How would you have done TWOK differently?

[Captain Picard's Hair]

As Graham's thread considers the odd way STII:TWOK brings Khan off Ceti Alpha V and into the thick of the plot, I thought we'd have a go at contriving a somewhat more plausible way to handle it. Off the top of my head: when a supply mission finally gets to the Ceti Alpha system, Khan's gang gets the better of it's crew. By now, Khan's wife is dead owing to the hardships he and his men endured on the planet alone and the already volatile Khan has gone over the edge. Having taken over the supply ship, he tracks down the closest Starfleet ship (Reliant, on a similar mission but not at Ceti Alpha) and uses his ingenuity to take it.

[Atekimogus]

Quite simple. He tried to escape with the Botany Bay....the escape failed (maybe because Ceti Alpha VI just happened to explode) and they had to crashland on ceti alpha V.

[Jim]

Technically, it could have been the supply ship or any ship from any race. A Klingon ship picks up energy readings and goes in to check it out for tech/trophies, a Vulcan ship to check to see if anyone needs aid, Romulan for tech, Andorian, Orion for valuables, etc. Anyone could have come across a signal or power reading and landed. Khan's people could then either play possum as victims until the chance to take the ship happens, or just go straight at it. It doesn't have to be a Sheldon Cooper story behind a lie... it really could have been a simple and logical event.

[Coalition]

If you want later in the movie where instead of Enterprise rising behind the Reliant, have Kirk pitch upwards and fire from below.

You might even have Khan thinking in three dimensions, but he is used to thinking aircraft style 3 dimensions, rather than space 3 dimensions. So Khan might see Enterprise beneath him, and bank down to engage (he is above and hence has the advantage). But Kirk thinks space 3-D, and merely pivots in place.

Similar to Babylon 5 where the Star Furies pivot in place, compared to X-Wings or Defiant banking like aircraft.