Star Trek 1296: United We Stand

1296. United We Stand

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Divided We Fall #4, Wildstorm Comics, October 2001

CREATORS: John J. Ordover and David Mack (writers), Andrew Currie and Richard Bennett (artists)

STARDATE: 53181.9 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: As Crusher/Odan races to fabricate the cure sold to the symbiont's previous host by the same scientist who sold the Trill retrovirus to Verad, both the Enterprise-E and the Defiant must fight off automated defense drones corrupted by Verad to attack them and Trill hospitals on the planet. Vaughn dives the Defiant into the atmosphere where only his ingenuity successfully defeats the drones as they bear down on the civilian population. Up in orbit, the Enterprise-E is severely damaged when it interposes itself between the drones and the planet, but also wins the day. The cure goes out to the people and Odan is placed into a new (male) host who shares a kiss with Dr. Crusher.

CONTINUITY: See previous issue (Perim, Vaughn, Ezri, Bashir, Verad, Odan, Lenara Kahn, Nog). The Trill conspiracy from Equilibrium is mentioned.

DIVERGENCES: See previous issue (Odan). The Defiant suffers a hull breach on Deck 6, but has only 4 decks.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Commander Vaughn has more of a delivery boy style of driving.
REVIEW: This is the big action finale. The automated drone plot is tangential to the main story of the virus, so it could be considered padding, but since it has the Defiant dogfighting in a planet's atmosphere and Ezri piloting the Enterprise-E (and not crashing it into the ground, Troi!), I can't say I'm finding a problem with it. I also like the idea that Jadzia originally created the drones to defend Trill against the Dominion. The stuff on the planet is harder to track however. Geordi saves someone I don't think we know. Troi seems about to die in falling debris, but then doesn't. Data comes up with a solution to the drones' [TECH] shields, but does so offscreen. Not as strong, so good thing the story's momentum carries us past those bits. Divided We Fall doesn't quite shake up the Trill status quo, unfortunately, but it reasonably makes you believe it could, with movie quality stakes and action.