[aceman67]

I'm currently writing a star trek fan-fiction where my main character is currently in Starfleet Academy, and I'm debating with whether or not I should have my character defeat the no-win scenario.

Right now there are two instances in Star Trek Literature (other than Kirk & JJ-Kirk, who both cheated) who have 'beaten' it, both being different interpritations of Nog facing the test. (There was one other, Quinton Stone, but no information is given on how he did it)

The first one, when confronted with his Foe who demanded his surrender, Nog simply asked "How much?", and proceeded to haggle the simulation until the program crashed.

The second one had Nog use his ship as a bomb and triggered the self destruct to disable the attacking ships so the Maru could escape. When he asked his instructor if the Maru got away, he was told "You're dead, you'll never know".

Any ideas how you would win the unwinnable?

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Ko..._Maru_scenario

[Eaglesg]

I like the aspect of being able to crash the program without cheating

[Christopher Halsey]

The Starfleet Academy novel (that accompanied the game) had a good method for beating the test, in the novel Cadet David Forester faced the Kobyashi Maru in 2288 and re-programmed the simulator the same way the novel states Kirk did.

By programming the Klingons to react to him as if he had a great reputation the Klingons fought for themselves all wanting to be the one to defeat such a worthy opponent rather than working together and coordinating their attacks, this allowed him to overcome the Klingons by manoeuvring between their ships during the battle which resulted in the Klingons inflicting heavy damage on their own ships.

Like Kirk, he was able to overcome the Klingons but Kirk had anticipated this course of action and had added an experimental Klingon warship to the simulation which appeared after the other Klingons had been defeated, Forester's ship was disabled but he also managed to disable the Klingon vessel making the encounter a draw.

It was then stated that the Klingon's objective was not to destroy the simulated Starfleet vessel but to capture it, since Forester was able to prevent the capture or loss of his ship it was considered a win.

You can re-programme the simulation the same way in the game although the outcome of doing so differs from the novel.

Viewing you and your actions as honourable the Klingons will allow you to rescue the Kobyashi Maru.

Ultimately if you don't intend on cheating you haven't got many options. If you don't try to help the Kobyashi Maru then you save your ship and crew but by allowing a great many others to die. If you try to help the Kobyashi Maru you're going to end up in a fight with more enemy ships than you can handle.

No matter how creative or awesome someone thinks they are the Kobyashi Maru test is meant to be un-winnable, it isn't a 'fair' test, you're competing against a computer programme devised by experts and tested by Starfleet's finest, pretty much anything anyone throws at it can be countered because the programme keeps changing the variables to ensure you lose. That doesn't mean it can't be beaten, but the only people that have beaten it have done so by using very unique loopholes.

That said if I had to give it a try, the first option I could think of would be trying to lure the Klingons away with a fake distress signal or falsified orders, the Romulans used that trick successfully on a few occasions such as the Romulan attack on Khitomer which is why the USS Intrepid arrived at the scene before the Klingon Defence Forces. That said the programme could easily counter that by just having them not take the bait.

Alternatively, if you are facing Klingons, try to appeal to their sense of honour. Although it's probably unlikely to work, the Klingons would likely view the Kobyashi Maru and those on board as weak and not worthy of saving and would see you as a legitimate military target. Again the programme can just decide to reject your efforts.

I'd probably try to goad them in to a one on one challenge, either one ship versus one ship or personal combat. The programme could refuse but if you are fighting the Klingons then they are going to be programmed to be somewhat realistic and it's been shown that they are exploitable in this manner. If you win you are allowed to save the Kobyashi Maru, if you lose then... well it's unlikely to be pleasant.

Winning a fight with a Klingon isn't exactly easy but it makes it a fairer contest with better odds and most of all it's a conflict of my choosing, wasn't it the codex of Vox'Soon (my Klingon is a little rusty) which talks about the master warrior becoming lord of the field of death, able to dictate the terms of the battle to ensure victory?