Object

Enterprise-C Main Power Couplings

A battered cluster of high-capacity coupling assemblies and braided power conduits tucked behind an engineering access bulkhead on the Enterprise‑C. Scored metal flanges, dented coupling housings and scorched insulating sheaths frame exposed connector faces; warning LEDs pulse amber while small arcs leap between frayed conductors. The array occupies a workstation-sized recess, ringed by tool cases and patch leads. Mister La Forge crouches over the couplings, tricorder and welding tools in hand, fingers working urgent splices as alarms thrum and nearby officers trade terse, anxious orders.

4 appearances

Purpose

To physically join and route the ship's primary power feed—coupling reactor/output conduits so the vessel can distribute electrical energy to propulsion, life‑support and shipboard systems.

Significance

A plot‑critical repair target: restoring these couplings is the immediate technical objective that will allow the crippled Enterprise‑C to get underway within Picard’s nine‑hour deadline. Their damaged state creates the tactical and moral stakes—failure forces evacuation/destruction and risks temporal consequences—while successful repair drives the act‑one turning point.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

4 moments

S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise

Nine Hours: Salvage or Sacrifice

The Enterprise‑C main power couplings are the explicit technical linchpin mentioned by Riker and La Forge; their damaged state drives the nine‑hour deadline because restoring them is the only clear path to getting the crippled ship under way.

Before: Scorched, damaged, and in need of urgent splicing and repair aboard the Enterprise‑C, being actively worked on by Mister La Forge.

After: Still under repair with uncertain progress — the object remains the critical technical hurdle that will determine whether the ship can depart within the allotted time.

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S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise

Nine Hours and an Unsettling Certainty

The Enterprise‑C main power couplings are the explicit technical objective mentioned on the report—La Forge is said to be working on them. They function as the single point whose repair will determine whether the ship can get underway within Picard's deadline.

Before: Damaged and unstable—scorched, with compromised connectors and active warning indicators (inferred from report).

After: Under active repair by La Forge, but not yet restored; the nine‑hour clock governs their fate.

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S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise

Containment Crisis — Picard's Defensive Gambit

High‑capacity power couplings feeding the forward phaser banks are severed—Data reports the failure—eliminating primary phaser power and forcing attempts at bypass. Their failure directly reduces the ship's defensive capability and becomes a technical obstacle Picard and Data must work around during the countdown.

Before: Operational and supplying power to forward phaser banks, enabling full defensive capability.

After: Severed or damaged, with attempted bypasses underway but controls unresponsive; phaser effectiveness compromised.

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S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise

Picard's Defiant Stand

Forward power couplings that feed the phaser banks are reported severed by Data. Their condition directly disables primary weapons and forces Data to attempt a bypass; their failure is the technical reason phasers are crippled prior to Picard's manual intervention.

Before: Intact and routing power to forward phaser banks under normal operation.

After: Severed in combat, interrupting normal weapon power flow; an attempted bypass is in progress but effectiveness limited.

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