Starfleet General Orders and Directives
General Orders
General Order #1
As the right of each sentient being to live in
accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet
personnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and
culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength,
or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages
wisely. Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to
save their lives and/or their ships, unless they are acting to right an earlier
violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive
takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the
highest moral obligation.
General Order #2
No Starfleet personnel shall unnecessarily use
force, either collectively or individually, against members of the United Federation
of Planets, their duly authorized representatives, spokespersons, or designated
leaders, or members of any sentient non-member race, for any reason whatsoever.
General Order #3
The sovereignty of each Federation members being
respected in all things, Starfleet personnel shall observe any and all statutes,
laws, ordinances, and rules of governance currently in effect within the jurisdiction
of a member planet. Violators of such ordinances will be subject to such punishments
or corrections as shall be determined by local governmental bodies.
General Order #4
If contact is made with hitherto undiscovered
intelligent lifeforms, under no circumstances shall Starfleet personnel, either
by word or deed, inform said lifeforms that worlds other than their own exists
outside the confines of their own space.
General Order #5
In cases of extreme emergency, Federation special
representatives are empowered to assume emergency powers to deal with a condition
or circumstance that is deemed hazardous to the welfare of Federation citizenry.
Within the scope of these emergency powers, duly authorized civilian personnel
may assume temporary command of Starfleet vessels and/or personnel to deal with
the emergency. Starfleet personnel must submit to their authority for the
duration of the crisis.
General Order #6
The request for emergency assistance from Federation
citizenry demands unconditional priority from Starfleet personnel. Such personnel
shall immediately respond to said request, postponing all other activities.
General Order #7
No Starfleet vessel shall visit the planet Talos
IV under any circumstances, emergency or otherwise. This order supersedes General
Order 6. Any transgression of this general order shall be punishable by death.
General Order #8
Upon sighting a warship within Federation space
and identifying it as belonging to a foreign power, the commander of the Starfleet
vessel shall determine the reason(s) for that craft's presence in the vicinity.
If there is conclusive evidence that the vessel has a hostile intention, the Federation
vessel may take appropriate action to safeguard the lives and property of Federation
members. In such cases, the commander may use his discretion in deciding
whether to use force to disable the hostile vessel. However, care should be
taken to avoid unnecessary loss of sentient life.
General Order #9
No commander of a Starfleet vessel, military or
auxiliary, may grant political asylum to any individual without first being given
express permission to do so by a representative of the Federation government.
General Order #10
If there exists eyewitness testimony by senior
officers or similar verifiable evidence that an individual has violated the Prime
Directive, said individual may be relieved of duty by a duly sworn representative
of the Federation government and placed under immediate arrest. The governmental
representative shall then take such action as he deems necessary to minimize the results
of the violation.
General Order #11
Starfleet officers with the rank of captain or
higher are granted full authority to negotiate conditions of agreement and/or
treaties with legal representatives of non-Federation planets. In such circumstances,
the acting officer carries de factor powers of a Federation special ambassador.
Any and all agreements arranged in this manner are subject to approval by the
Commander in Chief of Starfleet Command and the Secretary of Starfleet.
General Order #12
Federation officers may violate Neutral Zone
areas as designated by treaty only if such action is required to save the lives
of Federation citizens under conditions of extreme emergency.
General Order #13
Except when orders state to the contrary, Starfleet
personnel will respect the territorial integrity of independent planetary systems
and governments, and will not violate territorial space belonging to such worlds.
General Order #14
Starfleet personnel may intervene in local
planetary affairs to restore general order and to secure the lives and property
of Federation citizens only upon receiving a direct order to do so from a civilian
official with the title of governor or higher.
General Order #15
No officer of flag rank may travel into a potentially
hazardous area without suitable armed escort.
General Order #16
Starfleet personnel may extend technological,
medical, or other scientific assistance to a member of a previously unrecognized
sentient species only if such assistance in no way compromises the Prime Directive
of the security of the Federation or Starfleet.
General Order #17
Starfleet vessel captains are to consider the
lives of their crew members as sacred. In any potentially hostile situation,
the captain will place the lives of his crew above the fate of his ship.
General Order #18
Upon being accused of treason against the Federation,
Starfleet personnel may demand a trial conducted by the Federation judiciary.
If the individual is acquitted, Starfleet Command shall have no further legal recourse
against the accused in said manner.
General Order #19
Except in times of declared emergency, Starfleet
personnel may under no circumstances convey personnel or material between planets
or planetary systems when there is reason to believe that said personnel or material
may be used to conduct aggression. This order applies to independent worlds
within the Federation as well as to Federation members.
General Order #20
Officers and personnel of Starfleet Command
may employ whatever means necessary to prevent the possession, transportation, sale,
or commercial exchange of sentient beings being held against their wishes within the
boundaries of Federation space.
General Order #21
No Starfleet personnel, either officer or enlisted,
may offer his services to an independent foreign government without the express
authorization of the Federation Assembly.
General Order #22
As the rights of individual expression and free
discourse are considered sacred, Starfleet personnel may debate the policies and
decisions of their governmental representatives privately at any time, to the extent
that such discussions do not violate their command oath or specific duties to the
Federation per these General Orders or Starfleet regulations.
General Order #23
When verifiable proof is presented to the senior
commanding officer of a Starfleet vessel or post that a Federation representative
may currently be acting or has acted in the past to violate the Prime Directive,
the officer may relieve said representative of office, then assume the full powers
of that office pending a full investigation by government officials.
General Order #24
If a commanding officer deems that an individual
or group of individuals pose a threat to Starfleet personnel or Federation civilians,
he may take any action deemed necessary (including the use of force) to secure the
safety of those threatened.
General Order #25
Civilian and military personnel taken into custody
by Starfleet personnel during times of extreme emergency shall be accorded proper
treatment consistent with rank or station, insofar as such treatment does not compromise
the security of the Federation or Starfleet.
General Order #26
No member of a ship's complement or other
ground-based installation can be held directly accountable for the actions of their
superiors. Similarly, no member of a ship's company or other Starfleet personnel
will share in disciplinary measures taken against the commanding officer(s) if
said individuals were not directly involved in the actions leading to disciplinary
measures. This order extends to conditions involving proven violations of
the Prime Directive, where proof of such violations exist.
General Order #27
No member of Starfleet shall be required by
the assignment of standard duties and responsibilities to undergo extended separation
from his family if family members can be reasonably provided for aboard ship or
as a part of an existing Starfleet installation.
General Order #28
No officer of command rank shall be removed
from command status unless such action has the complete and unqualified agreement
of at least three senior officers present. Whenever possible, such officers shall
include the ship's First Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Counselor, and one junior
officer of command station.
General Order #29
The primary responsibility of the commander of
any Starfleet vessel or installation is the welfare and safety of his crew, including
any civilian members. No action may be taken that creates an unwarranted
threat to the safety of those individuals under the officer's charge, except in
the line of duty and when otherwise unavoidable.
General Order #30
Starfleet Command recognizes the right of each
ship commander to interpret the specifications of the Prime Directive as he sees
fit, consistent with the conditions of other existing general orders in effect,
and based upon circumstances that may arise in dealing with newly discovered sentient
races.
General Order #31
The conditions and specifications of the Prime
Directive shall henceforth apply to all sentient lifeforms discovered, whether they
are of natural or artificial origin.
General Order #32
Except in the case of an extreme emergency, no
Starfleet commander is authorized to order his ship to travel faster than Warp Factor
Five without express permission from Starfleet Command.
Directives
The Prime Directive
Same thing as General Order #1
The Omega Directive
Briefing
The Omega Directive was created to deal with a
threat not only to the Federation, but to the entire Alpha Quadrant; and indeed
the whole Galaxy. Starfleet named the hazard the Omega molecule/particle phenomenon.
It was first synthesized over 100 years ago (during the mid-22nd century) by a
Starfleet physicist named Ketteract. The molecule created was the most powerful
substance known to exist. A single Omega molecule contains the same energy as a
warp core. It has been suggested that in theory, a small chain could sustain a
civilization. It is not known whether Ketteract was searching for an inexhaustible
power source, or a weapon. He created a single molecule particle of Omega,
which lasted for only a fraction of a second before it destabilized. His work
was done on a classified research center in the Lantaru Sector. Ketteract
and 126 of the Federation's leading scientists, were lost in the accident.
Rescue teams attempting to reach the site, discovered an unexpected secondary effect.
There were subspace ruptures extending out several light years. To this day,
it is impossible to create a stable warp field in that sector. It can only
be traversed under sublight power. This is the danger of the Omega molecule.
Omega destroys subspace. A chain reaction could devastate subspace throughout
the quadrant. Space-faring civilization would no longer exist, and many lives
would be lost in space. When Starfleet learned of this impending danger,
it suppressed all knowledge of the Omega phenomenon. Only Starfleet Captains
and Federation Flag Officers may view this document.
Article 1
Starfleet Captains and Federation Flag Officers
must ensure the safety of the quadrant from the Omega threat. To this end,
whenever sensors positively determine the presence of Omega in a ship's vicinity
it will enter "Omega Protocol." Doing so locks all navigation, sensor, tactical
and propulsion systems. Only the ship's Captain, or a Federation Flag Officer
can release the Omega lockout. Access to sensor data retrieved on the Omega
effect is limited to Clearance Level 10. When Omega has been verified, the
ship's captain will contact Starfleet Command immediately. No information
may be relayed to the ship's crew. All other priorities are rescinded until
the threat is neutralized. The prime directive may be compromised during
such a mission, if necessary. Blatant abuse of this power will be prosecuted
to the fullest extent using all other Starfleet Directives. If violation of
the prime directive is even minimally anticipated, it is authorized and advised.
If Starfleet Command cannot be contacted for any reason, the primary priority is
the destruction of all Omega molecules detected. There will be no computer
record of the sensor logs, and Captain's/Captains' Personal Logs must be either
encrypted or deleted.
Article 2
If Starfleet can not be contacted the Captain
may share information of the Omega Molecule. Only the senior officers of
the ship and/or starbase may help in the destruction of the dangerous molecule.
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