Delta-Vega

Delta-Vega is a fictional planet featured in the Star Trek film and television franchise. It was first referenced, though never seen in the second series pilot episode of the original Star Trek television series, "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Description
Delta-Vega is an uninhabited M-class planet located about six light days away from the edge of the galaxy. It is a bleak and desolate world, slightly smaller than Earth, but rich in minerals. The Federation maintained a small mining operation on Delta-Vega, but their facilities were completely automated with no on-site personnel. Once every twenty years, an ore hauler would stop at Delta-Vega to collect their mineral stores.

History
In the year 2265, the starship USS Enterprise suffered severe engine failure after passing through a magnetic storm. They journeyed to Delta-Vega to make use of their lithium cracking station in the hopes of recharging their depleted energy reserves. One of the Enterprise 's crew members, Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell had evolved into a being with god-like power as a result of being exposed to the magnetic storm. Captain James T. Kirk viewed Gary as a threat and reluctantly decided that marooning him on Delta-Vega was the best course of action for all concerned. The placed him inside of a cell guarded by an energy force field.

A repair party led by Lieutenant Lee Kelso made use of the station's facilities to fix the Enterprise 's engines. Kirk learned that part of the procedure required bypassing a fuel bin without accidentally detonating it. He left Kelso with instructions that should Gary Mitchell escape, he was to set off the fuel drums in the hopes that the explosion might kill him. With his telepathic abilities, Gary learned of this plot and used telekinesis to strangle Kelso with a power cable.

Enterprise psychiatrist Doctor Elizabeth Dehner came to visit Gary Mitchell's cell. Gary escaped and Elizabeth evolved into a higher form of life just like Mitchell. Gary declared himself a god and turned his power against Captain Kirk and his Science Officer, Mister Spock, before leaving the lithium station.

Mitchell and Dehner explored the terrain and Gary used his increasingly growing power to transform it from a barren landscape into a lush, tropical paradise. When Captain Kirk revived, he went after Mitchell with a phaser rifle and the two fought one another. Elizabeth, still wrestling to maintain her humanity turned against Mitchell and paid for it with her life. Kirk used the phaser rifle to blast a way an outcropping of rock, which crushed Gary Mitchell to death. They were both buried on Delta-Vega. Captain Kirk's official log reported that Mitchell and Dehner gave their lives in the line of duty.

Notes & Trivia

 * Not to be confused with Delta Vega, a planet in the Vulcan System.