War Games

Alpha signals a habitable planet as they enter it's system. They receive no reply, but as they come into close range, three Earth-style Mark IX Hawks approach the base. They try to contact the ships with no luck. Three Eagles are launched and take up defensive positions over Alpha.
	When the Hawks are in striking range, and still have not responded to hails, Koenig orders a preemptive strike. The Hawks are destroyed, but are immediately replaced by three more, which devastate Alpha and a second wave of Eagles before they can be
engaged by the first wave of Eagles. Two Hawks are destroyed and two Eagles are lost. Alan's Eagle is damaged and "plays dead" in space. A large alien "bomber" approaches the base, which is so badly damaged that they cannot defend themselves or launch
	another Eagle. Alan restarts his Eagle and blasts the bomber out of the Alphan sky. He returns to Alpha where a meeting is held to discuss the status of the base. With 128 Alphans dead, they are unable to repair the power and recycling plants in time to save themselves.
Koenig decides to that he and Helena should go down to the planet to try to convince it's leaders to discuss their situation. They do not receive any answers to their signals, but meet with no resistance as they approach the planet. Their Eagle is then brought in, by remote
	control, to a city and lands. They are transported to a chamber where they meet two of the planet's inhabitants. Koenig asks why his base was attacked when they come in peace. He tells them that half of his peole are dead and his base can no longer support human life.
The aliens tell them that Man is "a fatal virus"... "a plague of fear", with "no place in space", and "no future". And that the Alphans presence on their planet would destroy a civilization that had survived for billions of years. Koenig cannot accept this judgement, and begins
	to destroy the delicate equipment in the chamber. The female alien shoots and kills him. Helena is allowed into the "brain" which the aliens inhabit. She is given the power to restore Koenig to life. Unable to remove Helena from the "brain", John leaves to get some
support and fire power, as he has decided to take some space on the planet, by force if need be. He initiates Operation Exodus and arranges to change to an armed Eagle in space. He and Alan then attempt to return to the planet, only to be confronted by a forcefield.
	Their Eagle starts to break up, and they eject as it explodes. Alan is killed and Koenig is adrift in space with only 97 minutes of oxygen. Within the "brain" Helena can sense Koenig's plight. She decides to save him despite the alien's warnings that he will destroy them all.
Koenig is brought back to the planet by Helena. He fires his stun gun at the male alien within the "brain" and starts a chain reaction which devastates the planet. He tells the rest of the Alphans, en route to the planet, to return to the base, if they are going to die
	somewhere, it might as well be Alpha... Then we are returned to the moment before Koenig orders the Eagles to fire on the Hawks. This time he orders Alan to stand down. The Hawks disappear from their screens and sensors. Victor is baffled by this turn of events, and
wonders if this means they can go down to the planet. The male alien appears on the main screen to tell them "No", that the Alphans were shown, in an instant, the possible consequences for a decision that the aliens hoped they would not make.

War Games is probably one of the best remembered episodes of the series. Not only does it have great battle scenes... plenty of destruction (and effects shots), the like of which was just not seen on episodic television before. Just think about it. When did you ever see the Enterprise actually damaged? The closest they ever got to showing damage, was filming the model hanging crooked in space! Contrast that, to shots like these...

Add to that, one of the finest dramatic moments of the series, the monologue that Victor records (for anyone who finds the empty shell of Alpha) as Operation Exodus nears completion, is both moving and thought provoking, and never fails to choke me up.

I also love the alien city in this episode. It is just really cool! What can I say?

Now that I have glowed over the highpoints of this episode, I think it is time to pick a few nits... there is a a small conitnuity error in this episode when the fleet of Eagles leaves Alpha for the planet, the base is not damaged at all. This is probably because this is the same footage used in Guardian of Piri for Operation Exodus. Which brings me to the subject of a new section that will appear occasionally in addition to "Random Thoughts", it will be called...

In this section we will take a look at, or rather, take a second look at, some of things that appear more than once in the series. This will include reused models, stock footage, and actors who reappear in different roles etc. First off, the nameless alien planet looks eerily like Piri, especially as we see it over the Main Mission tower.

Speaking of look-alikes, the bomber in this episode can be spotted in the episode "Alpha Child". Perhaps this is because the aliens used the Alphans' memories to create the illusion of ships attacking the base.... Naaah!

As always, any comments, feedback, or suggestions for future appearances of "Deja View" are welcome. You can contact me by using the commlock in the Communication Centre.

Koenig: Helena: Koenig: Helena:	"Alright, Helena, let's have the bad news." "One hundred and twenty-eight dead. Mostly there's no trace of them... sucked out into space... explosive decompression." "Survivors?" "Those that made it below are pretty much alright, those that didn't... there's just no halfway house."
Paul: Sandra: Victor:	"This is Moonbase Alpha calling on all frequencies. Please acknowledge. The ship now approaching your planet is unarmed. Our commander, John Koenig, requests permission to meet and to discuss our situation with your leaders. We ask for mercy to be shown to the survivors of this base..."(repeats) "Casualty list has increased to a hundred and thirty-one. Why has all this happened to us, Professor?" "The Gods using us for there sport perhaps."
Alien Male: Koenig: Helena:	"Speak, Earthman. State your case... Speak." "Why? Why did you attack us? Why? We've been transmitting messages to you ever since we've been in range. We wanted to land on this planet. You refused to answer. When you did reply, you did so with guns, war machines and bombers." "If there's some reason that you don't want us to stay here, some basic incompatibility, we could understand, but we're not here by choice. We cannot control the course of our Moon. We're looking for a place to live. We won't use force. All we want is peace."
Koenig: Male Alien: Koenig: Male Alien: Koenig: Male Alien: Female Alien:	"You asked me to state my case, alright, here it is. We came in peace. You waited 'til we were in range, then you launched a surprise attack. You killed half my people, destroyed my base, and left us without the means to live." "You cannot stay here." "We cannot live on Alpha!" "You have no place in space at all." "You deny us our future?" "You have no future. You carry with you the seeds of your own destruction. You are a contaminating organism... a fatal virus... a plague of fear." "Your presence on this planet would destroy a civilization that has survived for billions of years."
Koenig: Male Alien: Koenig: Female Alien:	"Ever since we were blasted away from Earth, we've been fighting for survival. We have survived. Now, how, I don't know. There's no rational explanation, but... What I do have is an absolute faith in the strength of the human spirit, and the belief that someone or something is looking after us... 'God' if you like, and we will survive!" "The death struggle of inferior species is very often the finest hour of their existence. But the end is, never the less, the end." "I refuse to believe that we have no future." "Extinction may take a little time, that is all."
Koenig: Helena: Koenig: Male Alien: Koenig: Female Alien:	"Helena, this equipment, whatever it is, they depend on it. It looks very fragile." "John! Violence is not the answer!" "I can't accept their judgement." "Earthman!" "Helena, down!" "Earthman!" (Fires laser and kills Koenig)
Paul: Victor: Sandra: Victor:	"You have three minutes, Professor" "Thank you, Paul." "Recording now." "We are mankind. We came from planet Earth and we built this base, called Alpha, to learn more about space. But human error blasted this Moon out of the Earth's orbit, and so we have travelled the universe searching for a place to live. Now, we can no longer live here, and we go to face an uncertain future on the planet that has nearly destroyed us. You, whoever you are, who find this empty vessel of Alpha, come and seek us out, if we still exist. Come and teach us all you know. Because, we have learned many things, but most of all we have learned that we still have much to learn. Goodbye, Alpha."
Koenig:	"Ninety-seven minutes of life, and then no oxygen. Hallucination... a slow and peaceful drift through dream to real eternity; or just nothing, the ultimate negative, poison, pain, and yet more pain, until nothing? This body a piece, perhaps, for some future archeologist to fit into some historical puzzle. John Koenig, from planet Earth, ninth and last commander of Moonbase Alpha."
Helena: Female Alien: Helena: Female Alien: Helena: Female Alien: Helena:	"John, come back." "He has faced death, he has conquered his fear." "I want him back, as he was. I want him here. I am afraid of death. I don't want your world." "If you bring him back he will have to face the agony of his own fear." "I want him as he was, with all his faults and fears." "He would destroy us all." "We are what we are! JOHN!"
Male Alien: Koenig: Victor: Koenig: Helena:	"I a moment of time we have shown you the possible consequences of a decision we hope that you will not make." "I'd almost forgotten." "Forgotten what?" "I can't remember." "I remember a world without fear. It was very strange... beautiful. We've lost it."
Cue:	Background sound