EPISODE: "Proving Ground" PROD#: ENT065 TRAN#: 3.13 RATING: PG-L AIRDATE: wed-21-jan-2004-20:00 EPDATE: [circa 6 December 2153] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/3480.html FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.current, .reviews, .tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 56.0 FORMAT#: 5.0 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent313_proving_ground.txt I. INTRODUCTION This document focuses on the technical aspects of a current episode; it is intended to support discussion, and to later serve as a reference; it accordingly contains PLOT SPOILERS, so CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Whenever possible, it indicates who did/claimed/knew what, because characters can lie or be mistaken. Spellings of technobabble and alien nouns are obtained from TV closed-captioning ("CC") -- which is imperfect: it may not match spoken dialogue, or the website, or be consistent within or between eps. In the Synopsis, I may condense or reorder scenes. If you have corrections or clarifications, please contact me, and I'll (eventually) make corrections. Abbreviations commonly used: -(m/f/?) name belongs to mel/fem/unclear, (os) on [viewer] screen, (vo) voiceover, -(?) quote is uncertain, -(sp?) spelling is unclear; VDB Vulcan database, VHC Vulcan High Command, XDB Xindi database; series: TOS TAS TNG DS9 VGR ENT. Although CC uses "Launch Bay," "Sick Bay," and "shuttle pod," I often condense those terms to single words. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures, while this overview is (c)2004 Phillip Thorne. Feel free to use this document as a reference, but please give credit where due. II. TERMINOLOGY TECHNICAL: G-type star, activation codes TECHNICAL/ENTERPRISE: redundant memory core, D-deck, warp signature, torpedoes, safe mode, injectors, restrictor coils, microspanner, relays, EPS synchronizer, phase-couplers, emitters. TECHNICAL/KUMARI: variable-compression nozzle on antimatter injector, sensor telemetry, Cargo Hold 3. LOCATIONS, POLITIES and ORGANIZATIONS: CULTURAL: Imperial Warship, Andorian ale, Bikini Atoll. III. ANALYSIS 1. What we get... A date! (6-dec-2153) Andorians, Xindi-Aquatic -Insectoid -Primate -Reptilian -Sloth. Andorian ship, Xindi-P (Degra's), -R, launch platform, prototype weapon-sphere. The Andorians have real-time comm without static back home; ENT is able to transmit the weapon scans back to Starfleet. 2. What we don't get... A name for the "proving ground" system. 3. The shirtless files... None. 4. Arcs... The Xindi Weapon. T'Pol and Tucker continue the neuro-pressure sessions. 5. Links... ENT previously encountered Cdr.Shran of the Andorian Imperial Guard in 107-"The Andorian Incident", 114-"Shadows of P'Jem", and 215-"Cease Fire". T'Pol and Sato have been reconstructing the database loss incurred in 312-"Chosen Realm". 6. The Andorian Imperial Warship _Kumari_ is of the shape first seen in 215-"Cease Fire". It's faster than ENT, has more advanced weapons and sensors, and has at least one cargo bay with force field capability. The antimatter injector(s) use variable- compression nozzles, which are superior to (but compatible with) ENT's. There are at least three cargo bays; Cargo Hold 3 is midships, and has a ventral hatch (two flaps). The bridge is a square, open area with a captain's seat on a raised dais, a two-seat arched console in front, four single- place standing consoles around it, and a viewscreen (nearly a semicircle, with upcurving sides) up front. A relief-sculpture of the Andorian emblem is on the upper part of the aft bulkhead. Shran's ready-room is port-aft. The Andorian emblem (blue in black) closes video transmissions. It consists of a horizontal row of variously-sized adjacent and overlapping circles (a schematic of their home system?). Andorians have blue blood. 7. The second prototype of the Xindi weapon resembles the first, and is small enough to fit in ENT's Launchbay. It must be remote-operated, because it emits lethal amounts of radiation. Its intended output (orange beam) is enough to destroy a spherical moon (rocky celestial bodies don't assume a spherical shape until they reach several hundred miles in diameter). Its "launch platform" is a square that fits around the sphere's equator, with a wide rectangular feature (engine?) aft and a narrow one (controls?) forward. When the prototype overloads, it first spins and its surface ruptures, spilling blue light. The explosion is blue, with a spherical central component and a toroidal component that expands faster. IV. NITS 1. Shran calling the sensor data "telemetry." In astronautics, that typically refers to onboard operational data -- speed, pump pressures, and the like. V. THIRD-PARTY COMMENTS [...] VI. EPISODE SYNOPSIS TEASER: "Previously on Enterprise..." Scenes from 304-"Rajiin", 307-"The Shipment", 308-"Twilight", etc. Anomalies, Degra, the full-scale Weapon, Xindi attack and boarding party, Gralik. On the bridge of the (Imperial Warship _Kumari_), LT.TALAS is skeptical of their weeks-long search for _Enterprise_, but CDR.SHRAN tells her, "don't underestimate these pinkskins." ACT 1: Degra reports to the hastily-convened Xindi Council that, although the Weapon isn't quite complete, the next prototype is, and a test has been scheduled three days hence (images to be transmitted to the Council Chamber). If successful, the final product can be deployed in a month or less. In the Command Center, T'Pol and Sato report recovery of the kemocite signature (from 307-"The Shipment") -- but the ship is traversing a dense field of anomalies, one that would require 17 days at warp 5 to bypass. They've managed to reconstruct "30%" of the database from the "redundant memory core." ENT preps to entire the field; Tucker "buttons up" the warp reactor. Mayweather takes them in at "one-half impulse." T'Pol orders "hard to port!" and the ship just grazes an anomaly -- suddenly, a new one forms ahead, expands, merges with others -- a green-yellow Jell-O-like distortion wave passes through the ship, bow-to-stern. Panels short out, crew fall off catwalks. Atmosphere vents from D-deck (Reed reports). Then they're tractored out by another ship -- it's the Andorians. In the Ready Room, Archer and T'Pol(red) grill Shran as to his motives. He circumlocutes; "how," they have ENT's warp signature from their last encounter (215-"Cease Fire"), are faster, and picked up some tricks along the way. T'Pol suspects they monitored Earth-Vulcan comm. "Seven million dead? Not exactly a state secret," he scoffs. He's contemptuous of the Vulcan response, but grudgingly admires T'Pol's decision to resign and come along. In the Armory, Reed tells Archer all the "torpedoes" were in "safe mode." Archer passes a crewman welding (with mask) in the corridor, and meets T'Pol(blue), who explains her caution: Vulcan first contact with the Andorians seemed promising, but they proved duplicitous. Reed and Tucker take a break in the Mess. "Armory." Shran's tactical officer, "Lt.Talas," shows up. "Imperial Warship _Kumari_." Officer's Mess: Archer, Shran, a flask of blue "Andorian ale." Engineering: Tucker, T'Pol(blue). Three "neuro-pressure" sessions a week. Three "injectors" burned out, "restrictor coils." In the Armory, Reed has relegated Talas to handing over tools, as he uses a "microspanner" to "align relays." She considers this technology primitive. "EPS synchronizer." "December 6th, 2153." They track the ship to a "G-type" system with six planets and over 100 moons. Shran's hand-held Andorian communicator. Transfer their superior "long-range sensor" data to ENT, and see four Xindi vessels amid rocks above a banded blue planet. ACT 2: Command Center: Archer, T'Pol and Shran look at pictures of a crater gouged in a spherical moon. Archer guesses the system is "Bikini Atoll" -- a weapons proving ground. Tucker asks Shran for one of their antimatter injectors with a "variable-compression nozzle." Although that's sensitive technology, he agrees, after they swap stories of family war- losses. Shran's older brother joined the Imperial Guard, but his fate isn't described; Vulcan-Andorian conflict "hasn't been bloodless." Xindi Council and holo, Degra's command ship. The prototype is deployed from a square "launch platform." The test is aborted when they detect a ship entering the system -- it's Shran, posing as a rep of the "Andorian Mining Consortium" that's detected the valuable mineral "Archerite." (Archer and T'Pol(purple) stand out-of-camera.) Degra warns them off. Command Center: Archer, T'Pol and Shran. Archer declares his intent to steal the prototype, so that Starfleet can plan a defense. Armory: Reed and Talas. "Phase-couplers," "emitters." Reed refuses to mention the weapons frequencies. Talas' family has been military for 4 generations; Reed's for 3 (Royal Navy). Again, ENT is relayed the "sensor telemetry" from the _Kumari_. The prototype launches, fires (orange) at the moon -- cracks appear, a circular wave of dust boils out, large chunks of planet move slowly outward -- and the beam shuts off. ACT 3: The Xindi Council aren't pleased. Degra explains that the moon wasn't destroyed as promised because an impending overload necessitated an early shutdown. Aboard ENT, reviewing the data, Archer decides this must be the sabotage Gralik had promised. It's still emitting high levels of radiation, and won't be safe to approach for another 6 hours. Archer suggests bringing it into a Launchbay and evacuating the adjacent compartments, but Shran suggests his ship can take it aboard and use force fields. Archer insists on commanding the mission from aboard the _Kumari_. Meanwhile, torpedoes will be back within one hour. Talas has fixed the phase-cannons to operate at 94% efficiency; Reed has never gotten more than 93%. Shran conducts a realtime video conference with a "General," and despite his misgivings about offending a potential ally, is ordered to continue with the plan to steal the prototype. ENT attacks, drawing off the two Xindi-R escorts and disabling their engines. The _Kumari_ swoops in and tractors the Prototype into its midships ventral bay, then warps out. Aboard, Archer doesn't take the betrayal well. ACT 4: Shran defends the plan: the Prototype will be a weapon of deterrence, continuing a 200-year tradition against the Vulcans. They can outrun ENT until the anomaly field; after that, Talas has sabotaged the sensors so ENT can't track them. Archer punches him (he bleeds blue). Shran sends him to an escape pod, while the crew takes engineering scans of the weapon. ENT picks up the pod. ENT catches up, and calls. Archer explains that, thanks to the Andorian sensor readings, they were able to intercept the Prototype's "activation codes" -- hand it over, or he'll destroy it to prevent its use against the Vulcans. "Cargo Hold 3" reports its "firing matrix" has been activated. Shran dithers, then orders the "bay doors" opened and the weapon dumped. It spins, vomits blue light, then explodes -- the _Kumari_ is caught by the expanding torus, and tumbles. Reed reports "significant damage" to the Andorians' engines and power systems. Later, Archer's log -- the Andorians declined ENT's offer of help, and were last seen limping away on auxiliary power. Archer joins Sato and T'Pol in the Command Center, where a copy of the scans have been delivered (encrypted to resemble "subspace interference") by an anonymous friend. Archer orders them relayed to Starfleet Command. VII. SFX SHOTS Ent at warp. Ent drops from warp to impulse. Ent at impulse. Ent banks hard to port, and starboard edge ripples. OS: Shran. Ent in formation with Kumari. Ent in formation with Kumari again. Moons. Weapon launches from square carrier. Weapon fires at moon. Ent in formation with Kumari. Ent at impulse. OS: Shran and the General. Kumari zooms around rocks. Ent and Xindi-R trade beams. Ent targets Xindi-R engines. Kumari tractors Prototype. Prototype drawn into bay, Kumari goes to warp. Ent comes upon escape pod. Prototype dumped, explodes, Kumari caught in wave. VIII. PRODUCTION REGULAR CAST: Scott Bakula as Cpt. Jonathan Archer Connor Trinneer as LtCdr. Charles Tucker III Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander T'Pol Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed Anthony Montgomery as Ens. Travis Mayweather Linda Park as Ens. Hoshi Sato John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox [x Porthos] GUEST CAST: Jeffrey Combs as [Cdr.] Shran Molly Brink as [Lt.] Talas [At least two other Andorian crew] Randy Oglesby as Degra Scott MacDonald as Xindi Reptilian Tucker Smallwood as Xindi Humanoid Rick Worthy as Xindi Sloth Granville Van Dusen as Andorian General Josh Drennen as Degra's Assistant [And a second assistant] CREATIVE STAFF: Directed by David Livingston Written by Chris Black NEXT WEEK: In two weeks on "Strategem," Archer tests his interrogation skills on Degra, the much-put-upon designer of the Weapon. See: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/3715.html