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. When the Bough Breaks gave us this one mission...
PICTURE: Always found it odd that a Jupiter-like planet wasn't a gas giant, but actually habitable. Of course, the mission is lacking scale here. What's nice (aside from the great colors) is that this planet isn't in eclipse. The shadows covering half of it aren't on a curve, they meander like shadows. Is that the planet cloaking? Great effect lands it a 4.3.
LORE: Mission lore is never all that great. Here, it's adequate, and maybe gives a little too much away. Talk of cloaking devices detracts from the word "Legend". A Plain Jane 3.
TREK SENSE: I have no problems with the basic design. Not being part of any aligned space, it would be attemptable by all the existing affiliations (at card's release). The Span of 4 actually makes it a little out of the way. And 40 points are good for a discovery of this importance. The cloak is extremely cool, but doesn't follow Trek Sense very well. Sure, the planet can disappear, trapping personnel there. Problem: the trigger for the cloak is totally arbitrary. It would have made more sense for the cloak to be run by the owner of the mission (perhaps protecting the mission from thieves until you were ready for the Aldeans to contact your guys), or whenever the Youth requirement was present. In any case, the requirements actually run this mission like a dilemma. Are you really setting out to "verify the existence of a fabled planet" here? Judging from the requirements, it looks like it's the Aldeans who think you have the requirements for "solving" the mission. The 3 Youths are the kids they want to kidnap. Then, you either negotiate for their release (with an able diplomat) or they take two of them (why not all three?) as they hoped (the discard). Is this your mission, or the Aldeans'? Certainly doesn't sound like an "Investigation". Another case in point, I'm not sure why they would choose to abduct some of the Youth personnel in the game. A lot of them are in their early 20s! Do they really think B'Etor can be brought up with their values? Imagination only gets you so far here. A 2.5.
SEEDABILITY: Good points for easy requirements. There are plenty of double diplomats, and Youth is a common enough skill. Add Assign Mission Specialists to the mix and you can solve it for mucho points using Riva, Simon Tarses, Calloway et al. You're even given an out in case your Diplomat meets his maker at the hands of a dilemma. Simply discard those lame Youths and keep going. The cloak isn't even a liability. Well, not to you. A fun strategy to try to pull off is to make Investigate Legend thief-worthy by self-seeding what looks like your artifacts. Wait till your opponent goes there (maybe arrange it with a strong wall which might make him drop a Mega-Away Team on the next turn), and then make sure the planet is always cloaked on his turn. Particle Fountains, Drought Trees and the like are a great way to do this. Just balance any mission points with bonus points to make sure the planet will always be "dark" when it's their turn. Fun, but only if your opponent is playing a thief-deck. I wouldn't bring this one to a tournament ;-). A pretty good 3.7.
TOTAL: 13.5 (67.5%) A creative mission card, way more fun than its Premiere cousins.
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