When the Halkans refuse to hand over the crystals, Kirk orders a photon torpedo barrage on their planet, rejecting a diplomatic solution recommended by Spock.

Meanwhile, three Andorian vessels have witnessed the attack on the Halkans and have communicated to the Enterprise that they will no longer recognize the authority of the Terran Empire, formalizing the start of a revolution.

The more time passes, the more Kirk is abandoned by his crew and feels helpless, to the point that he asks Spock to meet at the officer's lounge to discuss a potential compromise.

Kirk, enraged at the failure of the attempt, attacks Spock and during a pause in the fight shouts his thoughts about the crew, stating that they are just expendable pawns to reach his goals.

[1] As with every episode of Star Trek Continues, the shooting of the Enterprise scenes took place in Kingsland, Georgia, at the facility owned by Farragut Films and their partners.

[3][4] According to the end credits of the episode, a scene was shot on location at NASA's Space Center Houston, home of the restored life-size prop of the original Star Trek Galileo shuttlecraft.

[7] The episode was premiered at Supanova 2014 in Sydney, Australia, on June 15, 2014 and was at the same time released on the official Star Trek Continues YouTube and Vimeo channels.

"[9] and author John Birmingham shared a similar sentiment, stating: "As storytelling goes, it is fast paced, entertaining and captures that essence of the original series.

[12] The production values of the episode were highlighted, among others, by Sam Sloan of Slice of SciFi, who wrote: "Vic Mignogna and the cast and crew of Star Trek Continues have proven, once again with this episode of the ongoing voyage of the original Star Trek that this rendering of the show is on par with that original series and continues to amaze those who are watching it.

Clive Burrell wrote on Some kind of Star Trek: "Todd Haberkorn is excellent as Spock, charting quite a change in the Mirror universe version of the character from cold, calculating officer to peacemaker in 40 minutes"[15] and Josh Edelglass wrote: "Todd Haberkorn gets a real showcase as Mr. Spock in this episode, and he's great.