Star Trek has introduced a dark version of its most important rule: the Prime Directive. The Prime Directive is one of Starfleet’s guiding principles, one every officer is sworn to uphold, but in Star Trek: Lower Decks #2, the Federation meets another race with their own version of the Directive. Breaking the Prime Directive comes with serious consequences, but this society takes it a dark step further.
In Star Trek: Lower Decks #2 – by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio – the Cerritos has been dispatched to make second contact with a species called the Qvanti. Upon arriving at the planet, the away team is greeted by a primitive mob carrying pitchforks and torches. The away team are picked up by the actual Qvanti and learn the truth: there are two dominant groups on this planet: the technologically advanced Qvanti and the agrarian Yentoa. The two split at some point in the planet’s history and when the Qvanti rediscovered their brethren, they immediately saw the dangers of cultural contamination. Since then, the two groups have remained separate, with the Qvanti taking a hard-line approach to protecting the Yentoa – namely, imposing a death penalty on anyone who makes contact with them.
The Qvanti's Prime Directive Comes with a Death Penalty 
