Cestus III Cestus III was the inhabited third planet in its star system . This Federation planet was the home of a colony in the 24th century . In the mid - 23rd century , Cestus III was on the frontier of Federation space , in a region bordering the territory of the United Federation of Planets and Gorn Hegemony , and was near space claimed by the Metron s . A century later , this planet was considered to be " on the other side of the Federation " from Deep Space 9 , approximately two weeks from the Bajoran system by subspace message and eight weeks at the " Xhosa " s maximum warp . ( ; ) In 2267 , an Earth observation post was commanded by Commodore Travers . The establishment of this colony alarmed the Gorn Hegemony ; they regarded Cestus as part of their space and the colonists as invaders . That same year , a Gorn captain led his starship and ground forces in a counter - invasion strike , destroying the colony and killing many of the colonists . Using faked communication and impersonating Travers , the Gorn lured the to Cestus III , where the landing party , led by Captain James T . Kirk , beamed down to the planet ' s surface . After the surface forces were repelled , thirty medical personnel were beamed to the planet on a search and rescue mission for additional survivors . The " Enterprise " pursued the Gorn vessel to a point near 2466 PM , where both ships were seized by the Metron s and their captains forced to do battle on a nearby planet prepared for them by the Metron . ( ) Kirk ' s confrontation with the Gorn would later become one of the most famous incidents in his career . Benjamin Sisko admitted he ' d like to shake Kirk ' s hand and " " ask him about fighting the Gorn on Cestus III . " " ( ) In 2371 , the colonists formed a baseball league with six teams , including the Cestus Comets and the Pike City Pioneers . Kasidy Yates ' s youngest brother lived on Cestus III and invited Sisko and his sister to see a live baseball game at the colony in 2372 . ( ) Appendices . Background information . " SES - tus " was the pronunciation for this planet ' s name from the pronunciation guide for " Family Business " . In the final draft script of " Arena " , the Cestus III outpost that appeared in that episode was initially described thus ; " " This is a military - scientific outpost of the Earth Federation . . . a limited number of facilities on the surface , most of it below ground . But what we see [ . . . ] is smoking ruin . . . desolation . Cestus Three , in terms of structures and settlement , no longer exists . It has been smashed . All that we see are ruins with here and there a silent body lying dead . " " The script further established that the destruction included all of the outpost ' s underground section and that the Human population of the outpost was listed as five hundred twelve at the time of the Gorn attack . The remains of the Cestus III outpost was actually a fort constructed for a film about the Alamo in the 1930s . It was believed to be unsafe and was demolished in the late 1960s . ( ) Directional signs for sections of the outpost were posted on the interior walls of the fort . There were signs for the Material Department , Life Support , Residential Area , and Engineering Section . For the " remastered " version of " Arena " , a new , computer - generated version of Cestus III , as seen from orbit , was created to replace the grainy , undetailed globe in the original edition . A new matte painting of the outpost was also created , showing more damage and more detail in the surrounding terrain . This version was displayed above . The logo worn by the colonists was the same worn by personnel at Outpost 4 . Robert Hewitt Wolfe suggested that Pike City was so named because Christopher Pike had discovered Cestus III . ( " " ) According to " " ( p . 52 ) , an Earth colony was first founded on the class M planet Cestus III in 2265 . Under the terms of a treaty ratified in the late - 2260s , Cestus III would be resettled and shared by both Humans and Gorn . In 2271 , the colony was resettled and , later that year , was admitted into the Federation . The capital of this planet was Pike City . The two dominant species of this planet were the Humans and the Gorn . In 2378 , there were 28 . 6 million Humans and 7 . 2 million Gorn living on this planet . According to " Star Trek : Star Charts " ( pp . 57 , 64 , " United Federation of Planets II " ) and the " " ( " Federation Historical Highlights , 2161 - 2385 " ) , the Cestus system was located in the Beta Quadrant . The primary was an . In the late 24th century , this Federation system was a destination on a major space lane . According to , Cestus III orbit ed the primary Cestus . Apocrypha . In James Blish ' s short novelization of " Arena " , it was stated that there were a total of 512 settlers killed in the Gorn attack . The Pocket TNG novel " " , by Michael Jan Friedman , depicted a time travel scenario in which Captain Jean - Luc Picard was transported back in time to Cestus III , shortly before Commodore Travers ' outpost was destroyed . Nanietta Bacco , who was sworn in as Federation President in " Articles of the Federation " and served during the " " series , hails from Cestus III , and had been Cestus ' governor before winning the Presidency in a special election just prior to the Shinzon incident . According to the novel " Seize the Fire " , the Gorn name for Cestus III was " Inner Eliar " .