Mission race progress after the first leg
Mission race completion
A mission race or second contact race was an off-the-cuff suggestion made by Captain Carol Freeman on behalf of the crew of the California-class USS Cerritos against Vice Admiral Les Buenamigo's Texas-class automated starship, USS Aledo.
Conducted in 2381, it was a "multi-planet mission, timed and judged." Details included making repairs at Galardon, installing an outpost on LT-358, and resupply Ockmenic 9.
Although the Aledo technically won, its failure to follow up on potential signs of life on LT-358, a violation of the Prime Directive, gave Freeman an avenue to disqualify it. Even without this flaw, the point became moot when Ensign Sam Rutherford realized that the artificial intelligence used in the class was dangerously emotionally unstable and prone to patricidal impulses. Buenamigo responded to this by granting the Aledo full autonomy with the intent of having the Cerritos destroyed under the guise of the Cerritos having attacked the Aledo first in response to losing the race, leading to an attack on Douglas Station that killed Buenamigo and led to the destruction of the vessels at the hands of the Cerritos and the rest of the California-class fleet. (LD: "The Stars At Night")