Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods
Season 5 Episode 1
The black hole manipulator part 2
After a brief review of the events of part one we see a scene of the whole of the crew re-examining what the USS Anracosh has become. This makes the chief engineer rediscover his love of his job. All the unanswered questions he had about the USS Anracosh and ancient race technology are now answered.
We switch scenes to show that security doing its job in quelling the brawls and riots. The Captain orders that instead of sending a good portion of the crew to the brig she wants her first officer to organise truth and reconciliation type meetings between crew members who fought each other. The Captain realises that all factions had valid arguments for their causes, which was why she was ambivalent about completing the black hole manipulator.
Having the crew talk it out with the crew members they were opposed to means that the B plot from the previous episode has run its course. The debates [and fights] have been done and everyone’s opinions are known. In spite of this those against having the black hole manipulator also debate starting a campaign to having the black hole removed from the black hole manipulator.
In response to this campaign and the actions that proceeded it the Captain puts what to do with the black hole manipulator to a vote, but the vote will take place after the major tests of what the black hole manipulator can do. Voting in the election will be compulsory and secret. The Captain wants the crew and herself to see the full capabilities of the device in action before making a decision as to what to do with the black hole manipulator. Many of the crew do not like the idea of voting to decide what to do as this goes against how a starship should be run, but the follow their orders as the professional crew that they are [most of the time].
Most importantly once the election is over the factions within the crew will be dissolved. The Captain makes it an official order, no more debates, no more “schools of thought”. When the vote is counted and decision made “the issue” will be closed. No more discussing what to do with the black hole manipulator. What’s done is done and the policy that wins the vote is the final decision to be applied permanently unless there is a clear need to change the policy, and that will be decided by the core officers, not the rank and file crew.
The B plot: The schools of thought form political groups to plead their cases in the election. The three “parties” are: “Leave the device fully operational”, “Study the device and dismantle it” and “Dismantle the device”. The election campaign starts before the major testing of the USS Anracosh and proceeds concurrently with the testing. At the start of the campaign it looks like an even three way split, meaning each party has the support of about one third of the crew each.
The scene shifts to main engineering where we see the Chief engineer, who had become a cynic about reverse engineering ancient race technology, has done a complete back flip. Now that the starship is fully operational he has been given the answers that had evaded him. He now can comprehend how the systems of the starship were meant to work. This episode resets the engineer’s personality back to what it was at the start of the series more or less, with some more wisdom and respect for the ancient race technology.
The next two tasks are to put the USS Anracosh through its paces and do more of the black hole manipulator science experiments that some of the crew wanted to do. When all the examinations and experiments are done and the logs and reports are being made the officer core meet in the ready again and report on what they have discovered, which is that the starship was meant to run with an operational black hole manipulator. During this time we see that field testing the Black hole manipulator and seeing all of its powers in action.
The next test is testing the engines to see what a black hole manipulator does to them. This becomes a profoundly spiritual experience for the crew. The Captain orders the Helmsman to see how fast the starship can go. The orders are to get to empty space near the edge of the galaxy and throttle it. He slowly ups the speed until the starship is at warp 10. Then he “throttles it” near the edge of the galaxy. Warp 11, warp 15, warp 17 [which is their cruising speed], warp 20, 30, 40, 50. At warp 60 he stops counting. The bridge crew looked stunned at what they can see on the view screen. The Captain shakily officially orders every crew member to get to window and see what is outside the starship.
As the starship travels through intergalactic space it looks like one of those youtube travel between galaxies videos. They are travelling at far beyond warp 10 travelling between galaxies as if they were a Federation starship travelling between the stars within the Federation. The helmsman says they are travelling at warp 100. During the journey the crew of the Anracosh gets a “macro” view of the galaxies and can truly appreciate the beauty of looking at the universe at such a massive “beyond galactic” scale. In short they get a “Gods eye view” of the universe at its “filament” level and are stunned by it – except for the Drone who has seen this sort of thing plenty of times before. The crew is shocked that the Drone has the “been there done that” attitude to seeing the universe at a “God’s eye view” level. The experience has clearly affected the crew with awe for the rest of the episode.
The crew then realise they are hopelessly lost in the depth of the universe but this is quickly fixed by the Drone pointing out that the starship automatically recorded their journey. The Drone uses his ancient race abilities to access the USS Anracosh’s navigation systems and return the starship to Federation space.
So now the crew have gone full circle, meaning that they have to debate whether to keep the black hole manipulator as it is or decommission it. This leads them back to the near brawl that started their current situation. The Captain contacts Starfleet command and asks their opinion. Starfleet command informs the Captain that in accordance with their agreement with the ancients it is her [the Captain’s] own decision as what to do. She has to decide if the black hole manipulator is to be dismantled or left as is, this surprises her officer core in the ready room with her.
All that bickering [and a lot worse] was for nothing, they could have just asked her to [or not to if that is what they thought] install a black hole in the black hole manipulator. The Captain explains that she had not made up her mind yet, but the crew’s brawl in the pub is what bought events to a head. The Captain faces an officer core and crew that is deeply divided on what to with the fully operational black hole manipulator. She asks the science officer if all the experiments the science crew wanted to do with the black hole manipulator have been done, to which the science officer says yes. The Captain then orders that it is time to vote about what to do with the black hole manipulator.
We see a return to the election campaign with the three way contest in full swing. This is different to before, instead of there being an even level of support between the three parties, a lot more people have decided to keep the black hole permanently in the black hole manipulator. One of that side’s biggest victories was the defection of the Chief engineer, who was previously a champion for leaving the black hole manipulator unfinished.
It looks like it could become a debate between the study the black hole manipulator faction and the keep the black hole manipulator permanently functional faction, with the keep the black hole manipulator dismantled coming in a distant third. However, the fact that the study the black hole manipulator faction is destroys its own position by not having a clear policy on rebuilding the black hole manipulator if they need it for some reason after it is dismantled. Their own representatives cannot agree on whether studying and dismantling should be a permanent policy.
The study the black hole manipulator faction’s turn on each other debating if they should support the black hole manipulator ever being weaponised or if it should be reassembled if more scientific research. The study the black hole manipulator faction’s support halves as they destroy their own argument through infighting as to what their policy should be. By the end of the final debate it’s pretty obvious that the keep the black hole manipulator fully operational faction will win the election.
Those who favour keeping the device permanently operational win with just under fifty eight percent of the votes. The other two parties had an even split of the remaining votes. All sides of the debate reconcile with each other and life returns to normal on the vessel, at least as normal as it gets on the USS Anracosh. We see the last of the crew reconciliation meetings with apologies being made and friendships being mended. The Captain promises [vows] that she will never again put command decisions to a vote; this makes the whole crew of the USS Anracosh very happy and relieved. But there is one big difference; the black hole manipulator is fully operational. This does not alter the mission and the mission of the USS Anracosh continues, that being a taxi for Federation diplomats meeting with the ancients.
End of part two of two.
Season 5 Episode 2
Stellar Engineering episode using BHM
Starfleet command contacts the crew of the USS Anracosh to give them new orders. Now that the black hole manipulator is working they are to go to the Veehonsa system to do some stellar and planetary engineering.
The ancients have sent the Federation a message, now that the Federation has a functioning black hole manipulator, the ancients will no longer do black hole manipulator type missions for the Federation. The Federation must use its own black hole manipulator as needed, but the ancients are willing act as advisors for the first Federation only black hole manipulator mission. After that the Federation is expected to be independent when it comes to all things black hole manipulator. The ancients are showing that they want younger races to stand on their own two feet rather than be dependent on the ancients.
The crew immediately know what the Veehonsa system is: It is a solar system in a very strategic location that if it had a habitable world would become a very important place to develop that whole sector. Just having a starbase or series of starbases there would be inadequate for the task of developing the whole Veehonsa sector.
Previously the Federation had no way to terraform a world [making a world suitable to host an ecosystem] in the Veehonsa system. None of the planets there were of the right size in the right orbit. With a black hole manipulator this situation changes: the Federation can use the black hole manipulator to change the orbit of one of the worlds in the Veehonsa system so it is in the right orbit to be a prime candidate for terraforming. The Veehonsa solar system does not have a world in its “goldilocks zone” until the USS Anracosh uses its black hole manipulator to move a world in the Veehonsa system into the correct orbit.
The crew mentions the genesis device and the fact that it can only be used on a world that is in the correct orbit. However, the genesis device is a prohibited technology. They contact Federation high command about that; even if the relevant planet is moved they can’t terraform it with a genesis device, but have to rely on old fashioned methods that take time.
High command responds that contacting the ancients has completely changed the game. All kinds of technologies that the Federation has developed that are amazing are nothing compared to what the ancients can do. Therefore technologies banned and suppressed by the Federation are now being reassessed to see if it worth keeping these innovations under wraps. Considering the abilities of the ancients is it worth continuing the bans on certain technologies? – Probably not.
The problem is that the genesis device [which was created by the Federation] can be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Then again so can almost all ancient races technologies, and the USS Anracosh is full of ancient race technologies. The USS Anracosh is effectively a weapon of mass destruction. If the Federation is going to ban certain technologies because they are too powerful, then by that reason they should give up the USS Anracosh to the ancients and cancel the Realm of the Gods project, and that is not going to happen.
The crew arrive at the Veehonsa system and ready the black hole manipulator for use. This is a very tense time. Nobody in the Federation has ever operated a machine this powerful before except for when the crew completed the black hole manipulator. This is a device powerful enough to wipe out a galactic civilisation. Understandably the whole crew is nervous about the machine being misused and a cataclysm being created. In spite of the pressure the crew revert to their professionalism and continue the mission while keeping their emotions in check. The same can’t be said for the large group of assorted ancient races there to greet them and act as advisors.
The B plot
As the USS Anracosh approaches the ancients they can hear them squabble over the ancient races translation device. Various ancients are arguing like idiots. They make personal attacks and puerile comments about each other and the races of those ancients.
For example: The Vop call the Talosians big headed freaks. The Talosians call the Akezhek glorified pin cushions. The Akezhek call the Reharsha snobby useless dimwits. The Reharsha call the Vop senile has beens.
You get the idea, but there are many more ancient races present trading juvenile insults at each other. It is an utterly puerile argument which fortunately has not degenerated into a brawl and does not look like it will. But the bridge crew have to ask themselves: How did beings this dumb ever get in the ancient races clique? This is the kind of conversation one would expect from kindergarteners, not ancient god like beings.
For a time the bridge just listen to the idiotic babbling as they shake their heads thinking that this can’t be real. These are ancients, not imbeciles, although at the moment it’s hard to tell the difference. The captain eventually comes to her senses and tries to address the rabble in a mutual insult contest.
The captain takes a couple of minutes to get the attention of the squabbling ancients showing themselves to be idiots. The ancients soon stop their insults and pay attention to the captain. The captain asks what the hell is going on, to which the answer is they are all here to help advise on the use of the black hole manipulator. Each race tries to plead their case all at once and the ancients start squabbling among themselves again.
The captain and her bridge crew just sit there dumbfounded at the stupid situation wondering how the Realm of the Gods project ever got to this point of seeing the ancients act like morons. Are these the races they want helping them protect the Federation? Could they trust any of these half wits with black hole manipulator technology in any capacity? May be the crew should go it alone on this mission.
That last point sinks in, maybe the crew should tell all these ancient screwballs to get lost and operate the black hole manipulator’s machinery themselves. That would be dangerous and potentially disastrous if something goes wrong. They need the ancients to help them, just not the mindless cretins of ancients they see before them.
May be they should call in other ancients? The captain orders the crew to use the dial a deity system to call ancient races not already in the Veehonsa system, and explain the situation of ancients in the area acting as dumbasses and see if any other ancients can guide them in the black hole manipulator mission.
The calls are made and more ancients arrive on the scene. Soon this plan completely backfires as the new ancients get into the same stupid puerile argument as the ancients already in the Veehonsa system. This demoralises the bridge crew, is this the fate of anyone joining the ancients? To regress into a nut-job who cannot think of anything but the most suffocatingly stupid foolish insults to call other ancients.
If there was any reason to end the Realm of the Gods project and give up on contacting the ancients this is it. The crew of the USS Anracosh know the dangers of immortality and the threat it can pose to a being’s sanity, but this? The idiocy of the ancients on display beggars belief.
The ancients then show a sign of sanity and agree to plead their cases to the bridge crew one ancient race at a time. This takes us to a montage of each ancient race giving a demonstration to the bridge crew saying how they should be chosen as the advisors for the black hole manipulator mission. Each time a presentation is given the ancients try to undermine their competition by saying how bad their rivals are and showing the weaknesses of the other ancient races.
The process takes several days. After a couple of days Starfleet command contacts the USS Anracosh to ask what delay is, the planet should have been moved by now. In response the bridge crew send recordings of the ancients behaviour in the Veehonsa system. The Starfleet high command seeing the recordings, and the group includes the Admiral the crew of the USS Anracosh answers to, all have the same WTF reaction as the bridge crew of the USS Anracosh. They all look on in stunned belief at ancients who seem to have had the IQ’s reduce to about 70. The Starfleet commanders go through the same thought processes as the bridge crew. Ancients behaving as cretins can’t be real and why is it a smart idea to ally with such morons?
The captain has to report to the ancients that Starfleet command is unhappy with the mission’s lack of progress. Once again the ancients seem to lose their intelligence and all ask the captain at once to pick them. This degenerates into an indecipherable cacophony as all the ancients speak at once.
This time instead of being stunned at the stupidity the captain loses it, orders a box to be beamed onto the bridge and for the bridge crew to grab each ancient races written application form from the ready room and put the forms in the box.
In a minute the box of applications is ready on the bridge and the captain swirls around the papers in the box and pulls one out at random. Now it is the turn of the ancients to look on in stunned disbelief. The captain just held an impromptu lottery to decide which ancient race helps them use the black hole manipulator. This is as random as their idiotic bickering. The bridge crew feel a sense of poetic justice watching the ancients look confused and shocked at the behaviour of the captain of the USS Anracosh.
The captain reads the application form. It is the form sent in by the Talosians. Immediately the allegations fly that the Talosians used their illusions powers to make the captain think they won the lottery. The captain again loses it and says enough! She does not care. The Talosians can help the mission and the other ancients can go home. The mission is nearly a week behind schedule and needs to be completed now! She again says that all the ancients can go home bar the Talosians, who are to report to the USS Anracosh.
The nature of the episode changes back to the flavour of the start of the episode. It is a grim and tense time as using the black hole manipulator is nail biting because the consequences of making a mistake are so high. The Talosians are good to their word and do not try to take over the mission. They advise from the rear and admit that they don’t know much about interacting with younger races but they know black hole manipulator technology as they invented it.
The Talosians are a good choice to be advisors for the mission and absolutely deny rigging the lottery. They even send a message to the rest of the ancient race community offering to let them investigate the incident so the Talosians can prove their innocence.
The final act is one of mounting tension as using the black hole manipulator. Things do go wrong but are soon fixed and the planet is put into the right orbit and is given the correct amount of spin for a comfortable 24 hour day night cycle. The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife, that is until the USS Anracosh’s part of the mission is completed and the Federation sends in the terraforming starship that launches a genesis probe. The effect is instant as the planet spontaneously terraforms and creates a viable ecosystem.
The scene switches to the bridge of the USS Anracosh. The captain thanks the Talosians and says job well done the entire crew. We switch scenes to the surface of the terraformed world and zoom out to see the USS Anracosh and the other vessels fly off. The camera pans to show the world starting its new existence as a habitable planet. Then fade and credit role.
Season 5 Episode 3
A barely warp capable species joins the ancients
The invited aliens are called the Stathjol
The USS Anracosh is sent by the ancients to witness a barely warp capable species get invited into the ranks of the ancient races clique. The crew are flung halfway across the universe to a point where their navigation computers don’t work properly for a short time. The purpose of the mission is to show what it is like for a younger race to be invited into the ranks of the ancients.
The crew of the USS Anracosh is introduced to a species that is technologically centuries behind the Federation. Their transporters take ages to work and are not fit to use on living beings, their warp drives are not yet safe for crewed flight, their combination phaser/disrupter rifles are large, heavy and inefficient. They have not discovered subspace communication yet. Things like replicators and tricorders are yet to be invented by the species.
The one thing this species has that the Federation doesn’t is that they think like ancients and have an ancient race social structure. Think of the way Vulcan society operates, the only difference is that the Stathjol know how to have fun and have a sense of humour. In other words the Stathjol don’t take themselves too seriously. This is why the ancient races clique is interested in them and it qualifies them to join the ancient races clique.
The fact that a barely warp capable species is being invited into the ranks of the ancients upsets the captain. The ancients have to point out that technological advancement does not have to be part of the criteria to join the ancients. As long as a species has an ancient races social structure and thinks like ancients they will get an invitation, even if they are as primitive as humans were in the early 21st century.
While the core officers are there to witness the Stathjol [the invited alien]s receive their invitation the Stathjol offer the crew of the USS Anracosh shore leave on their world. It turns out the ancients have already sent the invitation to join the ancient races clique and this mission is a second contact mission for the ancients and the Stathjol. The ancients are here to witness the Stathjol officially accept the invitation to join the ancient races clique.
The species itself has never been outside its own solar system or encountered aliens before the ancients offered the invitation to join the ancient races clique. However, since the ancients got there first the invited aliens know of alien life and are prepared for the USS Anracosh crew to visit their world and have naively set up shuttle landing pads at their airports not knowing that is obsolete technology to the Federation. The core officers have to suppress a laugh at this for fear of insulting their hosts.
“*Stifled laughter* Oh, that’s cute… Acute. Acute, sorry. Acute uh… measurements. Very precise.”
Most of the crew take up the offer of shore leave and notice that the ancients have already made a presence on the world because the acceptance of the invitation is a forgone conclusion. The invited “proto-ancients” are far too amazed by the ancients to really be impressed by the Federation’s people or Federation technology.
The B plot: We go to a scene of Lt. Carol, Ensigns Daniel, Ghezear and H’yol power walking along a bike track. They are all power walking “wagging their tails” Star Trek: Lower Decks style. They take turns going ahead and behind each other and this attracts the attention of the locals – unwanted attention.
The four are soon confronted by the local police. The police arrest them and the four crew members ask the police if they can contact the USS Anracosh to inform them of being arrested. The police allow the communication to go ahead. They are told by the Captain and the Chief diplomat via subspace communication not to resist arrest. They do not want a diplomatic incident with a race that is about to become god like ancients.
Instead of being driven to a police station the four are taken to a facility and place in a room sized circular chamber about five meters in diameter with a mattress floor and raised pillow like seating on three sides of the chamber in a couple of step like structures with pillows like padding on them. The crew are puzzled as to what purpose this room could serve. The police have left them without explaining anything to them. Realising the invited species does not have the technology to block their communications with the USS Anracosh the four crew members contact the starship.
Onboard the Captain volunteered to stay behind with a skeleton crew manning the starship because she can’t stand seeing a race more primitive than the Vulcans get invited to join the ancients. The captain advises the four to hold tight, transporting them back to the starship could cause all kinds of problems because it is breaking them out of lawful custody.
Unfortunately the official ceremony to accept the invitation of joining the ancient races clique is about to start. The Captain can’t spare anyone to help the captured crew. Once the ceremony is over the legal issues can be fixed. The ceremony is a short one with a few speeches and an official signing ceremony and large numbers of ancient race starships appearing in the sky once the ceremony is complete.
At the after party [an official function, not a “shindig”] the Bajoran doctor is showing off some Starfleet medical equipment. He shows a medical tricorder and scans some of the locals to show how it works. These scans reveal a bombshell. The Stathjol have a breeding cycle like cats and dogs, this means they have a set time to breed every few months.
The invited aliens say get a good look as in the not too distant future they will be beings of energy. They are OK and welcoming with him examining him as this will be his only chance to examine them as flash and blood creatures. Does he want to archive it? The Stathjol are very open and is comedic in the way they offer to be examined, the doctor has to stop the aliens halfway through taking off their clothes. This is normal behaviour in this culture, while the younger race guests are shocked, the ancients and locals are not.
When the Bajoran doctor reveals the fact that the invited aliens have mating cycles the crowd the invited aliens seem surprised that the younger race aliens do not have breeding cycles. They thought all sentient races would breed as they do; in fact they have scientific hypotheses about sentience being linked to having a breeding cycle. This revelation means nothing to ancients in the after party. They say this has no bearing on the invitation to join the ancient races.
At the party the captain has ordered the chief diplomat to get to the bottom of why some of the crew members were arrested, not realising that bottom of why they were arrested is a pun on why the four are in the chamber.
The scene shifts to the chief diplomat and some of her people are talking to the authorities. They ask why four of the crew have been arrested, to which they get a very puzzled response. The local police commissioner of the invited aliens says that the four are not under arrest. The commissioner explains that the four were initiating a mating ritual with each other and were sent to a mating chamber so they could breed in privacy. The commissioner delivers this speech in a total deadpan fashion because it is normality for his species.
The reaction of the chief diplomatic team is one of shock. To say such a thing in such a nonchalant way is unthinkable to any Federation culture. They have to ask how the locals came to that conclusion? The commissioner shows security film footage of the four power walking and trading places between each other. The diplomatic team does not react to the security surveillance video, then the commissioner realises that it has to be explained to the diplomatic team.
The commissioner says they were initiating a mating ritual. The way they presented their butts to each other means they wanted to mate. He explains that the four crew members were sent to a mating chamber. This means they were never arrested in the first place.
This is the punchline to the episode: They can walk out of the mating chamber anytime they want to.
The commissioner asks the diplomatic team if the four crew were ordered to mate with each other. The diplomatic team don’t know how to react. They find they idea of being “ordered to mate with someone” disturbing. At this point the chief diplomat says that none of her team or herself have mating cycles.
The commissioner has a lightbulb moment and explains that his race is only fertile once every few months and if they do not mate at the right time they don’t get to reproduce. Sometimes it is necessary and in their culture and totally acceptable in their culture to order people to breed so a family can be created.
This creates a lightbulb moment in the diplomatic team. This explains the actions of the invited aliens. The diplomatic teams calls the USS Anracosh and asks for a direct link to the officers in the mating chamber. The chief diplomat explains to the “trapped” crew members that they can leave anytime they want.
The diplomatic team and the commissioner part ways, with the commissioner ordering his underlings to arrange that the diplomatic team and the “trapped” officers to meet up with each other. They do so and are happy to see each other, but the reunion is quickly interrupted by the order to return to their posts.
With the ceremony over and the Stathjol getting ready to join the ancient races clique the mission is over. The crew of the USS Anracosh on the invited aliens world begin returning to the starship. The Captain orders the “trapped” officers to her office for an explanation.
“Lieutenant, Ensigns, what have you all just done? May I remind you we’re still neck deep in VERY delicate negotiations with some prospectively VERY powerful people. I hope you all have a very good explanation for your telegraphed relief from custody.”
“We do, actually.”
“We just… left.”
“Matter of fact… we were never in lawful custody to begin with. We were in a mating chamber provided by our hosts so we could mate. The aliens did not know our races have no mating cycles, and how could they have known?”
This explanation leads to the final scenes of the episode where the First officer on the bridge ordering the starship out of orbit. In the background is the home world of the invite species. It is surrounded by ancients and ancient race vessels.
Season 5 Episode 4
Zalkonian doctor’s episode
This show answers the question of what happens to a race that has recently joined the ancient races clique. We see what happens to their territory and their civilisation after they were bought into the fold of the ancient races.
Introduces anti-ancients firearms that become very useful in the series grand finale.
The B plot in this episode is that the anti-ancients firearms get developed. The C plot is looking around the Zalkonian home system and seeing what becomes of a race that has recently joined the ancient races clique.
The USS Anracosh is ordered to go to what was once Zalkonian space because the Federation was sent a message from the Zalkonians that they want to establish diplomatic relations with them and there are Zalkonians want to talk to the Zalkonian doctor. The USS Anracosh is given the coordinates of the Zalkonian home world and must make its way there via hyperwarp. The drone has to remind them that the majority of Zalkonians will still be in Zalkonian territory, it will some time before most of them disperse into the ranks of the ancient races clique.
When the Zalkonian doctor is told of the mission and that the Zalkonians want to see her she confesses that confronting her fellow Zalkonians is the last thing she wants to do, but after being reminded that she does not have to meet the other Zalkonians she says she would rather hear what they have to say.
Upon arriving in Zalkonian territory it is discovered that the Zalkonians who meet the Zalkonian doctor are people she knew, including loved ones and her previous crewmates from the time she served in the Zalkonian fleet, when she was flesh and blood. She very much has to confront her past, as much as she does not want to. She has to answer why she treated them as dead, and she has to say that becoming ascended was a horrible experience for her and she has yet to come to terms with it.
When the Zalkonians who want to see the doctor meet her on the USS Anracosh the Zalkonian doctor says that she wants to talk to them about being ascended against her will. At the meeting is the Zalkonian who ascended her. This is tense as the USS Anracosh security team and other Zalkonians have to restrain the Zalkonian doctor and her relative who ascended her. The being who ascended her was her own brother, and some of the bitterest hatreds are between family members. Also present are some of the Zalkonian doctor’s ex-crewmates from the time she served in the Zalkonian fleet.
The family reunion of Zalkonians almost degenerates into a brawl as the family is split evenly on forced ascensions. A brawl between ascended beings is worse than a fire fight with hand held phaser weapons. It is a weird sight with Zalkonians fighting throughout the starship and healing crew members as they go rampaging. This creates a very bizarre situation where the USS Anracosh recognise the rioting Zalkonians as friendly because they are healing the crew that get wounded in the crossfire.
Seeing the situation the chief science officer rigs the hand held weapons to affect ascended beings. This is actually a non-urgent task as no crew members are getting hurt in the battle on their starship. The science officer can be methodical and patient as he and his team upgrade the starship’s side arms.
While this is happening the security chief discovers that the reason the USS Anracosh is not reacting to the battle is because the crew are being healed as soon as they are injured. The Zalkonians brawling with each other not seen as a threat because nobody in the crew is getting hurt. The security chief contacts the chief engineer to organise a major upgrade to the USS Anracosh’s security technology. Unfortunately the chief engineer informs her that nobody on the starship really understands how the security technology actually works.
The security chief is also informed about the development of anti-ancient firearms on the USS Anracosh. This leads to friction between the security chief and the science officer. The security chief asks why the science officer did not invent anti-ancient firearms sooner to which he says that he did not see the need for anti-ancients weapons if their mission is diplomacy.
He might have even entertained the thought of creating anti-ancients weapons, but he had the self-awareness to ascertain he most likely wouldn’t be allowed to. The Federation would see developing anti-ancient being weapons as a hindrance to their diplomatic efforts. The ancients will not look kindly making weapons designed to be used against them.
The captain, who is on the bridge, informs the Zalkonian government about the rioting Zalkonians on the USS Anracosh and the government officials being contacted are utterly embarrassed. The captain tells them that her crew are being healed as soon as they are getting hurt and this just makes the government officials even more embarrassed. They ask if the starship needs help but out the blue the science officer informs the captain that the anti-ancients firearms are ready. Mass production has already started and every crew member must get the upgraded weapons.
The Zalkonians are obviously upset that the crew of the USS Anracosh has developed anti-ancient weapons but realise that this is the fault of the rioting Zalkonians. They realise that the crew of the USS Anracosh are just defending themselves. They cannot blame the crew and know that it is the Zalkonians who will have to answer to the ancient race community for the development of the weapons rather than the crew. The Captain assures them that her crew will only incapacitate the rioting Zalkonians. After that the rioters will be given to the Zalkonian government.
The next scene we see is that the crew have the firearms and the riot becomes a vicious three way war with both factions of Zalkonians surrendering after enough of their members are incapacitated. After the riot and some fire fights things calm down and the diplomatic talks with the Zalkonian government begin and the Zalkonian officials want to make it up to the crew of the USS Anracosh. The offer a grand tour of the Zalkonian system with the actual negotiations being a simple affair of signing friendship treaties, technology exchanges and so on. Notably the Federation wants the Zalkonians to help with disaster relief because of the Zalkonians healing abilities. The Zalkonians agree to all of it because they are keen to atone for the riots.
We get to see why the Zalkonians previously had a dictatorial government. They are a hot headed people who are prone to rebellion, so their governments have had to push back in order to keep control. This is why their systems of government tended to evolve into dictatorships.
The tour starts and the crew of the USS Anracosh learn that the Zalkonians still use the area that was their empire as a place to hang out in. A lot of the Zalkonian technology is being upgraded to ancient race levels. Zalkonian territory was not big to begin with but the Zalkonians were easily a match for the Federation in terms of technology. That was until they ascended and the ancients stepped in and bought them up to the level of the ancient races.
Going through Zalkonian territory is a great way to observe what happens to a culture soon after it becomes an ancient race.
The officer core raises the question of what happened to all the Zalkonian starships, starbases, colony outposts and so on? Did the Zalkonians retreat to their home world to undergo the process of joining the ancient races clique?
To answer: The Zalkonians have retreated back to their home world, taking with them all their colonies, outposts, starships, starbases and so on. They were mostly a stay at home civilisation so there were not many assets outside the Zalkonian home system to return to home to begin with.
When the tour reaches the Zalkonian home world it looks like an ascended civilisation occupies it, which is exactly what is happening. The crew of the USS Anracosh go to the Zalkonian home world and see things that would amaze anyone else, but for them it is nothing unusual, and it is something they are desensitised to.
Outside the starship, which is orbiting the Zalkonian home world we see the fate of the Zalkonians and their civilisation as it joins the ancient races clique. We can see various ancient race starships also orbiting Zalkonia, all kinds of ancient races ascended technology and assorted ancient race beings who are helping the Zalkonians become part of the ancient race community.
This provides excellent opportunities for call backs to previous shows [both in Realm of the Gods and other Star Trek shows], and hints at future shows in Star Trek Realm of the Gods.
Some of the crew of the USS Anracosh explore the area above Zalkonia and the surface of Zalkonia itself. These are crew officially ordered to explore what is going on. They may even run into friends made among the ancients.
The purpose of this is to show the audience what is happening to the Zalkonians as a result of joining the ancients. Everyone sees their civilisation being upgraded.
We reach the end of the episode
After the tour the ancient races clique investigates the incident with the rioting Zalkonians the ancients get extremely embarrassed by the riots and say that the Federation crew had every right to defend themselves. The ancients hate the idea of weapons that could affect them but realise that the crew was only acting in self defence against ancients who should have known better and behaved a lot better in the presence of the crew. The Zalkonian rioters will have to answer for the actions.
The Zalkonian doctor sees her relatives being arrested and confronts her brother. She tells them that she forgives him. He asks why she isn’t being arrested to which he is told that she sided with the crew in defending the starship, therefore she did not commit a crime in the eyes of the ancients. She says goodbye to her relatives as they go to face justice.
The final scene is the captain making a log in the starships gun storage room. She reports on the state of the Zalkonian civilisation post entering the ancient races clique and reports on the anti-ancients firearms become standard on the USS Anracosh. She acknowledges having these weapons goes against their mission of diplomacy but has to admit that such devices could be needed one day even if the ancients don’t like the idea of guns that can affect them.
Season 5 Episode 5
Going rogue in the Dominion
The crew are watching the news from Starfleet command in the USS Anracosh’s pub. A news story comes on that reports chaos in the Dominion. Half of the Jem Hadar and Vorta are rejecting the Founders. Worlds are seceding hoping the Founders will not have the resources to retake them or use their bio weapons against them. The Dominion is not going through one massive civil war but a death by 1000 cuts.
This news is greeted with jubilation by the crew. What was once the biggest threat to the Federation is now on the verge of collapse. The news report goes on to say that the Founders still have their followers and it is anyone’s game in the Dominion. There is a real chance the Founders will be able to win and restore the Dominion. Then the Dominion could or would eventually become a threat to the Federation again.
This has the reverse reaction from the crew. They have very bad memories of fighting the Dominion’s Jem Hadar troops. They would love to see the Dominion fold. The consensus among the crew is that it is time for another rogue mission – this time to sabotage the Dominion and bring about its downfall.
Word of this feeling among the crew reaches the Captain’s ears. The crew want another rogue mission. She convenes a meeting of the officer core to discuss it. It has to be pointed out that they were pardoned for their first rogue mission of starting diplomacy with the ancients. The pardon they got only applies to crimes they have previously committed; it will not protect them from any future crimes they commit.
The security chief speaks. She says that they can do this as a Section 31 operation. The Federation will not question anything done under the banner of Section 31. That at least covers their tracks with their superiors.
The next issue is creating an official cover story. That is far simpler than expected. The Captain addresses the drone. She wants him to use his personal dial a deity phone to contact the Yertholm – the ancient race the Jem Hadar is based on. He is to ask them if there are any ancient races in the Gamma quadrant [the home of the Dominion] they have not contacted. The official mission will be contacting more ancient races. Basically it is a “Tuesday” for the crew of the USS Anracosh.
The reason the drone is to use his personal phone is that it is his personal effects, it is not a part of Starfleet equipment, thus it will not have a million logs associated with it to make a paper trail for Starfleet or the Federation government to follow.
The diplomatic team will lead the cover mission. Officially it will be diplomacy with ancient races in the Gamma quadrant because the USS Anracosh has not been active in that area of the galaxy for much of its official mission.
The unofficial mission will be to provide help to those resisting the Dominion. Giving them whatever aid they can without getting the Founders attention. They do not want to start another war, even one the Federation can win given the weakened state of the Dominion.
From what the crew know the two big things the Dominion rebels need are a way to detect founders in their shapeshifting mode and cures for diseases that the Founders use to punish civilisations that resist them. The main doctors onboard – namely the Zalkonian and the Bajoran are ordered to look in the ancient race archives on the USS Anracosh to help make cures for the diseases created by the Founders.
The Drone contacts the Yertholm and explains how the crew of the USS Anracosh wants to contact more ancients in the Gamma quadrant. He does not tell them the truth of the mission. He simply states that he is doing his job of helping the crew find more ancients to contact. He is doing the phone call as “homework”. He needs up to date information that the Yertholm can provide. The Yertholm get suspicious, but comply and send information on a sub channel. They know the Drones knowledge base. He should not need the information they are sending, but saying what he knows is not up to date does sound plausible, so what the drone says is not questioned too heavily.
The information is conveyed to the diplomatic team who prepare diplomatic missions as if that was the only reason the USS Anracosh was in the Gamma quadrant. The difference is that the diplomatic mission will be working out of shuttles as the USS Anracosh darts around the Dominion giving aid to rebels that the Federation knows about in the Dominion.
The B plot:
The doctors and other members of the crew go through the files and stores of the USS Anracosh to find anything useful for their rogue mission. Much hair pulling, banging heads against walls and frustration ensues when the crew discover all the technology they have failed to discover on the stores of the USS Anracosh. This is played off for comedy.
Cures that can be applied to the Founder’s generational diseases are quickly found in the files of the USS Anracosh, as are communication devices that have a far greater range than anything the Federation has even on the drawing board. However, the devices are large and boxy and have to be wheeled around. Scanning technology is also discovered that can be replicated with difficulty by younger races. Again it’s a case of steam blowing out of ears at the fact that the crew are only now discovering the full extent of technology available onboard the USS Anracosh.
The decision is made there and then to make the ultra long range communication devices standard on the shuttles of the USS Anracosh. We see them being wheeled into place on the shuttles as diplomatic crews are preparing their missions and entering the shuttles ready to be sent to meet the ancients while working on their electronic clipboards refining the details of their visits.
The USS Anracosh visits each ancient race site one by one, leaving their diplomatic teams there while they go help rebels in the Dominion. There is an agreement that the USS Anracosh will retrieve the diplomatic crews from the ancient race sites they are visiting after the talks are done. The crew on the USS Anracosh will mainly give knowledge to the rebels, that knowledge being how to detect the Founders in their shapeshifting mode, how to cure the Founders generational diseases and where to find other anti-Dominion rebel groups.
Returning to the A plot: The USS Anracosh criss-crosses the Dominion giving aid to the rebels as their diplomatic teams negotiate with various ancient races around the Gamma quadrant. What they don’t know is that Dominion intelligence has figured out their actions and after the diplomatic teams have returned to the USS Anracosh a massive Dominion fleet confronts the starship. The crew note that they can detect some kind of new weapon on each of the Dominion vessels. It is a weapon that looks like it could actually harm the USS Anracosh. This would give the Dominion a fighting chance against their starship, but it would not ensure total victory. Then again the USS Anracosh could run rather than fight. There is no way the Dominion could catch a vessel as fast as the USS Anracosh.
The crew realise that fighting the Dominion fleet could to start another war with the Dominion and neither the ancients or Starfleet would approve. It would be a disaster for the Realm of the Gods project and for their standing with the Federation. There is a real possibility that if the USS Anracosh opens fire on the Dominion fleet that the ancients will cancel the Realm of the Gods project and confiscate the USS Anracosh. This is because the ancients provided the technology on the USS Anracosh. The starship is meant solely for diplomacy missions, it is not weapon used to start wars. If it is used to start a war then the ancients are in part responsible for giving the Federation a super weapon in the form of the USS Anracosh.
The problem solves itself: The Dominion fleet does not even try to communicate with the crew; instead they start an attack run on the USS Anracosh. As this happens half the Dominion starships start firing on the other half. The crew of the USS Anracosh decides to immediately retreat as firing could mean what was said above, starting a war with using the USS Anracosh, which could mean the ancients cancelling the Realm of the Gods project.
As they retreat the crew reflect their mission was not a total victory – the Founders can still restore the Dominion to its former glory, but that would take centuries. The crew of the USS Anracosh has given the inhabitants of the Gamma quadrant a way to effectively fight the Founders. Now it is their choice, if they want the Founders to rule them, then that is their choice, but now they have the means to make that choice.
Before the USS Anracosh leaves Dominion space the Yertholm themselves confront the USS Anracosh saying that the crew bent the rules with their rogue mission into the Gamma quadrant. Because the Yertholm unknowingly helped the crew of the USS Anracosh with the rogue mission the Yertholm would have to side with the Dominion if a second Dominion war was started. Giving the means to detect the founders was crossing the line, but curing the diseases was a noble act, so in the eyes of the ancients it balances out. Also, if the crew of the USS Anracosh use the starship to start a war, especially a major war the ancients will see it as a violation of the agreement the Federation made with the ancients about the USS Anracosh being a diplomacy vessel. The penalty for violating the agreement would be the confiscation of the USS Anracosh by the ancients.
The show ends with a warning from the ancients that the crew should not go rogue again. The ancients will bail them out for now, next time they won’t be so lucky. However, there is one success: The Dominion are now not a credible threat to the Federation and won’t be for a very long time, and that is what the crew of the USS Anracosh wanted, so for them it is a successful mission.
Season 5 Episode 6
The Melkot’s episode
This episode represents the about face of Starfleet’s attitude to the USS Anracosh and its mission. Starfleet is at the coalface of seeing how allying with the ancients is paying off. There are still some holdouts in Starfleet but for the most part they are welcoming and want to welcome the crew of the USS Anracosh back into the fold.
Note: The Chief diplomat’s plot line is the B plot.
The episode starts with the Chief diplomat in main engineering witnessing the engineering and reverse engineering of ancients technology teams constructing some kind of space torpedo like devices. It’s kind of weird seeing the Chief diplomat in main engineering, as the Science officer and Chief engineer point out but the Chief diplomat retorts that what they are doing is undoing what Starfleet and the Federation did to her nebula artwork.
The scene shifts to the Chief diplomat’s back story. She was using a thick nebula as a canvas for a light years spanning artwork. She used warp capable custom made space probes as paintbrushes to create the largest piece of art in the known universe. [Exactly how is explained in the Chief diplomat’s character notes]. This was successful and it attracted the attention of the ancients, who contacted her to day they were impressed by her work. She talk to the ancients and established a rapport with them. The Chief diplomat intended to use the light years spanning artwork to launch her career as an artist. This is why the Chief diplomat was recruited to the USS Anracosh, because she has experience in dealing and negotiating with ancients.
Her plan to use the universe’s largest artwork to become a famous artist of the galaxy would have worked except that the artwork got the attention of the Federation’s authorities. Upon learning that the Chief diplomat’s art had attracted the attention of the ancients the Federation promptly destroyed the art piece the same way it was created. Then the usual no trespassing signs [space buoys transmitting warning messages] were put up and the policy of run away with tail between legs was implemented. This is because the nebula had become a hot spot for ancient race activity.
It has been a long time coming but now the crew of the USS Anracosh was taking down the no trespassing signs and building warp capable space probes to act as paintbrushes. The crew was going to undo Starfleet’s destruction of her masterpiece. We see the Chief diplomat talking to crew from the USS Anracosh’s IT department about programming the space probes to follow a path that will result in her masterpiece being remade. The Chief diplomat says if the remade masterpiece makes her a famous artist then she will resign her job on the USS Anracosh and pursue her art career. The IT crew beg her to remain on the USS Anracosh. They say that she has a life here with friends and a great job, trying to put forward the argument that she is better off where she is.
It was as the programming of the of the space probes was being completed that The USS Anracosh receives some great news that utterly stuns them: The Melkot, who is acting as the starship’s A.I. has won the Federation’s Zee-Magnees Prize – the Federation equivalent of the Nobel Prize for his contribution to computer science. They crew is ordered to fly the USS Anracosh to the award ceremony. We are still with the Chief diplomat and the IT staff when the news is transmitted over the PA system. They react with cheers just like the rest of the crew and we see scenes from various parts of the starship of the crew cheering at the news.
Everyone congratulates Niffy [the Melkot]. Niffy is as stunned by the news as anyone else. The one who congratulates Niffy face to face is the confessor, who has become his leg man after the anti mandatory reporting laws episode. A moment after this the Captain announces over the PA system that the Chief diplomat’s space probes for her artwork are almost ready. As soon as the probes are launched they are set to automatic function the USS Anracosh will go to Niffy’s award ceremony.
Niffy explains to the confessor that being blended with the starship’s computer gives Niffy some amazing insights into computing and he used this knowledge to research advancing computer science. That said, his side projects in computer science were just a fun hobby to him. He wrote papers for peer review on his scientific endeavours and only had a vague idea that he was producing groundbreaking work.
The scene switches to outside the USS Anracosh where we see space probes being launched machine gun style. The probes go into a formation and then split off in all directions as the USS Anracosh turns around and flies off at high speed entering hyperwarp. It is noted by the bridge crew that the journey to the award ceremony will take under an hour at their current speed. The Captain says that the crew can use the coming week for some shore leave as a well earned break before the award ceremony.
During that week of downtime the crew of the USS Anracosh realise that they have become so accustomed to the reality-bending happenings around them that the culture shock and whiplash they get when going back to a normal Federation planet is jarring and hilarious. They’re essentially a dazed and confused pack of outcast recluses who’ve stared Gods in the face and shrugged. The crew are effectively 24th Century Mountain Men living in a log cabin.
While in orbit of the Trill home world, where the award ceremony takes place the USS Anracosh encounters Starfleet starships that convey congratulatory messages and make a point of thanking the crew of the USS Anracosh for doing the Realm of the Gods project. This is such a change from even a year ago when the crew of the USS Anracosh were treated as outcasts by Starfleet.
Utterly perplexed at the about face in the way they are treated by Starfleet the crew ask why. The response is that the dial a deity system has started showing real results for the Federation and other galactic governments. The crew are shown holo-simulations of how the ancients have been helping around the Federation and beyond, doing missions that the Starfleet would find almost impossible.
The holo-simulations are a series of short stories showing the ancients in action helping Starfleet in emergency situations and in helping them understand ancient race archaeological sites. These are like an anthology, which functions like a subplot.
They are shown:
The ancients, namely various space bourn ancients, using black hole manipulator technology to pull a planet into a better orbit around its sun.
The ancients, namely the Iconians, using time manipulation technology to fast grow crops to prevent a famine and using ancients technology to renew the soil the crops were grown in.
The ancients, namely the Organians, making sure that the weapons of two waring minor galactic governments don’t work so both sides are forced into a cease fire and have to solve their problems diplomatically.
The ancients, namely the Zalkonians, using their healing abilities to end a deadly plague that threatens to destroy a whole world spanning civilisation.
The Zalkonian doctor sees this last holo-simulation and says that she is proud of her people for saving the civilisation. She says this is the Zalkonian people at their best. She seriously reconsiders her exile from her people. This episode shows her doing a lot of soul searching, saying that the Zalkonians have come a long way from being a people run by a tyrannical government that had a social credit system like 21st Century China’s. This shows a lot of character development for the Zalkonian doctor and her thinking about returning to her people. Fortunately some the officer core [not including the Captain] asks her to stay on the USS Anracosh, and she agrees saying the starship are where her services are needed, and she has made more than a few a few friends on the starship. It’s pretty much a repeat of the IT department’s arguments to the Chief diplomat.
The Captain is informed about the Zalkonian doctor and the Chief diplomat thinking about leaving the USS Anracosh so she summons them to her ready room and asks them if they intend to resign.
The Zalkonian doctor says that what she said what she said because of the help her fellow Zalkonians have given the Federation and others in recent times. She is now very proud of her people, this is the kind of people they should be. She will not return to them as long as she is needed on the USS Anracosh. She will however now have a lot more contact with the Zalkkonians instead of shunning them. To that end she asks if she can have a private dial a deity system like the drone has. The Captain grants her request and gives the orders for main engineering to build another private dial a deity system made from available parts on the USS Anracosh. The system will be installed in the Zalkonian doctor’s quarters.
The Chief diplomat gives the opposite answer to the Captain’s question. If the nebula transformed into an art makes her famous she will quit her job and become a professional artist. She will not leave high and dry, if she gets famous she will stay on the USS Anracosh until her potential replacement is ready to take over from her. If the Chief diplomat leaves it will happen next year. It all depends on if the light year spanning artwork gives her enough fame to launch her art career, which as the Chief diplomat points out, was her first choice of career.
The Captain acknowledges their responses, saying that they are free to live their lives as they see fit, but for now it is time to prepare for Niffy’s [the Melkot’s] award ceremony.
We switch scenes to Niffy is preparing himself for the award. He is no longer in the chamber that merges a person with the starship’s main computer. We see Niffy in his true Melkot form of being a head with long tentacles coming out from the bottom of his neck. With him is the confessor, who is helping him prepare an acceptance speech. They note how last minute this is as the award ceremony will start very soon.
We see what is going on outside the USS Anracosh a flotilla of Starfleet vessels forming a guard of honour as the USS Anracosh docks with the space station where the award ceremony takes place. We also see an ancient race starship in the background. The USS Anracosh docks and we see the Captain, some of the officer core and the confessor with the Melkot making their way to the ceremony. The Melkot is walking in his true form like an octopus moving around. As they travel anti-Realm of the Gods protesters are seen in the distance but they are being held back by security forces. We see them entering a large area on the space station where the award ceremony is taking place.
The space station is in orbit of the Trill home world and high ranking Trill are present to give the award. The ceremony is just like the Nobel Prizes, with delegations and award recipients and crowds. Among the crowd are a small delegation of ancients there to support Niffy in winning his award. The ancients say as much when the high ranking Trills ask them why they are at the ceremony.
Another subplot: The Trill find that ancients going to award ceremony can communicate directly with the Trill symbionts inside the Trill. This creates some friction with the Trill as the Trill did not know that this was even possible. Instead of the award ceremony going smoothly there is some friction between the ancients and the Trill because the Trill are shocked at not knowing that direct external communication with symbionts was possible. It is up to the crew of the USS Anracosh to smooth things over between the ancients and the Trill.
The Melkot is seen using his tentacles to move about the space station and near the end of the show is the actual award ceremony and the Melkot giving a rousing speech about how the award he is being given vindicates the crew of the USS Anracosh in their decision to reach out to the ancients. The “We are vindicated” speech goes viral across the Federation and far beyond and shows what heroes the crew of the USS Anracosh really are. This is meant to be an inspirational speech akin to the ones made by Captain Picard in Star Trek The Next Generation. The intention is to give Star Trek Realm of the Gods the same kind of inspirational speech ending as few of the Next Generation episodes had.
In the speech making contact with the ancients is referred and at this time we see a scene where a dial a deity system is being installed and tested in the Zalkonian doctor’s quarters. We see the Zalkonian doctor talking to one of her relatives via the dial a deity system.
The scene then melds into a series of mini-scenes showing the speech going viral, and as this happens we see the finale to the episode, which is the USS Anracosh returning to the nebula. They see that the probes have done their job of recreating the artwork. The probes themselves are in a formation ready for retrieval. The USS Anracosh beams the probes aboard and we zoom out to see the full majesty of the Chief diplomat’s artistic masterpiece, a beautiful recolourised and rearranged nebula that is made into a gigantic light year spanning artwork.
Season 5 Episode 7
Cat call of Cthulu part 1
The story is a courtroom drama and it exemplifies what the ancients are like in Star Trek Realm of the Gods.
It is the clip show of the series – the clips function as the B plot. The C plot is a deeper updated look at the anti-Realm of the Gods protest group and the fact it is totally compromised by Section 31.
The start of the story has the USS Anracosh visiting a Federation colony world to resupply and have some leave now that they are in the good books with the Federation big wigs again. They are confronted by anti-Realm of the Gods protesters. Some ancients who are visiting the USS Anracosh are visiting the colony and see the protesters for themselves. They report the actions of the protesters to their ancient race civilisation.
The result is the ancients threaten to start a class action defamation lawsuit against the protest group. The ancients say to the protesters that the idea is not to win, but to keep the case in the courts until their opponents [the protesters] run out of political capital, their health gives out from stress, they are demoralised and so on. Since the ancients are immortal and a few years are an “eye blink” to them, this tactic is very appealing to the ancients. They decide not to take the matter to court or pursue it out of court on the grounds that the anti-Realm of the Gods protest movement will not survive the ancients becoming common place among the younger races within a century from now.
The protesters interacting with the ancients and discovering the ancients contemplating suing the protest group inspires the protesters to launch a legal case to stop the Realm of the Gods project. The protesters contact a law firm and hire them to sue the Federation government into cancelling the Realm of the Gods project.
The legal case starts with the lawyers representing the protest group arguing that some ancients have a track record of dangerous behaviour. They cite various encounters between the Federation and the ancients that have gone badly.
Clips from previous Realm of the Gods episodes and previous star trek series are shown of bad interactions with ancients and the aftermath.
The lawyers for the Federation counter with presenting evidence that the average ancient are nothing like what the protesters depict them as. They ask the protester’s representative’s if they have ever met an ancient. The protesters representatives have to answer no except for the exchange mentioned earlier in this document.
It is at this point that crew from the USS Anracosh are called in as witnesses to state how their interactions with the ancients have gone down. This reflects how the ancients and the crew of the USS Anracosh have interacted in previous episodes of the show. Various crew members of the USS Anracosh stay in the courtroom as moral support for the ancients.
There are various clips from other episodes showing the crew and the ancients interacting with each other. They show the ups and downs of dealing with the ancients, and that the ancients are not hostile except in unusual circumstances. The crew of the USS Anracosh show the good and the bad times of dealing with the ancients, they neither sugar coat it nor only show the dark side of their adventures in the Realm of the Gods adventures. [Think of the idiotic bickering between the ancients in the move a planet episode earlier in the season]. What they do show by their honesty is the positive effects of having the ancients an active part of the galactic community.
The witnesses for the protesters are from Federation missions involving ancients that have gone badly, but these witnesses are from missions that preceded the Realm of the Gods project. They make as convincing case as the lawyers hired by the ancients.
Both sides make valid arguments and the case faces a stalemate. Then the case for the protesters gives this legal and emotive argument:
Imagine you are negotiating with the Q or the Dauwd or the Preservers or some other super powerful ancient race and it all goes horribly wrong. The ancient you are in talks with goes into a rage and throws you out of the meeting. You return to the Federation humiliated. As you are coming back you cannot find any trace of Federation radio chatter. Soon you cannot detect the starbase you are meant to be going to. You go through Federation space and find …nothing. The Federation has been wished out of existence by the ancients, and many of the crew on you vessel are literally the last of their kind. Genocide by angry ancient has already happened when an ancient of the Dauwd species wished the Husnock race out of existence.
Unlike the Husnock, you survive the encounter with the Dauwd or creature of similar power level. You go back to the ancient and beg for forgiveness. The ancient restores the Federation with another wish. After that you spend every day of your life thinking that everyone you now meet in the Federation is a replica, and the people they replaced died years ago when the ancient wished them out of existence. How could you live with that?
This comes very close to winning the case for the protesters, but the ancients, seeing their side of the legal case in serious trouble, take the stand themselves.
They make it clear that they hate being called genocidal maniacs and have rules against genocide. They invite the legal teams for and against them to ask them anything. Under questioning the true nature of the Realm of the Gods project is revealed. The longer term plans of the ancients are revealed as well. This is all recorded in a court of law, thus it is now on public record.
Ancients on the stand behave nothing like what a Cthulu like being would act like. Some of them are very “human”, noting they were once flesh and blood beings like the younger race beings in the courtroom. They make a point of saying that they are not mysterious like the protesters are trying to depict them as. For example some ancients stay in an area for sentimental reasons, such as growing up there when they were kids or living there as adults, when they were flesh and blood beings.
Some are funny and charismatic. This is where Cat Call of Cthulu comes in. A Cthulu type being is a hoot to hang out with. He emulates the mating practices of his race by doing fake cat calls as a joke, which is hilarious, hence the title “Cat Call of Cthulu”. He says this is the way of his people and he is defending his culture and to deny him and his species the right to their mating practices is coming off as extremely racist, not to mention genocidal if his race were not already beings of energy, with him in his unascended form so he can more easily interact with the court.
It is also mentioned in the legal case that the ancients are not politically organised. There is no “grand council of the ancients”. Ancients run themselves on a race by race, or even faction by faction basis, or even as individuals not allied to any group. The reason the Dauwd was never punished was that there is no statutory body to try him except for his own people coming after him, and they did not punish him because the future he made was better than one with the Husnock in it. It turns out the Husnock would have sided with the Dominion in the Dominion War and the Federation and its allies would have been defeated. This is quite an eye opener for those in the courtroom. But this does not add to the ancients cause as the ancients have no way of proving [to the court’s satisfaction] the alternate future is real.
They also state one of their main motives for the ancients having Realm of the Gods projects is to fend off the horrifying effects of immortality.
The last thing the ancients show is that they gave the younger races access to the dial a deity system. The results of the ancients helping younger races with things the younger races can’t handle is now showing results and this proves ancients are not a threat and their presence benefits younger races. This is what wins the case for the ancients.
The protesters are ordered by the court not to defame the ancients but instead give an honest well researched assessment of the ancients at their protests. This would destroy the message that their movement is trying to convey, but they don’t have a choice. The shady characters secretly sponsoring the protest group for their own ends now face political blowback.
The show ends with the protesters handing out pamphlets that effectively mean they become propagandists for the ancients. Instead of recruiting to their cause they drive people into the pro-Realm of the Gods camp. After a short time of doing this the protest group begins to disband and the leader of the protest group goes into the final phase of his story arc.