Graphic Artwork, delivered direct to your eyes.
This year’s TrekAdvent project has come to an end, and I hope you all found some enjoyment in it. Don’t forget to check out the Star Trek Holiday Projects page to see the sets from 2019, 2020 and 2021. And let me know what you’d like to see as the theme for 2024’s project by leaving a comment or sending an email to scott@planetrisecreative.com.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Despite the relative calm throughout the quadrant in the wake of victory over the Dominion, tensions remain and animosities continue to grow. The recent influx of unfamiliar, seemingly fictional ship designs has caused widespread confusion but one thing remains clear; none of the major powers are preparing for a lasting peace. Noting that the Romulans have added Colonial Vipers to their fleet, the Klingons have adapted Cylon Raiders, and the Cardassians are showing their teeth with Cylon Basestars, the Federation Council has given Starfleet a simple directive. Prepare to defend. As a result the Starfleet Corp of Engineers have found the one ship they believe has the best chance to stand against Cylon and Colonial warships, the famed Colonial Battlestar. Where once the Defiant-Class was a prototype for a Starfleet warship, the Battlestar-Class would become Starfleet’s War Machine. The designers and engineers knew it would be a challenge: Augmenting the existing railguns and missle tubes with phaser cannons, phaser banks and quantum torpedo launchers for a wider array of offensive capabilities. Upgrading the DRADIS system with state of the art long and short range sensor arrays. Installing an interphase cloaking device. Fitting the hull with ablative armor plating. And finally, replacing the original FLT drive with a centuries-old secret; a Displacement-Activated Spore Hub Drive. Supported by an escort group of three Defiant-Class ships and a complement of upgraded Colonial Raptors onboard, which none of the opposing powers had managed to co-opt, Starfleet stood ready to face down any and all who target the Federation in the future.
That was when a new Sith Order appeared at the edge of known space with their newest converts, the Dark Side Iconians.
Having noticed several of the other major powers in the Alpha Quadrant adopting ship designs from the Galactic Empire, the Romulan Praetor has decided that the senate is not to be outdone. Foregoing fighter craft and battleships, it was decided that a touch of elegance was called for and thus the Romulan Star Empire dispatched a small team of Tal’Shiar operatives to acquire the plans for the Lambda Class shuttle, known to have ferried Emperor Palpatine at one time. Modified with warp engines, modest yet effective armaments and an upgraded cloaking device designed to confound the most advanced sensors, this class of shuttle is reserved for transporting only the highest ranking members of the Senate. Consequently only three have been constructed, one each for the Praetor, Proconsul and Vice-Proconsul. Wherever they go, their designated shuttle remains cloaked in orbit, maintaining a constant emergency transporter lock which can be activated instantly by the individual. After the annihilation of the Senate by Shinzon in 2379, it seemed the most prudent decision.
For untold years the name Star Destroyer has been synonymous with the Galactic Empire and its unending reign over a galaxy far, fa….you know that bit. But now, after the cruel devastation of Cardassia Prime in the closing hours of the Dominion War, the survivors of Cardassia have made the decision to change how the Alpha Quadrant views this ship and its name. With their Basestar Class vessels taking on the role of transporting combat craft, the new Star Destroyer Class cruiser has been upgraded with modern warp engines and the original hangar bays housing scores of fighters, shuttles, troop transports and walkers have been converted to living quarters. This massive starship is now capable or relocating tens of thousands of displaced Cardassians whose homes were razed by the Jem’Hadar on the final, diabolical orders of the Founders. The ship that claimed to destroy stars is now given a new purpose, to create new homes.
Having gotten a glimpse of Starfleet’s attempt to curry favor with kind-hearted brigands in the form of their new Firefly Class ships, the Klingons are taking a cue and constructing an analogous vessel intended for use by bounty hunters and soldiers of fortune. Inspired by the ship used by a fighter of great skill and cunning, the Razorcrest Class will bring honor to the empire through the exploits of lone warriors seeking their own glory.
The Dominion has grown and thrived for over 10,000 years according to certain Vorta, and has gathered information on many ancient civilizations. It is no surprise that The Ancients would be one of them. Deciding that the Dominion would best be served by quietly seeding itself across the stars, the Founders drew inspiration from the Ancients and recreated one of their Seed Ships, originally used to plant Stargates across this and other galaxies. The Dominion’s Destiny Class starship deposits cloning facilities for Vorta and Jem’Hadar along with the necessary materials to construct Ketracel White refineries and shipyards. Within a year there will be a battle-ready detachment of ruthless soldiers with ships to command, minded by loyal Vorta patiently waiting for their gods to return with instructions.
And then there were Vulcans.
After a particularly rambunctious night attempting to revive the centuries-old Vulcan pagan celebration of Rumarie, along with an ill-advised experimenting session with Trellium-D, a group of Vulcan students decided that what was missing from their festival…was SPEED! This was what led to a group of 40-55 year old Vulcan youngsters stealing a conveniently parked Corellian light freighter and turning it into their personal stellar hot rod, speed-running through the Neutral Zone while arguing about whether the console readout showing “parsecs” was referring to distance or time.
Wait, while I state, that eight is great. Day 8 of TrekAdvent is upon us, as is an unstoppable wave of Klingon warriors in yet another “borrowed” class of starfighter. Here we see a craft familiar to members of the Rebellion; the X-Wing. After deciding that the sounds and overall adorableness of the pre-installed astromech droids were a bit too reminiscent of tribbles, the KDF extracted them and replaced them with the reprogrammed heads of A500 androids, having stolen many storage containers of their deconstructed parts after the rogue synth attack on Mars in 2385.
We revisit the Star Wars franchise here on Day 4 of TrekAdvent as the Galactic Empire’s ubiquitous TIE Fighter gets a glow up from the Dominion as it becomes the newest weapon in the Jem’Hadar’s arsenal. The enemies of the Founders will see scores of fighters crashing upon them as “Victory is Life” echoes across the stars.
Imperial TIE pilots will be heard asking why they never got a cool battle cry.
Welcome to the return of the TrekAdvent Project! Every day from now until Christmas Eve I will post an image from a themed collection created for you, the graphic-art-loving internet wanderer.
This year, the theme is “Space vessels from various franchises designed by Star Trek races/organizations.” As I was unable to post on December 1st, this late night update on Dec. 2 will include TWO images!
The first image peeks into the Star Wars franchise to see what Boba Fett’s “Slave 1” would look like if it were designed by Starfleet. The second image, in honor of this month’s Doctor Who specials, presents the TARDIS as a vessel of the Romulan Star Empire.
These images will also be posted to the PlanetRise Creative Facebook Group, so feel free to visit the group, join it and start some conversations.
So I was wandering the internet today, and came upon this picture. At first you will think that the person who uses this computer is a fantastically disturbed and frightening individual.
But then you look just a little bit closer……
He is the most well-defended Jedi you’ve ever heard of.
PlanetRise Creative