Captain Storil: Battle of Wolf 359

As seen in the pilot episode for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 

 

On Stardate  43997, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise was kidnapped for six days by an invading force known as the Borg.  Surgically altered, he was forced to lead an assault on Starfleet at Wolf 359.

 

At the Battle of Wolf 359, Starfleet assembled a fleet of 40 starships to stand against the Borg in their advance towards Earth.  One of the first ships to attack was the U.S.S. Saratoga, a Miranda-class starship under the command of a Vulcan named Storil.

 

 

Charging into the fray, Saratoga was one of the first vessels to fire on the Borg cube.  She was also one of the first to be caught by the Borg tractor beam.  Once her shields had drained, the Borg ripped into the small ship with their deadly cutting beams.  The bridge exploded in flames, killing Captain Storil and most of the command crew.  Surviving the blast, Lt. Commander Benjamin Sisko ordered an evacuation of all hands. 

 

Storil was never actually named in the series.  The name comes from the literary adaptation of the pilot episode and the script and is generally accepted. 

 

To make the figure, I took the Duty Uniform Picard and placed a slightly augmented Vulcan head on his shoulders. 

 

Seeing as how the Saratoga was a much smaller vessel than the Enterprise, some adjustments had to be made in order to present a passable action environment.  I chose the Action Fleet Stargazer as its design was similar to that of the Saratoga. 

 

Obviously, these models offer a rather comedic perspective when one compares the size of the chairs and consoles to the figures.  However, the objective is to create a somewhat believable background. 

 

Captain William T. Riker from “Parallels”

I think this figure fits with the theme of doomed sister ships of the U.S.S. Enterprise.  Although, this is not a sister ship—it’s the Enterprise herself from an alternate universe.  Imagine a reality where the Borg not only won the Battle of Wolf 359, but prevailed in the subsequent Battle of Sector 001 as well. 

 

In this reality, the Borg went on to assimilate or destroy Earth and the vast majority of the Federation.  This battered Enterprise is one of the only ships left. 
 

Commanding this barely functioning former flagship of the now defunct Federation is a grizzled and unkempt Captain William T. Riker.  

 

We first see this alternate reality in an episode called, “Parallels.”  Otherwise known as Lt. Worf’s adventures while surfing the multi-verse, this episode features a variety of possible divergent realities. 

 

Loved by many, I feel this episode was rather a let-down.  I think more could have been done to make it interesting, but the writers just seemed to give up.  Or, their high wore off and they just couldn’t go on.  The only good take away from this episode is the quantum reality where the Enterprise which has seen better days crosses into the prime reality and attempts to defect. 

 

Here we see a Mountain Man in a Starfleet uniform pushed past the breaking point.  Handling situation rather badly, Captain Riker fires on the shuttle carrying the Worf from the prime reality to his own Enterprise.  An Enterprise from one of the other realities fires back.  The Enterprise from the Borg-occupied reality explodes. 

 

This was a bit difficult to make, and I am sure the purists out there will find some fault with my interpretation.  I took the Duty Uniform Picard and placed one of the alternate heads to Admiral James T. Kirk on the shoulders—the one in mid-shout.  Then, I carefully added the beard and an appropriately messy hairstyle. 

A New Direction: Taking Crap and Making It Credible

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-D

I know.  This is not a custom figure.  It’s true.  There has been no alteration to this particular figure.  This is the Captain Jean-Luc Picard figure created for the Minimates line.  However, while the designers of this line took the time to make figures from other incarnations of the series, they left collectors with absolute bollocks for environments.  This oversight left me with an opportunity to create something new. 

 

While made for much smaller, and arguably badly rendered figures, the Strike Force series accomplished very little.  In fact, it was one of the contributing factors to the end of decent Trek collectibles.  However, the vessels themselves are not bad at all.  The figures on the other hand are sad.  The Strike Force ships, however, did give us some really nice interior designs.   

For instance, Captain Picard standing on the bridge of his Enterprise.