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Just wondering what kind of tales people are thinking about, the kind of mood of Star Trek after the Dominion War. I am wondering how well the relays that make near instantanous transmissions throughout the Federation held up. They would be valid targets, and the Dominion could have naild them. This would give ship captains a more "frontier" feel from the first series where captains had to depend mostly on themselves and their crews.
Any other thoughts along these lines?
Those relays would also be among the first things replaced; a government is far more efficient when it can contact all of its holdings and allies quickly.
I am thinking that it would be sort of like Eurpoe after WWII. Lots of rebulding. People are happy that the war is over, but now have to deal with the aftermath. Probably fwer luxuries (there is a limit to how much a rplicator can toss out at once, and relief efforts and rebuilding programs are going to take priority).
Starfleet would be a mix of the newset cutting edge ships (like the Defiant, Sovereign, and those Perimeter Defense ships) and oldest desgines that were due to be scapped (Oberth), or even dragged out of mothballs (Constitution-class) and sent into the field,-perhaps with some upgraded systems.
Fortunately, none of the other major powers are in any better shape. The Roms were marginally better off, but events of Nemesis probably knocked them down to par with the Federation and the Klingon Empire.
This would be a terrible time for the Borg to show up.!
I agree that the subspace relays would be a major priority. They wuld need them for defense. Of course, being spaced around 20ly apart, it will take time. One ship, travelling at warp 6, in a straight line and dropping a relay off every 20ly, can only replace about 20 relays a year.
First off would be replacment of the relays in the war raveged areas, though this would have been a top prioity even in Wartime so he totality of the situation might not be as bad as you would first think it could be.
Second would be Refugees you would have displaced Federation citizens returning to worlds which would have been occupied by the Cardassians/Dominion who had left those worlds in the face of the oncoming invaders. Like wise you would have Cardassians as well who fleed in the face of the Alliences advance seeking to return to worlds which some members of the allience would rather not see them return too. Then you would have Federation and other powers citizens that the Dominion moved to other worlds deeper in Cardassian/Domion territory for labor exploitation and to get them off worlds which the Cardassians/Dominions had "better" plans for. Then the movement of Cardassians off of worlds that other members of the allience (i.e. Klingons/Romulans) want as there own. The problems these people would present would make more than enough episodes ideas I think.
Thirdly blackmarketing/smuggling would be rampant in the post war choas and would allow the introduction of Feringi and Orion based plots. At the same time as was presented so well in an episode of BSG smuggling and blackmarketing are necessary evils to overcome shotfalls in hard hit areas and in some cases jumpstarting a local economy.
Well those are just some thoughts on topic
The enemy's communication system would have been a good target for either side, if it wasn't so difficult to seriously affect the comm network. Destroying one or two subspace communication arrays should be easy, but sooner or later the enemy will find out what you are doing and come after you. Besides, inside Federation core space, there are probably more arrays than necessary, both in space and on the ground, to prevent a communications breakdown.
I also doubt, that there will be a lot of refugees returning to their home worlds, after the end of the war. Even with 24th century technology, evacuating billions of people off a planet would take decades or even centuries. (IIRC, there is a small paragraph in the TNG Technical Manual dealing with this topic.) The Federation might have the resources to evacuate one planet relatively quickly, in case of impending doom, however, due to the war, those ships and personnel might have been tied up elsewhere.
Therefore, and in order to prevent widespread panic, there probably were no large-scale evacuation efforts. Everyone willing to leave would have to find a way of passage on his own.
It's hard to say how badly affected the Federation as a whole would be. The war concentrated mostly on military instalations, ships and several core key systems, however it must be said that while Starfleet it's self was terribly badly hit, the Federation as a whole would have got off lightly, and there are teeming billions to chip in to the reconstruction work that would need to be done.
Industrial Replication would be a problem.. so or cities that were flattened, refugees might have to be sent away till the networks were re-established. On the domestic scale however, so long as mains power was online, replication wouldn't be an issue at all, so basic foods and clothing would be more than adequatelly taken care of...
The largest hole in the system would probably be long range sensor arrays, more than communications. The Fleet would likelly drop off innumerable subspace relays as they moved from pillar to post sorting out the bush fires as they happened, which would in turn be replaced by more long-term one's - But the huge long range subspace antennae arrays would have likelly all been a target, and those would require considerable effort to rebuild (they are huge!) his would be especially near to Cardassian space, meaning that allong with the break up of the empire (fr now) piracy would be hugelly prevelant.. Don't forget just because the Federation is fine, the Cardassian empire is in ruins, and they were left with lots and lots of ships! The Ferengi, who operate in that area, would likelly make use of all the holes in the net, as would the Orions, who had made huge gains (The Orion Syndicate) due to the war, with arms sales.
Personally I can see a lot of petty fiefdoms being formed in the chaos, as powerful Gul's try to hold together their home worlds, all with the aim of re-creating the Cardassian union, but of course, all wanting the power ! :D Technically, I believe the Detapa council from the pre-war era would still be under the protection of the Federation, but they would return to a ruined world and they may not be able to re-establish themselves in the ensuing chaos!
With the events of Nemesis, the Romulans were also pretty flattened: Though considerably more friendly to the Federation, I can't see them just being absorbed in to the federation, and there would be an internal struggle for power, in the vacuum left behind (maybe paving a way to Sela hehe) Again, in the struggle rogue admirals with powerful fleets might carve themselves out petty fiefdoms, and since its an internal matter, it would be problematic for the Federation to be involved, but still feel the consequences!
The Klingons were incredibly weakened by the war, but unless another, external threat is applied, they are under no real pressure, as the Romulans are too busy with internal affairs, and it's not like the Federation would invade hehe.
The last I know the Tholians were on better relations with the Federation BUT, they are plain odd, so who knows what they might do :)
In my netbook "Eternal Vigilance" available at my website ( www.farrealms.de )and at Memory Icon ( www.coldnorth.com/memoryicon ), I outlined a possible development of Federation policy.
I would think there would be more aggressive sides, like we saw in "Paradise Lost" and other instances. After all the Federation was almost defeated and several Core Worlds suffered severe blows, including Earth.
However I also think that there will be many who try to bring the Federation back to what it was before the war. Peaceloving, explorative, etc.
Maybe you want to take a look at my netbook. :)
On the final episode of DS9, it was stated that of the major powers, the Federation was in the best shape to avoid aggression from the others. That's not to say it wasn't beat up, just that it had weathered better. Remember also, there was a Borg invasion right on the cusp of the DW, and from Voyager it seems there was no Borg incursion, or at least no major one, between the end of 2375 (DS9: What You Leave Behind) and the end of 2377 (VGR: Endgame). After 2378 (Nemesis), the Rommies are going to be in turmoil.
I don't read the books, so I can't comment on the Apocryphal, just the Canon.
I really didn't imply evactuation of entire worlds but rather those who were able to get out in time. further most of the worlds effected by the war where colonies numbering in the millions at most. The Idea that the entire population of say Betazed would just get up and leave is ridiculoues however in a situation where even a few hundred thousand from each world got out you would have enough to cause problems.
I figure the Federation might be able to insinuate itself into the Cardassian rebuilding effort thoroughly enough that Federation membership is all but inevitable in the long run. In the short run, someone in the old Cardassian military power-structure will make a takeover bid, possible making the area suffer even more. Previous minor powers, like the Miradorn, might become more aggressive, but I'm sure the Federation would try what they could to discourage it.
As for the Romulans–I can see the aftermath of the Senate massacre being horrendous. The Romulan internal power-balance is probably thoroughly precarious–their inconsistant interstellar relations policies can be seen as evidence of this. The unification movement might gain momentum, possibly becoming a divisive issue. Divisive enough to create a civil war, in time–xenophobic traditionalists vs. reunificationists, something like that. Who knows.
Remember, the Federation is insidious. Their utopian ideals is their greatest weapon. The Federation offers comfort. Ease. "Just give in, and all your basic animal needs will be met. Give in a little more, and our society can provide it all."
Who can resist that, in the end? The Federation will persevere.
Yeah, the Federation is cloying sweet, but you get to like it-just like root beet! :D
As far as speculation goes:
I suspect that the Romulans will probly wind up allied with the Federtation somtime in the 25th century. Right now the only ones with any power are the military, and during the the Dominion War, they worked alongside Starfleet and go to see what the people of the Federation are like. Even in Nemisis the Romulan military eventually backed up the Enterprise. Having Spock on Romulus working towards a reunification movement all suggests that reunification is coming. I got a feeling that if we get a series ahead a few years (like TNG was to TOS), we might see a Romulan serving as a department head on the Enterprise H.
I think the Cardassians are going to be a bit different. Thay have had an ally (the Dominion) run over them, and probably won't be too keen on being occupied by Federation, Klingon and Romulan forces. I suspect that the Federation is going to have to work hard to keep the Klingons and Romulans from exacting revenge on the Cardassians. How well the Federation manags to accomplish this will determine how they are viewed by the Cardassians. THe Cardassians are expecting to be made to suffer, and probably won't know quite how to handle a show of mercy. I think that they will ither view it as a weakness, or, in light of recent events, seriously reevaluate the Federation.
I suspect that the occupation forces will probably stay around for a decade or so, and during that time the Federation will work to rebuild Cardassia (another eye opener). Post Dominion War Cardassia would be a great place to set a camapign.
Way back when I had an active Trek game, we had a post-Dominion War game. I modelled the period as being somewhat like post-WWI. The main powers were all eager to have their revenge on Cardassia - the Federation tried to stem the tide of this, but the Romulans and Klingons confiscated tons of Cardassian worlds. All sorts of whacky Cardassian political parties formed in the aftermath.
If you are looking for an unexplored/frontier region, I can think of a few ideas...
- Exploration of the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the wormhole. Nice contact with other powers, Dominion still active. Kind of like a 16th-18th century Americas setting.
- Retracing the path of Voyager - possibly finding a stable/semi-stable wormhole to a region in the Delta Quadrant
I think looking at our history, specificly WWII (agressor nations like Germany defeated by nations that they brutalized, like USSR and UK) Even if the Fed is weakened, they will make every attempt to 'keep the peace' to the best of their ability. So they won't want the Romulans and Klingons to carve up Cardassian territory as 'prizes of victory'.
One thing that I always wondered is what happened in the Gamma Quadrent: The 'unbeatable' Dominon was defeated, the Founders were revealed and turned out to be not quite gods, and both the Jem'hadar and Vorta have begun to break out of thier roles as slave races. OH, and Odo is there, curing the Changling plague and trying to improve solid/changeling relations. Quite a bad time for them.
Especially if there was any race/group that was a direct threat to them...
Dan, we think a lot alike. I was thinking along similar lines, but with a bit of post-WWII in there, with Cardassian being akin to post-war Berlin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Stack
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricky
Probably not. Remember, the Domion had the adventage of fighting the war almost entirely on enemy and allied/conqured turf. I suspect that things on the other side of the wormhole aren't that severly affected. The Jem'Hadar are expendable/replaceable so the only real loss would be some shups.
There might be some rumors going around, but I doubt any sort of uprising or attack. I could see some of the races that are "oppressed" by the Domion trying to get through the wormhole in order to find allies to help liberate themselves.