Attack Confirmed — Helpless to Return Fire
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Nagel identifies the attack on the Enterprise as real, shattering any assumption of mere simulation and spiking the stakes.
Worf pushes to aid the Enterprise, but Riker slams into hard limits—no offensive weapons—leaving the crew to absorb the grim helplessness.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Alarmed and urgent — clear, rationed panic expressed as direct, actionable warning.
Nagel calls out the sensor reading loud and clear, converting speculative fear into confirmed threat; she physically identifies the beams as real and forces command to confront that they are under attack.
- • Confirm and communicate the reality of the attack to command immediately.
- • Prompt the bridge crew to execute a defensive or assisting response without delay.
- • Sensor data should be trusted when it indicates a threat.
- • Immediate, clear communication is necessary to preserve lives and fulfill Starfleet obligations.
Determined, urgent — anger and protective instinct driving a readiness to engage.
Worf responds with martial immediacy, demanding the Hathaway assist the Enterprise; his reaction is an instinctive call to action, embodying duty and honor even before the tactical picture is complete.
- • Compel the command to take immediate action to aid the Enterprise.
- • Defend allied lives and uphold Starfleet duty regardless of risk.
- • It is dishonorable to stand by while an ally is attacked.
- • Force should be used to protect the innocent and fulfill commitments.
Frustrated and constrained — a composed frustration that masks the pressure of making impossible command choices.
Riker delivers the pragmatic, destabilizing truth: he succinctly informs the bridge that they possess no offensive weapons, converting Worf's demand into an impossible moral and tactical question and forcing the crew to face stark vulnerability.
- • Communicate the factual limits of the ship's capabilities to avoid false hopes.
- • Create the conditions for improvisation by clarifying what resources are actually available.
- • Command integrity requires truthful disclosure of capabilities.
- • Knowing limits is the first step toward effective improvisation and preserving lives.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Hathaway's offensive weapons are explicitly referenced for their absence; this missing capability functions as the pivot of the beat — the crew cannot reply to the assault because the ship lacks the hardware to do so, turning a tactical problem into an ethical and improvisational crisis.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"NAGEL: That's no ghost attacking the Enterprise. That's real!"
"WORF: We must assist, sir!"
"RIKER: With what?! We have no offensive weapons!"