the Klingon Empire
- Founder impersonating Jaresh-Inyo, killed by then-Cmdr. Worf
- Adm. Bill Ross* (not explicitly killed, but in the epilogue, a Founder assumed his form)
I may or may not be missing some.
- Capt. Will Riker & Cmdr. Geordi La Forge, now of the U.S.S. Sugihara
- Capt. Data, now of the U.S.S. Sutherland
- Cmdr. Deanna Troi-Riker, left on Starbase 96
- Keiko and Molly O'Brien (I believe, though I'm not certain, that all non-essential and civilian personnel on the Enterprise-E disembarked at Starbase 96 before their final mission)
- Quark, returned to his moon
- Jake Sisko
- V-Adm. Vance Haden, on Starbase 24
- U.S.S. Bellerophon (survived, but heavily damaged)
- U.S.S. Sentinel (survived, but damaged)
- Dr. Julian Bashir (not mentioned in story)
- Ezri Tigan (not mentioned in story)
- Maquis members of the U.S.S. Voyager (Chakotay, B'Elanna, etc.; not mentioned in story)
- Tom Paris (not mentioned in story)
- Adm. Owen Paris (not mentioned in story)
- Adm. Leonard Akaar (not mentioned in story)
- Cmdr. Elias Vaughn (not mentioned in story)
- Lt. Christine Vale (not mentioned in story)
- Members of the Federation Council, including President pro tem T'Latrek and Councillors Matthew Mazibuko, Charivethra zh'Thane, and Bera chim Gleer (last of whom was not mentioned in story)
- Min Zife (then the Federation Councillor for Bolarus) (not mentioned in story)
- Nanietta Bacco (then the Governor of Cestus III) (not mentioned in story)
Again, I may or may not be missing some.
With that said, what happens next? Oh, and in what timeframe did this story take place? There was references made to at least six months, if not a year or two, but other than saying it started around when First Contact finished (I believe Data said that they returned from 2063 - by the way, Happy First Contact Day! - approximately seven minutes after they'd left and then they jumped immediately into this story) there was no other direct mention of time.
Anyways, that's what I've got. Thanks for writing such a great story, @KRAD !
P.S.: I just realized that this story was published just a couple of months before Star Trek: Destiny (August 2008 vs. September through November 2008), and I do believe that there was more devastation in A Gutted World than during the Borg Invasion of 2381 (at least for the Federation!).
The story takes place in 2373, though the changing point in the timeline is prior to 2369. So yeah, right after the Borg invasion chronicled in First Contact, but with Admiral Leyton rather than Admiral Hayes in charge, since Leyton was never disgraced in this timeline.
Yes, Keiko and Molly (and their son, who is not named Kirayoshi in this timeline) are probably safe on Starbase 96.
If I ever did do a sequel to this story -- and I have thought about it, though it's not gonna happen any time soon, since no one at Simon & Schuster has evinced any interest in hiring me to write for them in the last decade -- it would probably focus on Captains Riker and Data.....
Yes, Keiko and Molly (and their son, who is not named Kirayoshi in this timeline) are probably safe on Starbase 96.
If I ever did do a sequel to this story -- and I have thought about it, though it's not gonna happen any time soon, since no one at Simon & Schuster has evinced any interest in hiring me to write for them in the last decade -- it would probably focus on Captains Riker and Data.....
That's a comprehensive list.
It's been a few years since I last read the story. The war is mean on the Federation, but I don't remember it being as destructive as the war preceding the Borg Redemption in Destiny. In the latter, the Federation alone lost full half of Starfleet, several memberworlds wholesale and tens of billions of lives.
Damn, now I really want to read this.
Same here!
So would their ships be crewed by whoever survived the original story, or would you try to make up new crewmembers?
Also, did this story take place over the course of the entire year 2373, or did it make it into 2374 or even 2375?
Actually, now that I think about it, A Gutted World wasn't nearly as destructive as Destiny; it's just that it killed off a whole lot of named characters (seriously, my list of characters who survived the story was shorter than the list of who died, especially if I take out the characters who weren't actually in the story!) while Destiny ravaged 60 billion (I think that's the correct number) across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, and while there where quite a few causalities of characters I knew or recognized during the battle(s), the Borg did obliterate entire worlds and populations, even to the point where six years later (story time), Starfleet and/or the Federation hadn't even visited the destroyed Nausicaan homeworld. I suppose it's like the old saying goes: "one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic". It seemed like more because I actually knew the ones who died.
^I enjoyed reading A gutted world, I bet you enjoyed killing all those character with murderous glee lol
My favourite Myriad story was A Less perfect union, I was glad it did not have an immediate happy ending, Earth deserved to wait.
My favourite Myriad story was A Less perfect union, I was glad it did not have an immediate happy ending, Earth deserved to wait.
The whole novelverse is a Myriad Universe, now.
I don't know about the "whole," just the post-Nemesis part.
