The Last Outpost

It all started with an asteroid in the middle of desolate system at the edge of nowhere... and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure, don't you think?


Yes it wasn't until a number of failed docking attempts with various alien freighters that Pioneer's crew noticed that the station was quite literally going places. While monitoring an unusual signal emitting from Accobar III, the crew discovered that the station had moved almost one-thousand meters closer to the planet without anybody noticing - until a freighter scraped the paint off the hull, that is. Before long, it became evident that the closer they got, the faster they were getting there.

With the Hera unavailable and nearby ships unable to assist, McClintock and the team set about retrofitting that support craft they had available with tractor emitters strong enough to lock on to sections of the station in an attempt to slow Pioneer down. However, this proved unsuccessful and the station found itself leaving the safe zone and drifting in to the ever-fluctuating, unaccommodating field. Thankfully, Alicia Costello was well equipped to deal with the majority of the projectiles that they were now soaring towards - though one of two did get through her defenses and strike the station. The Operations team were also tasked with carefully rotating the station as they went along using the facility's limited maneuvering thrusters.


Select breaches and injuries aside, Pioneer left the asteroid field in reasonably good condition. But they were still on course for Accobar - unable to disrupt the signal which was somehow pulling them in. Nonessential personnel had already been evacuated and the senior staff convened to decide whether they should do the same. But Costello, Etis, McClintock & Mason all pitched in to form the basis of a new plan. A dangerous plan. A historic plan. There was still an option open to them in order to save the station. A slingshot maneuver around the planet - attempting to destroy whatever was pulling them in from orbit as they got close enough to pinpoint the source.


The remaining crew rushed to shore up the station in whatever way they could before attempting the "risky," "dangerous," "insane" and "Accobar-sane" (really?!) maneuver. The emergency bulkheads were deployed across the station, the heat shields were reinforced and the tricolbalt devices were loaded for the first time in preparation to destroy the source of the signal - which was revealed to be the subsurface spatial rift generator which the crew believed to have been destroyed when Daniel Thrace gave his life to cripple it - on the surface of the planet in the Season 4 finale. Speaking of Daniel Thrace...

On final approach to Accobar, Lexi Etis detected a hacking attempt of Pioneer's systems. Someone or something was attempting to gain access to the crew records. Or more specifically, one crew record. It was that of Daniel Thrace. The repeated cyber-infiltration attempt, however, paled in comparison to the imminent task at hand - as the crew blasted in to the slingshot maneuver. The hull was battered, breached, scorched and more-than-likely pebble dashed. The crew were knocked about. Pioneer was spun, flipped and flung in and out of various adjustments along the way. But ultimately - they succeeded.

Locking on to the location of the generator, Costello was able to fire off the warheads and cut off whatever connection it held to the station. Pioneer completed the maneuver and was flung off back in the direction of the asteroid field - ready to be slowed and safely guided back to her original position by the Hera and available support craft. Apparently nobody at Starbase 215 believed what had taken place - and simply summoned Mason to an intelligence briefing instead. Wonder what that could be about...


For now we don't truly know how or why Pioneer was drawn to Accobar III - or why Daniel Thrace's personal files were accessed at the eleventh hour. 'Daniel Thrace is dead' Mason reminded herself in the final moments of the episode. But then there is food for thought. After all... think back on Thrace's final words to Jemma Etis before they parted...

I enjoyed the half hour I was there!
I should be able to make the whole thing next week!

Wow. What a great way to kick off the second half of the season. And it didn't even need an appearance from the Director.

Quote"Accobar-sane" (really?!)

Really.  8P

Awesome episode. It's great tae' really use my character, and believe it or nae' the eleventh-hour briefing was among my highlights!