Feature Episode

Who are “the 2800”? They are the 2,800 ships in the Dominion fleet that was swallowed up in the wormhole by the Prophets during a crucial point in the Dominion War. Their elimination gave starbase Deep Space 9 time to complete mining the mouth of the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, and was the turning point to a long, protracted war. Now, they’ve apparently returned to continue the war. This weekend, Saturday, February 12th, the Klingon Empire and the Federation will reluctantly join forces once again to battle the foe that nearly destroyed the Federation once before. ...

Cutting the Cord After last week’s epic episode, “Coliseum”, those of us at the Federation News Service were intrigued to see just how they could possibly top that nod back to the high point of the Star Trek franchise – the very beginning. Maybe they could have stayed in a retro mood, and maybe it would have been better if they had. “Cut the Cord”, the finale of the “Cloaked Intentions” arc, instead took its cues from “Star Trek Nemesis”, the movie that finally killed the Star Trek franchise. Nonetheless, it was still a fun, if literally on rails, experience. ...

In the first episode of “Cloaked Intentions”, the third Feature Episode arc, we visited a semi-abandoned, giant space station called “The Vault” deep within the Romulan neutral zone. There, we met Obisek, a Reman rebelling against the half-human Romulan empress Sela and her scattered empire of refugees. In the second episode, “Mine Enemy”, we followed Obisek’s suspicions to a hidden Tal Shiar (Romulan intelligence agency) base deep within a mining colony inhabited by the rock-like Horta. ...

Mine enemy? Mine enemy is Cryptic, who, for the second feature episode in a row, couldn’t handle the press of people wanting to do the episode the moment it went live. I guess they should make some sort of queue system, somewhere… The swarm of starships outside mission systems is just amazing. This is your money, Cryptic; this is why we play. PLEASE make the servers work on FE day! ...

One lowly shuttle stands between the broken Romulan Star Empire and the rebellion of their ex-slaves, the goblinoid Remans, as their private war threatens to draw the Alpha Quadrant into a conflict that could destroy worlds. More worlds. The Romulans are still feeling a little sore that Spock didn’t save Romulus, even though he PINKY PROMISED! Before I get into the interrupted adventures of the Federation News Service, Cryptic made a teaser for the arc, “Cloaked Intentions”. You will believe Star Trek is still on the air! ...

Yesterday, Cryptic dropped the Enterprise Pack onto the Cryptic Store. For 1250 points, you can get a replica of the NX-01, the Akira-class predecessor flown by Captain Archer and crew in Star Trek: Enterprise, a show which doesn’t fully deserve its bad reputation. That also comes with the Enterprise uniforms, Mirror Universe versions of same, and the cat suit the Vulcan first officer T’pol wore. All these things are also available separately, naturally. ...

skirmish: a minor or preliminary conflict or dispute. It is said that four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man. The same can be said of a Bird of Prey under warp when the disruptor beams run hot. Hot as the blood of a warrior; hot of the blood of your enemies filling your cupped hands. Hot enough to tear a rip through the fabric of space itself and show what peers from it the heart of a true warrior. ...

“Cold Call” is the first of Star Trek Online’s “Feature Episodes”. The first series deal with those cryo-suited Alpha Quadrant villains, the Breen. Staying more or less out of galactic affairs after their defeat along with the rest of their allies at the close of the Dominion War, they have returned. Those Federation diplomats who negotiated a treaty between the Ferengi, the Rigelians and the Deferans in the Starbase 39/Sierra diplomacy mission may remember Ambassador Surah as the Deferen Ambassador. Klingons will be reminded of an ancient pact between the Klingons and the Deferens where the Klingons promised aid when asked – that time has come. Though simply knowing that they would face the Breen would be reason enough for the Klingons to show. ...