FULL INTRODUCTION
What It’s About
Star Trek: Foundations is essentially a reimagination of the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. Set in approximately the same time period, starting in 2152, Foundations explores humanity's first steps into deep space. To accomplish this, the United Earth Space Probe Agency constructed its first ship capable of traveling faster than warp factor 5, the UES Enterprise, EX-01.
So, as you can see, it’s essentially the same premise as Star Trek: Enterprise, but rather than focusing on technology saving the day, or conflict, Foundations focuses on the characters, and how the time they live in effects their lives. For instance, on the subject of technology, the transporter of later eras is a completely foreign concept to humanity, and they will be stunned at its use by species that possess the technology, which at this time will be few and far between. Weapons do not have multiple settings, they’re either lethal, or non-lethal, so depending on the situation, crewmembers may have to make the choice to kill or be killed, and hostage situations are that much more dangerous. Shielding technology hasn’t yet been developed, only armor plating hardened through “polarizing” protects the otherwise frail Enterprise, and this armor does not fail in predictable percentage increments, it takes damage.
The lack of familiar technology is not a limitation, it simply means that problems will have to be solved in different ways, so truly, Foundations will be set apart from the other four Star Trek series.
Most of the characters will be familiar to those who have watched Enterprise, at least in name. Foundations Group has strived to retain most of the traits of these characters, but some are going to be different, their backgrounds changed, and in doing so we hope that these characters will truly be set apart from the characters seen in previous series. We will learn a lot about them through the run of Foundations, and share in what’s happening to them, because in Foundations, it’s not about the action, though there will be plenty, it’s about the characters and how they deal with what’s happening to them, and this will be the focus of the series.
Our crew will do plenty of exploring, and meet plenty of alien races, some of which you may recognize from other Star Trek series, and some of which you won’t. There is also no guarantee that the species you do recognize are the same as they were in what is chronologically a century into the future. Part of Foundations will explore what brings humanity and the various other civilizations in this part of the galaxy together to form the Federation we’re already familiar with from the other Star Trek series. Truly, the Foundations of what we’ve already come to know.
Also, in the tradition of the previous series, Star Trek: Foundations will explore the many issues that currently face humanity, as well as issues that humanity has faced before. A 19th Century Spanish philosopher named George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Not to sound too cynical, but humanity often has repeated the mistakes of the past, so don’t be surprised if the humanity presented in Foundations is forced to deal with some things we may recognize from our own history.
Why We Did It
What’s wrong with Enterprise? I’ll admit, I like Enterprise myself, maybe not as much as some of the more dedicated fans I’ve met online, but Season 4 in particular appealed to me. Enterprise had such great potential. As a prequel, it gave us the opportunity to see the birth of the Federation, yet at the same time, there was that difficulty in sticking to what had been established for the era. More advanced technology for example. Enterprise also had great potential to show us a truly different kind of Star Trek, one where humanity hasn’t quite achieved the utopian vision of Gene Roddenberry, but is on its way, even if it looks like a light at the end of a long tunnel. In doing so, the people who are watching it could recognize more of themselves in what they saw on the TV screen every week, as well as the issues that the crew had to deal with. Instead, what Enterprise turned out to be was essentially like any other Star Trek series, with characters who had attitudes not all that different from their 23rd or even 24th Century counterparts. Then there was behavior on the part of some characters that seemed forced in an attempt to avoid what I just described, but it came off as just…wrong. There was also some extraordinarily poor behavior that was presented as the “right” thing to do. Needless to say, Enterprise had its weaknesses, and Foundations hopes to present an alternative, a “what if this had been done instead” contrast to Enterprise.
It is not our intention to offend, and we recognize that this may be controversial, particularly in light of recent calls to reboot the Star Trek franchise entirely. Instead, we hope that you’ll give Foundations a chance. Fan fiction may not be canon, but we’d like to think that Foundations would have avoided the mistakes Enterprise made and survived to its natural end after 7 full seasons on television, though we do have the advantage of hindsight on our side. Anyway, I can only say so much; you’ll have to just read and decide for yourself. I suggest that you start with the miniseries, essentially the pilot to the series itself, which though quite large, has thus far been very well received. It begins the journey of our crew, and sets the premise of the series.
Written by CX on behalf of Foundations Group
