Simulation Collapses — Enterprise Interposes for Hathaway
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Reality slams the ship—Ferengi fire batters the Enterprise, Red Alert howls, and chaos erupts. Picard shunts all power to shields as Data kills the modified beams and brings phasers online, pivoting from game to combat.
Picard throws the Enterprise between predator and prey, ordering a protective screen for the Hathaway against the Ferengi. Duty hardens into shield.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Concerned and professional; calm under duress while recognizing the severity of incoming threat.
Operates tactical/sensor consoles, reports a closing Ferengi warship, and confirms the new code input when queried — providing the immediate situational awareness that triggers Picard's pivot to defensive posture.
- • Deliver accurate sensor data to command without delay.
- • Confirm security protocols have been enacted correctly.
- • Support tactical decisions with timely information.
- • Accurate sensor reporting is critical to survival.
- • Following protocol and confirming codes prevents mistakes during crises.
Urgent, resolute and ethically focused — calm command overlaying a sharp anxiety about protecting stranded lives.
Commands the bridge with immediate, decisive orders: readying torpedoes, confirming protocols, then pivoting to crisis mode — diverting power to shields and ordering the Enterprise to interpose between Hathaway and the Ferengi.
- • Protect the forty crew members aboard the Hathaway at all costs.
- • Prevent the Ferengi from capturing the Hathaway or exploiting its secret.
- • Maintain ship integrity and crew safety while minimizing escalation.
- • Starfleet's duty is to protect lives even under provocation.
- • Decisive, visible command calms and coordinates the crew.
- • The Enterprise must act as a shield for the vulnerable (Hathaway).
Calmly focused; externally composed with an implicit awareness that rapid technical corrections are urgent and consequential.
Performs rapid tactical analysis and issues executable commands: orders severing of the Ferengi's modified beams, brings phasers online, and assigns targeting — converting diagnostics into immediate life‑saving action.
- • Neutralize the Ferengi offensive beams to protect the Hathaway and Enterprise.
- • Bring Enterprise weapon systems online and ensure accurate targeting.
- • Provide reliable diagnostics so command can make informed tactical decisions.
- • Technical solutions and precise procedures can avert disaster.
- • Clear, prioritized commands produce the fastest remediation.
- • Systems behavior is predictable and can be corrected with the right interventions.
Alert and concentrated — a warrior's readiness, tempered by loyalty to captain and protocol.
Addressed by Picard to continue the simulation; present and engaged in the staged operation on the Hathaway side, prepared to shift from ceremonial posture to immediate tactical execution if required.
- • Maintain the integrity of the simulation while being ready to respond to real threat.
- • Protect the crew on the Hathaway and support Enterprise orders.
- • Execute orders with honor and effectiveness.
- • Honor and disciplined action are essential to mission success.
- • Obedience to the captain preserves cohesion and saves lives.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Captain's Ready Room Intercom (and broader comm network) is overwhelmed with crosstalk and explodes audibly, cutting across bridge noise and amplifying the chaos — it signals the sudden shift from game to real combat by broadcasting alarmed communications.
Enterprise Defensive Shields become the primary line of defense after Picard orders all power diverted to them; they absorb the Ferengi salvoes and are the functional barrier between the attacking ship and the Hathaway, buying time for countermeasures.
The Red Alert system is triggered as the ship takes real hits; although the physical switch's flip is not narrated line‑by‑line, the bridge plunges into Red Alert status — the object (switch/system) catalyzes the emergency posture and urgent tactile feedback across the bridge.
The Ferengi Warship closes at warp five and opens fire with modified beams, delivering massive hits that jolt the Enterprise and force the tactical pivot; it functions as the active antagonist vehicle initiating the crisis and pressing the ethical decision to interpose.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge serves as the command center where the simulation had been underway and where rapid tactical decisions are made once the Ferengi attack begins. It converts from a ceremonial observatory into a high‑pressure control room coordinating shields, weapons, and rescue maneuvers.
The USS Hathaway is the crippled, unlit ship visible on the viewer and the moral fulcrum of the crisis; its vulnerability compels Picard to order the Enterprise to physically interpose and makes the engagement about rescue rather than reputation or sport.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"BURKE: "Captain, sensors picking up a Ferengi warship closing at warp five.""
"DATA: "Sever modified beams, engage phasers and target!""
"PICARD: "Stay between the Hathaway and the Ferengi!""