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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘Synth Wave’ Recap and Anniversary Plans

Well, hello again my fellow captains and admirals! Its hailing frequencies open for another edition of The Admiral’s Log and boy do we have a lot of goodies to discuss today. Because it’s that time of the year again, since anniversary season in Star Trek Online is upon us. Which means that our favorite game is loaded to the gills with all kinds of treats right now. After all, ‘House Reborn’ is now live, and there’s new missions that expand upon what happened in ‘Partisans’ for us to partake in. Plus, there’s a new Alliance ship out there to obtain and well… that means the grind to earn one is in full effect, since this year the criteria to snag that puppy is slightly different.
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Because for the 11th Anniversary event, you have to earn two points per day toward your reward goal. Which means just scanning for and stabilizing Omega Particles isn’t going to cut it. No instead, you’ll need to finish some missions and patrols in order to earn your keep. Which means that in the coming weeks, I’ll be chronicling my own quest to get my hands on that Romulan-themed beauty and of course… we’ll be recapping all the new missions in great detail. Because it is always a joy to settle in and nerd out about this game with all of you fine fleet officers. However, before we begin to dig deep into all of the new offerings from this phenomenal anniversary event, we still have some catching up to do on a prior mission.

For I didn’t get the chance to complete and discuss the last element of the ‘House Shattered’ expansion, which was the ‘Synth Wave’ TFO and well, now that I’ve finally had the chance to do that, boy do I have some serious regretti. Because this Star Trek: Picard themed mission is simply a powerhouse TFO, and I really should have played this sooner. For this is a mission that plunges the player into an incredible hypothetical simulation. One that ponders upon what would have happened if Starfleet was able to respond to the Synth Attack on Mars that happened on First Contact Day in 2385 and well, the first fascinating tidbit of truth to come out of that particular hypothesis, is that Starfleet captains… would have been overwhelmed at the sight of seeing a core Federation world burning beneath their ships.

Which isn’t some metaphorical exaggeration. Mars really is burning, while wave after wave of Synth assembled vessels work to slaughter innocent lives and that makes this one intense TFO for certain. One that forces the player to slip into triage mode and save whomever they can as the situation deteriorates into a hopeless Kobayashi Maru type scenario. But all world-building and intensity of the mission aside, this mission is so rich and so detailed, that you cannot help but sit there for a second and take a moment to appreciate the work that hat went into its creation. Because this is a living and breathing nightmare, one that genuinely captures the scope of this dark day, and it doesn’t hurt that Holst’s classic; ‘Mars: The Bringer of War’ is the soundtrack for this particular mission either. 

If anything, all of these elements make this quite the intense ride, one where at times your vision is blurred by the abundance of warp core breaches surrounding your ship and really, in the end, this just goes to show that everyone involved in this game… is working hard to create an immersive Star Trek experience. One that tugs at your feels and drops your jaw and this particular mission definitely accomplishes that, and it leaves this admiral eager to dive into the new Klingon missions. Just to see what kind of epic writing they are going to offer, and now that we’ve wrapped up this particular TFO, and are all caught up on any prior goals, those exact missions are where we will pick up next time. Until then, Galactica out.

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