S2E16
· Q Who?

Energize — Away Team Beamed Into Borg Vessel

Riker gives the last marching order and the away team is committed. Worf reports no life signs; O'Brien confirms the least damaged coordinates; Riker sets phasers to stun but keeps the option to escalate. The single-word command, "Energize," functions as a ritualized point of no return — a tactical insertion that shifts the sequence from preparation to irreversible danger, ratcheting up the stakes for the crew and forcing Riker to carry the burden of command.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

1

Riker gives the final command to energize—his voice cuts through silence like a blade, sealing their fate as the transporter beam rips them from safety into the Borg’s incorporeal domain.

anticipation to vertigo ['Transporter Room']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

4

Focused and professional — quietly aware of the technical risks and committed to reliable execution of the transport.

O'Brien reports he has 'laid in coordinates' to place the team in the least damaged section of the Borg ship; he is the technical guarantor of the team's insertion and stands prepared to effect immediate extraction if necessary.

Goals in this moment
  • Deliver the away team to the safest possible landing vector.
  • Maintain readiness to recall or extract the team instantly if required.
Active beliefs
  • Precise transporter coordinates minimize risk in hostile insertions.
  • His technical competence materially affects crew survival.
Character traits
methodical competent steady precise
Follow Miles O'Brien's journey

Clinically neutral and focused — methodical readiness without emotional fluctuation, oriented toward data collection.

Data accompanies the team, armed and composed; he is present as a sensor and analytical asset who will gather information aboard the Borg vessel and follow command protocols.

Goals in this moment
  • Collect reliable sensor and forensic data from the Borg ship.
  • Support mission objectives through analysis and adherence to orders.
Active beliefs
  • Objective data will clarify the nature of the threat and guide decisions.
  • Following command structure is the most efficient way to achieve mission goals.
Character traits
precise observant calm analytical
Follow Data's journey

Grim, focused — duty-first resolve with restrained readiness for violence if ordered.

Worf reports sensor results ('no life sign readings'), stands armed and ready as part of the away team, and joins Riker on the pad prepared to carry out reconnaissance or combat if necessary.

Goals in this moment
  • Protect the away team and secure tactical advantage on arrival.
  • Verify the status of targets and be prepared to neutralize threats quickly.
Active beliefs
  • Duty to follow orders and protect fellow officers is paramount.
  • Hostile environments require readiness to escalate force.
Character traits
disciplined alert stoic loyal
Follow Worf's journey

Resolute and tense — externally controlled authority carrying the private weight of the team's risk and possible loss.

Riker gives the final marching orders, sets rules of engagement (phasers to stun), leads the away team onto the transporter pad, and speaks the command 'Energize,' physically initiating the beam‑out.

Goals in this moment
  • Execute a disciplined, survivable reconnaissance on the Borg ship.
  • Maintain command responsibility and minimize casualties through rules of engagement.
Active beliefs
  • Chain of command and protocol reduce chaos and protect the crew.
  • The mission demands risk; controlled escalation (stun to higher power) preserves options.
Character traits
decisive responsible tactical measured
Follow William Riker's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

2
USS Enterprise Transporter Pad

The circular transporter pad is the physical and ritual platform for the away team's transition; the officers climb onto it, it cycles through its shimmer, and it dematerializes them — moving the drama from preparation to active exposure aboard the Borg vessel.

Before: Operational and ready in Transporter Room Three; illuminated …
After: Empty of personnel after dematerialization; remains operational and …
Before: Operational and ready in Transporter Room Three; illuminated and staffed by transporter technicians.
After: Empty of personnel after dematerialization; remains operational and ready for recall or subsequent operations.
Promellian Distress Transmission (Encoded Coordinates)

Encoded beam‑down coordinates (the carrier signal / coordinate data) function as the navigational linchpin: O'Brien has entered these vectors so the transporters will place the team in the least damaged section of the Borg ship, directly shaping tactical risk and landing location.

Before: Decoded and loaded into the transporter/navigation systems, validated …
After: Coordinates consumed by the transport sequence; logged in …
Before: Decoded and loaded into the transporter/navigation systems, validated by O'Brien for safe insertion.
After: Coordinates consumed by the transport sequence; logged in ship systems as the active landing vector for this mission.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

2
Transporter Room Three

Transporter Room Three serves as the staging arena where tactical decision-making compresses into action: officers assemble, technicians confirm vectors, orders are given, and the transporter pad executes the beam. It concentrates procedure, grief, and urgency into a single mechanical ritual.

Atmosphere Tension-filled, clinical, and mechanically insistent — clipped voices over a low hum, with a faint …
Function Staging area for away-team insertion and immediate extraction readiness.
Symbolism Functions as a threshold — a liminal machine that separates command deliberation from irreversible danger.
Access Restricted to authorized personnel and senior officers; operated by transporter technicians.
Low, clinical mechanical hum from transporter coils Circular illuminated pad with braided phase coils Clipped, procedural dialogue and harsh overhead lighting
Borg Ship Great Chamber

The Borg ship's Great Chamber is the away team's intended destination — an implied, foreboding battleground described as clinical, densely packed with assimilated life‑slots; it functions narratively as the hostile unknown that the team is entering and must survive.

Atmosphere Cold, funerary, and relentlessly organized — a low mechanical hum and an eerie absence of …
Function Target battleground and object of reconnaissance; the site where the consequences of the transport will …
Symbolism Embodies the loss of individuality and the existential threat to humanity the Borg represent.
Access Hostile, unknown interior; effectively inaccessible except through risky boarding or capture.
Towering banks of life-slots and metallic scaffolding Low, mechanical humming and bundled conduits Sterile, factory-like atmosphere that flattens identity

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What this causes 2
Causal

"The away team’s step onto the Borg ship triggers their harrowing discoveries — including the nursery and regeneration — which directly cause Picard to order immediate extraction, making their physical entry the causal pivot of the entire mission."

Nursery Revealed — Hull Regeneration Exposed
S2E16 · Q Who?
Causal

"The away team’s step onto the Borg ship triggers their harrowing discoveries — including the nursery and regeneration — which directly cause Picard to order immediate extraction, making their physical entry the causal pivot of the entire mission."

Nursery Discovered — Ship Regenerates
S2E16 · Q Who?

Key Dialogue

"WORF: There are no life sign readings."
"O'BRIEN: I have laid in coordinates which should set you down in the least damaged section of the Borg ship."
"RIKER: Energize."