Exploration Part I

I did a post on general stuff that can be used for exploration. But what about specifics? Well, I narrowed it down to a few ideas. This is Part I of a 3-part series I'm doing in regards to the previous post.

The Preservers

The obelisk in TOS

The obelisk in-game

Spock being fascinated

My CPT...also being fascinated

Since The Preservers are already in game I figured that would be a good place to start. Reason being: they kept information on every possible topic. The game's take revolves around star charts and whatnot. One of them even becomes a trophy later. Anyhow, if we know of a civilization that has such advanced stellar cartography (much of which would still be relevant, despite physics), why wouldn't we study them an use some of them to help our process of exploring the galaxy?

Okay, I know the game timeline says the Deferi take over study and whatnot. But they also owe us a huge favor for saving their planet from the Breen and the Borg. So humor me for a moment.

So once we finish the Breen story, we could have an optional mission that involves returning to the obelisk. We would go back in, find a console (kinda like this one), and it would prompt us to go find a location somewhere out there. These locations would just be reused patrol planets, or just one big one with a lot to do:

Looks like a geological instability

Mmmm...Raw minerals.

When coming across variations in land, we could potentially mine them. Gasses, minerals, crystals, and whatever raw materials we need could literally be taken from the planets we visit. Yes, I know we still have the traditional mini-game. And I'm not saying it should be removed. I'm just thinking random floating particles never really made sense. Why not use the same mini-game and rewards on an actual piece of land? It would make more sense, and presumably, the rewards would match the formation they are attached to.

  

Another planet (or, perhaps, the same one) can have a cave system to study. There is so much potential in the caves of Risa that I'm using them as the example here.

What else can we do? Well, there isn't much emphasis on native flora in this game, so we could identify similar known flora on other planets, and isolate their main chemicals. Once that's done it can be determined if these plants are suitable for conversion to hypo meds, bio-fuels, or simple medical supplies.

I admit, I'd like to see a mention of hallucinogenic fungi for the simple fact that it would tie in to the ENT episode Strange New World. If nothing else, CPT Archer deserves a nod for his curiosity. In the process of examining it, we would come to the same conclusions as Dr. Phlox. That is, that not all of the native plant species are safe for consumption or use by humanoids.

The possibilities...

There is also a possibility of adding in a cave-dwelling species somewhere among the tunnels. There have been a few in Trek canon, and some similar species would be a welcome addition. It would be something along the lines of the beginning of Insurrection, but without the Asimovian undertones. We're on a planet studying it, its ecosystem, and its sentient species (the cave dwellers). They would look primitive because of their choice not to use technology, but we would find out later that they were descendants of a technological society that destroyed itself, or something similar. Hell, they wouldn't even have to live in the caves full-time. They could just have a city or temple hidden within the caves. Think Petra combined with the colony on Tau Cygna V.

These natives should have some sort of interactions...something simple like a ritual we can be a part of. I'm not thinking like the bullshit CPT Archer did to make amends for Porthos' pee (I'm pretty sure Scott Bakula resented having to, given how he played it). I would, however, be a bit more than CPT Picard's daily tea ritual. Something with a bonfire, in the woods, and people in traditional tribal garments. Our duties would involve gathering needed supplies, hunting animals for food, using a phaser to light the fire, or even building the mound the fire will be lit on (or all of the above?). A ritual challenge could work, too. A fight with their best warrior, a timed hunt for loot and quest items, or a footrace with their most accomplished runner. Then in the end, our character will be shown kneeling before the leader and triggering a cut scene of him telling us how great we are, and following it with an epic warrior's feast, complete with live music and scantily-clad women. That would be pretty awesome.

Anyway, we make first contact, earn some diplomacy xp, and some expertise. If the feast thing goes through, maybe we could have a unique consumable food, bound to character and whatnot. 

So we do all this stuff, we come back to the Preserver, and we get some dialogue about...their legacy living on through other species? I think it should eventually be pointed out that a shard of a piece of a star chart is on display at the Captain's Table. Well, maybe not really. Looks enough like it, though.

That's Part I. Part II is coming soon...