Infinite Realities

I'm working on a new story arc based on the ship shifting through a number of quantum realities (ala Parallels except in a larger scale) and I'm collecting alternate reality ideas.

To-date I've got the usual stuff from All My Yesterdays and of course Parallels one or two that the PCs have already encountered including a universe where Picard did not "repair" the timeline in Yesterday's Enterprise and the Fed-Klingon War continues, a world where Kirk was kicked out of Starfleet during the 1st five year mission for violating the Prime Directive.

Any other ideas?

A Vulcan scout ship suffers a minor mechanical failure, and as a result doesn't notice that humans have developed warp drive. As a result, humans leap into space exploration without having a truly unified earth, and when they finally do meet the Vulcans, their influence is much less potent on Earth culture. As a result, the "Federation" proper never really forms, and Starfleet remains a Terran organization, allied with the Andorian Defense Forces, and other planetary militias. After a war with the Romulans that goes badly for both sides, with a narrow victory for the Terrans, a loose "Trade Federation" is organized, but you never end up with the truly grand Starfleet as we know it - technology is more fragmented, with particular races having more or less of an edge in certain areas, and the lack of co-ventures in the areas of science and engineering are quite visible. You could play with this however you want, but I bet it'd be neat for the characters, on their way through this dimension, to introduce the seed of a multi-planet Federation with a unified government etc...

The Doc

2 ideas off the top of my head:

The quantum reality where Picard never becomes captain. I don't remember the episode, but Q got involved & showed Picard what life would have been like if he'd never been stabbed by the Nausicaans.

Another thought: Give a character the opportunity to see what would happen if they'd never been born, aided by Q. Something along the lines of "It's a Wonderful Life" (corny, I know, but it could work somehow!)

"Darwinia" - A parallel dimension where genetic tampering was resumed after WW3 with careful controls (much like Darwin Research Station). This has left most human beings - through manipulting DNA to mimic that of Vulcans, Deltans, and Betazoids - telepathic. The Federation had a few greater victories throughout the years because of this - Contact with the Horta was quick and ended peacefully, both Romulan and Cardassian intelligence operations were rarely successful against the Federation, which led to the early defense and protection of Bajor, among other things. However, a secret sect, known as Genome 31 (*groan*), is manipulating things behind the scenes, encoding Starfleet Officers with genetic trigger words and loyalty biological coding, and the crew arrive to find themselves on the wrong end of Genome 31's attention.

"Humans? What are they..?" - In developing an atomic weapon, scientists were unsure if they were going to set off a reaction that would burn up the whole damned planet. In this reality, they nearly did. Earth never joined the space race, it was left a ruined world with barely any survivors. Though those humans did eventually crawl out of the wreckage, they're a barely known race, usually called "Terrans," with low population, that live mostly on Alpha Centauri as refugees, and most of them can't claim a completely Terran lineage over the generations. The "Federation" formed with Alpha Centauri, the Vulcans, and the Tellarites, the Andorians choosing to remain neutral, and not joining for many more years. The Romulans hit the Alpha Quadrant hard, and it is a rougher place for it. Bajor is still an occupied planet that the Cardassian Empire rules with a hard fist, the Ferengi are the masters of most of the interstellar economy, and the "Federation," with barely 30 member worlds, including the nearly destitute Klingon race (who nearly died out as a result of their moon exploding and having no one willing and able to help them out), is not quite on par with the other major governments / powers of the quadrant.

"One Vulcan," - The Vulcan movement of logic worked, and the Romulans never left - they were given a separate continent on Vulcan in which to continue their ways. Over the years, however, they merged in with the rest of Vulcan society, and we see a slightly less strict Vulcan society, where emotions are frowned upon when they are extreme, but minor emotional talks and expressiveness is allowed. Most of the history of the Federation remained the same, with a few exceptions: No Romulan-Earth wars led to a slightly softer Federation that was hit harder and taken more unaware by the Cardassian Union. As a result, the Cardassian-Earth wars were harder, longer, and the Cardassian Union a larger place currently. The Bajoran wormhole was never discovered, and the Bajorans still suffer under Cardassian rule, but most importantly, a new war is brewing with a race who call themselves the Taurhi Unity (sp?), coming from a part of the quadrant the Federation had explored with little violence or troubles...

A few other thoughts in my head. :)

The Doc

I remeber near the end of DC Comics run as publishers of the TNG comic, there was a four issue story arc which dealt with a reality where the Enterprise failed to rescue Picard from the Borg and they went on to conquer Earth. The Enterprise saucer section was destroyed leaving the stardrive section to fight on against the Borg menace with a few remaining starships. Ultimately they manage to rescue and restore Picard and destroy the Borg on Earth. I see this universe as an interesting place with a shattered Federation trying to pick up the pieces of a Borg ravaged Earth and having to contend with a Cardassian and Romulan threat simeltaneously.

Or how about one where Earth lost the Romulan War and became slaves of the Empire :)

I will think of others when not so tired :)

Admiral Janeway DOESN'T go back to met herself to defeat the Borg. Voyager dies a horrible bloody death!

What if warp tech was created in another ear, say 1950-1960's (another Bell-X project). What impact would that have on ships encountered from there ("Their nacelles look so...different"). And image the speeds:).
Likewise: what if phasers were develops say Korean War era-ish?
or: The first computer wasn't the vacume-tubed monstsity we've all read about in computer fundamentals

Just a few ideas...

Why do parallel universe have to be always worst than our own ? Let's make the "normal" timeline be the ghastly alternate reality for once...

Due to the successful rescuing of a stranded Klingon on Earth in early 2150's, the Klingon Empire soon became an ally of the emerging Federation, eventually becoming part of it. Thanks to this alliance, the Earth-Romulan war was quickly won by Earth, who then proceeded to make first contact with the Romulan. Shaked by this defeat, the Romulans soon reunified with their Vulcan brothers.
The Federation then expanded exponentially; Bajor joined in 2270, after first contact was made by Captain Kirk in 2265.
The Cardassians were only beginning their expansionnist phase when discovered by the Federation; successful negociations were made, and the Cardies were soon able to overcome their lack of resources, eventually forming an alliance with the Federation.
In 2370 (or whenever your game occurs), the Federation controls both Alpha and Beta Quandrant, and parts of the two others. An alliance was made with the Dominion, thanks to the efforts of Commander Odo Ital. The Borg have stopped any offensive action after the Federation was able to de-assimilate entire cubes (Federation starship USS Voyager, equipped with experimental transwarp drive, is currently on a spiying mission in the Delta Quadrant). The Ferengi Alliance has been absorbed in the Federation, and is now the core of their Merchant Marine.

Hope you like the idea...

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Originally posted by C5
Why do parallel universe have to be always worst than our own ? Let's make the "normal" timeline be the ghastly alternate reality for once...

Due to the successful rescuing of a stranded Klingon on Earth in early 2150's, the Klingon Empire soon became an ally of the emerging Federation, eventually becoming part of it. Thanks to this alliance, the Earth-Romulan war was quickly won by Earth, who then proceeded to make first contact with the Romulan. Shaked by this defeat, the Romulans soon reunified with their Vulcan brothers.
The Federation then expanded exponentially; Bajor joined in 2270, after first contact was made by Captain Kirk in 2265.
The Cardassians were only beginning their expansionnist phase when discovered by the Federation; successful negociations were made, and the Cardies were soon able to overcome their lack of resources, eventually forming an alliance with the Federation.
In 2370 (or whenever your game occurs), the Federation controls both Alpha and Beta Quandrant, and parts of the two others. An alliance was made with the Dominion, thanks to the efforts of Commander Odo Ital. The Borg have stopped any offensive action after the Federation was able to de-assimilate entire cubes (Federation starship USS Voyager, equipped with experimental transwarp drive, is currently on a spiying mission in the Delta Quadrant). The Ferengi Alliance has been absorbed in the Federation, and is now the core of their Merchant Marine.

Hope you like the idea...

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Inevitably, IMHO, there's always a serpent in this type of Eden. Usually there's a deep dark secret of how the Federation controls this perfect world...maybe Section 31 is more insidious than they are in our universe. Its the only way to make these perfect worlds fun.

Well, my idea was precisely to have one perfect universe for once, without its usual serpent in the garden.

However, if you want one, how about this :
Extending the Federation to all these various cultures has not been without cost. The original spirit of the Federation has been decaying over the years, and now part of it has been forgotten. The Prime Directive is only a guideline, wich is the first thing StarFleet Captain forget when they discover interesting worlds (from strategic position or mineral resources). The Federation still doesn't expand through conquests, but doesn't hesitate to infiltrate worlds and somehow "guide" them to request Federation membership. For instance, the Ferengi Alliance joined the Federation, only after a huge krach of unknown origin caused the collapse of their economy - that, and the accidental death of the current Nagus, who was anti-Federation.
Some rumors are spreading that some group or sect in the Federation, named Section 31, is trying to expose some evidence of this slipping of Federation activities, and restore its original spirit.

Better?

In almost all cases, diplomacy worked. With the Romulans, with the Klingons, the Axanari, even with the Cardassians. There were bumps and bruises and brief struggles and wars, but it isn't until the arrival of the Dominion that things get ugly in the Alpha/Beta quadrants. However, the United Federation of Planets (which includes Romulus, Qonos, and Cardassia), knocks the crap out of the Dominion in rather short order, and then, through the diplomatic corps (and the volunteer Odo), things are patched up pretty quickly.

If you need a snake for this Eden, who better than the Borg: Q never showed up, never introduced the Federation to the Borg, and now, here they come... Heck your crew zipping through this dimension would have more information on the Borg than anyone in this galaxy...

The Doc

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poster

Very interesting idea, Styro. This could make an interesting hypothesis to the origin of the Borg.

Wich BTW sparks another idea : when the Crew finally get home, they could wonder if the Borg in our universe were indeed the result of such experimentations, and then, if the threat they were facing has been wiped out or if some parts of it remain somewhere...

"The Best of All Worlds?"

This sprung from my head as I continued to try to develop a 'better than Federation' alterniverse for my campaign.
I wrote it all in one sitting, and admittedly it came about because of my particular personal dislike for one man.

Okay. The Union of Planets.

Timelines diverge...

1980: A wave of religious fervor sweeps the United States. Ultra-Right-Wing candidate Pat Robertson wins the Republican nomination and the US Presidential election. In 1984, there IS NO election.

1980-2002: The "Fundie Wars." Robertson attempts to establish a Theocracy in the United States using the power of the Federal Government and his authority as Commander in Chief. He claims a "Mandate from God" to 'restore' the USA. Robertson also commits US forces to actively fighting the Soviets in various areas of the world. Fortunately, his abysmal failures do not encourage the Soviets to employ nuclear weapons. Resistance to Robertson's tyranny results in the Second American Revolution. (Try Robert Heinlein's "Revolt in 2100," but sooner)

1993: The secret Eugenics program "Operation Uplift" is rooted out by the Robertson regime. Although most of the 'abominations against God' are killed outright, one Khan Noonien Singh escapes and goes into hiding in the US, eventually rising to lead the resistance. This Khan, equally intelligent but far less monomaniacal than 'our' Khan, wins a stunning series of battles with government forces.

2002: The Theocracy falls. Robertson is tried and convicted of treason, war crimes, and other offenses. Khan is elected President of the United States. Intending to make the US into a preeminent world power again (The Soviet alliances dominate Asia, Africa, and most of Europe), President Singh mandates an increased focus on the sciences and a re-expansion into space. he also creates a covert 'super-soldier' program for the US military.

2012: man returns to the Moon

2035: First manned mission to Mars

2039: W.W. III is fought, the Western Alliance (led by the US, Canada, Quebec, Australia, the UK, Japan and South Africa) vs the Soviet States (almost everybody else). A Soviet nuclear first strike is defeated by the Alliance's missile defense network, although several warheads do get through, causing widespread destruction. The retaliation, however, is devastating. Limited Alliance nuclear strikes take out the Soviet's remaining missiles, while covert teams of supersoldiers "cut the brains and hearts" out of the enemy leadership.

2041: The New United Nations is formed after the Treaty of Kiev. Under Section 30 of the Treaty, further genetic engineering other than to treat or prevent congenital defects is forbidden. President Singh publicly insists that there be no further 'supermen.'

2052: Young scientist Zefram Cochrane and his team of specialists build and fly the spaceship UNITY, ushering in man's Warp Age.

2055: First Contact between Earth and Alpha Centauri.

2056; First Contact between Earth and Vulcan, near Eridani.

2090: Earth colonizes Mars

2103: The New United Nations becomes the New Earth Union. Australia and Quebec are the last nations to join, in 2125.

2120: First Contact between Earth and Andor.

2156: Beginning of War between Earth and Romulan Empire, quickly expands to include Earth's new friends.

2160: The Romulans are decisively defeated by a combined fleet near Cheron. The Romulans sue for peace, and the Neutral Zone (a smaller version, granting the Romulans les space than in 'our' universe) is established.

Terran Conventions draft the Union of Worlds charter.

2220: Romulan/Klingon War erupts.

2221: The USS RANGER makes First Contact with the Klingons, sustaining heavy damage while saving a Klingon civilian transport under attack by a Romulan destroyer. this display of force and honor impresses the Klingons, who open relations and trade with the Union.

2242: The Treaty of Donatu V formalizes an alliance between the Klingons and the Union.

2264: The USS ENTERPRISE embarks on its historic five-year mission under captain James T. Kirk.

2266: Romulan attacks across the Neutral Zone resume, with plasma weapons and cloaking devices employed. Several worlds are ravaged in sneak attacks. Eventually, after a bloody war, the Union is forced to invade and occupy Romulan space.

2267: First Contact with the Horta, Gorn, and Kzinti Empire. The Babel Conference admits Coridan to the Union. Orion interference in the conference leads to a Unionwide crackdown on the Orion Syndicates.

2268: First Union contact with the Tholian Assembly. Loss of the USS DEFIANT and Tholian vesel THILVANCE into interphase.

2281: The Gorn join the Union.

2286: A powerful probe, its origin and purpose still a total mystery, approaches Earth, causing great consternation, beams signals into the oceans, then departs without further incident. Humans resume serious attempts to communicate with Cetaceans.

2290: The Romulan rapproachment. Occupation forces withdraw from Romulus and Romulan space, leaving a new Romulan Republic in place. The Romulan government pledges neutrality and nonaggression.

2293: Disaster on the Klingon moon Praxis is narrowly averted by a visiting team of Union engineers. Qo'nos and the Klingon Empire formally enter the Union. Dissident elements of the Klingon Empire secede and form the Free Klingon States (FKS).

2294: Betazed joins the Union.

2309: The bajoran Empire establishes a 'presence' on Cardassia Prime.

2313: Fleeting First Contact between the Union and the Taurhai, little of substance exchanged.

2328: The Bajoran Empire occupies Cardassia.

2342: The Kzinti Empire allies itself with the Union.

2350: The Reunification movement gainst strength on Romulus; Ambassador Spock publicly relocates to Romulus to advocate for the movement.

2361: The Breen attack the Bajoran Empire, but are repulsed.

2369: The Romulan Nationalist Party (RNP) seizes control of several worlds in outlying Romulan space and begins terroristic actions against the Union and its Romulan allies.

The Kzinti Empire formally enters the Union.

2370: The Bajoran "Circle" Order makes covert contact with the RNP and agrees to supply weapons and information, using the Ferengi as intermediaries. Without the RNP's knowledge, the bajorans also contact the FKS and offer them the same alliance.

2370: The Present Day.
And now, the 'Dirty Secret' of the Union:

Khan's 'supermen' never really went away.

A secret cabal of superintelligent humans, Section 31 (their answer to the Treaty of Kiev's Section 30) has always guided the Union (and thusly, Terrans, the dominant culture) towards hegemony over the quadrant. Behind the scenes, they work to bring the other races into the Union, by any means necesary. They staged the Praxis incident, and many other events that altered the course of history.

Now led by three individuals, Khan Singh V, Julian bashir, and Sarina Douglas, their agents are highly placed in the terran and Union government, and even include a few nonhumans who have been convinced and/or coerced into assisting them. Ambassador Spock's aide, Valeris, works for Section 31, as do Admiral Sedlak of Starfleet Intelligence, Klingon High Council member Duras, and Romulan Senator Jarok. Others include Admirals Kane, Sagan, and Ross, Senators Brahms, D'nal, Espinoza and Kovarazov, and the mysterious Flint.

Section 31, while holding what they believe to be the best interests of the Union at heart, are absolutely ruthless in bringing their goals about. If the Union will be served by the deaths of a civilian populace, the destruction of a Union fleet, or the annihilation of a world, so be it.

Section 31 has recognized the Taurhai as a cultural threat, and is moving into position to counter them. (Section 31's knowledge and technology is generally a decade ahead of the rest of the Union, naturally.) Of more imediate concern, however, are the renegade Klingon and Romulan factions, and the Bajoran Empire, led by Emperor Bareil. Starfleet Intelligence's highest operative on Cardassia, Councilor Damar, has reported rumors that the Bajorans are actively supplying the renegades with weapons and information. The mysterious disappearance of several small colonies in the vicinity of the Typhon Expanse also has Section 31 (and the rest of the Union) worried.

Naturally, a dimension-hopping crew would be of great interest to the Union, their enemies, and Section 31 especially.

First of Two...
Love that timeline!! Especially the little tidbits like Julian Bashir and Sarina Douglas being involved in the "conspiratorial government".

Styro...
Now you've really got me thinking. Now this is probably full of holes as I'm talking off the top of my head and haven't thought it thru yet, but what if the Crew arrive in this alternate dimension with their tales of the Borg. They show the computer records, the destruction at Wolf 359, etc. The events you speak of come to pass, with people being forced to have certain implants in case of assimilation, etc.

The Crew continue with their adventures, becoming (no doubt) more and more concerned as the Starfleet personnel around them sacrifice more and more of their "biology" to "technology". Eventually, a ship is built which utilises a computerised link between all crew members, so they each know exactly what the other is doing at any given time...

Then, something happens...I dunno, something to make the Crew chase the "Collective Ship", which is caught in some kind of [insert spatial anomaly here] and flung across time, space and dimensions, along with the Crew.

The Crew discover, of course, that they are now in the Delta Quadrant, a thousand years or so in the past, and the "Collective Ship" crew, desperate to return home, begin to forget their Starfleet morality and begin behaving like the crew of the Equinox, believing the ends justify the means.

Oh, and the "Collective Ship" has a female captain, of course :D

You know where I'm heading with this, don't you? All those who hate temporal paradoxes may now exit! :)

Thoughts, anyone?

One question I omitted to ask was what kind of rules apply if the PCs decide to mess with these alternate universes. Is it the same as messing with time? Forbidden by the Temproral Prime Directive.

But canon material seems to suggest that its okay to mess about with parallel dimensions. All the Mirror Universe episodes shows Starfleet officers not only getting invovled but trying to change things in the mirror universe. I need to know because obviously many of these parallel dimensions are going to be in bad shape and the PCs may try to "save the world".

Well, Picard didn't seem too fazed about messing with the alternate reality in Yesterday's Enterprise, going solely on Guinan's intuition. Since he's the "school prefect" with stuff like that, I'd say that's a pretty good guide. :)

I don't think it's the same as messing with the timeline. Muck about with 1980, and 2370 may be very different. Here, however, we're talking about two copies of 2370, where altering one won't affect the other.

While Picard does come across as a "school prefect" he's still not above breaking the rules, back chatting admirals and generally making a nuisance of himself when he feels he's in the right and face it he's broken the Prime Directive himself and besides his actions in Yesterday's Enterprise would save the Federation, so he took the greater good into consideration.

In the DS9 mirror universe episodes, Sisko and co. were sometimes a little less altuistic about messing around with mirror universe politics to help their parallel selves.

IMHO, there's no canon rule that says you can't interfer in parallel dimensions but thinking about it, won't the Prime Directive apply. The parallel universe no matter how it developed is still a culture of its own and to interfer with a culture and change its development is a PD violation.

I've always believed that it's the "little tidbits" that make a good alternate universe timeline.

Thanks for the detailed post First of Two but its too elaborate for what I want to do...it'll be a short story-arc four to six episodes, so some alternate dimensions will just be shock descriptions before the PCs move on.

I'm thinking of using the following (as the principal focus of each episode):

1. The Mirror Universe - my version
2. Yesterday's War
3. What if there was no Federation?
4. Worst of Both Worlds
5. Dying Federation (far future)
6. War of the Prophets (from the DS9 Mellenium novels).

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Originally posted by ghosty
One question I omitted to ask was what kind of rules apply if the PCs decide to mess with these alternate universes. Is it the same as messing with time? Forbidden by the Temproral Prime Directive.

But canon material seems to suggest that its okay to mess about with parallel dimensions. All the Mirror Universe episodes shows Starfleet officers not only getting invovled but trying to change things in the mirror universe. I need to know because obviously many of these parallel dimensions are going to be in bad shape and the PCs may try to "save the world".

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Interesting angle. And what if some Alternate Dimension Picard showed up and argued that the Federation nees to impose a dimensional Prime Directive. "Just because it won't affect you immediatly, do not think these things will never have ramifications. Starfleet Captains must learn to control themselves and their polution of other cultures in all aspects. This dimension, time and any other dimension."

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Originally posted by Captain Zymmer

Interesting angle. And what if some Alternate Dimension Picard showed up and argued that the Federation nees to impose a dimensional Prime Directive. "Just because it won't affect you immediatly, do not think these things will never have ramifications. Starfleet Captains must learn to control themselves and their polution of other cultures in all aspects. This dimension, time and any other dimension."

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I like the Picard bit, may find its way into the climax of the story arc. :)

Other alternities:

A Universe in which Kahles was killed in battle, The Klingons self-destructed, and the Federation never had to fight them (and now has scant few allies against a Dominion-Romulan Alliance)

A 'Balkanized' Universe, where Federation space belongs to small empires and Alliances (The Vulcan / Betazed / Cairn / Napean "Interstellar Concordium" AKA the "Brain Trust," The Andorian / Bolian / Centauri / Trill / Tellarite "United Worlds," The "Human League," The Ferengi / Lysian / Tzenkethi "Consortium," surrounded by the large, powerful Empires of the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and Breen.

When I DO get around to playing my "SliderTrek" game, I intend my crew to have an adventure ot two in each of these universes before they move on...

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Originally posted by Captain Zymmer

Interesting angle. And what if some Alternate Dimension Picard showed up and argued that the Federation nees to impose a dimensional Prime Directive. "Just because it won't affect you immediatly, do not think these things will never have ramifications. Starfleet Captains must learn to control themselves and their polution of other cultures in all aspects. This dimension, time and any other dimension."

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Remembering the plot of Dark Mirror was the result of the Mirror universe Empire deducing the existence of the Federation from Kirk's original visit and launching a cross-time invasion...

And why would this Federation (ours, that is) have a PD about alternate universes travel? Maybe they don't - after all, I don't remember it being ever evoqued.
However, there may be another Federation, somewhere, who has a PD concerning alternate universes. Or it may be some future of "our" Federation - a further extension to TimeFleet (TimeLineFleet?).

This could make some interesting variation for a SliderTrek game : the existence of a United Federation of Realities, whose StarFleet equivalent doesn't like the Crew's tampering with the realities.
And of course, this Federation could have its ennemies (I stopped watching Sliders a looong time ago, but IIRC, this idea is called Kromaggs in this show).
Otherwise, the UFR could appear as the villains, constantly opposing the schemes of the Crew, but eventually helping them to return home.

Well, just some Monday afternoon weird idea...

Slider Trek? Slider Trek!

OMG!

That is an evil idea...all started when the player's are testing out a revolutionary personal transporter device... :)

Oh you wacky C5 you, my players are gonna hate you if I ever unleash this on them ;)

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Originally posted by ghosty


I like the Picard bit, may find its way into the climax of the story arc. :)

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Feel free to use at your whim :)

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Originally posted by Captain Zymmer
Slider Trek? Slider Trek!

OMG!

That is an evil idea...all started when the player's are testing out a revolutionary personal transporter device... :)

Oh you wacky C5 you, my players are gonna hate you if I ever unleash this on them ;)

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Hehehe... glad to see I seem to have the basic weirdness required to be a good Narrator... :D
Thanks for the compliment Captain! ;)

C5, you're getting there kid...weird is definately in the job description if you want to be a GM.:)

Agreed Ghosty, good work C5 :)

Nice to see the French have sent a delegate with us on this strange journey we call narrating ;)

For collectors of weird alternate universes...

Tech level 7 universe

In this universe, all the tehnologically advanced races (Iconians, Tkon, and whatever you could come across) did not disappear, but are still very active and very advanced in the 24th century. The galaxy (and some of its neighbours) is now the battleground of some extremely advanced powers. Wars are fought with temporal anomalies, relocations of entire star systems, wormholes, and so on. The godlike races (Prophets, Organians, etc) are often involved, and have far less advance on the other races. Even the Q avoid this reality, since they don't feel they could be the gamemasters in this one.
The Federation, and all the "regular" powers, do exist, but are much more different. They are at best mere pawns in the cosmic chess the superpowers are playing, and disturbing insects at worst (think how a planet like today's Earth would be considered in the middle of the 24th century intrigues). Some known races have not been discovered, for their homeworld being destroyed or moved one Quadrant away. The Borg could for instance be the fallout of a weapon used by one of the races (BTW, the superior races don't spend their time at war, and spend some time in extremely advanced negociations and manipulations as well).

The Crew, arriving in this universe, could use the archeological knowledge they have on some of these advanced races to make the local Federation noteworthy of these superior powers. This could be a possible end to a SliderTrek series, with one of them powers helping the Crew to get back to their own reality.

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poster

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Originally posted by StyroFoam Man
How about a universe where Earth destroyed itself through nuclear war. No survivors. Would the Federation even exist? Or would it be just Romulans and Klingons (and those pesky Cardassians)...

Hmmmmmm....

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Sure wouldn't make the Borg's job of assimiliating any fun either! And AUGH! No 7 of 9! :mad:

What about an alternate reality in which the Crew never left, but was the same in every other way? Or it is the same reality, only immediately after the Crew left, they were replaced (but by who?). What if the Tech Level 7 guys import people/things from other realities to help fight their wars? What if when the TL7 guys send them back, they don't really send them back...

My brain has gots too full. Me lie down now.

The crew encounters a planet where each individual obeys those above him in the hierarchy. These could be civil or military authorities, it doesn't matter. What matters is that there is no dissent. There is individualism, but only on a very limited scale. To keep things a bit unpredictable, perhaps the first planet they encounter isn't one they've seen before, so it's possible this is normal behavior.

Then they encounter the same thing on another world. The specifics may vary, but it becomes apparent there is almost a compulsion to function in a rigid hierarchy. On this world, it is also clear that most of the population is engaged in the creation of something. When asked, they don't really know what they're building. They just know how to build it. And they trust, implicitly, that when it is complete, its use will be apparent.

Back checking the sensor logs, if they think to do so, will reveal some evidence of a planet wide project on the first world they encountered, but not nearly as far along towards completion.

At this point, maybe they're a little creeped out.

The next planet, they discover the same situation. This planet should probably be one they've encountered, preferably one that is significantly different in "their" world. An encounter with someone they know from this world, who is creepily different, might be appropriate.

At some point, a Betazed or other telepathic sensitive should detect a very subtle suggestion of telepathy. If you haven't got one of those, than a faint transmission should be detected on the sensors. Triangulation reveals a direction and range to the source. According to the library computers, there is little at that location -- only a small system with a dim sun, Pyris, and no inhabited planets. Although there is an historical footnote about a visit by the Enterprise years ago, to the seventh planet of that system -- the events described by the TOS episode "Catspaw".

Querying the central archives *here* might work (if you decide the passcodes are the same), but there is no record of a visit by the Enterprise to that planet. However, interestingly, there are records of the Enterprises' activities up to the stardate at which the visit occurred in the "real" universe ... and no records of it after that point. As if it ... vanished.

You've probably guessed what's going on. In this universe, Kirk didn't destroy the transmuter (Korob's wand) before Sylvia got her hands on it. With the more powerful of the two artifacts (the other being her pendant) now in her control, and with Korob destroyed, Sylvia was able to take control of the Enterprise and its crew. Over the course of months, her ... ah ... examinations taught her what she needed to know about humans and their allied species.

Slowly, she spread her control. She took control of planetary leaders. But her additional knowledge allowed her to do so in less obvious ways. With means provided by her, these puppets took control of their planetary populations. Over time, she has come to control the entire Federation. Most are unaware of her, and those who are, cannot disobey. She has maintained the Federation's borders with patrols, but she has not sent exploration vessels out, nor has she antagonized other powers. For their part, they see the Federation becoming more inward involved, which is fine with them. However, their spies have reported the strange activities on some planets -- activities they can't really understand. So there might be some threats massing on the border, as fear is often a powerful incentive to rash action.

On each controlled planet, her captive populations are building the components of a machine she, and various captive scientists have designed. With this machine to harness and control energy for her use, she will be able to return to whatever weird place she comes from, and contest with the "Old Ones" who rule there for control of that place, and perhaps -- ultimately -- far more.

The problem is that, despite her long study, she doesn't really understand the manipulation of energy. It's too alien a concept. She has had her scientists build what amounts to an immense transmuter, that can draw on the fundamental energy of the universe. Powerless even to explain the problems with what she wanted, they could only try to do what she asked. They did the best they could. They incorporated a lot of new theories and ideas, and scaled the whole thing up to immense capability.

When the machine operates, it will begin drawing *all* the energy from this universe. Sylvia will get what she wants -- for as long as the universe lasts -- but things will go very bad, very quickly, for the inhabitants here.

Rather than merely escape this parallel, the characters may wish to put a stop to what's going on. One way might be to destroy Sylvia's transmuter. Another might be to have a telepathic character attempt to operate the transmuter remotely. Such a character would discover a "contingency spell" Korob left there, hidden, intended for the use of another of his kind. (He was weak willed, not stupid -- he saw what Sylvia was turning into even has her grew too frightened to act directly against her.) Such a contingency, if triggered by the character, would shut down or destroy the transmuter. Deprived of its support, Sylvia cannot survive in this universe -- its physical laws are too different. Finally, if the characters can find a way to activate the central component of Sylvia's machine -- being contructed on the second planet they visited -- they can travel to the strange place from which she comes. The "Old Ones" could certainly deal with Sylvia if they do so before her immense transmuter comes online. After that ... well, escape may be the only possibility.

Infinite Realities Episode write-ups coming up soon. Watch this space.

SLIDES TO EDGE OF SEAT

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

Carefull you don't fall of your seat Zym.

That will happen soon enough anyway, once we get to see ghosty's write-up. ;)

Can't wait to read it. :)

Hey Perrryyy;
Your right "no 7 of 9", but look on the up-side, no Wesley Crusher (who says an apocalypse is all bad...maybe Dr. Strangelove got it right :D).