Fabula
Object
Object

Lang Cycle Fusion Engines

A massive bank of Lang Cycle fusion engines embedded within an ancient battlecruiser hull: archetypal power assemblies with layered coils, heavy housings and bundled conduits that register as structurally intact but inert. Sensors pick up coherent signatures and faint hums rather than active output; panels remain unviolated, suggesting long dormancy. In the observation lounge discussion the word 'engines' acts like a physical thing—Geordi leans forward, hunger for diagnostic data sharpening his posture, while others regard the assemblies as both technical prize and potential trap.
7 appearances

Purpose

To produce and regulate a warship's primary power and propulsion via Lang-cycle fusion, supplying sustained energy for sublight thrust and associated field systems.

Significance

Serves as the technical clue that motivates engineering curiosity and tactical interest: its intact condition offers hope of valuable technology, pressures Picard's decision-making, and heightens the political and operational risk tied to Jarok's intelligence.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

7 moments
S3E6 · Booby Trap
Echoes from a Dead Cruiser

The Lang Cycle fusion engines are noted on the viewer as intact—an evidentiary detail that excites Picard’s historical interest and signals significant preserved technology. Narratively they index the cruiser's preserved state and hint at deeper engineering threads the crew may exploit or confront.

Before: Part of the derelict ship's visible engineering array—intact but inactive.
After: Observed and catalogued by the Enterprise; remain inactive but now a focal point for future engineering examination.
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S3E6 · Booby Trap
The Thousand‑Year Distress: Discovery of the Promellian Cruiser

The Lang Cycle Fusion Engines are observed on the viewer and called out by Picard as intact relics. Functionally they act as a lure—valuable technology that transforms the wreck into an archaeological prize and tempts engineering interest, foreshadowing later attempts to interface with ancient systems.

Before: Installed and preserved within the derelict's hull; inactive but visibly intact to long-range sensors and the viewer.
After: Noted and prized by Picard and engineering; they become a key motivating artifact for subsequent actions and problem-solving attempts.
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S3E6 · Booby Trap
Promellian Snare: Engines Starve, Radiation Spikes

The Lang Cycle Fusion Engines of the derelict Promellian cruiser are observed on the viewscreen as intact but lifeless; narratively they act as the chilling proof that the wreck’s powerplant was disabled by the same phenomenon now affecting the Enterprise.

Before: Intact, inert within the frozen battlecruiser visible over long‑range sensors.
After: Remains inert and serves as a forensic clue suggesting an ancient booby trap rather than conventional damage.
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S3E6 · Booby Trap
Geordi Seizes Engineering — A Desperate Rebalancing

Lang Cycle Fusion Engines (the dead cruiser's engines) are observed via sensors as intact yet lifeless; their presence serves narratively as a possible origin of the trap and a comparative mirror to the Enterprise's failing engines.

Before: Detected and visually confirmed as intact but inactive on the distant Promellian battlecruiser.
After: Remains a fixed external object of study, its condition suggesting ancient technology rather than recent battle damage, deepening command suspicion.
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S3E6 · Booby Trap
Three-Hour Countdown — Split Command

The Lang Cycle fusion engines are referenced by Geordi when describing the ship's power state: they are idling to limit energy loss but cannot prevent the steady drain that will exhaust reserves in under three hours. Their operational limits create the central engineering constraint that shapes every tactical choice.

Before: Idling to conserve power; structurally intact but producing minimal output while energy is siphoned elsewhere.
After: Still idling and under strain; recognized as insufficient to prevent reserves from being exhausted within the announced timeframe unless Geordi devises new measures.
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S3E6 · Booby Trap
Split Command — Two Paths to Survival

The Lang Cycle Fusion Engines (the derelict's engines referenced by context) serve narratively as the probable focal point of the cruiser mystery; they represent a technological puzzle the away team may inspect to learn how the derelict was disabled or how energy was siphoned.

Before: Intact but lifeless aboard the frozen Promellian cruiser (archaeological, non-operational).
After: Unchanged in this scene — still the object of curiosity and potential investigation for the assigned away team.
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S3E6 · Booby Trap
Phaser Gamble Fails — Radiation Surge

The Lang-cycle engines represent the ship's propulsion and power backbone; Geordi worries about overloading dilithium and losing circuits. The phaser strike doesn't directly hit engines but the ensuing energy drain constrains engineering's ability to stabilize them.

Before: Operational but stressed; engineering efforts underway to reconfigure power delivery around the threat.
After: Facing tighter constraints as energy reserves fall, increasing risk to engine performance if further draws continue.
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