What would you do in the Kobayashi Maru scenario?

[Spacebeard]

It sometimes seems more like it's a sort of faculty-sponsored hazing ritual. They put cadets through an impossible situation where the computer cheats to ensure defeat solely in order to grind them down and "teach them a lesson about defeat". And, of course, so Kirk and other graduates can laugh at them and pretend that there's a secret solution that the cadets aren't good enough to find.

[Slartibartfast]

I support the theory that it's a "let's laugh at the n00bies" ritual more than an actual training scenario.

[Dennis Toy]

There was a joke in a ST novel, called "The Return" (reputedly written by Shatner), which had Picard say "The Kobayashi Maru exam is a relic of an older time." This was right before Kirk smirked, said "How about that?" and then punched him in the face.

I fucking love Kirk.

Kirk PUNCHED PICARD! Looks like im gonna have to have a talk with kirk....


For Kobayashi, i would send in a probe to scan the area and the take the ship at full warp into the area and beam the crew out using the maximum gain on the transporters, then HI TAIL it outta dodge.

[DarkSilver]

There was a joke in a ST novel, called "The Return" (reputedly written by Shatner), which had Picard say "The Kobayashi Maru exam is a relic of an older time." This was right before Kirk smirked, said "How about that?" and then punched him in the face.

I fucking love Kirk.

Kirk PUNCHED PICARD! Looks like im gonna have to have a talk with kirk....


For Kobayashi, i would send in a probe to scan the area and the take the ship at full warp into the area and beam the crew out using the maximum gain on the transporters, then HI TAIL it outta dodge.

Yeah, he laid out Picard like the bitch he was....(bitch compared to Kirk that is).

Most of the Shatnerverse Trek novels tend to be really decent, of course they merge the TNG and TOS crew a great deal in them.


As for how I'd handle the KM....

Launch a Type IV probe and max speed into the Neutral Zone to get long range scans of the sector the distressed ship was in. In the meantime, I've have Communications send a tightband transmission to the nearest Starbase with a second to SFC concerning my whereabouts and inpending course of action, once I start getting readouts from the probe.

Should the probe tell me there's a ship there (99% probability it will, simply because the computer wants me to die), I hail the closest Klingon Base, informing them of my intentions to make a rescue run into the Neutral Zone, they are welcome to send a ship to meet me at the coordiantes of the KM.

Once nearing the KM, lose the ships signal since it was a trap, have a bunch of Klingon ships decloak about me, powering up thier weapons. Order weapons armed and shields raised, begin tactical retreat OUT of there, while doing my damndest to keep my ship in one peice, till I got back to Federation territory. Of course, this being a trap, 95% chance I'm already been ringed by most of the Klingon Defense Forces in that sector, and get oblierated shortly after I send out a message bouy recording these final moments of my ship.

[Crazedwraith]

I'd generally do what most people have suggested. Sned transmissions to all relevant parties and then head in to get the KM with sheilds raised. I seem to recall Saavik didn't have shield ups and they and the weapons got taken out in the first klingon volley.

[Bounty]

I seem to recall Saavik didn't have shield ups and they and the weapons got taken out in the first klingon volley.

She raised shields as soon as the Klingons appeared, before the first shot was fired.

I wouldn't go in, myself. There's a good chance the distress call is a set-up, and saving one unlucky freighter isn't worth the risk of starting an interstellar conflict.

I'd order the crew of the KM to abandon ship and get as close to the Neutral Zone as possible - escape pods have limited STL propulsion, and it couldn't have drifted *that* far into the zone. Call the Klingons, ask them for help, then call SFC and tell them what's going on. Stay close the the NZ to pick up the pods - if any of them make it - and keep broadcasting a peace message on all fequencies.

Since this is a no-win scenario, it'll probably turn out that the KM wasn't a trap, and Klingons happily blow up the fleeing pods...