Star Trek: Return Quest [Recruitment and Discussion]

[Republican_Man]

If it's possible, folks, I would like to try to end the Nautolian battle tonight and get us into the other galaxy for tomorrow. If it carries over to tomorrow, that's fine, but I would like to see us move on ASAP. Just so everyone knows.

[Spellbinder Marik]

Sorry about me. I'm still not used to playing a tactical officer. In any RPG i've ever been in I've been an Engineer or a Friehter Pilot. I will endevour to try harder in the future.

[Republican_Man]

Oh, no, you're doing alright. I wasn't addressing anyone in particular - this was a general pronouncement. Don't worry about it. You're doing alright for your first time in that position

[Republican_Man]

Okay, folks. I got an idea and I was wondering what you thought about it, because it's a testy one considering history with DSG, yet with the Nautolian War ending, I'd really like to keep some Nautolian component lying around to work with.

I was thinking about the starfighers and how it would be logical to have one or two Nautolian starfighters come out through the wormhole following the Eagle Star, and I was thinking about what to do with them. I've got a few ideas:

1. We destroy it/them.

2. Two fighters come through and stay together, eventually popping up having allied with others before or something to be worked out later.

3. The more controversial idea: The one or two Nautolians, realizing that they're alone as well, decide to join the Eagle Star. Like, not as Starfleet members, necessarily, but as associates or something like that. This would give tension between everyone and stuff, considering the war and all, but in their agreement Reiman could stipulate that the Nautolians not use their powers except when necessary and stuff like that.

Given none of this is very solid yet, but nonetheless, what do you all think?

[Lord Borg]

Have to say no. We're finally getting past this in DSG, and have the chance for something new here in RQ. I don't think we need to repete stuff from DSG needesly. (To ideas two and three) part one, sure, so long as we destroy them.

[Republican_Man]

I figured you'd say no, being as racist against Nautolians as you are

[La Forge]

I say the Nautolians should be destroyed.

[Republican_Man]

And I'm guessing that'd be the general consensus.

Originally when I developed these thoughts and sent my initial PMs to Founder I didn't even think of the second option; however, I thought a middle road might be good. I really want to have something with the Nautolians happen again, since the war's ending in DSG, and so I thought, "Why not not have them destroyed, but have them around still to appear in a few episodes in the future?", hence the second option, what I would call a middle ground. It wouldn't happen until later, but I think it could lead to some interesting things.

Is there anything that might get any of you to accept the second option?

[Founder]

Well, first of all, if they do "survive", it should not be two of them. What reason is there for that many? At the most, it should be one. It doesn't make sense to have another and it would simply be another character we're dragging around.

Second of all, if this Nautolian did somehow survive, his...supression should be a little more then "Reiman told him to do it". To me, that makes no sense. The Nautolian has no reason to obey Reiman, even if it's to save his life. We've proved the Nautolians are fanatical for Fito. It doesn't seem plausible that he'd suddenly be nice to save his own neck when he could murder a few more Starfleet officers in Fito's name. Another thing we have to consider if that this is the beginning of the war, way before support began to lax because of the many failures. So, Nautolian fanatiscm is at an all time high, thus reinforcing what I just said. The only way I'd support it is if he lost his powers completely. The whole force choke, mind trick, force push, etc got old fast when Fito was a Starfleet officer. I had allowed it with Fito under the condition that it weakened him after doing one thing. That weakness rarely came, usually after I sent a PM about how that seems to be "forgotten" a lot.

Reasons that he lost his abilities:

1) The wormhole had an adverse affect on the Nautolian biology and caused him to lose his evolutionary abilities

2) It's forcibly removed by the crew of Eagle Star through medical technobabble.

3) He loses it when we find the ship in the temple(or wherever RM chooses the ship to be located). There could be some kind of safeguard against telepathic species and the technology somehow tears his abilities away from him.

Third, and finally, absolutely no lightsaber. None.

The reason I do think this idea is kind of interesting is because we can actually learn something about Nautolians. Earlier on, RM was lamenting that a lot of their culture was not touched upon, save for some stuff by Fito and half of that was lies anyways to get him off the station. It might be interesting to see the viewpoint of a Nautolian during Fito's reign. Maybe not all Nautolian's worshipped him as a God? Maybe some went along with it because if they didn't, it meant scorn, exile, or death. It'd be analogous to the Nazi youth somewhat. This Nautolian simply could have been a young officer that got mixed up with the wrong politics. Fito didn't necessarily say that he was evil to the public. He said that he wanted to fight against the Federation, which was corrupt, and the Romulans that murdered many of them during the wars. It could be cool to see this Nautolian grow, rather then just be another cardboard cut out bad guy.

Also, I think if we DO make it back to the Alpha quadrant, it'll be cool to see the hugh anti-Nautolian sentiment. Meanwhile, our crew no longer feels it because we're friends with this new Nautolian. It was a missed oppurtunity on VOY with the Maquis.

Anywho, that's my opinion.

[La Forge]

When I originally saw Option #3, I immediately thought VOY. However, upon reading Founder's statement and remembering the numerous (and I mean NUMEROUS) missed opportunities in which VOY could have shown the animosity and the bonding between the Starfleet and Maquis crews, I've come to think Option #3 may be a good idea, after all.

So, I'll chip in my vote for 3...if it is done the way Founder suggested (which makes sense, IMO).

[Lord Borg]

No powers, no saber. Maybe it would work. One sounds better (Or two, but we kill one).

Again, like Andy said, the say so sounds weird.

[Republican_Man]

I was thinking about stripping the powers, but I'd rather kill 'em off than don't have both, which basically strips the Nautolians of who they are almost entirely, IMO. I'll think about it, but I like the idea of the 2nd one. I don't know. I'll need to think about this.

[Founder]

A Nautolian is nothing without his power? I made Vaj Tesk semi-interesting and I didn't break out his powers...

Personally, I don't see any reason they "need" their powers. It's border lining God modding and it's overused. I just don't see why we can't explore everything I just said. His powers aren't needed for that.

[Republican_Man]

Well, as I just said, I was thinking about stripping them of their powers. But I think either that or the lightsaber is necessary for them.

[Founder]

Why? That is what I don't understand. Why is that necessary?

[La Forge]

Ummmmm...

Why...uhhh...Why is a lightsaber (or as I like to call it, to stay away from SW, light sword )...necessary...for...uhhh...the Nautolians to develop? I mean...Without their powers and lightsaber, you'd actually get to see the Nautolians for what they are. Behind the mask, if you will.

[Founder]

I agree 100% with LF. Well said, indeed.

[Republican_Man]

What about this idea? I've done some thinking and I thought this would be cool - and, perhaps, a nifty compromise for both sides, as well as ideas two and three.

My idea: The wormhole has some sort of anomalous effect on Nautolians that tears away their powers, and two Nautolian starfighters enter the system just before the wormhole is destroyed; both are damaged as a result. So these two Nautolian fighters, each with one Nautolian in them, contact each other and eventually agree to work with the Eagle Star - but only one of them is really doing it truly willingly, this one being like one of the Nazi youth propagandized into the group when he otherwise wouldn't have. The other, however, only did it out of necessity and is a true loyal supporter of Fito.

Anyways, Nautolians always have their lightsabers with them, whether they be in fighters or not, so it would be odd for them not to have theirs. However, with their loss in powers they can't use them so well, and when they sign on to he Eagle Star, Reiman confiscates them and has them hidden away.

Anyways, so things start out fine, even after they get on the new ship, and, wherever the sabers are put, they're brought onto the new ship with it. Later on, however, when the time seems expedient, the loyal Nautolian confronts the youth about leaving and trying to make it on their own. That Nautolian, however, disagrees, preferring to stay with the Eagle Star crew, even without the ability to use the weapons his people hold so dear.

So the one Nautolian leaves without the other - with both lightsabers. The other goes and warns the Captain of this treachery, not willing to fight him himself, for he would lose, powers or no powers. The crew tries to stop him from leaving, but he manages to escape just in time, to come back another day.

What I'm picturing is this: We have one Nautolian who stays with us, works with us, and gives us the experience you're all talking about. However, we have another who's kind-of like Seska, one who signs on with an Eagle Star enemy and gets connected with higher-ups in that race. He'd appear in two or three episodes in the future, dying in the end. The Nautolian lightsabers would thusly be lost in this exchange, and the remaining Nautolian - a more loyal and open-minded Eagle Star crewmember - is thusly torn away from any possibility of using his powers or a lightsaber forever after in this galaxy.

So you have the best of both worlds. You have a treacherous Nautolian unwilling to cooperate fully with the Federation ship who leaves for his own personal gains and the other who's intriguing, a youth, all that kind of stuff you were talking about. The former has the lightsabers and uses them in the two or three episodes he appears in, but that's pretty much it. When he dies, the lightsabers stay away with him and the other Nautolian remains on the crew.

I really like that idea. Is that an acceptable compromise for you all? I think it'd be cool and fair to both me and you all. Plus, since it is my RPG, it would make me satisfied

[La Forge]

I like it.

[Republican_Man]

[Founder]

I'll sign off on your "compromise" if you explain why the Nautolian has to have a lightsaber.

You know, I would have been fine with telekenetic powers and even a version of a lightsaber. Kind of like how the Ferengi (at least in TNG/ENT) had like those light saber whips. The technology is definitly available in the ST universe. The problem was you didn't really work too well to make them...different. That's why everyone is...wary of the idea of furthering SW stuff. The problem is that it's not different. We all love SW, but we don't want it so blindly mixed in with Trek. The Nautolians were supposed to be different from SW, but they've become Sith lite. That's it.

I worked to explain the "force lightening" by saying they evolved from eel like creatures and have the ability to emit electrical pulses or the telekentic powers are simply heightened mental abilities like Vulcans and Betazoids have. Personally, I think I put more effort in making the Nautolians distant from their Sith counterparts in the other universe. There was no way I could explain the Jedi Mind Trick. None whatsoever. It wasn't possible and something I had to reluctantly accept.

I think the reason that people are grateful that the Nautolian War is coming to a close is not only because the war has been kind of dragged out and just...there, but because it signals an end to SW in DSG. If you put more effort into making the Nautolians unSW-like, I think they would have been well recieved. The fact that you're pushing the lightsaber and refusing to have the Nautolians without lightsabers or Force powers causes people to remember the whole debacle with the Nautolian War and the general increase of SW. Now, we feel that they've been so SWified that they can't even exist without a semblance of Jedi/Sith influences and which is why we're just like "get rid of them entirely." I mean, it saddens me because the Nautolians are interesting, but it'd be nice to see them without thinking "sith". You kind of did that with that good Nautolian character on DSG, but not enough.

Like I said, my main gripe is that we don't want to relive the stuff we did with season II of DSG. I'm not saying the Nautolian War sucked, because I thought it made a cool mini-war and will definitly help me with the Federation Civil War that is coming. However, I just don't want to have another DSG/SW mix part II in this RPG. I've had enough of that and want to take a step back from it.

I'd like the Nautolians to at the very least not have SW induced names and not have such a heavy SW influence. I'd like to look at them as ST aliens created for DSG, not aliens that fell into the wrong galaxy, you know?

Although your explanation of why there are two Nautolians makes more sense. I like the idea of two of them, both conflicting in their idealogies. It'll also be cool to have a bad guy in our midst.

Your RPG takes place in my universe.

[Republican_Man]

[Republican_Man]

Can I get my post done before more activity happens on the bridge? Just teasing.

I'm working on my post right now.

[La Forge]

Here's an idea...

The ship enters an anomaly which for some reason, makes it seem as if the crew's loved ones are onboard. This could be development for everyone, as they could have a "last chance" to say goodbye, almost, even if it is just a weird anomaly, and their loved ones are only weird apparitions. Or perhaps an alien species observing them through their memories. For Sakura, she could meet her dead fiance and parents. It could be different for the others.

[Republican_Man]

Hmm, that's certainly an interesting thought. I'll definitely consider having an episode surrounding something of that sort.

What does everyone else think?