Object

Federation Decoy Ship's Warp Drive

Tactical displays in the Romulan Warbird's command center show this Federation ship's warp drive abruptly fail, carving a gap in Picard's tachyon detection grid. Movar presses Sela to strike through the opening, Lursa and B'Etor watch intently alongside Gowron's image, but Sela spots the ruse and rejects the bait, redirecting fire to Data's Sutherland instead.

1 appearances

Purpose

Generate warp propulsion; intentionally disabled to simulate weakness and lure Romulan ships into the tachyon grid trap

Significance

Picard's ploy to provoke Romulan exposure in the Klingon civil war; Sela's refusal averts the trap, affirming her command edge and fueling Romulan overreach

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S5E1 · Redemption II

Sela exploits Data’s ship to breach tachyon net

The Federation Decoy Ship’s Warp Drive is the Sutherland, whose failure creates the gap in the tachyon net. Movar initially identifies this as an opportunity for the Romulans to slip through the blockade, but Sela recognizes it as a deliberate ruse by Picard. Rather than exploiting the gap, she targets the Sutherland itself, disabling it and forcing the Federation to redeploy their forces. The ship’s warp drive failure is thus the catalyst for Sela’s counterstrategy, turning Picard’s bait into a liability for the Federation.

Before: Operational but failing, causing the Sutherland to drift off the blockade line and create a gap in the tachyon net. The failure is intentional, part of Picard’s trap.

After: Completely disabled by the Romulan energy burst. The Sutherland is now incapacitated, unable to maintain its section of the tachyon grid, and vulnerable to further Romulan attacks.

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