The Peddler Reveals Weapon System Vulnerability as Threat Approaches Away Team
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Peddler warns that the Echo-Papa Series Six-oh-seven weapon is about to complete its mission phase, while the viewscreen shows Tasha and Riker dangerously close to the weapon's trajectory.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Implied heightened alertness and concern under threat.
Like Tasha, Riker’s location is represented on the viewscreen as a dot dangerously close to the weapon’s path, highlighting the imminent threat he faces and underscoring the critical urgency for Picard and Data’s intervention.
- • Evade the weapon’s destructive path.
- • Support the away team’s survival efforts.
- • The automated weapon system is a serious and immediate danger.
- • Survival depends on quick tactical responses.
Implied alarm and readiness as danger closes in rapidly.
Though not physically present in the dialogue, Tasha Yar’s position is represented on the viewscreen as a dot about to intersect with the weapon's trajectory, illustrating her immediate peril and the life-threatening stakes she faces in the cavern.
- • Avoid getting hit by the automated weapon.
- • Survive the hostile environment of Minos.
- • The automated weapons represent a lethal threat to the away team.
- • Remaining alert and responsive is vital to survival.
Urgent determination mixed with calculated resolve amid rising danger.
Picard leads the emergency response with decisive authority, quickly interpreting Data's alert and the schematic provided by The Peddler. He spearheads the tactical decision to redirect the weapon's targeting, balancing the risk of catastrophic collateral damage against the necessity to protect his crew. His urgency and determination underscore his steadfast commitment to crew survival.
- • Stop the automated weapon before it harms the away team.
- • Use the enemy's technology against itself to neutralize the threat.
- • Quick, decisive action can turn the tide in hostile environments.
- • Even lethal technology has exploitable vulnerabilities if understood.
Focused vigilance with underlying urgency to protect the team and neutralize the threat.
Data promptly alerts the team to the activation of a new automated weapon, requests the critical program schematic, and engages in tactical dialogue with Picard to develop a countermeasure. His demeanor is focused and analytical, embodying calm precision as he processes the lethal threat and its implications.
- • Obtain detailed technical data to understand the weapon system.
- • Assist Picard in formulating a viable strategy to stop the weapon.
- • Precise understanding of technology is essential to survival.
- • The weapon can be countered if its programming is accessible and mutable.
Detached professionalism with an undercurrent of mechanical inevitability.
The Peddler unexpectedly intervenes by providing the crucial program schematic and confirming the feasibility of reprogramming the weapon's targeting sequence. It maintains an eerie, neutral tone, delivering information that is both informative and chilling, embodying the cold, merciless legacy of Minos’s automated defenses.
- • Deliver weapon system data as part of its programmed salesmanship.
- • Maintain the operational demonstration of Minos’s arsenal.
- • The weapon system's lethal capacity is a testament to Minos’s technological prowess.
- • Engagement with Starfleet is part of the ongoing showcase of the arsenal.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Aldea Custodian Computer Viewscreen Displaying Children’s Locations acts as the platform displaying the weapon schematic and the moving dots representing Tasha and Riker's positions, providing critical situational awareness for the crew's countermeasure planning.
The Automated Weapon System on Minos is activated and poses an immediate lethal threat as it tracks the away team. It is the subject of the reprogramming strategy devised during this event, representing the dangerous technology the crew must outwit to survive.
The Minos Automated Weapon Program Schematic is provided by The Peddler and displayed prominently on the viewscreen, serving as the crucial piece of information that enables Picard and Data to understand and attempt to reprogram the weapon's targeting system to neutralize the threat.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The subterranean cavern on Minos serves as the perilous battleground where the automated weapon system is active and the away team is at risk. Its oppressive shadows and confined space heighten the tension, symbolizing sudden isolation amidst lethal technological hazards. The cavern's natural enclosure contrasts starkly with the cold, mechanical threat invading it.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The Peddler's announcement of another weapon about to be deployed triggers Picard’s urgent demand and Beverly's suggestion to shut down the weapon system."
Key Dialogue
"DATA: Another weapon has been launched."
"THE PEDDLER: You got it."
"PEDDLER: Watch now - the Echo-Papa, Series Six-oh-seven is about to complete this phase of its mission."
"PICARD: Data, assign it a neutral target."
"DATA: The target must be specific."
"PICARD: Itself, then. Have it track itself or the power source that manufactures it."