Earth Star Voyager

In 2082 the Earth deep-space vessel Vanguard Explorer suffers heavy damage as Captain Jake Brown confronts mutineers led by Vance Arthur. Brown feigns compliance, then launches an assault that sends Vance into an escape pod, leaving the cause of the ship's damage unclear. The fate of the Vanguard and its crew remains shrouded in mystery.

Six years later, in 2088, a young crew is assembled to pilot Earth*Star Voyager on a mission to Demeter, a planet with Earth-like potential. Their objective is a full planetary survey to confirm the data and guide a future colonization plan. The long journey will be slowed by modified cryogenic suspension to curb ageing during the voyage.

The mission brings together Jonathan Hays, Beanie, Lani Miyori, Luz Sansone, Dr. Sally Arthur, Huxley Welles, and Dr. Leland Eugene. The ship's sentient computer Priscilla Bauman’s memories influence her conversations and even her behavior, including a crush on Huxley that irks him. The human and artificial components of the crew begin to blur as the voyage starts.

Adm. Beasley, a war hero, gives a closing pep talk from his flagship Triton Corsair and wishes the crew luck. He hints at a larger stake in humanity’s future beyond exploration. The scene establishes Beasley’s influential role and foreshadows deeper plots at work.

The Earth*Star Voyager must navigate the dangerous junk belt, and the auto-pilot fails as debris is flung by the engines. Jonathan Brown takes manual control and guides the ship through danger, while Captain Forbes becomes trapped in an airlock and later urges the mission to continue. Tensions rise as Lani hints at a psychopathology check, and a cryo-sleep malfunction injures her.

The voyage grows more complex when Captain Jake Brown is rescued and agrees to serve as an on-board advisor. He helps defend the ship by volunteering to help Beanie build a rail-gun in an airlock. The alliance between Brown and Jonathan shifts the balance of strategic decisions aboard Earth*Star Voyager.

Jonathan uncovers troubling signs following Forbes’ death and Lani’s coma, and suspicions about Dr. Leland Eugene surface. Priscilla alerts him to suspicious activity in the railgun airlock, and Brody sabotages the weapon and is jettisoned into space. A hidden transmitter suggests covert contact with a mysterious blip on long-range scans.

A distress signal leads the crew to a massive space station known as the 2020 World's Fair, inhabited by warriors of the Outlaw Technology Zone. They are captured by the station's fighters, and discover Vance is still alive and has risen to power as Top Dog. Brown fights to regain control and escape with the others.

Brown leads a salvage mission on the Vanguard Explorer and retrieves logs to prove the mutiny. They encounter a cyborg Shell connected to the OTZ, and Doctor Arthur helps disable and interrogate it before bringing it aboard. Admiral Beasley becomes aware of the Shell but is unable to act immediately.

The Shell reveals it was abducted and turned into a cyborg as part of a barbaric process, and an uneasy emotional connection forms between Doctor Arthur and the Shell before programming returns it to a drone state. The Shell later regains movement, sabotages and then warns to stop 'Assembly' before deactivating itself to spare further harm.

A cutaway reveals Admiral Beasley’s involvement with the Outlaw Technology Zone and suggests the mutiny on the Vanguard Explorer was part of a larger scheme. Vance confronts the truth and Beasley’s connections come under scrutiny, casting doubt on the mission’s true purpose.

Back aboard Voyager, the crew uncovers a plan by the OTZ to join multiple ships into an enormous ‘Assembly’ that could power a massive warship. Voyager’s design aligns with the Assembly, indicating Earth*Star Voyager is part of a larger scheme rather than a simple exploration mission.

Beasley’s ship fires warning shots to force Voyager toward the Assembly, revealing his intent to assemble a utopia for select colonists while leaving others behind. The crew uses jury-rigged weapons—solar laser and the railgun—to battle back. Jonathan earns Beasley’s respect during the confrontation, but Beasley remains determined to prevail.

Jake Brown almost sacrifices himself to keep the railgun circuit alive; Sally saves him, and Earth*Star Voyager escapes the Corsair. Beasley concedes to Jonathan’s leadership and vows to meet again, with an alternate VHS version hinting that Beasley might himself be a shell or robot.

Back aboard, Lani recovers, Beanie and Luz begin their relationship, and Jake and Sally’s potential romance lingers in the air. Priscilla appears human in a surprising form, and the probe data shows Demeter shares Earth-like qualities. The crew eyes a new world with a plan to investigate together once the voyage ends.