Post by patrickr on Jul 14, 2017 3:00:06 GMT -7
Here's an idea I've had for a while now.
The Federation encounters an alliance of different alien races that on the surface appear to be much like the Federation and its ideals, as it's a prosperous, egalitarian society that promotes personal growth and freedom, except that once they start diplomatic relationships The Order demands total submission from the Federation, because in their eyes the Order is the superior system and must be preserved at all costs and to demonstrate several Order members kill themselves without even a second thought. They warn the Federation that they have one year to convert voluntarily to the Order or suffer the consequences. Upon studying their history the Order has used this method to either incorporate new members without a fight, while those that resisted were attacked with every means possible, including massive terror campaigns and the systematic destruction of entire worlds until the cost was too high to continue resisting.
The Order offers their people the chance to live a full life without need, and to achieve whatever they set their minds to, the only requirement is total obedience to the Order and its ideals to the point of sacrificing your own life to further the goals of the Order.
They are willing to use every possible method to win a conflict, not because they want to destroy their enemy they simply want to show that a system like the Federation is inherently weaker than the Order because it is unwilling to use the proper methods that would force any rational enemy to consider that the benefits far outweigh the consequences of a refusal.
The real conundrum here is that it's not a classic Trek foe like the Borg who take your personality away, it's a more insidious problem, is it right to live much in the same way you did under the Federation, but with the difference that in the end you can be sacrificed to make a simple diplomatic point ? A system where freedom can only exist through extreme fanaticism and mandatory devotion to the system.
The Federation encounters an alliance of different alien races that on the surface appear to be much like the Federation and its ideals, as it's a prosperous, egalitarian society that promotes personal growth and freedom, except that once they start diplomatic relationships The Order demands total submission from the Federation, because in their eyes the Order is the superior system and must be preserved at all costs and to demonstrate several Order members kill themselves without even a second thought. They warn the Federation that they have one year to convert voluntarily to the Order or suffer the consequences. Upon studying their history the Order has used this method to either incorporate new members without a fight, while those that resisted were attacked with every means possible, including massive terror campaigns and the systematic destruction of entire worlds until the cost was too high to continue resisting.
The Order offers their people the chance to live a full life without need, and to achieve whatever they set their minds to, the only requirement is total obedience to the Order and its ideals to the point of sacrificing your own life to further the goals of the Order.
They are willing to use every possible method to win a conflict, not because they want to destroy their enemy they simply want to show that a system like the Federation is inherently weaker than the Order because it is unwilling to use the proper methods that would force any rational enemy to consider that the benefits far outweigh the consequences of a refusal.
The real conundrum here is that it's not a classic Trek foe like the Borg who take your personality away, it's a more insidious problem, is it right to live much in the same way you did under the Federation, but with the difference that in the end you can be sacrificed to make a simple diplomatic point ? A system where freedom can only exist through extreme fanaticism and mandatory devotion to the system.