'Dark Star' Discussion Thread & Reveal Reaction

[Grizz]

"If you believe that what I do today will lead us all in to disaster... then aim and fire."

She calls it the future of Federation security, though everyone else can't stop calling it insane. Former Section 31 Head, Maria Vega, has unleashed her creations and seized control of Pioneer and Accobar. But we can't jump straight to the end, can we?

Back on Station Nimoy (somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant, if you didn't notice), Mason continued to question Vega's motivations. Thrusting a phaser in Mason's hand and encouraging the Captain to kill her, Vega aimed to demonstrate that there are those within Starfleet who "aren't willing to do what needs to be done." Unable to fire, Mason was relieved of her weapon and find herself left alone in the office which Vega departed for the final time - adding that Mason would be reunited with her crew, but leave the station "a changed woman."

"Starbase 215. Major incident. All Starfleet vessels: hold position."

As Pioneer waited for news on a still-missing Captain Mason, the crew received word that an incident aboard the sector's command post had led to a sector-wide lockdown. Ships were ordered to hold position. Comm traffic was be routed through designated "command vessels." Pioneer was to restrict it's civilian traffic. One ship which wasn't holding it's position, however, was the USS Apollo - which was approaching at high warp. The ship, returning from it's stint in the past in 'Internal Affairs' claimed to be operating out of Starbase 215 and on assignment to secure Pioneer. It's captain, one Maria Vega,  beamed over to present Menden and the crew with an update on the situation.

Vega claimed that an explosion aboard 215 had thrown things in to disarray - and Captain Mason was said to be among the missing. "Fearing" that Pioneer could be next, the Apollo supplemented Costello's security teams across the station - taking up stationary positions on all decks and in all departments - and the existing crew were put to work on various tasks, including bolstering the defense grid and redirecting all communication traffic through the Apollo. Alarm bells were ringing already.

"Vega is dangerous..."

Exploiting a gateway in to Vega's past, Lexi Etis (removed from her "redundant" OPS position and giving Sullivan his personal space back) questioned their acting Commanding Officer on her time aboard the Apollo. Deducing that something was now largely amiss, the crew began to maneuver around Vega (quite comparable to the events of Internal Affairs, no less). But with spies on every deck and through communication with her ship, it wasn't long before she knew what was happening. But she didn't particularly care - and instead elected to buy herself more time. First by prompting Riker to believe that Costello would be removed from her position, second by clearing the OPS staff to attend existing projects elsewhere - and third by causing the untimely destruction of the Security office.

"Look around you... look at the men and women assigned to protect you..."

With McClintock distracted and Etis stopped in her tracks in Engineering, Vega instructed the Apollo to prepare. With the staff gathered in Operations, Menden finally confronted Vega on her purpose aboard Pioneer after another stalling effort with Costello. Immediately owning up to the explosion on Deck 17, she retrieved her belongings from the Ready Room and set about explaining her mission. In her possession: a sample of the Halkonian nano-virus and the Telosian technology used to disguise their intruder earlier int he season. Having claimed to have combined the two, she drew Menden's attention to the Apollo's security teams stationed around Pioneer. "Never moving, never talking, never protesting" Vega claimed. Etis took to scanning them for discrepancies - but could find none. A known advantage of the Telosian technology involved in the concealment of their true identities. Just as her holographic representation of Mason had done, months ago, she had pointed out the obvious surrounding them.

"Do you want to know who they really are?"

On Vega's command, the officers up and down the station moved in sync to disable the Telosian holographic shells disguising them. One by one, their true identities were revealed: modified, augmented, armored Borg Drones.

Having re-programmed the Halkonian nano-virus and adapted it to create a new brand of the Borg Assimilation Virus, Vega claimed to have created the most ruthlessly efficient security force for the Federation. Capable of taking on multiple forms without detection and assimilating their enemies - adding to their numbers - they would be able to blend in to the populous up and down the quadrant. Marching through the corridors on the every deck of the station, Pioneer's crew were relieved of their posts and forced in to a surrender.

"I came here to take your station and this system... and I've already taken them both."

With her eyes now set on the technology still out of reach on Accobar III, it appears that Vega's goal for now is to further advance her creations. Handing over Mason's true coordinates to Menden, she stated that there was still time to rescue her from captivity - ordering the rest of the crew off the station and away on the Hera. She did leave Menden with a warning that when Starfleet inevitable sends a force to take back the station - they would have to send more ships.



Oliver Drax erred on the side of caution. Walter Peirce had urged restraint. Taval claimed that she would lose control and achieve the opposite of her ambition. It remains to be seen whether Vega can keep control of her psuedo-Borg force (Vega Drones? Shall we call them Vega Drones?) or indeed how many she currently possesses. There are still questions to be answered. Where did she acquire the original Borg tech? Were her drones taken from the Collective? How did she come about the Halkonian nano-virus?

The Federation and indeed the Alpha Quadrant is teetering on the brink of a major crisis and there's only one episode left to prevent it. Thank you all for attending - rate and discuss, above and below.

[Martin Thompson]

Verry nice epsiode. It was bit from and to there in the middle with all the staff doing seemingly unimportant things in such a crysis.The reveal at the end was quite the twist and indeed: how did Vega get Borg tech anyway (Vega Drones? Vega Borgs? Borg Vega's? The Borga's? ). And what exactly does she want with Accobar? And why would starfleet need more ships?

Lexi thought she might want to open up the Accobi rift again, I sure hope not after all the trouble we went trough to seal it. Or is there more to the surface of Accobar 3 then met the eye the last time we were there? I do remember some guardians walking around there. And Vega mentioned that her plan wouldn't have been possible at the time she conceived it, so something changed between then and now, something which requires Accobar in order to complete her (Insane?) plan. That would also imply she hasn't played her endgame yet and there is still time for Pioneer's crew and Starfleet to stop her...

[Grizz]

Verry nice epsiode. It was bit from and to there in the middle with all the staff doing seemingly unimportant things in such a crysis.The reveal at the end was quite the twist and indeed: how did Vega get Borg tech anyway (Vega Drones? Vega Borgs? Borg Vega's? The Borga's? )

Dark Star has it's origins in a storyline which was abandoned when Asteroid Base was canned. Lexi and Rogan were there at an interesting time. Now go and find the correct, highly rated episode in the AB archive 

It has since been refreshed and updated, however - given the length of time.

[Martin Thompson]

Lexi and Rogan were there at an interesting time. Now go and find the correct, highly rated episode in the AB archive

I think something is coming back to me....