"What If...?"

[t_smitts]

For those who don't know, the Disney+ series "What If?", dealing with alternate concepts in the MCU. Thus, you can get stories where Peggy Carter got the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, or were T'Challa was abducted from Earth and became Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill.

I know the novels did something like this a few years back with the "Myriad Universe" (and had some interesting stories), but I like the concept of some omniscient "Watcher" character viewing and narrating the events. I thought about Q, but I thought someone less irreverent would be better. There's been plenty of races throughout Trek with god-like powers, so someone should fit.

Regarding the stories, here's the one idea:

What if the Defiant was brought into the Delta Quadrant?

Basically, the idea was, instead of Voyager. the Defiant, under the command of Sisko, was sent into the Badlands to find Chakotay's Maquis ship, and gets pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker.

I figure all the DS9 Starfleet characters from season 3 would be aboard, but not Kira or Odo (and certainly not Quark or Jake). I suspect the Defiant would make short work of Kazon ships, but the Maquis ship is still destroyed and Chakotay and the others still join the crew. Maybe Tom Paris is still aboard, plus we still encounter Neelix and Kes.

One wonders how many stories would be different with a ship that's not only more heavily armed, but can cloak?

Imagine Sisko and O'Brien having to cope with being separated from their families. How would characters like B'Elanna interact with Dax and Bashir? Plus what happens when they encounter the Borg or 8472? Would Sisko, given his history, be willing to take in Seven of Nine? What happens when they encounter the Hirogen communication network? Would they be able to contact the Prometheus and get through to Starfleet? What happens when they encounter the Equinox?

And what would the emissary disappearing suddenly mean for the Bajorans?

 

[Brobdingnag]

In that case, they'd be in a world of trouble as the Defiant is much smaller than Voyager and it has no holodeck and I suspect its common area is reduced to a minimum. The living quarters are also likely smaller and its complement is only fifty people. I don't see how someone could stand being on that ship for years. Otherwise, Sisko would most likely NOT cooperate with the Borg, instead, he would have fought them tooth and nail to the end.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

There is an episode of podcast Punch It that explores what the third live-action Star Trek series would look like if it was set on Voyager in the Delta Quadrant with Sisko in command. The two Podcasters are really fun and insightful.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

In that case, they'd be in a world of trouble as the Defiant is much smaller than Voyager and it has no holodeck and I suspect its common area is reduced to a minimum. The living quarters are also likely smaller and its complement is only fifty people. I don't see how someone could stand being on that ship for years. Otherwise, Sisko would most likely NOT cooperate with the Borg, instead, he would have fought them tooth and nail to the end.

Not necessarily. For sure that would be Sisko's first response; but maybe the story would be a turning point for his character, where he's forced to ally with his most personal hated enemies.

 

[Paul755]

I’d be curious to know how different Voyager would have been if the ship had been the size of a Galaxy Class with over 1,000 people aboard and families.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

The Sisko/Defiant in the Delta Quadrant plotline is intriguing, but what if he was after Eddington and not Chakotay?

 

[at Quark's]

In that case, they'd be in a world of trouble as the Defiant is much smaller than Voyager and it has no holodeck and I suspect its common area is reduced to a minimum. The living quarters are also likely smaller and its complement is only fifty people. I don't see how someone could stand being on that ship for years. Otherwise, Sisko would most likely NOT cooperate with the Borg, instead, he would have fought them tooth and nail to the end.

KES: I could hear its thoughts. The pilot of the bioship was trying to communicate with me. They're a telepathic species. I've been aware of them for some time now. The premonitions. Captain, it's not the Borg that we should be worried about, it's them.
SISKO: What did it say to you?
KES: It said, the weak will perish.
Sisko <shrugging his shoulders> Well, it seems the Borg are the weak now. Too bad for them.

 

[Mage]

Not necessarily. For sure that would be Sisko's first response; but maybe the story would be a turning point for his character, where he's forced to ally with his most personal hated enemies.

I don't think Sisko ever saw the Borg as his personal enemy. It was Picard he had a lot of issues with. And he resolved those. Never ever after that was there even a hint of Sisko hating the Borg.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

I’d be curious to know how different Voyager would have been if the ship had been the size of a Galaxy Class with over 1,000 people aboard and families.

Frankly, they'd probably be home even faster. They'd just have more in the way of everything: stronger defenses, more to offer potential allies, more moral with a bigger community and families right there. Actually, I'm starting to see why the writers chose to make it a smaller ship, so as to emphasize the need to get home to their families, and how alone they are out there.

The Sisko/Defiant in the Delta Quadrant plotline is intriguing, but what if he was after Eddington and not Chakotay?

Or his old buddy Cal Hudson. Personally, I'd rather see Ro Laren as the Maquis he's forced to team up with....though I suppose she might be pretty similar to Kira Nerys.

 

[FederationHistorian]

That scenario bring up several factors.

• The Seska factor. As a Bajoran, she would be expected to worship Sisko as the Emissary. Once she’s discovered to be Cardassian and a spy, I’m sure it would heighten tensions on the ship, particularity with O’Brien.

• The Romulan observer factor. As the Romulans sent over Sub Commander T’Rul oversee the use of the cloaking device on the Defiant. What do they do with T’Rul if she’s stuck with them in the Delta Quadrant? And how does it affect relations between the Federation and the Romulan Empire back home?

• The Keiko factor. While Keiko would be on DS9, as the O’Briens lived on the Ent-D prior to DS9, she could use that to get Picard to get Starfleet to start the Pathfinder Project early. However, the Pathfinder Project might start too early and Starfleet gives up on finding them.

• Presumably, Tuvok would be onboard Chakotay’s ship and would become Sisko’s chief of security. I think Sisko would leave O’Brien as chief engineer and have B’Elanna Torres be assistant chief engineer.

• And as much as Sisko went on about the uniform with Eddington, I have a feeling he’d behave similarly like Archer did in “Damage” and pirate a bunch of ships after a certain point. Since the Defiant does not have the usual creature comforts 24th century officers are used to on other ships, including Voyager; its basically equal to an NX-class vessel but upgraded with 24th century tech. Remember Sisko’s speech on how the Federation lives in paradise while the Maquis do not? Being in the Delta Quadrant is pretty far from paradise.

• Also, if Jadzia dies in the Delta Quadrant, the Dax symbiont likely dies as well unless they encounter another Trill.

• And since the Defiant is smaller then Voyager, it begs the question of if the slipstream drive would work on this vessel? Or if they would still end up crashing on an unknown planet?

 

[Dumbbell]

Without Voyager’s tricobalt torpedoes, the Defiant would not have been able to destroy the Caretaker array, thus stranding them in the Delta Quadrant.

So, they would have used it to return home.

It would have been a single episode, then done.

 

[Finn]

^The writers would have written them in for Defiant.

And the way the Defiant fires, it probably would be able to destroy it...

 

[BillJ]

What if Spock wasn’t Kirk’s science officer in “City on the Edge of Forever”?

 

[Dumbbell]

The writers would have written them in for Defiant.

If that were the case, then the writers would also have written in Janeway and her crew as captain and crew of the Defiant, etc. The ship would have made no difference to the show whatsoever.

 

[Finn]

Whut?

 

[The Wormhole]

What do they do with T’Rul if she’s stuck with them in the Delta Quadrant?

I'm sure her and Seska would get along...

 

[t_smitts]

I think we've discussed that idea quite a bit, so here's another one:

What if Q revealed himself a century earlier?

It's rather arbitrary, in the grand scheme of things, that Q chose the place and time that he did to show up and start harassing Picard and the Enterprise-D crew. Imagine that Q decided about a century earlier to put humanity on trial and all the subsequent tricks he played where on Kirk and his crew.

I imagine his first two appearances would've gone largely the same, but what intrigues me is the events of "Q Who". Imagine Q, after being told by Kirk that the crew does not need his help, flings his Enterprise to a distant corner of he galaxy, where they encounter the Borg. (And before anyone says that the Borg would utterly wipe them out, remember that they would be a century behind in technology as well).

Obviously, there would be no Guinan to explain who the Borg are, and how they operate. I could see Spock melding with a drone in its alcove, in order to understand them, thus learning all this that way.

The episode would presumably end with Kirk also saying "I need you!" (in a very Shatner way) and Q saving them, but now the Borg are coming. They may have the same idea to abduct a captain to speak for the Borg, resulting in Kirk being taken and turned into a 23rd century Locutus, perhaps leading to Spock being forced (over McCoy's objections no doubt) to call off a rescue and fire on the Borg ship.

Might such a threat lead to an alliance with the Klingons or Romulans (or both)? And how do you ultimately defeat them without Data? Could Spock access the collective via a meld with the assimilated Kirk?

How would Kirk recover from this trauma? Would he take some leave and visit his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew on Devena?

 

[vandevere]

I think we've discussed that idea quite a bit, so here's another one:

What if Q revealed himself a century earlier?

It's rather arbitrary, in the grand scheme of things, that Q chose the place and time that he did to show up and start harassing Picard and the Enterprise-D crew. Imagine that Q decided about a century earlier to put humanity on trial and all the subsequent tricks he played where on Kirk and his crew.

I imagine his first two appearances would've gone largely the same, but what intrigues me is the events of "Q Who". Imagine Q, after being told by Kirk that the crew does not need his help, flings his Enterprise to a distant corner of he galaxy, where they encounter the Borg. (And before anyone says that the Borg would utterly wipe them out, remember that they would be a century behind in technology as well).

Obviously, there would be no Guinan to explain who the Borg are, and how they operate. I could see Spock melding with a drone in its alcove, in order to understand them, thus learning all this that way.

The episode would presumably end with Kirk also saying "I need you!" (in a very Shatner way) and Q saving them, but now the Borg are coming. They may have the same idea to abduct a captain to speak for the Borg, resulting in Kirk being taken and turned into a 23rd century Locutus, perhaps leading to Spock being forced (over McCoy's objections no doubt) to call off a rescue and fire on the Borg ship.

Might such a threat lead to an alliance with the Klingons or Romulans (or both)? And how do you ultimately defeat them without Data? Could Spock access the collective via a meld with the assimilated Kirk?

How would Kirk recover from this trauma? Would he take some leave and visit his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew on Devena?

If he did take some Family Time, would that mean Kirk would be on Deneva when the Parasites arrived? How would that change the story?

I mean, Out of the Frying Pan, into the fire...

 

[F. King Daniel]

 

[Finn]

What if Odo wasn't discovered? (remember Odo covertly reduced Bajoran executions after that one incident during the occupation)?

My take

-The last few years of the occupation, especially aboard the station, would have been different. body count may be higher. The conditions aboard the station would have been different.

- No Section 31 virus...

- Someone would had the Security chief early on. It may mean Eddington wouldn't have come aboard (he came because Starfleet wasn't thrilled with Odo's style). There would be no boogeyman for Sisko

- The status/life of Quark may have been different. Someone else may have arrested/busted him sooner. I believe Quark was relatively new to the station when Odo came aboard. Perhaps a Cardassian officer would have gotten him sooner (since Odo may have used Quark to benefit the Bajorans at times).

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