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"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" was the 70th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the 15th episode of the show's third and final season, first aired on 10 January 1969. The episode was written by Lee CroninMA and Oliver CrawfordMA, directed by Jud TaylorMA and novelized in Star Trek 5 by James Blish.

Summary[]

On a mission to decontaminate the planet Ariannus, the Enterprise retrieves a stolen shuttlecraft with one person aboard. The pilot and thief of the shuttlecraft, who identifies himself as Lokai, is white on the right side of his body and black on his left side. An invisible spacecraft comes straight toward the Enterprise and leaves its pilot aboard before being destroyed. The pilot of that ship gives his name as Bele; he is black on the right side of his body and white on his left side. Bele is a police commissioner from the planet Cheron V who has been chasing Lokai for 50,000 years across the galaxy. Although slavery was abolished on Cheron, the ruling class is Bele's color, the "Beleans," and the ruled class is Lokai's color, the "Lokaians."

Lokai tries to enlist the Enterprise crew in his crusade, and Bele claims to be superior in color to Lokai to James T. Kirk and Spock. When the Federation refuses to honor Bele's request for custody of Lokai, Bele tries to hijack the Enterprise to Cheron with the power of his will in a standoff against Kirk, who, for his part, activates the Enterprise's self destruct system in cooperation with Spock and Scott. The destruct sequence is not aborted till after Bele agrees to turn over control of the starship to Kirk.

After Ariannus has been decontaminated, Bele hijacks the Enterprise again, this time after destroying the self destruct with his will. But upon its arrival at Cheron, the ship's sensors show that the entire humanoid population has wiped out one another. Lokai transports himself down to Cheron followed by Bele.

Log entries[]

Captain's log, stardate 5730.2.
The planet Ariannus is vital as a transfer point on regular space commercial lanes. It has been attacked by a bacterial invasion which threatens to render it lifeless unless checked. Our mission, to decontaminate it.
Captain's log, stardate 5730.7.
Having completed our mission to Ariannus, the Enterprise is now on course to Starbase 4. The crew is on normal routine and we are proceeding without incident.
Captain's log 5730.6.
In a deliberate act of sabotage, Commissioner Bele has burned out our destruct mechanism and, through the power of his will, has again taken over directional control of the Enterprise.

References[]

Characters[]

Episode characters[]

BeleClifford Brent[1]Christine ChapelPavel ChekovBill HadleyJames T. KirkRoger LemliLokaiLeonard McCoyMontgomery ScottSpockHikaru SuluNyota UhuraVinci[2]USS Enterprise computerunnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel
Referenced only
Gregor Johann Mendel

Novelization characters[]

BeleChristine ChapelPavel ChekovJames T. KirkLokaiLeonard McCoyMontgomery ScottSpockHikaru SuluNyota Uhura

Starships and vehicles[]

USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Cheron scout vesselda Vinci (class F shuttlecraft)

Locations[]

AriannusCheron (the galaxy's Beta Quadrant)
Referenced only
CoalsackEarthStarbase 4

Shipboard areas[]

USS Enterprise
bridgetransporter roomhangar deckrecreation room

Planetary locales[]

Cheron
Cheron city

Races and cultures[]

CheronianHumanVulcan
Referenced only
Romulan

Technology and weapons[]

intercomsensorsstarshipviewscreentransporter

Materials and substances[]

atmospherebloodgasoxygen

States and organizations[]

Commission on Political TraitorsMinistry of HealthStarfleetStarfleet CommandUnited Federation of Planets

Ranks and titles[]

bureaucratcaptainchief engineerchief medical officercommandercommanding officercommunications officercommissionerdiplomatdoctorengineerFederation Starfleet ranksFederation Starfleet ranks (2260s)first officerlieutenantlieutenant commanderhelmsmanmedical practitionernavigatorofficerscientistscience officersecond officerweapons officertactical officerpilotpolice

Other references[]

commercewarp 10self destruct20th centuryapebacteriabloodCivil Rights Movementcommand frequency 2commissionerdeath warrantdestruct sequencedirectional controldue processevolutionextinctionextraditiongenocidehistoryhull breachintergalactic treatylavalogicmaster computermaster racememory banknucleotideoxygenpolitical asylumracismrecuperative powersred alertsabotagescopeself destructshieldsskinslaveryspray tanktractor beamvocal cordsvolcanoanatomyarmbeamingbootcaptain's logcaptain's log, USS Enterprise, 2268cityclothingcoordinatesdiplomacydiseaseFederation membersfingerfive-year missiongermgovernmenthomeworldhourhumanoidjumpsuitlanguagelifeformlog entrylogicmattermemorymicrobemicroorganismnation-stateorbitpantsplanetpokerpopulationquadrantraces and culturesrankregulationship's logship's log, USS Enterprisespacestarstar systemstardateStarfleet uniformStarfleet uniform (2260s)technologytitletunicuniformuniverseweapon

Chronology[]

years prior to 2268
Lokai organizes revolutions among the enslaved on Cheron. (prior to episode/novelization)
stardate 5430.2, 2268 (2260s chronology, 2264–2270 Enterprise voyages)
Enterprise travels to Ariannus.

Appendices[]

Related media[]

Adaptations[]

Images[]

Connections[]

Star Trek: The Original Series episodes and movies
Season 1 The Cage • "Where No Man Has Gone Before" • "The Corbomite Maneuver" • "Mudd's Women" • "The Enemy Within" • "The Man Trap" • "The Naked Time" • "Charlie X" • "Balance of Terror" • "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" • "Dagger of the Mind" • "Miri" • "The Conscience of the King" • "The Galileo Seven" • "Court Martial" • "The Menagerie" • "Shore Leave" • "The Squire of Gothos" • "Arena" • "The Alternative Factor" • "Tomorrow is Yesterday" • "The Return of the Archons" • "A Taste of Armageddon" • "Space Seed" • "This Side of Paradise" • "The Devil in the Dark" • "Errand of Mercy" • "The City on the Edge of Forever" • "Operation -- Annihilate!"
Season 2 "Catspaw" • "Metamorphosis" • "Friday's Child" • "Who Mourns for Adonais?" • "Amok Time" • "The Doomsday Machine" • "Wolf in the Fold" • "The Changeling" • "The Apple" • "Mirror, Mirror" • "The Deadly Years" • "I, Mudd" • "The Trouble with Tribbles" • "Bread and Circuses" • "Journey to Babel" • "A Private Little War" • "The Gamesters of Triskelion" • "Obsession" • "The Immunity Syndrome" • "A Piece of the Action" • "By Any Other Name" • "Return to Tomorrow" • "Patterns of Force" • "The Ultimate Computer" • "The Omega Glory" • "Assignment: Earth"
Season 3 "Spectre of the Gun" • "Elaan of Troyius" • "The Paradise Syndrome" • "The Enterprise Incident" • "And the Children Shall Lead" • "Spock's Brain" • "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" • "The Empath" • "The Tholian Web" • "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" • "Day of the Dove" • "Plato's Stepchildren" • "Wink of an Eye" • "That Which Survives" • "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" • "Whom Gods Destroy" • "The Mark of Gideon" • "The Lights of Zetar" • "The Cloud Minders" • "The Way to Eden" • "Requiem for Methuselah" • "The Savage Curtain" • "All Our Yesterdays" • "Turnabout Intruder"
TAS "Beyond the Farthest Star" • "Yesteryear" • "One of Our Planets Is Missing" • "The Lorelei Signal" • "More Tribbles, More Troubles" • "The Survivor" • "The Infinite Vulcan" • "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" • "Once Upon a Planet" • "Mudd's Passion" • "The Terratin Incident" • "The Time Trap" • "The Ambergris Element" • "The Slaver Weapon" • "The Eye of the Beholder" • "The Jihad" • "The Pirates of Orion" • "Bem" • "The Practical Joker" • "Albatross" • "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth?" • "The Counter-Clock Incident"
Movies The Motion PictureThe Wrath of KhanThe Search for SpockThe Voyage HomeThe Final FrontierThe Undiscovered CountryStar TrekStar Trek Into DarknessStar Trek Beyond

Timeline[]

published order
Previous episode:
That Which Survives
TOS episode produced Next episode:
Whom Gods Destroy
Previous episode:
Whom Gods Destroy
TOS episode aired Next episode:
The Mark of Gideon
Previous story:
The Tholian Web
Star Trek 5
Blish5
Next story:
This Side of Paradise
chronological order
Previous Adventure:
A Sucker Born
Pocket Next Adventure:
Whom Gods Destroy
Previous Adventure:
Mudd in Your Eye
Voyages of the
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
(2264 to 2270)
Next Adventure:
Crisis on Centaurus


Translations[]
1972
German : Das letzte Schlachtfeld, translated by Hans Maeter. (Williams)
1973
Turkish : Son Savaş Alanı, translated by Reha Pinar. (Altın Kitaplar)
1978
Italian : Un odio di mille anni, translated by Rosella Sanità. (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore)
1978
Japanese : 最後の戦場, translated by Hiroshi Saito. (Hayakawa Bunko)

External links[]

  1. The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer's Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Brent in TOS episode: "The Naked Time". The same actor also played the character of Vinci.
  2. The character Vinci was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing the same operations division Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Vinci in TOS episode: "The Devil in the Dark". The same actor also played the character of Clifford Brent.
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