Back to Welcome to Star Trek Realm of the Gods
Season 1 Episode 8
The Negilum seek out the USS Anracosh part 2
The episode starts with a recap of the previous episode that explains why the Negilum are about to attack the USS Anracosh and the protesters starship. The recap also mentions the quip about one of the Negilum being called fat and her reaction to it.
The scene after the recap shows the USS Anracosh’s automatic defences have been engaged. With the crew of the USS Anracosh doing anything the starship has reacted by itself to being attacked. This drives back the Negilum from the protesters starship and the USS Anracosh. In the counter attack one of the Negilum is badly wounded.
A lot more Negilum faces appear to quell the hostile Negilum and to tend to the wounded Negilum. After a short time the Negilum cease hostilities and the USS Anracosh returns to its normal state. The murderous Negilum gone; the Negilum who was called fat talks to the bridge crew of the USS Anracosh. She is very upset at being called fat. The captain orders all male crew on the bridge to leave the bridge until further notice.
We follow the male crew who have been kicked off the bridge. They wonder what the captain and the female crew still on the bridge are saying to the female Negilum. The highest ranking of the males says:
“It’s not for us to know, and if you’re smart you won’t ask what is being said right now on the bridge. Leave it be, the problem should solve itself soon. We’ll return to our mission soon enough and we will have a successful time creating diplomatic relations with the Negilum. Don’t ask me how I know, I just know.”
The officer is right, soon they are called back to the bridge and the Negilum get back to diplomacy, this time it will be a tripartite talk with the protesters, the Negilum and crew of the USS Anracosh. The reason the Negilum want this is to explain to all present that they understand the need to bring the murderous Negilum to justice. The Negilum just don’t see the point of prosecuting the murderous Negilum.
The murderous Negilum is oblivious to his surroundings. He won’t understand the trial and certainly can’t testify at it. It would be exactly the same as prosecuting someone with advanced dementia. They won’t understand the trail, and if found guilty, understand the punishment they would be put through.
There is also another issue the Negilum feel needs addressing. The Federation can’t build a prison that can contain the murderous Negilum. If the creature for want of a better world “woke up” in a psychotic state the Federation could not contain the creature’s resulting rampage. Only the ancients have the abilities and technologies to contain a rogue ancient. For all its glory the Federation does not have the capacity to imprison a powerful ancient, and even if they did it would enrage the ancient races clique and the Federation would have to face off civilisations and individuals that could wipe the Federation from existence.
The Negilum reference the Q and say what the Q said, if you can’t handle getting your nose bloodied, like the death of a crew member, and taking risks, you should not be exploring space, or doing a Realm of the Gods project. If you can’t handle the risks and the losses you are not ancient race material. If you are not ancient races material then doing a Realm of the Gods project is a waste of time for you.
The protesters immediately ask how they know of the Q Continuum’s existence. This raises the ire of the Negilum but they answer the question peacefully.
“We in the ancient races community all know each other. A Q, a Negilum, a Douwd, a Metron and an Imitari could all be friends. The ancient races clique is like a village where news travels fast. We don’t discriminate between power levels. All ancients see themselves as being in the same boat. Think about it. How could beings as powerful as the Q, the Douwd or the Preservers not be aware of each other? These beings have the run of the cosmos, and sooner or later they would all run into each other. I can’t believe I have to explain this to an adult sentient being.”
This puts the protesters in their place. The Negilum go onto say they can run a trial against the murderous Negilum if they want to, but the murderous Negilum will have to be imprisoned in the Negilum’s pocket plane because the Federation can’t practically imprison the murderous Negilum. Given that the murderous Negilum is already in custody in the pocket plane nothing would change from the murderous Negilum’s perspective, not that he has a perspective in his vegetative state.
With that the Negilum kick the protesters out of their territory. The protesters and their starship are relocated to just outside the rift. Some of the protesters onboard realise they are completely out of their league. They had no idea the ancients all knew each other. This changes their outlook. They thought the ancients were totally divided and could thus be easily made to look bad without the while ancient race community turning on their movement.
The protester character just listens as he goes to the navigation console and sets course back to Federation space. He then goes to the helm and flies the ship himself. The last we see of the protesters starship is them going to warp with the protesters inside still arguing about if they have made the right choice in opposing the Realm of the Gods project.
The protester character has to remind himself that his following are completely unaware that the protest group he runs is fake and is backed by powerful forces in the Federation who want to see the Realm of the Gods project fail for their own reasons of hating the crew of the USS Anracosh going rogue and getting away with it. He has to admit to himself that his followers are so dumb that they don’t question how he is financing his protest movement. Nobody is asking how he could afford the large cost of the starship they are using? How moronic is that?!?!
Back on the USS Anracosh the diplomatic talks between the USS Anracosh and the Negilum are going well. The Negilum offer to give the Federation the technology to make its own pocket planes and make pocket planes for the Federation. The Negilum try to sell the pocket planes as stand-ins for starbases and science research centres for dangerous experiments that need to be contained somewhere safe.
The crew of the USS Anracosh don’t need convincing. New powerful technology is one of the things they are looking for in their diplomatic endeavours with the ancients. The captain however has other things on her mind. She takes the first officer aside to the ready room and tells him to arrange a meeting with themselves and the crew who were conned into joining the USS Anracosh on its rogue mission. The issues raised by the conned crew have to be resolved.
The first officer and captain go back through the bridge and head for the corridors, on the way telling the chief diplomat to continue the negotiations without them. They have work to do involving the starship. This leads to the B plot.
The B plot
The captain is very concerned about the anti-Realm of the Gods protesters sabotaging their diplomatic efforts. As the captain and the first officer discuss this as they walk along the corridor. They also discuss what to do about the crew who were conned into joining the mission thinking it was legal when it wasn’t. The captain admit they violated the rights of the conned crew but on the other hand the conned crew did not quit after the Federation president pardoned the crew of the USS Anracosh and made the mission legal. Them not quitting is on them, not the command crew, and that includes the captain and the first officer.
The first officer then figures out that the captain is leading him to the security chief’s office. He asks if the security chief is involved with her plans for the conned crew. The captain says no. The security chief is going to help them stop the protesters from sabotaging their diplomacy with the ancients.
The duo arrive at the security chief’s office and let themselves in, to which the security chief asks the purpose of their visit. The first officer explains their reason for being there. Soon the captain, first officer and the Security chief all teleconference with Starfleet command.
The security chief demands that Starfleet keeps the movements of the USS Anracosh a secret due to the nature of the work they do. Due to Starfleet regulations this is her right. She has a say in declaring the secrecy level of the USS Anracosh’s mission and asks her captain to back her up on this. Starfleet can’t legally refuse her because of its regulations, and if Starfleet does break its regulations they can go over the heads of their superiors and get the Federation’s civilian leaders involved. They even name drop the politician.
Starfleet agrees to their request of upping the security level on information. They hang up rudely because of their hatred for the crew of the USS Anracosh. This does not bother the three officers. They got what they wanted. Now the captain and first officer have one more task: Confronting the conned crew.
The captain begins contacting the conned crew members and tells them to report to the Melkot’s office immediately. The chief diplomat says she can’t. She is about to sign the Negilum/Federation treaty. The captain says to proceed with the signing and then go to the Melkot’s office.
We switch scenes to the bridge. It is time for the treaty signing. The Negilum give instructions that a portable table be put on the bridge with the treaty and a pen on the table. The items are teleported into place. The chief diplomat asks how the Negilum are going to sign a treaty when they are outside the starship and how will they get a copy of the treaty for their own records. One of the Negilum’s faces, the one that was called fat, suddenly has a copy of the treaty appear next to her. She says to sign the treaty on the table. The chief diplomat does so. As she writes her signature appears on the treaty next to the female Negilum’s face. The female Negilum suddenly creates a hand holding a pen next to her face. She signs the treaty. Her signature appears on the copy of the treaty onboard the USS Anracosh.
The bridge crew and the Negilum erupt into cheers. The Federation is now receiving pocket dimension technology, which appears in the cargo hold of the USS Anracosh. As agreed, and stated by the bridge crew, the USS Anracosh will immediately return to Federation space with the new technology. We see the starship leaving the rift and entering open space and going to warp.
We return to the interior of the USS Anracosh. We see the chief diplomat enter the Melkot’s office. This place is where the Melkot is connected to the starship’s computer. He is in place in the neural interface chamber with the Captain, the first officer and the conned crew in the vicinity of the Melkot.
The captain addresses the conned crew saying that she does not want this meeting to be an argument like the last one. She wants to keep it civilised. She also states that the reason they are meeting in the Melkot’s office is that what she has to say to them should only be said to their faces. Saying it any other way shows a lack of integrity. The Melkot disagrees about the face to face thing but understands the sentiment and respects it.
She has come to speak about resolving the conned crew issues. She admits what was done was wrong but necessary. Each of those in the crew that were conned into joining the rogue mission had skills vital to the mission, and that still applies. The captain says she will accept their resignations if offered but is asking them to stay. The captain explains that the reason she wants them to stay is the stakes are much higher than the lifestyles of a handful of people; the future of the Federation is at stake.
This is what the Zalkonian doctor says back to the captain, reiterating her last point. They all know the stakes of this mission, and that is why they don’t resign. Getting the ancients to side with the Federation will have benefits that are beyond imagination. Thus the conned crew decide to stay. The episode ends with the captain thanking them.
Season 1 Episode 9
Ancients capture USS Anracosh to set up dialog
The episode starts with an outside shot of the USS Anracosh and a monologue is played: Captain’s log: The USS Anracosh is in deep space examining a piece of technology onboard. On the drone’s insistence he has asked for the starship to stop in deep space and stay put while he shows us a device that is the backbone of ancient races technology. The drone calls this device the static mass reactor. The chief science officer and chief engineer are keen to understand the device.
We swap scenes to main engineering. The drone is showing a spherical device with a lot of attachments to the science and engineering crews. The drone speaks passionately of the static mass reactor, explaining how it works. It uses the cassimere effect [please look this up online] to generate what the drone calls static mass particles. These particles remain static as the universe moves past them. Countless static mass particles hit the outer part of the sphere after being created and the impacts can be used as a power source. That is the basic static mass reactor.
The drone brings up a hologram of the internals of the sphere. It contains a cube cut into eight pieces and turned inside out so all the cubes points meet each other. The eight pieces are set so the distances between their surfaces are microscopic. It an omnidirectional cassimere effect device with some ancient races technology attached to it. The additional ancients races technology give the device certain other uses.
The drone goes on to show the other uses of the static mass reactor. Because the particles always go in one direction no matter where the device is located in space it can be used as an interstellar compass. The most important use is that the device creates matter that obeys its own laws of physics.
The drone uses the static mass reactor to create some material that has negative mass, meaning it is anti-gravity material. It floats upwards to the ceiling and has to be pushed upwards to make it fall. The crew are very impressed with this device. The drone then makes a mistake and he causes the static mass reactor to spew out large amounts of anti-gravity material that pollutes the ceiling of main engineering.
Much to the drones surprise the crew just laugh at the problem, saying they will collect samples of the anti-gravity matter and they can clean up the mess at their leisure. The chief engineer is actually happy about the spill. This is a new piece of ancient race technology to study. The crew are delighted at the drone’s mistake, and this greatly confuses the drone.
Looking at the matter stuck to the ceiling the science officer notes that a certain type of special matter would greatly enhance faster than light communication if the Federation could create it and install it in their subspace radios. Could the static mass reactor create such special matter?
The drone promptly makes the special matter using the static mass reactor. The chief engineer seeing the special matter promptly gets very excited and installs it in a subspace radio in the engineering level. He notes that the subspace radio signals will have a distinct signature, but the special matter will make the subspace radios far more efficient on all levels in terms of range, clarity of signal and much more. The chief engineer installs the special matter and sends out a test signal.
We return to the captain giving her log in monologue with the scene being the USS Anracosh outside view as earlier. She reports that half an hour ago a test signal was sent using the special matter enhanced subspace radio. She then reports on the progress made by the drone and science and engineering crews in examining the static mass reactor. She is very impressed with the new technology, which the Federation can emulate, and notes that there are ancient races technologies onboard that the Federation can copy and make their own.
In the outside shot we suddenly see a starship of unknown design arrive warping in at high speed. In a bolt from the blue attack many energy beings leave the new starship and enter the USS Anracosh. Notably many of the invading energy beings are going in through the alcove.
The scene changes to the bridge where the captain has just left the ready room where she was doing her log and she immediately asks the bridge crew what is happening. They report that the energy being are identifying themselves as Paxans, who also say their subspace radio transmission was noticed by them and they came to investigate.
The captain says they have never heard of them before. The Paxans, still aboard their own starship, say that they have encountered the Federation before but managed to erase evidence of the encounter. However there are disturbing reports coming from the decks of the USS Anracosh. Many of the crew are being possessed by the Paxans, who are insisting on speaking to the officer core of the USS Anracosh, and even more disturbing is that the Paxans have conquered the alcove area of the starship and are spreading though the USS Anracosh.
The crew is attempt to fight by stunning their crewmates, only to find that thePaxans abandon the unconscious crew members and possesses conscious crew members. The Paxans say via possessed crew members that they are looking for the officer core.
It is a two way street; the Paxans are fighting back and shoot outs occur all over the USS Anracosh. However these are all shoot outs with phasers and energy blasts from the Paxans set a non-lethal setting. Nobody is being killed, but a lot of vandalism is happening onboard, and it is still a puzzle as to why the starship’s automated defences are not working. The USS Anracosh’s interior is significantly vandalised, but nobody is being injured, it is just property damage.
The captain hails the new starship and insists that the Paxans cease their attack. Then she asks the bridge crew why the USS Anracosh’s automated defence systems are not fighting the Paxans. The bridge crew discover that the Paxans are not seen as hostile by the starship, to which the captain says that could mean the USS Anracosh may have a serious problem with its systems and some repairs are needed.
We change scenes to see the chief diplomat is possessed by a Paxan. The Paxan controlling the chief diplomat asks where the chief diplomat is. The non-possessed crew point out that the Paxan is already possessing the chief diplomat.
“Where is your chief diplomat?”
“You’re possessing her”
“Oops …sorry”
Suddenly the Paxans possessing the crew members leave their hosts and retreat to the alcove. [This is a great chance to show off the alcove]. The hosts are not harmed by the leaving Paxans. In fact the hosts do not even lose consciousness.
The new starship hails the USS Anracosh and says that the Paxan diplomat is waiting for them in the USS Anracosh’s alcove. Please send their diplomatic team to the alcove for negotiations. They apologise for the crew that have been stunned and that now those same crew are recovering in the infirmary. Nobody has been hurt, and that is at least something. The captain is not that forgiving but at least orders the chief diplomat and her underlings to the alcove to talk to the Paxans.
We now see the alcove. We get an explanation as to what the alcove is. It is an area next to the surface of the USS Anracosh. Its purpose is to act as a space where space borne ancients can meet the crew “face to face” for want of a better way to describe it. The alcove is designed for energy beings to interact with crew without having to possess them and for beings who prefer to remain in the vacuum of space for various reasons. [A detailed description of the alcove can be found in the show bible notes].
The Paxans are waiting in the part of the alcove designed to house energy beings. The diplomatic team arrive, led by the chief diplomat who says to the Paxans that she does not appreciate being possessed by them. The Paxan start making profuse apologies. The talks get down to the nitty gritty of the negotiations. The Paxans say that their world is now open to all younger races. They will no longer set up a fake wormhole to distract younger races away from their home world. Any younger race or younger race government is welcome to approach them for diplomatic relations under the banner of the Realm of the Gods project.
We return to the drone who is now running a seminar in the party cargo bay. A large number of the crew are assembled here to see the static mass reactor in action. The drone is showing off the abilities of the device as he did in main engineering. He goes about producing many materials that obey their own laws of science and says how the static mass reactor is the backbone of many ancient race technologies.
It is noted by many in the crowd that this will in time revolutionise technology made by the Federation. The potential to enhance many devices like what was done with the special matter enhanced subspace radio system. This changes the mood of the assembled crew. They realise that it was the transmission from the upgraded subspace radio that attracted the Paxans and that resulted in many of their colleagues now resting in the infirmary.
The drone realises he is facing a potentially hostile crowd, but feels that he has to warn them that some ancients will seek them out and “capture” the vessel every so often. This is part of running a Realm of the Gods project. To some ancients this is standard practice. The best thing to do is not to fight the ancients but to direct them to the alcove where they can meet crew members “face to face” without creating an unwanted confrontation. This is why the USS Anracosh itself did not fight back when the Paxans invaded the USS Anracosh. The starship interpreted the action as a non-hostile act.
This does not go down too well, even after the drone tells them that the ancients are not like the younger races, the ancients have a different outlook on life and do things differently. The drone apologises, and before he can do anything else the captain announces that the Paxans are going to appear to the crew and apologise “in person” to every crewmember for their actions
A Paxan appears via hologram in the party cargo bay. It appears next to the drone on the stage where the drone is showing off the static mass reactor. The crew are professional and listen to what the Paxan has to say.
The Paxan notes that it is currently sitting in the alcove and from there is using the alcove’s facilities to talk to the crew. It makes a promise its people will let the ancient races community know that the younger races do not appreciate having their ancient races contact ships being invaded. The Paxans make a promise that they, or any other ancients, will not capture the USS Anracosh ever again. From now on the ancients will ask permission to board or will only enter the USS Anracosh when invited to do so.
The drone can now continue with his demonstration of the static mass reactor. The Paxan hologram disappears and the drone continues his talk. We change scenes back to the alcove. The diplomatic talks are being would up. This time most of the officer core is present for the talks. The Paxans agree and offer the official invite for all younger races to come to their world to meet them. Then it is the usual friendship treaty stuff.
The Paxans offer compensation for the crew’s troubles. The captain gets smart and asks the Paxans to do an inspection of the outer hull, fix the USS Anracosh’s security system, clean up the mess made in the gun battles and to clean up the mess made by the crew’s experimentation with the static mass reactor. Too many crew are resting in the infirmary for them to do the job themselves. This will let the crew have some time off and it is easy to guilt trip the Paxans to do the work as they caused many of the crew to wind up in the hospital.
The Paxans now totally guilt tripped get to work immediately following the captain’s request of clean up and inspection. The crew take a well earned break as they watch the Paxans work on and around the starship. The captain walks around the starship inspecting the Paxan’s work.
She sees some of the officer core doing the same as her, inspecting the cleanup efforts. They make a point of saying “well played” to the captain. You solved multiple problems all at once. The crew needs a rest and the starship needs a cleanup from the recent experiments and battle. Getting the hull inspected and the security system fixed are bonuses as well. The episode ends with the officer core saying: “Well done Captain. …Well done.”
Season 1 Episode 10
The USS Anracosh’s mission to the Andromeda galaxy
This mission is the first official extra-galactic mission of the Federation, which is a momentous occasion, so in spite of the animosity towards the crew of the USS Anracosh, it is a fantastic event with a ceremony. This shows off the hatred towards the USS Anracosh and Starfleet brass wishing they would get lost in the Andromeda galaxy never to return. The smiles and speeches given in the ceremonies surrounding the first official intergalactic mission ring false. Everyone knows about the bad blood between the crew of the USS Anracosh and the rest of the Federation.
The crew and starship are transported via wormhole to the Andromeda Galaxy to see the ancients in action fixing that galaxy’s radiation problem. The USS Anracosh is fitted with a wormhole projector so the USS Anracosh makes the wormhole themselves.
The reason the ancients want the USS Anracosh to go to the Andromeda galaxy is to show the crew what the Realm of the Gods project will lead to in a few decades or at least in under a century at the most, that being the ancients and younger races cooperating and coexisting with each other.
The crew and starship are transported via wormhole [made by the USS Anracosh itself] to the Andromeda Galaxy to see the ancients in action fixing that galaxy’s radiation problem.
The crew of the Anracosh then meet the inhabitants of the Andromeda galaxy, who explain they approached the ancients of their galaxy with the radiation problem of their galaxy and found the ancients were willing to help. The various species of the Andromedans then started their own Realm of the Gods project. All this was done after the missions to other galaxies to find a new home for the Andromedans. Therefore with the help of the ancients the need to evacuate the Andromeda Galaxy now no longer exists.
The younger races of the Andromeda galaxy assumed that the ancients would refuse to help and were surprised when the ancients said yes. They were even more surprised when the ancients offered them a Realm of the Gods project.
The Andromeda galaxy is now in a post Realm of the Gods era and the crew of the USS Anracosh are shown how ancients and younger races can peacefully co-exist and thrive with each other. [This is part of the six stage cycle mentioned the ancients section of these documents.]
A “tour” is organised for the crew of the USS Anracosh, where they are shown the “coalface” of the repair site where the radiation problem is being fixed. They see countless ancients working together with machines of their own design collecting radiation and storing and selling it as batteries.
The USS Anracosh is taken to the “coalface” to a refuelling facility where the starship is hooked up to a device that plugs into the BHM and refuels the USS Anracosh’s power cells. As that happens a summit is organized with the ancients and the inhabitants of the Andromeda galaxy meeting the USS Anracosh’s diplomacy team. This is a multilateral meeting of Ancients, younger races of the Andromeda galaxy and the diplomatic team of the USS Anracosh. The refuelling facility has the necessary space for the multilateral conference.
The officer core of the USS Anracosh note that this must have been planned by the ancients all along, and ask the ancients if that is the case. The ancients say yes and the purpose of the tour of the Andromeda galaxy is to showcase what the inhabitants of the Milky Way galaxy are in for after starting contact with the ancients. The crew of the USS Anracosh find out that the Realm of the Gods project is done on a galaxy by galaxy basis. It is in this episode that the six stages of Realm of the Gods are revealed to the crew [and the audience].
The B plot
The crew not involved in the diplomatic talks are assigned to the refuelling process and have the opportunity to reverse engineer the technology the ancients are using to refuel the USS Anracosh. Some of the ancients express disappointment that the crew has not completed the Black Hole Manipulator [BHM] and the crew explain to them the four schools of thought [see series bible notes] that the crew have about completing the device. The ancients assumed completing the BHM would be the first thing the crew of the USS Anracosh would do.
The ancients of the Andromeda galaxy fully refuel the USS Anracosh, saying the reason they organized the trip at this time was that the starship needed refuelling and this was the perfect place to do it without the USS Anracosh using a black hole to refuel with. Some ancients also express that they are disappointed with the progress they crew has made in reverse engineering ancient race technology on the USS Anracosh.
The ancients explain that the BHM was meant to be the battery for the USS Anracosh among the BHM’s myriad of uses. Without the BHM fully operational the starship needs another fuel source. Batteries fuelled by Andromeda galaxy radiation will refuel the USS Anracosh for now. Once the batteries on the USS Anracosh are full the starship will have enough fuel to last a millennium. The engineering crew continue their reverse engineering of ancient’s technology and the ancients continue their refuelling efforts.
We return to the multilateral conference. The conference is a twofold diplomacy mission. The crew are running diplomacy with both the ancients of the Andromeda galaxy and the younger races of the Andromeda galaxy. In both cases these are races they have never met before bar for the races who have been to the Milky Way galaxy. Transportation between galaxies will not be an issue, the Andromedans and the Federation both have access to ancient race technology that will make the huge journey very easy.
The federation delegates have a question for the Andromedans and the ancients. Why are the Andromedans humanoid like the species of the Milky Way Galaxy? The crew of the USS Anracosh are told by the ancients that the Preservers are comparable to the Q Continuum in terms of power and influence and much of the universe is inhabited by humanoid sentient life.
The ancients then make an important announcement at the conference. They want the Federation to see the Andromeda galaxy and what is happening in it, to show where diplomacy with the ancients leads to. The Andromedans and the ancients are working together with the ancients no longer taking a passive role in their galaxy as the Federation has seen the ancients do in the Milky Way galaxy until the Federation started its Realm of the Gods project. This is what the Realm of the Gods project will lead to as the six stages of the project progress. What the Federation delegates are seeing in the Andromeda is what the Milky Way galaxy is in for within a century.
The ancients say that now they have seen the results of diplomacy with the ancients the Federation has to make a choice. The Federation can back out now and surrender the USS Anracosh to the ancients. If the Federation does not like what they see now is the time. At this point in time the ancients will let them walk away from the Realm of the Gods project no questions asked. If they do walk away the crew of the USS Anracosh will be immediately returned to Earth.
At the same time as this conference the ancients in the Milky Way galaxy have contacted the Federation’s civilian leadership and bought them up to speed on the situation of the multilateral conference, and given the Federation’s civilian leaders the choice of backing out of the Realm of the gods project, to which the Federation’s civilians leaders have said no.
The conference goes on to signing the various treaties between the Federation and the ancients and younger races of the Andromeda galaxy, notably signing a treaty with the Douwd species, who are indigenous to the Andromeda galaxy. We also check in on the engineering and science crews who have been reverse engineering ancient’s technology and refuelling the USS Anracosh, they note that the refuelling is complete and they are waiting for the conference to end.
The scene switches to various ancient and younger races starships of the Andromeda galaxy gather at the wormhole leading back to the Milky Way galaxy. The wormhole is modified by the ancients so it is stable and permanent. It will be a permanent link between the two galaxies. The USS Anracosh heads back home with lots of leads for the Federation to follow up on in contact with the Andromeda galaxy. The modified wormhole will serve as a meeting place for beings of the two galaxies to meet each other. The ancients and younger races of the Andromeda galaxy will represent themselves in a united front as they are already working as one in fixing the Andromeda’s radiation problem.
The Andromedans both ancient and younger assure the crew of the USS Anracosh that this is only the beginning. Plenty of follow up missions will happen. The Andromedans have access to ancient race technology. Getting to and from each other’s galaxies will not even be a challenge.
The crew of the USS Anracosh are given an official message for the governments of the Milky Way galaxy, that the mass migration of Andromedans is now cancelled and that the ancients have fixed the radiation problem of the Andromeda galaxy.
The USS Anracosh has to be seen returning from the Andromeda galaxy. The starship goes back through the wormhole and finds itself back in the Milky Way galaxy.
We switch to a staff meeting of the officer core in the captain’s ready room. The chief engineer is pleased to report that the USS Anracosh is fully refuelled and fully operational [bar the incomplete BHM]. The Chief diplomat reports on the events of the multilateral conference and the status of the Andromeda galaxy as learned from the interactions within the conference.
At the meeting the officer core realise that what they did when they started the rogue operation is something that will change their whole galaxy. They have started a process that will in the end result in species of the Federation eventually joining the ancient races clique. They realise the true impact of the six stage process and they are responsible for unleashing it on their galaxy.
They conclude that what they have done to save the Federation will in the ultra long term wind up destroying the Federation. This is the opposite of what they wanted. The show ends with the captain saying that they will have to come to terms with that fact.
Season 1 Episode 11
The first Klingon episode involves a Klingon delegation visiting the USS Anracosh to learn how to undergo a Realm of the Gods project
Early in the Realm of the Gods project the Klingons send a starship to meet with the USS Anracosh. They are transporting a delegation to the USS Anracosh to learn about the Federation’s efforts in diplomacy with the ancients. With the encouragement of the ancients, the crew of the USS Anracosh give the Klingons a grand tour of the USS Anracosh, noting that the starship was upgraded by the ancients as a reward for being the first race/group of races in the galaxy in eons to try to establish systemic diplomacy with the ancient races and be public about it.
The crew are initially hesitant to give the Klingons free access to their starship. There is a Mexican standoff with the Klingons before they enter the USS Anracosh because of security concerns of showing off the most powerful starship the Federation has to forces of another government. The captain herself has to step in and remind the crew that this tour has already been approved by the Federation High Council. Then the tension shifts as to how the command structure had broken down. The crew should have been informed that they should let the Klingons pass unhindered.
The Klingons ask why they can’t have a starship like the USS Anracosh – a Federation ancient races hybrid starship. It is explained to the Klingons that if they had been first to try diplomacy with the ancients, they would have received a starship with God like abilities like the USS Anracosh. The Klingons then learn from the crew of the USS Anracosh how to run an encounter with the ancients. The crew of the USS Anracosh visit an ancient race with the Klingons in tow so the Klingons can see how it is done, although Klingons are already great at diplomacy and some in their number see witnessing diplomatic talks as a waste of time, and complain about it.
The ancients welcome the Klingons to the talks but the price the Klingons pay is a lecture from the ancients. The ancients remind the Klingons that they have an impressive space fleet. However, they have not organised one starship painted in diplomatic insignia and not one crew or team of diplomats dedicated to meeting and greeting the ancients. The Klingons do not react well to being lectured but admit the ancients are right. They could have at any time set up a starship as the ancients described and created diplomatic relations with the ancients.
The Klingons and the Federation personnel present are smart enough to know that attacking the ancients won’t work. They would be assaulting beings who could quickly organise the total eradication of the Klingon Empire and the Federation if they wanted to.
Instead of the Klingons swearing revenge or some such they give a diplomatic response that is very out of character. They recall that the Klingons have has their own encounters ancients like the Federation has. Apart from the usual plethora of ancients the Klingons have met members of the Q continuum and members of the Douwd [although not the Douwd the Federation met]. Those are two very powerful races in the ancient races clique.
The Federation crew are very surprised that the Klingons have had so much interaction with the ancients. They were under the assumption that after the Hurq conquered Klingons and the Klingons drove the Hurq of their homeworld that the Klingons would want nothing to do with any ancient.
The Klingons put it this way: [This comes from my show bible notes] Imagine you encounter a very powerful ancient who you have a serious falling out with. You walk away and go back to your empire. When you reach your empire you find nothing. Your entire civilisation has been erased. You go back to the ancient and ask forgiveness and ask for your empire to be restored. The ancient agrees to both. You go home again. This time everything is back to normal – except for yourself. You now have to live with the knowledge that everyone you meet in your civilisation is a replica. The original people you knew are dead – killed by the ancient who forgave you. What is worse the deaths were not honourable, nobody was bested in combat by a worthy foe, they were simply erased out of existence by a god like ancient.
This previous paragraph encapsulates the Klingon attitude towards the ancients. What is the point of battling the ancients if it costs you the whole Empire? Up to now the Klingons took the same attitude as the Federation before launching the Realm of the Gods project. That is map out where the ancients live and put up the no trespassing signs.
While this is happening, the USS Anracosh, with the ancients involved in the current diplomatic talks, flies to Klingon space so the Klingons can take a closer look at the starship. They crew gives tours of the USS Anracosh to the Klingon delegation and eventually the starship winds up at a Klingon starbase that features in the episode finale.
The B plot
While on the USS Anracosh the Klingons encounter the half Human half Klingon member of the crew [Ensign Ghezhear]. He is the nearest thing the Klingons have to someone on the starship. Ghezhear’s father left the Klingon Empire for the Federation before he was born. They approach Ghezhear and ask him and the USS Anracosh’s officer core if he can give them a tour of the USS Anracosh.
The Klingons ask many questions of the Klingon Human hybrid, including asking him to join their crew, he refuses, so they ask him to be their man on the USS Anracosh, he again refuses. They ask him all kinds of things and he strongly states that he will not betray the Federation or his crewmates. He will help the Klingons, but the aim is to help them start their own Realm of the Gods project. They can then ask the ancients for the kind of help they want from him.
The security chief gets wind of the Klingons attempt to get a crew member to be their spy on the USS Anracosh. Ghezhear has refused to be a spy for the Klingons and promptly reported it to his superiors. The Klingons are let off with a warning from the Captain and the security chief of the USS Anracosh. She also investigates why the crew were not told the Federation high council had approved of the Klingon visit. It turns out it was someone simply forgetting to pass on relevant information. Disciplinary action is taken.
An official complaint is registered with Klingon high command, but it is the ancients that ask for forgiveness of the Klingons. The ancients are the ones who smooth things over because the ancients have a policy that all younger race beings/civilisations are welcome to approach them.
After the grand tour the Klingons are encouraged by the ancients to set up their own Realm of the Gods project. They won’t get a God like starship, but they will get a few technologies that will help them with meeting and greeting the ancients. They are also free to reverse engineer the technology as well, with help from the ancients to do so.
After the talks an ancient races starship retrieves the ancients from the USS Anracosh and the ancients featured in this episode are shown turning the no trespassing signs around their solar system into welcome signs. The ancients make a point of showing [via video conferencing] this action to the crew of the USS Anracosh and their Klingon guests.
The story ends at a Klingon starbase where the USS Anracosh is docked showing a Klingon vessel being repainted with diplomatic seals and insignia, Ancient race beings are present to install ancient race technologies on the vessel. The Klingon delegation are there watching the vessel being repainted noting that it is a new era, the Klingons will now approach the ancients without the attitude that they are risking the empire in doing so. This is a much more honourable way to do things and the Klingon delegation wishes they had thought of diplomacy with the ancients first.
Season 1 Episode 12
The security chief helps the crew get supplies via her Section 31 connections
The episode focuses on the resupply effort and what that entails.
The USS Anracosh faces supply problems because the rest of Starfleet is shunning them. Presented with this problem they look at resupplying from sources outside the Federation or from private providers within the Federation. This means having to put up with non-authentic parts and other supply issues. In time this will create serious problems with the USS Anracosh.
What brings things to a head is Starfleet sabotaging their supplies because of the hatred towards the crew of the USS Anracosh. It not enough to deny them supplies, the supplies they do get are wrecked by spiteful officers.
At the staff meeting discussing the issue the idea is floated of getting their supplies from the ancients themselves. The Security Chief points out that she can get supplies via Section 31 [The Federation’s intelligence service]. She reveals that she is well connected in Section 31, and has been authorised by her Section 31 superiors to reveal she is a Section 31 agent to the officer core of the USS Anracosh.
The Security Chief can arrange for supplies via Section 31 so they won’t have to visit starbases where they get the cold shoulder and worse. To the crew’s surprise in a short time a Section 31 flotilla arrives, which consists of a series of escort vessels and a dedicated cargo vessel, with supplies.
The security chief, being of Section 31 herself, does most of the talking. She assures the crew that Section 31 has their backs and understands the Realm of the Gods mission and its consequences. They just wish others in the Federation could see what the benefits of contact with the ancient races.
Section 31 agents set up an ordering system for the USS Anracosh. The crew of the Anracosh can order what they want via Section 31. The spies say that the work the USS Anracosh does is worth the extra expense to Section 31. They say “How much is having god like beings on your side worth?”
The agents of Section 31 make it clear that the supplies come at a price. That price being Section 31 wants to swap supplies for the crew of the USS Anracosh doing black ops missions for Section 31. The crew of the USS Anracosh did countless numbers of black ops missions during the Dominion war. This is what the crew used to specialise in. Section 31 knows this and that is why they asked for the deal. The crew eagerly accepts the offer knowing that this will assure them of their supplies, make Section 31 into a firm ally and it is something well within their skill set.
As the Section 31 flotilla joins the party, the officer core of the USS Anracosh takes a very different view of the Security Chief, now that they know that she has so much influence with Section 31. They are grateful that she has solved their supply problem, but they have to ask themselves just how powerful she really is, and can they trust her? The ending [at the party described below] is the some of the core officers talking in a small group focusing on making the point that the Security Chief’s actions raise more questions than answers. What else is she hiding from them? Could they have a Greek God read her mind or should they trust her?
The B plot:
The B plot involves the Greek God Ancients from the original series asking for neo-pagans to volunteer to “worship” them on the Greek Gods world. The chief diplomat has to handle this situation.
The scene is the chief diplomat, her entourage [include the alternate timeline ensign] sitting vis a vis ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses. They are ancients who visited Earth thousands of years ago. They are asking if there are any pagans still on Earth or its colonies. The diplomat has to say that she thinks there are but their numbers are tiny.
Knowing that human pagans still exist, the Greek Gods make an offer for the Federation – give them worshippers in exchange for a close alliance with the Greek Gods. They offer all kinds of help the Federation could find really useful. One of the chief diplomat’s underlings asks if this is an offer only applying to humans and the Gods say no, any younger race is welcome to move to the Greek God’s world and be a worshipper. If the Federation supplies worshippers the Federation will get a close alliance with the Gods, and the Gods will be very generous with the help they give the Federation.
The crew of the Anracosh would eagerly say this is a great deal, the help they want from the ancients in exchange for providing a bunch of Federation citizens to worship the Gods of old.
With the diplomatic team giving an initial agreement to giving the Gods worshippers; the conversation turns to what will the fate of these worshippers be. The Deities give assurances as to the safety and welfare of those who volunteer to worship them. They stress that they won’t take unwilling conscripts. It must be willing volunteers only.
This begs question: How many volunteers? Easy, up to as many people as can comfortably live on the Greek Gods world. The number is flexible, anywhere from a few hundred to a few billion. With billions of Federation citizens finding enough volunteers will not be a problem.
This lightens the mood of the meeting. The people who would be sent to the Greek Gods world would not be sacrifices; they are going there to worship and will get cared for; in exchange the Federation gets some really powerful allies, just what the crew of the USS Anracosh wants.
The next question is how much and what kind of help is being offered. The Greek Gods say that they are restricted in helping fight the Borg because of the cease fire agreement between the Borg and the ancients. All other help is on the table within reason, i.e. no miracle factory rubbish. Help could include new technology, doing tasks the Federation can’t handle themselves, help in contacting other ancient races. In other words pretty much the usual fair for what the ancient offer the younger races in a Realm of the Gods project, but the Greek Gods are also offering help with long term projects, not just step in and fix the problem and leave. If the Federation needs a long term commitment from an ancient race the Greek Gods will be the ancients to turn to.
Ending: The Section 31 supply fleet personnel, [including Alena Malgum], gets to meet the Greek Gods as proof that the USS Anracosh is getting great results. The Section 31 agents are thrilled to learn about the Greek Gods/Federation alliance. The ending includes a meeting of the three groups and takes the form of fresh supplies being sent to the USS Anracosh. Section 31 gets the answer of what it is like to have a god on your side as they meet the Greek Gods in person.
The last act of the episode is a party thrown by the Greek Gods to celebrate the alliance of the Federation and Greek Gods. The party takes place in the “party centre” cargo bay in the USS Anracosh. This is a Greek style party with music and Greek style line dancing, plenty of food and drink and fun. This is one of the good memorable times on the USS Anracosh and it shows. There are a few scenes showing different crew cliques, like the core officers mentioned above and the chief diplomat congratulating her team on a job well done, but the ending shows the party still going on with a cheering crowd, celebrating at the fact they found what they are looking for – allies among the ancients.
Season 1 Episode 13
Neural education episode
A story dedicated to the neural education centre of the starship.
This episode makes it clear that the neural education device is NOT a virtual reality device or a surgical device; it imprints knowledge directly into the brain without an experience of learning it. It also sees ancients forming a cue in space near the USS Anracosh, seen as a comedic action by the crew and the audience.
The B plot:
The B plot covers the ethical debates like devaluing professions by being able to churn out professionals like confetti, and what it means to have everyone overqualified and feeling unchallenged. To sum up: What are the ethics, pros and cons of having neural education technology? The debate covers the aspect that the ancients gave the technology as an object lesson, to let the crew of the USS Anracosh know what it is like to have the knowledge base of a low level ancient. The ancients did not intend it to be a powerfully disruptive technology, but if the Federation can’t handle it, then they are not ancient race material. That is the core of the problem. The starship and all the ancient races technology in it are object lessons. If you can manage the power and abilities of the USS Anracosh you can handle joining the ancients. If you can’t, forget about running a Realm of the Gods project.
Going to an area full of ancient races
The ancient races expert drone directs the USS Anracosh to an area of space that he knows is crawling with ancients so the crew of the USS Anracosh can make lots of contacts all at once. When the crew get to a disused area of space the drone instructs the crew to turn on the ancient race attracting beacon.
The crew ask the drone why this area of space would have so many ancients in it. There is nothing special about this area except that it has no younger race activity in it. The drone says they have answered their own question. This is an area of space where the ancients can live a quiet existence.
The drone says this is an ideal place to look for ancients. You will find ancients in the disused areas of space where younger races tend not to go. Neutral zones, remote areas, places of no strategic importance to anyone, anywhere that is away from bustling areas of younger race activity is the place to find ancient race beings living their lives. It is revealed that this area of space used to be the domain of the Husnock before an ancient race being known as a Dauwd wiped out them out. The ancients moved in after the Husnock were obliterated.
All is quiet as the beacon broadcasts and the crew ask if this is actually working. The captain begins to question the drone about this and the answer soon comes when all kinds of ascended beings and ancient race starships appear on sensors. The time from the area being calm and empty to the area swarming with ancient race starships and ascended ancients from those starships ready to board the USS Anracosh is not even half a minute.
The USS Anracosh finds itself in the eye of a hurricane of ancient race beings and ancient race starships, then the ancients do some strange manoeuvres in space and actually start queuing outside the USS Anracosh.
This is met with shock and laughter as the crew realise what the ancients are doing around their starship. The chaos outside is being turned into order as the ancients go from a cyclone formation to a line formation, and that line has one end next to the USS Anracosh with the other end extending deep into space. The ancients have formed a que and are waiting to be served by the starship’s diplomatic team.
The drone apologises to the chief diplomat and her subordinates as he did not anticipate such a large reaction to the ancients attracting beacon. He did not think that so many ancients would take the time to respond.
This is not as good as it sounds as it means the diplomatic teams are forced to work on the fly interviewing a small number of ancients at a time. They have to get to know them and then work out diplomatic negotiations on very limited information.
Seeing as the diplomatic staff are horribly over worked, the chief diplomat asks the captain for help. She says to the captain that the ancients have to wait over an hour until they have the staff ready to process each of their diplomatic negotiations. The crew thinks that this is making some of the ancients unsettled, although none have left in frustration yet, that time is fast approaching if nothing is done, even though the crew does not know that this is not true.
The diplomat says she and her underlings can’t handle the workload of all these ancients and the Captain orders all of the crew currently on shift and herself to the neural education devices to learn diplomacy so they can cater to the long cue of ancients outside and inside the starship. The captain made a point of putting herself through a neural education device to show the crew that no crew member including herself is above using neural education technology.
Immediately the crew go to the neural education devices in their cabins and get the diplomacy knowledge put into their brains. Once all the crew have diplomacy knowledge the captain starts issuing orders. The Bajoran doctor is the one who programs the neural education devices, and he sets them to diplomacy from his terminal in the neural education centre. The reason each cabin has a neural education device is to avoid traffic problems during shift changes as many of the crew would make a bee line to the neural education centre before going to work. The other reason is having neural education devices in crew quarters encourages casual use of neural education devices.
The first order is: The crew are to divide into teams of three to form a diplomatic team and talk to the first ancient that they see onboard the USS Anracosh.
Math of the above paragraph:
There are 518 crew in total, with 170 off duty because they are part of the 2 night shifts [85 per shift, 2 x 85 = 170]. That leaves 348 crew, 85 of which are already on the diplomatic staff. That means the remainder of the crew [263 people, 348 – 85 = 263] are using the neural education devices to get diplomacy skills. 348 crew are divided into 116 teams of 3 [116 x 3 = 348].
Since there are 85 in the diplomatic staff, we reduce that by 1 for the Chief diplomat who liaises with officer core. This leaves 84 diplomatic staff, divide that number by 3 for diplomatic teams, that makes 28 diplomatic teams [84 / 3 = 28] before the rest of the crew join the negotiations.
The captain then orders the drone to broadcast via the ancients attraction beacon that they are to board the USS Anracosh and approach the first crew member they find and commence diplomatic negotiations with that crew member. She orders Niffy [crew member acting as starship A.I.] to disable the security system so the ancients can board the vessel unhindered before he joins a diplomatic team. He has a neural education device as part of his connection to the starship’s main computer.
The next scene shows the starship overrun with ancients and impromptu negotiations taking place anywhere that can be repurposed into a desk. During these negotiations it becomes obvious the rank and file crew are learning firsthand the true power of the ancients as the ancients are offering their help to the Federation and telling the crew what they can do for the Federation – and they are not bluffing – the ancients mean what they say.
In time the negotiations get to agreements and the diplomatic efforts wind down. The crew can return to their duties and the diplomatic department can have a well earned break. As the ancients leave the USS Anracosh and then the crew start talking to each other about the days events. The Captain realises the toll the day’s events have taken on her crew and makes a promise to never try using the beacon to attract ancients again unless they have no other option.
The third [last] act of the episode focuses heavily on the B plot and consists of a serious debate about neural education that acknowledges that it is ancient races technology that is beyond the Federation’s ability to build. The vast majority of the crew find the neural education devices an amazing piece of technology and are amazed that if they wanted they could gain many lifetimes worth knowledge in a day or two.
The pros and cons of neural education are debated and the crew appreciates the potential and power of it. On that day all of the crew interacted with the ancients face to face and have seen their god like powers. It sinks into them just how powerful the ancients are. They already know that the ancients use the Realm of the Gods project for recruitment of younger races into the ranks of the ancients.
The debate goes from neural education to any given ancient race technology on the USS Anracosh. Much of the systems onboard would change the Federation in ways they can’t imagine. They have a starship full of disruptive technology. They ask themselves; have they made the right choice in reaching out to the ancient races and what are the consequences of everyone getting access to the ancient race technology on the USS Anracosh?
The story ends with the realisation that it is too late to turn back. The crew want the ancients as allies of the Federation. Retreating from the project now forfeits that, and would mean that their mission of protecting the Federation by getting the ancients help is a failure. Like it or not the ancients are here to stay, or more accurately were here before they were and are here to stay. It is time to accept the power of the ancients because the Federation needs that power to stop any future threats. The crew of the USS Anracosh will keep going because there is no other option they want to choose.
Season 1 Episode 14
Sample of section 31 missions
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 one is the commando raid.
This episode showcases the dark side of working on the USS Anracosh. In exchange for resupplying the USS Anracosh the crew of the USS Anracosh must do black ops missions for Section 31. The Alena character gets some character development in this episode.
The starting scene is a resupply mission where the Section 31 flotilla of a cargo starship and its starship escorts are meeting the USS Anracosh and supplies are being transferred. The Commodore of the flotilla is meeting with the officer core of the USS Anracosh and is asking for them to “pay up” on the deal with Section 31 and supply commandos from the rank and file crew for black ops missions. The commandos are given to Alena [who is introduced at the meeting] for briefing and going on the mission.
Alena is explained in this episode, including her backstory [including a flashback and what her abilities are]. Her job is to command the commando raids that involve crew from the USS Anracosh. She briefs/debriefs them and may lead the raids herself, or at least acts as support for the raids.
The officer core is happy to accept this deal and start a lottery system for the crew and themselves that involves all those who fought in the Dominion war. The exception is when Section 31 needs someone with specialised skills. To show fairness those in the officer core will take the first black ops missions that Section 31 asks of them. This means the first officer, the captain, the Bajoran doctor and the security chief [who is also a Section 31 agent] are all going on a commando raid plus a rank and file crew member needed for his skill set. This is the officer who eventually admits to fragging a superior in the Dominion war. This is a Checkov’s gun bought up in the fragging/anti mandatory reporting laws episode.
The crew were told of the deal with Section 31, since it was struck, and they knew that sooner or later they would be called up for a mission. This does not bother them, this was the kind of work they did during the Dominion war. In fact many of them are happy to rise to the challenge, but they know the rules of the lottery. Once they have been on a mission they will not be called up for another one until all the qualifying crew have done a black ops mission or if they have specialised skills needed for a particular black ops mission.
It is at this point that the Captain leaves the dojo officer in charge. She needs more command experience and the crew have a high respect for her. Transitioning command will be easy, and the dojo officer takes the captain’s seat on the bridge. The officers say farewell and wish the dojo officer good luck on her first command.
A shuttle transfers the four officers to the Section 31 supply starship, and they meet a couple of agents who are going to help them steal incriminating evidence from the Orion Syndicate of the Syndicate’s crimes. The agents are a couple of computer experts with black ops training, but are nowhere near as talented in black ops as the USS Anracosh crew.
The story then follows the four and their Section 31 colleagues as they covertly raid an Orion Syndicate compound and hack a computer. This is the standard fare of watching a commando raid in an action movie. It looks like a stealthy break in done by a professional heist crew. The usual stuff of stealthily taking out guards, and picking locks, and the like.
As a cover the team splits in two and while one team copies the data using hacking techniques to cover the fact they are copying data the other team steals some valuable items and incriminating evidence as a cover to make the Orion Syndicate think that the data was not the real target. We follow both teams in their raid and see them doing a perfectly executed commando raid.
The officers clearly state that this might be an easy mission, but they are knowledgeable enough to know that easy missions and commando raids can be much more dicey situations in terms of what needs to be done and who or what has to be fought. That does not include the morally grey areas that are involved in the kind of work most of the crew of the USS Anracosh were trained to do.
The next scene is seeing Carol left in charge by the officer core on the first commando raid done by the crew. The officer core decided to go first in a sign of good faith and fairness. Carol assures the officer core that although she has never been a bridge commander, and definitely never for a mission quite like this, that she will have it under complete control.
The bridge crew is going about their business. Unusually the dojo officer is serving on the bridge and it is highlighted that she is filling in for the security chief. The dojo officer is the highest ranking officer on the bridge so she is therefore the commanding officer at this point in time.
Without warning space barnacles [junior’s species from next generation] appear coming out of high warp and begin latching onto the USS Anracosh. The dojo officer looks up the procedure for removing the barnacles. It is a simple exercise in having the starship emit certain electromagnetic frequencies that repel the space barnacles.
The dojo officer thinks about why the security chief chose her to fill in while she was away. They had a friendly debate last week where the dojo officer said “I can do your job, I can go to the neural education centre and get the same qualifications that you have, and do so in half an hour.” The security chief disagreed but thought it would be fun to give the dojo officer a chance to do the security chief’s job, so the dojo officer finds herself on the bridge in a command role the security chief would have normally been doing.
These barnacle breakouts happen in thirds; The first time, it’s an oddity, the second time is arouses concern, the third time they are much larger in numbers and try to hack their systems.
The dojo officer sees the space barnacles as a minor inconvenience. Just arrange for the frequencies to be emitted and the barnacles detach and go elsewhere. Writing the reports will take longer than the task at hand. As orders are given and preparations are made the space barnacles do something unexpected and not seen before: The creatures attempt to hack the USS Anracosh’s systems.
The dojo officer calls for a red alert and has the I.T. department mount a fire wall e-defence and counter attack. A rank and file officer on the bridge points out that the barnacles are solely targeting the communications system.
Rank & File Officer: “Ma’am, they’re attacking our systems! They appear to be trying to hack us, they’ve broken right through our… Communications Array…?”
Carol: “Status Report on the rest of the ship, what else has been compromised?”
Rank & File Officer: “…Everything’s fine, Ma’am. Nothing else has been affected. Systems are running… Perfect, in fact.”
The big hook of the episode, right before the commercial break is the reveal of the barnacles’ intent: They just want to talk.
Returning to the commando raid all goes well, until they try to leave. It is at this point is time that their break-in is discovered and the alarm goes off. Lots of Orion Syndicate thugs arrive and the officers have to shoot their way out with the stolen data. Two of the Section 31 operatives are badly wounded and they have to drag them out as well as carrying the data rods [Star Trek equivalents of USB sticks]. Fortunately the hacking they used was undetectable. The valuables stolen were things easily visible and identifiable at a distance when carried to add to the illusion that the data was not what the commandoes wanted.
This is the opposite of the previous commando raid scenes. Here the mission has gone utterly pear shaped. It is a running fire fight out of the facility, with the commandoes setting fire to the compound as a distraction. The officers and their Section 31 colleagues escape to the edge of the compound, beaming out with a blaze behind them all action movie style with explosions in the massive house fire as well.
We return to the dojo officer and the rest of the bridge crew saying to the space barnacles that they had no idea that the barnacles were sentient. The barnacles say hello via the ancient race enhanced translation system. The dojo officer calls for the chief diplomat. The chief diplomat replies via intercom that she is on her way.
The next scene is on the bridge with the dojo officer and the chief diplomat in negotiations with the barnacles. The dojo officer thinks that she doesn’t need the drone’s help right now, but it would be useful to bring him into the negotiations pretty soon. If she has questions about the space barnacles she can ask the barnacles directly.
The conversation with the barnacles turns to the previous encounters between the barnacles and the Federation. Namely they talk about the barnacle nicknamed “junior” attaching to the USS Enterprise and the events that took place in that Star Trek episode. This raises the issue that the crew of the USS Anracosh want to know the race name the barnacles call themselves.
The barnacles say that they have no race name that translates to something terrestrials would use. But since the Federation named the creature that attached to the Enterprise “junior” terrestrials can call the space barnacle race Junior because it is what they called the first barnacle that they named. It would be an honour to be christened with the title of the pioneer of their race that first made contact with the Federation, a goal they hold in veneration. An impressive feat for an infant of the barnacle race.
The Barnacles, or Juniors, reveal they have a sophisticated culture and values; they are anything but mindless space whales. They have a cultural exchange with the crew teaching about barnacle culture and identity. The chief diplomat remarks that this is a great start to establishing government to government relations with the Juniors. This is the first time the Federation has ever done successful diplomacy with a non-terrestrial [i.e. space borne] species. It is major cause of celebration for the Federation and the Barnacles congratulate them. This is a big deal and must be acknowledged for the achievement that it is. The Barnacles note that it is a pity they can’t physically party with the crew onboard the USS Anracosh.
We return to the commando raid to see the end of it. The whole commando team are seen beaming onto a transporter pad with the stolen items. There the Bajoran doctor is given some sophisticated medical equipment by the Section 31 agents waiting for them at the transporter, and he heals the wounded Section 31 agents that went on the commando raid with them. The data rods are connected to the starships computer and Section 31 anonymously forwards the stolen Orion Syndicate data to the police. Mission accomplished.
Before being returned to the USS Anracosh the four discuss the black ops missions with Section 31. They have a debriefing and learn that borrowing crew for commando raids is going to be a very regular thing. Section 31 will probably ask for a crew every time they resupply or are in Federation territory.
They know that it is only being realistic to assume Section 31 would want a price for being their main supplier. They do not see it as a conflict – Section 31 is an ally and fellow part of the Federation. Besides, the Security chief is the Section 31 agent who also put them on to Section 31 resupplying the USS Anracosh.
The commandoes from the USS Anracosh are informed that the ship they are on is heading to their starship. They are informed that something is wrong. The USS Anracosh cannot move from its position to pick them up. This is not a setback but a concern, the starship they are on is only under an hour’s warp travel away from the USS Anracosh.
We switch to scene where the Section 31 starship approaches the USS Anracosh and the officer core are seen as very concerned. A space barnacle has attached to the USS Anracosh and the starship is powerless to stop it. This is a time to be worried. Something is very wrong and the cliff-hanger ending is that the USS Anracosh is not responding to their hails.