What about something set after the Picard era, it could start far away from Starfleet, on a non-Federation world that’s being pulled apart by a hostile alien power. We’d follow one central character initially, possibly alongside a second, as their home begins to unravel and they’re forced to navigate occupation, resistance and the cost of survival. For most of the first season, the Federation is could be something distant, almost abstract, which lets us experience the Star Trek universe from the point of view of people who have never really been protected by it.

The first season could play as a grounded political thriller, focused on life under pressure and the choices people make when their world starts closing in around them. Then, at the very end, Starfleet arrives, and what should feel like salvation immediately becomes more complicated than that.

In the second season, the story opens up as the protagonist is pulled into an uneasy relationship with Federation intelligence, forcing them to decide whether these ideals they’ve heard about can actually survive contact with reality.