When the Asteroid Base SRP ended at {UFP} after it's fifth season, it did so on something of a cliffhanger. Asteroid Base: Alpha had been lost and Captain Munro had been killed. The resulting question was... what next? Unfortunately we never quite found out. Six years on and TLO's Asteroid Field has found itself in a similar position. The fifth season has left us without Pioneer Station and also the Hera. So what next? It's almost time to find out - so let me ramble for a little while about what you can expect in the new season...
Where do we start?
This week's prologue deals with the immediate aftermath of the failed attempt to recover Pioneer. The Hera's escape pods have been recovered by the wounded fleet and the crew are helping out where they can with the damage and injuries sustained by their recovery vessel. This is just a small character piece to directly address the events of the finale before jumping back in to the bigger picture. I'm sure McClintock is going to feel great when he wakes up in Sickbay...
Then there's the matter of a critically injured Sullivan.
The sixth season takes the action away from Accobar and we rejoin our characters on Starbase 215, This is a place which has been a constant, yet unseen presence since the first season of Asteroid Base - and it is where the Head of Starfleet Operations in the Tyrella Sector is based (previously James Wright, now Leona Mason). Many of Pioneer's crew find themselves on temporary assignment here, sharing joint roles with the existing station staff until either their new posting can be confirmed or Accobar can be reclaimed. But don't get too comfortable.
Our new journey begins when a tragic incident unfolds aboard a science vessel in orbit of a backwater moon - in some dramatic opening scenes. When Starfleet learns of it's disappearance, Commander Menden and his team are dispatched aboard the trustworthy Ariana to investigate. Good old rpg_crashsite.
What about Pioneer?
Starfleet will of course be working to secure Accobar and Pioneer as a matter of priority, but it's not all that simple. Ever since the Klingons launched their attacks on Romulan worlds in the wake of the Hobus crisis, Starfleet has been dispatching ships to the border to help keep the peace. This has severely strained Federation-Klingon relations - which even lead to the murder of poor Lieutenant Archibald. Now with a major crisis brewing within their own borders, the Federation is pulling those ships back, having the opposite effect: A bit of leeway with the Klingons in return for renewed hostilities from the fractured Romulan Empire. But this is going to take some time - which Vega is sure to be using to her advantage, for whatever it is she is doing...
What about all that politics? We love the politics! Please have more episodes with politics! Lots of politics and talking and stuff! We'll rate those episodes highly!
President Olivia Taylor's second term is descending in to chaos. With allies slipping away and support across Federation worlds crumbling under the threat of a surprise Borg attack, our Accobar-lovin' President isn't the woman she was when she gave that uplifting, inspirational inauguration speech. (http://www.last-outpost.net/forum/index.php/topic,4356.0.html) I would link you to it in full... but the great forum wipe of 2012 took care of that.
After a brief stint between the first and second seasons, President Taylor has been very much relegated. Most of the content I planned for her got put through Hampton instead. But now that's going to change and we'll be making the odd trip to Earth to keep up to date with the latest. Events unfolding on the other side of the quadrant are going to have dire consequences for the Taylor administration. As was teased in the season trailer, danger may be very, very close to home... and as the President is warned... even if Accobar is recovered, there is going to be a serious discussion about it's future under Federation control...
I guess this was the final straw, huh...
What about Vega and her Borg puppets?
Nobody really knows what Vega is up to on Pioneer, and nobody will for sure for some time to come. We only know she needs her drones to step foot on Accobar III... but what are they looking for?
Even if Vega remains in the shadows, her drones will be cropping up across the quadrant in various situations throughout the season. Then there's also the matter of that Sphere to take care of. I don't want to say much about this subject... why ruin the surprise?
Those returning characters....?
Yes, as I've already mentioned and shown off... David Rush, Devlin Marks, Nathaniel Fox & Denara Clarke will be back to play their respective parts in the hardships to come.
Rush, especially, is particularly exciting. We last saw our gruff, moody Accobi 'expert' trapped in Halkonian space, before he got himself and his shuttle stuck in the spatial rift which we have since closed (hopefully for good) on our end. He's on something of an adventure of his own, with an object in his possession which many thought was lost along with Asteroid Base: Alpha.
Devlin Marks' return is also something to look out for, in the third episode which is called 'Hur'q.' In it, Craig McClintock finds himself doing-as-the-Klingons-do as the solitary Human aboard a Bird of Prey. Or so he thought. When Marks turns up, set for a not-too-pleasant fate, McClintock's intervention within the bowels of a remote penal colony may just cost the Federation what ground they had made up with their on/off allies. That's if he chooses to intervene, that is. You see, our good friend Mutatio Nomen is going to be put on the spot for a series of split-second choices which will decide the outcome of the episode and much more...
Oh yeah and that crazy Halkonian woman is back for some reason. Pfft.
Is Captain Mason on vacation or something?
No, but she isn't all that well, you see. We've seen Rogan providing secret medication to keep her mind on the job, but that pesky Telosian biology is fighting back - and that Cardassian stopgap is only going to work for so long - as SB215's Doctor House (yes, Gregory House) is keen to insist. Unfortunately, the permanent one-use drug she needs is behind the closed Telosian border. We've seen what happens when a Starfleet ship ventures to that heavily fortified border in Season Five's "Power Struggle." So while Sophia won't be joining Menden on the Ariana, she will still be taking care of business in a number of ways... and there's the matter of a new starship to attend to.
As for Leona Mason, her straight-talking, acid-tongued mother - well, she's also taking matters in to her own hands. A clandestine trip to Telos is going to be more than just a family reunion. Sophia's backstory is still wrapped in secrecy, but not for much longer.
Anything else?
- Contemporary incidental music is making an unexpected return. An original staple of the series which was faded away - having dipped it's toes in the water thanks to The Glitch Mob (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbAUwi4D3Ew) in The Accobi Assimilation.
- Speaking of music, my plan to release "patches" to a base pack was extremely flawed. Therefore the new 'Vega Music Pack' will be released ahead of the new season.
- Some crew members will find themselves with an extra pip on our return, or shortly thereafter. Extremely overdue ones, I would say.
- I may not have listed all the returning characters. Spoilers, surprises and dramatic effect, you see.
- We start with Episode 60 and will hit Episode 70 by the season's end. That's quite something. Well done if you've lasted this long! Hopefully the episodes will be fitting.
- There's still a monster at the end of this tunnel, though perhaps not the one you were expecting.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: this isn't going to be "the Borg season." This is a season filled with characters pulling together to deal with some very trying circumstances - holding it all together while the world around them falls apart. Can Pioneer's crew survive without... well.... Pioneer? Can Star Trek: Asteroid Field survive without the.. urhm... asteroid field?
I hope you'll join me to find out!
Sounds great Grizz!
Unfortunately I'll be missing the prologue but on the plus side, the monthly commitment I've had is ending and other than other things over summer, I should be able to make most episodes this season!
I hope Michael Late-a-ton doesn't get the sack for losing the Hera! (Or demoted to cleaning plasma conduits!
QuoteYou see, our good friend Mutatio Nomen is going to be put on the spot for a series of split-second choices which will decide the outcome of the episode and much more...
Oh,
fudge me. So much to look forward to - or not, apparently. :P Also, I <3 Glitch Mob personally. Kudos once again on the music choices!