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

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Exploring the Beta Quadrant – Part II:
A Sense of Duty

When we last gathered here to discuss my grand voyage through the galaxy in Star Trek Online, the situation seemed a tad grim. After all, the Galactica had traveled to the quiet corners of the Beta Quadrant, where planets and civilizations were simply nonexistent, meaning that we were often greeted by silence upon arriving in a star system, and surrounding by swaths of emptiness as we traversed from planet to planet. However, there was a reward waiting for the crew’s patience while sifting through the void. For eventually, we arrived at systems that were in dire need of help in some form or fashion and honestly, this is where the game, truly lived up to its namesake.
 
For Starfleet was founded on the notion of exploration and protection and that’s precisely what the crew was able to do once we ventured to more inhabited systems. In fact, the phrase ‘explore strange new worlds’ was on my mind often during this leg of our journey because we encountered quite a few scientific missions, the kind where a small away team investigated a particular mystery, the kind that yielded all kinds of incredible discoveries, and it was just a sheer delight to become the explorer that I always admired seeing on the show and see the sheer majesty of the galaxy at the same time, since we ventured to some magnificently beautiful places.
 
But combat is a bit of a big deal in this game, and the 25th Century is one mired in conflict and turmoil and while we were able to discover all kinds of wonders for Starfleet, I made mention of protection being part of our duty and that’s something the Galactica was forced to step in and do on several occasions. For many worlds were in need of having pirates or renegades driven out of their star system and since they did not have the means to make that happen, they turned to Starfleet for that kind of help and tough battles sometimes ensued, simply in the name of keeping the peace and well, I have to be honest, this is the part of the game that truly made me feel as though I had earned my place in the big chair.
 
Because there was something supremely humbling about flying into a star system and seeing the joy on a colonist or native’s face upon the realization that Starfleet had arrived to help them with their problems and it definitely allowed for me to understand the power of the uniform and the Starfleet Delta pinned to my chest. If anything, it added a little depth and urgency to the combat that would ensue, since I was fully aware of the fact that a victory here meant plenty to the people down on the planet below, and sometimes, we outright saved ships and lives that were in the middle of harm’s way and well, it really doesn’t get more Star Trek than that.
 
However, make no mistake about it, this leg of the journey was just as tough as our initial run. For the Beta Quadrant is the largest quadrant in the game, with seemingly countless systems to explore and as we drew closer to the end, this journey wore on me a little bit. But this is something I simply had to finish. I had to see it all, I needed to know what every last star system was made of, so I powered through, and for my efforts, came a grand sense of satisfaction as the helm pulled us out of warp at the Eridon Nebula in the Sanek Sector. Because reaching that location meant, we had finally done it. We had seen every single inch of this quadrant and what it had to offer, and I was more than happy to order the Galactica back to Earth with the first leg of our mission accomplished.
 
Yet, my first thought in the final hours of this journey, was to fire up the Transwarp Drive to get us back to Earth in a matter of minutes once we finished since I’d been staring at the darkness of space for so long. But, once you’ve seen it all, so to speak, you come to realize, what’s a few more minutes amongst the stars? So that voyage home, was at standard warp, to get one last good look at the beauty of space. But its majesty and wonder, simply don’t compare to home and the familiar view of our world, and the noise and bustle of Earth Spacedock were welcome sights and sounds. And I also made a point to head down to Starfleet Academy to enjoy the view of the Golden Gate Bridge. In part, to feel the familiarity of home, but also…to soak up the wonder of Earth once again because I felt emboldened by accomplishing this first leg of our journey, and it wouldn’t be long before I felt ready to take the Galactica back out into space in order to explore the Alpha Quadrant and that, is where our story will pick up, next time. Until then.  

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