A Taste of Armageddon story
On Eminiar VII, the Enterprise finds a civilization at war with its planetary neighbor. Unable to discern any signs of battle from orbit, Captain Kirk leads a landing party to the surface where he discovers the entire war is fought by computer. Even though the war is simulated, citizens who are listed as virtual casualties still report to termination booths to be killed for real. After the Enterprise is destroyed in an attack simulation, Kirk must fight to keep his crew from death.
23 total · 1 choice · 10 major · 12 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the horrors of war | choice | Kirk ended the virtual war by threatening to bring real war with all its horrors |
| civilization vs. savagery | major | Eminiars think they are more civilized but of course kirk knows better |
| diplomacy | major | Fox on mission to initiate relations with Eminians |
| ethnic hatred | major | Eminian/People of Vendikar :: Eminiars and Vendicars |
| having a preconception challenged | major | Anan 7 :: Anan 7's preconception that the virtual war was necessary |
| interplanetary war | major | The Eminians were mired in a centuries long simulated war with their planetary neighbors the people of Vendikar. |
| patriotism | major | Anan 7 :: Eminians |
| society regulating central computer crash | major | Eminians thought their civilization would collapse after Kirk destroyed their central computer |
| the ethics of valuing human lives | major | Anon 7 weighs moderate casualties indefinitely against the chance of civilization being destroyed |
| the good of the many vs. the needs of the few | major | the few are disintegrated to preserve civilization |