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

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

‘Age of Discovery’ Redux and a Bonus Command:
​U.S.S. New Orleans – NCC-1018

Well, first and foremost, I hope every Trekker (or Trekkie if you prefer) out there that celebrates Thanksgiving had a wonderful Holiday weekend. I know I did, and the massive amounts of turkey that I ate, allowed for me to take a little break from this blog to digest and feel shame, because wow, that was a lot of turkey. But, we’re back and it’s time to geek out about that Star Trek Online lifestyle once again and well, we have plenty to discuss today on The Admiral’s Log because while I was lying on the couch, thinking ‘bout that turkey, I also took the time to dig back into the game and make a decision that I didn’t expect to make.
 
You see, while I was enjoying the second episode of ‘Age of Discovery’, wherein the Galactica and her crew participated in an ugly re-enactment of the Battle of Starbase One, a dust up that Starfleet lost back in the day, a few important moments arose during that mission that made me realize, I was missing out by only diving into the story in the 25th Century. So, while I thoroughly enjoyed Jeffrey Combs’ surprise performance as a descendant of Shran, and while I also loved the powerful combat that took place at that battle, it was obvious that the time had come to give in and play this new expansion pack the right way.
 
So, after finishing the mission in ‘present day’, I finally logged out and created myself a new Discovery-era character, and a new ship to get the full experience of ‘Age of Discovery’ and well, I am very glad I made this call after all. Because two wonderful things happened by making this decision in that, I was able to pay nerdy homage to my very own baby brother by naming my new Malachowski class starship the U.S.S. New Orleans (NCC-1018), which is the namesake of the actual vessel he serves upon in the Navy and the registration number is pretty darn close to the real ship’s registry number and well, I just thought that was cool because I’m a huge goof.
 
But the other great thing that came out of playing this expansion pack the right way, was being immersed into the world established by the series, and it was super awesome to fight alongside Cadet Sylvia Tilly, since actor Mary Wiseman reprised her role for the game and it was even more incredible to be plunged into the heart of the First Klingon/Federation War and revel in the intensity we experienced from the comfort of our couches when watching Star Trek: Discovery, and the best part is, the wonder of this expansion pack didn’t end there.
 
Because what truly caught me off guard here, was how the game was able to play a little bit with the notion of how history repeats itself. Because if you recall, my first mission in Starfleet was a graduation cruise that ended in disaster and combat when the Klingons kidnapped and killed my captain and well, something almost identical happened here on my Cadet Training cruise and that was a fascinating if not harrowing parallel and kudos to the game for pulling that off because it was definitely clever to say the least.
 
But alas, thanks to my obsessive nature, I’m basically caught up now with ‘Age of Discovery’ and there’s no more story to tell in regard to that tale until a new episode arrives. But that’s not going to stop me from finding new things to write about in this game. Because I couldn’t help but notice while I was creating my Discovery-era character that an option existed to create a TOS-era character and well, since I didn’t really dive into the full story of ‘Agents of Yesterday’ either, perhaps it’s time to travel to the mid 23rd Century and see what wonders await me there. Until next time. 

---