Tomorrow's Lexington

[Captain Zymmer]

Okay so I had a small fart of an idea for an episode.

Now I need help making it into something usable.

Here's the idea.

Somehow the crew of today's Lexington wind up encountering a future Lexington.


That's it...that's all I have.

Anyone care to ckick around the can on this one?

[ghosty]

Remember what happened the last time you let me loose on a bare idea?

But lets see now...I'm just trying to recall an old episode of Dr Who when all incarnations of the Doctor met up to stop a threat which spanned all of the time/space continiuum.

How about this, the Lexington of your game runs into the USS Lexington of the Federation Time Fleet. The crew are recruited for a special mission (part of the Temporal Cold War...why not) and in the course of the mission, encounters all incartions of the starship Lexington past, present or future...that's where having a brief precis of previous ships with the same name so that you can co-ordinate such adventures. Each Lexington has to complete one part of the puzzle (of course the Timeship crew can't reveal every piece to everyone for fear of polluting the timeline). Well of course the inevitable disaster happens when the Timeship Lexington is destroyed by the enemy forcing the crew of the present Lexington to take charge of the operation because they received every piece of the puzzle which includes a trip back to WWII to save the aircraft carrier Lexington from a Kamikaze attack in 1945...

Most of this is off the top of my head but I'm sure a genius like Zymmer can iron out the bumps.

[Captain Zymmer]

Flattery will get you everywhere

Okay not a bad idea...but not where I want to go...though it has given me some ideas for other stuff.

What about a future Lexington is coming back to destroy or stop the current Lexington from doing something that will set off a chain of events that will make theirs a future war or BORG infested future?

Or how about running the Yesterday's Enterprise mentality, but from the out-of-time ship point of view?

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Captain Zymmer
Flattery will get you everywhere

I know.

Okay not a bad idea...but not where I want to go...though it has given me some ideas for other stuff.

Glad to be of service. Your ideas are good too and I'll planning to use some of the them.

What about a future Lexington is coming back to destroy or stop the current Lexington from doing something that will set off a chain of events that will make theirs a future war or BORG infested future?

Sounds like Endgame to me ...

Or how about running the Yesterday's Enterprise mentality, but from the out-of-time ship point of view?

This is more interesting...but will the crew of Lexington have to sacrifice themselves to save their own future? Could be an interesting moral dilemna...

[Captain Zymmer]

Okay how about this

The Lexington is transporting a diplomat/ambassador to a newly contacted world that is on their way to becoming a Federation member.

What we don't know is that 10 years from now this Ambassador will declre independance of this world and appoint himself their "Supreme Director". By doing so he sets into action a chain of events that plunge the Federation into a cival war...

The Romulans will turn ont he Federation, this draws the Klingons in as well, and this degenerates into a General War that will leave a long and gaping wound on the Alpha Quadrant.

The future Lexington crew has inflitarted the past, determining that during the transport of the Ambassador had a run in with pirates. Inflitrating an undercover assasin on board, they intend to kill the Ambassador during the pirate attack and make it look like an accident.

Having taken control fo the pIrate ships, they will press the attack as long as need be to make sure he has enough time and confusion to work under. But it all fails and the spy is captured, the pirate ships destroyed or driven off.

After interrogation reveals the plot, the players are awed when the future Lexington capain decides the only way to do this is destroy the PC Lexington and let it be blamed on the pirates.

The player's drop a brick in their pants when a freakin' huge ship decloaks (maybe one of those uber fan designs) and begins the attack. At first the Captain may try and trick the players into lowering their shields and handing over the ambassador.

Of course the players won't as such a thing would be tantamount to murder. The Captain will probably also warn that he has one of their crew on board. The other captain will say something like "They knew the risks, and now they die to insure the future is safe." This will play important later.

A brief cat and mouse chase begins, with the players getting their asses burned bad by this superior warship. Maybe a nice Nebula to dodge into, or a comet's tail to hide in, presents itself...at which point the prisoner will offer to help the players in return for amnesty.

With this information they should be able to save the day, if not maybe a visit from a Timefleet ship can help...

Okay that's all I have from the top of my head, input, suggestions, criticisims, etc...please.

I want this episode to be memorable for my players.

[ghosty]

One idea would be for the PC Lexington crew to meet their future selves...maybe from twenty years in the future...a future after ten years of total war...it may freak them out and we'll see it the Grandfather Clause of time travel is true...

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Today's Lexington encounters a temporal anomaly (!) and winds up in the future, damaged. Before they can repair and make an attempt to return to their own time, the future Lexington shows up (or was already there).

Now let's take the opposite tack from "Yesterday's Enterprise." Future Lex's history shows that today's Lex was never found, and will do whatever is necessary to prevent them from returning...

Now just add some details and complications.

- Daniel

[Captain Zymmer]

Originally posted by Sho-sa Kurita
Today's Lexington encounters a temporal anomaly (!) and winds up in the future, damaged. Before they can repair and make an attempt to return to their own time, the future Lexington shows up (or was already there).

Now let's take the opposite tack from "Yesterday's Enterprise." Future Lex's history shows that today's Lex was never found, and will do whatever is necessary to prevent them from returning...

Now just add some details and complications.

Sho...what can I say...that's a great idea!

Even better than what I just wrote up (which I may still use in another way)...interesting stuff...

Hmmmm...

Ghosty, I am not a huge fan of the Grandfather clause, but what do you think about Sho's idea? How can we kick this can around a bit?

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Sho-sa Kurita
Today's Lexington encounters a temporal anomaly (!) and winds up in the future, damaged. Before they can repair and make an attempt to return to their own time, the future Lexington shows up (or was already there).

Now let's take the opposite tack from "Yesterday's Enterprise." Future Lex's history shows that today's Lex was never found, and will do whatever is necessary to prevent them from returning...

Now just add some details and complications.

- Daniel

I think its a DTI regulation that if a ship or person from the past shows up and its recorded that they did dissaper at a particular point in time they can't be sent back as it would change the timeline which is of course against the Temporal Prime Directive.

So the complication that "Major" Kurita (I play Battletech too ) alludes must be reason why the "present" Lexington has to go back.

[Captain Zymmer]

Originally posted by ghosty
I think its a DTI regulation that if a ship or person from the past shows up and its recorded that they did dissaper at a particular point in time they can't be sent back as it would change the timeline which is of course against the Temporal Prime Directive.

So the complication that "Major" Kurita (I play Battletech too ) alludes must be reason why the "present" Lexington has to go back.

I don't follow...explain please.

[ghosty]

The DTI regulations are in place mainly to prevent pollution of the timeline.

So if the Lexington dissapeared in 2380 (for e.g.) and turns up in 2400 and the records say in 2400 that the Lexington dissapeared in 2380 then DTI regulations will not allow the Lexington to go back to 2380 because it would change history and pollute the timeline.

So the complication Sho-sa Kurita referred to in his thread must have some incentive for the CO of the future Lexington to allow the present Lexington to go home...the Yesterday's Enterprise scenairo...

Using your wartorn future scenario, it could simply mean that the Lexington is carrying some VIP whose presence at some conference or meeting could well have altered events to prevent a war. Since he didn't make it due to the Lexington's time trip...war breaks out and if the Lexington goes back the war would be prevented...but if they go back they break the Temporal Prime Directive.

CONDESENDING MODE ON:

Do you get it now?

CONDESENDING MODE OFF

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Thank you, thank you. My better ideas always come to me at work. Here's another one while I'm on a roll...

Remember Worf's universe hopping, quantum signature thing?

Today's Lex goes universe hopping too, eventually winding up in a universe where technology in the Federation advanced more rapidly. In this case the "future" Lex isn't really from the future, just from a more advanced universe.

In this case you can have advanced tech, which Today's Lex will probably need to figure out what's going on, and have doubles of some of the crew too.

I think I like the first scenario better because of the tension involved. With no risk to the timeline, this second one is more of a lark.

-- Daniel

[Captain Zymmer]

Originally posted by ghosty
The DTI regulations are in place mainly to prevent pollution of the timeline.

So if the Lexington dissapeared in 2380 (for e.g.) and turns up in 2400 and the records say in 2400 that the Lexington dissapeared in 2380 then DTI regulations will not allow the Lexington to go back to 2380 because it would change history and pollute the timeline.

So the complication Sho-sa Kurita referred to in his thread must have some incentive for the CO of the future Lexington to allow the present Lexington to go home...the Yesterday's Enterprise scenairo...

CONDESENDING MODE ON:

Do you get it now?

CONDESENDING MODE OFF

I see, you meant the complication woudl allow the Lexington to return home.

I missed that aprt the first time

Now that said, what if the future Lexington has to prevent them from going home?

What kind of future are they in?

Is it a General War?

Could that be what convinces the future Captain to let them go home?

[ghosty]

You best go back and re-read my post Zymmer I edited it a few seconds after I posted it, so you must have missed it, the complication is set out there..

[Captain Zymmer]

Originally posted by ghosty
Using your wartorn future scenario, it could simply mean that the Lexington is carrying some VIP whose presence at some conference or meeting could well have altered events to prevent a war. Since he didn't make it due to the Lexington's time trip...war breaks out and if the Lexington goes back the war would be prevented...but if they go back they break the Temporal Prime Directive.

Okay that works, what if the Lexington was attacked ferrying Ambassador spock to a treaty negotiation between Romulus and Vulcan? The Romulan government specifically states that they will allow any ship other than the Enterprise to be the ferry.

Sela and two Tal Shiar Warbirds attack, somethng happens and they shoot into the future...a future where war with the Romulans is going poorly?