A Taste of Armageddon - Plot

Plot

On stardate 3192.1, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is en route to Eminiar VII, to open diplomatic relations with the inhabitants there. On board is Ambassador Robert Fox, who has been sent to lead the talks and to establish diplomatic relations with Eminiar VII and its sister planet, Vendikar.

Little is known about either world's people except that they have had intrasystem space travel for a few centuries, and when the cultures were first contacted, it was learned there was a longstanding war between them. Soon afterward, the Federation Starship USS Valiant mysteriously disappeared and was reported lost.

Nearing the Eminiar world, the Enterprise receives a priority signal not to approach the planet under any circumstances. Ambassador Fox orders Kirk to ignore the warning and investigate further. Kirk leads a landing party including First Officer Spock, a yeoman and a security detail, down to meet with Eminiar leaders. They are met by a representative, Mea 3, who leads them to the planetary council. Both Mea 3 and the council leader, Anan 7, sternly remind Kirk and his landing team they should not have come because the city has just been hit by a Vendikar fusion bomb which has killed half a million people. Curiously, everything in the city seems intact and there is no visible evidence or sensor readings of such an attack ever occurring.

The landing party soon discovers that the entire war between the two planets is completely simulated by computers which launch wargame attacks and counterattacks, then calculate damage and select the dead. Citizens reported as "killed" must submit themselves for termination by stepping inside a disintegration booth. Anan 7 informs Kirk that the simulated attacks and following executions is the agreed system of war decided by both sides in a treaty with Vendikar. A conventional war was deemed too destructive to the environments and societies of both planets.

Kirk is then informed that during the last Vendikar attack the Enterprise was destroyed by a tri-cobalt satellite, and the entire ship's crew must be terminated within 24 hours. Although the landing team is exempted from execution, they are arrested and held hostage until all Enterprise crew members report to the planet for execution. Mea 3 has also been reported as a casualty.

In an attempt to lure the Enterprise crew down, Anan 7 simulates Captain Kirk's voice and orders the crew to come down to celebrate the newly established diplomatic relations with the Eminiar people. Chief Engineer Scott, who was left in command, does not believe it and decides to have the Captain's voice analyzed. When the computer determines it is a fake, he realizes the landing party, and by extension the entire ship, must be in danger.

When Mr. Scott refuses the order, Anan orders the Enterprise to be destroyed, but the ship's shields easily repel the attack. Ambassador Fox insists that the attack was just a misunderstanding when he talks with Anan 7. Anan 7 lies and declares a sensor malfunctioned and it appeared the Enterprise was about to attack. Anan 7 apologizes and extends a warm invitation for the Ambassador to beam down and talk. Ambassador Fox accepts the invitation and orders Scott to lower the shields.

To Fox's indignation, Scott, with Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy's support, refuses the command, considering the planet's government has obviously captured the landing party, sent a fake message to lure them down, and had just fired on the ship. After threatening to bring Scott up on insubordination charges, Fox and his aide beam down, but are quickly taken into custody and sent to be terminated.

Meanwhile, Spock and Kirk manage to break out of their holding cell by overpowering a guard and stealing his weapon. Along the way out, they stop Mea 3 from reporting to die, destroying a disintegration chamber and disabling the operator. Kirk is then recaptured by Anan 7 while trying to locate the party's communicators.

Spock and the others disguise themselves as Eminians and rescue Ambassador Fox, destroying another disintegration booth in the process. A chastened Fox accepts that he was dangerously mistaken about the situation and volunteers to fight with the others.

With Captain Kirk in his presence, Anan 7 demands that Kirk order his ship's crew to beam down and accept their fate as determined by the wargame computers. In the background, Kirk yells out instructions to Mr. Scott to follow General Order 24, a full attack on the planet, within two hours. Kirk informs Anan 7 the Enterprise is more than capable of destroying everything on the planet. Anan 7 still refuses and orders the Enterprise destroyed, but it has now moved out of range. Mr. Scott then contacts Anan 7 to say that the planet has been surveyed, and the Enterprise will destroy it by Kirk's deadline if the hostages are not released. In the prevailing state of agitation amongst the councilmen, Kirk manages to overpower the guards and take their disrupters. He orders the guards and the councilmen towards the door when Spock arrives with Ambassador Fox.

Kirk and Spock make their way to the wargame computers, and once there, Kirk destroys the entire system while Anan looks on in terror. He exclaims that the planet is doomed; with the treaty broken, the people of Vendikar will fire their conventional weapons again. Vendikar had in fact been in contact already to complain about Anan 7's government being slow to meet their treaty obligations created by Kirk's interference. Now, an immediate retaliation with real weaponry is imminent.

Kirk encourages Anan 7 to instead call a ceasefire so that the two planets, with the Federation's assistance, can learn to coexist in peace. A desperate Anan 7 agrees, and Ambassador Fox immediately offers to lead the negotiations. As the Enterprise breaks orbit, Fox reports that the peace negotiations are going relatively well.