"To Rule the Universe" was the last of 37 weekly story arcs in the UK comic strips series. It was released in 12 parts in 1973 within issues of Valiant and TV21.
In this story, Plixeans conspired to assassinate the Federation Council and take control of the Federation.
Description[]
- Teaser summary, 3 November 1973
- Lured to the hitherto unknown planet, Plixes, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock had been taken prisoner while the planetary leaders, Gokron and Chekra, had — by means of advanced science — assumed their bodies and minds! Beamed back to the starship Enterprise, Gokron and Chekra were indistinguishable from the real commander and first lieutenant of the starship…
Summary[]
On Earth, Federation Councillors gather for a month-long conference. In System 330, the USS Enterprise initiates first contact with the leaders of Plixes, who asks to beam aboard as honored guests. Spock is suspicious: how did they know the ship had transporters? As they tour the ship, Gokron and Chekra explain that they have long-range scanners, so they know about the Federation. They ask if they can be beamed to the conference to ask for Federation membership. Kirk asks first to learn more about Plixes.
Gokron invites Kirk and Spock to visit the planet. Once they speak with a few Plixeans, however, they realize Gokron is a tyrant. They are then apprehended. Their bodies and memories are imprinted onto Gokron and Chekra, turning them into facsimiles of Kirk and Spock. Gokron and Chekra beam back to the Enterprise. Admiral Voysey agrees to let "Kirk" plead Plixes' case to the council. Using a long distance transporter setting, "Kirk" and "Spock" beam directly to Earth, where they set up a sonic stunner and gas generator to kill all of the councillors.
Meanwhile, a jail break interrupts the execution of Kirk and Spock. They ally with escaping prisoners, then fight their way to a communications center. Long-range frequencies are jammed, so they cannot warn Earth or be beamed there. To expose the Plixeans, they have to shut off the identity transference equipment. Kirk and Spock aid rebels by using armed shuttlecraft to knock out city defenses. Unfortunately, the identity transference building seems impregnable. Kirk risks beaming himself to Earth despite the jamming. As he fights the tyrants in the council chambers, rebels finally are able to blow up the Plixes building. Gokron and Chekra revert to their normal appearance and flee. Before the gas generator detonates, Kirk destroys it and saves the councillors.
Gokron and Chekra hijack the Vulcan ambassador's transport and head at maximum speed to the Klingon border. Kirk suits up to follow in an interceptor craft, but Spock uses the long range transporter to beam the Plixeans out of the transport and back to the Enterprise. The tyrants will be handed over to the rebels and their new democratic government.
References[]
Characters[]
- Brad • Chekra • Gokron • James T. Kirk • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Voysey • unnamed Federation Councillors (Councillors of the Andorian Empire, United Planets of Tellar, and Confederacy of Vulcan) • unnamed Federation Security Agency officers • unnamed Plixeans
- Referenced only
- Daminon
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Columbus (class F shuttlecraft) • shuttlecraft • Nemesis • transport
- Referenced only
- Klingon starships
Locations[]
- Border of the Klingon Empire • Earth (Federation Council Chambers • Spaceport • Supreme Headquarters of the Federation) • Plixes • System 330
- Referenced only
- Romulan Neutral Zone (Border Sector Six)
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Andorian Empire • Confederacy of Vulcan • Council of the United Federation of Planets • Federation • Federation Security Agency • Klingon Empire • Plixes Democratic Union • Plixes Department of Science • Romulan Empire • United Planets of Tellar
Science and technology[]
- anti-aircraft battery • brain-implantation machine • brain pattern • communicator • computer • coordinates • deep space transmitter • forcefield • gas generator • identity transference • interceptor • laboratory • laser cannon • long distance transporter • metabolic alteration machinery • missile • PADD • phaser • pistol • ray-probe • reconnaissance probe • rifle • rocket • scanner • science • tape recorder • transporter • Type 2 phaser
Ranks and titles[]
- admiral • ambassador • captain • commander • Commanding Officer, Starfleet Command • delegate • dictator • Federation Councillor • Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s) • first lieutenant • first officer • guard • gunner • helmsman • lieutenant • mayor • officer • prime minister • ranks • rebel • scientist • sentry • skipper • supreme commander
Other references[]
- 75th Annual Federation Conference • arrest • atmosphere • beverage • bluff • brain • bridge • carbon • century • city • civilization • conference • Dark Ages • democracy • dictatorship • dog • dungeon • empire • espionage • execution • execution yard • Federation conference • first contact • fleet • freedom • gas • government • hospitality center • house • hypnotism • jail • life • lion • logic • minute • month • parking orbit • planet • police • prison • probe • scanner • second • sewer • sound • space • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • starship • star system • statue • steel • stone • telepathy • transporter room • troops • universe • video • viewscreen • Vulcan neck pinch
Timeline[]
Chronology[]
- Romulan activity was reported along the Romulan Neutral Zone.
- A declaration of war was said to be needed before Starfleet could attack Klingon ships, suggesting that the Organian Peace Treaty was not yet in place.
- Prior to this story, Montgomery Scott may have developed the formula for transwarp beaming, as the Enterprise twice used this capability.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TNG movie & novelization: Star Trek Nemesis – In 2379, Shinzon used thalaron radiation to slaughter the Romulan Senate and become praetor of the Romulan Empire.
- TOS movies: Star Trek, Into Darkness – Montgomery Scott's equation for transwarp beaming enabled a long distance transporter to beam people to distant star systems.
- TOS episode: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" – The bodies and personalities of James T. Kirk and Roger Korby were copied into android form.
- TOS episode: "Turnabout Intruder" – An identity transference device swapped the personalities of Janice Lester and Kirk.
- TOS novel: Double, Double – The bodies and personalities of Spock, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov and Christine Chapel were copied into android form.
- TOS comic: "The Trial of Captain Kirk" – An electro-prober downloaded copies of the personalities of Spock and Leonard McCoy into cerebot robot probes.
Background[]
- This story was published without a title, but was given one ("To Rule the Universe") for its reprinting in The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3.
- Published in 1973, Admiral Voysey was the first admiral to be identified as a Commanding Officer, Starfleet Command.
- This story also was the first to establish that the Federation Council Chambers were on Earth. The building containing these chambers would later be established as the Palais de la Concorde in Paris, although it was implied in TOS movie: The Voyage Home that they could meet in San Francisco. Published in 1974, TOS comic: "The Trial of Captain Kirk" featured the Supreme Council Hall and introduced the Chairman of the Supreme Council, but that story did not distinguish between civilian government and Starfleet operations. That chairman wore a Starfleet uniform and oversaw a court martial of Kirk, suggesting that he and the building were part of Starfleet.
- The Enterprise had a long distance transporter capability in this story. It transported the two Plixeans from System 330 to Earth, then later beamed them back from Klingon space. This function was implied to exist in an earlier story arc, "Where Giants Tread", but the events of that story could be explained without having the technology.
- The Vulcan ambassador's transport was seen in this story. Although we did not see someone identified as the ambassador, the story did show Vulcan's Federation Councillor, a woman seen partially from the side. She wore T'Pau's hairstyle, though it was established in TOS episode: "Amok Time" that it would not have been her.
- Montgomery Scott wore a sciences division uniform and sat at the navigator's station.
- Hikaru Sulu also wore a blue uniform and was seen at the helm, but had no dialogue.
- The last two pages of this story were published on 29 December 1973. The date of February 1974 cited in The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3 was a typo.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: Shell Game |
TOS comics (UK comic strips) | Next comic: The Gods Have Come! |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Creeping Death |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Rock and a Hard Place |
| Previous comic: Creeping Death |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Three | Next comic: Rock and a Hard Place |
Production history[]
- This story was published over 12 weekly issues, two pages at a time.
- 13 October: Pages 1-2 published in Valiant and TV21 #107.
- 20 October: Pages 3-4 published in Valiant and TV21 #108.
- 27 October: Pages 5-6 published in Valiant and TV21 #109.
- 3 November: Pages 7-8 published in Valiant and TV21 #110
- 10 November: Pages 9-10 published in Valiant and TV21 #111
- 17 November: Pages 11-12 published in Valiant and TV21 #112
- 24 November: Pages 13-14 published in Valiant and TV21 #113
- 1 December: Pages 15-16 published in Valiant and TV21 #114
- 8 December: Pages 17-18 published in Valiant and TV21 #115
- 15 December: Pages 19-20 published in Valiant and TV21 #116
- 22 December: Pages 21-22 published in Valiant and TV21 #117
- 29 December: Pages 23-24 published in Valiant and TV21 #118
- September 2017
- Reprinted in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3. (IDW Publishing)
- 16 July 2020
- Reprinted in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 121. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External links[]
- To Rule the Universe article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Dec 29, 1973 issue of Valiant and TV21 article at Blimey! The Blog of British Comics.