Mirror Ships

[Lt. Suvek]

Hello, all. I've got a question.

I just downloaded the Spacedock rules (AWESOME job guys, BTW) and got the idea to do several or two ST:TNG adventures in the Mirror universe.

Going off of the idea that the Mirror Universe Empire continued through Next Gen and DS9 era, how should I design ships? Are they any different in Tactical Stats than the "our universe" counterparts? SHOULD they be different? How would YOU GUYS design your ships? What kinds of ideas do you have?

Or do I simply need to go get the Mirror Universe supplement? Or is it even out, yet (if at all)(I'm a little behind on my information)? I won't ask when, though. I know the answer will be "when/if it is done".

[Dan Gurden]

Well, unfortunatly the Mirror universe sourcebook was never released (although several chapters have recently become available via Steve Kenson, one of the authors, see 'Another LUGTrek Christmas Gift' thread over on Star Trek Chat for the link.

From the sounds of it you want to run the TOS empire in TNG, and avoid the Klingon/ Cardassian alliance universe from the DS9 era. If this is the case I recommend the book 'Dark Mirror', written before the DS9 mirror universe episodes...

In it, we see a fair amonunt of the Mirror universe Galaxy class and from the scans they did all the science facilities were replaced with weapon emplacments...

A nice touch was the elevation of Deanna Troi to that of Political Officer, and subordinate to the captain in name only, as you would expect from a teep... (Think Psi Cops for the Betazoids...)

I also think Voyagers 'Living Witness' is a good model for Imperial Starfleet.

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Dan.

"A couple of thoughts froma random mind!"

[Owen E Oulton]

I agree that Living Witness makes a wonderful pattern. I loved the variant on the uniforms, with the black pullover and the gloves. Wow, just add the dagger-through-the-globe commbadge, knives carried by everyone and those oh-so-cute personal agonisers carried by senior officers and the Mirror Universe lives!

[Steve Long]

I didn't write the ship section of Through A Glass Darkly, so I can't say for sure what was in there, or how the ships differed from their standard models.

I'd think, first and foremost, that they'd differ in terms of tactical systems. MU ships would have more and stronger such systems -- for them, unlike Starfleet, force is an option, and usually the first one chosen. MU ships would probably emphasize other practical/munchkinny things, like high-power warp propulsion systems, at the expense of touchy-feely stuff like comfortable quarters for crewmembers.

Other than that, I imagine the primary differences would be aesthetic ones.

Steve Long

[SIR SIG]

Did the Terran Empire survive into TNG and DS9 to even have some ships left?
When did the alliance (kling/cardie) take over?

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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by Steve Long:
I didn't write the ship section of Through A Glass Darkly, so I can't say for sure what was in there, or how the ships differed from their standard models.

There aren't any ships in Though A Glass Darkly--the assumption was that they (the ships) were pretty much identical, save a few extra trappings, such as Agony Booths.

Don


[This message has been edited by Don (edited 12-23-2000).]

[Dave Biggins]

Originally posted by Don:
There aren't any ships in Though A Glass Darkly--the assumption was that they (the ships) were pretty much identical, save a few extra trappings, such as Agony Booths.

Ah, the Agony Booths...just another method to make Chekhov scream like a girl




[This message has been edited by Dave Biggins (edited 12-23-2000).]

[Owen E Oulton]

"Did the Terran Empire survive into TNG and DS9 to even have some ships left? When did the alliance (kling/cardie) take over?"

In that Mirror Universe, the Terran Empire was destroyed. Kaput. It is an ex-Empire.

The beauty of the Trek multiverse is, however, that there can be a multiplicity of Mirror Universes, based on the events shown in the TNG episode Parallels, also known as the "Quantum Worf" episode. With that number of alternate universes, I figure there's a Mirror Universe for everyone!

I agree with Don and Steve, though. The ships are going to be pretty much the same as on-screen ships with cosmetic differences - larger, more luxurious quarters for senior officers; barracks for lower ranks; Agoniser booths and torture chambers in the Brig... BWAH-hah-hah-hah-HAH! (Oops, sorry, got carried away, there.)

[Gemini]

Remember that the original Enterprise and its Mirror counterpart were very similar. While working on its systems, Scotty not only recalled that the work he was doing would cause a warning light to flash on the bridge, but which console the warning light was located on.

However, this doesn't mean that there are no significant differences. The research labs would be reduced to make room for torture chambers and extra brig space. There are probably more torpedoes stored onboard. Most of the Science personnel of the Starfleet ship would be in Security on the Mirror counterpart. There would be less concern for crew safety and other factors, so the Mirror ship might routinely divert power from disused areas and minor systems to weapons and shields when in combat. FInally, if I were a senior officer, I would be very careful about using the Holodecks, since they would make effective assassination tools in the hands of ambitious junior officers.

[Sarge]

I wouldn't recommend replacing all of the science labs with weapons emplacements. It's more interesting and adds more to the Dark Mirror atmosphere to change the emphasis on what is researched in the labs. Picture ambitious mad scientists experimenting on prisoners and developing dangerous prototype weapons. That ought to give you more plot hooks than just adding more phaser banks and torpedo tubes.

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LUGTrek isn't really dead. Not as long as we remember it.

[Lt. Suvek]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the input.

[SIR SIG]

Heck we cant forget a few BFG's for that added nastiness

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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[Sundell]

Originally posted by SIR SIG:
Heck we cant forget a few BFG's for that added nastiness

I just started readubf "DARK PASSIONS" a mirror universe novel So far it's really good, but it gave a length for the Negh'var of 1400m much larger than what we have in canon or anywhere else, I was wondering what everyone thought of the possibility of some mirror ships being larger than their counterparts?

[Owen E Oulton]

Normally, I'd make Mirror ships pretty much identical to their "real" universe counterparts, but the Mirror Neghvar is a special case - she was shown on DS9 as being absolutely effing huge, whereas the "real" Neghvar was just bloody big. I wouldn't do this for other ships, though...

[SIR SIG]

I belive the Negh'Var (look alike class) in the mirror universe is just the Regent's scaled/suped up flagship.

Akin to Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer.

And 1400m is only a wee bit bigger then a size 10 Warbird.

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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator