April 2270 - December 2300

The Classic Star Trek Movie Era

The concluding year of the 5 year mission through to the end of the century..

April 2270 - April 2271 The fifth year of the historic five year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701.

(Note:  I have tended to leave out novelizations from this timeline as they are not considered part of "official" Star Trek.   However, from time to time there is a novel that I enjoyed that I will insert into the timeline mainly for fun.  The Lost Years novels, which reveal possible tales of what happened to the crew between the end of the five year mission and ST-TMP, are an example.) 

April 2271       Stardate 6987.1

The U.S.S. Enterprise returns to Earth to spacedock at the end of its historic five year mission.

This final trip was the last star-hour Kirk would log for the next two and a half years. (Until October 2273 of course, Star Trek - The Motion Picture)

Beginning of events of the Classic Star Trek novel "The Lost Years" (published 1989)

late April 2271

The crew goes on six months shore leave.  (Lost Years novelization).

late July 2271

Admiral Nogura goes to the Kirk farm in Iowa and offers Jim a job as a Starfleet Admiral.  (3 months into shore leave, "The Lost Years" novel)

Late October  2271

Kirk meets with Ciana at Starfleet Operations, where she outlines the duties of the new position.  Kirk agrees to take on the job, a fateful decision that would haunt him later.

early November 2271   Shore leave completed, the crew of the Enterprise take on new assignments.   Kirk begins his new job, and becomes an Admiral. 

Willard Decker is selected as Captain for the U.S.S. Enterprise, to oversee her refit and command her when she is returned to duty.   (Lost Years novel, nine months before events of Flag Full of Stars novel)

Spock returns to Vulcan to study Kohlinahr, Bones leaves Starfleet.

July 2272  Events of the Classic Star Trek novel "A Flag Full of Stars" (#54, published April 1991)

October  2273      Events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Stardate 7412.6

An "energy cloud" of unknown origin and intent has carved a path of destruction through the galaxy on a direct course for Earth, having destroyed a flotilla of Klingon ships as well as Federation communications relay station Epsilon 9.   Charged with investigating the cloud, Admiral Kirk convinces Starfleet to give him command of the recently refit starship Enterprise, displacing its new Captain, Willard Decker, to the position of first officer.  

The crew is rapidly assembled, including Lt. Ilia, the ship's new navigator, and Dr. McCoy who reluctantly resumes his position after being called back into service by Starfleet. Kirk's unfamiliarity with the Enterprise's new design is proven when he orders the ship to warp speed against the recommendations of Decker and Scotty, plunging the ship into a wormhole which it escapes with a last minute order from Decker. 

While repairing the damage, the ship is boarded by a ship from Vulcan carrying Spock, who offers to resume his post as science officer. Spock begins by helping Scotty overcome the difficulties with the warp engines, enabling the Enterprise to head for the cloud at top speed. En route, Spock reveals that he was unable to complete his Kohlinahr training because he detected an intelligence which he believes is part of the cloud. 

Penetrating the cloud, the Enterprise wards off an attack but is weakened in the process. After Spock manages to devise a makeshift message to speak to the cloud-entity in its own language and frequency, the ship delves further into the cloud and is boarded by a beam of energy which tries to access the ship's records on Starfleet and Earth defenses. Spock damages the computer so the beam cannot gather any more information, but is attacked by the beam, which then seems to envelop Lt. Ilia and disappears from the ship, leaving no trace of Ilia. The Enterprise is trapped inside an enclosed, solid space within the cloud, and Ilia turns up again soon afterward, but this time as a puppet of the cloud-entity, identified by the now-dehumanized Ilia as V'ger. 

Curious to find more about V'ger, Spock steals a spacesuit and a thruster pack and launches himself into a small opening through which the Enterprise cannot travel, and finds himself floating through the memories of V'ger's entire journey through the universe, eventually coming to an image of Ilia as she was before V'ger's invasion of the bridge. Spock tries to mind-meld with V'ger through the image, but the staggering amounts of V'ger's memory and thought overloads Spock's mind, and he is ejected back to the Enterprise, where he is recovered and given medical attention. 

The Ilia-probe tells Kirk that V'ger is on its way to Earth to find its own creator, although V'ger refuses to believe that its creator could be a member of the human race, which it intends to wipe out, if necessary, to complete its search. The cloud has reached Earth and is ready to commence with its task. When Kirk promises the Ilia-probe that he has the information V'ger seeks, V'ger releases the Enterprise and draws it to the center of the cloud, where V'ger itself rests. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker, led by Ilia, find that V'ger is, in fact, a NASA Voyager space probe that was encountered by a race of intelligent machines and, taking the probe's instructions - to learn all it can and report its findings back its creator - literally, the machines created the cloud-vessel as a means for Voyager to return to Earth and deliver its wealth of information. But the probe is unwilling to transmit its information on command, demanding to become one with its creator. Decker manually forces Voyager to transmit its information, but is absorbed by a wave of energy when V'ger believes its creator - the only being who could operate it - has arrived. Kirk, Spock and McCoy rush back to the Enterprise just in time. 

The cloud dissipates, leaving the Enterprise in orbit over Earth. Kirk and Spock speculate that Decker's emotions concerning his relationship with Ilia, the loss of his command of the Enterprise, and other feelings will transform V'ger into a new life form that the Federation may meet again in the future.

(date is speculation)

November 2273 The Enterprise undergoes a brief shakedown cruise.  (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

2274    Somewhere in here, it is apparent that the Organians ceased to enforce the peace treaty between the Unifed Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire.   (this date is somewhat arbitrary, but it seems clear that the Organians would probably have intervened in the events of Star Trek III or certainly Star Trek VI under the treaty they established in Errand of Mercy.  Their fate remains a mystery.)

January 2274 - January 2278

A second Five Year Mission for the Starship Enterprise under Admiral Kirk. (conjecture, also explored in many novels, and some comic books.)

Note:  The would also be when the events of the Star Trek series - Star Trek: Phase II - would have taken place.

2278 Chu'lak, a Vulcan that would later commit three murders on Deep Space Nine in 2375, is born.  (97 years before "Field of Fire")

January 2278 Starship Enterprise returns from its second five year mission lead by James T. Kirk.

2280    At the battle of Caleb-IV, Klingon forces led by Kang and Kor win a great victory over Federation forces.   This was one of the first uses of the Klingon cloaking device in combat, and was used aboard the old D-5 class Klingon cruisers.   Kor was commanding the Klothos at the time.   (date is speculation based on events mentioned in "Once More Into the Breach" - placing this event here may help explain the level of hostility between UFP and Klingon forces in Star Trek III)

2281 Admiral Kirk retires from Starfleet.  (conjecture based on Star Trek Generations)

2282 Kirk, staying at his uncle's farm in Iowa, meets Antonia.  The two fall deeply in love.  (eleven years before the 23rd century segment in Star Trek Generations)

2284   Kirk returns to Starfleet.  He moves back to San Francisco from Iowa.  (date is conjecture based on Star Trek Generations, Star Trek II)

2285    Torias Dax, who had been living as a joined Trill for less than a year, is killed in a fatal shuttle accident.   The Dax symbiont survived, and was joined with Joran Belar, the sixth host, to become Joran Dax.  Joran had been previously deemed unsuitable as a host but was mistakenly accepted by the Trill Symbiosis Commission as an initiate.      ("Equilibirum" - DS9)

2285         Events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

At Starfleet Academy, Admiral Kirk is busy training new cadets. Among the cadets is Saavik, a young protégée of Spock's, who feels that she has failed the Kobayashi Maru — a no-win scenario test used to evaluate potential commanders. Kirk advises the young Vulcan that all commanders at some point must face a "no-win" situation. Saavik, displaying her willingness to become a reliable commander, pilots the U.S.S. Enterprise out of spacedock on a routine cadet training exercise.

Meanwhile, Dr. Carol Marcus, an old love of Kirk's, and her son, David, complete the final computer simulation of the Genesis project — a program designed to grant life where there is none — on the space laboratory Regula I. However, Dr. Marcus is concerned that Genesis could also be used as a weapon. At the same time, the U.S.S. Reliant arrives at Ceti Alpha VI with a mission to check for signs of life on the planet, a possible test site for Genesis. Curious, Captain Terrell and Chekov beam to the surface where they are confronted by Khan Noonien Singh, the former tyrant of Earth's Eugenic Wars, exiled to the planet in 2267 by Captain Kirk. With the aid of mind-controlling Ceti eels implanted in Terrell and Chekov, Khan gains control of the Reliant.

At the Regula I space laboratory, Dr. Marcus is contacted by the Reliant and told that Ceti Alpha VI has met the conditions required for testing of the Genesis Device; the Reliant will therefore now take the Genesis Device, months before the scheduled test. Furious at this encroachment by Starfleet, Dr. Marcus contacts Kirk on the Enterprise, expressing her outrage at the Admiral and Starfleet for their militaristic intentions. Although Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Sulu are leading a training mission for the Starfleet cadets, the crew decides to head to Regula I to investigate Dr. Marcus' complaint. When they arrive, the Enterprise is inexplicably fired on by the Reliant. Khan finally reveals himself from the bridge of the Reliant, demanding that Kirk give him the Genesis information. Kirk pulls a brilliant bluff, allowing the Enterprise precious computer time to secretly lower the shields of the other starship. The Enterprise then damages the Reliant, forcing the captured starship to withdraw for the moment.

When Kirk and company board Regula I, the crew is shocked to find that the scientists have been tortured and killed. They follow transporter traces to the interior of the planetoid below, finding Chekov and Captain Terrell alive and seemingly well in an underground dwelling. Just then, David Marcus pulls a surprise attack on Kirk, believing the Admiral to be the cause of all of the station's trouble. Carol is then forced to reveal that Kirk is David's father. Surprised and bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Kirk and David form an uneasy truce. Carol then shows Kirk and crew the Genesis torpedo.

Unbeknownst to Kirk and the rest of the group, Terrell, still under the influence of the Ceti eels, secretly gives Khan the coordinates of the torpedo. Khan quickly beams the valuable device aboard the Reliant, then orders Terrell to assassinate Kirk. Terrell, however, cannot bring himself to kill the Admiral. Instead, Terrell turns his phaser on himself. When Chekov also resists Khan's orders, the Ceti eel exits his ear and is subsequently destroyed. Khan, thinking he is stranding Kirk and his crew on the planet, departs Regula I. Carol Marcus then shows Kirk the Genesis cave, where an entire biosystem has been created. She explains that this amazing breakthrough means that barren planets can now be made safely habitable for colonists. Kirk, impressed but concerned for his crippled starship, regains contact with the Enterprise and has the landing party and scientists beamed aboard.

Meanwhile, a repaired Reliant under Khan's control obsessively searches for the U.S.S. Enterprise. Left without warp drive in the previous skirmish, the U.S.S. Enterprise hides in the Mutara Nebula. Kirk then deliberately goads Khan, hoping to throw the former tyrant off balance, while the rest of the crew searches for the Reliant in the static of the nebula cloud. Eventually, the U.S.S. Enterprise is successful in fatally disabling the other starship. But Khan, in his desperate hunger for revenge, arms the Genesis torpedo, knowing full well that both ships will be destroyed upon its detonation. With the Enterprise doomed without warp power, Spock suddenly enters the starship's radiation chamber to repair the warp drive. McCoy tries to stop the determined Vulcan, but Spock takes the upper hand and touches the doctor's forehead cryptically, murmuring "Remember." Just as the Genesis torpedo explodes, destroying Khan and the Reliant with it, the Enterprise zips into warp. The crew and ship have been spared, yet Spock, dying of severe radiation, has willingly given his own life.

With the Enterprise safely away, McCoy tells Kirk to come to the ship's engine room. There, a stunned Kirk must bid an emotional farewell to his dearest friend. Kirk need not mourn, says Spock, for his sacrifice was logical. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one" he tells his captain. Spock dies, but in contrast to a new birth -- the new living star and planet formed from the nebula and Genesis. A sullen and mournful funeral is held for Spock, and, accompanied by Scotty playing "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes, Spock's coffin is sent to rest upon the new planet.

With Khan defeated, David Marcus finally makes peace with his father. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise then go to Ceti Alpha V to pick up the abandoned Reliant crew, and the ship heads for Earth. Kirk, though saddened at the loss of his friend, is hopeful for the future, because as Spock once said, "there are always possibilities."

Events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

As the U.S.S. Enterprise returns to spacedock for repairs following the battle with Khan in 2285, Kirk continues to mourn Spock's death. McCoy suddenly enters the Vulcan's sealed quarters, babbling incoherently. Upon reaching Earth, McCoy is hospitalized. Scotty is reassigned to the U.S.S. Excelsior and the newly formed Genesis Planet is decreed off-limits by Starfleet Command. Kirk is then informed that the U.S.S. Enterprise is to be decommissioned.

In Kirk's quarters, Sarek, Spock's father, confronts the Admiral, saying that Spock's body should have been returned to Vulcan so that his katra could have been stored in an ancient Vulcan repository on Mount Seleya. Sarek tells Kirk that he must retrieve the coffin from the Genesis planet and, since Spock performed a last-minute Vulcan mind-meld with McCoy, thus transferring his "katra" or spirit, the doctor must also return to Vulcan.

However, Starfleet refuses to allow the antiquated U.S.S. Enterprise to leave spacedock. Released from the hospital and faced with this news, McCoy tries to hire a craft to go back to the Genesis planet. He then starts a brawl and is subsequently arrested, pending further psychiatric examination. The arrest proves futile, though, when McCoy escapes with the help of Kirk, Scott, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov. The crew then beams aboard the deserted U.S.S. Enterprise. To avoid pursuit, Scotty removes an integral engine part from the U.S.S. Excelsior and, knowing that they've all probably destroyed their careers, the six friends take the Enterprise out for one final voyage.

Meanwhile, the Klingons have learned of the new Genesis Device and planet, and fear that it could be a new Federation weapon. Lead by the treacherous Captain Kruge, the Klingons set out to either destroy or capture the valuable device.

On board the U.S.S. Grissom, David Marcus and Lt. Saavik arrive at the Genesis Planet for scientific observation. They quickly discover a lifeform reading coming from the surface. Intrigued, the two beam to the planet's surface to find Spock's empty coffin. Tracing the lifeform reading, the two then find the living body of a child-Spock, aging with erratic rapidity but lacking a consciousness or spirit.

Suddenly, the Klingons arrive, destroying the Grissom and taking Saavik, Marcus, and the young Spock prisoner. Shortly thereafter, the U.S.S. Enterprise arrives in the Mutara Sector and is crippled by Kruge and his Klingon cohorts. With the Klingons threatening the lives of their prisoners, Kirk tries a bluff to regain control of the situation, but is unsuccessful. David Marcus is killed by the Klingon landing party. Faced with no other choice, Kirk surrenders the Enterprise to the Klingons, yet in a last-ditch effort to gain the upper hand, activates the starship's self-destruct mechanism. The small U.S.S. Enterprise crew then beams to the surface of the Genesis Planet, watching as their historic starship is destroyed in a streak of light, taking with it most of Kruge's nefarious crew.

Kirk and party rescue Spock and Saavik from the Klingons and learn that an unstable element used in the Genesis Device threatens the stability of the planet, which is likely to explode within minutes. One factor of this instability, however, is the rejuvenating effect it had on Spock's body. With the planet reaching critical mass, Spock finally achieves the age he was just before his death on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kruge, still alive on the Klingon Bird-of-Prey and angry at the death of his comrades, beams down to the planet. There, he fights one-on-one with Kirk, eventually falling to his death. The Enterprise crew, Saavik, and Spock then escape in the Bird-of-Prey, just as the planet violently explodes, a victim of its own dangerous growth.

Under Sarek's diplomatic protection, the Klingon ship then speeds to Vulcan. Once there, the risky ceremony fal-tor-pan is performed, fusing Spock's katra, which resides in McCoy's mind, with the Vulcan's body. With the ceremony seemingly successful, a revived Spock begins the long journey of remembering his past and his friends. He questions why the Enterprise crew risked their lives and careers to rescue him. As his friend Jim reminds him, sometimes the "needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many."

2286 Events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Kirk and company wait in self-imposed exile on Vulcan, monitoring Spock's progress as he remembers his past. On Earth, the Federation Council is urged by the Klingon Ambassador to produce Kirk for trial for his actions against the Klingons on the Genesis Planet. Ambassador Sarek denies the request to permit Kirk's extradition from Vulcan and defends Kirk before the Council. The council agrees, yet demands Kirk return to Earth to face his violation of nine Starfleet regulations. Caught between two different sides, Kirk finally decides to take the Klingon Bird-of-Prey to Earth to face the Council's charges. Spock, still suffering slightly from his fal-tor-pan, decides he must accompany his captain.

The crew arrives to find Earth in turmoil, threatened by a deep space probe that has drained all power and is vaporizing the oceans, producing a worldwide cloud cover which begins to block the sun. Because of the enormous storms ravaging the entire planet, Starfleet warns all approaching spacecraft to keep their distance.

Spock manages to identify the probe's unusual communication, which turns out to be a transmission to long-extinct humpback whales. When the probe's signal is not answered, it increases its output, causing more clouds and even more storms. Kirk and crew, orbiting the doomed planet, decide that the only way to save Earth is to time-travel back to the twentieth century, when whales still existed, and return to the present with a pair of the mammals. With any luck, then the probe's signal might be answered and Earth spared.

The crew, still piloting the Bird-of-Prey, use the slingshot effect to travel back in time. They pick up whale songs emanating from the West Coast of North America. They land the Klingon warbird in a San Francisco park, where thanks to its cloaking device, the ship is concealed from view. However, the time traveling damaged the ship's valuable dilithium crystals. The small crew then splits up, with Uhura and Chekov assigned to locate an atomic reactor for photons to recharge the ship's power, and McCoy, Scotty and Sulu ordered to create a tank in the cargo bay that will safely house a pair of whales.

Kirk and Spock, after a humorous trip through twentieth century San Francisco, locate Dr. Gillian Taylor and her mated pair of whales, George and Gracie. Due to cut-backs at the Maritime Cetacean Institute, where the whales are on exhibit, they are due to be released in the sea. Once there, Taylor fears the pair will be in danger from whale hunters. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with the whales, he learns that Gracie is pregnant. Kirk tries to convince the doctor that he's from the future and that Starfleet will take good care of her whales, but Taylor is, understandably, incredulous.

Meanwhile, Chekov and Uhura have located enough photons from a reactor to complete their mission — from the U.S.S. Enterprise CVN 65 aircraft carrier, no less. Scotty, however, can't beam both crew members back at once. Faced with a decision, Chekov sends Uhura up with the needed photon collector. Chekov is then captured and questioned by FBI agents. The Russian escapes, is chased by Marines, and eventually falls and ends up hospitalized, in critical condition.

McCoy and Scotty have concurrently arranged a trade for a large piece of Plexiglas to build a whale tank on board the Klingon ship.

Kirk finally is able to convince Gillian Taylor to help him, first in retrieving Chekov, then the whales. Joined by McCoy, the three pull off a wild rescue, springing Chekov from the hospital. With twenty-third century medical technology, McCoy is able to quickly repair Chekov's otherwise fatal condition. Kirk says goodbye to Gillian, assuring her that her whales will be safe and, what's more, will be saving the entire planet in the future. At the last second of Kirk's transport, she throws her arms around him, transporting herself to ship along with the captain.

Using the radio frequency provided by Gillian, the crew locate the whales, now at sea. Just as they are about to transport George and Gracie on board the Klingon ship, a whaler ship comes into view, threatening the two mammals. The future of Earth at stake, the Bird-of-Prey valiantly fights off the whaler and beams up the whales, along with tons of water, to the prepared tank in their cargo bay.

Off the planet and en route to the Sun for the time-traveling slingshot maneuver, Spock makes his calculations and the ship is propelled to the twenty-third century. Arriving at Earth, the ship is rendered powerless by the probe and crash-lands in San Francisco Bay. Kirk then releases the whales and they answer the probe. Apparently satisfied, the probe retreats back into deep space once more.

With Earth safe and the storms gone, Kirk and his crew are brought before the Federation Council to be reprimanded for stealing and destroying the U.S.S. Enterprise in the rescue of Spock. Although Kirk disobeyed direct orders and violated numerous Federation laws, the Council praises the Admiral and his crew for saving Earth. And even though Kirk is "demoted" to Captain, he is given the only job he ever wanted — the command of a starship. And the ship he is given? A new U.S.S. Enterprise, registry NCC-1701-A.

(Star Trek IV was set 78 years prior to the events of Encounter at Farpoint (TNG) according to next generation promotional material).

2287 Events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy are enjoying shore leave on Earth at Yosemite National Park when Captain Kirk decides to spin a tall tale. According to Kirk's campfire story their vacation is interrupted by an emergency call to duty by Starfleet Command. Kirk and his friends learn that the Klingon General Korrd, Romulan Caithlin Dar and Federation counsel St. John Talbot are being held hostage on the planet Nimbus III, the planet of galactic peace. The new U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-A warps to investigate the situation.

Meanwhile, on a nearby Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Captain Klaa learns of the mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the hated Kirk and sees an opportunity for advancement in the Klingon ranks. In an effort to intercept the U.S.S. Enterprise, he orders the ship to Nimbus III.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is the first to arrive at Nimbus III and Kirk sends a shuttlecraft and landing party to the planet's only town. It is soon discovered that the town is held by a band of scruffy colonists led by a telepathic insane Vulcan, Sybok. In addition, the team learns that the hostage situation was just an elaborate ruse to obtain a Federation starship. Sybok believes that his destiny, the discovery of Sha Ka Ree, meaning "heaven" in Vulcan, has finally been fulfilled, but he needs a starship for transportation. Sybok forces the shuttlecraft to take his people to the U.S.S. Enterprise, where he fights with Kirk for control. Strangely, Spock has the opportunity to kill the insane Vulcan, yet he doesn't. Forced to explain his actions, Spock reveals that Sybok is his half-brother, exiled from Vulcan for choosing emotion over logic. Family relations aside, Kirk and the rest of the crew are thrown in the starship's brig.

Scotty finally helps Kirk, Spock and McCoy escape from the brig and sends an urgent message to Starfleet. But the message is intercepted by Vixis, Klaa's first officer.

In an effort to gain valuable followers, Sybok uses his powers to reveal to McCoy and Spock their inner-most pain, then helps each "heal." Kirk, however, refuses to allow the Vulcan to use his telepathic powers. Sybok is angered, yet he knows that he needs Kirk to pilot the Enterprise to "Sha Ka Ree," and thus a reluctant truce is declared.

The starship then sets course for the center of the galaxy, a mythical planet bound by an energy field — the Great Barrier. Sybok and the captured crew are successful in penetrating the barrier, and find a small blue planet. Sybok takes a landing party to the planet's surface, where he suddenly calls out to God. In a blinding flash of light, an entity appears, questioning him about the U.S.S. Enterprise. When Kirk asks why a god would need to ask such mundane questions, he is stricken down with bolts of electricity. McCoy brusquely tells Sybok that he has trouble believing in a god who enjoys inflicting pain. This seems to affect Sybok, and the Vulcan slowly begins to doubt his own quest. Afraid that the entity might be let loose in the galaxy, Sybok tries to use his telepathic powers to make the creature realize its own pain. The two grapple and mysteriously disappear underground. Convinced that the entity must be destroyed at all costs, Kirk orders a photon torpedo be fired at the planet. The U.S.S. Enterprise transporter can only bring up two crewmen at a time, so Kirk sends McCoy and Spock. With Kirk left all alone on the planet's surface, the enraged being suddenly appears and tries to destroy the Captain for ruining its plans of escape, via the starship, and subsequent galactic conquest.

Just then, Captain Klaa's ship arrives and uncloaks to fire on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Spock demands that the first officer, General Korrd, pull rank and beam Kirk up to the Klingon warbird and fire upon the mysterious being. Spock transfers with Korrd to the Klingon ship in order to insure that his "suggestion" is carried out.

With Kirk saved and the evil entity destroyed, there is a reception on board the Enterprise to celebrate this unusual Klingon-Starfleet cooperation. Scotty and Korrd enjoy drinks while Klingons cautiously mingle with U.S.S. Enterprise crew. McCoy suggests that the Great Barrier is in place to keep the entity boxed in, not to keep others out, which implies an even greater being at work.

Having saved the galaxy yet again, the three officers return to their interrupted vacation at Yosemite.

 2293 Events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 

Following the violent explosion of an energy production facility on the Klingon moon of Praxis, the collapse of the Klingon Empire is considered imminent. The United Federation of Planets decides that this is the opportunity to finally negotiate a true, lasting peace with the Klingons. Chancellor Gorkon, the leader of the Klingon High Council, immediately heads towards Federation space for the proposed peace conference.

Captain Spock suggests that the U.S.S. Enterprise be Gorkon's escort, forcing Kirk, who still harbors deep resentment for the brutal death of his son at the hands of the Klingons, to meet the Chancellor's ship. The two ships rendezvous peacefully and are proceeding towards the conference when the U.S.S. Enterprise suddenly appears to fire on the Klingon ship; Federation-uniformed men beam to the ship and mortally wound Gorkon. After beaming over to the Klingon ship with Kirk to lend assistance, Doctor McCoy is unable to save Gorkon's life. McCoy is arrested, along with Kirk, for the murder. 

After a quick trial before the Klingon High Council, the two men are sentenced to imprisonment on a Klingon penal colony. Unknown to the Klingons, however, is that prior to Kirk's beam-out from the Enterprise, a quick-thinking Spock surreptitiously attached a homing patch to the back of Kirk's uniform.

On Rura Penthe, the ice-cold Klingon penal planet, Kirk and McCoy meet a Chameloid, Martia, who approaches the pair with an escape plan. The proposed plan, however, turns out to be an elaborate ruse designed to lure Kirk and McCoy into the open, where they can be killed as escapees.

Arriving in the nick of time, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks Kirk's homing signal and rescues the two officers just before they are killed by the colony's nefarious prison warden. Safely aboard, Kirk and McCoy decide to avoid contact with Starfleet while they work to figure out what happened to the Klingon Chancellor's ship and to identity Gorkon's true killer. They are assisted in this investigation by Captain Hikaru Sulu, commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior.

Meanwhile, Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, works to continue her father's plan of peace with the Federation, putting her life in serious danger. Learning of this, Kirk and Spock become convinced that there is an organized conspiracy behind the assassination intended to prevent the peace. They set a trap for the suspected conspirators on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, Lieutenant Valeris, a promising young Vulcan protégé of Spock's is revealed to be one of the leaders of the dissident movement. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with Valeris, he finds that both Federation and Klingon conspirators are in league against the proposed peace.

The Federation ships proceed to the location of the conference, at Khitomer, but before landing parties are able to beam down both the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Excelsior are attacked by an invisible vessel — one capable of firing while remaining cloaked. The audio transmissions of the vessel identify it as Klingon General Chang's Bird-of-Prey, an unknown prototype. Faced with an unstoppable new form of technology, the two starships sustain considerable damage. Racing against time, equipment on the U.S.S. Enterprise usually used for studying gaseous anomalies is fitted into a photon torpedo. Using some new technology of their own, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks the cloaked Bird-of-Prey and destroys it.

With the orbiting Klingon threat gone and Valeris apprehended, the U.S.S. Enterprise crew arrives at the peace talks just in time to prevent the planned assassination of the President of the United Federation of Planets. The conference continues, and the first steps are taken towards peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is recalled by Starfleet Command for decommissioning, but Kirk, in typical fashion, indulges himself and takes the ship out for one last voyage before passing the baton to a new generation of explorers destined "to boldly go where no one has gone before."

c. July 2293 After only seven years of service, the Enterprise A is (for some reason) decommissioned.

Late 2293 Events of the 23rd century portion of Star Trek - Generations.

A Champagne bottle tumbles through space, slowly drifting towards its intended target, the new U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-B. It is late in the 23rd century, and the inauguration of the vessel is attended by crew from the former starship of the same name — James Kirk, Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov. Reporters and onlookers clamor to interview Kirk and the new U.S.S. Enterprise captain about commanding a starship, as the crew begins to embark on its routine maiden voyage. A short time into the flight, however, the starship receives a distress call and is diverted to aid two El-Aurian transport vessels which are caught in a strange, mysterious energy ribbon. Kirk, falling back on his old instincts, quickly finds that not only is the new captain inexperienced, but most of the ship's vital weapons and functions have not yet been installed. While Kirk, Scott and Chekov struggle to save the ship, the transporter room beams aboard survivors, even as their El-Aurian transport vessels are torn apart by the energy ribbon.

Kirk goes below deck to work on the deflector relays, but the ribbon suddenly strikes the starship, tearing a large gash through the hull and leaving only debris where Kirk was working. Scotty and Chekov stare out into space, bewildered by the sudden loss of their friend.

2294 The U.S.S. Jenolan crash lands on a Dyson's Sphere and Scotty ends up stuck in the transporter. ("Relics")