#starbase 10

[jpitha]

Stamina

Downtime on the K’laxi Starbase, and Kelly and Evan wheel their stationary exercise bikes out into the common area and start a ride. If they're not going to be moving anyway, they might as well have a more interesting view than the wall of the exercise room. Before their commission, they both loved the outdoors, and found friendship in trying to keep their two wheeled skills.

The bikes large wheels that hum and whirr as they pedal. After a short warm up, they both get into the rhythm of motion, enjoying the feeling of their muscles being used. To help with overheating, Evan set up a fan to circulate air on them. Evan was used to short rides, but Kelly wanted him to build stamina. She was even working out how to connect a sensorium so they could ride "outside." For it to be worthwhile, she wanted a long ride, so she was trying to get him to be able to finish a century - a ride of one hundred miles (an obsolete form of measurement).

After a few moments, some K'laxi stop and watch them as they work out. Kelly and Evan, heads down as they pedal, don't seem to notice.

After half an hour or so of pedaling Evan lifted his head and looked at Kelly. “You know what I’m sick of?”

Kelly looked up from her bike. “The whole Deathworlder thing?”

Evan nodded emphatically. “Yes! I don’t think it’s fair that everyone says Earth is a Deathworld. It implies that we’re some kind of strange being. It’s othering!” Evan was gesturing with his water bottle as he spoke. The K'laxi watching were focused on the bottle being swung around, seemingly entranced by the droplets of water that Evan was flinging around.

Kelly leaned up off the handlebars, but kept pedaling. She started counting things on her fingers. “There’s plenty of other worlds that have storms, plenty of other sapient peoples that are strong, lots of places with large moons, plenty of other places like Earth.”

“Exactly! They are working so hard to fit us into a stereotype, and then they don’t have to learn about us as individuals.” Evan's water bottle was just leaking now, and droplets increased. Kelly blinked when drops hit her face. One of the K'laxi took a step back.

As they talked, the crowd grew. Deep in concentration on their ride, they didn't notice the attention that they have garnered. A Gren in the back gestured with his mouthparts, and two others joined him. A small group of Innari fluffed their feathers in agitation as they watched the humans continue to spin. Even a few humans stood on the sidelines of the crowd and grinned. They wanted to see what the others would do.

Evan and Kelly pedaled in silence for a while longer until Pen couldn't stand it any longer. His friends nudged him and whispered encouragement for him to finally speak up. “You realize you’re having this conversation, on a K’laxi Starbase, while pedaling your excise bicycles at-" He looked over at a readout on Kelly' bike "-180 watts for at least one standard hour now?”

Even looked surprised. “We’re doing a century!”

"That's when you ride continuously for 160 kilometers or so." Kelly sounded matter of fact as she reached down and took a sip from her own water bottle.

One of the Innari squawked, “You’re not even breathing heavy!” The others around them bobbed their heads in agreement.

Kelly looked over at the Innari who spoke up. When they locked eyes, the Innari looked down, their feathers flat, embarrassed. “You know what? They're right, Evan. Time to step it up.”

As Evan grinned and pedaled harder, he looked up and finally noticed the crowd that had gathered. There were maybe 10 or 12 people watching the two humans pedal without going anywhere. Some in the back were having quiet wagers about how long they could go on. A human was collecting the bets, not even trying to hide her smile.

The murmurs of the crowd finally got the better of Kelly. "Just what... are you all... doing here?" Kelly panted.

"Um.. just watching you pedal?" A young K'laxi in the front offered and took a nervous step back.

"I can see that, but why?"

"You're riding so much and you aren't even tired!" Another in the back added.

Nods and noises from assent from the crowd. They watched, fascinated as the human's active cooling started kicking in and they both developed a sheen of... liquid on their skin. They called it sweating. The K'laxi called it weird. The Innari called it disgusting.

A Gren on the side of the crowd joined in. "Yeah! How long can you go? I've got 30 stars with Mel'itar that says you can't go the full 160 kilometers without stopping."

A Sefigan near the front frowned and looked like he was having a conversation with his translator. “My translator says a century is 100, but you’re doing 160km?”

Evan sighed. “160 kilometers is 100 miles. That’s the century”

"What's a mile?" A K'laxi child from the crowd interrupted. Sounds of assent from the crowd.

"Old measurement. We don't use it anymore." Kelly finally started to sound like she was having difficultly speaking while she was exerting herself, a good while after Evan started breathing heavily.

The same Innari that spoke up earlier - Soft Autumn Breeze - stared at them out of one eye, and then the other. "You're pedaling the equivalent of one hundred sixty kilometers In one session?” It sounded like they were amazed in addition to being frustrated. Soft worked with Evan in the greenhouse, but had no idea he did... this in his spare time. It was perplexing. All this work and effort for no reason?

“Yeah” Kelly said between breaths “doesn’t count if you stop and take a break.”

Evan used his nearly empty water bottle to point at the Innari. "You're making it sound weird Soft, it's not weird."

"Evan, it is weird." Soft said, emphatically. "What you're doing is weird. You're... pretending to ride a two wheeled sapient powered conveyance on a starbase for an unreasonably long distance without stopping. If I tried that - even if you built one of those... things that fit my leg geometry, I'd collapse and die within two standard hours."

"Soft, I am riding it, it's not pretending." Evan countered.

"We're not going anywhere though, maybe that's what he means." Kelly said.

Evan shrugged. "Well, he should have said that."

By now, the crowd had started to argue about how long each species could last riding a bike. Most agreed that the humans would out-ride them full stop, but both the Gren and the Sefigans felt they could give a real challenge... for the first few hours at least. One of the humans in the crowd started taking measurements, and was designing a bike that could be printed for other species to ride. After a while a whole spin class was being set up.

Soft opened his mouth and clacked shut it again. His feathers fluttered in frustration, and he sighed dramatically. He turned around and walked away from the crowd. “Deathworlders” he muttered.

"Hey Soft, don't use that word, remember the training? The humans find it hurtful." Another Innari said as he walked by.

"Argh!" Soft stomped away as the noise of the crowd dissipated.

[boldlyexplorational]

Episodes 11-12 "the Managerie"

As a SNW watcher, it's nice to see Pike and learn about his destiny as a character, even if it's sad. It's also moving to see Spock's loyalty to his old captain and the determination to have him live the rest of his life peacefully.

No matter what Spock thinks of actions he wasn't acting very logically. He was clever, and he knew Jim well enough to know how to trick him. He knew Kirk wouldn't just let it go, especially with Spock involved.

These episodes in Italian are called "the mutiny" (l'ammutinamento) and not "the Managerie". Could this be the start of Kirk's paranoia about Spock trying to become captain of the Enterprise? Kirk relies on Spock and he's very disciplined... But I don't think he trusts Spock, yet. Or not completely, and this might have been a little crack between them.

The ending with Kirk being told that while Pike had an illusion, he had the real thing, was nice because he was smiling and he was happy about it. Sometimes they make it so it looks like being captain is a curse, but it seemed in that moment that Jim was proud and happy.

A couple random things to add:

Uhura was so worried about Spock, I just love them as BFFs

The Starbase, with the futuristic buildings and the ring planet in the sky was actually so pretty! And nice! I want to live there.

Rating: 8/10

A great idea to repurpose the old pilot footage, and all together a pretty good episode. But you can tell it's a little stretched out because they wanted to use the old footage as much as possible, so the pacing is a bit off.

[wowthesewomen]

Strange New Worlds: Planets

11 - Rigel VII

The planet

The Palace

Out side the palace

force labor place

Villagers home

1 - Kiley 279 2- Persephone III and M'harit 3-Hetemt IX 4-Finibus III 5- Vulcan 6- Valeo Beta V 7- Majalan System 8 - Starbase 1 I and II

9- Cajitar IV 10-Vaultera Nebula/Earth-San Francisco

[thelongestway]

Star Trek Lower Decks, s05e10, notes on the watch

I really can't believe this is the last episode (for now! hopefully!)

Season long flashback! Please tell me it's all going to be relevant!

YES IT WILL KLINGON FLEET!

OH GOD WHAT IS THAT CHIHUAHUA

yeah, no, Klingon friend out for revenge, I'm sorry, but tachyons are always bad news

wait a second, that transformation. are they becoming Solanae??? WAIT WAS THAT A DISCO BIRD OF PREY FALLING OUT OF THE WORMHOLE??

ah my friend's favorite warp wasp, it is the saddest thing that this is the last time we're seeing you T_T

Shaxs and T'Ana doing well together, good for them!

What is up with Rutherford's implant. Is that like a steady through-line I didn't see in this season? Is his old self coming back a little?

Aw, captain Freeman!

okay yeah not sure if Kahless but that is a huge ass warbird

ahhh sudden Klingon vengeance

also this is why you have a first officer, Ma'ah! so they can overrule you if you're an idiot :P

ah yes quantum entanglement for why it's not the Enterprise (also please please can we get Va'Kel Shon showing up???)

Meredith, Olly, new engineer dream team go! Also, Rutherford, you keep complaining like that, Livik will outdo you!

poor Freeman saying "as long as there aren't any complications" but knowing full well what starfleet missions are like

bugs can be salty and sweet!

ahhh alternate universe intrusion

or the Klingons have actually gotten decent at fake video?

no, I think this is those glitches coming through. if so, I like it. realities bleeding together should be confusing and terrifying

as an aside, I really like the second-to-second pacing in this one. they've slowed down, very slightly, and it has such an effect

Thank you for the reaction shots, Lower Decks!

one nacelle, how fucked are they now?

thank you Tendi XD

but also the Klingons are going to be a lot more fucked

Rutherford, you're gonna wind up missing the Cerritos' trusty old build by the end of this episode

Aww Rutherford >_<

Also yeah, Tendi and T'Lyn didn't work out their problems fully, and now it is biting them

Terran Cerritos! Also Shaxs has no luck XD

AHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHA ok, the reason her ship isn't changing because Klingon ships are basically heirlooms is hilarious

Ransom, every time I need motivation to work out, I will use this shot:

She did fake the message!

Meredith and Olly DREAM TEAM!

Interesting look at proto-Klingons!

AHAHAAHA It's Another Enterprise!

What exactly did it turn into between the two Enterprises? Ship buffs, help me out here

Ok, I'm gonna need a rundown on all those ship types

Ok, wow, Livik comment - and reconfigurability as an asset of the Cali-class, very cool!

Ma'ah just casually sitting on the bridge, lol

Interesting thing there with the dam. What *did* Mariner do?

Also, looking good there, Ma'ah and Malor!

STARBASE 80 THE NEW DS9 PLS MAKE THIS HAPPEN

also please please please can we get them in STO please

Hi, Anaximander, good to see you!

Damn, that goodbye. T_T

"But I'm an admiral!" "So what, your arms don't work?"

Welcome to the Cali-class, admiral Freeman! And to Starbase 80!

Oh, what a finale speech, Mariner. Y'know what - you really are my faves. Cerritos strong!

Migleemo finally discovering that strange new food?

Damn, Ransom, congrats! You started out as my least favorite XO, but... I'm glad to see you get your four pips. You earned every single one.

JACK. OH MY GOD. GOOD PEP TALK, CONTEST NOT SURE IF TERRIBLE IDEA OR GOOD IDEA

but yes, now we can get these two XOs to talk to Dal XD someday there will be fanfic about this mwahahaha

"Engage the core" is the only one outside of plain old "engage" that I will allow XD

Beautiful. 10/10, no notes, thank you Lower Decks team!!!

[t0ast-ghost]

Episode 30 (Operation Annihilate) WE MADE IT! Though I had a bit of difficulty with this post because they fucking deleted my draft and then brought it back. For no goddamn reason.

Here we go:

- Kirk is staring straight into the sun

- As always kids when avoiding things in space, go to the left

- JIM HAS A BROTHER???!???

- Yelling at Uhura will get you a punch at most Jim. If she can’t do something about the comms then no one can

- It looks like a college building. Imagine going to college and you see the landing party just appear like that

- “They tried to brain us with these clubs.” Brain you?? Yeah, Jim?

- Spock and McCoy being there for Jim after his brothers death

- Aurelan’s fucking SCREAM (props to that actress)

- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT FUCKIN THING

- IT FUCKING BIT SPOCK. Kirk is losing everyone today...

- McCoy looks so concerned for Spock while operating on him

- As soon as Spock gets on the bridge he pushes McCoy lol

- “These restraints will no longer be necessary. Neither will your sedatives, doctor.” Spock says this with the most pain in his voice, McCoy just crosses his arms and gives him a look like 'nuhuh'

- “I am a Vulcan… There is no pain.” No gain but seriously I can hear it in your voice- damn there goes the restraints

- BADASS SCOTTY MOMENT YEAH

- Bones is fucking furious. He wants to help Spock but the only way he can do anything for him is to have him rest in sickbay

- As soon as Spock is within arms reach of Bones again, he’s scanning him

- gentlemen.. what is this

- “I understand your concern. Your affection for Spock.” Why don’t you just call him out then, Bones. Takes one to know one.

- The fact that Kirk found the answer and that it was fucking light. If I were McCoy or Spock I’d be pissed off

- Continuing on that… what is this???

- “Do you know what one million candlelight square inch can do to your optic nerves?” He asks this like ‘are you stupid?’ But it’s full of care cause he thinks it stupid that Spock is going to sacrifice himself

- Bones is so so worried I can’t I can’t what

- Everything Bones does to try and get Spock out of it is that he gives Spock the chance to get out himself, tries to give him goggles, makes a frowny face the whole time, says that Spock is the best first officer (he shouldn’t be put in danger), he bargains with Jim a bit, and he still has to do this :(((

- aheem

- “Uh Oh.” WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN UH OH, MCCOY

- Don’t be mad at Bones you bitch, that decision was just as much yours as it was his. I swear to god they all fucked up but holy crap he’s feeling terrible already

- They’re gooping. (edit: I don't know what this means anymore)

- “Bones, it wasn’t your fault. Bones. Bones.” Kirk comforting McCoy. It’s so tense and it breaks my heart. They won’t be truly fine until Spock is fine.

- “We tend to ignore it as you ignore your own appendix.” Good line and I'm glad Spock is okay now but also that's so so convenient

- And now: The last couple minutes of conversation between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy that had me squealing and giggling

Kirk walks over: Mr Spock, regaining eyesight would be an emotional experience for most. You, I presume, felt nothing.

Spock: Quite the contrary, Captain. I had a very strong reaction. My first sight was the face of Doctor McCoy bending over me.

McCoy: Hmm, ‘tis a pity brief blindness did not increase your appreciation for beauty, Mr Spock.

Kirk (as if he didn’t start this): If you gentlemen are finished, would you mind laying in a course for Starbase 10, Mr Spock?

Spock: My pleasure, Captain.

McCoy while leaning against Kirk’s chair: Unusual eye arrangement. I might have known he’d turn up with something like that.

Kirk: What’s that, Doctor?

McCoy: I said, please don’t tell Spock that I said he was the best first officer in the fleet.

Spock turns around dramatically: Why, thank you, Dr. McCoy. (Spock gives him the raised eyebrows)

This episode is so…

Masterpost

Episode written by Steven W. Carabatsos

[whirligig-girl]

Some of the history of Zwo-nmu System Exploration by Mellanoid Slime Worm Space Programs.

A reminder of the Zwo-nmu Planetary System. The Sun, also called The Zwo-nmu (literally The Day Light) is a G8V main sequence star with many giant planets. Mellanus, called Gymnome by some of its inhabitants, is the homeworld of the Mellanoid Slime Worms--Eaurp Guz's people. Mellanus is a coorbital of Omen in a horseshoe orbit. Every 15 or so earth years, Mellanus approaches Omen, which moves it into a higher or lower orbit around the Sun.

This graphic is in a rotating reference frame following Omen. green circle is Omen's orbit in a non-rotating reference frame. Yellow circle is Mellanus' inner/short/summer/hot orbit. Purple circle is Mellanus' outer/long/winter/cold orbit. Blue and gray circles are the orbits of Cold Ember and Rabbit. Times are given in Earth days and distances in Earth-Sun-distances (astronomical units)

Omen is named, of course, as it represents drastic climate change--orbital seasons affecting both hemispheres for many years at a time.

With that reminder out of the way...

Zwo-nmu (the star)

extensive telescopic study from low mellanus orbit. The first solar telescope to enter orbit discovered the corona but was not set up to observe it properly, so follow-up missions had to be undertaken.

studied by the Cold Ember probes and by at least one dedicated "sun-scraper"

Cold Ember (the hot super-earth/sub-neptunian)

Of the five probes sent to Cold Ember at various times, only two have made it.

The second one to make it is an orbiter. It relies on stationkeeping propellant so its elliptical orbit always keeps its apoapsis on the night side of the planet, such that it can spend time in the shadow to keep cool. Within a few days of it running out of stationkeeping fuel it will begin to overheat. There are proposals to send a Rescue Shuttle up to resupply and repair the probe, but the strict rules about use of alien spacecrafts in the mellanoid space program make that difficult.

Rabbit

Visited by 2 robotic probes--a flyby and a short-lived orbiter. A lander/rover is planned, but doesn't have the same priority as the Omen Development Program and the Ice Giants Exploration Program.

Mellanus Orbit

At its peak, Mellanus had thousands of satellites and dozens of space stations, but a near-miss with ablation cascade (see: the movie Gravity (2013)) that was only averted thanks to the recently installed phaser network has lead to many restrictions being put in place on the number and function of satellites. Early in the history of mellanoid space exploration, there was not much automation available. Satellites had to be crewed, and so there were many space stations, and when automation happened, those space stations grew into constellations of satellites. Telecommunications constellations were the real culprit, with several competing agencies, companies, and nations setting up their own independent constellations ranging from 10s to 1000s of satellites each. But now, subspace technology has rendered low-orbit communications satellites obsolete, and there are just a few dozen geosynchronous communications satellites, a GPS network, and the number of Mellanus observation satellites has been coralled.

One of the United Mellanus Space Program's current duties is the cleanup of low orbit, which is operated both by phaser blasts in an emergency and by crewed spacecrafts. Most of the space stations in mellanus orbit are specifically infrastructure intended to refuel these spacecrafts, since they need to be able to access a wide range of inclinations, and inclination changes are difficult to accomplish.

Other space stations include the constellation of orbital drydocks, which are all orbiting about a hundred kilometers apart from one another, and the Starbase, a very large rotating artificial gravity space station which was built between the 2340s and the 2360s, and serves as the space end of the interstellar spaceport.

Mellanus natural satellites

Mellanus has one permanent satellite, Ubbi, a 340 meter wide rubble pile which is thought to have once been another asteroid's moon, millions of years ago. It is just barely bright enough to be seen by a mellanoid who has expanded their eye to the greatest practical width, but it wasn't noticed to be a moving star until after the invention of the astronomical telescope and the popularization of sun-centrism. It was thought at first to be an asteroid, since it was discovered while Mellanus was passing through Omen's trojan cloud, but careful observations determined that it was a satellite in a stable circular orbit, and a careful observation of photographic plates and star charts indicate it's been orbiting Mellanus for at least hundreds of years. It's named after its discoverer.

Many early mellanoid space activities have used Ubbi as a target. There are dozens of probes. Sadly Ubbi is very resource poor, being poor in both volatiles that could be used for propellant and metals that could make it valuable. It's not even a useful science target, since one of the earliest missions to visit it was an impactor which essentially exploded Ubbi. It reformed again, but completely resurfaced, burying clues to its origin as a satellite. Ubbi is currently orbited by one derelict spacecraft and

There have been three temporary natural satellites of Mellanus to be visited by spacecrafts. All but one have entered Mellanus orbit only for a few months and were only visited by robotic probes. The largest one, Temma was three kilometers across and in an eccentric orbit that remained stable all the way up until two Omen conjunctions later, so it lasted for about 30-35 years. However, as a carbonaceous asteroid, it was rich in volatiles, and it was explored and settled extensively by all major space programs. The first crewed international interplanetary trips to Omen used fuel refined from Temma and brought down to low orbit.

The Omen Coorbitals (Trojans, Greeks, and Other Horseshoes)

Outside of Ubbi and Temma, the Coorbitals are the next step out into space. Mellanus occasionally has close encounters with coorbitals. Over time Mellanus and Omen together have corralled the coorbitals into very specific lanes. There are far fewer coorbitals around Omen than Glerbuh, or, say, Jupiter, because coorbital or not, Mellanus is still a planet. Most of the coorbitals are trojans, with the apsides neatly tucked in between the outer edge of Mellanus' sphere of influence in the low orbit, and the inner edge of Mellanus' sphere of influence in the high orbit. The Greeks--the trojans on the leading edge of Omen's orbit--are especially depleted. It's thought that Mellanus was once the only large object in the greek camp, but was perturbed onto its current horseshoe orbit billions of years ago. As a result, the greek camp is a hodge-podge of scattered objects from elsewhere in the system, whereas the trojan camp is comprised of more objects original to this part of the circumstellar disk. Each camp can answer different questions about the evolution of the Zwo-nmu system, and Mellanus' relation to it in particular. Ironically, even though the greek camp is Mellanus' original home, it's the trojan camp that is more relevant to studying Mellanus itself.

It is possible on any given year to send a spacecraft to visit Omen, Trojans, Greeks, or any other coorbital. However, the trajectories which take a minimum of fuel are only accessible 1-6 months or so before the closest approach with either object, and for crewed missions, less efficient but faster trajectories lasting only a month right around the close approach are preferred.

Outside of the Omen apparitions, the most active times for interplanetary spaceflight have historically been around the passing through the trojan clouds, which happens about 6 years before and after each Omen apparition. Starting from the low summer orbit, Mellanus passes the Trojan Camp. 6 years later, it reaches Omen and moves to the high winter orbit. 6 years after that, it passes the Trojan camp again. Then 15 years later, it passes the Greek Camp. 6 more years later, Omen appears large and Mellanus shifts to the summer orbit. 6 years later, it passes the Greek camp again. 15 years pass, and then we restart the cycle.

other horseshoe-coorbitals can be encountered at any time of year, but there's only a few of these known to exist.

Crewed missions to the other coorbitals have served as test flights for Omen missions, while also contributing meaningfully to planetary science as a whole. While asteroid exploration may not be exciting or glamorous, the use of trojan missions as testbeds has allowed a lot of groundbreaking work that otherwise might not have had any support to be performed.

Humans currently, in the real world 2020s, posses the propulsion technology and even, in principle, the industrial capacity to send humans to Mars. What we lack is a good idea of how to support humans on interplanetary spaceflight for many months or years at a time. A typical stay on the International Space Station is not even comparable to a Mars mission. That research is still underway. But we can go to the Moon. What's crucial is the relatively short turnaround time. A Moon mission may take only a week or two. The Artemis lunar missions will last longer, but not as long as a Mars mission would have to.

Absent a permanent moon of any substance, the Mellanoids are able to get their relatively short turnaround missions done thanks to the coorbitals. If Mellanus were still a trojan, it'd have emptied out the Greek Camp. Omen would never get particularly close, and it'd take over a year to make a round trip to it. It'd be just as hard to reach as Mars or the Main Asteroid Belt. But since Mellanus is in a horseshoe orbit, for about a year at a time every 6-15 years it is within spitting distance of some celestial body or another. Every 18-19 years that celestial body is the magnificent planet Omen with its own system of moons. When it's not Omen, it's the coorbital asteroids.

Propulsion wise it is not that much easier to reach the Omen coorbitals than it is for humans to go to Mars. You still have to escape Mellanus and keep accelerating on top of that.

But instead of bringing all of the comforts and necessities involved in the long-term habitation of space with you to a distant planet, you can get away with using capsules that are not much more advanced than what we were using in the Apollo era. The long term habitation problem is solved, leaving the only major problem left that of propulsion, of vehicle design. And since Mellanus is relatively small and they aren't shy about using nuclear rockets, the propulsion problem isn't that big of a deal. in a way, Omen and the coorbitals are a crutch. By the 2340s Mellanoid space programs still had not undertaken crewed interplanetary missions beyond the coorbitals. But, at least in Star Trek, human spaceflights to Europa & Jupiter were being undertaken in the 2020s. These missions would have had to take years! that said, there is a reason Omen has been such a focus--and it's not just because it is so culturally important.

The Omen System

Since the dawn of the Mellanoid space age, there have been six Omen apparitions.

Years given are Earth Years

1) 2300: Two nations launched robotic flyby attempts this year. One succeeded, but it was little more than a spinning photopolarimeter which could take a grainy image of Omen and a magnetometer which produced useful magnetic field readings. 2) 2315: Two failed atmosphere probes for Oldsky, one successful robotic lander on Rival, one successful robotic lander on Spark, and successful orbit insertion of a robotic Omen orbiter which continued to send back photos of Omen and its moons right through to the next conjunction. During the lifetime of this orbiter, Oldsky was conclusively shown to have complex life. 3) 2329: First crewed missions. There is a crewed landing on Rival, a crewed orbiter mission for Oldsky. It had originally intended to operate out of a small space station placed into Oldsky orbit a year in advance, but this station was covertly destroyed by Zaldans, and the orbiter mission was repurposed as a mere flyby, which fails, leading to first contact with Zaldans. 4) 2344: The most important year yet--the beginning of space archaeology. It's also the year asteroid Temma departs Mellanus and makes its own flyby of Omen. 5) 2358: International grand tour involving orbiters and landers on every planet including Oldsky. Leads to formation of United Mellanus Space Program. 6) 2373: Fission-impulse rockets have made regular interplanetary travel between Mellanus and Omen possible on any year. 7) 2387: Oldsky is now a colony of Mellanus.

Mellanus is on the border of the Zaldan sphere of influence, and with the increasing expansionism of the Cardassians and the tragedy of what they had begun to do to the Bajorans, the Zaldans desired military bases on the stars near their industrial colonies and their homeworld. These bases had to provide deuterium, so they needed to be located in a system with a gas giant, and also function as repair stations. The stars surrounding Mellanus were poor candidates--there are no M-class habitable planets around the nearby stars, and the only other gas giants were hot Jupiters or brown dwarfs which would make deuterium extraction difficult.

The Zaldans respected the non-interference directive, but not if it meant a gaping hole in their security. They would set up a military base on Omen's M-class moon Oldsky. There was an orbiting space station and a surface base, connected by cargo transporters and shuttlecrafts, staffed by military officers and a few civilian personnel, not unlike Deep Space Nine, but considerably more of a frontier for all involved. There was also a space station built in very low orbit of Omen, designed to scrape the atmosphere for deuterium to fuel freighters. These ships would be undetectable to the mellanoids as long as ships entering the system avoided activity during close encounters and all ships entering and leaving the system hid their photon wakes behind the Sun, resulting in fairly complex routing.

During the 2329 Omen apparition, a spacecraft that had been intended to fly by Omen had a severe failure, akin to Apollo 13. Still over a month from home, with no prospect but a horrible death, they were famously rescued by Commander Halen's ship, EZM-407, marking official first contact with the Zaldans. They were returned to Mellanus and the Zaldans finally landed, showing the world that not only were Mellanoids not alone in the universe, they weren't even alone in their own solar system.

Several ships visited Mellanus over the next few years on primarily diplomatic missions, but the Zaldans still kept hands-off, sharing only a minimum of information with the Mellanoids. Not many Zaldans had Halen's affinity for the slimes, and they saw mellanoids as lowly uncivilized savages--and their flowery polite diplomatic language only confirmed this to them. It wasn't before someone really stood up to them--a space program engineer who had gotten tired of standing in the sidelines while his people were being insulted--that the Zaldans finally found a glimmer of respect for the mellanoids.

There had been plans to fly a Mellanoid astronaut to Oldsky in exchange for allowing Zaldan researchers to visit Mellanus, and even early talks of embassies and sharing of the Omen infrastructure, when the Zaldans just… disappeared. Completely cut contact.

If sharing their solar system with rude bullies (who, yes, could have wiped them out a dozen times over yet decided not to so at least there's that) wasn't scary enough, those rude bullies disappearing without a trace was even scarier. On a scale greater than even the Apollo program, nations rushed to assemble their missions to visit Omen and Oldsky to figure out what happened to the Zaldan Military Base. Their robotic probes launched on off-years didn't return any answers--crewed exploration and actually landing mellanoids on Oldsky would be the only answer.

There was also the fact that recovering technology from Oldsky could potentially be transformative--the right technology in the wrong hands could destroy the world. This is spaceflight at its most competitive. This was no longer a game--recovering the alien technology was potentially life or death.

After the first contact with the Federation and the series of revolutions and reforms that lead to the current political situation, one of the main unifying rallying cries for mellanoids was the notion that they deserved the right to sovereign exploration of their own solar system. Outsiders--whether Zaldan, or Federation, or Dominion--would not develop any part of the system!

Ok, the Federation can provide some baseline infrastructure to protect Mellanus from invasion, but space exploration is OUR COMMON HERITAGE!

The current age of Mellanoid Space Exploration is characterized by extensive permanent infrastructure development. Since the 2360s, Mellanoids have been building research stations on Oldsky, Lake, and Rival. Setting up an industrial capability on another planet from scratch is hard to do, but Oldsky has a stable climate year-round and a breathable atmosphere. Much of Oldsky is a desert, and even the "humid" regions are quite dry, but it's still more habitable than literally any other planet in the solar system except for Mellanus, which makes it practical to build using traditional methods.

As of 2380, more people are living and working on Oldsky at any given moment than are doing so in Low Mellanus Orbit. Oldsky station visitors includes geologists, biologists, space archaeologists still studying what remains of Zaldan activity on Oldsky, civil engineers, aerospace engineers, construction workers, miners, marine biologists, submarine helmcrew, aircraft pilots, spacecraft pilots, rover drivers, doctors, astronomers, and even a few tourists selected by raffle.

Propellant infrastructure has been established to keep the fast interplanetary rockets zipping along. At this point, it is possible to stay on Oldsky permanently, but so far, all visitors to Oldsky are temporary, and on years when Omen is inaccessible even with nuclear-fission-impulse rockets (i.e, when the Sun is between it and Mellanus), only a skeleton crew remains to maintain the stations.

Oldsky will probably not have its own self sufficient industry and capacity for its own space program any time soon, but it does have a spaceport serviced by reusable launch vehicles.

Phaser-thermal rockets are used for heavy lift launches from Mellanus these days, but conventional chemical rockets are still used on Oldsky, fueled by hydrogen and oxygen split by electrolysis. There is an oil refinery on Oldsky, so kerosene/oxygen rockets are possible too. things remain somewhat low-tech on Oldsky. Imported vehicles can be powered by batteries, but there aren't let any lithium mines on Oldsky--good deposits have yet to be discovered--so internal combustion engines powered by oil are sadly being used. The Oldsky Planetary Protection Office on Mellanus intends to phase out fossil fuel engines as soon as the planet is capable of producing its own high-energy-density batteries… whenever that is… also, between you and me, they really ought to get more aquatics flying on these missions. what an aquatic astronaut could find on Oldsky might be quite shocking.

Anyway outside of the Omen system and Oldsky Glerbuh has had its fair share of robotic exploration and crewed expeditions. Two of the four ice giants have also been visited by robotic flyby probes, and Glarpi (the innermost ice giant) has had a robotic orbiter. The big crewed grand tour expedition to explore all four ice giants and there moons was one of the major science goals of the 2380s outside of exploring and developing Oldsky. However, it had to be modified to turn into a rescue mission for a mellanoid starfleet officer who was stranded on a planet orbiting a nearby star called TE-92. It's a whole thing. If they manage to rescue them maybe they'll write a novel about it.

[lesbospirk]

Since I spent time creating Vulcan words just so I can have a petname I liked for T'Lyn to use on Mariner, I thought I'd share for anyone else who cares lmao Read under the cut!

This was mostly for me, since in my head Mari'Lyn doesn't fit the vibe of most Vulcan terms of endearment. I think most terms are very cute and lovey in their reserved way, which is nice, but it doesn't really mesh well with Mariner's commitment issues, and I don't really see T'Lyn being affectionate in a typical (but Vulcan) way. They are both rebels in their own right.

So I started scouring around the Starbase-10's Vulcan dictionary, and I wanted to play on that idea of being a rebel. Turns out there is no official Vulcan word for rebel (at least that I could find). :( Boo.

So I took from words that were similar:

Tehnau- Resist

Tehnaya - Resistance

Cool, now I just have to make it into a descriptor for a person. The word for people/person in Vulcan is Sular. And I saw that a lot of these types of descriptors used -su as a suffix to denote "a person who ___" . So I took the root from both words (Tehna-) and combined it with the prefix and got;

Tehnasu - A person who resists; AKA a Rebel

Awesome! But not quite there. Not romantic enough. I wanted to show some kind of posession in the word.

There isn't a word per say for My however there is a prefix that denotes ownership, that being T' (as seen famously in T'hy'la). Which when added makes T'Tehnasu.

Ugly. Uninspired. Hard to say. Unsexy. So I took the most common Spirk pet name and disected it

Ashayam - Beloved

I split it into two parts; the root Ashaya meaning love and the pulled the suffix -yam implied to be possessive in a specific affectionate context (I know ya is already in Ashaya but it works better imo as the whole syllable rather than just -m). Combined it makes;

Tehnayam - My Rebel (Affectionate)

Beautiful. Sexy. Rolls off the tounge. It kinda has the same vibe as calling someone a bad boy, like a hot rule breaker type. I think it's very fitting and I am really excited to use it in a fic. <3

And if you like it, use it! I'm not claiming ownership, and I'm not gonna get upset at people for using it (even if it's not Mari'Lyn haha). I just love messing with words/language and I wanted to share since Vulcan has so little petnames in it.

[star-trek-pop-quiz]

Star Trek POP-QUIZ #50

( 30 / 09 / 2024 )

Question 1. Who gave Spock's first lesson in computers? a. Sarek b. Amanda Grayson c. Michael Burnham d. Captain Pike

Question 2. TRUE OR FALSE Pavel Chekov's authorization code only includes numbers that are prime.

Bonus Question: What is his authorization code?

Question 3. Which of these series has Casey Biggs not appeared in? a. The X-Files b. CSI c. The Rookie d. Law & Order

Bonus Question: Who is Casey Biggs' character in Star Trek?

Question 4. How far away is Starbase 1 from Earth? a. 10 LY b. 50 Parsecs c. 100 AU d. It orbits earth.

Bonus Question: Which series is this established?

Question 5. Fill-in Question! What animal has Spot been played by other than a cat?

Score: __/ 5 + 3 bonus ( Answers under cut )

Question 1. a. Sarek

Question 2. FALSE.

+ Nine-Five-Victor-Victor-Two.

Question 3. d. Law & Order

+ Damar from Deep Space 9.

Question 4. c. 100 AU

+ Discovery.

Question 5. Iguana.

[affixjoy]

Writing Patterns

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

Thank you @m-b-w for the tag!

1) “You’re taking the blanket,” Jim said as they made camp.

From Star Trek Drabbles! Star Trek, Spirk

2) Spock had noticed that Leonard frequently hummed to himself while performing repetitive tasks.

From You know we'll have a good time then, Star Trek TOS, McSpirk

3) Jim hadn’t expected a casual night at The Enterprise bar to become one of the defining moments of his life, but what could you do?

From Take Me Places I’ve Never Known, Star Trek SNW, McSpirk

4) Amanda Grayson had been many things to many people, but she had never been a fling to someone, and she thought she might like to give it a try.

From Your Love Is Like A Shadow On Me All Of The Time, Star Trek TOS, Amanda/Sarek

5) Being docked at a Starbase for repairs and resupply wasn’t the most exciting part of working for Starfleet, but Jim Kirk loved the opportunity to see other ships and their crews.

From And Stars May Collide, Star Trek SNW, Spirk

6) Leonard didn’t think of himself as a prude, but before Jim he had never considered polyamory for himself, and he had certainly never had a threesome.

From Sometimes a feeling is all we have to go on, Star Trek TOS, McSpirk

7) “Captain, I would like to speak to you on a sensitive matter.”

From We Need Disposable Towels In The Gym Star Trek TOS, Spirk

8) “You think that as a telepath he’d be a little smarter with all this feelings stuff.”

From Leap Beyond Logic, Star Trek TOS, McSpirk

9) Leonard arrived at Spock’s door with a tea laden tray in one hand and flowers in the other.

From Nothing that shouldn't have happened long ago, Star Trek TOS, Spones with a hint of McSpirk at the end

10) There was something about that tall, dark drink of a Vulcan that made Jim want to crack himself open and hand over his heart.

From Wanna Be The One That You Want To See, Star Trek SNW and TOS, Spirk

What do you think, notice any patterns? 🤔

Tagging a few folks, feel free to play along even if I don’t tag you! @strangenewwords @ncc1701ohno @android-and-ale @jennelikejennay @kcscribbler

[allstartrekgames]

Star Trek: Borg

Original Release: 1996

Developer: Simon & Schuster

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Platform: PC

The second interactive movie game. This follows Cadet Furlong who is being sent to a starbase ahead of a Borg invasion 10 years after the Battle of Wolf 359. Wishing he was fighting the Borg instead, as he lost his father at the Battle of Wolf 359, the cadet ends up being visited by Q. Q offers him a chance at saving his father and sends the cadet to the past, taking the place of the security officer and Q taking place of the medic.

The whole game is made up of live action footage, and John de Lancie gets plenty of screen time and is wonderful through the whole thing. The cast of new characters are also really good, too. At points in the “film” you get to make choices or solve puzzles, with Q resetting you if you mess up. I found that I much preferred picking the “wrong” options so I could see all the footage – you can never get tired of Q teasing you.

Because of Q resetting things, I think this works better than the Klingon game. I also really like that they make use of the bad choices as you sometimes need information from them to progress though the correct path. Unfortunately, the game is a lot of hassle to get working on a modern PC, so unless it gets easier, I would recommend watching the game on YouTube instead – treat it as an extra episode of Star Trek, as that’s what it essentially is.

[flippyspoon]

Writing Patterns

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern! Thanks @strangenewwords

Jim woke up feeling no better than he had the day before. It was only two days beyond the anniversary of the Farragut’s catastrophic encounter with the cloud creature from Tycho IV and he had not been himself for a week. - Chocolate Doughnut with Rainbow Sprinkles

2. Montgomery Scott had run out of things to do in engineering and only a few quiet gamma shifters were left, the lights dimmed as he sat on one leg, staring bleary eyed at his PADD. - Some Enchanting Linguist

3. Jim Kirk was accustomed to beating people at chess, but it wasn’t until he played against Lieutenant Spock that he found a checkmate and a handshake followed by a “goodnight, lieutenant” to be…unsatisfying. - Round 1 & Round 2

4. This is a disaster, Jim thought. - I Want to Hold Your Hand

5. “Jim!” Pike hollered from his kitchen as Jim Kirk entered the captain’s quarters.  - Bells on a Hill

6. Uhura, Christine, and McCoy were all having cocktails in the lounge when the subject of Spock’s romantic abilities came up. - Mr. Romance

7. Following a few months of aggressive flirting on the Enterprise and a drunkenly dialed video message that Spock would like to have melded himself into forgetting if it were possible, a date on Starbase Seven for Spock and Jim had finally been scheduled and was, in fact, imminent. - Get Some

8. Jim Kirk could not quite believe what he had just seen. - The Drunk Dial

9. It was the fourth day in a row that Jim had skipped breakfast in the mess, and Spock remarked on this to Lieutenant Uhura and Nurse Chapel as he ate a bowl of seasoned lentils and egg substitute. - The Orchids of ShiKahr

10. “Spock’s been weird,” Jim said.  - Bare Your Faces of the Veil

Jim opening up with a pithy expression of a problem might be a pattern lol??

@android-and-ale @eternally-intermittent @jennelikejennay

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 40 - epilogue

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

The playback ends. A woman leans over her large metal desk and takes the device, putting it in a strong metal case. It closes with a satisfying click. The woman pressed a button on her desk and the lights in the room dimmed.

"From here on out, this interview is being recorded in a full sensorium. Audio, visual, tactile and spatial recordings are being made. State your legal name and confirm your consent."

"I, Gord Beaverbrook, consent to the recording."

"Are you known by any aliases?"

"None that haven't already passed the Statute of Limitations."

"Thank you Gord, Interview commences." She makes a note on a pad and looks up at Gord. "The recording you heard was a compiled diary from Empress Melody Mullen that started as she departed on FarReach and ended right before she linked over to Sol." The woman busied herself locking the case as she spoke. "Melody's diary coupled with some interviews from residents of the Reach give us a pretty complete view of Melody's time as Empress.

The woman takes out a complicated looking key and opens a drawer in the desk. She puts the case in a drawer, closes and locks it, then turns back to the man in the chair. "You're up to date now. You know what we know. You went out to see her right before the invasion. Anything you care to add?"

Gord leans back and runs his hands through his sandy blond hair. "You should have seen the place Meg, there were 13 million people on that Starbase. They all were happy, healthy, living their lives, loving their Empress."

"And yet, the AI coalition unilaterally decided to assassinate her and remove her from the Sol system by any means necessary. From what I understand, after the anti-nanite gas was deployed you additionally destroyed sixteen Calamity Class super Dreadnoughts." Meg raises an eyebrow.

Meghan Felasheer was the current head of Intelligence for the Outer Planet Alliance. Officially, the OPA is a loose federation of Orbitals, Starbases and scientific research stations and each handles their own day to day operation. But, since first Venus and then Melody started to expand, they have condensed into a much more coherent polity.

With that condensation comes agencies and authorities to help with the operation of said polity. Meghan is the output of this natural process. She does not like her job. Meghan would much rather garden or work in environmental processing or join the Fire Brigade or do anything other than what she's doing now. Still, needs must.

Gord sighs and looks at Meg. This interview was demanded by the OPA after the last of Melody's ships were destroyed and Reach of the Might of Vzzx was linked to Sol. Relations between the AIs and BIs are... strained right now. "Meg, do you know what happened when we recaptured Venus? When we retook Luna?"

"No Gord, tell me what happened when the AIs captured Venus and Luna?" She pointedly did not say 'recaptured.'

"The same thing that happened at every place we took back. They begged us for her return Meg. Begged us." Gord looks haunted. "We had to tell them all the Builders were dead and were never coming back. Meg, there were riots. We quelled the riots and-" Gord sighed. "-lots of innocent people died that didn't have to."

Meghan stares stonily at Gord. "My name is Meghan, Gord." She was on Luna when Melody came. She saw her Empress in person.

Melody's super dreadnoughts caught everyone completely by surprise. Her fleet linked in near Venus, and after a very nominal defense mounted by some tired orbital rear guard, they almost immediately surrendered. Venus was on the brink of starvation anyway, and the Emperor's inner circle saw in Melody a chance of survival. The Emperor suffered an "unfortunate accident" and Melody was contacted. The Emperor was cold and forgotten before Melody even landed in Regantown.

The King is dead, long live the King.

The Mercury Array went just as easily. She didn't even send the whole fleet. Two of her Calamity Class super dreadnoughts linked in near the main offices of the Array and they surrendered. Their first request? Fresh water. Venus hadn't delivered any in months and their recyclers were nearly spent. Everyone had spent the last 4 months there drinking metallic tasting water.

Empress Melody immediately rendered aid. A group of her Builders went down to the array and replaced their water recyclers and brought them gigaliters of water.

Melody spent a month around Venus, visiting all the Floating Cities, using her Voice on the administrators - never the populace - and explaining that they were there to help and give aid however they could. She brought over more Builders and they worked to shore up the cities and make sure all systems were working as they should.

She was loved. She did things their previous Emperor never did. She visited, she spoke with people, she listened.

Only once she was convinced the Floating Cities were in good hands did she set her sites on the domed cities of Luna.

Once again, the moment her fleet linked in, everyone surrendered. Anyone was better than the Venusians, and Melody was gaining a reputation as a just and caring ruler in Sol.

Just like before, she visited all the locations, made a speech, used her voice on the Administrators only and... fixed their problems. Meghan was in the crowd for a speech in the domed city Armstrong. Melody was... radiant. Beautiful, with golden wings and a golden crown, she stood there with her wife Ava and told everyone that things were going to change. Melody would take care of them. She would make sure they weren't forgotten. For people too used to only hearing about what was going on with K'lax and the Independent Starbases and Colony worlds, hearing Melody tell them she was there for them and would look after them? That was worth loyalty to their new Empress.

Earth... was another story.

Earth was very used to people coming to power, making grand proclamations about who was in charge of what and what would or would not change when Empress Melody was in charge. Earth fought back.

It was a bloodbath.

Earth, the Lagrange Orbitals and the stations in LEO formed an uneasy alliance and worked to repel the invaders. Forces that normally were against Venus pivoted immediately to Melody's forces. Being the cradle of Humanity, Earth had people and resources to spare, and they threw them at Melody's empire.

It was then, that everyone saw what Melody's forces would do when pressed. They would hammer an Orbital until it surrendered, then come aboard and Voice everyone - not just the administrators - explain what was happening, that they were in charge and would move on to the next. Empress Melody accepted no compromise, no power sharing, nothing. It would be Empress Melody, or destruction.

Some Orbitals capitulated when this was learned, and some... chose destruction.

With Low Earth Orbit and the Lagrange points captured, Melody gave the planetary forces another change to surrender before orbital bombardment would commence. The deadline passed, and her terrifying Calamity Class super Dreadnoughts Began their work.

The bombardment went on for only two days before Earth surrendered. Millions perished. This time, due to the size and population, Melody did not personally go down and use her Voice. 3 dreadnoughts were left in orbit as a reminder and she continued on. She had planned on coming back after the rest of Sol was captured.

Melody and her fleet and then linked near to Mars and opened a dialog with the OPA. Everyone was tired of war, frightened of Melody or both, and here she comes, fresh off of a successful devastating attack on Earth, the home of Humanity itself.

The OPA was prepared to offer her nominal control as well as recognition and taxes in exchange for safety and support. Everyone was getting ready to sign a treaty.

Then, the AIs came.

Over fifty Starjumpers and easily that many ancillary craft linked in over Mars and immediately starting attacking Melody's new super dreadnoughts. There was no radio contact, no demands of surrender.

If Melody had more ships, she would have won.

As it was, the AIs took terrible losses. Melody's Calamity Class super Dreadnoughts were deadly. They had the power to take on two Starjumpers at once and hold their own.

Centimeter by centimeter the AIs pushed Melody's forces back. The sky behind them littered with the burnt out hulks of Starjumpers and Calamity Class super Dreadnoughts.

It was then that the everyone learned that the AIs had personal wormhole generators. It was long rumored, but the AIs had swore up and down that even though their bodies were powered by the same kind of reactor as their ships that "a personal wormhole generator is a fantasy. Nobody can shrink them down that far."

It was a lie.

The AI troopers would link into Melody's ships and release their anti-nanite gas and link away, without firing a shot.

When people learned about the anti-nanite gas they were horrified.

It was assumed by the Venus, Luna, the OPA and others that the Nanites were sapient. Melody agreed with them and had said how she was treating her Nanites as if they were sapient almost from the beginning. The AIs seemingly didn't care.

The AI's learned about the Nanites from FarReach. Her air was filled with Builder nanomachines. Upon her return, AIs scientists were able to collect, reverse engineer, and develop a disassembly command for them. As they released their anti-nanite gas, the nanites would take themselves apart.

The Builders, who received their augmentations as a result of the Nanites died almost immediately after the gas was released.

As the Builders died, Melody's war of conquest died as well.

Melody fell back, first to Luna, then to Venus and finally back to Reach of the Might of Vzzx, each time inflicting terrible losses on the AIs, but all the while, she was being slowly taken apart by the anti-nanite gas. The AIs had the upper hand now, all they had to do was wait her out.

Six months to the day after she had launched her attack she was killed.

A group of AIs linked into the Reach from a Starjumper that was light-years out of sight, a surprise attack. They released their gas in key locations around the Reach and into the environmental systems.

After a day, they AIs came back with their Starjumper and strode in. The AIs confirmed that Empress Melody Mullen and her wife Ava Williams died in the bath, in her Palace, on Reach of the Might of Vzzx.

With the death of the Builders, and the anti-nanite gas ensuring no more would be created, the AIs had to decide what to do with Reach of the Might of Vzzx. Starjumpers were strapped to the outside, and it, along with the Heinlein and Besmara Shipyards, were linked back to the Sol system. Over AI objections, the OPA took the Reach for their own, and worked with the residents to shore up the Builder systems and install systems that would work without Builder control.

In the Sol system, the AIs were not seen as the rescuing liberators they thought they would be seen as. Everywhere they went, the AIs were asked why was the Empire being destroyed, why were they persecuting Melody, why were they trying to prevent the people from getting the help they need.

Gord looks at Meghan. "Meghan, you have to understand. Melody was too dangerous."

Meghan stared at Gord.

"She was nice, yes, and she took care of her people, yes and the Reach was frankly an amazing place, and we will even admit that she was helping people in Sol, but her power... it was too much."

Meghan stared at Gord.

"All that had to happen was for the next Empress not be as kind or loving as Melody, and you would have been under her heel, forever."

Meghan stared at Gord.

Gord's face screws into a snarl. "We were looking out for all of you! Melody's power was too much. Nobody should be able to give orders that can't be disobeyed. Humanity should not be under the rule of a single person! Did you see Earth? Earth said no and she glassed at least three cities! I know what it looks like." Gord sighed. "Meghan we-"

"Enough." Meghan holds up her hand. "Gord. Who is the leader of the AIs."

Gord looks confused. "We don't have one. We're not a nation."

"Under what banner did the AIs band together to destroy Melody's empire?"

"None. We came together as a group and decided to act."

"Who speaks for the AIs? If not you, then why did you accept our summons?"

Gord crosses his arms. "I am not in charge of the AIs. I'm old. Most AIs respect me and listen to me."

Meghan turns and looks out the window of her office out onto Hyacinth. She looks out at the people walking below, going to work, living their lives, trying to get on without their Empress. She turns back.

Meghan looks through Gord. Her eyes flick and she meets his gaze. "Gord, Do you know what this looks like to us? I mean, really? It looks like you forced us to trade one tyrant who cared about her people, who worked very hard to make sure everyone had what they needed and were taken care of for a different tyrant who only wanted to keep the status quo. You never once asked us if this was what we wanted. You didn't ask, because you were afraid of the answer." As she speaks, Gord looks away.

Meghan looked down at her pad, and flicked to another page. "Gord, do you know what's happening on K'lax?"

Gord looks back and blinks. "No, wha-"

Meghan slams her pad down on the desk. "There's a holy war going on at K'lax right now Gord. The Pro-Empress faction is fighting the Anti-Empress faction. Reports coming back to us are saying it's quite bloody. Both sides have requested human help. There are also reports that the Anti-Empress faction is receiving AI help."

"Gord throws up his hands. "Meghan, we did what we had to do. Even if you don't believe me, even if humanity never believes us, know that we think - no, we know that we are right. We are better off without the Builders, without the Nanites and without Empress Melody and her Voice."

Megan looked at Gord for much longer than was comfortable. Finally, she nodded to herself. She opened a desk drawer and took out a folio. Opening it carefully, she took a paper printout and handed it to Gord.

"What's this?"

"It's an edict. Note the signatories. OPA, High Mars, Luna, and the provisional Venusian government. Due to the 'unfortunate' actions taken by the AI faction against the Empress Melody and her Builders, the AI faction is hereby banned from the Sol system until further notice. Any current AI residents who wish to stay may remain behind, but all Colonial AIs will vacate."

Gord leaned back as if he was slapped. "What?" he whispered. "What about Earth?"

"Earth was not consulted. If they wish to coordinate action they will need to go through Luna. You are no longer welcome in Sol. You took it upon yourselves to remove someone you felt was a danger to you. This is the price you pay for your unilateral actions."

Meghan turned and faced the window. "You and all Colonial AIs within the system have twelve hours to vacate Sol. Any remaining Colonial AI ships will be fired upon by the nearest OPA ship." Turned back and faced Gord. "This interview has finished. The sensorium recording shall be encrypted and uploaded to all relevant parties and shall be seen as binding." She pressed a button on her desk and the lights in the room came up.

Gord stood. There was nothing else to do. "You'll be back. When you're over your snit, and realize we are right and you want to talk again, reach out. We'll be waiting." Without another word, he turned and walked out of the office. The door closed behind him with a soft click.

"Hail Empress Melody the First." A single tear fell from Meghan's cheek, and splashed onto her lap.

Meghan picked up her pad, and quickly sent out a message. From a location on the other side of Hyacinth, a beacon linked away.

Gord strode across the quad of the OPA Administrative offices towards the docking ring. He contacted his ship. "Hat" he said tersely. "We're being kicked out. You scan any friends who need a ride here?"

"Kicked out? I.. No Gord, it's just us."

"Good. Let's delta before they decide to make 12 hours 6."

Gord walked aboard his friend Medicine Hat. He climbed into the old familiar interior and cast his eye around. All around him were mementos of his travels and especially of Canada, where he originally from. Canada, like most countries on Earth is long gone, but he keeps her memory alive.

Gord looks down at a console. "Any AI ships in system? We need to let them know they gotta boogie before the OPA opens fire." He sent a digital copy of the edict to Hat who whistled low when he read it.

"Gord, they're kicking us out? We're being targeted by 3 separate ships. They are all flying OPA colors. Weapons aren't hot, but they're using active pings. They want us to know they see us."

Gord narrows his eyes. They aren't playing. "Colonial AIs are no longer welcome in Sol, yes."

"But... we saved them."

Gord sat in his command chair. It was overstuffed and soft and upholstered in flannel. "They don't see it that way, friend. We acted too late it looks like. Earth understood what was at stake, but the former Venusian territories just saw a nicer version of what they had already."

"I mean, I didn't expect a ticker-tape parade when we were done, but this? This feels too much. What about AI residents? I admit there weren't too many who stayed in Sol after Venus and everything, but there were some."

"They accounted for that. Any permanent AI residents are allowed to stay with full rights and privileges. They just want the 'interlopers' out." Gord sounded sad and bitter when he was explaining to Hat. "Let any of them that we still have numbers for know that heading to Earth is probably a smart idea right now. FarReach really scared us with her report. When I went out, I was concerned but, not really like, worried until she tried to use her Voice on me."

"You said it didn't work though."

"It didn't stick is what I said. It worked for about six hours. Long enough for her to convince me that everything was fine and for us to trade some maple for some tea and for me to leave. I came to my senses right after I linked home. By the time I gave my report, she had linked to Venus and begun. She must have realized it didn't work and that if she didn't go right then we were going to assassinate her."

"But, we weren't going to assassinate her Gord, right?"

Gord sits in the chair, and starts sending the edict to AI ships in system, letting them know it's time to go.

"Gord?"

Gord sighs and leans his head back, staring at the ceiling. "No, she was completely right Hat, that's the bitch of it. We would have had to assassinate her. This was the only way it was going to go down. Our only hope was that we would have to deal with a broken Reach of the Might of Vzzx, but we were too slow. Earth said no, and she started glassing cities. She wasn't going to take any other answer than "All Hail Empress Melody."

"Well what now then Gord? You're still legally a resident of Earth."

Gord sighed. "I am, but I can't say I'm too... excited about the thought of hanging around here right now. We'll obey the edict for now. Let's link to Meíhuā. We haven't been there in a while, I bet some folks will want some maple syrup."

Medicine Hat sighed. "You got it Gord."

****

Near Venus, a message beacon appeared, beamed a message and then destroyed itself. The report was decrypted and read under Regantown.

"Hyacinth reporting."

"And?"

"The edict has been delivered. Gord and the AIs are leaving Sol now."

"Do they suspect anything?"

"No, Helen. Melody's plan worked completely."

Helen Raaden wiped a tear from her eye. "She should have hid with us. She did not need to sacrifice herself."

"She needed it to work Helen. She knew that her body was going to be the only thing that satisfied the AI faction." Um'reli looked up from her chair in the Command Deck of the Lavinia. "the AIs have been given 12 hours to vacate."

Helen leaned back in her chair, exasperated. "I still don't see why it has to be me."

"It was Melody's last wish. She said you would be best able to lead after her."

"We can't be the only Builders left though, can we?"

"You know we are Helen. Omar died when our Dreadnought was caught in the firefight early on over High Mars and the others perished as the anti-nanite gas tore through them. Frankly, I'm surprised that the Reach survived at all." Um'reli sniffs and wipes a tear at the memory. She was onboard Raaden's ship when her ship was taken by surprise and destroyed by the AIs.

Grand Admiral Helen Raaden sighed. "I'm glad it did. If the AI faction had murdered the 13 million people on the Reach, especially all those different sapients who live nowhere else it would have been unforgivable. As it is, everyone in Sol is not a fan of the AIs right now."

Um'reli looked up at her. "What about Earth and the colony worlds?"

"We heard from Parvati and Meíhuā before things fell apart. They had officially recognized the rule of Empress Melody in Sol so long as she wasn't planning on visiting. I can only assume they'll recognize the rule of the next Empress. As for Earth...We'll take care of Earth this time. Did anyone ever hear from K'lax?"

Um'reli's ears flicked frustration. "I heard that there's some kind of civil war going on. The Pro Melody faction against the Anti Melody faction." She turned away. "It's rough right now. She got up from her chair and walked over to Helen. She put her small hand on her shoulder. "I wish Melody was here."

Helen reached up and squeezed her hand on her shoulder. "I know. Me too."

"This won't be as easy as it was the first time."

Helen shrugged. "It will and it won't. We don't have the firepower to back up the words, but most everyone in Sol liked Melody. They'll see us - me - as an extension of that rule. I think it'll work." Helen looked up to the navigation officer. "Take us down. Use the coordinates the Empress gave us."

"Aye, Grand Admiral."

The Vengeance of Lavinia II detached from underneath Regantown where it was hiding and sank into the thick, heavy atmosphere of Venus. As it went lower and lower, the huge Calamity Class super Dreadnought creaked and moaned in protest to the higher pressures. She was well built though, and the atmospheric control surfaces aided in control.

A few hours later they were above the location given to them by Melody before she and Ava linked back to the Reach for their final stand. Slowly the massive ship settled lower and lower until it touched the hot surface of Venus.

"Contact, Grand Admiral. We're down."

Helen nodded. "Thank you. We'll suit up and walk to the coordinates." Um'reli stood from her station and looked at Helen, who also stood to leave.

An Engineering officer looked up. "Please make haste Grand Admiral. We can only stay at this depth for a few hours before we start to take damage."

Helen and Um'reli suited up in special high pressure suits. The Venusians were familiar with going to the surface, and their designs were well tested and safe. Um'reli's suit had to be tweaked a bit for her K'laxi frame, but she was able to work with the printer team to get it fitted. They completed checks and cycled the airlock.

The surface of Venus is intense.

Dark, rocky and windy, it was difficult going even in their suits. After 10 minutes of hiking, they found the wreckage.

Helen and Um'reli looked over the pile of twisted metal towering over them that Melody's coordinates led to.

"This is a Gate?" Helen sounded exasperated over the radio link.

"Melody says it's the Sol Gate. It showed up in her Gate census, so she says it still has power."

"Ugh. Okay then." Helen looked around and saw what could charitably be called the remains of a doorway. "I guess... we'll go in and look."

As they walked in, the howling wind of the Venusian surface quieted. It was still incredibly hot, but at least they didn't have to lean into the wind now.

Um'reli reached out with her Nanites. The feelings she got were very faint but... "I think I can feel it Helen. Try reaching out."

Helen reached out as well and... there, over in the corner. "Yes, I feel it too Um'reli."

They walked over to the corner that they felt, and laying on it's side, with corners chipped but otherwise intact was a directory stone.

Helen looked over at Um'reli "What do I do?"

Um'reli flicked her years in worry, but that was hidden by her helmet. "Melody said to just touch it, and the Nanites will do the rest."

"Well, here goes nothing then." Helen reached out, and with an armored glove, touched the directory stone. There was no flash, no dramatic lighting, no noise, just...

Hi Helen! I'm so glad you made it!

Melody? Aren't you dead?

Yes, I am. But I am also the memory of her that was recorded by the Nanites and uploaded. As long as there is an Empress, I will never truly die. And now, neither will you...

Helen came to on the floor with Um'reli shaking her. "Helen! You gotta get up. I can't carry you myself. It's time to go!"

Helen put an arm up to stop Um'reli. "Ugh. Okay, I'm up, I'm up." She sat up. "How long was I out?

"30 seconds maybe? It wasn't long. You touched the stone and threw your head back and fell over. What happened?"

"I... I talked to Melody, or the memory of her, or something. She said that the Nanites record memories and pass them on to future Empresses."

"So that's it then? You're Empress?"

Helen stood. She - at the same time - felt like herself and also felt different than before.

Oh you're taking to this much easier than Melody did. Good work. She was right, you'll be a great Empress.

She turned to Um'reli. "Yes, I am Empress."

Um'reli bowed low. "Empress. Welcome back."

Helen looked down at Um'reli and for a moment, her perception was felt... down time across as She looked at her subject. This was right. This was how it was supposed to be. Empress Helen Raaden nodded.

L̵̠̖͗ḛ̵̥̟͇̣̟̪̐͌͛̇̐̿͛̀͐̍̈́̽͂̐̌͠͝ͅt̷̬̞͎̱̞̤̯͓͖̭̺͛̅́̓'̷̨̧̞̖̯̏̀̈́̈́s̷̡̢͕̥̦̤̯̜̫̱̰̱͉͚̆̈́́̓͋̈́͂̏͋̏́̃͒̀͘͠͝ ̸̰̲͈̥͚̥̼̤̱̃̒̀͜g̸̨̪͍̱͇̤̰̼͚̰̬͖̪̝̦͑̈́̂̀̾͋̅̎̄̊̍́̑̌̃͛͝o̴͈͓̱̪̬̞̊͊̑̂̚.̵̡̢̠͙̰̘̫̗̾̈́̐͒̀́͋̃̂̕̕͘͝

And that's it! Thanks so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing. This was a real challenge for me, it was my first time writing long form first person, my first time trying out a YA-ish style of story and my first Villain Perspective.

So yes, Word Of Author, Melody was not the Hero. She thought she was, and she surrounded herself with people that thought she was too. By only (deliberately) including her POV it was tough to tell.

Like at the end of HD, I'm going to take a week or two to rest, and compile this into a single doc and do some first pass editing. The writing really is the fun part, all that other stuff after is less so. Someone needs to hire me a team of editors to take care of that part! :D

I have a few ideas for the next one too. I liked how most of JALF took place only in one location, I might try and narrow focus down even further. Maybe in a single city or something, give it a real cyberpunk vibe. My universe is large enough that there can be all kinds of different settings available to play in.

Thanks again for reading!

[marymoss1971]

Tag Game--First lines

Thanks for the tag @curator-on-ao3

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to and see if there are any patterns!

1)      Sending a Message (Star Trek: SNW)Christopher Pike/Admiral Marcus

Captain Christopher Pike was alone in a shuttle bound for Earth trying to process what had happened.

2)      The State of Security at Starbase 25 (Star Trek: LD)

The best day of Bernie Lebrowski’s life was when he was hired to head up security on Starbase 25.

3)      Trying to Talk Through the Issue (Star Trek: TOS)  former Capt. Ron Tracey/his counselor

As usual, he sat there in silence, just glaring at her. ‘You know, you won’t get anything out of these sessions if you don’t talk.”

4)      Her Secret Life (Star Trek: VOY)  Kathryn Janeway

Kathryn stood, naked, in front of her mirror.

5)      A Friend’s Betrayal (Star Trek: VOY)  Owen Paris

Admiral Owen Paris was combing through reports when his secretary commed. “Admiral, Admiral Hayes is here to see you.”

6)      Light at the end of the Tunnel (Star Trek: TNG) Capt. Robert DeSoto

“So, how are repairs going?” DeSoto asked his first officer, Hiroshi Murakami during one of his regular visits to the Joseph M'Benga Medical Center.

7)      A Brief History of the Trill Joining (Star Trek TNG/DS9)

Ever since the Trill symbiotic relationship was made public with the death of Ambassador Rozna Odan in 2367 there have been many questions and misconceptions regarding the Trill host-symbiont relationship.

8)      Trying to Make Peace (Star Trek: TNG/VOY)Owen Paris/Edward Jellico

Owen Paris was in his office looking at reports regarding the Romulan evacuation when suddenly his secretary chimed in over comms “Admiral Paris, Admiral Jellico’s here to see you.”

9)      The Trifecta (Star Trek: TNG)Robert DeSoto/Will Riker

Robert DeSoto packed up his quarters on Starbase 80.

10)  The School of Kanar (Star Trek: LD)  Mariner & gang (will be published tomorrow)

The gang was in the Cerritos bar hanging out, when suddenly Mariner arrived. “Okay, all. School’s in session!!” she said as she set down a large tray containing five liquor bottles and glasses for each of them.

Pattern analysis: 

The first lines introduce the character and the setting. Most of the time, I state what the person is doing just so the reader doesn’t think the character is just standing there doing nothing (though I have Janeway doing exactly that in Her Secret Life) Sometimes I start the fic off with a quote.

Tagging anyone who's interested

[wowthesewomen]

Strange New Worlds: Planets

10 - going to call this one by the episode, since it's had different Locations/ Planets - Ad Astra Per Aspera

Vaultera Nebula

No-Illyrian City

Illyrian Colony

Neera Ketoul's Office

Earth/San Francisco

Federation detention center

holding cell

lawyers meeting room

Head Judge Office

Court Room

others:

Starfleet Uniform Code of Justice

Una's Inmate Property

1 - Kiley 279 2- Persephone III and M'harit 3-Hetemt IX 4-Finibus III 5- Vulcan 6- Valeo Beta V 7- Majalan System 8 - Starbase 1 I and II

9- Cajitar IV

[izzysarchivedblogs]

star trek timeline / linda carter

STAR TREK (AOS) VERSE // Dr. Linda Jane Carter, cardiothoracic doctor aboard the USS Enterprise

Linda is single shipped with @thefleetsfinest and Mel's Leonard Mccoy is the only Leonard that I will write with as her Leonard is always canon to my Linda (on my side of things only) ( I adore ya bestie💙 )

✮⋆˙ -> 2219 (birth) -> Linda Jane Carter was born to the famous cardiologist Doctor Richard Carter and novelist Doreen Carter on the Starbase 515. Dr. Richard Carter had formerly been Starfleet and settled on base to have his family and continue practicing medicine.

✮⋆˙ -> 2225 (age 6) -> From as early as the age of six, Linda knew that he wanted to help people like her father and his friends did. It would be her mother, Doreen and supported by her father, that would suggest she grow up to be a nurse. The Carter family would set Linda on a course of caring for highly for her academics so that she could start on that path early.

✮⋆˙ -> 2229 (age 10) -> Linda's younger brother, Taggart Finnegan Carter, was born. It was with the arrival of her baby brother, Tag, that Linda understood she had a duty as a big sister and take care of him. Years later, Tag would admit that his older sister took more care of him than either parents did (and that is not say that the Carters didn't love their children and raise them well).

✮⋆˙ -> 2232 (age 13) -> Doctor Richard Carter would go on to teach medicine and cardiology within the various teaching schools upon Starbase 515 attached to this bases extensive medical facilities and network.

✮⋆˙ -> 2236 (age 17) -> Linda was on track to graduate high school early at age seventeen, to be on track for undergrad and medical school. She had intention of going on to becoming a nurse, but a medical emergency with Tag, age seven, that would involve young Tag requiring open heart surgery would change Linda's course of where she would go with medicine. While her father may be a cardiologist, she would seek being a surgeon specialized in cardiothoracic surgery. What better way to ensure that you understood what happened with your brother and his surgery, than to dedicate your life to studying that so it wouldn't be so scary for yourself and maybe help others not find it scary other?

✮⋆˙ -> 2240 (age 21) -> Linda Carter would complete four years of undergrad, to achieve her bachelors while still on base, and carry on to medical school while still on Starbase 515

✮⋆˙ -> 2242 (age 23) -> Linda would meet and briefly date doctor Steve Stuart, the relationship would not last for more than a few months

✮⋆˙ -> 2244 (age 25) -> Linda Carter would graduate after four years of medical school, than carry on to a residency of six years integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency.

✮⋆˙ -> 2246 (age 27) -> Linda would meet visiting Starfleet doctor, Jack Tryon, while his ship was dry docked on Starbase 515 for three months, and would have a whirlwind relationship for those three months.

✮⋆˙ -> 2250 (age 31) -> Having spent all of her life and schooling on Starbase 515, and at the tail end of her residency. She was looking for change, to leave home and the shadow she felt she was under with her father's legacy, to which she started looking at the Federation and Starfleet starships that would dock at the Starbase. This would lead her to applying to Starfleet Academy and moving to Earth, for the first time, to attend the Academy in San Francisco. Her brother Tag would greatly encourage this and push her to go live her life helping others across the universe.

✮⋆˙ -> It was at Starfleet Academy that Linda would meet Georgia Jenkins, who would quickly become her closest and best friend.

✮⋆˙ -> Later in the year, she would meet Doctor Stephen Strange, a surgeon.

✮⋆˙ -> 2251 (age 32) -> Linda would officially be an in relationship with Stephen Strange.

✮⋆˙ -> 2253 (age 34) -> Prior to starting her fourth and finale year at the academy, she and Stephen would end their relationship after being met with Stephen's wife Clea, who he had made no mention of being estranged/separated from. Clea had returned to rekindle things with Stephen. Linda would also discover that Stephen had been unfaithful throughout his relationship with Linda.

✮⋆˙ -> 2254 (age 35) -> Linda would graduate Starfleet Academy, specifically in the Medical branch, and would be assigned to three year assignment upon a hospital ship.

✮⋆˙ -> The hospital ship would be USS Solace, accompanied with her friend, Georgie whom was a nurse.

✮⋆˙ -> Upon boarding the Solace, Linda would meet Doctor Marshall Michelis, viral outbreak researcher.

✮⋆˙ -> 2255 (age 36) -> Linda and Marshall would enter into a relationship, with support from her friend Georgie.

✮⋆˙ -> 2257 (age 38) -> Georgie would fall ill from the same virus that the Solace had been sent to an outer planet to provide medical aid and develop a cure for.

✮⋆˙ -> Marshall and Linda would get into a large fight the day Linda finds out about Georgie having fallen ill, as she will skip a promised night off/date; this was suppose to be their engagement

✮⋆˙ -> Linda would go to Georgie who would encourage Linda to make up with Marshall and get engaged to him, which she would make up with him

✮⋆˙ -> Georgie would pass away from the virus, devastating Linda

✮⋆˙ -> 2258 (age 39) -> The Solace's assignment would drag on an extra six month as a result of a responding to emergency distress signal on return to Earth

✮⋆˙ -> This would land Linda back at Starfleet Headquarters at the time of Nero's attack, and after Nero's attack would lead to Linda's next assignment / transfer onto the USS Enterprise.

✮⋆˙ -> A week before Linda and Marshall would be boarding the Enterprise, Marshall would call off going and Linda ended their engagement, going forward with her new assignment to the Enterprise

✮⋆˙ -> Here is where Linda would met Leonard Mccoy for the first time as her CMO, and the two would hit it off and become fast friends.

✮⋆˙ -> 2259 (age 40) -> The Enterprise would be sent to apprehend the Fugitive Khan

✮⋆˙ -> Leonard Mccoy would relapse with alcohol after Kirk's almost death, and Linda would be the one to find her now-dear friend and help him get back on his feet

✮⋆˙ -> Before the Enterprise and crew would embark on the five year mission, Linda would accept invitation to spend time with Leonard Mccoy, Clint Barton, and Peter Parker at the Mccoy family farm in Georgia.

✮⋆˙ -> 2260 (age 41) -> The Enterprise would have begun the five year mission

✮⋆˙ -> Late into the year, Linda would be critically injured while on a First Contact away mission, as the result of the entire enterprise away crew being used as a distraction for ensuing chaos on a planet of telepaths in the middle of a political coup (the enterprise did not know this at the time)

✮⋆˙ -> While on the mend, Leonard and Linda would confess and discuss their feelings that have developed beyond their friendship in the last two years

✮⋆˙ -> 2261 (age 42) & 2262 (age 43) -> Linda and Leonard will have officially been dating, and some time in these two years the Enterprise would dock at Starbase 515, and Leonard would meet the Carter family in person; which includes her father, renown doctor Richard Carter, her mother novelist Doreen Carter, her brother Taggart with his wife Becca and their three daughers (Imogen, Sydney, and Laurel)

✮⋆˙ -> 2263 (age 44) -> The Enterprise would be stationing in Yorktown

✮⋆˙ -> While in Yorktown, Linda was intended to be joining Leonard in getting family time in with the Mccoys, but they barely got an hour worth before the ship and crew were summoned on a critical mission

✮⋆˙ -> The ship would crash on the planet Altamid after an attack by Krall's bees. Despite odds and what's left of the crew, they manage to escape the planet and stop Krall's attack on Yorktown.

✮⋆˙ -> Linda would accompany Leonard wherever he may go, while they await for the Enterprise to be rebuilt in. During this time, they would discuss and workout the details over bringing Jojo aboard with them

✮⋆˙ -> Leonard Mccoy would propose to Linda a month before they were boarding the new Enterprise; to which Linda very happily accepts

✮⋆˙ -> 2264 (age 45) -> Leonard and Linda would be married, after some coordination to gather their families as best as possible, and would be married by Captain Kirk as their officiant and Leonard's best friend.

✮⋆˙ -> Leonard and Linda would begun discussing, possibly adding one more to their little family, which currently of Leonard, Linda, and Jojo; and they would agree to trying for a baby

✮⋆˙ -> 2266 (age 47) -> Linda and Leonard would eventually be successful in trying, and have a baby boy named David Taggart Mccoy together.

[t0ast-ghost]

S2 episode 12 (The Deadly Years) what's going to put them through the wringer this time?

whoppee:

- POOR CHEKOV! He's so frightened by the old dead body

- I like how they made it realistic and Kirk had to raise his voice at the old people

- I would NOT bring them aboard the ship. Like what if this is contagious, you can't beat old age (somehow I feel like this statement will be disproven by the end of these 50 minutes)

- Spock cock blocking Kirk is the best thing of this century (edit: I don’t know what this is about but I believe it)

- They're all gonna get thrown in the old people makeup like David Tennant in Doctor Who, aren’t they?

- Kirk is shirtless and decides to call Spock (the camera is tits level)

- McCoy with a bit of grey *twirling my hair*

- Scotty! oh wait no he just tried to bleach his hair and eyebrows (don’t dye your eyebrows Scotty! You can be blinded!)

- OH NO! GIVE THIS MAN A HAIRCUT (they gave McCoy the worst haircut)

- McCoy getting more of a southern dialect <3

- "Oh yes I'll live... but I won't enjoy it." CHEKOV IS THE BEST. Also Hii Sulu Hiii

- Okay I like this commodore, but he really has too much of a hang up about starbase 10

- Spock with grey in his hair <3

- "I'm not a magician, Spock. I'm just an old country Doctor." "Yes... As I always suspected." Spock basically smiles as he says this and it's said with so much love

- "This isn't going to hurt a bit." "That's what you said the last time." "Did it hurt?" "Yes!" Chekov is never going to medbay again

- Stop putting Sulu on the spot. Other people saw these interactions, this is a stupid ass court

- Kirk was not winning this. Rightfully.

- The audacity of this bitch. To even THINK that Spock would be after command. HE IS BREAKING SPOCK'S HEART

- Spock spending what could be their last moments trying to help McCoy after getting rejected by Kirk

- yay Kirk is saved and is able to save the enterprise. But why is Spock there? Let the poor man rest or at least get the serum

- One last note. I love Sulu.

Twas an okay episode, short on thoughts for it though.

Masterpost

Episode written by David P. Harmon