Star Trek How I would "reboot" Star Trek

[Captain X]

You have no idea how many times I've gotten into an argument about this subject (or maybe you do ). When it comes to rebooting the franchise, I tend to be negative about the idea, simply because I know the kind of people who would be in charge of doing it would do a bad job of it - witness JJ Abrams and his reboot movie. On the other hand, I kind of like the idea, mostly because it would allow everything to be updated, and one could make a point of trying to keep everything as consistent as possible continuity-wise. But for me, what I would have in mind would be more of a retelling than a reboot. Having made up my mind about it now, I'm going to make this my next major project after I'm done with Foundations.

Star Trek

This refers to the original series. I thought about giving it a new title, but I can't really think of one. This would follow off of what I do for Foundations, which is kind of ironic because I only ever started doing Foundations in order to fit in with TOS better than ENT did.

Premise

I guess I could say that it's more or less the same as the original – somewhat optimistic, while not overly so. Rather than confine myself to the three years the show actually lasted, I'd take on a seven season format, and I'd probably mix stand-alone episodes and multi-episode story arcs the same way I have been in Foundations. That might upset some people, but then so would a reboot by itself. In a way this is more of a retelling than a reboot, but I suppose that is in the eye of the beholder.

The show would start out with Pike in command, and more or less the crew seen in the first pilot episode. It'd stay that way for the first season and a half or so, following the adventures of that crew, and keeping in mind that the show isn't necessarily going to follow the one season = one year format. Over this time, there would be crew losses and other change-overs. Spock would join the crew from another ship as a lieutenant in the science department. Obviously another officer would be the science officer. "Number One" would be killed or transferred, as would the original science officer. Eventually, Pike would be injured, giving him the melted face and landing him in the iron-lung hover chair. I'm thinking he'd be more Steven Hawking than "blink once for yes, twice for no".

At this point, Kirk would be assigned as captain of Enterprise, and after an episode or whatever story arc he comes in on is over with, he ends up choosing Spock as his first officer, and Spock elects to keep his position as science officer as well. More adventures will happen, some of them recognizable as reworked versions of the original episodes. More crewmembers will be killed or transferred, and more will be brought in. This is how we get McCoy on board, as well as Chekov and Sulu, though Chekov will have a higher rank because of his position as security chief. Keep in mind that just because there are familiar names that they might not necessarily survive the show. At some point, Scotty will be assigned as chief engineer.

At the end of the "five year mission", the ship will be taken in for a refit, and Kirk will get his promotion. Basically the plot of TMP will be worked into the show, and they'll have some more adventures before the ship is eventually retired from active duty and designated a training ship.

The Ship

USS Enterprise, NCC-1701: Constitution class starship, and the second ship of her class. As far as how the thing looks, I'd go with something that uses the original design as a basis, only with a much higher level of detail. The refit the ship gets toward the end of its career will make it look similar to the "Phase II" concept Matt Jeffries did, and the 1701-A will be the Probert design, and designated "Constitution II" or "Constitution, Improved" class. The interior designs will reflect the later refit in a way, at least as far as the corridors and other sets as the ship isn't going to be completely gutted for the refit, though the bridge will still look very similar to the original, just more detailed and including a second turbolift, with the stations being adjusted.

I can't really destroy the ship until after it's been relegated to being a training ship, but I'd do my best to convey a sense of danger whenever the ship got into some kind of trouble.

Oh yeah, I'd have to redo engineering so it fits in better with the more prevalent layout we've seen on basically every other ship since TMP was made.

If you're wondering about uniforms, they would be toned down versions of the originals, possibly with more than three department colors and insignia. They would also open down the front, not unlike the original dress uniforms, though there would also be a pull-over "class B" uniform that I would hope to echo a bit more of the original uniforms with.

The Characters

Captain Christopher Pike: CO. He took command some years ago when Enterprise's fist captain, Robert April, was promoted and reassigned. Enterprise is Pike's second command, having previously commanded a smaller science ship (like the TOS version of a Miranda). We never see it real time (but perhaps in flashbacks), but Pike initially got off to a rocky start with the crewmembers who stayed on from April's command. He is later able to prove himself to them, so by the time the series starts, he and his crew are pretty tight. Personality-wise, he is pragmatic and hard-working, and somewhat by-the-book. He'll either be promoted, end up like we saw him in the original series, or get killed, at which point Kirk is given command of Enterprise.

Commander Shuarri Eltan: XO. Raven-haired and highly intelligent, Eltan is a full Betazoid. Assuming she is done correctly, she could actually be pretty useful, unlike pretty much every other Betazoid we've seen (especially Troi). As April's former XO followed him to become his adjutant, this left the position open, and after Pike finished the interviewing process, Eltan was selected. By the time the series starts, they are friends, though not on the level as Kirk and Spock. She'll probably be on until half a season or so before Kirk takes over as captain, at which point she'll be killed in the line of duty.

Doctor (Commander) Philip Boyce: CMO. Boyce served as the CMO under April, and stayed on after Pike took command. He's a crusty old man, close to mandatory retirement. Arrogant, cynical, and sarcastic, he's kind of an asshole, and at first Pike considered having the old man reassigned, but had to admit that he was damn good at what he did, and that he could trust the aged doctor implicitly. His bluntness also occasionally serves as a rude wake-up call to Pike when the captain lets his idealism get the better of him.

Lieutenant Commander Marlena Moreau: SCI/3IC. A human woman, she's the senior science officer on Enterprise. A very capable officer, she's actually due for another promotion, but she's holding out for a position on one of Enterprise's younger sisters, which is still being constructed at the time the series starts. She may or may not live to transfer off the ship, thus opening up the spot for Spock either way.

Lieutenant Paul Freeman: TAC/4IC. Another member of April's crew that stayed on, Freeman serves as both tactical officer and security chief of the ship. He's very tough, and not the type you’d ever want to get into a fight with, but he's also quiet and somewhat awkward with the opposite sex. I'll probably end up killing the poor bastard and have Chekov replace him.

Lieutenant Ryan Leslie: OPS/5IC. Not much to say about him, other than that he stayed on after April left, and he's the senior operations officer. I'm not even sure if I'll work Operations in as a station on the bridge or if that will be its own room. I may replace the Engineering station with Operations, and have a smaller Damage Control station closer to the viewscreen. Or I could make Communications smaller. Leslie will probably get promoted and transferred off, or I might kill him, you just never know (neither do I at this point).

Lieutenant Commander Mythral Ne'Than: CE/6IC. An Andorian and another hold-over from April's crew, Ne'Than (or just "Than" for short) is the ship's chief engineer. She can also be somewhat ill-tempered and irritable, owing to her Andorian heritage, but her engineering team and the enlisted technicians are all pretty loyal to her. Again, I'm not sure if I'd kill her or transfer her to make room for Scotty.

Lieutenant (J.G.) Arex Na Eth: NAV/7IC. An Edosian, Arex serves as the ship's navigation officer. He was also a member of April's crew in this position. I don't have much else to say about him so far, other than that while I'd try to keep his appearance (presuming there was a large enough budget and a CGI character could be superimposed over a stand-in), I wouldn't get very descriptive of him in any scripts simply because his appearance might have to be changed if any of this were ever realized on screen. I have no special attachment to him, so he might die, or he might get transferred, since I doubt I'd keep him for the run of the series.

Lieutenant John Farrell: COM. Not much to say about him, as he'd be a relatively minor character. He's just the communications officer, and he'd have a few opportunities to shine because I don't like relegating characters to the background too much if I can help it.

Ensign Jana Haines: Helmsman/pilot. Basically she's the "main" helmsman of the ship that we'd see the most of, at least until I kill her or transfer her so Sulu can replace her.

Lieutenant Spock: Science officer (later SCI/XO). Spock will come aboard as a moderately seasoned science officer, who has served on once ship prior to being assigned to Enterprise. Initially he'll just be another science officer who occasionally has a watch on the bridge, but as Marlena is promoted and reassigned to Defiant (yeah, you can probably guess where I'm going with that), Spock is promoted in position to her former post as senior science officer (mainly because Pike is impressed with the young half-Vulcan), but not in grade, as he remains a lieutenant for a while longer. It isn't until he also takes on Shuarri Eltan's position as first officer that he is promoted to lieutenant commander. Initially this was intended to be a temporary arrangement, with Spock retaining the higher rank but not the XO position in addition to his position as science officer, but Spock volunteered to stay on double duty, and Pike saw that he was able to perform both tasks adequately and decided to give him a chance.

Ensign Kevin Thomas Riley: Navigation officer (later NAV/7IC). A new academy graduate who's excited to have been assigned to Enterprise, he'll show up a season or so into the show as someone who sits at Navigation in one of the other shifts. He's a good officer and pretty friendly, but he also has an Irish temper which will be provoked on occasion. Eventually he'll replace Arex and we'll see more of him.

Captain James Tiberius Kirk: CO. He is assigned to Enterprise after Pike is severely injured, resulting in the melted face we all know and love. Kirk's first appearance will actually be in a visit to Pike in the hospital, where Pike kind of tells him who he can trust et. al. Kirk had previously commanded a smaller ship as a commander, but he is promoted to captain and assigned command of Enterprise. There isn't any insta-friendship or initial hate going on between Kirk or any of the other characters, but there will be a transition period where captain and crew get to know one another. Over the course of the series Kirk and his crew will develop a kind of "band of brothers" relationship as far as their loyalty to everyone. Kirk and Spock will have a very close relationship (just not the kind slashers everywhere apparently want them to have. Still somewhat career-minded, Kirk will later accept promotion, though the V'Ger crisis will later see him back aboard Enterprise, as well as later on when his old ship becomes an Academy training ship.

Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott: CE/3IC. Mythral Ne'Than is either going to be killed or injured in the same accident that crippled Pike, or die heroically saving the ship a short time later. Either way Scotty is going to be her replacement, his reputation as a miracle worker already coming to be known, though Enterprise is going to be the first ship he is the chief engineer of. He is so excited that he studies the technical manual and memorizes it. Kirk has him also assigned as the third in command because Spock is pulling double duty, and because he feels more comfortable having a senior officer in that position, even if he isn't normally a bridge officer.

Doctor (Lieutenant Commander) Leonard Horatio McCoy: CMO. Dr. Boyce either croaks or is forced to retire due to his age (I'm thinking heart attack though, which I'd probably play up for drama), and Kirk has McCoy come aboard to replace him. Kirk actually knows McCoy from his days at the Academy, as McCoy was an assistant instructor (like a TA basically) while Kirk was there. The "Bones" nickname is actually a reference to McCoy's age, which he doesn't much care for at first even though he knows Kirk is only teasing. McCoy naturally teases right back, and he also has the semi-confrontational relationship with Spock as in the original show/movies.

Nurse (Chief Petty Officer) Christine Chapel: Head Nurse. Honestly, I don't know if I'd have her there under Boyce or show up later to replace someone else. Obviously she'd be played by a different actress than Shuarri Eltan, probably someone about the same age though to reflect her rank and experience. I'd also retain her attraction to Spock, though I'd have to make the decision later if this would be reciprocated by Spock or not.

Lieutenant Pavel Andreievich Chekov: TAC/4IC. Freeman is either killed or reassigned, and Chekov takes his place. He's somewhat young, but he's good at what he does. Though he's a security officer, he's very friendly, and endures himself to his new crew fairly quickly, probably due to some heroics on his part. I'm afraid I don't have much more than that right now, but that's not to say Chekov would be a minor character or anything.

Lieutenant Samara Uhura: COM. I'm not really sure what to say about her, other than that she's pretty much the same as what we saw on the original show. She'd come aboard sometime after Kirk and replace John Farrell. She can speak Swahili, English, and Spanish fluently, and with the help of the translation software that is standard aboard Federation starships (aka the universal translator), she can figure out most other languages, including those from alien species that haven't been previously encountered. She's also very good with computers and electronics, and she likes to make modifications to her translation equipment. She can also repair it if it ever becomes necessary. She likes to sing, and she's also pretty good at mimicking voices.

Ensign Hikaru Sulu: Alpha shift helmsman/pilot. Though of mixed Asian ancestry, Sulu was born in San Francisco. He had aspirations of being a pilot at an early age, and as a teenager decided he wanted to join Starfleet. Enterprise is his first assignment after graduating the Academy. I'll definitely retain his fondness for fencing (as in not with a katana) and I might even make him gay for the hell of it. Over the course of the series he'll earn a couple of promotions, though one of them will see him taking over the operations department and placing him in the chain of command. Mostly this is because he finds that he has a knack for command, and Kirk does his best to groom him for his own command. Toward the end of the series, Sulu is offered a command and accepts it. Eventually we'll see him in command of Excelsior.

Crewman 1st Class Janice Rand: Yeoman. I'm not sure how much of the undercurrent of attraction Kirk had for her that I'd keep, but I'd definitely lose the sexist attitude directed toward this character in that Kirk would have no reason to be surprised to have a female crewmember assigned to him as his yeoman. If I did retain some kind of a thing between them, I'd be sure to make it completely clear that it has the potential to end Kirk's career.

Commander Willard Decker: XO. Decker will be assigned to Enterprise by Starfleet, partially because they are uncomfortable with Spock pulling double duty on one of their larger ships, and partially because of his father's influence. Kirk and the majority of the others will initially resent this, but as it turns out, Decker isn't the entitled brat they think he is, and he's actually quite competent at what he does. Kirk will actually become quite fond of him, and when Kirk is promoted he recommends Decker to command Enterprise (at which point the ship undergoes a major refit).

Doctor David Marcus: Civilian scientist and illegitimate son of James T. Kirk, though neither of them knows this until after their initial meeting, at which point Dr. Carol Marcus reveals this fact to them both. He would be introduced in one of the last seasons, perhaps around the time Kirk is promoted to commodore. As originally, the Marcus's are working on the "Genesis Device" in an effort to make terra-forming planets easier and more rapid than existing methods. We would not know this until the "Wrath of Khan" storyline, though. As before, David would have a deep resentment for Starfleet that he probably got from his mother, though he's a bit more extreme about it. This is pretty much because I want to keep the irony of David hating everything about Kirk and then finding out he's his father.

Other Vulcans in Starfleet

Spock is not the first Vulcan in Starfleet, but he is the first to commission through Starfleet Academy on Earth. Most Vulcan officers commission through something akin to an ROTC program at the Vulcan Science Academy. Even after a century since the end of the Earth/Romulan war and the founding of the Federation, Vulcans are still somewhat uncomfortable with Starfleet's seemingly militaristic tone, which has persisted even all this time after the Earth/Romulan War. While part of this is because of conflict with the Klingons, there's also been a lasting element within Starfleet coming from Earth to keep the military aspect of Starfleet in the forefront; the attitude on Vulcan is that there should be more focus on the science and exploratory missions that Starfleet has also taken on. As a result, most of their officers take posts on dedicated science ships, and most of those are on ships built by Vulcan. So in that way Spock is something of a trailblazer and he initially takes a lot of flack for it; even his own father stops speaking to him. Others end up following in his footsteps though, including some younger Vulcans who look up to him. Starfleet also has a Constitution class ship built by Vulcan in order to sort of bring Vulcan further into the fold, and they even let them have Vulcans make up the senior officers (and no, it's not named Intrepid, but rather something more appropriate). This eventually paves the way for more Vulcans to serve in a more integrated manner within Starfleet later on.

 

[Captain X]

The Movie Era

I define the movie era as starting with the original plotline for The Motion Picture. As for what it means to this reboot, this would be led into in the last portion of the series proper. That could mean season 6 or starting in season 7. In either case there would be some stories taking place on the refit Enterprise both before and after the familiar TMP storyline. The TMP storyline would definitely take place within the series proper, though. That wouldn't be the case for the The Wrath of Khan storyline, which would be the first movie. I would then either do a more original sequel, or a sequel loosely based on the The Search for Spock. Regardless of what would have to be decided closer to when it was done, the original Enterprise would be destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Anyway, just for the hell of it I'm going to get a little more elaborate with the plotlines themselves. As I said, there would at least be some episodes between the TMP and TWoK, so keep that in mind.

The Motion Picture (working title(s) to be determined)

The Story
The plot would be more or less the same, except that Enterprise is not the "only ship in the quadrant" that can respond, rather Commodore Kirk is placed in command of a task force of three ships because of his experience with this kind of thing in order to investigate the massive intruder and determine its intentions and threat level. A Starfleet relay station has already intercepted the feeds from a Klingon task force which attempted to destroy the object, but was itself instead destroyed.

Naturally, Kirk chooses Enterprise as his flagship, which is under the command of Captain Willard Decker. The staging area is a starbase a few days travel from the Klingon border, and while Enterprise and Veracruz arrive within a few days, the Charlemagne is delayed due to picking up a passenger. Kirk will initially be pissed, at least until he finds out who the passenger is.

Just as a note, Spock will be shown leaving for his Kolinar a while prior to this, and we'd even drop by and check on his progress from time to time. He basically does it to try to prove to himself that he can be just as Vulcan as any other full-blooded Vulcan. After all, achieving the Kolinar is as Vulcan as you can get. For the TMP episodes, he'd be introduced as he beams aboard. There'd then be a flashback to show how Spock failed his Kolinar as he did in TMP originally, with him basically narrating as he explains what went down to Kirk. Sarek had pretty mixed feelings over what went down, because he knew how much Starfleet had meant to Spock, and had come to terms with Spock's decision to join Starfleet. So basically Sarek used his pull as an ambassador to have Spock re-commissioned as a Starfleet officer and re-assigned to Enterprise for this emergency. And no, Charlemagne didn't swing by Vulcan to pick him up, Spock hitched a ride on a high-speed currier similar to how he met up with the Big E in TMP.

Enterprise's current science officer, Xon, is more than willing to step aside for Spock to take that position, because he was actually inspired by Spock to attend Starfleet Academy himself after Spock started making a name for himself.

There is some time spent introducing the other characters, but I'll describe them a bit later on.

The task force travels to intercept the intruder, and this is where there starts to be some friction between Decker and Kirk, because Kirk is used to sitting in the command chair. It isn't a whole bunch, and they don't go through a wormhole or anything because the ship is already proven by this point, but there would definitely be some subtle friction between the two, even if it's as innocuous as Kirk accidentally starting to sit in the command chair before awkwardly giving it back to Decker.

They get news from that relay station that piped the destruction of the Klingon task force's destruction that the intruder has crossed the border and is approaching them. The station is then cut off as it is destroyed, but they are able to relay the signal the intruder sent, which gives Spock some time to analyze it. Kirk gives that lovely pep talk to his crew on the rec deck, though this one would actually look more like what Andrew Probert designed so it would actually fit inside the ship. The other ships' crews would watch via viewscreen. There's a bit more friction between Decker and Kirk right afterwards though, because while Kirk thought this should properly motivate everyone, Decker saw it as a moral killer, especially the part where he showed the death of their fellow Starfleet servicemen on that station.

Because Kirk can't seem to keep focused on the bridge, I'd have him set up a command center either in the auxiliary control room or in the briefing room, though I'm leaning toward the auxiliary control room so Spock would have an excuse to join him, and so Kirk could piss Decker off at one point by taking control of the ship, even though this action basically saves them all from getting vaporized the way Charlemagne was moments before. Spock is able to save the ship as he did in TMP by sending an appropriate signal to the intruder.

Winding down from almost dieing, there's some short debate about whether to press on into the massive cloud covering what they presume to be a ship of some kind as per their original mission, or to sit and wait for more ships given the attack they suffered, as well as since the intruder has come to a stop and seems to be just checking them out for now, or waiting to see what they do. Decker wants to be cautious, but Kirk wants to charge right in because those were his orders from Command, and he wants to see what the hell just basically handed their asses to them on a platter. Kirk, as commander of the task force, gets the final word, and Enterprise is set to penetrate the gaseous cloud surrounding the intruder. Veracruz was severely damaged during the attack, so Kirk orders them to hang around outside the perimeter and keep an eye on things from the outside while waiting for the reinforcements that Kirk called in to arrive (which, BTW, is basically pulling ships off of patrol from the Klingon border, so something for them to be apprehensive about).

I wouldn't waste nearly as much time on Enterprise making its way through the cloud, and most of that would be taken up by Spock rattling of the results of the scans he's taking of it on their way in. There's be some ooh's and ah's, and I'd establish that it took them a while to get through the cloud, at which point there are more ooh's and ah's at the massive scale of the ship they see when they finally get inside the cloud. They try not to do anything to provoke the intruder, including not actively scanning, but still end up getting dragged inside. Just before the door closes behind them and cuts them off completely from the outside, Veracruz sends them a transmission informing them that the intruder ahs gone to high warp and they are unable to keep up (probably something from TNG in terms of speed or better, obviously nothing a TMP era ship could make even in perfect conditions). Its course is determined to be Earth.

The rest of the plot would basically play out as it did in the original movie, though we'd see more of the weird place Spock goes EVA to check out. The difference there too is that Spock doesn't have to sneak around to do it, because he actually shares the fact he's detected and aperture they could potentially get through to check out, and Kirk okays his plan. Kirk does go with him, which is highly unusual and inappropriate (as it also is for Spock as the senior science officer) and Decker calls him on it, but Kirk ends up pulling rank and there isn't much Decker can do other than scowl and bite his tongue.

Anyway, they manage to make it through the intruder's sphincter and into what basically turns out to be a massive holodeck (for lack of better description), which contains a scale model of everything this ship has come across and scanned (and destroyed as the case may be). They come across the relay station and the Klingon ships just to drive that point home before eventually come across a full-scale replica of Ilia. Spock starts out scanning it, then abruptly melds with it. He ends up shell-shocked and Kirk has to drag his ass back to the ship.

As in the original movie, Spock's outlook seems to resemble that of a carrot, but Xon is able to help out and push all his marbles back into the right place. I'd probably throw in a reference to Pa'nar Syndrome too, something along the lines of how Spock could've developed it had Xon not been there to fix him up properly. Kirk chews Spock out for doing something so impulsively, Spock has a moment of confusion as to why exactly he acted so impulsively, McCoy teases him about his human half getting the better of him, and Spock spouts off what he learned about V'Ger (whose name we learned earlier from the Ilia probe).

Again, basically the plot turns out the same as it did in the movie, with Kirk talking the Ilia probe into taking them to V'Ger, them discovering its true origin and purpose and saving the mother-frakkin' day. Decker also became one with V'Ger as in the movie.

The movie does not end with Enterprise wandering off in a random direction on its own, however. Instead, Starfleet Command calls and demands to know what the hell happened, and Kirk starts to give his report.

As things stand at the end of the storyline, Spock is now the senior officer aboard the ship and ends up in command, they get a new navigator, and Kirk and McCoy return to the starbase he commands, with Kirk starting to regret his decision to accept promotion.

The Ships

USS Enterprise, NCC-1701: Upgraded Constitution class starship. This would either resemble the Phase II design, though as with the original ship, there would have to be some detail work done on it. The ship, along with many other old ships, is upgraded with newer systems, making it a more powerful and more capable ship. There would still be plenty of un-refit ships in service though, including the Constitution and a few others of her class. Most of her interiors would remain essentially the same, such as the corridors, but others would be upgraded to reflect the improved technology level during the time the ship is refit. The bridge would be completely new as the superstructure was one of the major changes, and it would essentially resemble what we saw in the first four movies (if you count the partial set at the end of TVH). The displays would more closely resemble what was seen at the end of the fourth movie, though the consoles would still have actual physical buttons and controls on them, and I'd go through the same trouble of rationalizing and labeling the controls themselves. In the end they'd resemble the touch-screens we saw in TUC, but with physical buttons. Hopefully you can visualize that, as it would be a really long time before I could draw something up.

USS Veracruz, NCC-1976: Constellation class starship. She's a new ship, the third of her class, and actually a more powerful ship than Enterprise, geared more toward combat than the Constitution class, with patrol of the Klingon and Romulan borders in mind. The fleet upgrades were actually based on the Constellation class, which is why there is such a strong resemblance between the ships built or upgraded during this period. Kirk was actually expected to make Veracruz his command ship, but no one was really surprised when he chose his former command instead. She ends up severely damaged during the initial contact with V'Ger, but survives to be repaired and sent back out on patrol.

USS Charlemagne, NCC-1793: Spartan class. Designed as a smaller alternative to the Constitution class and around the same type of saucer and warp propulsion system, but using only once nacelle and classified as frigates. Named Spartan class because they were designed to pack a lot of punch for their size. All of these ships have been left un-upgraded, and are slated to be replaced by the newer Miranda class starships. Basically, this ship will resemble this ship:

(sorry, don't know artist)
It would be appropriately tweaked to fit within my "reboot" universe though.

The Charlemagne herself would serve a relatively minor role, and will be destroyed by the first salvo that V'Ger fires at the task force. We will get to know her captain and some of her senior officers well enough to feel something when they die though, hopefully avoiding some of the redshirt syndrome.

The Characters

Commodore James Tiberius Kirk: CO, Starbase 27. Having accepted promotion, Kirk is assigned to oversee the space controlled by Cait from a station like the J-class Masao designed in orbit of that planet. When V'Ger is detected traveling through the edge of Gorn and Klingon space, Kirk is ordered by Starfleet Command to put together a small task force to intercept the intruder where it is projected to cross into Federation space and investigate. When the Klingon task force is seen destroyed, there is more urgency and Kirk is also ordered to do a thorough threat assessment and to establish contact with the intruder. If the intruder is determined to be hostile, Kirk is under orders to call in more ships and to destroy the intruder, though this is kept to himself until he needs to call in reinforcements. Kirk has been looking forward to seeing his old ship again, but unfortunately he has some old habits which tend to cause friction with her current commander, Captain Decker. He later asserts himself very strongly over his former first officer, and afterwards comes to realize that he was wrong to do so.

Doctor (Commander) Leonard Horatio McCoy: CMO, Starbase 27. When Kirk was promoted and reassigned, McCoy followed him, in part just so the two could maintain their friendship. McCoy looks after Kirk almost as if he's his personal doctor, though he's still the cynical and often sarcastic man we knew earlier. When Kirk is assigned to this task force, McCoy goes with him, and essentially shares sickbay with Enterprise's CMO, Doctor Arthur Coleman.

Commander Spock: When Kirk is promoted, Spock basically has a kind of identity crisis, and decides to resign and return to Vulcan to undergo the Kolinahr. We do stop in from time to time to check up on him, but his absence will also give the other characters a chance to do some development. He almost manages to make it all the way through, but never entirely eliminates the attachment he has to Enterprise and to his friends. He basically spends a little time dealing with this failure, and his father ends up talking him into re-commissioning. When the V'ger crisis happens, Sarek basically fast-tracks things for Spock so he can join Kirk's task force. After Decker's "disappearance", Spock is awarded command of Enterprise at Kirk's insistence, though Kirk will also have Enterprise officially designated as his flagship. Basically that means if the need arises for Kirk to go on a trip or command another mission, Enterprise would basically drop what it was doing to serve him.

Captain Willard Decker: CO, Enterprise. When Kirk is promoted, he recommends Decker for command of Enterprise, which he is awarded. After being promoted to captain and given command of Enterprise, the show would essentially split between his missions and Kirk and McCoy's adventures. When the situation with V'Ger rears its ugly head, Decker finds himself being rubbed the wrong way by a man he used to have a lot of respect for and loyalty to. At first it's just minor annoyances, but as time progresses, Kirk starts to undermine his authority as commander of Enterprise, and takes risks he feels are unnecessary. Later, after objecting to Kirk's insistence to penetrate V'Ger's cloud barrier, Ilia is taken by V'Ger, and Decker briefly comes to blows with Kirk, giving him one hell of a punch to the jaw. While completely improper, Decker feels that even a court martial would be worth it because as it turns out, he and Ilia were very close. Kirk basically tells him that they'll deal with that when the mission is over. Needless to say, Decker is pretty pissed and is convinced that Kirk is responsible for getting Ilia killed. Eventually, he comes to the decision that he wants to merge with V'Ger, and does so over the objection of basically everyone who's there with him when he makes that decision. He then acts before anyone can restrain him and sets everything in motion. Without being able to determine if Decker was in fact killed by this merging with V'Ger, he is listed as "Missing in Action".

Commander Kevin Thomas Riley: XO, Enterprise. Riley transferred to Operations, and was later promoted to Enterprise's first officer by Decker after he is given command. He still has his infamously Irish temper, and fully backs up Decker for (heh) decking Kirk. After he's had time to cool down, he later mends bridges with Kirk, though things are never the same between them after this.

Commander Montgomery Scott: CE/3IC. Having stayed on after Kirk left, Decker keeps him in the same position he's held since he came aboard, though his time in service earned him another promotion, and a chance to become the chief engineer of another ship, which he turns down. Scotty will probably have a fairly minor role in this movie, though he will get to weigh in during various situations that pop up, and when most of the others walk out to see V'Ger, he is left in command of the ship with orders to self destruct Enterprise should Kirk and the others fail to return within a set time limit in a desperate effort to cripple V'Ger's ship by destroying its "brain".

Lieutenant Commander Pavel Andreievich Chekov: TAC/4IC. Due to his time in service, he's been promoted, but he has refused reassignment, hoping to get a shot as first officer of Enterprise in the not too distant future. He is still an awesome tactical officer and security chief, and insists on being Kirk's shadow whenever he can. As conflict starts to develop between Kirk and Decker, Chekov ends up being pretty conflicted, and is actually supportive of both Kirk and Decker.

Lieutenant Commander Xon: SCI/5IC. He is a fairly young Vulcan, but while he is based on the character from Phase II, he is not a 22 year old prodigy/Gary Stu, he is simply a dedicated officer who is good at what he does. He entered the Academy when Spock started becoming somewhat famous on Vulcan (which meant different things depending on which Vulcan you asked). He looked up to Spock, not holding his mixed heritage against him as many other Vulcans have in the past. When Spock comes aboard, he really has no problem stepping down as senior science officer for the mission, and in fact likes the idea of working for someone he basically sees as a personal hero. Unfortunately, he'd also probably have a fairly minor role for this storyline.

Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu: OPS/6IC. As the series progressed, Sulu went from being a pilot to working in the Operations department. By the time of this storyline, he has been promoted to the senior operations officer. I'm not sure at this point what all I'd have him do, but I would like him to have a fairly substantial role, at least equal to Scotty's contribution.

Lieutenant Ilia: NAV. She comes aboard to replace Riley as senior navigator when he is promoted to first officer. As a Deltan, she's bald, beautiful, and very good at math. She had a prior relationship with Captain Decker when he was assigned to Delta IV as a junior officer (and there would be references to this not long after we meet Decker earlier on). They end up rekindling their relationship, though this is technically against regulations as Decker is her CO. Basically the people who are in the know keep quite about it out of loyalty for Decker and apathy to the fraternization regulations. Kirk knows nothing about this, so at first he doesn't realize why Decker is as pissed as he is when Ilia is taken by V'Ger. At first it isn't known if she's dead or not, but the probe modeled after her confirms her death, and she's reported as being "Killed in Action." The probe is actually so closely modeled after her, that it takes on some of her personality traits and has most of her memories, which eventually enables Kirk and Decker to convince the probe to arrange a face-to-face meeting with V'Ger. The probe starts out as fairly emotionless, but as it remembers more from Ilia's memories, it regrets that its creation basically resulted in Ilia's death, and is somewhat sympathetic toward Decker and the others.

Lieutenant Samara Uhura: COM. Having remained aboard, she's the only one not to have received a promotion yet, though she's getting close to her time in service to basically require one (since Starfleet would rather promote officers and keep them in the same posting than lose them, plus it might make it easier to convince them to transfer to another post later on). She's still very good at what she does, and she is critical in interpreting V'Ger's various signals, making her much more than the glorified telephone operator she basically was in the original show.

Doctor (Lieutenant Commander) Arthur Coleman: CMO. He's an experienced doctor who's a lot more by-the-book than McCoy. He is in some ways friendlier than his predecessor, while in others less likable. When McCoy comes aboard for the V'Ger mission, he basically ends up sharing sickbay with him, even though he'd rather not, since it is his sickbay now, after all. Under pressure from Kirk, though, he basically just bitches about it under his breath and sucks it up, as he knows this is only supposed to last a few weeks if all goes according to plan.

Nurse (Senior Chief Petty Officer) Christine Chapel: Head Nurse. She was offered a commission, but elected to remain aboard Enterprise as head nurse under Dr. Coleman. She's definitely happy to see Spock and McCoy again though, and lets both of them know about it. Provided I go that route, she'd very openly let Spock know she still has the hots for him.

Captain Lim Min Jee: CO, Veracruz. She's a Korean woman in her mid-40s, and not a stereotype. Her heritage wouldn't make all that much difference at this point (aside from being addressed as "Captain Min"), but that's not to say she couldn't make a later appearance. As far as her appearance here, she'd be presented as a savvy officer who knows what the hell she's doing. As far as her command style, she's somewhere between Decker and Kirk, and when it comes to decision-making, she tends to be in more agreement with Kirk as she is more military-minded.

Commander Tan Shellar: CO, Charlemagne. He's a Tellarite that has in some ways been compared to Kirk given how quickly he has risen through the ranks, though he is a few years behind Kirk in terms of how old he was when he received his first command, USS Charlemagne. While his ship is old, he is still very proud of her and he won't abide anyone running his ship down because of its age. While he does like a good argument on occasion, his insults are usually light-hearted and meant in a teasing manner, which has endured him to most of the people serving with him. He is all business when it comes to crunch time, though, and he has a somewhat nasty temper when provoked.

Other Notes

If you notice characters missing here, they've probably either been killed or transferred. For example, Rand is attending an officer training school to become a communications officer.

As for other officers from the other two ships, I'd probably come up with some names and backstories for them as the need arose, but for now I guess I don't really feel like it. M'Ress would probably show up on the Veracruz, though.

Oh, and just as another side note, the uniforms would be the same as in the rest of the series.

 

[Captain X]

The Wrath of Khan (working title(s) to be determined)

The Story
Well, a little back-story first, and the reason this may in fact be the first movie rather than something within the series proper. Basically there would be a pretty significant gap between the TMP storyline and this one, at least in terms of when they take place. The uniforms have been changed to the more familiar "movie era" versions, Enterprise is showing her age, and a lot of the crew has moved on to different assignments, as Enterprise herself has become a training ship for use by the Academy, thanks in part to Admiral James T. Kirk's influence, as he is now an administrator there for the officer college. Ironically, part of that entails the administering the Kobayashi Maru test as one of the last tests junior officers wishing to go on to command a ship must take before being promoted to lieutenant commander. It is the only test Kirk ever "cheated" on, and part of his decision to do so was because there was no regulation forbidding candidates from reprogramming the scenario so they could win. He did receive a letter of reprimand for accessing the computer without permission, but he also received a letter of commendation for his original thinking for reprogramming the test. The Academy also made sure to add a regulation forbidding what Kirk did, effectively making him the only person to ever "win" the Kobayashi Maru.

My version would start out similarly to the original movie with the Kobayashi Maru test, but rather than pretending this is Enterprise by having all of the gang there, I'd try to pass it off as another Federation starship, since this "bridge" would be manned entirely by actual officers participating in this officer college. Same scenario, though the "Neutral Zone" obviously wouldn't be an ellipsoid (sorry, an annoyance of mine), and thanks to modern CGI technology, the Klingon ships wouldn't be taken as stock footage from a previous story (another annoyance of mine). Sparks fly, but people aren't pretending to be dead, either, and the look of the sparks actually gives us our first hint that not everything is as it seems. The damage reports are given, they're royally screwed, and Kirk has the simulator opened up so he can start Saavik's debriefing.

As in the movie, Saavik would ask what she did wrong, though it would be made clear she's been through this more than a few times in an attempt to beat it and Kirk has been humoring her. Kirk would then tell her this is impossible at which point McCoy coyly informs her that Kirk is the only officer to ever beat the "no win" scenario. When asked how, Kirk explains why one of the regulations for the test exists. Saavik lets a little of her disgust at the Admiral's cheating to do something she herself could now never accomplish. So basically I'm keeping the bit about her being half-Romulan and it would come out at about this point thanks to Spock, who is an instructor now. Saavik would look a bit embarrassed about that, but quickly changes the subject to the training exercise set for the beginning of next week. Here we learn that Enterprise is now a training ship, and that they're going to be heading out to a starbase in a fairly remote sector of space and back again, which will take them a few weeks. We'll note that the "Mutara sector" appears on the star map that shows the course on it being a couple of sectors over from their destination, though it will be grayed out similar to how Area 51 is treated on the Nellis AFB maps. Yeah, I know this is stretching it a little, but I hate how the hero ship is always "the only ship in intercept range" even if they're taking off from Earth orbit, so I need an excuse to actually have them nearby. Anyway, Kirk indicates that he's looking forward to seeing how well the trainees have gotten the old girl into shape, the implication being that the trainee crew is going to be very busy over the weekend.

Cutting to Kirk's apartment, we see McCoy, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty joining the admiral to celebrate his birthday, with him opening their gifts. I'd probably keep the gifts all the same. They'd talk a bit about the intervening years and reveal that they all have been instructing at the Academy, though it's not nearly as fun as it was when they were all back together on Enterprise. They'd also discuss Chekov and Sulu, who are both now serving as first officers on different ships. Kirk then reveals that he's arranged for McCoy, Uhura and Scotty to join him and Spock on their training cruise, giving them a chance to have some time together on the old ship. Through this we also learn that they will be the only non-trainees on board.

Later, on Enterprise, the trainee crew is gathered in the Rec Deck and watch as Admiral Kirk walks out there front and center to give them his little inspirational speech that is supposed to light a bit of fire under their asses for this little pleasure cruise of theirs. He starts the inspection right there, then heads down to engineering, mostly to give Scotty a hard time. By then, Kirk's patience for the inspection has worn out, and he decides just to head to the bridge rather than continue with the boring white glove crap.

Kirk is once again back on the bridge of his old ship, and once again has to stand out of the way while Saavik takes center seat as the "captain" of this exercise. Naturally I'd retain the humor of McCoy offering Kirk a tranquilizer while he watches a green trainee run his ship. The trainees naturally make it out of spacedock without crashing the ship while the officers look on. They set a course out of the system and it's at that point we join Reliant.

As in the movie, Reliant and her crew are out looking for an ideal test site for the Genesis Project. Now, my set-up for this would be different in that Khan and his people weren't marooned there by Kirk, they managed to escape with their original ship, and ended up crashing on their own. That way, Chekov isn't a complete dumbass and Kirk didn't withhold important information from Starfleet. Otherwise, their discovery happens more or less the same, though I'd actually show how Khan managed to take over Reliant.

Now in control of Reliant and already having discovered a new potential WMD he could lord over someone with to get whatever he wanted, he makes plans to get it. He uses hypno-Chekov to call up the Regula I Research Station to basically tell Dr. Marcus that they're coming to get the device for an immediate test, whether she likes it or not (so basically the same as in the movie). The civilian scientists get all pissy and Marcus tries to establish contact with Starfleet Command, but just as she gets through to Kirk to chew his ass out she's cut off.

Enterprise is currently undergoing drills, which are postponed until Kirk can figure out what the hell to do. He talks to another admiral who's in the know and that admiral basically gives him the order to go check it out, as neither Regula I nor Reliant can be raised. Kirk officially ends the exercises and tells his crew to get ready for a real fight. Pretty much all of them think this is still just a test, except for Saavik naturally. Spock is placed in command, though Saavik remains in the big chair for now, as Kirk calls a briefing for the senior officers/instructors. He lays everything out for them, showing them the demonstration video as in the original movie, though it would be a little more descriptive as to the need for faster terra-forming. Kirk explains their orders and has Spock order the ship to Regula I.

On their way to Regula I, I'd play up the drama a bit when they enter what for all the trainees has kind of been a kind of taboo thing akin to Area 51. They all know the area is off-limits, so heading right to the middle of it is more than a little weird for them. I'd also use the opportunity to develop the characters a bit so it isn't like they just instantly show up near Regula I. Naturally, before they can get there, they encounter the Reliant.

Unlike in the movie, this isn't a case of Kirk ignoring the regulations as Reliant approaches them so much as Khan playing the old "sick duck" trick on them and Saavik's paranoid Romulan nature making her automatically suspicious of the convenience of finding Reliant so close to Regula I, especially since the ship doesn't seem to be all that severely damaged, and the distress call and all other communication with them is in text form only. Kirk shrugs this off, convinced along with the others that Reliant's problems are genuine and that it explains why all contact was lost with Reliant and Regula I. Their first confirmation that something is not right is when they get close enough to determine the interference they've been picking up is not due to damage to Reliant and/or Regula I, but from electronic countermeasures being generated by Reliant. By this point, Enterprise is in firing range and Reliant opens up on them before they can raise shields. They take a beating, and are trying to figure out what the hell is up with Reliant when Khan hails them.

As in the original movie, Khan basically tells Kirk that he's there to take his revenge, blaming Kirk for the death of his wife and ending up stranded on a doomed planet. Kirk tries to argue with him, but when Khan threatens to cut him off and blow up the ship, Kirk attempts to negotiate with Khan for the release of all the trainees. Khan agrees, on the condition that Kirk transmit all information he has on Genesis, and beam himself over to Reliant. Kirk then uses the time he's bought them to call up the codes necessary to override Reliant's shields and weapons control so they can be disabled remotely. This takes Khan and his merry band by surprise, and Enterprise is able to give Reliant a good beating before Khan can limp off and escape.

Following the battle, Scotty is able to restore impulse power so Enterprise can make it to Regula I. They find it seemingly abandoned, computer banks wiped clean. Then they find Khan's little shop of horrors, with the civilian scientists having been tortured and killed. They also find Captain Terrell and Commander Chekov strung up upside down, as if they'd likewise been tortured and Khan simply hadn't had time to kill them when Enterprise's approach was detected. The two officers spin up a story similar to in the original movie when revived, explaining that they'd been taken hostage and that their crew had been marooned with the remains of Khan's ship. I should note that none of the senior officers are on the initial boarding party and only come over after the station has been confirmed secure.

Kirk, armed with top secret information about the Genesis Project, has them beamed into the planetoid Regula, where they encounter the remaining scientists, including Doctor's Carol and David Marcus. David has already known Kirk is his father for years now, so he doesn't try to fight or kill him, but he isn't exactly happy to see Kirk, either. When Carol Marcus appears, the entire "family" has been reunited. They talk a bit and reveal that when Reliant started jamming them that they and a few other scientists beamed into the hidden facility within Regula because they knew something was up. When they reveal the Genesis Device, Terrell and Chekov's brainwashing kicks in, and Terrell contacts Khan to give him the location of the Genesis Device. Khan beams it up then orders the two brainwashed officers to kill Kirk. Terrell appears to resist for a moment, but it's obvious that the pain is too much for him to take and he levels his phaser at Kirk. Before he can fire, Chekov, also fighting the pain that the eels are causing, shoots Terrell, killing him. The eel in Chekov's head gets to be too much for him, and Chekov finally loses consciousness. Kirk grabs Chekov's communicator and gives a pretty much word-for-word recreation of the original movie scene.

McCoy is able to stabilize Chekov by inducing a coma, but he isn't able to do much for him. In the meantime they characters chat a bit, and reveal the Genesis cave, which was the second stage in the project's testing phase. Just as the others are starting to accept the fact they may be marooned where they are, Spock contacts them and lets them know they can transport them back to the ship. I'm thinking that the code talk would be less obvious so it's a bit more believable that the others are surprised.

There is still work to be done, and to be frank I actually liked the original montage of everyone working to get things ready, so I'd keep it pretty much as it was originally. The difference here is that the system they are in is already in a nebula, so they'd just be heading into a part of it where the shields and sensors would basically be useless. The resulting battle would play out pretty much the same, with most of Khan's people ending up dead, with Khan in pretty bad shape himself. Kirk would demand his surrender, to which Khan's response would be to activate the Genesis Device to ensure Kirk would be killed along with him.

This is where the major divergence takes place, because Spock isn't going to die this time around. Instead, David Marcus beams over to Reliant with a security detail. By this time Khan is already dead, so the security guys don't have a lot to do. The Marcus's both know that the device isn't designed to be turned off when activated, but David convinces his parents he can stop the reaction from reaching critical mass. He tries to do so, but figures out it can't be stopped after all. He informs Kirk of this, and naturally they are all supposed to beam back, but David, knowing that Enterprise will never make it, demands to be left behind so he can at least delay the device from detonating until Enterprise is clear. Carol doesn't want to hear it, but Kirk accepts the reality for what it is and accepts his son's offer to sacrifice himself. There's some touching dialog between father and son as Enterprise pulls away, but the properties of where they're at in the nebula ends up cutting them off.

Scotty and his team of trainee engineers works feverishly to restore warp power. Carol rather than David gives them the minimum safe distance, and I'd cut between the bridge, engineering, and David, constantly working the computer to delay the device going critical. Scotty manages to restore warp speed just in time, and Enterprise warps off just as the counter reaches zero back on Reliant. David, though sad, looks accepting of his fate as the counter hits zero, and says "Goodbye mom and dad" just before the device detonates, destroying the Reliant and reacting with the matter of the nebula. Seeing the explosion, Carol starts to openly cry. Kirk, a bit more stoic, whispers "goodbye son" as he starts to tear up himself.

I'd have a short log entry explaining that Enterprise stopped off in the Ceti Alpha system to pick up the Reliant survivors, and that Enterprise is on its way home.

A service is held on the Rec Deck, with Kirk presiding over the funeral of his own son. Kirk says some words about the son he hadn't really known for most of his life, and thanks David for his sacrifice of behalf of the Enterprise's crew. Carol slaps him and storms out of the room, but Kirk barely flinches. It isn't until Spock, McCoy, and Saavik visit him in his quarters later on that he breaks down and really cries, lamenting that no father should have to sacrifice his son like that. His friends try to comfort him, but Kirk is pretty much inconsolable at this point and asks them to leave. Spock is the last one to do so, letting his old friend know that he'll be there for him before leaving Kirk alone in his quarters. Kirk sobs a bit longer then activates his viewer to see the new planet forming out of the remains of the Mutara Nebula, somberly acknowledging the birth of something new out of the death of his son.

Being the evil bastard I am, I'd end it there.

The Ships

USS Enterprise, NCC-1701: Upgraded Constitution class starship. Enterprise is definitely showing her age at the time this movie takes place in. The refit extended her life, but she's not top-of-the-line anymore, an honor which now goes to the Constellation class, though there are still a few Constitution class ships under construction or slated to be constructed, though if I choose the detailed Matt Jeffries design option, these would be "improved" Constitution class ships, designed and built from the keel up to serve in the same role as the original Connies, but being more representative of the technology level Starfleet is at. In any case, Enterprise has been retired from active duty, and is now a training ship used by Starfleet's education command. She'll be taking some heavy damage in this movie, so it'll be the worst off we'll see her by this point.

USS Reliant, NCC-1864: Miranda class starship. This class was developed as a lighter contemporary of the upgraded Constitution class ships and the new Constellation class ships, and to replace older light ships, such as the Spartan and Ptolmy class ships. Though classed as light cruisers, most Mirandas are heavily armed in order to hold their own against similarly classed Klingon and Romulan warships. Reliant was assigned as a scout/research vessel attached to the Regula I Genesis Project to carry out a search for another suitable planet or planetoid to conduct a full scale test of the prototype device. That being said, no one on board the ship is authorized to have any contact with the device, and while they assume it is being kept on the station, its exact whereabouts are classified. They are not even aware of the cavern inside of Regula itself, they are simply told the planetoid is too small to conduct the full-scale test. This is why the project scientists freak out so much when Chekov calls them up and announces that they're under orders to grab the device and test it themselves, something that was supposed to be done by a more dedicated science ship.

Regula I Research Station: Type 8 office/habitation station. Regula I is a classified science facility located within the Mutara Sector. Though it had been used for various black projects in the past (making it an old station), for the past five years it had been serving as the headquarters of the Genesis Project, having been towed into orbit of the Regula planetoid, an asteroid in one of the many unnamed infant systems within the Mutara Nebula. This particular system is in the periphery of the nebula itself and is devastated by the detonation of the Genesis Device. All outer planets are destroyed and drawn in to the device's matrix, providing matter to form a new seemingly class-M planet that ends up being drawn into the system proper through means that are never entirely understood.

The Characters

Rear Admiral James Tiberius Kirk: CO, Academy Command Officer College. His excellence as an officer recognized throughout the fleet, Kirk is offered and accepts a position to help create the fleet's command officers. This officer college is one of two or three junior officers can attend (through distance learning if necessary) in order to qualify for promotion as a senior officer. The command college is the most prestigious and the most difficult of them, and also the only one where physical attendance is necessary. It takes place over the course of three months, and finishes up with a three-week training cruise aboard a starship, where all attendees are given a chance to command the ship. The training cruise usually doubles as final training for enlisted personnel and selected cadets from the academy. Kirk is initially excited at the prospect of shaping new potential starship captains, but at the time of the movie this has worn off and he's getting a bit homesick for space.

Captain Spock: Commandant, Academy Command Officer College. Technically he's also the commanding officer of Enterprise, but he seems himself more as the commandant of the training program at the command college. He has a much closer relationship to the trainees than Kirk does as an administrator, and is known for his more personal style of instruction. He accepted this position mostly out of a wish to remain close to his friends, but like Kirk he is somewhat depressed about being unable to serve in space. He never really wanted to accept promotion to command to begin with, and preferred to serve as science officer, which will come out over the course of the movie. He does see a lot of promise in Saavik, however, which makes him temporarily forget about his worries.

Doctor (Commander) Leonard Horatio McCoy: Instructor, Starfleet Medical. Dr. McCoy took a position as an instructor at Starfleet Medical at the same time Kirk accepted his position at the Academy. Starfleet Medical is thrilled to have such an experienced doctor, but really McCoy only took the position to be close to his friends, and misses the kinds of challenges he faced in the old days. That's part of why he was so happy to be invited along on Enterprise's training cruise. He ends up doing a lot more than he bargained for, basically the only doctor on a ship full of trainees when it comes under fire. There are only a few medics on board, but McCoy ends up making medics out of several more trainees, but they can't help him much due to their inexperience. The loss of more than a dozen trainees weighs heavily on him.

Commander Montgomery Scott: Instructor, Starfleet Academy. Like McCoy, Scotty became an instructor in order to be close to his old friends, more or less resigning himself to the fact that his career reached its pinnacle on Enterprise, and all he can do is contribute to Starfleet in some other way before retiring. At the time of the movie, he's considering accepting a position at the Advanced Starship Design Bureau on Mars, or a position with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, both of which would entail a promotion to captain, and would still allow him to remain fairly close to his old friends. He jumps at the chance to go on the training cruise with Kirk, hoping it'll give him some time to come to a decision. Technically Scotty is overqualified to serve as chief engineer on this training cruise, but his experience is invaluable when the ship comes under attack.

Lieutenant Samara Uhura: Instructor, Starfleet Academy. Like the others, Uhura accepted a position as an instructor when Enterprise was retired from active service to become a training ship. While she misses the challenges she face on active duty, unlike the others she's satisfied being an instructor, showing new communications officers the ropes and all the little tricks she learned out in space. She's still happy to take up Kirk on his offer to go on a training cruise, and enjoys the distraction from her usual summer schedual.

Captain Clark Terrell: CO, USS Reliant. Captain Terrell is an experienced officer hoping to make a name for himself along the Klingon border when his ship is assigned to cater to a black science project in the Mutara Sector. Naturally, he isn't very happy about this, especially when it turns out to entail looking for a dead rock – the opposite of what Starfleet's mission charter is. He isn't afraid to say so, either, and some of the banter between himself and Chekov is from Chekov trying to stay positive and cheer up his captain. Not many members of the crew are in the know as to what the hell they are doing, so when Reliant finds a potential planet in the Ceti Alpha system adjacent to the Mutara Sector, he and Chekov are the ones to check out the odd life-form reading.

Commander Pavel Andreievich Chekov: XO, USS Reliant. Sometime between the TMP storyline and this movie, Chekov accepted a position as first officer of the Reliant, hoping to eventually get his own command. He is the first to recognize the name of Khan's ship when they find its remains, but like Terrell he ends up being tortured and brainwashed by the eels Khan puts in them. Khan also later takes out some of his anger on Chekov and Terrell when he finds the Regula I computers wiped clean and no sign of the Genesis Device. His fate at the end of the movie is left somewhat open as he's in a coma, but I have no plan to kill Chekov at this point.

Lieutenant Saavik: Command Officer Candidate. Saavik is an officer hoping to attain her own command, so she does have some experience as an officer. She is half-Romulan/half-Vulcan, though she was raised on Vulcan. Her heritage makes her something of an outcast, which gives her something in common with Spock and is probably why they end up having a closer than usual relationship than one would expect between an instructor and a trainee. And just to satisfy everyone's curiosity, her father was a Romulan infiltrator pretending to be a Vulcan, who later went rogue when he fell in love with Saavik's mother. In any case, she is slightly more open with her emotions than the average Vulcan, having accepted her Romulan heritage from a fairly early age. She's pragmatic and practical, and has a good sense for command, which makes her stand out among her peers. Her one failure is the inability to accept the "no-win" scenario presented by the Kobayashi Maru test, and takes it several times in order to try out different strategies she thinks should work. She's jealous of Kirk's solution because it is now forbidden to all new candidates taking the test, but is also jealous that his solution never occurred to her. When she meets David Marcus, she begins to develop romantic feelings for him, but this is complicated by her admiration for Kirk and the problems that exist between the two men (not to mention a certain weirdness, if you think about it). This is somewhat tragically solved for her when David goes and gets himself killed, and she actually ends up crying at his funeral.

Doctor Carol Marcus: Director, Genesis Project. Once upon a time, Kirk was a horny twenty-something on the fast-track to command. He met a young physics student working for a physics PhD on one of Earth's many colonies while he was on leave. The two of them had a fling, but Carol never considered having a serious relationship with a man who was already married to Starfleet. As it turned out, Kirk knocked her up, so she ended up with a son along with a PhD. Kirk found out about it, and wanted to do the stereotypical "right thing" by marrying her, but Carol knew he'd resent having to give up his career to be a family man, so she turned him down. She was also a bit worried that her son would end up like his father, because while Kirk had his positive side, he was also very career-oriented, so she wanted him to stay away. Being the man he was, Kirk respected her decision, and stayed away. They occasionally wrote each other, but they never saw each other for over twenty years, when she started work on getting the Genesis Project approved and they happened to meet.

Doctor David Marcus: Senior Scientist, Genesis Project. David is every bit his father's son in that he tends to be very stubborn and tends to focus more on his career than on living life to the fullest. He also took after his mother in that he's bloody brilliant, having earned his BS and MS in physics simultaneously in 5 years, and his PhD only two years later. He tends to resent Starfleet and his father in particular, partly because of his mother's influence, and partly because he sees them as far too militaristic. If not for his very passionate emotion, he'd probably be perfectly on home on Vulcan. This makes it somewhat ironic when he finally met his father, though he can't get over how he feels about Starfleet and what his father has represented to him for basically all of his life. Of course he didn't know Kirk was his father until they happened to meet and his mother revealed this information to him. The thing David is most proud of is that Genesis is his idea, though he did have his mother's help. Poor kid probably dies a virgin, though, unless he and some science chick got together and did a little chemical reacting. His mother is actually pretty happy at the interest David and Saavik seem to have for each other. It's too bad he ended up killing himself, or he might have gotten in on that hot Vulcan action.

Khan Noonien Singh: Genetically engineered soldier/dictator left over from the inaccurately dubbed Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. His background is virtually identical to the original version of him, but as awesome as Ricardo Montalban was, I'd probably have a Mongolian portray Khan. Nothing else really to say about Khan, other than that his wife was from the 1990s along with the rest of his band of genetically engineered freaks, and that they managed to escape on their ship and crashed on Ceti Alpha V after drifting through space for a few years instead of being marooned there by Kirk. He was said to have been fairly reasonable and "kind" compared to the other genetically engineered dictators, which is why he spares Reliant's crew and is amenable to allowing Enterprise to escape rather than destroying it outright as he originally planned. He ended up killing the Regula I scientists because he was pissed.

 

[Captain X]

And that's pretty much all I have so far. Not really sure what direction to go since I wouldn't kill Spock.

 

[Bassoe]

Not really sure what direction to go since I wouldn't kill Spock.

Maybe rip off some of the unused concepts for Search For Spock and the Diane Duane novelverse with vulcan considering leaving the federation over the unprovoked creation of a superweapon?

 

[Captain X]

Not sure how one would create a movie out of that, though.

 

[Typhonis]

Pity you didn't keep David around for STIII. Apparently he and Saavik had an affair that led to her becoming pregnant. They mention it in the novelization where Saavik and David spend some time on Genesis getting to know each other better.

 

[Captain X]

Huh, guess I remember reading somewhere that she was supposed to be preggers from Spock, from having to help him out with his first pon farr.

I guess I wouldn't have to kill him, but it would kind of cheat the theme of the movie with the "no win scenario" and all. I just wouldn't repeat Spock's death only to have it undone in the next movie, which i felt kind of cheapened it and made it pointless.

 

[Bassoe]

Not sure how one would create a movie out of that, though.

Adapt Spock's World?

 

[Captain X]

I've kind of been mulling over the idea of how I would approach the idea of the "refit" Enterprise, and I'm curious what other people think of this problem. The problem I'm referring to is the "refit" that was done to the original Enterprise for TMP, which honestly I don't think can really be called that as, even in the dialog, they refer to it as effectively an entirely new ship, but then one can see this for themselves with just what is seen on screen. The reason for doing this was to make the ship and sets more visually interesting/updated for the big screen and the decade or so that had passed. However, in-universe, this amounts to a "refit" that effectively strips a ship down to perhaps a few structural members and entirely rebuilding a new ship over the top of them, while still pretending it's the same ship and referring to it as such.



So this kind of begs the question for a reboot concept like mine, which is how to approach something like this, especially since I happen to like both designs. I suppose the simplest thing would be to make a kind of "un-refit" version of the TMP design for the TOS reboot, with a TOS-style bridge superstructure, lower sensor dome, interconnecting hull, deflector dish, shuttlebay, impulse deck, nacelles and pylons on the TMP hull, which might actually look kind of interesting. And then when the refit took place for the TMP-era in the storyline, it would make a bit more sense visually.

The thing is, I've always scoffed at people who insisted the reason for the two different nuTrek versions of the ship is because the original design just wouldn't hold up for modern TVs/audiences, because I think all that would really have to be done is to add a higher amount of detail to the original design, as illustrated by Deg3D and Vektor.

Deg3D's design:


Vektor's design:


I'm actually more of a fan of Deg's take on it, but Vektor's isn't bad either.

In any case, when it comes to the movie-era refit, I would probably do something more along the lines of the Phase II design, except my version would more closely resemble the TMP design by using the bride superstructure, impulse deck, lower sensor dome, interconnecting hull (with its torpedo pod), deflector dish, shuttlebay, warp nacelles and pylons. I'd also add more structure to the outer rim of the saucer itself to give the ship a greater internal volume. This would look a bit tacked on, but would be more in line with it being a refit, IMO. The actual TMP design would then become a sub-class to be revealed later on, as Constitution-II or Improved Constitution class, which would be new ships that were actually designed and built that way from the keel-up.