# Federation Outsiders - Could It Work? tags: #thoughts #game/rpg/star-trek-adventures ![[Star Trek Adventures - Captains Log.jpg]] I must admit, I have the most terrible urge to do something that goes completely sideways right now. It's going to sound perverse. It's going to sound twisted. And it probably needs a little background. It's going to come as a bit of a shock that I am not a complete Star Trek nerd. I enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong. I'm old enough to have enjoyed quite a lot of early Star Trek. But it was never exactly my taste in terms of science fiction. I like my futures a little dirtier. I like my futures a little less socialist. I like my futures to actually integrate the technological advancements that the protagonists bring back. I'm kind of a nut. I get it. **Alien** and **Aliens**. **Outland**. **Event Horizon** (one of my favorite movies of all time, and I won't hear a word against it). These are a few of my favorite things. Give me dirty, gritty, blue collar, dirty jobs, weird intrigue stories set in space, and I am your huckleberry. That includes military as long as the military is mostly off on their own, doing the best job they can in a situation they are probably deeply out of their depth. (See: **[Space - Above and Beyond|Space: Above and Beyond](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppdXhlYc7X4&list=PLMD9ghErEvtxvdsWQIoWqN2kPbl6nLKv2)**) *Star Trek*, it's safe to say, avoids those kinds of themes like the plague. Every single one of them goes exactly to the opposite side of *Star Trek* and starts making noises. I spent my time in the science fiction mines, studiously avoiding Star Trek aside from some of the critical, really good bits, mostly from *TOS*, which shaped science fiction in general. But something happened on the way to the forum. What happened was *DS9*. *Deep Space Nine* brought to Trek a gravitas and a solidity that I didn't even know that I wanted in Trek and I had absolutely no hope of it gaining. But there it was, staring me right in the face. It took a while for me to get comfortable with the fact that I was a DS9 fan. Not the least reason being that I was really a *B5* fan, just because of general plot construction, their earnestness about being so on theme for the most part and a little bit about the more interesting technological situation they found themselves into. It was generally more consistent with its technology, and that means a lot to me. So fast forward another fistful of years, and I've made my peace with Trek. Not with all of Trek. *Voyager* is still absolute garbage. I refuse to let into my head. *Enterprise* is quite possibly my second favorite portion of the entire franchise, which I certainly didn't expect going in. But I respect the fact that they are attempting to build into an unknown space in a very real sense with characters who have real problems. *DS9* has all of the elements that could redeem Trek. Moral conflicts that circle around actual policies of the polities of the Federation. Threats, which could actually be threatening to both the space station and to the balance of power between major powers. It's fairly glorious genius. And every season it evolves just a little bit further and just a little bit better. I still didn't particularly want to *live* in the Federation. Too much self-sacrifice, too much deliberate averting of the eyes. What I really want to do is run a ship, ostensibly connected to Starfleet but in practice an independent power out in the really awkward portions of space, where the Federation rubs up against the Orion crime cartel or the Proto-Maqui. I want to fly the ship that can never really be acknowledged from an official basis, but has the ability to call on resources which have been left in place for just such contingencies. Sometimes to kill, sometimes to pull some of the loose strings of Section 31. And now I've picked up copies of both **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Sundered Isles]]** from **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]]** and **[[Star Trek Adventures#Captain's Log|Star Trek Adventures: Captain's Log]]**, both of which have strong support for solo play, for mechanics that allow for you to make things up as you go, and which have some mechanical architecture to come back to an almost traditional three act portrayal. I can justify a ship recognized by Starfleet, but still understood to be the liaison between all the deniable agents on the outside. Somewhere between carrying a letter of marque and being a pirate yourself. It would be deeply fascinating to be on the very fringe of Federation culture, almost testing it by the fact that they simply let me exist at all and acting as that which proves the lesson by existing and continuing to be useful to the pursuit of not only our personal interests, but the interests of the Federation. Section 31 could have an actual member on this ship, or at least an agent thereof, just to keep up with all the esoterica that comes with trying to understand history at that level. It's definitely something I'm thinking about. Putting together. Thoughts are dangerous things.