STAR TREK: SWIFTWIND. AN IDEA FOR A TNG ERA SPIN OFF

[Solarbaby]

This takes place during the 4th season of voyager and 5th season of 9

Lt Latu a Federation alien is summoned to DS9. Starfleet are studying the Bajoran wormhole and tell him they are currently looking for ways to create their own wormholes. Vice Admiral Doherty (from Insurrection) leads this mission.

Latu is taken onboard a runabout to the Gamma Quadrant. A ship decloaks. Its the USS Quantum an experimental Quantum class starship. Latu is informed that he has been promoted to captain on the condition that he upholds the secrecy of the mission and the illegal use of a cloaking device. He cannot believe his luck, as he was demoted from commander and position as 1st officer during an incident where he disobeyed orders to save his captain's (and lover's) life- ending his track to promotion as a captain.

He thinks this over when 2 Dominion ships scan the area. They penetrate the cloak and attack. The Quantum goes to warp and escapes detection.

Latu meets his crew. They are not typical starfleet officers. They are loyal to the admiral and concerned only with the mission. The first officer is married to the admiral and has a family member onboard Voyager lost in the delta quadrant. The admiral explains that they have rushed the ship out of production to create a wormhole to reach Voyager and bring them home.

They are using the gamma quadrant as there is a particular region of space ideal for the test. They had to use the cloak to sneak past the Dominion as they are preparing to attack the Federation.

Latu is having doubts and considers resigning, however he is curious as to how far the chain of command has been compromised with the dereliction of duty and Starfleet principles. They are ready to begin tests to open a wormhole. They only have a small window of opportunity as the Dominion will detect the wormhole .

They begin the test, a second quantum class ship decloaks -the USS Swiftwind. Together both ships activate their deflector dishes. Latu is very concerned that so many ships are using illegal technology, especially if the Dominion find them. The wormhole opens but it hasn't arrived at the Delta Quadrant. The area surrounding it starts to fluctuate with graviton waves which hit a nearby planet. The admiral is ecstatic with the stablity of the wormhole. A Dominion fleet is detected approaching. Latu demands the admiral stop the experiment and return to the alpha quadrant.

On deep space 9 Odo has uncovered the experiment and informs Sisco.

The USS Quantum is damaged in the attack with the Dominion. Doherty orders the USS Swiftwind to shut down its wormhole generator technology and divert its power to weapons. The Swiftwind's captain is killed and the admiral has Latu beamed onto the Swiftwind. 8 Jem hadar raiders appear and continue the assault. Latu orders all weapons be fired and is surprised at the firepower his ship has for a science vessel. It destroys 5 ships easily. The ship is also equipped with ablative armour on vulnerable parts of the ship. The wormhole starts to destabilise as the Quantum is crippled by the Jem Hadar. Latu tries to rescue the Quantum's crew but the Swiftwind is dragged into the wormhole. The nearby planet explodes from the graviton waves. More Dominion ships appear and the Quantum is doomed when Defiant decloaks and takes out some of them. Sisco gets the Quantum's crew onboard and the admiral orders the destruction of it, but the Dominion tractor it away.

The admiral demands Sisco follow and destroy it but Sisco refuses as they have to close the wormhole before the graviton waves destroy more inhabited planets. Defiant uses its deflector to seal the hole which causes a huge explosion that destroys the region of subspace behind them. The devastation to the area is similar to the effects Omega particles can have; no ships will be able to travel at warp in the region of space again- which has effectively stranded the Quantum and the Jem Hadar ships. Defiant then heads to to DS9 where an angry Sisco demands answers from the Admiral. The admiral refutes all charges and says unless Odo has proof then Sisko had better keep quiet.

The Swiftwind enters an uncharted region of space. They don't recognise it as the milky way. Latu is mortified that he's stuck with this crew who don't seem to have a moral compass. He demands that the crew follow Starfleet protocols and disregard the admiral's orders to accomplish their mission at all costs. Nothing is more important than duty to the truth. Another ship approaches. They are only able to communicate telepathically.

The D'rilmogyn are barely insectisoid energy beings that are curious about the Starfleet ship. They speak to Latu and inform him he is in another galaxy and learn that some of his crew are human- They have heard of humans before. They detect an ion storm approaching and invite the Swiftwind to their planet to take sanctuary till it passes


The Jem Hadar board the Quantum and activate its EMH. The Vorta changes his programming and is given access to his mission. He realises it will take 100s of years to reach the Dominion at sublight so he orders the Jem Hadar to reopen the wormhole which hadn't completely collapsed. They go through the wormhole and just make it out the other end before it collapses permanently. They are caught in the ion storm.

The D'rilmogyn homeworld is a rich world with technology and living well beyond its natural resources. They explain they are rewarded for their service to their masters but won't say any more.

The Quantum is adrift when a nearby ship offers assistance. The Jem'Hadar kill the crew and strip the ship to repair theirs. They then set a course to the nearest populated planet.

The D'rilmogyn have been in contact with their masters and they have offered to meet the Federation crew and see if they can assist in helping them return home.

When they meet the Swiftwind crew they reveal themselves as the "conspiracy" aliens and are excited to have found a way to get back to the Federation via the Swiftwind. Latu escapes and the Swiftwind flees in the direction the Quantum has gone- (destroying all in their way....)

I see a developing storyline of the Swiftwind being hunted for crimes that the other ship did...mistaken identity kind of thing...
Theres a few decent Feds amongst a lot of bad apples.

The Jem Hadar need ketracel white to survive and are going to suffer withdrawl symptoms and they have also lost their gods. The Jem's withdrawals are the reason for them raising so much havoc in the new galaxy and the Swiftwind gets blamed, making them fugitives on the run. They know the conspiracy aliens will do anything to get to rich host filled worlds of the milkyway.

Eventually the conspiracy aliens find and possess the Jem Hadar keeping them alive without needing their drugs. At first the Feds aren't aware the Quantum is in this galaxy. When they find out they realise they have to meet up so they can use the dual deflector technology to open a wormhole back home but they don't know the conspiracy aliens have taken over the Jem Hadar.


I know it seems kind of similar to Voyager - lost ship in a far away place- but Voyager didn't pioneer the idea and it s quite different. These peeps don't want to go home. They want to destroy the threat to the milky way and are paranoid that the conspiracy aliens will capture the wormhole technology.

The swiftwind

 

[Galen4]

Actually not a bad idea. You've certainly put a lot of thought into the background and characters. An interesting approach: the captain can have his old rank back if he takes this cloak and dagger assignment and keeps his mouth shut.

You may need to explain some rather large deviations from cannon. Two different SF ships with cloaking devices for example. Or why this experiment is given priority over the impending threat of a Dominion attack?

Some good possiblitities here for story telling. And BTW, nice conception of the Quantum class. I'd just go off and write it and see what happens.

Best of luck.

 

[DarKush]

I agree with Galen. You've definitely thought this out. And you've reworked the VOY premise in a neat way IMO. I also like how you've tied the 24th century shows together to some extent. Love the name Swiftwind and the ship image; did you make that yourself? And I liked the name of the insectoid aliens. I've always loved "Conspiracy" and it's cool that you are revisiting that.

Here are some of my questions, 'quibbles'. Please take them with a grain of salt or not at all. It's your story.

1) Why not just use an Omega particle to power the wormhole generator since it creates an Omega-like effect anyway? The reference might make more of an impact for the readers due to the VOY episode, and we would know that there are big stakes involved right off the bat. Also, it can be a more direct tie to VOY, as you've already had direct ties to TNG and DS9 in your premise.

2) I know why you put the experiment in the DQ to bring in the Dominion. And to have the DS9 connection perhaps. But I think it stretches credibility that there are no spots in the AQ or BQ, under Federation control, or perhaps in neutral territory that you can't use for this experiment. It's a pretty big place. I think with this type of technology they would want to minimize risks and not place it in a hostile zone. My advice, shift it to the AQ or BQ, perhaps the BQ, and maybe have a Changeling infiltrator on one of the Starfleet crews or a Dominion strike team attempt to take the vessel. Or that the wormhole experiment actually opens up in the GQ by accident instead of the intended DQ destination, throwing them in the middle of the Dominion and they have to fight their way out and then get lost in that mysterious part of space.

3) Why did you bust Latu all the way down to lieutenant? Why not make him a lieutenant commander? Perhaps its a personal preference, but it seems like he would have a more logical shot of one day being a captain again at that rank. But perhaps the big demotion is part of the point. I'm sure you've already got some interesting ideas for his backstory, seeing how you've thought out a great deal of your introductory story already. In any event I like how he has been tempted and it should be interesting to see him struggle with his temptation.

Lastly, good luck.

 

[Solarbaby]

1) Why not just use an Omega particle to power the wormhole generator since it creates an Omega-like effect anyway? The reference might make more of an impact for the readers due to the VOY episode, and we would know that there are big stakes involved right off the bat. Also, it can be a more direct tie to VOY, as you've already had direct ties to TNG and DS9 in your premise.

I did consider having Omega particles as it would be the most logical explanation of the destruction to subspace as per canon.

I might still use it. The thing is, I wanted to try and get away from all the established technobabble of recent Trek. I really only set this in the DS9 universe as a building block introduction like Voyager did. It was a friend's suggestion to include the Jem' Hadar on a sister ship. I imagined that the destruction of subspace was due to a side effect of the wormhole but on a smaller scale than an Omega molecule.

The Borg haven't perfected manipulating Omega particles so I feel it is a lot to ask an audience to believe that Starfleet has perfected the technology. Also I think it would be hard to write plausibly that Starfleet had the means to have such a massive project under wraps. It would mean involving section31 perhaps. I don't believe even the corrupt and "evil" 31ers would dabble with the technology given how unpredictable and destructive it is. All the major powers signed a treaty to ban the experimenting of it. And even if this was a section31 project to use Omega Starfleet would never turn a blind eye. It would require massive resources to harness the technology and too dangerous to expose the federation to it.

I also think it would make the Swiftwind too powerful.

Having thought a lot about the story since I first posted I imagine that Starfleet weapons division had actually created the wormhole technology as a weapon. The incident in the GQ wasn't the first test of the technology. The destructive properties were realised as was the potential to use the wormhole to send a fleet instantly into enemy territory.

Admiral Docherty wanted to send a message to the founders that they could destroy regions of the Gamma Quadrant and create non traversable space. And also planets can be destroyed with the graviton waves that emanate from the wormhole. Docherty even fooled his crew of immoral officers into thinking they were rescuing Voyager (who conveniently managed to contact the Starfleet in the same time frame)when it was all to scare the Dominion. Docherty of course couldn't have forseen that both Quantum class ships would end up in another galaxy. The plan was aborted. I like the idea that a founder was undercover supervising this project like Colonel Lomak in the Die is Cast. It could explain why the story of the wormhole incident was never mentioned on any series. The threat was gone along with the technology when Swiftwind and Quantum left the Milkyway
.

2) I know why you put the experiment in the DQ to bring in the Dominion. And to have the DS9 connection perhaps. But I think it stretches credibility that there are no spots in the AQ or BQ, under Federation control, or perhaps in neutral territory that you can't use for this experiment. It's a pretty big place. I think with this type of technology they would want to minimize risks and not place it in a hostile zone. My advice, shift it to the AQ or BQ, perhaps the BQ, and maybe have a Changeling infiltrator on one of the Starfleet crews or a Dominion strike team attempt to take the vessel. Or that the wormhole experiment actually opens up in the GQ by accident instead of the intended DQ destination, throwing them in the middle of the Dominion and they have to fight their way out and then get lost in that mysterious part of space.

You are right -it does stretch credibility. And that's why I rethought the reasoning in my answer above. Even so I still think that for experimenting purposes the most ideal area of space would be desired and perhaps that was in the GQ. Once the technolgoy had been perfected wormholes could be created in any part of space.

3) Why did you bust Latu all the way down to lieutenant? Why not make him a lieutenant commander? Perhaps its a personal preference, but it seems like he would have a more logical shot of one day being a captain again at that rank. But perhaps the big demotion is part of the point. I'm sure you've already got some interesting ideas for his backstory, seeing how you've thought out a great deal of your introductory story already. In any event I like how he has been tempted and it should be interesting to see him struggle with his temptation.

When Worf rescued Ezri from the badlands against orders, Sisco said he would never be a captain. I think this standard would apply to everyone no matter how good they are at the job. Chain of command must be respected. The point I made of reducing Latu from Commander to Lt was to show that the Admiral needed Latu's skills and was going to place faith in him and also step up his rank by 3 points and amazingly be allowed a Captainship. This is the temptation of Latu- ignore your values and ideals for a greater good or decline the offer and be less than you could professionally but with your morals intact. The fact that he would have refused but was then left in a position where he had no choice(stranded in a different galaxy) makes this all the more bitter

Thanks for the Kudos on the design for the Swiftwind. I did design the ship. I then approached an amazing 3D modeller who turned into a mesh. Then another modeller took that mesh and rendered a textured model.

More details herehttp://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=117195

Ok further to the story I had an idea that after the Swiftwind figures out who the conspracy aliens are and they escape they travel to a part of space where the stars seems to dissapear. Eventually the realise they have found a dyson sphere partially completed. The stars were missing because the sphere is so big it blocks their light and also the outer hull is made of energy absorbing material built by a mysterious race. There is a perfect paradise like class m planet in orbit of the sun inside the sphere. A disease killed the race that once lived there and infects the away teams which is most of the crew(don't forget that the Swiftwind beamed over nearly the entire Quantum's crew). The Swiftwind has to follow up leads on the planet to the original homeworld of the aliens where a cure maybe found.

The stranded crew set up a base on the planet and explore the ruins and discover there was a war between these aliens and another aggressive species. They persecuted the Dyson sphere aliens for their techonolgy. Ultimately the Dyson sphere aliens used a weapon of mass destruction harnessing the endless supply of power from the sun and destroyed the attacking fleet which was the Conspiracy aliens. This almost destroyed their civilsation; only a nest of them survived. Over millenia their numbers grew and they resorted to taking over hosts to infiltrate their governments to attain power and technology to rebuild their society. They are now at a point now where they a fleet of ships ready and they have had designs on the Federation for some time. There is a base in the Milkyway set up by a scouting party transmitting coordinates. It has only been a matter of finding a way to travel across the galaxies.

After re reading this last paragraph it seems a little like Atlantis lol which was not my intention. Its really hard to write ideas without them having been used before in some way. I also thought about after a while in this Galaxy the crew grow weary and opt to destroy or at least dismantle the components for wormhole technolgy and settle on the planet. (Assuming the infection is dealt with accordingly- but thats another story.

The thing I like about the conspiracy aliens in TNG compared to the Gua'uld in stargate is the aliens don't take on the hosts memories and also theres a visible way to identify them- albeit close up

I'm considering making this into a graphic novel depending on my writing skills if a straight forward text doesn't work out.

Here's a few bridge designs I am playing with

 

[BolianAuthor]

I really like this bridge design... sleek, yet very simple. Nice job.