Star Trek: Odyssey_The Terran Union

[ghosty]

The Terran Union will form the principal antagonist for my ST:Odyssey campaign.

The Terran Union are the most powerful of the Federation successor states and one of the most militant. The Fall of Terra during the Replicator Invasion had been the catalyst of the disintergration of the Federation. Under pressure from the Replicators, the other Federation member worlds could not dedicate the resources to assist Earth and Starfleet had fragmented as loyalty to the homeworld took precedent over the collective defence of the Federation.

About 30% of the Federation colony worlds were settled by Terrans and about 45% of Starfleet was human and they turned against their "allies" for betraying the "sacred trust" of the Federation. The Terran Union began when three Terran colonies in the San Fernando Cluster signed a treaty for collective defence. A number of human crewed Starfleet ships flocked to the San Fernando Cluster and formed the nucleus of the Terran Union Fleet.

Soon the Union grew as more and more colonies signed the San Fernando Treaty and more and more human crewed Starfleet vessels flocked to the banner of the "Terran Union".

The Union's first objective was the liberation of Terra, the cradle of humanity. The capture of the Antares Fleet Yards by comandoes of the Black Light special operations group brought the largest surviving fleet production line into Union hands. A build-up followed and a massive fleet was formed to invade and re-take the Sol system from the Replicators.

The battles between the Terran Union and the Replicators were epic and bordered on the legendary but ultimately the Union Fleet was crushed by the Replicators at the Battle of Alpha Centauri. 75% of the Union fleet was lost but Replicator casualties were high.

Then as quickly as they came, the Replicators disappeared and after a few tentative probes, the Terran Union staged a return to the Sol system to find the system almost dead. A few facilities on Mars had survived but Terra herself was completely devastated but the Terrans were home.

The Terrans began to re-organize to prepare for another invasion. But the Replicator Invasion had destroyed the old Federation tech base and the Terrans had to rebuild their technology from the ground up.

The Terrans are suspicious of their former Federation allies who many blame for the destruction of Terra. Suspicions then border on xenophobia.

The Terran Union is a Republic. Each member world elects its own planetary Assembly and the planetary Assembly sends representatives based on the planetary population to the Union Senate. The Union Senate then elects the two Consuls who run the Terran government every 5 years.

The judiciary is led by the Praetors. The eight Praetors serve as the Supreme Court of the Union. Law at a planetary level is enforced by the Tribunes of the Court.

The military of the Union is based on the old Starfleet model but is a military organization first. It has a survey command that performs the exploratory and diplomatic functions of the old Starfleet but Survey is definately subordinate to the Union's military needs.

Comments

[Liz Not Beth]

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poster

[ghosty]

Just a word about the tech base. The Replicator Invasion set the AQ/BQ back about 200 years in terms of technological development. The chaos and civil wars that broke out after the Replicators left meant that tech developments are slowed such that by the time the Odyssey re-appears the various races have only returned to the late 23rd century tech base. The average TU starship is equivalent to the Excelsior-class. There are some surviving 24th century tech and the TU possesses two 24th C. starships, a Akira and a Steamrunner. But due to the lack of spares and difficulties in understanding some of the systems, the 2 ships are kept in reserve and used only in dire emergencies.

[Ezri's Toy]

Pretty good so far, but I'm not certain where the player characters are supposed to fall in the scheme of things.

Are you, primarily, going to have PCs that are members of the remnant Starfleet ?

Where do the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and Bajorans come in ?. . . (I could see the Bajorans, if they were members of the old Federation, quickly moving in to fill the political void left by the Humans. The political situation of the remaining allied Federation worlds would be less certain as the passionate, religious, Bajorans and the logical, non-theistic, Vulcans would always be butting heads.)

And, depending on whether Spock's reunification efforts succeeded or failed, might find the Romulans as an ally of the old Federation worlds.

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Liz Not Beth
Who were the bad guys again?

The Union looks good on paper, but I'm going to play them like the Peacekeepers on Farscape. Militaristic and expansionist, they are also exploitative of the non-human planets in their sphere of influence.

Union citizenship and thus access to the rights protected by the Union is available to humans only and even then not all humans within the Union are citizens. The bulk of the people are deemed Legal Residents, allowed to live and work in Union space but they cannot vote and are subject to restrictive laws.

Few aliens are accorded citizenship, although it is possible but only human-like aliens are allowed to assume the rights of citizens.

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Ezri's Toy
Pretty good so far, but I'm not certain where the player characters are supposed to fall in the scheme of things.

Are you, primarily, going to have PCs that are members of the remnant Starfleet ?

Where do the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and Bajorans come in ?. . . (I could see the Bajorans, if they were members of the old Federation, quickly moving in to fill the political void left by the Humans. The political situation of the remaining allied Federation worlds would be less certain as the passionate, religious, Bajorans and the logical, non-theistic, Vulcans would always be butting heads.)

And, depending on whether Spock's reunification efforts succeeded or failed, might find the Romulans as an ally of the old Federation worlds.

The Klingon Empire splintered after the fall of Q'onoS to the Replicators. The death of the Emperor and the Chancellor and most of the High Council led to the fragmentation of the Empire a each major house struggled for dominance over the whole Empire. The Wars of Klingon Succession have gone on for 500 years and are unlikely to end soon so there is no Klingon Empire.

The Romulans, well they've retreated into themselves and sealed their borders and shoot any outsiders who intrude into their territory.

The Vulcans have retreated from science and technology for a more religious based lifestyle.

The Bajorans have fallen to a group of religious fanatics and they've started a "jihad" which has conquered most of Cardassian space and the DMZ.

[Ezri's Toy]

Well, after reading your response, I think your political interactions are kind of dull. (Just one guy's opinion, here, ok ?)

First: The Vulcans abandoning science ? I don't buy it. . . unless they've abandoned Surak's teachings and logic altogether. Logical and isolationist ? _That_ I could believe.

But, the Romulans are already isolationists. The Klingon Empire is dealing with internal matters. The Bajorans and Cardassians are dealing with internal matters. No one's interacting.

It seems to me that the point of mucking with the face of TREK's political galaxy would be to come up with an interesting variant of inter-planetary politics rather than just ignoring them. Even if you intend to do an "Andromeda" and have your PCs unite the various factions into a "new CommonWealth / Federation" against the Terran Union, you're still going to need dynamic politics for your PCs to meddle with. Static isolationism and "internal problems" from _all_ political bodies are, to me, dull and unrealistic.

Of course, as many have said before, YMMV

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Ezri's Toy
Well, after reading your response, I think your political interactions are kind of dull. (Just one guy's opinion, here, ok ?)

First: The Vulcans abandoning science ? I don't buy it. . . unless they've abandoned Surak's teachings and logic altogether. Logical and isolationist ? _That_ I could believe.

But, the Romulans are already isolationists. The Klingon Empire is dealing with internal matters. The Bajorans and Cardassians are dealing with internal matters. No one's interacting.

It seems to me that the point of mucking with the face of TREK's political galaxy would be to come up with an interesting variant of inter-planetary politics rather than just ignoring them. Even if you intend to do an "Andromeda" and have your PCs unite the various factions into a "new CommonWealth / Federation" against the Terran Union, you're still going to need dynamic politics for your PCs to meddle with. Static isolationism and "internal problems" from _all_ political bodies are, to me, dull and unrealistic.

Of course, as many have said before, YMMV

You may have something there. I'm still working out all the details, the Terran Union had to be ready first as they'll be the "main enemy" for the moment.

The Bajorans are not dealing with internal problems. They're united under a bunch of fanatical religious "nutjobs" and have kicked off an expansionist war to convert everyone into followers of the Prophets. They started with the weakened Cardassians and then the DMZ and soon will move towards the former Federation. While the probably cannot match the Terran Union in terms of firepower, they do have a fanatical belief in the righteousness of their cause so I'm setting it up that the two will clash sooner or later, probably over the human populated planets in the former DMZ who'd like to join the Terran Union.

The other major player is the Orion-Ferengi Alliance, a sort of free trade association of traders but its also a haven for smugglers and other undesirables. The Alliance is only interested in making money and their holy mission is the protect interstellar trade because that's where the money is. They have ships and troops and are quite willing to use it, if it will promote "free trade". They are also in a way the protectors of the single world polities outside the major power blocs "The Free Planets" but only if its in their trading interest to do so. If the planet has nothing the Alliance wants, they leave it to rot. Oh, you better also pay your monthly "protection fee" or the Alliance fleet will find something more interesting to do.

The Cardassians are a largely broken race. Most of their space is conquered by the Bajorans who hate them with a vegence. "Remember the Occupation" is the Bajoran battle cry. Those who escape are "space gypsies" surviving as mercenaries in other people's war. While there is an anti-Bajoran resistance movement, they are more hot air than action. Most of the "free" Cardassians just want to survive in a hostile galaxy.

In a major rethink, the Klingons are a fractious lot but with a veneer of unity towards the outside world. The Emperor Khaless died during the Replicator Invasion and no one could replace him. The Chancellor also died and no member of High Council had the strength to replace him.

So a new political structure was conceived. Each major House/Clan is represented on the Council, about 50 in all. The number changes from time to time as houses loose power and influence. The Council decides common policies like mutual defence but for the most part the Clans are independent and can do what they want. Some are isolationists prefering to be left alone, some venture into the wider galaxy to trade and explore while others want to unify the Empire and start building a true empire. The fight among themselves over territory, resources or just for the hell of it but the High Council arbitrates all internal disputes keeping them to a level which will no embroil the entire empire. The two most powerful houses, the House of Mogh and the House of Grillka. House Grillka leader Rea'lka is the closest thing the Klingons have to a leader. She keeps most of the clans under control mainly because she has a powerful fleet. The House of Mogh, is ruled by Worf, son of Worf (descended from you know who) and is considered to be the Klingons' most enlightened leader and Rea'lka's only real rival.

As I intend to introduce the three major powers slowly, I'll flesh 'em out as I go along. This is a creative process so changes are made when I feel like it or someone gives constructive suggestions .

[C5]

Quite nice setting. I'll post some ideas when I have some time (burdened with work right now).

I agree with Ezri's Toy that there could be more interactions between the former universe's powers (unless what you want is a really balkanised galaxy). For instance, Vulcans could have joined the Romulans in their isolations and some former Federation races could have joined the Orion/Ferengi alliances (maybe the Bolians ? I don't know, I could see them trying to join the only alliance still in place). I'll post more ideas as they come if you like them.

Another point, I guess the Replicator invasion didn't spare the other Quadrants ? Otherwise, I expect the Dominion or the Borg to have noticed in 500 years that these pesky Alpha and Beta Quadrant have become perfect targets...

[ghosty]

On the Vulcans, I've not fully worked out how to use them yet or the Romulans. So I may just leave them out of the equation for now. Perhaps the Vulcans and Romulans have reunified and the Vulcans migrated to Romulan space to help their distant cousins rebuild their nation and leaving Vulcan behind them save for a few isolationists living in religious communes dedicated to the precepts of Surak.

[ghosty]

Originally posted by C5
Quite nice setting. I'll post some ideas when I have some time (burdened with work right now).

I agree with Ezri's Toy that there could be more interactions between the former universe's powers (unless what you want is a really balkanised galaxy). For instance, Vulcans could have joined the Romulans in their isolations and some former Federation races could have joined the Orion/Ferengi alliances (maybe the Bolians ? I don't know, I could see them trying to join the only alliance still in place). I'll post more ideas as they come if you like them.

In a sense the galaxy has balkanized, all the old alliances have fallen away, some new ones have emerged but there is an air of hostility towards outsiders. They interact when forced to by circumstances very much like the Federation/Klingon rivalries of the TOS era.

The Orion/Ferengi Alliance is not strictly for Orions and Ferengi only. They're just the leaders and they contribute a large proportion of the money and the ships etc. I'll write them up separately when I finalise their operations.

Another point, I guess the Replicator invasion didn't spare the other Quadrants ? Otherwise, I expect the Dominion or the Borg to have noticed in 500 years that these pesky Alpha and Beta Quadrant have become perfect targets...

To the Replicators, the Borg look like a very tasty all you can eat buffet so. As for the Dominion, no one's heard from them since the Replicator Invasion...I'm keeping out the major powers from the other Quadrants mainly because I'm not too keen on adding too much to hte mix too quickly. The Borg may make a showing, but I'm leary about using the Dominion. One idea is that the Prophets have shut down the Bajoran Wormhole as sign of their distaste of what the Bajorans have become...

[Balok]

Originally posted by ghosty
The Orion/Ferengi Alliance is not strictly for Orions and Ferengi only. They're just the leaders and they contribute a large proportion of the money and the ships etc. I'll write them up separately when I finalise their operations.

The Yridians would fit in well here, if you're looking for another whole species. I could see many disaffected humans and Cardassians in this group. To make them more dangerous, you could decide they've recovered some technology from earlier Orion cultures (this is discussed in "All Our Yesterdays" from LUG, and touched on in the Aliens book). Such techology could be sold to others, too, with appropriate safeguards against duplication.

Originally posted by ghosty
To the Replicators, the Borg look like a very tasty all you can eat buffet so.

And there's no way to adapt to "don't use energy". Very neat!

Originally posted by ghosty
As for the Dominion, no one's heard from them since the Replicator Invasion...I'm keeping out the major powers from the other Quadrants mainly because I'm not too keen on adding too much to hte mix too quickly. The Borg may make a showing, but I'm leary about using the Dominion. One idea is that the Prophets have shut down the Bajoran Wormhole as sign of their distaste of what the Bajorans have become...

If you say that the Prophets have shut down the wormhole, which the Bajorans call the celestial temple, then you should be prepared with some idea how the Bajorans fit this act into their revised cosmology -- any sign of disapproval from the Prophets is liable to spark off civil unrest unless the religious hierarchy can figure out how to explain it. Also, if the Prophets disapprove, you need to decide if the Orbs still work -- and if not, how the hierarchy explains that. The obvious approach: the Prophets are testing our resolve, and will not reveal themselves to us until we have shown the galaxy their truth!

If you decide the wormhole is still open, you might decide that the Dominion has changed its approach -- that is, the Founders have experienced a cultural revolution based the fact that "solids" spared their lives despite all they'd done, and with help from Odo. At this point, they're still "inward focused" -- trying to repair the wrongs they've inflicted on other races, and perhaps get out of the deity business. As for other GC races -- after a few went through and were either blown up by a Bajoran garrison, or converted at gunpoint, the word would get around that the other side of the wormhole wasn't safe. The Bajorans *might* try to establish a far side garrison, but probably not; it would be easier to mine the near side in such a way as to force ships along a certain route, past a "customs and indoctrination" station. Until they're better established in the AQ and BQ, chances are, they won't push through the wormhole in significant numbers.

Now, how do the Breen and the Tholians fit into all this?

The Tholians are a high energy life form -- the Replicators don't merely destroy their ships; they suck the Tholians themselves dry! This could be a *continuing* battleground, if you wanted to take the players into conflict with the Replicators, helping the Tholians. What has kept the Tholians alive so far? The Replicators can't deal with their weird chaotic space any better than anyone else...

The Breen might have carved out a small niche for themselves. Their energy disrupting weapon might be one of the few things effective against the Replicators, who learned the hard way to bypass them.

What if someone in this era has determined who created the Replicators? And has decided the only way to put a stop to them is to re-arrange history so that they never existed. This might be a way to put your players on the other side of the temporal Cold War -- it turns out not to be the work of a "faction", but just of one or two ambitious men trying to "fix" things. Perhaps this small group is descended from the crew of a Federation starship, and managed to construct crude time travel devices using data obtained from the Federation's numerous encounters with temporal phenomina. They're opposed by -- perhaps the Orion/Ferengi, for whom the future's so bright, they gotta wear shades...

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Fesarius
The Yridians would fit in well here, if you're looking for another What if someone in this era has determined who created the Replicators? And has decided the only way to put a stop to them is to re-arrange history so that they never existed. This might be a way to put your players on the other side of the temporal Cold War -- it turns out not to be the work of a "faction", but just of one or two ambitious men trying to "fix" things. Perhaps this small group is descended from the crew of a Federation starship, and managed to construct crude time travel devices using data obtained from the Federation's numerous encounters with temporal phenomina. They're opposed by -- perhaps the Orion/Ferengi, for whom the future's so bright, they gotta wear shades...

I've never been a major fan of time travel stories...just too much to get mucked up. Unfortunately, the Replicator Invasion is one of those things that can't be changed, mainly because of who created the Replicators. I'm not saying who for the moment, but its an old villain from my earlier campaign which got featured here a year or so ago.

[redwood973]

Personally I would see the Bajorans as picking up the Federation banner and continuing its noble ideas. This not only ensures an ally in this hostile realm, but provides for something to which your players can be sympathetic to and allied with.

The Bajorans seeking to aid and rebuild Cardassia (either during or after the Replicator War) occupied the planet. Cardassians fearing reprisal for the years of occupation fled, becoming the wondering gypsies. The years of Cardassian propaganda (pre-Replicator War) and just the general fear of the situation post-Replicator War has kept Cardassians from seeing Bajorans as anything other than revenge seeking psychopaths (a revers of the Bajor/Cardassia roles as seen on screen, except that in this case the occupying power [Bajor] really are the good guys seeking to aid another species; except Cardassian ignorance [or perhaps arrogance?] won’t let them see that.)

Just some random thoughts.

[ghosty]

Originally posted by redwood973
Personally I would see the Bajorans as picking up the Federation banner and continuing its noble ideas. This not only ensures an ally in this hostile realm, but provides for something to which your players can be sympathetic to and allied with.

The Bajorans seeking to aid and rebuild Cardassia (either during or after the Replicator War) occupied the planet. Cardassians fearing reprisal for the years of occupation fled, becoming the wondering gypsies. The years of Cardassian propaganda (pre-Replicator War) and just the general fear of the situation post-Replicator War has kept Cardassians from seeing Bajorans as anything other than revenge seeking psychopaths (a revers of the Bajor/Cardassia roles as seen on screen, except that in this case the occupying power [Bajor] really are the good guys seeking to aid another species; except Cardassian ignorance [or perhaps arrogance?] won’t let them see that.)

Just some random thoughts.

The main purpose of this campaign is to throw the PCs off centre will a wildly different world than what they're use to. I want to strip away all the pre-conceived notions about any of the races they encounter and see if they adapt quickly enough.

I'm not saying that the ideals of the Federation have been completely wiped away, they never die just that its looked on as an ideal that cannot be achieved, so why try. They tried in 500 years ago and it didn't work in the end. Its an attitude that the PCs will have to work to change but it won't happen overnight and it won't happen easily.

What I want to acheive in the first season is to make them feel isolated, no allies, no friends, just the crew and maybe a few stragglers they pick up. Things will brighten up as the season progresses as they begin to effect change in the AQ/BQ but not right away.