Beta III

From Federation Space - Official Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Beta III was the inhabited third planet of the "C-111 system" in the Beta Quadrant. This was the homeworld of the Betans, a pre-warp humanoid species.


Beta III as seen from orbit

Thousands of years ago, a Betan philosopher named Landru became concerned that the wars amongst the Betan people would destroy themselves and their planet. In order to bring peace to the planet, Landru built a sophisticated computer, which he also named Landru, that "absorbed" members of Betan society, allowing their actions and emotions to be controlled by the computer. Once Landru-the-Computer's influence spread over the planet, war, disease, crime, fear, and conflict had been eliminated. The computer also assumed automated control of much of the society's technological systems and infrastructure.

The surface of Beta III


In 2167, the USS Archon visited Beta III, and her crew encountered "Landru," the namesake of the philosopher Landru, the man who built the super-computer. Most of the population was absorbed into Beta III's Landru-based society. Those who were not absorbed were killed, and the Federation ship who visited the planet was destroyed.


One-hundred years later, the USS Enterprise visited Beta III to investigate the USS Archon's disappearance. When the Enterprise was also threatened by Landru, Captain Kirk confronted Landru, and convinced it that it was harming the very society it was programmed to protect. Unable to resolve this paradox, Landru destroyed itself, leaving the citizens of Beta III free to govern their own affairs.



The Enterprise left a team of sociologists, and other experts, behind to help them return to their society.