Star Trek: The Motion Picture
In 2271 an unknown, cloud-like entity descends upon several Klingon vessels and destroys them. Having monitored the surprise attack, Federation space station Epsilon IX is still unable to prevent itself from becoming the next victim of this vast, mysterious energy cloud. Meanwhile, on Vulcan, Spock is preparing to undergo the rite of Kolinahr — the achievement of total Vulcan logic — and the purging of all remaining emotion. Just then Spock’s human half stirs in response to the cloud entity, interrupting his meditation and forcing the Vulcan masters to withdraw Spock’s admission to their ranks.
On Earth, the U.S.S. Enterprise is readying to investigate the cloud entity. Admiral Nogura is persuaded by Admiral James T. Kirk to hand over command of the newly refit Starship Enterprise to him, superseding the vessel’s present captain, Will Decker, who is unhappy with this new situation. Arriving on board the Enterprise, Kirk requests that Dr. Leonard McCoy, retired now, be recalled into service as the starship’s doctor. An unchanged, blustery Dr. McCoy comes aboard and replaces Dr. Christine Chapel, who steps down out of respect. Also on board is a Deltan navigator, Ilia, who in the past was romantically involved with Will Decker.
In a tragic accident, two crew members are killed in a transporter malfunction — one of which was the new Vulcan science officer, Sonak.
The accident behind them, Kirk gathers much of the crew together to deliver a mission briefing, stressing the enormous power of the entity they are faced with. After a relatively uneventful departure from Earth’s drydock facilities, the U.S.S. Enterprise is suddenly faced with a giant wormhole and Kirk, unfamiliar with the design of the new vessel, almost allows the wormhole to destroy the ship. The U.S.S. Enterprise escapes, however, and is hailed by a courier vessel bearing Kirk’s new science officer. Overcome with joy at seeing Spock, Kirk is soon confronted with a cold, withdrawn stranger.
The starship eventually encounters the cloud-like being, yet the entity proves to be too strong, damaging the U.S.S. Enterprise on all levels and leaving the starship stricken. When Spock attempts to communicate with the cloud by sending messages of non-aggression, a probe is triggered and sent from the center of the cloud. The crew can only watch helplessly as the probe accesses the U.S.S. Enterprise’s consoles and computers, accumulating data from all parts of the ship. In his attempt to stop the violation, Spock is attacked, whereupon the probe vanishes with Ilia.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is then seized by a tractor beam and pulled inside the cloud to a large chamber. Another probe, in the form of Ilia, appears and tells them that it has been sent by “V’Ger” to study the carbon-based units that “infest” the starship. Furthermore, the crew learns that V’Ger is on its way to Earth to join with its “Creator.”
In an attempt to establish contact with V’Ger, Kirk trades on Decker’s past association with Ilia and assigns Decker to work with the probe. The Ilia-probe tells him that the carbon-units will be patterned for data storage.
Deciding that the best method of gathering more data about V’Ger is directly from the source, Spock dons a thruster suit and leaves the ship. His incredible visual journey to the center of the cloud culminates when Spock sees images of everything that V’Ger has experienced. Spock tries to mind-meld with the life-form, but is short-circuited and barely makes it back to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Taken to sickbay, Spock informs Kirk that his mind-meld did allow him to learn that V’Ger is lonely and seeking to learn why it was created. Furthermore, it is learned that a machine planet built the cloud and craft that house V’Ger.
V’Ger arrives at Earth and signals its Creator. When there is no response, V’Ger blasts energy bolts at the planet in an attempt to rid it of all its carbon infestations. Forced to act, Kirk tells V’Ger he knows why the Creator has not answered. The Ilia-probe, interested by Kirk’s remark, says it will cease its attack when Kirk explains. But Kirk replies he will answer to no one but V’Ger itself. With some trepidation, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker are lead by the Ilia-probe outside the ship to the “brain” of V’Ger. At the center of the chamber, the Starfleet officers are surprised to discover that V’Ger is in reality a twentieth century Earth robot space probe. In fact, a mounted plaque looks as though it reads “Voyager VI.”
Kirk and his crew discover that the probe disappeared into a black hole and emerged at the other end, crash landing on a planet inhabited by living machines. After repairing the probe, the machines then followed its programming — observe and transmit readings to NASA. Spock deduces that these living machines interpreted those long-ago orders as “Learn all that is learnable and return that information to the Creator.”
When the U.S.S. Enterprise transmits old Voyager codes, the V’Ger transmits all of its information. Then, unexpectedly, V’Ger insists that the Creator come in person to finish the sequence. When he realizes that V’Ger wants to physically merge with its Creator, Will Decker volunteers. Decker and Ilia join together and merge into a glowing, non-corporeal entity, which disappears.
The U.S.S. Enterprise crew humbly realize that a new life form has just been created. The experience has left Spock more at peace with himself and he decides not to return to Vulcan. Kirk has command of his beloved U.S.S. Enterprise and McCoy is back in charge of sickbay.
Having witnessed events suggesting that “the human adventure is just beginning,” Kirk commands the starship out to space for a real shakedown cruise and future missions.
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
In 2285 at Starfleet Academy, Admiral Kirk is busy training new cadets. Among the cadets is Saavik, a young protégé of Spock’s, who feels that she has failed the Kobayashi Maru — a no-win scenario test used to evaluate potential commanders. Kirk advises the young Vulcan that all commanders at some point must face a “no-win” situation. Saavik, displaying her willingness to become a reliable commander, pilots the U.S.S. Enterprise out of spacedock on a routine cadet training exercise.
Meanwhile, Dr. Carol Marcus, an old love of Kirk’s, and her son, David, complete the final computer simulation of the Genesis project — a program designed to grant life where there is none — on the space laboratory Regula I. However, Dr. Marcus is concerned that Genesis could also be used as a weapon. At the same time, the U.S.S. Reliant arrives at Ceti Alpha VI with a mission to check for signs of life on the planet, a possible test site for Genesis. Curious, Captain Terrell and Chekov beam to the surface where they are confronted by Khan Noonien Singh, the former tyrant of Earth’s Eugenic Wars, exiled to the planet in 2267 by Captain Kirk. With the aid of mind-controlling Ceti eels implanted in Terrell and Chekov, Khan gains control of the Reliant.
At the Regula I space laboratory, Dr. Marcus is contacted by the Reliant. She is told that Ceti Alpha VI has met the conditions required for testing of the Genesis Device and the Reliant will therefore now take the Genesis Device, months before the scheduled test. Furious at this encroachment by Starfleet, Dr. Marcus contacts Kirk on the Enterprise, expressing her outrage at the Admiral and Starfleet for their militaristic intentions. Although Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Sulu are leading a training mission for the Starfleet cadets, the crew decides to head to Regula I to investigate Dr. Marcus’ complaint. When they arrive, the Enterprise is inexplicably fired on by the Reliant. Khan finally reveals himself from the bridge of the Reliant, demanding that Kirk give him the Genesis information. Kirk pulls a brilliant bluff, allowing the Enterprise precious computer time to secretly lower the shields of the other starship. The Enterprise then damages the Reliant, forcing the captured starship to withdraw for the moment.
When Kirk and company board Regula I, the crew is shocked to find that the scientists have been tortured and killed. They follow transporter traces to the interior of the planetoid below, finding Chekov and Captain Terrell alive and seemingly well in an underground dwelling. Just then, David Marcus pulls a surprise attack on Kirk, believing the Admiral to be the cause of all of the station’s trouble. Carol is then forced to reveal that Kirk is David’s father. Surprised and bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Kirk and David form an uneasy truce. Carol then shows Kirk and crew the Genesis torpedo.
Unbeknownst to Kirk and the rest of the group, Terrell, still under the influence of the Ceti eels, secretly gives Khan the coordinates of the torpedo. Khan quickly beams the valuable device aboard the Reliant, then orders Terrell to assassinate Kirk. Terrell, however, cannot bring himself to kill the Admiral. Instead, Terrell turns his phaser on himself. When Chekov also resists Khan’s orders, the Ceti eel exits his ear and is subsequently destroyed. Khan, thinking he is stranding Kirk and his crew on the planet, departs Regula I. Carol Marcus then shows Kirk the Genesis cave, where an entire biosystem has been created. She explains that this amazing breakthrough means that barren planets can now be made safely habitable for colonists. Kirk, impressed but concerned for his crippled starship, regains contact with the Enterprise and has the landing party and scientists beamed aboard.
Meanwhile, a repaired Reliant under Khan’s control obsessively searches for the U.S.S. Enterprise. Left without warp drive in the previous skirmish, the U.S.S. Enterprise hides in the Mutara Nebula. Kirk then deliberately goads Khan, hoping to throw the former tyrant off balance, while the rest of the crew searches for the Reliant in the static of the nebula cloud. Eventually, the U.S.S. Enterprise is successful in fatally disabling the other starship. But Khan, in his desperate hunger for revenge, arms the Genesis torpedo, knowing full well that both ships will be destroyed upon its detonation. With the Enterprise doomed without warp power, Spock suddenly enters the starship’s radiation chamber to repair the warp drive. McCoy tries to stop the determined Vulcan, but Spock takes the upper hand and touches the doctor’s forehead cryptically, murmuring “Remember.” Just as the Genesis torpedo explodes, destroying Khan and the Reliant with it, the Enterprise zips into warp. The crew and ship have been spared, yet Spock, dying of severe radiation, has willingly given his own life.
With the Enterprise safely away, McCoy tells Kirk to come to the ship’s engine room. There, a stunned Kirk must bid an emotional farewell to his dearest friend. Kirk need not mourn, says Spock, for his sacrifice was logical. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one” he tells his captain. Spock dies, but in contrast to a new birth — the new living star and planet formed from the nebula and Genesis. A sullen and mournful funeral is held for Spock, and, accompanied by Scotty playing “Amazing Grace” on his bagpipes, Spock’s coffin is sent to rest upon the new planet.
With Khan defeated, David Marcus finally makes peace with his father. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise then go to Ceti Alpha V to pick up the abandoned Reliant crew, and the ship heads for Earth. Kirk, though saddened at the loss of his friend, is hopeful for the future, because as Spock once said, “there are always possibilities.”
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
As the U.S.S. Enterprise returns to spacedock for repairs following the battle with Khan in 2285, Kirk continues to mourn Spock’s death. McCoy suddenly enters the Vulcan’s sealed quarters, babbling incoherently. Upon reaching Earth, McCoy is hospitalized. Scotty is reassigned to the U.S.S. Excelsior and the newly formed Genesis Planet is decreed off-limits by Starfleet Command. Kirk is then informed that the U.S.S. Enterprise is to be decommissioned.
In Kirk’s quarters, Sarek, Spock’s father, confronts the Admiral, saying that Spock’s body should have been returned to Vulcan so that his katra could have been stored in an ancient Vulcan repository on Mount Seleya. Sarek tells Kirk that he must retrieve the coffin from the Genesis planet and, since Spock performed a last-minute Vulcan mind-meld with McCoy, thus transferring his “katra” or spirit, the doctor must also return to Vulcan.
However, Starfleet refuses to allow the antiquated U.S.S. Enterprise to leave spacedock. Released from the hospital and faced with this news, McCoy tries to hire a craft to go back to the Genesis planet. He then starts a brawl and is subsequently arrested, pending further psychiatric examination. The arrest proves futile, though, when McCoy escapes with the help of Kirk, Scott, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov. The crew then beams aboard the deserted U.S.S. Enterprise. To avoid pursuit, Scotty removes an integral engine part from the U.S.S. Excelsior and, knowing that they’ve all probably destroyed their careers, the six friends take the Enterprise out for one final voyage.
Meanwhile, the Klingons have learned of the new Genesis Device and planet, and fear that it could be a new Federation weapon. Lead by the treacherous Captain Kruge, the Klingons set out to either destroy or capture the valuable device.
On board the U.S.S. Grissom, David Marcus and Lt. Saavik arrive at the Genesis Planet for scientific observation. They quickly discover a lifeform reading coming from the surface. Intrigued, the two beam to the planet’s surface to find Spock’s empty coffin. Tracing the lifeform reading, the two then find the living body of a child-Spock, aging with erratic rapidity but lacking a consciousness or spirit.
Suddenly, the Klingons arrive, destroying the Grissom and taking Saavik, Marcus, and the young Spock prisoner. Shortly thereafter, the U.S.S. Enterprise arrives in the Mutara Sector and is crippled by Kruge and his Klingon cohorts. With the Klingons threatening the lives of their prisoners, Kirk tries a bluff to regain control of the situation, but is unsuccessful. David Marcus is killed by the Klingon landing party. Faced with no other choice, Kirk surrenders the Enterprise to the Klingons, yet in a last-ditch effort to gain the upper hand, activates the starship’s self-destruct mechanism. The small U.S.S. Enterprise crew then beams to the surface of the Genesis Planet, watching as their historic starship is destroyed in a streak of light, taking with it most of Kruge’s nefarious crew.
Kirk and party rescue Spock and Saavik from the Klingons and learn that an unstable element used in the Genesis Device threatens the stability of the planet, which is likely to explode within minutes. One factor of this instability, however, is the rejuvenating effect it had on Spock’s body. With the planet reaching critical mass, Spock finally achieves the age he was just before his death on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kruge, still alive on the Klingon Bird-of-Prey and angry at the death of his comrades, beams down to the planet. There, he fights one-on-one with Kirk, eventually falling to his death. The Enterprise crew, Saavik, and Spock then escape in the Bird-of-Prey, just as the planet violently explodes, a victim of its own dangerous growth.
Under Sarek’s diplomatic protection, the Klingon ship then speeds to Vulcan. Once there, the risky ceremony fal-tor-pan is performed, fusing Spock’s katra, which resides in McCoy’s mind, with the Vulcan’s body. With the ceremony seemingly successful, a revived Spock begins the long journey of remembering his past and his friends. He questions why the Enterprise crew risked their lives and careers to rescue him. As his friend Jim reminds him, sometimes the “needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many.”
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
In 2286, Kirk and company wait in self-imposed exile on Vulcan, monitoring Spock’s progress as he remembers his past. On Earth, the Federation Council is urged by the Klingon Ambassador to produce Kirk for trial for his actions against the Klingons on the Genesis Planet. Ambassador Sarek denies the request to permit Kirk’s extradition from Vulcan and defends Kirk before the Council. The council agrees, yet demands Kirk return to Earth to face his violation of nine Starfleet regulations. Caught between two different sides, Kirk finally decides to take the Klingon Bird-of-Prey to Earth to face the Council’s charges. Spock, still suffering slightly from his fal-tor-pan, decides he must accompany his captain.
The crew arrives to find Earth in turmoil, threatened by a deep space probe that has drained all power and is vaporizing the oceans, producing a worldwide cloud cover which begins to block the sun. Because of the enormous storms ravaging the entire planet, Starfleet warns all approaching spacecraft to keep their distance.
Spock manages to identify the probe’s unusual communication, which turns out to be a transmission to long-extinct humpback whales. When the probe’s signal is not answered, it increases its output, causing more clouds and even more storms. Kirk and crew, orbiting the doomed planet, decide that the only way to save Earth is to time-travel back to the twentieth century, when whales still existed, and return to the present with a pair of the mammals. With any luck, then the probe’s signal might be answered and Earth spared.
The crew, still piloting the Bird-of-Prey, use the slingshot effect to travel back in time. They pick up whale songs emanating from the West Coast of North America. They land the Klingon warbird in a San Francisco park, where thanks to its cloaking device, the ship is concealed from view. However, the time traveling damaged the ship’s valuable dilithium crystals. The small crew then splits up, with Uhura and Chekov assigned to locate an atomic reactor for photons to recharge the ship’s power, and McCoy, Scotty and Sulu ordered to create a tank in the cargo bay that will safely house a pair of whales.
Kirk and Spock, after a humorous trip through twentieth century San Francisco, locate Dr. Gillian Taylor and her mated pair of whales, George and Gracie. Due to cut-backs at the Maritime Cetacean Institute, where the whales are on exhibit, they are due to be released in the sea. Once there, Taylor fears the pair will be in danger from whale hunters. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with the whales, he learns that Gracie is pregnant. Kirk tries to convince the doctor that he’s from the future and that Starfleet will take good care of her whales, but Taylor is, understandably, incredulous.
Meanwhile, Chekov and Uhura have located enough photons from a reactor to complete their mission — from the U.S.S. Enterprise CVN 65 aircraft carrier, no less. Scotty, however, can’t beam both crew members back at once. Faced with a decision, Chekov sends Uhura up with the needed photon collector. Chekov is then captured and questioned by FBI agents. The Russian escapes, is chased by Marines, and eventually falls and ends up hospitalized, in critical condition.
McCoy and Scotty have concurrently arranged a trade for a large piece of Plexiglas to build a whale tank on board the Klingon ship.
Kirk finally is able to convince Gillian Taylor to help him, first in retrieving Chekov, then the whales. Joined by McCoy, the three pull off a wild rescue, springing Chekov from the hospital. With twenty-third century medical technology, McCoy is able to quickly repair Chekov’s otherwise fatal condition. Kirk says goodbye to Gillian, assuring her that her whales will be safe and, what’s more, will be saving the entire planet in the future. At the last second of Kirk’s transport, she throws her arms around him, transporting herself to ship along with the captain.
Using the radio frequency provided by Gillian, the crew locate the whales, now at sea. Just as they are about to transport George and Gracie on board the Klingon ship, a whaler ship comes into view, threatening the two mammals. The future of Earth at stake, the Bird-of-Prey valiantly fights off the whaler and beams up the whales, along with tons of water, to the prepared tank in their cargo bay.
Off the planet and en route to the Sun for the time-traveling slingshot maneuver, Spock makes his calculations and the ship is propelled to the twenty-third century. Arriving at Earth, the ship is rendered powerless by the probe and crash-lands in San Francisco Bay. Kirk then releases the whales and they answer the probe. Apparently satisfied, the probe retreats back into deep space once more.
With Earth safe and the storms gone, Kirk and his crew are brought before the Federation Council to be reprimanded for stealing and destroying the U.S.S. Enterprise in the rescue of Spock. Although Kirk disobeyed direct orders and violated numerous Federation laws, the Council praises the Admiral and his crew for saving Earth. And even though Kirk is “demoted” to Captain, he is given the only job he ever wanted — the command of a starship. And the ship he is given? A new U.S.S. Enterprise, registry NCC-1701-A.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
In 2287, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are enjoying shore leave on Earth at Yosemite National Park when suddenly their vacation is interrupted by an emergency call to duty by Starfleet Command. Kirk and his friends learn that the Klingon General Korrd, Romulan Caithlin Dar and Federation counsel St. John Talbot are being held hostage on the planet Nimbus III, the planet of galactic peace. The new U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-A warps to investigate the situation.
Meanwhile, on a nearby Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Captain Klaa learns of the mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the hated Kirk and sees an opportunity for advancement in the Klingon ranks. In an effort to intercept the U.S.S. Enterprise, he orders the ship to Nimbus III.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is the first to arrive at Nimbus III and Kirk sends a shuttlecraft and landing party to the planet’s only town. It is soon discovered that the town is held by a band of scruffy colonists led by a telepathic insane Vulcan, Sybok. In addition, the team learns that the hostage situation was just an elaborate ruse to obtain a Federation starship. Sybok believes that his destiny, the discovery of Sha Ka Ree, meaning “heaven” in Vulcan, has finally been fulfilled, but he needs a starship for transportation. Sybok forces the shuttlecraft to take his people to the U.S.S. Enterprise, where he fights with Kirk for control. Strangely, Spock has the opportunity to kill the insane Vulcan, yet he doesn’t. Forced to explain his actions, Spock reveals that Sybok is his half-brother, exiled from Vulcan for choosing emotion over logic. Family relations aside, Kirk and the rest of the crew are thrown in the starship’s brig.
Scotty finally helps Kirk, Spock and McCoy escape from the brig and sends an urgent message to Starfleet. But the message is intercepted by Vixis, Klaa’s first officer.
In an effort to gain valuable followers, Sybok uses his powers to reveal to McCoy and Spock their inner-most pain, then helps each “heal.” Kirk, however, refuses to allow the Vulcan to use his telepathic powers. Sybok is angered, yet he knows that he needs Kirk to pilot the Enterprise to “Sha Ka Ree,” and thus a reluctant truce is declared.
The starship then sets course for the center of the galaxy, a mythical planet bound by an energy field — the Great Barrier. Sybok and the captured crew are successful in penetrating the barrier, and find a small blue planet. Sybok takes a landing party to the planet’s surface, where he suddenly calls out to God. In a blinding flash of light, an entity appears, questioning him about the U.S.S. Enterprise. When Kirk asks why a god would need to ask such mundane questions, he is stricken down with bolts of electricity. McCoy brusquely tells Sybok that he has trouble believing in a god who enjoys inflicting pain.
This seems to affect Sybok, and the Vulcan slowly begins to doubt his own quest. Afraid that the entity might be let loose in the galaxy, Sybok tries to use his telepathic powers to make the creature realize its own pain. The two grapple and mysteriously disappear underground. Convinced that the entity must be destroyed at all costs, Kirk orders a photon torpedo be fired at the planet. The U.S.S. Enterprise transporter can only bring up two crewmen at a time, so Kirk sends McCoy and Spock. With Kirk left all alone on the planet’s surface, the enraged being suddenly appears and tries to destroy the Captain for ruining its plans of escape, via the starship, and subsequent galactic conquest.
Just then, Captain Klaa’s ship arrives and uncloaks to fire on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Spock demands that the first officer, General Korrd, pull rank and beam Kirk up to the Klingon warbird and fire upon the mysterious being. Spock transfers with Korrd to the Klingon ship in order to insure that his “suggestion” is carried out.
With Kirk saved and the evil entity destroyed, there is a reception on board the Enterprise to celebrate this unusual Klingon-Starfleet cooperation. Scotty and Korrd enjoy drinks while Klingons cautiously mingle with U.S.S. Enterprise crew. McCoy suggests that the Great Barrier is in place to keep the entity boxed in, not to keep others out, which implies an even greater being at work.
Having saved the galaxy yet again, the three officers return to their interrupted vacation at Yosemite.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Following the violent explosion of an energy production facility on the Klingon moon of Praxis, the collapse of the Klingon Empire is considered imminent. In 2293, the United Federation of Planets decides that this is the opportunity to finally negotiate a true, lasting peace with the Klingons. Chancellor Gorkon, the leader of the Klingon High Council, immediately heads towards Federation space for the proposed peace conference.
Captain Spock suggests that the U.S.S. Enterprise be Gorkon’s escort, forcing Kirk, who still harbours deep resentment for the brutal death of his son at the hands of the Klingons, to meet the Chancellor’s ship. The two ships rendezvous peacefully and are proceeding towards the conference when the U.S.S. Enterprise suddenly appears to fire on the Klingon ship and Federation-uniformed men beam to the ship and mortally wound Gorkon. After beaming over to the Klingon ship with Kirk to lend assistance, Dr. McCoy is unable to save Gorkon’s life. McCoy is arrested, along with Kirk, for the murder. After a quick trial before the Klingon High Council, the two men are sentenced to imprisonment on a Klingon penal colony. Unknown to the Klingons, however, is that prior to Kirk’s beam-out from the Enterprise, a quick-thinking Spock surreptitiously attached a homing patch to the back of Kirk’s uniform.
On Rura Penthe, the ice-cold Klingon penal planetoid, Kirk and McCoy meet a Chameloid, Martia, who approaches the pair with an escape plan. The proposed plan, however, turns out to be an elaborate ruse designed to lure Kirk and McCoy into the open, where they can be killed as escapees.
Arriving in the nick of time, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks Kirk’s homing signal and rescues the two officers just before they are killed by the colony’s nefarious prison warden. Safely aboard, Kirk and McCoy decide to avoid contact with Starfleet while they work to figure out what happened to the Klingon Chancellor’s ship and to identity Gorkon’s true killer. They are assisted in this investigation by Captain Hikaru Sulu, commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior.
Meanwhile, Gorkon’s daughter, Azetbur, works to continue her father’s plan of peace with the Federation, putting her life in serious danger. Learning of this, Kirk and Spock become convinced that there is an organized conspiracy behind the assassination intended to prevent the peace. They set a trap for the suspected conspirators on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, Lieutenant Valeris, a promising young Vulcan protégé of Spock’s is revealed to be one of the leaders of the dissident movement. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with Valeris, he finds that both Federation and Klingon conspirators are in league against the proposed peace.
The Federation ships proceed to the location of the conference, at Khitomer, but before landing parties are able to beam down both the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Excelsior are attacked by an invisible vessel, one capable of firing while remaining cloaked. The audio transmissions of the vessel identify it as Klingon General Chang’s Bird-of-Prey, an unknown prototype. Faced with an unstoppable new form of technology, the two starships sustain considerable damage. Racing against time, equipment on the U.S.S. Enterprise usually used for studying gaseous anomalies is fitted into a photon torpedo. Using some new technology of their own, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks the cloaked Bird-of-Prey and destroys it.
With the orbiting Klingon threat gone and Valeris apprehended, the U.S.S. Enterprise crew arrives at the peace talks just in time to prevent the planned assassination of the President of the United Federation of Planets. The conference continues, and the first steps are taken towards peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is recalled by Starfleet Command for decommissioning, but Kirk, in typical fashion, indulges himself and takes the ship out for one last voyage before passing the baton to a new generation of explorers destined “to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Star Trek Generations
A Champagne bottle tumbles through space, slowly drifting towards its intended target, the new U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B. It is late in the 23rd century, and the inauguration of the vessel is attended by crew from the former starship of the same name — James Kirk, Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov. Reporters and onlookers clamor to interview Kirk and the new U.S.S. Enterprise captain about commanding a starship, as the crew begins to embark on its routine maiden voyage. A short time into the flight, however, the starship receives a distress call and is diverted to aid two El-Aurian transport vessels which are caught in a strange, mysterious energy ribbon. Kirk, falling back on his old instincts, quickly finds that not only is the new captain inexperienced, but most of the ship’s vital weapons and functions have not yet been installed. While Kirk, Scott and Chekov struggle to save the ship, the transporter room beams aboard survivors, even as their El-Aurian transport vessels are torn apart by the energy ribbon.
Kirk goes below deck to work on the deflector relays, but the ribbon suddenly strikes the starship, tearing a large gash through the hull and leaving only debris where Kirk was working. Scotty and Chekov stare out into space, bewildered by the sudden loss of their friend.
Seventy-eight years later, in 2371, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D join together on the holodeck for a ceremony to promote Lt. Worf — a Klingon officer — to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The ceremony is conducted using a 19th-century sailing ship and corresponding uniforms. The merriment is suddenly interrupted, however, when Picard receives an urgent personal message. Suddenly depressed, Picard leaves the festivities to contemplate in privacy.
Meanwhile, officers Geordi La Forge and Data successfully install an emotion chip designed by Data’s creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, into the android. Although La Forge questions the wisdom of the installation as a potentially painful step in the growth of his friend, Data ignores him. After installing the chip, Data quickly discovers the vast array of emotions now available to him and believes he has the necessary skills to integrate them into his programming.
Sent to the Amargosa Observatory to investigate a distress call, the U.S.S. Enterprise finds two dead Romulans and five humans left alive after a mysterious and brutal attack. One of these survivors is a Dr. Tolian Soran. Data and La Forge later return to the starship’s laboratory and find traces of a volatile explosive which Soran has secretly concealed in the lab. While Data watches in abject terror, Soran kidnaps La Forge, taking him to a cloaked Klingon ship. When questioning La Forge proves unsuccessful, Soran releases the starship officer — after modifying his VISOR to transmit its signals back to the Klingon vessel.
Soran then fires a trilithium probe into the sun, which causes an incredible shock wave. The Klingon ship, on which he is a passenger, is commanded by the Klingon Duras sisters. In exchange for the formula for Soran’s trilithium explosive, they have agreed to take him to the planet Veridian III, where he wants to conduct another solar implosion.
On board the U.S.S. Enterprise, Picard learns that Soran is 300 years old and, like Guinan, a survivor of the El-Aurian incident that killed Captain Kirk. In an effort to understand what is happening, Picard finally goes to Guinan. She tells him that the energy ribbon, called the Nexus, is a temporal anomaly moving through space. To anyone or anything inside the Nexus, linear time has no meaning and a person can experience anything that he or she desires. There is an overpowering feeling of joy so addictive, that once there, no one wants to leave. Soran is desperate to return to the Nexus and recreate that joy with the family he lost when his world was assimilated by the Borg.
Picard, still depressed from his previous message, informs Troi of his family lineage and that he never intended to have any children because his brother had children who would carry on the Picard name. However, according to the message he received, his brother and nephew were killed in a fire on Earth. Therefore, Jean-Luc will now be the last Picard.
In Stellar Cartography, Picard and an emotionally troubled Data plot the course of the Nexus and the changes that have occurred since the sun was destroyed. They conclude that Soran plans to destroy another sun when the Nexus passes close to the Veridian system — killing as many as 230 million inhabitants on one of the system’s planets. Destroying the suns alters spacial forces, thereby changing the path of the Nexus. With the Veridian sun destroyed, the Nexus will then pass along the surface of Veridian III, allowing Soran to re-enter the phenomenon.
Picard, learning of the situation, beams down to Veridian III to try to dissuade Soran. In the meantime, La Forge has been returned to the U.S.S. Enterprise in exchange for Picard; the Duras sisters watch with great interest as La Forge moves about the ship. Finally they see what they’ve been waiting for — the U.S.S. Enterprise deflector shield modulation. Seizing this information, the cloaked Bird-of-Prey fires through the starship’s deflector shields, severely damaging the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, however, the U.S.S. Enterprise succeeds in destroying the Klingon warbird, killing all aboard. Unfortunately Soran has already beamed down to the planet Veridian III.
Due to damage sustained by the Klingon’s attack, the Enterprise suffers a warp-core breach and Riker orders the saucer section separated. Before he can get the saucer away safely, however, the battle section explodes, hurtling the saucer and its entire crew toward the surface of Veridian III. After a terrifying ride, the U.S.S. Enterprise saucer crash lands on the planet’s surface. Fortunately, most of the crew are uninjured.
Elsewhere on the planet’s surface, Picard and Soran fight to the death as the Nexus rapidly approaches. Soran manages to fire his trilithium probe into the sun, destroying it as the ribbon engulfs both men, taking them inside the Nexus. In their wake, the inhabitants of the Veridian system, as well as the survivors from the U.S.S. Enterprise, are engulfed in a giant cloud of fire.
For a time, Picard is bewildered but delighted to be spending Christmas with his large, happy family — a family he’s never had the time to start. But then, just as the captain gazes at a sparkling ornament, he is suddenly reminded that this experience is not real and that he must get on with his mission. Picard remembers that Guinan had told him he would find someone in the Nexus to help him defeat Soran. Just then, an “echo” of Guinan appears, telling Picard that he can have anything he wants in the Nexus, but that he can also leave — and he can leave prior to when he came. There might still be time to stop Soran’s destruction, but Picard believes he needs help if he’s to be successful.
With Guinan’s help, Picard finds a slightly puzzled but happy James T. Kirk in the Nexus. Kirk wasn’t killed 78 years earlier on the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B, but was drawn into the Nexus instead. Picard meets a content Kirk who is now a happy farmer in Iowa, complete with his life’s loves — “Antonia” and his horses. Picard is successful in convincing Kirk of the spurious nature of the Nexus realities, and he awakens Kirk’s taste for adventure, duty, and the chance to “make a difference again.” The two Enterprise captains leave the Nexus and materialize on Veridian III, just as Soran is preparing to set off his solar bomb. This time, Kirk grapples with Soran while Picard races to sabotages the probe.
Although Kirk wins the fight, knocking Soran off the edge of the cliff, the diabolical doctor manages to cloak the launch mechanism before Picard can disarm it. Yet Soran, hanging on for dear life at the end of a rope, loses control of the remote after the line suddenly gives. The remote control is thrown into the air, landing on a nearby bridge. Kirk races to recover the remote, as does Soran, who fires on Kirk and the bridge with his deadly disruptor. Although Kirk is saved in the nick of time by Picard, the bridge is broken in two, with the remote resting on the opposite portion across the void.
Picard urges Kirk to accept his help, yet Kirk, stubborn as always, goes after the remote himself. With the second half of the bridge about to give, Kirk jumps to the other side, escaping certain death by seconds. Just as the remote is about to fall into the chasm, Kirk miraculously grabs it out of thin air. With time running out and the Nexus fast approaching, Kirk decloaks the launch mechanism. Suddenly the second half of the bridge collapses into the chasm, carrying Kirk with it.
Picard, now able to see the mechanism, races to the controls. Yet his plans are seemingly cut short when Soran, frantic that he might miss his last chance at gaining access to the Nexus, aims his disruptor directly at the captain. Although Picard escapes, capitalizing on Soran’s distraction, the evil doctor doesn’t care. His moment of triumph is at hand. Soran’s smile slowly fades, however, when he realizes that Picard has secured the missile’s locking clamps; although about to ignite, the rocket will not launch.
The launch mechanism explodes into a giant fireball, killing Soran and preventing the destruction of the entire Veridian system. Picard runs to Kirk, where he stays until the former captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise dies. “It was fun…oh my.” are Kirk’s last words. After Picard has buried and mourned the loss of his new friend, a shuttlecraft from the U.S.S. Enterprise finds Picard and takes him to the ship’s crash site where survivors are being rescued by the U.S.S. Farragut.
Believing he has finally mastered human emotions, Data finds himself wrong when he and Counselor Troi manage to find the android’s cat amongst the Enterprise wreckage. Data, bewildered, is overcome with tears of joy. Riker is saddened as they leave the wrecked starship, but Picard assures him that this is not likely to be the last ship named “Enterprise.”
Star Trek First Contact
Captain Jean-Luc Picard awakens from a nightmare about his Borg assimilation experience to an incoming message from Admiral Hayes. Hayes informs Picard that Deep Space Five reported that a colony has been destroyed. Completing the Admiral’s sentence, Picard realizes who destroyed the colony — the Borg.
Picard calls a meeting and informs his senior officers that their ship has been instructed to patrol the Neutral Zone. Their orders are to protect the area from any possible Romulan uprising during a Borg attack. Despite protests from his officers, Picard remains faithful to his orders and the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E begins to patrol the area. Later, Picard regretfully tells Riker that it is his own fault they are stuck in the Neutral Zone. Starfleet believes Picard to be too emotionally involved with the Borg because of his previous assimilation to tactically complete a mission against them.
The men return to the bridge to learn that Starfleet has engaged in combat with the Borg. Intercepting messages between the starships, the crew learns that the Federation is losing. Picard, with his Borg experience, knows he can help the fleet. He informs his staff that he will make a decision directly in opposition to Starfleet commands. With no objections from his crew, Captain Picard gives the order and the starship Enterprise sets a course for Earth and the attacking Borg cube.
A massive battle ensues and it appears that the Federation will lose the fight. Despite serious structural damage to the Borg cube, their strength does not weaken. Even the U.S.S. Defiant, commanded by Worf, does not appear to be able to turn the tides of the battle. As the starship Defiant is about to ram the Borg ship on a suicide run, the U.S.S. Enterprise beams aboard its crew, including Worf. Picard, having an inside perspective of the Borg and their vessel, focuses the firepower of the fleet on coordinates he knows to be critical. Just as the main ship is destroyed, a spherical escape pod flies out. The sphere creates a temporal vortex, catching the starship Enterprise in its wake. Immune to the paradoxes created by the time travel, the starship’s crew learns that Earth at the present time appears to be inhabited entirely by the Borg. The commanding officers realize that the Borg have gone into the past and assimilated Earth, so they follow them back in time to repair the damage the Borg have done.
On Earth, over three centuries earlier, a somber Lily Sloane accompanies a stumbling, drunk Zefram Cochrane out of a bar after a night of revelry. Then, Lily notices a fast moving light. She hardly has time to ask what the object is, when the Borg vessel attacks. Back aboard the Enterprise, Picard demands that Data tell him the exact date and location the Borg ship is attacking. The location: central Montana. The date: April 4, 2063 — the day before First Contact. Realizing that the Borg have come to prevent first contact between alien life forms and humans, the crew knows they must stop the Borg and facilitate this exchange. They destroy the Borg sphere, and Dr. Crusher, Captain Picard, Commander Data, Commander Riker, Counselor Troi and other U.S.S. Enterprise crew transport down to Earth to survey the damage.
At the Borg attack site in Montana, the crew finds destruction and chaos. They split into groups to search for Cochrane. Data and Picard hunt for Cochrane’s warp ship, the Phoenix. There they encounter a very angry and confused Lily, who believes Data and Picard to be members of a coalition that broke the cease-fire after World War III. She shoots at them in a rage, but impervious to bullets, Data approaches Lily. Overcome by fear and radiation, she falls to the ground. Dr. Crusher diagnoses Lily with radiation sickness caused by the damaged Phoenix, and inoculates the entire crew. Against Picard’s better judgment, Crusher takes Lily to sickbay. Geordi is called to help repair the warp vessel and Picard becomes intrigued by its historical significance. In this vessel began the future as the world would know it, and the past as Picard remembers it. He reaches out to touch the ship. Data, curious about the human need for tactile reinforcement, attempts to create the same feelings he observes in Picard, but is unsuccessful in duplicating this aspect of humanity.
Aboard the ship, two crewmembers are sent to examine unexplained maintenance problems, and both disappear. Picard is called to the ship and discovers that the survivors from the Borg sphere have transported onto the ship and are taking over Deck 16. While Picard arranges teams to fight them, the Borg manipulate the climate of the deck to suit their needs and begin to spread throughout the ship. When the Borg attack sickbay, Crusher, her staff, and Lily escape through a Jeffries tube, thanks to a distraction by the ship’s Emergency Medical Hologram. While Crusher leads the group down the passageway, Lily steals away in a different direction.
On Earth, Riker finds Troi and Cochrane drunk in a bar. Troi justifies that the only way she could get Cochrane to talk to her was by shooting Tequila with him. Denying her drunken state, Troi offers her professional opinion on Cochrane. She explains, “He’s nuts.”
Picard and his team are tracking the Borg through the starship. As Crusher and her staff find Worf’s team, Picard’s team encounters the Borg, who have begun to assimilate U.S.S. Enterprise crewmembers. Worf’s team engages the Borg in combat, but the enemies adapt to the crew’s weapons too quickly to make any difference. The teams are ordered to regroup on Deck 15, but Data is captured. Picard cannot save him, so he quickly crawls into a Jeffries tube to escape. Face to face with Picard, Lily steals his phaser and demands an explanation and escape route. Picard agrees.
Geordi shows Cochrane the starship Enterprise through a large telescope on Earth and tries to convince him to launch his vessel the next morning. Geordi glorifies Cochrane by explaining that his ship will make first contact with alien life forms. Humanity will be saved if Cochrane launches his ship. Still drunk, Cochrane agrees.
Aboard the ship, the Borg Queen introduces herself to a bound Data, claiming that she is the Collective. Reactivating Data’s emotion chip, the Borg begin to graph organic, human skin onto the android’s arm. As Data is overcome by this new human sensation of touch, something he never thought possible, the Borg continue their work.
Lily and Picard wander through the service deck as the captain attempts to explain what has happened between Lily’s time and his own. She begins to calm down until they suddenly run into a Borg-infested area. Quickly escaping in the Holodeck, Picard activates a Dixon Hill program. At a dance, he and Lily try to blend in without being noticed by the Borg. Following the Holodeck’s story, Picard searches for Nicky the Nose and takes his machine gun. Killing the Borg with the gun, Picard retrieves the memory chip that contains all of the information the Borg has received. Lily then notices that the two dead Borg were once crewmembers of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Back on Earth, Cochrane keeps hearing what an amazing historical figure he is and begins to question whether or not he wants to go through with the launch. He doubts his own nobility and flees the launch site. Geordi and Riker attempt to catch up with Cochrane in the woods and are forced to stun him with a phaser to return him to the Phoenix.
Lily and Picard join the rest of the surviving crew and discover that the Borg are outside of the ship. The retrieved memory chip reveals that they are reconfiguring the main deflector in order to contact the Borg of this century, calling them to Earth to assimilate the planet. Picard, Worf and Lieutenant Hawk put on space suits and venture onto the surface of the starship to stop the Borg.
Aware of Data’s desire to become human, the Borg Queen offers him the chance to be entirely covered in human flesh and join the Borg, in an attempt to get the encryption codes from Data so she can obtain total control over the U.S.S. Enterprise. Outside the Enterprise, Hawk, Worf and Picard attempt to unlock the deflector dish. Attacked by a Borg, Worf’s suit begins to depressurize. Two Borg are killed and Hawk is attacked. As the dish is released, a now-assimilated Hawk attempts to kill Picard. Worf saves the captain, but Hawk is killed. Picard and Worf then destroy the free-floating deflector dish.
On Earth, Cochrane explains to Riker that his only motivation for inventing warp travel was money. He never expected to save mankind, become a hero, or be instrumental in the founding of a new civilization. He simply wanted to retire in peace.
An argument ensues aboard the Enterprise as the majority of the senior officers believe that they should evacuate the ship, destroying it and the Borg. Picard won’t give up, and insists they stay. Challenged by Worf, Picard orders him off the Bridge. Lily follows Picard into his ready room and demands that he explain his obsession with fighting the Borg. Picard declares he won’t sacrifice the starship, and swears to finally make the Borg pay for all they’ve done. Lily quietly and calmly compares Picard to Captain Ahab, forever fighting his white whale — the Borg. Realizing that this fight could only destroy himself and his crew, Picard decides to evacuate the ship. Worf, Picard and Crusher activate the ship’s self-destruct sequence. The countdown begins, and the crew leaves in escape pods. Picard surveys his ship and prepares to leave when he hears Data calling him.
Meanwhile , the earth-bound crew and Cochrane begin takeoff. Cochrane, Geordi and Riker take off in the Phoenix, and with music blaring, the three men launch successfully into orbit.
On the ship, Lily and Picard say good-bye and the captain goes to save Data. Entering Engineering, Picard confronts the Borg Queen, whom he knows from his experience with the Borg. The queen reminds Picard that it was not enough that he was assimilated, but that he needed to give himself freely to the Borg — she wished him to stand by her side as an equal to further the power of the Collective. Picard offers himself in exchange for Data, but the android does not comply. He refuses to leave, and at the queen’s command, disarms the self-destruct sequence. He quickly enters the encryption codes, offering full control of the Enterprise to the Borg.
As Cochrane’s ship nears warp, Data arms the U.S.S Enterprise’s weapons and aims them at the defenseless Phoenix. At the Borg Queen’s order, Data fires, but the missiles fail to hit the Phoenix. His deception of the Borg complete, Data smashes a conduit, releasing a gas that floods engineering, killing all organic material. As the Borg are destroyed, Picard climbs to safety and the Borg Queen falls into the deadly gas. With the Borg threat gone, Cochrane safely completes humanity’s first warp flight.
Celebrating the flight back on Earth that night, Cochrane and the Enterprise crew see an alien ship land nearby. The doors open, and Zefram Cochrane makes Earth’s first contact with an alien race — the Vulcans. Picard and his crew beam out, having witnessed this historic event, and the U.S.S Enterprise NCC 1701-E returns to the 24th century.
Star Trek Insurrection
While observing the peaceful Ba’ku people on their planet, Lieutenant Commander Data (on secondment to the duck blind mission there) appears to malfunction, revealing the hidden presence of the joint Federation and Son’a task force to the Ba’ku. Admiral Matthew Dougherty requests the help of the starship USS Enterprise-E to help capture or disable Data. Admiral Dougherty’s allies, the Son’a, are a decrepit race using various medical techniques to cheat death, repeated face lift surgeries giving them a mummified appearance. After stopping Data, USS Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard becomes suspicious of Dougherty’s insistence that the Enterprise is no longer needed, and his crew investigates the cause for Data’s malfunction. They discover that the Ba’ku are technologically advanced but have opted to live in harmony with nature. Due to unique radiation or “metaphasic particles” in their world’s rings, they are essentially immortal. The Enterprise crew also begins to experience the rejuvenation effects of the planet; La Forge finds his eyes have regenerated, and he no longer requires implants, William Riker and Deanna Troi rekindle their long-abandoned relationship, and Picard develops a romantic relationship with the Ba’ku woman Anij.
Picard and his team discover a cloaked Federation ship containing a gigantic holodeck recreating the Ba’ku village; Data’s malfunction was due to a Son’a attack when he previously discovered the vessel. Confronting Dougherty with his discovery, Picard learns Federation officers and the Son’a plan to relocate the Ba’ku on the ship while they collect the planet’s radiation to further Federation science, destroying the planet in the process. Dougherty orders Enterprise to leave, but Picard tells Riker to let the Federation know what is occurring while he and others beam down to the planet and evacuate the Ba’ku.
The Son’a send out robotic probes to tag and transport the fleeing Ba’ku, while their leader Ahdar Ru’afo convinces Dougherty to allow two Son’a ships to attack the Enterprise. Riker is able to narrowly stop their attack and escape. With their plan exposed, Ru’afo insists that they must begin to harvest the radiation immediately, only to have Picard deliver a revelation: the Son’a and the Ba’ku are the same race. The Son’a are a breakaway faction of younger Ba’ku who a century previously, wanted to give up their bucolic existence and re-embrace the use of technology. Tensions escalated until they attempted to take over the colony, but when they failed the elders exiled them from the planet and its regenerative radiation, dooming them to perish slowly. The Son’a have spent the past century since trying (and failing) to preserve their lives through artificial means. This accounts for their altered appearance and reckless attempt to harvest the radiation. Dougherty is killed by the Son’a when he refuses to allow Ru’afo’s scheme to continue.
Picard, Anij, and several Ba’ku are transported onto the Son’a ship. After convincing one of the Son’a, Gallatin, to help him, Picard masterminds a ruse to transport Ru’afo and the Son’a to the giant holoship, delaying the destructive metaphasic process. Ru’afo discovers the trick and transports to the Radiation Harvester ship to start it manually. Picard follows him and manages to activate the self-destruct, destroying the Harvester and killing Ru’afo. The remaining Son’a are welcomed back by the Ba’ku who forgive their actions; Picard arranges a meeting between Gallatin and his mother. The Enterprise crew take a moment to enjoy their rejuvenated selves before returning to their mission
Star Trek Nemesis
On Romulus, the senate is locked in heated debate. Romulus and her sister world Remus are divided, but the Reman leader, Shinzon, has a plan to unite them. Shinzon’s plan is rejected, and the senate moves on to other matters. A mysterious device sits on one desk … and suddenly opens, filling the senate chamber with a strange, green energy. Suddenly, light begins to fill the room and everyone inside groans with pain as their flesh decays. Within seconds, the entire senate is dead
Meanwhile, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is presiding over a particularly joyous event: a party celebrating the wedding of William Riker and Deanna Troi. As best man, Picard offers up a toast, and complains that everything around him is changing — Riker is leaving for his own command, the Titan, and Troi is joining him. Data will be taking over as first officer of the Enterprise. As everyone wishes the happy couple well, Data serenades them with a rendition of “Blue Skies.” Afterwards, the Enterprise heads to Betazed, where the crew will participate in a traditional Betazoid wedding (which makes Worf very nervous). En route, Worf notices a positronic signal emanating from the desert-like planet of Kolarus III. As only Dr. Soong-constructed androids like Data emit a positronic signal, Picard orders the ship to re-route for further investigation.
Data, Worf and Picard head down to the planet with the Argo, a shuttle with a special, dune buggy-like vehicle, in tow. They soon discover various android-like body parts, one of which is a head that looks remarkably like Data. Their mission is interrupted by the natives of Kolarus III, who chase the landing party back to the shuttle. Back on the ship, Geordi La Forge concludes that the android has similar internal mechanics as Data, but is not as developed. La Forge deduces that this one is a prototype. The head introduces himself as “B-4.” Hoping to aid B-4′s development, Data downloads his memory engrams into B-4′s matrix. B-4 doesn’t seem to be assimilating all of this new information, but La Forge suggests that Data merely give it some time.
Later on, Admiral Janeway orders Picard on a mission to Romulus. The new Praetor, a Reman named Shinzon, has requested a Federation envoy. On the way to Romulus, Data briefs the crew on the Remans, noting that due to high temperatures on one side of their home planet, they live on the dark side and avoid the sun. It is also noted that the Remans have a reputation as warriors — during the Dominion war, some of their troops were used as cannon fodder.
Once they arrive at the designated coordinates, the crew of the Enterprise is kept waiting for 17 hours. Finally, a massive battleship called the Scimitar uncloaks. Shinzon’s Viceroy tersely informs the crew of where they are to transport. Once inside the dark, shadowy vessel, the crew meets Shinzon — and he’s human. He also seems particularly interested in Troi, as he has never seen a human female before. Picard wants to know what this mysterious new Praetor wants, but Shinzon will only reveal that he desires peace and unity. Shinzon then raises the lights, and Picard is shocked to see a familiar face staring back at him. Shinzon reveals that he has a rare syndrome known as Shalaft’s Syndrome, then draws a knife and cuts himself. As he passes the knife to Data, Shinzon extends a dinner invitation to Picard.
Back on Enterprise, Dr. Crusher uses the blood from the knife to confirm the captain’s suspicious: Shinzon is a clone of Picard. The crew is mystified, however, as to why he exists.
Meanwhile, on Romulus, Shinzon’s Romulan supporters are growing impatient — they don’t understand what Picard and the Enterprise have to do with his plan. Shinzon merely tells them to have patience, then surreptitiously asks one of the Romulan commanders, Donatra, to keep an eye out for any treacherous action. Later on, Shinzon dines with Picard, and provides an explanation as to how he came to be. Apparently, there was a Romulan plot to replace Picard with a clone, but it was interrupted when Shinzon was only a child. The Romulans then sent him to work in the dilithium mines on Remus. It was there that Shinzon was taken in by one Reman in particular, the man who now serves as his Viceroy. Now, Shinzon says he only wants freedom for his Reman brothers. Picard doesn’t quite trust Shinzon yet, but says that he hopes to ? one day. Once Picard has left, the Viceroy reminds Shinzon not to forget their mission.
Back on Enterprise, Picard receives disturbing news. La Forge informs him that unauthorized access to the main computer has been detected. Also, while reviewing the sensor logs, La Forge noticed that when the Scimitar decloaked, the presence of thalaron was detected. Thalaron is a deadly form of radiation that was banned by the Federation — a microscopic amount has the ability to kill all living matter. Disturbed, Picard orders the crew to find a way to stop this deadly threat.
That night, newlyweds Troi and Riker are in bed together. Suddenly, Troi’s husband is no longer with her — he has been replaced by Shinzon! Somehow, he and the Viceroy are inside her mind. She manages to summon all of her strength and push him away, but remains shaken. Aboard the Scimitar, the Viceroy tells Shinzon that the bond has been broken. In Sickbay, Troi attempts to explain the attack to Picard and Crusher. Suddenly, Picard disappears and finds himself aboard the Scimitar, with Shinzon. The Picard clone has also transported B-4 to his ship — he was using the android to gain access to Starfleet information. As Shinzon takes a sample of Picard’s blood, he explains that his plan is to conquer the Federation, so the Remans may rule the entire galaxy. Shinzon informs Picard that the captain will not be alive to witness this triumph. Once Shinzon leaves, B-4 returns saying that the Praetor needs the prisoner. As they leave, it becomes clear that B-4 is actually Data, who has been feeding the Remans false information. They head for the shuttlebay. After a shoot-out with the Reman crew, they manage to steal a small ship, and head back to Enterprise via the only escape route — through the corridors of the ship. Enterprise beams Picard and Data aboard and jumps to warp.
On Enterprise, Dr. Crusher has managed to discover why Shinzon is after Picard. Because of the flawed cloning process used to create Shinzon, his cellular structure is now breaking down. Unless he receives a transfusion from Picard, he will die. Picard deduces that Shinzon will come for him. Meanwhile, Data must deactivate B-4 to prevent the latter from gathering any information for Shinzon.
Later on, La Forge briefs the crew on the Scimitar’s thalaron radiation weapon. Given the size and scope of the weapon, Picard deduces that Shinzon must have a particular target in mind — Earth. And there’s still no way to penetrate the ship’s cloak. The crew prepares for battle, determined that Shinzon will not be allowed to use this weapon, and Enterprise sets off to join the Fleet in Federation space. Data reports that the ship will be “blind” as it passes through the Bassen Rift. Picard orders evasive maneuvers, but it’s too late — Enterprise is fired on by the Scimitar, taking out the warp drive. In the midst of battle, Shinzon asks Picard to meet him in the captain’s ready room. Picard arrives to find a holographic Shinzon, who orders him to surrender. The captain tries to reach Shinzon, saying that the Praetor has the untapped potential to be a better man. Shinzon, however, says that he cannot fight what he is.
As the battle continues, Enterprise receives some surprise assistance from a pair of Romulan warbirds commanded by Donatra. The Scimitar engages the ships in battle, and Donatra’s warbird is soon disabled. At this point, Troi says that she may know of a way to locate the cloaked Scimitar. Using her mental link with the Viceroy, Troi is able to find the ship, and Enterprise manages to bring down the cloak. The Scimitar fires back, and Enterprise loses its shields. A furious Shinzon orders a Reman boarding party to bring him Picard. In response, a security team led by Worf and Riker sets out to stop them.
Picard uses all of Enterprise’s remaining power to ram the ship. Meanwhile, Riker finds and kills the Reman Viceroy.
The Scimitar begins to pull free, so Picard attempts to destroy Enterprise in a final, desperate maneuver. Auto-destruct, however, is off-line — and the thalaron weapon has begun to deploy. Grimly, Picard decides that there’s only one way to stop the weapon — he will beam over to the Scimitar. As soon as he does so, Data orders Troi to take command and heads for one of the damaged ends of Enterprise. La Forge lowers the force field, and Data launches himself out into space, towards the Scimitar.
On the Reman Bridge, Picard has managed to kill much of the crew and is locked in deadly hand-to-hand combat with Shinzon. Finally, he uses a spear-like piece of the ship to impale his clone. Shinzon forces himself along the spear until he is right next to Picard. With his dying breath, Shinzon tells Picard that their destiny is complete. Suddenly, Data appears. The android moves Shinzon’s body off of Picard and slaps an emergency transport device on his captain. Before Picard can protest, he has dematerialized. Data fires on the thalaron activation matrix, and the weapon explodes. From the Bridge, Picard and the Enterprise crew watch the explosion in horror, realizing that Data has sacrificed himself.
Later, the senior officers gather to remember their lost friend. Picard also wants to tell B-4 about his courageous brother, but the android still appears not to completely comprehend what has happened. As Picard is about to leave, B-4 softly sings to himself: “Never saw the sun … Never saw the sun …” In a moving moment, the captain realizes that B-4 is singing “Blue Skies,” the same song that Data serenaded the crew with not so long ago. Perhaps Data’s memory will live on after all.
Star Trek
In the year 2233 a Federation starship, USS Kelvin, investigates a “lightning storm” in space, which the crew soon realizes is a black hole. A massive vessel, the Narada, emerges, creating an alternate timeline. The Narada opens fire on the Kelvin, inflicting heavy damage. The Narada’s Romulan first officer, Ayel, hails the outmatched Kelvin and demands that its captain, Richard Robau, come aboard the Narada via shuttlecraft. Captain Robau agrees and hands command of the ship to his first officer, George Kirk. Robau orders Kirk to wait fifteen minutes for his signal and evacuate the ship if he doesn’t make contact.
Robau is taken to the Narada while the crew of the Kelvin monitors him. Ayel interrogates him first about a particular ship, which Robau does not recognize, and then about the whereabouts of Ambassador Spock, with whom Robau is also unfamiliar. The Narada’s captain, Nero, sits in the background, saying nothing. Upon citing the stardate, Robau is impaled with a teral’n, a pronged blade weapon, by Nero, and the display of his vital signs on the bridge of the Kelvin instantly flatlines; Robau is dead. Kirk orders the Kelvin to open fire. As the situation worsens and he realizes that the damage to the Kelvin is compromising the lives and safety of everyone aboard, he orders the crew to escape pods and shuttles, including his wife Winona, who is about to give birth.
Kirk tries to plot a collision course with the Narada, but autopilot navigation is offline; he will need to control the Kelvin himself. He orders his wife to leave on the shuttle without him. She protests, but Kirk knows that he has no choice but to stay behind and continue the attack in order to protect the others who are leaving on escape pods. On the shuttlecraft, Winona Kirk gives birth to a baby boy. As the Kelvin destroys the missiles aimed at the shuttles, Kirk can hear his newborn’s cries but realizes that he will never meet his son. Just before the Kelvin collides with the Romulan vessel, Kirk asks Winona what they should name their son. She suggests naming him after George’s father, but he laughs the suggestion off and says that “Tiberius” isn’t much of a first name. They decide to name him “Jim,” after Winona’s father. Communication is cut off as the Kelvin smashes into the Narada, crippling it briefly and giving the shuttles time to escape.
Approximately ten years later on Earth, in Iowa, a young boy recklessly drives his stepfather’s antique Corvette. The stepfather calls the young boy on a built-in phone to warn him against getting even one scratch on the car. The boy ignores this warning and drives down the road blasting 20th century music, passing his older brother Johnny while honking the horn to get his attention. As a policeman on a flying motorcycle tells the boy to pull over, he panics and turns onto a road leading to a stone quarry. He jumps out of the car moments before it slides over the edge. When the policeman asks the boy his name, the boy defiantly says “My name is James Tiberius Kirk.”
Meanwhile, on Vulcan, a young Spock is being tormented by bullies who tease him about his mixed heritage, calling his Vulcan father a traitor for marrying his human mother. The three have previously failed to evoke an emotional response in Spock by stirring his human side, but this time they take it too far, calling his mother a “human whore.” Their plan backfires, and Spock knocks one of the older boys into a learning pod and beats him in an emotional rage. He is later admonished by his father, Sarek, who is disappointed at his son’s lack of emotional control and tells him that he has a path to choose and that only he can make the decision.
Several years later, Spock is conflicted about whether he should participate in the kolinahr, the Vulcan ritual aimed at purging all emotions. He talks to his mother, Amanda Grayson, about it, and she says that she will always be proud of him, no matter what he decides. Later, Spock stands before the Vulcan high council. The chairman comments on Spock’s perfect record in his attempt to gain entry to the Vulcan Science Academy, saying that his only flaw is that he also applied to Starfleet Academy. Spock explains it was logical to explore all options, which the others agree was logical but unnecessary. They accept him into the Vulcan Science Academy despite his “disadvantage” of being half human. Upon hearing this, Spock declines the appointment and states that he will enter Starfleet Academy instead. Commenting on the fact that he is the first Vulcan to reject an appointment to the Vulcan Science Academy, he sardonically tells the committee that their record is still perfect since he is, in fact, part human.
Meanwhile, in a bar in Iowa, a young Nyota Uhura meets up with some friends. As they order drinks, James Kirk, somewhat inebriated, introduces himself to her and offers to buy her a drink. He unsuccessfully tries to determine her first name and flirts with her, even though she is not very interested. Kirk reveals he is intelligent, but another Starfleet recruit has concerns for Uhura. He and three other recruits get into a fight with Kirk and beat him up before a senior officer, Captain Christopher Pike, enters the bar and ends the fight. Pike sits down with Kirk and tells him that his own dissertation was on the USS Kelvin, Kirk’s father’s ship. Pike attempts to talk some sense into the rebellious young man and to persuade him to join Starfleet, firmly believing that he can do more with himself than be “the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest.” Kirk does not want to hear it and laughs at the idea of joining Starfleet. However, Pike reminds him that his father saved 800 others in just 12 minutes of command, and challenges Kirk to do better. Pike also predicts that Kirk could attain the rank of captain and have his own ship in only four years.
Early the next day, Kirk heads to Riverside Shipyard, where the USS Enterprise is being built, and thinks about what Capt. Pike told him. He makes the decision to join Starfleet. Pike is surprised to see Kirk turn up to join the new recruits. Giving his motorbike away to the first person who compliments it, Kirk passes Pike, saying, “Four years? I’ll do it in three.” He boards the recruit shuttle, surprising Uhura and the recruits whom he fought with the night before. Another man, Leonard McCoy, also boards the shuttlecraft. Sitting next to Kirk, the somewhat nervous doctor starts ranting about what could physically happen to them should anything go wrong with the shuttle’s systems. Kirk is amused and tries to remind him that Starfleet works in space. McCoy explains that he has nowhere else to go; having lost everything he had in a divorce, the only things he has left are his “bones.” The two become instant friends.
Three years later, the Narada is waiting in a remote part of space. Nero, who has lost part of his right ear since his arrival in the past, is called to the bridge by Ayel. Suddenly, a temporal disturbance (another black hole similar to the one the Narada appeared from in the past) appears and a small starship, the Jellyfish, flies out. Nero recognizes the ship, welcomes the appearance of Ambassador Spock, and orders the ship to be captured.
Meanwhile, at Starfleet Academy, Kirk is telling McCoy that he is taking the Kobayashi Maru test again the next day, and is certain he will pass it this time. McCoy is shocked — nobody passes it, and nobody even repeats it, much less takes it a third time, as Kirk is about to do. Kirk then leaves to “study,” which actually involves sexual foreplay with an Orion cadet named Gaila in her dorm room. Suddenly, Gaila’s roommate enters, and Kirk hides under the bed. Her roommate is Uhura, who talks about a message she decoded about a giant spaceship destroying dozens of Klingon warships in Klingon space. Uhura then hears someone under the bed and outs him. Angry that her roommate brought yet another guy to their room, and even angrier that it’s Kirk, she kicks him out.
The next day, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and a few other Starfleet recruits are in the simulator room, undergoing the Kobayashi Maru test on Kirk’s third attempt. Kirk takes a comically casual approach to the test, much to everyone’s bewilderment. Everything goes as planned when, unexpectedly, the power systems momentarily fail, the attacking Klingon ships’ shields go down, and they are promptly destroyed. From the viewpoint above the simulator room, a technician asks an officer how Kirk was able to beat this test. The officer turns, revealing himself to be Spock.
During an official inquiry, the Starfleet Academy brass informs Kirk that they have received evidence that Kirk entered a subroutine into the computer making it possible for him to win in the simulation, and accuse him of cheating. While Kirk faces his accuser, Spock, and tries to defend himself, stating that “no-win” scenarios are a ludicrous training tool. Spock counters that it’s a test of character, not of tactical ability. The hearing is suddenly interrupted when the committee is informed that the Federation has received a distress call from Vulcan. With the primary fleet occupied in the Laurentian system, Starfleet is forced to commission the Academy cadets and dispatch ships immediately to begin a rescue mission.
Cadets are assigned to ships based on their aptitude, with the most capable cadets assigned to the USS Enterprise, a ship completed so recently that it hasn’t even been christened yet. Uhura is initially assigned to the USS Farragut, but complains directly to Spock, citing her numerous commendations and recommendations (many from Spock himself) and insisting she has earned an assignment to the USS Enterprise. Spock replies that he wanted to “avoid the appearance of favouritism,” but ultimately relents and re-assigns Uhura to the Enterprise. Kirk has been grounded pending a ruling on his inquiry, and is not allowed to board the shuttles and join the mission. However, McCoy takes him to the medical bay and injects him with a vaccine, making him temporarily ill. Consequently, he is allowed to take Kirk up to the Enterprise on medical grounds.
The Enterprise leaves for Vulcan, but not before helmsman Hikaru Sulu, standing in for Ensign McKenna, who is ill, disengages the external inertial dampener, which had been preventing them from going to warp. Pavel Chekov uses the comm system to inform the crew about their first mission. There is a massive lightning storm above Vulcan’s upper atmosphere, followed by strange planet-wide seismic disturbances. Their orders are to investigate the seismic disturbance, and aid in evacuation of the planet if necessary. After hearing the announcement, Kirk suddenly recognizes the “lightning storm” detected near Vulcan as exactly the same occurrence the Kelvin encountered two decades earlier. Realizing that they are running straight into a Romulan trap, Kirk rushes through the ship to Uhura, despite suffering a bad reaction to the vaccine McCoy gave him: big, swollen hands and a numb tongue. He asks her about the Klingon distress call she deciphered earlier, and she confirms that the attackers were Romulan.
Kirk then rushes to the bridge to inform Captain Pike. Pike is at first sceptical, but after hearing about the call Uhura picked up, Spock concludes that Kirk’s logic is correct. Uhura is stationed at the communications console on the bridge as, unlike assigned communications officer Hawkins, she can distinguish Romulan from Vulcan. As they disengage warp drive, the Enterprise finds itself in a debris field — it’s the remains of the seven Starfleet ships which arrived shortly before they did and were immediately destroyed by the Narada. With Pike’s direction, Sulu is able to navigate through the debris with minimal damage. The Narada attacks the Enterprise, which takes heavy damage on the first volley of torpedoes, destroying the sickbay and reducing shields to 32%. Just as they are about to fire again, Nero realizes which ship he is firing at and orders a halt.
He hails the Enterprise and identifies himself. Pike, seeing a Romulan, accuses him of an act of war, but Nero says he is a renegade from the Romulan Star Empire. He pointedly greets a confused Spock and orders Pike to come aboard via shuttlecraft, just as he ordered Robau to do years before. Pike asks if there are any hand-to-hand combat-trained officers on the bridge. Sulu volunteers. Pike gathers Sulu, Spock and Kirk and heads for the shuttle bay.
Pike promotes Spock to captain and puts him in charge of the Enterprise. He also commissions Kirk, naming him first officer, much to Spock’s chagrin. Pike outlines his plan to do two things at once: from the shuttle en route to the Narada he will drop Kirk, Sulu and chief engineer Olsen into an orbital skydive. They will land on Narada’s drill platform, which is deployed into the Vulcan atmosphere and is drilling a massive shaft to the core of Vulcan, causing the seismic disturbances that prompted the original distress signal. The drilling beam also blocks any communication with the planet, as well as transporter beams. They will disable the drilling beam and then contact Starfleet to inform them of the incident. If all else fails, they are to fall back to the primary fleet at the Laurentian system. If Pike doesn’t come back, they will also need to rescue him.
Spock returns to the bridge and checks in on sickbay. He is surprised to hear Dr. McCoy instead of Dr. Puri, the chief medical officer, who was killed in the attack. Spock formally names McCoy chief medical officer, a job McCoy had already assumed as he works in the sickbay, heavily damaged and inundated with casualties.
Pike arrives on the Narada as Sulu, Kirk, and Olsen begin their descent. Sulu opens his parachute first, followed by Kirk. An over-enthusiastic Olsen, wearing a red space suit, waits too long to activate his parachute, falls under the drill, and is immediately incinerated by the beam. Kirk lands safely on the platform and proceeds to fight the first Romulan who attacks him. He reaches for his phaser pistol, but the Romulan quickly knocks it out of his hand, forcing Kirk to use his helmet as a weapon. As Sulu approaches the platform, a second Romulan with a disruptor rifle emerges, and Kirk grapples with him. The resulting disruptor fire shoots holes in Sulu’s chute, and he too nearly falls victim to the drill’s beam. He uses the parachute’s repacking mechanism to pull himself onto the platform, then uses his retractable sword to cut it off to avoid being pulled onto a flame vent and incinerated. Sulu engages one Romulan in blade combat while the other goes hand-to-hand against Kirk, who is knocked over and left hanging on the edge of the drillhead. Sulu knocks his adversary onto a vent, killing him. He then stabs the other one with his sword and pulls Kirk to safety. Olsen had the explosives they were going to use to destroy the platform, so they take the Romulans’ disruptor rifles and fire on the drill, disabling it.
Ayel reports the drill’s incapacitation, but tells Nero that the shaft had reached Vulcan’s core. Nero orders the release of a tiny amount of “red matter” and the return of the drill. Chekov discovers what the red matter is doing: creating a black hole in the middle of the planet. Vulcan will be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Just as Kirk and Sulu are to be beamed off, the drill shifts and Sulu falls. Kirk jumps after him. Catching up, Kirk activates his parachute but, unable to support the weight of two people, it snaps off. The Enterprise can’t get a transporter lock on moving targets, so Chekov races to the transporter room and mathematically works out how to do it. The two officers are rescued just before they hit solid rock and arrive on the Enterprise’s transporter pad.
Right after Kirk and Sulu are beamed aboard, Spock beams down to save the Vulcan Council, which includes his parents Sarek and Amanda. They were taking refuge in a cave which they could not simply beam through. Several of the elders in the Council are killed by falling rocks and statues, but Spock gets five of them to safety, including his parents. As the transporter is about to pick them up, the rock ledge his mother is standing on collapses, causing the transporter to miss her. Spock stands on the Enterprise transporter pad in shock, having lost his mother.
The Enterprise crew watch in horror as Vulcan implodes into oblivion. Spock records his log entry, stating that over six billion Vulcans perished, and only around 10,000 remain. He notes he is now “a member of an endangered species.” Pike, still a prisoner of the Romulans, is officially listed as the hostage of a war criminal. Nero asks Pike for the security codes to defence systems around Earth, but Pike refuses to give them to him, disgusted by Nero’s act of genocide on Vulcan. Nero speaks about how the Narada, in his time, was a mining ship, and he was labouring to support his wife, who was expecting his child until she died in the destruction of Romulus. Nero placed blame on the Federation for doing nothing to save his planet, and accused Spock of betraying them, promising himself retribution. Pike pleads that Romulus still exists, but Nero only knows that his world, the Romulus of the future, was destroyed, and he intends to destroy every world of the Federation so that others will know his pain. Forcing a Centaurian slug down Pike’s throat to coerce Pike to reveal the security codes, Nero orders the Narada to continue to Earth.
Spock, in command of the Enterprise, leads the bridge crew in trying to understand what happened. They have determined that the Narada is heading for Earth. Based on their red matter black hole technology, Spock reasons that the Narada must have travelled back in time from the future. He asserts that the Enterprise must regroup with the fleet, but Kirk says that in order to stop Nero they must go after him first. Kirk believes that any delayed action will result in Earth being destroyed. An argument ensues which ends in Spock ordering Kirk’s removal from the bridge, but Kirk fights off his security escort. Spock ends it by delivering the Vulcan nerve pinch to Kirk and ordering him placed in an escape pod. The pod is launched and Kirk awakens to find himself on a snow-covered world known as Delta Vega, another planet in Vulcan’s system. Picking up his gear, Kirk heads for the Starfleet station 14 kilometres away. He is chased down by a polarilla, which in turn is attacked by an even larger insectoid animal. It chases Kirk into a cave, and when it finally attaches a tendril to catch him, it is spooked off by an elderly man wielding a lit torch. The man reveals himself to be Spock, Kirk’s old friend, but the latter is sceptical.
Spock mind-melds with Kirk to make Kirk understand why he is there. He explains that 129 years in the future, in the year 2387, the impending supernova of the star Hobus threatened to destroy the home worlds of the Romulan Star Empire and throw off the political balance of the galaxy. Spock developed a stockpile of red matter, a substance that can be ignited to form a singularity — a black hole capable of absorbing the matter of a supernova. However, while he was en route, the star exploded much earlier than he’d predicted and Romulus was destroyed. Spock launched the red matter from his ship, the Jellyfish, to prevent further destruction to the galaxy. Immediately, Spock was confronted by a surviving Romulan mining vessel, the Narada, captained by Nero. Spock tried to escape, but fed by the mass of the supernova, the resultant black hole captured both the Jellyfish and the Narada, creating a disturbance in the space-time continuum which sent both ships into the past. The Narada exited over 150 years in the past, where it confronted the Kelvin. Spock’s ship entered moments later, but what appeared moments to him was 25 years for the Narada. Nero captured Spock’s ship when it finally appeared but kept Spock alive, marooning him on Delta Vega, so that he could witness the destruction of his own home planet, Vulcan, just as Nero had to witness the destruction of Romulus. Kirk explains he was left on the planet by the Spock he knows, who is in command of the Enterprise. The elder Spock is surprised, knowing that Kirk should be in command of the ship. It is then that Spock realizes that when Nero exited the wormhole and confronted the Kelvin, he altered history and created an alternate reality.
Kirk asks Spock whether his father survived in the original timeline. Spock confirms that George Kirk saw his son take command of the Enterprise. Spock leads Kirk to the Starfleet base where they meet this timeline’s Montgomery Scott: an engineering genius who was also exiled to Delta Vega along with his alien assistant, Keenser, after beaming Admiral Archer’s beagle to an unknown location during a transporter experiment. Spock informs Kirk that he must relieve the Vulcan’s younger self of command by provoking him and showing everyone that Spock is too personally and emotionally compromised as a result of Vulcan’s destruction and the loss of his mother to lead the mission and command the ship. Giving Scotty the mathematical formula for transwarp beaming, an operation originally devised by the older Scott, Spock sends Kirk and Scotty to the Enterprise. After rescuing Scotty from the Enterprise’s coolant system, the two are spotted and almost immediately captured by security personnel, led by the guy who got into a bar fight with Kirk three years previously.
They are taken to the bridge where an astounded Spock demands to know how the two were able to transport on board the ship while it was in warp. Kirk refuses to answer and recommends that Scotty do the same. He asks why Spock doesn’t feel any anger or have any emotion over the destruction of his planet and the death of his mother, who was murdered. Kirk keeps pushing and provoking Spock until he finally snaps and starts beating Kirk, strangling him to the point of nearly killing him, before he is stopped by Sarek. Realizing how far he has gone, Spock relieves himself of duty and leaves the bridge. Kirk assumes command.
Following his outburst, Spock returns to the transporter room, where Sarek talks to him. Spock feels a rage he cannot control over the death of his mother. Sarek says that his mother would have said not to bother controlling it, and admits that he married Amanda because he loved her. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Chekov devises a plan to get the Enterprise close to the Narada without the Romulans detecting them: they can follow the Narada and stop at Saturn’s system, remaining undetected in the shelter of its magnetic field. Spock returns and endorses the logic of Chekov’s plan. He offers to beam over to the Narada to get the black hole device and save Earth, the only home he has left. Kirk says he will go as well, to rescue Pike.
The Romulan ship deploys its drilling rig directly over San Francisco and begins to drill its hole near the Golden Gate Bridge. Warping into Titan’s atmosphere, the Enterprise indeed remains undetected, and Kirk and Spock beam over to the Romulan ship — Scotty thought he would be beaming them to a remote and empty part of the ship, but it turns out to be an occupied portion. After a brief firefight, Spock uncovers the location of the black hole device and Captain Pike by melding with an unconscious Romulan. When they board the Jellyfish, it recognizes Spock as its captain. The Vulcan finally figures out what’s going on when the ship’s computer confirms its stardate origin as 2387. As Spock aboard the Jellyfish blasts his way out of the Narada, Kirk runs into more trouble when he finds the Romulans’ bridge, where Nero and Ayel are waiting. Spock destroys the drilling rig before it can reach Earth’s core, then goes to warp, and Nero orders pursuit. Kirk manages to gain control of Ayel’s disruptor during a brief fight and kills him. He heads off to rescue Pike.
The ships drop out of warp and the Jellyfish turns to intercept and collide with the Narada. Nero orders all weapons to be fired, even though the ship still has red matter aboard; with his plan for revenge ruined, now he only wants to kill Spock. The Enterprise arrives on the scene and destroys the missiles, allowing Spock to carry through with his plan to collide with the Narada. Inside the Narada, Kirk finds Pike, alive but injured due to his earlier torture. Scotty beams Kirk, Pike and Spock from their different locations right before the Jellyfish collides with the interior hull of the Narada and explodes.
The explosion of the Jellyfish ignites the entire stockpile of red matter on board, creating another black hole. Kirk offers to rescue the Narada but Nero refuses, saying he’d rather watch Romulus die a thousand times than accept his help. Kirk orders the Enterprise to open fire, blowing the ship apart with phasers and photon torpedoes. The Narada is finally destroyed, but the gravitational pull of the black hole begins tugging on the Enterprise, keeping it from escaping, even with its engines running at warp speed. In a last-ditch effort, Scotty ejects the warp core and detonates it near the black hole. The resulting explosion pushes the Enterprise to safety, and the black hole implodes.
On Earth, Kirk is commended and given command of the Enterprise. He relieves Pike, who has been promoted to Admiral and is now in a wheelchair. The elder Spock meets with his younger self and tells him that he helped Kirk directly so the two would form a friendship. The older Spock raises his hand in the familiar live-long-and-prosper gesture, but notes that the unusual circumstances do not lend themselves to the famous greeting of the original series, so he simply wishes his younger self “Good luck.” As the elder Spock leaves to help the remaining Vulcans establish a colony, the younger Spock returns to the Enterprise and asks Kirk if he can serve as his first officer, to which Captain Kirk agrees and the Enterprise warps away.
Star Trek Into Darkness
The USS Enterprise is sent to observe Planet Nibiru, finding a volcano on the verge of erupting and wiping out its primitive inhabitants. During a mission to halt the eruption, first officer Spock’s life is jeopardized, forcing Kirk to break the “Prime Directive”, revealing the Enterprise to the planet’s civilization during Spock’s rescue. A number of indigenous people begin to worship the ship as it leaves. Called back to Earth, Kirk is demoted to First Officer and Admiral Pike re-assumes command of the Enterprise. Shortly afterward, Starfleet agent John Harrison bombs a secret “Section 31″ installation in London. Pike and his first officer attend an emergency meeting of high ranking officers at Starfleet headquarters. The meeting is attacked by a gunship piloted by Harrison. Kirk takes the gunship down, but Harrison escapes and Pike dies.
After Pike’s funeral, Fleet Admiral Marcus authorizes Kirk to hunt down Harrison, who has fled to the Klingon homeworld of Qo’noS. Since Qo’noS lies deep in Klingon territory and Starfleet is on the brink of war with the Klingon Empire, the Enterprise is supplied with 72 long-range prototypephoton torpedoes, and is ordered to fire them all at Harrison’s location once he is found. Believing the torpedoes could be dangerous to the ship,Montgomery “Scotty” Scott refuses to take them aboard and tenders his resignation, whereupon Pavel Chekov is promoted to Chief Engineer. Admiral Marcus’ daughter, scientist Carol Marcus, joins the crew under a false identity.
Arriving at the Klingon homeworld, Enterprise’s warp core malfunctions, stranding the ship. With repairs underway, Kirk, Spock and Uhura use a previously commandeered trader ship to reach Qo’noS. However, they are detected by Klingon patrol ships and are forced to land. Despite Uhura’s attempts to negotiate, the Klingons prepare to kill the trio. A mysterious figure wipes out the Klingons, then reveals himself to be Harrison. Harrison confronts the landing party, but surrenders after learning the precise number of photon torpedoes aimed at him.
Returning to Enterprise, Harrison reveals his real identity: Khan, a genetically augmented superhuman, who has been in cryo sleep for 300 years after his unsuccessful war to have his superhuman comrades rule the Earth. He advises Kirk to examine the 72 prototype torpedoes and also tells him a set of spatial coordinates. Kirk orders Doctor McCoy to examine the torpedoes, and contacts Scotty on Earth to check the coordinates. The torpedoes are found to each contain a genetically-engineered human in cryo sleep – the remaining members of Khan’s colleagues. Khan explains that Admiral Marcus awakened him to use his superior intellect and savagery to develop advanced weapons for a war with the Klingons, keeping his colleagues as hostages. Kirk realizes that the Enterprise warp core had been sabotaged on Marcus’ orders, making the covert operation to kill Khan a one-way ticket.
Scotty arrives at the coordinates and finds a secret Starfleet shipyard, which he infiltrates. The Enterprise’s warp core is repaired, but the ship is soon confronted by an unregistered Federation battleship, the USS Vengeance – a massive vessel built for combat which dwarfs the Enterprise. Admiral Marcus reveals himself as the commander of Vengeance, demanding Kirk hand over Khan. Kirk refuses, and Enterprise warps toward Earth, to have Khan stand trial.
Enterprise is attacked by Vengeance in Earth’s orbit. With Enterprise is severely damaged, Kirk offers to hand over Khan and the 72 bodies in cryo sleep in exchange for the lives of his crew. Admiral Marcus refuses, beams his daughter to Vengeance, and orders the destruction of Enterprise—when Vengeance suddenly suffers complete power outage, caused by Scotty who had boarded the ship at the secret shipyard. As the Enterpriseweapons are too damaged to continue the fight, and knowing that Khan was the designer of Vengeance, Kirk allies himself with Khan and boards the ship. They reunite with Scotty and take the bridge. Meanwhile, Spock contacts Spock Prime to learn of Khan’s history and how to defeat him. Khan betrays Kirk and takes control of Vengeance, killing Admiral Marcus. Khan negotiates with Spock, beaming Kirk and his boarding party back to the Enterprise in exchange for the 72 cryo torpedoes.
Khan plans to destroy Enterprise, but Spock reveals that real – and armed – torpedoes were beamed to Vengeance, keeping the cryo pods on Enterprise. The torpedoes detonate, incapacitatingVengeance and enraging Khan, believing his 72 colleagues have been killed. Both ships start descending towards Earth’s surface. The crew of the Enterprise manage to halt their ship’s descent, as Kirk sacrifices his life to re-align the warp core, dying from radiation poisoning. Vengeance crashes into downtown San Francisco. Having survived the crash, Khan tries to escape in the chaos, but is pursued by Spock. McCoy discovers that Khan’s blood may reanimate Kirk and – at the last possible moment – Uhura prevents Spock from killing Khan, capturing him instead.
Kirk is revived and returns to duty as Captain of Enterprise. Khan is sealed into his cryo pod and stored away with the rest of his crew. As the film ends, the Enterprise is re-christened and departs for a 5-year mission of exploration.
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