Alarms sound as a person dressed in military uniform walks to a control center. Una’s voice is heard commenting that the first contact from beyond one’s planet is something strange and new. The person turns and they are not human. The report comes in of an extraplanetary object. The image comes in and it is a Federation starship.

Fade to a snowy landscape filled with wind turbines. It’s Bear Creek, Montana. Stardate: 1739.12. In Pike’s home, the TV plays an old sci-fi movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and he makes breakfast for Captain Patel who wakes up alone in his bed.

As they eat breakfast, she asks if he’s decided to return. He comments that Enterprise is in space dock for another week. His communicator is buzzing but he ignores it. She wants him to talk about whatever happened with Discovery that’s got him questioning whether he wants to be a captain anymore. She kisses him goodbye.

While he’s out riding, a shuttle arrives. Admiral April steps out and informs him of a first contact scenario that may have gone bad. Pike is resistant to being drawn back into service. April forces him to look at the last communication from the lost captain. It’s Una.

April wants Enterprise crewed up and ready to fly by 1800. Pike tells him to send someone else. April orders him to take the mission and quit when he gets back if that’s what he wants to do.

In the Vulcan city of Raal, Spock and T’Pring share a meal and a conversation. T’Pring proposes. He accepts.

In their room, they are about to become intimate when Pike contacts Spock about Enterprise leaving on their mission.

As Pike arrives at the Enterprise aboard the shuttle Stamets, he reviews the record of La’an Noonien-Singh.

Pike beams aboard and is greeted by Spock. The transporter chief is Kyle. Spock informs him of some crew needing billeting. This includes Lt. Kirk who was requested by Pike.

Spock admits returning to space reminds him of the loss of Michael Burnham.

As they arrive at the bridge, Pike realizes Spock isn’t his Number One on this mission. Instead, Una’s position is being filled by La’an Noonien-Singh.

The ship leaves space dock. Pike suddenly glimpses his future disfigured face in the com reflection. The crew await his orders for warp. Spock calls him back and he gives the order to “hit it”.

He addresses the crew and fills them in on how Una and USS Archer went to make first contact with a planet where a warp engine signature was detected. Since then, they hadn’t been heard from.

Pike hands the com over to La’an. In his quarters, he relives the vision of his future catastrophe. Spock enters and asks how he’s doing. He deduces that the trip to Boreth changed him. Pike explains he saw his own death.

The ship drops out of warp in orbit of Kylie 279. They find the Archer but it’s completely empty. Spock discovers the Archer only had Una and two astrophysicists on board.

La’an suggests taking a defensive posture as there is an anomalous lack of signs of warp engine or space travel capability. Pike takes her advice and activates shields just as the planet launches missiles at the ship.

Spock recommends going to red alert. His analysis of Ortegas “weird” warp signature variances shows that the inhabitants of Kylie 279 have not built a warp drive, they built a warp bomb.

He briefs Pike and La’an on the fact Kylie 279 has an ongoing conflict between two warring factions. La’an recommends rescuing their people but Pike cautions if the tech was found or given to the people, General Order 1 applies and they cannot interfere with the people’s development.

Pike takes the others to the medical bay. Doctor M’Benga greets him and introduces Nurse Chapel. Her orders are to tweak their genomes to disguise them as Kylie inhabitants.

La’an refuses the sedative for the process. Chapel warns Spock that the gene therapy may not last due to his unique genetic makeup.

Chief Kyle beams them down.

They arrive in an alley. Spock is wearing short pants. They find the city in conflict and see reports on telescreens of civil unrest and the government developing a dangerous weapon. La’an detects the warp signature and locates it in a government facility. She lures two government officials into Spock’s nerve pinch range and they knock them out so Enterprise can fabricate uniforms and ID.

When Pike asks what they’ll do with the unconscious Kyliens, she suggests they beam them up and keep them sedated in sickbay. In sickbay, Chapel needs to take a DNA sample to boost Spock’s genetic coding. Suddenly one Kylien wakes up. While they sedate him, the other one wakes up and runs. Chapel is sent to chase him down. He ends up in a turbolift with Uhura.

The landing party is told they need to wait for the booster but guards rush them through to security clearance.

Uhura engages the Kylien in a conversation about tagball, a game played on Kylie 279. Chapel has M’Benga use the emergency medical transporter to beam her to the bridge and she sedates the Kylien as he exits the lift with Uhura.

Spock is running into problems at security but Chief Kyle is able to transport and apply the booster, clearing him through the scanner.

La’an detects Una’s bio sign and the team takes a lift down to the holding floor. On the way, Spock’s genetic coding glitches, allowing a Kylien woman to see his true ear shape for a moment. They find Una and her team. Una recognizes La’an, and La’an acknowledges they knew each other before this mission.

As they leave the cell, Spock’s genetic coding breaks down causing him great pain and he screams in the presence of other Kyliens who witness his transformation back to his true form. They neutralize the Kyliens and make a run for it.

En route to the surface, Una fills Pike in on the Kylie 279 situation. The warp tech they have is based on the warp signatures they witnessed when Discovery, the Klingons, and the Kelpian fleet opened the wormhole to the future. They reverse-engineered a matter-antimatter reactor and used it to build a weapon.

Even though they could beam away, Pike realizes the situation is their fault. Pike sends everyone but himself and Spock back to the ship.

Pike addresses the leader of the Kylien government. She is not interested in peace with the seditionists. She plans to end the civil conflict with their warp weapon.

As they are led away, Pike calls out an emergency message to Enterprise that is picked up by their communicators on the Leader’s desk. He orders the ship to show the Kyliens the ship with full visibility in lower orbit. By demonstrating the Federation’s superior might, he forces the leaders of the warring factions into negotiations. They proceed to argue at length.

Observing from the Enterprise, La’an comments on it. When pressed on her comments, she gives her backstory of being captured by the Gorn and taken to a planetary nursery. She was the only one who survived and she believes she survived because she always believed she would die.

Pike uses that thought and forms a plan. He beams down to the negotiations. He shows them what Earth looks like today and what it looked like before it was pushed to the brink and points out the resemblance to Kylie 279 today.

He shows them how Earth nearly destroyed themselves. First the Second Civil War which led to the Eugenics War and World War Three.

He shows them the last day and explains that the warp weapon is capable of destroying them the same way.

He offers them membership in the Federation if they make peace among themselves.

Back at HQ, Admiral April informs them that he’s managed to keep them all out of jail. There’s a loophole in that they’ve classified Discovery’s jump to the future, they cannot acknowledge how warp technology developed on Kylie 279.

Una requests a return to Enterprise. April leaves it up to Pike.

Pike meets with La’an who explains her history with Una who found her on a space raft after the Gorn freed her to die in space instead of in the nursery as a reward for being the last survivor. Una helped La’an return home. Una is her inspiration.

Pike offers her a commission to join the Enterprise.

As Enterprise prepares to leave Starbase 1, La’an is now the Security Chief. Lt. Samuel Kirk arrives on the bridge. Pike introduces him to his boss, Spock.

He gives The Speech and they warp out.