Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Orions

The remastered version of Journey to Babel first aired in the US on 3 February 2007, just short of exactly 40 years after the original. In amongst the numerous changes to the episode was a completely new Orion ship to replace what was initially a spinning orange ball. It was designed by Michael Okuda who supervised the entire remastering project with Denise Okuda. The similar design of science vessel D'Var in Those Old Scientists was then the work of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds VFX art director William Cheng.

The D'Var-type scout ship from Journey to Babel also features directly in Star Trek: Online. One particular mission in the game, simply called Return to Babel — part of the Agents of Yesterday arc — sees the player travel back in time (with the help of Daniels) to the Orion-disrupted events of the episode alongside Temporal Agent Captain Chekov. In STO, the Orions are also a playable species, are green, and have been part of the Klingon Empire since 2394.

Back in 2268, we find out that the Na'kuhl (those time-travelling-demon-Nazi ones from Star Trek: Enterprise), and not just the Orions, have been interfering en route to Babel. In the end, it is the player who is responsible for the destruction of the Orion ship, having beamed aboard to plant a 'time bomb' there that was originally meant for the Enterprise.