New campaign, opinions please.

Hello all.
I have been lurking for a year or so, but as I have a campaign about to start, I wanted opinions before I got it started.


Year 2376, three months following the end of the Dominion War.
(Yes, I am tying it in with the DS9 relaunch, New Frontiers, and SCE novels, especially since they are seeming to maintain some semblance of continuity.)

Due to the success of Project Pathfinder and the reallocation of Federation resources, exploration as well as defenses on the minds of the Federation Council and Starfleet Admiralty. Reviewing the reports from the war, a report from the Romulan Star Navy liason stated that during the War, a colony of the Federation's, located in the Beta Quadrant, was liberated by the Romulans and is awaiting a Federation presence to turn over defense of the colony.

This colony is located 'north' of the Typhon sector, approximately 20 ly beyond the boundry of th Typhon Sector, directly in the Borg Approach Corridor, as determined by the Office of Strategic Operations. The Dominion was forced from the colony and its surrounding space, but no serious effort could be spared to explore and reintegrate the colony into the Federation. As this was also a site of growing industry and material supply, this could be a significant asset in rebuilding the Federation, as well as giving a better warning of the approach of any Borg, to say nothing of the chance of reaching Voyager sooner (farfetched, but looks good in the eyes of the Council).

The small fleet sent to take custody of the territory consists of a Nova class Scout, an Intrepid light explorer and several merchant marine and civilian transports with a dedicated SCE team as well as a Rapid Response unit or two to aid in dealing with the rise in pirate activity. Due to the War, the Romulans could not maintain a significant presence in the Sector, except for one Warbird to guard the core system of the colony. This augments the colonial defense forces that are still rebuilding from the brief Dominion Occupation.

The colony hub is the Corus System, in the newly named Corus Sector. Several outposts were set up for mining and industrial work, but contact was lost during the occupation, about a year ago. No word has been sent since then.

The story will start as the Intrepid. the USS Ranger (chose the name prior to reading the campaign outline of the same name), approaches the Corus system, leading the small fleet.

The crew of the Ranger is also to take up double duty on the ship and on the Nor series station that is partially complete in orbit around Corus IV. The station will be designated Deep Space Ten and the ranking officer there will be a (NPC) Commodore/Rear Admiral, recently promoted from the center seat (bench) of the Ranger.

Colonial Defense Forces as well as Colonial governmental personnel will be aiding in the joint administration of this station, using the model of bureaucracy tested at Deep Space Nine.

The players will be part of a group sent to discover the fate of the various outposts and search for surprises left behind during the retreat.

There will also be a Romulan presence, as the Warbird will remain and there will be a Romualn Liason office set up on DS10. An officer exchange program is also in the stages of negotiations.

There are stll threats in the area. Pirates, unreconstructed Dominion/Allied forces, and the looming threat of the Borg.


Welcome to the world of Star Trek: Union.

Comments?



Captain Drake

Union...So what are the dues like...;)

Sounds like your off to a good start there Drake, Really like the part with the Romulan Liason office.

Sounds like your off to a good start there Drake, Really like the part with the Romulan Liason office.

I can imagine the Commodore/Admiral's briefing before the Romulan Liaison comes aboard. Gee, I wonder if the RLO will be a member of the Tal Shi'ar? Anyone want to open a book on that? What odds am I offered? :D

Cheers

Tas

That does indeed sound like a very good premise for a series. You have the unknown and the known in equal and scary proportions. How stable will the relations with the Empire and the Federation be ? Will the Borg return.. What happened to the mysterious outposts that went signal black? What exists beyond all of that! The further towards the Delta Quadrant you go the scarier it will become.

It's a good concept because while the Romulans are scarilly powerful - (A D'Derixed is a formidable ship for ANY starfleet vessel!) they are only one.. So if they get destroyed the Romulan Empire has just lost a foothold in the sector - this and it is, as you say, a first line of efence against rhew Borg, so they have bigger things on their mind..

This means that, grudgingly, both sides will have to team up and help each other. Out here is probably hundreds of lightyears from either Romulus or Earth, and neither craft can return home in a hurry, and both may have to wait months for resupplies, or any kind of backup (though nearby ships might be able to respond, there is the Typhon expanse to either circumnavigate, or go through! Which is very dangerous!

Let us know how it all pans out as it does sound very intreaguing.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Tas II
Sounds like your off to a good start there Drake, Really like the part with the Romulan Liason office.

I can imagine the Commodore/Admiral's briefing before the Romulan Liaison comes aboard. Gee, I wonder if the RLO will be a member of the Tal Shi'ar? Anyone want to open a book on that? What odds am I offered? :D

Cheers

Tas

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Why is it every Romulan MUST BE a member of the Tal'Shiar. The Liaison Officer would most likely be just that, an officer that has been assigned to assist with Federation/Romulan cooperation efforts. There might be a Tal'Shiar agent amongst his staff, less of a spy and more of a political officer.
The Romulans are a paranoid people, they would never allow a single group (i.e. The Tal'Shiar) to gain more power than the Imperial Navy, the Senate, or the Praetor. The Tal'Shiar is basically the CIA/FBI, in order to protect the Empire they must follow their own rules as well as the rules imposed upon them by the government.

Because generally Romulans tend to avoid the Federation unless there is something to gain. And when you want to gain something covertly, you send in a spy. :)


I think the Tal'Shiar has a bit more influence in Romulan society than the CIA is intended to have under the US Government. They can break the rules and get away with it to get their objectives done. But no, I would not put it on the order of, let's say, the Obsidian Order. They're significantly more in that direction than the CIA though.

Yes the Romulans normally only deal with the Federation when there is some thing to gain, however given the location (The De-facto Borg Border) and the post Dominion War time frame they would have things to gain openly as well. I'm not saying "there should not be a spy" I'm saying the face-man shouldn't be the one.

The enemy of my enemy...
Choose the lesser of two evils...
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer...
Deal with the devil you know, rather than the devil you don't...
etc...

Besides, the single Warbird may need help from time to time it's self.

Well a simple exchange officer sending back weekly (or daily) reports about his coleagues, even if the information is not classified, is STILL a spy! He is still gathering information about the Federation, they practices tactics and personalities.. which makes it handy if they wanted to dress someone up as one of your crew and pretend to be him for example ! Knowing intimate facts about your Co, such as the name of his girlfriends best friends dog is tactically insignificant, but could be instrumental in an agents performance!

That said yes a Tal Shiar Operative is HIGHLY likelly, but then that operative will have to be VERY secretive! Yes anyone can have a doohickey that allows them to bypass security protocols, but the problem is not getting caught. Eventually someone will notice and there wil be logs of something somewhere.. If you are on a small station and you're the only Romulan.... ! See my point! :D it would be a tremendously tough challenge for a PC to take on, because one slip up and they would be in the Brigg and have all of hteir rights curtailed untill they were replaced. A Tal Shiar's job at such a station would focus primarily on the outline of the agreement. All of his governments work in getting such an agent directly into the heart of a Federation operation would be undermined if he slipped up. There of course would be plenty of means of covertly gather data that didn't involve taking a walk through the computer core. For example he could siphon off his own Tricorder data (or even use his own in adition) record what he has seen and heard throughout the facility and secretly pass data collected to the Romulan commandwe when he comes on board the station for status reports etc (who could then freely transmit it embedded in an encrypted communication with high command). Such an operative might simply go deep cover and not report anything for months, just in case he is found out, untill he earns their trust. he might even go so far as to frame himself for such a crime, only to also plant evidence of his innocence :D Romulans are sneaky!

Okay, okay....maybe I took an oversimplified look at the situation. But, can you honestly believe that the Tal Shi'ar will not send an operative? In much the same way that Starfleet Intel will not?

Let's face it. SI knows precious little about the TS, so they will send a spook or two. TS will do the same. It will be a great cold war scenario......bearing in mind that both sides are supposed to trust each other now. We all know how suspicious everyone was at the end of the cold war, and how long things have taken to get to the point where Russia is no longer considered the enemy of the NATO/ 'The West'/ The Free World (tm).

(I am not trying to make this a political thread, but just making a point).

Also, you could honestly expect any of the major powers to send a representative (official or not) to gather Intel on other species and an unknown area of space. Also, the powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants (and possibly the Gamma one too!) are gonna want info on The Borg, right?

Just my random musings on things....

Cheers

Tas

I kinda had something along these lines running for a short period of time. Romulan ambassador from a once great, and noble house now down on its luck with a small staff (varied from eight to twelve). Of course the crew all thought it was the ambassador causing all the problem. In reality the Ambassador's melodramatic denials (which did more to enforce the crews opinion) were true. The real spy was the lowest member of the ambassadors' staff, a NPC named Sartek [get it? StAR TrEK :D ]. As the ambassadors "errand boy" he had access to a lot, including sending the ambassadors reports back to the Empire.

The crew never figured it out, they are jumpy as hell when ever the ambassador makes an appearance. . .they are sure his innocent act is just that, an act; and the ambassador tries so hard to get them to like him. :p

Actually that's an interesting point about the Borg. While no real lasting agreements had ever been made with the Romulans other than a couple of nonagression treaties, the neutral zone and the technology treaties (aka no claking device) it didn't take much to persuade them that the Dominion was a real threat to the point they not only loaned a cloaking device but also sent allong a rather blatant operative to work along side it!

It's an interesting twist but perhaps (as Redwood indirectly suggests) you could have a rather blatant "I am the Tal Shiar operative, how dare you insinuate I stoll those blueprints" person, and then the REAl Tal Shiar operaive causing all of the problems but seeming unasuming - maybe he's disguised as a Ferengi waiter! Everyone would be so busy suspecting him of larceny that they won't suspect him of spying ! :D

(Slinks off with evil ideas for next mission....)

The Romulans would and could justify an operative for their inteligence gathering services be present for the exact reason that this represents a shared threat to both Romulus and the Federation!

I do appreciate all the input. It has given me several ideas to use.

Here is a little more detail on the concepts I have built.

Romulan Star Navy- Commander Tesak

The Warbird Commander is not exactly considered politically reliable. He won his command only through the fortunes of war and his skill. He should have been Commander a decade ago, but due to his… political shortcomings, he was relegated to smaller ships and lesser duties.

Due to the War, he assumed command after the death of his CO, as he was the XO. For his ability to turn a near rout into victory (make up battle here), he was given command of a Warbird. At the end of the War, he had the brevet rank of Wing Commander of a Wing of 6 Warbirds. It was this Wing that liberated the Corus Sector. With the end of the War, he knew his prestige had enough pull for one last request, so he asked to remain for diplomatic, defense and exploration purposes. This also allowed the Admiralty to get rid of him in a way that did not make them seem petty, but it got him out of the limelight, and out of their hair.

His crew is very loyal to him, as he is a Romulan of his word. No matter what, he is honest to the point of bluntness, does not make promises he does not intend to honor, and remembers debts owed to him and those he owes.

He is very intelligent, but dislikes the politics of home. He knows his political officer reports on his activities. He makes a point of needling the Tal Shiar agent, another one in disfavor, about his illustrious assignment. There may be other agents, but the commander does not care to know. He knows that he is being reported on. He is used to it and will only make an issue of it in a tactical situation, where it interferes with the safe operations of his ship and safety of his crew… and allies.

He has forced the Admiralty to use his ship as a testbed for the officer exchange program, a way of having a better understanding of the operations of the other powers, as well as giving the others familiarity with their operations to allow for more efficient joint operations.

Unknown to him, he is a half Romulan. His mother was an undercover operative placed on Vulcan for a number of years. She was the aid of a respected diplomat and was his confidant and comforter in his times of need, especially in the time of Pon Farr. She left before discovering her pregnancy. She never made any attempt to discuss his parentage and the secret died with her, apparently. He is a supporter of the Reunification movement and has studied texts of the Vulcans as well as those of other races of the Federation.

Like I said, he is politically unreliable. He has English and original language texts of the Prince and the Art of War and has used the tactics discussed within to his advantage during the war.

He looks forward to dealing with the Federation, as they are (hopefully) more interesting than his fellow Romulans.



I also wish to explain the “Union” title.

The idea came from reading the USS Odyssey posts. Considering the way the Romulan government fragments at the end of Nemesis, and the improving relations with the Ferengi (Kinder gentler by way of Grand Nagus Rom) and with the Klingons, as well as the fact that the Federation is rebuilding the Cardassian Union, someone fields the idea of a unified political identity for all the major powers. Most of the others will not ‘join’ the Federation, nor with the UFP will not join under any other power. So, they all join as equals.

This is kind of an Interstellar Alliance, like in Babylon 5, but working with the ST flavor. Have the governments send the representatives to a secure location for the summit. What could be more secure than the most remote outpost where cooperation between the powers has been already established? I had a few ideas for representatives:
Spock for the Federation (or the Romulans, depending on how things go with the Reunification movement and the fall of Shinzon), Worf for the Klingons (have not read the “A time to…” series, so am not sure if I want to play with that stuff), Garak or Macet for the Cardassians, and Quark for his brother. If anyone has read the DS9 relaunch novels, you can imagine how nervous Quark would be sitting in the same room as Garak (the conversation at the end of the Gateways tie in). Having that function going on in the background of the campaign would be interesting.

After that, I had planned on fastforwarding a few centuries to see the future of the Galactic Union/Commonwealth that was formed from this summit, as well as the Andromeda like fall of the Union/Commonwealth after nearly a millennia of existence.

This is as you can see a blending of many ideas I have seen in this forum, and I wanted to make sure those who had given their ideas knew how someone else had stolen.. er made them into his own for his campaign.

I am planning on building a site for this, but as I have not yet gotten the game started, it will be a while. I have a daughter just born two weeks ago (I write these ideas when on my ship- US Navy- or when the little one and my wife sleep), so my time is limited.


Further comments are appreciated and I hope to have the time to post my own creations soon.

Respectfully,

Captain Drake

Sounds like a WONDERFUL scenario....Sir. Keep us posted, please. And congrats on the birth of your child as well.:)

Fair winds and good seas-shipmate.