Captain James T. Kirk

Captian James T. Kirk and The Prime Directive

The Prime Directive was created as a measure of protection for all developing planetary societies. Any captain that contravenes it must justify his actions to Starfleet - a position James Kirk finds himself in more than once.

In the earliest era of galactic travel, many mistakes were made by officers with good intentions - and some times more malignant-ones Some of these mistakes haunt Captain James Kirk even 100 years after the original offence.
The Prime Directive often seems to tie the hands of Captain Kirk when other spacefaring cultures don't live by the same standards; in these cases, Kirk manages to work within the constraints of General Order Number One. Some cultures believe they want nothing more than the interference of Starfleet, seeing only the strategic advances and not the pitfalls, while others, such as the Organians, are so advanced that they see Captain Kirk's attempts at non-interference as child's play.

Dealing with the big boss

When the USS Enterprise NCC-7701 is hailed by the inhabitants of the planet
Sigma lotia II, the crew is more than surprised. Only 100 years prior to the
Enterprise's voyage among the stars, the planet was known to be in the first
stages of its own industrial revolution. It was studied by the Federation
vessel, the U.S.S. Horizon, and hasn't been visited since. Captain Kirk, Spock
and Dr. McCoy arrive to find the planet caught up in a strange version of mobster warfare, and they suspect something went terribly wrong with the Prime
Directive on that previous Federation visit. Unable undo the damage, Captain
Kirk contrives to play along with the imitative lotians in order to lead them
out of the development trap they've found themselves in. Creating a cooperative
government between the warring factions, Kirk promises that the Federation will
be back to collect their "piece of the action" on an annual basis. Unfortunately, Dr. McCoy realises too late that he left his communicator on the planet. Knowing the lotions to be the best
imitators in the galaxy, Kirk fully expects that one day the Lotians will decide
that they want a piece of the Federation's action.

When in Rome

Visiting Planet 892 IV,
Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy and Speck discover the wreckage of a Federation Vessel,
the S.S. Beagle. Though the planet appears to be technologically the equal of
20th century Earth, the culture seems to be more on par with the ancient Roman
Empire. When the Captain of the downed space vessel, Merrick, appears, Kirk quickly realises there is a terrible violation of the Prime Directive taking place. Merrick has taken on the title "First Citizen Merikus" and has some how tricked his crew into forging their own deaths in a barbaric televised version of the deadly circus, Now, he expects Kirk to do the same- Luckily Kirk's crew is so well-trained that Scotty quickly realises something is amiss on the planet's surface. He interferes with the electrical power long enough to enable Kirk to rescue Spock and McCoy from certain death in the spectacle of the arena. Merrick realises that he's gone far from his Starfleet ethics and manages to free the three Starfleet officers from their death sentences before he himself is killed.

Checkmate

When Captain Kirk returns to a planet where his Starfleet career began 13 years
earlier he is shocked to discover that the peaceful villagers are now armed with
flint rifles. They appear to be hunting down the complacent hill people with
whom Kirk stayed as a young man. Kirk and McCoy go in search of Kirk's friend
Tyree, for an explanation. Kirk is attacked by a poisonous creature called the
Mugato, and is conscious only long enough to assure McCoy that Tyree will know
how to heal him. McCoy finds Tyree and his mysterious medicine-woman wife,
Nona, just in time. Nona cures Kirk, but there is one condition: he is now
psychically connected to her, and must obey every request she makes. Later she
seduces him and steals his phaser. She challenges a group at village men, but
discovers she doesn't know how to use the phaser and is at their mercy. When Tyree sees her killed by the villagers he is finally angry enough to pursue a forceful solution against them. He teams up with Kirk and McCoy, and they discover that the Klingons have been providing the Villagers with rifles. Kirk decides to fight tire with tire, and provides the Hill people with equal, though not superior, weaponry as long as the Klingons choose to be involved with the planet. His decision is to restore the balance of power that existed previous to the Klingon interference.