A/N: This is based on Star Trek, which I don't have any ownership of.
In 2267, James Tiberius Kirk, commander of the starship USS Enterprise, discovered the Guardian of Forever, a portal to the past, on a remote planet in the Beta Quadrant.
When he asked the Guardian whether it was machine or being, it replied, "I am both…and neither. I am my own beginning, my own ending."
Later, a team of Federation scientists and historians were sent to examine the portal. Einstein Station was built in orbit to house them and their equipment, as no structure could be built on the planet's surface and be expected to stay standing for very long. This was all kept classified, so that no criminal would attempt to use it for his own gain.
But in 2270, Klingons, who had detected the temporal distortion waves emanating from the surface, assumed the Guardian was a Federation weapon, and attacked it.
The station put out a distress call, and the Federation vessels USS Clemson and USS Minerva were the first to respond. After some time, the Enterprise responded as well. She was too late to save any of the crew from either ships, but was able to rescue all 17 personnel from Einstein Station before its destruction.
Kirk tried, in vain, to reason with Korax, now Captain of the IKS Gr'oth, the last vessel remaining, but he would not listen. With his weapons disabled and life support failing, he ordered the Gr'oth to crash into the Guardian.
When the smoke cleared, and the dust settled, nothing but a crater remained.
The planet was now essentially worthless. The ruins on the planet were so old that any clue to their origins had been destroyed long ago. The planet was too remote to safely colonize. And so it was abandoned.
The years passed. On the maiden flight of the USS Enterprise-B, Kirk was pulled into a nexus, a place where time has no meaning.
He was later joined by a man named Jean-Luc Picard, who asked him to leave the nexus and help him defeat a man named Soran, who would destroy an entire civilization just to reenter the nexus himself.
Kirk agreed, and Soran was defeated. But Kirk died in the attempt, and was buried on Veridian III. The Federation did not attempt to retrieve his body.
Many more years passed. Tensions between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire grew.
Then, all hell broke loose.
An unknown quantity of Omega particles were created and released into Federation space. They detonated and created large areas where warp travel was impossible.
The Federation blamed the Romulans, and the Romulans claimed that the Federation was at fault.
And so began the Second Federation-Romulan War.
Andoria was decimated.
Qo'noS was captured.
The Vulcans were negotiating reunification, and so every last one of them left the Federation.
In the end, nobody was victorious.
The Federation turned to the Beta Quadrant for resources. In 2479 a ship was sent to the planet where the Guardian of Forever once stood, in hopes of colonizing it and searching for resources.
But when they reached the planet, they found the Guardian once more, defiantly standing in the center of the crater that the Gr'oth had left behind.
On the lip of the crater was the Archimedes, a shuttlecraft which had posted on the Enterprise-B during her maiden flight. She had been lost when the Enterprise had encountered the nexus; an explosion had destroyed her shuttlebay.
The shuttlecraft and the Guardian's return were clearly linked, though to what extent was impossible to tell. Time had erased any fingerprints or DNA evidence, as well as the computers onboard.
Now, the Federation had a serious decision to make. Should they use the Guardian for historical research as before, or should they violate the Temporal Prime Directive and use it to save the Federation?
The debate raged on behind closed doors for two years, and the Guardian was closely watched during this time.
Eventually, the debaters stumbled on a very small hitch.
Nobody was sure that the Omega particles had been created by the Romulans.
The Federation found a different solution.
A new station, named Einstein II, was built in orbit around the planet. A new team of Federation scientists were posted there, with a very specific mission was bestowed upon them.
They were told to learn all that was possible about the histories of every race in the galaxy that could have created the particles-the Romulans, the Borg, even the Federation itself.
This information would used to calculate exactly how any change would affect the timeline, so they could save the Federation from this terrible war.
Many journeys are possible.
Let me be your gateway.
A/N: I'm hoping to make this a fairly long-running series. There are several sources of inspiration for this, and I'm going to list as many of them as I can here. Pick them up if you like.
General idea:
Original Series episode: "City on the Edge of Forever"
Original Series novel: Crucible: Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering (which is itself based on Star Trek: Generations) by David R. George III
An upcoming, so-far untitled animated series, which takes place some time after the second Romulan war I mentioned. Here's hoping it's greenlighted. And that they don't have an episode with the Guardian.
Chapters:
1. Original Series episode: "This Side of Paradise"
If you have any ideas for a chapter, message me or put it into a review.