Now I really do like P81’s Odyssey Class and the variety of kitbashes related to it but I would use them as tough secondary follow on ships that are used to keep conquered areas submissive. The TMP Excalibur CX based fleet screams speed and first strike capability. That was the feel I got from the ENT Mirror Universe episodes; it was all about speed and striking first when the enemy was unprepared for them.
Now, assume that a year or two later after the TOS USS Defiant and its variants begin to be mass-produced, the Imperials conquer the Tholians on their side of space and several years later as the Imperial technology improves and they figure out a way to reopen the rift. As part of the Imperial invasion plan, the Tholian slaves in turn become the vanguard of the invasion of our universe through Tholian Space. Now it makes sense that it’s a Mirror/Imperial Base [See my simple retexture of the Torre base pictured below] instead of a captured Tholian base given the life support requirements of the Tholians vs. humans. Yes, I used a Tholian Starbase from Taldren’s Galaxy at War pack but it never really made much sense. If the life support for the human occupants of the Tholian station were battle damaged or sabotaged, good-bye carbon based life forms… Enviroment suits will only last so long too. Besides if we use the Imperials instead of the Jem Hadar they’d need a defensible base of operations.
Last but not least, the Imperials should have an edge over the Tholians somehow. I haven’t worked that out yet. Heck, it could be that the Imperials made the Tholians extinct in their universe and grew crystal ships themselves based on Tholian technology as part of their ruse against the Tholians in our universe. Remote or robot controlled Tholian ships or even Imperial crewed Tholian ships maybe? However, imagine the culture shock if Imperial controlled Tholians were to encounter the Tholians in our universe. I imagine it could be something akin to the SFB Tholians meeting up with their lost fleet; only there might not be a peaceful assimilation process this time. However, as Tholians don’t think like us it’s hard to say. It could be that they view the Imperials as being in line with their SFB philosophy of “let’s you and him fight” in that the Imperials are fighting their enemies for them in exchange for something they want. They could for instance cooperate with the Imperials as a means to expand the Holdfast into areas they desire but aren’t able to do themselves militarily; such as [according to Klingon Academy anyway] deeper into Klingon space into mineral rich areas that carbon based life forms aren’t able to use anyway. Once these areas were “controlled by the Tholians, they would defend them. The only catch for this whole thing is how to deal with their “neutrality”.
Just some thoughts I’ve been having. Feel free to flame away
KF