Fabula
Object
Object

Anomalous Super-Powered Tractor Beam (Vortex)

A colossal, external energy vortex that lashes the Enterprise with visible filaments and a circling wreath of force. It appears as a shimmering eye in space, throwing focused tethers that pinch hull plating and drive localized crushing stresses. Officers shout over alarms as consoles report impossible strain; shields buckle, hull shears away, and an energy filament strikes the command area, forcing frantic tactical orders and urgent, visceral reactions from Picard, Riker, Data, and Guinan.
12 appearances

Purpose

To emit repeating lambda-energy discharges from the planet's surface — an external energy source that, when focused by a converter (using reflective coils), can be transformed into destructive Krieger Waves directed at a starship.

Significance

Serves as the immediate, existential threat that collapses diplomacy and forces catastrophic choices: it converts a briefing into combat, precipitates heavy crew loss, humbles Picard into pleading for outside intervention, and crystallizes the Borg as an unstoppable collective menace.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

12 moments
S2E16 · Q Who?
Guinan's Warning: The Borg Are a Collective Threat

The tractor beam locks onto the Enterprise as reported over comms, functionally constraining the ship's movement and transforming the theoretical threat into an immediate physical peril that forces the command to abandon deliberation for action.

Before: Not engaged; Enterprise free from external physical constraints prior to detection.
After: Engaged and restraining the Enterprise, creating an urgent tactical crisis requiring immediate response.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
The Collective's Ultimatum — Tractor Lock

The tractor beam (anomalous super‑powered restraint) is reported by Worf and functions as the Borg's immediate physical assertion: it locks the Enterprise, turning theoretical threat into mechanical entrapment and forcing command to abandon negotiation and execute evasive or defensive maneuvers.

Before: Not engaged; Enterprise free and not physically constrained.
After: Engaged and holding the Enterprise — the ship is locked and must attempt disengagement or suffer further action from the Borg.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
Q's Taunt and the Borg's Warning

The anomalous tractor beam (vortex) is referenced by Worf's comms as the mechanism that locks the Enterprise in place; though not shown visually in the lounge, its announcement instantly converts the room's strategic posture from discussion to emergency mobilization, closing off easy escape.

Before: Absent or not engaged; the Enterprise was free from external tractor constraints while officers conducted the briefing.
After: Engaged and threatening: the ship is locked by an external beam, initiating immediate defensive procedures and forcing the command group to respond.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
Tractor Beam Assault — Hull Carved Away

The Borg's anomalous tractor/energy beam pins the Enterprise in place and functions both as the immediate tactical threat and the plot catalyst: it drains shields, resists phaser fire, and enables a secondary cutting beam to excise hull sections for retrieval.

Before: Active from the Borg ship, latched onto the Enterprise and drawing energy; exerting hold.
After: Released after sustained phaser volleys, but having already removed a saucer section taken toward the Borg ship.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
Carved Out — Hull Breach and Irreversible Loss

The Borg's anomalous tractor/laser beam holds the Enterprise in place, drains shields, and then a focused cutting beam cores a segment of the saucer section and drags it back toward the Borg ship — the literal instrument of violent extraction and the catalyst for the casualties and tactical countermeasures.

Before: Active from the Borg ship, exerting a restraining hold on the Enterprise and draining shields.
After: The beam release is achieved after sustained phaser fire; the cut section has been removed and taken toward the Borg ship.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
Hull Carved Away — Guinan's Warning, Q Revealed

An anomalous, super-powered tractor/energy beam emanating from the Borg ship pins the Enterprise in place, drains shields, and facilitates a secondary slicing beam that cores and retrieves part of the Saucer—functionally the instrument of capture and theft.

Before: Active on the Borg ship, engaged on the Enterprise and holding it fast.
After: Released after intense phaser fire; the tractor disengages once the Borg has removed the Saucer section.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
The Plea and the Torpedo Gamble

The anomalous tractor beam serves as the tangible instrument of the Borg's capture attempt—its re-establishment forces Riker into the torpedo gambit and Picard into a humiliating plea to Q, dramatizing the ship's physical and moral entrapment.

Before: Actively re-establishing a hold on the Enterprise, creating hull strain and preventing escape.
After: Released when Q abruptly flings the Enterprise back to its starting position; the Borg's physical hold is broken by external intervention.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
Picard's Plea and Q's Pyrrhic Rescue

The anomalous super-powered tractor beam (vortex) is the enemy mechanism immobilizing the Enterprise; its renewed lock triggers the crew's tactical panic and forces Picard's moral surrender to Q, making it the immediate physical threat driving the scene.

Before: Engaged and lashing against the Enterprise, exerting destructive strain on the hull and threatening capture.
After: Effectively terminated when Q flings the Enterprise free; the tractor/vortex no longer holds the ship.
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S2E16 · Q Who?
The Humble Plea and the Pyrrhic Rescue

The anomalous tractor-vortex is the immediate instrument of the Borg attack: it pins and strains the Enterprise, is reported by Worf as re-establishing, and creates the lethal tactical constraint that precipitates Picard's plea to Q.

Before: Active or re-establishing against the Enterprise, exerting crippling force and anchoring the ship to the Borg vessel.
After: Effectively terminated or lost its hold when Q instantaneously returned the Enterprise to its origin; the vortex's immediate effect on the Enterprise ceases.
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S3E5 · The Bonding
Troi's Warning: Psychic Intrusion Triggers Yellow Alert

Data identifies a Focused Beam of Highly Charged Particles emanating from the planet; narratively it provides a tangible vector for the otherwise mysterious containment fluctuation and gives command a physical origin to investigate.

Before: Undetected by ship systems in normal operations; originating below the planet's surface or atmosphere.
After: Detected and reported by sensors; now correlated with onboard anomalies and under scrutiny by engineering and command.
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S3E5 · The Bonding
Severed Link, Sudden Breach

The focused beam of highly charged particles is the immediate antagonistic vector detected by the ship: the shields briefly sever its connection, marking a tactical success, but the beam (or its energetic source) then reconstitutes and breaches the hull, proving the severing temporary.

Before: Active and projecting from the planet below, producing sensor spikes and electromagnetic interference.
After: Momentarily severed by shields, then reconstituted and capable of penetrating the ship's hull.
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S3E5 · The Bonding
Energy Mass Breaches the Enterprise

The focused beam of highly charged particles is the immediate external threat that the shields severed; it's the visible, quantifiable antagonist that the crew believes they've neutralized before the psychic blanket reforms into a different, more dangerous manifestation.

Before: Active as a directional, detectable electromagnetic threat to the ship, producing sensor spikes and interference.
After: Reportedly severed by the shields in the moments before the alien energy condenses into a penetrating form.
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