Object

Epsilon Pulsar Survey

A shipboard operational objective displayed as a terse mission header on the Enterprise bridge consoles and main viewer: the label 'EPSILON PULSAR SURVEY' anchors a digital mission slate and routing brief. It reads like an active command — compact, technical, and time-sensitive — prompting officers to reassign watch duties and reorient sensor priorities. Picard physically transfers custody of the survey to Riker, who assumes immediate authority and oversight of its execution.

1 appearances

Purpose

To define and assign the Enterprise's observational and sensor survey mission focused on the Epsilon-class pulsar region, directing bridge-level resource allocation, sensor sweeps, and command responsibility for the operation.

Significance

Serves as the immediate operational hook that raises stakes: Picard cedes the survey (and the bridge) to Riker, turning a routine objective into a narrative catalyst that exposes Picard's concealed vulnerability, forces Riker into full command, and propels subsequent crises tied to the assignment.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S2E17 · Samaritan Snare

Picard's Cloaked Departure — Hands the Bridge to Riker

The Epsilon Pulsar Survey is verbally referenced as a current operational objective that Picard will miss; it becomes the tangible reason Riker protests and the operational task he inherits, thus anchoring immediate command stakes and emphasizing institutional continuity.

Before: Active mission slate under Picard's oversight on the bridge consoles, priority for ship sensors and routing.

After: Formally handed (by implication) into Riker's command and now under his direct responsibility.

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