Eminiar - Vendikar War In 2267 , the visited Eminiar VII and stumbled upon the Eminiar - Vendikar War . Sometime in Earth ' s 18th century , Eminiar VII and her sister planet , Eminiar III ( Vendikar ) began a war . The people of these two worlds , who were of the same species , concluded that they were killers – and that killers couldn ' t change . But they knew their civilization would be quickly erased by a prolonged war , so they devised a solution ; a way to maintain the war , without destroying the civilization . Only the people would die . Their war was fought entirely in the electronic circuits of two complex banks of computer s – the one on Eminiar , and its counterpart on Vendikar . Several attack machines , a defense machine , and a machine to calculate the casualties were all connected by subspace relay s . Although the weapons were virtual , they had very real and ominous names , such as fusion bomb s and tricobalt satellite s . Individuals designated as " killed " had twenty - four hours to report to a disintegration station , where they would be painlessly vaporized and their deaths recorded , all very neat and tidy . The system worked because the citizens of these planets held an ironclad social contract : stepping into a machine that would disintegrate them did not bother them . They considered it their duty to die in this way , if called on to do so , in order to prevent a real war fought with real weapons from erupting . In 2267 , the " Enterprise " was forced to visit Eminiar against the better judgment of Captain Kirk . Eminiar had issued a Code 710 – stay away at all costs – but the Federation very much wanted a treaty port in the sector , and so Ambassador Robert Fox ordered him in . Visiting the planet , Kirk discovered the reason for the warning : the war , which had continued for five hundred years , endangered any orbit ing target . And , indeed , the " Enterprise " was declared a casualty , her crew required to report for disintegration . In as much as Kirk had no intention of sacrificing his crew in this manner , he saw no alternative but to put an end to the war . Kirk ' s analysis of Eminian society showed him the way . He and Spock began to destroy disintegration machines . As Eminiar began to fall behind its treaty - mandated disintegrations , its High Council grew more and more despondent . Finally , seizing an opportunity , Kirk took control of the High Council and its guards . Spock ' s fortuitous appearance moments later provided him with the final element he needed . Spock locked the circuits of the war computers together . Then Kirk destroyed the key machine , causing the remainder of them to fail catastrophically . The link to Vendikar was dead , perhaps for the first time in centuries . Anan 7 was flabbergasted ; whatever he had expected , that wasn ' t it , despite Kirk ' s claim that he could destroy the planet with just a disruptor , a claim that might be proved true . For the High Council on Vendikar could only come to one conclusion : that Eminiar VII had abrogated the treaty , and was preparing to make real war , with real weapons . Kirk , seeing Anan 7 realize this , gave him the second - best advice : start making bombs . This was followed by the best advice : consider making peace . See if , just maybe , Vendikar was every bit as afraid of real war , and every bit as willing to do anything to avoid it . As a neutral observer , Robert Fox offered to mediate the discussions ; Anan 7 led him away to a subspace link directly to the High Council on Vendikar – a link that hadn ' t been used in centuries . Fox ' s final report suggested that negotiations were underway : outlook , hopeful ! Spock , discussing it later , suggested that Kirk had taken an awful chance with the lives of two planetary populations , but Kirk didn ' t see it that way . He believed an actual attack wouldn ' t have killed any more people than a computerized attack , and it would have eliminated their ability to wage war , perhaps forever . And he considered even one attack unlikely : everything he ' d seen demonstrated that the Eminians kept a very orderly society . And actual war is a very messy business . Kirk was sure the Eminians would do almost anything to avoid it . ( )