Missile at the Wormhole — A Manufactured Provocation
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Worf reports the Ferengi vessel approaching the wormhole with missile launchers armed, raising alarms.
Picard confirms Goss has left the Enterprise, intensifying suspicion.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Defiant and performative—using public outrage as a tool to seize initiative and justify aggressive action.
DaiMon Goss appears on-screen from his ready room and delivers accusatory, theatrical statements alleging Federation collusion, deliberately provoking the Enterprise and demanding Ferengi grievances be acknowledged before the missile is launched.
- • Undermine Federation credibility and draw attention to Ferengi grievances.
- • Force a political reaction that gives Ferengi leverage in the wormhole negotiations.
- • Public spectacle can turn diplomatic momentum in the Ferengi's favor.
- • Aggression and accusations will intimidate or unsettle opponents and gain concessions.
Controlled and authoritative—projecting calm to contain both political fallout and immediate danger.
Picard assesses sensor data, orders Yellow Alert, initiates a formal hail, challenges Goss on-screen for an explanation, and commands destruction of the incoming missile—balancing diplomatic restraint with decisive command action.
- • Prevent harm to the wormhole and diplomatic delegations.
- • De-escalate political manipulation while upholding Starfleet responsibility and order.
- • Open accusation should be answered publicly and directly to maintain procedural transparency.
- • Force may be necessary to defend neutral parties when diplomacy is violated.
Urgent and vigilant—surface calm professional focus masking the high stakes of a live threat.
Worf monitors tactical sensors, delivers urgent reports about the Ferengi approach and missile readiness, calls the missile launch when it fires, and executes Picard's order by firing phasers to destroy the inbound torpedo.
- • Protect the Enterprise and wormhole from physical harm.
- • Execute Captain's orders quickly and accurately to neutralize the threat.
- • Hostile Ferengi actions must be met with immediate defensive response.
- • Chain-of-command must be followed to prevent escalation and protect crew/ship.
Impartial and factual; no emotion expressed, providing an institutional record.
The Shipboard Computer supplies a factual timestamp—confirming DaiMon Goss had left the Enterprise earlier—serving as an objective counterpoint to Goss's later accusations and anchoring Picard's appeal to facts.
- • Provide accurate, time-stamped information when queried.
- • Support command decisions by reporting verifiable data.
- • Objective data should be presented when asked without interpretation.
- • Adherence to protocol requires precise, timestamped responses.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Ferengi missile launchers are reported powering forward and are the source mechanism for the torpedo fired at the wormhole opening; they function narratively as the visible proof of violent intent and convert rhetoric into immediate physical danger.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Enterprise main bridge serves as the operational nerve center where tactical data, diplomatic communications, and command decisions converge. It is the stage for Picard's measured diplomacy, Worf's tactical responses, and the visible broadcast of Goss's provocation.
The Ferengi captain's ready room is the on-screen locus from which Goss delivers accusatory remarks; it functions as an enclosed media stage that converts private command decisions into public provocation.
The wormhole opening is the strategic objective and physical locus of risk; the Ferengi missile is aimed directly at it, making the anomaly itself a target and elevating the attack from ship-on-ship hostility to potential destruction of a newly discovered asset.
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
"WORF: "Sir, the Ferengi vessel is moving out of orbit, impulse power... They are approaching the entry to the wormhole, sir.""
"GOSS: "I have learned from informed sources that the Federation has manipulated these negotiations from the very beginning... and has already signed a secret agreement with the Barzans.""
"PICARD: "Destroy it.""