So, yesterday I dove right into the untold story of how the early 25th century story “The Last Generation” began. Today, I’ll be revealing the plot and showing off the never before seen timeline (it’s an interesting read if I do say so myself).
The Plot
Well, at this point in the development of the story I had devoted a lot of time to research on Memory Alpha, rewatching Q related episodes, and pretty digging around for anything I thought useful. Time consuming, yes, but like all stories it takes time. However, I had finally hit upon the plot idea; it involved Q, Q Junior, Amanda Rogers, Picard, Janeway, and a host of others, combining all the things I wanted together.
And the way this was justified, at least in my mind, was with the episode “The Q and the Grey”. For those of you that don’t remember, this is the episode where the Q were in the midst of a civil war, Q wanted to get his groove on with Janeway (YIKES!), have a half human/half Q child, and reunite the continuum. This is one of my favorite Q episodes because it makes a lot of really good references back to previous Q episodes (notably “Death Wish” another great Q episode and one of my favorites from VOY overall) and introduces the notion that the Q can be just as savage as humans can. I mean, a Q civil war sure doesn’t establish the company line that their “superior” in every way to the mortal species of the galaxy.
So, with the “Q and the Grey” as my example, I figured that with the Continuum debating heatedly over the fate of their former foes-to kill the U once again or allow to live, potentially inviting war-that things would eventually break down into war. Now, the Q, by virtue of them being omnipotent, war pretty hard core. To better explain myself, let’s go through the timeline (as written nearly a year ago) and get an indepth look at how this thing evolved.
Star Trek The Last Generation Timeline
June 15th, 2404: Admiral Janeway goes back in time to save her crew from 16 more years of traveling through the Delta Quadrant but presumably fails-Janeway is never seen or heard from again.
The Voyager family manages to keep the truth from their superiors and from the world at large; claims by Korath are ignored by both the Empire and Federation; his house remained dishonored. The effects of Janeway’s disappearance had far greater consequences outside of normal space time.
Janeway’s travel through time opened a breach in the space time continuum, momentarily allowing an extra dimensional species to reemerge in the timeline. This species was called the U-an early rival to the Q that was eliminated millions of years ago. The reemergence of the U cause the Q to consider what to do about them again-this leads to a very extended and heated debate in the Continuum.
(This was the first domino to fall. Janeway goes back in time, doesn’t seem to effect the timeline at all, and her transgressions are hidden by the Voyager family, as they would no doubt do. Korath-what a friendly fellow-claims Janeway did a lot of bad things, but he gets ignored; the VOY family has a lot of pull in both the Federation and the Klingon Empire, so he gets blacklisted essentially. The big bit here is Janeway’s time travel reintroducing the U back into the timeline which is really going to mess things up for everyone in the future.)
July 7th, 2404: Tuvok, former chief of security for Voyager, dies in his sleep. Distraught at the loss of his captain and weakened from his illness, Tuvok loses his grip on life. He is buried with full Starfleet honors and lies with his fellow Voyager crewmate, Chakotay, on Earth-this was his last wish, to be buried with the family he had in the Delta Quadrant, the Voyager crew. His family on Vulcan understands and honors his request.
Starfleet’s investigation into Admiral Janeway’s disappearance yields no results, and further investigation is recommended-however, it never comes to pass. Chief of Starfleet Intelligence, Admiral William T. Riker, quietly buries the investigation after the situation is explained to him by Reginald Barclay.
(This was tough for me to do, as I like Tuvok a lot-and in fact I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like him-but it had to be done. He loses his best friend, his captain, and a trusted companion in Janeway when she goes back in time; that kind of loss combined with his illness was bound to send him to the grave. Now, I did think hard about whether to bury him on Vulcan or Earth, but as seeing he spent so long in this timeline with the Voyager crew and the fact that in the episode he was being treated on Earth as opposed to Vulcan, I figured his family had moved on without him in the 23 years he was missing in the Delta Quadrant. As much as this saddened me too-Tuvok’s family was often overlooked in Voyager-it made sense that he’d grown closer to the people on board the ship than his own flesh and blood. Burying him by Chakotay was a natural choice; the relationship between those two was often as professional as it was subtle, but the respect the men had for one another was profound after 7 years. Imagine how large it was after 23.
Of course Starfleet was going to investigate this further but the investigation was shut down by Admiral William T. Riker of Starfleet Intelligence. In a move very much like what happened with the Pegasus investigation, Riker uses his considerable influence to make sure Janeway’s disappearance is never fully looked into. Reg Barclay, being another TNG/VOY connection, play an big part in that too. Reg, in some respects, was more a member of the VOY family than the TNG one, but he still has pull with both. This was the first of the TNG/VOY connections that would be referenced in the timeline.)
July 20th, 2404: The Q Continuum continues to struggle over the U situation, with the Continuum split down the middle on the issue. Amanda Rogers leads the Q who wish to accept the U into the Continuum while the being known only as Q to Starfleet leads the Q who believe the U should be exterminated once again. The debate rages.
(Pretty much how it always happens, even today; two sides with differing views on an issue draw the battle lines and begin to dig in for the long haul. The leader of the Q who want to accept the U into the Continuum, Amanda Rogers, is naturally sympathetic to the U’s previous fate. Her parents were killed by the Continuum and she grew up as a human; she has human sensibilities. Of course, Q himself would rather be rid of the U once again, but he can’t convince everyone. The wounds of the Q Civil War are still very much raw, even now, and there are still those that would rather see Q gone than the U.)
August 11th, 2404: Ensign Miral Paris is severely wounded in an attempt on her life by the House of Korath. She is transported back to Earth by the USS Rhode Island and Captain Harry Kim, where the Doctor, now known as Joe, treats her. Miral recovers from the attack but loses the use of her legs.
In a landmark procedure, Miral undergoes spinal replacement with the Genitronic Replicator, which only years earlier had been approved for live testing. The Genitronic Replicator was previously used decades earlier in a similar procedure on Worf. The surgery is an astounding success and Miral recovers fully; the Genitronic Replicator becomes standard medical equipment onboard all Federation ships, outposts, stations, and colonies within the next five years.
(This was a nod back to “Endgame” and an even further nod back to the TNG episode “Ethics” which featured the really cool, never seen again, med tech; the genitronic replicator. It was probably never seen again due to the fact that it would end up taking a lot of drama out of moments where big characters were going to die due to failing organs. It was a plot device, really, and probably would not ever appear in proper Trek again; but I’m anything but proper in my Trek, so I wanted it back. I naturally chose Miral Paris as the subject and things worked wonderfully for her. The genitronic replicator would become standard tech on all Federation ships a few yeas later and ultimately, far down the line in the story, would be used to save someone. This was more a note to myself than an actual plot specific point in the timeline.)
August 13th, 2404: Amanda Rogers and her contingent of Q join with the U after failed talks again with the opposition. The U, possessing similar powers to the Q, now outnumber the Q who wish to eliminate them with Amanda Rogers’ followers; a war begins.
(And so the other shoe drops. Amanda Rogers and her Q defect to join the U. Now the combined forces wage war with Q’s forces and all hell breaks loose. This seemed liked the natural progression of things with Amanda in charge of the opposition here; as someone with human sensibilities, I doubted debating for years on end what to do about the U really suited her. As we saw in her episode, when this girl wants something, she often goes and gets it; I figured in this case if she wanted the U to be accepted into the Continuum she would force the issue.)
September 1st, 2404: Federation Outpost Gamma Hydra 269 records a massive space time disturbance near the remnants of Praxis. This marks the first of dozens of space time disturbances all across the galaxy recorded in the month of September.
The USS Rhode Island is dispatched to gather data and analyze the disturbances, but contact is lost with it mid mission. Starfleet dispatches a search and rescue but finds only debris; Harry Kim and his crew are declared lost by Starfleet.
(The outpost’s name is not chosen arbitrarily; it actually was in another story of mine, the AU series Star Trek Paths Not Taken: From The Ashes and it was chosen simply as a nice reference to a past work. The spacial time disturbances were, you guessed, manifestations of the battles the Q were having in their little war. Harry Kim’s ship gets sent into the mix and is sadly lost; I never determined whether he was alive or dead, but I figure with my propensity to plant story ideas everywhere in my stuff, he was alive somewhere, sometime. Still, he’s thought of as dead in his timeline and yet another Voyager family member bites the dust.)
October 8th, 2404: The opposition Q lose to the combined Rogers and U forces and are banished from the Continuum, powerless, reduced to human form. Most of the powerless Q are slaughtered, leaving only a 100 alive, among these the Q known to Starfleet and Junior. Q is left with his Q knowledge intact, unlike the others. This is a gift from Amanda to him, in order to help provide the Q colony with a chance to survive.
(The U and Amanda Rogers Q forces win against our favorite Q; his forces are mostly killed, 100 of them are left alive at the behest of Amanda Rogers, they are made human, and stuck on some planet to rot. Amanda Rogers didn’t want it to end like this so she gave our favorite Q all his Q knowledge as a gift, to help the now mortal, confused, and human Q colony survive. Talk about a serious downgrade; once omnipotent beings now a nearly extinct species.)
October 22nd, 2404: The space time disturbances have not reoccurred for weeks and the Federation declares the threat over, but the cause is unknown.
Back in the Continuum, the U betray their Q followers and eliminate them all-except Amanda Rogers. Rogers is taken by the U leader and is offered a choice; breed with him to create a Q/U hybrid child or watch as the last of the Q-those reduced to human form-are killed.
Rogers, realizing her mistake, agrees to the terms. A hybrid child is produced for the first time in history between the U and Q. Rogers then asks to be made human and placed with her fellow Q, wanting nothing to do with the child or the U-her request is granted.
(Things get pretty nasty from this point on. Amanda Rogers gets her Q followers killed as the U, very much like our favorite Q has been saying, are heartless, ruthless, SOBs. They betray her, force her to breed with their leader, and then make her bear the burden of being the mother of a Q/U hybrid child which, by the way, is likely going to one hell of a superpowerful being. I was setting up the playing board for big things here. All this betrayal, breeding, death, ect had a lot of Roman flavor to it; I believe I was reading a book about them around this time which influenced some of this. At any rate, she asks to become human, her request is granted since she’s the mother of the new “God” child and she joins up with the last of the Q. Can someone say awkward?)
November 7th, 2404: The U, having taken time to survey the Milky Way Galaxy, find that being all powerful is boring. They agree to make themselves mortal, with lifespans going no longer than 1000 years. They give themselves advanced technology and vow to conquer the galaxy, as they did millions of years before in other galaxies.
They start deep in Romulan territory and begin their domination.
(This is where the big differences in the U and Q begin to show. Whereas the Q were quite content to be omnipotent and be unchallenged, the U were not. They got bored and frankly, can you blame them? They eliminated their enemies, left a few alive just to suffer a mortal existence, and pretty much dominated. They had their hybrid child which would undoubtedly cement their place in the universe as all powerful…but where was the thrill? Where was the competition?
So, they decided to make themselves mortal with very generous advantages. Long, long lifespans, great tech, and finally someone to kick around again. Picking on the Romulans was easy as they were virtual the weakest of the major powers in the Alpha/Beta Quadrants thanks to the Romulus exploding. Poor Romulans.)
December 23rd, 2404: The Federation is asked for aid by the Romulans against the U, whom now call themselves the Unar. The Federation council enters into heated debate on the subject, a potential deadlock looming.
Meanwhile, at the Q colony, Amanda Rogers and the being known to Starfleet as Q, begin to formulate a plan to regain their powers and take back the Continuum. Junior begins to court Amanda Rogers, despite the elder Q’s dislike for the budding relationship.
(The U become the Unar-again, not exactly original but I liked it well enough-and they start owning the Romulans. The Fed Council debates what to do about it and as usual with politics, things get deadlocked. The big development here is the plan between the elder Q and Amanda Rogers to get their powers back; also Junior courting Amanda Rogers is huge. These two things go hand and hand.)
January 12th, 2405: The Federation Council agrees to help the Romulans and in response the Klingon Empire ceases all diplomatic ties with the Federation, being strictly against the Romulans in all forms.
Starfleet sends a fleet of ships deep into Romulan territory to stop the Unar.
(The Federation steps up and predictably the Klingons don’t like it. As seen in “Endgame” and “All Good Things” the Klingons and Feds don’t get along very well in the early 25th century and though things aren’t bad enough for war, things are certainly cold. The Federation’s act of mercy towards the Romulans isn’t a wholly selfless one; afterall, if the Romulans fall, the Unar will come for them next likely.)
February 5th, 2405: Amanda Rogers and Junior marry, both realizing that their time is now quite possible short as humans. Junior’s father, Q, disapproves of the marriage but realizes the benefits far outweigh the risks. Q has a plan.
(Junior and Amanda Rogers get married and though it’s hard to imagine that cocksure Junior settling down, I figured that since Voyager was trapped in the Delta Quadrant for so long Junior spent a lot of time with Aunt Kathy, otherwise known as Janeway, and he learned some life lessons. Though not nearly as human as Amanda Rogers in terms of sensibilities he certainly had some human sensibilities by this time; he wasn’t such a bad guy actually. The Elder Q though…he’s kinda a bad guy here. The marriage he wasn’t a huge fan of but he wanted what naturally comes with the marriage, a child; Amanda Rogers also played a part in this little plan but the feelings she developed for Junior she did not plan for. The two of them actually loved one another, surprisingly.)
March 20th, 2405: Starfleet reports to the Federation Council that the war does not go well; over the first month Ally losses outnumber enemy losses 2 to 1. Starfleet Command recommends deployment of all available vessels to Federation borders and withdrawal of Starfleet vessels from Romulan space-they believe the war is lost there.
The stunned council agrees and the Romulans are advised to retreat as well. The Romulans flatly refuse.
Impressed with the Romulans refusal to retreat and fight a losing battle, the Klingon Empire sends their forces against the Unar. In a move motivated by mutual survival, the Klingons hope the combination of their forces and the Romulans can stave off the Unar.
The Federation refuses to join; instead it fortifies its own borders. The March of the Unar continue.
(The Federation withdraws from the Romulan front, citing concerns about itself. The Federation at this point in time is pretty much conceding defeat in the battle for the Romulan worlds. Shocking? Not really. It’s war, it’s made up of tough decisions, and the Federation will not sacrifice it’s own position to aid another. The Klingons however relish losing battles; they love to fight against all odds and seeing the Federation withdraw and the Romulans fight on, well I bet it warmed their hearts. I think they have multiple ones if I remember correctly.)
March 23rd, 2405: Amanda discovers she is pregnant. Q, though disgusted with the act of human mating, is pleased-all going according to plan.
(Elder Q, not a huge fan of human anything, is liking the thought of a grandson. Not for the fact he’ll have one but because it’s “all part of the plan.” He’s a devious being, isn’t he?)
July 27th, 2405: The combined Romulan and Klingon fleets are defeated and the Unar gain control of their territories.
The Federation resigns itself that the Unar are coming and prepare for the oncoming war.
(Things are about to get bad for the Fed. Not only are the Unar coming but they’re best fighting buddies, the Klingons, are down for the count. Without the Klingons in the Dominion War things would have ended up much differently; here it’s just the Federation against the Unar and the odds are not looking good.)
August 7th, 2405: The Unar enter into Federation space for the first time, destroying a fleet of over 100 ships in the process.
(Are the Unar really that deadly? Uh…yes.)
September 19th, 2405: Admiral William T. Riker is killed in action, along with his wife Deanna and former Ambassador to the Klingon Empire, Worf, aboard the USS Worthington.
Former Captain Jean Luc Picard suffers a massive heart attack upon hearing the news and is immediately transported to Starfleet Medical. Picard enters into a coma.
(And here we have our first mention of Jean Luc Picard; when he hears that Riker, Troi, and Worf are all dead the poor guy just can’t take it; at this point in his advanced years I figured his health would be rather sensitive and distressing news like this would not sit well with him.)
October 13th, 2405: Captain Geordi Laforge and the USS Challenger are lost at the Battle of Andor. Earth, Vulcan, and Tellar Prime remain as the last Federation worlds.
(This is a reference to “Timeless” which showed Geordi being captain of a the Galaxy class starship, the USS Challenger. The Andorians and he both go down fighting; true, this doesn’t exactly fit in with what we saw in “All Good Things” as Geordi was a writer in that one, but I figured he reactivated his commission for the war; Starfleet was going to need all the help it could get.)
December 10th, 2405: Vulcan falls to the Unar; half the Vulcan population is wiped out and over 1/3 of the plant’s surface is rendered uninhabitable.
At the Q colony, Amanda goes into labor early; the baby is delivered at 9:12 PM successfully. Amanda, however, suffers from internal bleeding. Despite medical intervention, she dies.
Junior is devastated and refuses to hold the child. He leaves the colony and doesn’t return for days.
In the meantime, Junior’s father Q cares for the baby; the child is a boy.
(Vulcan goes down pretty hard and Amanda Rogers dies during child birth; both sad events but both are actually references to Star Trek 2009, as in the JJverse Vulcan gets destroyed and an Amanda dies. Here Vulcan gets really hurt, not destroyed as that would be overkill, and someone named Amanda does in fact die.
This kinda hurt for me killing Amanda Rogers as I’d kinda grown to like her by this point. Her and Q Junior just seemed like a natural fit for one another in my mind. Her death sends Junior into a tailspin, one he won’t recover from for many years. Meanwhile, Elder Q takes over as the caretaker of the child. I wasn’t sure whether he had any role in the death of Amanda Rogers just to propagate his plan and frankly I wouldn’t put it past him; my feeling is that he didn’t kill her.)
January 23rd, 2406: Tellar Prime falls to the Unar and Earth is now the last Federation world standing.
(The Tellarites go down and now Earth is all that’s left. It’s a bloody mess on Tellar Prime though; the folks there made the Unar go through hell to get that planet.)
January 25th, 2406: Weeks of debate have resulted in a compromise; the new child will be named Quincy, honoring his human and Q heritage, despite Q’s insistence to simply name the child Q. Junior is somewhat recovered from Amanda’s death, but is depressed almost constantly, lying in bed for days at a time.
The care of the child falls to Q in Junior’s absence.
(And so the new child is named Quincy and Q pretty much becomes the de facto father in place of Junior who is the most depressed individual in the galaxy at his point. He really, really loved Amanda, so much so that I think it was his only love; to lose that, especially during what is supposed to be a happy occasion-the birth of a child-must have been crushing in ways I’ll never guess. Amanda’s death has long term implications for Junior, Q, and Quincy.)
February 2nd, 2406: Earth is taken over by the Unar; Jean Luc Picard recovers from his coma and is moved back to his home in France, under the care of Beverly Crusher. He is saddened and angered by the news of what happened in his absence.
The Unar demand complete and utter obedience to them; many on Earth refuse. In a show of strength, the Unar level the moon, killing all life on it. If complete obedience is not given, they will kill more innocents; Earth agrees to the terms.
The Aftermath: Jean Luc and Beverly are largely left alone by the Unar, and visits by old friends are uncommon. They become isolationists and live together for the remainder of Beverly’s life until her passing in June of 2413. Jean Luc grows cold and distrustful of others after Beverly’s death. He uses the significant time he has to start a vineyard at his home. His life has now come full circle.
The Unar impose significant rules and laws on all they rule, banning interstellar travel faster than warp three. All vessels are stripped of advanced armaments and the Unar rule with an iron fist. Rebellions and revolutions are attempted, but ultimately are futile.
The Q colony remains largely unnoticed by the galaxy and Amanda’s child, Quincy, is raised with the knowledge of the Q at his finger tips. Junior is an absent father for child’s early years, still reeling from the loss of Amanda. He does not hug his son until 2015; the moment is emotional for both of them.
Q teaches the boy all he can, as the knowledge of the Continuum still remains with him. Junior and Q both realize that the best chance to defeat the Unar is with the child.
WHEW. And that’s the timeline, with all the explanation and plot details abound in it.
Tomorrow, the conclusion of the untold story of “The Last Generation” and the reveal of the only chapter I wrote for it before the idea sadly got red shirted.