Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods
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.