Starfleet General Orders

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the General Orders of Star Fleet are a list of very important standing orders that members of Starfleet must ensure are followed throughout all operations. This is an example of the persistence of medieval and contemporary notions in a supposedly advanced future culture. Several notable orders are as follows:

*Omega Directive - It is not clear which General Order this is. It is likely General Order #0, as it supersedes General Order #1. It is normally only revealed to command officers. The Omega Directive requires doing whatever is necessary to ensure the complete destruction of omega particles. The existence of the Directive was revealed in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Omega Directive".
*General Order #1 - Commonly referred to as The Prime Directive, General Order #1 prohibits interference by Starfleet with other cultures, particularly those of an inferior technological level.
*General Order #4 - In "Turnabout Intruder", Chekov states that a violation of General Order 4 is the only crime to still carry the death penalty. It is not stated what General Order #4 is; it could either be General Order #7 (the Talos IV restriction) redesignated under a new number, or the death penalty could have been transferred to a completely different issue.

*General Order #7 - No Starfleet vessel is to ever visit the planet Talos IV, even for emergency reasons. To violate this order was, at one time, punishable by death. The reasoning for this General Order is explained by the Star Trek: The Original Series two-part episode "The Menagerie", a reworking of the show's original pilot.
**In , Picard reveals that the Federation no longer carries out capital punishment, implying that the punishment for General Order #4/#7 has been changed.
*General Order #12 - "On the approach of any vessel when communications have not been established..." In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Saavik quoted the first part of the General Order, but was cut off by Spock. General Order 12 has to do with defensive precautions a starship must take when a ship not following protocols closes.
*General Order #15 - "No flag officer shall beam into a hazardous area without armed escort." Saavik also quoted this rule to Admiral Kirk, who claimed that no such regulation existed.
*General Order #24 - If a commanding officer deems that a society poses a clear and present danger to the Federation, he may order the total destruction of the planet's surface. (Captain James T. Kirk ordered Commander Montgomery Scott to use General Order 24 against Eminiar VII when they attempted to destroy the and kill Federation personnel. That meant that the Enterprise would have destroyed the entire inhabited surface of the planet. However, Kirk canceled the implementation of the order when the Eminiar VII situation was resolved. The only recorded instance of this order actually being carried out was the first issue of the non-canon Gold Key Comics Star Trek series: "PLANET OF NO RETURN.")
*Self Defense General Order (number unspecified, non-canon) - Starfleet vessels will respond to force with equal force and no more. (DC Comics, "Ashes of Eden", 1995)

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