There comes a day when every Starfleet captain must suffer defeat, and many of these are shown in Star Trek episodes or movies. It doesn’t matter how great a tactician a captain may be, they’ll eventually come across a crisis they can’t figure out. Sometimes the defeats are spectacular and leave long-lasting scars on the heroes; think Captain Jean-Luc Picard becoming Locutus of the Borg, and leading a rampage across Federation space.
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The most memorable defeats are psychological as much as anything else, a result of the Federation’s best and brightest being outthought by their enemies. Gul Dukat worked hard to outmaneuver Captain Sisko, and it led to many epic battles of will – some of which saw Dukat triumph. But frankly, looking back, there are some defeats that are simply embarrassing – and Starfleet Academy has just repeated one of Captain Kirk’s.
How Does a Starfleet Captain Lose Control of His Starship?
The defeat in question took place in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, in which Spock’s half-brother Sybok manipulated events to take control of the Enterprise. He hatched a traditionally convoluted villain plan that began with using hostages as bait to draw in a starship, and then used his advanced Vulcan mind-meld powers to sway people to his cause. Sybok claimed this was all about healing personal trauma, but the result saw people become loyal to him rather than Kirk.
It’s easily one of the oddest moments in Star Trek history, and even senior officers on the Enterprise were tempted by the prospect of relief from their pain and trauma. Few possessed the wisdom of Kirk himself to reject Sybok outright; Kirk understood that his pain had made him the man he was, and chose to embrace it rather than seek relief. It helps that this particular Enterprise was perhaps more vulnerable to takeover in that it was rushed into service, presumably making a takeover easier and perhaps meaning some security systems hadn’t been installed.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Just Shared Kirk’s Defeat
Fast-forward to the late 32nd century, and Captain Ake of the USS Athena (the starship that serves as the mobile base in Starfleet Academy) has suffered a similar defeat that has seen her lose her own ship to the enemy. Directed by Jonathan Frakes (aka Ryker of The Next Generation fame), the episode “300th Night” finally unveils Nus Braka’s masterplan. He has acquired the closest thing to a superweapon we’ve seen in Star Trek, an Omega particle that he’s used to barricade the Federation in for fear of tearing warp-space apart. He’s essentially created a new version of the galactic disaster known as the Burn, but weaponized.
The USS Athena is outside the barrier, but in an unusual position; it’s operating with a skeleton crew, given Captain Ake has taken it an unsanctioned mission (granted, with the tacit approval of Admiral Vance). The problem, though, is that the Athena winds up pursued by Venari Ral ships, and is pulled out of warp and grasped by tractor beams. Ake comes up with a smart strategy, using the ship’s saucer separation and secondary nacelles to escape, leaving the bulk of the Athena behind while the saucer flies into a nebula for safety.
There’s a sense in which Ake’s defeat is not quite as embarrassing as Kirk’s. She still functionally loses her ship, and she’s left plotting to take it back, but her crew haven’t turned on her. Instead, she basically doesn’t have much of a crew, and is reduced to the core Starfleet Academy cast and characters – the cadets. Meanwhile, Braka never actually intended to capture the Athena in the first place, with the ship serving as an unexpected prize rather than a goal. Still, there can surely be no more uncomfortable a defeat than for a captain to lose their ship to the enemy.
Ake’s defeat is, though, much more concerning than Kirk’s – precisely because the enemy hadn’t planned for it. Sybok knew what he wanted to use the Enterprise for (in his view, he wanted to answer the age-old question of why God would need a starship). Braka, however, is a skilled strategist, having already successfully outmaneuvered the entire Federation, and he’ll no doubt find lots of opportunities now he possesses an actual Federation starship that’s fresh off the line and likely has some of the most advanced technology in the galaxy. Captain Ake desperately needs to get her ship back before Braka makes the most of it.
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