TV Show Idea

Conectp: TV show based on Course Books IP, set during the Kamian Succession Wars and taking place aboard a decrepid patrol ship on the ass-end of the war.

The Ship

C.B.S. Antikythera is a thirty-year-old derelict, being re-comissioned as a scout ship/patrol vessel(note, the later determine that the ship was never formally commissioned, so there's a running joke anytime someone says it got "re-commissioned"). The ship is also a super-protoype for a new class of destroyer that never went into production. So, while the ship may be 30 years old, most of it's systems contain technology that hasn't yet been implemented, or is only just being built into the latest line of starships.

Antikythera's complete backstory: the ship was brought, half finished, to the region to undergo a series of highly controlled tests during it's final fitting-out stage. The ship was then forced to participate in a battle long before it was ready. The prototype was so heavily damaged that the project was abandoned. The ship saw a very limited service-life as a patrol vessel(after being patched up just enough to serve in this capacity) and was finally abandoned for close to thirty years.

Power Source

Rather than being powered by a standard, safe, highly dependable Nugen Reactor, Antikythera is helpfully powered by a batshit insane experimental matter/antimatter reactor. In theory, the reactor should be more efficient, since it relies on something called "Direct energy conversion" to supply the ship's electrical needs, while also producing a lot of high-energy plasma that can be used to run the engines. In addition, the warp coils in the ship's Python Reactor were designed to run on this plasma(instead of electricity) so the reactor cannot be replaced.

The backup is an even more dangerous nuclear reactor, chosen for it's small size and high energy output; an output that is apparently achieved by operating the device at a state of barely-controlled overload, generally only a few degrees bellow total meltdown.

These two factors are the main reason the design was scraped; while they give the ship a huge power-to-size ratio and make some systems ultra-efficient, its also ludicrously dangerous, and the safety systems are even more terrifying.

Python Reactor

One of the key power requirements in FTL is the warp coils that surround the Python Reactor and are used both in the creation of Python particles as well as projecting the energy mantle. Warp coils are "energized" with an electric current that is converted into the various space-warping fields that give them their name. Antikythera uses an experimental variant with replaces the electricity with plasma, which carries more electricity than super-conductors can.

Characters

Captain

The hero of the story, whom I shall call "Lance Stardock" for lack of a better name, is a disgraced Admiral Commodore who's been given this assignment to embarrass and humiliate him. His career is in shambles, but he's an eternal optimist and really, really, really good at his job. Everyone will be calling him "captain" but he still technically holds the rank of Admiral Commodore(which also makes him the highest ranking officer for thousands of light years).

The exact nature of his disgrace is not originally known but is widely speculated. Some say he was responsible for the slaughter at the battle of Danielle, others think he was operating a brothel using admirals wives(somehow). In reality, he made a minor, off-handed combat to someone much higher ranking than him, and this is his punishment.

First Mate

Our Jason analogue has almost the same backstory. In this case he is Stardock's bestfriend since academy days, who followed him out to this posting because he doesn't care even a little about his military career. While not exactly a passionate, fun-loving guy, he does thing being second in command of a remote scout ship is more fun than whatever else he could be doing. He is a full commander. He is not a disiplinarian and often shirks responsibilities(for example: he was responsible for background checks on the crew which would have revealed their pilot couldn't fly a kite).

In this continuity Jason is also a prince, though he "doesn't talk about it much". It may be implied that his kingdom is either under threat or has been conquered.

Engineer

The chief engineer is young, idealistic, passionate man, who cares about others around him. He's constantly quoting safety regulations and is extremely proud of the fact that he's never had an accident or an injury due to negligence. He breaks down in tears the first time he sees Antikythera's engine room, which was not even designed to be up to the safety standards of thirty years ago. The captain is constantly ordering him to do bizarre and risky things that often involve delibrately bypassing or circumventing safety features. Our chief engineer lives in constant fear, because he actually KNOWS all the ways these things can go wrong. Left with no options, he begins a personal quest for god and is seen exploring various religions throughout the series.

Pilot

Clear Cindy analogue, ten pounds of crazy in a five pound bag. In this continuity she is actually one of the most decorated pilots in the region, and also one of the most censured. She holds the unique distinction of having done something that earned her both a prestigous commendation and a court marshal in the same incident. For every decoration she has at least two or three bad conduct reports on her record. "Loose cannon" barely begins to describe her.

She is under-qualified, insubordinate, and overly cocky. Captain Stardock originally lets her take the position because she is also "the only pilot in the region who's qualified to operate this type of ship". It is later determined that she is not, in fact, qualified, but she's allowed to keep the job because Stardock is extremely short on fucks to give.

Arms Master

Arms Master Ivan(loosely based on DC Ivan) is a demolitions expert and master armsmen(guy who shoots missiles). He also has a risque, devil-may-care, safety-last attitude. He's basically "Mr. Fuck it, hold my beer and watch this." This is all despite having a day job that involves handling literal weapons of mass destruction.

Ivan spends much of his time on the bridge writting elaborate macros to do his job for him, and is notious for circumventing safety protocols. He is very often at odds with the chief engineer over this

Science Officer

Spaceships, being in space, often encounter strange and unusual phenomina and other occurrences that well-tuned sensors cannot make heads or tails of. That's why they have a command-level officer with a science background spefically trained to step in and know what is what.

Antikythera does not have one of those. Antikythera has a filing clerk who, due to a typo on a form somewhere, was assigned as the ships science officer, despite having only a ninth-grade education. Said officer gets by by reading the space version of "wikipedia" and is constantly terrified because he/she has no clue what they're doing.

Random Ideas

Opening Shot

Begins with a close up of Stardock's nametag and slowly zooms out to show him in full dress uniform, chest covered in metals, as he proudly and solemnly reads aloud his orders granting him command of the ship. The camera then pans back further to reveal that he is standing alone on a decreped and abandoned bridge. After completing the ceremony he lets out a curt sigh and announces that it's time to put together a crew.

Somewhat later in the pilot episode, he's told he'll only be getting about 1/4th the recommended crew compliment for a ship the size as he's running, and that with the crimson blade stretched "a little thin" in the region, he probably won't be getting the best and brightest.

Scene that has to happen

Captain gives the order to form an away team, first officer grabs a few guys off the bridge.

Captain: "What the hell are you doing?

First officer: "Forming an away team?"

Captain: "She's flying ship and he shoots the guns. Why are you taking half my bridge crew? Find some other people!"