Omega Directive
The Omega Directive (denoted by Ω) is a highly classified Starfleet general order requiring the Captain of a starship to notify Starfleet Command immediately upon detection of an Omega molecule.
The directive also authorizes the use of any and all means to destroy an Omega molecule. This makes the Omega Directive the only known order to supersede the General Order 1, the Prime Directive.
The Omega Directive was deemed necessary due to the extreme power and threat to interstellar civilization posed by even a single molecule.
Knowledge of the Omega Molecule and the Omega Directive is restricted to Starfleet officers ranking Captain or higher.
History
In 2269, a team of 127 Federation scientists were working on a top secret experiment entitled "Project Omega" at a classified research center in the "Lantaru sector." The project's goal was to create an inexhaustible energy source, which would end all needs for all other sources of energy, hence the name "Omega." The research showed a single molecule of omega contained the same power as a warp core, which led the scientists to believe a small chain of Omega molecules could sustain a civilization indefinitely. The team then theorized that the omega molecule once existed in nature, for an infinitesimal period of time, at the exact moment of the creation of the universe. The idea was that the omega molecule was the primal source of energy for the explosion that began our universe.
The scientists were able to synthesize a single Omega molecule, but only for a fraction of a second before it destabilized, destroying the research center and killing all 127 scientists. An unexpected secondary effect was the rupture of subspace within a radius of 3.2 light years, causing warp travel to become impossible within this area. Starfleet Command realized the unimaginable implications: a chain reaction involving a handful of omega molecules could devastate and/or destroy subspace throughout an entire quadrant. This would effectively end interstellar travel for spacefaring civilizations in the quadrant. If such an event happened to Federation space, all communication, trade, and even contact, between Federation worlds would be rendered impossible; the Federation would be completely destroyed.
- Therefore, Starfleet Command suppressed all knowledge of the experiment
- They then fabricated the story of a natural phenomenon occurring in the Lantaru sector
- Which would account for warp travel being impossible within the 3.2 light year radius of subspace devastated by the omega explosion
Starfleet then enacted the Omega Directive, naming it after the last letter in the Greek alphabet, chosen to signify the molecule as the ultimate threat, not only to the Federation, but to every space-faring civilization in the entire Milky Way Galaxy.
The Directive said this: If a starship were to detect an omega molecule, the following procedure would occur.
- The ship's computer would disengage the engines immediately
- The computer would lock out all computer access, displaying the Greek letter "omega" on every bridge console.
- Only the Captain would be able to disable this lockout
- This could be done only in the privacy the Captain's ready room, with the doors locked
- The computer would then brief the Captain regarding the detection of omega molecules
- Instructions would be given to implement the Omega Directive immediately
- Any and all other orders would be disregarded, including the Prime Directive.
- The Captain, forbidden from discussing any of this with their crew, was to then contact Starfleet Command and inform them of the situation
- Starfleet Command would then dispatch a specialized team, authorized to use whatever means necessary to destroy the Omega molecule
The only known execution of the Omega Directive occurred in the Delta Quadrant in 2374 by Captain Kathryn Janeway, commanding officer of the USS Voyager.
Voyager's sensors encountered the shock wave from a nearby omega explosion, revealing the presence of one or more omega molecules in the vicinity. However, Voyager was completely out of contact with Starfleet when the detection occurred, with no contact possible in the foreseeable future. Unable to call for an omega team to deal with the problem, Janeway therefore adapted the directive to the situation, Janeway briefed her senior staff on the directive and worked with them to destroy the molecules.
The Voyager crew successfully destroyed the Omega molecules.
