Captain Jean-Luc Picard from “Yesterday’s Enterprise”

What started as a typical anomaly in space turned into a time-altering misadventure involving Klingons, a militaristic Federation, a ship from the past, and Tasha Yar finally finding a man!. 

 

The emergence of the battered Enterprise-C creates a ripple in time that results in an alternate reality in which the Federation is at war with the Klingon Empire.  Instead of meeting a heroic end defending a Klingon colony from Romulan attack, the Enterprise-C is propelled 22 years into the future.  A Federation vessel defending a Klingon colony would have improved relations between the two powers.  Instead, a fragile peace gave way to interplanetary war.  A war the Federation cannot win.    

 

The Picard of this new timeline is not the diplomat we have come to know.  Rather, he is a hardened veteran of a long-standing conflict.  In fact, everyone has changed.  Worf is gone…or rather, he never existed.  Tasha Yar is still alive—and looking fierce.  Counselor Trio is also absent.  To us this seems strange.  For the crew, this is reality.  The only person who feels that this reality is not quite right is Guinan; whose species not only has an affinity for obnoxious millenary, but a perception that transcends time.    

 

Guinan alerts Picard that what he perceives as reality is indeed an altered state.  The destruction of the Enterprise-C at the hands of the Romulans could have prevented it all.     

 

Conferring with Captain Rachel Garret, Picard reveals that the war is going very badly for Starfleet.  The Klingons have conquered almost half of the Federation.  Billions have died.  The most shocking revelation is that the best estimates indicate that defeat is inevitable within six months.  While one ship may make no difference is this reality, Picard stresses that 22 years ago one ship might have prevented everything.  With that, Garret agrees to go back—right into the firefight with the Romulans. 

 

Picard and his crew prepare to hold off the advancing Klingon ships long enough to allow the Enterprise-C to return to its own time.  In a fierce battle, the Enterprise-D takes a pounding.

 

With his First Officer dead, his shields gone, and a Warp Core breach minutes away, Picard takes control of the weapons.  The last image is so brilliantly shot it is actually breath-taking.  Flames all around him, Picard continues to fire at the advancing ships.  Just and the Klingons move in for the kill, the Enterprise-C enters the rift and the timeline is restored.  All’s well that ends well.                    

 

The high collars and metallic weapons belts present on all the officers portray a universe of ridged discipline.

 

To create this figure, I took the standard Picard in Duty Uniform and altered it to match the darker uniforms portrayed in the show.  The Silver belt was accomplished through metallic tape and incredibly careful painting.  Seriously, my eyes almost fell out of my head.  The high collar was simple sculpting.  

The Star Trek: Strike Force Enterprise was used for the interior shots. 

Through a Glass Darkly...the Mirror Universe: Captain Smiley O'Brien

 

I decided to undertake a bold experiment with the creation of one of the best characters from the Deep Space Nine crossover series--Mile "Smiley" O'Brien. 

After the fall of the Terran Empire, the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance ravaged Earth and scourged Vulcan.  Those who did not escape into exile, collaborate to retain their status, or die in the final battles were enslaved under the harsh lash of the Alliance. 

 

This Miles Edward O’Brien was born to serve.  Eventually, his mechanical skills earned him a Theta designation—giving him a much more privileged status on the ore-processing center, Terok Nor.  Due to his perpetual woeful demeanor, he was dubbed “smiley” by Benjamin Sicko—a free Terran
captain who worked for the Alliance. 



Life was difficult, but O'Brien managed to survive.  It was not until he met people from another universe that he realized that Terrans were capable of much, much more. 

The mirror Sisko eventually sparked a rebellion against Alliance rule, taking Smiley with him.  A year later, Sisko was dead and O’Brien was now the leader of the Terran Resistance--or, at least of this particular center of the movement.  Crossing into the prime-reality, Captain O’Brien kidnapped the Benjamin Sisko of that universe and downloaded the plans for the U.S.S. Defiant.  Eventually retaking the station, the Resistance secretly constructed their own warship—a powerful little vessel that will bring home to the downtrodden people of Earth and Vulcan
 

For the head, I used Captain Kirk—the only face that came close to that of O’Brien.  The hair is from Leoben of the Battlestar Galactica line.  The upper body is that of Ambassador Sarek.  I used an overlay of construction tape and painted it to match as closely as I could.  The lower portion of the body and legs are from Dr. Smith from Lost in Space.   The weapons belt is from Captain Picard.

To make the Defiant more like the one of the mirror universe, I removed all the stickers designating the ship's name and registry number.  This is how the vessel appeared in the show.  The only reference to the ships official designation is the small placard on the bridge bearing the name, I.S.S. Defiant and the registry number.  I found this interesting as the Terran Starfleet long since ceased to exist.  Perhaps it was nostalgia--or just tradition.  Either way. the tiny dedication plague on the bridge bears the name I.S.S. Defiant.