Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Lonely Among Us produced two cards, starting with...
PICTURE: For some reason, the missions in Alternate Universe are particularly pretty. Here, Parliament is a beautiful white and purple marble in conference with a smaller planetoid. Interesting how the diplomatic missions often show a meeting of worlds, which is very appropriate. A very nice 4.1.
LORE: Mission lore is rarely very interesting, but this one is good. Gives a good explanation of what Parliament is, and introduces the concept of the mission being historic, and thus worth the large amount of points on the card. I can fairly give this one a 4.
TREK SENSE: Well, this isn't the mission from the show ("Lonely Among Us"), but that's just as well, as that one was kind of silly. VIPs are of course required, and from 4 different affiliations (Non-Aligned here representing a lesser power) so that it really is historic conference. Any affiliation may attend, but there must be a delegate from either the Federation, Klingon Empire or Romulan Star Empire present at the very least. I'm not sure why the Cardassians, Bajorans and Dominion can't participate without anyone from the big three, though it may have something to do with the planet's location (and, of course, just when those affiliations became available, haha). So while I applaud Decipher's decision to extend the mission to other affiliations (the game text has always technically allowed it), Trek Sense - an unreasonable mistress - is still violated by the affiliation icons present. 60 points really is historic as far as missions go, and a Span of 4 certainly is far away from everyone, which works for a neutral site. If it is neutral though, maybe affiliated outposts shouldn't be allowed to be built there. Mostly good at 3.9.
SEEDABILITY: I love this one, and if I seed it, I probably plan to solve it. My opponent might not load it with too many dilemmas, however, because it really is a difficult one and thus a red herring. It requires personnel from three different affiliations (and almost no one plays with three affiliations at once), ideally under a Treaty. The mission works without treaty, but you have to figure a way of reporting the personnel and ferrying it to Parliament. One way of doing this is to have a Neutral or NA Outpost nearby, reporting personnel there and ferrying it to the planet before returning and doing it all over again with the next VIP. This has its problems though. You probably aren't pulling all your VIPs at the same time, and leaving them stuck on the planet may attract headhunters. In reality, this is a Romulan or Federation mission. They are the only ones with dual-affiliation VIPs from the needed affiliations. Just switch Major Rakal and the Sisters of Duras to their other selves (Federation and Klingon respectively) on the planet with another Romulan VIP and an NA one, and you're all set - 60 points. Playing Fed? Major Rakal and The Emissary will complement your Away Team well. It's a huge payoff. The other way is to play the three-way treaty, and while you lose the option of playing side decks, getting this big a pay day is a great trade. A two-mission win! This is also a very difficult mission to steal. It may have three icons, but who is gonna have the needed VIPs unless they planned for this mission? That's why it's a perfect mission for the Borg. Its high points make it a great target for Assimilate Planet, and you really don't have to worry about it being stolen from under your collective's nose. It may well be one of the least stealable mission in STCCG history (historic indeed). It's unfortunate that even though the newer affiliations have access to it, they don't have an easy way of solving it. Keeps this one at a still-high 4.5.
TOTAL: 16.5 (82.5%) High marks for a non-homeworld mission!
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