A Taste of Armageddon

"This is the captain. Condition... yellow alert. Phaser crews stand by. Deflector shields up. We're going in... peacefully, I hope. But, peacefully or not... we're going in."

"Sir, there's a multilegged creature crawling on your shoulder."

"Diplomats! The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank!"

"Diplomacy, gentlemen, should be a job left to diplomats. You will, of course, immediately resume a peaceful status."

"No, sir, I will not."

"What did you say!?"

"I'll not lower the screens, not until the captain tells me to."

"You are taking orders from me. You will lower the screens as a sign of good faith, my authority!"

"I know about your authority, but the screens stay up."

"Mr. Fox, they faked a message from the captain, they've launched an attack against our ship. You want us to trust them openly?"

"I want you to obey my lawful orders!"

"No, sir. I won't lower the screens."

"Your refusal to comply with my orders has endangered the entire success of this mission! I can have you sent to a penal colony!"

"You can, sir, but I won't lower the screens."

"Your name will figure prominently in my report to the Federation Central."

"Well, Scotty, now you've done it!"

"Aye. The haggis is in the fire for sure."

"This is the commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise. All cities and installations on Eminiar 7 have been located, identified, and fed into our fire control system. In 1 hour and 45 minutes, the entire inhabited surface of your planet will be destroyed. You have that long to surrender your hostages."

"Death, destruction, disease, horror. That's what war is all about, Anan. That's what makes it a thing to be avoided. You've made it neat and painless, so neat and painless you've had no reason to stop it!"

"We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it! We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes... knowing that we won't kill today."