There’s a sense in which the newest Star Trek series, Starfleet Academy, should be seen as the ultimate 60th anniversary celebration. Set towards the end of the 32nd century, at a time when the Federation is rebuilding itself after a galactic disaster called “the Burn,” each episode is steeped in lore. The show has already moved the Federation Headquarters to Betazed (of Next Generation fame), revealed the fate of the Klingons, and delivered a delightful epilogue to Deep Space Nine.
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Starfleet Academy episode 6 is a very different kind of story, though; a pivotal moment in the ongoing narrative, it sees the Academy and War College work together on a training mission that goes catastrophically wrong. The stakes are higher than ever before in this episode, which finally makes an alien race known as the Sirens canon, and ends with the classmates reeling after Starfleet itself has been outsmarted and outmaneuvered. But, in all the action and excitement, it’s easy to miss that this episode is a secret sequel to an iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Introduces the Miyazaki
Starfleet Academy episode 6 introduces the USS Miyazaki, a celebrated Starfleet vessel that served from 3067 to 3069. The crew of the Miyazaki were valorized by Starfleet for their heroism, their epic adventures becoming the stuff of legend (and comic books) in a way that suggests the Miyazaki became seen as the Enterprise of its time. This was a difficult time for the Federation, with galactic travel becoming more dangerous after the Burn destroyed almost all stocks of dilithium. The Federation installed an experimental new “singularity drive” in the Miyazaki… and the results were tragic.
The singularity drive failed in a catastrophic manner, causing serious damage to the ship and a large number of injuries. It’s unclear how many of the crew survived, but they will have been stranded in the depths of space at a time when no other vessels could reach them. The ship’s computer valiantly tried to save them, but had sustained heavy damage itself, and the crew of the Miyazaki were all lost. It was a heartbreaking end to a celebrated crew, and the Federation honored them as heroes.
The Miyazaki was eventually discovered by the War College, and it became the basis for a series of missions for cadet tactical training. No doubt this consistently served as a reminder of the dangers of the galaxy, while also stressing the heroic heritage of Starfleet. Finally, in Starfleet Academy episode 6, another exercise on the Miyazaki led to tragedy as well – giving this storied ship an even darker fate.
The Miyazaki’s Singularity Drive Calls Back to Star Trek: Voyager
This isn’t actually the first time we’ve heard of a “singularity drive,” and its true nature explains just why the Miyazaki disaster was so catastrophic. This is actually Romulan technology, introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Face of the Enemy.” There, Counselor Deanna Troi goes undercover in Romulan space, and we learn that a Romulan “singularity drive” provides it with a significant advantage in combat with even ships like the Enterprise.
A singularity drive is a unique power source for a starship. Standard starships generate power by stabilizing a matter-antimatter collision, but a singularity drive uses an artificial black hole as a power source (a black hole, after all, is also called a “singularity”). It’s potentially a way of generating almost unlimited power, and it would be very attractive indeed to Starfleet given it didn’t require dilithium, which had become rare and considered dangerous after the Burn. But a singularity drive also has massive problems.
The true danger of a singularity drive is simple; if containment systems fail, then the tidal forces associated with the black hole will inevitably tear the ship apart. That, clearly, is what happened to the Miyazaki, and its systems were rendered inoperable. Ironically, that same issue ultimately saves the Starfleet Academy cadets in episode 6, because they use the gravitational fluctuations generated by the singularity drive to disrupt the jamming field prevent transporters rescuing them from the Miyazaki.
Appropriately enough, there’s a sense in which Starfleet Academy episode 6 is all about “the face of the enemy” as well. On the one hand, there are the Furies, the monstrous “new” race who are hungry for blood. More significantly, though, Nus Braka takes center-stage as the true enemy of the Federation in this era. The Federation don’t spot him coming until it’s far too late, and he’s now only a known factor because he feels the time is right to step out of the shadows and lead the charge against Starfleet.
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