Star Trek: Second Generation

The Concept

The basic idea behind Star Trek: Second Generation, is to take The Next Generation's setting and give it the kind of changes that were applied to Battlestar Galactica when that was revamped. In some places the changes have been major (for instance the number of alien races has been reduced from a new one every three or four weeks to a handful of major players), while some have been minor.

The Command Crew

Captain Picard - Largely unchanged, though fighting to keep things peaceful in a more militant world. He is more definitely in charge here, since the military nature of Starfleet is being emphasised. His past interests in archaeology and the like are perhaps more obvious as I'm bringing them in from the start rather than inventing them partway through.

Cmdr Riker - Also largely unchanged.

Lt Cmdr Data - Chief of Operations. Handles communications, sensors, and so forth.

Lt Cmdr La Forge - Chief Engineer, right from the word go.

Lt Cmdr Worf - Tactical officer. This is redefined as being in charge of military actions such as hazard teams, weapons, and the like. Worf's background as a orphan is being used right from the start (where in the actual series he was just included for the same reasons that Chekov was in the Original Series); this does mean that his understanding of Klingon culture is more limited than it might otherwise be.

Lt Yar - Chief of Security. Reporting to Worf, Tasha is effectively the chief of police aboard the ship, handling day-to-day affairs of disruption and backing up Worf with military actions.

Commissar Troi - Political Officer. In the nicest possible way; Deanna's job is to keep an eye on the mental and psychological health of the crew, but also primarily to advise the captain on Starfleet and Federation policies when handling situations. She's still an empath, and as such a member of Starfleet's Telepath Guild (rated E5 on a scale up to E14).

Dr Crusher - Chief Medical Officer.

Other Significant Characters

Wesley Crusher - Given the more military orientation of the Second Generation Starfleet, Wesley doesn't get as much of a look-in as he did during The Next Generation. He is present, but will not have as much input as previously.

Guinan – El-Aurian with a history with Picard. Still works in Ten Forward. Some of her history has changed.

CPO O'Brien – Transporter chief and engineer. Largely unchanged to begin with, but his military background is there from the start.

The Enterprise

Designed more firmly for military operations, the Galaxy class is still primarily a ship of exploration and discovery. It's just that the exploration is undertaken with a bit more care than in The Next Generation.

The ship now features a lot less windows, presenting more solid armour plating across the hull. Similarly, the bridge is now two decks down into the saucer section rather than on top of it. There is additional armour which can be extended across the hull to augment the weaker areas (those with windows).

This emphasis on armour doesn't mean that there aren't shields. The shields are, if anything, more powerful, but are not intended to be the sole line of defence.

The ship's weapons have been augmented as well; phaser arrays are still present, along with the torpedoes, however these are joined by point defence weapons (lasers and phasers) as well as pulse phaser turrets. Three modular mounts are built into the ship (rear spine and underside of the saucer section on either side) which can be fitted with alternate weapon systems or other systems.

Crew quarters are smaller than aboard The Next Generation's Enterprise. There are however more definite facilities for crew aboard; the barber, tailor, chaplain, toilets, etc.

Operationally there is one major change (aside from the more military shift of the feel): the use of Hazard Teams. These are specialist away teams comprising military trained personnel from various fields. It is as common to find an engineer or medic in a Hazard Team as to find a security officer. There are three nominal teams aboard the Enterprise, dividing their time between their regular duties and training for their away team missions. In practise the membership of the individual teams varies depending on who is immediately available and the needs of the mission.

Starfleet and the Federation

Starfleet is the defensive and exploratory arm of the Federation. While their duties sometimes extend into carrying vital cargo, the carrying of bulk cargo is largely left up to others. Primarily Starfleet is made up of Human ships, augmented by ships from other Federation members when necessary.

The Federation is made up of several races: Humans (including Betazoid sub-species), Vulcans, Andorians, the El-Aurian Remnant and the Gorn. A couple of other races are known about, but are primitive enough not to have been contacted yet.

Vulcans have their homeworld and three colonies, plus assorted Outposts. Technologically they are more advanced than Humans, but in military strength their ships are merely equal to Human ones.

Andorians developed earlier than Humans, but did so with a slightly more belligerent edge. Their infighting with the Vulcans has been going on since their first contact, and though it has calmed down somewhat there is long-term resentment in some areas.

The El-Aurian Remnant occupy a single planet, granted to them when they arrived in Federation space shortly after the treaty was signed with the Klingon Empire. Long-lived, they tend not to develop technology quickly, though are quite at home with other people's technology when confronted by it. Few of them move beyond their adopted homeworld, but those who do tend to get themselves into a situation and then watch and listen with a patience that most people cannot understand.

The Gorn joined the Federation shortly before the treaty with the Klingon Empire. Relying on raw power for their technology, their ships are less sophisticated than Human ones, but make up for it with raw power.

Federation space is roughly five hundred light years across. At warp five this is a six month journey to cross. It contains roughly a thousand stars, with about a hundred worlds which are M-class or can be easily converted to M-class (defined as Terracompatible). These include the homeworlds of the Vulcans, Andorians and Gorn.

The Romulans are based anti-spinward of the Federation. The Klingons are coreward. Pyrians exist all over the place. The area rimward of Federation space is defined as 'wild', being largely uninhabited and devoid of M-class worlds.

Communications across the Federation are handled in three ways. Firstly, regular subspace communications: this works at an effective warp five, meaning that messages will take up to six months to get from one side to the other.

Secondly, boosted subspace communications: these are when subspace signals are boosted, accelerating them to nearly-infinite speeds for roughly ten light years; they then decelerate over another twenty light years until they carry on at warp five. A booster relay network ensures rapid communications between major ports, however boosted communications can only be directed rather than broadcast.

Thirdly, the Ansible: utilising quantum entanglement principles, the Ansible allows for instantaneous communications between two linked points. Creating these links is expensive, and thus far Ansibles can only be found on homeworlds and at three strategic points around Federation space. Additionally an Ansible was provided to each of the major empires neighbouring the Federation.

Ranks in Star Trek are normally kept to a minimum: ensign, lieutenant, lt commander, commander, captain. I'm extending and modifying this somewhat as follows: crewman (in place of seaman or private), Petty officer (a sergeant effectively, with a Chief Petty Officer rank for special cases), ensign (technically outranked by the Petty Officers, but holding relatively menial positions in places of authority), lieutenant, lt commander, captain. The rank of Commissar is held by the ship's political officer(s) and is outside the normal chain of command.

Other Races of note

Romulans

Vulcans who "ran beneath the raptor's wing", the Romulans have spread quickly over a fairly large area behind Federation space. Lacking numbers, they have a history of attempting subversion, espionage, and other similar forms of combat, rather than using outright military force. Their construction of a cloaking device grants them a military advantage over most other groups, even if they are unable to fire or use warp drive while cloaked.

Klingons

A military power with a warrior culture, the Klingon Empire is older than Humanity (though slightly younger than Vulcans). They were at war on and off with the Federation until seventy years ago. At that time, for no apparent reason, they rather abruptly turned around, establishing the Neutral Zone between themselves and both the Federation and Romulans, and then not getting involved in large scale wars with either side, despite some provocation from the Romulans. No one yet knows why, despite various efforts to find out.

In military strength the Klingons outdo the Federation on a one-on-one basis, however Federation ships tend be carry more specialised equipment; advanced weapon systems rather than ones relying on brute force. Overall the whole thing comes out about equal.

Pyrians

Borrowed from another Gene Rodenberry show, the Pyrians are a race who live on Venus-type worlds. Because of this their competition with the Federation for colonises tends to be limited, but complicated when it does occur, for a simple reason: Pyrian law does not recognise ownership of an area that you cannot enforce your control over. In order to claim ownership of a planet you need enough defences in orbit to interdict anyone trying to land on the surface. For this reason Pyrians have colonies all over the place, with no effective border linking all of their worlds, but crossing over other group's borders freely.

Technologically Pyrians are all over the place. They don't have transporters, limiting them somewhat in landing forces, and their impulse drive works at about half the speed of Starfleet designs. They do however have a warp cruising speed of 7.4 (where Starfleet is still limited to warp 5 cruising), and a limited cloaking device. Their equivalent of the Galaxy class ship (in terms of usage for exploration, contact missions, etc), known as a Torch Ship, outguns a Galaxy class ship like the Enterprise by roughly three to one.

Q

The Q exist, but even their most active member is somewhat less than as blunt about his actions; he has let slip that the Q have other things to attend to, and dislike attracting the attention of this particular plane of reality.

In practical terms, this means that the Q will be present, but in a less overt manner; the Encounter At Farpoint never happened (because the race living at Farpoint didn't exist), but Q's test did happen and was passed. Notably, the Q lack the ability (or willingness, it's hard to tell when they get coy about these things) to travel in time.