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

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

A Return to New Romulus

​I’m quickly coming to realize that the end of a particular series of missions are both a blessing and a curse, in regard to Star Trek Online. Because in essence, you crave more of this game after enjoying the fine storytelling it provides its fans with, but then you are left with nothing new to consume, meaning you’re left searching for more and that’s precisely where I’m at in the game right now. For ‘Mirror of Discovery’ has come to a close, and I need my fix, so I’ve started to dig into my mission lineup to see exactly how many stories either need to be replayed or completed due to the new lineup changes and it turns out, there’s quite a bit.
 
So, in the coming weeks, I’ll definitely be sharing those stories as they come about, but today, well today we get to talk about a particular set of missions that quite frankly, I think I glazed over initially in this blog. Because one segment of the story that features quite a bit of one’s time, is dedicated to voyages on New Romulus, and thanks to the mission realignment, this was definitely my next destination since there were at least three or four new missions for me to undertake and I’m honestly quite glad that I took the time to return to this planet because the importance of this world, and the missions that take place here were clearly lost on me as I worked hard to earn that next ship and that next promotion.
 
I say that, simply because replaying some of these stories now, with their new improvements, allowed for me to really understand the devastating plight of the Romulan people following the destruction of Romulus and Remus by way the Hobus Supernova and well, while they are a strong people, it’s obvious they have one hell of a road ahead of them. For New Romulus is uncharted territory, a place teeming with life that needs to be studied, and that lack of knowledge makes this world dangerous in certain places and it was just fascinating to properly observe how hard the Romulans are working to coexist with the wildlife on this planet, and make it their home, and that truly helped me appreciate this mission set a whole lot more when all is said and done.
 
Especially when one considers, just how much help the Romulan Republic needs. It’s truly fledgling and it’s clear there are plenty of factions out there that want to see it fail since the Tal Shiar continue to fight its existence from the shadows and because there are plenty of foreign elements interfering on the planet as well, since we ran into Tholians and the like and well, this is another set of missions that flat out instills a sense of duty in the player. Because this is what Starfleet and the Federation do, they build up their allies, they work to see them succeed and that’s why replaying some of this segment offered up new meaning for me. For helping the Republic with whatever they need, will go a long way in creating a lasting peace with an enemy as old as the Federation itself and it’s quite cool to be part of that push for peace. 
 
If anything, it’s clear that re-doing some of these missions goes beyond getting them off of a digital checklist, they stand for the best parts of Star Trek, and that’s why I’m looking forward to revisiting whichever missions await me from all the various story arcs present in the game. But in the here and the now, my adventures on New Romulus have come to a close once again, and I am quite curious as to whether or not new missions involving this brave new world will appear down the line in the game, because it would be pretty slick to see the Republic get a grand storyline that sees them working alongside the Federation on something bigger. But for now, this will do just fine, and I cannot wait to see what newfound value I will discover as I return to old stories one more time.

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