Farewells, Orders, and the First Klingon Strike
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Tasha Yar requests to stay behind to bid farewell to Castillo, highlighting their brief but poignant connection.
Tasha and Castillo share a heartfelt yet restrained goodbye, their emotions bubbling under the surface.
An explosion rocks the ship as Klingon attackers appear, abruptly shifting the scene from emotional farewell to high-stakes battle.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Nervous but composed; earnest about duty while emotionally affected by the goodbye.
Castillo reports shields status, acknowledges Garrett's order to inform the crew, exchanges an earnest, slightly playful farewell with Yar, then rushes to the helm and initiates evasive maneuvers when the Klingon Bird‑of‑Prey decloaks.
- • Comply with Captain Garrett's order and notify the crew.
- • Use his helm expertise to protect the ship by initiating evasive maneuvers against the Klingon attack.
- • Following orders and performing his duties are the best way to help in crisis.
- • Tactical training and Yar's advice can improve the ship's chances in combat.
Gravely resolute; carrying institutional burden while quietly compassionate toward Garrett and her crew.
Picard soberly communicates Starfleet Command's bleak assessment, argues that the Enterprise‑C's historical return could alter the war's course, offers to connect Garrett with Guinan, and leaves after granting Tasha permission to remain for a private farewell.
- • Convince Captain Garrett of the strategic necessity to restore the timeline.
- • Protect the broader Federation even at cost to individuals aboard the Enterprise-C.
- • Guinan's intuition is reliable and actionable.
- • Preserving the long-term survival of the Federation outweighs preserving the present lives at stake.
Tender and conflicted — stoic on the surface while privately grieving and anxious about the impending mission.
Lieutenant Yar requests and receives permission to remain briefly to say goodbye to Castillo; she offers practical encouragement, attempts to mask her emotions, then rapidly shifts to duty—moving to tactical and reporting shield status once the Klingon appears.
- • Provide a personal farewell to Castillo, honoring their bond before the mission.
- • Fulfill her tactical responsibilities and keep the ship as defensible as possible during the sudden attack.
- • Personal connections matter and deserve acknowledgment even in wartime.
- • Duty must be resumed instantly when the ship is threatened, regardless of personal pain.
Torn and sorrowful under a professional calm; accepting of duty while grieving for her crew's likely fate.
Captain Garrett listens to Picard's assessment, processes the moral cost, then issues the order to inform the crew they will return to their original time; she frames the mission as making history and steels her crew for near-certain sacrifice.
- • Ensure her crew understands and accepts the mission to return in order to protect the Federation's future.
- • Prepare the Enterprise‑C and its crew to make the engagement count historically and tactically.
- • Sacrifice by her crew can secure a better future for the Federation.
- • Her responsibility as captain is to both the immediate safety of her crew and the long-term greater good (timeline integrity).
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Red Alert alarm detonates as the Klingon Bird‑of‑Prey decloaks, converting a private moment into immediate wartime posture; its klaxon and red lighting break the farewell, force instant chain-of-command responses, and mobilize the crew to battle stations.
The Enterprise's forward and shipwide defensive shields are the immediate metric of the crew's survivability: Castillo reports shields at seventy-two percent, Garrett orders full power to shields when the Klingon appears, and Yar confirms shields functioning—moving the drama from policy to tangible defense.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Transporter Room Three is referenced as the destination when Picard grants Tasha permission to stay briefly; it functions as the threshold for departure and the intimate space where partings and emergency transfers occur, underscoring the irreversibility of Garrett's decision.
The Main Viewer projects the arrival of the Klingon Bird‑of‑Prey and serves as the visual proof converting abstract risk into an immediate threat; it forces Garrett to order Red Alert and launches the crew into defensive posture.
The Aft Station serves as the intimate, instrument-dense workspace where Tasha and Castillo exchange personal words amid technical checks; its proximity to tactical consoles makes their private goodbye vulnerable to the sudden shift into combat.
The Conn/Helm becomes the crucible of immediate action as Castillo dashes to it to initiate evasive maneuvers when the Klingon decloaks; it translates orders into evasive vectors that may determine the ship's survival in the engagement.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Garrett's awakening in Sickbay leads to her eventual decision to return to the past."
"Garrett's awakening in Sickbay leads to her eventual decision to return to the past."
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: "Starfleet Command believes defeat is inevitable... that within six months we will have no choice but to surrender...""
"GARRETT: "Mister Castillo, inform the crew that we're going back.""
"TASHA: "Good-bye, Lieutenant.""