Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

I care to introduce you to an old friend Grant. Grant has spent the last three years of his life writing a Star Trek fanfiction based on the “prime” Star Trek timeline from the TV shows. These are the ones originating from the 1960’s through to the 2000’s.

Unfortunately my friend has been let down by another one of his old friends. This is a person who had earlier said he would help him with his effort. This is both with proofreading and its story structure. In this respect I am not a suitable person to assist Grant. I am not a Star Trek fan. However I have offered my friend the option of presenting his proof copy onto my website. He has elected to do this.

I feel that if you are interested in Grant’s project and story line you could not help being impressed by it. This includes what I see as the great deal of imagination and creativity he has employed in his work. I much admire and respect him for this. You might also if you are fascinated with such fanfaction.

Grant feels uncomfortable that he has posted a draft version. Be aware that some of the work is in first draft form. He apologises for any inconvenience this might cause his readers. I apologise for this as well.

From here on in it is entirely Grant’s work.

 

Index for Star Trek Realm of the Gods [ST ROTG]:

Show bible [background information about ST ROTG]

Introduction and canon information

Information about the crew of the USS Anracosh

All about the USS Anracosh and its missions

All about the ancients

Main, semi main and recurring characters of ST ROTG

Introduction to characters section

Main and semi-main characters

Recurring characters

The five seasons of ST ROTG

Introduction to a sample Star Trek Realm of the Gods TV show

Season 1 part 1

Season 1 part 2

Season 2 part 1

Season 2 part 2

Season 3 part 1

Season 3 part 2

Season 4 part 1

Season 4 part 2

Season 5 part 1

Season 5 part 2

 

I [Grant] do not own the rights to any version of Star Trek. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made from this work. Star Trek and its variants are copyright and trademarks of Paramount Pictures and Viacom CBS, all rights reserved. This website is not associated with Paramount Pictures or Viacom CBS.

All about the USS Anracosh and its missions

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Introduction

I designed the USS Anracosh to be something new in the Star Trek universe. The USS Anracosh gets its name from the first two letters of the phrase ANcient RAces COntant SHip [AN-RA-CO-SH], hence the name Anracosh. It is a unique Federation starship in that it is a hybrid of Federation and Ancient races technology and it obviously looks like a blend of the two technologies as well. This hybrid starship gives Star Trek Realm of the Gods a Federation run starship that is not technically owned by the Federation. This means that the Federation is the junior partner in the Realm of the Gods project of recruiting younger races into the ranks of the ancient races.

The part about the Federation being the junior partner is what makes Star Trek – Realm of the Gods a unique part of Star Trek. The reason I put this here is that the USS Anracosh is a reflection of the Federations position in the ancient’s Realm of the Gods recruitment project. The USS Anracosh is a starship the Federation could never build by themselves, and serves as an object lesson as to how powerful the ancient races are when compared to the Federation. If the Federation is going to attempt diplomacy with the ancients it will have to get used to dealing with not just civilizations more powerful than the Federation, but individuals more powerful than the Federation.

 

Missions, conditions of use, history and motto

The stated missions:

The mission is fourfold:

1] Make friendly first contact and continued contact with ancient races and ascended beings, including individuals that are god like. The ideal is that the ancients have full diplomatic relations with the Federation and are allies of the Federation.

2] To reverse engineer and experiment with the ancient race technologies provided by the ancients for the starship.

3] To understand the full potential of what neural education and mind machine interfaces can do because using these devices gives an excellent insight in what it means to be an ancient.

4] To make sure nobody uses the USS Anracosh as a super weapon. The Federation has rules against creating weapons of mass destruction [WMD’s]. Because of the nature of the starship it is in a total legal grey area as to the Federations no WMD’s policy. The USS Anracosh is given an exemption to the no WMD rules because what it is it qualifies as a WMD without the intention of being a WMD.

Conditions for using the USS Anracosh [ANcient RAces COntact SHip]

The ancient race technology installed on the USS Anracosh is on indefinite loan to the Federation. The ancient races reserve the right to confiscate the USS Anracosh if it is not used for its intended purpose, that being official contact with ascended and ancient races and god like beings. Having said that, other temporary uses can be negotiated. The USS Anracosh is actually Federation property and if the USS Anracosh is confiscated the Federation will be losing one of its capital ships, but if that happens it means the ancients are really angry with the Federation, so losing a capital ship will be the very least of their problems.

The Federation is openly encouraged to use and reverse engineer ancient race technology installed on the USS Anracosh.

The ancients can be called upon to repair systems on the USS Anracosh that Federation engineers cannot repair by themselves.

Another condition of the Federation having the USS Anracosh is the ancients are not to be treated as “miracle factories”. They will not be at your beck and call to do stuff you don’t want to do. They will be greatly offended if you ask for miracles, and that could risk the entire Realm of the Gods project. However, they are willing to do the mission impossible type tasks. Meaning that they will do things for the Federation can’t do for themselves. [For example move a planet, help fend off the Borg or stop the effects of a super nova.]

The history of the USS Anracosh

The USS Anracosh was originally an old version of the USS Excalibur that was sent to the dockyards to be upgraded to fight in the Dominion war. Its upgrades were finished a few days before the war the ended. Since it no longer had a purpose it was sent to a mothball shipyard without a crew. For the record the new version of the USS Excalibur was commissioned in the middle years of the Dominion war.

The reason the crew stole what was then the old version of the USS Excalibur is that it had been fully upgraded to modern Starfleet standards. It was mothballed starship that was fully operational ready to go with up to date systems. It was effectively the best starship in the mothballing shipyard.

The crew of the USS Anracosh stole the starship from the mothball shipyard and flew it under a false flag of being the current USS Excalibur for the duration of the rogue mission. Having said that, they did refer to the starship as the USS Anracosh amongst themselves and to the ancients they encountered.

The crew false flagged the starship so Starfleet would not immediately notice and take action against them until they had already made allies in the ancient races clique. The crew of the USS Anracosh were quite happy to turn themselves in once some of the ancients had allied with the Federation. Once that was done the mission was complete, also once it was revealed what the crew of the USS Anracosh had done for the Federation they felt that the courts would go easy on them.

What the crew of the USS Anracosh did not anticipate was the ancients standing up for them and arranging for the crew to be pardoned for their crimes. They were shocked when the ancients wanted the crew to continue their mission doing diplomatic contacts in the ancient races community.

Crimes committed in the rogue operation:

Grand theft

False flag

Piracy

Impersonating an officer

Rogue operation [unapproved illegal missions]

Illegal possession of military grade weapons

I’m going to stop now, everything involved in the rogue operation is not legal, the list of crimes would be insanely long. If you want to make a complete list you are welcome to try.

The original purpose of the starship that became the USS Anracosh before the Dominion war

When the USS Anracosh was the USS Excalibur it was geared to be a long range exploration vessel. This was before the Dominion war. Much of the provisions and equipment for that exploration was put in the secondary hull that was replaced by the ancients. Such resources would not be needed by the USS Anracosh when it can get back home in five minutes to resupply as opposed to five months travelling through deep space to get to Federation territory. Why would you need a year’s supply of various materials like replacement parts and a year’s worth of food when your journey “there and back” takes a week? For the record the USS Anracosh gets six months’ worth of provisions every time it is resupplied, except that Section 31 will make contact to transfer crew for commando missions as required.

Motto:

Starfleet command gave this motto to the USS Anracosh as a punishment for their rogue operation:

Flying a starship we don’t understand on a mission we can’t believe meeting beings beyond our comprehension.

 

A look at the USS Anracosh itself

The full capabilities of USS Anracosh are not known

The Starship Anracosh is a fusion of Federation and ancient races technology. It is a rebuild of a decommissioned mothballed craft with a lot of modifications and upgrades. Some of the upgrades and new systems have been provided by the ancients. The ancients have given their technology for the sole purpose of the starship being used for contact with ancient races.

Nobody in the Federation knows how powerful the Anracosh is or what its full capabilities are. It is part of the mission of those who crew the USS Anracosh to find out the full capabilities of the starship and the ancient race technology it contains.

The full abilities of the starship in terms of maximum speed, shield strength, weapons power, scanning precision and so-on have never been tested to their maximum capacity. One reason for this is that the starship is full of equipment and materials that the crew do not really understand. They know how to repair to a degree it but have no idea how it works, thus they are cautious when experimenting with it and thus the starship has never been tested to its limits.

What is known about the scanners is that they have ancient race upgrades and thus they make any cloaking device worthless.

As for analysing the ancient’s technology on the USS Anracosh, it is easier said than done. Some of the technology is so far above the Federation it would be like asking someone from the 5th century BCE to reverse engineer a mobile phone. Having said that, the crew can reverse engineer a few things found on the USS Anracosh, but many of the systems remain a mystery.

The real power of the USS Anracosh

When testing the power levels of the USS Anracosh the Federation used its best sensor equipment to measure the starship’s power levels. The result was that the equipment was clocked – meaning that it the maximum readout for the sensors was less than the amount of power contained in the USS Anracosh. The Federation’s engineers and scientists made custom version of their best sensor equipment that could measure very powerful energy levels only to find the same result. Once again the equipment was clocked. The Federation can’t measure just how powerful the USS Anracosh actually is. In terms of firepower the starship could destroy entire fleets in one battle, and can be a planet killer. With the Black Hole Manipulator fully operational the USS Anracosh can be a star killer.

 

A note on the USS Anracosh looks

The outer appearance of the USS Anracosh looks like a Federation vessel on the top half and an ancient races vessel on the bottom half. This is so it is easy to identify as both a Federation and Ancient race vessel in one. This applies to visual range and any range of scanning, especially long range scans.

It is crucial to the mission of the USS Anracosh that it be recognised by everyone, ancients and younger races, as both a Federation and Ancient race vessel. This is because normally an ancient will ignore a younger race vessel if it has no reasons to interact with the younger races. However, an ancient will not ignore an ancient race vessel upon detecting it. They will at least try to contact it or even board or surround it. This will be done with friendly intent.

The inside of the USS Anracosh is different to the outside in that Federation and Ancient race technology permeates the whole starship and it looks like a true fusion of the two technologies. Organic and inorganic technology is merged and works together as one on the USS Anracosh. Everything on the USS Anracosh looks like a fusion of organic and inorganic – everything from the seats and to the furniture to the view screens to the control panels.

 

The USS Anracosh starship layout

The USS Anracosh is a standard Federation starship on the top and an ancient races starship on the bottom. The top half consist of a saucer section, warp nacelles and connecting parts to those areas.

The saucer section is unusual in that it contains the deflector dish and shuttle bays. The saucer section also has all the usual areas found in the saucer section, namely cabins, bridge, science labs, medical facilities, phaser banks, launchers for photon torpedoes and probes, entertainment areas, a neural education centre and so on.

The warp nacelles are Federation standard and the engineering section is embedded into the ancient’s part of the vessel. Where the differences start are in what the ancients added to the USS Anracosh.

The engineering section has been considerably expanded into the ancient races part of the starship, so it can service and monitor the ancient race technologies onboard. It is somewhat bigger than the standard engineering section for a starship of its size. The engineering section is located halfway between the point of the cone and the flat end of the cone on the upper part of the cone section of the starship. It is a large open area as well.

The Ancients part of the vessel is shaped like a thin cone and has an organic look to it. The tip of the cone is at the back of the starship. Starting from the pointy [spike] end of the cone the first third of it is a warp nacelle of ancient design and construction. This area also contains the supporting machinery for the ancients warp nacelle. The nacelle and its supporting technology are far more advanced than anything the Federation can produce. It is capable of producing trans-warp fields that make it possible to go from one end of the Milky Way Galaxy to the other end in one week, but this is nowhere near what the maximum speed of the USS Anracosh is suspected to be.

The flat end of the Ancient race “cone” section of the starship contains the black hole manipulator, which is the glowing multi-coloured yellow part of the “flat” area. Surrounding the glowing part of the “flat” are nodules set in a circle. This is the wormhole generator; it can generate wormholes that can be projected who knows how far into the universe. It is the usual story of nobody really knows the full limits of the USS Anracosh.

Behind the black hole manipulator and the wormhole projector are machinery related to each. These machines extend a quarter the way back starting from the flat of the cone. At the base of the starship in this area is a tractor beam like device that is connected to the black hole manipulator. It is clearly a tractor beam designed to harness the gravity of a black hole put into the black hole manipulator. This means it could pull whole planets out of their orbits and change the trajectory of a star.

Below the engineering section is a battery that contains more energy than the Federation can produce to refuel it. This means the Federation has no way to recharge this battery; they would have to call on the ancients to recharge it for them. The battery takes up the bottom area below engineering and it is directly linked to the black hole manipulator. The battery is designed to be recharged by the black hole manipulator. The battery extends from the wormhole projector/black hole manipulator to halfway between the point and flat parts of the cone.

Going towards the spike end of the cone behind engineering is “the alcove”. The alcove’s purpose is to give space borne ancients a place to meet terrestrial beings and negotiate “face to face” with them.

The remaining areas of the cone contain ancient race technology far in advance of the Federation. Nobody in the Federation really knows what these machines do or how they work. All that is known is that they require the black hole manipulator to be fully operational for the machinery to function.

 

USS Anracosh Technical Specifications [Tech Specs] pages

Note: The problem with making a technical specifications list for the USS Anracosh is that the starship is a hybrid Federation/Ancient races vessel. Many of the systems on the USS Anracosh cannot be built by the United Federation of Planets as they are far more technologically advanced than what the Federation can create.

Some of the starship’s systems are of purely ancient races origin, such as the neural education devices, other systems are standard Federation systems with ancient race upgrades, like almost all of the starship. A better question to ask about the USS Anracosh is what systems were not upgraded or created by the ancients?

Such are the power levels of the USS Anracosh that Federation technology can’t even measure them. A lot of operational limits are just decided as pure guesses because of the Federation’s lack of understanding of the USS Anracosh’s systems. The aforementioned neural education devices will teach crew members how to fix and maintain the USS Anracosh but do not teach how the systems of the starship actually work.

The core of the issue is that the USS Anracosh is a vessel with God like powers when compared to anything the Federation has. It is a hybrid Federation/Ancient races starship, but functionally it is an ancient races starship that is designed to be used by younger race beings.

Because of the above mentioned issues the starship’s attributes fall into five categories:

Known, Known with caveats, Arbitrarily set, Unknown, Unknown with caveats and Not applicable

Known

Class/type of vessel: Unique vessel, class Anracosh, dedicated diplomatic starship.

Used to be an older variant prototype of the Excalibur class x-cruiser upgraded to fight the Dominion war, but was completed too late to join active service.

Note: The name Anracosh comes from the first two letters of each of the words Ancient Races Contact Ship, i.e An Ra Co Sh.

Commissioned: [Rebuilt to its current form] 2379

Length: 485m

Width: 214m

Height: 104.5m

Decks: 30 [includes sub-decks and unconnected parts of decks on the same level]

Crew: 518

Captain, Neural education officer, First officer: 3

Specialists: 5, Department heads: 6

Officers: 24, Team leaders: 96, Crew: 384

Crew uniform: Is a special lime green uniform known as the green uniform of shame, so the crew stands out and everyone knows who they are. There is no dress uniform variant.

The USS Anracosh has double control systems for crew starship interaction. There are one set of controls where controls are normally put that are for use by younger race beings. Near the ceilings are controls designed to be used by ancients using ancient races powers and abilities to control that starship.

The USS Anracosh is equipped with a full diplomatic suite with modifications both Federation and ancient races to accommodate ancient race beings. Notably the starship features a facility called the alcove, which is can be accessed from the hull of the starship and is designed to host spacebourne ancient races beings. The diplomatic suite includes small and large conference rooms, dedicated office space for the diplomatic staff [which on the USS Anracosh is a whole department of crew], a repurposed cargo bay for large events, and room for expansion if the need arises. The repurposed cargo bay doubles as a party room for the crew.

Known with caveats

Automated repair systems: Handles regular low level repairs and maintenance, but in a way that regenerates the starship like a plant growing back and repairing itself. This is one of the ancient races systems on the USS Anracosh that is not fully understood.

Certain systems will only run with a black hole in the black hole manipulator. These systems are dormant but what is known is that they are related to giving the USS Anracosh the various abilities of a black hole in a usable customizable form. At time of writing the black hole manipulator has not been completed, i.e. it does not have a stellar mass black hole placed in the black hole manipulator.

Has the same maneuverability as the early model Excalibur class vessels, but can do warp micro jumps where it can go short distances and change the direction it faces in one move. To say the USS Anracosh has super maneuverability is beyond a complete understatement.

Gravity plating strength is set to Federation standard. However, the gravity plating on the USS Anracosh has an ancient races upgrade that counteracts the effects of anything that can externally affect it. For example If the USS Anracosh’s shields are hit by a quantum torpedo the crew would not feel it via the gravity plating misaligning. On starship without the ancient races upgraded gravity plating a quantum torpedo hit leave the crew falling to the floor and risking serious injury.

Arbitrarily set

Refit cycle: Arbitrarily set at six months, but could be extended much longer. This was done to facilitate much more in depth study of the ancient races technologies and upgrades aboard the USS Anracosh. A timeline for a major refit has yet to be decided at time of writing.

Cruising speed: Arbitrarily set at nearly 100,000 light years [the width of the Milky Way galaxy] a fortnight, but could be set as something much faster.

To translate that into warp factor, if you take each warp speed as double its predecessor, i.e. warp 2 is twice the speed of light, warp 3 is four times the speed of light, warp 4 is eight times the speed of light, then the USS Anracosh has a cruising of roughly warp 17. Warp 9.5 is the standard for high end Federation starships.

Notes: If the USS Anracosh needed to get somewhere like another galaxy the crew would employ the starship’s wormhole generator to get to their destination galaxy in minutes. The reason for the super high speeds attainable by the USS Anracosh is that it has a third warp nacelle built by the ancient races.

Unknown

Maximum warp field strength: Unknown

Maximum speed: Unknown

Range: Unknown, estimated [guessed] to be able to travel for centuries on end.

Maximum shield strength: Unknown

General power levels: Unknown

Unknown with caveats

Maximum transporter range/strength: Unknown, arbitrarily set as Federation standard.

Maximum phaser strength: Unknown; however given the ancient race enhancements to the phasers they are a one shot one kill/one disabled type weapon.

Tractor Beam strength: Unknown, with a fully operational Black Hole Manipulator the tractor beam is enhanced with the gravity of a black hole. With a tractor beam that powerful the USS Anracosh can pull an earth sized planet [and possibly much larger planet] out of orbit.

Maximum sensor strength/range/resolution: Unknown, and powerful enough to make cloaking devices worthless. At time of writing experiments with the sensor systems are ongoing. A decision about their level of operational standards and power level settings has yet to be made.

Mass without black hole in black hole manipulator: Unknown, there is some kind of ancient races anti-gravity technology that makes up the black hole manipulator device on the USS Anracosh that messes up trying to measure the mass of the starship.

Mass with black hole in black hole manipulator: At least several solar [sun] masses. Note: It would take an infinite power source for a starship to move a black hole. However a black hole is an infinite power source. The black hole in the black hole manipulator is used as its own power source to move itself.

Not applicable

Carrying capacity/Evacuation limit/Emergency facilities: N/A – at time of writing the USS Anracosh gets an exemption from Starfleet command to answering distress calls. This decision was made after the USS Anracosh responded to a distress call from a Starfleet vessel. Due to the crew of the USS Anracosh being seen as renegades nobody in Starfleet wants to meet they were greeted with utter hostility when trying to attempt a rescue effort. The reason for the hostility from the crew being rescued is because the crew of the USSS Anracosh is seen as a rogue crew that not only got away with their crimes, but was rewarded for their crimes by getting to crew the ancient races upgraded USS Anracosh.

Number of torpedoes/shuttle craft/probes: The USS Anracosh has an ancient race enhanced manufacturing facility that can make equipment and vehicles as needed, therefore as many pieces of equipment, weapons and vehicles as desired.

 

The organic part of the USS Anracosh

This part of the starship was provided by the ancients and filled with ancient race technology. It is an organic starship that was heavily modified so it could be merged with a Federation starship.

The organic half of the USS Anracosh is from a race of sentient organic starships created by a race that was invited into the ranks of the ancient races clique. The race took their A.I. creations with them when they joined the ancients.

It was the race of sentient organic starships themselves that built the organic half of the USS Anracosh and made sure that the organic half never had a brain to begin with, and will never develop one. Other ancients wanted a computer system that crew members could merge with one at a time to show the crew what it means to have the powers of an ancient. In effect a crew member that merges with the starship’s computer becomes the USS Anracosh’s A.I.

The sentient organic starships that half of the USS Anracosh is based on venerate the non-sentient/brain dead version of themselves that serves as half of the USS Anracosh. The way they see it the non-sentient/brain dead component is serving the purpose for which they were designed. It is being a starship. This is a source of pride for the sentient organic starships. Being a starship is what they are meant to do, so doing that job is being the best organic starship they can be.

The Federation take the opposite point of view. What the organic starships have gone through is slavery. The fact that the organic half of the USS Anracosh will never become sentient is even worse, it is a body made to be a machine and will never be able to understand it is a slave. Having said that the ancients do not see it that way, they take the side of the organic starships. This is mainly so the Federation learns the lesson that its ways are not the only way to live. Other cultures have other ways of doing things, which are just as valid. To simplify: The ancients have the attitude that “cookie cutter” solutions don’t work. What may be just right for some would never work for another.

 

Hyperwarp explained

IMPORTANT! This is a very important plot point as I refer to hyperwarp in a few of the plot synopses.

IMPORTANT: The warp speed measurement I use in Star Trek Realm of the Gods is not the version where warp 10 is not infinite speed. I use the version where warp speeds are exponential in measurement. Therefore warp 1 is light speed, warp 2 is twice light speed, warp 3 is four times light speed, warp 4 is eight times light speed and so on. This is the scale used in Star Trek The Original Series [TOS].

The USS Anracosh has a third warp nacelle in the ancient races half of the starship. This is not just a standard warp nacelle but a warp nacelle made by the ancients with ancient races technology. What this ancient race sourced warp nacelle does is make the warp engines go from standard warp to hyperwarp. In other words a warp state beyond the standard warp state. This can make the USS Anracosh go between galaxies in very short spaces of time. The starship can travel between galaxies like a standard younger races starship can travel between stars.

The reason the ancients chose this method of breaking the warp barrier for the USS Anracosh is that the space faring younger races have an excellent understanding of warp technology. It is easy for younger races to reverse engineer hyperwarp systems as hyperwarp runs on the same concept as warp drives, effectively it is an extension of warp technology. This makes it easy for younger races to learn about hyperwarp because they already understand warp technology.

 

Some important systems [ancients upgrades]

Overview of ancient race upgrades to the USS Anracosh

Some of the upgrades to the starship include:

A wormhole generator, this saves on having to travel through potentially hostile territory. The wormholes are usually not stable and will collapse once travelled through.

An ancient race translator device – it can handle communicating with ascended beings and space borne ancients. Normal translation machines cannot do that.

A neural education centre, this is where crew can educate themselves via mind machine interface. The effects of using the neural education devices are instant once it has done its job.

A special alcove type boarding area for space-borne ancients to enter the starship and interact with the crew in a – for want of a better way to say it – face to face manner.

The ancient race parts of the starship are self-repairing, but that does not mean they are part of a perfect system and will need ancient race attention every so often.

Mind machine interfaces so the crew can in part control the starship by thought impulses. The interfaces can be found at the crews workstations. Please note that these are Federation technology derived from analysing the neural education devices installed by the ancients. This means they are experimental in nature and not widespread in the starship.

An artificial womb lab for growing organic starship components and growing other things that are organic.

A beacon and similar technologies for attracting and communicating with ancients.

Replicator technology far in advance of the Federation’s replicators. It can create materials younger race’s replicators cannot create.

A scaled down version of the wormhole projector used for personal transportation, like the transporter teleportation device. Known as the four dimensional space folding device.

A black hole manipulator – does what it says, captures a black hole and allows the black hole’s abilities to be harnessed in a usable focused way.

The USS Anracosh has systems that allow it to link to ancient race technology outside the starship. Ancient race technology is designed assuming an ancient race being is controlling it. Using the USS Anracosh younger races can interact with ancient race technology that would normally impossible for them to operate. These systems also double as impressive computer hacking devices.

The USS Anracosh is designed so any ancient detecting it recognises it as an ancient race starship and also know that it is the Federation’s ancient races contact ship. The ancients who sense it will know it is there to make contact with the crew of the USS Anracosh.

 

Only the USS Anracosh itself is modified by the ancients

The shuttle craft, hand held weapons, data pads and any other peripheral items including the uniforms were not modified or replaced by the ancients. Any item but the starship itself is Federation standard, or modified by the Federation into non-standard items.

Shuttles: The USS Anracosh has 6 shuttles of a larger type that there recoloured so everyone would know what starship they came from. Just as the uniforms are the “lime green uniform of shame” the shuttle features a green engine glow that matches the uniform. This was done on the orders of Starfleet command.

The USS Anracosh has a number of shuttle creators/dismantlers, as seen in Star Trek Prodigy. This is Federation technology, and it is not upgraded by the ancients. The USS Anracosh can make any type of shuttle the crew wants. The reason the crew prefers large shuttles is that a large shuttle has a higher passenger capacity. Their missions of contacting the ancients and commando raids for Section 31 means that they need shuttles with the passenger count of a bus. The shuttles of the USS Anracosh are engineered with office space so the diplomats can work en route and has layout that suits negotiations and treaty signings. With commando raids the same “office space” is used for weapons and mission equipment storage.

When the USS Anracosh’s engines are tested it looks like one of those youtube travel between galaxies videos.

Some of the equipment has been modified by the crew of the USS Anracosh

It has to be said that the crew have experimented with upgrading standard Federation equipment with ancient’s technology, notably handheld equipment like various types of phaser firearms, com-badges and tricorders.

 

The alcove

The alcove is designed for space borne energy beings to interact with crew without having to possess them and for beings who prefer to remain in the vacuum of space for various reasons. The alcove is found near the surface of the USS Anracosh in the organic half of the starship.

For example a space barnacle that is a third the size of the USS Anracosh or an energy being that is like a tiny diffuse nebula that would not fare well in an atmosphere, or like the Paxans would have to possess a crew member to talk to the crew. The alcove has facilities for such creatures so they can interact and remain in space or so don’t need to possess anyone.

An ancient can also put part of themselves in the alcove and have the bulk of their being in the vacuum of space. Not all ancients remain as terrestrial creatures and some prefer to remain in a form that is not conducive to moving around corridors or rooms in a starship. The alcove is made for them so they are not forced to take forms they do not like or have to possess someone so they can communicate.

Part of the alcove is designed to host energy beings, another part of the alcove hosts younger race beings. There are systems in place to monitor the environments of the alcove to keep every creature present in a comfortable setting that they are adapted to live in.

 

The wormhole generator, obviously of Iconian origin

The wormholes generator can only create wormholes where one of the wormholes entrances is close to the generator and the other entrance is at another location. It cannot create wormholes between two random parts of space.

The information below applies both to wormholes meant to move large starships and to wormholes meant for much smaller uses, such as transporting personnel and cargo.

If you want to go from one distant location to another you have to use two wormholes. One wormhole takes you to the generator and another wormhole at the generator takes you to your destination. Therefore if you want to connect two or more distant areas the wormhole generator has to act as a “grand central station”.

There is a caveat: The wormholes are not stable after being used and will collapse once travelled through. However there is no reason you could not make two wormholes that go to the same area of space. One is used immediately to get to where you want to go, and the other is in reserve for when you want to go home.

Nobody knows the full range of the wormhole generator. It could create wormholes that could take you to and from a location several galaxies away. It is also therefore a much faster way than warp drive when you want to travel long distances. It also has the bonus that it saves on having to travel through potentially hostile or hazardous territories.

As for the internal structure of the wormhole, that can be customised as well. You could make it like a doorway with no internal space or like a tunnel that has to be travelled through. The tunnel can be as long or short as desired. This would make it handy as a storage device.

The ancients gave the Federation the wormhole generator to help them contact ancients that don’t live anywhere near the Federation. It gives the Federation the option of visiting ancients races living in other galaxies, and if used properly, to visit ancients in other dimensions.

The wormhole generator can make permanent wormholes and wormholes that will last longer than one usage. However this takes more effort to do. The ancients have said to the crew of the USS Anracosh that the wormhole generator is designed to be used with that starship’s black hole manipulator being completed and fully operational.

The wormhole generator would make permanent wormholes and other wormhole variants with ease if that starship had a working black hole manipulator.

The ancients have instructed the crew of the USS Anracosh that the wormhole generator will work just fine indefinitely without a black hole manipulator if they stick to only making single use wormholes holes.

The Federation is obviously putting in the effort to reverse engineer the wormhole generator.

 

Neural education centre and mind machine interfaces onboard

The crew of the USS Anracosh have a unique crew situation because they have access to neural education technology provided by the ancient races.

THESE DEVICES HAVE NO HIDDEN SIDE EFFECTS AND ARE TOTALLY SAFE TO USE

IMPORTANT: THE NEURAL EDUCATION DEVICES ARE NOT A VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM OR USE SURGERY TO ACCOMPLSH THEIR EFFECTS.

Neural education is where you program knowledge into the mind by direct brain alteration means. It is not a V.R. system but direct brain alteration with knowledge simply appearing in the mind as if it was remembered out of nowhere, and without the need for surgery. A large number of crew members can be sent to their starship’s neural education centre all at once and in half an hour or less they have all the professionals they need in any profession they need.

The difference between mind machine interfaces and neural education technology

In case you are wondering what the difference between neural education devices and mind machine interfaces are here it is: The mind machine interface only scans the mind for relevant impulse that equal orders given to the machines it is connected to. Note that these are passive scans. The neural education device actually alters the brain as well as scanning it. A neural education device requires a special alcove where the person using it sits with their head held in place by the neural education device while it does its work. A mind machine interface is a lot less bulky and can only be used at its relevant work station.

The Federation’s efforts in replicating mind machine interface technology

The Federation is reverse engineering neural education technology and the mind machine interface with the starship’s main computer to develop Federation made mind machine interfaces. To a limited extent they can be found at workstations and elsewhere on the starship and its shuttlecraft so the crew can in part control the starship by thought impulses. Mind machine interfaces also augment the mind or minds they are connected to. Someone using a mind machine interface, for want of a better word, “unites” with the device the mind machine interface is controlling. Thus the person using the mind machine interface temporarily gains abilities of the machine rather than just using it. Once again the USS Anracosh has these machines in limited numbers and they are still experimental in nature.

The exception to this is the interface that allows a crew member to link with the USS Anracosh’s main computer to act as an A.I. computer chip. This was technology given to the USS Anracosh by the ancients. This device was a big help in reverse engineering mind machine devices made by the Federation.

If mind machine interfaces were more common they would allow the crew to control the starship very efficiently. The crew needs to be in one place to use the mind machine interface as it is part of a work station. The mind machine interface itself composes of a discreet scanning device at the workstation. Portable versions are available but are in the prototype stages.

The lessons the ancients expected the Federation to learn from mind machine interfaces and neural education devices

When the ancients installed the main computer’s mind machine interface on the USS Anracosh they were expecting that the crew would rotate the role of being the A.I. computer chip for the starship. They did not anticipate that the job would be given to only one crew member for duration of the voyage.

Using the main computer mind machine interface was meant to give all the crew an idea of what it would be like to gain abilities far beyond what their bodies and minds could ever currently have. Becoming an ascended being with a whole new set of powers is a similar experience to using the main computer’s mind machine interface. Having these kind experiences goes a long way to understanding the ancient races mindset, which is a very handy skill to have when dealing with the ancients. The same can be said for using neural education technology.

Both neural education devices and the main computer’s mind machine interface are intended as object lessons. After a reasonable number of sessions in the neural education centre a crew member gets a knowledge base that would take several lifetimes to get via conventional learning. They would have the kind of knowledge level similar to a low level non-corporeal life form. After more than a few sessions in the neural education centre the crew get more knowledge than they could learn in their entire lives. As said before, having these kind experiences goes a long way to understanding the ancient races mindset.

In short neural education devices and mind machine interfaces allow the crew of the USS Anracosh to “walk a mile in the shoes” of the ancients.

The ancients were told by the leaders of the Federation that the Federation is not ready to have neural education technology or mind machine interfaces as common place items. The ancients have a mixed reaction, some say OK, you do you, others say no way, we gave you this and we expect you to use it and adapt to it as we once did. The ancients say if you can’t handle neural education it’s like saying you can’t handle warp drive or teleportation. Although they say these things they also say it is up to the Federation’s to choose what it wants to do with neural education technology and mind machine interfaces.

The crew understands the potential [good and bad] of neural education being commonplace

One of the reasons the crew understand the potential of neural education is they see the results of using neural education first hand. Having neural education technology means having an extremely multi-skilled crew, which is what the crew of the USS Anracosh has become because of neural education technology. This is a huge advantage for the crew of the Anracosh, it gives them a kind of “human capital” that other starships crews can’t match. Use of neural education technology makes the command structure very fluid as well. Someone in a command role could be the subordinate officer the following day, so they are careful about how they treat each other.

The starship crew members can use their starship’s neural education centre as they wish. Casual use of the neural education centre is encouraged. The effect of this is that they change professions every day. Yesterday’s junior ranked medical doctor is this morning’s engineer, this afternoon’s I.T. specialist is tonight’s barman and tomorrow’s astronomer. That last comment is not an exaggeration.

The crew see the dangers of neural education being commonplace and how it would disrupt and hurt society. They believe that having neural education out there as a real threat and think this is one piece of technology that the ancients should keep to themselves. This is very emotional as the machines have no detrimental physical or mental effects. The devices would, degrade the value of qualifications, give knowledge to those who would abuse it, change society as we know it, and maybe not for better. The Federation could not handle neural education technology being widespread.

 

The reasons I am restricting use of mind machine interfaces in Star Trek Realm of the Gods

The reason I am restricting the use of mind machine interface in the story is that many technologies become possible through mind machine interfaces. A lot of technologies could be derived from neural education technology such as every kind of mind machine interface technology variant you could think of. Here are some examples: Neural control of machines, VR sets that go directly “into the head”, augmenting the mind and much more.

Having these mind machine interface technology variations would turn Star Trek into a cyberpunk story, and as a whole Star Trek is not cyberpunk. However, if you want to take Star Trek Realm of the Gods into cyberpunk territory I am perfectly OK with that.

Therefore I wrote that the ancients only gave the Federation neutral education technology and the mind machine interface with the main computer. The rest of the mind machine interface technologies were reverse engineered by the Federation examining neutral education devices and the main computer’s mind machine interface.

 

The black hole manipulator

The most terrifying device the crew of the USS Anracosh have found on their starship is what the ancients call a black hole manipulator. It does as the name suggests, manipulates black holes. To make this understandable, black holes can be classified as atomic point particles, or fairly close to atomic point particles [I won’t go into specifics here], with staggering amounts of gravity, and the black hole manipulator treats a black hole like an atomic point particle, and can manipulate a black hole as a point particle can be manipulated. [A point particle is any subatomic particle, like an electron, a quark, a neutrino, a lepton and so on.] What the black hole manipulator does is captures a black hole and harnesses it. It uses the black hole’s own infinite energy to power moving it around and power the effects one would want from a black hole, but in a concentrated, focused and usable form.

The difference between the Romulan singularity device and the black hole manipulator is that the Romulan invention uses a small scale artificial singularity as a battery for their starships and the black hole manipulator uses an actual black hole. This makes the black hole manipulator more powerful by countless magnitudes when compared to the Romulan singularity device. Added to that the Romulan singularity device is purely a battery. The black hole manipulator is not only a battery, but actually uses all the various powers of a black hole.

The black hole manipulator can pull planets out of orbit, destabilise a star to the point it where it goes supernova, create massive amounts of focused radiation [i.e. emulate a gamma ray burst], control the starship’s forward flow in time, turn the USS Anracosh into an unstoppable super weapon [although the USS Anracosh can already be classed as a super weapon], be turned into a bomb that has the explosive force of a supernova and much more. Some of the crew were horrified that such a machine can even exist. They thought that nobody should have access to the kind of power a black hole manipulator could give them. I am not just talking about energy levels; I am talking about political power and every other type of power that the word power means.

The civilian leaders of the Federation made official complaints to the ancients about the black hole manipulator being on the starship, saying that nobody should have access to a device of absolute power. They wanted it removed from the USS Anracosh. The ancients responded that they never finished the machine; they never put a black hole into the black hole manipulator. It was up to the Federation to decide if they wanted to complete the device and use it. The ancients encouraged them to finish the machine and put it through its paces. The reaction of the Federation politicians was one of utter horror, reiterating that such a powerful invention should not exist or be anyone’s hands for any reason.

The ancients then said in their defence that the black hole manipulator was an object lesson for the Federation. If they are going to do a Realm of the Gods project they have to come to terms that they will be interacting with races and individuals who are more powerful than the black hole manipulator. If they are going to deal with the ancients the Federation must understand what it is to have infinite power at their disposal. It will help them understand what it means to be an ancient, especially a very powerful ancient who is essentially a deity. They also reminded the Federation that they are the junior partner in the Realm of the Gods project.

 

How to handle the black hole manipulator in the show

It will be kept in an inert state [without a black hole in it] for most of the series [up to season 4]. The only episodes with it are when it is experimented with in the two parter about the black hole manipulator and for the fourth season, especially seeing it in action in the grand finale where the Ancients and Federation face off the Borg. It would be left on the starship at the end of the show. Also up until the episode where they make the black hole manipulator fully functional there are hints given about the black hole manipulator and the crew’s varying attitudes towards it.

 

The four dimensional part of the USS Anracosh

Four dimensional space folding takes the place of turbolifts on an ancient races vessel, and the USS Anracosh has four dimensional space folding facilities onboard. The technology is Iconian in origin, they made a vast wormhole supported empire before joining the ancient races clique.

Four dimensional space folding means creating wormholes for the crew to travel through both onboard the USS Anracosh and beyond. Imagine making a door in a room that lead to the other side of the building with no internal hallway space used, meaning it is like the door leads directly to another room. You leave the room through the weird door and enter the room at the other end of the house a second later, stepping from one room to the other.

The four dimensional space folding device on the USS Anracosh does this, with the ability to connect areas of the starship when needed as much as needed. To get from one end of the ship to the other all one need to do is step through a doorway and arrive instantly at the desired destination with no corridor going from doorway to another.

The same technology can be used in place of transporters, although the USS Anracosh does have Federation standard transporters, it also has the long range version of the four dimensional space folding device. This version is used for off starship transportation. The maximum range the four dimensional space folding device “throws” ends of a wormhole is unknown.

One thing the four dimensional space folding device can do is make its wormholes invisible. This is handy for eavesdropping and has other applications as well, such as dropping a bomb inside an enemy starship.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 5 Part 2

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 5 part 1

Introduction to a sample Star Trek Realm of the Gods TV show

Season 5 Episode 8

Cat call of Cthulu part 2

Operation Sour Grapes – revenge on the leader of the anti-Realm of the Gods protest movement.

The first scenes are a recap of the previous episode. This leads into the a scene of the protest group meeting to complain about having to tell people passing their protests the opposite message to what they are protesting about via the pamphlets the courts have forced them to hand out at their protests.

The recurring character protester says they will launch an appeal to overturn the court’s ruling and to sit tight for now because he is confident that with some legal manoeuvring they can either hide the pamphlets [making them an asked for “behind the counter product”] or have the courts reverse their decision. The protester assures his group that the pamphlets are merely a bump in the road and ends the meeting trying to inspire hope in his followers.

After the meeting ends the protester goes to his office and receives a message that because the crew of the USS Anracosh has largely been forgiven for their actions and become heroes of the Federation, the shady people behind the protesters movement will no longer be sending any support or political backing to him.

After the conversation ends the protester proceeds to embezzle his own movement and say to his followers that the movement has run out of money and he is ending the movement because it is broke [when in fact it has a lot of money. So much money that he buys a nice private tropical island on Risa to retire in comfort on.]

What the protester doesn’t know is that some of the most prominent members of his anti-Realm of the Gods protest group are actually Section 31 agents who have bugged his office and hacked his computer. One of the Section 31 agents is actually the computer expert for the protest group. He is the guy meant to discover if the group’s computers have been hacked.

The Section 31 agent [who is a pro-Federation Ferengi] keeps tabs on what the protest leader is doing and reports his findings to his superiors and to the head of security on the USS Anracosh. The security chief calls for a meeting of the officer core of the USS Anracosh to tell them what the protester is doing. The core crew hate the protest leader with a passion and loathe even hearing his name, but love hearing he is going to embezzle his own movement and would love to take revenge on the man. They say that every member of the USS Anracosh crew would love nothing more than to break the guys face, but exposing him as an embezzler and ruining his public reputation sounds like much more fun. Thus it is arranged that the crew of the USS Anracosh will take over from Section 31 in relation to the anti-Realm of the Gods protester.

A very “sour grapes” plan is made by officer core and enacted by the security chief. They will expose him as soon as he arrives at the tropical island he will assume where he will live out his days in luxury. They will have a large number of journalist who have been given anonymous tip offs with all the evidence of his embezzlement. Only after the guy’s reputation is obliterated will the same information be anonymously forwarded to the police.

The plan is for the crew themselves to organise the journalists and inform the police. These are guys who do covert ops for the Federation for a living. When volunteers are asked for the covert mission the entire crew volunteers! The information of the protester embezzling his movement has already been forwarded to the crew. The crew uses its covert ops skills to set up a fake organisation for the protester to invest through, and put his tropical island in the name of a shell company to hide the fact that it is his own island.

This is a tactic a lot of rich people use to avoid taxes. They put all their possessions and wealth in the name of companies they own so on paper they appear penniless.

With the help of the Ferengi Section 31 agent who has already hacked the protesters databases, the protester is diverted to fake internet banking websites when he tries to embezzle his own movement. The Ferengi Section 31 agent gets official approval from Section 31 command who laugh their heads off sour grapes style off at the revenge plan. This also means that the evidence gathered can be used in a court of law.

The protester moves funds illegally having no idea he is on a fake investment website and a fake real estate website. All this is recorded for dissemination to reporters and the police, and is shown in the pub on the USS Anracosh for the sour grapes enjoyment of the USS Anracosh’s crew.

A shuttle craft leaves the USS Anracosh with a commando team heading to Risa. The crew onboard are dressed in civilian clothes. They meet with reporters on Risa and show the evidence of the embezzlement to the journalists and show them the private island the protester has bought and help the journalists arrange an ambush at the island’s shuttle landing pads area. The commandoes arrange for the transporters to not be working on the day the protester goes to inspect the private island he just bought. The protester will be arriving in a couple of days, and will think that having to shuttle to the island will be a minor inconvenience, not a set up job.

The protester arrives at his island thinking he has made a great future for himself. He is ambushed by a crowd of journalists. Thinking they want to talk to him for “good” reasons he organises an impromptu press conference where he is initially very happy to answer questions. He believes this could launch a new protest career with this new found popularity, and literally the sky is the limit. He thinks this until the questions start and he is shown the evidence of him embezzling the movement he just lead.

The happy expression of his newfound political power drains from his face. He realises what is actually going on. He has been exposed as fake and a fraudster. His dreams of launching a new protesting career are now dead. He runs away from his own press conference only to be confronted by the USS Anracosh’s commandoes and some properly uniformed security officers [who all beam in blocking the protester’s path]. The security officers from the USS Anracosh have powers of arrest just like the police. The press gets some really great footage of him being arrested, not at a protest, but running away from the media exposing him for who he really is.

The news reports of the protester being arrested are shown in the USS Anracosh’s dojo to loud cheers from the crew. The crew throw a party in a cargo bay on the USS Anracosh. In a corner of the cargo bay there is a conversation between some of the officer core asking each other what is happening to the protester, as one of them is monitoring the news via a portable hologram device. The reporter in the hologram says that given the evidence against the protester his trail is a foregone conclusion and there is no way the protester will avoid going to jail. This is shown to the whole crew, who give rapturous applause in the cargo bay and elsewhere on the starship.

The scene cuts to the trial, which is in the same courtroom which hosted his lawsuit against the Federation government and Starfleet to stop the Realm of the Gods project. This was arranged by Section 31 and Starfleet again as an act of sweet revenge. The scene starts with the protester asking that if the verdict is a foregone conclusion, how is it a fair trial? The judge explains that the fairness comes from a being able to vary the length of the jail sentence. The judge is the same judge that presided over the lawsuit, once again this is part of the sweet revenge of Section 31 and the crew of the USS Anracosh.

The audience then sees a montage of the legal case showing both side’s arguments and counter arguments. Other highlights of the trial included in the montage as well.

The next scene is the judge rendering his verdict and the protester being walked out of the courtroom to a shuttle craft that will take him to the Federation prison in New Zealand. The prison cell that the protester is guided to has some graffiti on the wall which says: “Tom Paris was here”. The protester is being put in Tom Paris’s old prison cell. Once again all part of the revenge, the protester is in a cell once used by someone famous, just like he is.

When the security chief contacts the Ferengi spy that used to be in the protest group the spy has some great news: After the head protester had his reputation ruined and he was imprisoned Section 31 used a front company to buy the protester’s tropical island from the Federation government who seized it under asset seizure laws.

Section 31 are gifting it to the crew of the USS Anracosh so they, and the Section 31 agents that helped them, supplied them and fought alongside them can use it as a holiday island and eventually as a retirement village. This is to thank the crew of the USS Anracosh for making Federation allies among the ancients. The spy’s Section 31 superiors love the poetic justice part of the revenge plan.

Afterwards the officer core holds a meeting where the security chief tells the officers to set course for Risa, and explains why, the officer core cheers at this news. The captain makes the relevant orders and crew thinks they are going to continue the party on Risa. When they get to Risa the captain surprises them by telling the crew about their new private island. The bridge crew picks up that their resupply vessel and its escorts are orbiting Risa and wonder why they are there, maybe they are on holiday?

The officer core beam down to the island and meet a large number of Section 31 agents that they know from the resupply vessel. They act as a welcoming committee for the crew and give the crew the title deeds to the island. These are not only Section 31 agents they have dealt with before, but also Section 31 agents that recruited the security chief and the Helmsman. The Section 31 agents are there to congratulate the crew on everything they have done for the Federation.

After a party the bulk of the crew arrive on the island by beaming in and by shuttlecraft to inspect the island and plan what they can do with it. In the background you can see the crew assembling pre-fab buildings and infrastructure. The buildings are lightweight and thus clearly adapted to a tropical climate. The infrastructure is basic but more than adequate. It can easily be seen that the crew is already creating a holiday resort for themselves.

In the final scene it is shown that the crew are very pleased and congratulate themselves on getting rid of one of their main enemies. It is stressed that the rest of the protest group will know their leader is a fraud and the whole movement was a fraud. Without the leader the group will fall apart. The final part of the scene is the crew realising they will no longer have to see anti-Realm of the Gods protesters anywhere, and that by itself is a reason to celebrate. At the end of the episode they are laughing at the revenge they just pulled off.

 

Season 5 Episode 9

Giant machine episode

Note: The B plot for this episode is described at the end of this plot synopsis.

The crew visit an ancient race’s giant machine; they don’t know what this machine does, but it has been proven to be of First Federation construction. They must navigate around it and find [if present] the machines builders and establish a dialog with them and find out what the machine is for.

This begs the question, why not approach the ancients and ask them what this machine is? This was tried and the ancients from the First Federation said that this is another object lesson about the ancients. The Federation must figure out the machine for themselves. The ancients want younger races to do things for themselves, and this is one situation where the ancients want the younger races to show they are worthy of running Realm of the Gods projects.

This episode sees the drone, the chief engineer, the chief science officer and the helmsman working together on occasion. It shows the friendship between the Helmsman and the chief science officer and the friendships that have formed in the crew as a whole.

The Federation asks the crew of the USS Anracosh to investigate an ancient races machine that has been in a remote part of the Federation for as long as the Federation can remember. This machine was made by the First Federation. The USS Anracosh must find out what the machine does.

The crew arrives at the machine, which is sitting in deep space. An away team beams over to the machine. Among others on this team are the Zalkonian doctor and the drone. The drone and the Zalkonian get the life support system of the machine working and many more away teams beam over to analyse the machine. The Zalkonian can operate control panels designed for ascended beings because she is an ascended being, just like the drone can, he has some ancient race abilities even though he is a flesh and blood being.

The drone tells the crew how the First Federation was a group like the Federation, but they did their own Realm of the Gods project several centuries ago and made a collective effort in their member races to all join the ancient races clique as a team. Important plot point: The ancients don’t class this as a Realm of the Gods project that counts as a mass recruitment effort. Ancients do not acknowledge the First Federation as starting a galaxy wide recruitment drive for the ancient races clique. The important reason for this is that the First Federation kept their Realm of the Gods project a secret. They wanted to join the ancient races clique without other civilisations following them.

They had the same motivations as the crew of the Anracosh. Establish diplomatic relations with the ancients to give themselves an advantage over rivals and potential enemies. Of course, their secrecy and subterfuge was not appreciated by the ancients, although they were still allowed to continue with the project. They did put in the effort, after all. Because of their willingness to change and do whatever it takes to join the ancients race clique; the ancients let them in, but the First Federation had to prove their people were worthy to be part of the ancient races clique.

The mistake the First Federation made was they thought they would merely be establishing diplomatic relations with the ancients rather than joining them. They originally thought that a Realm of the Gods project was making an alliance with the ancient races clique and asked the ancients for an alliance. It is the same mistake the crew of the USS Anracosh made when they started their own Realm of the Gods project.

The ancients told the First Federation their Realm of the Gods project was more like a recruitment drive, and asked if they were willing to change so they could join the ancient races clique as “newly made” ancient races. The First Federation was amazed at learning this and eagerly did what they needed to do to become ascended beings.

The First Federation used to occupy a region that a small portion of the Federation and some of the other nearby governments [notably Klingon areas] currently occupy, but had mostly gone into the ancient races clique by the time of the TOS era. It should be mentioned that most of the Klingon Empire used to be First Federation territory. When the Klingons expanded they found deserted world after deserted world. There was nobody to conquer because the First Federation member worlds were abandoned after the First Federation’s people became ascended beings.

The First Federation’s starship Kirk’s USS Enterprise encountered was one of the last ones the First Federation was running before the last of the First Federation’s races ascended. This is why the captain of the First Federation acted the way he did when he encountered Captain Kirk. Why hang around talking to Kirk when he can become an ascended being instead? The drone notes that some of the ancient races they have already encountered were member races of the First Federation.

The Drone’s away team make their way to the heart of the machine to a control room. Here they encounter the chief engineer, the chief science officer and the helmsman. The helmsman is on the team in case the machine has a propulsion system and can be made mobile. It will be his job to pilot the machine.

The crew start their work analysing what the machine does. The drone notes that ancients work on multiple levels of efficiency. Thus it is unlikely that the machine has only one purpose. Whatever this machine does, it will have multiple purposes, and very divergent purposes at that. Imagine a space colony that wants to run a diverse economy instead of relying on one income source – this is done so they are not dependant on the price of one commodity or service.

Going through the machine is not at all safe, members of away teams get wounded while navigating the machine and experimenting with the systems they find along the way. They are dealing with things they do not understand. However, here is the clincher, the wounded officers are beamed away to points unknown and when the USS Anracosh scans the starship it discovers a fully automated sick bay in the giant machine. The captured crewmen react to being captured by saying the remaining crews on the giant machine should avoid getting injured at all costs.

The crew find what the drone said is true. The giant machine has factory areas, what the drone says are living areas for ascended beings, an astronomical observatory, starship maintenance levels, serviced offices and much more. This was obviously a starbase of some kind with many industries and services on offer. It is obvious that the ancients think on multiple levels. One facility would have a myriad of purposes as needed. The giant machine can do many different tasks that the ancients can program it to do.

While the drone has been having a great day teaching the crew about the ancients, the chief engineer and the chief scientist have not been so lucky, they realise that much of the technology is utterly beyond the Federation. They can only understand a small portion of the devices on the giant machine station. One of the biggest obstacles is that the giant machine is designed to be run by ancients. The interfaces do not make any sense to a younger race being.

The drone says the way to solve this problem is to link the computer of the USS Anracosh [and thus the Melkot acting as starship’s A.I.] to the giant machine’s computers. The drone has a plan – he wants the crew of the USS Anracosh to order the giant machine to make and install interfaces younger race beings can use for the giant machine’s control systems.

This will remove much of the mystery of the giant machine because the interfaces will be understandable to the younger races, especially those currently on the giant machine. The downside is that they will have to evacuate the giant machine while the alterations are made, and alteration will take between ten and fifteen minutes.

Back on the USS Anracosh the away teams have returned and the chief engineer, the chief science officer, the drone and the helmsman are meeting. The chief engineer is upset that he has been next to useless on the mission. The Helmsman didn’t get to pilot the ship at all, and agrees that he too felt like dead weight. The science officer says he is in the same boat, but does not feel bad. If he doesn’t get it now, he will eventually. The chief engineer’s crewmates console him. His subordinates don’t feel bad about not understanding ancient race technology, nor does the chief science officer or his subordinates, and that’s their job, so why should he feel bad about not understanding ancient race technology?

Without warning the automated sickbay goes into lockdown as the modifications are made. Afterwards the crew captured in the automated sick bay are automatically discharged as they get healthy. Since they are closest to the control room of the giant machine; those discharged make their way to it and turn on the giant machine’s computer.

The signal is given for the away teams to return to the giant machine. This time much of the mystery is removed. With control panels that they can understand the various purposes of the giant machine become far more obvious. This leads the chief engineer and some of his underlings to explore the giant machine’s computer core.

After exploring the computer centre of the giant machine the discharged crew realise that the computer core is running in standby mode with only essential systems running. They decide to power up the computer core to see what it can do. Inadvertently they awaken the giant machine’s A.I.

The chief diplomat is called in to negotiate and the ancient machine’s A.I. asks for the giant machine to be crewed once again, even if the inhabitants are younger race beings. It asks for the Federation to provide crew for it and it will help them any way it can. The Federation crew ask it to teach the crew they send to understand its systems. It eagerly agrees to help them and the crew of the USS Anracosh send a message to the Starfleet command that its mission is complete and to immediately send follow up teams to examine the now fully operational machine.

The B plot

A commando raid is organised to rescue the captured crewmen, but the commando raid goes very badly and it is like throwing good money after bad. The commando raid triggers defensive systems in the giant machine. The results are obvious; however, the defences are not lethal in nature. The way bad luck befalls the injured crewmen and their imminent transporting is played up for horror, and is similar to a slasher movie in structure. A rank and file crew member dies in this episode.

The commandoes find themselves injured and in the giant machine’s infirmary right alongside the crew they were meant to rescue. They can contact the USS Anracosh to let them know what has happened. The injured commandoes and those who are walking wounded try to escape the medical centre, but the giant machines defences stop them. As time progresses it becomes obvious that escape is not necessary as the rest of the crew discovers and takes control of the giant machine.

While escaping those held in the infirmary discovery the giant machine’s morgue and find that a few of the crew have died in the giant machine. Their corpses are being stored in the morgue. Their bodies are very badly damaged and are beyond the ability of the giant machine or the crew of the USS Anracosh to heal. The commandoes and the walking wounded hold an impromptu funeral for their fallen comrades.

It is noted at the funeral that the ancients, notably the prankster Q, have said on various occasions that if you can’t handle the risks and consequences of exploring the unknown then you should not be out in space exploring anything. More importantly, this is the object lesson to learned here: The ancients have repeatedly reminded the younger races that if you can’t accept the risks and consequences then you are not ancient races material and therefore not fit to join the ancient races clique. Shortly afterwards the funeral ends and the all clear is given, and those in the infirmary are released.

 

Season 5 Episode 10

Crew transfer protocol

This is Alena Malgum’s episode where she finally gets to join the crew of the USS Anracosh

The story starts off with a failed Section 31 black ops mission with some of the rank and file crew members killed. The mission is a bust and the black ops mission is aborted. The few surviving commandos retreat and are debriefed. Seeing as most of the commandos are dead Alena sees this opportunity to transfer to the USS Anracosh, she can say that she is as multi-skilled as the crew on the starship and thus she deserves to be there. Besides, a few crew members also died in the recent encounter with the giant machine. For the first time the USS Anracosh needs some new crew that does not involve the occasional transfer from Section 31 to replace a single crew member who died in a commando raid on Section 31’s behalf.

Alena sees the numbers of crew that need replacing and puts her own name on the list. She approaches the Captain of the Section 31 flotilla that resupplies the USS Anracosh and asks for the transfer. The flotilla captain is surprised. Alena seemed happy on the Section 31 flotilla passing as a private hauling company.

Alena has a habit of treating those she works with as family, so Alena leaving is what surprises her captain. Alena explains herself, she sees the crew of the USS Anracosh as kindred spirits. Since the USS Anracosh has neural education technology the crew of the starship have become very multi-skilled as the mission has progressed. The crew are just like her in terms of skill level, given she is an amalgamation of six people. She has six different skill sets from six different professions.

Alena reminds her commander that she [Alena] was created in a transporter accident. Six people beamed in after a Starfleet mission and seven people appeared on the transporter pad. She was the seventh and was a fusion of the other six people. Section 31 learned of her existence and seeing her potential recruited her. Alena had nowhere else to go and accepted their offer.

Now she wants to transfer to the USS Anracosh so she can be with people she can easily relate to because she and the crew have similarly large skill sets. Alena’s commander understands and approves the transfer. A bonus is that Alena already knows the Section 31 agents that have transferred to the USS Anracosh before her, so she has a ready made social circle on the starship. Not to mention that the crew already know her as the officer that plans the commando raids and is the briefing/debriefing officer for those raids.

The flotilla Captain mentions that the flotilla has agreed to meet the USS Anracosh at the Maquis Republic’s home world. The crew of the USS Anracosh has business there as does Section 31. Both groups want to recruit the Maquis, notably Section 31 wants to recruit Section 31 agents who defected to the Maquis. From what Section 31 has learned some of the crew of the USS Anracosh wanted to set up a retirement village for themselves on the Maquis Republic’s home world, as opposed to retiring on Risa. They are going there to talk about it with the Maquis Republic’s leadership.

The B plot

The USS Anracosh is returning to the Maquis Republic for shore leave and to recruit some of the locals. If this works then they won’t need to rely on Section 31 to resupply them, not that they have any issue with this. Then again the way the Federation is finally accepting them the crew of the USS Anracosh won’t need Section 31’s help at all. This causes a serious debate within the rank and file crew. Do they need to do Section 31’s dirty work anymore? Why arrange for resupplies through Section 31 when they can now go to a starbase and be welcomed with open arms?

Then there is the issue of crew who now have the option of leaving to further their careers. They no longer have the stigma of serving on the USS Anracosh. Transferring to a new posting is now an option. That involves some crew transferring to Section 31 to be in their commando forces. Some of the crew want to go back to being the Federation’s head kickers, like they were before the rogue mission phase of the USS Anracosh’s journey. Other crew members want to return to Starfleet, some want to retire or find opportunities not related to anything they have done before in their professional lives.

Some of those that want to retire or are planning their retirement mention that they want to retire in the Maquis Republic rather than Risa like most of the crew. They want to negotiate setting up a retirement village. As they are about to discuss it further a message comes over the PA system. The Captain informs the crew that they are about to warp of into the vicinity the Maquis Republic’s home world. Everybody get their posts, they will soon enter orbit.

When the USS Anracosh leaves warp and enters a high orbit of the Maquis home world the crew of the USS Anracosh find the Maquis Republic’s citizens are in full conversion to being ancients. The world is in the process of being abandoned. They knew the Imitari were sponsoring the Maquis Republic to join the ancient races clique, they just assumed that the process would take a lot longer. The crew that contemplated retiring in the Maquis Republic realise that is obviously now not an option, they would be going to an abandoned world that is literally returning to nature. The Maquis are leaving nothing behind.

Without warning the Maquis hail the USS Anracosh, and they are as belligerent as the first time the USS Anracosh arrived at the Maquis home world. The Maquis leadership, now in ascended form, say that they will not let any Maquis, including themselves, surrender to Federation justice. They will not honour the agreement to jail Maquis in Maquis territory or anywhere else. The ancients have let them ascend now, which is something the Maquis themselves assumed would be decades into the future.

Since ascension was offered now by the Imitari and other ancient races they are joining the ancients now and refuse to face Federation justice on same grounds as what the Negilium said to the Federation. No prison the Federation can build could successfully imprison an ancient. The leaders of the Maquis tell the crew of the USS Anracosh that the Federation can get stuffed concerning arresting and imprisoning the Maquis.

The crew of the USS Anracosh have faced hostile ancients before, but not like this, the other ancients were insane or trying to warn them about some hazard or were upset about the USS Anracosh deviating from its mission. This is the first time the crew has faced hostile ancients that are not crazy, actually trying to help them or demanding that they honour their agreements.

The Maquis state that they have already informed the Federation of their intentions to not surrender and that they are ascending, which will make trying to arrest or imprison them not an option. The Maquis then break off their hail and the USS Anracosh hails the ancients around the Maquis home world to tell them that the Maquis are ascending to avoid jail time.

Much to the surprise of the crew of the USS Anracosh; the ancients say they are aware of this fact. However, the deal the ancients struck is that the Maquis are on a kind of probation. After the Maquis ascend they must prove they are not going to do anything criminal, and must not act in a criminal fashion for 500 years. If they do, the ancients will imprison them themselves, and that could mean imprisonment for eternity, but given the effects of immortality that might be the fate of some of the Maquis anyway. If the Maquis behave themselves the ancients will revoke the probation in 500 years and welcome them as full members of the ancient races clique.

The Captain calls for the drone to meet her in her ready room, she needs his guidance on this matter. Soon after the Captain enters the ready room she receives a message. Two fleets have just left warp near the Maquis Republic’s home world. One is the Section 31 flotilla that agreed to meet them here. The other is the Federation fleet commanded by the Admiral the crew of the USS Anracosh answers to.

This is a repeat of the early days when the Admiral was always angry about having to deal with the USS Anracosh. Fortunately the anger is not directed at the crew of the USS Anracosh. This time the anger is at the Maquis for dishonouring their agreement to face Federation justice.

What terrifies the crew of the USS Anracosh is the fact that the Federation fleet has assembled an attack formation against the ascending Maquis near the Maquis home world. The stakes just got a lot higher.

The Captain calls for a meeting with the Admiral on the USS Anracosh before this gets out of hand. The Admiral agrees for reasons the crew don’t know. After the call from the Admiral ends, the Section 31 flotilla’s captain hails and says they have been monitoring the conversation and want to join the meeting. They too realise what is at stake. The Section 31 personnel practically beg to join the meeting and the Captain agrees to it.

The meeting starts with the Flotilla Captain, Alena Malgum, the Admiral, the Drone and the Captain of the USS Anracosh. The Admiral admits that she has known the whole time that the Section 31 flotilla was resupplying the USS Anracosh and knows about the deal between Section 31 and the crew of the USS Anracosh. The Admiral even admits that she knows that the flotilla personnel opposite her are Section 31 agents. The crew of the USS Anracosh were not aware of any of that and are shocked to learn it.

Alena takes the initiative and tells the Admiral that the smartest thing to do is to let the Maquis go, as much as Starfleet and the Federation’s civilian leaders will hate that. Convincing them of that will be the hard part. Both the Section 31 flotilla officers and the officer core of the USS Anracosh have to convince Starfleet and the Federation’s civilian leadership that they should not pursue that Maquis they want to prosecute.

The Admiral admits that is going to be a very hard sell to her superiors and the Federation’s justice department. They have a very bitter grudge against the Maquis and the Maquis being ascended will not change that.

Without warning a red alert is sounded and those in the meeting rush out to the bridge. They see the main screen, the ascended Maquis and the Federation fleet are fighting each other. The other ancients are trying to break up the fight. The Section 31 flotilla has sided with the Federation and one of its guard starships and the freighter have already been severely damaged to the point of almost being a write off. The same can be said for a reasonable chunk of the Federation fleet.

The ascended Maquis have also have casualties. Many Wounded ascended Maquis also orbit the Maquis home world. The Federation gave as good as it got. The Captain orders the USS Anracosh to join the ancients in breaking up the battle. The Admiral understands the Captain. Starting a war with the ancients would be a cataclysm for the Federation. The best course of action is to prevent that.

The USS Anracosh and the ancients stop the ascended Maquis and Federation from fighting by getting between the two groups. The admiral orders her forces to stand down and the ancients order the ascended Maquis to stand down. The ancients address the Federation to say that they are going to get their wish of the Maquis being imprisoned. The Maquis have broken their word with the ancients and will be jailed by the ancients. It may not be a Federation prison, but it will be a prison none the less.

The ancients also repair the Federation vessels and offer compensation to the Federation. They call in a Q to “magic” the Federation and Section 31 fleets to “full health”. The ancients apologise for the Maquis foolishness. The Admiral returns to her fleet and that leaves the Section 31 Captain to talk to the officer core of the USS Anracosh, who want to discuss the personnel changes on their starship. Alena takes her leave as she has another meeting on the USS Anracosh that she must attend.

The captain on the USS Anracosh says that they do not need the flotilla anymore. They can go to any Federation outpost for resupplies now. However, many of the crew of the USS Anracosh want to go back to being commandoes, and will transfer to Section 31 full time to pursue their military careers. The flotilla can pick up the commandoes at the start of next year when the rest of the crew who want to leave will start sending out their resumes to Starfleet postings or retire. For now the commando missions will go on as per the current agreement.

The replacement crew currently needed are now on the USS Anracosh and more personnel will be assigned as staff leave. This won’t take effect immediately, but will be put into effect over the course of the next year. The reason for this is that some of the crew of the USS Anracosh who want to advance their careers will start sending out their resumes to Starfleet commanders or pursue other career options or retire.

We switch to scene where the First officer is running an orientation session for the new crew members. Among the newbies is Alena Malgum. The orientation session is nearly over and the First officer thanks them for listening and shows them their new quarters. The newbies enter their quarters and we follow Alena.

Alena Malgum settles into her new home. She notes it in a personal log [done as a monologue]. There are already a huge number of family photos on a wall in the cabin. The whole wall is dedicated to the photographs. These are from the six families that rejected her existence. She looks at them sadly, and then looks happily at her surroundings. She has found her true home and will love working on the USS Anracosh.

Alena looks outside her cabin’s window. She can see ascended Maquis being imprisoned by other ancients. Alena does a voice over monologue stating that she knows of the crew’s plans to retire on the Maquis home world and how that is now no longer an option. She recaps the plot points mentioned above and rounds off her monologue by saying that the many of the Maquis were war criminals and just plain evil and that evil is its own undoing. The ascended Maquis who fought the Federation have no idea of the kind of hell they are about to endure. Alena has studied the reports about how the ancient races clique works. She states that in spite of the dangers of dealing with the ancients the crew of the USS Anracosh made the right call in opening diplomatic talks with them. She agrees with what the crew did and this is why she believes that being part of the crew of the USS Anracosh is where she belongs.

 

Season 5 Episode 11

A look at the future – Various Federation species joining the ancients

This episode takes a look at the Federation 1000 years after the Realm of the Gods project was launched. We see the core officers as ascended beings looking at a Federation that has had half its races join the ancients and the rest of the Federation races getting ready to join the ancients. Many of the Galactic governments around the Federation are in the same position.

The officer core is attending a reunion at a museum containing the USS Anracosh. The museum is a space station orbiting the planet Risa. The ascended version of the rank and file crew is there as well. This episode serves as a tour of what happens to the Federation in its future. The ancients are everywhere in the galaxy helping races join the ancient races clique. This is the stage 4 era of the 6 stage cycle of the Realm of the Gods project, meaning that invitations are issued and races who don’t get invited are told how to change so they qualify to join the ancient races clique.

To the unknowing observer it looks like the Federation is collapsing, but this is wrong. The Federation is joining the ancients but it is a slow process. Eventually all of the Federation will be part of the ancient race community. If you think the Federation would be easy to defeat now, that is wrong too, the Federation has the backing of the ancients. This was the dream of the crew of the USS Anracosh – getting the ancients to be their allies, and now that dream is reality, and so much more by the fact that the Federation is joining the ancients. The now ascended crew of the USS Anracosh are at the museum celebrating. The era they are in now is everything they wanted. Nothing can threaten the Federation. Ironically this is destroying the Federation because it is being assimilated into the ancient races clique.

At the same celebrations there is a joint Vulcan/Romulan delegation sent to represent their people at the festivities. Note that the Vulcans are not as emotionless as they are in other versions of Star Trek. They have taken the advice of the ancients and “loosened up” and now have a sense of fun. Here’s something important: The Romulans and Vulcans have reunited and are joining the ancient races clique together as one people.They are also here to see what was once the crew of the USS Anracosh. The crew are heavily involved in setting up stage 5 of the Realm of the Gods process. That being making it look like civilisations have disappeared so stage 6 of the Realm of the Gods process can begin, which is young newly warp speed capable races exploring a galaxy to find other young newly warp speed capable races. The young races also discover ancient race sites and ancients that do not appear to have an active role in the galaxy.

The B plot is an exposé showing the full dismantling of the Federation and covering up most of its existence. It goes into the how, what, where, who and why of the stage 5 Realm of the Gods plans for the area the Federation currently occupies.

The Chief diplomat, and her replacement from centuries ago, and her underlings [all of whom are ascended beings] are negotiating with the Vulcans/Romulans about setting up stage 5. The Vulcans and Romulans note that Humanity and themselves are some of the last races to reach ascension in the current Realm of the Gods project. Both races are leading the charge in tying up loose ends before and after ascending. Humanity and the Vulcans are closing down the Federation. The delegates note that this is fitting as it was Humanity and the Vulcans reacting to Romulan expansion that started the Federation. Now it is the Humans, Romulans and the Vulcans who are winding up the Federation and the Romulan Empire. They note that the Klingons have already ascended and wound up their empire.

It does get nostalgic at times because of the crew’s love for the Federation, but as the Vulcans/Romulans point out the Federation has served its purpose. It is now an obsolete organisation if all the Federation member species are now joining the ancient races clique.

There is a break in the talks about finishing off their respective governments so the delegates decide to take the tour of the USS Anracosh. Both delegations are going to join the rest of the crew in taking a look at the starship that launched the modern galaxy wide Realm of the Gods project. They join the tour and the officer core, who meets them at the start of the tour, recall the times they spent serving on the USS Anracosh.

This takes the form of a flashback:

The crew recall that about six years into the mission they discovered ascension machines on the USS Anracosh amongst all the ancient races technology stored on the starship. In later life the crew used these machines as their mission became redundant when the ancients took a much more active role in the galaxy.

A flashback within a flashback:

There are 14 ascension chambers on the USS Anracosh. With 518 crew members, the crew is divided into 37 teams that take turns getting ascended. This does not include other people associated with the USS Anracosh who also get ascended. At the time the USS Anracosh was starting its career as a museum piece. Therefore only a handful of the crew would go onto the USS Anracosh to use the ascension machines, leave the starship and then leave the museum.

Returning to the main flashback:

It is noted that the Chief diplomat is training her replacement and will soon quit her job to become a professional artist. It was her efforts in turning a nebula into an art piece that re-launched the Chief diplomat’s professional art career.

It was at that point of discovering that the USS Anracosh still had undiscovered technology onboard that the crew of the USS Anracosh went through the starship with a fine tooth comb to find everything they had overlooked. They called in the ancients to explain anything they did not understand. It was embarrassing, especially to the Chief engineer, that after six years of operation that the USS Anracosh still had mysteries. The problem was that after the black hole manipulator was made fully operational the crew thought that all the mysteries of the starship were uncovered, therefore they stopped looking and two years later they stumbled on the ascension machines and realised there were more secrets to find on the USS Anracosh.

Returning to the museum 1,000 years later:

Some of the now ascended crew are taking a tour of the Anracosh. They are feeling nostalgic and want to see the starship they once called home. As the tour progresses the starship reacts to their presence in weird ways. Weird energy fields surround the starship and systems near the touring crew begin to activate on their own. This is something the museum staff has not seen before. In all the time they have worked at the museum the USS Anracosh has never been active. Now it is turning on by itself and reacting to those around it. However, those around it are the most qualified people to find out what is going wrong with the USS Anracosh. What is going on is like the starship remembers its old crew. The crew know that the USS Anracosh is not sentient. The tour guides are getting worried; something going wrong with a starship this powerful next to a major population centre like Risa could be cataclysm.

The museum staff ask the officer core to assemble all the crew present at the reunion and see what is happening to the starship they once called home. It is like history repeating itself as the entire crew reunite onboard and take over the roles they held centuries before. We see all the crew getting back to their posts and analysing the systems of the starship. The officer core note that it has been nine centuries since the crew has been on the USS Anracosh. Nine centuries before current events the USS Anracosh became a museum exhibit because its role and mission was taken over by other Federation vessels.

Even the diplomatic staff has a role. They return to negotiating with the Vulcans and Romulans while still onboard the USS Anracosh as the rest of the crew figure out what is going on with the starship. There is still much to discuss about stage 5 of the Realm of the Gods project. The chief engineer and science officer are reunited and try to figure out why the starship is behaving weirdly to the presence of its old crew. Niffy the Melkot reconnects with the starship to see if it has turned sentient, he proves that it is not self aware. The Bajoran doctor goes back to the starship’s neural education centre. In fact you see all the officer core and the crew’s show regulars return to their roles just as if they had never left them.

They are running an investigation as to why the USS Anracosh is not working as it should. Its current job is to do nothing but be a museum piece that can be visited like a tourist attraction, which is what the USS Anracosh has become. This is also because it is classified as a historic site. Without the USS Anracosh the Realm of the Gods project would never have begun.

We return to the stage 5 talks. There the delegates of both sides discuss in detail how they will hide or destroy all the accomplishments of their civilisations. As part of the negotiations it is noted that the museum they are visiting will have to be destroyed, and that will be done within a few weeks. During the talks the Vulcans/Romulans say that their next destination will be planet Vulcan to help erase evidence of the Vulcan civilisation. They will need to arrange transport to Vulcan as soon as the talks are over.

The talks return to the details of how worlds will be returned to nature just like after the Eugenics wars on Earth, where many parts of the world were left for nature to take over after parts of the Earth were devastated. The methods used after that war will be mimicked in the erasure of evidence of civilisations for stage 6 of the Realm of the Gods process. However, some artefacts they will find useful will be preserved, just like on worlds they have explored in the past where they find a world that is pristine but has a few ancient race sites on it.

The delegations stop for a moment and say to each other how many worlds did they set foot on as Starfleet members or Romulan soldiers? How many of those worlds could have been the birthplace of races currently in the ancient races clique? How many worlds could have been the starting point for ancient races that erased evidence of their civilisation before the delegates explored those worlds while having no idea that ancients once called those worlds home? It something that really makes them think, and have an existential crisis about it.

ENDINGS

After the usual running around one sees in a Star Trek episode before the “push a button make it all better” solution is found the Chief engineer, the Drone and the Science officer stumble on the fact that the starship is metamorphosing. It is becoming a full blown ancient races starship. With the crew fully ascended the starship has sensed this and is becoming a starship designed to be run by ancient races.

It is noted that when a solution is found, that when the crew ascended centuries ago, they were only a few crew ascending at a time. The ascended versions of the crew have never been on the USS Anracosh all at once after being ascended. This is why the starship never behaved in the way it is now. The USS Anracosh is only undergoing a metamorphosis because all of its crew are present and are now ascended beings.

B plot ending

The ending is the organising the cover up that happens in stage 5 of the Realm of the Gods process. In an ironic twist Humanity, Vulcans and the Romulans will all be one of the last species to join the ancients in the current round of the Realm of the Gods project. Humans see it as their job to wind up the Federation. The Romulans feel the same about closing down the Romulan Empire. Humanity, Vulcans and Romulans will also tie up any other lose ends. All three will prepare at the Federation’s and Romulans Empire’s territory for stage 6 of the Realm of the Gods process.

A plot ending:

The USS Anracosh has one more secret to reveal. It turns itself into a full blown ancient races vessel. The saucer section and warp nacelles convert into the same type of material as the engineering hull. The crew see this happen first hand as the USS Anracosh transforms into a full ancient races vessel. The crew are at their posts when this happens. The diplomatic team, also onboard, notes that the beings organising the stage 5 Realm of the Gods process for the Federation and the Romulan Empire need a starship, and that the fully ancient race version of the USS Anracosh fits their needs exactly. The core officers and bridge crew agree. They contact the museum staff, who agree to let them take the USS Anracosh because the museum is being demolished in a few weeks. The crew undock the starship from the museum and fly away delivering the Vulcan/Romulan delegation to Vulcan.

 

Season 5 Episode 12

Finale Fight the Borg part one

No B plot needed – it is an action show

The USS Anracosh faces off a Borg cube and reinvents their super weapon to fight the cube. The Borg cube is annihilated with one blast and the ancients have to step in because the truce between the ancients and the Borg is broken.

There are hints through the series that the Borg is a current threat to the Federation, but the USS Anracosh is not assigned to fighting the Borg. They have an idea of the current Borg activity but do not care because they encounter beings more powerful than the Borg every week. If they are meeting “Gods” that can change the laws of physics at a whim then it must be Tuesday. Think of how Shaun of the Dead’s intro is presenting quite serious news the protagonist pays no mind to. Besides, it’s not their job. If it was, they’d be finished years ago.

A Borg cube is spotted in Federation territory and the USS Anracosh is sent to intercept it. This particular Borg cube has defeated the force sent to stop it and is about to assimilate a large but remote Federation space colony. Nothing except for the USS Anracosh can get to the colony before the Borg. Other ships could be sent but they don’t have the firepower to confront the Borg. If the Borg gets there first, the colony is dead, if the USS Anracosh gets there first the colony lives. It is a not a race against time, the USS Anracosh hyperwarps to the colony in no time at all.

Realising that this is the Borg they are facing the Captain orders the rebuilding of the superweapon the crew accidentally made about two years ago. This is where it will take time and thus there is no time to test the weapon before confronting the Borg. The test will be attacking the Borg cube before it reaches the colony. The crew knows the weapon will work, so they are not panicking, in fact they are very smug.

When the USS Anracosh drops out of hyperwarp it fires the weapon at the Borg cube. This is a weapon so powerful that the Borg can’t adapt to it. The Borg cube is obliterated in one shot and the crew celebrate a job well done. It’s all high fives and jokes; there wasn’t any doubt of the outcome. Everybody’s incredibly cocksure and smug, but they have no idea what kind of can of worms they’ve just opened.

It has to be noted that the super weapon is so powerful that no amount of Borg adaptation would stop it. This time the ancients are forgiving about the Federation not using the USS Anracosh for its intended purpose, the ancients say that this time the Federation’s actions were justified.

The crew of the USS Anracosh informs Starfleet command, who are also jubilant at the victory. There is a victory celebration which is gate crashed by the ancients, although they are welcomed with open arms. They bring bad news. The Borg has treated the USS Anracosh as an attack by the ancients because the Anracosh is classified as an ancient race vessel. This is a treaty violation of the Borg/Ancients non-aggression pact. The Borg is doing this because they see providing younger races with ancient race technology as another violation of the ceasefire agreement. It allows the ancients to fight proxy wars with the Borg. Since the ceasefire agreement is now nullified the Borg has declared war on the Federation and the ancients. The Federation is in the war because they fired the ancient races weapon at the Borg.

The Borg is sending an armada of Borg cubes and unicomplexes to the Federation and ancient race sites across the Galaxy. This is total war, the Borg feel they have nothing to lose. They will assimilate as much as they can of the Federation and the ancients with the hope that it will be enough to eventually beat back the ancients and take the Federation as a bonus.

This is greeted with terror by the Federation, but the ancients say they are not alone, the ancients are going to mount an offensive war inside Borg territory and help the Federation defend themselves. Federation vessels will have ancient race beings onboard Starfleet vessels to help fight the Borg, and ancient race vessels will fight alongside Starfleet.

Upon the advice of the ancients the USS Anracosh is ordered to charge up the black hole manipulator. They are going to attack unicomplexes sent into the Federation. The role of the USS Anracosh is to act like a strategic bomber taking out strategic targets, namely Borg unicomplexes. They will need all the firepower they can get to take on the Borg.

As the ancients are helping the Federation thousands of Borg cubes and hundreds of unicomplexes are detected heading into Federation territory. The USS Anracosh heads towards the unicomplexes while the bulk of Starfleet and their allies plus the ancients go to do battle with the rest of the Borg vessels.

The war is already underway when the USS Anracosh joins the battle. They find the Federation starships in combat have been enhanced with ancient race technology, and ancient race starships and spacebourne ancients are also fighting the Borg. The USS Anracosh is ordered to destroy the Unicomplexes present and then go to other fronts in the Federation and do the same until they have destroyed all unicomplexes inside the Federation.

Then they are to go to Borg territory and help the ancients there who are conducting an offensive war against the Borg. The co-ordinates they need to know are sent on a sub-channel, so as soon as the unicomplex goes down they are to “hyperwarp” out and attack the next unicomplex.

The USS Anracosh destroys a unicomplex, which is not that difficult with the firepower the black hole manipulator offers. With one unicomplex down, the next unicomplex is flown to and destroyed. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Going to all the fronts inside the Federation gives the crew of the USS Anracosh a macro view of the Borg vs Federation and Ancients war. The Ancients are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Federation and the Federation’s allies. They see ancient race vessels, space borne ancients and ancients in general attacking the Borg and helping Federation vessels attack the Borg. All flavour of ancients are fighting the Borg, including all the ancients introduced in the Star Trek Realm of the Gods series. They are all seen fighting alongside the Federation.

Scenes would include giant ascended Yertholm attacking Borg Cubes with ascended hand held weapons, space based ancients draining Borg vessels of power so Starfleet vessels can obliterate the Borg vessels conventionally, beings like the Organians would fly through Borg vessels destroying everything in their path and leave the Borg vessel collapsing. Dauwd and Q would wish Borg fleets into non-existence, with the Borg ships fading away as if they are fighting being wished into nothing. Various ancients would act as “gun emplacements” on Federation vessels shooting energy beams from themselves at Borg vessels and damaging them. Note that all these attacks are things the Borg cannot adapt to.

The episode continues on noting that the Borg is being beaten back and that the ancients are working well with the Federation. One of the scenes seen is the command centre where Federation Admirals and ancient race beings are there leading their combined forces to victory.

The ancients in the command centre show that they have a second front set up in Borg territory. Here we can see the Ancients and the Borg at war with each other. The giant starship used by the nomadic ancients can be seen here used as a command centre deep in Borg territory. The ancients ask for the USS Anracosh to be sent to the Delta Quadrant front on the grounds that all the Unicomplexes in Federation Territory are destroyed. The ancients want a Federation vessel in the Delta Quadrant [the home of the Borg] for when the Borg give up the fight. The Federation Admirals say they prefer to see the Borg obliterated, the ancients say it is more likely the Borg will give up before being destroyed. The Admirals consult each other and agree that the ancients are right and it would be great to have a Federation presence at a meeting where the Borg surrenders to the ancients.

Before the USS Anracosh can go to the Delta Quadrant, they are confronted by one last Borg vessel that warps in right next to them and tries to crash into the USS Anracosh. They release hundreds of Borg drones onto the surface of the starship and proceed to break into the vessel. The crew of the USS Anracosh have to do running gunfights in their own vessel as Borg drones invade the Starship. The firearms used by the crew are enhanced with ancient races technology, the same ones they developed earlier that year. The Borg cannot adapt to the weapons. Thus the Borg has to resort to gun battles rather than assimilation style tactics.

It is noted that the Borg target the internal security system of the USS Anracosh as they battle the crew. Both the security system and the crew fight the Borg but the Borg makes a point of trashing the starship as they fight their way through it.

The USS Anracosh tries to go to hyperwarp and fails with the attacking ship and forces still connected to them as more Borg vessels arrive to continue boarding the USS Anracosh. The USS Anracosh sends out an SOS as the vessel is overrun by Borg, and the ancients and Starfleet arrives to help and eventually beat back the Borg invaders.

With the Borg invaders driven off or dead the Federation orders the USS Anracosh to join the fight in the Delta Quadrant and the final scene in this episode is the Anracosh going at hyperwarp speed to the Delta Quadrant.

End of finale episode 1

 

Season 5 Episode 13

Finale Ancients and Federation versus Borg part two

No B plot needed – it is an action show

A recap of the last episode is given.

The scene after the recap is one of the USS Anracosh hyperwarping into Borg territory only to find they have travelled straight into an ambush. The Borg try the same tactic as before: Crash into the surface of the USS Anracosh and release a small army of Borg drones to take the starship corridor by corridor. This is worse than last time as the ancients are not there to help them fend off a Borg invasion of the starship.

The USS Anracosh sends out an SOS on conventional frequencies and on the dial a deity system. Because the ancients are fighting the Borg there is no response. This time they are on their own as the Borg breach the hull and try to take the USS Anracosh – which would be quite a prize for the Borg given its ancient race technologies. However, like last time the Borg is trashing the starship as they go through it. They do not care about the condition of the starship. They must want it out of the way rather than take it intact. Besides that, just the computer files of the ancient races archives onboard would be a prize within themselves. The starship is not needed intact if the aim is to just get the files.

Whatever the Borg’s motivations that is not the worst of it, there are Borg vessels outside the starship that need to be dealt with, although given the USS Anracosh’s super weapons these vessels are soon destroyed. That only leaves the Borg they are fighting toe to toe with. They can’t use the super weapons on the Borg boarding parties as that would blow up the USS Anracosh. The battle against the Borg vessels was quick but came at a high cost. The Borg has wrecked many of the systems of the USS Anracosh, notably the main sensors are almost non-functional. Systems can be repaired after the battle so this is secondary consideration for the officer core and the crew.

One thing is on the officer core’s mind – they can’t let the Borg have the USS Anracosh. The technology and knowledge onboard would make the Borg unstoppable. They have to seriously consider that they are on a kamikaze mission. They would have to destroy the starship if it looks like they are going to lose. The captain and first officer make plans to obliterate the USS Anracosh and everyone on it if that is the only choice left. This could be the end of their adventures and they have to admit it has been a blast doing diplomacy with the ancients, and it may end in a blast to stop the Borg. The officer core can try to work out the Borgs plans for the USS Anracosh later; right now the only goal is survival. Kill the Borg drones with the ancient races enhanced firearms they have and hope for the best.

All of a sudden a large vessel is detected heading towards the USS Anracosh; given the damage to the sensors from the fighting the bridge crew cannot tell who is approaching them. All they can tell is that it is a gigantic starship. Given how big it is it could be a Borg Unicomplex. If it is, this is the end of them. They will have to destroy the USS Anracosh and everyone on it in order to stop the Borg from taking their starship. If it isn’t; what could it be? The only vessels that big belong to the ancients, if it is the ancients then they are saved. The crew manning the bridge are on the edge of their seats as they wait to see what type of vessel is going to appear near their starship.

It is the Nomadic ancients starship, and a fleet of Voth starships with ascended Voth crewing them. This sight would be a god send to the crew of the USS Anracosh except that a bunch of Borg cubes appears with the rescue fleet, and it is obvious that the Borg and the rescue fleets have had running battles while in warp travel. This is a trying time as the USS Anracosh fights a losing battle with the Borg inside its own hull. The starship is in no condition to fight the Borg attacking their rescuers.

The battle rages on and in a short space of time the Borg start teleporting off the USS Anracosh. Some sensors are partly restored and the best guess the crew can make is that the ancients and the Borg have stopped fighting each other outside the starship. The Voth hail the USS Anracosh and deliver the good news. The Borg has “cried uncle” and given up the fight. The Borg has reinstated the cease fire treaty with the ancients and is retreating deep into Borg territory with what forces they have left. The war is over.

With the Borg now teleported off the USS Anracosh the officer core take a look at their vessel. It is utterly wrecked inside and out. There are dead bodies, both Borg and crew, all over the starship and all they can do is call for more assistance from the ancient race vessels that have rescued them. The ancient nomads offer dry dock services on their vessel and the USS Anracosh has to be rebuilt from the ground up. Fortunately not too many of the crew are dead. Their commando training helped keep them alive and able to fight the Borg very effectively.

Now the USS Anracosh is in the nomad’s giant starship getting rebuilt. The survivors work alongside Voth and Nomads and many other ancient races fixing the USS Anracosh in a repeat of the refit that took place about five years ago. The process of fixing the vessel takes a week. As the starship is being rebuilt the crew learn that the ancients are deeply divided about not finishing off the Borg.

It is a very hot and emotive topic among the ancients repairing the USS Anracosh. Half are for respecting the ceasefire treaty with the Borg the other half are for killing off the Borg while they are weak. Obviously the crew of the USS Anracosh are in the camp of killing the Borg.

That is however secondary to the fact that the ancients are beginning to turn on each other. Riots are breaking out around the gigantic starship and the Voth support ships near to it, and it is safe to assume that ancients around the galaxy are turning on each other as well over the topic of what to do with the Borg.

Apart from the frayed tempers from the hot political issue of honour treaty vs kill Borg the repairs to the starship are going along well. With the help of the ancients the wounded are quickly recovering and the repairs will be completed soon. A service for the dead is being done as well with the captain leading it. Inside the starship things are going great, outside it not so much.

It is obvious that the fracture in the ancient races clique will get worse before it gets better. This is something the officer core will have to address. The captain calls a meeting with the chief diplomat and the rest of officer core. The focus is what to do about the ancients debating what to do with the Borg. The consensus among the officer core is that they should back the ancients that support killing the Borg. The captain has to agree that is the logical stance given that it is in the best interests of the younger races to destroy the Borg.

They start planning for siding with the anti-Borg ancients when the ancients party crash the meeting and humbly apologise for doing so. They stress that the stakes are much higher than the ancient races clique splitting into two factions. A preserver among the party crashers shows an illusion like the one shown to the drone when his parents visited him on the USS Anracosh.

The images show riots on the giant starship with Voth being sent in to quell the rioters because the security forces of the nomads are overwhelmed. Then they show something even more disturbing: Ancients attacking the Borg and other ancients stopping them. The ancient party crashers make their point that the ancients are not just splitting into two factions, the ancient races clique is on the verge of a civil war. The worst part is that all the younger races will be caught in the crossfire of the ancients battling each other.

This changes the mood of the meeting. The crew of the USS Anracosh know how powerful and thus devastating the ancients could be. Losing to the Borg, the Romulan supernova that the ancients prevented, making a mistake with the black hole manipulator when moving a planet and much more would do less damage than ancients out to kill each other.

Now the meeting becomes what to do to prevent the civil war rather than siding with the ancients who want to destroy the Borg. If the ancients turn on each other the Borg will be the least of their problems. Right at that time a message comes through for the captain. Repairs are complete and the USS Anracosh is ready to launch.

The captain orders the starship to launch and the ancients take their leave saying that they have come to say what they wanted to say and wish the crew all the best in trying to prevent the ancients from going to war with each other. That requires getting on the dial a deity system and getting the sides to talk to each other.

The USS Anracosh starts to leave the giant starship and the crew looks outside the starship. It may already be too late to stop the ancients from having a civil war. They can see ancient ascended beings are already fighting each other and the giant starship is becoming a place of anarchy and it looks like the civil war is has already begun. The USS Anracosh gets to open space and the captain orders them to start contacting both sides of the ancients civil war and to head back to Federation space. They will do what they can to create peace but as they have just seen it may be too late and they may literally return to a Federation devastated by the ancients fighting each other.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger as the ancients fighting each other extends to the Voth support ships as the USS Anracosh flies off returning to Federation space.

End of finale episode two

 

Season 5 Episode 14

Finale – Ancients having a civil war part 3

No need for a B plot – this is the ending of the series

The first scene of the episode is a recap of the last two episodes.

The USS Anracosh is flying towards the Federation. While this is happening they are contacting the ancients via the dial a deity system and calling in all the favours they have built up in the ancient races community. They can contact many ancients on both sides of the argument and try to get them to calm down and talk to their opposition. The crew know that they cannot stop the ancients from what they decide to do, but they try to prevent an ancient races civil war. Such a war would mean the end of the younger races civilisations in the galaxy.

There is some good news. Both sides have largely stopped attacking each other and are willing to talk. The USS Anracosh is invited to attend the talks and plead whatever case they chose. This is a good sign, and the ancients attending the conference will be a mix of space borne, and for want of a better word, “terrestrial” ancients.

As a gesture of goodwill the ancients have arranged to transport another Federation vessel to and from the negotiation site. The vessel contains replacement crew to cover the recent losses to the Borg and it has dignitaries to attend the ancient races peace conference. It has to be said that the chief diplomat on the USS Anracosh will lead the Federation’s entourage. The reason for this is that she has lots of experience in negotiating with ancients.

When the second Federation starship arrives a space station is willed into existence by an ancient, and the three sides are told to send their delegates to it. This is nothing new to the crew of the USS Anracosh: Ancients willing massive objects into existence is a Tuesday for them. To the inhabitants of the second Federation vessel this is shocking. An ancient wishing a starbase into existence is something they find amazing, and just look at it in stunned disbelief. The officers of the USS Anracosh assure them that the starbase is safe and the delegates should be sent to the conference as it is about to start.

The conference room is huge and has many seats to accommodate the tripartite talks. The three sides are the Federation, the faction for the ceasefire ancients, and the kill all the Borg ancients. The Federation delegates are reminded that they speak for all the younger races of the galaxy, not just Federation members.

In response the Federation delegates take the stand that the Borg should be wiped out because of the threat they pose to the younger races. This is only a debate because the Borg is not a major threat to the ancients. The ancients can be pious because they don’t have to worry about their civilisations being wiped out by the Borg.

The kill the Borg faction pounces on this opportunity, agreeing with the Federation delegates. You can only be high and mighty about keeping the ceasefire when the Borg is only a minor irritation to you. Put yourselves in the position of the younger races. The Borg is something that threatens their very existence. Of course they would want us to finish off the Borg while the Borg are weak. We have a unique opportunity to wipe out the Borg forever. The time is now.

Both sides of the ancient races clique feel very passionate about their position. The other faction of the ancient races says that the Borg have reinvoked the ceasefire treaty and have backed down knowing they can’t win. If the Borg has decided to go back to honouring the treaty then the ancients should do the same. The ancients must keep their word. The ancients remind the Federation that they do not have a say in such policies. They are the junior partner in the Realm of the Gods project.

To prove their point, the ancients in the keep the ceasefire faction show that the kill the Borg side has lied about keeping the peace in the ranks of the ancients. The ancients reveal via holograms that ancients in the kill the Borg camp are breaking rank and killing the Borg while other ancients are trying to stop them. The ceasefire ancients say that the kill the Borg ancients are not just ignoring the treaty, but ignoring the agreement to not fight other ancients while these negotiations are taking place. They cannot be trusted. In fact the keep the ceasefire ancients delegates reveal that most ancients in the kill the Borg camp are dishonouring the conference’s peace agreement.

This is met with shock by delegates on all three sides of the tripartite talks. The ancients explain to the Federation that this will send the ancient races clique into a civil war. The Federation delegates counter by explaining that younger races are utterly screwed by this development as their civilisations will be caught in the crossfire of ancients trying to kill each other.

The ancients have debated for millennia as to what to do with the Borg and now the recent treaty violation has brought this debate into a dangerous new phase. Many ancients think that if the Borg can be destroyed now; then they should be annihilated now. Just as many ancients think that if the Borg can respect a ceasefire agreement for millennia, then the ancients should do the same. Granted, the ceasefire agreement was only reinstated because the Borg was facing total defeat, but a ceasefire is a ceasefire.

Stuck in a deadlock, the ancients on both sides cancel the conference. Seeing that an ancient’s civil war is unavoidable the USS Anracosh is ordered by Starfleet command to side with the kill the Borg faction. If anything good can come of this, it is that they can help kill the Borg and thus get rid of a major threat to the younger races. This will also earn the Federation some goodwill with the kill the Borg faction.

The USS Anracosh goes to the Imitari home world of Viridis, where the ascended mythbuster has invited them to help a bunch of ancients raid Borg territory. The consensus among the crew’s head kickers is that it will be great to fight alongside the ascended mythbuster.

They prepare for battle, and join a flotilla of ancient race starships and beings going deep into Borg space. The crew are ready for war, but instead of getting a conflict, they find a Borg unicomplex being guarded by ancients who support the ceasefire treaty. The USS Anracosh and its ancient race allies are about to attack the Borg and the ancients defending them when they observe that the Borg have opened a dimensional portal and are actually beginning to leave the universe.

The defending ancients contact the armada, including the USS Anracosh, and confirm that what they are seeing is true. The Borg is escaping into another reality. This has the upshot of cancelling the ancient’s civil war. There is now no reason for the ancients to fight each other. All across the galaxy and beyond, ancients on both sides of the argument are laying down their weapons and making peace with their ancient races brethren.

The Borg have ironically succeeded in doing what the crew of the USS Anracosh failed to do; stop the ancients civil war by fleeing the universe before they could be destroyed. The ancients who support the treaty point out the reasons why the Borg fled. The Borg realised that if the younger races have USS Anracosh type ships, it would only be a matter of time before they came after the Borg themselves, using ancient race type weapons. Even if the ancients failed to destroy the Borg, sooner or later the younger races would finish the job. To avoid extinction the Borg has to leave the universe before being completely annihilated by the younger races.

The grand finale of the grand finale:

The two teams of ancients at the scene where the Borg unicomplex is leaving the universe make peace with each other. As this happens the bridge crew watch as the last of the Borg move to another dimension. This sets off an internal monologue and montage that ends the series. The Borg is a great example of why the crew of the USS Anracosh started their rogue mission in the first place. They approached the ancients to find a way to defend the Federation from greater and greater threats. They succeeded in ways that even amazed the battle hardened combat veterans in the crew of the USS Anracosh.

Because of the Realm of the Gods project, many of the Federation’s enemies and potential enemies have been vanquished. The Federation now has weapons derived from the technology of the USS Anracosh. They can bring the Romulans or any other hostile government to the Federation to their knees. The Dominion is in dire straits, the Orion syndicate is collapsing, the Ferengi are giving up hyper capitalism, space borne ancients that were once a problem for Federation starships are now friends of the Federation. The Federation now has many powerful friends and allies in the ancient races community, and to top it off the Borg are leaving the universe altogether. Whether or not they return is anyone’s guess. The important thing to remember is that one of the reasons the Borg is leaving is the fact that the USS Anracosh exists. What a feather in the cap for the crew of that starship.

This is far more than what the crew of the USS Anracosh originally set out to do. The have set the Federation and many other civilisations on a path of joining the ancients, even if it takes a 1,000 years. This is the future that everyone wants to embrace, even when knowing the risks of immortality. The crew of the USS Anracosh have accomplished far more than their original mission of finding ancients willing to defend the Federation.

They did not anticipate the ancients being so generous. They never thought when they stole the starship that would become the USS Anracosh that the ancients would upgrade it to a starship with god like capabilities. At that time their rogue mission was made legal and Starfleet command gave a motto to the USS Anracosh as a punishment for their rogue operation. The crew have embraced the comical motto because as much as it is humorous it truly sums up the real mission of the USS Anracosh. It is whimsical, but it is the truth:

Flying a starship we don’t understand on a mission we can’t believe meeting beings beyond our comprehension.

End of episode 3 of finale and end of series

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 5 part 1

Introduction to a sample Star Trek Realm of the Gods TV show

Season 5 Part 1

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 4 part 2

Season 5 part 2

Season 5 Episode 1

The black hole manipulator part 2

After a brief review of the events of part one we see a scene of the whole of the crew re-examining what the USS Anracosh has become. This makes the chief engineer rediscover his love of his job. All the unanswered questions he had about the USS Anracosh and ancient race technology are now answered.

We switch scenes to show that security doing its job in quelling the brawls and riots. The Captain orders that instead of sending a good portion of the crew to the brig she wants her first officer to organise truth and reconciliation type meetings between crew members who fought each other. The Captain realises that all factions had valid arguments for their causes, which was why she was ambivalent about completing the black hole manipulator.

Having the crew talk it out with the crew members they were opposed to means that the B plot from the previous episode has run its course. The debates [and fights] have been done and everyone’s opinions are known. In spite of this those against having the black hole manipulator also debate starting a campaign to having the black hole removed from the black hole manipulator.

In response to this campaign and the actions that proceeded it the Captain puts what to do with the black hole manipulator to a vote, but the vote will take place after the major tests of what the black hole manipulator can do. Voting in the election will be compulsory and secret. The Captain wants the crew and herself to see the full capabilities of the device in action before making a decision as to what to do with the black hole manipulator. Many of the crew do not like the idea of voting to decide what to do as this goes against how a starship should be run, but the follow their orders as the professional crew that they are [most of the time].

Most importantly once the election is over the factions within the crew will be dissolved. The Captain makes it an official order, no more debates, no more “schools of thought”. When the vote is counted and decision made “the issue” will be closed. No more discussing what to do with the black hole manipulator. What’s done is done and the policy that wins the vote is the final decision to be applied permanently unless there is a clear need to change the policy, and that will be decided by the core officers, not the rank and file crew.

The B plot: The schools of thought form political groups to plead their cases in the election. The three “parties” are: “Leave the device fully operational”, “Study the device and dismantle it” and “Dismantle the device”. The election campaign starts before the major testing of the USS Anracosh and proceeds concurrently with the testing. At the start of the campaign it looks like an even three way split, meaning each party has the support of about one third of the crew each.

The scene shifts to main engineering where we see the Chief engineer, who had become a cynic about reverse engineering ancient race technology, has done a complete back flip. Now that the starship is fully operational he has been given the answers that had evaded him. He now can comprehend how the systems of the starship were meant to work. This episode resets the engineer’s personality back to what it was at the start of the series more or less, with some more wisdom and respect for the ancient race technology.

The next two tasks are to put the USS Anracosh through its paces and do more of the black hole manipulator science experiments that some of the crew wanted to do. When all the examinations and experiments are done and the logs and reports are being made the officer core meet in the ready again and report on what they have discovered, which is that the starship was meant to run with an operational black hole manipulator. During this time we see that field testing the Black hole manipulator and seeing all of its powers in action.

The next test is testing the engines to see what a black hole manipulator does to them. This becomes a profoundly spiritual experience for the crew. The Captain orders the Helmsman to see how fast the starship can go. The orders are to get to empty space near the edge of the galaxy and throttle it. He slowly ups the speed until the starship is at warp 10. Then he “throttles it” near the edge of the galaxy. Warp 11, warp 15, warp 17 [which is their cruising speed], warp 20, 30, 40, 50. At warp 60 he stops counting. The bridge crew looked stunned at what they can see on the view screen. The Captain shakily officially orders every crew member to get to window and see what is outside the starship.

As the starship travels through intergalactic space it looks like one of those youtube travel between galaxies videos. They are travelling at far beyond warp 10 travelling between galaxies as if they were a Federation starship travelling between the stars within the Federation. The helmsman says they are travelling at warp 100. During the journey the crew of the Anracosh gets a “macro” view of the galaxies and can truly appreciate the beauty of looking at the universe at such a massive “beyond galactic” scale. In short they get a “Gods eye view” of the universe at its “filament” level and are stunned by it – except for the Drone who has seen this sort of thing plenty of times before. The crew is shocked that the Drone has the “been there done that” attitude to seeing the universe at a “God’s eye view” level. The experience has clearly affected the crew with awe for the rest of the episode.

The crew then realise they are hopelessly lost in the depth of the universe but this is quickly fixed by the Drone pointing out that the starship automatically recorded their journey. The Drone uses his ancient race abilities to access the USS Anracosh’s navigation systems and return the starship to Federation space.

So now the crew have gone full circle, meaning that they have to debate whether to keep the black hole manipulator as it is or decommission it. This leads them back to the near brawl that started their current situation. The Captain contacts Starfleet command and asks their opinion. Starfleet command informs the Captain that in accordance with their agreement with the ancients it is her [the Captain’s] own decision as what to do. She has to decide if the black hole manipulator is to be dismantled or left as is, this surprises her officer core in the ready room with her.

All that bickering [and a lot worse] was for nothing, they could have just asked her to [or not to if that is what they thought] install a black hole in the black hole manipulator. The Captain explains that she had not made up her mind yet, but the crew’s brawl in the pub is what bought events to a head. The Captain faces an officer core and crew that is deeply divided on what to with the fully operational black hole manipulator. She asks the science officer if all the experiments the science crew wanted to do with the black hole manipulator have been done, to which the science officer says yes. The Captain then orders that it is time to vote about what to do with the black hole manipulator.

We see a return to the election campaign with the three way contest in full swing. This is different to before, instead of there being an even level of support between the three parties, a lot more people have decided to keep the black hole permanently in the black hole manipulator. One of that side’s biggest victories was the defection of the Chief engineer, who was previously a champion for leaving the black hole manipulator unfinished.

It looks like it could become a debate between the study the black hole manipulator faction and the keep the black hole manipulator permanently functional faction, with the keep the black hole manipulator dismantled coming in a distant third. However, the fact that the study the black hole manipulator faction is destroys its own position by not having a clear policy on rebuilding the black hole manipulator if they need it for some reason after it is dismantled. Their own representatives cannot agree on whether studying and dismantling should be a permanent policy.

The study the black hole manipulator faction’s turn on each other debating if they should support the black hole manipulator ever being weaponised or if it should be reassembled if more scientific research. The study the black hole manipulator faction’s support halves as they destroy their own argument through infighting as to what their policy should be. By the end of the final debate it’s pretty obvious that the keep the black hole manipulator fully operational faction will win the election.

Those who favour keeping the device permanently operational win with just under fifty eight percent of the votes. The other two parties had an even split of the remaining votes. All sides of the debate reconcile with each other and life returns to normal on the vessel, at least as normal as it gets on the USS Anracosh. We see the last of the crew reconciliation meetings with apologies being made and friendships being mended. The Captain promises [vows] that she will never again put command decisions to a vote; this makes the whole crew of the USS Anracosh very happy and relieved. But there is one big difference; the black hole manipulator is fully operational. This does not alter the mission and the mission of the USS Anracosh continues, that being a taxi for Federation diplomats meeting with the ancients.

End of part two of two.

 

Season 5 Episode 2

Stellar Engineering episode using BHM

Starfleet command contacts the crew of the USS Anracosh to give them new orders. Now that the black hole manipulator is working they are to go to the Veehonsa system to do some stellar and planetary engineering.

The ancients have sent the Federation a message, now that the Federation has a functioning black hole manipulator, the ancients will no longer do black hole manipulator type missions for the Federation. The Federation must use its own black hole manipulator as needed, but the ancients are willing act as advisors for the first Federation only black hole manipulator mission. After that the Federation is expected to be independent when it comes to all things black hole manipulator. The ancients are showing that they want younger races to stand on their own two feet rather than be dependent on the ancients.

The crew immediately know what the Veehonsa system is: It is a solar system in a very strategic location that if it had a habitable world would become a very important place to develop that whole sector. Just having a starbase or series of starbases there would be inadequate for the task of developing the whole Veehonsa sector.

Previously the Federation had no way to terraform a world [making a world suitable to host an ecosystem] in the Veehonsa system. None of the planets there were of the right size in the right orbit. With a black hole manipulator this situation changes: the Federation can use the black hole manipulator to change the orbit of one of the worlds in the Veehonsa system so it is in the right orbit to be a prime candidate for terraforming. The Veehonsa solar system does not have a world in its “goldilocks zone” until the USS Anracosh uses its black hole manipulator to move a world in the Veehonsa system into the correct orbit.

The crew mentions the genesis device and the fact that it can only be used on a world that is in the correct orbit. However, the genesis device is a prohibited technology. They contact Federation high command about that; even if the relevant planet is moved they can’t terraform it with a genesis device, but have to rely on old fashioned methods that take time.

High command responds that contacting the ancients has completely changed the game. All kinds of technologies that the Federation has developed that are amazing are nothing compared to what the ancients can do. Therefore technologies banned and suppressed by the Federation are now being reassessed to see if it worth keeping these innovations under wraps. Considering the abilities of the ancients is it worth continuing the bans on certain technologies? – Probably not.

The problem is that the genesis device [which was created by the Federation] can be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Then again so can almost all ancient races technologies, and the USS Anracosh is full of ancient race technologies. The USS Anracosh is effectively a weapon of mass destruction. If the Federation is going to ban certain technologies because they are too powerful, then by that reason they should give up the USS Anracosh to the ancients and cancel the Realm of the Gods project, and that is not going to happen.

The crew arrive at the Veehonsa system and ready the black hole manipulator for use. This is a very tense time. Nobody in the Federation has ever operated a machine this powerful before except for when the crew completed the black hole manipulator. This is a device powerful enough to wipe out a galactic civilisation. Understandably the whole crew is nervous about the machine being misused and a cataclysm being created. In spite of the pressure the crew revert to their professionalism and continue the mission while keeping their emotions in check. The same can’t be said for the large group of assorted ancient races there to greet them and act as advisors.

The B plot

As the USS Anracosh approaches the ancients they can hear them squabble over the ancient races translation device. Various ancients are arguing like idiots. They make personal attacks and puerile comments about each other and the races of those ancients.

For example: The Vop call the Talosians big headed freaks. The Talosians call the Akezhek glorified pin cushions. The Akezhek call the Reharsha snobby useless dimwits. The Reharsha call the Vop senile has beens.

You get the idea, but there are many more ancient races present trading juvenile insults at each other. It is an utterly puerile argument which fortunately has not degenerated into a brawl and does not look like it will. But the bridge crew have to ask themselves: How did beings this dumb ever get in the ancient races clique? This is the kind of conversation one would expect from kindergarteners, not ancient god like beings.

For a time the bridge just listen to the idiotic babbling as they shake their heads thinking that this can’t be real. These are ancients, not imbeciles, although at the moment it’s hard to tell the difference. The captain eventually comes to her senses and tries to address the rabble in a mutual insult contest.

The captain takes a couple of minutes to get the attention of the squabbling ancients showing themselves to be idiots. The ancients soon stop their insults and pay attention to the captain. The captain asks what the hell is going on, to which the answer is they are all here to help advise on the use of the black hole manipulator. Each race tries to plead their case all at once and the ancients start squabbling among themselves again.

The captain and her bridge crew just sit there dumbfounded at the stupid situation wondering how the Realm of the Gods project ever got to this point of seeing the ancients act like morons. Are these the races they want helping them protect the Federation? Could they trust any of these half wits with black hole manipulator technology in any capacity? May be the crew should go it alone on this mission.

That last point sinks in, maybe the crew should tell all these ancient screwballs to get lost and operate the black hole manipulator’s machinery themselves. That would be dangerous and potentially disastrous if something goes wrong. They need the ancients to help them, just not the mindless cretins of ancients they see before them.

May be they should call in other ancients? The captain orders the crew to use the dial a deity system to call ancient races not already in the Veehonsa system, and explain the situation of ancients in the area acting as dumbasses and see if any other ancients can guide them in the black hole manipulator mission.

The calls are made and more ancients arrive on the scene. Soon this plan completely backfires as the new ancients get into the same stupid puerile argument as the ancients already in the Veehonsa system. This demoralises the bridge crew, is this the fate of anyone joining the ancients? To regress into a nut-job who cannot think of anything but the most suffocatingly stupid foolish insults to call other ancients.

If there was any reason to end the Realm of the Gods project and give up on contacting the ancients this is it. The crew of the USS Anracosh know the dangers of immortality and the threat it can pose to a being’s sanity, but this? The idiocy of the ancients on display beggars belief.

The ancients then show a sign of sanity and agree to plead their cases to the bridge crew one ancient race at a time. This takes us to a montage of each ancient race giving a demonstration to the bridge crew saying how they should be chosen as the advisors for the black hole manipulator mission. Each time a presentation is given the ancients try to undermine their competition by saying how bad their rivals are and showing the weaknesses of the other ancient races.

The process takes several days. After a couple of days Starfleet command contacts the USS Anracosh to ask what delay is, the planet should have been moved by now. In response the bridge crew send recordings of the ancients behaviour in the Veehonsa system. The Starfleet high command seeing the recordings, and the group includes the Admiral the crew of the USS Anracosh answers to, all have the same WTF reaction as the bridge crew of the USS Anracosh. They all look on in stunned belief at ancients who seem to have had the IQ’s reduce to about 70. The Starfleet commanders go through the same thought processes as the bridge crew. Ancients behaving as cretins can’t be real and why is it a smart idea to ally with such morons?

The captain has to report to the ancients that Starfleet command is unhappy with the mission’s lack of progress. Once again the ancients seem to lose their intelligence and all ask the captain at once to pick them. This degenerates into an indecipherable cacophony as all the ancients speak at once.

This time instead of being stunned at the stupidity the captain loses it, orders a box to be beamed onto the bridge and for the bridge crew to grab each ancient races written application form from the ready room and put the forms in the box.

In a minute the box of applications is ready on the bridge and the captain swirls around the papers in the box and pulls one out at random. Now it is the turn of the ancients to look on in stunned disbelief. The captain just held an impromptu lottery to decide which ancient race helps them use the black hole manipulator. This is as random as their idiotic bickering. The bridge crew feel a sense of poetic justice watching the ancients look confused and shocked at the behaviour of the captain of the USS Anracosh.

The captain reads the application form. It is the form sent in by the Talosians. Immediately the allegations fly that the Talosians used their illusions powers to make the captain think they won the lottery. The captain again loses it and says enough! She does not care. The Talosians can help the mission and the other ancients can go home. The mission is nearly a week behind schedule and needs to be completed now! She again says that all the ancients can go home bar the Talosians, who are to report to the USS Anracosh.

The nature of the episode changes back to the flavour of the start of the episode. It is a grim and tense time as using the black hole manipulator is nail biting because the consequences of making a mistake are so high. The Talosians are good to their word and do not try to take over the mission. They advise from the rear and admit that they don’t know much about interacting with younger races but they know black hole manipulator technology as they invented it.

The Talosians are a good choice to be advisors for the mission and absolutely deny rigging the lottery. They even send a message to the rest of the ancient race community offering to let them investigate the incident so the Talosians can prove their innocence.

The final act is one of mounting tension as using the black hole manipulator. Things do go wrong but are soon fixed and the planet is put into the right orbit and is given the correct amount of spin for a comfortable 24 hour day night cycle. The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife, that is until the USS Anracosh’s part of the mission is completed and the Federation sends in the terraforming starship that launches a genesis probe. The effect is instant as the planet spontaneously terraforms and creates a viable ecosystem.

The scene switches to the bridge of the USS Anracosh. The captain thanks the Talosians and says job well done the entire crew. We switch scenes to the surface of the terraformed world and zoom out to see the USS Anracosh and the other vessels fly off. The camera pans to show the world starting its new existence as a habitable planet. Then fade and credit role.

 

Season 5 Episode 3

A barely warp capable species joins the ancients

The invited aliens are called the Stathjol

The USS Anracosh is sent by the ancients to witness a barely warp capable species get invited into the ranks of the ancient races clique. The crew are flung halfway across the universe to a point where their navigation computers don’t work properly for a short time. The purpose of the mission is to show what it is like for a younger race to be invited into the ranks of the ancients.

The crew of the USS Anracosh is introduced to a species that is technologically centuries behind the Federation. Their transporters take ages to work and are not fit to use on living beings, their warp drives are not yet safe for crewed flight, their combination phaser/disrupter rifles are large, heavy and inefficient. They have not discovered subspace communication yet. Things like replicators and tricorders are yet to be invented by the species.

The one thing this species has that the Federation doesn’t is that they think like ancients and have an ancient race social structure. Think of the way Vulcan society operates, the only difference is that the Stathjol know how to have fun and have a sense of humour. In other words the Stathjol don’t take themselves too seriously. This is why the ancient races clique is interested in them and it qualifies them to join the ancient races clique.

The fact that a barely warp capable species is being invited into the ranks of the ancients upsets the captain. The ancients have to point out that technological advancement does not have to be part of the criteria to join the ancients. As long as a species has an ancient races social structure and thinks like ancients they will get an invitation, even if they are as primitive as humans were in the early 21st century.

While the core officers are there to witness the Stathjol [the invited alien]s receive their invitation the Stathjol offer the crew of the USS Anracosh shore leave on their world. It turns out the ancients have already sent the invitation to join the ancient races clique and this mission is a second contact mission for the ancients and the Stathjol. The ancients are here to witness the Stathjol officially accept the invitation to join the ancient races clique.

The species itself has never been outside its own solar system or encountered aliens before the ancients offered the invitation to join the ancient races clique. However, since the ancients got there first the invited aliens know of alien life and are prepared for the USS Anracosh crew to visit their world and have naively set up shuttle landing pads at their airports not knowing that is obsolete technology to the Federation. The core officers have to suppress a laugh at this for fear of insulting their hosts.

*Stifled laughter* Oh, that’s cute… Acute. Acute, sorry. Acute uh… measurements. Very precise.”

Most of the crew take up the offer of shore leave and notice that the ancients have already made a presence on the world because the acceptance of the invitation is a forgone conclusion. The invited “proto-ancients” are far too amazed by the ancients to really be impressed by the Federation’s people or Federation technology.

The B plot: We go to a scene of Lt. Carol, Ensigns Daniel, Ghezear and H’yol power walking along a bike track. They are all power walking “wagging their tails” Star Trek: Lower Decks style. They take turns going ahead and behind each other and this attracts the attention of the locals – unwanted attention.

The four are soon confronted by the local police. The police arrest them and the four crew members ask the police if they can contact the USS Anracosh to inform them of being arrested. The police allow the communication to go ahead. They are told by the Captain and the Chief diplomat via subspace communication not to resist arrest. They do not want a diplomatic incident with a race that is about to become god like ancients.

Instead of being driven to a police station the four are taken to a facility and place in a room sized circular chamber about five meters in diameter with a mattress floor and raised pillow like seating on three sides of the chamber in a couple of step like structures with pillows like padding on them. The crew are puzzled as to what purpose this room could serve. The police have left them without explaining anything to them. Realising the invited species does not have the technology to block their communications with the USS Anracosh the four crew members contact the starship.

Onboard the Captain volunteered to stay behind with a skeleton crew manning the starship because she can’t stand seeing a race more primitive than the Vulcans get invited to join the ancients. The captain advises the four to hold tight, transporting them back to the starship could cause all kinds of problems because it is breaking them out of lawful custody.

Unfortunately the official ceremony to accept the invitation of joining the ancient races clique is about to start. The Captain can’t spare anyone to help the captured crew. Once the ceremony is over the legal issues can be fixed. The ceremony is a short one with a few speeches and an official signing ceremony and large numbers of ancient race starships appearing in the sky once the ceremony is complete.

At the after party [an official function, not a “shindig”] the Bajoran doctor is showing off some Starfleet medical equipment. He shows a medical tricorder and scans some of the locals to show how it works. These scans reveal a bombshell. The Stathjol have a breeding cycle like cats and dogs, this means they have a set time to breed every few months.

The invited aliens say get a good look as in the not too distant future they will be beings of energy. They are OK and welcoming with him examining him as this will be his only chance to examine them as flash and blood creatures. Does he want to archive it? The Stathjol are very open and is comedic in the way they offer to be examined, the doctor has to stop the aliens halfway through taking off their clothes. This is normal behaviour in this culture, while the younger race guests are shocked, the ancients and locals are not.

When the Bajoran doctor reveals the fact that the invited aliens have mating cycles the crowd the invited aliens seem surprised that the younger race aliens do not have breeding cycles. They thought all sentient races would breed as they do; in fact they have scientific hypotheses about sentience being linked to having a breeding cycle. This revelation means nothing to ancients in the after party. They say this has no bearing on the invitation to join the ancient races.

At the party the captain has ordered the chief diplomat to get to the bottom of why some of the crew members were arrested, not realising that bottom of why they were arrested is a pun on why the four are in the chamber.

The scene shifts to the chief diplomat and some of her people are talking to the authorities. They ask why four of the crew have been arrested, to which they get a very puzzled response. The local police commissioner of the invited aliens says that the four are not under arrest. The commissioner explains that the four were initiating a mating ritual with each other and were sent to a mating chamber so they could breed in privacy. The commissioner delivers this speech in a total deadpan fashion because it is normality for his species.

The reaction of the chief diplomatic team is one of shock. To say such a thing in such a nonchalant way is unthinkable to any Federation culture. They have to ask how the locals came to that conclusion? The commissioner shows security film footage of the four power walking and trading places between each other. The diplomatic team does not react to the security surveillance video, then the commissioner realises that it has to be explained to the diplomatic team.

The commissioner says they were initiating a mating ritual. The way they presented their butts to each other means they wanted to mate. He explains that the four crew members were sent to a mating chamber. This means they were never arrested in the first place.

This is the punchline to the episode: They can walk out of the mating chamber anytime they want to.

The commissioner asks the diplomatic team if the four crew were ordered to mate with each other. The diplomatic team don’t know how to react. They find they idea of being “ordered to mate with someone” disturbing. At this point the chief diplomat says that none of her team or herself have mating cycles.

The commissioner has a lightbulb moment and explains that his race is only fertile once every few months and if they do not mate at the right time they don’t get to reproduce. Sometimes it is necessary and in their culture and totally acceptable in their culture to order people to breed so a family can be created.

This creates a lightbulb moment in the diplomatic team. This explains the actions of the invited aliens. The diplomatic teams calls the USS Anracosh and asks for a direct link to the officers in the mating chamber. The chief diplomat explains to the “trapped” crew members that they can leave anytime they want.

The diplomatic team and the commissioner part ways, with the commissioner ordering his underlings to arrange that the diplomatic team and the “trapped” officers to meet up with each other. They do so and are happy to see each other, but the reunion is quickly interrupted by the order to return to their posts.

With the ceremony over and the Stathjol getting ready to join the ancient races clique the mission is over. The crew of the USS Anracosh on the invited aliens world begin returning to the starship. The Captain orders the “trapped” officers to her office for an explanation.

“Lieutenant, Ensigns, what have you all just done? May I remind you we’re still neck deep in VERY delicate negotiations with some prospectively VERY powerful people. I hope you all have a very good explanation for your telegraphed relief from custody.”

“We do, actually.”

“We just… left.”

“Matter of fact… we were never in lawful custody to begin with. We were in a mating chamber provided by our hosts so we could mate. The aliens did not know our races have no mating cycles, and how could they have known?”

This explanation leads to the final scenes of the episode where the First officer on the bridge ordering the starship out of orbit. In the background is the home world of the invite species. It is surrounded by ancients and ancient race vessels.

 

Season 5 Episode 4

Zalkonian doctor’s episode

This show answers the question of what happens to a race that has recently joined the ancient races clique. We see what happens to their territory and their civilisation after they were bought into the fold of the ancient races.

Introduces anti-ancients firearms that become very useful in the series grand finale.

The B plot in this episode is that the anti-ancients firearms get developed. The C plot is looking around the Zalkonian home system and seeing what becomes of a race that has recently joined the ancient races clique.

The USS Anracosh is ordered to go to what was once Zalkonian space because the Federation was sent a message from the Zalkonians that they want to establish diplomatic relations with them and there are Zalkonians want to talk to the Zalkonian doctor. The USS Anracosh is given the coordinates of the Zalkonian home world and must make its way there via hyperwarp. The drone has to remind them that the majority of Zalkonians will still be in Zalkonian territory, it will some time before most of them disperse into the ranks of the ancient races clique.

When the Zalkonian doctor is told of the mission and that the Zalkonians want to see her she confesses that confronting her fellow Zalkonians is the last thing she wants to do, but after being reminded that she does not have to meet the other Zalkonians she says she would rather hear what they have to say.

Upon arriving in Zalkonian territory it is discovered that the Zalkonians who meet the Zalkonian doctor are people she knew, including loved ones and her previous crewmates from the time she served in the Zalkonian fleet, when she was flesh and blood. She very much has to confront her past, as much as she does not want to. She has to answer why she treated them as dead, and she has to say that becoming ascended was a horrible experience for her and she has yet to come to terms with it.

When the Zalkonians who want to see the doctor meet her on the USS Anracosh the Zalkonian doctor says that she wants to talk to them about being ascended against her will. At the meeting is the Zalkonian who ascended her. This is tense as the USS Anracosh security team and other Zalkonians have to restrain the Zalkonian doctor and her relative who ascended her. The being who ascended her was her own brother, and some of the bitterest hatreds are between family members. Also present are some of the Zalkonian doctor’s ex-crewmates from the time she served in the Zalkonian fleet.

The family reunion of Zalkonians almost degenerates into a brawl as the family is split evenly on forced ascensions. A brawl between ascended beings is worse than a fire fight with hand held phaser weapons. It is a weird sight with Zalkonians fighting throughout the starship and healing crew members as they go rampaging. This creates a very bizarre situation where the USS Anracosh recognise the rioting Zalkonians as friendly because they are healing the crew that get wounded in the crossfire.

Seeing the situation the chief science officer rigs the hand held weapons to affect ascended beings. This is actually a non-urgent task as no crew members are getting hurt in the battle on their starship. The science officer can be methodical and patient as he and his team upgrade the starship’s side arms.

While this is happening the security chief discovers that the reason the USS Anracosh is not reacting to the battle is because the crew are being healed as soon as they are injured. The Zalkonians brawling with each other not seen as a threat because nobody in the crew is getting hurt. The security chief contacts the chief engineer to organise a major upgrade to the USS Anracosh’s security technology. Unfortunately the chief engineer informs her that nobody on the starship really understands how the security technology actually works.

The security chief is also informed about the development of anti-ancient firearms on the USS Anracosh. This leads to friction between the security chief and the science officer. The security chief asks why the science officer did not invent anti-ancient firearms sooner to which he says that he did not see the need for anti-ancients weapons if their mission is diplomacy.

He might have even entertained the thought of creating anti-ancients weapons, but he had the self-awareness to ascertain he most likely wouldn’t be allowed to. The Federation would see developing anti-ancient being weapons as a hindrance to their diplomatic efforts. The ancients will not look kindly making weapons designed to be used against them.

The captain, who is on the bridge, informs the Zalkonian government about the rioting Zalkonians on the USS Anracosh and the government officials being contacted are utterly embarrassed. The captain tells them that her crew are being healed as soon as they are getting hurt and this just makes the government officials even more embarrassed. They ask if the starship needs help but out the blue the science officer informs the captain that the anti-ancients firearms are ready. Mass production has already started and every crew member must get the upgraded weapons.

The Zalkonians are obviously upset that the crew of the USS Anracosh has developed anti-ancient weapons but realise that this is the fault of the rioting Zalkonians. They realise that the crew of the USS Anracosh are just defending themselves. They cannot blame the crew and know that it is the Zalkonians who will have to answer to the ancient race community for the development of the weapons rather than the crew. The Captain assures them that her crew will only incapacitate the rioting Zalkonians. After that the rioters will be given to the Zalkonian government.

The next scene we see is that the crew have the firearms and the riot becomes a vicious three way war with both factions of Zalkonians surrendering after enough of their members are incapacitated. After the riot and some fire fights things calm down and the diplomatic talks with the Zalkonian government begin and the Zalkonian officials want to make it up to the crew of the USS Anracosh. The offer a grand tour of the Zalkonian system with the actual negotiations being a simple affair of signing friendship treaties, technology exchanges and so on. Notably the Federation wants the Zalkonians to help with disaster relief because of the Zalkonians healing abilities. The Zalkonians agree to all of it because they are keen to atone for the riots.

We get to see why the Zalkonians previously had a dictatorial government. They are a hot headed people who are prone to rebellion, so their governments have had to push back in order to keep control. This is why their systems of government tended to evolve into dictatorships.

The tour starts and the crew of the USS Anracosh learn that the Zalkonians still use the area that was their empire as a place to hang out in. A lot of the Zalkonian technology is being upgraded to ancient race levels. Zalkonian territory was not big to begin with but the Zalkonians were easily a match for the Federation in terms of technology. That was until they ascended and the ancients stepped in and bought them up to the level of the ancient races.

Going through Zalkonian territory is a great way to observe what happens to a culture soon after it becomes an ancient race.

The officer core raises the question of what happened to all the Zalkonian starships, starbases, colony outposts and so on? Did the Zalkonians retreat to their home world to undergo the process of joining the ancient races clique?

To answer: The Zalkonians have retreated back to their home world, taking with them all their colonies, outposts, starships, starbases and so on. They were mostly a stay at home civilisation so there were not many assets outside the Zalkonian home system to return to home to begin with.

When the tour reaches the Zalkonian home world it looks like an ascended civilisation occupies it, which is exactly what is happening. The crew of the USS Anracosh go to the Zalkonian home world and see things that would amaze anyone else, but for them it is nothing unusual, and it is something they are desensitised to.

Outside the starship, which is orbiting the Zalkonian home world we see the fate of the Zalkonians and their civilisation as it joins the ancient races clique. We can see various ancient race starships also orbiting Zalkonia, all kinds of ancient races ascended technology and assorted ancient race beings who are helping the Zalkonians become part of the ancient race community.

This provides excellent opportunities for call backs to previous shows [both in Realm of the Gods and other Star Trek shows], and hints at future shows in Star Trek Realm of the Gods.

Some of the crew of the USS Anracosh explore the area above Zalkonia and the surface of Zalkonia itself. These are crew officially ordered to explore what is going on. They may even run into friends made among the ancients.

The purpose of this is to show the audience what is happening to the Zalkonians as a result of joining the ancients. Everyone sees their civilisation being upgraded.

We reach the end of the episode

After the tour the ancient races clique investigates the incident with the rioting Zalkonians the ancients get extremely embarrassed by the riots and say that the Federation crew had every right to defend themselves. The ancients hate the idea of weapons that could affect them but realise that the crew was only acting in self defence against ancients who should have known better and behaved a lot better in the presence of the crew. The Zalkonian rioters will have to answer for the actions.

The Zalkonian doctor sees her relatives being arrested and confronts her brother. She tells them that she forgives him. He asks why she isn’t being arrested to which he is told that she sided with the crew in defending the starship, therefore she did not commit a crime in the eyes of the ancients. She says goodbye to her relatives as they go to face justice.

The final scene is the captain making a log in the starships gun storage room. She reports on the state of the Zalkonian civilisation post entering the ancient races clique and reports on the anti-ancients firearms become standard on the USS Anracosh. She acknowledges having these weapons goes against their mission of diplomacy but has to admit that such devices could be needed one day even if the ancients don’t like the idea of guns that can affect them.

 

Season 5 Episode 5

Going rogue in the Dominion

The crew are watching the news from Starfleet command in the USS Anracosh’s pub. A news story comes on that reports chaos in the Dominion. Half of the Jem Hadar and Vorta are rejecting the Founders. Worlds are seceding hoping the Founders will not have the resources to retake them or use their bio weapons against them. The Dominion is not going through one massive civil war but a death by 1000 cuts.

This news is greeted with jubilation by the crew. What was once the biggest threat to the Federation is now on the verge of collapse. The news report goes on to say that the Founders still have their followers and it is anyone’s game in the Dominion. There is a real chance the Founders will be able to win and restore the Dominion. Then the Dominion could or would eventually become a threat to the Federation again.

This has the reverse reaction from the crew. They have very bad memories of fighting the Dominion’s Jem Hadar troops. They would love to see the Dominion fold. The consensus among the crew is that it is time for another rogue mission – this time to sabotage the Dominion and bring about its downfall.

Word of this feeling among the crew reaches the Captain’s ears. The crew want another rogue mission. She convenes a meeting of the officer core to discuss it. It has to be pointed out that they were pardoned for their first rogue mission of starting diplomacy with the ancients. The pardon they got only applies to crimes they have previously committed; it will not protect them from any future crimes they commit.

The security chief speaks. She says that they can do this as a Section 31 operation. The Federation will not question anything done under the banner of Section 31. That at least covers their tracks with their superiors.

The next issue is creating an official cover story. That is far simpler than expected. The Captain addresses the drone. She wants him to use his personal dial a deity phone to contact the Yertholm – the ancient race the Jem Hadar is based on. He is to ask them if there are any ancient races in the Gamma quadrant [the home of the Dominion] they have not contacted. The official mission will be contacting more ancient races. Basically it is a “Tuesday” for the crew of the USS Anracosh.

The reason the drone is to use his personal phone is that it is his personal effects, it is not a part of Starfleet equipment, thus it will not have a million logs associated with it to make a paper trail for Starfleet or the Federation government to follow.

The diplomatic team will lead the cover mission. Officially it will be diplomacy with ancient races in the Gamma quadrant because the USS Anracosh has not been active in that area of the galaxy for much of its official mission.

The unofficial mission will be to provide help to those resisting the Dominion. Giving them whatever aid they can without getting the Founders attention. They do not want to start another war, even one the Federation can win given the weakened state of the Dominion.

From what the crew know the two big things the Dominion rebels need are a way to detect founders in their shapeshifting mode and cures for diseases that the Founders use to punish civilisations that resist them. The main doctors onboard – namely the Zalkonian and the Bajoran are ordered to look in the ancient race archives on the USS Anracosh to help make cures for the diseases created by the Founders.

The Drone contacts the Yertholm and explains how the crew of the USS Anracosh wants to contact more ancients in the Gamma quadrant. He does not tell them the truth of the mission. He simply states that he is doing his job of helping the crew find more ancients to contact. He is doing the phone call as “homework”. He needs up to date information that the Yertholm can provide. The Yertholm get suspicious, but comply and send information on a sub channel. They know the Drones knowledge base. He should not need the information they are sending, but saying what he knows is not up to date does sound plausible, so what the drone says is not questioned too heavily.

The information is conveyed to the diplomatic team who prepare diplomatic missions as if that was the only reason the USS Anracosh was in the Gamma quadrant. The difference is that the diplomatic mission will be working out of shuttles as the USS Anracosh darts around the Dominion giving aid to rebels that the Federation knows about in the Dominion.

The B plot:

The doctors and other members of the crew go through the files and stores of the USS Anracosh to find anything useful for their rogue mission. Much hair pulling, banging heads against walls and frustration ensues when the crew discover all the technology they have failed to discover on the stores of the USS Anracosh. This is played off for comedy.

Cures that can be applied to the Founder’s generational diseases are quickly found in the files of the USS Anracosh, as are communication devices that have a far greater range than anything the Federation has even on the drawing board. However, the devices are large and boxy and have to be wheeled around. Scanning technology is also discovered that can be replicated with difficulty by younger races. Again it’s a case of steam blowing out of ears at the fact that the crew are only now discovering the full extent of technology available onboard the USS Anracosh.

The decision is made there and then to make the ultra long range communication devices standard on the shuttles of the USS Anracosh. We see them being wheeled into place on the shuttles as diplomatic crews are preparing their missions and entering the shuttles ready to be sent to meet the ancients while working on their electronic clipboards refining the details of their visits.

The USS Anracosh visits each ancient race site one by one, leaving their diplomatic teams there while they go help rebels in the Dominion. There is an agreement that the USS Anracosh will retrieve the diplomatic crews from the ancient race sites they are visiting after the talks are done. The crew on the USS Anracosh will mainly give knowledge to the rebels, that knowledge being how to detect the Founders in their shapeshifting mode, how to cure the Founders generational diseases and where to find other anti-Dominion rebel groups.

Returning to the A plot: The USS Anracosh criss-crosses the Dominion giving aid to the rebels as their diplomatic teams negotiate with various ancient races around the Gamma quadrant. What they don’t know is that Dominion intelligence has figured out their actions and after the diplomatic teams have returned to the USS Anracosh a massive Dominion fleet confronts the starship. The crew note that they can detect some kind of new weapon on each of the Dominion vessels. It is a weapon that looks like it could actually harm the USS Anracosh. This would give the Dominion a fighting chance against their starship, but it would not ensure total victory. Then again the USS Anracosh could run rather than fight. There is no way the Dominion could catch a vessel as fast as the USS Anracosh.

The crew realise that fighting the Dominion fleet could to start another war with the Dominion and neither the ancients or Starfleet would approve. It would be a disaster for the Realm of the Gods project and for their standing with the Federation. There is a real possibility that if the USS Anracosh opens fire on the Dominion fleet that the ancients will cancel the Realm of the Gods project and confiscate the USS Anracosh. This is because the ancients provided the technology on the USS Anracosh. The starship is meant solely for diplomacy missions, it is not weapon used to start wars. If it is used to start a war then the ancients are in part responsible for giving the Federation a super weapon in the form of the USS Anracosh.

The problem solves itself: The Dominion fleet does not even try to communicate with the crew; instead they start an attack run on the USS Anracosh. As this happens half the Dominion starships start firing on the other half. The crew of the USS Anracosh decides to immediately retreat as firing could mean what was said above, starting a war with using the USS Anracosh, which could mean the ancients cancelling the Realm of the Gods project.

As they retreat the crew reflect their mission was not a total victory – the Founders can still restore the Dominion to its former glory, but that would take centuries. The crew of the USS Anracosh has given the inhabitants of the Gamma quadrant a way to effectively fight the Founders. Now it is their choice, if they want the Founders to rule them, then that is their choice, but now they have the means to make that choice.

Before the USS Anracosh leaves Dominion space the Yertholm themselves confront the USS Anracosh saying that the crew bent the rules with their rogue mission into the Gamma quadrant. Because the Yertholm unknowingly helped the crew of the USS Anracosh with the rogue mission the Yertholm would have to side with the Dominion if a second Dominion war was started. Giving the means to detect the founders was crossing the line, but curing the diseases was a noble act, so in the eyes of the ancients it balances out. Also, if the crew of the USS Anracosh use the starship to start a war, especially a major war the ancients will see it as a violation of the agreement the Federation made with the ancients about the USS Anracosh being a diplomacy vessel. The penalty for violating the agreement would be the confiscation of the USS Anracosh by the ancients.

The show ends with a warning from the ancients that the crew should not go rogue again. The ancients will bail them out for now, next time they won’t be so lucky. However, there is one success: The Dominion are now not a credible threat to the Federation and won’t be for a very long time, and that is what the crew of the USS Anracosh wanted, so for them it is a successful mission.

 

Season 5 Episode 6

The Melkot’s episode

This episode represents the about face of Starfleet’s attitude to the USS Anracosh and its mission. Starfleet is at the coalface of seeing how allying with the ancients is paying off. There are still some holdouts in Starfleet but for the most part they are welcoming and want to welcome the crew of the USS Anracosh back into the fold.

Note: The Chief diplomat’s plot line is the B plot.

The episode starts with the Chief diplomat in main engineering witnessing the engineering and reverse engineering of ancients technology teams constructing some kind of space torpedo like devices. It’s kind of weird seeing the Chief diplomat in main engineering, as the Science officer and Chief engineer point out but the Chief diplomat retorts that what they are doing is undoing what Starfleet and the Federation did to her nebula artwork.

The scene shifts to the Chief diplomat’s back story. She was using a thick nebula as a canvas for a light years spanning artwork. She used warp capable custom made space probes as paintbrushes to create the largest piece of art in the known universe. [Exactly how is explained in the Chief diplomat’s character notes]. This was successful and it attracted the attention of the ancients, who contacted her to day they were impressed by her work. She talk to the ancients and established a rapport with them. The Chief diplomat intended to use the light years spanning artwork to launch her career as an artist. This is why the Chief diplomat was recruited to the USS Anracosh, because she has experience in dealing and negotiating with ancients.

Her plan to use the universe’s largest artwork to become a famous artist of the galaxy would have worked except that the artwork got the attention of the Federation’s authorities. Upon learning that the Chief diplomat’s art had attracted the attention of the ancients the Federation promptly destroyed the art piece the same way it was created. Then the usual no trespassing signs [space buoys transmitting warning messages] were put up and the policy of run away with tail between legs was implemented. This is because the nebula had become a hot spot for ancient race activity.

It has been a long time coming but now the crew of the USS Anracosh was taking down the no trespassing signs and building warp capable space probes to act as paintbrushes. The crew was going to undo Starfleet’s destruction of her masterpiece. We see the Chief diplomat talking to crew from the USS Anracosh’s IT department about programming the space probes to follow a path that will result in her masterpiece being remade. The Chief diplomat says if the remade masterpiece makes her a famous artist then she will resign her job on the USS Anracosh and pursue her art career. The IT crew beg her to remain on the USS Anracosh. They say that she has a life here with friends and a great job, trying to put forward the argument that she is better off where she is.

It was as the programming of the of the space probes was being completed that The USS Anracosh receives some great news that utterly stuns them: The Melkot, who is acting as the starship’s A.I. has won the Federation’s Zee-Magnees Prize – the Federation equivalent of the Nobel Prize for his contribution to computer science. They crew is ordered to fly the USS Anracosh to the award ceremony. We are still with the Chief diplomat and the IT staff when the news is transmitted over the PA system. They react with cheers just like the rest of the crew and we see scenes from various parts of the starship of the crew cheering at the news.

Everyone congratulates Niffy [the Melkot]. Niffy is as stunned by the news as anyone else. The one who congratulates Niffy face to face is the confessor, who has become his leg man after the anti mandatory reporting laws episode. A moment after this the Captain announces over the PA system that the Chief diplomat’s space probes for her artwork are almost ready. As soon as the probes are launched they are set to automatic function the USS Anracosh will go to Niffy’s award ceremony.

Niffy explains to the confessor that being blended with the starship’s computer gives Niffy some amazing insights into computing and he used this knowledge to research advancing computer science. That said, his side projects in computer science were just a fun hobby to him. He wrote papers for peer review on his scientific endeavours and only had a vague idea that he was producing groundbreaking work.

The scene switches to outside the USS Anracosh where we see space probes being launched machine gun style. The probes go into a formation and then split off in all directions as the USS Anracosh turns around and flies off at high speed entering hyperwarp. It is noted by the bridge crew that the journey to the award ceremony will take under an hour at their current speed. The Captain says that the crew can use the coming week for some shore leave as a well earned break before the award ceremony.

During that week of downtime the crew of the USS Anracosh realise that they have become so accustomed to the reality-bending happenings around them that the culture shock and whiplash they get when going back to a normal Federation planet is jarring and hilarious. They’re essentially a dazed and confused pack of outcast recluses who’ve stared Gods in the face and shrugged. The crew are effectively 24th Century Mountain Men living in a log cabin.

While in orbit of the Trill home world, where the award ceremony takes place the USS Anracosh encounters Starfleet starships that convey congratulatory messages and make a point of thanking the crew of the USS Anracosh for doing the Realm of the Gods project. This is such a change from even a year ago when the crew of the USS Anracosh were treated as outcasts by Starfleet.

Utterly perplexed at the about face in the way they are treated by Starfleet the crew ask why. The response is that the dial a deity system has started showing real results for the Federation and other galactic governments. The crew are shown holo-simulations of how the ancients have been helping around the Federation and beyond, doing missions that the Starfleet would find almost impossible.

The holo-simulations are a series of short stories showing the ancients in action helping Starfleet in emergency situations and in helping them understand ancient race archaeological sites. These are like an anthology, which functions like a subplot.

They are shown:

The ancients, namely various space bourn ancients, using black hole manipulator technology to pull a planet into a better orbit around its sun.

The ancients, namely the Iconians, using time manipulation technology to fast grow crops to prevent a famine and using ancients technology to renew the soil the crops were grown in.

The ancients, namely the Organians, making sure that the weapons of two waring minor galactic governments don’t work so both sides are forced into a cease fire and have to solve their problems diplomatically.

The ancients, namely the Zalkonians, using their healing abilities to end a deadly plague that threatens to destroy a whole world spanning civilisation.

The Zalkonian doctor sees this last holo-simulation and says that she is proud of her people for saving the civilisation. She says this is the Zalkonian people at their best. She seriously reconsiders her exile from her people. This episode shows her doing a lot of soul searching, saying that the Zalkonians have come a long way from being a people run by a tyrannical government that had a social credit system like 21st Century China’s. This shows a lot of character development for the Zalkonian doctor and her thinking about returning to her people. Fortunately some the officer core [not including the Captain] asks her to stay on the USS Anracosh, and she agrees saying the starship are where her services are needed, and she has made more than a few a few friends on the starship. It’s pretty much a repeat of the IT department’s arguments to the Chief diplomat.

The Captain is informed about the Zalkonian doctor and the Chief diplomat thinking about leaving the USS Anracosh so she summons them to her ready room and asks them if they intend to resign.

The Zalkonian doctor says that what she said what she said because of the help her fellow Zalkonians have given the Federation and others in recent times. She is now very proud of her people, this is the kind of people they should be. She will not return to them as long as she is needed on the USS Anracosh. She will however now have a lot more contact with the Zalkkonians instead of shunning them. To that end she asks if she can have a private dial a deity system like the drone has. The Captain grants her request and gives the orders for main engineering to build another private dial a deity system made from available parts on the USS Anracosh. The system will be installed in the Zalkonian doctor’s quarters.

The Chief diplomat gives the opposite answer to the Captain’s question. If the nebula transformed into an art makes her famous she will quit her job and become a professional artist. She will not leave high and dry, if she gets famous she will stay on the USS Anracosh until her potential replacement is ready to take over from her. If the Chief diplomat leaves it will happen next year. It all depends on if the light year spanning artwork gives her enough fame to launch her art career, which as the Chief diplomat points out, was her first choice of career.

The Captain acknowledges their responses, saying that they are free to live their lives as they see fit, but for now it is time to prepare for Niffy’s [the Melkot’s] award ceremony.

We switch scenes to Niffy is preparing himself for the award. He is no longer in the chamber that merges a person with the starship’s main computer. We see Niffy in his true Melkot form of being a head with long tentacles coming out from the bottom of his neck. With him is the confessor, who is helping him prepare an acceptance speech. They note how last minute this is as the award ceremony will start very soon.

We see what is going on outside the USS Anracosh a flotilla of Starfleet vessels forming a guard of honour as the USS Anracosh docks with the space station where the award ceremony takes place. We also see an ancient race starship in the background. The USS Anracosh docks and we see the Captain, some of the officer core and the confessor with the Melkot making their way to the ceremony. The Melkot is walking in his true form like an octopus moving around. As they travel anti-Realm of the Gods protesters are seen in the distance but they are being held back by security forces. We see them entering a large area on the space station where the award ceremony is taking place.

The space station is in orbit of the Trill home world and high ranking Trill are present to give the award. The ceremony is just like the Nobel Prizes, with delegations and award recipients and crowds. Among the crowd are a small delegation of ancients there to support Niffy in winning his award. The ancients say as much when the high ranking Trills ask them why they are at the ceremony.

Another subplot: The Trill find that ancients going to award ceremony can communicate directly with the Trill symbionts inside the Trill. This creates some friction with the Trill as the Trill did not know that this was even possible. Instead of the award ceremony going smoothly there is some friction between the ancients and the Trill because the Trill are shocked at not knowing that direct external communication with symbionts was possible. It is up to the crew of the USS Anracosh to smooth things over between the ancients and the Trill.

The Melkot is seen using his tentacles to move about the space station and near the end of the show is the actual award ceremony and the Melkot giving a rousing speech about how the award he is being given vindicates the crew of the USS Anracosh in their decision to reach out to the ancients. The “We are vindicated” speech goes viral across the Federation and far beyond and shows what heroes the crew of the USS Anracosh really are. This is meant to be an inspirational speech akin to the ones made by Captain Picard in Star Trek The Next Generation. The intention is to give Star Trek Realm of the Gods the same kind of inspirational speech ending as few of the Next Generation episodes had.

In the speech making contact with the ancients is referred and at this time we see a scene where a dial a deity system is being installed and tested in the Zalkonian doctor’s quarters. We see the Zalkonian doctor talking to one of her relatives via the dial a deity system.

The scene then melds into a series of mini-scenes showing the speech going viral, and as this happens we see the finale to the episode, which is the USS Anracosh returning to the nebula. They see that the probes have done their job of recreating the artwork. The probes themselves are in a formation ready for retrieval. The USS Anracosh beams the probes aboard and we zoom out to see the full majesty of the Chief diplomat’s artistic masterpiece, a beautiful recolourised and rearranged nebula that is made into a gigantic light year spanning artwork.

 

Season 5 Episode 7

Cat call of Cthulu part 1

The story is a courtroom drama and it exemplifies what the ancients are like in Star Trek Realm of the Gods.

It is the clip show of the series – the clips function as the B plot. The C plot is a deeper updated look at the anti-Realm of the Gods protest group and the fact it is totally compromised by Section 31.

The start of the story has the USS Anracosh visiting a Federation colony world to resupply and have some leave now that they are in the good books with the Federation big wigs again. They are confronted by anti-Realm of the Gods protesters. Some ancients who are visiting the USS Anracosh are visiting the colony and see the protesters for themselves. They report the actions of the protesters to their ancient race civilisation.

The result is the ancients threaten to start a class action defamation lawsuit against the protest group. The ancients say to the protesters that the idea is not to win, but to keep the case in the courts until their opponents [the protesters] run out of political capital, their health gives out from stress, they are demoralised and so on. Since the ancients are immortal and a few years are an “eye blink” to them, this tactic is very appealing to the ancients. They decide not to take the matter to court or pursue it out of court on the grounds that the anti-Realm of the Gods protest movement will not survive the ancients becoming common place among the younger races within a century from now.

The protesters interacting with the ancients and discovering the ancients contemplating suing the protest group inspires the protesters to launch a legal case to stop the Realm of the Gods project. The protesters contact a law firm and hire them to sue the Federation government into cancelling the Realm of the Gods project.

The legal case starts with the lawyers representing the protest group arguing that some ancients have a track record of dangerous behaviour. They cite various encounters between the Federation and the ancients that have gone badly.

Clips from previous Realm of the Gods episodes and previous star trek series are shown of bad interactions with ancients and the aftermath.

The lawyers for the Federation counter with presenting evidence that the average ancient are nothing like what the protesters depict them as. They ask the protester’s representative’s if they have ever met an ancient. The protesters representatives have to answer no except for the exchange mentioned earlier in this document.

It is at this point that crew from the USS Anracosh are called in as witnesses to state how their interactions with the ancients have gone down. This reflects how the ancients and the crew of the USS Anracosh have interacted in previous episodes of the show. Various crew members of the USS Anracosh stay in the courtroom as moral support for the ancients.

There are various clips from other episodes showing the crew and the ancients interacting with each other. They show the ups and downs of dealing with the ancients, and that the ancients are not hostile except in unusual circumstances. The crew of the USS Anracosh show the good and the bad times of dealing with the ancients, they neither sugar coat it nor only show the dark side of their adventures in the Realm of the Gods adventures. [Think of the idiotic bickering between the ancients in the move a planet episode earlier in the season]. What they do show by their honesty is the positive effects of having the ancients an active part of the galactic community.

The witnesses for the protesters are from Federation missions involving ancients that have gone badly, but these witnesses are from missions that preceded the Realm of the Gods project. They make as convincing case as the lawyers hired by the ancients.

Both sides make valid arguments and the case faces a stalemate. Then the case for the protesters gives this legal and emotive argument:

Imagine you are negotiating with the Q or the Dauwd or the Preservers or some other super powerful ancient race and it all goes horribly wrong. The ancient you are in talks with goes into a rage and throws you out of the meeting. You return to the Federation humiliated. As you are coming back you cannot find any trace of Federation radio chatter. Soon you cannot detect the starbase you are meant to be going to. You go through Federation space and find …nothing. The Federation has been wished out of existence by the ancients, and many of the crew on you vessel are literally the last of their kind. Genocide by angry ancient has already happened when an ancient of the Dauwd species wished the Husnock race out of existence.

Unlike the Husnock, you survive the encounter with the Dauwd or creature of similar power level. You go back to the ancient and beg for forgiveness. The ancient restores the Federation with another wish. After that you spend every day of your life thinking that everyone you now meet in the Federation is a replica, and the people they replaced died years ago when the ancient wished them out of existence. How could you live with that?

This comes very close to winning the case for the protesters, but the ancients, seeing their side of the legal case in serious trouble, take the stand themselves.

They make it clear that they hate being called genocidal maniacs and have rules against genocide. They invite the legal teams for and against them to ask them anything. Under questioning the true nature of the Realm of the Gods project is revealed. The longer term plans of the ancients are revealed as well. This is all recorded in a court of law, thus it is now on public record.

Ancients on the stand behave nothing like what a Cthulu like being would act like. Some of them are very “human”, noting they were once flesh and blood beings like the younger race beings in the courtroom. They make a point of saying that they are not mysterious like the protesters are trying to depict them as. For example some ancients stay in an area for sentimental reasons, such as growing up there when they were kids or living there as adults, when they were flesh and blood beings.

Some are funny and charismatic. This is where Cat Call of Cthulu comes in. A Cthulu type being is a hoot to hang out with. He emulates the mating practices of his race by doing fake cat calls as a joke, which is hilarious, hence the title “Cat Call of Cthulu”. He says this is the way of his people and he is defending his culture and to deny him and his species the right to their mating practices is coming off as extremely racist, not to mention genocidal if his race were not already beings of energy, with him in his unascended form so he can more easily interact with the court.

It is also mentioned in the legal case that the ancients are not politically organised. There is no “grand council of the ancients”. Ancients run themselves on a race by race, or even faction by faction basis, or even as individuals not allied to any group. The reason the Dauwd was never punished was that there is no statutory body to try him except for his own people coming after him, and they did not punish him because the future he made was better than one with the Husnock in it. It turns out the Husnock would have sided with the Dominion in the Dominion War and the Federation and its allies would have been defeated. This is quite an eye opener for those in the courtroom. But this does not add to the ancients cause as the ancients have no way of proving [to the court’s satisfaction] the alternate future is real.

They also state one of their main motives for the ancients having Realm of the Gods projects is to fend off the horrifying effects of immortality.

The last thing the ancients show is that they gave the younger races access to the dial a deity system. The results of the ancients helping younger races with things the younger races can’t handle is now showing results and this proves ancients are not a threat and their presence benefits younger races. This is what wins the case for the ancients.

The protesters are ordered by the court not to defame the ancients but instead give an honest well researched assessment of the ancients at their protests. This would destroy the message that their movement is trying to convey, but they don’t have a choice. The shady characters secretly sponsoring the protest group for their own ends now face political blowback.

The show ends with the protesters handing out pamphlets that effectively mean they become propagandists for the ancients. Instead of recruiting to their cause they drive people into the pro-Realm of the Gods camp. After a short time of doing this the protest group begins to disband and the leader of the protest group goes into the final phase of his story arc.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 4 part 2

Season 5 part 2

Season 4 Part 2

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 4 part 1

Season 5 part 1

Season 4 Episode 8

Dark Federation Episode part 2

Pure action plotline, no B plot required

The episode starts with a recap of the previous episode and then launches into the war between the Borg and the Terran Empire. The Borg have gained their freedom from the hacking via ancient race technology inflicted on them by the Terran Empire.

The scene in the command centre is one of utter horror. The officer core is being told that the hacking device is now just a puddle and they order the executions of those who were supervising the hacking device. They turn their attention to the giant holographic map of the galaxy. They are relieved to see the Terran Empire is holding its own against the Borg. They can still win and at least have all the technology of the Borg as a consolation prize.

Things go well for a while. The Terran Empire’s upgrades provided by years of research are working. The Borg can’t adapt to the new weapons. It looks like the Terran forces will drive off the Borg. The collective will cut its losses and retreat, then the Terran forces will upgrade with Borg technology. Not what they had hoped for but still a close version of events to what they wanted. They can still conquer most of the galaxy, just delay taking on the Borg and the ancients until everyone else is under the thumb of the Terran Empire.

Just as it looks like the Borg are ready to cut their losses something nightmarish happens. The Borg call in their entire fleet to wage war against the Terran Empire. The war’s fortunes are reversed. The USS Anracosh’s officer core watch on as Terran Empire forces are destroyed by the Borg Cubes. There will soon be nothing left to defend Terran Empire civilians and they will be easy pickings for Borg forces once the fighting is over. Any Terran Empire technology the Borg assimilate along the way is a bonus.

The officer core debate what to do. Just as they are about to run to somewhere remote, a Borg fleet appears at the absolute edge of their sensor range and it is heading to them at transwarp speed. This time there is nowhere to flee to, they are nowhere near a transwarp conduit. They would never outrun a Borg vessel or get to a location outside the Borg’s sensor range before the Borg fleet gets to them. There is nothing to do now but go down fighting.

The Borg fleet that would have bought about the death of the Terran Emperor arrives in the vicinity of the USS Anracosh. Instead of taking them to raid the Earth High Command, the Borg fleet attacks, disables part of the shield system and countless Borg drones board the Terran Empire vessel. Because only part of the shield system is gone the Borg can’t just teleport to anywhere on the starship, they have to start off in the secondary hull of the USS Anracosh and fight their way up the vessel.

They are not there to assimilate, the Borg drones simply shoot dead any crew they come across. It is not a fair fight with many drones falling in the battle. However, for every drone that dies two more take its place. The crew find themselves greatly outnumbered and being massacred.

He officer core note something interesting during the fire fights, the Borg are rescuing the Zalkonian doctor and arresting the drone. Both are teleported off the USS Anracosh. By this time the shields are much weaker as the Borg have hacked the USS Anracosh’s shield system. The scene switches to the inside of the Borg cube where Zalkonians greet the Zalkonian doctor and Preservers, including the drone’s parents confront the drone.

The drone asks how the ancients were able to turn the so quickly. The Preservers say that the low level ancients captured by the Borg were a ruse. The Borg never captured any ancients. The information given to the drone’s superiors on the USS Anracosh was false. It made the officer core think they were winning the war when in fact they were being set up. It finally dawns on the drone that the Terran Empire never really had a chance against the ancients, even with using the Borg as an anti-ancients weapon. The drone and the Zalkonian doctor are seen entering different portals of ancient race origin on the Borg cube leading to different destinations. It looks like the drone is being sent to prison and the Zalkonian doctor is being sent to little Zalkonia on the ancients world seen earlier in the series.

We return to the war on the USS Anracosh. The end of the fire fights are the Borg making their way to the command centre. Here the Borg get into a fire fight with the officer core who are soon gunned down by overwhelming Borg forces. We see the officers get shot one by one in a futile gun battle that kills them off.

The giant hologram of the galaxy in the command centre shows how the Borg are destroying the Terran Empire. It is just like the command centre itself being a scene of carnage with the officer core being killed off one by one. The hologram shows worlds of the Empire being destroyed one by one as the Borg obliterate the Empire. It is obvious that this is the end of the Terran Empire. The Borg show this to the ancients remaining on the Borg cube. They thank the Borg for their work in destroying the Terran Empire saying that they had it coming and thank them for freeing ancients trapped by the Empire. The borg give an unemotional response of saying it was a good deal for the Borg as they profited from it. The ancients then leave via another portal that leads to little Zalkonia.

Afterwards the Borg find the remains of the hacking device that enslaved them. The collective deduces that the ancients destroyed the device as they promised to do. They also figure out that this is a piece of ancients technology that the ancient races clique did not want the Borg to have. That explains why the hacking device was liquefied, so the Borg could learn nothing from it. The Borg beam in a bomb to the same room as the remains of device and set a timer. The Borg beam out and we switch to scene where a Borg cube is seen speeding away from an exploding USS Anracosh. The ship is reduced to nothing but expanding gas. The scene cuts to what is described below.

Ending of part 2:

It is revealed that this is a peak into a mirror universe being witnessed by John Doe [the Drone] and his Preserver parents who are visiting him on the starship. They are in the drone’s cabin. It turns out the Preservers were showing the Drone an alternate reality where a dark version of the federation tried to conquer the ancients. The events happened, just in a different reality.

Drone: “You underestimate the Federation. They’re real smart for where they are as a civilisation; they don’t really need to see this. I think they get the idea not to try anything silly… And another thing too, it’d just hurt more than help, I reckon. Have you ever had a really nasty dream about someone you love hurting you in any way?”

Preserver: “Right, sorry. I know they haven’t done anything. Getting the crew to experience something like that is perhaps a bad idea. Forget about it, they are wise enough to know how dangerous the ancients can be if you jerk them around.”

Drone: “Understandable… One query… why would you show this to me to begin with?”

Preserver: “Because one of you had to see it! Did you see how crazy that was?! You know the true power of the ancients, could that war have gone any differently? Impossible! …I know you’ll probably keep mum on this regardless of what you just saw.”

Drone: “Correct! They would not truly appreciate what you just showed me and some may take it as an insult. But do not think any less of them for that. I would like you to meet the friends I have made onboard. I know they would love to meet some Preservers and I know you would love Niffy, who acts as ship’s A.I. He was going to be the crew’s ancient races expert before I joined up. He would love to meet you.”

Preserver: “We would love to meet your new friends. Let’s go.”

The illusion is turned off the three of them leave the room, entering the corridor as the drone waves hello to someone walking by and the scene switches to the bar of the USS Anracosh where the drone’s parents are surrounded by the officer core and the rest of the known crew [i.e. the crew known to the audience]. They are greeting the Preservers as friends and its smiles all around. A large crown surrounds them, many of the crew want to meet the Preservers in person, whether it is to meet the drone’s parents or just to meet a Preserver. The scene then fades to black followed by the credit role.

 

Season 4 Episode 9

The Ancient race called the Imitari

The B plot: Scattered among this episode is the origin story of the Imitari. The A plot is described below but the episode breaks to explain the Imitari’s backstory as required to keep the episode “fresh”. The backstory is also explained below.

The Imitari government unofficially contact the drone via his personal dial a deity system in his cabin and asked him to recommend contacting the Imitari to the captain of the USS Anracosh. Both the Imitari and the drone know this is not going to end well.

When the drone raises the idea at the weekly staff meeting the officer core agree with him, they have delayed an official visit to the Imitari government long enough. The drone says that the Imitari government unofficially contacted him and he directs them to a backwater area near where the edge of the galaxy meets the Klingon/Federation border. This is the location of the Imitari home world. This world is an abandoned Iconian colony world with lots of Iconian technology which the Imitari use themselves.

The crew of the USS Anracosh realise that the Federation would be shocked at knowing they are going to encounter a race of ascended humans. The drone notes that the Imitari behave like the humans before the Eugenics Wars. They did not have the cultural shift of the humans who remained on Earth. They behave like modern people or “real humans”. In fact some Imitari see themselves as the true humanity and see non-ascended humans as beings pretending to be human. Although Imitari are very diverse, ask three Imitari their thoughts on a subject and you will get seven different opinions.

These ascended Humans call themselves the Imitari [Latin for to copy writing] and explain their origin story to the crew. They are genetically enhanced humans [Human Augments] who refused to follow Khan Noonian Singh during the Eugenics wars. Instead, they fled Earth using a faulty Iconian wormhole that was visible to the unaided eye and settled on a very remote world once owned by the Iconians near the edge of the galaxy. Iconian wormholes are normally invisible to the naked eye.

Examining the faulty wormhole was one of Khan Noonian Singh’s black projects during the Eugenics wars. The people who became the Imitari learned of the project and a few of them gained control of it. They soon used it to escape Khan Noonian Singh’s control and escape the Eugenics wars.

When the last of the proto-Imitari reached their new home the wormhole collapsed. The ancients were waiting for them and they invited the proto-Imitari into the ancient races clique. The ancients explained to the proto-Imitari that the genetic modifications that were made to them altered how their minds worked and made them think like ancients and they were planning a society with an ancient race social structure, left to their own devices they would have created a society that was like the ancients, thus they qualified for invitation to join the ancient races clique.

The ancients also explained that the faulty Iconian wormhole they travelled through was deliberately left on Earth in an effort to rescue the proto-Imitari. The proto-Imitari themselves were grateful for the rescue but were stunned that it was a deliberate rescue. This left them speechless, but they were too grateful to make an issue of it.

The Ascended Mythbuster was one of the people who escaped Earth via the faulty Iconian wormhole. The other side of wormhole was on a world near the edge of the galaxy. That world used to be an Iconian colony world and had functioning Iconian technology on it. The Human Augments named the world Viridis [Latin for Green] because of how green it is.

The Human Augments renamed themselves the Imitari because they decided that they would copy themselves memories and all rather than reproduce sexually. They had big plans as to how their society would function once they resettled on Viridis but this was cut short when they met the ancients on the other side of the wormhole, who in person invited them into the ancient races clique.

What else has this got to do with the Ascended Mythbuster? He was one of the leaders of the Human Augments who refused be a part off the Eugenics wars. He is largely responsible for designing how Imitari civilisation would function once the proto-Imitari settled on Viridis. He is one of the founding fathers of the Imitari nation. This earns him some respect with the Imitari people. Like all other Imitari he has never come to terms with being rescued by the ancients so they could join the ancient races clique.

In between current events and the invitation to join the ancients a Klingon exploration starship visited Viridis and met the Imitari. It was the usual routine of meeting ancients and putting up the no trespassing signs afterwards. For the record Klingons met the Imitari after the Klingons met regular humans.

Getting to modern times, when Starfleet and the leaders of the Federation find out about the Imitari being ascended human augments they completely freak out that what was once the greatest threat to humanity is now a member of the ancient races clique. The Imitari have to explain that the vast majority of them were not born as Human Augments but are Humans who were rebuilt and prove it by accessing old Earth government records to show the Federation they were once citizens of Earth. The vast majority of Human Augments who followed Khan Noonian Singh were born as Human Augments rather than being upgraded existing Humans.

The officer core of the USS Anracosh are stunned at the meeting between the Imitari and themselves. The Imitari are telling the truth. The Imitari say they have one caveat to signing a friendship treaty between themselves and the Federation. The Imitari want the right to return to Earth to visit their old home world. They give assurances that they will not be moving there, they only want to be tourists. The true home of the Imitari is Viridis.

The crew of the Anracosh ask for a break from the diplomatic meeting for the day. They contact Starfleet command who are still reeling from the knowledge there are ascended human augments in existence. Now those same Human Augments [albeit ascended] are asking to go back to Earth to visit. What’s more, the Imitari have never committed a crime on Earth that the Federation or Earth government can prosecute them for; therefore the Imitari cannot be arrested if they return to Earth. This means they could legally walk around on Earth unhindered.

The Imitari note that they could return to Earth with the help of other ancients and there is nothing the Federation could do about it. However the Imitari say they would rather go about seeing Earth through official channels. They do not want to force the issue; instead they are acting in good faith to show their honesty and sincerity. At least they are trying to do the right thing, that’s something in their favour.

So now there is an impasse, what does Starfleet and the governments involved say to the people of Earth? How would they take the news that not only have many more Human Augments survived, but have found their way into the ancient races clique? Also, these particular Human Augments are actually honest people willing to abide by the rules, and what Earth inhabitant is going to believe that?

The Imitari offer to speak for themselves in a broadcast to Earth, but this is refused with Starfleet taking a more cautious stance and deciding to break the news to Earth in a slower and more palatable way.

This is not good enough for the Imitari, once the friendship treaty is signed; they want to go to Earth immediately – literally while the ink is still wet on the page. They can get to Earth and back to Viridis via Iconian wormhole technology. This means the result is instant. Earth is seconds away via an Iconian wormhole. The Imitari take the initiative and introduce themselves to the people of Earth via Earth’s news services. The Realm of the Gods project is public knowledge, but seeing the Imitari still almost panics many on Earth.

This gives fodder to the anti-Realm of the Gods protest group, who love the idea that they can use the Imitari as a reason to stop diplomacy with the ancients. The protest group immediately organises anti-Realm of the Gods protests on Earth protesting against the right of the Imitari to return to visit Earth. The Imitari don’t like the idea of confronting protesters on Earth and it especially angers the Ascended Mythbuster, who is involved with the negotiations with the Chief Diplomat of the USS Anracosh. It is at this point that it is revealed that the Ascended Mythbuster was one of the founding fathers of the Imitari race.

With pandemonium ensuing on Earth at discovery that the Imitari exist, the crew of the USS Anracosh must contain the situation by showing that they are coming to the rescue and negotiating with the Imitari in a public fashion. The Chief Diplomat and her underlings must publically broadcast their summit with the Imitari leaders and their cohorts. A whole impromptu summit is organised and is publically broadcast. The Imitari want to prove their sincerity, many Earth Humans follow the summit closely, and form their own opinions on the Imitari.

The reaction from Humans on Earth is mixed. They have to acknowledge that a shootout with the ancients is suicide. The ancients hopelessly outgun them. As stated earlier, the Imitari could call on allies in the ancient race community and force the issue, but they are not, and that speaks to their motivations and character.

Once again the anti-Realm of the Gods protest group tries to gain leverage from the existence of the Imitari and succeeds because they have a policy of not attacking the Imitari. If they actually threatened anyone it would hurt their cause so they don’t do it and those who are “aggressive” are chastised by the protest group.

As for the diplomacy with the Imitari, the negotiations reach an agreement that the Imitari can visit Earth with security escorts to prevent anything going wrong once the friendship treaty is formalised, which happens not long after it is signed.

The anti-Realm of the Gods protest group tries to appeal this in court but is denied because they don’t have legal grounds to stop it. Without a legal means to block the Imitari the Federation agree to the Imitari’s demands and the Imitari are allowed to visit Earth with security escorts. It will take some time for Humanity to get used to the idea that the Imitari exist.

The Imitari visiting Earth goes surprisingly well with the Imitari willing to talk to the average citizen in the street and proving their honesty face to face. The story ends showing Humans and Imitari reaching an understanding with each other, even if some doubts and mistrust remain.

 

Season 4 Episode 10

A faction within a Klingon house willing to become ancients

tuqDaj wIghoSQo’ – become energy beings or die in Klingon

This is an episode of political intrigue with various parties all having their own political agenda and reasons for being around the Klingon colony world trying to join the ancient races clique.

A faction within a Klingon house announces that it is willing to undergo what it takes to become part of the ancient races clique. The Klingons have seen what is happening on Bajor, Orion and Tellar and want the same for their own species. The faction within the Klingon house is willing to make the sacrifices it takes to become part of the Ancient races clique even if the rest of the Klingon race stays as a younger race.

Due to the Klingons running their own Realm of the Gods project they are very aware of the criteria the ancients have to join the ancient races clique. Having said that the Klingon Empire has requested the USS Anracosh go to the Klingon Empire so they can access the crew for advice.

The faction makes the argument that plenty of Klingons die for the Klingon cause every year in duels, combat, inter and intra house warfare and so on. Therefore they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of having ascended Klingons. They look at the Imitrai, who are ascended Humans and the Yertholm, an ascended warrior race as examples that it is possible for Klingons to become part of the ancient races clique.

The Klingon faction announcing their intent to become ascended beings attracts the attention of the ancients and the Yertholm and the Imitari send representatives to the Klingon Empire. The faction, who call themselves tuqDaj wIghoSQo’ [Become energy beings or die] are asking the Klingon Empire to provide them with a disused habitable world to call their own to use as a place where they can find a way to join the ancient races clique.

The ancients sign off on the idea as recruitment of younger races starts at the most in a few centuries anyway. For a being millions of years old a few centuries are a short space of time.

The USS Anracosh is sent to the Klingon Empire to represent the Federation in the matter. The Imitari send the ascended mythbuster as part of their delegation, the Yertholm send their diplomats who previously dealt with the Federation and the Klingons. The Yertholm are keen to see the Klingons undergo an ascension project, in fact the Yertholm are sponsoring the faction of Klingons as part of the ancients allowing the faction to ascend. The Yertholm have a vested interest in the project. They want to prove to the all younger races that a warrior race is perfectly able to join the ancient races clique without having to give up their warrior culture.

The Imitari want to contact the Klingon Empire given the history between Human Augments and Klingons. The USS Anracosh wants to catch up with the Klingon ancient races contact ship and trade notes with them. It turns out that the Klingons were yet to send their Ancient Races Contact Starship to meet the Imitari, so this is their real first diplomatic contact in every sense of the word.

The Klingons have met the Imitari in Imitari space before the Realm of the Gods project was started. It was the usual procedure of the Klingons leaving the area and posting no trespassing signs warning other younger races that they are entering an area occupied by ancients. The Klingons have meet regular Human Augments before, but they are not like the Imitari in terms of outlook and personality and not being ascended beings like the Imitari.

The B plot is the Imitari running an investigation into what has previously happened between the Klingons and Human Augments.

The investigation done by the Imitari is a sombre one. The Imitari are disgusted by the actions of their fellow Human Augments. There is still a lot of bad blood about the past actions of regular Human Augments. The Imitari are apologetic to the Klingons about the dishonourable actions of their long lost Human Augment cousins.

Much to the surprise of the Imitari, the Klingons do not like the apology. They see it as meek and thus a sign of weakness. The Imitari, notably the ascended mythbuster, say that not apologising is a dishonourable act to them. This does not really make the situation any better. The Klingons do however give the information about the historic actions of the Human Augments against the Klingons and the results of such actions, namely the Klingon efforts to make Klingon Augments.

The Klingons then have to ask what the Imitari want with the information. The Imitari say it is purely for record keeping. This leaves the Klingons perplexed. What is the point of getting the information if they are not going to act on it? The Imitari say that they can’t take vengeance or bring the Human Augments who wronged the Klingons to justice because the Human Augments who committed the wrongs are long dead. Klingons point out that they consider justice and vengeance the same thing.

The Klingons then realise something, the Imitari see their Human Augment cousins as the dishonoured dead, meaning that they have to do something to publically recognise the Human Augments as dishonourable. The actions of the Imitari now make sense to the Klingons.

Wrapping up the B plot involves the Klingons admitting that attacking the Imitari, or their Human Augment cousins actions would be an act of futility. The Klingons know the Imitari are ascended humans and realise fighting them or any of the ancients has, at worst, dire consequences for the Klingon Empire, or at best a waste of time. This applies even if it means a few good warriors going to Stovokor, the Klingon afterlife paradise.

The worst case scenario could involve being wished out of existence by a Douwd or a Q. This raises the question, is that kind of death a noble death that gets Klingons into Stovokor? The Klingons don’t want to find out the hard way that it isn’t a “ticket to paradise” for the Klingons. Imagine condemning much the Klingon race to the place of the dishonoured dead in the Klingon afterlife. For the Klingon or Klingons responsible that is a level of dishonour on them that is almost incomprehensible to anyone.

Returning to the A pot: The Ancients, Klingons and representatives from the USS Anracosh gather on Kronos – the home world of the Klingons. The Klingon ascension project is discussed and a disused habitable world in the Klingon Empire is selected for the project. It is suddenly revealed as a plot twist that the Klingon Empire is willing to pour a lot of resources into the project as they can see the advantages of having ascended Klingons around, and that the world was chosen some time ago for the purpose the Klingons become energy beings. Klingon high command toyed with the idea when the Klingons started their Realm of the Gods project.

After gathering on Kronos the groups go to the uninhabited world of Desigal in a remote corner of the Klingon Empire nowhere near Federation space. During the journey the Klingons and the Imitari discuss the previous Human Augments that the Klingons encountered. This is simply flashbacks and re-enactments of the Klingon interactions with Human Augments and the fallout thereof. We learn more about the bad blood between regular Human Augments and the Imitari. The Imitari remember why they fled Earth and the conflict they had with the rest of the Human Augments.

After reaching Desigal, the various groups travelling there notice the Klingon Empire is already creating the infrastructure for a planet-side colony and construction is well underway. The moment the ascend or die faction announced that they were willing to join the ancients Klingon high command realised the opportunity that this represented.

Another plot twist is revealed, the Federation council is considering copying the Klingon idea and having a Federation colony dedicated to joining the ancients in case Tellar, Orion or Bajor soon secede from the Federation in the process of becoming part of ancient races clique. So far the idea has not got past the planning phase, but the Federation wants to monitor the Klingon ascension colony to learn what it is like to have a colony world trying to join the ancient races clique.

The USS Anracosh orbits the world with a large fleet of Klingon starships busy making the orbiting infrastructure and helping deliver the materials needed for a ground based colony. It is an amazing site seeing so much being built so quickly and one starship the USS Anracosh detects in the Klingon fleet is the Klingon version of an ancient races contact starship.

The two starships soon make contact with each other and trade notes about what ancients they have encountered. This is done by exchanging pleasantries and sending each other files on a sub-channel. As this happens the Klingon colony is set up and the colony starships begin arriving, as do some ancient race starships. The ancients will be overseeing this Klingon project, as they are on Bajor, Orion and Tellar.

Out of the blue the ancients want all Klingons going on the ascended Klingon project to undergo mind scans to sense any deceit, hidden agenda or trickery. This does not go down well with the Klingons, and it creates some conflict, but the ancients also say they want the Klingons to understand the dangers of immortality and that they have a lot to learn before joining the ancients, but they are keen students and that counts for a lot. Many of the Klingons quit the tuqDaj wIghoSQo’ project in disgust but enough stay to make it viable and plan to recruit more Klingons from their general public.

In response to the mass resignations the Klingon high council declare the Klingon ascension “above the houses”. This means as something far too important to involve Klingon house politics. The Klingon leadership wants the project to succeed. Therefore any Klingon or person ruled by the Klingons is welcome to join the ascension project [that last caveat is added in case they can’t recruit enough Klingons].

The response is immediate with Klingon houses donating warriors to the project and many in the Klingon Empire volunteering to join. The gates are open so to speak and many want to pass into the ancient races clique. Many Klingons will still reject the mind scan, but plenty of Klingons will be happy to go through it, and that will be more than enough Klingons to make the project a success. The same applies for subject races of the Klingons.

The crew of the USS Anracosh and the Imitari know that their work in the Klingon Empire is done. They have no reason to stay in the Klingon Empire. The Imitari have concluded their investigation and fact finding mission and other ancients are working with the Klingons in their ascending colony. Federation representatives to the Klingon Empire will observe the colony so the USS Anracosh can return to its mission of contacting the ancients. The crew of the USS Anracosh and the Imitari catch up with each other and discuss the events they have experienced in the Klingon Empire. The show ends with the Imitari in their starship and the USS Anracosh leaving Klingon territory.

 

Season 4 Episode 11

The ascended mythbuster invites the various ancient races contact ships to confer at his laboratory

The ascended mythbuster invites the various ancient race contact starships from various galactic governments to have a conference at his laboratory “region” [see below] where they can trade notes, discuss which ancients they have met and improve their efforts in contacting ancients.

The laboratory refers to a dwarf planet on the outskirts of the Imitari home system. The ascended mythbuster remade the world with an orbiting artificial sun and builds all kinds of scientific endeavours on, in and around the planet. The whole world is one massive laboratory, hence why it is called The Laboratory, nicknamed “the lab”. The place is also home to a wide variety of ancient race beings who work and live there.

When the drone is informed at a meeting of the core officers that the USS Anracosh is going to the laboratory of the ascended mythbuster he almost faints but quickly recovers. Soon the drone explains that the lab is known across the ancient races community as the hub of scientific research for the ancient races clique. This is like visiting the Daystrom Institute of the Federation, but at the level of the ancient races. The drone also starts giggling, but refuses to explain why, the crew at the meeting guess that the drone is as much amused by the ascended mythbuster’s antics as they are.

Other than that, the officer core crew can’t believe their ears. What kind of scientific advances will they see being done by the ancients? – According to their experience most likely things utterly beyond their comprehension. They also know that if the ancients are involved then all is not as it seems, there has to be a catch. All the object lessons on the USS Anracosh and their interactions with the ancients have proven that there has to be something weird about to go down. Still, this is a golden opportunity beyond understanding and belief so the Captain orders the crew to set course to the ascended mythbuster’s lab.

In a short space of time they hyperwarp into the lab area. It is not what they expected. This is what they find, and it was briefly described above: The lab is a small world [dwarf planet] on the outskirts of the Viridis system – the Imitari’s home system. The world has many space stations of all shapes/sizes/levels of advancement orbiting it. Most notable is a mini-sun orbiting the world and numerous asteroids also orbiting the world. The asteroids are made of pure chemical elements being mined in vast quantities. There is evidence that the asteroids have been artificially made.

Then the crew of the USS Anracosh notice the ancients inhabiting this area. All over the place are ancient race starships and ascended beings themselves going about their business. The bridge is hailed and they are invited to go to a conference facility on the world itself. They are early and do not see any other ancient race contact starships around. The ascended mythbuster greets the crew like an old friend, and assures them that the other ancient race contact starships will be here shortly.

The diplomatic department makes its way to the conference in shuttles as the first of the other government’s ancient races contact ships appear in system and take orbits around the dwarf planet as well. We see ancient races contact ships from all sorts of governments near the Federation: Cardassian, Gorn, Sheliak, Tholian and many others, including the ancient races contact ships already seen in the series, namely the Klingon and Romulan ancient races contact ships.

We see the scene switch to the B plot:

This is the revelation that the laboratory is one massive man cave full of ancients behaving like dumbasses, like an ancient race version of the Jackass TV show. The ancients we see acknowledge that the younger race delegates are here and do not know the real deal of the laboratory. How should they be informed of the true nature of the laboratory and what that says about the true nature of the ancients?

The ancients, led by the ascended mythbuster, use his extensive connections to the crew of the USS Anracosh to ask them how they should handle telling the non-Federation delegates about who the ancients really are. Many of the younger race governments are new to their Realm of the Gods projects. They do not know who they are dealing with. They will find out sooner or later. The crew of the USS Anracosh say just be up front about it and this leads to the next phase of the B plot – the crew are in on the joke and quietly laugh to themselves and the ancients about the ancients revealing their true nature at the conference.

The conference begins and all sorts of younger races start discussing the details of the ancient race encounters. They trade notes and talk to ancient race beings present. Representatives of governments that are normally hostile to each get along as if their civilisations are the closest of allies. They all trade ideas about contacting the ancients and what progress they have made in their Realm of the Gods projects. They recommend ancients to contact, and leads to follow in the ancient races community. All in all the conference is an amazing experience for all involved with much information exchanged and a lot of help given by the old hands to newcomers running diplomacy with the ancients.

After a while of exchanging information the man of the hour arrives. The ascended mythbuster is greeted with enthusiastic applause. He is the host of the conference and he greets everyone from the podium saying it is wonderful to see the younger races working together and exchanging knowledge. He wants to share knowledge with them as well.

He invites the delegates to have a free range of the laboratory and that all ancient race beings here are approachable and will answer their questions. This is greeted with riotously happy response. The ascended mythbuster waits for the crowd to calm down and gives them a safety warning about ancient race technology saying to follow the instructions of the ancients developing it to the letter.

Before he lets them loose on the facility the ascended mythbuster unveils the new logo of The Laboratory. It is a large banner that says a’ig ol’ bependages [big old appendages] with numerous tentacles, wings, hands claws, hooves, and every other type of limb imaginable as part of its logo. The logo neatly sums up what the lab truly stands for, that being the goofing around of ancients doing stupid stuff to amuse themselves. The Laboratory is a man cave.

The delegates look puzzled then do some forced laughter thinking it is a joke. Then the ascended mythbuster looks puzzled, laughs a little and has a lightbulb moment. He says that they must have not figured it out yet – they never got that “the lab” is a dwarf planet sized man cave. Given that the delegates have had previous interactions with the ancients they should have had some clue as to the goofy nature of ancient race beings. The ascended mythbuster is stunned that many of the delegates have not realised that ancient race beings can be very jokey.

The ascended mythbuster confesses that the ancients here are not doing serious scientific research; they are goofing off like a bunch of guys drinking beer and doing some creative hobby in one of their buddy’s garages all the while not taking it seriously at all. The scientific advances are merely a by-product of the creative hobbies the ancients are doing in “the lab”.

Now the delegates are in a state of complete confusion as the diplomatic team from the USS Anracosh goes into hysterical laughter. They know the ancients well enough to know that that the lab can also be a man cave. The two are not mutually exclusive.

The delegates are still not coming to terms with the fact that what they thought would be some equivalent to the Daystrom Institute is in fact a man cave full of ancient race yahoos goofing off and making half-wits of themselves. The people from the USS Anracosh just laugh even harder.

The experiments done by the ancients are shown to just be ancients goofing off and being idiots. It is like watching a mythbusters/jackass style show hammed up for comedy. It is “any excuse for a bad ass explosion or doing a dumbass stunt”.

The ascended mythbuster sees that he is not getting his point across so he arranges a tour around the laboratory showing ancients goofing off and behaving foolishly – becomes a slapstick comedy act for the some the episode. The delegates are very confused as the USS Anracosh’s delegates are quietly giggling to themselves. The actions of the ancients look like something from a loony tunes cartoon or clown act.

Now that he has shown the true nature of the ancients the ascended mythbuster gets serious for a minute to remind the delegates that if they cannot come to terms with the true nature of the ancients – that is goofing off to cope with being immortal – then they should not be doing diplomacy with the ancients. The ascended mythbuster reminds those he is addressing that immortality is a curse and not a blessing.

Fighting the downside of being an immortal is an eternal battle [pun intended]. Ancients behave like half-wits because it is either act insane or actually go insane and spend the rest of time in a vegetative state. The ancients goof off because they have no choice in the matter – the alternative to acting like a fool is too traumatising to contemplate.

Even worse for the younger races, imagine countless insane dysfunctional ancients rampaging through their civilisations, totally unaware of what they are doing, destroying entire worlds in their path. The ancients behaving like morons are keeping the younger races and the ancient races clique safe. Be thankful the ancients are goofy.

In spite of the impassioned plea the delegates not from the USS Anracosh react with disgust and beam back to their respective starships and leave while lodging complaints with the Imitari government. Some of the delegates think it is some sort of prank in spite of being reminded that they are being told the truth. The ascended mythbuster says that he hates being the one to deliver the message, but it is message that had to be sent and understood by the younger races. The younger race delegates still leave angry and disgusted and feel that the conference was a waste of time.

The last scene: The diplomatic team is back on the USS Anracosh discussing the complaints. The Imitari government’s response was that the conference was not connected to the Imitari government and that the delegates were on private property owned by the ascended mythbuster. The ascended mythbuster gave them enough information to give the impression the place was a man cave and told the truth about the ancients. If the delegates did not understand or accept the message, then that’s on them, not the ascended mythbuster. The episode ends with the crew of the USS Anracosh still finding it funny that the other galactic governments can’t come to terms with the idea of an ancient races man cave and ancients acting like idiots to keep themselves sane.

 

Season 4 Episode 12

Starbase Nexus Point

The crew of the USS Anracosh are ordered to go to a newly built starbase [called Starbase Nexus Point] so Federation engineers can examine the USS Anracosh’s wormhole generation technology. In this episode the flaws in making wormholes are highlighted for the audience. Namely that wormholes that are once use only are far easier to make and wormholes can only be made with one entrance near the wormhole generator and one entrance near the desired destination of the wormhole. Making permanent wormholes takes more effort and energy.

The wormhole generator has another quirk: Wormholes can only be made by the device with one end of the wormhole near the device and the other end at an area of space selected by someone using the device. To connect two parts of space not near the wormhole machine two wormholes must be made. Both wormholes lead to the wormhole machine and the area the machine is in acts as a “grand central station”.

The crew know that they will get a frosty reception from the rest of Starfleet, but they will not defy orders. They know what they are in for and the scenes on the starship reflect this. They have bad memories of sabotaged supplies from Starfleet. With unpleasant feelings they enter the region of Starbase Nexus Point.

Starfleet does give the cold reception the crew were expecting, and they are denied any form of shore leave. It will be strictly away teams examining the USS Anracosh’s wormhole systems and crew of the USS Anracosh going to and from worksites on the Starbase as required. This is agreed to by the crew of the USS Anracosh as it is probably the best deal they are going to get from Starfleet.

The first job is for the crew of the USS Anracosh to examine the wormhole generators on the starbase. They get the usual snubbing but are surprised at the progress the Federation has made in reverse engineering wormhole technology. The starbase’s wormhole generators will only need tweaking to make them work. The starbase’s team [which includes civilian scientists] sent to the USS Anracosh come to the same conclusion after seeing the ancients built wormhole technology on the USS Anracosh.

The B plot is some of the crew from the starbase being enamoured by the USS Anracosh and ask for a tour. This is to prove that not everyone in Starfleet or the Federation’s civilian population is against the Realm of the Gods project, and even support the idea. The Starfleet and civilian teams gets a grand tour of the USS Anracosh. The crew see this as an opportunity to get at least some positive press within the Federation. This is done as a publicity stunt with the “tourists”. The crew of the USS Anracosh act as tour guides taking video and other recordings that will be broadcast on the Federations communications channels. The crew also edit the footage, and this is seen in the B plot as well, so the end product is like an amateur high quality documentary like the ones seen on youtube. This is shown near the end of the show to round off the B plot.

With the starbases’s wormhole generators up and running it’s time to do field tests. At first probes are sent through temporary wormholes to only a few light years, and then full sized starships. It all seems to go to plan, the device works well, and although it is working since temporary wormholes are created they disappear after each use. Then a permanent wormhole is made as a proof of concept. It can be destroyed and is destroyed after the experiment. This is because it is a proof of concept, once it is proven to work it serves no purpose.

Once all the tests and are done and are successful the Nexus Point station is declared fully operational. The Nexus Point station will be a “Grand central station” starbase that generates large numbers of wormholes. The USS Anracosh was sent to help because it has functioning wormhole technology that were used as a template for the Nexus Point station’s wormhole generators.

The new space station has an official opening ceremony which is marred by the continuing animosity between the crew of the USS Anracosh and the rest of Starfleet. At the ceremony the permanent wormholes are opened to various major Federation solar systems.

To the shock of the USS Anracosh one of the wormholes produces the protest movement that is anti-Realm of the Gods. Starfleet was supposed to keep the movements of the USS Anracosh a secret, and here are the protesters broadcasting that they know the USS Anracosh is here and the protesters are here to have a protest to say that they want the Realm of the Gods stopped.

The USS Anracosh intercepts some radio chatter that some Starfleet vessels in the area and personnel on the Nexus Point station are sending messages of support to the protesters. The captain of the USS Anracosh orders a staff meeting of the officer core to inform them of the chatter between the protesters and Starfleet. She has figured out that if the protesters are here then someone has leaked top secret information from Starfleet.

The first reaction from the officer core at the meeting is “those traitors!” They are betraying Starfleet by exposing its secrets.

We in the USS Anracosh are the real heroes. We are trying to save the Federation from any potential future threat that could destroy it. Those mongrels are sabotaging Starfleet by giving away top secret information.”

The security chief has to intervene here. She says that there may not be someone betraying Starfleet. The protesters would know about the Nexus Point station, it is public knowledge, and it uses technology given to us by the ancient races. The protesters could have figured out we are here by knowing that we would need to bring the USS Anracosh here to help complete the Nexus Point station.

The security chief makes a good case. The protesters making an appearance could mean they were tipped off by someone. This is blatant ignoring of protocol and leaking classified information. However, it is just as likely they figured out we are here because of the needs in finishing Starbase Nexus Point. The question is which theory is right?

The conference is interrupted by the helmsman who states that a large fleet of Federation vessels have arrived and have begun using the wormholes to traverse the Federation. They should go the bridge and see the viewscreen.

What is seen on the viewscreen and around the USS Anracosh are large numbers of Federation vessels with a peppering of non-Federation vessels around starbase Nexus Point all travelling to and from and through wormholes all around the starbase. It would be easy to hide your starship in a fleet this big.

Unfortunately that is exactly what the protesters have done with their starship. It is nowhere to be seen but its transponder signal can be detected. It must be close. Then the crew of the USS Anracosh get a shock. The protesters have used the melee of the starships travelling near Nexus point starbase to get near the USS Anracosh.

This point is hammered home when protesters transport in space suits to the vicinity of the USS Anracosh with vandalism supplies. The protesters are putting up anti-Realm of the Gods banners, spraying graffiti and posing for selfies on the outer hull of the USS Anracosh. They are staging a protest on the hull of the USS Anracosh itself.

This obviously infuriates the crew of the USS Anracosh. As soon as the protests on the hull become common knowledge among the crew the entire crew volunteers to go outside and kick the protesters butts. The security chief is suddenly inundated with requests from crew members volunteering to help. The security chief tells the captain that the most disturbing thing is that to get the protesters starship this close to the USS Anracosh would have required Starfleet’s help. That is a concern.

The security chief also informs the captain that the crew has the right to arrest the protesters and take over the protesters ship because the protesters have committed crimes against the USS Anracosh and its crew, but since the protesters are civilians and their starship is civilian they cannot fire on either the starship or the protesters. They can only arrest them and impound the starship.

The captain notes that the USS Anracosh can outgun anything the younger races can throw at it. However, they are dealing with the Federation. In relation to their Starfleet colleagues they can’t so much as make an off colour remark for fear of an insubordination charge. Against civilians [Federation or otherwise] they have even less options.

The captain orders that the protesters be arrested and the protest starship be impounded, however the crew has to be gentle, as much as they would rather pound the protesters to mush and blow up their starship with them in it, the crew of the USS Anracosh must obey the law. They can only arrest and hand over the protesters and their starship to the local authorities, nothing more.

Using the ancients enhanced scanning devices on the USS Anracosh the protesters starship is quickly found, Then the raid to capture the protesters and their starship is soon executed, with the crew of the USS Anracosh showing an amazing level of restraint, as the crew wishes they could execute the protesters. The raiders grit their teeth as they easily take over the starship. The protesters are no match for the commandoes who make up much of the crew of the USS Anracosh. The protesters are outnumbered and more importantly very badly outgunned.

As for the protest on the hull of the USS Anracosh, it goes about the same as the raid on the protesters starship. The protesters are quickly dealt with and their vandalism is quickly cleaned up by crew of the USS Anracosh that are not commandoes. In fact there are two teams from the USS Anracosh on its hull. The arresting team and the clean up team. The clean up team are composed of the non-soldiers on the USS Anracosh, like the caterers and the diplomats.

Some of the crew get sloppy in their police work. They are commandoes, not police officers. They want to rough up the protesters, nothing really damaging, just a few bumps and bruises. A few of the crew rig the scans and turn off their cameras. They inflict some minor damage on the protesters saying that they were resisting arrest. The way the rogue crew members went about it was to hide that they were intimidating the protesters. They were not thinking ahead, they just want revenge. This will come back to haunt them.

The protesters are soon rounded up and captured by the crew. The protesters that were either on the hull or in the protesters starship are imprisoned in the party cargo bay. The crew still want to rip them in half, but have to show restraint until the protesters and their starship can be transported to the Nexus Point starbase.

Outside the USS Anracosh is towing the protesters starship to the Nexus point starbase and we see the starship approach the starbase ready for the transfer. On the bridge the captain hails the starbase informing them they are ready to transport the prisoners and dock the captured starship. The evidence about the protest on the hull of the USS Anracosh has already been transmitted to the starbase. The prisoner transfer can start right away.

The starbase commander says to set the prisoners and the captured starship free. It was a peaceful protest and they have no right to detain the protesters any longer. The starbase commander was reviewing the evidence in real time and noted that cameras were switched off and scans were edited. The starbase will not take the prisoners as the prisoners have to be set free and compensated. The starbase commander notes that the evidence they have sent was tampered with, and thus it is inadmissible in a court of law. In fact the crew who tampered with the evidence should be arrested.

That last remark makes things boil over between Starfleet and the crew of the USS Anracosh. The captain understands her crew wanting to get their own back at what they see as the traitors to the Federation who vandalised the surface of the USS Anracosh. The captain is smart enough to say that she does not have to hand over the offending crew members. She has the right to punish the crew on the USS Anracosh herself, as is her right according to the rules of Starfleet. The commander of starbase Nexus Point agrees and then without warning ends the conversation. Literally “hangs up in her ear”.

The captain turns to the security chief and tells her to find the rogue crew members and bring them to her ready room. She and the security chief give the rogue crew members a “what the hell were you thinking?” speech with no option of back talk. This was their one chance to cripple the anti-Realm of the Gods protest movement and they blew it by wanting to physically cripple the anti-Realm of the Gods protest movement.

The captain goes on to say that now they can do nothing about their current standing with Starfleet and the Federation. They can’t fire on civilians or anything Starfleet. They will have to walk away with their reputation in tatters because they are still seen as a rogue crew who got away with it and the crew in front of her has reinforced that reputation.

As punishment the crew in front of her are going to do the crap work [undesirable jobs] on the USS Anracosh until further notice and be selected for Section 31’s crap missions [missions with a high chance of failure and/or casualties].

That is all! Get out of my sight! Dismissed!”

With the crew now gone from the ready room the security chief turns to the captain and says that we have to know when to walk away from something. The captain, a bit confused asks for a clarification. The security chief says that the crew, including themselves, have to realise that the vast majority of the Federation will not accept or understand the mission of the USS Anracosh. Everyone onboard will have to come to terms with the fact that many in the Federation hate them and there is nothing they can do about it.

The two note that they have seen the “tourists” on the USS Anracosh, so there are those in the Federation who understand and support the mission of diplomacy with the ancients, but such people are a minority. It was great to have them on the USS Anracosh, and now that they are gone maybe they might help spread positive words about their mission.

The captain then says that the crew they just berated deserved it for their recent actions, but acknowledges that the entire crew will have to get used to the idea that they are the pariahs of the Federation, and may be so permanently. The captain shrugs and says we may as well get back to work. She orders that the USS Anracosh set course for their next mission. We see the USS Anracosh fly into one of the permanent wormholes being generated. On the other side of the wormhole they go to warp.

 

Season 4 Episode 13

The Akezhek – a race of teeth and claws

The USS Anracosh is experiencing some down time and the Captain orders an officer core staff meeting. One of the issues raised is who to contact next among the ancient races. This makes the drone nervous and everyone wants to know why. The captain tells the drone to spill it.

The drone says he knows of an ancient race that has issues with the Federation. This is met with shocked disbelief by the officer core. How could there be an ancient race that has grievances with the Federation that they have not heard of?

The drone introduces the Akezhek, a reptilian race that is born all teeth and claws, at least until they ascended. The drone notes that he has friends who are Akezhek and the officer core say they want to meet them. They don’t know much about the drone’s past and meeting his friends could provide insight into their mysterious guide.

The Captain says for now their mission is to make friendly first contact with the Akezhek. The drone is hesitant and warns them they will get a frosty response. The best thing is to let him talk to them first and explain the situation – the Federation wants to meet the Akezhek under the Realm of the Gods project.

The drone makes the call and talks to his Akezhek friends. They also know his parents and know about their plan to introduce him to younger race beings like himself before he ascends. They think his parents made the wrong call and say so but are happy to help the drone as a favour to a friend. The Akezhek friends of the drone and will make the necessary enquires to get the Akezhek government to talk to the USS Anracosh.

Due to the down time the crew are doing maintenance on the USS Anracosh and catching up on any unfinished work they need to do. A few days later a starship of unknown design approaches them at hyperwarp speeds. This is clearly an ancient races starship. The drone identifies the starship as an Akezhek starship.

The Akezhek are the first to hail. The bridge crew get to see the ascended Akezhek and they are as the drone described – race that is all teeth and claws [claws on their feet and hands].

They say that they are doing this first contact as what they feel is an obligation under the Realm of the Gods project. They have issues with the Federation, but will put them aside for the sake of the rest of the ancient race community. The Captain asks the obvious question – why are the Akezhek at odds with the Federation? The Akezhek explain it is to do with their history.

One hundred and fifty years ago they had a scientist akin to Einstein, Hawking or Newton. A towering intellect who revolutionised his field of science. He discovered how to turn the Akezhek into energy beings and that got them an invite into the ancient races clique. It turns out the Akezhek were slowing evolving into energy beings and it would have been a few thousand years before the Akezhek would have become energy beings and qualified to join the ancient races clique. What the scientist did was discover this was happening and found a way to speed up the process so it would take under a generation to do.

Had history gone slightly differently the Federation would have discovered the Akezhek in the early Kirk era of the Federation. If the exploration starships the Federation had sent out had gone a slightly different route they would have discovered the Akezhek before they joined the ancients. At the time the Akezhek were already a warp capable species occupying a few star systems.

Why is that a problem asks the captain? The Akezhek explain that the Federation would have asked the Akezhek to join the Federation and the Akezhek would have faced a horrible choice. The Akezhek are born all teeth and claws. They need their claws to escape the egg they gestate in. Asking them to engineer themselves so the teeth and claws do not develop is effectively genocide against them. The same can be said about the teeth of the Akezhek, the Akezhek need razor sharp teeth to eat the food their bodies can process.

If you ask the Akezhek to re-engineer their race to remove their teeth and claws, weaken their eggs to be easily broken through, and change their metabolism to take a more varied diet then you may as well just create a new race and have the Akezhek go extinct.

The captain says that the Akezhek assumptions were incorrect. The Federation would have accepted them as they were. The Akezhek are still suspicious and the Captain invites them onboard to tour the USS Anracosh and meet Federation citizens face to face so they can learn the truth. The Akezhek although sceptical are willing to go to the USS Anracosh.

Face to face talks are arranged and at the talk the Akezhek explain their culture. Their whole cultural identity is focused around the fact that they born and stay all teeth and claws for their entire lives. The have evolved a culture not unlike the Japanese with honour and etiquette/behavioural norms being the centrepiece of their identity. For example: To “declaw” the Akezhek is to destroy who they are. An Akezhek mauling another Akezhek is considered an atrocity in their culture.

The Akezhek used to wonder if they would have been second class citizens in the Federation because of how naturally heavily armed they were. Now that they are ascended beings, it is a moot point, but it is a moot point that has never been answered. Now that the Akezhek are talking to the Federation answers are finally coming.

At the face to face meeting it is agreed to make the two starships dock together and the Akezhek crew, which is much less in number than the crew of the USS Anracosh, is invited to have the freedom of the USS Anracosh and ask questions of the crew. The chief engineer wants to send a delegation led by him to examine the Akezhek starship and examine Akezhek technology.

Following the chief engineer and the chief scientist examining the Akezhek starship and the aftermath of that event becomes the B plot.

The Akezhek show the chief engineer and his entourage that the Akezhek starship has a fully operational black hole manipulator. They are shown what the device looks like when it is fully functional. They look at a black hole in the machine – an actual stellar black hole. They see it close up, and if you know astronomy you know what a big deal that is. This leads to more debate about the black hole manipulator, and seeing one fully operational adds fuel to the fire about what the crew of the USS Anracosh should do with the incomplete black hole manipulator on the USS Anracosh. The debate on the Anracosh dramatically intensifies as the crew are shown via electronic communications a fully functional black hole manipulator. This becomes a running theme throughout the episode with various crew asking the Akezhek about the black hole manipulator. The Akezhek reminds the crew that the USS Anracosh has files that answer all their black hole manipulator questions.

The B plot is not truly resolved. The result of the B plot is that the different “black hole manipulator” factions in the crew harden their positions. The crew becomes more divided and unwilling change their attitudes to on what to do with the black hole manipulator. There is now a standoff attitude between the crew members of different factions.

The rest of the episode, excluding the B plot scenes, follows various Akezhek around the USS Anracosh asking various questions of the crew of the USS Anracosh. The Akezhek ask if the crew are conscripts, it turns out the Akezhek version of Starfleet was a conscripted force. Once the Akezhek unified under one government the military repurposed itself for space exploration with then newly developed warp technology. This only lasted a couple of decades as the secret of becoming energy beings was discovered.

The Akezhek don’t take much interest in learning about the USS Anracosh’s systems, it’s nothing they have not seen before. Instead they ask the same question asked of the bridge crew. The security chief complains about having the Akezhek all over the starship because it is a security risk but the first officer overrides her, saying it is more important to get good relations with the Akezhek than to worry about having them running around onboard.

Meanwhile in the diplomatic negotiations the Akezhek and chief diplomat, with the captain present are negotiating the usual friendship treaty with the Akezhek. This is a slow process as the Akezhek do not trust the Federation, and as stated earlier, they are doing this meeting because they are [or at least feel] obliged to do so under the Realm of the Gods project.

The crew are used to being headkickers, answering questions is not normal for them, but they do a good job and show the Akezhek via their words and accessing Federation records showing the Akezhek that the Federation is what they say it is – an organisation that would have welcomed them as equals.

The captain has to ask the question: If the Federation had discovered the Akezhek and then the Akezhek discovered ascension does that mean the Akezhek could have given the Federation the secrets of ascension? The Akezhek reply that it would not have mattered. The Akezhek have been ascended for a few centuries and know their way around the ancient races clique. The way they see it, the Federation could have approached the ancients at any time and asked for a Realm of the Gods project. If that had happened in the Kirk era more than a few Federation races would already be in the ancient races clique, as ascended beings. The Federation does not need the Akezhek for the secrets of ascension; they have rest of the ancient races clique for that.

The Akezhek personnel and the Federation crew interact on both the USS Anracosh and the Akezhek vessel and as the conversations turn [including the diplomatic talks] the Akezhek realise that the Federation people are telling the truth. The Akezhek would have been welcome with open arms in the Federation and would have been treated as equals. It was just luck that the Federation did not discover them on one of their long range missions. It was also luck that the Akezhek had a great scientist that discovered the secrets of ascension long before their race should have evolved such an ability.

The Akezhek and the crew of the USS Anracosh part of friends with a friendship treaty signed and sealed, and about to be delivered to the Akezhek government by the Akezhek starship that visited the USS Anracosh. The episode ends with the Akezhek starship and the USS Anracosh heading off in near opposite directions with new missions to go to.

 

Season 4 Episode 14

The black hole manipulator part 1

This episode starts with an argument in the starship’s pub. It is the debate over what to do with the black hole manipulator. It references the fully operational black hole manipulator seen on the Akezhek’s starship seen last episode. Instead of it being a cordial disagreement it nearly degenerates into a brawl, and it is very dangerous situation given that these are the Federation’s head kickers. This crew could break anyone’s limbs without thinking about it.

The B plot is the debate among the crew of whether or not completing the black hole manipulator is the right this to do for a wide variety of reasons ranging from moral to legal to practical and much more.

The moral argument is the precedent it sets for making the black hole manipulator operational. If the Federation creates a device this powerful then others will follow the example and make weapons of mass destruction, the counter argument is that creating weapons of mass destruction is basically what the mission of diplomacy with the ancients is really all about. The crew started the mission with the aim of giving the Federation the firepower needed to fend off extremely powerful enemies like the Borg.

The legal argument is that creating and possessing weapons of mass destruction is illegal under Federation law. However, the USS Anracosh gets an exemption because it is a hybrid Federation/Ancient races vessel. The Federation could never build the USS Anracosh by itself and it is something many orders of magnitude more powerful than anything else the Federation has. By definition the USS Anracosh is a weapon of mass destruction as it is. It may be illegal to make and possess weapons of mass destruction, but they already have a weapon of mass destruction by operating the USS Anracosh.

The practical issues are that botching the addition of a black hole to the black hole manipulator is suicide. One wrong move and the starship would be destroyed and the crew along with it. Then again a lot of regular systems on any given warp capable vessel are deadly if misused or mishandled. For example: Matter/Antimatter reactors, Photon/Quantum torpedoes, anything high radiation related, firearms in the firearms storage room, transporters [teleporters] and list goes on forever. Just being on a starship means dealing with machines that can be fatal to starship and crew. They already deal with deadly devices, all of which will get you equally dead, so what’s the difference?

Another example of a debate for and against completing the black hole manipulator is that if we have access to the ancients why do we need a fully operational black hole manipulator? The ancients can do anything the black hole manipulator can do and a lot more. If we need their help all we have to do is ask. The counter argument is that the ancients want the younger races to fend for themselves rather than become dependent on the ancients. The ancients also would prefer the Federation to complete the black hole manipulator, but gave the Federation the choice to complete it or not.

In this debate the four schools of thought showcase their point of views. Namely complete the device and leave it fully operational, complete the device to study it and disassemble it once it has been studied, those who are on the fence/indifferent to the device, and those who are against completing the device.

The crew have to do this debate in spite of having to follow the orders of completing the black hole manipulator. This again leads to a lot of tension in the crew. They are professional enough to do their jobs but feel that this is an important enough issue that they must let their opinions be known.

The main plot revolves around “the issue” of what to do with the black hole manipulator. “The issue” has always been in the background and now it is coming to a head.

Security is called in and they take sides as well. It ends with the Captain going to the pub furious. She confronts the arguing crew members in the pub, tells them to shut up and confines the crew to quarters and tells the various school of thought leaders [who are mostly high ranking officers] to meet her in the ready room.

At the meeting she has calmed down and admits she has for a long time been thinking about what to do with the black hole manipulator. She is in the faction of those who are ambivalent, but admits she has been tempted to complete the device to see what it can actually do. [This means leaning towards the for light faction, as explained in the show bible part of this documentation under crews opinion of the black hole manipulator]. This again starts an argument, but only among the officers in the ready room. Officers take various sides of the debate. The captain calms everyone down and considers what to do. She pauses for a moment and uses the starship’s public address system to tell the crew to return to their posts and await new orders. She returns her focus to the officers assembled. She informs them that the “for light” faction has won. They will get their wish of completing the device for scientific study and when all the readings are made the black hole manipulator will be dismantled again.

The officer core return to their posts and the Captain starts issuing the relevant orders to capture a black hole to complete the device. They find a black hole and begin the procedures to capture the object. It is a delicate process, but the crew follow the instructions the ancients provided with the black hole manipulator to the letter and the black hole is placed in the machine. They have to be careful and it is a suspenseful time as they very delicately place the black hole into the device. The device itself is designed to capture black holes and can handle bringing the USS Anracosh and the black hole together.

When the black hole finally rests in the black hole manipulator all is quiet. For a minute or so the machine is dormant and then it starts working by itself. The crew are shocked and try to shut it down, but it is running automatically and won’t take commands. The crew finds out that the black hole manipulator is drawing incalculably large amounts of energy from its black hole. The device is fuelling the starship. This has consequences: Machinery on the starship that used to barely work now becomes fully operational. This causes the starship to change. Console readouts across the starship show what is happening. The capabilities it has now make what it was before the black hole manipulator look like a toy, and what the USS Anracosh was without a working black hole manipulator made the most powerful Federation starship look like a toy.

A short time later the black hole manipulator stops fuelling the starship and goes into standby mode. The crew try moving at impulse speed the starship only to find that the black hole manipulator siphons incomprehensively large amounts of energy to help move the mass of the black hole. The crew figure out that the USS Anracosh is using the infinite energy of the black hole to move the black hole, which in this case is about five times the mass of the sun. The crew even discover that the USS Anracosh can go to warp and use the wormhole device with the black hole manipulator fully operational. After testing moving the USS Anracosh the crew understands that the starship can move around a black hole with ease by using the black hole’s infinite energy to move the black hole. The other minor tests are done involving system checks of the starship.

The crew are standing around on the USS Anracosh realising it has become a vessel that has god like abilities, even more so than before. The Chief engineer and his subordinates are ordered to examine all of the starship’s systems, and to draw on the rest of the crew if he is short staffed in his assignment. He led the charge in campaigning not to finish the black hole manipulator, so he feels vindicated that what they just did was the wrong decision. He follows his orders and examines the starship’s systems. He soon has an epiphany about how the USS Anracosh works as he sees that everything onboard is working perfectly. The starship was meant to have the black hole manipulator fully operational, that is why everything works perfectly and the starship now has even more god like abilities.

The chief engineer tries to run the automated repair systems on the starship. Automated repair is normally reserved for menial repair work, things that have to be done on a regular basis but are simple jobs that don’t need much thought to do them. The starship main computer denies the request on the grounds that no system is in need of a serious repair job.

The crew follows the saying “if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is” when it comes to analysing the new abilities of the USS Anracosh. The black hole manipulator has given the starship all the abilities of a black hole. These abilities include altering their forward flow in time, being able to focus the gravity of the black hole to make a tractor beam that can move planets, being an infinite power source and many more capabilities.

The crew recheck that the black hole manipulator does actually do what the ancients say it can do. They run experiments and test the device just as the “for light school of thought” wanted. The device works exactly as it is meant to. The crew can’t believe it and run the test again – with the same result.

Nothing goes wrong on the USS Anracosh, all systems are working perfectly, and it is just that they work at a super powered level. Everything works as it should, but the starship is for want of a better word …different. Reports filter through the ranks and the whole crew learns of the true abilities of the USS Anracosh. The starship is fully operational, but the crew can’t come to terms with that fact. This makes them stand around looking at each all asking the same question: What have we done?

More importantly the crew start fighting each other again because of the differences in what to do with black hole manipulator. Security is called in to stop brawls and riots and this time security does its job instead of joining in the chaos. The episode ends with the crew ready to [figuratively speaking] to cut each other’s throats.

End of part one of two.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 4 part 1

Season 5 part 1

Season 4 Part 1

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 3 part 2

Season 4 part 2

Season 4 Episode 1

Imitari vs Orions Part 2

At the start of the episode a recap is given of the previous episodes events. Then we switch to scenes where the Imitari are confronting the ascended mythbuster. In this episode the ascended mythbuster has to explain himself to his fellow Imitari and the Ancient slavers are addressing both versions of the Orions.

The Ancient slavers say to the Orion leaders that if they wanted to enslave or destroy the Orions they could do so with ease, so why haven’t they? They say that they are here to help close the time rift if the ascended mythbuster refuses to do so. The Orion leadership quickly realises that the Ancient slavers are not there to hurt them. It does not take a genius to realise that.

Once again the Orion leaders turn crisis into an opportunity and say they would like to keep the rift open and learn from their alternate selves. The Ancient slavers agree and offer to hang around to maintain the rift indefinitely, and the Orions and their former masters start talking to each other.

The Imitari take the ascended mythbuster to the USS Anracosh for a dressing down and to explain himself. He tells the truth and the crew say that he should not have wondered off alone. He says he was motivated by the fact that he has meet alternate versions of himself through his own experiments with alternate timeline travel and knows the other version of himself from the timeline on the other side of the rift. This comes as a shock to the Imitari interrogating him. The crew of the USS Anracosh isn’t surprised, nothing about the ancients surprises them. The Imitari say that they are returning him to Viridis [the Imitari home world] and he is to come clean about all his scientific endeavours that they don’t know about. Before they do that he has to help with the time rift.

The Orion negotiation team on the USS Anracosh meet the ascended mythbuster in person. The ascended mythbuster explains his actions to them and the negotiation team admits that a lot of Orions feel that as a people they need to change, getting involved with the Realm of the Gods project could be the key to that. Seeing what the ancients can do for them may make the Orions rethink their lifestyles. On the spot they agree to help with the resupply efforts. The crew of the USS Anracosh says they will contact Section 31 so the Orions and Section 31 can coordinate their resupply efforts. The two will work together with Section 31 still doing the supply runs but now using Orion as a base of operations. The USS Anracosh will arrange a meeting between the two groups so the new supply run procedures can be organised.

We switch to a scene where the Orion leaders are talking to their former masters. The Ancient slavers are filling in the gaps of their history. The Ancient slavers discovered the secrets of ascension and were invited into the Ancient races clique. They were given a choice, take the Orions with them or leave the Orions as a younger race. The Ancient slavers decided on the latter, but set up the Orions with an empire of their own consisting of their capitol [the Orion home world] and various colony worlds full of Orions already on those worlds. The Ancient slavers also left the Orions with enough technology to maintain their new empire. This was a parting gift from the Ancient slavers to their former slaves. They wanted the ex-slaves to prosper after the Ancient slavers joined the ancient races clique and made sure the Orions had the resources and technology to be successful.

Meanwhile the ascended mythbuster is defending himself against accusations from his fellow Imitari. He maintains he has been honest with them, all they have to do is check the reports he has filed. Neither the crew of the USS Anracosh or the Imitari are happy with him, but realise that they need him right now.

While the talks are going on outside things have not improved. The Orion public are still in a state of panic and the authorities are trying to quell their fears. Riots, looting and various other forms of civil unrest are overtaking the Orion home world, and it is an uphill battle to pacify the Orion public. The alternate Orions are having more success closing the temporal rift, but it is a slow process.

The alternate Orions have recalled their fleet to guard and close the rift entrance. On the Orion republic fleet we see newer Federation species working together in a mirror of what the Federation is in the non-alternate timeline. They are just as professional as Starfleet and just as savvy with technology and science and do their best to close the rift to shut out the non-alternate Ancient slavers from their timeline. Whatever other chaos is happening beyond the rift is something they also want to get away from.

As the tension builds the non-alternate Orions contact them to tell them to stop closing the rift and let it stabilise. The alternate Orions are sceptical but agree, keeping the closing efforts on standby ready to go at a second’s notice. The Ancient slavers assure the alternate Orions that they do not intend to be hostile and wish to prove they are sincere. Therefore, to fix the social unrest on the Orion Homeworld the Ancient slavers go to the world themselves and try to reason with the Orion public. All over the Orion home world the Ancient slavers start addressing crowds and regional/local governments. The Ancient slavers say the same thing they said to the Orion leadership, if they wanted to enslave the Orions or destroy them with ease they could have done so a long time ago. So why are the Orions being left as they are? More importantly the Orions practice slavery themselves, so being afraid of slavery is pure hypocrisy.

The Ancient slavers point out that it is not ancient races that should be feared, ancient race individuals are a bigger threat. The Ancient slavers point out that the rift they can see in the sky was made by one ancient, not an ancient race and was not made by the Ancient slavers. Ancient individuals are very powerful in their own right, the ancient races usually keep ancient race individuals in check, and the Orion have nothing to fear from the ancient race that used to enslave them.

The Ancient slavers also go to the USS Anracosh to borrow the ascended mythbuster. He has some technology aboard his starship that the Ancient slavers need to use in the immediate future. The ascended mythbuster has an ancient races PA system for use over a planet wide area and its orbital surroundings. using this device it is the Ancient slavers who restore order to the Orion home world and the Orion leaders address their people using a piece of ancient race technology developed by the ascended mythbuster.

The Ancient slavers, with the ascended mythbuster go to the Orion leaders and use the Ancient races PA system to address both versions of the Orion people. The Orion leaders speaks first saying that they has reached a negotiated agreement with their alternate versions of themselves and want to keep up permanent regular contact with the alternate timeline. The Ancient slavers offer to help maintain the time rift and want to set up diplomatic relations with the Orions of their timeline. Thus there is nothing to worry about, the Ancient slavers come as friends. The Ancient slavers admit that now the Realm of the Gods project is active, they intended to swing by the Orion home world and say hello anyway within a few years. The ascended mythbuster’s actions merely accelerated their plans.

Finally the ascended mythbuster speaks, he dresses down the Orions, saying that the Orions of his timeline have now seen how successful they could be if they changed their ways. He wanted these two versions of the Orions to meet to show where his timelines Orions could be if they put in the effort and cleaned up their culture. He ends his tirade with shouting the words “DO BETTER!”

The Orion leaders reluctantly agree with him and the PA machine is turned off. The various races return to their ships and the rift is stabilised to an opening big enough for starships to go through like traveling through a wormhole. The Imitari dock their ships in the ascended mythbuster’s ship and return to Viridis. Most of the Ancient slavers leave but for a diplomatic team and a science team that monitors and maintains the rift and to continue negotiating with the both alternate timeline Orions and the Orions they used to rule.

The end scene is the on the USS Anracosh as the crew contemplate the recent events on and near Orion. Orion society is about to go through a seismic shift with the possibility of vast majority of the Orion syndicate disbanding. That is something the alpha and beta quadrants will be celebrating for a long time to come. They also note that the Orions have agreed to join the efforts to resupply the USS Anracosh, so this mission has been a net gain for them. For now their current mission is over, so the final scene is the USS Anracosh leaving orbit of the Orion home world.

 

Season 4 Episode 2

The USS Anracoch tries using itself as a grand central station. Includes detecting criminality sub plot

The crew of the USS Anracosh experiment with creating multiple wormholes with the starship and turn the USS Anracosh into a grand central station with starships going long distances via multiple wormholes. The wormholes are temporary ones that collapse after being used because it takes much less power to make them.

The chief scientist and the chief engineer and many others are experimenting with the wormhole generators on the USS Anracosh to make a large amount of wormholes around the starship. This time these are no unforeseen consequences. Nothing goes wrong. The wormhole devices work perfectly and the crew decide that they can set up the starship as a space station and do their contact work via making wormholes where they need to go.

It goes great for a short time until the diplomatic team find that their hailing messages to the ancients they wish to meet go unanswered. This becomes a mystery and other Federation vessels are sent to see why the ancients are not answering the diplomatic messages. Once again the investigation is fruitless.

For a while everything goes well as the USS Anracosh is used by the Federation as a grand central station for very fast travel within the Federation and far beyond. Some emergency situations are even solved by using the USS Anracosh wormholes to get rescue forces quickly to the survivors of various disasters.

The consensus is that maybe the ancients have cancelled the Realm of the Gods project for unknown reasons. If that is the case then it is time to move on and chalk it up as a victory because the Federation has the USS Anracosh. Having the Federation ancients hybrid ship give the Federation a huge advantage over any other younger race government the Federation knows of. Thus the Realm of the Gods project is considered a success.

The B plot is that the loved ones of the crew of the USS Anracosh use the opportunity provided by the starship being a wormhole nexus point to visit the starship. This is where the detecting criminality sub-plot happens.

At the shuttle bay of the USS Anracosh the Security Chief meets her younger sister and her brother in law. The Security Chief gets to meet her nephew for the first time and the nephew is a toddler. Using the wormholes generated by the USS Anracosh the adults and kid return to Earth. They have an important meeting to go to. It is about their kid. They are bought before a group of people, namely a security officer, a doctor, a psychologist and a lawyer. They have some bad news to tell the couple.

Their kid has failed the mandatory psychopathy test given to all Federation kids. They have a brutal choice to make. They can leave the kid as he is and accept legal liability for their kid’s actions or they can apply a cure for his psychopathic tendencies. The horrifying choice is theirs. It is better to do the cure now rather than wait when the kid is a few years older. The older the kid gets, the harder the procedure is to do, and after puberty the cure is not an option due to how far the brain has developed by then. They legally need both parents to consent to the cure for it to be applied. The Security Chief is there for emotional support.

The cure is a surgical procedure that alters the structure of the brain and its biochemistry. It is a “one shot deal” meaning that it only needs to be done once with the usual issues that accompany any surgery. They will have to care for the kid just like any kid who has had surgery, meaning a few weeks of rest after leaving hospital. The hospital stay itself lasts under a week. There is no alteration to a person’s genetics and therefore it does not violate any Federation laws about genetically modifying a person.

The parents ask how badly the kid failed the test, the response is that he failed badly, he is a hardcore complete and utter psychopath. He will most likely have a list of atrocities to his name by the time he is thirty. The authorities offer them the surgery that will cure the kid but can’t legally compel them to give their kid the cure. The team sent to talk to the couple note that Federation prisons are full of parents who refused to apply the cure to their offspring; this is why the Federation has a prison system.

Having stated the above options, there is a political movement in the Federation and elsewhere that want to make the cure for psychopathy mandatory. There are comparisons with the modern anti-vaccination movement, but it is reversed in this episode. The mandatory cure movement is like a mirror image of the anti-vaxxers, they are people who want the psychopathy cure to be compulsory and are as militant about it as the anti-vaxxers are in the real world. The counter argument to the compulsory cure movement is that the cure reeks if mind control, which is something the Federation is against.

Returning the A plot: The crew of the USS Anracosh wonder if this will be their new assignment, managing a Federation “grand central station of interstellar travel”. They prepare for a new life and think that the ancients have abandoned them because the diplomatic team is getting nowhere with their contact missions. The crew shrugs and thinks that the Realm of the Gods project is over and gets on with their lives, but this is only for a short time until the ancients arrive in the vicinity of the USS Anracosh, and they are not happy.

The ancients are furious because the Federation is in violation of the agreement to only use for the USS Anracosh as a diplomatic starship and nothing else. They threaten to confiscate the USS Anracosh but say the Federation is welcome to reverse engineer wormhole creation technology and build a starbase that can act as a grand central station.

The Federation gets to keep the USS Anracosh but is let off with a warning. The ancients note that had the black hole manipulator been fully operational during this time they would have been more lenient with the Federation. This is a not so subtle hint that the ancients would prefer the USS Anracosh to have its black hole manipulator finished, and it is overtly stated.

The reason the ancients are so pissed off is that the ancients say that it is better to approach ancient race sites with the USS Anracosh because the ancients will react to the USS Anracosh as if it were an ancient race starship, which effectively it is. The same applies to other ancient races contact ships run by other younger race governments. Ancient races contact ships have technology onboard that “brands” them as an ancient races starship.

Many ancients will ignore a younger race starship in their territory, whereas an ancient races vessel will at least be greeted. Also the ancients see just using shuttlecraft going through wormholes as lazy. It is the Federation doing the diplomatic equivalent of “Just phoning it in with minimal effort put into the phone call”. The ancients upgraded the USS Anracosh for the purpose of contacting the ancients, if it is not going to be used for that purpose, why bother having it?

The crew of the USS Anracosh learn their lesson and find out the Ancients sent representatives to Starfleet command, who were complicit with the USS Anracosh being used as a grand central station. They also send representatives to the Federation council complaining about what they see as the misuse of the USS Anracosh.

This is another episode that does not end well, with Starfleet command, Federation politicians and the core officers of the USS Anracosh all promising the ancients that they will in future abide by the deal they made with the ancients and they will go about the Realm of the Gods project as the ancients want them to.

Returning to the B plot: As for the parents of the kid who failed the psychopathy test: They are approached by the compulsory cure movement. Much to the surprise of the parents the Security Chief sides with the compulsory cure movement. She has to confess to her sister that in recent years especially after fighting in the Dominion war she has become a Federation nationalist. Her sister understands the hell the Security Chief has been through and knows how it must be affecting her.

Seeing what the Security Chief has become makes the parents realise that if left unchecked their son could become as bigger fanatic as the Security Chief. What kind of evil could their son do in the name of an extreme cause their son may wind up following? They don’t say that to the Security Chief’s face but her behaviour is what sways the parents into applying the cure.

The parents were on the fence about the cure; they could see both sides of the argument about how doing mind control is morally wrong but also leaving their son to cause future atrocities is also morally wrong. The parents say that they are not happy at being tracked down by strangers; they approve applying the cure at the end of the episode. The last scene is of the toddler being prepped for surgery and the parents waiting outside the operating theatre. The Security Chief is there with them for moral support having no idea of the real reason the parents choose to have the cure applied to their son.

 

Season 4 Episode 3

Four dimensional space on the USS Anracosh

The chief engineer and the science officer working on a device they do not understand. It is one of the systems on the USS Anracosh they have yet to explore. What they have discovered about it is that it functions as the ancient race version of turbo lifts, but work on an entirely different idea of creating four dimensional gateways inside the starship, the crew just doesn’t know how the device does this.

For now the crew use the turbolifts that came with the Federation half of the starship, and those lifts extend all over the organic half of the starship. For now they have not been willing to use the four dimensional gates that the device provides because they don’t know how the device works. Today they are having a look at it and trying to learn its secrets. That said; the device appears to be Iconian wormhole technology.

The device is also for off starship transport as well, although the internal travel inside the starship and external travel like teleporting/transporters are compartmentalised. This means it is the same technology used in two separate systems. Why it is organised this way is once again a mystery.

This is a system that calls for the drone, the chief engineer and the chief science officer to all take part in its analysis. The whole department of reverse engineering ancient technology and department of starship maintenance services are also bought in to figure out the four dimensional doorway technology. This is a tough piece of technology to understand, so it’s all hands on deck.

From what the crew can gather the four dimensional gateway makes dimensional portals inside the USS Anracosh, and they can anywhere in the starship. You could create a doorway that directly links the rear tip of the ancient races enhanced warp nacelle to the bridge if you wanted to.

When the crew do some tests with the four dimensional doorway system the drone uses his ability to interact with ancient races technology. He does not think anything of it but the crew have a very different reaction. They seem shocked and disappointed that the drone has not shared with them that he has ancient race abilities that look like magic to any younger race member. The drone is equally shocked for the exactly opposite reasons.

The B plot: Note the B plot is the prosecution of the drone, and it merges with the A plot via the drone’s heroic actions.

A security team is sent and the drone is arrested and interrogated. The drone has a lot of negative feelings towards this but mainly feels betrayed by his crewmates. The drone faces off the first officer and the security chief and some rank and file crew acting as guards.

The first officer and security chief ask why the drone did not the tell them of his full abilities. They feel it is something very important they should know. The drone replies that he thinks nothing of what he can do, to him it is just like breathing. It is a normal part of his life just like being able to eat, sleep and move around. He did not think his talents are anywhere near as important as what his interrogators believe them to be.

The next thing the first officer and the chief of security ask is what is the extent of the drone’s abilities? The drone says that all his talents amount to are some passive mental abilities to interact with telepathic ancients and the power to interact with ancient races technology. He is nothing compared to many ancients who have god like abilities.

The drone adds that these abilities were given to him after the Borg rejected assimilating him and rejecting the idea of the Borg creating Borg drones rather than assimilating sentient beings. The reason is obvious: The ancients did not want to give ancient race talents to the Borg.

The drone wants to continue his defence by saying that the crew of the USS Anracosh is going to encounter ancients who make his talents look like nothing. If they can’t handle the drone’s abilities how are they going to cope with dealing with ancients as powerful as the Douwd, Organians, and the Q?

At is at this point that the interrogation evolves into a full blown inquiry/legal hearing. The drone feels betrayed and is stunned that his commanders are taking the matter so seriously. Why is he at the centre of what he feels is a witch hunt? What crime has he committed?

The drone finishes by saying if the crew want him gone he can contact the ancients and they can come and pick him up from the USS Anracosh. The officer core says they will make a decision when the enquiry is over. The drone now feels completely betrayed. The crew came to the ancients begging for help and pleading for allies and technology, and look how he, a member of the ancient races, is being treated by them. Beggars can’t be choosers.

The interrogation team of the first officer and the security chief has become a panel involving the officer core. The drone sits alone in front of them. It is like a rigged trail where the accused has been denied a lawyer and the judges are also the prosecutors. The security chief recaps the information from the short interrogation. What is a real double standard is the Zalkonian doctor, a fellow ancient, on the panel in front of him.

The drone points out the hypocrisy of having the Zalkonian doctor standing in judgement of him. The response is that they know the Zalkonian’s abilities and the limits of her abilities. The Zalkonian doctor has been in Federation territory for years. She is something they know and understand. The drone is something they don’t know or understand.

Just as the panel is about to start the prosecution the chief engineer and the science officer send a message saying that they are ready for full testing of the four dimensional doorway device. The captain orders that they proceed right now.

Because the drone isn’t there to help the science officer and the chief engineer they make a serious error with the four dimensional doorway technology when they activate it. The starship’s internals are turned inside out and it resembles an Escher picture. The chief engineer and chief science officer immediately contact the rest of the officer core to report what has happened, hoping the disaster was contained just to the engineering section. Regrettably it has not been contained.

The captain, who is at the prosecution, says that they are in the same situation. Gravity has gone berserk, floors are walls, ceilings are walls, and everything is now all over the place. It looks like reality itself is breaking down on the USS Anracosh.

The captain asks for an all areas report, but the immediate worry is that the portals are leading to outside the starship and it will lose atmosphere. The science officer and chief of engineering say they can detect no leaks and that the four dimensional doorway system has safeguards against accidentally removing the atmosphere from inside the starship, and that those safeguards are still in place.

Of much greater concern is the report from medical. Both doctors are needed in the infirmary right now. They have numerous casualties, include near fatalities and crew on their death beds if both doctors are not there to heal the wounded. Fortunately nobody is dead, but that could change at any second.

The transporter section reports that the transporters can get the doctors to the infirmary immediately, so the Zalkonian doctor goes into full unascended form and the two doctors teleport to the infirmary so they can save lives.

The only people left at the prosecution [the drone sees at as persecution] are some of the officer core and the drone, and they are in a room that looks like an Escher picture.

The drone now speaks to the officer core. He offers to fix the situation. He can do so if they trust him and get him to the engineering section, a command level console or anywhere in the organic section of the USS Anracosh that he can interface with using his ancient race abilities. He reminds them that the Zalkonian doctor can’t help them right now, she is busy dealing with the disaster in the infirmary.

There is one serious problem. Dimensional doorways are everywhere and gravity doesn’t go in one direction anymore. The only way to get the drone to where he can help is by teleportation, which is the only viable way to move around the USS Anracosh right now. However, the transporters are being overloaded by crew members getting to their posts. There is a good chance that the transporters are going to fry and leave the entire crew stranded in a four dimensional maze that was once the USS Anracosh.

The worst news the officer core receives is that casualties are increasing as more crew injure themselves because of the changes in the direction of gravity and slipping through dimensional doors and getting impact injuries. They can call for help from the Federation and the ancients, but help is something they can’t wait for. The problem has to be solved now.

The drone reiterates and says let me fix this, just trust me. The officer core realise that he is right. He is the most qualified available person on the starship who can rescue them. The captain contacts the transporter department. She says to cancel all transporter activity and teleport the drone to main engineering. They are warned that the transporters are on their last legs. Once the transporters teleport the drone they will have to be shut down to avoid catastrophic damage. The captain understands and agrees.

The drone is teleported to main engineering and then goes to a wall. Lights appear on the wall and it becomes a work station designed to be used by ancients. A chair grows from the floor and the drone begins working. During this time the chief engineer, the science officer and some of their underlings watch on as the drone uses his powers.

Strange lights come from the drone’s hands. The lights on the wall interact with the drone’s hands. A screen appears on the wall showing a schematic of the USS Anracosh, other screens appear as well showing various dimensional doors all over the starship. The drone is closing the doorways, making sure the doorways he closes have nobody near them. The chief scientist says that all crew should not go near the dimensional doors as they are being shut down. In time all the dimensional doors are gone and the ancient races interface and chair disappear.

The drone stands there and is asked to report back to the officer core “meeting” as they now call it, rather than it being a prosecution. The captain says over the PA system that they will never again use the dimensional doorways system on the USS Anracosh except for small scale experiments, and using it to the extent it is currently used on the USS Anracosh. The other good news is that there have been no fatalities in the malfunctioning of the four dimensional doorway system. Both these pieces of news are greeted with a rousing cheer from the crew.

The story ends with the officer core at the “meeting” asking the drone for forgiveness and give him a medal for saving the ship and to compensate him. They now trust him as he has proven himself. They ask him to show the full extent of his abilities and he says that in the recent disaster he just did. He says he forgives them and will stay on the USS Anracosh. The drone says they are not used to the ancients, but as time goes on they will learn and grow and the ancients are willing to wait for them to accept the ancients for who they are. If the ancients can do that he will do the same, as he is an ancient himself, albeit a young ancient in his twenties.

 

Season 4 Episode 4

The confession of fragging

The theme in this episode is exploring anti-mandatory reporting laws and why they are needed

The B plot: Niffy [the Melkot linked to the starship’s main computer] is asking for three leg men [one from the main shift, two from each night shift] He is sick of the fact he cannot easily run errands while sitting in the merge with the starship’s main computer chamber. He has to find crew who are not busy to do stuff for him. This inconveniences and annoys himself and the crew he asks for help. He requests that he be given a leg man from each shift as the problem is getting out of hand and he is way behind in what he wants to do beyond the chamber.

The B Plot shows operations in the merging with main computer area of the starship. It shows Niffy linked to the main computer with crew picked at random helping him with errands around the ship. This episode shows Niffy working on a new project that will take a lot of his time. This makes having a permanent staff assigned to helping Niffy a necessity.

It is revealed that Niffy has wanted to have staff to run errands for a long time, but has up until now relied on friends in the crew. This was done ad-hoc with requests for help asked for when needed. Until now there was not a good reason to ask for permanent staff. Niffy wanted to ask for staff, but had no valid reason to justify his request.

Now Niffy has a project related to scientific research work in improving computer technology. He can’t randomly ask for help when he is dedicating most of his energies to the research project. Niffy wants to be able to assign a staff errands to do when they arrive for their shift while he works on his science research project.

Niffy approaches the rest of the officer core and asks for his own department of people to do various jobs for him on a permanent basis. The officer core agree that this is a good idea and the First Officer will find crew they can reassign to work with Niffy.

To stress the point as to why Niffy wants his own department he shows the officer core what he is working on. He has discovered many new insights about computers by the fact that he is merged with the USS Anracosh’s main computer. He shows the officer core his findings and says he wants to explore where his research into computing will take him. The officer core agrees that this is worth researching and approve of Niffy’s project.

Additionally, the First Officer is the unofficial councillor/psychologist for the crew, and to that end he runs a PTSD support group on the USS Anracosh. He is a natural psychologist with a talent for psycho-analysing without having formal psychology training. [Before using a neural education device to get formal psychological qualifications].

The opening scene is of the self-help group run by the First Officer, one of the men present is close to break down as he confesses that he fragged a superior during the Dominion war. Fragging means to kill a superior officer, usually with a hand grenade or shooting them in the back. This is greeted with shock by the group, and the First Officer has to calm everyone down. Everyone wants to know why he shot his superior with a captured Jem Hadar rifle.

The guy says that he hated the way his superior threw away the lives of his underlings. The officer he fragged would send men to their deaths so he could glorify himself. The guy who fragged his superior feared he would be the next one to be sacrificed got a hold of an enemy rifle on the battlefield and made it look like a killing done in shootout.

What was problematic was that the Federation now has anti-mandatory reporting laws. It is illegal for the First Officer and those at the self-help group to report the confessing officer. The reason for anti-mandatory reporting laws is that those seeking help may not do so if they think getting help will mean jail time. This may not happen, but it is the perception of potential punishment for seeking help that made anti-mandatory reporting laws a reality.

This makes things awkward with the confessing officer. Because of neural education most of those in the self-help meeting have been this guy’s supervisor or underling at different occasions during their time on the USS Anracosh. However, they cannot discuss the confession beyond the self-help group.

This makes working with the confessor uneasy, but at the next meeting the confessor says he only fragged his superior because of what he said earlier. That being how his superior threw away his subordinates lives.

Someone at the meeting made the comparison with the way Captain Kirk, a Starfleet legend, threw away the lives of his subordinates, and would the confessor done the same to Captain Kirk if he had served underneath Captain Kirk?

The guy then says a blasphemy; He says he would have done the same to any superior who had treated his/her people as throw away items. Now those at the self-help meeting don’t know what to do. The confessor is now a heretic.

What do they do with him? He can’t be transferred because he is serving on the USS Anracosh, they can’t share what they know with the rest of the crew not in the self-help group, in accordance with regulations, the responsibility goes to one running the group, namely the First Officer. He runs the group so it is his call as to how to handle it. He cannot turn the guy in, he can’t transfer him, anti-mandatory reporting laws also have a protection from being fired clause. The First Officer and the others in the self-help group have to find a way to work with the confessor.

So the self-help group asks for all the details of the fragging. They feel the confessor will be able to cope much more with his past if he can talk about it and thus come to terms with it. He describes his crime with a flashback shown on screen. It is the height of the Dominion war and he is in a platoon. The superior he kills is in charge of the group and they are ambushed by some Jem Hadar. A shoot out breaks out and one Jem Hadar tries to flank the group. The confessor sees the Jem Hadar and shoots him, killing him instantly. Fortunately for him he had his phaser rifle on the wrong setting and the body and equipment was intact even though the Jem Hadar was dead. The confessor realises he has split from his platoon and he has a Jem Hadar weapon. Before he is seen he takes aim at his superior with a clean shot, kills his superior and then shoots his phaser rifle on the highest setting to make it look like he killed the Jem Hadar right after the Jem Hadar supposedly killed his superior. In a short time the Jem Hadar ambush was defeated by the platoon by the guy using his stray position to outflank the Jem Hadar. [end of flashback].

The confessor then admits he got a medal for outflanking the Jem Hadar and the rest of the guy’s platoon never found out the truth of him killing his superior. The First Officer refuses to kick the confessor out of the self-help group. That would look very bad to the confessor and is not actually helping him.

The First Officer decides to do one on one counselling with the confessor. There they agree that the confessor will go to the medical staff onboard and seek professional help with his problems. The self-help group is still open to him, but it would be better for him to have professional counselling and medicine for what he has done. Also [not said to the confessor] the rest of the crew who know what he has done will be a bit more relaxed knowing that the confessor is getting professional help. Still they do not like working with a heretic and would rather he be assigned somewhere else, but who else on the starship is going to take him?

During the one to one session with the confessor admits he is sensing that the others in the PTSD support group are uneasy with him. Things have changed and they are not keen to work with him in any capacity. Upon hearing this the First Officer has an inspiration. The First Officer tells the confessor the truth about his colleagues being upset at working with a heretic, but a solution is at hand. The First Officer shows his orders about finding Niffy some staff to run his errands and the like. The First Officer orders the confessor to join Niffy’s new errands department.

To make the crew who know even more at ease the First Officer announces the transfer of the confessor at the next PTSD meeting. Unlike the rest of the rank and file crew this is a job the confessor will rarely, if ever, transferred out. The confessor does not get to choose to work for Niffy, orders are orders, he is officially ordered to work for the Melkot, but he has no issue with this. He becomes one of Niffy’s leg men working with the Melkot in the main computer department and doing chores and errands for the Melkot. Seeing as the Melkot is usually stuck connected to the main computer, this works out really well, and this is what the Melkot requested.

 

Season 4 Episode 5

Encountering space borne ancients

The barnacles from next generation are part of the ensemble of space based races that visit the Anracosh in this episode, however the barnacles take a back seat in this episode. The crew that keep track of this sort of thing are obviously aware of the space borne ancients around the USS Anracosh, and take the very humbling end speech given by an A.I. starship seriously.

The USS Anracosh is deep within Federation territory having just done a supply run with the Section 31 flotilla that resupplies them. As they are about to depart the area when the starship’s long range scanners pick up what it describes as ancient race beings on an intercept course with the USS Anracosh.

The captain orders the USS Anracosh go to meet the ancients detected on long range scans. As the aliens get closer the crew is able to identify them. Various races can be seen, among them junior’s space barnacle creatures, the John Doe starship, various space borne creatures and the Calamarian, who were first encountered by the USS Enterprise some years ago when they were hosting a Q continuum member, namely the prankster Q.

A barnacle type creature latches on to the USS Anracosh. Normally there are procedures to rid starships of these creatures but the crew knows the creature is self aware; as the creature accesses the USS Anracosh ancient race enhanced translation device and reveals that the space barnacles have gathered other space borne ancients for them to meet. The Calamarian and some of the other space borne beings enter the USS Anracosh’s alcove designed to host ascended beings.

The Calamarian explains that it is the Calamarian that attacked Q on the Enterprise and wanted to apologise for its actions against the Enterprise and establish a dialogue between its race and the Federation because the Federation is now running a Realm of the Gods project, and has access to ancient races translation technology so the Calamarian and the Federation can finally talk to each other.

Negotiations ensue and deals are struck with the various space borne creatures, except for the barnacles who have been negotiated with before. The space barnacle reveals that many space borne creatures assume that organisations like the Federation are a terrestrial creatures only club. The crew of the USS Anracosh says that is not true, but until now they had no means of communicating meaningfully with space borne creatures. Saying so inspires the Federation representatives to ask the ancients for help in reverse engineering the ancient race enhanced translation device so it can become a standard feature on Federation starships and starbases.

It is noted that one of the space borne creatures near the USS Anracosh is a sentient starship that looks a lot like the organic half of the USS Anracosh. Scans reveal it is made of the same organic material that the organic parts of the USS Anracosh are made out of. The bridge crew hail it and it responds. The conversation between the bridge crew and the sentient starship is interesting to say the least.

The space borne ancient reveals that it was an intelligent organic form of starship before being invited into the ranks of the ancients. The species that invited its kind into the ranks of the ancients were their creators, who were a terrestrial species like the beings on the USS Anracosh. The creators would not join the ranks of the ancients without taking their A.I. creations with them. The Ancients were happy for the creators to bring their A.I.’s with them as long as the creators bought the A.I.’s up to the standards they would need to meet to be in the ranks of the ancients. Effectively sponsor them in.

The crew of the USS Anracosh realise that the organic starship is the crew of the organic starship. They are talking to a sentient space borne being, not a creature flying around in an organic starship. They ask more about its origins. It was made by a terrestrial race tens of thousands of years ago. Normally it would be an ascended being, but because it is hanging out with space borne ancients like itself it is using its original starship form.

The sentient starship goes on to answer more questions about itself and its relation to the USS Anracosh. It says that the organic half of the USS Anracosh is a brain dead version of its own species made especially for the Federation so it could have an ancient races level starship. The race of sentient starships was commissioned to make a brain dead version of its species with the ascended mythbuster having a major influence in its design. This is so the Federation could be rewarded with an ancient races level starship for being the first civilisation in countless years to start a public Realm of the Gods project. The sentient starship points out that the organic part of the USS Anracosh was never sentient to begin with and will never become sentient because it never had a brain at all. There is no brain onboard because it never existed, and it will never grow a brain.

This is greeted with revulsion by the crew of the USS Anracosh. It goes against Federation ethics to create a being, even a brain dead one, to be used as a machine. It reeks of slavery even if the slave cannot feel anything because it is not sentient. The security chief points out that the Federation should have been told the true origins of the organic half of the USS Anracosh.

The space borne ancient agrees they had the right to know and asks why the crew of the USS Anracosh is unhappy with a brain dead version of a sentient starship being the organic half of the USS Anracosh. The crew says it goes against Federation ethics and grosses them out that the organic starships would build one of their own number without a brain and turn it into half of a starship. The sentient starships say this is how they do things and it is totally acceptable in their society. They are starships, if anything they venerate their brain dead fused to half a Federation starship compatriot. It is fulfilling its function of being a starship – it is doing what its species is designed to do.

The only reason they did not have a fully functioning member of their species as half of the starship is because other ancients wanted to have the crew use the A.I. alcove and act as the starship’s A.I. as an object lesson as to what it is like to have the power of an ancient. Plenty of the sentient starship’s species would eagerly have volunteered to be half of the USS Anracosh because it is the purpose of their race to be starships.

It is a source of pride to be a functioning starship that is used by someone for the sentient starship race. The sentient starship adds that if the real reason the idea of a using a brain dead organic starship grosses them out, then that is not a good reason to be against something. Invasive surgery grosses terrestrial creatures out. Does that mean that they would never have an operation that saves their life? [Or support surgery to save a loved one’s life?]

The sentient starship asks what it is like to be on the receiving end of a more powerful culture telling them that their ways are wrong and they must adapt to a superior culture’s ways. Now they know what it is like to be a so called lesser race encountering the Federation. How does feel to receive what you dish out?

The crew of the USS Anracosh do not know how to react. The sentient starship is right, and the crew’s experience with the ancients has taught them this lesson many times over. The Realm of the Gods project has shown them what it is to be the junior partner in an encounter with the ancients. Many in the Federation would not understand that they are not the top dog, and would not be able to accept that they are not the top dog. Especially those who oppose the Realm of the Gods project because it proves the Federation is nothing compared to the ancient races clique, or in many cases nothing compared to ancient race individuals. Many in the Federation would loathe the idea that the Federation is inferior to another galactic government. How hateful would they feel about individuals like a Q, a Douwd or a Preserver? As individuals they are more powerful than the Federation.

Apart from the one glitch of finding out the USS Anracosh is half brain dead ancient the negotiations go rather well with the usual friendship treaties. If anything apart from discovering that the USS Anracosh is half brain dead ancient, the negotiations are a breeze.

While the diplomatic talks are going on the core officers are discussing what to do about their starship being a half brain dead ancient. The crew do not want to give up a vessel as powerful as the USS Anracosh. The starship was what they were looking for when they started the Realm of the Gods project. It is a way to defend the Federation from the more powerful enemies the Federation faces in modern times or in the future. This is why the project was created to begin with.

This however does not resolve the issue. What do they do now that they have discovered what the organic half of the starship really is? They do not want to give it up; they do not want to keep it because it is like slavery. The officer core is divided into three camps: Keep it – it is a way of protecting the Federation, get rid of it – it is morally wrong to use it, and we don’t know because it is a puzzle that is beyond us. But they all agree that the ancients clearly said they have no problem with it. It is well within the ethics of the ancients that using a brain dead ancient as a starship is totally acceptable. The officer core cannot find a solution as to what to do with the organic half of the USS Anracosh.

The chief diplomat contacts the officer core meeting to say that the negotiations have concluded and that the A.I. starship ancient wants to address them. The A.I. starship ancient gives an extreme apology for being able to hear their conversation and listening into it via ancient race spying technologies built into its being, but it does have a solution to their dilemma.

The A.I. starship says it is speaking on behalf of the ancient races clique and says that all of the ancients would find it a serious insult if the Federation threw the gift that is the USS Anracosh back in the faces of the ancients. The USS Anracosh is a gift from the ancients to reward the Federation for being the first in thousands of years to start a public Realm of the Gods project.

Giving the gift back to the ancients would be an insult so grave that the ancients would cancel the Realm of the Gods project with the Federation. Then their rivals and allies would be getting the advantages of contact with the ancients rather than themselves. This would result in them getting massive advantages over the Federation – this would be the opposite result of what the crew of the USS Anracosh wants.

“I think I would’ve been able to take the dressing down from someone more… regal. Flowing silk gown and everything… The A.I. starship was a bit much, for me.”

This convinces the officer core to say that they have no intention of returning the USS Anracosh to the ancients. They reiterate the ethical concerns of using a brain dead slave starship, but understand that this is not an ethical concern to the ancients. They will have to adapt to the ancient’s way of doing things if they want to get the benefits of ancient races contact.

The crew of the USS Anracosh commit one of the Federation’s blasphemies – saying that the Federation will have to adapt to someone else’s agenda instead of everyone adapting to theirs. This is greeted with jubilation by the A.I. starship and all the space borne ancients. The Federation has learned an important lesson today. The ancients say that prankster Q trying to teach the Federation humility had a purpose, this kind humility is what the Federation needs to progress into the ranks of the ancients.

With the treaties signed and Federation having learned its lesson the ancients present say their goodbyes, and say that the Federation admitting that it needs to adapt goes a long way getting in the good books with the ancients and to eventually joining the ancient races clique. The final scene is of the ancients all going off at warp speed in different directions and the USS Anracosh flying off at warp speed.

 

Season 4 Episode 6

Visiting a world with morbid social policies

Has Sub-plots that function as a B plot

The USS Anracosh is in a sector of space not far from the edge of the influence of the Federation. Because of where they are they have received an order from Starfleet to visit a nearby inhabited world that has recently become warp capable. This mission is a deviation from their usual activities, but they are in the right place at the right time so they are given the order to make first contact with the newly warp capable species.

All is fine as they approach the world and set up a dialog over sub-space. The locals are very interested in giving the officer core a tour of their world and specifically ask for the starship’s doctor. Knowing nothing about these people a security team will accompany the doctor and the chief diplomat. The Zalkonian doctor points out that her people have had contact with the Rumwerta as they call themselves. The Zalkonians met the Rumwerta not long before the Zalkonians ascended.

The Zalkonian doctor warns the crew that the Rumwerta have some very backward social policies. The Zalkonian doctor tells of their opinions toward the people at the bottom end of society and those who disrupt society’s harmony. She hints at what technologies the Rumwerta were trying to develop but it was the opinion of the Zalkonian high command that the Rumwerta were not advanced enough to actually invent what they wanted in terms of technology to combat their war on drugs and technology against behavioural problems.

Unfortunately the Zalkonian doctor’s information is not very good. She only knows of the Rumwerta through second hand information circulated amongst the Zalkonians. She never researched the Rumwerta and the Zalkonian database is now in the hands of ascended Zalkonians, who the doctor does not, to put it politely, get along with.

If the crew of the USS Anracosh want to do research on the people they are about to meet they will have to use the dial a deity system to contact ascended Zalkonians and ask them. The captain orders the Zalkonian doctor to lead the research on the Rumwerta while the Bajoran doctor will do the face to face meeting with them. The Zalkonian Doctor is not happy about contacting her people, but will follow orders. This becomes a sub-plot.

The Chief diplomat readies herself for the tour and asks for Ensign Ghezear to be her chief bodyguard. Two teams are being sent to the planet’s surface. One team is the diplomacy team to deal with the Rumwerta government. This team is led by the Chief diplomat. The other team is led by the Bajoran doctor; he will do the tour the Rumwerta have requested. This becomes another sub-plot.

The two teams go to the surface and part ways. The audience follows the Bajoran doctor as he is guided through various facilities by a government minister. The first place the Bajoran doctor’s team is guided through is mistaken by the team to be an insane asylum. It is anything but. The government minister explains that the people detained here have shown significant anger management issues in the past. Instead of trying to cure their anger management the authorities have enhanced their anger via altering their brain chemistry. This means they are in a state of rage from waking up to falling asleep. It is both a punishment and a reward.

The government minister explains patients are high as kites on adrenalin from their rage. If a cure is administered the patients [“victims” the Bajoran doctor does not hold back in saying] will come crashing down from their adrenaline high and beg to be returned to their permanent rage state.

The doctor tours the pretend asylum seeing patients bash their heads against padded walls and do mock violent acts in their cells. These people are out of control and it is not even their fault. Their government forced this on them and is just letting them rot in a form of prison.

The government minister goes on to add that there is no need to worry about overcrowding in the asylum, just unlock a few doors and let the patients kill each other. In a day or so some new rooms are thus available for fresh patients.

The altering of brain chemistry to create a permanent rage state is done to people who prove to be too disruptive or can’t control their temper. If someone complains too much or keeps lashing out they will be arrested and altered and sent to asylums like the one the Bajoran doctor and his team are visiting.

The Bajoran doctor keeps his mouth shut after his diplomatic faux paux of saying out loud these people suffering from having their brains altered are victims. He does not want to cause a diplomatic incident. Seeing this false asylum reminds him that he got into medicine to help people, not destroy them.

More of the sub-plot : The scene cuts to the Zalkonian doctor talking to members of her race via the dial a deity system. She is talking to people that she used to know. They are keen to talk to her and ask how life is treating her. She makes it clear she has no desire to return to her people and her place is on the USS Anracosh where she can be the starship’s chief medical officer. The Zalkonains say that they are very proud of her for what she is doing.

The Zalkonians forward her the information on the Rumwerta. They warn that it is not a lot. The Zalkonians only just made first contact before ascending. There was no follow up mission as the Zalkonians were joining the ancient races. The Zalkonians only learned so much from their single mission to the Rumwerta home world. At the time the Zalkonians intended to return, but ascension and joining the ancients got in the way.

The Zalkonian doctor thanks them for the knowledge and tries to make an excuse to end the conversation. Her fellow Zalkonians want to talk, but after a few minutes of chatter she sees that they want her to re-establish regular contact with her people. She has the brilliant idea of sharing her starship logs with them. She will have to OK it with her superiors, but that is only a formality, they should clear it no questions asked. She will have to edit out any sensitive information, but that is not even a challenge.

The Zalkonian doctor ends the conversation quite pleased with herself. She has found a way to get her people off her back. The logs should sate their need to butt in on her life. She returns to the medical bay to find an injured crewman whom she heals with her Zalkonian healing powers. She calls the First officer, who OK’s her sharing her edited logs with her fellow Zalkonians. She mentions that all in all life is good for her today to a puzzled First officer.

More of the other sub-plot: Scene cuts to the Bajoran doctor again. This time he and his entourage are being given a tour of a water works. The Bajoran doctor asks why he and his crewmen are being given a tour of a water works facility. The government minister is eager to answer and directs them to an area where some chemical is being added to the city’s water.

The government minister explains that this additive is called zarazillin. It makes illegal drugs inside a person’s body turn into very dangerous carcinogens. Literally making any recreational drug user terminally ill within six months to a year of life left. The government minister goes to say that since drug dealing crime syndicates are mostly made of drug users themselves, especially on the lower rungs of the organisation, zarazillin has the added bonus of decimating organised crime syndicates. What remains is easy pickings for law enforcement.

The government minister says this is the most powerful tool they have in fixing society’s ills. The Bajoran doctor tries to be diplomatic but finds it very hard. As a doctor this is everything he stands against, and what he picks up is that his fellow crewmen are thinking as he does. They don’t like what they see.

One of the crewman breaks ranks and asks is there any room for compassion in Rumwerta society? The government minister is eager to answer saying that their compassion goes to people willing to be part and contribute to Rumwerta society. The save resources by not having to support people who are lost causes and will never contribute or sabotage those who do contribute by being angry and disruptive. The money saved goes to helping people who will be productive. Resources go to those who need a hand up and will be a good investment as their productivity rewards the society that invested in them.

The Bajoran doctor and his entourage try their best to hide their disgust. It is obvious that the government minister is a fanatic and will never be convinced of the evil being done to the Rumwerta people. Instead the Bajoran doctor makes the excuse of contacting the other diplomatic team and asking for a progress report. There is a short reply saying that the diplomatic talks are going great. The chief diplomat says that the Rumwerta are “Federation material” and that they should be invited to join the Federation.

The Bajoran doctor wishes he was in a position to correct the chief diplomat. He says let’s not be hasty and breaks off contact. The scene switches to the chief diplomat and her team. They are sitting with the leaders of the Rumwerta home world. They are exchanging pleasantries and getting to drafting treaties leading to eventual Federation membership. Things are looking really good at the diplomatic meeting. Both the Federation delegates and the Rumwerta are very positive about the shared future with their peoples. This is a direct contrast to what the Bajoran doctor and his team have experienced of the Rumwerta.

The scene switches to an office on the USS Anracosh where the Zalkonian doctor has delivered the information about the Rumwerta in person to the diplomatic staff who remained on the starship. They agree with the Zalkonian doctor about what the Zalkonians discovered about the Rumwerta is very morbid. The Rumwerta have a society with no mercy to those who can’t cope with life.

The diplomatic staff forward their reports to their colleagues on the surface of the Rumwerta home world. On the ground the Chief diplomat asks for a break while she reviews the information sent to her from her starship. The leaders of the Rumwerta kindly agree to this request and are very happy to accommodate her.

The diplomatic team retire to another room and read the Zalkonian reports. Their happy demeanours turn to disgust as they read the reports and it dawns on them what the Rumwerta really stand for. The Chief diplomat says they should take a break and learn all there is to learn from the Zalkonian reports. Her team do so reading the documents on their tablet computers and exchanging notes about what they have read. They grow concerned and mortified at the social policies of the Rumwerta. The chief diplomat assures them that they are going to confront their hosts about their conduct towards the vulnerable in Rumwerta society.

More of the original sub plot: The scene shifts to the Bajoran doctor and his followers. This time they are at the government minister’s office overlooking a large bay area with a golden gate style bridge nearby in the background of the large office window. This time the government minister is showing them a holographic display of an ad campaign.

The ad campaign has the slogan “If you love someone let them go”. The ad shown to them is about if you know someone who is going to suicide let them kill themselves. When they see someone through the government minister’s office window throw themselves off the bridge to kill themselves, the Bajoran doctor cannot be diplomatic anymore. He confronts the government minister and repeats the question asked by his team member, that being if there is any compassion in Rumwerta society. The Doctor describes the human Hippocratic oath and its Bajoran equivalent, revealing that he was trained by Humans. The government minister says that the Rumwerta have no Hippocratic oath or anything like it. The Bajoran doctor says he is not surprised.

The Bajoran doctor states clearly that the Federation would want nothing to do with the Rumwerta beyond a token diplomatic presence. The government minister is taken aback. To him persecuting the people who can’t pull their weight is the done thing. He does not try to defend his position he just says if they believe in wasting resources on the people who will never be productive then they are fools. The minister notes that he is proud that his office overlooks the bridge and sees a suicide on that bridge several times a day. He states that the majority of people on Rumwerta celebrated the introduction of zarazillin into the water supply as a way to clear out undesirables.

The Bajoran doctor says in response that he notes that his team was never introduced to average Rumwertans. They were given tours of selected places and not given free run of the street to talk to the average person on the planet. That speaks volumes about what the Rumwertan government wants the Federation to see of their world. Before the government minister can react the Bajoran doctor decides the best course of action is to return himself and his team to the USS Anracosh. While this is happening we cut to a scene where the Chief diplomat is confronting the leaders of the Rumwerta.

It is a repeat of the Bajoran doctor’s team’s experience. The Rumwerta representatives are proud of what their society does to their downtrodden. The Chief diplomat, like the Bajoran doctor, decides the best thing for herself and her team is to explain that the Federation representative’s find the actions of the Rumwerta government disgusting, say the Federation has no interest in them, and return to the starship. The supreme leader of the Rumwerta says before they leave that he is the driving force behind the persecution of the helpless in Rumwerta society. He feels diverting resources from the no hopers to give to the potentially productive it is the right thing to do.

This angers Ghezear so much that he does a rush attack on the supreme leader and decks him. Ghezear [a Human Klingon hybrid] says to the rest of the Rumwertan leaders team that he, as the nearest thing the Klingon Empire has to a representative here, that the Klingons would be disgusted at how the Rumwerta treat the helpless and needy. Klingons would find it utterly dishonourable to hurt the vulnerable and those incapable of fending for themselves.

Before the Rumwertan leaders can react Ghezear refuses to apologise for his actions unless the leaders of Rumwerta apologise to all the Rumwertans who have had their live wrecked by their government’s social policies. This creates a diplomatic incident that the crew of the USS Anracosh refuse to resolve.

The two teams [Bajoran doctor’s and Chief diplomat’s] beam back to the USS Anracosh and report to the Captain, who is with the Zalkonian doctor, who has briefed her on the real nature of the Rumwerta government. The Captain refuses to clear up the diplomatic incident of assaulting the leader of the Rumwertans. She says to the Rumwerta government that punching out the supreme leader neatly expresses what the Federation thinks of the Rumwertan social policies. There is nothing to apologise for, and that the USS Anracosh will leave the system immediately for Federation space. If the Federation wants to follow up on the incident that is their choice, but the Federation will loathe what the Rumwertans do to their vulnerable.

The Rumwertan leaders are angry and still demand an apology, but one is not coming, even with a face to face meeting that is now happening with the Captain on the USS Anracosh. The Captain says that if such a thing happens it will be handled by her superiors, but the Federation’s position on the morbid social policies of the Rumwerta will not change. The Captain says that normally Federation people get very preachy and try to convince those they meet of the right way of doing things, but today is not that day.

This time the Rumwertan delegates get angry, but before things can escalate the captain beams them back to the Rumwerta homeworld and orders the starship to break orbit. It is time to leave and report to the Federation. She confronts Ghezear. He apologizes and is told there is nothing to apologise for. He truly expressed what the Federation, and the Klingons for that matter, think of hurting the vulnerable. To the captain he did nothing wrong, it’s the scumbags that lead the Rumwerta who should apologise. Therefore no disciplinary action will be taken.

Ghezear says that this is not the true mission of the USS Anracosh, their role is diplomacy with the ancients who can give the Federation the means to defeat powerful enemies, not wasting time with “nobody” civilizations who could never fit into the Federation. They both realise that their position is not that different to the Rumwerta government’s ideology. Both seek the successful in order for themselves to thrive. This gives them food for thought. Are they really that different to the Rumwerta? Ghezear says no, the Federation defends the helpless, the Rumwerta hurt the helpless, and is the difference between them and the Rumwerta.

Ghezear adds that the Federation is seeking help from the ancients to protect the helpless. What would the Rumwerta ask the ancients to do? The Captain smiles, she knows he is right about all that he has said and the scene switches to the USS Anracosh leaving the system.

 

Season 4 Episode 7

Dark Federation Episode part 1

Pure action plotline, no B plot required

In this episode we see the Terran Empire – the dark Federation of another timeline nearly pull off defeating the ancients by using the Borg as cannon fodder. The Terran Empire nearly manages to enslave some ancients and get access to ancient race technology that would make the Terran Empire unstoppable.

This shows a dark mirror version of the USS Anracosh crew with a very different mission – their USS Anracosh has been upgraded to hack the Borg, and they are doing exactly that, hacking the Borg. This ship is the USS Excalibur version of the USS Anracosh. It does not have the organic second hull. The modifications to it are all internal.

The dark federation is going to war with the ancients using the Borg as their main weapon. This is important to the plot, the dark federation of that universe had a fluke victory over some ancients and got a hold of their technology and built their USS Anracosh by themselves as a weapon to hack the Borg. In fact after the fluke victory they called it the USS Anracosh as a con job to fool that universe’s ancients into helping them and then turned on them.

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11 Main and Semi-Main Characters Dark Versions:

Chief Diplomat: The con artist who fooled the ancients into giving her ancient races technology.

Niffy [acts as ship’s A.I.]: A slave forced to be hooked up to the computer against its will. Has had his mind hacked so in moments of less clarity he has Stockholm syndrome, in clear moments he realises he is a slave in a vile position.

First officer: A sadist who likes tormenting his underlings. Like in the regular timeline he is the brains of the outfit. The captain is the captain because she has command experience that the first officer does not have.

Helmsman: The Helmsman has a real ego and relishes in his fame [infamy]. He has control of the starship and is the real power onboard. He was the mastermind who thought up conning an ancient race and found the ancient races expert who wanted to leave the ancients.

Captain: Is the Helmsman’s girlfriend and sees him as a sugar daddy, gives orders for him and in a way puppeteers him like a gold digging wife.

Neural education expert [Bajoran Doctor]: Someone who developed neural education from ancients technology and experiments with it on people without mercy – another Dr. Mengler.

Zalkonian Doctor: A slave trapped in an ancient race enhanced containment field in sick bay used for her healing powers.

Chief engineer: A mad scientist type who thinks that the ancient race technology is the key to ultimate power. Is the megalomaniac of the group.

Science officer: A thug in league with the chief engineer. He is the chief engineer’s main thug and the guy who helps him do really unethical things with ancient race technology.

Head of Security: The dark versions political officer who keeps the rank and file crew in line through psychological tactics of fear and intimidation and throws disobedient crew to the first officer for torture sessions.

Ancient races expert: A traitor to the ancients who helped the Chief diplomat con them, and thus the con job was successful, the guy is a born backstabber who would betray anyone in heartbeat

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The entire episode just chucks you right into all of this, no context, no prefix. Though we do receive narration from a kindly sounding figure that frames this as a cautionary tale akin to that of an old Grimm fable, complete with the grisly fate our protagonists meet.

We get a glimpse into the “Dark Federation” mirror universe. In this particular universe the Dark Federation has hacked the Borg of that universe to use as weapons against that universe’s ancients.

The episode starts with the USS Anracosh taking on a Borg sphere doing a scouting mission. They hack the sphere and proceed to use it to hijack the Borg’s will and use them to take on the ancient races.

The Borg initially try to attack the USS Anracosh but the hacking weapons stop them. All the Terran Empire starship suffers from is a damaged shield system that is easily fixed. The crew now arrange for the Borg sphere to send a fake signal of it being destroyed in a lucky fluke shot. The dark versions of the crew capture the pacified Borg and their vessel.

The dark versions of the crew do their jobs with no compassion for the Borg drones they are experimenting on and the Borg starship they are hacking using ancient race technology modified by the dark federation [Terran Empire].

The hacking is going to plan. The Borg sphere is under their control. They can access all the Borg systems and can gain any Borg technology they like. This by itself would be a major coup for the Terran Empire. Just having all the Borg technology would be a major improvement to the Terran forces, but why stop there? The plan is to take on the ancients and win. They learned some time ago that the ancients respect and possibly fear the Borg and have a ceasefire agreement with them. If the Borg can take on the ancients why not make them conquer the ancients on behalf on the Terran Empire?

With that in mind as part of the discussion the dark versions of the officer core plan to attack the ancients using the Borg as cannon fodder. Thus they will not risk any of the Terran Empire vessels and crews on attacking the ancients. The Borg have plans in place to assimilate ascended beings. The Terran Empire is merely making the Borg put those plans into action. Now that can be done with a flick of a switch. The hacking weapon has done its job. The scouting sphere is under the control of the USS Anracosh and is ready to send an override signal to the Borg collective that will make them go to war with the ancients.

It is noted that what the crew is doing now is the end product of a long study and action plan about learning about the Borg. This has been years in the making and today is the day the Terran Empire takes on the ancient races and wins. They will inherit ancient race technology and become unstoppable.

The party deck has been converted to a command centre. It shows the whole galaxy in the centre of the enormous room. Here all those that surround the massive hologram of the galaxy can see the movements of the Borg. The captain orders the deployment of the signal and on the hologram Borg forces are seen moving to ancient race sites on the galaxy.

At first all is going well. The lesser ancients are attacked by the Borg and are assimilated. They are the key to this plan working. Once lesser ancients are in the Borg collective their knowledge in the hands of the Borg the more powerful ancients of the galaxy can be attacked and assimilated. After that the Terran Empire changes the orders they have forced onto the Borg. The Borg will hand over all the knowledge of the ancients and help the Terran Empire understand it.

The Terran Empire will then spend a few years upgrading its fleets, weapons and other technologies up to ancient race standards and then use its newfound advantages to conquer the whole galaxy and beyond. Naturally the Terran Empire will continue and strengthen its control of the Borg and use them as cannon fodder shock troops to send in first and on missions where high casualties are expected.

The dark versions of the USS Anracosh crew watch as the war on the ancients proceeds. Ancient race sites are falling faster than expected. There is a feeling of optimism in the command room. They even consider using the Borg to take out the Terran Emperor and conquer the Terran Empire themselves. This would be the time to do it. They have control of the Borg collective and can order them to do a lightning raid on Earth. They could kill the whole Terran Empire High Command on Earth and take over. They could use Borg transwarp technology to get to Earth in an hour from their current position if they factor creating the commands, getting a Borg ship to their location, the Borg doing the raid and them travelling to Earth to replace Terran High Command.

The captain gives the order to betray the Terran emperor. A force of Borg will go to Earth, while a single vessel will pick them up and get them to Earth just as the battle that overthrows the Terran High Command is ending. This is but a small distraction from the war which is going far better than expected. The ancient races sites targeted by the Borg are falling quickly and soon it will be time to take on more powerful ancient races. If their success so far is any indication, the process of upgrading the Terran Empire fleets with ancient races technology will happen ahead of schedule.

What the dark version of the crew of the USS Anracosh does not know is that the lesser ancients have been evacuating their sites instead of defending them. This is why they are falling so fast. Nobody is defending those places and the crew have been too blinded by their success to check what is really happening. Instead they are smug and complacent when they receive word that phase two can start – that being the Borg attacking and assimilating more powerful ancient race sites and beings.

Soon the Borg take on more powerful ancients. This is where it all goes wrong. The ancients make a raid on the Borg unicomplex and discover that the Borg have been hacked. In the mood for revenge, they free a single Borg Queen and explain that the Borg collective has been hacked and is being used by the Terran Empire in a suicidal attempt to conquer the ancient races. The Borg know a war against the ancients is a war they can’t win.

If the Borg are not freed from Terran Empire control it will mean the end of the Borg at the hands of the ancients. The Borg Queen tries to reason with the ancients as a way of saving the Borg Collective. The ancients cut a deal with the Borg: Free any ancients captured by the Terran Empire. In return the ancients will stop attacking the Borg, as long as the Borg assimilates the Terran Empire.

Ending of part one:

The Borg agree to the deal, and the ancients free the Borg from the hacking. On the USS Anracosh the hacking weapon literally liquefies and nobody onboard can explain why. Then the Borg turn on the Terran Empire. The episode ends with the Borg attacking the Terran Empire and the Terran Empire fighting back against the Borg in a far more even battle than expected. This is because the Terran Empire studied the Borg and got an understanding of how Borg technology works. The Borg have trouble adapting to Terran Empire weapons and shields. The Borg then attack the USS Anracosh with overwhelming numbers in a very one sided battle favouring the Borg. The USS Anracosh manages to flee through a Borg transwarp conduit. Elsewhere the fight continues as the episode ends.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 3 part 2

Season 4 part 2

Season 3 Part 2

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 3 part 1

Season 4 part 1

Season 3 Episode 8

Bajoran doctor’s episode – the Bajoran project

A recap of the previous episode is the first scene of this episode.

The USS Anracosh is seen entering the orbit of Bajor at top speed and immediately hailing the Bajoran authorities on an emergency channel. At first the Bajorans are elated that the prophets – the wormhole aliens, their gods, are going to Bajor. Then the bridge crew has to tell them the truth. Their long lost cousins are returning to Bajor. This is much an invasion as a family reunion.

The bridge crew of the USS Anracosh explain that they have gone to Bajor ahead of the Ascended Bajorans to tell the Bajorans the truth. Since the Realm of the Gods project is now running the ascended Bajorans feel that it is time for the truth to be told, the wormhole aliens are from Bajor and are returning.

Then it sinks into the bridge crew of the USS Anracosh, the invaders are ancients. There is nothing the Bajorans or themselves can do to stop the ascended Bajorans from invading Bajor. If the ascended Bajorans saw the USS Anracosh as a threat they could have other ancients take out the vessel with ease, and that would certainly ruin the Realm of the Gods project for the Federation.

On the other hand, the ascended Bajorans are not hostile in the true sense of the word. Bajor is the home world of both sets of Bajorans. Each faction has a legitimate right to Bajor. Bajor is not going to experience the horrors they endured under the Cardassian occupation. The ascended Bajorans are not out to harm their cousins, merely meet them again and invite them into the ranks of the ancients.

To match actions to words the ascended Bajorans appear on long range sensors. They contact the USS Anracosh and say they are meeting their flesh and blood long lost cousins and talk with them, even thought the core officers advise against it. The ascended Bajorans go against this advice and go to Bajor to introduce themselves. When the USS Anracosh followed them and as they travelled the wormhole it became clear that it is not just a small delegation of wormhole aliens going to Bajor. It is a vast armada of ascended Bajorans travelling through space heading straight to Bajor. The bridge crew of the USS Anracosh make one last effort begging the ascended Bajorans not to go to Bajor and just send a small delegation instead. This does not work.

The crew of the USS Anracosh watch the ascended Bajorans race past their orbiting vessel and invade Bajor and there is nothing they can do to stop it. The ascended Bajorans land on Bajor in vast numbers. The ascended Bajorans say to the bridge crew that the ascended Bajorans are here to stay. They are moving back to Bajor and reuniting their race. The Bajorans are one people again.

The ancients are moving in… …to a Federation world. The crew ask if the Federation has lost Bajor. [Technically Bajor is a Federation protectorate; this means that Bajor is part of the Federation in all but name.] The ascended Bajorans say no, their younger race cousins are still part of the Federation, but that is their choice until they are part of the ancient races clique. Effectively the Federation has lost control of Bajor, even though Bajor is part of the Federation. What the ancient Bajorans are saying is that Bajor is run by Bajorans, with the Federation taking a back seat. [Technically this is true as well.]

As for a foretaste of what is happening on Bajor, some ascended Bajorans have boarded the USS Anracosh and are meeting the Bajorans serving on the starship. They boarded without permission and all but one of the Bajorans onboard have a crisis of faith when they discover that their so called Prophets, the wormhole aliens, are onboard and are nothing spiritual at all, just their long lost cousins. The Bajoran doctor is rejoicing in private at being vindicated. He has conclusive proof that the Prophets are not gods, just ancients. He does not care about the impact the news will have on his fellow Bajorans, but that will change.

The Captain is furious that the ascended Bajorans have boarded without permission and is about to have the ancients enhanced security system throw the ascended Bajorans off the USS Anracosh when some ascended Bajorans appear on the bridge and apologise to her. They say that once they have talked to their cousins onboard they will leave the starship willingly, and they do so in a short space of time.

On Bajor the Bajorans are also having a crisis of faith. The Bajorans have found out the truth that the wormhole aliens ascended Bajorans and are just another ancient race. It is a repeat of the Bajoran crisis of faith on the USS Anracosh, just on a very much larger scale. Chaos is breaking out on Bajor. Their whole system is collapsing under the weight of the truth. The crew of the USS Anracosh is powerless. For all the abilities that their ancient race enhanced starship has, the crew number only about 500. Firepower can’t help them and few extra hundred people trying to restore order in a population of billions is less than a drop in the ocean.

The bridge crew inform Starfleet of what is going on. As usual the admiral who is their superior is furious with them. Bajor, a Federation world is effectively lost to the Federation. If this doesn’t get the crew of the USS Anracosh into prison she does not know what will. It still raises the debate though; the ascended Bajorans have as much right to Bajor as the younger race Bajorans. The admiral then asks the question, what is the Federation supposed to do about an ancient race invading a Federation world? This is an enemy they have no way stopping. Before the crew of the USS Anracosh can answer she hangs up on them.

The bridge crew try more diplomacy with the ancient Bajorans. This is responded to with utter confusion by the ancient Bajorans. They do not see their actions as an invasion. It looks like an invasion to anyone observing the event, but the ancient Bajorans see it as a reunion. They insist that the younger race Bajorans are still in charge of Bajor, if they want to be part of the Federation that is their choice. The ancient Bajorans will respect their decisions. The planet side Bajorans are part of the discussion and the bridge crew ask if there is anything they can do to help the Bajoran government with the current situation. The response is that there is nothing they can do, but they are welcome to stay in Bajoran territory. Nobody is being kicked out, this is not some kind of nationalist uprising. It is as the ascended Bajorans say a family reunion. It’s just that the Bajorans are having a hard time reconciling the fact that their gods are their long lost cousins. It is something they will have to come to terms with.

The end of the episode sees Bajor paralysed by a crisis of faith. They do not know what to do. To add to the confusion the Bajorans are invited into the ancient races clique by the Ascended Bajorans, who offer, for want of a better word, to “sponsor” them in. The Bajorans say they are in such a state of confusion that they cannot accept the invite at this time. They have to as a race work though the news they have received recently before deciding anything. The ascended Bajorans respond by saying the invitation is a standing offer, as all invites to the ancient races clique are. This does not placate the Bajorans, who do not know what to do and the Bajoran authorities have to sort out the chaos erupting on Bajor, and given their morale because of their own crisis of faith that is no easy task.

The scene switches to the USS Anracosh orbiting Bajor. We see the Bajoran doctor confronted by the core officers. They are not happy with him, saying that this is a case of getting what you wished for and regretting it. They inform him that Bajoran doctor is loathed by other Bajorans for destroying their faith. The Bajoran doctor says he wanted to give his fellow Bajorans the truth, but never wanted Bajor to collapse because of it. The core officers say it is too late for that – Bajor is in chaos and the saddest part is nobody but the Bajorans can fix this problem, and now they have the ascended Bajorans on their world who have dropped their disguises as gods to the Bajorans. That will both add to the chaos and in time cure it as the Bajorans accept the truth.

Depending on how you see it the ascended Bajorans have invaded Bajor. This is an enemy the Federation cannot help the Bajorans with. Nobody can stop the ancients. However, the ascended Bajorans do not mean to harm their long lost cousins, they merely want to help the Bajoran authorities restore order and to help the non-ascended Bajorans join the ancient races clique.

This is not a happy ending, the bridge crew admit there is nothing more they can do here, the Bajorans have to help themselves. It’s time to return to work and they leave orbit with promises that the ascended Bajorans are going to help their cousins restore order.

 

Season 3 Episode 9

Science officer’s episode – Accidentally making a super weapon

The reverse engineering ancient race technology department experiment with the starships ancient race technology and accidently create a super weapon.

The intent of the day’s project is to enhance the starship’s phaser banks with ancient race technology. Blending the technologies goes off as planned with nobody predicting what happens next. Gottlieb’s [chief engineer] crew ask if he’s ready to begin testing. He ponders for a minute and leans over to a communicator and succinctly brings [invites] Bahaal [Science officer] and Benson [The helmsman].

Giddy as anything, the three of them do a test firing on a Mars sized world thinking it would leave a surface scar they could analyse to see the effectiveness of the ancients enhanced phasers. Bickering over who gets to push the button, the three of them agree to press it at the same time. Gottlieb’s very grizzled underlings are amused by the three’s antics.

The test firing does not go as planned. Instead of a large scar left on the uninhabited world the core of the world is obliterated in one shot. The scene shows the hollowed out world and there is a zoom in showing the USS Anracosh in the centre of the hole left in the world. The mile-wide, mile-high smiles of the three stooges instantly droop into mortified, gaping maws as Gottlieb puts his arms around the shoulders of the other two fidgeting to keep them running away.

A screaming voice comes over the intercom, it is the captain shouting out what the hell did they just do? The science officer has to explain the situation to his livid superior, and that it was unintentional.

Creating a WMD [weapon of mass destruction] would normally be a court marshal grade offence with serious jail time except for the fact it was an accident, and it occurred on the USS Anracosh, the starship enhanced by the ancients.

It is pointed out that metallic planetary cores like the one they just vaporised survive supernova explosions [proven scientific fact]. The weapon they just modified is therefore more powerful than a supernova to anything in its line of fire.

An officer core meeting is called. They discuss what to do with the weapon and its repercussions before dismantling it. The science officer is forced to defend himself saying it was an accident. He had no idea that the upgraded phasers would be so advanced and powerful. He agrees to dismantle the superweapon as soon as the staff meeting is over.

The Captain delays the order and says they should contact Starfleet Command and the Ancients via the dial a deity system and ask for advice. Her reasoning is that the destruction of the Mars sized world must have been detected by now and they had better contact Starfleet before Starfleet contacts them.

The Captain asks the chief diplomat to get her people to ask the ancients if there is anything to worry about when dismantling the super weapon. This leads to a B plot where every time the diplomatic team call any ancient race they are met with gales of laughter from the ancients as doing something so moronic as to link certain ancient race technologies to the phasers.

It becomes a running gag as every ancient race being bursts into laughter at being informed what has happened and the diplomatic team going from just sneering and hanging up to being utterly disgusted and morose at the only response they get from the various ancients they call is gibbering idiot style laughter.

Right on time the Admiral that is in charge of the USS Anracosh calls them, as angry as the captain was towards the science officer. The Admiral asks the crew in angry tone that mimics the Captain’s earlier barrage of “what the hell were they doing?” The Captain has to follow the earlier actions of her science officer and explain what they did and how they never knew how powerful the weapon would become and that it was an accident.

As a punishment the Admiral allows the politicians in the Federation to blast the crew of the Anracosh as well. This is tempered by the politician who is on their side. The politicians are a bit more sympathetic and understand the crew is dealing with ancient race technology they don’t really understand.

However the politicians agree with the Admiral that creating WMD’s is not on. Then she continues the message by showing that the governments around the Federation are not happy with the USS Anracosh. After Starfleet Command go through the communicator logs as a formality, they realise that the Helmsman was in the room at that moment as well. They see that he was in on it, and helped to fire the weapon. The come to the conclusion that he has embraced working on the USS Anracosh as his fate. His career is over and it was such a waste that he has lost a normal Starfleet career. The top brass realised they should not have left him as a poster boy and let him have the Starfleet career he wanted.

The officer core of the USS Anracosh explain to anyone who calls that all that happened was that the crew of the Anracosh turbo charged a phaser with ancient race technology. They were expecting just a more powerful phaser, what they got was a planet killing weapon. It was in no way their intention to make a WMD.

We cut to the Ascended Mythbuster momentarily, he’s being informed of this incident by a very morose Federation ambassador, when he hears what the USS Anracosh did he just laughs his head off, which then simmers down into a knowing, mile-wide grin as he nods in approval. He thought they were a bunch of clowns mucking around with super powered weapons, just like him, and he is dead right. He approves, in a very big way.

“Niiiiiiice. I knew those guys were alright!”

Once the usual bad messages are over the foreign diplomatic representatives contact the USS Anracosh. This time they are far more friendly, ask the command crew about the mission and how they came into possession of a Federation/Ancient races hybrid starship.

The command crew relay a simplified version of how their Realm of the Gods project came into being. The foreign representatives take eager notes and say they will tell their respective governments about contacting the ancients. The representatives say to ignore their previous complaints and that they will encourage their governments to put a lot more effort into their own Realm of the Gods projects, or start a Realm of the Gods project if they do not have one.

The reason for the about face of the diplomats is that they are smart enough to know the crew of the USS Anracosh is dealing with ancient races technology. They know that this is technology who knows how many eons more advanced than anything their civilisations have. Messing with it could have all kinds of unforeseen effects.

They are also smart enough to know that they have been given a golden opportunity to talk to the crew of the USS Anracosh directly. The information from this meeting could prove priceless. It is something not to be missed.

The Admiral, who let the foreigners free access to the USS Anracosh, nearly gets fired for causing such a breach of security, even if it was done in a fit of anger. After this episode she starts treating the crew of the USS Anracosh with kit gloves.

However, because of the B plot of finding the ancients unhelpful and the A plot of destroying a Mars sized planet there are calls from some of the crew to ask the ancients to remove almost all the super powered technology installed on the USS Anracosh. Then only leave the ancient race technology that is needed for the starship to perform its mission of contacting the ancients.

This is rebutted by most of the officer core saying it is part of their mission to reverse engineer the technology given to them, and that is what the ancients want them to do. The Chief engineer and Science officer are confident that they can dismantle the super weapon without anything going wrong. Both of them state that the Federation was given the USS Anracosh for the purpose of reverse engineering the starship and the ancients would be more than disappointed if the Federation asked them to strip down that USS Anracosh and that could risk the ancients cancelling the Federation’s Realm of the Gods project.

The episode ends with the superweapon upgrades being dismantled but the schematics for the upgrade being secretly kept on file on the USS Anracosh and at Starfleet HQ in case the Federation ever needs a superweapon. It is openly stated that this superweapon was what many on the crew of the USS Anracosh were looking for – a way to defend the Federation from bigger and bigger threats.

 

Season 3 Episode 10

Talos 4 episode

The mission to Talos 4

With travel restrictions to Talos 4 permanently rescinded the USS Anracosh has to run a diplomatic meeting with ancients the Federation has previously had a very bad history with. Things went so bad between the Federation and the Talosians that until the travel restrictions were rescinded the penalty for so much as approaching Talos was death. This is mentioned in the episode.

Other ancients and the drone have assured the Federation that the inhabitants of Talos 4 will behave themselves, but it is tense time with the Federation not trusting the Talosians. However the Talosians are greeting the Federation with open arms and want to earn their trust and open up their world to the younger races. The Federation does not trust the Talosians and there is a lot of tension on the USS Anracosh as they are ordered to go to Talos and as they approach the Talosian home world.

The heavy lifting of Diplomacy with the Talosians falls to the USS Anracosh’s Chief diplomat and her underlings. She, and her team, have face to face talks with the Talosians, who are keen to put their best foot forward and are offering their world’s friendship to the Federation.

To break the ice the chief diplomat asks how the Talosians altered their solar system. The Talos solar system has obviously been changed by some form of stellar engineering far beyond what the Federation is capable of. This is greeted by puzzled looks by the Talosians. They note that the USS Anracosh has a black hole manipulator on it. The Talosians say that they used the same technology to move worlds around their solar system. They ask why the Federation diplomats would ask the Talosians about how to do solar engineering when they have the means to do so themselves on the starship they came to visit Talos with?

The Talosians admit that their previous behaviour was an effort to try to get the younger races to start a Realm of the Gods project. They admit that many ancients do similar actions because they cannot just give the younger races the answer, the younger races have to figure it out for themselves. The Talosians add that they thought all the evidence of planetary engineering in their solar system was an obvious sign that it was an area inhabited by ancients.

The Talosians ask why the crew of the Anracosh has not finished the black hole manipulator because a captured black hole is the way the starship fuels itself. The diplomatic team ask how the Talosians could know that, the Talosians reply that they invented black hole manipulator technology. They know how it can be used and know that the USS Anracosh uses a captured black hole as a power source because of their knowledge of black hole manipulators.

The crew replies that they are still deciding if they should complete the device as the Federation has rules against creating weapons of mass destruction. The Talosians laugh saying that by definition the USS Anracosh is a weapon of mass destruction if used as such. They don’t need to complete the black hole manipulator to make the USS Anracosh a super weapon, it already is one.

The Talosians say that they know about the ancient races having the black hole manipulator on the USS Anracosh as an object lesson. The device is something the crew has to figure out for themselves, having said that the Talosians offer to give the crew of the USS Anracosh some lessons about the black hole manipulator. The Federation diplomatic team sees the opportunity to learn from the creators of black hole manipulator technology and ask for the Talosians to teach them. The Talosians send a team to the USS Anracosh to tell the crew all about black hole manipulators.

The lessons become the B plot:

A second team with the science officer and the chief engineer takes the Talosian engineering team to the USS Anracosh to have the Talosians teach them about the black hole manipulator. The Talosians help them understand the device and how it works, and its true power and what it can do. The crew members are from the engineering and science sections. They include in their number crew members who want to weaponize the black hole manipulator. They are all mortified at the true capabilities of the machine and wonder if having the thing fully operational is too much power for the Federation to handle.

The Talosians have a mixture of negative reactions to the crew coming to terms with the power of the black hole manipulator. The Talosians point out that the Federation has dealt with individuals more powerful than the black hole manipulator and not shown the same horror as they show about the device towards god like beings.

Both sides discuss the fact that the black hole manipulator is an object lesson. The crew of the USS Anracosh is fully aware that the ancients put the device on the starship for the exact reason the Talosians have said. The Federation has to get used to the idea of dealing with the ancients, the device is a demonstration of how truly god like the ancients are on an individual level and as a group.

The Talosians conclude their objections by saying that the Federation has to come to terms with the true nature and power of the ancients if they are to gain the benefits of running a Realm of the Gods project. Then the Talosians get back to teaching the assembled crew about the black hole manipulator and what is can do. This becomes a running B plot that is regularly returned to until the episode ends. The B plot is resolved when the lessons are over and the Talosian engineering team leave the USS Anracosh.

Returning to the negotiations the diplomatic efforts are interrupted when the Talosian’s chief diplomat has to leave to watch his wife’s egg hatch. This surprises the USS Anracosh’s diplomats. They thought the Talosians were sterile and did not know they were an egg laying species. The Talosians say that what was said to the crew of the USS Enterprise centuries ago was a lie to get them to go to another ancient race, ask for help and that would lead to setting up diplomacy with the ancients, which leads to having a Realm of the Gods project.

The diplomatic team are invited to the egg hatching and decide they should go to be gracious guests. This turns out to be a gross affair and the diplomats have to put on a poker face. The Talosians sense this and take offense to the USS Anracosh diplomats showing disrespect to the birthing ceremony by being grossed out by it.

After the birthing ceremony the negotiations become tense as the Talosians say they could easily override the free wills of the Federation visitors. The Talosians say that they have acted in good faith and not used any of their powers during the Federation’s visit. They came to the Federation with open arms and open hearts and the Federation shows disrespect and mistrust by being offended by being grossed out at the egg hatching. The Talosians note that you should never confuse capability with intent.

The chief Federation diplomat offers to have her mind read to prove that being grossed out was an automatic response to the birthing ceremony. It was something the diplomatic team could not control. One of the Talosians reads her mind and confirms the Federation team is telling the truth.

The Talosians promptly apologise and say they should not have invited the diplomatic team to the egg hatching. They return to creating a Talosian/Federation treaty. The Talosians insist that permanently rescinding travel restrictions and punishment for travelling to their world must be part of the treaty with the Federation. This is not up for negotiation. The Talosians admit that they do travel between their world and ancient race sites as they hang out only with those in the ancient races clique. The Talosian say that instead of using starships they use ancient race teleportation technology [Iconian wormholes] and get help from other ancient races to travel to locations beyond Talos.

The diplomats agree to the putting permanently lifting the travel ban in the treaty and ask the Talosians how they knew about it. The Talosians say that other ancients who have had dealings with the Federation told them about it. The Talosians report that word travels fast in the ancients races community.

More details are worked out and the diplomatic talks with the Talosians end. Soon the Talosians onboard the USS Anracosh return to Talos 4. The Talosian government asks the bridge crew to stay in orbit while the Talosians prepare a formal treaty signing ceremony. The officer core of the USS Anracosh must attend the ceremony.

At the treaty signing the Talosians say according to Talosian tradition that objections to the treaty must be raised at the treaty signing ceremony before the treaty is signed. [A bit like “speak now or forever hold your peace” at weddings].

The Talosians who have objections say that if the crew cannot handle a black hole manipulator how can they handle a being as powerful as the device? The Talosians say that if they can’t manage encountering beings with the power of a god they should not be doing a Realm of the Gods project, and threaten to report that to the ancient races clique.

The Federation diplomats say that the ancients left it in their hands to complete the black hole manipulator, and since the USS Anracosh is just a taxi to get Federation diplomats to the ancient races why bother?

The Talosians back down, agreeing with the Federation team, saying that they make a good point and they will keep quiet about the attitudes they discovered onboard the USS Anracosh. The Federation is obeying the rules the ancients set out concerning the Realm of the Gods project. Beyond that how the Federation approaches it is the Federation’s. The objecting Talosians say they think the Federation has made the wrong decision in leaving the black hole manipulator as is, but it is the Federation’s choice and the Talosians must respect that.

The friendship treaty is signed but both parties agree to keep each other at arm’s length for now and slowly and gradually build bridges with each other as they will take a long time to trust each other. In spite of having made a lot of progress in establishing a positive Talosian/Federation relationship, there is still a lot of bad blood and both sides will have to work at improving the each other’s opinion of them.

 

Season 3 Episode 11

Chief engineer’s episode – he suffers a mental breakdown

The show’s A and B plots switch between the running repairs on the USS Anracosh until the Ancients arrive and plight of the Chief Engineer who is having a mental breakdown. The C plot covers more minor events like an ancients delegation arriving via Iconian wormholes on the USS Anracosh and reactions of the crew to the running repairs on the starship.

The story starts with the Chief engineer, the drone and the Chief science officer are working on a project together to reverse engineer the ancient race technology onboard the USS Anracosh.

They are in main engineering working together when they are disassembling an important piece of equipment. The drone is advising on how to open up the machine, the chief engineer is dismantling the object and the scientist is analysing the insides of the device.

As they disconnect the device from its interface with the rest of the starship. Without warning the power system goes berserk. Blackouts, power surges and breakdowns appear all over the starship and the warp engine shuts down.

The Captain calls main engineering from the bridge and they have to explain that a piece of technology they were studying has done something to the starship and they can’t figure out what happened. The Captain says to work on it and keep her informed, then the com system shorts out and the emergency life support system turns on.

Not knowing what else to do the three reassemble the machine to its original state hoping that will fix the problem. It doesn’t, the starship goes through the same breakdown again. Totally bamboozled and having no idea how to fix the starship the engineer has a mental breakdown.

This breakdown was a long time coming. For a long time the engineer has had to maintain a starship he barely understands. This has gotten to him and now with the starship unfixable [as he sees it] he has had it. He stops working and the medical staff have to escort him to the infirmary for psychological help.

It falls to the Chief science officer to try to fix the starship, and he learns why the engineer has had a breakdown. The machinery is utterly incompressible to him and anyone else on the starship. The drone steps in and goes to the dial a deity contact system [on emergency power] to call for help from the ancients.

For the next couple of days the starship is in a state of running repairs [meaning constant repairing and repeated repairing] of various systems. The crew has to sit it out as the ascended mythbuster is sent to repair the vessel.

The show focuses on the time the crew face that their starship is broken and may not be fixable.

The engineer is in the infirmary relieved of duty while the rest of the crew does repairs and uses neural education devices to learn how to repair the starship’s systems. The starship is made mostly operational again but the ancients advise to wait for the ascended mythbuster to recheck their work.

It is determined during this time that it was a mistake made by the chief engineer that caused the break down. When he is told this the engineer gets very depressed at his mistake. To cheer him up the drone says to the engineer that some of the machines he does not understand are actually ancient race control panels for the starship. The starship was designed so ancients could crew it by themselves. However, the device they were analysing was something to do with energy regulation on the starship.

There’s a moment where the engineer is talking with Benson [the helmsman], the Captain, Ramirez [first officer] and the Zalkonian Doctor [all of the most emotionally troubled members of the core officers] about considering quitting the USS Anracosh but is stopped by being reminded that he has nowhere to go. Being on the USS Anracosh has destroyed his [and the rest of the crew’s bar the helmsman’s] career prospects within Starfleet. This is all he has left, and he needs to see it through.

“We can’t afford to screw this up, Gottlieb. I’m in the same place where you are right now, but if we don’t get this starship fully operational, our careers in Starfleet are over… Except you, Benson.”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t remind me.”

The few days of inoperation effect everyone, for example the Chief diplomat has to say to some ancients [Thasians] via the dial a deity system that they have to delay their meeting because the USS Anracosh is temporarily immobile. Almost all of the crew are on repair detail, and contingency plans are made in case the USS Anracosh has to be abandoned and scuttled in case the ancients recommend that the starship is unviable. This breaks the heart of the various ranks of crew assigned to plan such an outcome.

Following various crewmembers around fixing the starship and their reaction to potentially having to abandon it passes for this episode’s C plot.

After a few days the ascended mythbuster arrives, turns into his ascended form and takes the form of a floating moving mist that goes through the starship checking the systems of the starship. One might think that the starship is haunted by a mist like ghost, but in a short time the ascended mythbuster flows into the bridge and regains his human form.

He reports some good news, only a few systems need his attention, for the most part the repairs are done. The Captain orders him to fix the power system first, meaning fix the device that the engineer, the drone and scientist were working on that caused the breakdown in the first place. The ascended mythbuster complies, then fixes the other machinery as promised. The process takes a few minutes in total.

After the repairs the starship is fully operational and the ascended mythbuster invites the crew to test the starship if they doubt him. The chief diplomat sends a message to the ancients [Thasians] waiting for them that they will arrive within a couple of days. The Thasians then appear on the USS Anracosh via an Iconian style wormhole and negotiate with the chief diplomat, but this is only a small part of the episode.

The starship resumes its journey with the crew relieved that things are back to normal. Except for one crew member – the Chief engineer.

The final act of this episode involves the captain, the first officer, the ascended mythbuster, the drone and the chief scientist going to see the chief engineer in the infirmary. The ascended mythbuster says that if they were really stumped by some ancient race technology on the starship they could have asked the ancients for help in understanding it. The drone and the scientist say there is no shame in not understanding the technology, it is eons above anything the Federation has.

In fact, the chief engineer is performing at a much higher level than what is expected of a human, and the ascended mythbuster says that he is saying that as a being who was once human, and still considers himself to be human. This adds to the impact of the statement. The chief engineer should not berate himself for causing the starship to breakdown, everyone knows they are dealing with things beyond their understanding. The Captain and the first officer assure the Chief engineer that no bad marks will be put in his record and he will not be disciplined for what is an honest mistake. He is free to return to work with the knowledge that he is not blamed for the breakdown. However, the Captain and the first officer have to order him to return to work.

After the group leave the infirmary the Zalkonian doctor has a word with the captain and the first officer. She says that can’t heal the Chief engineer because he is not mentally ill. Zalkonian healing powers can heal mental illnesses, but the engineer is realising how far beyond his understanding the technology of the USS Anracosh actually is why the engineer is not happy. This is a case of an attitude problem, not a medical problem. The story ends with the engineer returning to his job, but it is obvious that he has lost all passion for his work.

 

Season 3 Episode 12

Chief diplomat’s episode: Meeting the Metron

The USS Anracosh visits the Metron, who are initially hostile then do an embarrassing about face when they learn that the Federation is doing a Realm of the Gods project. The Metron reveal that they have a reputation in the ancient races community for keeping to themselves.

In spite of a suddenly warm reception by the Metron, they hack the USS Anracosh’s systems to erase all evidence of any hostile action during their previous [and first] contact.

It turns out that the Metron have a “face” culture like those found in east Asia, this is why they put so much effort into fixing the records of their first encounter with the Federation. The records the Federation has of their first encounter with the Metron is a major embarrassment to the Metron. They cannot cope with documents that portray them in such a bad light.

The chief diplomat figures out that the Metrons have a face culture because she is from a face culture herself. She realises and explains to the crew that the Metrons are not being hostile or deceptive, they are just trying to save face.

The hacking is met with resistance from the crew, including the main character of the B plot, and the hacking does not give a good impression of the Metron, but both sides eventually negotiate friendship between the two sides.

The episode is all about the chief diplomat trying to control the crew’s temper at The USS Anracosh’s computers being hacked by the Metron and explaining to them about face culture. The crew are doing their best to fight off the hacking and want to fix the computers themselves because they feel that the Metron are not trustworthy.

The Metron try to gain the crew’s trust by doing an official ceremony where they offer a friendship treaty and at the ceremony the Metron make a point of taking back calling the Federation savages and declare them extremely civilised and offer to help fix the systems that they hacked.

This works as the Metron and the crew work together to fix the starship’s systems and the Metrons are very apologetic about their actions. The crew are glad to leave the Metron to put the incident behind him. The drone notes that odd behaviour like what the Metron have done is “standard fair” for the ancients. The crew of the USS Anracosh will have to get used to it if they want the ancients to ally with the Federation. The drone explains that the ancients long ago abandoned being flesh and blood and a lot of the rules of being flesh and blood creatures have been half forgotten by the ancients. The crew has to deal with that fact, and the crew have slowly learned to accept it. They need the ancients, so they have to cope with the behaviour of the ancients.

The Metron also offer leads to finding more ancient races and to speak on behalf of the Federation in ancient race groups. The Metrons are determined to have a great face to the Federation as their face culture requires. The crew accept these gifts and this makes them close allies with the Metron. This is what their mission is all about, getting allies among the ancients and getting ancients technology for the Federation so it can fend off powerful foes that could arise to challenge to Federation in the future.

Before the crew prepare for their next mission the Metron become very generous and offer all kinds of help and technology. However, the crew are still wary; they say that the Metron should approach the Federation government now that the treaties have been signed. It will be a softly slowly approach because of the Metron hacking the USS Anracosh’s computers. It will take time to heal the wounds from such hostile first and second encounters. However, the Metron should not lose hope. They are on the right path to becoming friends and allies of the Federation.

Please note that the treaties and gift giving are done near the end of the episode.

The B plot:

After fighting off the hacking by the Metron one of the engineering crew starts giving of strange time related particle readings that only ancient race scanning technology can detect.

This is discovered by accident when he returns to duty helping reverse engineer ancient race technology alongside the chief scientist and the chief engineer. The engineering and science crews are at a loss to explain why their fellow crew member is emitting these strange particles. The particles are harmless but unexplainable. The particles are also beyond Federation medical understanding, so sickbay can’t help the crewman either. Even the Zalkonian doctor can’t help as the ensign is not actually sick.

An investigation is launched which comes up with nothing. The Metron are called in to help and they say he is from another timeline, or at least from an altered timeline. [This is done before the friendship treaties are signed]. It is noted that normally this ensign would be working in diplomacy, but he is filling in for someone in engineering, having earlier that day used the neural education devices to get engineering skills. The chief diplomat is stunned that one of her underlings is from another timeline or a changed timeline. The Metrons stand by what they say, the ensign is not from this universe or is from altered past of this universe and the Metron have the science to prove it, albeit that the science is far beyond the Federation’s understanding.

The rest of the crew are scanned to see if anyone else is emitting the same “alternate time” particles. It turns out that nobody else is from another timeline. While this happens the alternate timeline crew member is confronted with the above information and confesses that he was a regular starfleet officer who was on a vessel that encountered a prankster Q and he took the opportunity to ask him to change his past so he could serve on the USS Anracosh because the ensign has a passion for meeting the ancients.

We are treated to a flashback of the Q and the ensign going through organising the ensign trying out an alternate timeline and accepting the Q’s offer of having a new life. The Q granted the request with ensign is living in for what is to him is an alternate timeline living the life he wants to live. He took up the offer of a new life whereas almost all reject the offer and go back to life as normal. The prankster Q was generous enough to even let the ensign keep his memories of his old life and his new life.

The crew of the USS Anracosh do not know what to do, do they ask the Q or another ancient versed in time travel to return the ensign to his original timeline or do they let the ensign stay? The ensign begs to stay and offers to accept any posting on the USS Anracosh they want to offer him. All he asks is that he be allowed to stay, even if that means living in the brig.

The chief diplomat says that he has been an excellent member of her staff and she would happily work with him again. Then in the inquiry a bombshell is dropped, was anyone uncreated so the ensign could live the life he is living now? A quick phone call via the dial a deity system to the Q continuum proves that nobody died or was uncreated so the ensign could have his new life. They do ask the Q who missed out on serving on the USS Anracosh and it is someone they invited to join the rogue mission, but he knocked them back and agreed to keep silent. The man is question is Lt. Shanks, a Bajoran who is currently serving on the USS Cerritos. He has a reputation for being a crazy, so it might have been a blessing they got the ensign from another timeline or altered timeline instead of Lt. Shanks.

It is debated among the officer core that this is an unprecedented legal situation and can it only be resolved by creating more time paradoxes. Returning the ensign to his proper time would mean altering their own past. Nobody else that the officer core knows of has ever taken up an ancients offer to have their past altered so they could live a new life. The big question is does altering the past to return the ensign to his correct timeline compromise the Realm of the Gods project? The ancients could answer that question, but why bother asking?

The core of the issue with the ensign is that he has not done anything illegal and that nobody was hurt, killed or uncreated by the ensign’s actions or from the Q that helped him. If there was no crime then the ensign cannot be charged with anything or be disciplined. It is a very unusual situation in that a Starfleet officer accepted a Q’s offer of a new life, but it is not illegal. It is not even a violation of the temporal prime directive because a Q did the time travel and time alteration instead of it being of Federation origin.

To end the show the inquiry conducted by the officer core has to conclude that the other timeline ensign has not committed a crime and therefore the investigation has to end without the ensign being charged and he is thus free to return to his duties. The only caveat is that the ensign has to write a full report on what happened to him detailing the other timeline and the events of the Q offering him a new life and the details of getting that new life.

 

Season 3 Episode 13

The Helmsman’s episode

The Helmsman hits a low point in his life and he asks a member of the Q continuum who is visiting the USS Anracosh for help. The Helmsman is sick of the fame from legitimately defeating the Kobayashi Maru test and afterwards the infamy of serving on the USS Anracosh. To clarify: Since he beat the Kobayashi Maru test he has been the toast of Starfleet. He despised the attention and rebelled by joining the crew of the USS Anracosh after learning of it by becoming a Section 31 agent. Joining the USS Anracosh had the opposite effect of relieving him of the fame that made his life a misery. This means his fame has become infamy. His dreams of having a normal starfleet career are just dreams now. With that in mind the Helmsman saw an opportunity when a member of the Q continuum visiting the USS Anracosh.

The Helmsman was inspired by the alternate timeline ensign. If the ensign can have his past changed by a Q, why can’t he have a Q do the same for him? Change his past so he can have the Starfleet career he wants. That is exactly what the alternate timeline ensign did, so he is going to do the same. Thus the Helmsman asks the visiting Q to change the past and make him [the Helmsman] fail the Kobayashi Maru test. This would mean the Helmsman never gets famous and never serves on the USS Anracosh and he has a normal life and career in Starfleet. On the surface this would solve all the problems he has in his life, but the Q, being a Q, is about to give the Helmsman a very valuable life lesson.

The Q and the Helmsman visit [in a ghostly form] the time when the Helmsman beat the Kobayashi Maru test. They see in third person how his strategy worked and the blossom manoeuvre using a WMD destroyed the hostile starships and how he towed the stricken Kobayashi Maru to safety. The simple “blossom” manoeuvre that destroyed the simulated enemy starships in one blow. [A “blossom” manoeuvre is where the starship spins around firing all weapons at once with a maximum charge hitting the enemy at close range, as seen in The Last Starfighter movie]. His additional trick was to weaponise the mock starship’s deflector array and turn it into a powerful cannon, which dramatically upgraded the mock starship’s firepower.

After the blossom manoeuvre occurs we see the reaction of the Starfleet training officers who burst in on him shaking his hand and enthusiastically congratulate him. The Helmsman has a bad reaction to this and he asks the Q to change this event so that he loses the test.

The scene is repeated but this time his mock starship is severely damaged before it can perform the blossom manoeuvre. The Helmsman’s earlier self fails the test and the instructors thank him for his time in a dull fashion.

“Hmm. You call it a blossom manoeuvre. That’s original. Thank you for your time. Next?”

The Helmsman says to the Q that he is one of three that has beat the Kobayashi Maru test, but the others cheated or won by default. The Helmsman explains to the Q that Captain Kirk hacked the game’s software and rigged the game in his favour and Captain Nog [An ensign at the time] broke the game by trying to negotiate a surrender with a tonne of conditions. The Kobayashi Maru test computer software was not programmed for a Starfleet officer offering to surrender and that crashed the computer simulation. The Helmsman adamantly says that Starfleet officers do not surrender, therefore Nog offering a surrender is not really winning the game, nor is Kirk rigging the game winning the game either. The Helmsman sheepishly admits that he is the only one who legitimately beat the Kobayashi Maru test.

The Helmsman and the Q flash forward to the Helmsman’s life as a regular person without any fame. The era they go to is the same date as when the Helmsman asked the Q to change his life. Initially this alternate timeline seems to be everything he wants, he is on a starship that feels great to be on with a crew he likes and a job he loves. He could settle into this life and leave the other timeline behind and seriously contemplates doing so.

This new timeline serves as the B plot. It shows the standard fare of a Starfleet mission with the Helmsman being a regular Starfleet officer on a life or death humanitarian mission fighting a deadly plague. He gets to be the heroic Starfleet officer he has always wanted to be. At the moment he is distributing medicine to a colony world via the transporters, making sure those who need the most help are getting it first.

After that he is a test pilot for a new type of space shuttle, and he has to race the shuttle around an obstacle course. It is an exciting race which is heaven for his thrill seeking soul. After winning the race he looks at his schedule. Tomorrow he is helping to examine some weird space anomaly, the day after that meeting a species new to warp travel. He is overjoyed, this is the life he asked for. He is ready to call the Q and say this is what he wants, make this life his real life.

Right on cue the Q appears [pun intended] The Helmsman says he wants to keep his new life with the Q saying that before he gets too comfortable he will be shown what happened to the crew of the USS Anracosh in this new timeline. The Q reveals that the Helmsman who took his place on the USS Anracosh ratted out the crew when they went rogue to do the Realm of the Gods project. All his old crew mates are in jail for treason, attempted theft of a starship and many other various charges.

The Q gives the Helmsman a choice, he can keep this new life but the cost is that he is selling out his old comrades to live the life he is now being offered, or he can return to his old famous/infamous life with no changes. There is one important caveat to the deal. If the Helmsman accepts his new life the Q will alter his memories so he never remembers his original life. He will never remember serving on the USS Anracosh or remember any of his friends and colleagues on the USS Anracosh.

The Q explains that the knowledge he has gained from the Realm of the Gods project makes him way too powerful. He would know what ancients to approach, where to find them and how to approach them. He could start the Realm of the Gods project in this new timeline and nobody would know how he got so knowledgeable about the ancients. None of that would alter the fact that his former crew are all in jail. If he tried to bust them out he would face jail time himself. So he could be with them again, but as a fellow prisoner.

The Q stresses the point that she cannot leave him in the alternate time line with the knowledge that he has. He should not be able to summon ancients sympathetic to him because he would become a god. Besides, every single one of the possible outcomes would involve a “clairvoyant” Benson singlehandedly revamping the Federation’s Realm of the Gods project, with no explanation as to how Benson knows so much about the ancients. This would raise many questions from his Federation superior’s and here’s the clincher: It would raise many questions among the ranks of the ancients.

It would create many problems for the Q continuum and other time travelling ancients if ancients not into time travel feared they were being uncreated and recreated at a whim. The Q “silencing” the Helmsman in the new time is about protecting the Q continuum and many other ancients from the internal politics of the ancients.

The Helmsman accuses the Q of giving him a Hobson’s choice, really no choice at all. The Q is offering him the life he had that wanted to change or a new life with his friends in prison, and the Federation without a Realm of the Gods project. The Helmsman accuses the Q of lying to him and that the Q could easily offer him a life where the crew of the USS Anracosh have their mission and are just fine and he has the life of the new timeline.

During this verbal browbeating, Benson pipes up with some whining and complaining, specifically something he says strikes a nerve with the Q, who grows a bitter smile, as if to say “You poor idiot… You just don’t get it, do you?” and slaps him, which brings him to his senses just a little.

“Oh, and you think that this isn’t what you wanted? You’re upset because I gave you an answer you didn’t like? You’re the one asking the wrong questions! You shouldn’t be asking for a lighter burden, Sammy. You should be asking for broader shoulders. Besides, what’s the point of being “the one” if you’re the only one that knows it?”

The Q replies that whether or not the she is lying is not really relevant. The only two options the Q is giving the Helmsman is the life he rejected where he pilots the USS Anracosh, or his new life where all his crewmates from the USS Anracosh are in prison and he has a normal life and the Federation will not have the USS Anracosh as a resource or a Realm of the Gods project. The Q reiterates that if he accepts his new life he’ll be placed into the alternate timeline in the current day, with no knowledge of his previous life after winning the Kobayashi Maru test. The Q says that these are his two options and nothing else is being offered, basically take it or leave it. The Q states that she isn’t worried about uncreating the Realm of the Gods project because she knows the choice he will make, and that choice means that the Realm of the Gods project will not be uncreated.

The Helmsman realises effectively he has no real choice at all and obviously he chooses to return to being the USS Anracosh’s helmsman because he can’t betray his friends, especially Gottlieb [chief engineer] and Bahaal [chief science officer]. The Q takes him back in time again to see his younger self win the Kobayashi Maru test and flashes forward to him going about his day on the USS Anracosh.

The Helmsman approaches the ensign who is from an alternate timeline who had his life altered by a prankster Q. He took up the offer of having his past altered by the Q. He is the only one the Helmsman can talk to about living in another timeline. The alternate timeline ensign is sympathetic to him and is happy to console him. The Helmsman states how he feels about time travelling to another version of his life and that he has no desire to repeat the experience. The ensign’s experience is much more positive, but he understands the Helmsman’s position. The Helmsman notes that the Q would have altered his memory, something that did not happen to the ensign from the alternate timeline because there was no reason not to let him keep both memories.

The Helmsman concludes that he will learn to live with the choices he made and learn to live with what beating the Kobayashi Maru test did to his life. For all the negatives of what the Q did to him he has to admit that he is a much more mature and better person for having experienced what the Q put him through.

 

Season 3 Episode 14

Imitari vs Orions part 1

The USS Anracosh is exploring some other resupply options outside of Section 31 in case they have a falling out with the spy agency. This takes them to the Orion homeworld. Due to the crew of the USS Anracosh having done, and currently doing, the Federation’s dirty work, they have had dealings with the Orion Syndicate and various not so official parts of the Orion leadership structure. Also some of the crew of the USS Anracosh are Orions themselves.

As the officer core is negotiating with the Orions, the USS Anracosh is undergoing some maintenance while in orbit of the Orion homeworld. For this the ascended mythbuster is called in and he is helping the engineering and science crews repair and maintain the USS Anracosh. The ascended mythbuster has flown his own starship to the Orion Homeworld and has transferred to the USS Anracosh for the work.

Things run smoothly until shore leave is organised for the crew. Many, including the ascended mythbuster go to the surface of the Orion Homeworld to see the sites. The ascended mythbuster goes off by himself to look through an Orion city and is assaulted by some racist anti-human Orions. The ascended mythbuster is an Imitari [ascended human] that considers himself a human. This is where the excrement hits the fan.

The ascended mythbuster goes into his ascended form and teleports himself and the gang that assaulted him three kilometres into the air. Then he challenges them to do their worst to him, and they know the moment they try they will be plummeting to their deaths.

After the gang wimps out he returns them to the ground, they run off and he goes about his business. He decides to report the incident to the local authorities, big mistake. The ascended mythbuster encounters more anti-human sentiment. He takes his complaint further up the government channels with the same result and is threatened with legal and illegal action against him. The authorities assault him and this time he goes to ascended form and fends off the Orions around him and simply says there are some people he wants them to meet. Then, in his ascended form he flies up into space and opens a gigantic rift in space to another timeline. He sends a message to his alternate in the other timeline to explain himself and the scene shifts to the alternate timeline.

In the alternate timeline the Orions are running their own Federation and have renounced their criminal and slave trading ways. They have become the Humans of their own Federation with most of the “alien” members of the Orion republic being newer Federation species [i.e. Trill, Bolians and the like]. The Orion Republic forces notice a massive temporal rift appearing over their homeworld and investigate, seeing an alternate Orion homeworld through the rift.

On the USS Anracosh, where the negotiations for supply lines are being negotiated notice the temporal rift but the talks go on while the rest of crew of the USS Anracosh investigates the rift. The diplomatic team state to their Orion visitors that the rift shows the power of the ancients. Look at what the ancients could do for them if they help the USS Anracosh with its mission. They use this as part of a “sales pitch” to get the Orions to help them. The crew quickly realise this is the work of an ancient and start investigating what has happened.

Meanwhile the two versions of the Orions start talking to each other and learn about how they are different. In the alternate timeline the Orions split off from the Federation and took half the Federation with them after the Federation lost a war to the Kzin. In the alternate timeline the Kzin developed a super starship that sank 15 Federation Dreadnoughts sent to destroy it. The Kzin were already mass producing the super starship. With new super starships already operational the Federation realised the war with the Kzin was a lost cause. All the Kzin had to do hold the line and then unleash the super ships when they were ready, which was sooner rather than later.

It was at this point the Orions lost confidence in the Federation. They recalled all the Orion pirates and rebuilt the Orion Space Navy. Orions, having been very upset at losing their space navy upon joining the “alternate” Federation rallied to the cause. The “alternate” Federation being unable to cope with one of its members creating a private army threatened to kick the Orions out of the Federation. The Orions left and took half the Federation with them. Both versions of the Orions admit that they only joined their respective versions of the Federation to protect themselves from the respective versions of the Klingon Empire.

The Federation now very weakened called a cease fire and negotiated a peace deal with the Kzin. The Kzin got back their outer territories populated by their Catian cousins and went on to unite all their Kzin offshoots and themselves into one empire. The end result is an “alternate” alpha and beta quadrants that are balkanised with no dominant powers, however many of the powers are closely aligned to each other, especially the Federation, the Orion Republic and the Interstellar Concordium, which is the part of the Federation that in an enclave beyond the Klingon Empire.

While the two versions of the Orions are meeting each other and meeting the alternate versions of themselves the crew of the USS Anracosh has called in the ancients to investigate the giant time rift appeared over Orion. They contact the ascended mythbuster [still in ascended form], who still in a state of fury explains that he is responsible and why he did it. He confirms that this is his doing and that he is giving the Orions an ancient races style object lesson.

The crew of the USS Anracosh call in the ancients to help them with the ascended mythbuster. They know that it is the Imitari who have to handle the ascended mythbuster. Each ancient race polices its own, so it is the Imitari authorities that have to handle him.

The Orion negotiators see the power of just one ancient, namely the ascended mythbuster, decide to turn a crisis into an opportunity and turn the negotiations into learning about the ancients. The crew of the USS Anracosh remind the Orions that all the details of the Realm of the Gods project are available on the Federation database. The Orions could look it up anytime they want. The Orions respond that until now they did not realise that the ancients were worthy of their attention.

The crew of the USS Anracosh guide the Orions around their starship and show them the benefits of diplomacy with the ancients. Their reasoning is that if they prove to the Orions that dealing with the Ancients has great benefits the Orions might be more willing to be their suppliers, as stated earlier, treating it like a sales pitch. The crew of the USS Anracosh say that the rift was created by one rogue ancient and other ancients are coming to help with the situation. They do not reveal that their friend the ascended mythbuster is the one responsible,

Meanwhile the ascended mythbuster is making sure the two Orion governments are learning about each other. The Orions of the ascended mythbuster’s timeline are seeing how much better the lives of the alternate Orions are because they lead their own version of the Federation.

The non-alternate Orions learn how the alternate Orions have renounced crime and slavery and are the Humans of their Federation. Their civilisation and lives are far more successful than their non-alternate selves. What really hammers it home is that the alternate and non-alternate Orions are different versions of exactly the same people. When the two different sets of Orions meet each other they are looking at other versions of themselves. The ascended mythbuster is making sure that the same people from the different timelines are dealing with each other.

The Orions are learning from each other and the negotiations for an alternate supply line for the USS Anracosh are going great. The non-alternate Orions are realising that they could be doing better and be far more successful if they reformed their ways. All looks well when disaster strikes. The ancients have arrived. If this were a random bunch of Ancients it would not be a problem. The Imitari are there to confront their fellow Imitari, i.e. the ascended mythbuster, but the ancients the Imitari have bought with them are something the Orions were hoping never to encounter again. The Ancients the Imitari have in in tow the race that enslaved the Orions thousands of years ago.

Pandemonium breaks out on both the Orion Homeworlds when it becomes widely known that the beings that enslaved their ancestors have returned, and to boot their former slave masters are now part of the Ancient races clique, with all kinds of ancient race powers. The Orions are now in a state of raw panic and chaos breaks out on the Orion home worlds. The negotiations on the USS Anracosh break down when the Orions onboard [negotiators and crew] learn of the return of their former slave masters.

The episode ends with an armada of the ancient slavers starships and ascended slavers orbiting the non-alternate version of the Orion homeworld and the alternate Orions retreating back through the rift trying to close it from their side, but because it is ancient race technology closing it is an act of futility. The Orion race is in a state of panic preparing for the worst as their race that enslaved them thousands of year ago has returned.

END OF PART ONE

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 3 part 1

Season 4 part 1

Season 3 Part 1

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 2 part 2

Season 3 part 2

Season 3 Episode 1

Distress call and Omega part 2

Title: The omega distress call part 2

USS Anracosh responds to a standard distress call

The episode starts with a recap of the previous episodes events and we return to see the USS Anracosh about to be attacked by very powerful weapons fire. The pulse hits and the USS Anracosh isagain sent flying “head over heels” through space.

The shields are taking a beating but quickly regenerate, and the captain orders the starship to fly to the settlement they detected on the habitable world in the system. The starship gets there in seconds and the captain returns an ultimatum of her own:

“Attention hostile forces this is the captain of the Federation vessel the USS Anracosh – ancient races contact ship. If you fire on us again we will retaliate by bombing important infrastructure on you colony and destroying the weapon you are using against us. Please respond.”

There is a brief pause and a hail comes back to the USS Anracosh, which is now orbiting above the colony. The speaker identifies himself as a representative of the Maquis republic. This is met with disbelief by the bridge crew of the USS Anracosh. The Maquis were destroyed during the Dominion war. These people can’t be the Maquis. Contradicting this assumption is the fact that scans are showing fairly modern Federation technology in the colony the USS Anracosh is orbiting. How could recent Federation technology get on a planet blocked by the subspace ending effects of an Omega explosion?

To answer that question the Maquis representative is seen looking up something on his computer terminal. He asks the starship to identify itself again. The captain of the USS Anracosh obliges. The attitude from the Maquis representative changes considerably.

“So you are the contact starship the ancients have told us about. We were not expecting you to visit us as your business is with the ancients, not us. We asked the ancients to keep our existence a secret. How did you find out about us?”

The captain goes through discovering Omega on the USS Anracosh and the events resulting from the discovery. The Maquis invite them to beam down to the surface of the Maquis Republic’s world saying that any friend of the ancients is a friend of theirs. This results in shore leave on an almost Federation world, which the crew appreciates.

The crew are welcomed with open arms by the rank and file Maquis, who see a once rogue Federation starship crew as kindred spirits. The same cannot be said for the diplomatic and officer delegation. The leaders of the Maquis Republic are not happy about their “Omega fortress” being destroyed and demand the crew undo their repairs to the sabotaged space that protects them from the outsiders.

The officer core and diplomats of the USS Anracosh say it is too late, they read the files the ancients left them on their starship. Therefore the Federation knows how to undo Omega damage. The Federation will finish what the USS Anracosh started. Their Omega fortress is about to be destroyed.

One of the Maquis representatives points out that there is no point asking the ancients for more Omega to rebuild the Omega fortress as the Federation can just demolish it all over again.

The B plot

The scene switches to the crew enjoying some shore leave. They are surprised to discover some Imitari [ascended humans] living among the Maquis. The Maquis and Imitari are friends and the conversation turns to technology. The chief engineer and science officer discuss that they have had problems rescuing hostile people and want to extend the hologram system of the USS Anracosh so they can fake being another starship.

The Imitari offer to help and some of the crew and the Imitari return to the USS Anracosh to upgrade its hologram systems. The Imitari, being in the ancient races clique, are quite knowledgeable about ancient race technology and help the chief engineer, science officer and their crews easily upgrade the hologram systems. This is yet another reminder to the chief engineer that his knowledge of ancient race technology is very lacking and it affects his self-esteem accordingly.

More of the B plot

The big conflict comes when crew of the USS Anracosh track down former comrades who live in the Maquis republic. These were Starfleet officers who defected to the Maquis and were thought to have died at the hands of the Dominion – until now.

The reaction from the Maquis when they see their ex-comrades is on of shock and suspicion. They are expecting a fight and cannot believe that their former brothers in arms have found them behind the Omega fortress.

What is initially thought to be a hostile encounter with Maquis security forces devolves into a reunion as the Crew of the Anracosh explains what has happened and just popped by to catch up with old comrades. It turns into a warm hearted friendly reunion where the crew wishes they could have recruited the Maquis for the rogue ancient races contact missions.

We return to the diplomatic negotiations where the thorny issue of having Maquis members tried for their war crimes is raised. Now that the Federation knows they are not dead the Federation will want to pursue legal charges. This is a point the Maquis representatives will not budge on. The Maquis Republic wants to leave the past behind and will protect their citizens from external prosecution.

The diplomats and officers of the USS Anracosh tell the Maquis representatives that the Federation will not budge on the issue and recall how the Federation wanted to jail them for the rogue operation that became the official ancient races contact project. The crew relay how they know the determination of their government in pursing criminal justice. The only thing that stopped the entire crew from being jailed was the intervention of the ancients. The ancients accepted the diplomatic overtures in exchange for a full presidential pardon for the crew. The Maquis respond this way:

“Oh, if only we had the backing of the ancients. Oh wait we do. See the lady in the corner taking notes, she’s an Imitari, an ascended human. You already know what an Imitari is, in time you will get around to doing official diplomacy with them. It turns out we do have the backing of the ancients and they will help us protect our citizens.”

The Imitari joins the negotiations, she points out that before the crew of the USS Anracosh arrived the Imitari offered to sponsor the Maquis Republic’s joining of the ancient races clique. If those prosecuted get life without parole they will be spending the rest of eternity in prison. The Maquis representatives were in the middle of negotiating with the Imitari when the USS Anracosh arrived. When asked how the Imitari got there the Maquis point to a building outside the window that is clearly a facility housing Iconian wormhole technology.

A deal is struck where the war criminals will be tried locally and if found guilty will be put in an open prison on Maquis Republic’s world. With that settled the usual recognition and friendship treaties are signed. With the job done the crew continues their shore leave and return to the USS Anracosh to complete the Omega cleanup.

A short time later the Admiral’s flotilla arrives on the scene while the crew of the USS Anracosh is cleaning up the Omega damage. The Admiral hails them and once again is very angry with them, but has to give them a message that Starfleet has decreed that the USS Anracosh and its crew are not to respond to distress calls unless, at the captain’s discretion, it is deemed a life threatening situation with nobody else available to help. She chastises the bridge crew out of spite and asks them why they are hanging out near the omega polluted area.

The crew have the last laugh when the Captain explains what they are doing and what they found on the USS Anracosh. The Admiral has to sit there dumbfounded as the Captain explains that Omega damage is very easy to clean up with easily accessible Federation technology and her crew will demonstrate how it’s done to the Admiral and her flotilla of starships.

The flotilla and the Admiral have to look on in utter disbelief and shock as the damage the Omega explosion is caused is reversed in a short space of time. The Admiral is sent the report and logs of what the crew discovered on the USS Anracosh, a small sample of Omega and the Omega damage reversal procedure.

The episode ends with a very reluctant “pat on the back” and congratulations by the Admiral to the Captain and her crew. She gives them the awards she is legally obliged to and tells them to get back to work, and the last scene is the USS Anracosh bridge crew after the hailing call has ended, laughing sour grapes style at getting the one up on their hostile superior.

 

Season 3 Episode 2

A day in the life of a rank and file crew member on the USS Anracosh

Ensign Ghezear is the Human Klingon Hybrid

Ensign H’yol is the Vulcan who represents the progressive Vulcan full life sect on the USS Anracosh

This is a romantic comedy episode

The B plot is the engineering and science crews testing the engines. For this mission instead of using a wormhole to get to the Small Magellan Cloud galaxy the crew decides to put the ancients enhanced warp drive through its paces. Meaning they are going from warp to hyperwarp [warp above warp and back again]. It’s up to the engineering and science crews to keep the engine running and at a ludicrously fast speed to get to the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy within a day. Things do go wrong and repairs are needed, but the crew has a solid backup plan of using the wormhole generator and impulse engines if they are needed. It nearly comes to that, but the engineering and science crews pull through and a successful hyperwarp trip gets them to the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

Ensign Ghezear wakes up and prepares for his shift. After his shower and breakfast in his cabin he puts on his lime green uniform. He leaves his cabin and on the way to his post in astronavigation he passes the starship’s dojo [martial arts training centre]. This is an important place as the vast majority of the crew are Dominion war veterans who are the Federation’s head kickers. Many of the crew hang out here as it is the starship’s social hub, but for now it is largely empty as almost everyone is at work. This evening it will be a social hub as the crew practices their well refined martial arts skills.

Ghezear says hello to Lieutenant Carol Johnson, a Human woman whose short petite stature makes a mockery of her martial arts skills. She could easily deck a Klingon warrior twice her size. People who don’t know her greatly underestimate her fighting ability, and she uses that to her advantage in combat. She runs the dojo and fought in the Dominion war. Lt. Johnson asks En. Ghezear to come to the dojo tonight as he has fallen behind in his training, which is compulsory for the non-specialists in the crew. She notes that normally Ghezear’s work team maintains the dojo for her, but today their services are needed elsewhere, and that is part of daily life on the USS Anracosh: Crew are sent where they are needed, when they are needed.

Ghezear also fought in the Dominion war and he did on occasion fight alongside Johnson. They have a history and this is why when Ghezear promises Johnson he will be at the dojo tonight they refer to each other by their first names. He calls Lt. Johnson ‘Carol’ and she calls En. Ghezear ‘Potab’.

After they exchange pleasantries Ghezear goes to his post thinking about why the head kickers in the crew need to keep up their combat training. In the deal struck with Section 31 [The Federation’s intelligence service] the USS Anracosh crew is to be made available to Section 31 for black ops missions in exchange for Section 31 resupplying the USS Anracosh. At any time Ghezear, like all of the war veterans in the crew, could be called up to do a covert mission for Section 31. He has not been called up yet, but it is only a matter of time. He has to be eternally ready. That does not bother him; it is what he signed on for in the early on in the Dominion war.

Ghezear arrives at astronavigation, he is one of the last crew to arrive on shift. The rest of his work team colleagues got on shift minutes before he did. This is his work team and they are that the part of the crew he gets reassigned with as needed. There are five of them, one team leader and four regular crew.

As he gets to his workstation the last of the workteam arrives. H’yol, a female Vulcan, gets through astronavigation’s door half a minute after Ghezear. H’yol takes a workstation next his. H’yol asks Ghezear what he is doing after work and Ghezear tells her about his promise to go to the dojo. H’yol says she wanted to go to the pub with Ghezear. Ghezear asks himself if she is interested in him romantically, but dismisses it quickly. She is part of his social circle onboard; they will probably just hang with the social group.

On the other hand, she is in the faction that wants to complete the starship’s black hole manipulator to weaponise it. Maybe she wants to talk him into joining her faction. Factions do not affect friendships or work relations. Faction merely means what opinion a person has about the black hole manipulator and nothing else. Currently Ghezear is in the ambivalent faction, he is on neutral about finishing the black hole manipulator, which was given to the Federation by the ancient races of the galaxy. It is one of many ancient race devices on the USS Anracosh. The USS Anracosh was an older version of the USS Excalibur when it was rebuilt by the ancients and the Federation as a diplomatic contact starship so the Federation could meet and greet the ancient races. It is why the USS Anracosh is called Anracosh, it stands for ANcient RAces COntact SHip.

Nobody is actually late for the shift, so nobody is chastised for lateness. Then again such a thing is unheard of in a crew as professional and bonded as he crew of the USS Anracosh. Team leader Fothven, an Andorian who leads the work team is in charge of astrogation today. He has recently used the starship’s neural education centre to get knowledge of long range navigation. He addresses the astronavigation crew and this breaks Ghezear’s train of thought.

Fothven states that they have a special mission today. The USS Anracosh is flying to the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy, a dwarf galaxy 200,000 light years away from the Milky Way galaxy. It’s up to astronavigation to keep track of the USS Anracosh’s location and get the starship home safely.

Before the USS Anracosh was launched such a mission was unthinkable. Fothven mentions to the group to think of the USS Voyager, which was trapped halfway across the Milky Way galaxy. If it wasn’t for some good fortune the USS Voyager would have taken 75 years to get back to the Federation, instead of the seven years that it actually was away from the Federation.

Now the Federation has the USS Anracosh – a starship upgraded by the ancients. It has a warp drive that can get them from one end of the Milky Way galaxy to the other end in the space of a fortnight at cruising speed. Nobody knows how quick the journey would take if they “floored the accelerator”. For all the crew knew if they used the USS Anracosh to its limits the other side of the galaxy could be minutes away. Nobody has yet tried to test the full capabilities of the USS Anracosh.

Fothven continues giving his orders, the USS Anracosh is ferrying diplomats to meet an ancient race currently living in the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy. To that end they are using the USS Anracosh’s wormhole generator to get to and from their destination. This means two wormholes will be created, one to get to the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy and one to get home. Why two? The wormholes made by the USS Anracosh are once use items. Once travelled through they collapse.

The crew begin their work and contact other departments around the starship. The large monitor in astronavigation has computer graphics of their location, their destination and the wormholes being created by members of the crew manning the wormhole generator. The process is far quicker than expected. Two wormholes appear on the screen and the astronavigation department must use the navigation computers to keep track of the starship’s location in space as they travel through one of the wormholes.

Ghezear realises how unthinkable this mission would have been before the USS Anracosh was rebuilt. No Federation vessel had the ability to travel so far outside the galaxy before as part of its normal abilities. Here they are travelling through the Small Magellanic Cloud to a rendezvous with an ancient race. Apart from the fact the USS Anracosh is in a galaxy away from Federation space the morning is uneventful. Calculating and monitoring the travels of the starship is for the most part just like navigating in the Milky Way galaxy. Navigating from the wormhole to the ancient races settlement is just going from point A to point B. Jobs like scanning the local region, diplomacy, engine maintenance or anything else are not Ghezear’s responsibility at the moment.

This would be a dull day in astronavigation except that the main astronavigation screen breaks down leaving the department blind to what is going on. The crew switches to small screens showing limited but different information while Fothven orders Ghezear and H’Yol to fix the main screen. The bridge is informed and are told that astronavigation can fix the problem themselves.

The crew goes on about how this mission was impossible before the Realm of the Gods project and Ghezear and H’yol fix the monitor. This separates the two from the rest of the astronavigation crew. At this time H’yol makes her moves and she makes a pass at Ghezear. She does this by saying that she is part of a sect of Vulcans that believes that having a sexually active lifestyle does not conflict with a life dedicated to logic. Because they are sexually active they do not go through a Pon Farr mating situation every seven years. She likes Ghezear and wants to take things further with him.

It begs the question did Fothven delibeeratly pair up H’yol and Ghezear so H’Yol could make a pass at Ghezear. Knowing the crew of the USS Anracosh that is exactly what has happened.

Nearing lunch break H’yol and Ghezear fix the monitor and return to the astronavigation crew. They get lunch delivered via crew services. Fothven notices how close H’yol and Ghezear are and puts two and two together and congratulates the couple.

Fothven then asks the bridge to send round some more crew to help astronavigation recheck the main monitor. He then turns to H’yol and Ghezear and orders them to take the afternoon off so they can get to know each other.

H’yol and Ghezear leave after lunch as some new crew enter the department to replace them. H’yol and Ghezear now have the freedom of the starship and can go do whatever they want. Ghezear takes her to the dojo and H’yol jokes that beating each other up in the dojo would qualify as a romantic evening to a Klingon. Ghezear gets the joke and they meet Lt. Johnson. She is surprised to see them, and like Fothven she realises they are a couple. She congratulates them and takes them to a part of the dojo where they can practice their martial arts skills. H’yol explains that they were given the afternoon off. Lt. Johnson proceeds to give them martial arts instructions and they spend a romantic afternoon engaging in martial arts practice.

In the evening they meet up with Fothven and the rest of the work team in the cafeteria. The two teams sit at a big table and unofficially debrief as they order their evening meals. Before H’yol and Ghezear can order food Fothven directs them to a two person table set up with candles and obviously set out as a table for a romantic evening. The work teams escort them to the table and move the chairs for them, sit them down and a waiter from crew services tends to them.

The scene changes as they talk and laugh during the evening, the work teams who set up the romantic dinner look over and smile occasionally and so do other members of the crew. When H’yol and Ghezear leave the pub the starship drops out of hyperwarp and they note that the USS Anracosh has arrived in the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The episode ends with H’yol and Ghezear entering the same cabin together.

 

Season 3 Episode 3

The race that is a copy of the Preservers

The USS Anracosh travels to a small galaxy orbiting a much larger galaxy. Here they meet some ancients that are copies of the Preservers. At the time the Preservers called themselves the Progenitors. We also learn a fun fact this episode: In the Preserver language preserver and progenitor are the same word. We learn this from the drone.

Eons ago the Preservers had a major base of operations in the small orbiting galaxy. One of the projects they did here was to copy their race rather than seed a world so it evolves a near human race of its own.

The new Preservers, who recently renamed themselves “the redo”, said as one word, “Theredo” have had a weird history in that as soon as they got warp capable they explored the galaxy and found many ancient sites of the Preservers. They also discovered that they are the only sentient life in the small galaxy. What they did not know at that time is that the Preservers deliberately made sure that no other intelligent life would evolve in the galaxy of the Theredo, so this motivates them to meet other sentients. The Preservers deliberately gave the Theredo a place where they could experience being the only sapient race in their galaxy. This was to give them an experience similar to the early history of the Preservers.

It was in recent times they discovered they were copies of an ancient race. As they explored the sites they gleamed technology and thus had some very uneven technological development for a time until they recently discovered technology that let them contact the ancient races clique. They discovered a dial a deity system in an archaeological dig site.

The original Preservers invited their brethren into the ranks of the ancients. The Preservers want to sponsor the Theredo into the ancient races clique because they see the Theredo and themselves as the same people. This lead the Theredo to learn about the Federation’s efforts in doing a Realm of the Gods project. Thus the Theredo invited the Federation to come and pay them a visit.

The Theredo are the first race the crew of the USS Anracosh has encountered who are sceptical about joining the ancient races clique. They have issues with the Preservers that need to be dealt with before the Theredo are willing to be part of the ancient races community.

The Theredo are in some ways technologically very advanced and in other ways technologically way behind the Federation. The ancients are in the process of bringing the Theredo up to speed, but that will take a few generations. What advanced technology the Theredo have is largely acquired from ancient Preserver sites scattered around the small galaxy.

What the crew of the USS Anracosh encounters in the Theredo is seeing starships capable of hyperwarp but have tricorders that have to be wheeled around on carts. This makes no sense until they learn that the Theredo mainly reverse engineer Preservers technology rather than invent it themselves.

The Theredo are also going through a crisis of faith in that they have discovered they are a copy of an ancient race rather than evolved on a world like other sentients. So what the crew of the USS encounter is a race that is not psychologically stable. The ancients advised the Theredo to wait a generation before being part of the Realm of the Gods project, but the Theredo went against this advice. They want to meet other non-corporeal beings before they ascend themselves, which they are not in a hurry to do. Once again this is because they are sceptical about joining the ancients.

When the crew of the USS Anracosh and the Theredo meet the Theredo are immediately recognised by the Drone as Preservers, and he says that he was raised by members of the race that created them. The Theredo representatives say that they have already met the original Preservers when the Theredo contacted the ancients. The do not hold any ill will towards the drone, in fact they see him as a fellow victim of the Preservers. The drone respectfully disagrees with them as he sees the preservers that raised him as loving parents.

The Theredo have learned from the Preservers there are more than a few copy races of the Preservers around the local group of galaxies and beyond. These copy races are in remote locations like other small galaxies, so they can be experience being the only sentient race they know, again emulating the early history of the Preservers. Once again learning this has given the Theredo a few mental issues. They feel devalued and have many questions because they are one of many copies of an ancient species.

The B plot

The reverse engineering department gets a chance to examine actual Preservers technology and many in the department are thrilled at such a fantastic opportunity. If it wasn’t for the Realm of the Gods project finding and analysing working Preserver artefacts would be a career maker. If it wasn’t for their current mission having the Preserver items would let them write their own ticket. Then again, if it wasn’t for the Realm of the Gods project they would never be holding Preserver technology in their hands.

This gives the reverse engineering team of the USS Anracosh goosebumps. This is what the original rogue mission was all about. Finding the technology and allies that could ensure the future of the Federation. What’s more they can call up the Preservers themselves and their Theredo descendants for help in understanding the Preserver technology they find in the small galaxy.

The Theredo reveal to the reverse engineering team that they have enmity towards the ancient races clique because of how the Theredo came into being. They actually prefer to work with the Federation and any other younger races that accepts their invitation to come and see them. They reveal that they have sent out many invitations to organisations running Realm of the Gods projects.

The ancients who are also helping the Theredo step in and say that this is one important thing the Federation has to learn about the ancients. The lesson is that the ancients have just as much internal politics as any other group. Look at the Klingon houses being against each other, the machinations inside the Romulan government, the factions of the Kazon and the internal politics of the Federation itself. There are plenty of examples across the galaxy and far beyond of groups with internal political factions. Why would a group as diverse as the ancients be any different? This is why in Realm of the Gods projects ancients must be met on a race by race basis. Many in the ancients community do not want other ancients with other agendas representing them.

This is a harsh lesson for the reverse engineering crew of the USS Anracosh. They knew of the internal politics of the ancients, but now it is being thrown in their faces. They see the Theredo and how they have stand offish relations with the ancients, especially the Preservers.

This is something the crew of the USS Anracosh avoided. The ancients present a united front because they need the Realm of the Gods project to replenish their numbers. Here however, is the truth behind the lie, the ancients are a deeply divided group just like any of the younger races. Politics it turns out is unfortunately universal and eternal, just ask the ancients.

The crew is seeing reality, yes the ancients have much to offer, but they are as flawed and political as any other people. In fact the ancients are shocked that the crew is shocked at seeing the internal politics. The reverse engineering crew say they have to report the discovery of the internal politics to the Federation. The ancients say they can do what they want about it, it won’t change anything. The ancients again stress that the Federation is full of internal politics, so why should the Federation be surprised about the ancients also have internal political manoeuvring as well.

“Oh, does it stun you that the ancients have politics just like any of the younger races? You should not be surprised. The Federation has its own internal politics, what makes you think that a diverse group like the ancients is immune to politics? Besides, it is the height of hypocrisy to criticise the ancients for having politics when the Federation is full of groups with their own political agendas. What you have discovered doesn’t mean a thing.”

The last scenes of the episode:

The diplomatic talks between the Preservers, the Federation and the Theredo have started. The Preservers want to hijack the negotiations on the grounds that the Theredo and themselves are the same race, thus the Preservers should represent them. This does not go down well with the Theredo. The Preservers seem to have a paternalistic/maternalistic attitude to their copy race that the Theredo see as patronising. The Federation diplomats, lead by the Chief diplomat of the USS Anracosh side with the Theredo and say the Theredo should be allowed to represent themselves.

The Theredo now have the stand, so to speak, and use it to explain their position: The whole Theredo race are facing an existential crisis. What is the point of this race doing anything if the race that created them has done it all before? Plus it turns out that the race that created them is the same race as them. Why reinvent their race when they could have colonised the small galaxy and just continued their culture rather than start over from nothing. This means that all the generations of the Theredo suffered and struggled building the Theredo civilisation for nothing. If everything has already been done why waste the effort doing it from scratch all over again?

What brings things to a head is the drone noting that what the Preservers are doing to the Theredo is just like what the Edo ancients do to their non-ascended brethren. The difference is that the “harvesting” is done after a much longer time scale. The drone explains that “harvesting” is an ancient race reproducing by making non ascended versions of themselves that they ascend after the non-ascended reaches adulthood.

Upon learning this the Theredo storm out of the meeting in disgust. As they leave they promise that this is merely a recess and the Federation negotiation team and the Preservers should meet them same time tomorrow to finish the diplomatic talks. They thank the drone for being honest, and that he should be rewarded for his honesty.

When the conference reconvenes the Theredo offer diplomatic relations with the Federation but are not joining the ancients anytime soon. They have a lot to process and it will take time for them as a species to come to terms that they are just a one of many copies of a much older more advanced race that intends to “harvest” them as the drone puts it. They have issues to work out and a micro galaxy that has not yet been fully explored. The Theredo offer the Federation a permanent presence in the small galaxy, saying that they will welcome the Federation with open arms.

They will work through what they have to and be a nation among others at the same time. They can do both, but being a copy of God like beings that will walk among you is something they have to take time to come to terms with. They wish the crew well as they sign the treaties and offer their galaxy as a research base for the Federation and offer the Federation full access to any and all Preserver technology in the small galaxy. The Federation delegates offer to set up permanent wormholes linking the small galaxy to the Milky Way galaxy. The show ends with the Theredo and the Federation diplomatic team shaking hands.

 

Season 3 Episode 4

The Hur’q garage sale

The crew of the USS Anracosh are visiting a world populated by a variety of ancient races. Here some crew members encounter a Hur’q having a garage sale. Some of the crew who have been trained by Klingons are deeply offended by seeing ancient Klingon artefacts being used as footrests and doorstops and the like. These items are for sale and the crew try and barter for them so they can gift them to their Dominion war Klingon trainers.

To put this image in perspective imagine a devout Christian seeing someone use the Ark of the Covenant as a footrest and seeing the same person use a piece of the cross that Christ was crucified on or a piece of Noah’s Ark used as a paper weight. Imagine that the Ark of the Covenant is also used as a coffee table and has coffee stains from the bottom of coffee cups on it.

The head kickers of the crew of the USS Anracosh debate whether or not to hand the Hur’q’s butt to him on platter for showing such disrespect to the Klingon artefacts. They are very tempted to beat the Hur’q senseless and steal the artefacts, but that would create a lot of problems for the diplomatic team, who are negotiating with the ancient race world’s central government.

One of the crew at the garage sale is Potab Ghezear, the half caste [Klingon father and Human mother] and he has to be restrained by the crew who are with him and calmed down. He is disgusted and enraged by the Hur’q’s mistreatment of Klingon artefacts. He does not want to buy back the relics, he wants to steal them and break the Hur’q’s back so hard the Hur’q will have his face acquainted with his butt.

The crew apologizes for the actions of their colleague and proceed to negotiate a selling price for the relics. The half Human half Klingon is escorted out of the area. The Hur’q realises what the crewman is and says that the Hur’q are a race of atheists, they find the idea an item or anything being sacred a laughable concept, hence the use of younger race sacred relics being used as doorstops and footrests. The crew trying to buy the relics have to really contain their anger at the Hur’q’s attitude and continue to try to buy the items for sale. In their hearts they want to follow their hybrid friend’s plan and beat the Hur’q senseless and take his stuff. They do however offer Federation archived cultural information and other similar data in exchange for the artefacts.

The crew also comment that they thought that the Hur’q had gone extinct, but it is the usual case that they were invited into the ancient races clique. It turns out that many races thought to be dead are actually now in the ancient races clique.

The B plots are divided into various subplots

One sub plot is that the ancients world wants a Federation embassy put on it. It could be a great way for ancients not from the Milky Way galaxy to encounter the Federation.

The main plot is the reactions to the Hur’q garage sale. The Hur’q is almost attacked by the crew and they have to deal with the fallout of it. This sabotages the diplomatic teams efforts, but it is not a body blow to the negotiations.

When the diplomatic team asks why the world is colonised by ancients the response is that the purpose of this world is for ancients who like the lifestyles they had as younger race beings. It is like some ancients seeking a simple lifestyle and want to live as such.

It is noted that one of the leaders of the ancient’s world is an Imitari, i.e. an ascended Human. What surprises the diplomatic team is that he is ex-Starfleet. He is seen in a Starfleet uniform dating from the T.O.S. era. He says that he is Lieutenant Dave Bailey who was ordered by Captain Kirk to remain on the First Federation vessel the Fesarius. He keeps the form he used to have for sentimental reasons and provides his “dog tag numbers” and security codes as proof that he is who he says he is. Dave also notes that many of the ancients on the world are there for sentimental reasons.

The diplomacy team asks Dave why he abandoned the Federation and his loved ones to become an ascended being. Dave replies with great sorrow that he agreed to being ascended with the last of the First Federation’s citizens. His plan was to become an energy being and return to the Federation and offer the Federation all the abilities of the ancients.

It becomes obvious to the diplomatic team that Dave had the same idea as them, which is have the Federation talk to the ancients and get some advantage from them. When Dave was fully Human the Federation was at war with the Klingons. Any help from the ancients back in that era would have meant the Federation crushing the Klingons over a century ago. The diplomatic team realize that Dave is like a kindred spirit to the crew of the USS Anracosh.

The diplomatic team ask Dave why he never returned to the Federation. Once again Dave laments his past and it shows. Dave had a bad reaction to ascension that took him decades to recover from. In that time the Imitari cared for him and gave him his mental health back. By the time Dave recovered his close relatives were all dead and he learned that he had to pick a side. Ascended or corporeal, pick one. Having left the Federation half a century beforehand, Dave chose to stay with the ancients.

Dave reveals that when a Human ascends they are given to the Imitari who then guide and initiate them into the ranks of the ancient races clique. The famous Wesley Crusher has met the Imitari and Lieutenant Junior Grade O’Conner of the USS Cerritos currently lives with the Imitari.

Dave says that the Imitari are debating how to handle an official meeting between them and the rest of Humanity. This is why the Imitari government has not contacted the Federation and asked for the USS Anracosh to visit the Imitari Commonwealth. Simply put the ground work for a diplomatic meeting has not been completed, when it is they should seek out the Imitari government.

Dave notes that he is not a representative of the Imitari people; he is a leader of the ancients world they are on. Speaking of which, they should get back to the negotiations about the Federation having an embassy here. The diplomatic crew agrees and the talks continue as the scene shifts to one of the B plots.

Another sub plot: The Zalkonian doctor is offered a place on the world, if not right now, but as a place that one day she can emigrate to when the Realm of the Gods project is much further advanced and she is no longer needed on the USS Anracosh. She is tempted to take a home on the world, but her loyalty is to her current crew. She makes the decision that the world will be her long term home when she eventually retires from her current job. She is also surprised to learn that there is a Zalkonian community on this world, but none of them are anyone she knew in her previous life. She meets them and they set aside a home for her in “Little Zalkonia” She will always have a place there, even if she moves into the home centuries into the future from her current visit to the world.

A third sub plot is an ascended female Bajoran noticing a non-ascended male Bajoran in the ranks of the away team. The ascended Bajoran is noticed by the non-ascended Bajoran and with the help of the world’s authorities a chase proceeds because the non-ascended Bajoran wants to know how a Bajoran became an ascended being. The ascended Bajoran manages to flee off world and the authorities stop helping the non-ascended Bajoran because the ascended Bajoran has left their jurisdiction. Also, the authorities hesitate to help the non-ascended Bajoran on the grounds that what he is doing hints at stalking. They use the excuse of her leaving the planet as an excuse to stop helping him.

It is revealed to the audience [but not the show’s characters] that the ascended Bajoran is a wormhole alien. The Prophets and their Par Wraith cousins are ascended Bajorans who left Bajor eons ago.

The focus of the episode shifts from the crew almost beating up the Hur’q to the diplomatic efforts and a tour of the ancients colonised world with the Zalkonian doctor questioning if leaving the USS Anracosh to be with her own people is right for her, but her character is that she does not want to be with the ancients at this time because she was ascended against her will. She is still coming to terms with having ascension forced on her.

The diplomatic team and the government of the world both get what they want, a Federation embassy on the world and the world as an ally of the Federation. Dave himself signs the friendship treaty documents and other relevant paperwork. As for the Hur’q, he learns what the Klingons really think of the Hur’q. The crew who nearly beat the Hur’q are let off lightly, the officer core can’t bring themselves to punish them, they agree with the crew that the Hur’q’s actions are disgraceful.

At the end of the episode the Klingon [and other races] artefacts are shown being made ready for shipping to their respective cultures and the crew saying to each other job well done. One of the crew helping with the shipping of the artefacts is the non-ascended Bajoran. He mentions that he saw an ascended Bajoran on the planet and tried to track her down to ask how a Bajoran could be an ascended being. His crew mates say the planet’s authorities were right to tell him what he did hints at stalking and say it would be unwise to do anything like that again, with or without ancients being involved. The Bajoran agrees and it is left a mystery as to who the ascended Bajoran is. Also the crew say to the Bajoran that given their constant interactions with the ancients he will likely find out the truth sooner rather than later.

 

Season 3 Episode 5

Second Klingon episode

The USS Anracosh tracks down the Klingon ancient races contact starship. Here the crew of the USS Anracosh return the Klingon artefacts retrieved from the Hurq garage sale. The Klingons and the Federation are trading notes on their contacting the ancient races and they travel to a Klingon Starbase together.

Once docked the crew get mildly jealous at the fact the Klingon ancient races contact starship’s crew get treated as equals by the rest of the Klingon Empire, they are not shunned like the crew of the USS Anracosh by the Federation.

The Crew tell their Klingon counterparts about the problems they have with the Federation and the Klingons laugh. That’s Federation exceptionalism for you. The Federation would have to have a problematic relationship with the ancients. There is no way the Federation can cope with something or someone that is superior to them. The Klingons say that they would be surprised if the Federation’s Realm of the Gods project was running smoothly.

While the USS Anracosh is docked at the Klingon base the Klingons want another tour of the USS Anracosh stating their alliance with the Federation as the reason that they should be allowed to analyse the ancient race enhanced systems of the starship. The Chief engineer just laughs saying good luck trying to figure out how the ancient races technologies work. If the Federation can’t reverse what the ancients put on the USS Anracosh, what hope do the Klingon have? However, he is all for the Klingons having free run of the starship. If they can shed some light on ancient races technology he will be very thankful.

It is agreed that the Klingons will have free run of the USS Anracosh and that the Klingon artefacts will be given to the Klingons when they are on the USS Anracosh. There is one condition, the Klingons cannot take any ancient race technology from the USS Anracosh. All analysis must be done on the Federation starship. The Klingons agree to this and say that it is dishonourable to steal, and that since they are examining ancient race technology that it has to be handled carefully. Meaning it should be kept where it won’t do something unpredicted.

The Klingons on the USS Anracosh are divided into two groups. One group will attend the official handover of the artefacts, the other [much larger group] will analyse and try to reverse engineer the ancient races technologies encountered on the USS Anracosh.

The B plot

A deliberately malfunctioning artefact – the Hurq having the last laugh. The Klingon entourage enters the USS Anracosh. The ceremony group goes to the party cargo bay for the official handover. The rest of the Klingons go to main engineering. We follow the Klingons going to the ceremony.

The ceremony is actually being televised in the Klingon Empire and the crew of the USS Anracosh resents the fact that their green uniforms of shame have no dress uniform variant. The usual fanfare of speeches starts of the handover ceremony. The Captain of the USS Anracosh speaks first, explaining what is going on to the Klingon television viewers.

When the Klingon commander speaks he notes that they are on the USS Anracosh, and states what it is, a Federation ancient races hybrid starship. He then goes to state that the Klingon Empire has its own Ancient races contact ship and the Klingons are running their own ancient races diplomacy project, i.e. running their own Realm of the Gods project.

The Klingon commander then drops a bombshell. The Klingon Empire is going to allow and encourage their subject races to try joining the ancient races clique. The Klingons want to inherit the worlds of their subject races that succeed in joining the ancients.

The chief diplomat quietly says to the captain to just role with it. She does so and the ceremony proceeds as planned, except that the one of Klingons present, an expert in Klingon artefacts, notes that one of the artefacts is Hurq, not Klingon, but still has some important historic significance to the Klingons and they want to take it. The Hurq, a race now in the ancient races clique, once ruled the Klingons and there are still many Hurq artefacts on Kronos, the Klingon home world.

The Federation delegates agree to let the Klingons take the artefact. Since the Federation has access to the ancients they can get as many artefacts from the ancients as they want. Besides, the Hurq artefact is an abstract sculpture of some sort that appears utterly inert, why not let the Klingons keep it?

The ceremony roles on to various Klingon rituals and we change scenes to see what is happening in main engineering with the Klingons. The Klingons are getting frustrated and angry. They are as perplexed by the ancient races technology as their Federation counterparts in main engineering. The chief engineer says welcome to my world.

“Now you know why I laughed. I have been at this for a few of years. I find only dead ends in examining the ancients technology of the USS Anracosh. If you are frustrated and angry now, imagine how I feel after years of studying machinery that makes no sense to a creature that is not a million year old energy being.”

The drone is doing his best to help the Klingons and they do not know how to react to him at the moment. They know his origin story. The drone has to admit that the technology they are looking at could not be built by younger races.

“You lack the thing that makes thing that makes the thing that makes the thing that makes thing that makes this device, and probably many regressions beyond that. Sorry, but you are dealing with technology a million years ahead of anything that the younger races can create.”

The analysis of the ancient races technology is only giving the Klingons a superficial understanding of it. That is still plenty to work with, but many of the Klingons feel that trying to figure out the ancients machinery on the USS Anracosh is a waste of time. They are glad not to have a hybrid ancients Klingon starship. Given how frustrated and angry they are now, if the USS Anracosh was the IKS Anracosh, i.e. the Imperial Klingon Ship Anracosh, the Klingons would have blown it up out of frustration a long time ago.

The Klingon engineering and science team cut their losses, take what data they have collected and wait for the ceremony team to finish in the party cargo bay. The Klingons explain their experiences to each other, the ceremony crew saying they have a Hurq artefact among the Klingon relics and the science and engineering crew saying that the analysis was almost a waste of time.

With the ceremony done and the Klingon science and engineering crew’s work done as well, the crew of the USS Anracosh gets some shore leave on the Klingon Starbase. Some of the crew follow the ceremony/parade of taking the artefacts to the Starbase’s temple. It is during this time that halfway between the USS Anracosh and the Temple that the Hurq artefact activates, although the activation is not obvious just by looking at it.

It is not immediately apparent what is happening, but a cloud appears around the Starbase that forms a cloud shell that is spherical and leaves a considerable amount of space between it and the starbase that is surrounds. This leaves the starbase cut off. A Klingon starship travelling to the starbase gets its rear half caught in the cloud, and the rear half of the starship falls apart as if being dismantled. The crew have to eject and the Klingon ship is a write off.

The Klingon starbase and starships open fire on the cloud shell that surrounds the starbase. Phaser and Disruptor fire go straight through the cloud like it is nothing and the torpedoes upon entering the cloud do not explode, they just fall apart into a cluster of their components. It is quickly discovered that anything in the cloud is disassembled to its raw components.

The drone, who is following the parade, looks up and realises what he is seeing. As soon as he sees the cloud, he calls the bridge of the USS Anracosh. He informs them that the cloud is sabotaged space, and not to approach it, it is very dangerous. He asks for the Klingon and Federation science and engineering crews to return to the USS Anracosh. They are going to need everyone they can get to fix this problem.

The drone is worried, he thinks that the USS Anracosh’s weapons systems have had a critical malfunction and need immediate attention. The drone says that if it comes to it chuck the entire crew through neural education backgrounds to give them STEM skillsets. If the USS Anracosh has a malfunction this bad then it is a disaster in the making. The drone requests to be beamed directly to main engineering. He will personally lead the repairs on the USS Anracosh, and don’t bother calling in the ancients, even they will have problems crossing a sabotaged space field. The drone stresses that if they can’t stop the field, everyone in it will be trapped inside it permanently.

The drone is teleported to main engineering. The Federation crew is in front of him and the Klingons are beaming in. When everyone is ready the drone speaks, saying that he cannot stress enough the seriousness of this situation. If they cannot fix the problem they are stranded. It will take the ancients considerable effort to cross a sabotaged space field. For now they are on their own.

The science officer says that it resembles the barrier that used to imprison rogue ancients at the edge of the galaxy. The drone says it is based on the same technology. The drone orders everyone to go through the weapons systems with a fine tooth comb, and then go through the systems attached to the weapons systems. Something must have gone wrong and it might be something subtle.

The search begins for the fault in the USS Anracosh’s systems and the crews, Klingon and Federation report that they can find nothing wrong. The drone says one word “again”, and clarifies “check the systems again” The Federation crew realise that the drone could be a hard task master if he was given a command position and think he is very aggressive in his command style. The Klingons take a shine to him, liking his tough leadership style. The drone defends himself by saying he understands the gravity of their situation because he understands what ancient races technology can do much better than they can.

Again, after a while the search goes nowhere. The Systems on the USS Anracosh are in perfect working order. The drone just orders “again” and this time the head of the Klingon team, the chief engineer and the science officer stop him. They ask what a sabotaged space device would look like.

The drone says it would be surprising small given what it can do, but it would need a power source to keep it running. A small power source could make the device work, sabotaged space will revert to normal space without the device being powered. The power source would be big, but the device itself would be smaller then you expect.

The drone then takes them to the sabotaged space device on the USS Anracosh. One of the Klingons notes that the sabotaged space device is the same size and shape as the Hurq statue the Federation just gave them. It hits the drone, the Klingons and the Federation crew like a thunderbolt. Check the artefacts bought from the Hurq, one of them might be a sabotaged space device in disguise.

The drone says he needs to see the artefacts and demands to be transported [teleported] to the artefacts right away. To the Federation he is exceeding his authority as an advisor on ancient race issues and they don’t want to take orders from someone so underqualified for command. The Klingons have the opposite attitude. They love his kick butt take charge assertive style. They pull rank because it is a Klingon station and demand that the drone be bought to the artefacts now in the Klingon temple.

The hunch of the drone is right: The Hurq artefact is the source of the sabotaged space field. The drone uses his ancient race abilities to “scan” the Hurq statue. The drone explains to the Klingons that, he being an ancient, has the ability to interact with ancient race technology.

The drone discovers that the device will run out of power in a day or so, and the sabotaged space field will collapse when the device has no energy to sustain the sabotaged space field. The drone uses his ancient race abilities to turn the device off anyway and the field surrounding the Starbase disappears.

The Klingons note that so many Hurq artefacts were left on Kronos after the Klingons kicked them out, that the art styles of the Hurq had a major influence on Klingon art, thus the crew of the USS Anracosh mistook the statue as Klingon in origin. Only an expert in Klingon art, like one of the Klingons at the ceremony would notice the difference. The Hurq took advantage of the Starfleet personnel who threatened him and must have set the device on a timer before selling it to them.

With the crisis over there is one more piece of unfinished business for the Federation beings and the Klingons. The Klingon ancient races contact ship and the USS Anracosh make their way to the ancient races world where the Hurq resides. They explain to the leaders of that world how the Hurq was so irresponsible in misusing a sabotaged space device. A device that dangerous is not something to toy with.

The Klingons, Federation and ancients that lead the ancients world do not care why the Hurq set off a sabotaged space weapon, and they agree that the Hurq must be punished. A hint is given to the next scene. The head kickers serving on the USS Anracosh and the Klingons know how to fight someone and not accidentally kill them.

The show ends with a group of Klingons and Federation personnel, including the drone beating the Hurq senseless for giving them the sabotaged space artefact that nearly cut them off from the rest of the universe, and potentially could have killed them. The Klingons now have a deep respect and admiration for the drone.

 

Season 3 Episode 6

Encounter the Yertholm

Note: Changlings and Founders are the same people. It’s two different names for the same thing.

The B plot is the existential crisis faced by the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar, the two slave races of the Dominion when they discover their gods – the founders of the Dominion treat the ancients as the gods of the founders. The crew of the USS Anracosh makes sure that the word gets out to the rest of the members of the slave races and this puts the Dominion into chaos as the two slave races go into melt down because the spell of the founders being gods to them is broken. The crew of the USS Anracosh take a great amount of glee at getting back at their former foes from the Dominion war.

The crew use the USS Anracosh to broadcast as far and wide as possible the founders worshipping the ancients. This is to spread as far and wide as possible an existential crisis among the slave races of the Dominion, which would be a body blow to the Dominion and severely weaken an empire that is a long term major threat to the Federation.

The story: This mission takes the USS Anracosh into Dominion space, through the region owned by their adversaries from the recent [four or more years ago] Dominion war. The crew is not nervous about this, the USS Anracosh can easily defeat anything the Dominion can throw at them, plus the Dominion would have to answer to the ancients if the Dominion tried to stop a diplomatic mission sent from the Federation to any ancient race.

In a remote area near Dominion space they are going to an outpost of an ancient race called the Yertholm. The Yertholm have contacted the Federation and thus the USS Anracosh has been dispatched to meet with them. It is the standard diplomatic meet and greet, except the USS Anracosh has to go through Dominion space.

The Dominion are not happy about the USS Anracosh travelling through their territory and make that fact clear to the crew of the USS Anracosh when they enter Dominion space. Despite the Dominion’s negative reaction to a Federation vessel of such magnitude as the USS Anracosh in their space, they are too afraid of ancient race retribution to deny the USS Anracosh safe passage. Therefore there is only one condition to the journey. A Dominion vessel and crew will observe the negotiations between the Yertholm and the Federation.

The Dominion reveals that they are aware of ancients active in their part of the galaxy, but they only interact with the ancients at a minimal tokenistic level. Pretty much the same deal as any other younger race. Run away and put up no trespassing signs around ancient race sites. Like any other younger race the Dominion does not want to provoke the ancients. The crew of the USS Anracosh asks them about the ancients in the Dominion’s region, to which the Dominion offers them access to the Dominion’s archives about the ancients that they know about.

This shocks the crew of the Anracosh that their former enemies would be so generous. Fair enough that the war is over and the Dominion want to put the war behind them, but as the Dominion crew points out, the Yertholm would give them the same sort of information anyway, so why hide it?

Many of the crew were looking forward to tormenting their former enemies by flying the USS Anracosh through Dominion territory and having the Dominion wince in pain about the Federation having a super powered starship, and also grin and bear it as the same starship is doing a diplomatic mission to a race they are powerless against and they cannot do anything about it. What stuns the crew of the USS Anracosh is how blasé the Dominion is about the diplomatic mission.

The USS Anracosh is escorted through Dominion space and tries to get more answers from their Dominion escort vessels. This is a fruitless task as the Dominion crew says they will understand when they meet the Yertholm. When the USS Anracosh gets to Yertholm space they discover that the Dominion crew were not kidding. The Federation finally meet the Yertholm face to face, and the face the Federation sees is the face of the manufactured Jem’Hadar soldiers the Dominion uses, albeit an ascended ancient races version of a Jem’Hadar face, including female Yertholms.

The Yertholm look like the Jem’Hadar and they reveal that The Changelings [The founders of the Dominion] got some preserved DNA from Yertholm remains, reverse engineered it and changed to it to produce the Jem’Hadar soldiers. The Jem’Hadar are a genetic modification of the Yertholm species, even though the Yertholm ascended many thousands of years ago.

It turns out the founders of the Dominion, the Changelings, found an abandoned Yertholm base and discovered Yertholm genetics technology on the abandoned base. This is how the Changelings got so advanced in genetics, by getting it from a base built by beings that at the time were on the verge of joining the ancients.

Via the Yertholm the crew of the USS Anracosh learn that the Changelings are actually a discarded ancient race computer system. In fact the location of the base was part of their files when the Changelings were a computer.

The Dominion crew learns this information as well be being observers to the diplomatic talks. The Dominion crew [Jem’Hadar and Vorta] do not know how to react to the Changelings, who they see as gods, being a computer for the ancients. They will have to find a way to come to terms with it, especially when the Yertholm provide evidence and a Changeling on the Dominion starship in Yertholm space confirms that it is the truth. The Changelings have to admit to their slave races [the Jem’Hadar and the Vorta] that the ancients are gods to the Changelings. Just as the Jem’Hadar and the Vorta see the Changelings as gods, the Changelings see the ancients as gods. This gives the Jem’Hadar and the Vorta an existential crisis that they cannot resolve because of the genetic programming the Changelings put into them.

The Yertholm add that the Vorta used to be the Gamma quadrant’s equivalent of the Alpha quadrants Pakleds, a space faring race of low intelligence that the Changelings discovered and got sick of their stupidity. To fix this the Changelings modified the Vorta into their current form. Their myth about being ape like creatures that saved a founder and were rewarded by the Changelings is just that – a myth. The Vorta’s existential crisis is worsened when the Yertholm reveal these facts.

The Yertholm then reveal they are an ancient race warrior species and this leaves the Federation crew as perplexed and in an existential crisis as much as the Dominion crew about their Changling “gods” having gods of their own. The Federation crew thought being an ancient race and warrior race were mutually exclusive. Not the case apparently. Some of crew think it is impossible for a warrior species to become an ascended race. The warrior ancients have to convince the Federation crew that they are the real deal.

They Yertholm point out that the criteria for joining the ancient races clique does not conflict with being a warrior race. As long as a race qualifies to join the ancients, whatever else they are does not matter. The Yertholm put more effort into proving their point of being a warrior ancient race. Much of the episode is dedicated to the crew accepting that the Yertholm are being sincere about everything the Yertholm have told them. The crew eventually realises that the Yertholm are the real deal.

When the crew comes to terms with the truth the Yertholm ask for the usual friendship and alliance treaties to sign and for diplomatic relations to commence, and so a short signing ceremony takes place. The episode ends with the Yertholm saying they are sending a message to the Klingons saying that the Yertholm would love to meet them and establish diplomatic relations with them.

Also the crew of the USS Anracosh gets a very nice sour grapes feeling that the harmed their former Dominion enemies by giving their two slave races an existential crisis that they cannot come to terms with. This will hurt the Dominion and the Federation crew did not have to fire a shot to exact some revenge on their former foes.

The big reveal at the end of the episode is that revealing that the founders have “gods” that they worship has thrown the Dominion into chaos. The Jem Hadar and the Vorta are questioning the founder’s rule and all but a small minority are refusing to obey orders without questioning them. The crew of the USS Anracosh use the ancient race systems on their vessel to monitor the situation in the Dominion as civil chaos breaks out. The founders are seeing their empire collapse around them and will have an uphill battle at best to restore order.

The crew of the USS Anracosh are celebrating this fact. A long term major threat to the Federation is on the verge of destroying itself. This is why the crew started their Realm of the Gods project – it is way to stop those that are a major threat to the Federation. Seeing the Dominion implode is exactly the kind of outcome the crew wants. The episode ends with the crew celebrating the collapse of the Dominion, and it could easily be more than a century, if ever, before they reach the former glory.

 

Season 3 Episode 7

Bajoran doctor’s episode – the Bajoran project

The USS Anracosh is still in the Gamma Quadrant returning to Federation territory. It is at this moment the Bajoran doctor seizes a rare opportunity for the USS Anracosh to take the Bajoran wormhole back to the Alpha quadrant and while doing so have the USS Anracosh run some diplomacy with the wormhole aliens that the Bajorans worship as Gods. The Bajoran doctor has the agenda of making his race realise that the wormhole ancients are not gods, but are in reality just another ancient race.

The Bajoran doctor has learned through the many encounters with the ancients that ancients can sense things about each other that younger races cannot. So he has thought up a plan, get the Zalkonain doctor to look at a wormhole alien and ask her what she sees. The only thing he needs to do is convince the drone to recommend that the Crew of the USS Anracosh visit the wormhole aliens and treat it like a Realm of the Gods mission.

The Bajoran doctor’s plan B is to access the USS Anracosh’s ancients enhanced communication system while the starship is inside the wormhole and contact the wormhole aliens directly and have them contact the USS Anracosh and offer a diplomatic meeting. Fortunately it does not come to that. The Bajoran doctor convinces the drone to tell the officer core to visit Bajor’s wormhole ancients.

The Bajoran doctor simply suggests the idea to the Drone that they should use the Bajoran wormhole to get back to the Federation and while they are in the wormhole contact the wormhole ancients. It does not take much effort to convince the Drone this is a great idea. The Drone is not that worldly and does not realise that the Bajoran doctor has an agenda. The Drone just takes the recommendation as a great idea and relays the suggestion to the Captain. She to likes the idea because of her agenda of getting her race ready to join the ancients. The Captain issues the relevant orders and the USS Anracosh diverts to the Gamma Quadrant end of the Bajoran wormhole.

The other Bajorans in the rank and file do not know about the orders. They are too low ranking to really get the full picture, so grievances about talking to their gods does not become an issue on the USS Anracosh.

The USS Anracosh enters the wormhole with its communication array blaring out greetings in order to attract the attention of the wormhole aliens. This works and soon they have the Wormhole aliens opening a communication channel with them. The crew of the USS Anracosh thought that negotiating with creatures outside of time would mean not having a common frame of reference and this would make communication difficult. Over the “radio channel” they say this and the Ascended Bajorans returned to this universe to make it easier for younger race beings to negotiate with them.

What the crew sees is confronting – what they see is the wormhole aliens dropping the act of being outside linear time and showing themselves for who they really are. It is obvious that they are ascended Bajorans. This is quite a revelation and raises more questions than it answers. Why are the wormhole ancients ascended Bajorans? For now it becomes the mission of the USS Anracosh to find out. This is not what the Bajoran doctor was expecting. He did not know that the wormhole aliens were ascended Bajorans, even though there have thousands of times he could have asked ancients visiting the USS Anracosh information about the wormhole aliens.

The unthinkable happens some of the wormhole aliens ask to board the USS Anracosh for face to face talks saying that now the Realm of Gods project is running it is time to drop their outside of time ruse and give some answers. The wormhole aliens have dropped all their disguise and are there as they truly are, ascended Bajorans. There is diplomacy between the chief diplomat and the ascended Bajoran diplomat starts and the rumour mill on the USS Anracosh goes berserk.

In the diplomatic meeting the ascended Bajorans admit that the being outside of linear time is a reference to the fact that the wormhole accesses a mini universe that exists outside of time compared to our universe. The mini universe was created by the Ascended Bajorans as a home.

The diplomacy team has a few questions for the ascended Bajorans, the first question is what happened to the Starfleet officer Benjamin Sisko who joined the “Prophets” at the end of the Dominion war?

Answer: Benjamin Sisko left the ascended Bajorans when he discovered the truth of the wormhole aliens being Ascended Bajorans. He felt that the wormhole aliens should tell the truth. Sisko went off to explore the ancient races clique and the Ascended Bajorans do not know what became of him. They asked the Imitari [ascended humans] if he was with them or contacted them and the Imitari said no.

The second question: What happened to the Dominion reinforcements that the wormhole aliens/ascended Bajorans made disappear during the Dominion war?

Answer: The Dominion reinforcements that disappeared in the wormhole were handed over to the Yertholm, whom they are based off. They have been cured of their founder loyalty and assimilated into Yertholm society as fellow ascended ancients, and that includes the Vorta who were part of the reinforcement forces.

The third question: What are the origins of the ascended Bajorans?

Answer: The Bajorans were much more advanced millions of years ago but at that time they could not agree to all agree on becoming ascended beings. This is because they figured out the dangers of immortality before ascending. The modern non-ascended Bajoran people are the descendants of those who refused to become non-corporal and gave their race a technological restart instead of staying extremely advanced. Essentially they were the Bajoran equivalent to the Amish on Earth.

The fourth question: Do the ascended Bajorans live in the Bajoran Wormhole?

Answer: No, the crew of the USS Anracosh are told to check their ancient race sensors. The crew of the USS Anracosh find that the Wormhole has a tunnel at a right angle to the wormhole proper. This tunnel can only be detected by ancient race enhanced instruments and ancient race beings themselves. The Zalkonian Doctor is asked to look at it and she sees the tunnel although the younger race crew cannot see it.

The tunnel in the wormhole leads to a mini universe made by the ascended Bajorans that exists outside of our time, and it can be used as a time machine. This pocket dimension is the home of the ascended Bajorans. They made the wormhole and the pocket dimension. The ascended Bajorans invite the crew of the USS Anracosh to fly to the pocket dimension.

The ascended Bajorans describe the dimension as a place where the laws of science can be customised by ascended beings as they please. Any part of the dimension or the whole dimension can be altered like magic. Unfortunately it is not set up for non-ascended beings to survive in, but if the crew of the USS Anracosh are willing to travel to the dimension the ascended Bajorans are willing to make a part of the dimension comfortable for them.

The crew has one more question before the core officers break for a meeting to decide what options to take.

Question: Why didn’t the ascended Bajorans do something about the Cardassian invasion and occupation of Bajor?

Answer: The ascended Bajorans were obeying the ancient races clique rules about non-intervention. Related to this: The ascended Bajorans wanted the non-ascended Bajorans to figure out they should do the Realm of the Gods project by themselves. They hoped the non-ascended Bajorans would figure out the truth and when they were advanced enough pay the ascended Bajorans a visit. Then the ascended Bajorans would have told them the truth. Now that the younger races are running a Realm of the Gods the rules have changed. The ascended Bajorans say that it is time for the two halves of the Bajoran race to meet.

The two sides then break from their diplomatic talks to confer within their respective groups. It is here where the Bajoran doctor confesses to convincing the Drone to recommend that they contact the wormhole aliens. Like the rest of them, he had no knowledge prior to contact that they were ascended Bajorans. The Bajoran doctor said in his defence that he wanted the truth to come out about the wormhole aliens and given the nature of the Realm of the Gods project the truth would have come out eventually. The officer core had to agree with him on that.

The officer core decide that no disciplinary action be taken against the Bajoran doctor, they were just as surprised as he was about learning the truth of the wormhole aliens.

The other item on the agenda is going to the pocket plane of the ascended Bajorans. The captain accepts the invitation and the USS Anracosh to go to the dimension made by the ascended Bajorans.

This proves to be a briefer visit than expected, the crew of the USS Anracosh are given a brief tour of the dimension and are shown its physics breaking and time travel abilities. Then the crew detect that large numbers of ascended Bajorans are leaving the dimension. The crew of the USS Anracosh ask why the ascended Bajorans are leaving and where are they going.

The answer is not something the crew of the USS Anracosh want to hear: The ascended Bajorans are returning to Bajor en masse in what qualifies as an invasion.

The ascended Bajorans want to set up a project on Bajor showcasing that ancients and younger races can coexist together. It will show the inhabitants of the Milky Way galaxy their future of living alongside the ancients while they are bought up to the level of the ancient races.

The crew of the USS Anracosh realise that all the ascended Bajorans are heading off to Bajor. The ascended Bajorans confirm this and the USS Anracosh, with all the crew onboard makes it way to Bajor to warn the Bajorans that they are about to be invaded.

The final scene is the USS Anracosh weaving around ascended Bajorans in the wormhole trying to outrun them and get to Bajor first. The starship leaves the wormhole and speeds at hyperwarp to Bajor.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 2 part 2

Season 3 part 2

Season 2 Part 2

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 2 part 1

Season 3 part 1

Season 2 Episode 8

Romulan episode supernova suppression part 2

This episode is the second of two massive middle fingers to new trek

This episode incompatible with new trek

Note:

An experiment done by the Romulans has gone horribly wrong and destabilised the Hobus star. The Romulans know it will go supernova within a decade but can’t fix the problem themselves. Now that the ancients are approachable the Romulans have gotten help from the ancients to fix the unstable star for them. For the record the Hobus star is three light years away from the Romulus itself, outside the gravity of the star planet Romulus orbits.

The episode starts with a recap of the previous episode, including the falling out between the ancients and the Romulans and the suppression of the Romulan supernova and the reason the ancients saved the Romulan empire.

The scene changes to a diplomatic conference between the ancients and the Romulans with the Federation [the diplomatic team from the USS Anracosh] acting as a third party referee between the two groups. It is part diplomatic meeting and part inquiry into the events that happened during the suppression of the Romulan supernova.

In a way this is like a courtroom drama episode of star trek

The ancients furious at the Romulans for their duplicitous acts during the Romulan Realm of the Gods project. It is revealed that some ancients even walked out on the supernova suppression project upon learning about how the Romulans have really conducted themselves around the ancients.

[In part the scenes in this episode are flashbacks showing ancients learning of Romulans spying on them and leaving the supernova suppression project before it was complete, and the fallout of that.]

The walkout was not really a setback as the anti-supernova technology was nearly completed. The remaining ancients, although angry with the Romulans were willing to stop the supernova, although some of the ancients say that they shouldn’t.

It is revealed in the inquiry that it was up to the crew of the USS Anracosh to convince the ancients to help the Romulans. The argument is that the supernova will hurt and kill countless civilians who have no say in the actions of their government and that the civil populace should not be punished for the actions of a government it can’t control. Most of the ancients agree and some who were about to walk out change their minds.

During the enquiry the Federation delegates ask the ancients why the Romulans spying on the ancients was not common knowledge in the ancient races community. The answer is simple. The Romulan neutral zone is crawling with ancients, as are many other areas in the local region of the galaxy. Many ancients literally live “next door” to the Romulans. It would only take one ancient who is either powerful through natural ability like the Q or the Dauwd, or a lesser ancient with ancient race technology to destroy the Romulan Empire. The ancients say that is the ancients were coming to get revenge on the Romulans would do more damage than the supernova if it had been allowed to happen. Therefore the information about Romulans spying on the ancients was suppressed.

The real threat to the Romulans is not the ancient races community itself but any rogue ancient who thinks the Romulans need to be punished for their treachery in running their Realm of the Gods project. The ancients then drop the bombshell, these diplomatic negotiations are effectively the Romulan race being put on trial by the ancients. Justice must be seen to be done in order to prevent any rogue ancient breaking rank and attacking the Romulans.

This freaks the Romulan delegation out. They had no idea that the stakes were so high. This also freaks out the leaders of the Romulan Empire. The Romulans ask for more time to prepare a legal defence. The Ascended Mythbuster warns that there is no time. A rogue ancient attack could happen at any time. The Romulans must prove their sincerity immediately to prevent a rogue ancient attack.

The Romulan delegation is now in a state of utter panic. The ancients are something they cannot defend against. If the Romulans don’t prove to the ancient race community that they can be trusted then it would mean the end of the Romulan Empire. All it takes is one rogue ancient willing to destroy them. These are the risks involved in this episode.

Ironically it is the ancient races delegation that calms the Romulans. The Ascended Mythbuster suggests that the first thing they could do is remove the spying equipment from the Romulan Ancient Races Contact Ship and transfer their intelligence operatives aboard the same starship to other duties. The ancients say [and mean] they don’t care if the operatives stay on the starship or not. All the Romulans have to do is stop using the starship to spy on the ancient races community.

The removal is spying technology is done. At first the captain of the Romulan Ancient Races Contact Ship is hesitant, but the orders are confirmed by the Romulan high command. The technology is tossed away immediately and the intelligence operatives are also transferred to other duties.

The ancients are partly placated, but there are more demands and the Romulans worry that this could be a long list of demands they have to conform to. At this point the Federation delegates express the same qualms as the Romulans saying the ancients should not go too far in forcing the hands of the Romulans. The Federation asks what more actions the ancients want the Romulans to take.

The ancients say not as much as they think. The Ascended Mythbuster says that the Romulans are getting off so lightly because they have only recently started their Realm of the Gods project. The Romulans have not accomplished much in the short time they have been active in diplomacy with the ancients. If the Romulans had stolen a lot more and made a lot more progress in spying on the ancients then this would not be an inquiry. There would be no negotiations, the ancients would simply take revenge and the punishment would be rather horrific.

Once again the Romulans freak out and this time the Federation delegates have to calm them. The ancients get back warning the Romulans. The demands of the ancients are really simple, no more spying onthe ancients. Whatever listening bugs, hidden cameras or whatever that have been put in place are already disabled. The Romulans must also return stolen technology and confirm that the ancients have not missed shutting down any eavesdropping equipment

However, there is one final demand from the ancients, the Romulans cannot keep the Black Hole Manipulator technology and other technologies used to suppress the supernova. Originally some the ancients were going to make a gift of these devices to the Romulans. Now that those same ancients know that the Romulans were being insincere with them those gifts will not be given. The ancient say that the Romulans got off lightly.

Once again the Romulan delegation is in a dark mood. The Romulans had really hoped that they would get their hands on Black Hole Manipulator technology and the super shields used in the suppression of the supernova would have been a great bonus as well, but at least the ancients are not seeking revenge, and that is at least something.

The ancients however are very happy with the outcome and the Romulans are still welcome with open arms in the ancient race community, all they have to do is not spy on or rob the ancients ever again. The ancients encourage the Romulans to keep going with the Realm of the Gods project.

The Ascended Mythbuster tries to lighten the mood by telling the Romulans that they and their Vulcan brethren are not invited to join the ancients for exactly the opposite reasons. The Romulan government could never be trusted not to abuse ancient race technology and the Vulcans are too benevolent to join the ancients. The Vulcans would make younger races dependant on the ancients, and that is frowned on in the ancient races community. The Ascended Mythbuster says that Vulcans and Romulans are almost the same race, and it is seen as a novelty to the ancients that two very closely related groups are not invited into the ranks of the ancients for the exact opposite reasons.

With that the inquiry/diplomatic conference is ended by the ancients. They thank the Federation and Romulans for attending and end it with a handshake saying that there are no hard feelings from the ancients. If the Romulans can prove their sincerity by running an honest Realm of the Gods project then all is forgiven.

The final scenes are a return to the USS Anracosh for debriefing. The debriefing is lead by the Drone. The drone reminds the Federation diplomatic delegation that the ancients took great offence because the ancients are being absolutely sincere in their dealings with the younger races. Being deceptive is not only dumb but unnecessary.

The ancients would have given the Romulans what they wanted [i.e. black hole manipulator technology and super shields] if they had been honest. Being deceptive was never needed in the first place. Granted the enemies of the Romulans would have ancient race technology as well, but that is to be expected as more and more galactic governments are running their own Realm of the Gods projects.

The Drone reminds the crew that dealing with ancients can be very dangerous if you jerk them around, but as long as you play by the rules the ancients set out the rewards of diplomacy with the ancients can be amazing. The crew of the USS Anracosh continue their mission, now having to process just how dangerous the ancients can be if they don’t like you.

 

Season 2 Episode 9

Dormant Ancients episode

The ancient race featured in this episode are the T’kon

The B plot: The B plot involves the procedures around a member of the crew dying, namely the “paperwork”, the funeral and its arrangements. They have to contact Section 31 for a replacement crew member. Starfleet will not give them new crew to replace any that are lost/quit/retire/whatever because of the bad blood between Starfleet and the USS Anracosh’s crew, and this is shown in the episode. The dead crew member is replaced by a Section 31 agent who has had basic training in working on a starship. He will need further training, and that is provided by neural education technology, which the Bajoran doctor introduces him to.

The B plot shows the funeral, the contacting of Section 31, the recruitment of a new crew member and induction of a new crew member with the first officer showing the new crewman around the USS Anracosh. It is like an introduction to what a rank and file crewman of the USS Anracosh goes through. The Section 31 agent is a young man with very little experience and it shows. For example the first officer has to tell him about the hatred from the rest of Starfleet towards the crew of the USS Anracosh.

The story starts with a meeting where very much against the advice of the Drone, the crew of the USS Anracosh try to make contact with an ancient race that has largely gone dormant. Dormant means going inert with only a tiny amount of an ancients’consciousness aware of its surroundings. This is almost the ancient race equivalent of committing suicide because the ancients going dormant can’t cope with being immortal. Any ancient in this situation is in a very bad mental state and could become a threat. The crew of the USS Anracosh is warned by the drone to leave dormant ancients alone.

However, these particular ancients could answer a lot of questions about the archaeological sites and artefacts they have left behind millennia ago. Many mysteries could be solved if these ancient could be made to talk.

So the captain makes the call to contact the dormant ancients. The drone protests, and confines himself to his quarters. The captain proceeds to the location of the dormant ancients and then she and the crew tries to wake one of them up.

This is a disaster, the away team is attacked and receives some serious injuries. The phaser weapons the away team have prove to have only a limited effect on the dormant ancient that is now awake. The away team retreats as reinforcements are sent in to cover them. One of the reinforcements is killed by the revived ancient. The reinforcements are similarly injured and all are beamed out of the area into the infirmary. There the Zalkonian and Bajoran doctors are waiting for them, and so is the drone with a lecture about I told you so.

As the away team and the reinforcements are being treated, and after the drone is told to leave the infirmary, it is announced over the intercom system that the dormant ancient has launched itself into orbit and is attacking the USS Anracosh.

What we see next is the bridge and the bridge crew announcing in stunned disbelief that the blows and energy the dormant ancient is throwing at them should be causing them to fly across the room. They should be on the floor with a few shattered limbs at least. The tactical officer [security chief] notes that the shields are only reduced by what should qualify as a rounding error in measuring the shield’s strength. The bridge crew note that if they were on a regular Federation vessel the dormant ancients firepower would have vaporised it by now. This astonishes the entire crew, and a crowd begins to form at the bridge. Everything gets a bit too cramped, and the information from the shield readout gets transmitted across the starship, granting everyone on board “tickets to the show”. The crew is stunned at how the USS Anracosh is not even wobbling slightly from the attacks of the dormant ancient.

The dormant ancient then tries boarding the USS Anracosh, and some unknown automated internal defence systems stuns it, and teleports it to the starships brig, directly to a prison cell room. All the prison cells are enhanced with ancient races technology.

A staff meeting is called in the infirmary as many of the officer core have been wounded. The drone hijacks the meeting saying that if they had listened to him they would not have been attacked in the first place. If they had consulted him instead of dismissing his advice he would have told them how to locate the few ancients of the dormant ancient race who had not gone dormant. They could have asked them all the questions they wanted to. The drone, now being taken seriously recommends that they contact the race via the dial a deity system. The drone then asks them that if he is not going to be taken seriously and be treated as a valuable resource then what is he doing serving on the USS Anracosh?

The core officers, now completely humiliated by the drone, agree to the drone’s plan and the drone contacts the non-dormant ancients of the dormant ancient race. In the conversation the non-dormants ask which ancient they revived. The USS Anracosh sends video made of the away teams mission and the non-dormants say they know who they revived and will send a team to deal with the revived dormant ancient.

The drone receives a reprimand for his behaviour, but not a permanent mark on his record because in spite of the drone’s insolent behaviour he is correct, they should have listened to him.

The non-dormants arrive and send a team to handle the now revived ancient. This does not go well, as one of the team breaks down as she sees the revived ancient. She informs the crew that this is her husband. At one point in time they were as close as two people can be, but he could not cope with being immortal, had a mental break down and went dormant.

“He had always loved… flying. Of course, you have complete and total control over it all, but he would play by nature’s rules. He’d catch a thermal in the wind and he’d be ecstatic. One of the last things he told me in passing was that he felt like doing it again. Those were probably some of the last, more complex thoughts he was able to put together before he… made himself comfortable. He’s flying now, I think.”

This show then explains the pitfalls of immortality, how for many it is a death sentence. We see the how and why of the dangers of being immortal. The debate evolves to that about euthanasia and should the ancients have the right to destroy themselves utterly. Going dormant is curable but leaves the ancient going through the whole process of breaking down again, getting cured and it becomes a vicious circle. Analogues in the debate to euthanasia.

The dormant ancient is returned to his slumber as the chief diplomat negotiates with the non-dormants. For once the talks do not go well as the non-dormants are upset at the actions of the USS Anracosh. The non-dormants note that given how few of their race survived immortality they can’t do much for the Federation anyway. The crew are left at the end of the episode empty handed and have to cope with a failed mission, however they have learned a valuable lesson and will change their ways in their future endeavours, and longer term the whole Federation will have to change to the ways of the ancients as well.

 

Season 2 Episode 10

The crew of the USS Anracosh go to visit the Edo ancients

Several ancient races want to meet the crew of the USS Anracosh summit style. This is unusual as normally the ancient races meet the USS Anracosh one by one. The drone notes that they could spend the rest of eternity meeting the ancients of the universe and never meet a tiny fraction of them all, but the realm of the gods project is only meant for them to meet the ancients in the local region, i.e. the Milky Way galaxy, in nearby galaxies and at local access points to other dimensions.

The venue is even more surprising, it is being held at the semi-phased space station owned by the Edo ancients. Because of this the crew make reference to the previous mission here run by the USS Enterprise under Picard and their misfortunes dealing with the locals.

When the USS Anracosh arrives the ancient race enhanced sensors detect the Edo space station with ease, unlike the problems the USS Enterprise faced with detecting the space station.

Using ancient race technology on the USS Anracosh they are able to dock with the space station. Upon arriving onboard they are invited to a tour lead by ascended beings and the drone. The drone reveals that he once lived on the Edo space station for a while a few of years ago. During the tour the crew are shown what happens to the inhabitants of planet Edo. The drone and the Edo ancients show how some ancients reproduce by creating non-ascended versions of themselves and then ascending them when they have matured. When the Edo ancients refer to the planetary inhabitants of Edo as their children that is actually an accurate depiction of the relationship between the two groups.

The drone reveals that he will be ascended when he gets mature enough. The planet Edo inhabitants are taken from the planet to be ascended and join the Edo ascended beings on the space station. It is also revealed that the ascended Edo beings had a big role in the drone’s creation before he was adopted by a preserver couple. The drone was born/created on the Edo space station by a conglomerate of ancients working together, including the ascended mythbuster. In a way the ascended mythbuster qualifies as the drone’s uncle.

The crew is disgusted by the ancients at the summit and the drone. Creating people just to turn them into ancients sounds revolting to the Federation. It goes against the values the Federation stands for. The drone states that this how many ancient races reproduce, and if they can’t handle it why should the ancients ally with them? He then goes into a tirade about the Federation putting up with embezzling Ferengi, Cardassian torturers, criminal Orions and murderous Klingons as a few of many examples of what the Federation turns a blind eye to. If the Federation is perfectly OK with them, why can’t they put up with ancients breeding people just to ascend them? This puts the drone at odds with the security chief, who sees the drone as denigrating the Federation by his comments. The drone sees what he is saying as statements of fact.

“You put up with embezzling Ferengi, Cardasian torturers, criminal Orions and murderous Klingons as a few of many examples of what the Federation turns a blind eye to. What’s one more? The Federation ignores many flaws their neighbours have. It looks like such a double standard to a proto ancient like myself. Besides that, as I see it the ancients are not abusing their non-ascended cousins but in fact offer the same gift they have themselves. You should thank the ancients for what they are doing.”

It gets personal as the security chief reminds the drone that had the Borg accepted the ancients offer he would be assimilated into the Borg collective by now. The drone accepts this, but says it is a noble fate as if the Borg had accepted the ancients idea of the Borg making their own drones he would have helped save countless trillions from assimilation. Also, how many elderly or terminally ill people in the younger races who face death would risk being ascended and take their chances at trying to survive the dangers of immortality?

The ancients reproduce by ascending younger race versions of themselves because many ancients do not survive the pitfalls of being immortal. There are some ancient races that could face extinction or have a very small population if they did not replenish their numbers by reproducing as the drone and the Edo ancients have shown them, however it is the individual ancient races decision as to if they want to reproduce via ascending younger race versions of themselves.

The security chief gives him credit on those various points but says that making people just to ascend them without a choice is not much better than the Borg assimilation. The drone realises most of the crew agree with the security chief and the drone seriously thinks about leaving the USS Anracosh. He could easily ask the Edo ancients to take him in and contact his parents so he can return to preserver culture.

After the diplomatic teams weighs in on the debate they are shunted to a summit area so the ancients who reproduce by making unascended versions of their races can negotiate a friendship treaty with the Federation.

The debate continues as the A plot for the episode and reaches this conclusion: Almost all on both sides realise that both sides are correct. The Federation does ignore bad parts of the major cultures they ally with and creating people and harvesting them to turn them into ancients is wrong at a certain level. They acknowledge that the drone is very valuable to the crew. He could quit the starship but he had proven himself as an asset. Things return to near normal as the drone is no longer fully embraced by the crew and the drone makes contingency plans to leave if he becomes truly unhappy. He is not as enthused as he used to be to serve on the USS Anracosh, but is not upset enough to quit his posting on the vessel.

The B plot follows the Drone, the crew’s bad reaction to his opinions and his reassessment of being on the USS Anracosh. He reminds them that it is time for the Federation to adapt to a new way of life if they want the ancients to help them and take them seriously. For a time it becomes a will he/won’t he quit the USS Anracosh situation. The drone seriously debates whether or not to leave the USS Anracosh, but ultimately decides to stay.

As for the diplomatic team, they get the friendship treaty but ask is it worth it as they acknowledge that the Federation and themselves find growing and harvesting people to become ancients is repulsive to them, and that is stated in the friendship treaty with the Edo ancients and the Edo ancients allies. The Federation is going to have learn they are a small fish in a big pond when it comes to dealing with the ancients. Instead of the Federation forcing lesser cultures to adapt to the values of the Federation having a containment policy with near peer civilisations to themselves, the Federation now has to deal with the ancients doing to them what they have done to other cultures.

In the epilogue to this episode this is all pointed out. The crew of the USS Anracosh started the Realm of the Gods project as a rogue operation because the Federation could not accept dealing with a far superior culture or far superior individual god like beings. The problem is that most of the Federation can’t handle that fact. One thing the Dominion war did not do was teach the Federation that they are not the best at everything.

This is where the ancients have stepped in. The Federation’s Realm of the Gods project doubles an object lesson that the Federation has be able to take what it dishes out. The crew of the USS Anracosh concludes that no culture or civilisation is perfect, and the Federation is no exception to that rule. That is one of the lessons the ancients want to Federation to learn.

 

Season 2 Episode 11

The Voth from Voyager get invited into the Ancient races clique

The Crew of the USS Anracosh are ordered to the Gamma Quadrant [this time using the wormhole device built into the USS Anracosh] to meet the Voth, who were introduced in Voyager. The Voth, a reptilian looking race that was taken from Earth many millions of years ago before they were sentient, are being invited into the ancient races clique.

Two big events happened to the Voth since the Voyager crossed their path:

1] They have found conclusive archaeological evidence on their home world [the world their non-sentient ancestors were placed on] that their race was transported from Earth eons ago and that they were not sentient when they were transported to their new planet. This news has shaken them politically, but it has not really harmed them.

2] They have successfully discovered the secrets of ascension through scientific means. A handful of Voth have become non-corporeal, and the whole race is going to slowly phase in becoming non-corporeal. This has attracted the attention of the ancients, and the ancients have issued an invitation to the Voth to join the ancient races clique.

The crew of the USS Anracosh are sent to the current Voth home world to witness the Voth joining the ancient races. When USS Anracosh reaches its destination they set up a diplomatic conference with the Voth and they exchange details with the Voth about their encounter with the USS Voyager a few years ago. The Voth ask about the USS Anracosh and are told about the Realm of the Gods project.

More information is exchanged and the Voth scan the humans of the crew without their consent. This leads to some friction, but the Voth had to do it to see that humans are their “long lost cousins”. The Voth are given a tour of the USS Anracosh and this is a great way for the audience to see some of the parts of the starship that they have not seen before and are important to the series story arc, such as technology related to the black hole manipulator.

The Voth also have a great interest in meeting humans, to actually see the race that evolved on the same world they did. The Drone is asked by the chief diplomat of the USS Anracosh why the predecessors of the Voth were transported to the Gamma quadrant. The Drone warns them that they may not like the answer because it is another case of a race learning the reason it exists will not end well.

The Drone says that the preservers transferred the Voth to the Gamma quadrant so humanity could come into existence. This was done at the behest of an ancient race heavily into time travel who saw a future with humanity is much better than a future without humanity. They for want of a better word, “sponsored” the preservers to send the pre-Voth to their new home world.

The Drone is asked why the time travelling ancients did not transfer the proto-Voth themselves. The Drone gives a big reveal: The ancients tend to specialise. An ancient won’t go to all the massive effort to build a time machine or some other super-technology when another ancient already has it. They will approach the ancient that has the super technology and borrow it. The Drone reveals that this is the standard practice between ancients. The time travelling ancients do not have the infrastructure to transfer the ancestors of the Voth to their Gamma quadrant homeworld. This is why they approached the preservers. The preservers have all the facilities to move populations, so they moved the Voth rather than the time travellers doing it themselves.

The Drone notes that the ancients sometimes do a technology exchange so the ancients asking for help can do things for themselves, but since this was a once off request the preservers did the work on behalf of the time travellers.

The crew of the Anracosh has learned something new about the ancients. Particularly in finding out that the ancients had an indirect role in the creation of humanity. This makes them angry with the Drone, why is he withholding information? The counters that he knows so much about the ancients that he does not know where to start in revealing what he knows. This only makes things worse. He is ordered report to the officer core to answer why he is holding back information.

This is the B plot:

The Captain and the First officer are not happy with the Drone when they meet him in the ready room. They are sick of having him give knowledge of the ancients in drips and drabs. He has always been secretive and thought he was holding back for some reason that might be in their interests, but their patience has run out. They previously cut the drone some slack because he was socially awkward and was willing to answer questions about the ancients when asked, but no more, now they want him to be totally honest with them.

They want him to be much more forthcoming with his knowledge of the ancients. The Drone says he does not know where to start. The Melkot [starship A.I.] interjects and offers to help the Drone as the Melkot would know what kind of information the Federation would want to know.

The Captain and the First officer agree to this and order the Drone to start making reports about all he knows of the ancients and the Melkot will guide him. The Drone agrees and apologises. He is still finding his feet and admits he needs help, he does not know what is really required of him. His ancient race parents put him on the starship as a form of “tough love” to get him to mature.

We return to see what is happening with the Voth. An armada of ancient race super starships and other ancient race vessels and ascended beings are arriving via wormholes into the Voth home system. They are here to bring the Voth up to the level of the ancients. The captain notes that this could be happening to the Vulcans if only the Vulcans would be willing to change their ways. They also notice many of the ancient race vessels from ancient races they have never encountered and have to ask the drone why he never told them about the ancient races they see helping the Voth join the ancients. The drone says they could spend the rest of time meeting ancients from across the universe and never meet anything but a very tiny fraction of all the ancients in the cosmos.

The crew of the USS Anracosh witness the Voth joining the ancient races clique and engage in diplomacy with the Voth with the usual friendship treaty and help via the dial a deity system. The Voth are much easier to deal with than in Voyager and now that they are joining the ancients they have been advised on how the ancient races clique works and are willing to change their ways to match the expectations of the ancients.

There are ancient races vessels and beings in orbit of the Voth home world. They are helping prepare the Voth for intergration into the ancient races community. One starship that is of unknown design hails the USS Anracosh and the ancients onboard introduce themselves as the Vop, not the Voth, and apologise for the similar sounding name.They give the crew of the USS Anracosh some co-ordinates and ask if they can be the next ancients visited by the USS Anracosh and its diplomatic team. The crew agree, and promise to see them next week when their schedule permits.

The story ends with the Drone entering the Melkot’s office and they start working together on writing reports about all the knowledge the Drone has about the ancients. The Melkot asks the Drone if he is weirded out with the Melkot’s appearance. The Drone replies that he has seen much weirder things than the Melkot, they then get down to work making the reports about the ancients. They start talking as friends and it is noted in casual conversation during this scene that the Ferengi were created as a practical joke.

“Hmm. The Ferengi… What a sordid assortment of characters they are.”

“A laugh? That was laughter? That was the first time I’ve ever seen you do that in person… What’s their story, they do anything funny?”

“Oh, more than you’d think, my tendrilled friend. But I suppose that’s another story for another day… I suppose we should get started then, shouldn’t we?”

 

Season 2 Episode 12

The Vop – one of the oldest of the ancients

Note: The reason I want this episode is so when there is DVD cover art or other forms of promotional art featuring the crew you can have the same face in the background as the foreground.

What passes for a B plot are all the interactions between the Vop and the crew of the USS Anracosh. The Vop interact with the crew of the USS Anracosh at all levels. These may be the same ancients as was encountered by Captain Archer’s Enterprise. These ancients had a starship of their own. They may be another faction of the same race.

This is a more absurdist, comedic episode while still being quite important to the entirety of the show. This does not mean it’s able to be “written off” as bread and circuses. A big part of this episode is the whiplash and the balance between existentialism and absurdist humour.

A flashback of the Vop inviting the crew of the USS Anracosh is shown. The scene switches to a meeting where the drone says that the Vop are a race as old as time itself. The captain orders the crew to fly to the co-ordinates the Vop gave them and does a Captain Picard impersonation saying “Make it so”. The crew arrives at a remote world and detects ancient race technology in the area. They soon see balls of light approach the starship but the drone tells them not to react, these are the Vop, a very ancient race among the ancients.

The balls of light enter the alcove and ask permission to board the starship via the ancients provided translation device. This is quickly granted by the captain. The balls of light go into the main part of the Starship and immediately copy the forms of the crew they meet. The ancients explain that they are so old that long forgotten what it is like to be corporeal beings. They apologise for impersonating the crew, but say that this is the only way they can communicate face to face with a younger race.

The crew initially consent to being impersonated and the Vop talking to them directly with the need for ancient races enhanced translation devices. At the time the crew did not realise what a mistake that was. They assumed when consenting to being impersonated that the doppelgangers would be exact instead of bizarre acting look a likes of the crew.

At the conference room where the diplomatic work is being done the between the ancients and USS Anracosh’s diplomats. The diplomatic team is facing off copies of themselves vis a vis across the conference table. This looks really weird, the Vop can’t really copy the mortal beings very well. They have weird facial expressions and cannot move their bodies correctly. Their bizarre facial expressions and way out body movements are off putting and freak the crew out.

The drone is present at the diplomatic talks and he is trying to smooth things over explaining that the Vop are as old as time itself and have forgotten what it is to have a physical body. This is the drone’s role throughout the episode, he is trying albeit in a futile effort to act as a liaison between the Vop and crew of the USS Anracosh. The Vop’s behaviour is nothing new to the drone. He has seen ancients like the Vop before and knows their limits. The drone is so used to it he has trouble understanding why his crewmates can’t cope with the eccentricities of the Vop. Both the Vop and the drone are doing their best, but that is still not enough to ease the concerns of the drone’s crewmates.

The conflict is that the Vop are trying to relate to the crew and instead of it working it is being counterproductive. In trying to reach the crew at their own level they have put up a barrier to communication rather than enhanced it. The crew cannot relate to the Vop in their second rate knock off humanoid forms.

At the diplomatic meeting one of the odd things the Vop do is weird attempts at smiling, these are both goofy and frightening at the same time, think Dexter’s crazy grin in the Dexter T.V. show’s promotional material. It’s like somebody who has never smiled being taught how to smile and is trying to smile for the first time and completely failing at it. The Vop ask if the smiling is done properly to which the crew say no. More attempts at smiling are made with the same dismal results. The same is done for body movement. The Vop ask if they are moving correctly, but the answer from the crew is a massive no.

The Vop reveal they are the ancients that asked the preservers to move the Voth. In fact the name Voth is a corruption of Vop. The preservers arranged that the Voth would call themselves Voth as a “salute” to the Vop. The Voth were moved so humanity could evolve on Earth. If the Voth had stayed on Earth Humans would never have existed. Humans in the crew are stunned to discover this fact. This means they are nothing special and the ancients had influence on human development just like ancient raaces influence on any other younger race. This causes an existential crisis to add to the one they are experiencing, namely having a starship of doppelgangers.

The Vop note that the Voth were equally stunned when they were recently told of the Vop’s existence, how the Voth got their names and what the Vop did for the Voth millions of years ago. The Vop don’t get how shocking this information is to those who receive it. The Vop have been ancients for such a long time that this kind of news means nothing to them.

Apart from that the two sides do have problems talking to each other due to a lack of common culture and other social and frame of reference understandings. This one of the reasons why the elder race took the form of the crew, as a way to bridge the gap between the two groups, but that was a total failure in terms of the desired results. The drone still tries to get the two sides to understand each other, but it is a lost cause.

As for the rest of the starship pandemonium is breaking out as the crew have to get used to their being doppelgangers of themselves all over the USS Anracosh. This isn’t the evil doppelganger trope, these doppelgangers are friends, and the doppelgangers are easy to differentiate from the real person counterparts.

The place looks like a convention of identical twins, but one of each twin has severe body movement problems. This is especially true for the tour group of the ancients being given a tour of the USS Anracosh. It’s confusing in the USS Anracosh’s pub as people keep addressing the ancients rather than the actual crew members and have to be re-directed to the real crew. This leads to all sorts of comedic shenanigans; we’re dealing with a race who’ve been around for so long they’ve completely lost touch with what it means to be mortal; to be corporeal.

You’re walking around going about your daily business and down the hall you see a friend approach your Vop counterpart thinking it’s you. They don’t really do “you” justice, mind you. Movement, emoting, speech modulation? All long forgotten arts. Some of them crawl, others backwards crab walk. Some yell, some croak, others whisper. Most of them have gained a fleeting idea “on the job” how to appear amicable to the crew, however.

“I have corroborated with many of my people who have communicated with you in this form, and we have ascertained that the smile is the most forthcoming of all the facial configurations! This is correct, yes?”

“…Yeah… Yeah, it is…”

Because things get really weird between the ancients and the humans of the crew when it is public knowledge that these are the ancients who had an indirect hand in creating humanity the drone realises that this will not end well. He redoubles his efforts to get the crew and the Vop to get along. The drone knows that the Vop are genuine about having good relations with the Federation, it’s just the Vop have made the mistake of trying to meet the younger races on their own level and failing at completely.

“Don’t you see, now? Were it not for us evacuating the Voth, you would never have blossomed into the species you are now! And my, how you’ve grown… Truly, such a beautiful species.”


This is said by a Vop who speaks very strangely, still with an unnatural smile. While he says this, he wells up and a single tear falls down his grotesquely contorted face. This is incredibly disturbing, and one of the scarier moments in the show.

This relates to the Voth being moved off Earth so Humanity could evolve. How does it feel to discover you are nothing special and nothing separates you from other younger races? Humanity, you are just one of many with no exceptional traits that make you “superior” to anyone. You are all equal in the eyes of the ancients.

That is one of the core conflicts of the episodes, humans on the USS Anracosh having an existential crisis in discovering their evolution was influenced by the ancients. Humans thought they were special among the younger races and now have to face the truth. They are just another younger race with nothing unique about them.

“What? Humans, you think you’re special among the younger races? Well you’re not. You preach equality and can’t stand it when you’re proven to not be superior or unique?”

Things get very trippy with doppelgangers and with the tension over the ancients role in the creation of humanity. Things get to boiling point and the situation is diffused when the drone solves the problem by asking to Vop to abandon their efforts to impersonate the crew of the USS Anracosh.

At this point the diplomatic talks break down. The chief diplomat contacts the drone to ask for help in negotiating with the Vop and the drone tells the diplomat what he is doing in trying to convince the Vop to go back to being balls of energy. The chief diplomat realises the drone is right. Negotiating with the Vop as humanoids in form is going nowhere. The chief diplomat joins the drone in his efforts to convince the Vop that their impersonation efforts were a bad idea.

The Vop can’t see that what the drone and the chief diplomat are saying is true. The efforts to impersonate the crew so the Vop and the crew can more easily relate to each other have failed and the Vop do not see it. The crew are not reacting to the humanoid forms as the Vop expected, but the Vop are clueless as they have not been corporeal in eons.

The drone and the chief diplomat have to do some real convincing to show the Vop that their efforts to meet the crew halfway are a mistake. They have to have the crew confirm what they saying is true. The chief diplomat and the rest of the crew are impressed by this, the drone is showing his true ability to be a bridge between the ancients and the younger races. The drone proves he is a valuable member of the crew for the mission of contacting and dealing with the ancient races.

The drone and the diplomat then go around the USS Anracosh and talk to Vop and the crew. The drone talks to the Vop and chief diplomat talks to the crew. Both have parallel missions, the drone and some of the Vop convincing the rest of the Vop to go back to being energy beings and the chief diplomat and her entourage crew telling the rest of the crew to calm down, the Vop don’t mean to mock them or be a problem, the Vop don’t know any better and thought impersonating the crew would helpful when in fact it isn’t.

The chief diplomat realises that convincing the crew to calm down is a waste of time and talks to the Vop. The chief diplomat says that the diplomatic negotiations, tours of the USS Anracosh and talking to the crew in general would go much more smoothly if they reverted to their true forms. The chief diplomat says that the Vop should notice how the negotiations on all fronts are not working. The Vop realise the chief diplomat is right.

After proving to the Vop that impersonating the crew was an error the Vop return to their energy ball forms and the diplomatic talks continue via ancient race translation devices on the USS Anracosh.

With things calmed down somewhat the diplomatic talks are relaunched. While the talks are finalised the drone goes around the starship trying to calm the crew down and explaining that this is what dealing with the ancients is like. Get used to it or go home. They wanted help from the ancients to protect the Federation. If they are willing to put their lives on the line for the Federation why can’t they put up with a bit of weirdness to protect the Federation? The crew know that the drone is right and simply have to agree with him.

Once the diplomatic talks are over with friendship treaty signed the Vop leave the USS Anracosh. Things return to normal and the crew continues with its mission. The philosophical problems with these ancients having a hand in indirectly creating humanity is something their superiors can deal with. This could be a big issue to the rest of humanity, but the drone says that he has seen enough of the ancients to realise this is normal fare for the ancient races clique.

The existential crisis the humans onboard comes to an end. The crew of the USS Anracosh are somewhat used to the ways of the ancients. Encountering the Vop has reinforced that the ancients are not like the younger races. The Captain addresses the crew saying they should learn from encountering the Vop. The ancients are a vast group of beings that are god like beings or on the way to being god like beings [puns intended]. As the Vop themselves pointed out, if they can’t cope with the ways of the ancients it is time to give up, go home and forget about the galaxy. The captain reminds them that this is not what those who serve on the USS Anracosh want.

The end scene reflects this paragraph:

The drone reminds the crew that they have to get used to the ancients being anything but what the younger races expect them to be. The drone says the ancients have much to offer and the price they have to pay is putting up with the ancients being a strange bunch. The drone says that if they want to run with the ancients they have to adapt to the ways of the ancients. The crew have to put the effort in to do so, and the drone gets assurances from the crew via the core officers that they are taking his advice seriously, they will adapt because it is the Federation’s future at stake. This must work or the Federation could face of an enemy they can’t defeat. This is why the crew started the mission and why they must succeed. The mission must work or the Federation will not be able to fight off any potential superior foe.

 

Season 2 Episode 13

Ferengi Episode

The Grand Negus need not be Rom, but I used the name here for convenience

Now that the Ferengi’s application to join the Federation is being drafted the USS Anracosh goes to Ferenginar and receives a visit from Grand Negus Rom who is the leader of the Ferengi, and his chief minister, who is a Ferengi female called Meelaar. Their government insists that if the Federation wants them to apply for membership the USS Anracosh must visit Ferenginar. They refuse to state why they want to see the USS Anracosh.

The Grand Negus and his chief minister are shown that the latest Federation replicator technology that is installed on the USS Anracosh. He confesses that he has seen this technology before. The previous Grand Negus was shown ultra advanced replicators when they were recently developed and Rom was shown them some time afterward. Because the replicators can synthesise materials that previous replicator technology cannot, such as valuable materials like gold pressed latinum [money], Rom says that in a couple of years his people’s capitalistic way of life will become obsolete. He will have to tell the vast majority of the Ferengi that they are not just out of a job but out of a career.

Some things like land, transport [except for teleportation] and other “unreplicatable” things will still need to be paid for by money, but it won’t be enough to make a viable economy that all Ferengi can participate in. Therefore his people must have a new way of life so they can have a future. Technology has rendered the Ferengi’s capitalist culture obsolete. Rom is following history rather than leading it. This is why Rom wants his people to join the Federation. He says that the crew may as well spend whatever gold pressed latinum [money] they have now; in five years it will be worthless for all but a few types of purchases.

It is noted at this point of the episode that land prices collapsed when teleportation technology was invented. Anyone could live anywhere they wanted, so there was and is no need to buy land close to where someone needs to be. This means prime real estate competes with land anywhere that costs next to nothing.

As part of the diplomatic efforts high ranking Ferengi, including the chief minister are touring the USS Anracosh. The Ferengi are fascinated by the ancient race technology. The tour is being given by the officer core. The security chief wonders why the Ferengi are not trying anything devious and they discover that knowledge about ultra advanced replicators is common knowledge to the Ferengi big wigs.

They know there is no point keeping their greedy capitalistic ways. If they did steal from the USS Anracosh there would be nobody to sell the stolen goods too as most other known governments are commencing their own Realm of the Gods projects. They say that there is no point having the Ferengi start their own Realm of the Gods project when the Ferengi are about to join the Federation. There is also no point being conniving anymore, that way of life is becoming obsolete.

The Ferengi big wigs admit that there will be Ferengi that will not adapt to the new ways, but they will be on the margins of society or move off world in the hope they can keep the old culture alive. These malcontents will be left to their fate. The vast majority of Ferengi know that the old ways don’t work anymore. One of the officer core says it is impressive that in one generation that the Ferengi have gone from forcing their women to be nude and mostly homebound to having a woman who second only to the Grand Negus.

The B plot

The chief minister gives a very surprising response, saying that there are two sides to every story and that she wants to show them something. The Drone and the Chief diplomat are not invited, they will go with Grand Negus Rom for diplomatic talks. For the record, the Zalkonian doctor is left on the USS Anracosh staffing the starship’s medical bay. The rest of the officer core will need environmental suits for their journey. This leaves the officer core puzzled. Are they going to an unfinished space station? A science research facility in space? A nuclear site with high radiation? They ask the chief minister where they are going to which she says they are going to her home town. This leaves them very confused? Why do they need environmental suits to visit the surface of the planet Ferenginar?

The Ferengi minister says they are about to find out and then it hits the officer core like a lightning bolt. She does not have an environmental suit. They are all wearing one on the transporter pad and she is not. Why?!?! She says she does not need one. They transporters energise and the officer core find themselves in a Ferengi town on Ferenginar’s equator.

On the surface there is nothing unusual going on, just many Joe and Josephine Ferengis going about their business. They are quite surprised to see aliens among them, but see the chief minister, know who she is and put two and two together. It’s some government business thing the chief minister is involved in. The crew note that the Ferengi are wearing very light clothes that suit an equatorial tropical environment.

The officer core are now utterly confused and bewildered. What is so unusual about a small city that requires environmental suits? Some of the officer core try to take off the environmental suits and the suits safety features kick in. The suits self lock and won’t allow themselves to be removed from the wearer. The chief minister says check their suits analysis readouts. This is where the officer core get the shock and the audience gets the reveal.

The suits warn that they are in an area with dangerously high levels of humidity. Enough humidity to kill the average sentient, and yet there are Ferengi around them going about their business without a problem. They can live in this environment with ease.

The chief minister goes into a tirade.

“Ferenginar has SUPER tropical environments with enough humidity to kill most sentients. The Ferengi evolved here and so are adapted to super humid environments. In these environments once clothes get wet from whatever source, sweat, rain or whatever, clothes literally start rotting on your body. Letting female Ferengi go naked was actually doing them a favour. It is actually a privilege to be nude in a super tropical region of Ferenginar. If you don’t have clothes on you don’t have to worry about gross grotty mould literally growing on your skin and risking skin related health problems and other illnesses as well. I pre-planned your visit to my home town. Normally the women here would be nude because as I just said clothes rot off your body in this environment. “

The officer core are just standing there confused as if they don’t understand the point the chief minister is trying to get across. The chief minister is having real problems trying to keep her temper in check.

“What part of LETHAL in lethal humidity do you not understand? If you Humans took off your helmets you would die and the Vulcan present would die very quickly. Are you shocked that a female Ferengi would prefer nudity? Do you know anything about climates where it never snows? Humans, have you never studied your own history? Wet bulb events in the mid to late twenty-first century that resulted in extreme humidity on parts of Earth’s surface? It takes a minute to look it up on your computers. I have to explain this to you? As officer core in Starfleet you have to be the best of the best. Super tropical environments are why Ferenginar has never been invaded. An occupying army would have to wear space suits all the time while fighting a guerrilla war. It would be a logistics nightmare for the invaders.”

The chief minister calms down and asks for forgiveness from the officer core. She understands that this is totally outside the experience of the crew in front of her. Many of them have never been outside a temperate climate before joining Starfleet.

The chief minister invites them to explore her home town and talk to the locals. One of the more interesting things the officer core encounters are clothed Ferengi women complaining about having to wear clothes. The female Ferengi repeat what the chief minister says as they were not present for her tirade. They say that in the ultra humid warm tropical climate that it is the norm for Ferenginar that clothes practically rot on your body. Letting Ferengi females go naked is doing them a favour. Having said that the Ferengi women have no intention of stripping in front of their guests. The do however go on to say that the Ferengi big ears are an adaptation that help them regulate body temperature in an ultra humid environment.

The officer core don’t know what to say to the Ferengi females, except that most of the Federation intelligent species did not originate from tropical environments or from worlds that have the “ultra tropical” climate of Ferenginar. Therefore knowing about how clothes react to ultra tropical environments is beyond their knowledge. They also note that no Ferengi is trying to sell them stuff. These Ferengi know that the time of ultra capitalism is coming to an end and are adapting to the new norm. This is because of the chief minister being a local. Most Ferengi have not heard the news.

The officer core talk to locals who overheard the tirade. They agree that that Ferenginar having regions with super tropical environments with the super humidity of such environments makes Ferenginar world difficult to conquer. Any invading army would have to wear environmental suits in areas the Ferengi can live comfortably, and they would have to have special vehicles and buildings that filter out ultra humidity. This is one of the reasons Ferenginar has never been conquered. Occupying armies would face real difficulties because they cannot go into certain regions of the world with environmental suits, vehicles and buildings. There would be serious logistical problems and combat would be very difficult because of the aforementioned issues. Also just smashing the helmets of the invader’s space suits could result in killing them. This would make the job of the Ferengi resistance much easier.

We return to Grand Negus Rom and some of his underlings and their negotiations with the diplomatic team of the USS Anracosh.

In an unusual move Rom orders all the other Ferengi to leave the room and the floor the conference is on. Everyone is surprised at this move, and Rom says any Ferengi not complying will be fired from their position. Rom also reminds them of the sound insulation in the building they are in. Listening in will not be an option.

With the room cleared of Rom’s underlings Rom raises with the diplomatic team that he has learned from the secret USS Anracosh reports [which the Federation gave him access to] that the Preservers created the Ferengi as a practical joke. Rom pauses and confronts the Drone. Rom asks the drone directly if the contents of the reports are the truth, to which the drone says a straightforward yes. Rom shudders and confesses he has declared that his race being a practical joke is being kept top secret information. Rom feels that the Ferengi could not cope with knowing that their race is a practical joke. Only a few Ferengi at the top of Ferenginar’s government are aware of the joke nature of the Ferengi.

Every crooked business deal, every shady bribe, every greedy and corrupt thing the Ferengi have ever done, and even their oversized ears, was just one massive millennia upon millennia spanning practical joke. Rom goes on to say that he can’t bring himself to tell his race the truth and he has ordered the information to be kept top secret for the foreseeable future. The Drone says that a race finding out why it was created never ends well. This makes all those present in the ready room shudder just as Rom did. Plenty of the Federation personnel present know from their time in dealing with the ancients that the ancients could and mostly would have had a hand in the invention of their species.

Rom uses a communication device to call back his underlings into the room. This time they bring the chief minister and the officer core who travelled with the chief minister, the officers are now not wearing their environmental suits. The chief minister sees everyone shuddering and puts two and two together. She says “So it’s the truth, Ferengi are a practical joke.” to which Rom knowingly nods. Rom adds that he wanted to break the news to his underlings personally rather than through his chief minister’s outburst. All the Ferengi present understand their race is a practical joke, and react accordingly.

Rom takes charge and says let’s not have this day being a total loss. He says bring out the Federation treaties the Ferengi government is meant to sign. Signing the treaties is the first stage of the Ferengi Alliance joining the Federation. The treaties are bought to the negotiation table with the usual fanfare. As much as it is a happy ending with the Ferengi starting their journey to Federation membership, there is still the dark undertone of all the Ferengi present now having to live with the knowledge that their race is a practical joke made by the ancients.

 

Season 2 Episode 14

Distress call and Omega part 1

Title: The omega distress call part 1

USS Anracosh responds to a standard distress call

The crew of the USS Anracosh has just completed a diplomatic mission with an ancient race and are about to head out of the ancient race’s system when they receive a distress call. It is of Federation origin. The crews training kicks in and they immediately change course to give aid to those who sent the call.

Much to the surprise of the crew when they hail the endangered Federation starship they are told they are not welcome. Even though the starship they are rescuing could be destroyed at any moment they crew on the starship refuse to be helped. The bridge crew of the USS Anracosh respond that beggars can’t be choosers. The crew in distress needs the help from the USS Anracosh. If help does not arrive soon their starship could be doomed.

The crew in danger says they will just use their lifeboats and leave their starship to its fate and hang up on the bridge crew of the USS Anracosh. The Captain of the USS Anracosh orders that her starship goes to help the crew in need and she then calls a meeting of her officer core in her ready room.

She explains that they are about to rescue a crew that hates them. The officer core has a mixed reaction. Some say they should respect the other crew’s wishes. Others note that it is their legal obligation to help. Some note that the distressed crew are not in any real danger if they evacuate to their lifeboats.

The Captain points out her reasoning. They are still Starfleet officers even if the rest of Starfleet hates them. This is a chance to prove to at least one other Starfleet crew that the crew of the USS Anracosh are not renegades but have always had the best interests of the Federation at heart. Therefore the USS Anracosh is going to help the crew in distress. The rescue mission is being done as a way to restore the reputation of the crew of the USS Anracosh and because the distressed crew need rescuing.

The next scene is the USS Anracosh arriving at the rescue site, arriving via hyperwarp – using the ancient races enhanced warp drive. The damaged Federation starship has already been evacuated with lifeboats scattered around the area. The USS Anracosh begins its rescue efforts only to find that some of the lifeboats actually try to move away from the Starship. The occupants of the lifeboats refuse to be rescued by the USS Anracosh.

Other lifeboats with wounded or civilians onboard agree to be rescued. This is not as good as it sounds as when those being rescued are bought onboard they are hostile to the crew of the USS Anracosh. One young naive ensign from the rescued crew picks a fight with an older member of the USS Anracosh forgetting that the rank and file crew of the USS Anracosh are drawn from the ranks of the Federation’s head kickers. The young ensign is decked in one hit. This makes the other rescued crew more wary of the crew of the USS Anracosh.

Given the hostility of the rescued crew the officer core of the USS Anracosh detain them in the “party” cargo bay. It is there that the rescue teams on the USS Anracosh see a few members of the rescued crew that they recognise. These individuals were people who fought alongside them in the Dominion war and a few of them was approached to join the crew of the USS Anracosh when it was a rogue mission but the rescued crew members refused to turn rogue and kept quiet about it.

This is a pivotal point. When the rescuing crew calls out their former comrades in arms pandemonium breaks out. The rescued crew turns on the ex-comrades of the crew of the USS Anracosh. The situation almost degenerates into a brawl and more security teams are called to stop the unrest. Considering the fighting ability of those involved this is a very serious situation. Therefore once the necessary aid is given the rescued crew are locked in the party cargo hold. The rescued crew are told they are free to escape but are told escape to where? They are on the USS Anracosh. Then they are informed that the USS Anracosh is hyper warping to the nearest Starbase. This will be a journey of a few minutes.

At the Starbase the crew of the USS Anracosh is given the same frosty reception as the rescued crew gave them. Before the bridge crew can explain the situation of rescuing a crew and needing somewhere to take them the Starbase command crew hang up on them.

The bridge crew say to themselves “stuff it” and use the ancient race enhanced transporters to teleport the rescued crew through the shields of the starbase. The shields of the Starbase are on maximum and the station is on red alert. This means nothing when it comes to the ancients enhanced technology of the USS Anracosh. The rescued crew is teleported and gets mistaken for a large boarding party sent over from the USS Anracosh. This again almost degenerates into a brawl until the rescued crew confirms they are not the crew of the USS Anracosh.

While this was happening the USS Anracosh has already left the area to go to its next mission. The Captain calls another meeting to apologise to the officer core. She realises her mistake and says they need to do something about being able to respond to distress calls without being attacked.

The obvious response comes from one of the officers – why bother responding to distress calls if they are going to be attacked. This is counter argued by pointing out that responding to distress calls is a legal obligation, and that the distress call would more than likely be a life or death situation. They do not want to leave someone for dead if they can be rescued.

The Captain orders the officer core has to come up with ideas for being able to mount a rescue without being attacked. The Captain however does agree that if the USS Anracosh is not needed to save lives they won’t bother rescuing someone who does not want them. They will in future give distressed crews the option of refusing help from them if the situation is not dire.

The B plot

The officer core get to work brain storming on how to execute a rescue without being assaulted for being the crew of the USS Anracosh. The next few scenes are of crew and officer core coming up with solutions to creating a rescue plan that will not involve being attacked. The chief scientist suggests faking being a different starship by using ancient race enhanced hologram technology to disguise the USS Anracosh and to change their uniforms to the regular uniform as opposed to the lime green uniform of shame Starfleet has issued them. The crew get to work on the chief scientist’s idea and this leads into the B plot: Several kilos of Omega found on the USS Anracosh.

To arrange for the starship’s hologram emitters to extend beyond the starship some modifications have to be made and some internal walls have to be knocked down. It will mean sacrificing a storage room but that is not a drama because the contents of the storage room can be relocated elsewhere on the starship. It is noted that they have experimented with and used ancient races enhanced holographic systems when they turned the USS Anracosh into one colossal holodeck six months ago.

Nobody has bothered to yet fully explore the storage areas of the starship yet so it comes as an utter surprise when after opening a box in the storage room alarms go off all over the USS Anracosh with an omega symbol being displayed on screens across the starship.

The Captain, who is in her ready room has files about Omega appear on her desk’s viewscreen. She shuts off the alarm, tells the crew to go about their business and studies the files. She then calls a conference of the officer core of the starship for later that day and posts guards on the storage room.

At the briefing later that day The Captain reveals that Omega is the most dangerous substance known to the Federation. She brings the officer core up to speed saying that the Omega discovered onboard was totally unprotected in a storage room with a battery making machine in the room near the Omega [Omega was originally developed as a power source]. The Omega has an ancient race technology containment unit [basically a glorified cardboard box] and was until today unguarded.

A brief overview of Omega is given: It is a substance that harms subspace, making warp travel and subspace communications impossible over the area affected. The Federation experimented with it and something went wrong. The resulting explosion left a bubble light years across that cannot be transversed and under “radio silence”.

The reaction from the room is: How could anyone be so irresponsible to have Omega so unprotected? The crew of the USS Anracosh think that the ancients must be crazy; then again they have thought that for a long time. They regularly encounter ancients that are less than sane. They debate about making complaints to the ancients, but realise such actions are futile.

The Drone, who has been silent until now, just bursts out laughing. The rest of the officer core thinks that his actions are totally unprofessional and call him out on his behaviour. The Drone, still unable to contain himself keeps constantly laughing as he brings up a file on the briefing rooms computer. It is the instructions to reversing Omega damage to subspace.

The crew look at the file and realise that Omega damage can easily be reversed with technology the Federation has easy access to. It is so simple that the officer core just sits there utter speechless shocked at the answer to Omega’s threat is so straightforward. The meeting goes into an awkward silence as the officer core contemplate feeling like a bunch of fools. The Drone breaks the silence by acknowledging that the ancients are crazy but they can easily fix the problems Omega causes and thus do not see Omega as a threat.

Once the officers regain their senses they all agree they want proof that the file is the real deal. The Captain orders that the USS Anracosh goes to where the Federation first did its Omega experiments and put into effect the instructions in the file to see if it reverses the affects of Omega. The goal is to make that area usable again to younger races. They arrange it so that the cleanup will make an immediate path to the inhabited world in the Omega affected area to see if there are any unknown survivors of the Omega explosion. A path is made to the world and the crew start doing scans.

What they discover are signs that the inhabited world in the Omega affected area has Iconian wormhole technology on it. They assume it is some kind of Iconian settlement, and since they have already contacted the Iconians they just send an obligatory hello. There is no response. The crew try again, this time a pulse of energy comes from the planet. It hits the USS Anracosh and sends it careening through space. The crew are unhurt, onboard the gravity grid has done its job and the effects are barely noticeable.

The Captain issues a red alert and the residual effects of the pulse are analysed. It is a weapon of ancient race origin. The Drone is shocked that any ancient race being or group would attack them. The pulse was powerful enough to vaporise any younger race vessel. The USS Anracosh survived because it is in part an ancient races starship.

The Captain orders scans to track down the origin of the weapons fire. Another pulse much more powerful than the first hits the USS Anracosh but this time the starship’s shields are at maximum and the pulse has little effect. The Captain hails the attackers and says they have no chance of defeating a hybrid ancient races Federation starship. She tells them to stand down and negotiate. All the response she gets is an ultimatum – go away or be destroyed. After a couple of seconds another pulse is detected, this time it is far more powerful.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger with the USS Anracosh about to be hit by a weapons pulse they are not sure they can survive, or even repel.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 2 part 1

Season 3 part 1

Season 2 Part 1

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 1 part 2

Season 2 part 2

Season 2 Episode 1

The dojo officer’s episode/encounter the space barnacles

The A plot for the two parter is the dojo officer [Carol] leading the crew in encountering the space barnacles. The B plot for episode two is working to reverse engineer the black hole manipulator.

The first scene is a recap of the last episode’s events and the cliffhanger ending. The scene switches to where the previous episode left off. This time the USS Anracosh is replying to the hails. The dojo officer tells her superiors not to attack the space barnacles, the creatures are ancients and they have made some stunning progress in diplomacy with its race. The officer core realises that this is the first successful diplomacy with a non-terrestrial [i.e. space borne] being. This is a major event for the Federation.

Captain: “This is a red letter day! We have accomplished meaningful contact with a non-terrestrial species. A Federation first! I’ll have to order the crew to party!”

Dojo officer: “We know, the usual fun shindig, work hard – play hard.”

The officers and crew that went on the commando raid return to the USS Anracosh and take some time off. They need the rest after the raid and they want the dojo officer to gain some more command experience. As the officers return to their quarters they ask the crew they encounter what they think of the commando raids being done for Section 31.

The most common opinion is that this is the price they must pay for their mission of contacting the ancients. Commando raids and similar operations are the kind of work they normally do for the Federation and they are very good at it. Besides, they were expecting to be in prison by now for all the crimes they committed in stealing the starship that became the USS Anracosh. They expected to do long prison sentences, so doing commando raids is something they take in their stride.

The next scene is a return to the bridge to see how the negotiations with the space barnacles are going. It is at the point where treaties are being discussed. The dojo officer feels that the ancient race expertise of the drone would be useful right about now. She contacts the drone to report to the bridge the drone states he is on his way but the chief engineer and chief scientist intervene over the intercom and ask the dojo officer to tell the drone to return to main engineering. The dojo officer asks why. The officers tell the dojo officer that the drone is helping them understand black hole manipulator technology. The dojo officer contacts the drone, apologises and orders him to return to main engineering to help reverse engineer the black hole manipulator.

The dojo officer is in the camp of completing the black hole manipulator in order to weaponise it, and says so right there and then on the bridge. This is surprisingly unprofessional, but she sees keeping the drone where he is in engineering as in her interests in getting the black hole manipulator permanently fully operational. The bridge crew have a mixed reaction to this in accordance with the four schools of thought about what to do with the black hole manipulator. [See notes on the crew’s opinion of the black hole manipulator]. Besides, if the Dojo officer has questions for the drone, she can ask him over the intercom.

Overhearing the conversation the barnacles makes an amazing reveal. The barnacles know the drone by reputation. They know of the ancients offering the Borg a drone type they could make themselves and about the drone himself and how he was adopted by a Preserver couple. The chief barnacle says enthusiastically that he would like to meet the drone. It is like meeting a celebrity. This makes the crew pause. Is the drone a celebrity among the ancients? So far their adventures indicate that is not the case. Could they use the Drone’s possible celebrity status among the ancients to their advantage?

Now the dojo officer is very conflicted. Getting the black hole manipulator working is very important to her and the drone could be the key to that. On the other hand the drone opening doors for them in the ancient race community is extremely valuable. If he is a celebrity; that is even better for their diplomacy mission. It is two equally good choices. What to do?

The scene switches to the drone, chief engineer and the chief science officer [in the B plot] reverse engineering machines connected to the black hole manipulator. These machines cover some of the abilities the ship would gain via having the black hole manipulator fully operational. The abilities include time stop for the starship, super tractor beams that can pull entire planets out of orbit, emulating supernova’s a gamma ray burst and much more.

In the B plot it is seen that the chief engineer is getting more and more frustrated and disillusioned at the fact that so much of the starship’s technology is far beyond his comprehension. This is an episode that foreshadows his descent into despair at not understanding the ancient race technologies of the USS Anracosh. This is the first hint that the chief engineer is going into depression about being unable to comprehend ancient race technology. He begins to realise that he is completely out of his depth.

The scenes continue with the chief scientist, drone and chief engineer analysing ancient race technology. They gain some insights into what they are studying, namely funnelling gravity from a black hole into a tractor beam array to give the tractor beam the pulling power of a black hole. This is another superpower of the USS Anracosh that the chief scientist and chief engineer find utterly shocking. The USS Anracosh has god like powers. To the chief scientist and chief engineer this is a stunning revelation; the drone just shrugs and says he has seen it all before while growing up with ancient race beings.

They can’t believe the drone’s reaction. Seeing technology as powerful as a God is a Tuesday for the drone. Seeing technology as powerful as a God is utter alien, terrifying and amazing to any younger race being. The three almost start arguing among themselves until the drone points out that isn’t this the kind of power they are seeking when contacting the ancients.

Drone: “Why are you stunned by the power of the black hole manipulator? You know what the device is; the ancients explained it to you already. Besides, this is the reason you contacted the ancients. To get access to super powered technology and beings to protect and preserve your Federation that is so important to you. If you think this is amazing, you should see the power of the highest ranking ancients when it is fully unleashed.”

Chief engineer: “Ummm, did not see it like that.”

Chief science officer: “Thanks for reminding us why we started the mission.”

Drone: [in a happy non-sarcastistic voice] “You’re welcome; now let’s get back to work. We have much to do in learning the black hole manipulators sub-systems and abilities.”

Right after the almost argument the dojo officer asks about the progress of the reverse engineering project. The trio report that they have discovered the super tractor beam ability of the black hole manipulator. This is greeted with rousing cheers over the intercom and from the engineering crew.

Now the dojo officer is really conflicted. Should she let the drone help in engineering or bring him to the bridge to meet the space barnacle? As if reading her thoughts [and that could be the truth knowing the abilities of the ancients] the space barnacle asks if he can meet the drone. The space barnacle knows enough about the drone’s life that it knows the drone lives on the USS Anracosh. This again begs the question is the drone a celebrity to the ancient races community?

The dojo officer makes the call. She orders the drone to report to the bridge and asks the space barnacle if the drone is a celebrity to the ancients. The space barnacle’s reply is complicated. The drone is not a celebrity in the true meaning of the word. He is known widely in the ancient races clique as the being made as a prototype homemade Borg drone so the Borg would no longer have to assimilate younger race beings. He is not a being the ancients would roll out the red carpet for, he is just well known because of his origins and the intended purpose he was meant to have, had the Borg had not rejected the ancients offer.

Right on cue the Drone appears on the bridge. He sees the image of the space barnacle on the main screen. He asks why he wasn’t informed that space barnacles were attached to the starship. Then it sinks into the crew that the Drone knew the whole time that the space barnacles are part of the ancient races clique.

The space barnacle addresses the drone with a friendly hello and makes introductions, or more accurately re-introductions. The space barnacle volunteered to contact the USS Anracosh because it knew the drone was there. It turns out that the drone and the space barnacle are friends. The crew cannot believe that two such widely divergent beings could socialise and maintain a friendship even though they cannot even live in the same environment. The drone immediately realises that this is an old friend of his he has known since his creation by the ancients, and it becomes a happy reunion of two close friends who have not seen each other in ages.

The dojo officer, speaking for the now very confused bridge crew asks the drone if what she heard about the space barnacle and him being close friends was correct. The drone nonchalantly says yes and expresses surprise that the rest of the crew couldn’t accept the idea of very different ancients being friends. This is quite normal in the ancient race community that very divergent beings can have friendships. The drone finds it weird that such beings might not be friends. The space barnacle asks if it and the drone can have some time to catch up and the dojo officer agrees to this, it could make negotiating treaties with the space barnacles an even more fruitful exercise.

The scene changes to the engineering section, with the whole engineering and science crews now helping to reverse engineer the black hole manipulator and its various sub-systems. The place is a crowded hive of activities with many people reporting to the science officer and chief engineer. They are systematically going through the subsystems of the black hole manipulator and noting down what they think it does and how it works. Once again we see the chief engineer sinking into depression by realising nobody onboard, not even the drone can fully explain the ancient races technology on the USS Anracosh. It is a weird scene of underlings reporting that amazing progress has been made in understanding the systems and abilities of the black hole manipulator systems but nobody in the crew really knows how the systems work. It is based on science far beyond the Federation’s understanding. The B plot ends in a hollow victory of learning a lot about the USS Anracosh’s systems but everyone learning that those systems are incomprehensible to anyone in the Federation. The chief engineer gets really upset at how much he and the crew do not know about the workings of the USS Anracosh.

The next scene is on the bridge where the drone and the space barnacle finish catching up so the dojo officer, the drone and the chief diplomat get to negotiating a friendship treaty with the space barnacles. The barnacles offer a mutual defence pact with the Federation. Some of the encounters between younger race vessels and space barnacles have been less than friendly. If the Federation is willing to help the space barnacles, especially with feeding from power sources, then the barnacles are willing to help the Federation, especially with mutual enemies that may appear some day.

This is exactly what the crew of the USS Anracosh wants to hear. This is why they started the Realm of the Gods project to begin with – finding allies among the ancients willing to help them fight the powerful enemies of the Federation. The dojo officer asks for a mutual defence pact to be included in the friendship treaty, to which the space barnacles agree.

The barnacles say that this is the first of many mutual defence pacts with the ancients. The ancients see the younger races as an investment – they need the younger races to replace the ancients that kill themselves or going dormant from not coping with immortality. The barnacles are very upfront about the real reason the ancients want to recruit younger races. The crew is somewhat weirded out by this revelation.

The chief diplomat doesn’t like being overridden in negotiations, the captain does that too much, and now the dojo officer is stealing the chief diplomat’s thunders well. The chief diplomat complains but acknowledges the reason why the crew started the Realm of the Gods project. The chief diplomat has been around the crew long enough to know why they are on their mission.

The mutual defence pact clause of the friendship treaty is negotiated. The bridge crew are more than pleased at this development. The mood in main engineering is the opposite. The ancients technology is proving to be a real challenge to understand. The chief scientist and the chief engineer can only comprehend the surface technology of the black hole enhanced tractor beam, and that is with the help of the drone.

With the exception of those in engineering the crew is celebrating. May the mutual defence pact be the first of many negotiated with the ancients. Soon a friendship treaty with the space barnacles is finalised. The crew are in a large nearly empty cargo hold throwing a party. The dojo officers order the engineering/science crews to stop working and join the party after hearing their lack of progress in today’s reverse engineering project, hopefully the party will cheer them up. The chief engineer and chief science officer promise they will keep up their efforts in learning about the USS Anracosh’s systems and say they will eventually succeed.

At the party the officer core are seen, having returned and rested from their commando mission. They seek out the dojo officer and give her an award for being first in getting a mutual defence pact from the ancients. This is a major step forward for the USS Anracosh. The impromptu award ceremony at the party ends the episode.

 

Season 2 Episode 2

The USS Anracosh encounters the Q Continuum

A part comedy episode where the crew of the USS Anracosh and some members of the Q Continuum onboard their starship have a prank war

What passes for a B plot in this episode is that every crew member and every department gets in on the prank war. Nobody is spared. It is one long series of practical joke skits with the Science officer leading the Federation’s change. All while the pranks are going on he, and Niffy the Melkot, are monitoring the whole starship. Every type of scan and video/audio recordings are made of the Q in order to learn more about how the Q do their “magic”. The Science officer may be humorously leading a prank war, but he is deadly serious about learning the Q Continuum’s tricks, and the way to do that is scan the Q with ancients enhanced scanners found on the USS Anracosh.

The episode starts with a body less voice asking permission to come aboard and a Q “net” as seen in TNG surrounding the starship. The net disappears when a member of the Q Continuum appears on the bridge and the captain calls for the drone and the Chief Diplomat to get the bridge. The Q teleports the Captain, the drone and the diplomat to the ready room and apologizes for taking the initiative and transporting them without consulting them.

The Q then explains that the Continuum has heard of the Federation starting a Realm of the Gods project. Captain and the Chief Diplomat ask for extra staff to be sent to the ready room. They want more people to help them in negotiating with the Q. While they are waiting for the extra staff they ask the member of the Q Continuum to stop the prankster Q’s from annoying Starfleet personal and vessels.

The Q says it cannot promise that no Q will ever again prank the Federation, and the Q Continuum have no interest in stopping any prankster Q if all they are doing is harmless pranks where nobody is getting hurt. The Captain and Chief Diplomat counter with the time the prankster Q introduced the Federation to the Borg and 18 personnel died as a result. The Q responds with the justification that if prankster Q had not done that then the Federation would have been unprepared for facing the Borg and the Dominion later on.

The Captain and Chief Diplomat admit the Q is right but say that the same thing could have been accomplished without death. The Q at the meeting has to admit they are right, but would the Federation take a Q’s warnings seriously given that the prankster Q offered to be a guide and was refused?

The Q at the meeting noted that prankster Q was nice about it to begin with and that approach got nowhere. This almost erupts into an argument except for the Chief Diplomat intervening and saying that instead of playing the blame game they should get into negotiating with the Q Continuum. The Q notes that this is why they contacted the Federation at this time, so they can do diplomacy with the Federation.

The Q asks what The Federation wants of the Q Continuum. The Chief Diplomat says that normally she would have to study and prepare for the meeting but in this case she had no time to do that, but that is not important as this is such a massively powerful offer that they would prefer to call Starfleet Command and to get the answer to the Q’s question.

The Q are not impressed by this response and threatens to leave, but the crew members present convince the Q to stay as they know what The Federation will ask of them: to handle things the Federation cannot do for themselves. The Q says the ancients are in the process of handling that request in something called the “dial a deity” service, and the Q explains what that is. The crew are surprised at this development.

Without warning the Tellarite [Chief Science Officer] enters the meeting and asks if he can talk to the Q. The Q, who are curious as to what the science officer wants, disappears for a second and appears with another Q, who says he can answer any questions the science officer has to ask.

The science officer and the Q leave the room and the scene shifts to a lab on the USS Anracosh. The Tellarite demonstrates to the Q how he has emulated the Q’s tricks. The Q is impressed and starts to trade notes with the Tellarite on tricks of the Q. Eventually one of the tricks backfires, say an exploding meal from the replicators, and both the Tellarite and the Q wind up with egg on the faces, in the literal sense of the word.

From this point the tricks degenerate into pranks on each other. This escalates quickly as the Q calls in other Q for a prank war and the Tellarite does the same with the crew under his command.

While this is going on the Q at the diplomatic negotiations informs the core officers present of the ensuing prank war elsewhere on the USS Anracosh. The Q at the diplomatic meeting then declares a prank war between the Q and crew of the USS Anracosh and it joins its buddies onboard.

The strangest reaction comes from the captain, who says just roll with it and start pranking. The Chief Diplomat, who is shocked by the captain’s attitude, asks why, the captain responds by saying she has researched the Q, going along with their shenanigans is the best way to establish relations with the Q. Besides she knows why the science officer was recruited to the USS Anracosh, he reverse engineered some of the Q’s tricks and this is the chance to continue such work.

The captain uses the public address to order the crew to participate in the prank war with the Q on the USS Anracosh. At first the pranks are minor, stuff like water pistol fights, beans in a box on top of doors, erect sausages in mash potato and so on. It starts out with the pranks being really juvenile with food fights, trip wires, stink bombs. Sooner rather than later the pranks get out of hand and everyone acts like jerks. Gets absurd and messed up. For example the shuttles getting filled ceiling to floor with foam and the Q’s guest quarters being emptied of all furniture and soft holograms that have no physical form replacing the furniture. This is so chairs are fallen through and anything put on a table falls right to the floor.

Many of the crew are just not into it and want it to end, but the Tellarite tells them his agenda, he tells the crew the truth about his project to reverse engineer the Q’s tricks. The crew are unwillingly drawn into it by being officially ordered to participate. “Set phasers to fun”.

“Every time you hit a roadblock, every time you answer a question and create 10 more, don’t you just want to lose it? Don’t you just want to go mad and slap one of these so-called gods in the face? Preferably with a pastry of some sort? These Q are, and I say this without hyperbole – HANDING us this opportunity.

You will be among some of the first in existence to achieve this. For every bucket spilt, every water balloon tied, we become that many steps closer to figuring out these parlour tricks of theirs. I don’t care if this doesn’t feel like work, I don’t care if this stupid, because it absolutely is, this is an ORDER from your superior: Set Phasers to Fun.”

“YES SIR!”

*The Tellarite walks out of the room, then leans back in a few seconds later, finger pointed and yelling apprehensively*

“SET IT!”

—————

“Imagine if we could make our starships teleport the way the Q do. Think of the advantage that would give us against our potential enemies. That is why you must engage in this prank war – look at what we could do if we could do the parlour tricks the Q do.”

—————

“Sir, with all due respect, we’ve been making various breakthroughs in our research these past few weeks, and I have some reservations breaking these great streaks of progress with mere… faffing about.”

“ALL fields of research, ALL studies of science are “faffing about”, officer. The only thing that makes it science is that we write it all down when we’re finished. Now, are you just going to just sit there, hunched over your desk, simulating complex molecule structures? Or are you going to take this whoopee cushion and squirting flower from my hands, and do something that matters? If you really need to call me, I’ll be with Niffy in the Starship’s A.I. department leading and monitoring the prank war.”

The Q make it a fair fight, with themselves being able to be pranked while onboard. In fact the Q rig the prank war so nobody can get physically hurt, and even if they could the Q would immediately teleport them to the infirmary. The stakes are so low but at the same time so serious. It’s like animal house in star trek with a massive all out food fight occurring in the mess hall.

While this is going on the science officer [Tellarite] leads the prank war, but he has a hidden agenda of reverse engineering more Q tricks. As the pranks go on the science officer has set up camp at work station with all the starship’s sensors, both internal and external are set to maximum as the science officer gathers as much information as possible about what the Q are doing and how they are doing it.

We can see that through all the fun and games, this prank war has seriously taken its toll on the morale of the crew onboard, and we see someone who was trying to be as much of a non-combatant as possible get pinged right on the head with a chunk of food, covered in tomato sauce, of course, no proper harm is done, none would have been made if this were from a mortal’s hand anyways, but there was some cutlery and hard chunks of food in there, so it did sting. In a pastiche of a war film, the sauce afflicted crew member is being quite the drama queen as another crew member holds them in their hands, as he looks at his sauce covered hands and ruminates… “What have we done?!” It’s all very silly and they’re all a bit too invested in this.

After the tomato sauce quote the Q’s feel quite awkward; they never really intended to have much emotional stock placed into this. To get the crew to stop acting so weird, they declare the crew of the USS Anracosh the victors and magic into existence a friendship treaty with the Federation. The Q magic away all the mess made by the prank war and congratulate the crew on a job well done. It’s important that the Q’s stick around a while longer and in a moment you will see why.

With that done the captain demands to see the Tellarite immediately. The Tellarite assumes the worst and goes to the captain armed with all the research and data he has collected while scanning the Q in the prank war. He is expecting the captain to be furious with him, so he is prepared. To his surprise the captain is calm. Not taking his chances he shows the captain his findings. It pays off, the Tellarite shows his captain and his other superiors present a lot more information on how the Q do their tricks – and its “freaking gold”.

The Q who are present at the meeting are impressed by how the Tellarite science officer is reverse engineering their tricks. It’s impressive in the way a rat being fed to a snake, and the rat winning.

The Q are so impressed by what the Tellarite has done they say that the Tellarite species will be fast tracked into the ancient races clique.

If the captain wasn’t angry before she is now – She is in a rage at the Tellarites getting that kind of praise from the ancients while her race, the Vulcans have not been invited in because they are too serious. She immediately leaves the meeting and Tellarite to the mercy of her underlings.

The first officer takes over disciplining the Tellarite, although the captain never told him why she wanted to see the Tellarite. He assumes it was for punishment purposes, but he does not know what to do. The Tellarite has pulled of a miracle and he has done what the mission is really all about: Getting the Federation an advantage over its rivals via what the ancient races can do for them or give them.

The first officer does not know whether to punish the Tellarite or reward him. He did the wrong thing but it has paid off so spectacularly. He can’t go against his captain either. So the Tellarite is confined to quarters for three days but is unofficially ordered to make it into a “stay-cation” where he has to amuse himself and catch up on any log making he has to do, most importantly write a full report on what he has learned from the prank war.

 

Season 2 Episode 3

Massive holodeck episode

In part, this episode a majority of the crew becoming complacent in their newfound sedentary lifestyles, no matter how well-earnt.

The crew use ancient race technology to turn the USS Anracosh into one massive holodeck and have a collective vacation together. This story shows what the crew get up to in their day off.

The episode starts with a small recap of the previous episode. A week later the crew are getting back to work after the prank war. The holodecks have been seeing regular use from all members of the crew. After the antics of the Q Continuum, the crew would much rather be subject to a fantasy of their own design. The queue for the Holodeck wraps all around the hallways, and much bickering is had between everyone. There’s simply not enough fantasy to go around.

With such a strain from everyone using the holodecks the chief scientist and the chief engineer start experimenting with ancient race enhanced holographic technology. When doing this they find a way to turbo-charge the holographic systems on the starship. They discover they can extend the holodeck’s functions to cover the entire starship, essentially turn the starship into one massive holodeck and camouflage/disguise/cloak the starship as well.

They call a staff meeting and propose that since the crew is in dire, dire need of an indefinite break after the mental strain caused by the “prank war” that they temporarily turn the starship into a massive holodeck and all take a vacation onboard. This is met with relief from all in the meeting and soon the massive “stay-cation” is organised.

We see the crew divide into their social circles; the chief science officer, the chief engineer and the helmsman spend time together doing target practice, and many others join them in the holographic rendition of the starship’s weapons station. This reflects the testosterone laden culture on the USS Anracosh.

A golfing group is formed and it is a running gag that the scenes in the episode have someone yelling “FORE!” offscreen and a golf ball flies through the back of the scene.

Something has to go wrong – much later on when they try to switch off the holodeck technology they can’t find the off switch, so with the safety features disabled they blow a hole in the wall and cut the power cables directly and do so sequentially until the entire starship is returned to normal.

They can communicate with the outside world, and the rest of Starfleet laugh at them “sour grapes” style for being stuck in their super holodeck.

“Oh yeah, us being stuck in a Holodeck. How terrible. Wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

The whole scenario is seen as very low stakes and no one really seems to mind being stuck in here for a little while, they really needed this. One character with a good amount of foresight brings up how they should probably take care of this now and enjoy the rest of the vacation. Their concern gets brushed aside, and no sooner do we smash cut to a TWO MONTHS LATER title card, with everyone begrudgingly admitting that they probably should get to work on getting back to work.

“Look, all I’m saying is that I really shouldn’t be the only one worried about this. We work on this now and we stay in here for as long as we see fit, and that’s us. That’s our choice to make. Ramirez, I just don’t want us stuck in here the day something massive comes our way and we’re not ready.”

“We will be, trust me. We’re all still decompressing, the whole ship’s been cracked wide open! I’ll just chalk up week one to a mulligan. [Someone screams ‘FORE!’ in the background and a golf ball whizzes by [pun intended]] There’s gotta be a switch somewhere. Gotlieb will figure it out. We need this right now… besides, it’s gonna take a whole lot of sun surf and sand for me to wanna actually get back to work.”

TWO MONTHS LATER

Ramirez and a bunch of the crew are scattered around a clearing on the island, mildly scruffy, bellies full, completely satisfied and content in every way. And bored. Very, very bored.

“*deep inhale, then exhale* Yeah… I guess… I guess we should probably start lookin’ for that switch…”

A golf course in the super holodeck? Everyone dodging golf balls now and again or has the golf balls flying by them.

A sub-plot [i.e. the B plot] is that the Captain is introduced by Ensign H’yol to the sect of Vulcans who believe a sexually active life does not conflict with a life dedicate to logic. Those in the sect do not go through the once a seven year Pon Farr mating ritual because they do not repress their sexuality. Her joining the sect is what saves her from being disowned by her race. This does not mean that the Captain will leave the starship. The sect want her to stay because they understand the potential of diplomacy with the ancient races. The Vulcans onboard recreate a popular area on Vulcan and all congregate together there with the occasional golf ball flying by.

The story ends with them blowing a hole in the side of the starship and the shields prevent air loss. Outside is an ancient who has set up camp on the surface of the starship. It looks into the starship and says what kept them, it’s been waiting for weeks to see them, it asks if two months is normal for a wait time for a greeting for them, then a golf ball hits him in a comedic fashion.

“I’m terribly sorry of how forthcoming this is, but I simply must know! Is two months the usual grace period that you have for greetings? I can’t help but imagine that due to your mortal coils, that must be a terribly unoptimised system… This has no bearing on me you see, I worry for your benefit.”

The Ancient believes that getting pinged on the head with a golf ball is a greeting amongst the mortals, and whenever this Ancient appears, he gingerly lobs a golf ball at whichever crew member he greets with childish glee. Of course, he’s not sure why a golf ball necessary, so the analogue he uses in its place is an artefact of sorts that causes no damage. However, the crew quickly correct the ancient and explain what golf to him. The ancient becomes a golfing enthusiast.

This leads into the nomadic ancients episode

Behind the ancient that was hit by the golf ball an earth sized world with the gargantuan nomadic ancient race starship behind the earth like world and it is bigger than the earth like world.

 

Season 2 Episode 4

Nomadic ancients episode

The nomadic ancients are not indigenous to our galaxy

The race is first seen in the Andromeda Galaxy helping to fix the radiation problem and their super world ship is seen being used as a base of operations in Borg territory during the finale. This race is also seen in the opening sequence as it is their super starship that is seen behind an earth like planet and their starship is bigger than the earth sized world.

This episode shows off the dial a deity system and guest stars the ascended Mythbuster, who is temporarily travelling with the nomadic race.

A brief recap of the previous episode is given at the start of this episode.

The USS Anracosh is approached right after the giant holodeck episode by the nomadic ancients, who move their whole civilisation in a starship bigger than an Earth sized world. The civilisation has heard that the Federation is doing a Realm of the Gods project, and wants to simply say hello rather than establish diplomatic contact. The problem is they are nomads who have no intention of staying in range for any reasonable length of time.

The attitude aboard the USS Anracosh is what is the point of establishing contact with the race if we are never going to see them again? This does create some conflict among the crew, but they will take a want to see what the race has to say for itself.

The crew recognise the starship as one they saw in the Andromeda Galaxy. It was at the radiation clean-up site. Since then it has travelled at hyper warp speeds from the direction of the Andromeda galaxy. The starship is revealed to be larger than planet Earth; it is behind an Earth sized world when seen from the USS Anracosh. The Ancients starship contains an entire civilisation of ancients. The crew has seen some stunningly powerful ancient race technology, but this takes the cake, the plate underneath it, the table cloth, the entire dining table and the table’s chairs.

The Ancients have sent a starship from the Ancient’s super starship to meet the USS Anracosh. The nomadic ancients from the super ship set up camp on the outside surface of the USS Anracosh waiting for their holodeck programs to end. Now that the holodeck programs are over the crew of the USS Anracosh is very warmly invited to park their ship inside a bay of the super starship and meet its inhabitants. The crew are very hesitant to do this as it means leaving the starship almost helpless inside another starship.

The first thing the crew asks is how a starship that big does not affect the orbits of the planets in the solar system. The nomads say that they are the masters of gravity and anti-gravity. The crew should check their gravitational scans, which the crew does, to find that the super starship is emitting massive amounts of anti-gravity, more than the entire Federation could produce, to keep the Earth like planet near the super starship from falling out of orbit due to the gravity of the super starship.

Then the nomadic ancients drop a bombshell – they want to fly their super starship to Earth for a full state visit representing their race. This sounds great on the surface but would be a P.R. disaster for the Realm of the Gods project.

One of the things the crew of the USS Anracosh relies on is the fact that the average Federation citizen does not comprehend the scale, scope and power of the ancients. To the average Joe of the Federation the ancients might be technologically a few thousand years ahead of the Federation. The truth is there are ancients a few billion years technologically ahead of the Federation.

Flying the nomadic ancients super starship to Near Earth orbit, as the nomadic ancients are proposing would be cause a massive panic in Earth’s population and give the opponents of the Realm of the Gods project enough ammunition to shut the project down. This is the last thing the crew of the USS Anracosh want.

The crew then turns its attention back to its mistrust, and the nomadic ancients show that they are treating the visit of the USS Anracosh as a full state visit. They show images of a huge crowd has amassed to great them along with the supreme leaders of the nomads. Next to the leaders of the nomads is the ascended Mythbuster, the crew notice this and ask to talk to him via the holographic communication system in the hands of the visiting nomading ancients. The ascended Mythbuster vouches for the nomads. The chief diplomat also points out that if the aliens have put this much effort into meeting them then the aliens may be greatly offended if the refuse to park the USS Anracosh in the super starship.

With that the USS Anracosh is flown to the super starship and docks inside the super vessel to find it has a huge internal empty space like a park. The crew park their starship in a facility at the “ceiling” of the park and are invited to join the crowd far below them. Transportation is provided and the crew are greeted like rock stars. It is a far cry from the cold reception they get from their Starfleet and Federation colleagues.

All the crew specialists [including the Melkot who is seen walking via his tentacles] are brought before the leaders of the nomads for diplomatic negotiations. The drone is happy to see Progenitors/Preservers living among the nomads and wants to interact with them. The drone going off and finding the Preserver/Progenitor community becomes a B plot to the episode. The same goes for the Zalkonian doctor being introduced to Zalkonians on the super ship. In fact the Progenitors/Preservers and the Zalkonians have got together and jointly meet the Zalkonian doctor and the drone together.

Another B plot is the ascended Mythbuster catching up with the crew of the USS Anracosh.This is done via the super starship offering dry dock services so the USS Anracosh can undergo major repairs and refuelling as the ancients express disappointment that the black hole manipulator is still unfinished. The USS Anracosh and its crew are also given a lift to their next mission.

During the negotiations it is raised that what is the point of saying hello to the nomads if they never see them again. The ascended Mythbuster says that this is not the case and introduces them [and the audience] to the dial a deity system. This is a communication device that will be offered to the Federation and other governments of the galaxy doing Realm of the Gods projects. The device is also compatible with the systems of the USS Anracosh and systems of other vessels with ancient race communication technology added to them, such as other governments Realm of the Gods starships.

What is dial a deity? It is accessing the ancient races “telephone/internet” system. It is a communications network made by ancients for ancients. Put simply now the younger governments of the galaxy can reach the ancients they have already contacted directly. This is very handy for continued contact of the ancients they have diplomacy with and for asking for help from the ancients.

The condition of using the dial a deity system is that they cannot cold call the ancients they have not met. The system has been set up so that the only ancients that can be contacted are those they have put in the effort to reach via starship. The ancients want the younger races to prove that they are serious about a Realm of the Gods project instead of just “phoning it in” – literally and figuratively.

If you want to run with the ancients you must prove yourself by getting off your butt and going to see them “face to face”. However, ancients are free to use the dial a deity system to make first contact with the younger races – if that is the most convenient way for a particular ancient or ancient race to make contact. It sounds like a double standard but the ancients want the younger races to take the initiative and be willing to put in the effort of making first contact without having to be prompted. Younger races have to get off their butts [or anatomical equivalent] and do it for themselves.

Some of the crew are unhappy about leaving the USS Anracosh undefended and uncrewed, but the nomadic ancients assure them their starship is safe, besides if they were going to steal or harm the USS Anracosh the rest of the ancients community would come after them seeking revenge. The Realm of the Gods project is above politics among the ancients, any attempt by an ancient that sabotages it will be met with a violent forceful response by other ancients.

The next thing the nomadic ancients say is that they will not disappear never to be seen again. The dial a deity system can keep the nomadic ancients and the Federation in contact. As for returning physically, the nomadic ancients have hyperwarp just like the USS Anracosh. In fact the nomadic ancients contributed their hyperwarp technology designs to the USS Anracosh when it was upgraded. Travelling back to the Milky Way galaxy will not be a problem.

The rank and file crew are given a tour of the super starship and get to see the whole nomadic civilisation and its accomplishments. This is such a change from the frosty reception from the Federation. They also they discover that many other ancients travel with the nomadic ancients. The nomadic ancients super starship is just like the Federation in some respects. Some of the crew even express the idea they should retire here, and the nomadic ancients say they would welcome them. The nomadic ancients ask if some of the crew are contemplating about moving to the super starship immediately. The answer is no as the crew are totally committed to the Realm of the Gods project.

The nomadic ancients ask for a permanent Federation embassy on their super starship. They will be able to arrange this soon because the nomadic ancients drop another bombshell. Their super starship changed course while the crew of the USS Anracosh and the USS Anracosh were onboard. The nomadic ancients are heading straight for Earth to park in low orbit and have an official state heads of government visit.

This freaks out the chief diplomat and her team. They ask the nomadic ancients when they will be at Earth. The ancients answer in about an hour going at hyperwarp. The ancients could get there at lot sooner but since they just travelled from the Andromeda galaxy they want to go easy on their engines.

There is not much time to convince the nomadic ancients not to go to Earth. The diplomatic team talk about that state visits among younger races are not an impromptu affair, they must be meticulously planned. Various other arguments are used to convince the nomadic ancients not to go to Earth. Notably that it will look like favouritism if the nomadic ancients only go to Earth and ignore other younger race government’s capitol planets.

One of the other arguments is saying that Federation citizens seeing a starship this big near Earth would freak them out and cause a planet wide panic. This really puzzles the nomadic ancients. The nomads were of the opinion that the Federation’s people know just what the ancients are. The nomadic ancients ask why the Federation launched the Realm of the Gods project if they did not know the true scale, scope and power of the ancients?

This forces the diplomatic team to say the real motivation of the crew of the USS Anracosh – the crew started the mission to get an advantage over enemies of the Federation. At the time the crew started the mission they did not know that the Realm of the Gods project lead to younger races joining the ancient races clique.

The nomadic ancients say that history is repeating itself – the first Federation had the exact same motives when they joined centuries ago. Here it is revealed that the First Federation started their Realm of the Gods project in secret. They only told their own populations when serious efforts were made in their cultures to change so they could qualify to join the ancients. Also the important plot point is revealed that since the First Federation did not share their Realm of the Gods project with other younger races it was not classified as a mass recruitment effort by the ancients. So the First Federation did not get a super starship like the USS Anracosh as a reward, but once they qualified to join the ancients they were invited in.

The negotiations return to convincing the nomads to stop their super starship before reaching Earth. This succeeds with the nomads super starship stopping two light years from Earth. It is a close shave full of suspense with the obvious outcome that it could go either way. The nomads offer to wait in place while Federation ambassadors are arranged to staff the Federation embassy on the super starship. The crew of the USS Anracosh are relieved and the show ends with the friendship treaties being signed between the Federation and the Nomads. The final scene is shaking hands with the nomads, who have no idea what a handshake is and have to learn the concept from the Federation.

 

Season 2 Episode 5

Visiting the Iconians on their homeworld

It is a fact that the Iconian’s homeworld is in what is now the Neutral zone.

Meeting the Iconians

The USS Anracosh returns to the Neutral zone to meet the Iconians on the Iconian home world. This time there is no Romulan flotilla to greet them at the meeting with the ancients. Also this time the USS Anracosh encounters their opposite number in the Romulan fleet – the Romulan ancient races contact ship. This starship shows up on their scanners before they get to the Iconian homeworld. The scans reveal what it is, but it only has various ancient races technologies on it. It is not an ancients races/younger races hybrid starship.

The Romulans are here to set up diplomatic relations with the Iconian ancient race just like the crew of the USS Anracosh intends to do. When the USS Anracosh gets into orbit of the Iconian home world the Romulans hails the USS Anracosh and starts a dialogue with its crew. Soon the Iconians hail both starships and offer a trilateral meeting on the grounds that the Iconians will offer both younger race representative’s the same deal. The Romulans reveal they are just starting out in their Realm of the Gods project.

The Romulan and Federation delegations beam to the surface to a spot offered by the Iconians as a place for a summit. It is an open area with some kind of energy shield to stop the weather. The Romulans are first to the punch by demanding to know why the Federation has an Ancients/Federation hybrid starship and the Romulans were never offered an Ancients/Romulan hybrid starship. The Iconians reply that because the Federation was first to start a public Realm of the Gods project they were rewarded with a hybrid starship for being first. By public they mean that it was not a race or faction of a race secretly contacting the ancients in order to join the ancient races clique by themselves.

The Romulans then state that it is one of their aims in their Realm of the Gods project to have the ancients help them build hybrid starship that matches what the Federation has. The Romulans think it is very unfair that the Federation has such an advantage over them by having the USS Anracosh.

The Iconians reiterate that the USS Anracosh was a prize for the Federation being first, but the Romulans are free to ask the ancients for technology so they can build their own hybrid starship. This answer does nothing to change the Romulan’s belligerent mood.

The Federation delegation butts in and says that they have serious restrictions in using the USS Anracosh that were imposed by the ancients. This usually restricts the use of the starship to diplomacy with the ancients. This does not placate the Romulans even when the Iconians confirm that the Federation delegates are telling the truth and go through some of the restrictions placed on use of the USS Anracosh.

The Iconians then proceed to offer the Romulans and the Federation the same deal of friendship treaties. This is when the Romulans learn of the dial a deity system, what it is used for and why it exists. As a younger race government engaging in a Realm of the Gods project, they get access to the dial a deity system. Once they make contact with the ancients they can start make phone calls to the ancients, and ask the ancients for help with problems they can’t solve themselves.

Learning the above information lifts the Romulans mood considerably. The Romulans then confess that this is their very first Realm of the Gods mission and they were previously not aware of the dial a deity system’s existence. The encounter with the Riharsha was the event that set off the Romulans starting a Realm of the Gods project. The Romulans don’t count meeting their long lost Riharsha cousins as a Realm of the Gods mission because it was not a mission to contact the ancients, it was just a mission to monitor the Ancients and the Federation talking to each other. Seeing the USS Anracosh and understanding what it is changed the mission completely and led the Romulans to do their own diplomacy with the Ancients.

This changes the mood of the summit considerably, but the Romulans will not say why they are in such a better frame of mind. The nuts and bolts of the treaties are worked out and all sides happily and successfully negotiate with each other.

At the summit the Iconians gift the Romulans a dial a deity device, the first of many they will get for running a Realm of the Gods project. They receive the gift with joy and say to the Iconians that the Romulans are not running a private Realm of the Gods project; they are doing it on behalf of all Romulan colonies in the Romulan empire and non-Romulans who live in the Romulan Empire.

The Iconians offer to put the dial a deity device on the visiting Romulan capital ship. The Captain of the Romulan starship is part of their diplomatic delegation, she asks the Iconians to install the dial a deity device on the Romulan starship rather than just leaving it in the cargo bay. The Iconians agree to this as they see this as proof of the Romulan’s enthusiasm for running a Realm of the Gods project. The Iconians praise the Romulan’s initiative of wanting the dial a deity system ready to go as soon as possible. The Romulaans maintain their elated mood.

One thing the Federation delegates say among themselves is that they wonder why the Romulans are so happy about learning about the dial a deity system, even with the restrictions of using the dial a deity system, that being the ancients will only offer help if it something that the younger races cannot do for themselves. What are the Romulans hiding? Why do they need the dial a deity system so urgently? What disaster are they facing that only the ancients can help them with? They won’t ask the Romulans because the Romulans will never give them an honest answer. The crew of the USS Anracosh are left in the dark guessing why the Romulans need the help of the ancients.

The B plot:

The B plot focuses on what the Romulans really want on various fronts. They want the ancients help to stop the Hobus star going Supernova, but do not say so in front of the Federation delegates. An experiment done by the Romulans has gone horribly wrong and destabilised the Hobus star. The Romulans know it will go supernova within a decade but can’t fix the problem themselves. Now that the ancients are approachable the Romulans hope that they can get the ancients to fix the unstable star for them. For the record the Hobus star is three light years away from the Romulus itself, outside the gravity of the star planet Romulus orbits.

There are also Romulan efforts to spy on the USS Anracosh via hidden scans and attempting other espionage efforts, This is a prelude to the Ancients warning the Romulans that they must be honest with the ancients at all times. It is not a good look to be insincere with ancients, especially given how powerful the ancients are. The subplot includes the crew of the USS Anracosh discovering and counteracting the Romulan spying efforts. It falls to the science officer, the security chief and the chief engineer to stop the Romulans from stealing the secrets of the USS Anracosh. The Iconians also discover the Romulan spying efforts against the USS Anracosh and themselves and they warn the Romulans not to deceive the ancients.

The Iconians let the Romulans off with a warning, but say the ancients are willing to forgive and forget because this is their first attempt at diplomacy with the ancients. If this was an ongoing problem it would be a very different conversation. The Iconians also encourage the Romulans to not give up on contacting the ancients just because they made a mistake, the ancients will welcome the Romulans with a forgive and forget attitude. The tripartite talks continue and treaties are sighed at the end of the conference.

The scene changes to the Romulan ancient races contact ship. The Romulans are having a party! Their whole crew is celebrating. This is one massive shindig with Romulan Admirals and Politicians teleconferencing with the crew. They are congratulating them on a very successful mission with awards being given. The Romulan officer core of the starship discuss that their mission has saved the Romulan Empire and show the dial a deity system installed on their starship’s bridge to the big wigs via teleconferencing. The Romulan crew state that the experiment that destabilised the star, called Hobus, three light years from the Romulan solar system can be fixed by the ancients. The Romulans can’t fix the problem of the Hobus star going supernova in under ten years time, but the Ancients will help stop the supernova. This will save the Romulan Empire. Congratulations flow like the wine. High ranking Romulans have much to celebrate.

The story ends with the Romulan captain orders that the Romulan ancient races contact ship to head for Romulus. The party will continue as they travel.

 

Season 2 Episode 6

Tellarites ask to join the ancients

This episode serves to develop the politician as a character who is on the side of the USS Anracosh and its crew. He represents them in the political circles he works in.

This episode takes place on Earth with the politician calling the USS Anracosh with some incredible news – the Tellarites are going to ask to join the ancient races clique. If they ancients say yes they will secede from the Federation and join the ancients. This is one of the nightmare scenarios that Federation feared when the Realm of the Gods project was started. Races asking to join the ancients rather than joining the Federation, or leaving the Federation to join the ancients.

The politician is rather panicky about the actions of the Tellarites, having read the reports about the prank war between the Q Continuum and the crew of the USS Anracosh, although the reports of the incident make it sound much more serious, highlighting the revelatory accomplishments of the Tellarite in reverse engineering the Q’s abilities. He notes what the Q’s said about the Tellarites at the end of the prank war – that they will be fast tracked into the ancient races.

The captain reminds him that he should respect the chain of command and go to the admiral in charge of her with this issue rather than contact her directly. The politician realises his mistake and tells them he will go to the admiral. He then ends his call to the USS Anracosh.

The Tellarites are being presumptuous and taking the science officer’s discoveries about the Q and the Q’s reaction to the discoveries as an invitation to join the ancients outright. From the ancient race diplomatic representation on Earth they know about the ancients M.O. of issuing invites to races that meet their criteria to join their clique.

The captain of the USS Anracosh is not happy either at this news, as she sees it, the Tellarites are almost getting invited to join the ancients and her race, the Vulcans, are not being invited to join the ancients. She is in a bad mood and is very envious for the whole of the episode.

The USS Anracosh flies to Earth and arrives to see representatives of the Tellarite government arrange an official ceremony to ask if they can join the ancients. They are asking the ancients to summon the various Q’s who prank warred the crew of the USS Anracosh so they can say directly to the other ancients that they issued an invite in all but name.

This is the B plot: The scene switches to showing the Admiral that commands the USS Anracosh getting really angry that the crew of the USS Anracosh went over her head, disrespected the chain of command and contacted the politician she answers to. The crew has to correct her in saying that the politician contacted them, she confirms this and she turns on the politician because of her bad mood the captain finally snaps at her superior the admiral. This results in an insubordination charge levelled at the captain. Upon arriving on Earth the captain is then detained by military police for the duration of the episode.

The ancients oblige if only to get to the bottom of the situation. The various Q’s from the prank war are summoned and explain that they said the Tellarites would be fast tracked into the ranks of the ancient race clique because of the actions of the science officer reverse engineering the Q’s parlour tricks.

The ancients are sceptical about the science officer being able to replicate the abilities of the Q, so a demonstration by the science officer is organised. To do so the science officer sets up some equipment and the scene ends before he is complete.

The B plot: The captain goes through the arrest and tribunal process, being interrogated, having communication files from the USS Anracosh copied and examined. The Admiral wants the Captain court marshalled and is seeing if it can be done given the fact that the captain did not actually disrespect the chain of command. The only thing the admiral has on the captain is the back talk insubordination. That is not enough for a court marshal. The captain, because of her military training does not crack. The B plot focuses on the captain’s ordeal in confronting the legal system.

The science officer has finished setting up the equipment he needs and begins to emulate the Q’s parlour tricks. This shocks the assembled ancients, they are amazed that a younger race being could reverse engineer the tricks the Q use. The ancients ask the Q why the Q never told them about someone copying their abilities. The Q do not know how to answer except for that they are as impressed as the other ancients that a younger race being could emulate any ancient race ability.

The ancients then ask the big question: Did the Q invite the Tellarites into the ancient races clique? This is their right as members of the ancient races clique. If the Q did indeed issue an official invite, the other ancients are obliged to honour it or point out why the candidate race should not be allowed to join the ancients for the time being.

Any ancient race can make the call to invite a race into the ancient races clique. If the Q wanted to, they could invite the Tellarites in, and the other ancients would normally be perfectly fine with it. This is why this meeting is so important, if the Q did make the invitation the other ancients must agree with it or call the Q out on making a bad decision before the invitation is made formal and the race being invited actually gets the invitation. Time travel helps with this.

The Tellarites do not meet the criteria to join the ancients, that being a race thinking like an ancient/having an ancient race social structure, ascension to a higher form of existence, that is, becoming an energy based life form [non-corporeal life form], and/or technological advancement.

To resolve the conflict the [and the plotline] the ancients say that the Science officer has shown he is an impressive member of his species, but he has not proven that his whole race belongs in the ancient races clique. However, the ancients will set up an embassy on the Tellarite homeworld, with ancients immediately going to the Tellarite homeworld to facilitate it, but an invitation for the Tellarites to join the ancients will only be issued at a time of the ancients choosing, and that may not be for decades or centuries.

The ancients at the meeting say that if the Tellarite [chief science officer of the USS Anraocsh] was a typical example of his species, an official invitation to join the ancients would have been issued a long time ago. The ancients admit that the Tellarite is a remarkable being, but he is not typical of his species, he is an exceptional Tellerite. If the Tellarites want to join the ancients they should try to emulate the Tellarite who reverse engineered Q’s tricks.

The ancients go on to say that the ancients have the policy of deciding when a younger race is invited into the ancient races clique. Letting a younger race in because one of their people misinterpreted what an ancient said to them goes against their invitation policy, and therefore an invitation will not be issued right away.

The Q at the meeting add that they did not actually issue an official invite, they only stated that the Tellarites were going to get help in joining the ancients. What the Q said was not an actual invitation.

Returning to the B plot: After the captain spends some time in custody the military police cannot make the charges against the captain stick because the politician contacted the USS Anracosh. It was not a case of the captain not respecting the chain of command, the politician disrespected the chain of command and he will be reprimanded instead of the captain. What also goes in the captain’s favour is that she told the politician to respect the chain of command. The detention the captain has already endured counts as time served as punishment for being insubordinate. Without a reason to continue holding the captain she is released because there are no charges to press. She returns to duty on the USS Anracosh and is seen going to the bridge and ordering the crew back to the starship so they can continue their mission.

 

Season 2 Episode 7

Romulan episode supernova suppression part 1

This episode is the first of two massive middle fingers to new trek

This episode incompatible with new trek

Note:

An experiment done by the Romulans has gone horribly wrong and destabilised the Hobus star. The Romulans know it will go supernova within a decade but can’t fix the problem themselves. Now that the ancients are approachable the Romulans have gotten help from the ancients to fix the unstable star for them. For the record the Hobus star is three light years away from the Romulus itself, outside the gravity of the star planet Romulus orbits.

The USS Anracosh is invited to witness the Romulans and the Ancients using Romulan mini-black hole technology to supress a supernova threatening the Romulan Empire. The USS Anracosh warps into the area where the starships that are working to stop that star from going supernova are located.

The Romulans and the Ancients working on a black hole device that will be warped into the centre of the star and collapse it into a black hole without the devastating explosion. The USS Anracosh sees that the Romulans have their own new ancient races contact starship. It lacks most of the upgrades of the USS Anracosh, but it does have a few upgrades, and that is visible on the starship itself.

The USS Anracosh hails the Romulan ancient races contact ship. They hope to trade notes with them and to compare their success to the Romulans success in contacting the ancients. Upon contacting their Romulan counterparts, the Romulans say that they wish they had someone like the Drone, an ancient races expert. They also say that they have encountered other government’s ancient race contact ships. Most of the ancient race contact ships rely on information the Federation passes onto their governments. The crew of the Anracosh was not aware of this, but the Romulans also say they make a point of asking ancients for help in finding other ancients, so they are not totally lost in finding contacts in the ancient races community.

After some more conversation with the Romulan ancient races contact ship’s crew the ancients themselves contact the USS Anracosh. They are offering the crew a tour of the project to supress the supernova. The officer core is given the tour while the rest of the crew continues the conversation with the Romulan ancient races contact crew. In this conversation the Romulans try to recruit the Drone to their crew. The Drone refuses, but says he will, with the help of the ancients, make a list of ancient races and individuals who will welcome younger race contact. The Romulans are not happy with this, but the ancients on supernova suppression project assure the Romulans that the Drone is telling the truth, the ancients even offer to help make the list. The Drone pleads ignorance, saying that their superiors had not told them of the problems other Realm of the Gods project ships were facing.

“Don’t worry, with John Doe here, what you see is what you get. He’s a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them. You see, his problem isn’t lying, it’s withholding the truth. It’s like he thinks you know these truths already. Ask the right questions, get the right answers.”

The officers are given the tour. They are being shown the device that will be warped into the centre of the star. The chief engineer and the science officer recognise the technology immediately. It is black hole manipulator technology, scaled back many times over. This is really bad news; the Romulans will eventually have access to black hole manipulators. The Romulans say that much of the technology was made by the ancients. They did not invent much of what is being fired into the centre of the star. The Romulans note that the shields for the device are of ancient races origin.

The Romulans getting access to Black Hole Manipulator technology is something the crew of the USS Anracosh will have to report to Starfleet. If the Romulans can get such technology working it will seriously change the balance of power in this part of the galaxy. It will make the Romulans superior to the Federation unless drastic action is taken. The crew of the USS Anracosh will have to think about what to do if the Romulans gain a major advantage over the Federation via ancient races technology.

Guess who the crew of the Anracosh run into – the ascended Mythbuster, he too has a hand in the project to suppress the supernova. He makes a brief appearance as he works on the anti-supernova device. The crew realises that the Romulans would almost certainly have analysed the device and learned all they can about it. This is bad news for the Federation.

Although it has to be said that the Romulans use artificial mini-black holes to power their starships, so the Romulans are already halfway to having black hole manipulators. The crew of the USS Anracosh wonder why the Romulans never explored the true potential of mini-blaack hole technology. The analogy is made with the Roman empire of Earth never understanding the potential of the steam engine – a technology they had but only ever saw as a toy, they did not understand what could really be done with the invention. The ancients have shown to the Romulans the real potential of black hole based technology. The crew of the USS Anracosh has to report this to the Federation.

The B plot: For now, more of the tour, the officers are shown the launch gantry of the device and will be here for the launch. That is with the exception of the security chief. She is running counter intelligence operations on the USS Anracosh, making sure the Romulans do not try to get ancient races technology secrets from the starship.

What the original four, including herself, who started the Realm of the Gods project said when the idea of the Federation contacting the ancients was floated. “It is only a matter of time before it is business as usual with the Romulans”. The Romulans trying to get ancient races technology is proof of that.

The security chief does discover some Romulan subterfuge in the form of computer hacking of the USS Anracosh’s systems. They also discover cloaked Romulan starships in the system as well and hail them saying that their cloaking systems are worthless against the ancient race enhanced sensors of the USS Anracosh. The starships uncloak realising they have been busted.

The subterfuge and cloaked starships does not go down well with the ancients who are there to help the Romulans stop the supernova. This creates friction between the Romulans and the ancients, but it does not stop the work on the anti-supernova project. All sides realise there is much more at stake than the Romulans in the local star system being dishonest.

The ancients warn the Romulans that the whole ancient race community will know of the treachery and will be wary of them. They go on to say that the Romulans only have themselves to blame for that. The Romulans learn the hard way that being insincere with the ancients does not work.

This escalates into a confrontation between the ancients and the Romulans and it is up to the crew of the USS Anracosh to fix it. The Federation vessel acts as a third party arbiter between the two sides. The result is that the Romulans get off with a warning. They are told “no more dishonesty”. If they keep on being insincere with the ancients they will lose the Romulan ancient races contact ship. The Romulans back down and say sorry agreeing that there will be no more subterfuge with the ancients.

The ancients reveal that the whole Romulan Realm of the Gods project has been full of lies, theft of intellectual property, physical theft, planting listening bugs, hidden cameras and gifts with implanted malware and the like. Basically they are spying on the ancients and the ancients are not happy about it.

Having said that, the ancients honour their agreement to stop the supernova saying that they do not blame the Romulan people for the actions of their government. A lot of innocent people whom have the ancients have no issue with would be killed by the supernova, so the ancients want to save them from destruction. The ancients also warn the Romulans that they have seriously underestimated the ancients and the ancient’s abilities.

The episode ends with the device fired into the star and the crew witness and records the star turning into a small black hole, they also report to the Federation that the Romulans are in the process of developing Black Hole Manipulator technology, but the Romulans have had a major falling out with the ancient races. This means that without the ancients helping them the Romulan black hole manipulator technology will be nowhere near as powerful as what the Federation has been given in the form of the USS Anracosh.

Therefore the story ends in a break even situation. The ancients are not happy with the Romulans, which is a bad situation to be in, but the Romulans are developing black hole manipulator technology – which could give them powerful abilities relating to gravity. Fortunately, the ancients have no beef with the Federation and actually respect the Federation for offering to be referees between the Romulans and the Ancients. The story ends with the Federation sending diplomatic teams to help the Romulans negotiate with the ancients.

Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods

Season 1 part 2

Season 2 part 2