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What do you think happened to the Illyrian ship

Mr. 5618

Ensign
Newbie
Archer went back and jacked them for their warp core. Left them stranded in space. I don't recall how long it was suppose to take them to get home without it, but you'd think someone from earth would've gone back to assist them. A small follow-up regarding them would've been nice. They seemed to be good folks.
 
There were supposed to have been stranded for 3 years. So, they get home during the first half of the Earth-Romulan War.

Unless they engaged in the same piracy that Archer did. Or Columbia or another NX vessel ran into them.

But were out of sight and out of mind by the time of the Federation founding, if they ever did run into Archer again after S4.
 
Seems like something that could pop up in a novel/short story/comic/video game/fan film if it hasn't already...
 
The Illyrians could have been picked up by some other spacecraft out there. The E2 ran into other races in the Expanse when they were stuck there, and traded with them for food and repairs and such. Plus, with the spheres destroyed soon after the Illyrians started limping home on their own, who knows how much busier the system's space traffic might have gotten, once it returned to being safe space.
 
Acher didn't seem to fudge his logs or debriefing. He left everything in there, including engaging in torture, his 'Rick Sanchez' style of growing a clone to harvest its organs aswell as other actions that are, at best, "questionable" and at worst war crimes and yet this act of piracy never seems to rear it's head again (on-screen at least), except maybe for Archers general PTSD at the start of S4. If you're optimistic I guess you could imagine that The Colombia or a Vulcan High Command ship later attempted a rescue mission but it's improbable given the size of the former expanse and the time lapsed.

S3 is interesting as Starfleet values increasingly seem to become more of a hindrance to the mission when the stakes are Earth & the entire Human race and Starfleet (far from being a major power at this point) only has a single vessel capable of even having a chance to prevent it, the lengths they would go to and the cost. Which is why I think it fits that the Illyrian vessel didn't make it:

It was important to the ENT writing staff that, when Enterprise departed from them, the Illyrians in "Damage" be left "stranded and as good as dead," as the writers hoped that would accentuate the moral conflict Archer and the Enterprise crew were put in. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 151, p. 33)

It would appear, however, that the Illyrians either never found out (which would have been a pretty egregious omission on the part of Humans/The Federation), forgave them or possibly even ended up as a formal Federation member state. According to Memory Beta (and some TOS & DSC novels) Captain Pikes' First Officer, Una, was a Human who was born and raised on Illyria & its colonies.
 
They used the trellium D "generously" given them by Archer, however it turned out that they had the same physiological weakness as the Vulcans and they all died of craziness... too bad since a few months hence they wouldn't even have needed it!!! A trellium D consortium went bankrupt, they upped the price on Archer's head by a factor of ten!!!
 
So much pessimism! C'mon, this is Star Trek!!

Anyway, the writers could say all day long that the Illyrians were left "stranded and as good as dead" -- at least to Archer. Paving the way for his self-hatred. That doesn't mean they DID end up dead. What if an Earth ship went to find them? To make amends? So the Earthers whisk the Illyrians home at warp speed, and somehow they get past that "Vengeance is Mine!" reaction (Archer using that stolen warp coil to save the galaxy would probably help there) and the two races agree to trade... leading to Captain Pike's first officer, which means amends were properly made. I like the optimistic ending better. Sue me, I'm a Phloxist optimist. :)
 
Archer may have asked the Vulcans to dispatch one of their ships to help the Illyrians seeing how their ships would have been easily able to get there and back in half (or even less) time it took the NX-01.

Or he may have discussed this with his Xindi allies before he went onto the weapon ship to destroy it (although, I don't know how well him mentioning stranding an alien crew to reach Degra on time would have spoken too well about Humanity's intentions seeing how it was 'unconventional piracy').

The NX-01 did make the situation somewhat easier for the Illyrians. They eradicated the anomalies (which made passage through that part of space safer), and left them with food and medical supplies.

It would have been nice if they mentioned SOMETHING about that ship when NX-01 returned to Earth and a debriefing took place (or Hernandez could have told Archer that the Vulcans dispatched a ship to help the Illyrians, was successful and he shouldn't have to beat himself up over that anymore as the situation was dire and they made it back home after all).
 
You truly are a HopefulRomantic, HopefulRomantic. Always making me re-think my standpoints with that optimism! :)

I think the Illyrians were native to the Expanse. 3 years at impulse isn't too far in galactic terms; if full impulse is ¼ lightspeed like I read somewhere, than the Illyrian system would be... 7.5 lightyears away? Or maybe just 1.5? Or somewhere in-between? :shrug: (I hate this stuff. No more trying to sound smart for me!). In either case, it's a trip around the block for any friendly warp-capable vessel.

If they were rescued, I find it hard to believe it would be by an Earth vessel. It would be like trying to find a needle - that may not even be around anymore - in a hundred haystacks for one and the Illyrian crew would surely outright, violently refuse any more 'help' from Humans (based on their experience) for another. Except maybe for Lorians Enterprise? They were actively seeking Archers Enterprise more or less around this time to warn them of the subspace corridor and had all the records of the time. Plus it kinda bugged me how little they got involved.

I droned on a bit there but my point was, regardless of the, erm, let's say 'less than ideal' first contact with the Illyrians, as a Delphic native species, Enterprise actually saved their homeworld by destroying the Spheres, which wouldn't have been possible without the coil. That probably went a long way to the positive relationship they would have with the Federation in the future.

(Pessimist hat back on)

Of course, Archer wasn't to know any of that at the time. His priority was to make the meet with Degra with the hopes of postponing or cancelling the Xindi weapon launch (another impossible conundrum). He was well aware that the Expanse was a dangerous and lawless region of space, having been jacked himself by the Osaarians, who themselves were once peaceful (T'Pol makes a similar point). IIRC the barrier into the Expanse was one way so a lot of ships resorted to Piracy to get by.

I like the narrative that this one ship of explorers turned soldiers is on a near impossible mission against a much stronger enemy. At the start of the Arc, the crew, still traumatised from the attack, talk regularly about revenge and anger. They cross one line after another but in the end make peace with the enemy (more or less) and save the day as Starfleet officers.
 
So much pessimism! C'mon, this is Star Trek!!

Anyway, the writers could say all day long that the Illyrians were left "stranded and as good as dead" -- at least to Archer. Paving the way for his self-hatred. That doesn't mean they DID end up dead. What if an Earth ship went to find them? To make amends? So the Earthers whisk the Illyrians home at warp speed, and somehow they get past that "Vengeance is Mine!" reaction (Archer using that stolen warp coil to save the galaxy would probably help there) and the two races agree to trade... leading to Captain Pike's first officer, which means amends were properly made. I like the optimistic ending better. Sue me, I'm a Phloxist optimist. :)

Phlox? You mean the doctor who after some research found a cure for a deadly disease only to withhold it to the millions of people who needed it?
 
Phlox? You mean the doctor who after some research found a cure for a deadly disease only to withhold it to the millions of people who needed it?
As Phenotype has noted, I'm an optimist :) and so is Phlox, in my humble opinion. You'll find my minority, much less damning opinion about Phlox in "Dear Doctor" here. In short, I prefer to think the Valakians were smart enough to take those 10 years, take their fate in their own hands, and develop a vaccine for the disease themselves. Because nobody said they went extinct, according to canon.
 
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As Phenotype has noted, I'm an optimist :) and so is Phlox, in my humble opinion. You'll find my minority, much less damning opinion about Phlox in "Dear Doctor" here. In short, I prefer to think the Valakians were smart enough to take those 10 years, take their fate in their own hands, and develop a vaccine for the disease themselves. Because nobody said they went extinct, according to canon.

Whatever the Valakians did on their own doesn't excuse IMO what Phlox did to them. It's like if I told you: Hey he could have saved that little girl but instead watched her being pulled away by the stream and did nothing and your response would be: But when she was out of sight the little girl managed to grab hold of something and got out the water that way. Do you think that would excuse anything?
 
I would say that upon hearing of Archer's actions, Earth either sent Columbia or spoke to one of its allies and dispatched a ship. Whether the Illyrians were still alive or not is anyone's guess.
 
I would say that upon hearing of Archer's actions, Earth either sent Columbia or spoke to one of its allies and dispatched a ship. Whether the Illyrians were still alive or not is anyone's guess.

Maybe they ran out of food and started eating each other like the people in the Andes.
 
Whatever the Valakians did on their own doesn't excuse IMO what Phlox did to them. It's like if I told you: Hey he could have saved that little girl but instead watched her being pulled away by the stream and did nothing and your response would be: But when she was out of sight the little girl managed to grab hold of something and got out the water that way. Do you think that would excuse anything?

Phlox didn't have final authority on whether to share the cure with them or not.
Archer did.
At this point, the NX-01 had some experience in how meddling in alien affairs can have negative consequences... and this is why Archer decided not to share the cure.
The NX-01 did share some extra research they acquired on the disease with the Valakians... just not the cure.
It could have provided them with a better information base to find a cure themselves down the line (they might not have been warp capable, but were still fairly technologically developed species - maybe lingering just a few decades below the threshold for developing Warp drive).

We also don't know if once the UFP was founded, the council may have decided to revisit this issue.
The Valakians were not Warp capable, but were aware of other alien species... so at least on that front, after the founding of UFP, the Prime Directive wouldn't be affected... sharing the cure still might/would be.

There could be a loophole here. While the UFP cannot directly transform a society using technology (which would include sharing a cure)... it may be possible UFP might have opened formal contact with the Valakians and gave them a few resources to help find the cure themselves.
Similar to how UFP provided a resources to Bajor once the occupation was over to help them repair the damage to the planet, instigate other societal changes and eventually be accepted into UFP.

UFP can obviously render aid to certain species if they want them to join... although those policies might not have come into place until much later after the founding... so we don't know their position on the Valakians.
 
If Archer HAD shared the cure, I wonder if community opposition to his decision would be as strong. Instead of accusing him of genocide with the Valakians, would people say he oppressed the Menk?

I'm not judging, just wondering out loud.
 
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