Star Trek, Re-imagined

[DigificWriter]

I recently became interested in the idea of what Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager might look like as standalone series without the ST moniker attached, and started a thread about it. In that thread, someone mentioned that Star Trek Enterprise would also work well as a standalone series, which in turn led to my considering the possibility of actually 're-imagining' the entire ST franchise from the ground up. Here's my 'base concepts' for each 're-imagined' series, which, as you can see, remain very similar to the concepts/premises of the originals, but also incorporate some changes.

Star Trek: Daedalus​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek: Enterprise, the series focuses on the crew and voyages of the UES (United Earth Starfleet) Daedalus, Earth's first warp-capable starship.

Main Characters
Captain Jonathan Archer, Commanding Officer
Commander Erica Hernandez, First Officer
Lieutenant Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker, Chief Engineer
Doctor (Lieutenant) Johanna Metzger, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, Chief Tactical Officer
Ensign Travis Mayweather, Chief Helmsman
Ensign Hoshi Sato, Chief Communications Officer
Subcommander T'Pol, Vulcan Liason

Notes: Although I liked the character of Phlox, I also felt that it was more in keeping with Enterprise's overall premise and theme for T'Pol to be the only non-human aboard the ship, and also felt that her character would work better if she wasn't an official part of the ship's crew. That meant that there were some vacancies in the crew, so I commandeered Erica Hernandez and a literature-only character, Doctor Metzger, from the Columbia NX-02 in order to fill them.

Star Trek: Enterprise​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of the original Star Trek, the series focuses on the crew and voyages of the Constitution-class UFS (United Federation Starfleet) Enterprise.

Main Characters
Captain Christopher Pike, Commanding Officer
Commander James T. Kirk, First Officer
Doctor (Commander) Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Commander Spock, Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Pavel Chekov, Chief Tactical Officer
Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Chief Helmsman
Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Chief Communications Officer


Notes: I added Christopher Pike as the Enterprise's Captain because I wanted the series to have a main cast of 8 people. Pike's involvement meant that I had to 'downgrade' Kirk's rank and position, as well as Spock's rank. I then upped Chekov's rank and changed his position to that of Chief Tactical Officer. I also changed the Enterprise's prefix from USS to UFS because I thought it worked better and was a natural evolution from the prefix of the Daedalus as seen above.

Star Trek: Excelsior​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the series focuses on the crew and voyages of the Galaxy-glass starship UFS Excelsior.​

Main Characters
Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commanding Officer
Commander William Riker, First Officer
Doctor (Commander) Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Commander Geordi Laforge, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi, Chief Counselor
Lieutenant Commander Data, Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant Tasha Yar, Chief Tactical Officer
Ensign Wesley Crusher, Chief Operations Officer​

Notes: I changed Data's position to that of Chief Science Officer and gave Geordi the Chief Engineer position; I also made Wesley an Ensign and gave him the position of Chief Operations Officer (a combination of the Chief Helmsman and Chief Communications Officer positions from the previous two series).​

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, the series is actually quite similar to the original version of DS9, but incorporates a much greater emphasis on exploration than was present in the original, although it once again focuses on the crew of the space station Deep Space Nine, who will embark on periodic missions of exploration aboard a starship called the UFS Defiant.​

Main Characters
Commander Benjamin Sisko, Commanding Officer
Major Kira Nerys, First Officer
Lieutenant Commander Worf, Chief Tactical Officer
Doctor (Lieutenant) Julian Bashir, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, Chief Science Officer
Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien, Chief Engineer
Odo
Quark​

Notes: Because I added an element of exploration to DS9's basic premise, I made several changes to the 'crew structure' for the series, adding Worf as Chief Tactical Officer and changing Miles O'Brien's position to that of Chief Engineer.​

Star Trek: Voyager​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek Voyager, the series remains much closer to the original intent of the series. Like the original Voyager, it focuses on the crew and voyages of the starship Voyager (UFS).​

Main Characters
Captain Kathryn Janeway, Commanding Officer
Commander Chakotay, First Officer
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Chief Tactical Officer
Lieutenant Tom Paris, Chief Operations Officer
Ensign Kes, Chief Counselor
Doctor Zimmerman, Chief Medical Officer
Neelix​

Notes: I omitted Harry Kim's character because I honestly couldn't think of a position for him to occupy given that I had basically given it to Tom Paris. I also gave The Doctor the name 'Zimmerman', as originally intended, and made Kes an Ensign and the ship's official Chief Counselor because I felt it was something that Janeway would do, and because I felt the ship would definitely need a counselor onboard.​

 

[Mistral]

So now, what are you going to do with all of this?

 

[Count Zero]

Indeed, isn't the main point of 're-imaginings' in fan fic taking Trek or a specific series different directions than in official works? You haven't really elaborated on what you would do differently, except for some very vague premises.

 

[Admiral2]

I recently became interested in the idea of what Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager might look like as standalone series without the ST moniker attached, and started a thread about it. In that thread, someone mentioned that Star Trek Enterprise would also work well as a standalone series, which in turn led to my considering the possibility of actually 're-imagining' the entire ST franchise from the ground up. Here's my 'base concepts' for each 're-imagined' series, which, as you can see, remain very similar to the concepts/premises of the originals, but also incorporate some changes.

Star Trek: Daedalus​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek: Enterprise, the series focuses on the crew and voyages of the UES (United Earth Starfleet) Daedalus, Earth's first warp-capable starship.

Main Characters
Captain Jonathan Archer, Commanding Officer
Commander Erica Hernandez, First Officer
Lieutenant Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker, Chief Engineer
Doctor (Lieutenant) Johanna Metzger, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, Chief Tactical Officer
Ensign Travis Mayweather, Chief Helmsman
Ensign Hoshi Sato, Chief Communications Officer
Subcommander T'Pol, Vulcan Liason

Notes: Although I liked the character of Phlox, I also felt that it was more in keeping with Enterprise's overall premise and theme for T'Pol to be the only non-human aboard the ship, and also felt that her character would work better if she wasn't an official part of the ship's crew. That meant that there were some vacancies in the crew, so I commandeered Erica Hernandez and a literature-only character, Doctor Metzger, from the Columbia NX-02 in order to fill them.

Star Trek: Enterprise​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of the original Star Trek, the series focuses on the crew and voyages of the Constitution-class UFS (United Federation Starfleet) Enterprise.

Main Characters
Captain Christopher Pike, Commanding Officer
Commander James T. Kirk, First Officer
Doctor (Commander) Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Commander Spock, Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Pavel Chekov, Chief Tactical Officer
Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Chief Helmsman
Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Chief Communications Officer


Notes: I added Christopher Pike as the Enterprise's Captain because I wanted the series to have a main cast of 8 people. Pike's involvement meant that I had to 'downgrade' Kirk's rank and position, as well as Spock's rank. I then upped Chekov's rank and changed his position to that of Chief Tactical Officer. I also changed the Enterprise's prefix from USS to UFS because I thought it worked better and was a natural evolution from the prefix of the Daedalus as seen above.

Star Trek: Excelsior​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the series focuses on the crew and voyages of the Galaxy-glass starship UFS Excelsior.​

Main Characters
Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commanding Officer
Commander William Riker, First Officer
Doctor (Commander) Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Commander Geordi Laforge, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi, Chief Counselor
Lieutenant Commander Data, Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant Tasha Yar, Chief Tactical Officer
Ensign Wesley Crusher, Chief Operations Officer​

Notes: I changed Data's position to that of Chief Science Officer and gave Geordi the Chief Engineer position; I also made Wesley an Ensign and gave him the position of Chief Operations Officer (a combination of the Chief Helmsman and Chief Communications Officer positions from the previous two series).​

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, the series is actually quite similar to the original version of DS9, but incorporates a much greater emphasis on exploration than was present in the original, although it once again focuses on the crew of the space station Deep Space Nine, who will embark on periodic missions of exploration aboard a starship called the UFS Defiant.​

Main Characters
Commander Benjamin Sisko, Commanding Officer
Major Kira Nerys, First Officer
Lieutenant Commander Worf, Chief Tactical Officer
Doctor (Lieutenant) Julian Bashir, Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, Chief Science Officer
Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien, Chief Engineer
Odo
Quark​

Notes: Because I added an element of exploration to DS9's basic premise, I made several changes to the 'crew structure' for the series, adding Worf as Chief Tactical Officer and changing Miles O'Brien's position to that of Chief Engineer.​

Star Trek: Voyager​

Premise
A 're-imagining' of Star Trek Voyager, the series remains much closer to the original intent of the series. Like the original Voyager, it focuses on the crew and voyages of the starship Voyager (UFS).​

Main Characters
Captain Kathryn Janeway, Commanding Officer
Commander Chakotay, First Officer
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Chief Tactical Officer
Lieutenant Tom Paris, Chief Operations Officer
Ensign Kes, Chief Counselor
Doctor Zimmerman, Chief Medical Officer
Neelix​

Notes: I omitted Harry Kim's character because I honestly couldn't think of a position for him to occupy given that I had basically given it to Tom Paris. I also gave The Doctor the name 'Zimmerman', as originally intended, and made Kes an Ensign and the ship's official Chief Counselor because I felt it was something that Janeway would do, and because I felt the ship would definitely need a counselor onboard.​

Been there, done that, printed the T-shirt.

 

[RobertScorpio]

So now, what are you going to do with all of this?

^^ agreed. You have a great blue-print there. Now lets see some writing of a story!!! We won't bite (Well, not all of us)

Rob

 

[xortex]

I agree whole heartedly with the changes. It alignes itself better with an action adventure sci fi series. Star Trek needs a visionary. Still haven't seen the movie yet. If it only had a perceived better story to it that accomidated the original..

 

[ambessalion]

there wasn't any significant changes to it that would make the series truly stand alone....all you've done is added or removed characters or changed their positions...they're still star trek series with the same stories as the 'originals'....so what was the point of this endeavor?

me for example i'd either remove the trek aien characters and replace them with humans or create my own aliens to replace them.....

 

[DigificWriter]

I think you'll get a better sense of what I was trying to do from the following:

Star Trek: Daedalus Season 1 Outline (late 2154)
The first season of the series begins in late 2154, with Captain Jonathan Archer preparing for the launch of the UES Daedalus, Earth's first starship capable of sustained-warp flight. However, instead of being able to concentrate on putting together the last of his ship's crew and supervising the final preparations for its launch, he finds himself having to deal with bureaucratic politics. The Vulcan ambassador to Earth, Sulak, maintains that, even after 25 years of interacting with other alien races (mainly the Vulcans), humanity has still not demonstrated that it is psychologically ready to explore the stars... at least not without Vulcan supervision. Sulak demands that a Vulcan 'observer' be assigned to the Daedalus, something that both Archer and his superiors at United Earth Starfleet Command vehemently object to, and the arguments and wrangling are threatening to derail the Daedalus' launch.

While all of this is going on, the Daedalus' first officer, Commander Erica Hernandez, is working to supervise the final assembly of the ship and her crew. One member of that crew, Ensign Hoshi Sato, a bright, gifted linguist, intercepts a distress call from an alien race known as the Axanar, who claim that one of their ships is under attack from unknown foes and that they are taking heavy casualties. Hernandez and Sato bring the distress call to the attention of Starfleet Command and Archer, who are able to use it to override Sulak's arguments and objections and launch the ship. Sulak, though, isn't going to give up quite so easily, and, just moments before the ship departs, he assigns a Vulcan, Subcommander T'Pol, to the ship himself.

After the rescue of the Axanar vessel, the Daedalus embarks on a mission comprised primarily of first-contact situations, the investigation of scientific and interstellar phenomenae, and the exploration of uncharted space. It is not until the ship's crew becomes inadvertantly embroiled in an interstellar feud between two alien races, the Andorians and the Tellarites, that it becomes apparent that someone is trying to spark an interstellar conflict, and that whoever it is might have ties to the assailants who attacked the Axanar vessel that the Daedalus' crew rescued at the start of the season.

Season Two Outline (2155)
Season Two is the first truly 'story-driven' season of the series, with most of its episodes dealing with the Daedalus and her crew trying to uncover hard evidence that will link the Axanar's attackers to the brewing tensions between the Andorians and Tellarites; when both races discover evidence suggesting that it may in fact be the Vulcans who are trying to foment conflict between their peoples, they both separately declare war against the planet, putting the Daedalus in the middle, since its crew has opened diplomatic relations with the governments of both races. The season ends with the Daedalus and her crew managing to clear the Vulcans of any wrongdoing, and expose the true culprits, a race of aliens called the Romulans. This results in the Andorians and Tellarites forming a tenuous alliance with both Earth and Vulcan. This comes not a moment too soon, as the Romulans launch a brazen and direct assault on Andor, Tellar, Vulcan, and Earth, and declare open war against all four races.

Season Three Outline (2156)
Season Three deals with the beginnings of the Romulan War, as Romulan vessels skirmish with Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, and Earth vessels - including the Daedalus - while the governments of the four planets try to open diplomatic talks with the Romulans. The Daedalus is also assigned to make an exploratory 'scouting mission' directly into Romulan-held territory in an effort to uncover information about the aliens that might help facillitate diplomatic relations between the Romulan government and Earth. However, the season ends with the talks between the governments of Earth, Tellar, Andor, Vulcan, and Romulus breaking down, and the Romulans intensifying their war efforts by directly attacking and damaging the Daedalus and the flagships of the Andorian, Tellarite, and Vulcan militaries.

Season Four Outline (2157)
Season Four of the series deals primarily with open skirmishes between the Romulans and the militaries of Earth, Tellar, Andor, and Vulcan, with the Daedalus right in the middle. The season also sees other aliens enter the fracas on behalf of the Romulans, and by the end of the season, Earth, Andor, Tellar, and Vulcan have banded together to form a united 'war alliance'.

Season 5 (2158)
Season 5's narrative continues to deal with the hostilities of the Romulan War, but the major 'dramatic arc' comes from rising xenophobic feelings amongst some of Earth's populace, primarily stemming from 'evidence' that there might be some type of connection between the Romulans and the Vulcans. Tensions also start to resurface between Vulcan and Earth after it comes to light that a shadowy organization, sanctioned by the United Earth Starfleet constitution, has been conducting 'guerilla warfare campaigns' against the Romulans and their allies, something that the Vulcan government is completely opposed to. The Daedalus becomes caught in the middle of both of these situations when one of its crewmembers is implicated as a member of this organization, and is sent directly into Romulan-held space to try and uncover the truth, a mission that ultimately ends badly when Captain Archer, Subcommander T'Pol - who has by now become a trusted member of the ship's crew - and Shran - an Andorian assigned to the ship as a sort of 'ambassador' - are all taken hostage by the Romulans.

Season Six Outline (2159)
The majority of Season 6's narrative deals with the Daedalus, now under the command of Erica Hernandez, searching for Archer, T'Pol, and Shran, while also continuing to skirmish with the Romulans and their allies. Meanwhile, the governments of Earth and Vulcan are able to once again set aside their differences, and, in conjunction with the governments of Andor and Tellar, form a political organization called the 'United Coalition of Planets' in order to further coordinate the four planets' war efforts against the Romulans and their allies, and to search for a way to possibly bring an end to the war diplomatically, since it becomes apparent that the Romulans care nothing for the amount of casualties they are taking, nor for the amount of casualties they and their allies are inflicting. The season ends with Archer, T'Pol, and Shran being rescued, as well as the capture of a Romulan general.

Season 7 (2160)
Season 7 deals with the aftermath of Season 6's ending, as the Daedalus' Romulan prisoner is brought back to Earth and handed over to the UCP's governing Council, who are hoping to convince him to negotiate a treaty with them to end the war. The Daedalus is also sent back out to join the war. By the midway point of the season, the UCP Council has convinced their 'prisoner' to agree to attempt to convince his government to sign a treaty with the Coalition, and the Daedalus is sent to return him to Romulus and smuggle him back into the capital. That mission ultimately proves successful, as does the general's attempt to convince his government to end the war diplomatically, and the season - and series - end with the end of the war, the establishment of a Neutral Zone between Coalition-controlled space and Romulan-controlled space, and the official retirement of the Daedalus.

 

[issreliant]

Sounds great so far!! too bad Enterprise didnt go that way, might have earned a few more fans and lasted longer. Cant wait to hear what you have planned next!!!!!!

 

[DigificWriter]

It was relatively easy to figure out how to 're-imagine' ENT so that it had a cohesive story arc that lasted over the course of 7 seasons, since a lot of the groundwork was already there and it was just a matter of taking it, shifting it around, and figuring out how to use it to its fullest potential.

Reworking TOS into a series with a cohesive 7-season arc wasn't quite as easy because it didn't have any pre-existing arcs as such, but I think I did a pretty good job given what I had to work with:

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 Outline (Early to mid 2265)
Unlike its predecessor, Enterprise starts, not with the launch of its namesake starship, but with that ship already having been in serfice for a year. At the start of the series and season, the Enterprise is ordered to patrol near the Romulan Neutral Zone and investigate reports of a possible breach of the area by Romulan ships. The ship has only been in the area a few short hours when they're attacked by a pair of unidentified ships which, although somewhat similar in design to Romulan vessels, belong not to that alien race, but to a race of aliens known as Klingons who have been increasing the reach of their own territitory so that it encroaches very close to the Romulan Neutral Zone and the space overseen by the United Federation of Planets. The Enterprise's encounter with the Klingon vessels will have far-reaching repurcussions as the season and series progresses, but, for the most part, the majority of the Enterprise's early missions under Pike's command are of a diplomatic and scientific nature, with some 'first-contact' situations thrown in as well. By the midpoint of the season, though, the Klingons rear their heads again, and the Enterprise finds itself investigating claims made by the Klingons that their attacks on the Enterprise and other Federation vessels are justified because of something that occured nearly 100 years earlier, and resulted in a schism in their society. That investigation, however, is interrupted when several Federation starships are destroyed by an unknown force, which later identifies itself as an alien race called the Xindi.

Season 2 (Mid 2265 to early 2266)
Season 2 deals with a series of conflicts between Federation ships, including the Enterprise, and vessels belonging to the Xindi, with the Klingons sort of fading into the background, and with the Enterprise being dispatched to explore Xindi space in an attempt to uncover a cure for a biochemical plague which is unleashed on numerous Federation-controlled worlds by the reptillian aliens. The season ends with the Xindi conflict being resolved, and the Enterprise resuming its routine of undertaking diplomatic, scientific, and exploratory missions.

Season Three Outline (2266 to early 2267)
In Season Three, the Enterprise continues its diplomatic, scientific, and exploratory missions, but also finds itself dealing with the Klingons, who continue to be an 'annoyance'. By the midpoint of the season, though, that 'annoyance' has grown to the point where the Klingons are deliberately seeking out conflicts with the Enterprise and other Federation vessels, the season ends with the declaration of outright warr on the part of the Klingons, who attack and destory a defenseless Federation colony.

Season Four Outline (Early to mid 2267)
In Season 4, the Enterprise finds itself at the forefront of the Federation's war with the Klingons, often being sent to the aid and defense of unarmed and defenseless Federation colonies and outposts, which seem to be the Klingons' favorite targets. During one such mission, the ship encounters a race of seemingly omnipotent beings who call themselves Organians, and who state that their sole purpose is to ensure peace in the galaxy and universe. The Organians attempt to organize a peaceful end to the war between the Klingons and the Federation, but, despite their efforts, the skirmishes and conflicts continue for most of the season before the Organians finally take drastic measures by abducting Pike and three Klingon commanders - Kor, Koloth, and Kang - while simultaneously transporting their respective ships hundreds of thousands of light-years across the galaxy.

Season Five Outline (Mid to late 2267)
The early portion of Season 5 sees the Enterprise journeying to get back to Federation-controlled space after being transported to the very edge of known space by the Organians, and having to deal with the three Klingon vessels who were also thrown the same distance. By the time the ship makes it back to Federation-controlled space, the Organians have managed to broker a tentative peace between the Klingons and the Federation, aided by Pike, Kor, Kang, and Koloth, and the Federation/Klingon War comes to an official end, allowing the Enterprise to resume its routine missions of exploration and diplomacy.

Season Six Outline (2268 to early 2269)
The early portion of Season 6 is primarily standalone, but towards the midway point of the season, the Enterprise encounters an ancient Earth vessel, the Botany Bay, which contains the cyrogenically frozen body of Khan Noonian Soong, a man who terrorized Earth during the early and late 21st Century, and who was ultimately responsible for the Federation and Earth outlawing the practice of genetic manipulation. Soong's 'resurrection' coincides with the first true test of the Organians' efforts in establishing tentative peace between the Klingons and the Federation, as the claims that led to early Federation/Klingon antagonism are substantiated, and war threatens to break out again. These problems are further complicated when the Romulan Star Empire emerges after 100+ years of isolation to try and re-establish itself as a dominant power in the galaxy, encroaching on both Federation and Klingon-held territory, and trying to foment tensions between the two tentative allies, even going so far as to sign a treaty with the Klingons themselves as part of a 'technology exchange'. The season ends with the Romulans betraying the Klingons and attacking the outpost of Narendra III, which leads to the formation of a full-fledged alliance between the Federation and the Klingons.

Season Seven Outline (Early to mid 2269)
The primary arc for Season 7 deals with the threat posed to the Federation by the emergence of a sentient machine called V'Ger, which falls into the hands of the Romulans and starts using their technology to perpetuate itself, although the Enterprise doesn't discover V'Ger's involvement in things until the midway point of the season; before then, the ship is primarily dealing with increasing hostile activity from the Romulans, who are still trying to re-establish themselves as an interstellar power. The resultant conflict with both the Romulans and V'Ger culminates in the destruction of the Enterprise, and the series itself ends with her crew being assigned to a new Enterprise, which is then dispatched on an ongoing mission of exploration, diplomacy, and scientific discovery like its predecessor.

 

[issreliant]

so far so good, but you should have pike injured or killed in season 3, and let kirk become captain.

 

[issreliant]

really enjoying this reimagined star trek, cant wait to see what you have planned next! also any plans on some fan-fic storys set in this new universe, would love to read them.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'm still working out exactly what to do with regards to Excelsior, so I'm going to skip that series and go on to DS9:

Star Trek Deep Space Nine Season One Outline (2370)
The primary 'arc' of DS9's first season revolves around Benjamin Sisko's role as the 'emissary' of the Bajorans' gods, the Prophets, and the implications thereof. It becomes clear early on in the season that, while some are willing to accept Sisko as the Prophets' emissary, others are not, and tensions begin to rise between the 'believers' and 'non-believers'. This undercurrent of religious tension escalates throughout the course of the season, and culminates when the 'non-believers' actually take Sisko - as well as Kira and the Bajoran Kai, Opaka Sulan - hostage while the three are on Bajor.

Season Two Outline (2371)
The early part of Season 2 deals with the resolution of the 'Bajoran civil war' arc from Season 1, and culminates in Sisko being accepted almost universally as the Prophets' emmisary. This comes not a moment too soon, as DS9's crew finds itself at the center of another firestorm, this one coming in the form of an invasion from symbiotic 'parasite creatures' who seem to have some relationship with the Trill, and which apparently want to take down Starfleet and the Federation from the inside. Following the conclusion of this arc, Starfleet authorizes an exploratory mission into the Gamma Quadrant, and part of DS9's crew is dispatched on said mission in a short-range vessel called the Defiant. This 'exploration' arc culminates when the Defiant is attacked by the Jem'Hadar, a race of genetically engineered soldiers who serve a political entity known as the Dominion, and which views the ship's incursion into the Gamma Quadrant as an invasion.

Season Three Outline (2372)
Season 3's main early arc revolves around a 'rescue mission' undertaken by Sisko, Odo, and others to rescue part of the Defiant's crew who are in the hands of the Dominion and Jem'Hadar. The mission is ultimately a success, but also precipitates an open invasion of the Alpha Quadrant by Dominion-led forces, putting DS9 on the front lines of a miniature war as the Federation's first line of defense while ambassadors are sent into the Gamma Quadrant to try and negotiate with the Dominion in order to avoid a full-scale war. These negotiations ultimately fail, and, by the end of the season, the Dominion has invaded the Alpha Quadrant in force and taken control of DS9.

Season Four Outline (2373)
Season 4's main early arc deals with an attempt to recapture DS9 and defeat the Dominion forces occupying it. This becomes an even more complicated situation, however, when the Dominion's 'invasion force' signs a treaty with the Cardassians and another race hostile to the Federation: the Breen. Breen and Cardassian forces begin attacking Federation outposts and ships in an attempt to halt the effort to recapture DS9. Things then go from bad to worse when the Klingons, a key ally of the Federation, decide to sign a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion themselves, and remove their support from the Federation's effort to recapture DS9 and deal with the ongoing attacks from the Breen and the Cardassians. A minor victory comes, however, when DS9 is recaptured at the end of the season, and the Breen, Cardassians, and Dominion forces are forced to make Cardassia their 'headquarters' in the Alpha Quadrant.

Season Five Outline (2374)
In the early part of Season 4, the Federation begins preparing to declare open war on the Dominion after the group's forces invade and decimate the planet of Betazed, but the Klingons, holding true to their non-aggression treaty, oppose the action, and even go so far as to declare war on the Federation themselves. DS9's crew becomes embroiled in this firestorm because of the fact that its first officer, Worf, is a Klingon. Dispatched to try and figure out what is behind his people's aggressive actions, Worf learns that the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire has been replaced by a Dominion changeling, and uses this fact to bring an end to Klingon/Federation hostilities before they can truly begin in earnest. This allows the Federation to refocus its attention on the Dominion, and the season ends with the outbreak of official war with the Dominion.

Season Six Outline (2375)
Season Six deals with open skirmishes between Federation and Dominion forces, as well as a second attempt by the Dominion to capture DS9 that ultimately fails. Federation forces also directly attack and decimate Cardassia, but not before trying to evacuate the planet's general population, an attempt that is only partially successful. This creates a schism within the Cardassian government, with operatives of the Obsidian Order, the government's secret intelligence organization, agreeing to officially work with the Federation, while others in the government remain allied with the Dominion. This changes, however, when the Dominion, fearing that the Obsidian Order will be able to convince the rest of the government to betray them, instead betrays the Cardassians first. The season ends with DS9's crew launching a rescue mission to Cardassia - in conjunction with their Obsidian Order allies - to rescue the Cardassian leaders who are being held hostage by the Dominion.

Season Seven Outline (2376)
The early part of Season 7 sees a new 'wrinkle' added to the ongoing conflict between the Federation and the Dominion, as a group called the Maquis, opposed to the Federation's 'alliance' of sorts with parts of the Cardassian military, begin harrowing and hampering Federation efforts to wipe out the rest of the Dominion's forces. While trying to deal with the Maquis, the Federation also begins to try and re-open negotiations with the Dominion using Odo as their 'ambassador'. These negotiations are nearly sabotaged by operatives working for a secret Federation organization called Section 31 (the same Section 31 mentioned in my descriptions of Daedalus), but Odo ultimately manages to convince his people to surrender, and the season and series ends with the signing of an official treaty between the Dominion and Federation, Odo becoming the new officially recognized leader of his people, and the Maquis being brought to bear and their leaders dealt with.

With regards to the question of actually working on some stories based on these ideas, I really don't have the time, but wouldn't be opposed to others 'playing in my sandbox', as it were, and writing some of their own if they were so inclined.