Accord Storytelling

This section gets into some of the nitty gritty of the kinds of stories we like (and don't like) to see...

Table of Contents

What kind of missions can we send Accord on?

Pretty much anything, with some specific exceptions noted later, and one major catch: unlike Enterprise, which pretty much flits around willy-nilly, Accord never leaves its patrol area (see the question about stomping grounds).

Since Accord is currently the only ship assigned, this still leaves lots of space to play in. There are several colonies (Klin, Fed, and mixed) and many independent civilizations that the Klingons never bothered with - lots of first contact opportunities.

Also unlike Enterprise, Accord's first and foremost reason for being out there is defense and protection of the New Colonies and of any races that might choose to ally or join the Federation. It's second most important mission is diplomacy, with Captain Anbinder frequently acting in an ambassadorial role. Exploration and first contact are considered important, but take a back seat to these other duties.

How much crossover can I do with 'other' universes such as Star Wars, Babylon 5, Space Jam, Thunderbirds, etc.?

Zero. None. Nil. Bits and pieces of homage are OK (they're pretty much a fannish trapping no matter how you slice it), but crossover stories should be avoided. Even the one crossover story in Accord's collateral past, the Avenger Fiction story A Voyage to Pern has been essentially ignored, and events in the Avenger universe have since rendered the most visible effects of that story (the presence of fire-lizards aboard Avenger) moot.

Why can't we start a pre-emptive war with: the Klingons, the Romulans/Rihannsu, the Cardassians, the Tholians, the Barneys, etc?

The Klingons
We have a peace treaty with them. Accord is out there to uphold the peace. Live with it.
The Romulans
We have a peace treaty with them, too, and we don't break our treaties. We're the good guys, remember? Besides, why should we? I mean, OK, they like to provoke us across the border every now and then, but there's simply nothing in Romulan space we really want that badly.
The Cardassians
We only have just met the Cardassians, and no formal contacts have been established between Cardassia Prime and the Federation. Several major events in Accord's back-story can be traced back to the Cardassians, and there's definite low-level hostility and tension, but no chance of a real war anytime soon. At this time, the Federation and Cardassian Empire's 'bubbles' don't even touch yet. (Bajor, by the way, is assumed to lie somewhere in the gap between those two bubbles).
The Tholians
Apart from TOS: "The Tholian Web" and several mentions in TNG, there is no canonical support for anything but skirmishes between the Tholians and the UFP. It has been suggested by the Star Trek: Early Voyages comic book that the Tholians are prone to periodic waves of expansionism - it is not known if one of those waves was into Triangle space (though it is possible that Tholians are in the Triangle) or Cardassian territory.
The Gorn
Aside from TOS: "Arena" and TAS: "Time Trap", there are no canonical appearances of this saurian race. There are non-canonical mentions of Gorn officers in Star Fleet (Diane Carey's Dreadnought!) and a UFP-Gorn peace conference at Clanhaven. Pending any mentions to the contrary in the TNG/DS9/VOY era (don't hold your breath), we can assume that they are a non-problem in the 2290's.
The Kzin
They've appeared only once in the Trek Universe (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon" - twice if you count the background shots in TAS: "Time Trap"), and Accord does not consider this canonical, partially because we tend to ignore the animated series in general, but also because Larry Niven has explicitly asked that the Kzin not be used in further Trek stories, canonical or not. Even if they were canonical, the Kzin in Trek are relatively minor players as cf. with their influence in Larry Niven's "Known Space" series.
(It's worth noting that this is one of the few major areas of divergence between Accord and Avenger Fiction. Avenger Fiction takes the stance that since they were used once in Trek, they're fair game. Accord Fiction takes the stance that since the author has more or less withdrawn them, the author's wishes in this matter should be heeded.)
The Tzenkethi
This race has been mentioned twice, both on DS9 ("The Adversary" and "Homefront"). We haven't seen them, we know very little about them, but they'd been inimical to the UFP for at least ten years. We won't use them.
The Sheliak Corporate
Seen in TNG "The Ensigns of Command", the Sheliak Corporate and the UFP negotiated the Treaty of Armens in 2255. They are apparently quiescent in the 2290's.

And the final reasons, in all cases: 1] according to all the official chronologies, no such wars took place. We are not going out of our way to violate major aspects of these chronologies. 2] Good Trek stories are character stories.

The Barneys, on the other hand, there is a standing declaration of war against, written into the Articles of Federation.

Can we do any foreshadowing of events that take place between the movies and TNG, such as the UFP-Cardassian War (sometimes called the Border Wars) of the 2350's and 60's, the annexation of Bajor (ca. 2328), the Tomed Incident (2311) - or should we tread lightly in these areas?

Yes, you can foreshadow these events, but you do need to be careful. That Which Does Not Kill Us... will actually be covering some of that ground, and foreshadowing the Cardassian conflicts that are later to come is actually a major running subplot of Accord Fiction.

Will the officers and crew of the Accord ever run into: the reincarnated Gary Mitchell ("Where No Man Has Gone Before"); Charlie X (of the eponymous TOS ep); any of the various Klingon captains; or other characters we are familiar with from TOS, the films, TNG, DS9 (Curzon Dax is around in the late 23rd century) or VOY (Tuvok is entering the Kohlinar around this time, per VOY "Flashback")?

No. It's probable that all of the Accord officers and crew will have heard of Kirk, Spock and co., but it's best to leave them alone in their canonical adventures. By 2297, Kirk has been missing and presumed dead for 2-3 years (since the launch of the Enterprise-B and its attempt to rescue el-Aurian survivors in Generations), and Scotty had vanished en route to the Norpin Colony ca. 2294. Sulu presumably still commands the Excelsior. Other details of these and the other main TOS characters' fates have not been strictly canonically established (though there is various Pocket Books fiction to fill in the gaps).

As for Gary Mitchell, Charlie X, et al., reunions with them have been done to death in fanfic. It's best to put Accord and her officers and crew into new, different situations, not rehashes of what's gone before.

Will we see any 'Academy Years' type stories about the Accord command staff characters?

One of these has already been done: "Lateral Drift". These should probably be left for each specific character's player to do on their own, or else authorise someone else to do. There will probably not be a single, unifying 'Accord: the Academy Years', simply because Accord's crew's ages are all over the place, and very few of them were actually in the academy concurrently.

Should I stay away from time travel stories, for the most part?

Time travel stories are strongly, strongly discouraged. This is another area that's been done to death, and worse, televised Trek seems to always do it the same basic way. Our Televised Heros have been made responsible for almost every major historical event from our present day to theirs. Just Say No.

Aside from TNG's "Cause and Effect" (to see what a Soyuz Class ship like Accord looks like) and Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, what other episodes/films are recommended as points of reference for Accord fiction?

The best references for Accord fiction are probably already-published Accord fiction, these web pages, and other Accord authors! With the Soyuz Class not canonically established beyond the Bozeman, we cannot rely on any other 'outside' source to tell us how a Soyuz behaves, and besides, Accord is heavily modified relative to her class-sisters.

By and large, you should avoid non-canonical sources of information other than those provided by the Accord Fiction Team. We've deliberately 'branched off' of Trek fiction to create a universe that is truly ours, but it derives from canonical Trek plus a little bit of non-canon plus our own ideas, rather than any particular non-canonical source.

What other sorts of references you use depend on what kind of story you're going to tell.

Technical reference books?

Again, stick to canon or near-canon where possible. Okudas' Chronology, Okuda and Sternbach's Technical Manual and Encyclopaedia (even though the latter contains one serious mistake, insisting that what we know to be megaphaser spires are actually sensor pods), Franz Josef's Technical Manual and (to some degree) Johnson's Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise.

You should avoid most non-canonical technical specifications. Accord uses bits and pieces as starting points for ideas, but does not use these as a reference.

If you're looking for a better technical reference to movie-era technology in general than Mr. Scott's Guide..., we do recommend the Mastercom Data's Ships of the Star Fleet. In particular, once we start writing stories that include the Akyazi Class ships, Ships of the Star Fleet Volume II should be considered the primary technical reference for those ships. However, neither existing volume covers the Soyuz class.

Jackill's technical reference includes the Soyuz Class and even gets the megaphasers more or less right, and so can be used as a starting point, but Accord is slightly different from what's described there

Should mentions of the Soyuz Class in Pocket Books fiction be used for reference?

No. Those are one 'branch' of Trek, we're another. It's OK if something they do with their Soyuz Class ship gives you an idea and doesn't seriously contradict what we're already doing, but we do not feel at all obligated to follow their lead.

That said, the portrayal of USS Bozeman in Diane Carey's Ship of the Line makes, at the very least, an interesting contrast. Ms. Carey seems to have reached some of the same conclusions about what a Soyuz Class ship should be like, but taken then in a different direction. In her version, the Soyuzi are "border cutters", like those used by the US Coast Guard to stop smuggling, defend the shoreline, and rescue ships in distress.

In the Accord In Fiction Timeline, you refer to the Accord's having disappeared between 2263 and 2292. Will we ever find out what really happened to her between those years?

Readers of "Privileges of Rank" already know, more or less, but the "general public" in the 2290s does not. Accord was ambushed by a ship of then-unknown design, now known to be Cardassian, and severely damaged. By pure chance, although several shots pierced her hull, none of them damaged the ship's spaceframe, which is why she was refit rather than scrapped or turned into a museum.

Tragically, the ship was damaged sufficiently to knock out its main and auxiliary power systems, thus preventing Warp Drive and subspace communication, but not enough to actually kill the entire crew instantly. It is not yet established by story how long the remaining crew survived, or whether they were ultimately done in by suffocation when the batteries gave out or starvation when the supplies ran out (this predates replicators, and even if it didn't, without at least auxiliary power, replicators are out of the question). Neither is it established whether all of the original crew and shuttle craft are accounted for.

Will there be stories about the Accord set in the 2250s and 60s? Or links made between the 'present day' stories and the past, such as a relative (Fleet, civilian or other) or other interested party wanting to find out the truth and being stonewalled by the Fleet Powers That Be?

The original intention of That Which Does Not Kill Us... was to cover some of this ground, but its focus has since been shifted dramatically, leaving this field still wide open. Before it was hammered, Accord was active for nearly seven years, meaning it was probably beginning its third three-year mission. The Accord fiction team and editor have not yet established all the parameters for what the ship was up to during that time.

That said, however, it is currently assumed that the audience for Accord Adventures are mostly people who know members of Accord, the club, and therefore that they mostly want to read stories using characters based on those people. Since many of our characters were children or not yet born in 2256, none of them would have had any involvement with that earlier Accord crew. Therefore, while there are certainly plenty of stories that could be told about that crew, none are currently envisioned nor strongly encouraged.

Still, if you have an idea that's just clawing its way out of your skull involving that era, bring it up to the Fiction Editor.

What are the stories of Accord Fiction?

There have been seven issues of Accord Adventures to date, telling stories spanning the entire range of Accord's first five year mission and even delving a bit into its past.

Already Published

#1: "Aurelian's Children", by Richard C.S. Kinne
Stardate 9312.23. Having finished her shakedown cruise, Accord is investigating the Korvus Nebula on its way to Star Base 52, when it encounters a missing warpshuttle packed with school children--under attack from a ship of unknown design.
#2: "Last Chance", by Michael Scott Shappe
Stardate 9401.10. Arriving at Star Base 52, Accord is immediately pressed into service investigating the recent silence of one of the New Colonies and the loss of the last ship sent to investigate.
#3: "Lateral Drift", by Richard C.S. Kinne
Stardate 9202.10. An 'origin' story for Kinne. Richard Kinne joins a fast-track Academy program and discovers that his 'drill instructor' is an old friend, Richard Lerz. But things go sour when Lerz's wife is murdered by a member of the Klingon embassy, and Star Fleet proves stranger than Kinne ever would have imagined as he is drawn into a secret project...
#4: "Fountain", by J.C. Cohen
Stardate 9406.16. Accord is sent to evaluate the Phelpians, a candidate race for entry into the Federation, only to discover that the Phelpians are hiding a shocking secret: a technological 'fountain of youth'.
#5: "Privileges of Rank", by Michael Scott Shappe (first printing erroneously published as "Rank has its Privileges")
Stardate 9501.15. Captain Anbinder must try to settle a political squabble between Hth'ran's government and its anti-Klingon opposition, while Accord must fight off increasingly fierce raider attacks. Richard Kinne is forced to learn the habits of command the hard way when Commander Shappe hands the center seat over to him to while Shappe investigates the raiders.
#6: "Love Bar None", by Richard C.S. Kinne
Stardate 9408.08. Lieutenant Brian and Anne Cudusco were ready to rotate off Accord and back to a normal life with their soon-to-be-born child. But Shuttle Kissinger crash lands while surveying a planet, killing Brian Cudusco and nearly and nearly killing Lt. Commander Ian Smith. And now Smith is acting strangely, taking a very proprietary interest in Anne and her child...
#7: "Where Loyalty Lies", by Alexander Schwartz
Stardate 9710.06. Years ago, Marine Captain Schwartz took the fall for a 'black operation' that ended badly, ending him up in a mental hospital with his career in tatters. Now, after four years as Accord's Marine OIC, a different black op threatens Accord, and only he can stop it before it destroys the ship he considers home and the crew he considers his family...

In progress

That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger, by Michael Scott Shappe
Stardate 9503.19. The Accord guard changes as Commander Michael Shappe retires without saying good-bye and Richard Kinne is requried to succeed him as Executive Officer. While Kinne struggles to fill Shappe's shoes, Captain Mark Anbinder must wrestle with the thorny diplomatic problem of protecting and eventually winning over a colony of Romulan Unificationist refugees.
When, some months later, an annihiliation weapon wipes out the colony while Anbinder is planetside negotiating with its leaders, the captain is presumed dead. But a single sensor trace of an escaping ship suggests a human life form. With Fleet refusing to pursue on such meagre evidence, Kinne, J.C. Cohen, and Admiral Alex Rosenzweig decide to go after Anbinder alone - a search that once again crosses their path with Shappe and his new ship, the privateer vessel Wraith, and sends them deep into the unexplored territory of the hostile Cardassians...
"Revolution", by J.C. Cohen
Stardate 9601.02. Gerry Valentine is Chief Engineer of Accord, and feels most at home in the engine room of the ship he helped rebuild. But he is also the Emperor of Erradia, a planet torn apart by civil strife since his de facto abdication years ago. Now, plagued by news of the chaos at home and haunted by dreams of his own past, Valentine must return to try to bring order to his troubled world.

Are hardcopies of these stories available for purchase? Or are they .html and linked to the Accord web page?

Hardcopies of all currently published stories are available from the Accord Fiction Editor upon request. In addition, hardcopies of all past stories, plus usually at least one if not two new ones, are available during Accord's annual Watkins Glen Weekend event each October, which is also the ship's official anniversary.

Electronic editions are still being debated as a concept. The possibility of publishing That Which Does Not Kill Us... only electronically has been discussed, due to its expected size, but no firm decision has been reached.

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