Tomorrow's Lexington

[Captain Zymmer]

Originally posted by ghosty
I recall in the Time Travel Sourcebook they mention that the Romulan Quatum Singularity Engines have the ability to destabalize time due - it is after all an artifical black hole so who knows what its effects are - remember that episode when the Romulan quantum singularity engine was breaking down and it caused time to stop.

Well in any case, the point is that what if there was a third Warbird which attacked first and the Lexington's quantum torpedo (I hope she has them) ruptures the intermix chamber and when one qunatum field meets another well...boom instant time travel...think about it...all you need to do is blow up one Romulan ship...

Well that works...just add another Warbird

Hooked on phnics works for me.

So with the El Alurian help, they head back to cutoff Sela and the attack fleet, signalling the defensive fleet as they arrive, cutting off the Romulans at the pass and preventing the attack on the conference.

Cool

This should shape up to be a pretty kick ass adventure

[ghosty]

Its just too Yesterday's Enterprise for my taste...and the El Aurian is another Deus Ex Machina IMHO...the PCs don't have to do any of the work, the NPCs figure out everything for them...personally I just think that they should want to go back and stop whatever it is they failed to do...more dramatic and more taxing on the PCs...just me opinion...

[Captain Zymmer]

And a valid one at that...

Still if they try and get back, why woudn't the future Lexington just blow the pogees out of them?

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Wow, I've only been gone a day and a half and this thread is great!

First, I agree with ghosty that there's a little too much NPC work at hand here. How 'bout this...

Today's Lex is in a battle with Romulans, they are getting pounded in much the same manner as the Ent-C and next thing they know, they're in Future Lex's time.

Future Lex history records that Today's Lex was lost, apparently in battle with Romulans. Because Starfleet Command have yet to decide what to do with Today's Lex, the crew is not allowed to see more of Future Lex's records. Eventually, one of Today's Lex's crew gains access to Future Lex's databanks, and discovers that events even before the battle are different than what is recorded in Today's Lex's banks.

This means that there was some other temporal shenanigans going on. Normally if the incursion occurred before the disappearance of Today's Lex, her records prior to disappearance would match those of Future's Lex, but -- if the incursion was perpetrated during the battle, they were somehow protected from the time flux because they were inside the forming temporal rift that catapults them to the future. Is that twisty enough?

At any rate, the argument for not letting Today's Lex return is invalidated. Problem #1 solved. Unfortunately, it also means that Today's Lex's return to its origin will not return the timeline to normal -- they still have to figure out where the original temporal incursion occurred, and how to fix that, but that could be where you bring in some 29th c. Timefleet help.

OK, this is getting really wacky and turning into multiple episodes ... hoo boy!

-- Daniel

[ghosty]

That's why you have to keep coming back Sho-sa, otherwise you'll miss all the good bits.

I like your idea for bring the Lexington back.

The alternative would of course be the Yesterday's Enterprise ending, the CO of future-Lex knows that the Federation is lost but if the old Lex goes back it could save the Federation from its fate...only problem is how does he find out without Guinan to guide him

[Sho-sa Kurita]

I told you it was twisty

Capt Z doesn't need the El-Aurian because once the crew of Today's Lex discover the discrepancies between history even prior to their departure, they can reveal it to the captain of Future Lex (sorry we hacked into your databanks, but...). Since you can't further re-pollute an already polluted timeline, there's no reason Today's Lex can't return and at least give the UFP/KE alliance a shot, especially since it's not the right timeline in the first place, and will probably change radically once the "proper" timeline is restored.

As I wrote I came to think of this as a two parter -- part 1 entails getting back to their "original" time. Unfortunately, when they get there, they are still in an altered timeline (according to their databanks). Part 2 picks up on this and perhaps involves the Timefleet enlisting the aid of Today's Lex to right the situation once and for all.

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Having just read your post again ghosty, I realized I had misread it earlier, but you meant how does the captain of Future Lex decide without a Guinan and without the revelation of conflicting history didn't you?

Without either of those two things you're pretty much left with

1) the heavy handed deus ex machina as previously discussed, or

2) the captain just deciding to make a play for a better future based on gut instinct - some captains might do it.

Both of these things completely leave the players out of the loop.

The Guinan card worked in "Yesterday's Enterprise" because she was an established character trusted by the established captain. In this context, the Future Lex captain is neither established nor trusted, nor would any of his advisors be such from the PCs point of view. That's why it's not really a good plot device and why I contrived the wacky-multiple-temporal-incursion conundrum.

3) The third alternative would be for Today's Lex just to try to fight it out, possibly sabotaging the Future Lex first to give themselves a chance. Not particularly Starfleet though, eh?

- Daniel

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Sho-sa Kurita

3) The third alternative would be for Today's Lex just to try to fight it out, possibly sabotaging the Future Lex first to give themselves a chance. Not particularly Starfleet though, eh?

- Daniel

And what was it Scotty did to the Excelsior in STIII? If that wasn't sabotage what was

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Originally posted by ghosty


And what was it Scotty did to the Excelsior in STIII? If that wasn't sabotage what was

Never said I was original.

[Michael Barratt]

Originally posted by Sho-sa Kurita

The Guinan card worked in "Yesterday's Enterprise" because she was an established character trusted by the established captain. In this context, the Future Lex captain is neither established nor trusted, nor would any of his advisors be such from the PCs point of view. That's why it's not really a good plot device and why I contrived the wacky-multiple-temporal-incursion conundrum.

So pick another minor character from the series so far, someone they've interacted with now and then, and make him or her the captain of the Lexington-Future...

Some NPC minor from a previous adventure or three...

The Doc

[Captain Zymmer]

Sho - Okay I most defiantly do not want this to turn into a two parter through my own actions. As for the decrepency of the future vs the past, I don't want it to be that easy for them, that said the idea that the Federation is going to lose against the Romulans is a good idea, since it may make the future Lex Captian easier to pursuade. I am not big ont he Sabotage idea, since they know the future Lex is fighting a war, and leaving them stranded in space could be pretty deadly for them. Still food for thought.

Ghosty - Sometimes a little NPC guidence is a good thing...but I will try to keep it down to a minimum. So long as the players feel they pulled it off, a bit of nudging always helps. Also, borrowing from "Yesterday's Enterpirse" is kinda expected when this adventure is inspired by it, don't cha think? But again minimum's apply.

Michael Barratt - Now there's a thought...it would have to be someone who ties into their lives nicely. Someone who would care to have them alive again...One of the players is chaning characters as her primary character is off on an Starfleet Intelligence mission, I could have her play the 20 years later version of herself...Hmmmmmm....

I just want to thank you guys for all your input and help here. It really helps me think things through and see them from sides I haven't before.

[Commander Kaplan]

I was just wondering if I could take things and twist them a little bit more for you.

I assume you are in post Dominion war era. The Romulans are being a royal pain the hars to the UFP. Roms are badly dragging their heels in picking up their people and equipment off planets around Bajor system and other places. Roms are refusing SF assistance to speed up the process. Warbirds are still being found in Fed space from time to time instead of back across the RNZ where they belong, yadda yadda yadda. Tensions are extremely high.

The USS Lexington is carrying a couple of UFP's top negotiators to Romulus to smooth things out. The ship has just crossed into the RNZ and the signature of the Romulan escort vessel is picked up on long range sensors. Suddenly the USS Lexington begins to pick up faint EM readings directly ahead and BAMM!......

The USS Lexington slams, shakes, and quickly comes to a very quick stop. (Unknown to the crew, the Lex has slammed into a temporal string and was launched 20 years into the future.)
The bridge fills with smoke, lights flashing, alarms ringing, damage reports rolling in. The PC captain sends a distress signal. (I think that tidbit is a given.) A few minutes later, a ship DECLOAKS in front of the PC ship. The decloaked vessel turns out to be ... A STARFLEET VESSEL NAMED USS LEXINGTON. Captain Fahmiillia Enpesee (familiar npc) of future Lex hails Lexington and offers assistance, sends repair crews, and all the rest.

Once it has been established that Lexington has landed in the future, Capt Enpesee brings the PCs up to date on the happenings of the past twenty years:

- Lexington and the negotiators vanished without a trace inside the RNZ. Starfleet accused the Roms of being involved, Roms proclaimed innocence, but the incident proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The UFP and the Romulan empire went to war.

- the Lexington Conflict (name of the war) lasted just under one year......AND THE UFP WON. The RNZ was re-established and the Romulans have been extremely docile neighbors ever since. The Algeron Treaty was also dissolved by the UFP at the same time because Starfleet was tired of being knocked around by it, cloaked warbirds beating on SF ships that couldn't.

- UFP has annexed Bajor system into Fed territory, for Fed security reasons. Bajor itself is still considered independant because it still hasn't signed as an official member of UFP.

- Starfleet is now an absolute military organisation, whose job is simply to protect Federation's borders. This has been considered best due to past Borg incursions, the Dominion war, and finally the Lexington conflict. Starfleet is no longer responsible for any scientific ventures or exploration. That is all the responsibilty of the Science Council.

- Starfleet turned over most of the starships that were its science vessels; constellation class, Equinox type, etc. to the Science Council to them to use. There is no further exploration or scientific ventures conducted outside of established Federation borders.

- (This list can go on. I just made up a couple of ideas to make future UFP seem sour to the PCs, so they'll want to go back. After all, that is not the Starfleet they signed up to. Annexing space, hiding behind cloaks, exploration severely hampered, doesn't sound like the Trek we know and like.)


The investigation to figure out how Lexington got to the future can take place somewhere during the repairs to the damaged ship. The Lexington sensor logs of the EM emissions, new sensor sweeps showing EM readings, etc can lead them to the temporal anomoly explanation. What won't be clear is how it occurred. The investigation shows the anomoly to be most likely natural, but Capt. Enpesee is not totally convinced.

When the Lexington has been repaired and the PCs decide they want to go back, that is when Capt. Enpesee changes from kind polite and helpful to plain blunt serious. Under no circumstances will she allow the Lexington go back. The temporal anomoly may have happened because of the Romulans in the first place (collision with a cloaked ship one possibilty), going back there is no guarantee the negotiations will be successful anyway, meaning the war may happen again in the other timeline. The war has been fought once with a UFP victory but there is no way of knowing it will happen the same way again. And Capt. Enpesee is not going to risk it. Added to that is Temporal Prime Directive, what has happened has happened. The Lexington disappeared 20 years ago. Future Lex is not going to let Lexington go back in time to alter that.

The PCs, the npc negotiators can talk all they want. They can call the future SF Command and talk to any contacts they may have. It will not change anything. They will not be allowed to return.

The PCs will try anyway, setting up Lexington vs Lexington. You have your space battle, Lexington makes a run for it and gets back through. Then the PCs can fire a couple of quantorps into it to collapse it, fire a coherent tetreyon beam through the defector dish into it, whatever, just before the future Lexington makes it through. A scan of the area will show that the only thing around is the approaching escort ship, as before.

The Romulan escort rendezvous with the USS Lexington, asks if there is anything wrong, and requests permission to escort the PC ship to Romulus as instructed.




Sorry for babbling on so much folks. I just had a bunch of ideas and threw them together to add to the mix. By all means feel free to pick away.

[ghosty]

Whooo I like the future more militaristic Federation idea...it'll make a change from the usual the Federation is the last bastion of what's good and pure in the galaxy but is instead very much like any other galactic power...maybe cloaked by their old philosophies but no one believes it anymore.

The only problem is does this actually give the crew an "incentive" to go home again? Is saving the Federation from itself a good motive? I'm not sure...it'll play well if Picard was Captain, he gives great idealistic speeches (Kirk too) but other captains...I'm not so sure.

I like the end though, situation normal...hmmm...what's going on here? One idea is to make the future segment short and turn this into a "Groundhog Day" scenario...the PCs just live out the same day over and over and over again until they can figure out how to break out of the causative time loop...only problem is the only people who are outside the loop are the PCs least able to handle the "technobabble" aspect of the show, ie. they don't have a clue where to begin...reminds you of a Stargate episode? Yep...but then again quite hard to pull off.

[Captain Zymmer]

Originally posted by ghosty
Whooo I like the future more militaristic Federation idea...it'll make a change from the usual the Federation is the last bastion of what's good and pure in the galaxy but is instead very much like any other galactic power...maybe cloaked by their old philosophies but no one believes it anymore.

I agree, and may use that part of it. I like the idea that war does change a society...maybe in the future the Klingons also serve on Starfleet ships too

The only problem is does this actually give the crew an "incentive" to go home again? Is saving the Federation from itself a good motive? I'm not sure...it'll play well if Picard was Captain, he gives great idealistic speeches (Kirk too) but other captains...I'm not so sure.

Oh I think I have plenty of players in the group who believe in the Federation enough to want to change things back to the less militeristic way.

I like the end though, situation normal...hmmm...what's going on here? One idea is to make the future segment short and turn this into a "Groundhog Day" scenario...the PCs just live out the same day over and over and over again until they can figure out how to break out of the causative time loop...only problem is the only people who are outside the loop are the PCs least able to handle the "technobabble" aspect of the show, ie. they don't have a clue where to begin...reminds you of a Stargate episode? Yep...but then again quite hard to pull off.

And is an entirely different episode But I may use that idea in Season 3 For now I think the outline I presented above, with a few touches will be all she wrote fot eh basic plot of "Tomorrow's Lexington".

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Captain Zymmer


I agree, and may use that part of it. I like the idea that war does change a society...maybe in the future the Klingons also serve on Starfleet ships too

Or has the Klingon Empire amalgamated with the Federation and their fleet absorbed into Starfleet. The Klingons wouldn't mind serving in a more militaristic Starfleet and if you think about it who better to fill up the ranks of the Starfleet marines than Klingons.

Oh I think I have plenty of players in the group who believe in the Federation enough to want to change things back to the less militeristic way.

Just raising a concern nothing more. If they're motivated enough they'll change anything...

And is an entirely different episode But I may use that idea in Season 3 For now I think the outline I presented above, with a few touches will be all she wrote fot eh basic plot of "Tomorrow's Lexington".

Well in that case all I can say is good luck good hunting.