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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The Iconian War 

​There has been and will forever be a great debate amongst Star Trek fans regarding whether or not it’s ever acceptable for the saga to go into dark and twisted territory in order to tell a story. Because there are those who believe that Gene Roddenberry’s original vision of a utopia free from conflict is the only way to go and the other side of that argument firmly believes that there are species out there who don’t believe in what the Federation stands for and will challenge it every step of the way in order to accomplish their respective goals and I am someone who firmly believes that there is room for both in this universe, for several reasons.
 
For starters, that utopian vision of a perfect society, wherein everyone is tolerated and accepted, and peace prevails is a wonderful thing to hold on to and it should be what the Federation and its allies strive for on a regular basis. But I do agree with the fact that there are those out there who wish to do others harm and believe that their way is the only way and the noble must fight to keep the good in the universe going and that’s why, I’ve never had a problem with Star Trek when conflict arises. Because conflict tests the ideals of the United Federation of Planets and it forces its finest officers to find a way to uphold those values and fight to keep them alive and as it turns out, a dark moment involving conflict was about to drop into my lap in Star Trek Online.
 
Because as soon as the Galactica returned home from her campaign in the Delta Quadrant, an age-old enemy resurfaced, one that was teased heavily prior to this point in the game, the Iconians. Yes, that mysterious race of omnipotent beings that were able to travel anywhere in the Galaxy on a moment’s notice, thanks to their all-powerful gateways, finally decided it was high time to return to prominence, and that meant that the Federation and every other power in the quadrants needed to be brought to their knees in order for the Iconians to maintain power and well, just like that, we were at war once again and this time around, it truly felt like the Federation’s darkest hour had arrived.
 
I say that, simply due to the fact that the Iconians were virtually unstoppable. Their ships outclassed anything in Starfleet, meaning that every single battle my crew and I took part in was long and drawn out and brutal as we worked to keep the ship together and I still recall the mission where the 25th Century’s iteration of the Battle of Wolf 359 took place since there were pieces and skeletons of Federation vessels strewn about space and well, those kinds of losses pushed Starfleet and its allies to their limits, forcing them to make questionable decisions that bended but did not break the ideals of the Federation and thankfully, there were voices present to make sure Admiralty never crossed any particular lines.
 
But, despite the Federation’s ideals holding up in the end, the darkness continued to prevail and I will never forget the sight of Earth, surrounded by a massive Iconian Fleet in the season finale of this campaign, ‘Midnight’, because that image and the battle that ensued truly made it seem as though there would be no hope for any of the species that populate the Galaxy and it took the noblest parts of Starfleet, and a dangerous mission involving Time Travel to set things right in the galaxy and get the Iconians to stand down and man, what a powerful and incredible ending this campaign turned in when all is said and done, and at the time, this was hands down the biggest and baddest and most impressive story arc that the game offered up.
 
Because for the first time ever in playing this game, there was a real sense of danger hanging over this story, and failure at any level didn’t seem like an option, regardless of the fact that the game will respawn you if your ship is destroyed or if you died because the story was just that big and just that important. But while the allied forces of the Galaxy were triumphant, in many ways this felt like a pyrrhic victory since so many planets and ships were laid to waste and morals were pushed to their limit and well, that’s just a mark of good writing and with the war now at an end, I was quite curious as to what awaited my ship and my crew in the future and well, I was ill prepared for the fact that greater challenges awaited us, the kind that signaled the end for the Galactica-A and that particular patch of trouble, is where we will pick up, next time. Until then. 

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