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Season 3 Episode 8
Bajoran doctor’s episode – the Bajoran project
This is one of the episodes where a Section 31 commando raid is the B plot. The raid is not related to the A plot.
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 super weapon 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 diplomats 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 super weapon 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 super weapon. It is openly stated that this super weapon 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 ancient races 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, and 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 weaponize 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
This is one of the episodes where a Section 31 commando raid is the B plot. The raid is not related to the A plot.
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 tow the race that enslaved the Orions thousands of years ago.
Pandemonium breaks out on both the Orion Home worlds 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