Thoughts on a fan fiction I'm writing

[WraithDukat]

I'm writing a fan fiction (mostly just for myself not to publish online).

The premise in it's most basic form is a ship that goes through the Bajoran wormhole and returns to Federation space the old fashioned way (kind of like Voyager but deliberate), it will be captained (and the mission itself is the idea of) a war weary captain after the events of the Dominion war, he and the others on board are doing so to rediscover the original reason they joined Starfleet, which of-course is exploration.

The thing I want to discuss is the ship they will use, originally I had thought of using a Galaxy Class, being they are the embodiment of what the original mission of Starfleet is and represent the federation in a good way (being grand and nonthreatening but also fully able to defend itself if needs be).

But then I got to thinking, would Starfleet instead send an Intrepid class (one refitted for such a mission, IE no bio-neural circuitry) as this is the only class that has every tried such a mission before, that and it actually succeeded?

I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

 

[trampledamage]

Luckily you and I are in the same time-zone

Moving now.

 

[Count Zero]

Good question. A Galaxy Class ship offers the advantage of bringing one's family on a trip that's bound to be very long. The original concept of the ship was to have a little town travelling through space which would lend itself well to the idea of a Federation embassy travelling through unexplored space. So, I'd probably go with that but it depends on what kind of stories you want to tell. If you don't want to deal with the family and civilians onboard angle you should probably opt for a different ship.

Also, wasn't part of the peace treaty with the Dominion that Starfleet would stay out of its territory? I may remember this wrong, though.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

It would sort of depend on just when you're setting this. By the sounds of things it would be after the Pathfinder Project was successful, so Starfleet know Voyager is in one piece and heading home, or would it be right after they returned home?

For a sort of trailblazing mission of exploration I wouldn't recommend a Galaxy-Class. Given her wide range of capabilities, they would most likely be used for lots of reconstruction work, where large cargo capacity, a sizeable crew and multi-mission platforms would be of most use. Also Starfleet sending such a ship into the Gamma Quadrant might be seen as an overly aggressive display by the Dominion (remember what happened to the last Galaxy-Class to go through the Wormhole).

An Intrepid-Class would be suitable to such a mission (though I would say that removing the bioneural gel packs wouldn't be necessary), though there are several other classes of ship that might also work and, being a little larger, might allow for greater flexibility.

You could go for one of the following:
Nebula - A little smaller than the Galaxy and probably more numerous, and has been shown to be an adaptable explorer and survey ship, though like its bigger cousin could give off the wrong impression
Cheyenne - Similar in style to the Constellation-Class, we know nothing about her capabilities so you could make it work for you in the ways you want
Steamrunner - Distinctive looking, shown to be able to handle itself in a fight when needed but could have a lot of other roles and possibilities
Norway - A personal favourite of mine, it's a blank slate so you could have her adapted to the mission however you wanted
Excelsior - It's the elder statesman of Starfleet for a reason, with many exploratory missions to its name and packs a sizeable punch with the right upgrades when needed

Or you could always devise one of your very own, a purpose-built explorer mothballed throughout the war and never finished, but once the Captain started petitioning for the mission he pitched that new ship to lead it, so construction was finished and she was assigned to a historic new mission, which would test out her capabilities whilst trying to return Starfleet to its dogma of peaceful discovery and diplomacy.

Just some thoughts.

 

[WraithDukat]

Thanks, there are some cool ideas here. I don't think any treaty details were given onscreen? Also they'll be heading straight in the opposite direction to the Dominion.

 

[SolarisOne]

The Federation-Dominion treaty stipulates that ships can't go into Dominion territory, yes, but the Gamma Quadrant is far larger than Dominion space.

In fact, in the current litverse, Sisko is in command of a Galaxy-class ship (the Robinson, I believe) which is currently tasked with exploring non-Dominion parts of the Gamma Quadrant. YMMV.

Personally, I think the Intrepid-class could be an excellent choice. Not only are they well-rounded ships, but they can be retrofitted with slipstream drive (Voyager) currently has one, and is tasked with establishing relations in the Delta Quadrant. Federation space is about a week away, even without a wormhole.

What I really think, though, is the model used for the Full Circle novels might be even more advantageous--send a small fleet of ships, instead of just one. There's still plenty of room for drama, but you don't have to use as many asspull solutions to get your ship out of trouble, as you would if the ship was alone out there.

 

[WraithDukat]

I generally don't read the novels so I'll just be going off what was onscreen. No slip stream has been invented yet, at least not a reliable one.

 

[Dulak]

Two thoughts. Sounds neat, but doesn't pass the "why" test for me. Exploration is exciting and fun, but also has to make sense. Why bypass all that territory to explore from the other direction with no backup or maintenance facilities or crew replacements. Voyager "worked" because they were stranded and had to constantly improvise (and make moral decisions) about what they were willing to do to get home. You would need to come up with a very strong reason to do it this way, for instance, something compellingly interesting only slightly closer to that side of the wormhole. Also, it seems like this would more likely be a task force mission with at least a few ships, some with heavy repair capability.

I hope you figure something out. And don't worry too much about the class of ship, you can just design one for your needs, or alter an existing platform. For instance, the repair ship could be inferred design, even though not in any of the shows.

Good Luck.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

What about Starfleet building a 'way station' of sorts on the Gamma side of the wormhole, a location that could be used for repairs and resupply as well as overall command of the ships at work in the region. Maybe not right by the wormhole, but maybe in a nearby system.

 

[DarKush]

Echoing Bry and Dulak here. I believe there was at least one Bajoran colony in the Gamma Quadrant at one point before the Dominion War. You could reestablish that, or a series of colonies to provide way stations. Also, maybe the Dominion or other Gamma Quadrant planets/powers actually help the ship explore. It could be the impact of Odo on the Great Link, and the exploration mission is an olive branch to Starfleet/Federation/Alpha Quadrant.

If you really want to use the Galaxy class I say go with it and just have a Galaxy-class ship that has the bio-neural circuitry. Galaxys make a statement, big and powerful and we know they can handle all kinds of problems. Or as Dulak suggested create a new ship to fit your story needs. On Bry's list I do like the Nebula and Excelsior classes though. Though Norways and Cheyennes are cool too.