I suppose this happens in all the series, but TNG pops in my head when I think of this... Someone (usually Riker) calls for Red Alert. And he'll shout "Red Alert! Shields up! Arm all phasers, load all torpedo bays!" and so on. But isn't the purpose of saying "Red Alert" a shorthand way of issuing all those battle-ready commands? In an urgent crisis situation, saying "Red Alert" is the quick way to command the ship to battle-readiness. Going over and above-- with the deflector orders, ordering the torpedo tubes loaded, having the phasers charged-- isn't that all covered when he simply said "Red Alert"? I see it like ordering someone to report to the bridge... then also ordering him to leave his quarters, proceed down the corridor, ordering him to take the turbolift, etc. Yeah... report to the bridge is sufficient. Got it. Red Alert. Raise shields, charge phasers. Got it already!
I'm pretty sure that issuing a red alert status does not have anything to do with raising the ship's shields or arming her weapons systems, but is more about having stations manned, the crew alerted to danger, or some other kind of emergency protocols. I could be totally wrong though.
TNG TM goes into lots of detail about all the finer points of Red Alert (bringing shuttles to launch readiness, manning all stations, calling up the next watch for standby duty, activating transporters, prepping damage control teams, running quick auto-diagnostics on critical systems, etc.) But again... commanding "Red Alert" is supposed to be a shortcut against reading off the checklist of all those orders-- especially in an emergency situation. Yes? Riker and Picard and others always seem to want to run down the list anyway, perhaps for our dramatic benefit as it heightens tension and excitement!
Yes you are correct. Red Alert is call to Battle Stations. Arming phasers and Torps and raising sheilds all falls under all that. Perhaps Riker is merely making sure these are getting priority. I want to know what Yellow alert does for you. It clearly wasn't enough in Wrath of Khan...
I don't think we have ever witnessed a situation where Riker would be in such a hurry that he couldn't take the time to give redundant orders. And redundant orders are a good thing. People in a crisis need instructions and reminders, not the added stress of having to remember verbal shorthand code. Whether Red Alert automatically means raising shields, I don't know. In "The Enemy", Picard orders the status at least an hour before the ship enters a potential combat situation; there's no immediate threat there, so raising shields then would seem like waste of crucial energy reserves. Yet when the encounter with the enemy does take place after the hour has passed, the shields are definitely already up without a specific on-camera raising command. Raising the shields doesn't automatically call for red alert - but automatically raising the shields does, apparently... Timo Saloniemi
Here's something I've always wondered: what's the protocol for calling a red alert? Sometimes it seems to happen automatically, like when the ship gets fired upon. Sometimes Picard orders it. Sometimes Riker orders it. It's most dramatic when Riker does it, with his, "RRRRRRRRed Alert!!!" shout. Sometimes Riker yells "RRRRRRRRed Alert!!!"after the lights have already come on. So does it happen automatically, or does someone have to give the order? My own theory is that it's automatic, and it's just that Riker gets so excited that he can't help but shout it out. Kind of like if he heard the ice cream truck coming down the street and yelled "Ice cream!"
Let's keep in mind, too, that red alert is not always called due to a battle situation. Sometimes it's another type of emergency. One that might not call for weapons at all. So having weapons armed as part of a red alert command might divert resources to weapons unnecessarily. Also remember that we've seen occasions when red alert is called separately from battle stations. Now, Trek is quite inconsistent in this, but it does happen, implying that the state of red alert is distinct and separate from the state of being ready for battle.
That's true. There are emergency situations that could call for high alert status without weapons needing to be readied. I think of TOS and the "security alert, condition baker-two" and so on. But as the later series went on, we saw less of these varied alert codes. Pretty much "Red Alert" and very little else. And Red Alert seemed to imply *battle*readiness, with deflectors up and weapons armed.
Seems to have been different in Kirk's day. During TOS all he had to say was "red alert," and it was like kicking over an ant hill, But there was no pretense about Kirk's Enterprise not being a combat vessel, Picard's group of "explorers first" might have needed little reminders of what they were supposed to do. Yellow alert in TWOK, for one Saavik "energize deefense fields and a 'umbrella" (shield?) was erected over the main bridge. Most likely weapons and deflector were brought to stand-by.
...A smart move, because there appeared to be quite a delay in raising shields even after a command was given (this was a plot point in ST5, and possibly in ST2 as well). "Standby" or "preheating" or "energizing" might shorten the reaction time considerably. Although "an umbrella over the main bridge" sounds like an unnecessarily deviating interpretation of a graphic where a single deck below the bridge is highlighted on an intruder control status screen... We never witness a "bridge shield" in action, but OTOH it does make sense that a ship at Yellow Alert status would do a check on intruders and intruder control measures. All the more so when a vessel of unknown intent approaches you shields down and thus capable of initiating a transporter boarding... Many an episode (especially of TOS) shows that personnel on the corridors hurry to new locations when alert status goes from Yellow to Red. Apparently, then, Yellow doesn't yet call for quite everybody to be at action stations or general quarters or whatnot, and Red summons these extra personnel resources. Timo Saloniemi
Talking of red alert I never knew why they didn't use the battle bridge more often as I recall it was only used a couple of times in the 1st season and once in the two parter BOBW. I know they only used it when the saucer seps but I never knew why they built one in the first place. You could of stood riker on the battle bridge and you would of still of heard him shouting from the main bridge RRRRRED AAALERT !!!
I think that they redressed that set to serve as other things. That's probably why we don't see it again. It's actually the Motion Picture bridge set, which is originally the Phase II bridge set. Epic recycling.
The battle bridge was apparently to be employed only when both the ship was separated and there was the anticipation of combat. In Brothers, when Picard made the decision to separate the ship, he remained in main engineering during the attempt.
I think there are different degrees to red alert. For example, lets say there's a coolant failure in the warp core, and its about to breach. Definately a red alert situation, but no need to raise shields of arm weapons, as those would DETRACT resources needed to contain the breach. What I found interesting in Brothers was that when life support went out on the bridge, the lights that came on were blue, not red. Does lighting default to blue when life support goes down as an alert status.....maybe even a blue alert? Are there other colors we may mot know about (I can see green for radiation or contamination situations)
I actually liked the "blue alert" look in "Brothers." And I think it makes sense. Presumably, red alert is a shipwide status. But you wouldn't take the whole ship to red alert because you had a systems failure in one specific part of the ship. So, presumably, there is a separate localized indicator for that. On Voyager, wasn't "blue alert" used for ship landings?
I've always supposed the Battle Bridge was the equivalent of the TOS ship "auxiliary control". Used when needed. Manned during Red Alert and possibly in general.