The Admiral’s Log: My Journey Through ‘Star Trek Online’ – Part LXX

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Retro Replay – ‘Empress Sela’

Well hello again my fellow starship commanders! It is hailing frequencies open for The Admiral’s Log and after taking a quick break from my current task in Star Trek Online to handle some review related duties for the site, I’m back and ready to geek out about STO with all of you! Which means it is time for another edition of the Retro Replay and the subject of today’s replay, is a Romulan themed mission entitled; ‘Empress Sela’. Now in this particular tale, you are sent to a remote world in what was once Romulan territory, in order to offer your support while representatives from the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets engage in peace negotiations.
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Which of course leads to disaster since the aforementioned Empress Sela of TNG fame is using this entire conference as a ruse. Because she’s quietly dispatched an armada of warships to Vulcan, in the hopes of laying waste to the planet in the key of Nero, so that Spock’s ‘failure’ to save Romulus and Remus can be atoned for. Which means that it is up to you and your intrepid crew to save an entire planet from Romulan genocide, and that is a pretty juicy plot for certain, one that leads to some epic combat in space. And it just so happens that the space battles that happen in this tale, are precisely why I wanted to replay this one, because holy targ, did those fights kick my butt time and time again.
 
Mainly because I was flying a Cheyenne class starship when I first played this mission. And while they are fine little ships, they are not designed for prolonged combat, and having to face off against Heavy Warbirds and D’deridex Battlecruisers in the rocky rings of Agrama Prime was a sucky, sucky experience. Because the battlecruisers messed my ship up and it took forever to finally bring them down. And once that fight was over, it was off to Vulcan to deal with the armada, wherein more heavy grade ships were waiting for us. Which means, I got spanked in that battle too, despite the fact that I had my own Federation armada to help me out and really, all I wanted this time around was a fair fight, one where I could hang with these ships and give them the business.

Instead, I got an outright slaughter. Because it turns out that those two classes of ships really don’t do well against an Odyssey class vessel in a one-on-one setting. Nor are their shields any match for Mark XV Antiproton Beams and Quantum Torpedoes. So, needless to say the fight over Agrama Prime went far smoother this time, with only a few bumps and bruises coming into play when Galactica went toe to toe with a battlecruiser. And as for the fight over Vulcan, well wouldn’t you know it? That was a smooth and supremely fair fight. The kind that we were able to hang in no problem. In fact, on a couple of occasions, we had to step in and save a Federation ship in peril with a quantum torpedo or twenty, and really all of these elements made for one satisfying replay when all is said and done.

Simply because I didn’t see my ship get torn to shreds in a matter of seconds, nor did I have to use hit and run tactics in order to beat my opponent. I could just hang in a firefight and do some serious damage. If anything, this replay just goes to show that investing in your hardware will pay off in spades when all is said and done and it has me hopeful that more replays down the line will be this enjoyable and this smooth so that I can properly enjoy the story. And now that this mission has come to a close, there will be another slight break in the Retro Replay, but for all the right seasons. For ‘House Divided’ makes its premiere on home console this Tuesday, and we need to recap a fresh story before rehashing old ones, and the surprises that await us in this new chapter of storytelling is where we will pick up, next time. Until then, Galactica out.

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