A tiny scene-setting ficlet I wrote years ago, imagining what the Temporal War from ENT would be like once it erupted in the "Storm Front" two-parter. It won't be continued, I just felt like sharing. Here goes. . .
I died.
That’s the first thought that comes to mind when I materialize on the respawn pad. I don’t remember dying. I wouldn’t. The respawn pad creates a duplicate of myself from a pattern stored in the transporter prior to the battle and puts me back to work. I don’t know how many times this has happened. This could be my first respawn or my ten-thousandth. I could be reappearing on the battlefield where I died or in another time or place entirely.
I am a soldier in the Temporal War. It was once a cold war, fought by stealth agents, until a man named Vosk turned it into an all-out conflict. Sent anywhere and anywhen, I fight on behalf of the Consilium and the United Federation of Planets. One day I might be evacuating a distant outpost in the far future, another I’m fighting side-by-side with the legends I grew up reading about, against one of the Factions. The Temporal Accords are meaningless, the Temporal Prime Directive has been rescinded. Everyone is fighting for their existence.
Temporal intelligence gleaned from shielded records tells us how the future is supposed to go. The Federation eventually fractures and implodes in the year 10260, and the galaxy falls into ruin. But some want to bring that forward, or prevent the Federation from coming into being at all. As centre of most incarnations of the Federation across the multiverse, Earth is a frequent target. I’ve seen it a burning ruin, a Nazi conquest, a Romulan outpost, a Borg unimatrix, a Klingon subject word and likely countless more in timelines where I didn’t survive. The idea of the Temporal War is that all the Factions all want to be on top in the mythical final version of history, when all the quantum probabilities have collapsed and there is just one timeline.
Among the rival Factions I know of are the Borg, who in one timeline succeeded in assimilating the galaxy and then turned their attention to assimilating all of history as well; the Na’Khul, who began the war; the Krenim, whose temporal weapons are unrivalled but whose ships are slow; the mysterious Sphere Builders who see our universe as a piece of real estate; the Tandarans, the Tholians, and countless alternates and proxies of each.
When the war broke out in earnest, we soon learned about Fixed Points in the timeline. Extremely close versions of some events would happen no matter how radically history around them had been rewritten. Temporal scientists still can’t explain the phenomena, and it has led to a rise in belief in higher powers not seen for centuries. It operates with little rhyme or reason. The same people will often interact in the same place, regardless of circumstance - whether as part of a benevolent Federation, as rebels fighting a ruthless empire, or as members of a ruthless empire themselves. Some of the same events will take place. The question of whether or not we have free will has become the defining one of our generation.
The war rages across the multiverse, with a hundred thousand operatives making alternations at a hundred thousand points in time, leading to splintering histories which, before collapsing into each other, begat operatives of their own who launch their own strikes throughout the newer and older incarnations of history. Exponentially the war grows. . .
I died.
That’s the first thought that comes to mind when I materialize on the respawn pad. I don’t remember dying. I wouldn’t. The respawn pad creates a duplicate of myself from a pattern stored in the transporter prior to the battle and puts me back to work. I don’t know how many times this has happened. This could be my first respawn or my ten-thousandth. I could be reappearing on the battlefield where I died or in another time or place entirely.
I am a soldier in the Temporal War. It was once a cold war, fought by stealth agents, until a man named Vosk turned it into an all-out conflict. Sent anywhere and anywhen, I fight on behalf of the Consilium and the United Federation of Planets. One day I might be evacuating a distant outpost in the far future, another I’m fighting side-by-side with the legends I grew up reading about, against one of the Factions. The Temporal Accords are meaningless, the Temporal Prime Directive has been rescinded. Everyone is fighting for their existence.
Temporal intelligence gleaned from shielded records tells us how the future is supposed to go. The Federation eventually fractures and implodes in the year 10260, and the galaxy falls into ruin. But some want to bring that forward, or prevent the Federation from coming into being at all. As centre of most incarnations of the Federation across the multiverse, Earth is a frequent target. I’ve seen it a burning ruin, a Nazi conquest, a Romulan outpost, a Borg unimatrix, a Klingon subject word and likely countless more in timelines where I didn’t survive. The idea of the Temporal War is that all the Factions all want to be on top in the mythical final version of history, when all the quantum probabilities have collapsed and there is just one timeline.
Among the rival Factions I know of are the Borg, who in one timeline succeeded in assimilating the galaxy and then turned their attention to assimilating all of history as well; the Na’Khul, who began the war; the Krenim, whose temporal weapons are unrivalled but whose ships are slow; the mysterious Sphere Builders who see our universe as a piece of real estate; the Tandarans, the Tholians, and countless alternates and proxies of each.
When the war broke out in earnest, we soon learned about Fixed Points in the timeline. Extremely close versions of some events would happen no matter how radically history around them had been rewritten. Temporal scientists still can’t explain the phenomena, and it has led to a rise in belief in higher powers not seen for centuries. It operates with little rhyme or reason. The same people will often interact in the same place, regardless of circumstance - whether as part of a benevolent Federation, as rebels fighting a ruthless empire, or as members of a ruthless empire themselves. Some of the same events will take place. The question of whether or not we have free will has become the defining one of our generation.
The war rages across the multiverse, with a hundred thousand operatives making alternations at a hundred thousand points in time, leading to splintering histories which, before collapsing into each other, begat operatives of their own who launch their own strikes throughout the newer and older incarnations of history. Exponentially the war grows. . .
Holy crap, this is perfect. Got an almost Doctor Who vibe from it, too.
