Who the cares about goodwill with the Kadeshi? We may not see them again for hundreds of years. As for science and exploration, we can have ships do it right here at home where we can benefit.
Look at what just happened. We lost a ship. Maybe if the Stargazer were in service it would have been able to rescue the Lion. Who knows what other people it could save, rescues it could perform, if you didn't send it far away from the people it's supposed to be helping.
I guess UESPA is right... Starfleet acts in service to Starfleet, not the people of the Federation.
If Stargazer were in service...we would have lost Stargazer to that event, or did you miss Onerios saying that event was a Ship-eater that would take an Excelsior, chew her up, and spit out so much scrap metal? Courageous would have been destroyed had she responded, and Captain Chekov would have likely been a dead man now. We could have lost three ships in that event instead of one, so be thankful that you didn't get your wish here. But I will admit, you have a point. Sending an Excelsior is a high cost, a very high cost-just as sending one to the Explorer corps but moreso. We need to justify this cost.
To me, the chief advantage of this long-range mission is scientific and
diplomatic and we have no cruiser or escort that can do both of those jobs. We need someone who can spread the Good News of the Federation, and conduct scientific missions, and do so for maybe 25 years. We need to send a statement to anyone who meets the Kadeshi of what the federation IS, a standard-bearer who can shoulder the responsibility of being our face in unknown places, to unknown peoples, and unknown stars. They may encounter fantastic cosmozoa, ancient races, or need to fight a war so that the exiles may enter into the Promised Land. True, the exiles have their own weapons, but...but. The future is unknown and full of bright and dark possibilities alike.
When the british sent off ships like the Beagle, the Erebus, they served two purposes-scientific research, and a justification for a global program of imperial expansion. 'Discovering' things let them stick flags in them, and as we all know, flag based conquest was an incredibly important part of the British Empire's policy. We aren't in the habit of conquering things based on flags and discoveries, but
risk is our bussiness gentlebeings. And yes, the British didn't send first-rates or even third-rates on these missions, but that's not how Starfleet rolls. How many of the original Constitutions were lost on their first Five Year Missions? How many good ships were spent, good crew members died? We have been incredibly lucky and maybe we shouldn't push that luck further. Or maybe we should. The Jews have a concept of Tzedakah-which can mean charity, but also means obligation to do good NOW. In this world, in this time, you do as much good as you possibly can. This...feels like good. It feels
right and noble. It is romantic and bit silly and we will be deferring the payoff for a long time. There might not even be a payoff, we have no way to know what the results of such a mission will be. But this mission will touch a multitude, a brush stroke of light against the blackness of space, a legend in the making. A century from now, a thousand years from now, ten thousand years? This deed will be long remembered, and it may well echo in history long after the Federation itself is dust.
