Star Trek: Theurgy

Out-of-Character Message Boards => Main OOC Board => Topic started by: Auctor Lucan on June 18, 2020, 09:39:47 AM

Title: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Auctor Lucan on June 18, 2020, 09:39:47 AM

Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target


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The Infested will attempt to provoke the Breen Confederacy during the Allegiant mission, so with the next Chapter starting, the Erudite will go there based on what Nicander can reveal before Chapter 02. However, a second bomb is set to go off in Federation space, as gleaned by the intel gathered through Director Anderson and other sources at the Theurgy's disposal. Thus, this poll is about what the second target in Federation space will be! :) Please cast your votes within 3 days.

This second bomb will be discovered after the Erudite has gone to Breen, so unless they have managed to stop the development there, the officers on the Allegiant will be faced with an ultimatum between staying and saving the Breen capital, or the target for the second bomb. So, dealing with this dilemma, the kind of obvious solution would be that either the Erudite drop off the Allegiant in Breen space,  or the warp fighter escorts plus an away team stays behind, so that the second bomb can be defused as well.

If you are interested in having your character aboard the Allegiant, please post here with the character you have in mind (https://uss-theurgy.com/forum/index.php/topic,2943.0.html)!

Best Regards,

Auctor Lucan

PS. Of course any number of potential targets could have been in this poll, but it would have been a huge, exhaustive task to get all the potential bomb-targets into the poll since it could have generated a long list of options. Instead, three targets have been chosen, and the least obvious of the three - Risa - is there because it's a place that a lot of the Federation worlds have an affiliation with, being their prime vacation planet and the popularity of their inhabitants is renowned.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Sqweloookle on June 18, 2020, 10:29:39 AM
I'm going to have vote for Risa, it is pleasure planet and so if it gets bombed will show that the Infested have no morals and will target harmless Federation citizenry. It will be a blow to our Morale.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Auctor Lucan on June 18, 2020, 10:39:48 AM
How much would the Risians be able to support the Theurgy in its mission compared to the Andorian Empire or the Condeferate of Vulcan?  /;-D Those would be powerful allies to make.

Best,

Auctor Lucan
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Sqweloookle on June 18, 2020, 10:46:38 AM
And who said the story is limited to 2 bombs? ;) Unless you did? lol
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: chXinya on June 18, 2020, 01:43:45 PM
Keep them away from Andoria!
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Masorin on June 18, 2020, 02:08:10 PM
The andorians and the Federation have always had a stressed relationship putting them as the second target makes the most sense if you want to devide the Federation, and cause internal struggles.

So let's all go to Andoria and blow it all to heck.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 18, 2020, 03:12:35 PM
Vulcan.  Hitting one of the main centers of Federation science is a much more powerful blow than a plaza or a pleasure planet. 
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: jreeves1701 on June 18, 2020, 04:10:56 PM
Andoria did leave the Federation briefly but rejoined. I think Vulcan is a more likely choice as the Science Academy would be on the forefront of finding a way to detect and combat the Parasites. All founding members of the Federation would be a juicy target, cut the snake off at the head so to speak. Risa is a blow to the entertainment industry. A great loss, and would spark collateral damage with other powers also vacationing there. It could be a spark to ignite a larger conflict. Just think of royals and government dignitaries vacationing there. High ranking Starfleet officers. A well-placed bomb could take out a lot of high profile targets, but would it have the same impact as a direct strike on a Founding World.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 18, 2020, 04:25:33 PM
I never really understood that part of Typhon Pact where Andoria left the Federation myself.  It was like New York seceding from the USA over bad pandemic response from the federal government.  (Also, I should note that I really disliked basically everything from the wretched Destiny trilogy through David Mack's edgelord-lusting Section 31 novels, so I may be biased) 
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: fiendfall on June 18, 2020, 04:42:31 PM
Well, if we're going to make real world comparisons, Andoria leaving is like Brexit. Also an inexplicable move  :p

Tactically, Andoria makes the most sense to target; if we're looking for allies out of it, the Vulcans are probably the most likely to actually listen to the Theurgy's story; but Risa's the best for character work in terms of it's the one the most characters will have some kind of personal connection to. Really just depends what kinds of thread we want out of it tbh.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Sqweloookle on June 18, 2020, 04:45:08 PM
I'm not sure they can manipulate the Vulcans to turn on humanity, it would have to very elaborate set up.

I loved the Destiny series. I'm reading both Titan and Typhon pact at the moment.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Swift on June 18, 2020, 04:49:07 PM
Originally I liked Andoria, but some of the arguments laid out here, especially the one about the Parasites destroying the Science Academy as a means to prevent their detection, is pretty convincing. Plus, there are a lot of Vulcan characters aboard Theurgy, and it would be interesting to see how those characters react to a devastating blow to their homeworld.

So, I guess I lean there slightly.

But all three would be excellent avenues to explore, whichever winds up being the winner.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 18, 2020, 05:12:55 PM
Well, if we're going to make real world comparisons, Andoria leaving is like Brexit. Also an inexplicable move  :p

Tactically, Andoria makes the most sense to target; if we're looking for allies out of it, the Vulcans are probably the most likely to actually listen to the Theurgy's story; but Risa's the best for character work in terms of it's the one the most characters will have some kind of personal connection to. Really just depends what kinds of thread we want out of it tbh.
Heh.  I was trying to avoid outright political references, but that's a good one.  OTOH, the Federation in DS9 (the best series, obivously.  ;P ) seems to be a federal republic like the USA rather than a supernational confederal alliance like the EU, Andoria is basically one of the original US states. 

@Sqweloookle I have to categorically disagree on Destiny, I hated every second of Mack's version of the Borg's origins, I rolled my eyes at his edgelord take on the Borg's new version of genocide, and the whole thing ended in a completely undeserved deus ex machina.  Even the Picard stuff was done better in First Contact in my opinion. 

I have to admit that I'm a bit biased, though, because I hate David Mack and every bit of Jack Bauer-worshiping hackwork that morally bankrupt hack has ever written, especially Control (IMO the worst Star Trek novel by a country mile, and I've read the really bad TOS ones where nobody was paying attention to what the writers were doing, like the execrable Dwellers in the Crucible), which fundamentally destroys the very premise of the Federation so that Mack can wank about how awesome murderous nationalists are. 

Also any story that involves Garak and Bashir not having a torrid romance behind the scenes was clearly written by somebody who never saw an episode of DS9, just saying. 
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Masorin on June 18, 2020, 05:48:14 PM
Originally I liked Andoria, but some of the arguments laid out here, especially the one about the Parasites destroying the Science Academy as a means to prevent their detection, is pretty convincing. Plus, there are a lot of Vulcan characters aboard Theurgy, and it would be interesting to see how those characters react to a devastating blow to their homeworld.

So, I guess I lean there slightly.

But all three would be excellent avenues to explore, whichever winds up being the winner.

I guess I should point out that the theurgy is the only group that known about the parasite threat. There is no detection program outside of the science lab of theurgy.

The people who do know are more like one guy at Starfleet intelligence. It would be really weird for a University to be looking into parasites when the crux of the story is that they have been undetected for years.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Swift on June 18, 2020, 06:16:53 PM
Originally I liked Andoria, but some of the arguments laid out here, especially the one about the Parasites destroying the Science Academy as a means to prevent their detection, is pretty convincing. Plus, there are a lot of Vulcan characters aboard Theurgy, and it would be interesting to see how those characters react to a devastating blow to their homeworld.

So, I guess I lean there slightly.

But all three would be excellent avenues to explore, whichever winds up being the winner.

I guess I should point out that the theurgy is the only group that known about the parasite threat. There is no detection program outside of the science lab of theurgy.

The people who do know are more like one guy at Starfleet intelligence. It would be really weird for a University to be looking into parasites when the crux of the story is that they have been undetected for years.


No, yeah, I get that. But that doesn't necessarily mean the Parasites aren't taking actions, or haven't already taken actions to keep themselves hidden. If anything, their having remained hidden, might even speak to them having done just that. At least, that's how I'd see it.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 18, 2020, 06:28:21 PM
No, yeah, I get that. But that doesn't necessarily mean the Parasites aren't taking actions, or haven't already taken actions to keep themselves hidden. If anything, their having remained hidden, might even speak to them having done just that. At least, that's how I'd see it.
One of the biggest advantages they have is that even the Theurgy crew know next to nothing about them.  Motivations?  Only vague concepts of such.  Mechanism by which they infect people?  Not clear.  Limits on their ability?  Uncertain. 

Why didn't they suborn Intel first and leave the Federation fighting blind?  No clue. 

Can they be negotiated with in good faith?  Unknown. 

Basically, even the crew is fighting blind and doesn't know what they're doing.  XD  Man, we're in the mother of all holes.  And the sides are coated with grease. 
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Sqweloookle on June 18, 2020, 06:36:25 PM
Okay sorry for saying I loved the Destiny series in your presence @GroundPetrel .
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 18, 2020, 06:47:36 PM
...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause offense.   I simply have not enjoyed anything that Mack's ever written, and believe that the themes and principles that his writing espouses are not enjoyable and are often morally dubious (though I reserve special loathing for Control, which in my opinion is an affront to the very concept of Star Trek itself). 
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Sqweloookle on June 18, 2020, 08:36:31 PM
Well can I request that you be mindful of other people's right to like or dislike things. It was a simple statement that was not forcing anyone to have the same opinion, and so did not warrant such a directed attack like I am the author's spokesperson or something. Apology accepted. We can move on now and get back to the topic at hand.

Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Auctor Lucan on June 22, 2020, 01:42:52 PM
Looks like we have a result! The Federation bomb target will be..... *drumroll*

Plaza of Freedom, Laikan, capital city of Andoria!

Congratulations... I guess? lol

Best,

Auctor Lucan
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 22, 2020, 03:05:41 PM
Well, this should be devastating for our Andorian crew... :(
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Argyros on June 22, 2020, 04:50:03 PM
The response is going to be....frigid.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: GroundPetrel on June 22, 2020, 05:05:27 PM
The response is going to be....frigid.
I feel a little bit bad inside that I laughed out loud at this pun when the subject is a (admittedly fictional) bombing of a civilian population center.  XD
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Top Hat on June 22, 2020, 05:05:59 PM
The response is going to be....frigid.
I feel a little bit bad inside that I laughed out loud at this pun when the subject is a (admittedly fictional) bombing of a civilian population center.  XD
Don't encourage him.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: jreeves1701 on June 22, 2020, 05:17:40 PM
The Aenar didn't see it coming.
Title: Re: Story Development Poll #2 | Second Federation Target
Post by: Argyros on June 22, 2020, 09:54:34 PM
The response is going to be....frigid.
I feel a little bit bad inside that I laughed out loud at this pun when the subject is a (admittedly fictional) bombing of a civilian population center.  XD
Don't encourage him.

Awww...why the cold shoulder?
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