Vagra II

Vagra II is a fictional planet and a minor location featured in the Star Trek multimedia franchise. It was featured in the twenty-second episode of season one of the syndicated science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled, "Skin of Evil" and was the primary setting used in that episode.

History
Vagra II is the second planet in the Vagra star system, located in or near the Zed Lapis Sector. Some untold ages ago, a race of "titans" decided to excise all negative emotion from their collective being and it coalesced into a veritable "skin of evil", which came to be known as Armus. As the sum physical embodiment of everything that is evil, Armus existed as a black pool of viscous fluid. The beings deposited Armus on Vagra II where it laid dormant for years.

In 2364, on Stardate 41601.3, Armus perceived a Federation shuttlecraft passing nearby and used its power to cause it to malfunction, crashing on Vagra II very near to where Armus' habitat was located. The only personnel on the shuttle at the time were pilot Ben Prieto and Counselor Deanna Troi.

Troi's crewmates aboard the starship USS Enterprise received a distress call from the shuttle and went to Vagra II to retrieve it. They sent down a landing party which consisted of Commander William T. Riker, Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, Doctor Beverly Crusher, Lieutenant Commander Data and Lieutenant Tasha Yar. During this encounter, Armus projected an electrical discharge that struck Tasha Yar, sending her reeling across the canyon, ultimately killing her.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard beamed down to the planet's surface to confront Armus, who demonstrated his power by taking physical control over Lt. Commander Data, then attacking Commander Riker, pulling him down into the black mass of his own substance. Armus kept in telepathic contact with Counselor Troi, who remained on the downed shuttlecraft. Aboard the Enterprise, acting security officer Lieutenant Worf and Wesley Crusher determined that the strength of Armus' force field fluctuated whenever he was in telepathic contact with Counselor Troi. Captain Picard bided his time, until Armus' attention was fully on Troi. When his energy field was at it's weakest, he had the entire crew beamed back aboard the Enterprise.

Following this encounter, Captain Picard filed a report to Starfleet, citing that further expeditions to Vagra II were now strictly forbidden.