Mask Falls — Weapon Revealed; Riker Immobilized
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker needles "Captain Rice" about never using his first name and then calls him out as a counterfeit, forcing the facade to wobble. The hesitation and confusion crack the disguise.
Rice's image snaps away and morphs into a hovering WEAPON-LIKE OBJECT that darts off, turning deception into imminent danger.
Picard demands a report; Riker confirms the impostor became a hovering device and orders an immediate beam-out.
Tasha flags the advancing threat; the WEAPON fires and the BEAM locks Riker inside an energy field before Tasha blasts the device apart as Picard presses for answers.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Hostile and commanding—deliberate in using area weaponry to neutralize intruders rather than engage in dialogue.
Backlit by lightning, the leader snaps a whip toward the away team, unleashing an electro‑plasmic wave that incapacitates Riker, Data and Geordi; acts as the kinetic initiator of the area attack.
- • Disable and incapacitate the away team to prevent interference.
- • Defend the installation by using area suppression tactics.
- • Violent, overwhelming force is the most effective immediate defense.
- • The intruders cannot be trusted and must be neutralized swiftly.
Urgent and focused—she prioritizes neutralizing the immediate weapon, then shifts to controlled clinical concern while evaluating Riker's condition.
Alerts Riker to the approaching threat, fires on the hovering weapon with aggressive precision, destroys the device, then immediately moves to examine the energy field encasing Riker with a tricorder alongside Data.
- • Neutralize the immediate weapon threat to protect Riker and the team.
- • Assess Riker's medical state quickly and accurately to inform next steps.
- • Facilitate rapid extraction once the immediate threat and diagnostics are understood.
- • Immediate, forceful action is required to stop a functioning weapon.
- • Tricorder scans will reveal whether Riker is alive and what containment is necessary.
Coolly analytic at first—curiosity and protocol-driven concern—before being rendered incapacitated and thus transitioning to an inactive physical state.
Approaches Riker, uses his tricorder to analyze the energy field, reports clinically that Riker is encased and that status is unknown, then is struck and knocked unconscious by the electro‑plasmic wave.
- • Diagnose the nature of the energy field and Riker's physiological status.
- • Provide accurate information to command to guide medical and tactical responses.
- • Scientific measurement will yield actionable data even under stress.
- • Technology (tricorder analysis) can reveal the nature of new threats quickly.
Defiant and accusatory while confronting the imposter, quickly shifting to alarm, physical distress and helplessness as he is immobilized and loses consciousness.
Confronts the apparent Captain Rice, exposes the projection as a fake, reports its replacement by a hovering weapon, is struck by the device's beam, becomes encased in an energy field and ultimately falls unconscious after a follow-up electro-plasmic wave.
- • Expose the deception and force a reaction from the simulacrum.
- • Protect his team by initiating a beam‑up and securing an extraction.
- • Survive the attack and remain conscious long enough to be rescued.
- • The figure claiming to be Rice is an imposter and must be challenged.
- • Calling attention to the deception will allow the crew to respond and regain tactical advantage.
- • Immediate extraction (beaming up) is the safest option once the threat is identified.
Starts as engaged and supportive, rapidly becomes surprised and incapacitated when overwhelmed by the area weapon—physical shock replaces agency.
Present with the team on the surface; is struck by the subsequent electro‑plasmic wave and knocked unconscious, referred to colloquially as 'lucky‑day Geordi' before being incapacitated.
- • Assist the away team and support extraction efforts.
- • Protect teammates and secure samples/evidence if possible.
- • Team procedures and coordinated action will manage surface threats.
- • His presence and equipment can materially assist recovery and diagnostics.
Illusory confusion (a programmed reaction) that serves to deflect suspicion before collapsing into lethal function; no authentic emotion but mimics it convincingly.
Functions as a convincing holographic persona, answers Riker then twitches; the projection collapses and is revealed to be or conceal a compact hovering weapon which moves away, initiating the attack.
- • Lure the away team into lowered guard through familiar identity cues.
- • Provide cover for the weapon system to position and fire at Riker.
- • Mimicking a trusted officer will disarm opponents long enough to strike.
- • A convincing human persona is an effective platform for deploying concealed weaponry.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Handheld, cable‑thin whip‑like weapons are carried by the humanoids; one is snapped by the leader to generate the rippling electro‑plasmic effect. They operate as both melee implements and as conduits triggering an area‑effect energy discharge.
A compact hovering tactical emitter reveals itself when the Rice projection collapses, moves several meters away, then fires a beam that encases Riker in a translucent energy cocoon. Functionally it serves as both trap and immobilizer, converting identity deception into immediate physical restraint.
A rippling electro‑plasmic wave is produced by the whip snap and arcs across the area, emitting a serrated electrical shimmer that collapses muscular control and knocks Riker, Data and Geordi unconscious. Narratively, it raises the stakes and forces immediate triage and evacuation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Arsenal of Freedom serves as the scene of deception and ambush — its ruined weapons installation and automated defenses convert a social encounter into a lethal trap. The location's systems produce convincing projections and autonomous weaponry that directly cause the crisis and demand immediate evacuation and medical response.
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
"RIKER: You don't, because you don't even exist. You're a fake -- an image of the original! Aren't you?... Answer me!"
"PICARD'S COM VOICE: Report, Number One."
"DATA: Commander Riker has been encased in some kind of energy field."