A Taste of Armageddon ( episode ) On a diplomatic mission , the crew visit a planet that is waging a destructive war fought solely by computer simulation , but the casualties , including the crew of the USS " Enterprise " , are supposed to be real . Summary . Teaser . The is en route to star cluster NGC 321 to open diplomatic relations with the civilization there . After several unacknowledged overtures , a message comes from the planet Eminiar VII , the principal planet of the cluster : Code 710 – stay away at all costs . Ambassador Robert Fox overrides Kirk ' s wish to honor the request , and forcibly orders him to take the " Enterprise " into the system . Kirk orders that the " Enterprise " go to yellow alert and in an intercom message to the crew of his ship , Kirk announces : " " We ' re going in gentlemen . Peacefully , I hope , but peacefully or not . . . we ' re going in . " " Act One . Kirk ' s orders ( as he is reminded in no uncertain terms by Ambassador Fox ) are clear : establish diplomatic relations at all costs . He , Spock , Yeoman Tamura , and two security officer s , Lieutenants Galloway and Osborne , beam down ; they are met by Mea 3 at the Division of Control , seat of the Eminian Union . There , Kirk learns that he is in grave danger . Mea takes him to the High Council , whose leader , Anan 7 , rejects Kirk ' s diplomatic overture – because of the war . Anan reveals that Eminiar has been fighting a war with the third planet of the system , Vendikar , for almost 500 years . But despite a hit , right in the city , Kirk and his landing party can find no evidence of war . No explosions , no radiation , nothing that would suggest the damage he is assured is occurring . Spock finally deduces the truth : the war is fought with computer s . Casualties are calculated , and the victims have twenty - four hours to report to a disintegration station so their deaths may be recorded . This tidy solution preserves the civilization , despite the cost in lives . Kirk is incredulous that people would simply walk into disintegration machines and never come out ; Anan assures him that his people have a high sense of duty . And then Anan tells Kirk that when the " Enterprise " entered orbit , it became a legitimate target , and it has been destroyed by a tricobalt satellite explosion . Like the victims on the surface , Kirk ' s crew has twenty - four hours to report for disintegration . Kirk and his party are imprisoned to ensure compliance . Act Two . Mea , herself declared a casualty , defends the system . She insists that she values her own life , but tells Kirk that if people don ' t report for disintegration , then Vendikar will be forced to launch real weapons , and Eminiar would be forced to retaliate , and both civilization and the population would die . The Eminians attempt trickery . Using a voice duplicator to approximate Kirk ' s voice , Anan 7 tries to lure the crew to the surface , contacting the " Enterprise " through Kirk ' s communicator . Montgomery Scott , suspicious , analyzes the message at Spock ' s science station and discovers the duplicity . Meanwhile , on the surface , Spock employs trickery of his own : using a form of telepathy , he plants a suggestion in their jailer ' s mind through a wall . Thinking the Federation prisoners have escaped , he opens the door , and is quickly overpowered . Moving about the Division of Control , the party encounters disintegration station 12 , and destroys it . In response , Anan 7 institutes a full search , and orders the planetary defense batteries to open fire on the orbiting starship . Act Three . Scott ' s cautious approach to the situation proves most fortunate ; the batteries open fire on the " Enterprise " but the shields are able to turn aside the sneak attack . Without the shields they would have been destroyed . Looking for options to respond to this unprovoked attack , Scott decides to respond with a barrage of photon torpedo es , but Ambassador Fox halts any attempt at retaliation . Ignoring protests by Scott and McCoy , Fox takes command of the situation and opens communications with the planet . Kirk realizes the only way he can save his ship and his crew is to put a stop to the fighting . To this end , he inveigles help from Mea 3 , while at the same time solving their shortage of weapons needed for the task , with an added bonus of two Eminian security uniforms commandeered by both Osborne and Galloway . Meanwhile , Ambassador Fox , still unaware of the treachery of Anon 7 and the danger to the lives of the " Enterprise " crew , attempts to salvage the situation . He contacts the planet , offering to have the ship lower its shields and to beam down personally to discuss the matter ; Anan apparently agrees . However , this is a trick to enable the Eminians to destroy the ship and meet the terms of their treaty with Vendikar . Fortunately , Scott , with McCoy ' s support , bluntly refuses Fox ' s order to have the ship stand down . He notes that the landing party is obviously still being held prisoner , and the ship was just fired on without provocation . Fox is furious ; he vehemently threatens to have Scott court martial ed for insubordination and proceeds to the planet with his aide alone . Although he ' s in the hot - seat , Scott stands firm on not lowering his defenses until he knows what has happened to the captain . Anan retreats to his office to prepare and has a drink of " trova " . Kirk , hidden there , confronts him , demanding to speak with his ship . Anan is more interested in saving his world , and refuses to yield . But finally , Anan tells Kirk where the communicators can be found ; in the war room . Kirk , correctly suspecting trickery pushes Anan into the corridor ahead of him . But it is no good ; the guards overpower him after a brief struggle . Act Four . Fox beams to the surface with his attaché ; they are escorted – but not to the council chamber . Instead , Anan and his guards herd them to a disintegration station . Fortunately for the ambassador , Spock learns he has beamed down , and effects a rescue , with Galloway and Osborne posing as guards ; destroying disintegration station 11 in the process . After the rescue , Fox admits that he has been dangerously mistaken about the situation and although has no experience being a soldier , he offers to help in the fight . Spock replies that they will need all the help they can get . With Kirk held in the council chamber , he learns that Eminiar is falling behind its quotas , and Vendikar accuses it of violating the treaty , escalating the tension between them . Anan pleads with Kirk ; if his crew doesn ' t report for disintegration , the civilizations on Eminiar and Vendikar will be destroyed in the very real war that will erupt . Kirk is unmoved . Anan opens a channel to the ship ; Kirk takes advantage of the opportunity to order Scott to implement General Order 24 in two hours , before being restrained . Anan threatens the hostages ' lives if the crew does not report immediately . Kirk informs Anan that his threats are academic , since in two hours , the " Enterprise " will destroy Eminiar . Anan immediately orders the defenses to fire on the " Enterprise " but the starship has moved out of range . In a corridor , Spock , Ambassador Fox , the two lieutenants , and the ambassador ' s aide all come under fire by security . While Spock , Osborne , and Galloway manage to dispatch the two attacking guards , Fox ' s aide is seriously injured in the firefight , unable to go further . Anan is at his wits ' end ; helpless , he faces certain abrogation of his planet ' s treaty responsibilities . Anan pleads with Kirk to de - escalate the situation , but Kirk is counting on escalation , and has no intention to stop it . The situation goes from bad to worse for Anan as Scott informs the council that all cities and installations on the planet have been fed into the " Enterprise " s fire control system , and will destroy the entire planet if they don ' t release their captives . Realizing that Kirk does indeed intend to carry out General Order 24 , Anan collapses on the table in agony as he is trapped between the " Enterprise " and Vendikar . Chance favors Kirk , who manages to overpower all of the armed guards and the council . Spock and his party arrives moments later . Kirk hails the " Enterprise " informing them to standby to transport the party in ten minutes or carry out General Order 24 on schedule . Then , Kirk tells Anan his plan : to save his crew , he plans to end the war . The captain asks Ambassador Fox to hold the people outside while Spock , one other councilman , and Lieutenant Osborne remain . They retrieve their phaser s and communicators and locks the master computer . Spock details that the computers are in constant contact with their Vendikan counterparts . Terminating that contact abrogates the agreement between them , and by destroying the master computer , the others will go . Kirk orders Osborne to escort the councilman , Sar 6 , out and destroys the master computer with his phaser . With the machines destroyed , Kirk paints a very frightening image to Anan 7 : those on Vendikar will assume Eminiar has broken the treaty , and will plan for real war . The next attacks , by both sides , will be very real . Kirk offers an alternative : they could change five hundred years of theoretical fighting , and make peace instead . Kirk tells Anan that if they contact Vendikar , they will quickly realize that they are just as horrified at the prospect of a real bloody war . Anan remembers that the communication link with Vendikar is still in existence , though it has been unused for centuries . There might be a chance to save both planets if they put it to use . Fox offers to serve as a mediator between Eminiar and Vendikar , and Kirk leaves him behind to negotiate the peace . Later , on the bridge of the " Enterprise " , Spock remarks on the big chance Kirk took in destroying the computers running the war between Eminiar and Vendikar , risking real war . Kirk disputes that , noting that a real attack would not have killed as many as the computer simulation , but it would have ended both planets ability to make war – permanently . Kirk , however , acknowledges that it was a calculated risk , but had a feeling that an orderly society such as the Eminians would not have risked war , since it is a very messy business and would have done anything to avoid that . Spock tells Kirk that a feeling is not much to go on and Kirk replies that feeling is sometimes " all " Human s have to go on . Spock tells his captain that he makes him almost believe in luck . " " Why , Mr . Spock , you almost make me believe in miracles , " " Kirk retorts . Memorable quotes . " " There is a certain scientific logic about it . " " " " I ' m glad you approve . " " " " I do " not " approve ; I understand . " " " " An entrance , captain , but no exit . They go in , but they do not come out . " " " " Sir , there ' s a multi - legged creature crawling on your shoulder . " " " " Diplomats ! The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank ! " " " " Diplomacy , gentlemen , should be a job left to diplomats . " " " " Of course I could treat them to a few dozen photon torpedoes . " " " " The haggis is in the fire for sure . " " " " That popinjay Fox went down a couple of minutes ago . " " " " Millions of people horribly killed ! Complete destruction of our culture , here yes and the culture on Vendikar . Disaster , disease , starvation ! Horrible lingering death ! Pain and anguish ! " " " " Are those five hundred people of yours more important than the hundreds of millions of innocent people on Eminiar and Vendikar ! What kind of " monster " are you ? ! " " " " I ' m a barbarian . You said so yourself . " " " " A killer first , a builder second . A hunter , a warrior . And let ' s be honest , a murderer . That is our joint heritage , is it not ? " " " " What are you doing , Mister Spock ? " " " " Practicing a peculiar variety of diplomacy , sir . " " " " I ' ve never been a soldier , Mister Spock . But I learn very quickly . " " " " I didn ' t start it , councilman . But I ' m liable to finish it . " " " " Death , destruction , disease , horror . That ' s what war is all about , Anan . That ' s what makes it a thing to be avoided . " " " " We can admit that we ' re killers , but we ' re not going to kill today . That ' s all it takes . " " " " Captain , you almost make me believe in luck . " " " " Why , Mister Spock , you almost make me believe in miracles . " " Links and references . References . 1 million years ago ; 18th century ; 2217 ; 2247 ; Anan 7 ' s wife ; Argona II ; arsenal ; attack unit ; barbarian ; builder ; captain ' s prerogative ; casualty list ; central channel ; Code 710 ; communication device ; computer ; councilman ; decibel ; deflector shield ; detachment ; diplomat ; diplomatic relations ; disintegration machine ( a . k . a . casualty station , disintegration chamber , disintegration station , disintegrator , disintegrator station , suicide station ) ; disruptor ; Division of Control ; duty ; Earth ; Eminian ; Eminian High Council ; Eminian uniform ; Eminian Union ; Eminiar - Vendikar star system ; Eminiar - Vendikar War ; Eminiar VII ; Federation Central ; fire control system ; first councilman ; first officer ; fusion bomb ; general alert status ; General Order 24 ; guard ; haggis ; herd ; hostage ; Human ; ; immorality ; instinct ; interplanetary war ; joke ; landing party ; logic ; luck ; mathematics ; mealy mouthed ; miracle ; monkey wrench ; multilegged creature ; murderer ; negotiator ; NGC 321 ; noon ; officer ; orbital bombardment ; orders ; penal colony ; phaser bank ; phaser crew ; phaser number 1 ; photon torpedo ; planetary defense system ; planetary disruptor bank s ; popinjay ; Prime Directive ; priority one ; probability ; quota ; radiation ; raid ; scanner ; Scots language ; screens ; sensor s ; shore leave ; soldier ; sonic disruptor ; sonic vibration ; space detail ; space flight ; standard orbit ; star cluster ; star cruiser ; Starfleet regulations ; starvation ; subspace transmission unit ; suicide ; support position ; telepathy ; tricobalt satellite ; tricorder ; treaty ; treaty port ; trova ; United Federation of Planets ( Federation ) ; ; Vendikan ; Vendikar ; Vendikar High Council ; voice analyzer ; voice duplicator ; Vulcanian ; Vulcan mind meld ; Vulcan nerve pinch ; war room ; warrior ; yellow alert Unreferenced material . Dia ; gunboat diplomacy ; Ripoma