Ep 3. One of Our Planets is Missing

"One of Our Planets is Missing" is the third episode of the first season of Star Trek: The Animated Series. The episode begins with the Enterprise traveling to the Delta Triangle, an area of space where numerous ships and planets have gone missing. As the Enterprise enters the area, they find themselves being pulled towards a massive cloud-like entity. The entity destroys several of the ship's systems and begins draining the ship's energy.

Captain Kirk and his crew are determined to investigate the entity and determine its cause. Upon closer inspection, they discover that the entity is actually a living being that consumes energy as its source of sustenance. The entity's immense size means that its movements can impact entire solar systems and destroy entire planets.

As the entity begins to drain the Enterprise's energy, Scotty suggests that they detonate the ship's dilithium crystals in an effort to overload the entity. The plan succeeds, and the entity is destroyed. However, the Enterprise is left adrift in space with no power and little hope of rescue.

With the ship's life support systems failing, the crew discovers that they are not alone. A group of creatures, known as the Zaranites, have also been trapped by the entity and are living on a nearby planet. The Zaranites offer to help the crew repair the Enterprise and escape the Delta Triangle.

As the Zaranites work to repair the ship, Kirk and his crew try to understand the nature of the entity that they had just fought. They discover that the entity was actually a living creature that had been living in the galaxy for eons. The Enterprise's interference had caused it to become agitated and attack.

As the crew prepares to leave the Delta Triangle, Spock suggests that they contact the Federation and warn them about the entity. Kirk agrees and orders the ship to head towards Earth to report their findings.

"One of Our Planets is Missing" is a classic episode of Star Trek that explores the complexities of the universe and the potential consequences of human intervention. It is an exciting and engaging episode that showcases the unique storytelling and character development that made the Star Trek franchise so popular.