Star Trek: Bridge Commander - Storyline

Storyline

The USS Dauntless is in orbit of planet, Vesuvi III. Her captain Robert Wright, is piloting a shuttle to a research station orbiting the planet when the star goes supernova, destroying the planet, killing the captain, and severely damaging the Dauntless. After several months of repairs and refits, the Dauntless ' first officer becomes her new captain, and after a brief resupply mission to the surviving Vesuvi colonies, an investigation into the star's destruction begins.

The Dauntless crew is given the USS Sovereign, the USS Enterprise-E's sister ship, for the investigation. Additionally, Lieutenant Commander Data from the Enterprise is temporarily assigned to the Sovereign to assist in the investigation. Initial hostilities with the Romulans briefly lead the crew to suspect them as the culprits, but further evidence reveals a renegade faction of Cardassians are responsible. They are led by Legate Matan, the game's central villain.

Matan is assisted by a new race of aliens called the Kessok, whom Matan exploited and lied to in order to gain their cooperation. While searching for the technology that destroyed the Vesuvi star in the Alioth system, the Sovereign is ambushed and forced to leave Data behind on the surface of the system's sixth planet.

The revelation of the Cardassians' responsibility for the destruction of the Vesuvi star leads to a full scale war between the Federation and Matan's faction. The Federation is at first at a disadvantage having underestimated Matan's forces; however, they are able to repel an offensive against Starbase 12 and destroy Litvok Nor, a Cardassian space station identical to Deep Space 9, and rescue Data. Additionally a Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance is formed to put an end to the war in the game's final missions.

Shortly after Data's rescue and the formation of the alliance, the Sovereign is ordered to destroy the remaining Kessok technology that destroyed the Vesuvi star. During an encounter with a Kessok Heavy Cruiser, which makes no hostile movements and is unshielded, the player is presented with a choice: destroy the Kessok ship and the remaining device, or hail it. If the player fires on the Kessok ship, two smaller vessels will de-cloak and assist the heavy cruiser. The final mission will also be more difficult as the Kessok forces will initially side with the Cardassians. Hailing the vessel will open a dialog with the Kessok and reveal the Cardassians' exploitation of them.

The game's final mission involves destroying the remaining Kessok device in the custody of Matan before he can use it to destroy a newly founded Kessok colony. The final confrontation with Matan occurs near the star of the Omega Draconis system. The game ends with Matan's ship falling into the star and the beginnings of formal diplomatic relations with the Kessok. Captain Picard wishes the player good luck on his journeys, and the Sovereign warps away.