Star Trek The Next Generation
S2E17
· Samaritan Snare

Make Us Strong — Coerced Engineering

Geordi is shoved before a bank of crude Pakled turrets and ordered—repeatedly and bluntly—to "make us strong." He reacts with incredulous scoffing at the laughably underpowered weapons, but the menace in Grebnedlog and Reginod’s watchfulness forces a grim recalibration: pride and competence give way to reluctant compliance. The scene crystallizes the coercive power dynamic, exposes Geordi’s vulnerability and humiliation, and sets up the moral/tactical squeeze that will compel him to fake power increases while secretly undermining the devices.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

2

Grebnedlog and Reginod hustle Geordi to their crude gun turrets; he clocks the shoddy setup and fires back, "You've gotta be kidding," as Grebnedlog pushes the demand: "Make us strong." The power dynamic snaps into place—Pakled pressure meets Geordi’s incredulity.

disbelief to coercive pressure ['Armament Bay - primitive gun turrets']

Geordi dismisses their weapons as too weak to scratch a passing asteroid, but Grebnedlog slams the order again to "make us strong," tightening the screws for immediate results.

professional assessment to ultimatum

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2
Reginod
Ship's Engineer
 primary

Eagerly approving and alert; pleased at the prospect of greater firepower while suspicious and watchful for trickery.

Stands alongside Grebnedlog, echoing approval for increased power, watches Geordi closely, and functions as both technical accomplice and enforcer—reinforcing commands, gesturing to meters, and signaling the captors' watchful expectation.

Goals in this moment
  • • Ensure Geordi follows orders and produces usable power increases.
  • • Gather technical detail that can be used to replicate or improve their hardware.
  • • Reinforce the captors' control dynamic through apparent technical competence.
Active beliefs
  • • Power (weapons/performance) equals value and security.
  • • Demonstrations of force will strengthen their position.
  • • They can detect attempts at deception and must police against it.
Character traits
obsequiousness eager acquisitiveness performative curiosity attentive surveillance
Follow Reginod's journey
Geordi La Forge
Chief Engineer
 primary

Incredulous and privately affronted, shifting to resigned compliance; externally controlled calm that masks a simmering determination to protect his crew and undercut enemy capabilities.

Ushered to crude gun mounts by his captors, Geordi reacts with disbelief and professional scorn, verbally critiques the armaments' lack of power, concedes a technical fix (increasing anti-matter charges), and physically begins to work—masking intent while buying time.

Goals in this moment
  • • Avoid immediate harm or escalation to himself or his shipmates.
  • • Appear to comply while buying time to sabotage or limit the weapons' effectiveness.
  • • Collect information about the crude turrets' circuitry and limitations.
  • • Maintain as much professional dignity and control as possible under coercion.
Active beliefs
  • • These weapons are technically inferior and can be outwitted.
  • • Open defiance will endanger lives; subtle subversion is safer.
  • • He, as an engineer, can manipulate systems to protect the Enterprise despite being a captive.
  • • The Pakleds prize power but lack the technical discipline to detect sophisticated tampering.
Character traits
technical competence professional pride dry skepticism reluctant pragmatism covert resourcefulness
Follow Geordi La …'s journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

2
Mondor (Pakled) — Ship Armaments

Referenced as the Mondor's broader armament signatures—the turrets' power readings and targeting traces—this object represents the ship's defensive posture. It is the technical backdrop for the exchange and the reason the Pakleds demand 'strength'.

Before: Scans and readouts show weak, fragmented energy signatures …
After: Remains the Pakleds' armament array but is actively …
Before: Scans and readouts show weak, fragmented energy signatures and sparse targeting traces; the armament array is online in a limited, rudimentary capacity under Pakled control.
After: Remains the Pakleds' armament array but is actively being adjusted; any apparent increases are subject to Geordi's covert manipulations and the weapons remain unreliable.
Mondor Bridge Weapons

The crude gun turrets are the physical focus of coercion: Geordi is forced up against them to probe panels, tweak regulators, and pretend to increase potency. They function narratively as both an object of ridicule and the instrument through which Pakled power is staged and measured.

Before: Bolted to the Mondor's armament rack, pitted and …
After: Being manipulated and adjusted by Geordi under duress; …
Before: Bolted to the Mondor's armament rack, pitted and low-powered with exposed wiring and blunt indicators; visibly crude and functionally weak.
After: Being manipulated and adjusted by Geordi under duress; appeared to receive tweaks that register on meters, but remain under Pakled control and likely compromised or subtly sabotaged by Geordi's interventions.

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

"GREBNEDLOG: Make us strong."
"GEORDI: There isn't enough juice in these to blow off a passing asteroid."
"GREBNEDLOG: Do not try to trick us. We can tell."